2007 August »

Showers of Thanks!

Colored Pencils, MFT Designs, Sewing/Stitching, Techniques 13 Responses »

Aug 312007

This week has gone much faster than I ever anticipated. Of course, I have slept the better part of 3 days away! I guess I needed it, and I am feeling a little better today than the last few. I have Stamp Club tomorrow and I need to get ready for that – these girls are actually wanting a project tomorrow – can you imagine that? In addition, Mallory is coming in for the weekend tomorrow. I’m looking forward to her coming home, dirty laundry and all! But that probably means major interruption during Stamp Club – oh well, my baby is coming home!

I’m sure most of you have already seen samples of the new releases coming out by My Favorite Things. Kim had a sneak peek on her blog a few days ago. Well, I finally got around to decorating my paint tin. I’ve seen so many with MFT designs, and I wanted to show you one not using any stamps at all.

I used the BasicGrey Romani collection and cut my paper to fit inside the tin. Finished decorating the background layer as I wanted, added some ribbon, and then inserted the DP into the can. The prima is mounted on the outside of the tin and a variation of May Arts and SU ribbons are tied on the handle.

I was just going to post the can, but then Jeanne suggested I put a card with it. So I did.

I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils, blending with Turpenoid, to match the colors in the tin. Why I didn’t use the BasicGrey paper for this as well, I can’t even begin to tell you. I was so stuck on matching the umbrella up with the paper that I had the card half done before it even occurred to me that I should have used the BasicGrey. Anyhoo, I stamped the hearts in pink and then outlined them and drew some rain with a Sakura Glitter Pen. The sewing machine was sitting there too, so I just couldn’t help myself and had to do some sewing. For me, that is sometimes faster than taping and gluing all the panels together. The polka dots on her dress are made with a Signo White Gel Pen.

Stamps: Shower Time and Behind the Scenes by My Favorite ThingsInk: Brilliance Graphite Black, VersaMagic Pixie Dust

Paper: SU Basic Black and Print Sampler, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Radiant Heartwarming Vintage Collection by Craft Secrets

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Turpenoid, Blending Stumps, Sakura Gelly Roll Glitter Pen, Signo White Gel Pen, Sewing Machine

Paint Tin:

Paper: BasicGrey Romani Collection

Accessories: May Arts and SU Ribbons, Prima Flower, Gem

I hope everyone has a great weekend and maybe – if Mallory is out running with friends, I’ll get some stamping done!

New Day, New Stamps!

Challenges, Colored Pencils, Gina K. Designs, Humor, Techniques 15 Responses »

Aug 302007

I feel like I’ve just started my day, and this is just about the time I wrap things up actually. I haven’t been feeling well the last couple of days, so I decided to sleep in this morning. Well I sure did, 3 hours over my normal time. Then the new puppy made a mess, had to clean that up (of the joys of housebreaking). Right now she is in her kennel and will remain there until she actually goes outside today – bad bad grandma! The other one decided to bolt and run across the boulevard – so that was a chase down. Yep I look damn silly chasing a 5 lb. puppy through the yard, never catching her. AND, when I was making that first pot of coffee, I spilled used grounds all over the kitchen carpet. When my husband bought a new coffee pot, he bought one with the grinder built in. Needless to say, the leftover grounds from his first pot were still there, and while dumping them out, they slid through the end. Had to clean that up in a hurry – because I would forget to clean it up, then he would come in from work, want to know what was on the carpet, blah blah blah. Anyhoo, enough about me and my morning. I have something exciting to tell you.

This morning Gina K announced on her blog that she has some new stamps coming out on Tuesday, September 4th. It’s a new designer and she happens to be a friend of mine. So I asked my friend, since I have a couple of her stamps, if I could post a sneak peek too! Well guess what, she said yes!!!!!!

I did this card for today’s Ways to Use it Challenge on Splitcoast. The challenge today is dust off and sharpen those pencil crayons. Well I have plenty, and glad to have the excuse to use them a little more this week. Since I’ve started using Copic Markers, I have let my Prismacolor Pencils gather some dust. Out of practice shall we say!

Stamps: New Designer Collection from Gina K. Designs

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black

Paper: SU Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi and Prints Sampler

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Turpenoid, Blending Stumps, Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi Ribbon, Black Gel Pen, Dimensionals

Hope everyone has a great day today!

Sunny Greetings

Challenges, Colored Pencils, MFT Designs, Sewing/Stitching, Techniques 11 Responses »

Aug 292007

Happy Wednesday! Can’t believe we’ve already hit midweek, but then again I’m so confused these days that I can’t remember what I did yesterday. I do remember napping yesterday for over 2 hours and then I was late to Sorority. I walked in the door and to my chagrin, I was the last to walk in the door and they had been holding dinner up on me – felt a little bad!

