Thursday, December 16, 2010

IO metallic challenge

I love metallic cards. I still have no idea how to photograph them though. I could use some help from any of you bloggers out there! Somehow the pictures just don't capture the shimmer and sparkle....especially when you shoot the front of the card. Ideas? Holding the card up to the light gives a better idea of how the card sparkles:

Today's IO challenge was to make a metallic card. It does seem to be that time of year for a little extra glitz and bling! I chose to use metallic silver and metallic blue paper. They work well together to create a frosty wintery card. I stamped the Damask Snowflake (F2258) onto white paper with Versamark ink and embossed it with JudiKins Aegean Silver embossing powder. I cut around the snowflake and then added some Stardust pen to color the image. It gave it a really nice silver shimmer. To finish the snowflake, I added a bunch of clear gems.

For the background, I stamed the Cover a Card Snowflakes (CC066) onto silver cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it with silver powder. To add even more sparkle to the card, I attached a glittery silver ribbon to the card.

Want more metallic inspiration? Check out the work by Danelia, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Kathy, and Kelli. Want to play along? Check out the contest information here. You could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

IO Challenge- New Year's Resolutions

Sorry I have been MIA. Lots to do with work, the holiday, and prepping for Christmas! I definitely wanted to play around with the latest IO Challenge though which was to make a card featuring a New Year resolution.

For me, my resolutions center around walking more and eating better. I made this card because I want to be sure to drink more water and green tea each day. I love the Teacup (D2160) image, but I am just going to pretend that it doesn't have a yummy truffle on the side.

To make the card, I stamped the Cover a Card Flourishes (CC027) onto cream paper using Versamark ink and embossed it with clear powder. I then sponged on top of it with Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Victorian Velvet, and a smidge of Fired Brick Distress ink. I then added a strip of the Cover a Card Screen (CC049) stamped onto cream paper using Victorian Velvet distress ink. To finish the card, I colored my image with Copic markers, cut out the cup, and popped it up onto the card on top of a pink ribbon. Finally, I stamped the saying (My Cup of Tea A5511) onto the bottom of the card.

Want to see more resolutions? Check out the work by Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, and Julie. Want to play along? You can find all the contest details here. You could even win a $25 IO gift certificate?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

IO Challenge- A Few of My Favorite Things

Time for another Impression Obsession challenge. This time the theme is "These are a Few of My Favorite Things." Can't you just hear Julie Andrews singing in the background? The challenge was to take a line from the song and use it as inspiration for a card or project. I chose "brown paper packages tied up with string."

I like the idea of brown paper packages because they could be filled with all kinds of goodies. Did you ever see the movie A Christmas Story? There is a part in the movie where the dad is opening a crate containing his "major award" and he says, "There could be anything in there!" That is how I feel about the excitement and anticipation of unopened packages...there could be anything in them!

I decided to make a card in the shape of a brown paper package. I took a kraft notecard and then stamped it with the Thin Cover a Card background (CC001) in Chestnut Roan Chalk ink and the Dots Cover a Card background (CC003) in Staz On Gold ink. I really like the Staz On gold because it really gives you a strong metallic finish. I stamped both backgrounds again on a strip of kraft paper and popped it up onto my card to make it look like the package lid. I then added some brown sting, some holly from the CL35 Holly clear set, and a saying from the CL196 Swirl Trees clear set.

Want to embrace your inner Julie Andrews? Check out the favorite things of Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Kathy. Want to play along? You can find all of the information here, and you could even win a $25 Impression gift certificate!

Monday, November 15, 2010

MIA

Sorry I have been MIA. I haven't done much cardmaking lately other than make cards for work. Plus, I have recently invested a lot of time researching e-readers. Call it a current obsession hobby.

I did make two cards over the weekend for Splitcoaststampers' latest Virtual Stamp Night (VSN). Of course, I forgot to post the cards on Splitcoast. Oh well. For those of you who haven't joined a VSN, you are given a challenge and have 45 minutes to complete the card. My group of friends and I have learned not to stress over the challenge and just go with something. Sometimes the finished card looks good. Sometimes it looks like it was beaten with the ugly stick. Often times, the simpler the card, the better. Hence, the card I posted above.

