Wild Birthday

Today's card is yet another copied and modified card. I was inspired by Anne Beale Yancy. She has her own blog called Mukibug. I can't get a nice simple link to work so Google should help you here. I started off by stamping the alligator from Stampin' Up!s Wild About You set in Gable green. I added the bird from the set in Stampin' Up!s Brilliant Blue craft ink and the flower in Stampin' Up!s Pixie Pink craft ink. I did not ink the stem. Well acually I meant not to ink it and inked a little and then used my white Inksentials gel pen to cover it up. I matted that on Stampin' Up!s Gable Green cardstock then matted that on Stampin' Up!s Brilliant Blue cardstock. On a Stampin' Up! Kraft card base I stamped the giraffe from the set in Stampin' Up!s Pixie Pink craft ink. The image is so smooth. I just love Stampin' Up!s products. Next I adhered the matted alligator to the card base. I adhered a light pink gem from my ebay stash in the center of the flower with Aleen's glue. Finally I stamped the sentiment in Stampin' Up!s Brilliant Blue craft ink and embossed it in Stampendous clear embossing powder.

Baby Congrats

Today's card is another card that I copied and modified a bit. This card was originally designed by Alex Hau (hautocraft.blogspot.com). I had to adjust the color so that you could see the elephant in the middle. In real life the colors are a bit more subdued. I started off by stamping the lion from Stampin' Up!s Wild About You set in Martha Stewart Dandelion pigment ink. I stamped him again in Marth Stewart Melon Pigment ink and cut out his mane. I colored in his eyes, nose, and mouth with a brown Marvy marker. I then adhered the mane to the lion. Next I stamped the elephant in Stampin' Up!'s Pink Passion craft ink and again in Pixie Pink craft ink. I cut out the ear from the Pixie Pink and adhered it to the elephant. Next I stamped the giraffe in Stampin' Up!s Gable Green craft ink. I punch all three out with Stampin' Up!s Scallop Square punch and matted them on baby blue cardstock. Next I adhered all three animals to a strip of white cardstock. I used Stampin' Up!s Scallop Edge punch on a strip of baby blue cardstock and adhered the white strip to that. I adhered the scalloped piece to a light pink card base. Next I stamped the sentiment from Stampin' Up!s 2009 Sale A Bration set Congrats in Martha Stewart Blue Sky pigmnet ink and embossed it with Stampendous clear embossing powder.

Snappy Birthday!

This card was copied from Hairchick on Etsy. I haven't used my Stampin' Up! Crab & Company set in forever. I've been pretty stumped about how to make a card that doesn't wind up looking terrible. I love the images but for some reason I just couldnt put them together. For this card I started off with Stampin' Up!'s Kraft cardstock as the base. Next I layered a piece of Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip cardstock. I stamped the crab in black Sta Z on ink onto a piece of white cardstock. I used my watercolor pen (like Stampin' Up!s AquaPainter) and Stampin' Up!s Real Red craft ink to color in the crab. I used Stampin' Up!'s Sahara Sand dye ink with the watercolor pen to color the sand. I matted that in choclate chip and adhered it to a piece of Stampin' Up! Kraft cardstock. I tied a bow with Michale's brown ribbon and adhered that to the Kraft piece. I stamped the sentiment from the set onto the cardstock with Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chip dye ink. Finally I adhered that piece to the card base.

Eastern Birthday

Does this card look familiar? It should. I liked the sympathy card that I made so much that I decided to make it into a masculine birthday card. It is still kind of girly but I'm okay with it. I started off by running a piece of white card stock through my Big Shot with Stampin' Up!s Top Note die. I cut inside of the perforated lines to make it smaller. I then ran a black piece through with the die. On a white card base I stamped the two single flowers from Stampin' Up!s Eastern Blooms with black Sta Z on. Next I stamped the branch image (also in black Sta Z on) onto the white Top Note piece. I used "happy birthday" from Stampin' Up!s A Little Birthday cheer stamped in Stampin' Up!s Real Red craft ink and embossed it with clear Stampendous embossing powder. Finally I took a piece of bulk red ribbon that I purchased at Basket Market and tied it around the Top Note die cut and adhered that to the card base.

