Check this card out!

I won some blog candy from Crissy over at Crissy's Art 'n Heart a couple weeks ago. I knew I'd won some stamps. What I didn't know? Was that she was sending me the sample card as well! Wow...I would have been happy with just that! It is gorgeous! But you will have to see for yourself.



And just so you can see it better...here is a picture of just the card...



Isn't it stunning? Aren't I lucky?

Sorry I didn't post for a few days. We were having technical issues with our camera and computer communicating. But they seem to be getting along better these days. LOL.

Have a great Tuesday!

Jane

You're Despicable!

My husband found some Looney Tunes stamps for me. I kept the two Daffy stamps and am going to sell the others on ebay to recoup the cost. So...if you like Looney Tunes go check out THIS auction. There is a Porky Pig, a Bugs Bunny and a Sylvester stamp. Wood mounted. Auction starts at .99 with no reserve. So if you're interested check it out.

In the meantime, here is a card I made with one of the new Daffy stamps. I really like how it turned out!



I went to a stamping class yesterday and have goodies from that to show, I have blog candy I won to show, and I have an RAK to share. So more good stuff to come! For now, I guess I gotta go get in the car and drive my hour to work. I thought by now we'd be living like the Jetsons with space cars or like Star Trek with teleportation. Ugh...I'm SO tired of driving!

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

Demotivated Mountain Goat

I bought these stamps from Copper Leaf Creations Rubber Stamps at the latest stamping convention. I just LOVED the look on the rams face.



So I stamped the "mountain peak" onto some reddish patterned paper that I have (it reminded me of the red mountain behind our house growing up) and cut out the mountain. I then stamped the ram near the top of my white piece and then glued the mountain below him (ha...no masking or coloring the mountain!) Then I needed a saying. I went to all these sites searching for "climbing quotes" or "mountain top quotes". I found a lot of good inspirational ones. But I really wanted something that went more appropriately with the look on his face. I remembered that one of the guys at work has screen savers from a site called Despair. They sell "de-motivational posters" where the photo looks like it's going to be serious but the saying underneath is just the opposite of motivating. Some are pretty funny. Anyways, that sent me off to search for "demotivational sayings". I found a different site that had this quote that I ended up using on my card.

Hope you like it!

Jane

An Inspirational Card

I started out by stamping the ship on Colonial White paper. I tried sponging it and it still didn't have the "rugged" look I wanted. So I crumpled the paper a few times and then did ink direct to paper on the raised crinkles of the paper. I then curled in some of the outside corners and inked them directly with the ink pad. Still not sure I love the card. It just looks "off" to me. Not complete - but I'm not sure what I'm missing or could add to it. My husband likes it just fine.



If you want to see the rest of the saying (I put part outside and part inside) you can see the full saying HERE. All stamps are from Bon Ton Stamps.

Let me know what you think...like it? don't like it? what is it missing? or is it missing anything?

Have a great Tuesday!

Jane

After Midnight Cowgirl

I saw this image at the After Midnight booth and had to have her. I've gotten pretty picky when it comes to the images I choose because I already own so many and my funds are limited. So nowadays I will only buy an image if I have nothing like it already. And I didn't have anything like this little cowgirl!



She's colored with prismacolor pencils. And I used a soda pop tab on the ribbon for a buckle. I keep a few of these on hand now for just this purpose.

Anyways, I thought she came out really cute. My dh didn't like her so much...said she looked too much like the cowgirl from Toy Story (I guess she does a bit) but I still like the card.

Give her some love!

Jane

Guess what???

You all know how much I LOVE my High Hopes rubber stamps right?

Some times when I see new images, I want to play with them first before investing money in them. Especially stamps that require a lot of coloring (since that used to be hard for me to do...notice the term USED to be! LOL). I searched the gallery at Splitcoaststampers and found some people that had made cards with the images. Then I emailed them and asked if they'd be willing to trade images. Chrissy was awesome about it. She emailed me a big envelope full (which then caused me to go to their site and spend $130!)

Chrissy's artwork blew me away! It turned out that she is not only on the Design Team for the company...but she is also one of the Illustrators (who draw the images for the stamps). And...she's amazingly sweet to boot! So we've traded images a couple times now and we've got to know each other a bit. And, until recently she only displayed her artwork on her gallery at Splitcoaststampers. But I'm happy to announce that she has finally started her own BLOG called Chrissy's Art and Heart. She offered some blog candy and I entered...never in a million years did I think I would win. But I DID! I'm so excited to have new High Hopes rubber stamps to play with! But I'm even MORE excited that Chrissy has started a blog so everyone can see her artwork. Make sure you check it out!

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

New Goodies!

While at the rubberstamp convention this weekend I picked up a few goodies.

These first stamps all came from the booth I demo'ed at. These designs are all made by Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps.



The next stamps come from a company called Bon Ton Stamps. I had never heard from them before but liked a lot of their sayings. I'm a word kind of gal. I love to read and write...so quotations and sayings are some of my favorite images. Check our their site for others. These came as just rubber (no cushion, no mounting) so I just slapped them down to get an image to show on my blog. I guarantee these look better in person and I'll have to prove that on a card in the near future! For now I just wanted to be able to show them to you!



The two quotes say:
"I just signed up for an exercise class and they told me to wear loose clothing. If I HAD any loose clothing, I wouldn't have signed up in the first place!"