For today's card, the challenge was to use white, blue, and silver or gold. I thought the challenge was silver AND gold, so I added both. I stamped the image by Magenta onto white cardstock using blue ink. I then added layers of silver, blue, and gold cardstock. Really, really simple.

Here is a close-up so that you can see the metallic sheen:

On a separate note, does anyone own a Kindle or Nook? What do you think? I believe that the Kindle might be a better device, but I am leaning towards the Nook since it works with my library system.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

IO Challenge- Holiday Family Traditions

I hope people aren't worried because the latest IO Challenge is to focus on holiday family traditions, and I posted a picture of a margarita. I promise that we don't spend the whole holiday drinking tequila!

I have so many traditions I could have represented in card form such as:
  • Going to see my mom each year in the living Nativity. (She is always one of the wise men since they have the warmest costumes.)
  • Opening one present each on Christmas Eve.
  • Watching repeated showings of "A Christmas Story" on TBS during their 24 hour marathon.
  • Fresh squeezed orange juice for Christmas breakfast (my grandfather started this one).
  • My mom making the infamous "green salad" that has been passed down generations (I wouldn't mind this tradition going away since Jello should not be made into a salad).

So, with all those nice traditions, why did I choose a margarita card? Of course there is a story behind that. One year my mom suggested that she, my brother, and I should each contribute something new to the holiday dinner. My mom and I poured over cookbooks and online recipes to figure out what we wanted to make. My brother, on the other hand, went out and bought some Patron Silver to make us each a "Christmas margarita." I believe it was his attempt to get out of cooking. I have absolutely no idea what my mom and I prepared that year. However, every year since I have counted on my brother to make me a really nice holiday margarita.

For my card, I used the margarita stamp from the CL157 Leigh Hannan Holiday set. However, you can get the stamp by itself. It is called Holiday Margarita (F2001). I stamped the image in black Memento ink onto white cardstock that I had cut from a Nestabilities Labels 8 die. I edged the paper with some green Distress Ink and an Inksentials blender tool and colored the image with an assortment of colored pencils and Copic markers. To rim the glass, I added some Glossy Accents to the rim and sprinkled it with real salt and some glitter. Here is a close up:

Finally, I spritzed the margarita piece with some Sparkle Shimmer Spritz to give it a holiday feel. You can see the shimmer a bit in this picture:

For the bottom of the card, I used the Cover a Card Thick and Thin (CC008) stripes in red ink. I thought it looked a bit like peppermint stripes.

Need some holiday inspiration? Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Kathy all made cards to share their holiday traditions with you.

Want to play along? You have until 9pm EST Friday to share your IO holiday tradition card. All of the information can be found here. You could win a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate!


Monday, November 1, 2010

Layers of Color

I really love this clear background set from Layers of Color. The set is called "Architectural Blocks," and it lets you combine the patterns in any way you want to create an interesting background. The really nice thing is that since it is a clear set, it is really easy to position the images. For my card, I chose some of the floral elements from the set to stamp a black and white background pattern. I then added a butterfly from the Layers of Color "Butterfly Collector" set that I cut out from yellow cardstock. I only glued the body so that the wings would pop off of the card. Here is a side view to see the 3-D effect better:

Here is what the images look like stamped alone:

On a completely different note, I want to remind everyone to vote November 2nd. I remember my great-grandmother saying that she voted in every election that she was allowed to (she was 28 when the 19th Amendment allowed women to vote). Don't take your voting rights for granted!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

IO Challenge- Favorite Quote

The latest IO challenge is to use a favorite quote or poem. I am going to be honest and say that I know I had a different approach to this challenge! You see, I chose to use a movie quote since I am a movie quote addict. The hardest part to this challenge was to choose just one quote. I went with one from one of my favorite movies..."Best in Show." I don't know how many times I have seen that film, but I never get tired of it. It always makes me laugh. I figure that I can use the card with a "what's brewing" sentiment on the inside, or even use it for an anniversary card. Of course, the couple would have to be familiar with the movie...

I promise to come back later to include the stamp credits for the card. It is getting a little late now, and I think I need to go to bed. In the mean time, check out the quote cards that Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jenny, and Julie created. They probably made much more meaningful cards than I did.

