Ocean Dreams

Hello everyone, things have been pretty quiet around here. After the mad rush of cards before CHA and the new LOTV release, I had to sit back and take it easy for a while. Major paper crafting overload, my creativity muscle was seriously sprained, lol! Not to mention I finally bought a digital cutter, and me and my Gazelle have been getting acquainted as I experiment doing this and that. I have yet to use it for a paper crafting project, but I'm hoping it will be soon! 

Anyway, here's a card a created a little while back, I used an old favorite image from Stamps Happen. This is a huge stamp, so a 6" card was in order. 

The image was water colored with a combination of SU reinkers and Distress Inks. I've said this before, when I'm working with an image of the beach or any nautical theme, they have to be water colored! They go hand in hand, and I love the soft, blurry way the colors flow over the paper. In order to get a good impression with this kind of a large stamp, I needed the smoothest water color paper I could find. My favorite is the Fabriano Artistico hot press block.

I added a row of seashell peel off stickers that I used the burnished velvet technique on along the bottom of the image. They too were water colored with SU and Tombow markers. 


To complete the sea theme, I created a debossed background paper using a Spellbinders impression plate and brayered over with Old Paper Distress ink. It really brings out the detail of the shell design this way. The striped patterned paper was also stamped using an Impression Obsession cover-a-card stamp, Random Lines. 


Wish I were on the beach right about now....


Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Father's Day

Good morning everyone! I wanted to show you the card I made for my Dad, which I sent out last week thinking last Sunday was Father's Day! LOL! I probably confused the heck out of him.

Anyway, I used one of my favorite lighthouse stamps from Stamps Happen. I colored it with colored pencils, in sunset colors. Because this stamp is so big, the rest of the card hardly needs anything else. A bit of ribbon, a metal embellishment, not much else. The background paper was just a piece of Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock embossed with the Herringbone embossing folder and sanded down to reveal the color layer. Love that stuff....
Here's a closer look at the lighthouse:

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there, and thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Bristol vellum, Core'dinations, SU, PTI

Accessories: PTI stitched ribbon, SU hardware, colored pencils, OMS, Tonic corner rounder, Cuttlebug EF

Christmas Greetings

Here's another Stamps Happen stamp I snapped up from Ebay. Isn't it gorgeous?! The card is sized at 5" x 7" and look how the stamp almost fills the card! HUGE! You don't need much going on for the rest of a card with a stamp this size, LOL!
I wanted the snow and sky to match the Baja Breeze in the DSP, and because I don't have a single colored pencil that comes even close, I used the ink pad and a Tombow blending marker to color in the snow and sky. I did deepen the shading with a colored pencil, though. That's what I love about colored pencils, you can use them right over other mediums.

I think my sweet heart will be getting this one, I just need to find a lovey-dovey Christmas poem to print for the inside.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento, SU

Paper: Bristol vellum, SU, PTI

Accessories: SU stitched ribbon, EK Success slim edger punch, colored pencils, OMS, Tombow blender pen, Copic Spica pen, Sakura Glaze pen

An Angel's Work

I scored another great find on Ebay! Found this D. Morgan stamp by Stamps Happen, I'd never seen it before, so I was desperate to get it. I think it's so beautiful. If you've never seen D. Morgan's paintings before, you should check them out. My coloring can't hold a candle to them, but I love coloring them.

The little sentiment running around the image says 'From morning light... to setting sun~ an angel's work is never done.'

Of course I added lots of glitz and sparkle using Stickles, and Liquid Pearls. I spattered some white acrylic paint over it too, for gently falling snow. I colored everything with colored pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Stamps Happen, Justrite

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bristol vellum, Little Yellow Bicycle

Accessories: Gingham ribbon, Nestabilities, McGill circle punch, corner rounder, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, Copic Spica pen, colored pencils, OMS, Sakura Glaze pen

Christmas Eve

Another Joy Fold card, this time, much bigger, about 6" square. Had to figure out the measurements all by myself, which I normally stink at! I love to work with larger cards, though, especialy for large stamps such as this one from Stamps Happen.

This is one of my favorite Christmas stamps, I've had it for a while, I use it for at least one card every Christmas.

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Stamps Happen, Justrite

Ink: Memento, SU

Paper: Heavenly White, Fancy Pants, The Paper Co., Bazzill

Accessories: Nestabilities, Fiskars edger punch, Copics, colored pencils, OMS, McGill circle punch, satin ribbon, Stickles

Earth Becomes a Colored Quilt...