Flower Pot Card

This card shape/design/layout was inspired by Stephanie Luman, a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. I used Stampin' Up!s Chocolate Chip card stock. I absolutely LOVE their card stock. The quality is amazing. The colors are so rich and is is super thick! I cut out the flowers with my Big Shot and a Sizzix die, Flower Layers #2. I used Making Memories silver brads to adhere the layers. I stamped Birthday Wishes from Stampin' Up!s Sincere Salutations set in Martha Stewart Blue Sky pigment ink. I cut it out with my Big Shot and oval Nestabilities and applied a pink oval to the back. I used purple Michael's ribbon across the top of the flower pot. I also used my Stampin' Up! Scallop Edge Punch on the top of the pot. I used my "pokey" tool to poke a hole in the sentiment and attached it with Stampin' Up! twine.

Bird Birthday

This Maya Road stamp set is so versatile. Today I used my Build a Tree Singleton Stamp set to create a birthday card. I started off by stamping the tree in Stampin' Up!s Chocolate Chip classic ink. I used my Stampin' Up! Blender Pen with the ink pad to fill in the heart in the tree. Next I stamped the assorted leaves in Colorbox green pigment ink. I embossed them with Stampendous clear embossing powder. I used my Blender Pen with light green Colorbox Pigment ink to fill in the leaves. I stamped the bird in blue Colorbox pigment ink and embossed it with Stampendous clear embossing powder. Before stamping it I wiped the eye and beak clean. I used my Blender Pen with Colorbox light blue pigment ink and Marvy Markers to color in the bird. I used a black Sharpie pen to color in the bird's eye. I used a Mary marker to color the beak orange. I matted this with green card stock. I then took a piece of light blue card stock and stamped the pear repeatedly in blue Colorbox ink. I used Stampin' Up!s Ticket Corner Punch on the corners. Next I cut a piece out of the blue to add space for my sentiment. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!s A Little Birthday Cheer and is stamped in Versafine Onxy Black ink. I stamped the pear from the Maya Road set in Colorbox green pigment ink and embossed it with clear Stampendous embossing power. Next I adhered the matted image to the top portion of the blue card stock and adhered that to the card base. I adhered the sentiment to the card base and then adhered the bottom piece of the blue card stock below it. Finally I cut 4 strips of black paper and cut them at an angle with my scissors. I adhered two ofthem together at a 90 degree angle. I used my "pokey" tool to poke holes in each one and adhered them to the card.

Elephant Birthday

This is one of my favorite cards. It uses the Hero Arts Elephants clear set. First I stamped the medium elephant with Stampin' Up!s Pixie Pink Craft Ink and embossed it with Stampendous clear embossing powder. Nest I stamped the ribbon with black Sta Z on ink. This ink is great for stamping on embossed or shiny images. Next I stamped the mouse in Sta Z on as well. I used colored pencils to color him in and make light lines on his shorts. I used Gamsol to blend his shirt. Next I stamped the sentiment (also from the Elephants set) with Colorbox purple pigment ink. I adhered a light pink 3mm gem that I got from ebay with Aleene's Paper Glaze. For some reason these pink gems don't show up well in photographs. Next I matted the images on some black card stock. On a light purple card base I stamped the flower from Stampin' Up!s Short & Sweet set and colored the center with a white Uniball Signo pen. I ran a strip of light blue cardstock through a cuttlebug embossing folder. I did this twice to eliminate the smooth space; however, I neglected to put it through with the correct side up so the edge is actually the negative. I adhered the light blue embossed piece to the bottom of the card. Finally I adhered the black matted images to the middle.