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw of the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream."

The next stamps come from a company called Copper Leaf Creations. I was trying to be selective and stay on a budget...but I had to get this duo of stamps. They just made me smile (and isn't that what life is about?)



That's about it. I did buy a single stamp at After Midnight Rubber Stamps (a cowgirl leaning against a fence). And I wanted to buy a single stamp at Hawaiin Baby Rubber Stamps (they had a "dog pile" (yes of steaming poop) that I REALLY wanted but they sold out of it the first day. So that's my purchases for the day. I spent approximately what I earned working at the booth so I was happy. It didn't cost my anything (but some of my time). We are on such a tight budget that I feel guilty using too much for rubberstamps. SO demoing was a great way to get some spending money...and it was fun to boot!

K...gotta go. Supposed to be out the door in five minutes and I'm still sitting here in my slip with wet hair and haven't eaten breakfast (oops!)

Jane

Bella...sarcasm style...

I received this Bella image in a swap. I colored it in with prismacolor pencils. Then I went about trying to find a saying to go with it. I found this one (not sure who makes it). If you can't read it, it says "Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening." (Amen sistah!) This is actually just part of the saying...the rest of it says something to the effect of "If it's none of these then it causes cancer."



Hope you enjoy it!

Jane

I love this little guy!

I picked up this stamp set at Joann's a couple weeks ago. It has other stamps...but the lizard is my favorite (Go figure, eh? What can I say...I grew up with three brothers and now have two boys of my own...I like critters!)



I did some distressing with sponging ink and DTP around the edges. Otherwise the lizard was just TOO clean. LOL.

Inside the card I stamped the full greeting (which says, You Look Good for Your Age, Almost Human."

Hmm...updates on other things:

1) The puppy (Chewy) got his first round of shots and a vet visit. He has gained about a pound since we got him and now weighs 2 pounds 6 ounces.

2) I demoed at a stamp show yesterday for a company called Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Had a great time. Came home covered in glitter with no money in my pocket (spent all my earned money on more rubber stamps). I'll post pics of my goodies sometime this week so you can see what I got. I must have done a decent job of demoing because she asked me to do future shows for her. So that was cool.

Guess that's it for now. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Jane

A "virgin" project

Good morning (I think! LOL!)

Hmmm...what do I have to share with you today???

Maybe something new? Something different?

How about something that is NOT a card?

How about something that is a total first for ME too?

How about a coaster box?

It's a coworker's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to make something for her. This is what I made.



Then I bought a couple bags of her favorite candy (Baby Ruth's) and filled the container. I made a tag and attached it to a skewer stick. Then stuck it in the container. I couldn't fit the finished product in my photo box...so excuse all the background mess in the photo.



The box is made with 4 inch cardboard coasters (like they would use a Chili's or similar restaurant. I was given a package of these by a friend. I cut my patterned paper to 4x4 and then used modge podge to adhere the paper to the cardboard. I sanded the edges and the fronts of the coasters a bit to distress it. Then I punched holes in one coaster and used it as a template for three of the others and then punched holes in them as well. I used ribbon to tie the sections together. Then I took the 5th coaster and glued it to the bottom of the other four to complete the "box". Then I decorated it a tiny bit with the stamped image (all stamps are Stampin' Up today). I think it came out really cute!

Jane

House Mouse Monday Challenge

I took today off as a vacation day. Just needed a break from work and figured if I took today then I could get a four day weekend. When I saw the new challenge over at the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog...I decided to play along!

The hardest part of this sketch (for me at least) is that most of the House Mouse images tend to be a bit on the big size. I decided to use one of my mice from my Christmas set...yup...Christmas set.



Doesn't look like Christmas, does it? Well, in the set the mouse really has a santa hat on his head. Instead I used a single stamp of a witches hat (from an inexpensive set I bought at Michael's last year). I stamped it first and then masked it and then stamped the mouse with the santa hat. So now, my santa mouse is a witchy mouse. ;-)

Hope you like it!

Jane

I saved the BEST for last!

Ok...this is the last set I am showcasing for Clear Dollar Stamps. The new stamps were released THIS MORNING. So go get your new sets!

The last set I'm showcasing is called "Tool Time". It is a set of 12 for $7.99.

I have three older brothers who were always working on cars so I am ALL about this set!

For my first sample I made a gift card holder:

Outside:


Inside:


If you look closely you will also see that I used a new stamp called "Heavy Metal". I stamped in tone on tone as a background. The colors didn't photograph as well as I'd like. It's really kind of the colors of Home Depot (that's what I was going for) but the photo doesn't really show that. How great would this be with a gift card enclosed for Home Depot as a Christmas present? I know my brothers would love it!

For my last sample I stayed with the same colors and made a birthday card. This birthday card also uses one of the newly released cuttlebug folders called Argyle. And I used REAL hardware on this card! LOL. They probably thought I was a little wierd at Ace Hardware as I was in there picking out four of this and four of that in the washer aisle. I wasn't sure what I'd need for my cards but knew I wanted some real washers to use on here. This is what I came up with...



Hope you like the samples.

Just as an FYI with the holidays coming up...there is another set that I REALLY like that I didn't get to design with. It's called Sweet Accents. It has different sayings to go with different candies. I think it's adorable. So you might want to check it out as well.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Jane