Want to play along in the quote challenge? You have until Friday night to submit a card with a quote theme. All of the information can be found here.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Paula Best

I hesitate to share this card I made because I think the stamp has been discontinued. However, this is the only thing I have made recently to share so...

I really like Paula Best's work. It is so quirky and unusual, not to mention fun to color. For my "catfish," I colored it with an assortment of copic markers and then layered it onto the Impression Obsession bubbles Cover-a-Card stamp.

Update...got a comment from Paula Best that all of her stamps are still available, so ignore my thoughts about the stamp being discontinued.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Impression Obsession Color Challenge

I really love color challenges. The latest Impression Obsession challenge is to create a card featuring the following colors: Coffee, Nutmeg, and Pumpkin. Now, being the geek that I am, I wasn't really sure exactly what color "Nutmeg" is, so I had to do a Google image search. The results were mixed. Sometimes it looked more like cinnamon to me (medium reddish brown), and sometimes it was a light shade of brown. I decided to go with light brown.

Leigh Hannan designed a series of fall images for Impression Obsession featuring things such as cattails, acorns, and leaves. I fell in love with the Corn (E2102) image and found out that it is indeed possible for me to make a fall card without a pumpkin on it. Who knew?!

To make this card, I stamped the corn image onto cream paper using black Memento ink. I colored the leaves with two brown Copic markers (E31 Brick Beige and E53 Raw Silk). For the corn, I decided not to color each individual square because that would take FOREVER. Instead, I dabbed more of the two brown markers as well as YR16 Apricot, Y17 Golden Yellow, and YR31 Light Reddish Yellow all over the corn area until it was filled. Sometimes it is best not to stay within the lines! To finish the coloring, I used the three orange/yellow markers to color the leaves, added some chocolate Prismacolor pencil to the tiny circles on the stems, and shaded around the image with a Warm Grey Copic parker (W1). For the background, I stamped the Cover a Card Swatches image (CC023) onto cream cardstock using Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan ink and added a saying from the Count Your Blessings clear set (CL286). It has a nice assortment of sayings for the fall and Thanksgiving.

Need more inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jenny, Julie, Kathy, and Shirley have created.

Want to play along? You have until Friday 9pm EST to enter. All of the information can be found here, and you can even win a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Halloween Tassels

Well, it is now October, so my Halloween stamping has kicked up a notch (to quote Emeril). For this card, I stamped the Halloween Tassels (H2381) by Impression Obsession onto white cardstock. I cut it out with a Labels 8 Nestability die and colored it with a combination of colored pencils and Copic markers. I edged the piece with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and then spritzed it with some Frost Shimmer Spritz for extra sparkle. I am sorry I didn't take an extra picture so that you could see the sparkle!

On an unrelated note, last weekend my mom and I visited Gettysburg for the first time. It was an amazing trip. My friend Marilynn suggested getting a private tour guide for the battlefield instead of taking the audio tour or joining a tour bus. She was so right! It was probably the best tour I have ever taken. We also had a chance to visit some farms and vineyards. I wanted to share a picture from the weekend featuring some of the gigantic pumpkins we saw. It really got me in the mood for autumn.




Friday, September 24, 2010

Inner Witch


Today I wanted to post another card from my Leigh Hannan Halloween class. I used stamps by Impression Obsession called Spa Day (G2346) and Spider Web Paisley (D2251) for the outside and the saying "Inner Witch B5543" on the inside. Basically, the saying says "Embrace Your Inner Witch." I love it!

To make the card, I stamped the paisley repeatedly to create a background paper. I accented the webs with Stardust pens and black watercolor pencils to color the spiders. For the witch, I colored the cauldron with C5 and C7 Copic markers and the rest of the scene with watercolor pencils. Finally, I edged the witch with some Dusty Concord Distress Ink.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am spending the weekend with my mom, so I know I will have a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Love Leigh Hannan

One of the best things about working with Impression Obsession is that I am given the chance to work with Leigh Hannan images. I love, love, love them! I have been on a Leigh Hannan kick right now preparing for my Leigh Hannan Halloween class tomorrow. The card above is one of the cards in the class. To be fair, only the pumpkin and saying (both from CL158 Halloween Party) are Leigh's. I added the Cover a Card Medallion (CC032) and Flourish 2 (H5575) because I thought they worked well with the focal image.


