Family Vacation, 3CTC26

It is hot, hot, hot here today. I like the heat but this is too much! I have been working to try to use up all the summer images that I have done and not put on a card yet. This cute bear family looks like any average family on vacation at Cape Cod right? The image is one of Dustin Pike's.
This is a second card that I made for Kerry's Thursday Challenge, 3CTC26, use a digi image or paper on your card.

I like that he didn't put in a lot of detail so I could add it myself. On Papa Bear's shirt I added the white lines with my white Signo pen. On Brother Bear's swimsuit I added the stripes and little Sis got a polka dot bikini and bow. I decided to go this route instead of paper piecing so as not to waste DP running it through the printer. I also tried to give the impression that the sister wore her sunglasses in the sun and when she took off the glasses the outline was left. I also tried to give most of the family a pink tint from a day in the sun!

The whole back round was colored except the towels. The top half of the bears is double popped up to give them a real 3D effect. I made the card itself a little different this time. I knew I wanted to use my cheesecloth BG stamp. It didn't show up so well behind the stamped back round so I made the card front, mounted it on the blue card and then backed the blue card on the stamped cheesecloth back round. The only thing doing it this way is the card doesn't stand up on its own.

Supplies
Stamps: Dustin Pike, SU, Rubber Stamp Tapestry, All Night Media, Amuse and Seaside Stampin' Ink
Ink: SU Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Copics
Accessories: Cloudmaker, White Signo Pen, White Pearl Paint, SU Glitter, Hero Arts Star Jewels and Crab Punch

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my creation. I hope it made you smile and maybe brought back a memory of a day at the beach with your family.

Enjoy the day,
Mary

You're Invited, Copic Creations #9, 3CTC26

I have been having a lot of fun being able to just play most of the day.I have three weeks until school starts again for the year. I decided I would combine two challenges this week. When I saw that the Copic Creations challenge #9 was eyes I started going through all my stamps and realized that I didn't have any stamps with great eyes except this Dustin Pike image. This was one of the many great images that I got during his super sale. It was so much fun to color and make it seem like it was jumping out at you. I read all the tutorials about doing eyes and they were very helpful. I did decide that I wanted his eyes to reflect the idea that they are submerged in the swampy water a lot, that is why I did orange on the sides of the eyes.

I also realized that this card was perfect for Kerry's Thursday challenge this week, 3CTC26, to use a digital image or back round. I have hundreds of stamps some that haven't even seen ink yet but I still find myself using digital images a lot. There are so many wonderful ones out there now. I will always love my rubber but am happy to find a new way to create with paper and color!

I really had a lot of fun making this card. The whole card is colored with Copics except the saying. I even colored on my stamp with Copics and then misted it with alcohol and stamped it over the water colored with Copics. It worked really well. The cat n' nine tails were made with a new set of Spellbinder dies I bought a stamping convention in June. They are supposed to be for words but they worked for these also.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU, Dustin Pike Digi Stamps
Paper: Papertrey white SU Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss,Choc. Chip
Ink: Copics
Accessories: Spellbinder dies, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Cloudmaker, Dragonfly punch

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this card. I really appreciate all your wonderful comments, they really make my day.

Mary

Thinking of Christmas!

I have been seeing so many Christmas cards lately that I couldn't resist making my own. I used some of my Dustin Pike's images that I got a short time ago. I combined two different images to make the card. I originally did the fireplace with the dino peeking up it, then decided it needed to be grounded so I printed out this wonderful hardwood floor that I found on SCS that Michelle Bartnet graciously posted for anyone who would like it, thanks so much it is perfect. I did color it with Copics and added Crystal Effects to give it a realistic look.

I was going to stamp a wreath above the mantle but there wasn't enough room so I ended up punching out a bunch of branches and put liquid snow on them and added the Dew Drops to look like glass ornaments. I paper pieced the stockings and added flock to the tops. The rug is made from Nestie circles that I stamped on with Rubber Stamp Tapestry peg stamps and glittered.