Cupcake Tower

Today's card started out great but I'm not sure if I like how it wound up. Fist I stamped the cupcake tower image from Studio G with Versafine Onyx black ink and embossed it with clear Stampendous embossing powder. Next I used my watercolor brush (similar to Stampin' Up!s Aqua Painter) to color in the cupcakes with Stampin' Up! Real Red and Pixie Pink Craft inks, Martha Stewart blue sky pigment ink, and Colorbox purple pigment ink. Next I used my Big Shot and circle Nestabilities to cut out the tower. I used two way glue and my pink mystery glitter that I got in an unmarked tube at Basket market to coat the icing. Then I used Aleene's Paper Glaze to make the cherries stand out. I cut a piece of Stampin' Up! cardstock with my Big Shot and a scalloped circle Nestability die. I used a white Uniball Signo pen to make dots on each scallop and adhered the circle tower image to the scalloped circle. I then adhered the scalloped image to the card base. Next I stamped the sentiment which is from Stampin' Up!s A Little Birthday Cheer in Colorbox purple pigment ink and embossed it in clear embossing powder. Finally I added two pink rhinestones from Studio 18. They are almost the exact shade of pink as the card base but just don't show up right.

Gamsol Tutorial

Supplies:
Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits)
Colored Pencils
Sta Z on
Blending Stumps
Stamp
Cardstock













First stamp your image with Sta Z on or any other ink that does not smudge. This elephant is from the Hero Arts Elephants set.








Next color your darker areas with colored pencils. Be sure to not leave any white space because it usually doesn't blend right.







Then fill in the rest with the lighter colors. Notice how scribbley and uneven the coloring is: it will turn out just fine.







Next you take your blending stamp and dampen it with Gamsol. The more you put on the stump the more color it will pick up. So if you made an area too dark more Gamsol will help tone it down. This Gamsol is from My Heart's Fancy. It is from Inky Antics. It came with a small and medium blending stump, an instruction book, and this great container of Gamsol. With the spong on top it makes it easy to control the amount of Gamsol you get. When I went to And Bear Makes 3 they had Gamsol in just a jar. You would have to make an effort to not get too much on your stump.








Finally you take your moistened stump and blend from the outsde (or darker area) in. You can blend the color out of the lines so be careful.





The end result is an image that looks like it has been beautifully watercolored but with minimal effort on your part without the need to use watercolor paper to avoid wrinkling and pilling.

Baby Onesie Card

Afriend of mine is expecting twin girls this month. I'm so excited for her. She has been wanting a baby for so long and now she gets two! She is doing their room in dragonflies and butterflies so this tiny butteryfly from Stampin' Up!s Winged Things was perfect for this card. I started out by making a card base that folds at the top instead of the side. I stamped the butterfly in Colorbox purple pigment ink. Next I used the second to the smallest circle Nestability die with my big shot to cut out an opening in the top of the card. Then I ran it through on the corners. Next I measured in an even amount an even distance from the top of the card and made a small dot. I then ran my exacto knife down the edge from that dot to the point created by the circle Nestability at the leg opening. I used a piece of plastic to help keep the line straight. I did the same thing on the other side of the card. Next I ran my scalloped circle Nestability through my Big Shot with the same circle that I had used to cut the openings. I did that three times and adhered one at the neck opening and two leg openings. I used my exacto knife again to trim off the excess circle. Scissors would have worked just fine. I then used my "pokey tool" to poke three holes in the top layer of the bottom of the card. I put a Spare Parts silver mini brad in each hole. Next I tied a bow with pink grosgrain ribbon from Hobby Lobby. You actually cannot see in the picture but both the ribbon and the gems are light pink. I adhered the bow with a glue dot and used adhesive to secure the ends. Next I placed two light pink self adhering rhinestones from Studio 18 underneath the bow. I ashered a strip of white card stock to each arm opening and used my Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch. To finish up the card I stamped "welcome baby" from Stampin' Up!s Short & Sweet set inside twice since she is having twins.