To make the card, I stamped the background in Versafine Smokey Grey ink and overstamped it with the Flourish using Black Versafine ink. For the top of the card, I stamped the pumpkin with Memento ink and colored it with Copic markers. Finally, I added a few clear rhinestones to the pumpkin for a little extra pizazz. Here is a close up of the pumpkin:


I was really pleased with the end result, so I am also going to submit it for the Craft Critique Halloween Blog Carnival which highlights all kind of crafty projects. If you are interested in playing along with them, you can find all of the info here.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Inchies and Fall

The latest IO challenge is to use Inchie Squares as well as a fall theme. When I first heard about the Inchie Art squares, I wasn't sure about them. After all, I can cut my own squares. Then I used them. Wow! First of all, they aren't 1" cardstock squares. They are pre-cut artist quality matboard pieces. They take paint and inks really well and add a nice dimension to your projects. Plus, the truth is I can't cut uniform squares to save my life. Can you tell I fell in love with them?

For my card, I used stamps and sayings from the Tami Potter Autumn Seals set (CL108). Tami made a set for each of the seasons, and I find that I use the sets as the foundation of a lot of my seasonal cards. First, I stamped the wood grain Cover a Card (CC034) onto an Inchie Arts tan card using brown Versafine Ink. Next, I stamped the leaf image three times onto cream Inchie squares using Habaneo, Spanish Moss, and Crimson Red Versafine ink. Finally, I added the Keats quote circle and added a saying to the inside.

Need more inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, and Kathy created. Want to play along? Enter your own Inchie/Fall card on the IO blog by Saturday night, and you could win a $25 IO gift certificate. All the information can be found here.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My Own Bed

I finished my cat/housesitting gig, so tonight I get to sleep in my own bed. Woohoo! Truth be told, the bed at the other house is nicer than mine, but there is just something to be said about your OWN bed!

The card above is one I made at the other house using the other person's craft supplies. Why is it that using someone else's stamps is so much fun? Humm... In any case, I used their Paula Best hat stamp and an old Hero Arts birthday image to make a card for my friend Angela. Of course, I had to add some extra bling to finish the card.

Well, off to enjoy my bed..

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Beach Babes

Well, it is another busy week of house/cat sitting and trying to coordinate between two homes. I keep forgetting to take the right things with me wherever I go. The good news is I finally remembered to take a jpeg with me so that I would have something to post.

A while back, I posted the Art Impressions Dancers. This time I thought I would post the Art Impression Beach Babes. They are so much fun to color! When I used my Copic markers with these ladies, I moved away from my normal "E" Copic colors and went towards "YR" colors. I thought the Yellow-Orange shades gave a more realistic Florida Snowbird skin color. To add some sunburn and blush to the ladies, I added a little of the R20 marker to the shoulders, cheeks, cleavage, and top of the legs.

To finish the card, I added some glossy accents and real sand. I can't decide if I went one step too far with the real sand. Should I have left well enough alone?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Just Rite Challenge

I needed to get back to making cards just for fun, so I decided to play along with this week's Just Rite color challenge. I didn't want to make a fall card even though the three colors scream "autumn." Instead, I decided to make a coffee card.
One of the things I like about the Just Rite alphabets is that you can spell any saying you want. I decided to spell out "thanks a latte" with my letters and add a coffee cup from the coffee set. I drove myself a bit nuts looking for some real coffee beans to embellish the card, but I have no idea where I put them in my craft organization. I am sure they are around here somewhere! For the patterned paper, I used some of the Basic Grey Archaic line.


Thursday, August 19, 2010

Simple Stamping

The latest IO challenge is to create a "Simple Stamping" project. After I got out my supplies, I was able to make this card in under five minutes. I don't think it could get much more simple!

To make the card, I stamped a kraft notecard using the Cover a Card Woven (CC020) pattern and black VersaFine ink. Personally, the Woven pattern is one of my favorites for Halloween cards. I then stamped the new Pumpkin Trio (G7543) with the same black ink onto more kraft cardstock. I added a bit of orange and green watercolor pencil to the image and then softened everything with a waterbrush.

