Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Wanna Kiss?

Well, not THAT kind of kiss! LOL.

Stamp kissing is when you stamp one stamp onto another stamp. In this case I stamped my inked up leaf stamp onto an uninked canvas stamp. The canvas stamp took the ink off the stamp where it kissed it...leaving my leaf with a canvas pattern on it. You can also stamp onto another inked up stamp with a different color. This technique usually works best with solid stamps. My leaf is semi-solid and it worked ok. But a line image stamp woudn't work.



It's a simple technique but often one I forget about using. Hope you like it!

Jane

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mojo Monday...on Tuesday!

Not only am I posting my "Mojo Monday" entry on Tuesday...but I'm posting it a week late. See...my Mom was right...I am always a day late and a dollar short! :-) A new sketch is posted here every Monday and I really like their samples. To see this week's sketch (which I haven't done yet) you can visit the blog HERE.

This was the sketch for last week's challenge:



And this card was my 'take' on the challenge:



Overall, I am happy with it. The only thing I don't like is the brown I used for the moose antlers and the teddy bear. It's too 'reddish'. But it's ok...card is still cute.

Well, 15 minutes before I need to be out the door and I'm still sitting here with wet hair and no makeup. Guess I best go and get ready (unless I want to scare my coworkers!) Have a great day!

Jane

Sunday, February 22, 2009

SC216 - Hug Coupon Card

I am pretty happy with how this card turned out. I'd picked up this $1 set at Michael's. It just has two stamps...the one you see on the card and a smaller one that reads "redeemable at a moment's notice". I thought it was adorable and for $1...why not???!!

I followed this sketch from Splitcoaststampers



I turned it vertical instead of horizontal. I stuck with one of my favorite color combos (red/white/black and a touch of silver).



So...did I do the sketch justice?

Jane

Friday, February 20, 2009

Simple Thank You

I've been inspired by all the "Clean And Simple" (aka CAS) cards on SplitcoastStampers lately. All in all, I like how this came out. I think, in the future, I would use a clear sentiment stamp so I could make sure it lined up better (or just stamp it once) but I liked the idea of fading it out.

What do you think?



Jane

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Birthday Cards from Others

Thought I'd share some of the cards that I've received over the past couple weeks. I appreciate everyone's birthday wishes and it was a LOT of fun getting "real" mail in the mailbox for a change! LOL.

This first card is from Melanie (aka batgirl on SCS).


I love how she did the presents with different patterned papers. What a great way to use up all those scraps of paper. Right now she has some great craft fair ideas posted on her blog HERE.

The second card is from Fancy on SCS.


The third card is from my SBS4 sister Marcia...all the way from Australia. You can visit here HERE on her blog. I love the white on the lettering. It really gives it some great dimension.


The fourth card is from another one of my SBS4 sister's...Chris...this comes to me via Canada. Unfortunately, it lost on of it's "baubles" in-route...but is very pretty nonetheless. I love the little glittery centers on the flowers! (Oh...and the dark purple is the color of my PT Cruiser!) You can visit here HERE at her blog.


The fifth card is from an online friend, Bonnie, who doesn't have a blog yet (imagine THAT!) I think she needs one to share her artwork. I love the color wash over the main image here and the white on the piano keys. And...once again...it's the color of my Cruiser. Can't go wrong there!


The sixth card is from another of my SBS4 sisters...Sparkle! She does absolutely amazing work...this card is one of the simpler ones I've seen her do. To get a true look at her artwork...go visit her HERE at her blog. I love the colors she used here with the layout and the tiny bit of sparkle on the owl.


The seventh card is a BRAK (Birthday Random Act of Kindness) from Gina L. She said she chose to send a card to me because we share the same birthday! Very cool! I love the pink and brown color combo she used.


And lastly (at least for now) is a card I received from Crystal. I really like this layout and may use it as a sketch to make some of my own cards in the future.


I have a few more to share on another day but figured this is enough for one day! Hope you have had a wonderful week.

Jane

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hubby's Valentine Gift

I decorated one of the little mailboxes from Target and gave it to my husband for Valentine's Day. I had read on another blog where a couple were using their mailbox to leave love notes for each other (and putting up the flag). I thought it was a cute idea so maybe we will do that.

This is a pretty quick and simple mailbox. A little layering, a little faux stitching, some stamping...add some ribbon and a charm...and it's all done!

Hubby liked it...what do you think?





Jane

Monday, February 16, 2009

High Hopes Design Team Entry

You all have heard me mention High Hopes Rubber Stamps before and how much I absolutely adore them. Well, they have a 'Guest Designer' spot available and I decided to apply. If you are interested in applying you can find the details HERE.

The challenge was to use this sketch:



I ended up flipping the sketch and modifying it just a wee bit in order to make it work for my Posing Bunny image. The image in relatively large and when using the sketch in a vertical presentation it took up the whole card front and really hid the layers behind it. So I flipped it to a horizontal presentation. I also had the same issue with the greeting (greeting is by Clear Dollar Stamps). Even though I chose one of the smallest greetings I had...it just didn't fit anywhere on the sketch. So, instead I chose to add the greeting directly to the image panel.