Arigato

Yet another Asian card. I just can't get away from this Asian theme... plus I have all of my Asian themed stamps laying out. This is a super cute Hero Arts Sparkle Clear set called Argiato. I special ordered it from My Heart's Fancy and it took forever to get here. Hero Arts was so busy with all of their orders. Now that I have it I'm so excited. This little set has enough stamps to make a complete card with or to use as the perfect accents. I love how it their Sparkle Clear sets come with the little jewels. They're so affordable too. This set was only $6.35. I decided that it was time to break in this set for today's card. First I stamped the girl in Versafine Onyx Black on white card stock and matted it in pink. Then I used my Big Shot to cut out several pink circles using my circle Nestabilities. One of the great things about Nestabilities is that they also emboss the shapethat they have cut. I used the smallest circle. I just love how dramatic this oversized scallop effect looks. I adhered the circles to a strip of light green paper to get his effect. Then I stamped the small flower from the Arigato set in blue Colorbox pigment ink and Stampin' Up!s Gable Green and Pixie Pink Craft inks. I stamped another flower from the Hero Arts set Asian Frames in Versafine Onyx Black. Then I adhered the white strip to the green strip with the pink circles. Next I stamped the small flower and lantern from the Arigato set in Versamark on the light blue card base. Finally I adhered the green strip along the side and attached the pink matted girl on the side.

Sympathy Card

Unfortunately I needed a sympathy card. There was an unexpected death in the family. First I ran a piece of white card stock through my Big Shot with my Stampin' Up! Top Note die. This is a very versatile die. Then I ran a piece of black card stock through with the same die. I cut the white shape along the perforated line. I then stamped the branch from Stampin' Up!s Eastern Blooms set in Versafine Onyx Black. Next I stamped the sentiment from Stampin' Up!s Sincere Salutations set also in Versafine Onyx Black. On a white card base I stamped the two smaller flowers from the Eastern Blooms set with the Versafine. I adhered the white shape to the black and tied a piece of Stampin
Up!s 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon in Basic Black. I adhered that all to the card base.

Another Asian Influences Card

Layout sketches definitely make a huge difference in the quality of cards. This is another card that I am sending to Inkadinkadoo for their free stamp promotion. I used the Mojo Moday Week 79 sketch as well. Once again I used the Asian Influences set. I have two other sets from Hero Arts that will go wonderfully with this set. I can't wait to use them all together. I started with a white card base. Then I stamped my image on white cardstock in Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossed it with Stampendous Clear embossing powder. I did not use my embossing buddy prior to stamping the image so there are so stray clear pieces that you can see towards the top of the dress. The embossing buddy definitely makes a huge difference and is really affordable. Next I used my watercolor pen (similar to Stampin' Up!s Aqua Painter) with Colorbox's purple and blue pigment inks and Stampin' Up!s Pixie Pink craft ink to color in my image. Next I cut out a piece of light purple cardstock and used my Stampin' Up! Scallop Edge punch along the bottom. Next I cut a smaller piece of light blue card stock and stamped it with the fan image. I adhered the blue piece to the purple piece and adhered it to the card base. Next, I matted my image with black cardstock and adhered that to the card base on top of the purple/blue piece. I used Stampin' Up!s 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon in Basic Black to tie a knot and adhered that to the card. I cut the excess off of the sides. I then stamped the "sentiment" from the set in blue Colorbox pigment ink. I can't wait for my free stamps!

Inkadinkadoo Free Stamp Offer

Inkadinkadoo currently has a pretty nice promotion going on. You make a card (or project) using only their stamps and send it to them and they will send you a free stamp! You don't even have to pay shipping. This was the perfect motivation for me to purchase this set that I have had my eyes on at Michael's. It is called Asian Influences. With the 50% off coupons that they have been having almost regularly this set was only $5. How could I pass that up? Plus I decided that it was an investment. Buy one stamp set for $5 and get 3 more stamps for free! So if they are wood monted stamps that normally run about $6 each this set was a STEAL! Plus, every card can use some bamboo! To participate in this promotion cards must be postmarked by April 15th, 2009. You need to include the stamp item number of the stamp(s) that you used, your name, address, phone number, email address, and the name of your favorite stamp store. Then send your card or project to:
Inkadinkado Gallery
1801 N. 12th Street
Reading, PA 19604-1527