I now have three out of the four season D. Morgan stamps from Stamps Happen. My plan was to get all four and make a wall calender, that's how much I love these stamps! I'll have to get the summer one soon and get to work on my calender!
In the meantime, here's a card with the Autumn stamp, how GORGEOUS is this image?! It's so big, it hardly fits on a 5" x 7" card, but I love it regardless.

Coloring it is always a bit of a challenge, however, as the lines are pretty freeform and sometimes I really have to study the area I'm getting ready to color to figure out what's what! But the end result is always spectacular, and so worth it!

The rest of the card I kept super simple, just some ribbon with a button, I don't want any of the papers or embellishments to compete with the image. Gets too distracting.

Anyway, hope you like it, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Fiskars edge punch, Colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, Sakura glaze pen, PTI ribbon/twine, wooden button

By the Seashore

This is a BIG card, it measures almost 6" square. The stamp was very big, so I had to make the card a lot bigger. And since I can't find heavy 12" x 12" cardstock anywhere (if you know of a source, you must let me know!) I used watercolor paper instead.

I was thinking of water coloring the image, it's been a long time since I did, but decided against it. I think I have much more control with colored pencils, and since my mojo has just gotten back from vacation, I didn't want to push it. Simple is better for now. I did use some Copics for the girl's dress and the water, though. Just can't find a muted blue green like it in my vast collection of colored pencils.

The paper is 'Dutch Girl' from an older Cosmo Cricket collection. It just totally reminded me of the seashore, absolutely perfect for this card.

I am very pleased with the way this card turned out, thanks for coming back mojo! lol

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Memento

Paper: Strathmore w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, SU, Bristol vellum

Accessories: colored pencils, OMS, Copics, Liquid Pearls, Copic Spics pen, Wrights satin ribbon, half pearls, Fiskars apron lace punch

Father's Day Cards

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been up to something that's kept me pretty busy since last week. I promise I'll let you in on the secret soon!

I made these father's day cards a couple of weeks ago, just never took pics of them till today. Actually, I needed to finish the lighthouse one and added the 'Dad' scalloped tag. I used my Just Rite alpha set to stamp it out onto Soft Sky cardstock. The stamp is a great find on Ebay, from Stamps Happen. I love the D. Morgan images...

Then, a totally different style card, using Papertrey Ink supplies. I really like them both, and haven't decided which to send my dad yet.

Thanks for looking!

Lighthouse Card

Stamps: Stamps Happen, Just Rite

Ink: Palette

Paper: Bristol vellum, SU DSP, Papertrey Ink

Accessories: SU scalloped & oval punches, colored pencils, OMS, Liquid Glass, Papertrey Ink chocolate twill ribbon, button, twine

It's Your Day Card

Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Verve Visual

Ink: Palette, Perfect Match

Paper: Papertrey Ink

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels die, PTI ribbon

Playing Catch Up!

I actually made this card a while ago, but the picture I took of it was so awful, I couldn't post it. I tried again today, it was actually sunny outside, so the picture is a lot better. I am going to look for one of those 'daylight' bulbs as recommended by someone who left me a comment (thanks!) and see how that works.
This card just oozes spring!

From the image, to the flowers and the soft spring colors in the Memory Box papers. I even took a clear Sakura glaze pen and added some highlights to the pond, can't see it in the picture, but it is an awesome effect, like real water! I love how it came out. I think I will send it to someone very special, who I know will appreciate it.

I have lots of cards to post, still working on some editing to sharpen them up a bit, but I'll have them coming fairly regularly. AND, I'm done with some more Magnolia design team cards. Adorable spring images!

Stay tuned!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Palette

Paper: Bristol vellum, Memory Box, PTI

Accessories: Corner rounder punch, Prima flowers, self stick pearls, colored pencils, OMS, sheer pink ribbon, Sakura glaze pen, Stickles

Gently Falling Fairy

Well I was digging through my wood mounted stamps the other day, and came across this uninked from Stamps Happen. Now, I don't really mind using wood mounted stamps, they're nice to have, but I just don't have the room for them. I try to avoid buying them because of this. I end up having to store them in a box buried under other boxes of supplies I use everyday, so I forget about them, LOL. This one is a perfect example. I actually have two very similar stamps like this (unintentional, I meant to buy another one instead of this one). They are beautiful, though. I love most of the designs from Stamps Happen. This is a large stamp, too. The card measures 5" x 7" to give you an idea.


