Simple Halloween Card

I threw this together over the weekend. Nothing fancy...just a simple halloween card. I cut out the middle section of the orange printed paper. Put black cardstock behind the window. Then stamped the trick-or-treater on a scrap and cut him out and layered onto the black to make him "pop" a bit.



So...how glad are YOU that it's Friday? Any exciting plans?

Jane

Featured Stamper Challenge 85

Each day of the week there is a different challenge over on SplitCoastStampers. Well, Sunday is Featured Stamper challenge. I haven't done this one before but decided to check it out. They give you the name of a person and you go to their gallery and find a card to use for inspiration. You are supposed to change a few things but overall the card should be similar. This is for challenge FS85.

My inspiration was THIS card.

And here is MY inspired version:



I stayed with the "kickstand" idea and "trick or treater(s) for the main image. However I did make a few changes...
1) Different colored cardstocks (didn't have enough black/orange to do her version but still stuck with what I consider normal Halloween colors)
2) Different patterned paper (didn't own hers)
3) Different ribbon (still black and wide...but mine has polka dots)
4) Different main image (I didn't have that one...plus wanted to play with my new image from Prickley Pear.)
5) Used brads instead of eyelets in the corners of the patterned paper.

I know I changed a lot of things...so hopefully this still qualifies for their challenge! :-)

Jane

In Honor of World Alzheimer's Day

I made this card after seeing THIS post over on Cammie's blog. If you'd like to see how maybe YOU could win some blog candy valued at over $1,000 AND support a good cause while you are at it...go check out Cammie's blog!

I decided on this particular card for a couple reasons...

1 - I figured most people would make feminine cards. So I wanted something masculine.
2 - I wanted to try out a new technique (the grid or faux tile technique)



The stamped image is one of my new ones from Prickly Pear Rubber Stamps. Behind the main image I used the Linen background stamp from Stampin Up. There is a saying stamped on the inside of the card which is also Prickley Pear. I aged the main panel by sponging ink and then further by dragging the edges in a darker brown. I could have gone a step further and either coated the panel in embossing powder or by doing that and then "cracking" it afterwards. I chose to do neither. Was feeling lazy...and I like it how it is...so it stayed that way. I did also drag a pair of scissors around the edges of several of the panels to distress them.



Here's a close up of the main image which shows the grid technique. I'm not sure that's what it's called...but that's what I am calling it! LOL. Basically you score lines in both directions (I just used a stylus and the "line" on my old fiskars paper trimmer...but if you have a score pal or score-it...that'd probably work better). Then you stamp on the side where the lines are depressed into the paper. Then finish as desired. Easy smeasy!

Have a great Monday!

Jane

First Copic Tutorial w/New Stamps!

Since I work from home on Wednesday's it means I have a chance to play today. Not because I'm playing when I should be working (no, really, not!) but because I don't have two hours of drive time nor do I take a lunch. So my Wednesday's seem SO short in comparison! LOL.

So...since I had a chance to play I wanted to share why I LOVE my new Copic markers. I am SOLD on these suckers. I put off buying them because they are expensive and you need a fair amount of colors before you can really do the shading and such correctly. And I figured I had my waterbased markers and I didn't use them much. So how much would I REALLY use these markers and would they be worth the $$ to me? But while I was on the Design Team for Clear Dollar Stamps I got a discount and I decided if I was going to jump on the band wagon...it was a good time to do so. And I'm so happy I jumped!

For starters...here are the supplies we will be using. I bought MY markers at Clear Dollar Stamps (they sell them in sets) but you can also get them at many places online. The stamp I'm using is one of the new ones I picked up this weekend from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps.



I started off by stamping my image with black ink onto colonial white cardstock from CTMH. I used plain old Marvy ink. I think there are some inks that work better than others with these markers but from my limited experience the Marvy works fine and cleans up easy. It's always been my favorite black ink.

Next I used the lightest color (Honey) and colored in the whole pumpkin.



Then I used a darker shade of orange and outlined the outside areas of the pumpkin.



To blend the colors I went back to the original color (Honey) and blended over the darker lines by going in little circles.


It looks great now, as is...but I wanted my pumpkin more realistic...and how many pumpkins do you know of that don't have a few whiter areas on them?

So I pulled out the "colorless blender". This really is NOT a blender. It's more like a "lifter". It pulls the color up that you've put down. So I did that in a few areas to lift some of the orange off and "rough up" the pumpkin.



Here is a card with the finished pumpkin.



I went ahead and stamped it a second time on colonial white cardstock. Then cut out the pumpkin I'd colored (just the pumpkin) and mounted it over the pumpkin on the second stamped image with pop dot adhesives to give the card some dimension. I mounted it to a piece of cardstock that I'd sanded and then roughed up the edges with scissors. I mounted some decorative paper to the card base and tied a twill ribbon around it...and lastly attached the panel with the pumpkin on it to the base. Finished card fits in a standard letter size envelope.

Now...I guess I need to go do something "useful". LOL. Have a great evening!

Jane

Post-it Note Holder

I received some 4x4 chipboard coasters in a package of "blog candy" that I won. I was looking for something to make with them and found a tutorial online about making a post-it note holder with them. I love the way it came out!

The cheetah stamp is from Prickley Pear Stamps (http://www.prickleypear.com/). The paper I bought at Joann's. I think it was from Hot Off the Press.

Enjoy!