There is a limit of three per household. I am probably going to make two more card using just this set soon. The lady in the kimono will be perfect for that mojo monday week 79 layout from yesterday (hint, hint). Today's card is pretty easy. I started out with a black cardstock base and stamped the tall bamboo with Stampin' Up! Craft Green Galore ink. One of the things that I love most about Stampin' Up!s Craft ink versus Colorbox's pigment ink is that Stampin' Up!s ink tends to stay on the surface of the paper and show more color. It is like a chalk ink almost. I don't use chalk ink so I can't tell you how it compasres to chalk ink but I just might have to get some. My Heart's Fancy recently cot in some Colorbox chalk ink in Gray Whale and I love that color. After stampin the bamboo I stamped the guy with Versafine ink in Onyx Black and used Stampendous embossing powder in Clear and heat embossed him. Versafine is billed as a fast drying ink that dries instantly on matte cardstock; however, it is great for clear stamps and embossing. It stays wet long enough for embossing powder to stick and goes on evenly like my beloved Sta Z on. It is great because it doesnt stain all my clear stamps. Next I ran the image through my Big Shot with my oval Nestabilities. I used the second to the largest oval to cut out my image and the largest oval to cut out a red background. After adhering the white to the red I decided that my image was too plain. I used my watercolor brush (like Stampin' Up!s Aqua Painter) and Stampin' Up!s Kiwi Kiss, Real Red, Yoyo Yellow, and Colorbox's green to paint my image. I then adhered it to the card base and I was done. I don't have any Inkadinkadoo sentiments so I could not add one to this card.

Mojo Monday Week 79

Okay so I'm a bit behind. These sketches help inspire me. Some of my best cards come from these sketches. It allows me to copy something so that I have a plan but also makes me pick the colors and stamps. I did deviate from the sketch a bit but even the featured artists do that. White card bases make me pretty nervous. I never feel as if the card is finished. I used My Favorite things Eggstra Special stamp set for this card. I purchased this set because it has a super cute log eared bunny and I thought that he would look great in chocolate with a bite missing from his ear. I haven't gotten around to that just yet but I do love the sentiments. First I stamped the chicks and egg on white card stock with jet black Sta Z on. That is actually one stamp so it is super easy. I then added some detail to the chicks with my Marvy markers. I colored the egg and the chicks' bodies with colored pencils. I used Gamsol to blend it all. Gamsol makes shading a breeze! Then I matted the image with pink cardstock. Next I cut out the piece to be scalloped and punched it with Stampin' Up!s scallop edge punch. I then cut a smaller piece of light purple cardstock and stamped it with the flower from Stampin' Up!s Short & Sweet stamp set. I used my white Inksentials ink pen to color in the center of each flower. I think that you can see that if you look closely. I adhered the purple flower piece to the scalloped pinck piece and adhered that to the card stock base. Next I took a piece of light purple ribbon from Michael's and adhered it to the card. I cut it at the edges of the card. The I put my sentiment stamp on the card so that I knew where to place my image. I adhered the image and then stamped "Happy Easter" with jet black Sta Z on ink. Sta Z on ink is one of my favorite inks. It is perfect for images that you are going to color because it does not smudge or blend into your image. I also love the darkness of the black. Since I did not add the bow to the card it looked like it needed a little something extra. My bottle of Prima Iced Got Flowers? caught my eye... specifically a white one with pink dots. It was a bit further down in the bottle and as I was pouring them out I saw the pink one with white dots and laid it on the card. Once I got to the white one and laid it on the card I knew that the pink one was perfect. I took a Making Memories silver brad and used it to attach the flower. I love these colors for spring and I think that maybe the white card base and I can become friends.

Celebrate Cupcakes!

My mother asked me to make a card for her to give to her friend for her birthday. Usually I consider these requests challenges. However the only rule for this challenge was birthday. There were no colors, styles, etc. As a good daughter I did it anyway. This gave me an excuse to use two of my new stamp sets that I hadn't even opened. I started off by stamping the cupcakes with black Sta Z on ink. I knew that I was going to color them with something. I decided to go with my standby- colored pencils blended with Gamsol. I love working with Gamsol. Gamsol blends colored pencils almost effortlessly. I then decided that the cupcakes needed a little something so I added Aleene's Paper Glaze to the icing of the two end cupcakes and to the cherry. Next I matted the cupcakes with the baby blue from the card base. I then used my Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch to punch the edges of a piece of pastel pink cardstock. I adhered the matted cupcakes to the pink scallop piece and laid it on the card base. I used that as my guide to stamp celebrate from Stampin' Up!s celebrate everything set. That set is so versatile because it comes with many phrases that you can add to tailor the sentiment to your occasion. Under celebrate I added cupcakes forever from my studio g cupcake set. Both were stamped in colorbox pigment ink. I embossed both parts of the sentiment using Stampendous star dust transparent embossing powder. It has clear mixed with silver glitter. It gives both a raised and a glitter effect it one. I love it because it is a real timesaver! It really helps add a little extra to this card.