FYI, to answer a question left in my comments yesterday. I have many different brands of colored pencils, the whole set of Prismacolors, many Faber-Castell Polychromos, some Lyra's, old Spectracolor, Walnut Hollow oil pencils, Raffine, Design Spectracolor and a lot of Derwent. I usually use my Polychromos and Prismacolor's the most, since I have most of those colors. But I do use the others as well. I rarely just use one brand of colored pencils. HTH.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Stamps: Stamps Happen
Ink: Palette
Paper: Papertrey Ink, My Mind's Eye, SU, Bazzill
Accessories: Button, Seam Binding ribbon, Stickles, colored pencils, OMS,

Winter Village

Here's the other Stamps Happen stamp I bought on Ebay (paid a bit too much, yikes!!) which I LOVE! It's gorgeous! I also painted it with something different this time, not Tombow or SU markers. I've been wanting to try Peerless watercolors for a long time, they've been around forever, even when I was in High School. But I've never actually bought any until recently. I love watercolors, but I hate all the individual tubes of real watercolors. I've tried the pan watercolors, but they don't have as many colors that I wanted, and I don't like mixing my own too much. So, I figured, it's time I tried the Peerless. If you don't know what they are, read about them here. Well, I kind of like them. They may grow on me even more as I use them more. The colors are amazingly rich and vibrant.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I put glass glitter all over the roofs of the houses, it looks so sparkly IRL!

Anyway, that's what's new! Hope it inspires!

Stamps: Stamps Happen

Ink: Palette, Distress, Versamark

Paper: Hot press w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, Papertrey Ink

Accessories: Clear EP, Peerless Watercolors, Green/gold ribbon, glass glitter, Copic Spica pen, Scribbles 3D paint, Martha Stewart sprig punch, Americana acrylic paint

Winter Scene by Stamps Happen

I love this scenery stamp, it's my favorite. I love this artist's style so much so that I bid on another stamp like it on Ebay and ended up paying a lot more than I wanted to! I couldn't find it anywhere else, but there was the one that someone from the UK was selling, so I went for it. It's a winter scene in a circle frame and I can't wait to get it!
I used shrink plastic to make two little charms to dangle from the ribbon. One is a Sizzix snowflake die, and the other is simply a large Nestabilities scalloped oval stamped with my Justrite stamper. Pretty right?
Stamps: Stamps Happen, Justrite
Ink: Versafine, Distress
Paper: PTI, MME, Worldwin metallic, Stardream
Accessories: Nestabilities, Sizzix snowflake die, jump rings, PTI ribbon, Twinkling H20's, Tombow/SU markers, Stickles, Scor Pal

Old Fashioned Christmas Cards

I'm on the roll! It's the wierdest thing, for days I'll have no creative juices flowing, the stuff I make I'm not really crazy about and then all of a sudden--BAM! I crank out one beauty after another! Well, at least I think they're beauties. These two cards are examples of what I feel most comfortable with. Distressed, aged edges, vintage colors and homespun charm. I LOVE gingers and this stamp from Alota Rubber Stamps is just about the closest one I could find that really suits my style. Actually, there's a tiny little gingerbread guy stamp from Stamps by Judith that is totally perfect but he is just too tiny! Check out my gingerbread tree card here if you want to see what I'm talking about. I've been seriously thinking about investing in one of those make-your-own-stamp kits from JustRite because I have such oddball taste in stamps that I rarely find ones that are totally my style. I have sketch books full of drawings that I could make into my own stamps! Maybe some day...
Stamps: Alota R.S., JustRite
Ink: Palette, Versafine, Distress
Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, PTI
Accessories: Nestabilities, Red grosgrain ribbon, Cotton string, McGill circle punch, Tombow/SU! markers, mini sewing machine, thread

I've used this stamp before, but this time I colored it with a different color scheme. Totally different feel to it. I actually used Twinkling H2O's to color the snow, house and trees so it's got this gorgeous subtle shimmer that THE CAMERA JUST WON'T CAPTURE! Grrrr... Oh well. Hope you like!

Stamps: Stamps Happen, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Palette, Distress

Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, Iridescent vellum

Accessories: Twinkling H2O's, Tombow/SU! markers, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Sizzix snowflake die set, The Punch Bunch snowflake punch, German Glass Glitter, Scribbles 3D paint, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Cosmo Cricket chipboard ribbon slide

Falling Fairy

Isn't this the sweetest little fairy? She's so whimsical, and lots of fun to color. I used a Tombow blender pen with SU! markers to color her in, then added some Stickles to add a little glitter. I kept it pretty simple instead of adding lots of embellishments, because the image is so big. The card size 5" x 5".
Stamps: Stamps Happen
Ink: Palette
Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, SU!
Accessories: Stickles, Periwinkle satin ribbon from AC Moore, Tombow blender pen, SU! markers, Sizzix texture plate