When I was putting the card all together I still felt something was missing, I finally added the dino bringing in the perfect tree! The card finally looked festive and familyish. KWIM? It was a lot of cutting( I'm not a fan of cutting out things), the fireplace, the stockings and the dino carrying the tree are popped up.

I love all of Dustin Pike's whimsical digi stamps. I think they really let you use your imagination. What do you think? He a free image every Wednesday on his blog and all his other images are priced great. If you haven't checked them out you should.

Supplies:
Stamps: Dustin Pike Digi Stamps, Michelle Bartnett Digi Stamp, Rubber Stamp Tapestry
CS: CTMH, Papertrey white, DP Imaginisce
Ink: Copics, Misc SU inks
Accessories: Nesties, MS Punch, Dew Drops, Flock, Liquid Snow, Art Institute Glitter, Crystal Effects and misc. brads

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my Christmas creation. I hope it put a smile on your face.

Have a wonderful day,

Mary

Tubby Bear Bubbles

Last weekend I took advantage of the great sale that Dustin Pike had on his Digi Stamps. I got 118 images. All his digi are so cute it was hard to decide which one I wanted to use first. I decided on this cutie, I have had my eye on this one from the start.

I am trying to be proactive on the cards that I will probably need for the school next year so that I am not rushing at the last minute to get a card done for one of the many showers that we have. There always seems to be lots of bridal showers one year and baby showers the next year. Since we had 4 bridal showers this year I am making some baby cards just in case I need them. This is one of them that I just finished.

I made the image on the bigger side so all the detail showed. I colored everything with Copics and then used Shimmers on the white part of the bubbles(the centers) then painted Stickles over the colored part of the bubbles. I did this because I have found Shimmers to "dull" the color of the Copics. I painted the Stickles so it wouldn't be too thick, just a thin coat. I took a close-up of it to try and show the two different shines together. I also brushed Shimmers on the soap to give the appearance of it being damp. I covered some of the bubbles with Dew Drops to add some fun to the card. When I Cuttlebugged the back round the bubbles didn't show up too well so I took my light blue and light purple Copics and rubbed them sideways along the top of the circles then ran my blender brush over them to lighten and blend them together. I did "Bubble Time" on the computer because I didn't have any stamps to fit the image.

A couple of years ago I never would have thought of making a card without a rubber stamp in hand. Now I love making them without a single piece of rubber and who would even know unless they were told. It is still made from the heart and a one of a kind creation. How far this craft has come.

What do you think of using digi stamps?

Thanks for stopping by to see what I have been creating and your kind comments about my cards, I really appreciate them.

Mary

You're Invited, 3CTC21

We finally have the sun out here in New England, I thought we were not going to see it all summer. As soon as it came out I felt like making something sunny, what better than a BBQ, right? This stamp is from High Hopes, the last time Peggy and I ordered from them this was one of the "extra" stamps they sent. I was thrilled because I love their ants and this reminded me of our cookouts and all the ants we have because of food being dropped on the ground! This is how they must feel when it is warm and sunny outside.

I used Kerry's Thursday challenge, 3CTC21, for the layout on the card. It was a sketch this week. The only thing that I changed was I turned the sketch on it's side so the image would fit better.

I got to use some new toys on this card also. I used my Just Rite vertical stamper and boy do I love it. I lines the letters up sooo easy! Second, I couldn't resist the unbelievable sale that Dustin Pike was having this weekend. He sold all 118 of his digital images for 25 dollars. So when I needed a little extra on the card I printed out the BBQ supplies and was set to go. I am really falling in love with digi stamps.

Supplies:
Stamps: High Hopes, Just Rite, Dustin Pike
Paper: SU Kiwi Kiss, Bliss Blue, Papertrey White, DP Embossible Designs
Ink: Copics, Memento Black, Versafine Black, SU Bashful Blue
Accessories: Cloudmaker, Crystal Effects, twine and MM Brads


I hope you like my BBQ card, it was a lot of fun to create. If you have a minute thanks for letting me know what you think.

Have a sunny day!
Thanks for stopping by,
Mary

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