Hedgie Get Better

My step dad was in a pretty nasty car wreck the other day. His van was totaled. While he is okay (thankfully) he is still pretty achy. I decided to make him a get well soon card with some paper that I had leftover from a birthday card I made.


My step dad LOVES OSU so this was perfect. Plus, orange and black coordinate so well. I also got a change to use my new hedgehog Quickutz die. This is actually 2 2x2 dies. I used my Big Shot although this would have been better suited to my Squeeze because of the large number of times I had to cut off hegehog pieces. I started off with a white card base and then cut some black to mat it. Then I used more white so that my hedgies would show up. Then I began the endless hedgehog cutting process. I cut two orange bases, 4 neutral color heads, and TONS of eyes, noeses, and feet. I kept losing the little eyes and noeses. I also almost left off about 3 feet. Next I cut out "get better" with my Quickutz Moxie dies. I adhered these to the paper with 2 way glue. They didn't stand out enough so I did some coloring with my white Inksentials pen. I'm not too happy with how it turned out but I didnt want to cut out the letters and re-glue them. I then sponged the hedgie faces with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in walnut stain. I adhered the faces with more 2 way glue. I used my little Xyron machine to put adhesive on the hedgehog bodies and adhered them. I used 2 way glue to adhere all the feet, eyes, and noses. Next I wrapped a piece of Stampin' Up!s black gingham ribbon around the card front and adhered it. I put the "get better" piece over that. Finally I cut out Pete from another piece of OSU paper that I had leftover and adhered him with a pop dot and then adhered to card from to the card base. I think that next time I will stick with fewer hedgies!

More Trendy Trees

I am so in love with the Trendy Trees set. Stampin' Up! makes such versatile sets! I read about this technique on Split Coast Stampers and just had to try it. Candles make a great addition to any present. Coordinating candles are the best. For today's prject you need some white tissue paper, some wax tissue paper, and a heat embossing gun. First stamp your images onto the white tissue paper just as if it were your usual paper. Craft or pigment ink works so much better for this project. As you can see in the picture to the right the green ink is smooth whereas the brown trunk shows the grain of the tissue paper. The pigment ink tends to fade through the paper so be sure to watch out for smudges. Next you will cut around your image with scissors. Try to get pretty close to the image. I stamped my tree with Stampin' Up! Gable Green craft ink and Chocoalte Chip dye ink. Next you will take a strip of wax paper larger than your image. Place your tissue paper cut out on the candle where you want it. Wrap the wax paper around the tissue paper. Heat with your embossing gun until the wax paper becomes pretty see through. It transfers the wax from the paper on top of your tissue paper and the wax of the candle softens a bit too. Next I stamped other Trendy Trees in Glorious Green craft ink, Real Red craft ink, and more Chocolate Chip dye ink. I repeated the same process of cutting out the image and then wrapping it with wax paper and heating it for each tree. This is a great quick and easy gift. I purchase these candles at Hobby Lobby. Candles were 50% off that week so I got a pack of 10 for $2.50. The tissue paper came from Dollar Tree. I havent even used a whole sheet yet. I also purchased wax paper from Dollar Tree. I went with the brand name because I believe that it has more wax on it and works better. I have not tried an off brand. This uses so little wax paper because you can reuse the sheet that I just keep a roll in my craft room. I save the cheap stuff for the kitchen! If you try out this technique feel free to leave a comment with either your project or a link to it. I hope you enjoy this technique as much as I do.