3CTC10 Monkeying Around

This card I made for Kerry's Thursday Challenge, 3CTC10. The challenge was to use a zoo animal on your card. These challenges are a lot of fun every Thursday so check them out!

If you read my earlier vacation post you would know that I have really taken a liking to digi stamps. This image was created by Dustin Pike. Every time he reveals more of his cute creations they win me over. I couldn't resist this monkey's smile!

The sky behind the monkey was made with my cloud maker kit. I have been experimenting with making my sky look like what I see when I look outside. Today the blue looked very bright with lots of big puffy clouds. This is how mine turned out, close to the real thing. I still need to tweak it a bit.

Supplies
Stamps: Digi Stamp by Dustin Pike, Hero Arts
CS: SU Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Neenah white, DP CTMH
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive and Copics
Accessories: Prima Flowers, Nesties, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Magic Mesh unknown leaf punch and misc. string, clip and button, and Michaels ribbon


I hope you like looking at my creations. Leave a comment to let me know what you think of using digital stamps on your projects. I would really like to know if others have grown to like using them like I have.


Thanks for stopping by,
Mary

Are you my mother? TSSC66

This vacation week has been very relaxing for me. I got a lot of coloring done but not many cards put together. I started playing around with "digi stamps". If you had ever told me that I would like using images printed off the computer instead of stamping them with rubber and ink I would have laughed. It was a little nerve racking at first to alter it to the size that I wanted and then getting multiples on the page without cramming them on, my printer isn't thrilled with printing on the Neenah white paper either. But after a couple days I was doing better and that is how I ended up coloring most of the week. I will always love rubber best but this new digi thing is an inexpensive way to play with new images! Peggy and I also got our orders from Sugar Nellie and High Hopes! I am saving these to play with next weekend when we go to Vermont for a stamping weekend with the girls!

This card I made for Mary Jo's Monday sketch challenge, TSSC66. I am late posting seeing that she will have a new sketch tomorrow. This was a really fun sketch and the dragon is a digi stamp designed by Dustin Pike. He has the cutest images, you should check them out! This card was inspired by a book that the kids at school love about a little bird that falls out of the nest and starts on a journey to find his mother.

Supplies:
Stamps: Digi stamp by Dustin Pike
CS: SU Lovely Lilac, Neenah white and DP Bo Bunny and Kaleidoscope
Ink: Memento black and Copics
Accessories: Nesties, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Dew Drops ans Michaels ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I have created.
Come , by again soon,
Mary

3CTC9, Water Color Crayons and Perfect Pearls!

I am so happy that this week is school vacation!!!! I want to be able to have the house to myself and create. I did everything that I have to this week yesterday and today. We had our hot water heater kick the bucket about a week ago and I just today moved everything back to my stamping area. The water wasn't near any of my stuff but I wasn't going to take the chance that it was even in the same half of the basement. Everything is back to normal and I can find everything again!

I made this card for Kerry's Thursday challenge, 3CTC9, make a card using a technique. I love techniques so this was so much fun. The hardest part was, which technique? I decided on a back round colored in water color crayons on the diagonal, then spritzed with water. When it dried I tapped the whole thing with Versamark and then brushed Perfect Pearls on it. This way it softened it and gave it a shimmer. I colored it in my favorite colors, blue, purple and green.

The image is a Whipper Snapper stamp that I love and a friend let me stamp some so I could play with it (thanks Michelle). I colored it with Copics and Stickled the flowers. I kept the card pretty simple so I wouldn't hide a lot of the back round. One tip I can share with you that I learned at a Rubber Stamp Tapestry class was to punch a small hole in your CS and then take a brad and put the ribbon between the posts on the back of the brad and then slide it into the hole. It gathers up the ribbon and holds it tight when you spread the brad apart behind the CS. I put a flower on the brad first then the ribbon. It gives a nice finish to the card without having to tie a knot or bow.

Supplies:
Stamps: Whipper Snapper and Rubber Stamp Tapestry
CS: SU Pacific Point, Lovely Lilac, Neanah White, GP white
Coloring: SU Lovely Lilac, Water Color Crayons, Copics, Memento Black
Accessories: Nesties, Perfect Pearls, Stickles, CTMH flowers and brads, Michaels ribbon and misc. brads


I hope you try this technique it looks wonderful in any color combination you like.
Thanks for stopping by and looking at my work.
Please leave a comment if you like this technique, I really appreciate your comments.
Mary

3CTC8, Springtime Friends

I made this card for Kerry's Thursday Challenge, 3CTC8. These are definitely not my usual colors of choice. Always Artichoke, So Saffron and Rose Red are very pretty together just a bit hard to work with wanting to color with blues and purples, my colors of comfort.

It is finally beginning to look and sound like Spring here in New England. This bunny didn't exactly remind me of an Easter bunny so I decided on a Springtime bunny. I hope we see some real ones hopping around here soon! I bought a cloud maker template a short time ago and I love the way the sky comes out using it. I colored the grasses and the flower to match the color challenge but I really like bunnies to be gray or brown and I always color my birds blue. I didn't have any ribbon to match so I ran white ribbon across my ink pad so it would match the Always Artichoke DP. A trick that Kerry taught me many years ago.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU and Hero Arts
CS: SU Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Rose Red and DP SU 6x6 pack
Ink: SU Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Rose Red, Memento Black and Copics
Accessories: Nesties, Michael's Ribbon, Hero Arts Rhinestones and Dew Drops

Thanks for stopping by to see what I created.
Please come again soon,
Mary

TSSC64

I made this card for Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch, TSSC64. After seeing a beautiful black and white that Mary Jo had made just a while ago it made me think about how long it had been since I had made one.