I don’t know how many of you have noticed that there has been a Sneak Peek of some new releases at My Favorite Things, and you can read all about them here on Kim’s Blog. I’m also gonna give you one here today!

I did this card for today’s Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast. The image is stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colored with a combination of Prismacolor pencils and then blended with the Copic Blender Marker instead of Turpenoid or Gamsol. The white polka dots were made with a Signo White Gel pen. I used up some scraps of Crate Paper Brunch Collection (that you can find here) for the backgrounds, sewing them on the sewing machine. The piercing on the green panel was done on the sewing machine, without the thread.

Stamps: Shower Time and Sassy Greetings by My Favorite Things

Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black

Paper: SU River Rock, Crate Paper Brunch Collection

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Copic Markers, Sewing Machine, Scissors for Distressing, Sanding Block, SU River Rock and Wild Wasabi Ribbon, Mounting Tape

Thinking of Maddy

Challenges, Misting with Markers, Stampin' UP!, Techniques 14 Responses »

Aug 282007

I made this post very early this morning, and somehow it has disappeared. So here we go again.

I guess this is a day that I’m going to get a little sappy. Just yesterday I heard from a friend that 2 of our buddies had cancer. I was so devastated in hearing this news and am so astounded. Then last night I talked to my mother and one of her close friends told her that she has first stage lung cancer. All three of these friends are taking treatment, and the outcome looks good for 2 of them. This hits us all like a ton of bricks – especially my mother. For those of you who don’t know, my father died of lung cancer three years ago. The sad thing about him was he had it for some time and did not tell us, so it was too late to do anything for him once we found out. My mother chose at the time not to put my father through any type of treatment and we let him enjoy the last few months at home with his family around him. Quality over quantity is what his doctor told my mom.

Now just last week I was informed about one of our SCS friends who is also battling cancer. If you would like to see more about Maddy Mason, you can find it here.

Today’s Splitcoast Color Challenge card is one that I am sending to Maddy.

I colored the flower image with Pretty in Pink and Old Olive markers, dabbed Purely Pomegranate around the edges, misted with water and stamped on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White. I distressed the edges of the Old Olive cardstock by using scissors and a sanding block.

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Well-Worn Words, Warmest Regards

Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate

Accessories: Scissors for Distressing, Sanding Block, Brads, Mounting Tape, Water Mister, Sponge Dauber, Ribbon

Rockin' Resist

Challenges, Emboss Resist, Lizzie Anne Designs, Techniques 8 Responses »

Aug 272007

Happy Monday! I’m a little late with my post today, but Mallory called home this morning and it was so much to chat with her. She’s adjusting well to college life and has finally met some girls on her floor to run with. I laughed cause she did laundry yesterday, but promised me that she would bring home the clothes she wears this week. Kate is going up for a concert on Friday and will be bringing her home on Saturday morning for the holiday weekend. The only thing Mallory has asked for is her grandmother’s beef stew – and oh she does make mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm good beef stew.

If you haven’t checked out the new releases at Lizzie Anne Designs, you can find them here. There will be 8 new Little Bits™ stamp sets and 8 new Simply Singles™ released on September 10th.

I’ve been playing around with the Daisy Dots set from Lizzie Anne all weekend, and when I saw the Splitcoast Challenge this morning I knew it would be perfect. It was also still sitting on my counter. Today’s Try a New Technique Challenge is a repeat of an older one, emboss and/or versamark resist. I combined both on my card – just for the heck of it.

The solid flower image was stamped in Versamark and the flower outline was embossed with Ranger UTEE. I sponged the inks on using a damp sea sponge which also kept the embossing clear so that I didn’t have to wipe it off later. The bottom panel is a scrap of Apricot Appeal where I stamped the solid image in Versamark, the outline in the lightest ink and the sentiment in the darker ink. The card measures 4 x 7 ½.

Stamps: Daisy Dots and Sketched Sentiments by Lizzie Anne Designs

Ink: Tim Holtz Ranger Spiced Marmalade and Dried Marigold Distress Inks, VersaMark Watermark

Paper: SU Apricot Appeal and Basic Black, Kromekote Laser High Gloss, Craft Secrets Radiant Heartwarming Vintage Collection

Accessories: Ranger UTEE, Sea Sponge, May Arts Ribbon, Brads

Hope everyone has a great day and if nothing bigger than a shoe string breaks, I’ll see you tomorrow!