Gardening Tools

I've been busy since yesterday making cards from the images I colored on vacation, and the image I used on this card is one I've colored unsuccessfully several times over the past few months, but I think I finally colored one acceptable enough for a card!

Isn't this a pretty stamp? It's fabulous for summertime! I love the detail in the tools, and all the elements around it. I colored the image with Copics, adding white highlights with a Prismacolor pencil and a little sparkle on the butterfly with a clear Wink of Stella pen and a black Spica pen. I used a copper Krylon pen around the edge of the Labels 4 die cut and added color inside the die with Distress Ink. The sunflower on the gingham bow is an MFT Die-namics flower. I added black "seeds" in the center of the flower with a black Pearl Pen. This is a rather large card, as I used the 5x7 Elegant Labels 4 die set to cut the layers. I don't normally like cards this large, but it was nice to have plenty of room for embellishing with a big bow and flower. :)

The sentiment on the inside of the card is from JustRite stamps, as is the stamped flourish on the bottom of the panel. After cutting the bottom border with a curved border die, I left the die on the cs, then airbrushed just the bottom area of the panel using the chisel end of a Copic marker, then turned the marker around and added spatters along the edge of the panel using the brush tip.

I've got a couple more cards to post, but probably won't be able to get to them until later tonight. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Impression Obsession Challenge: Colors of Summer
Corrosive Challenge #202: Color Me Happy
Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards Challenge #68: Summer Days
The Paper Shelter Challenge #165: Photo Inspiration

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Openings in Heaven

Oh my Gosh! I was shocked to see that I haven't posted in 2 weeks! This summer is just flying by. And, as usual lately, I'm short on time, so this will be brief.

Our community recently lost a young man in a tragic accident. Cody owned the lawn company that has been maintaining our yard, as well our neighborhood's common areas for the past five or six years. I literally never saw him without a big smile on his face. The day he told us about his new fiance, he was practically walking on air, he was so happy. He was also kind, honest, fair, and hardworking, and he has left behind his young wife of just 3 years and a six-month old baby girl. Such a sad, sad loss. I made this card for our neighborhood to send to the family.
The dark purple die cut is cut from a piece of purple foil. It was about the thickness of an aluminum can (maybe even thicker), and it was difficult to cut, but after embossing, it was really pretty. I stamped the sentiment twice--first in lavender, then over that, offset just a bit, in a dark purple, achieving a shadow effect. The crystals are Swarovski.

The green color inside the die cuts on the front and inside of the card was airbrushed with a Copic. I took the Copic Airbrushing class last weekend, and it has made a world of difference in my airbrushing skills. I highly recommend that class to anyone who wants to airbrush with their Copics.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday: Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Challenge #77: Anything Goes w/optional Pink
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Sweet Pea
Sugar Pea Designs SPD06 Challenge: Anything Goes

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Father's Day Metal

Ever since I made my Faux Metal Art project, I have been looking for ways to incorporate Inka Gold into my creations. (Eventually, I'll get around to posting those creations.) ;) Well, Father's Day is almost here, so a manly card is in order, and what better time to add a little faux metal, right? ;-)

This card's design is from the Viva la Verve May 2014 Week 5 sketch, and I have to admit, when I saw that sketch, I almost decided to just skip it and let this month's VLV challenge go. But, then I saw a really cool die from MFT stamps that reminded me of riveted steel. Perfect! I cut the strips from kraft cs, added several colors of Inka Gold, gave them a good buff, and voila! Faux metal! For the Father's Day banner, I first covered a piece of kraft cs with Inka Gold, buffed it, then heat embossed the Father's Day sentiment with copper ep. To give it a little more dimension, I curved the center of the banner a little and attached it with Coll-All 3D glue. I used Coll-All to attach the "metal" strips, too. The bg was distressed by inking the edges of the paper, tearing it in a couple of places, and adding more age with a few splatters of watered down Inka Gold, and random stamping using Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and a couple of pieces of wrapped candy. Yep, you read that right...wrapped candy. I had a square of Dove chocolate and a wrapped Jolly Rancher candy in a basket on my table, so I inked up the bottom of the chocolate piece and the crinkly twisted end of the Jolly Rancher and stamped just like using a regular stamp. 

The circular images were heat embossed in silver, onto paper that I had first watercolored with Inka Gold. To distress them, I tapped a little Versamark in a few places, then dipped them in Distress Embossing Powder.

I did minimal stamping on the inside of the card, and threw in another faux metal strip to "anchor" the white panel. This card was quite fun to make! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve May 2014 Week 5 Sketch Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Paper Issues: The World is a Circle
The Paper Shelter Challenge #160: Make it Manly

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

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Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #136: Sweet & Sassy

Happy Tuesday, Friends! Yes, happy is a good word for Tuesday because it's time for a new Tuesday Morning Sketch (TMS136). This week's sponsor is Guylou's Inimitability Digistamps, and our very own Marie designed the sketch.

I used the Eve digistamp, and Eve reminds me of the 1970's, with her bellbottoms and giant dangly loop earrings. I had the perfect paper--Hippie Chic, from DCWV--so I decided to paper piece at least part of her outfit. You would think paper piecing would be difficult with a digital stamp, but it's not. For this image, I printed Eve onto a piece of white cs to use as my base. Then I printed the image again onto white paper. I had a piece of cs that had strips of different dp's on one sheet, so I cut out the section I wanted to use, taped it to the white paper, lining up the dividing line between the two different dp patterns with the line on the image just above Eve's knees. I ran the paper back through the printer, printing the exact same image onto the patterned dp, and then cut out the pants from the dp. I did all my Copic coloring before attaching the pants to the image, and I used Copics to add a touch of shadow to the pants.

I used gold and silver Stickles for Eve's earrings and necklace, and for the rest of the card, I used dp from the same Hippie Chic stack. I just love the retro look! I mostly stuck to the sketch, but I really wanted to use the orange plaid cs on this card, so I trimmed my image as much as I could, and added the plaid as an extra layer to frame the image. It completely changed the look of the card, and brightened it up a lot. The "Sweet and Sassy" sentiment is from a Just Rite stamp set called, Topsy Turvy Cakes. I embossed the oval with a navy embossing powder, stamped the sentiment in orange, sponged a tiny bit of color around the inside of the embossed oval, then covered the entire area inside the embossed area with Glossy Accents.

For the inside, I punched a border from the orange plaid dp and attached it to the top of white cs, matted with navy. Then, I stamped a "sassy" birthday cake image and "Celebrate" sentiment (both from the Topsy Turvy set) in the lower right corner. I used a yellow Copic to add just a few bright touches to the flowers on the cake. This would make a great birthday card for a teenage girl, I think.

This is such a fun sketch, and a gift certificate from Guylou's Inimitability Digistamps is up for grabs! Don't you want to play along with us! :) For all the deets, and some fab inspiration from the rest of the team, head over to Tuesday Morning Sketches. You have until Sunday at 8:00 P.M. EST to link your creation. 

I can't wait to see what you create! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog, and have a great week!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Eve (Guylou's Inimitability Digistamps); Topsy Turvy Cakes (Just Rite Clear Stamps)
Paper: Hippie Chic (DCWV)
Ink: Copic Markers; Distress Ink; Memento
Dies: Classic Rectangle Large, Classic Scalloped Rectangle Large (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Postage Stamp Edge Punch (EK Success); embossing powder (Stampendous); ribbon; Glossy Accents; Stickles; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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