This card started out as all black and white but the flowers kind of got lost on the card so I added the Pixie Pink to them to help them pop out of the pocket! The DP was two sided so behind the flowers on the top part of the diamond is black polka dot. I didn't realize that the flowers would take over the background until I started placing them into the pocket. It is unusual for me to make a card without an image colored or a focal point stamped on it. The only think stamped on this card is the little oval tag. I couldn't make up my mind if the card was a little "busy" but every time I took something off it the card looked unfinished to me so I finally just left it the way I made it.

On Gina K's Stamp TV site I saw that she ran her flowers through a Cuttlebug folder. I liked it so much I did it to my flowers then curled the petals either up or back to give them some dimension, and layered them. This pocket is really fun to fill with all kinds of things, I forgot how much I like making them!

Supplies:
Stamp: Rubber Stamp Tapestry
CS: SU Black, Pixie Pink, CTMH textured white and DP Kaisercraft
Ink: Stazon black
Accessories: SU flower punch, EK Success flower punches, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Misc. brads, pearls, pins and tag, Black lace ribbon from LSS

I hope you like my version of this week's sketch, I would love to know what you think of it.
Thanks for looking!
Mary

3CTC7 Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made this card for Kerry's Thursday Challenge, 3CTC7, Eat It. I never realized how many food stamps I don't have. I did find this cutie that I bought last year along with about 20 others. They are clear mini stamps. I bought 2 sets for $2.50 at a LSS in NH. I only bought 2 because I thought that was a bit pricy for a small set. About two months later I was poking around in Joanns and in the dollar bin I found about 30 more different sets by the same company for a dollar a set, that is how I now own so many of these cute sets.

This card changed so many times before I finished it. I colored the bear (I am not really sure what kind of animal he is, I just know he's cute) then started digging through my DP to find something cheery. These two are new from my LSS. I love the bright colors, especially the blue dotted one. I had the image on a white oval and the card was almost done but it was too much white against the bright DP so I decided to cut him out and pop him up on an oval punched out of the same DP as the backround. I decided after that the card needed some ribbon and couldn't decide what color I liked best on the card so I ended up using all three. I really liked the end product, but I still don't think you'll see me cutting out alot of what I color. It's just too easy to mess it up and have to start all over!

Supplies:
Stamps: Clear Mini Stamps by Inkadinkado
CS: SU Bliss Blue, Pixie Pink and DP Melissa Frances
Ink: Versafine black and Copics
Accessories: Nesties, Dew Drops, Michael's ribbon and Signo white pen

I hope that enjoyed this card, thanks for Looking.
Thank you for your comments I really appreciate them!
Please check back soon,
Mary

Can't get enough of.....

This beautiful textured DP from SU. I love the colors, the designs and the texture. I love that you can use a distressing edger and the sponge color on the rough edges to look like the inside is color tinted to the rest of the front. I will definitely be stocking up on alot more of this soon because it is made with an in color so it will be gone this summer I bet.

I made this card this card for Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch challenge, TSSC63. I think this sketch was my favorite so far. I think it has so many possibilities, for beautiful cards. The oval in the center was made with Rubber Stamp Tapestry peg stamps. Anyone who has ever stamped with me or seen alot of my cards know these are some of my favorite stamps to play with. On this card I tried to match the DP that has the flower pattern. I came close but it isn't perfect. I'll have to keep trying. I have been distressing alot on my cards lately, I go through phases, this is just the latest I guess. I wanted to darken the Baha Breeze CS a bit so I sponged the edges with the same color ink. I also pulled out my Pretties kit. I usually hoard these wonderful embellishments but decided to start using them on my cards.

Supplies:
Stamps: Rubber Stamp Tapestry, Hero Arts
CS: SU Choc Chip, Baha Breeze and SU DP
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Choc Chip, Creamy Caramel, Baha Breeze
Accessories: SU Pretties, Nesties, MM Distressing edger, MS punch and Michael's ribbon

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at what I have created.
I appreciate any comments that you leave about my cards.
Please come back again soon,
Mary

Packing For Vermont!!!

I am so excited! Last October a whole bunch of stamping fanatics (friends) went to Vermont for a wonderful weekend of stamping, laughing and eating! We stayed at a Inn that we filled almost. The Inn was wonderful because it caters to crafters for the weekend. Well, we had so much fun that we are going again in exactly one month from today, May 1st, and we have added two more to our group. I can't wait.

This stamp is called Stella Stamper. I bought her about a year ago and just couldn't think what I would do with her after I bought her. I thought it was fitting to make a card with her to mark the count down until we leave! Actually this is what I looked like when I finished packing for the last trip to Vermont. It was so hard to decide what to bring that I ended up bringing almost everything I own that I can stamp with. I was still packing late into the night and I am sure this is what I looked like. My sister and I filled the back of my Explorer with the back seat down all the way to the roof. I know all the others that came brought just as much as we did so picture what that Great Room at the Inn looked like.

I hope you all can picture yourself as a "Stella" at one time or another. She definitely can bring a smile to a face that creates. If you ever get a chance to get away for a stamping weekend I hope you have as much fun as we have. I can't think of anything better to do with friends.

Supplies:
Stamps: Yvonne Albritton Designs, DRS Designs
CS: SU Bashful Blue, Lavender Lace, Neenah white and Michaels DP
Ink: Versafine black and Copics
Accessories: Dew Drops, Nesties, SU glitter and Crystal Effects, Hero Arts flowers and AC Moore ribbon

Thanks for looking, I would love to know if you have a Stella connection of your own. Please leave a comment to let me know yours.

Mary