Here's my sample:



Details:

I decided to "paper piece" some of the features of the Posing Bunny. I stamped the image on white cardstock twice and then again on pink and yellow paper. I cut out the different portions that I wanted to piece (the hat, the ribbon, the lace on the hat and the bunny tail). I still wanted more dimension so I ran the pink hat portions through the cuttlebug with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Next I colored my bunny using prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits. I then used my Frost Blue Copic marker and outlined the whole image to make it pop. And lastly I glued all the pieces onto the colored image. I also used dimensional adhesive on the tail to make it stick out.

Here's a close up of Posing Bunny:



So...what do you think?

Jane

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentine's Treat Boxes

I made these little treat boxes last weekend. My friend had a die cut that I used which made these so much simpler! I stamped them with some watermark ink (to get the tone on tone look). Then I assembled the boxes leaving one end open. I stamped a tag for each one. Colored in the three hearts and the outline of the tag and added some stickles (glitter glue) to the hearts. Once the tags dried I filled the boxes with candy, closed the other end and tied it all tightly closed with ribbon and the tag.



Last night I started working on my card for the High Hopes Design Team. I really love the company and their images and it'd be SUCH an honor to be part of the Design Team. I have to have my entry by the 22nd. So keep your fingers crossed for me!

Ok...off to make the kids breakfast (or is it lunch at this point?) :-)

Jane

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Another Super Simple One

This follows the same general idea as the card I posted a few days ago. I did add another layer and a little more embellishment. I got the charm at a bead store. It works well here.



All in all, I think I like the squares directly on the card better than adding the other layer. Oh well, live and learn.

Jane

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I never get TIREd of you!

While stamping over the weekend I came across some images that I'd stamped over at my friend's house a while back. I don't own this changito...but I do have a few images of him. So decided it was time to play.



So, did I do the little guy justice? One word to the wise...don't outline the lines that are the arms/etc until you are done with the the rest of the coloring. I'd outlined the arms and then did a lighter grey for the tire and it smudged the brown so I had a brownish grey...so then had to go back with a couple layers of darker greys to cover up my boo boo.

Jane

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Super Simple!

I really like how this simple card turned out. And all you have to do is use some scraps and a square punch (or paper trimmer would work too).



I also added just a bit to this...I added some dry embossing (horizontal lines above and below the line of squares). A little "bling" on either side of the greeting. And a ribbon at the top. Easy smeasy!

Jane

Monday, February 9, 2009

TOO much to share!

Well, I've been busily stamping and now I'm at the unusual place of having TOO much to share! :-)

Hmm...let's start with a sketch card I did today. It is for Mojo Monday. I think this is the first time I've seen this blog. I saw it posted on SplitcoastStampers and always love new sketch challenges so I went and checked it out.

Anyways, here's the sketch:



And here's my take on the sketch:



What do you think?

Jane

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Happy Sunday!

I just wanted to check in and PROMISE some new artwork for later. I made two cards and an altered mailbox last night but haven't taken photos yet...and I'm headed out to stamp with a friend. So will have to post later.

I've also received two birthday cards from other gals (my birthday is Tuesday). I havent' decided if I should share them as they come in...or do one big posting with all of them?

In the meantime, I thought I'd brag (just a little bit). The post below...the Embossing Paste Tutorial? Was featured on Inspirational Tips, Techniques, and Tutorials. It was then picked up from there and shared on One Pretty Thing - Daily Inspirations for a handmade life. I feel so famous! ;-)

Ok...off to stamp with my friend. I'll be back later with something good to share.

Jane

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Embossing Paste Tutorial

When I went to the craft show this past weekend I was struck by one of the samples they had hanging in a booth. So...there went my first 20ish bucks at that booth. I bought the embossing plate and the embossing paste. They also gave me a sheet of directions on how to do the technique. I figured even I could manage to smother a metallic plate with goo and squeegee it off! LOL.

So here's what I started with supply wise:



Embossing plate of choice
Embossing paste (this is glossy white)
Dark colored paper
Spatula (I used a Pampered Chef pan scraper)
Tape (low tack)

First step is taping the stencil to the paper (so it doesn't move):

Back side:


Front side:


Next step is to add some embossing paste to your spatula and spread across the template. The trick here is to start off the template...drag across the template...and do NOT lift it up or put it down in the template itself (or it forces paste into areas where you don't want it). They sell spatulas (that look a lot like cake decorating spatulas...but I just used a Pampered Chef pan scraper.



Turn over and take off the tape and gently lift the stencil away from the paper. If you want to add glitter...now is the time to do it (while the paste is still wet). I used the ultrafine clear glitter. Then set the cardstock aside to dry (do not use a heat gun). It'll take a few hours to dry. Then make your card!



Do you want to know a secret? I managed to get embossing paste on the outside border (where there should have been a solid outline around the tree background). So I just trimmed the cardstock right up against the trees and then mounted to another piece of cardstock the same color so you can't tell I made a boo boo.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Jane

Monday, February 2, 2009

My new changito!

I love, love, LOVE this guy! He's bigger than my other chanitos...but it makes coloring easier. He's just so adorable!



I used some old papers that I'd bought a few years ago to make a friend's "Cruise" scrapbook. I thought the bright colors worked well here. I used my prismacolors (2 shades of each color) to color in the image. The saying is from Hero Arts.

I also got a chance to play with the embossing paste I bought and will post that sometime this week. So more to see soon!

Jane