Bad Blogger

I have been so bad about blogging lately! I honestly don't want people to stop checking in because there is never anything new on my page.
So much has been on my mind lately that has taken precedent over doing any crafting/blogging. First and foremost, I have been thinking about my uncle who passed away this last week. It made me so sad and so scared to lose a member of my parent's generation. I am not going to be able to make the funeral in Ohio, so that adds to the sadness. I never enjoy making sympathy cards, but I guess that will have to be my next project.
I am also currently housesitting/dogsitting for two dogs....one of which likes to bark at me...and bark at me...and bark at me. I think it is starting to get better, but my already frayed nerves are starting to unravel a little more.
I am posting a card that is bright and cheery and will hopefully put me in a better mood. The flowers are by Art Impressions, the saying is by Hero Arts, and the "splatter" stamp is made by Just for Fun. I can't say enough great things about the splatter stamp. It fills everything in beautifully! I stamped the flowers onto a paint chip and colored them in using markers. I added a saying and then stamped gold splatters onto the card for a finishing touch. I will soon be posting new cards from Impression Obsession....so watch out for those!

Crafting Bliss

Many of you might know that I have no crafting space to call my own (insert dramatic sigh here). I have tons of stuff placed in containers and shoved in whatever space I can find. It is always an effort to pull things out and find a place to stamp. However, this week I am dog sitting/house sitting for someone who has a lot of space and a lot of stuff. I must say, it is like crafting nirvana! I plan to spend a day or two just looking at all of her supplies and the next few days actually trying to get some card samples made. The Impression Obsession Design Team is hard at work, and I want to have stuff to post too!
The card I am posting today is a Hero Arts card that was colored using watercolor pencils and a blending pen.

Finally Fall?

Well, my new box of stuff from Impression Obsession arrived, and it is loaded with goodies! I pulled out all of the items and spent a couple of days just looking at it. Where or where to start? I decided on "fall" because that is my favorite season to stamp. If only we had crisp autumn air to accompany my stamping mood!
I am including a fall card that uses a stamp from Rubbermoon. The new IO stamps haven't technically been unveiled yet, so I can't post them. The card on the left was made using Prismacolor pencils. When coloring with "waxy" pencils, many people like to use a form of turpentine to blend the colors. It makes for a faster coloring process, but I think it dulls the color a bit. Plus, it can occasionally wear down the paper surface. I prefer to use a lighter color pencil to blend the others or even a dry blending pencil to soften what I have colored. The process takes longer, but I prefer the results.

Happy Birthday Ken!

Today is my brother Clint's birthday (Ken to me...but that is another story). I was hoping to post a birthday card on my blog, but my scanner is down and Clint took my camera to Bermuda. Am I a great sister to loan him my camera, or what? It makes me nervous to have my camera out of the country. Of course, he loaned me his iPod so that I could use the iPod speakers I won from the Ellen Degeneres Show (for being an Oscar picking goddess). I guess sharing stuff is one of the perks of having a sibling! That was a really long explanation to say why there is no birthday card on today's post.
Instead, I am posting an older "Hello" card I made. The stamp is a collage stamp from Tin Can Mail. I would give a link to their site, but I don't know who started carrying their stamps once PSX closed down. The card is colored using Distress Inks and a mister bottle to achieve a watercolor effect. The butterfly collage was stamped on top of a background stamp made by Hampton Art. The card was finished with a "Hello" stamp is from Hero Arts.
Happy birthday Ken! I love you, L.

Take Time to Smell the Coffee

I had to play with some of my new "toys" last night. Lately, I have been adding clouds to a lot of the cards I make. I just ask myself, "Hummm....what does this card need? I know! Clouds! Hummm....what does this next card need? I know! Clouds!" I really need to be stopped. I bought the cloud template from Rosie's Roadshow, and it is just so much fun to use.
I also love my new coffee set from Impression Obsession. The inside of the card says "take time to smell the coffee"..... a perfect sentiment for me! For this card, I colored the cups with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. It is hard to tell from the scan, but I coated the cups with Diamond Glaze and allowed them to dry. It gave the coffee cups a "ceramic" look and feel. I finished the card off with some torn paper, leaf ribbon.....and some clouds!

Different Style

I recently entered a contest on the Art Impressions website. Their theme for June was "Golden Oldies." I think the card turned out cute, but it is not my usual style. Those who have seen the card said they never would have guessed I made it. Does that mean something good, or bad? If you want to check out the other entries and vote for your favorite, click here. They are accepting votes throughout the month of June....winners to be announced in July. The camouflage mom card made me laugh. It is hard to compete with that!
The card I entered was made by drawing a hill with watercolor crayons and stamping the partygoers at an angle. I colored in the people using watercolor pencils and added a sky using a cloud template and a cosmetic sponge.