IO CHA Blog Hop- Day 5

Today is the last day of the Impression Obsession blog hop.  I started the week with a Leigh Hannan Halloween card, and I am ending the week with the same. 

I thought the Ghost Espresso image (E2455) was a lot of fun, and I always like to make coffee cards because they make me think of my mom.  Hi mom! 

To color the image, I used some Copic markers.  I decided to make the ghost/steam grey so that it would show up well (rather than leave it white).  If you can't read it from my picture, the cup says "It's Scary Good."  Also, you can't see it from the picture, but I added a bunch of sparkle to the ghost with my clear Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.  To finish the card, I added the Happily Haunted saying (D14148) and a few brown pearls.

Don't forget to check out the other designers in the blog hop for a chance to win prizes.

Blog Hop Details

We are having a $25 Gift Certificate drawing each day during the hop, with an extra drawing on Friday. Follow the guidelines below the DT participant list each day and you will be eligible to win. Start with the DT line-up below for today, then come on back and click on the direct link to the new stamps/dies/clear sets in the last paragraph below:

Blog Hop List:
Impression Obsession Blog
Dina Kowal
Ellen Taylor
Jeanne Streiff
Jenny Gropp
Kittie Caracciolo
Laura Fulcher (you are here)
Vicki Garrett

Rules for Drawing Eligibility
To be eligible for the $25 Gift Certificate drawings, Monday through Friday, and for the extra one on Friday you should:

•Leave a comment on the IO and each participating DT member's blog for that day.

•Posts are closed for each day at 10 p.m., EST, for that day's drawing.

•The winner(s) will be announced in the post for the next day.

•To be eligible to win the extra drawing Friday, you must have commented on each participating blog for each day (Monday through Friday). Posts close at 10 p.m., EST, Friday. (You can go back and catch up on comments to be eligible for the 5 day drawing on Friday.)

Thank you very, very much for stopping by this week!

Nature Inspired- Zentangle

Today's Impression Obsession challenge was "Nature Inspired."  I have a feeling I went a very different direction than the other designers!

I decided to use one of the first Impression Obsession stamps I ever owned (Paisley Tree K2057).  It is such an awesome image.  I let the patterns in the tree inspire me into drawing a frame around it and using the same designs in the tree to draw Zentangle patterns in my frame.  To finish the card, I added the "Just for You" saying (A3562).


Need more nature inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Kittie, and Vicki created. Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!

Don't forget that you can find Impression Obsession on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook!

   

CHA Sneak Peek Week

Well, the Craft and Hobby Association is having their big conference in California, and I think a lot of us are living vicariously through the people who are lucky enough to attend.

Perhaps the second best thing to attending the conference in person is to check out the blog posts this week by the Impression Obsession design team. It will be a great way to see all the latest and greatest IO images!

For my first post this week, I want to share with you one of the new Leigh Hannan images. I just love this ice cream cone (Three Scoops E2448). I paired it with a clear stamp saying from one of the new Kalani Allred clear saying sets (CL352 Social Greetings 1). I tried to make the whole card look like neapolitan ice cream so I added some layers of brown, white, and pink cardstock. I also wanted to match those colors in the ice cream cone, so I chose an assortment of brown and pink Copic markers to color the image. To finish the card, I cut out the ice cream and popped it up on the card with some foam tape.

I hope you will join us this week in celebrating the new images. Each day, Shirley will post a master list of participating designers on the Impression Obsession blog. You can find that information here. Today, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Vicki all have something new and wonderful to show you.

Don't forget to leave comments on the various blogs. Each day you will have a chance to win an Impression Obsession gift certificate. Good luck!

IO Challenge- Oldie, But Goodie

Today's Impression Obsession challenge was to use an "oldie but goodie" stamp. Of course, I had to pick a Leigh Hannan stamp. Usually when I used this stamp, I only use part of it so that I don't have to spend a long time coloring. I often use a circle punch to cut out a fish and some coral then pop it up onto a card. However, I thought it best to use the whole stamp so that you could see what the entire image looks like.

To make the card, I colored the coral (J2219) with an assortment of Copic markers. To get a washed out look for the water, I first colored the background with a blue marker and then scribbled over the whole thing with a blender pen.

Want to get more inspiration for your older Impression Obsession stamps? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Vicki created.

Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!

Metallic Mermaids

When I saw the new Leigh Hannan Mermaids stamp (G2437), I knew that I wanted to make it metallic and shimmery. Here is a side view that I took under a light so that you could see the shimmer better: To make the background, I stamped the Cover a Card Swirls and Stars (CC054) onto green cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it with glitter embossing powder. I didn't have the exact color that I envisioned for the card, so I mixed some Judikins Hanukkah embossing powder (metallic blue) with some Zing metallic green powder to get the teal look I wanted.

For the mermaids, I stamped them in black Memento ink and colored them with an assortment of Copic markers. I wanted to make the fins sparkle, so I added some Stickles to them and then used a paintbrush to spread the stickles around.

Don't forget to check out the other Day 3 samples of the Impression Obsession blog hop. You can find a list of the participants here. There is even a contest where you can win a $25 Impression Obsession gift card!

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!

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!