Need some more "simple stamping" ideas. Check out what Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, and Kathy created.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Flower Soft/Impression Obsession Blog Hop

Welcome everyone! Are you ready to play? The Impression Obsession and Flower Soft design teams have joined forces to create a fun blog hop. Not only are there lots of projects to inspire you, but there are prizes as well! Make sure you leave comments on each of the blog hop posts since four comments at random will be drawn to win one four $25 gift certificates (2 provided by Impression Obsession, and 2 provided by Flower Soft). Prize winners will be announced on the Impression Obsession blog and Flower Soft blog on Wednesday, August 18th. Good luck!

If you didn't start at the beginning of the hop, please go to the Flower Soft blog and start with the first post.

My Halloween card features an Impression Obsession Large Square Shaker (SHPO1) filled with an equal mix of Bright Orange and Black Flower Soft. The nice thing about Flower Soft is that you can mix any colors you like together to get the look you want. You can mix orange and black for Halloween, pink and red for Valentine's Day, an assortment of greens for St. Patrick's Day, etc...

To prevent the Flower Soft from sticking to my shaker, I wiped the paper and plastic shaker with a used dryer sheet to cut down on the static. I prefer a used dryer sheet because fresh ones then to scratch the plastic.

Underneath the shaker, I stamped the new Bat Silhouette (D204) using black Versafine ink and colored the moon with a yellow watercolor pencil and a Dove blender pen. To create the two patterns on the card, I stamped the Cover a Card Screen (CC049) with black Versafine ink and embossed the Cover a Card Swirls and Stars (CC054) with black embossing powder.


Here is a closeup of the card so you can see what Flower Soft looks like as a shaker card filler:



I hope you enjoyed my project! It is now time to hop to the next blog:


If you want more inspiration after the hop, be sure to check out Flower Soft TV and the Impression Obsession blog. Both are loaded with great ideas and projects!

Another Video

As I am sitting here getting my post ready for the IO/Flower Soft blog hop, I realized that I hadn't posted my latest video on this blog. I thought it best to link it before I forgot again! If you want to watch a larger version, you can see it directly on YouTube here.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Thinking of Mom

I made a card with my mom in mind. It has a lot of elements in it that she likes such as books and coffee. It just so happens that they are things that I like too. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. We both share a love of books and have a bit of a competition going on comparing where we are on library wait lists for certain books. I am still a bit bitter that she is on the list for the latest Margaret Maron, and my library doesn't even list it yet. Of course, I was able to read "Sizzling Sixteen" weeks before her, so I guess it all balances out in the end.

To make the book, I used some Nestability dies to cut an outer cover and pages for the book. For the pages, I cut up an old magazine and then nested all the pieces together to make it look more like a book. I wanted the saying I stamped to be visible, so I painted over the magazine pages with some Adirondack dauber paint. I dabbed enough paint to slightly mute the writing without covering it completely. When it dried, I added a saying on top with brown ink. The saying and coffee cup come from the same Art Impressions clear set. To finish the card, I added some patterned paper by Basic Grey.

I will be posting again tomorrow because Wednesday is the day of the Flower Soft and Impression Obsession blog hop. Be sure to check back again!


Thursday, August 5, 2010

IO Challenge- Home Sweet Home

Time for another Impression Obsession Challenge. This time the theme is "Home Sweet Home." I decided to make a card for someone who has a new home. I used the branch and chickadee stamp from the CL271 Home Sweet Nest clear set and the saying from the CL194 Little Birdie clear set. The nice thing about the little birdie set is that the "little birdie" round saying is separate from the sayings you can stamp inside. You could just as easily say "it's your birthday" or "you need a little cheering up."

To make the background, I made my design using Cover-A-Card Distressed Corduroy (CC047), Cover-A-Card Thick and Thin Stripes (CC008), and Cover-a-Card Greenery (CC018).

Want to see other "Home Sweet Home" ideas? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Julie, and Kathy created. Want to play along and make a "home sweet home" card? You could win a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate. All of the contest info can be found here. Good luck!