Saturday, April 5, 2008-9:30 pm

Today, I started getting out my summer clothes and sorting them to decide what to take to Florida. Peter was doing taxes this afternoon, so I didn't have use of the computer until this evening.

Finally got around to posting the two cards I made on Thursday night. The first card -I recently got a new clear set from "Dollar Clear Stamps", an Ebay seller. It is a tree branch, and there are different leaves, flowers, and other little stamps to change the tree from summer to winter. Also a "two step" birdhouse, and three different phrases. The inks I used are Brilliance so there is a bit of shine to the stamped images, and I made a border using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

The second card - Sailboat stamp from Inkadinkadoo. I brayered the background using VersaColour Variegated Pad "Icicle" (six shades of blue). I then used SU White with a cotton ball to do the clouds, and Q-tip dipped in the White to do where the sailboat cuts through the waves. The boats are cut and mounted, but the rear sail is left unglued so it gives a 3-D effect as it sticks out a bit. The sails are painted with "Oyster" Twinkling H20's. I drew in the birds with a Micron pigma pen. The phrase is from Inkadinkadoo Brenda Walton "Flower Garden" clear stamps; anchor unknown.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Last night we had another 10 cm's of snow. It is pretty out there with the sparkly snow frosting the branches of the pines in the backyard, but I really want spring to come. The crocusii (sp?) are just starting to poke through the soil which is late according to my gardening journal.

This afternoon, I made a card for Inkstainers Weekly Challenge which was hosted by Heather J. and called "Flower Power". The card had to have flowers and some metal (the power) on it.

I used the Daisy Collage from Blockheads and coloured the daisy petals with twinkling H20's for some bling. The green border is a clear stamp from Inkadinkadoo Brenda Walton "Garden Flowers" set. This layer is mounted with foam sticky squares to pop it out. The green layer is PP. I stamped the yellow c/s layer with Brilliance Sunflower Yellow and used the SU Filigree background stamp. Embellies are the gold metal scalloped corners, Prima flowers, and the bumblebee.

I'm liking square cards lately !

Friday, March 28, 2008

I haven't been in the mood to stamp all week, although I did clean up my workspace on Wednesday afternoon.

Last night I was reading through the tutorials on Splitcoasters and saw the Brayered Sky Technique. So I tried it for a birthday card for my brother in Halifax.
It came out OK, I think, but it needs some more of the light yellow near the horizon at the bottom. Not too bad, though, for my first attempt at this. I used Brilliance Sunflower Yellow,Rocket Red Gold, and Pearlescent Rust inks, so the surface of the image has a slight bit of shine to it. The green area I sponged with Brilliance Olive. The trees (from SU) are stamped with Stazon Black, and I used watercolour pencils to give some dimension to the grass, and base of tree areas. I found some thin leather to tie on the tag which I thought gives a bit of rustic look.The verse is from a UM set I got on Ebay from a rubber stamp maker in Ontario.

My brother loves to go relax at a camp deep in the woods in Southwestern Nova Scotia,near Kejimkujik Provincial Park, so I thought he might like these trees.

Wednesday, March 20, 2008 - 12:11 am

For the weekly challenge on Inkstainers, we were encouraged to try a technique we hadn't done before, and there had to be green on the card. After looking on SplitCoasters, I decided to try "Caught in Crystal" or "Acetate & Tissue" Technique.
Here's the link:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/acetate_tissue/

It wasn't as messy, nor as intimidating as the tutorial, although it takes a couple of hours to thoroughly dry. I really like how the pear turned out! I used Adirondack Alcohol Inks instead of re-inkers (Ginger, Meadow, Pesto, Butterscotch), and also PearlEx Gold dust powder on the main part of the pear. (hard to see in my pic!)

This is definitely a technique I will try again!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Today Peter and I went out for breakfast, then I had a relaxing rest of the day. My housework and laundry were all done yesterday..miracles of miracles. Peter spent the afternoon outside vacuuming out the winter crud from our cars, so I stamped a card with a new stamp from Monica of Hambo Stamps. I think this skunk is too cute! He reminds me of Pippy La Peuw (sp?) from Disney cartoons. The verse inside reads, "It stinks that I missed your special day!" tee hee hee.

Sorry about the pic - the card looks warped! It is actually square.

Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 11:00am

Here's another baby card done in a different colour.
Sharon

Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 9:11 am

Yesterday I went to visit my friend Wendy for lunch and a craft afternoon. She worked on a scrapbook page for her daughter's memory book, and I made a baby card. I like the way it turned out. The c/s is actually light salmon colour; it looks washed out in the pic. The teddy bear is a new Sizzlet's die I recently ordered on-line. So cute! I punched it out two times -first from SU Caramel c/s and then from Bazzill blue for the bear's shirt. There is fun flock on his paws for dimension. The letter "b" is a punchie from Basic Grey Hip Monograms sheet.

Sunday, March 9, 2008 4:20 pm

Recently, I saw some circle cards in a magazine and thought I would try one. I used a coffee can for the circle template. The background is done smudging chalks with a cottonball on white c/s. I used Stickles on the dragonfly wings to add some shimmer and Krylon Silver pen on the edge all around. Then I masked off 1/4" around all the edges of 5 x 5" mauve Bazzill, stamped the SU Linen background stamp and mounted the dragonfly circle. The silver corners are punched using the Sizzlet Corners die in my Cuttlebug, and I tied on silver cord and added a few beads.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Tonight I made a card for my friend Jeanne in Quebec, though, her birthday is not until the first week of April. Just thought I would get a head start!

I stamped the vintage ladies on polished stone, and then embossed the whole thing with clear EP. The image looks sort of like it's done on a tile. The patterned paper is vintage lace with brooches on it. I don't think the fine details came out in the photograph. The Eiffel Tower is a recent purchase -made by Inkadinkadoo. I embossed it in black detail EP directly on the c/s. Then I inked the stamp again with Versamark only on the banner part, stamped it on glossy c/s, EP'd in fine gold, cut out and mounted it on the tower to give a 3-D effect. The shoe is from a set by SU, and the post card by Inkadinkadoo "Life's Journey".

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 -10:22 am

Inkstainers Weekly Challenge (March 3) Card - We had to make a card with front and back papers, predominant color orange. Let me tell you...it's not easy cutting around those tiny inside corners of the chipboard when making a paper pattern to cover it. I ruined two, and finally said "to heck with it"! The edges are rough, but I wasn't going to try doing another.