Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thanks

Last week I participated in a Hero Arts blog challenge to create a thank you card that used at least one scrap. My usual M.O. with scraps is that I will throw all kinds of left over bits into a shoe box and then forget about them. In this case, the "Thanks so much" languished there for many years before I finally had cause to use it. I knew I saved it for a reason!

To make this card, I ran a blue HA card through my Cuttlebug and embossed it with three flowers. I then used sand paper to scuff the flowers a bit so that they would show up better. The only problem I had with this step was that the dots on the flowers weren't the same height so some parts were easier to sand than others. To finish the card, I painted the borders with white acrylic paint and added some rhinestones and some birdies that I colored with Copic markers.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends and family. I am off to VA Beach to spend the weekend with my family. My mom texted me today that she shopped for "vittles and vino," so I guess we are good to go. My family can always make me smile!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Thinking of You

Today's card features an image I colored when I took a class from Karen Lockhart. As you may know, I just LOVE coloring. Therefore, you can imagine how thrilled I was to be able to take one of Karen's classes. Her cards always look amazing.

To make the card, I colored a Lockhart image using Prismacolor pencils. The trick to this card is that it uses a technique where you first lay down a layer of gray pencil here and there to the stamped image. It was interesting to see how a base coat of gray affected the subsequent layers of colors that were used on top. I also tried to apply more pencil to some areas than others so that it would look as though there was some shading.

To finish the card, I punched out the image with a circle punch and layered it onto a blue scalloped circle. The background paper is by Memory Box and the saying is by Hero Arts.

Well, I would say more, but Sunday is my night for TV. I could say I was off to watch "Masterpiece Theater," but I have to admit a certain weakness for "The Amazing Race" and "True Blood."

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

New Technique

Last weekend when I was participating in the Virtual Stamp Night, I learned a new technique called "thumping." The name alone made me want to investigate further. Basically, you ink up a background stamp and then "thump" the stamp with various water-based markers to add additional spots of color. In this case, I inked a Hero Arts snowflake background with grey ink, thumped it with various blue and purple markers, then stamped it onto some white cardstock. If you want to see the original instructions for this technique, you can check it out here.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind with this technique. First, you want to use the sides of your markers when you thump the background stamp so that you don't hurt the tips of your markers. Second, I found that using a light color for the background stamp works best. The first card I made with these stamps didn't turn out so well. I used a medium blue ink for the snowflakes, and the marker colors I used on top didn't really show up. I switched to the grey ink and liked the results much better.

To finish the card, I added some clear Spica pen to the large snowflake to make it sparkle. There is also a rhinestone in the center of the snowflake. However, it is hard to see either in the photo.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Love those owls!

This weekend I participated in another Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoast Stampers. The above card was one I made for the "Chorus Line" challenge. Basically, I needed to make a card that had at least three of the same image used in a row. During my last VSN, my friends made fun of me because many of the cards I made had candy corn on them. This time, I used owls on a bunch of my cards. I guess I find something I like and "go with it."

To make the card, I stamped a branch by Hero Arts onto some Memory Box paper using brown ink. I wanted the leaves to be green, so I colored over the brown ink using a green colored pencil and added some red pencil to the center of the berries. I stamped the owls using Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto white paper and colored them with Copic markers. I cut out each of the owls and added them to the branch and added a saying from My Favorite Things to finish the card.


For the second card, I made a spinner card using the same owl image. Spinner cards have an image on a track that spins when you tip the card. I love watching the little owl spin head over heels to the right side of the card and then spin back to the left. If you would like spinner card instructions, they can be found here. Once again, the owl was colored with Copic markers and placed on top of a Hero Arts branch with a saying by My Favorite Things and paper by Memory Box.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Okay, Okay

I knew I was running out of time before people would start calling or emailing to ask why I wasn't updating my blog. I was right. 2 emails and one call came yesterday. I thought I better post something before things turned ugly. I have been absent for a couple of reasons. First, things have just been busy around here between work and "life." Second, and most importantly, we switched to Fios at my house, and saying that it hasn't gone well is an understatement. My once beautiful wireless internet connection has been reduced to the speed of dial up. I haven't been able to read other blogs, participate in card challenges, or update my blog. Sorry!

The card I am posting today seems rather random to me. It looks really spring-like and out of place. I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to try out my new stamp set from My Favorite Things and some of my favorite paper from Basic Grey, and this is the finished product. To make the card, I stamped the bunny onto white paper with black Memento ink and colored him with Copic markers. I added some clear Spica to the top of the cupcake, but you can't see the sparkle in the picture. I cut out the bunny and added him to some paper I had layered onto pink cardstock. The saying is also from the same cupcake set. I finished the card by layering it onto green cardstock and adding some flowers by Prima.

To make up for the spring card, I am including some pictures from a recent walk in Great Falls, VA. I sure love fall in Virginia. This has nothing to do with crafting. I just liked the colors.


The trees were gorgeous. Unfortunately, I don't know much about botany, so I named them "yellow trees."

Here is another beautiful tree. I call it "red/yellow/orange tree with a hint of green."


I enjoyed this flock of birds, but they weren't ducks, so I didn't know what they were. I'm guessing they are "waterbirds."

I was quite taken with the leaves from this one tree. They were HUGE. I put my foot in the picture as a reference. I wear a size 8, so you can see why I named them "large leaves," or "leafus maximus" in Latin. :) Bonus points for anyone who can name some of the items on my nature walk. I am curious what they really are.