Playing in the craft room

Fabulous day today. I went to the Cupboard to get some goodies. Cat had a special today from 10-12. Buy 3, get one free. How could I pass that up? I got stamps, more dewdrops, paper and some magazines. I'm so excited about all my new stuff. Whenever I buy a new stamp, I have to use it right away. Do you do that? I have to make at least one card from each stamp. These are the four stamps I got today. I thought the lemonade one would look cute with clear lacquer on the pitcher and the ice cubes in the glass. After leaving the Cupboard, I headed on down to the Scrapping Cottage. I got three of the new Basic Grey 6x6 packs (Stella Ruby, Phoebe and Perhaps), a bag of buttons from Foof A La and the new 4" embossing die for my Revolution. As usual, Betty and I gabbed for awhile and from that conversation came the greatest idea for part of my new stamp line. I am not going to tell you what it is. Not yet. And don't think you can bribe Betty either! She will not tell you. You will have to wait until the idea comes to fruition. You will be blown away, believe me! After I got home from my shopping excursions in Escondido, Tony, and his friends came over to do some crafting. They wanted to make score card books for various card games they play. Here's a picture of them holding their books. On the left in her favorite color (orange), Alexis is holding the 10,000 book. This is some kind of dice game. Tony, my adorable son, is holding the Dirty Dog score book. He put lots of cute doggie stuff on his book. Kellie, the cutie pie on the right, is holding the Cribbage book. We used the miniature cards to make a perfect 29 cribbage hand. We used the books I got at Michael's for $1 and just decorated the covers. It was fun. I think they came out really cute. We got a little silly after finishing the books and started stamping our bodies. You can see the naked man stamp on Kellie's neck. Tony has ants behind one ear and a martini glass behind the other ear. Alexis went crazy with the stamps... She stamped the cute Art Impressions lady with the inner tube on her shoulder, my flashing lady on the inside of her lower arm and a sentiment that says So Nice! below it. Very cute. I love it when the kids come over to play in the craft room. There is so much activity and creativity flowing. You guys better come back soon!

Down to the Wire

Why am I always finishing things up at the last possible moment? I always start early, but never finish until the bell is about to ring. I'm like that with work, too. Arriving at work at the last possible moment before the clock strikes 7:30am. Well, for one thing, I am NOT a morning person. I don't think well in the morning. My morning routine has nothing to do with this blog entry, card, or your interest, but I just thought I'd share just a tiny bit of me.

This is a card for my March submissions to Johanna. I hope she likes it. I don't use this stamp much. It is the Flora Hugabundous. If you like this flower, then you'll really like Flora Ginormous. Check them out on the justjohanna website. The sentiment is justjohanna, too.

I stamped this image on white cardstock and colored with my Poppy Red and Raspberry Prismacolor pencils. The stem is Olive Green and Grass Green. Nothing fancy. I stamped the image on the paper and cut out the center of the flower and adhered it with tacky glue. I used more of the fabulous A2Z paper I got at the Cupboard. Don't you just love the colors? I do.

I've seen so many cute cards with the tabs on them, so I thought I'd try it. I'm not big on embellisments, so this was reaching for me. I created the tab by cutting a strip of cardstock and then using my narrow corner rounder, I rounded the end to make it round. I used a gem brad on the tab. Thank you ladies for your inspiration.

I'm still working on a few more cards, so I'll be posting them separately. As always, thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate it very much. Leave me a comment once in a while so I know you've been here. See you soon!

CPS Sketch #7

Here is my interpretation of this week's sketch on Card Positioning Systems. There is a new sketch every week. I got the idea to do this from Julie. Check out her submission for the sketch. I love those lanterns!

It took me forever to do this card. I have such a hard time doing anything these days. I used the new A2Z paper that I got at Cat's last week. I love the colors in this paper. The lighting I have robbed the natural colors on the paper. I wanted to use the flattened bottle caps I got at the Expo a few weeks ago, but it didn't work out. I ended up using chipboard flowers from Maya Road that I got from the Cottage. I just used the other A2Z papers I got. I added a button for bling.

Thank you, Julie, for turning me on to CPS. It makes me push myself to try new things.

Shake Your Maracas!

Somtimes when I make a card, I make two at a time - just in case I like it, and in this case, I LIKE IT! These stamps are by The Cat's Pajamas. Aren't they just too cute??? This is Sprinkles the cat and Poochie the dog. They are celebrating Cinco de Mayo just a little bit early this year, but who cares?! They are having a great fiesta time. Can you hear the maracas and the bongo? That Sprinkles can JAM on that guitar, baby! The images were stamped on oval Stampbord after I inked the backgrounds with various inks. I used my CTMH dye-based ink pads on these. I applied the ink to the Stampbord with a paper towel. After I applied the inks, I buffed it pretty hard with the paper towel. I stamped the images with black Versafine ink. After the ink dried, I used my scratch knife to scratch out the open areas of the images. It's kind of like coloring in reverse, but without color. Um, ok, that was weird. The paper on the first card is Kaleidoscope and the second card is My Mind's Eye.

Easter Cards

I had some fun tonight. I really wanted to make some cards using my Stampbord so I decided to make some Easter cards. All images are from Magenta. These are from the new clear cling set I got at the Cupboard last Friday. I really like the bunny on this first card. I first stippled color on the Stampbord with the peach and raspberry dye inks, blending well and adding lots of color. Then I stamped the bunny and the flower image on with Versafine Sepia ink. I helped the ink drying process along with the heat gun. I then used the scratch knife to scrape some highlights on the bunny and the flower. I also scratched a thin border around the edge of the Stampbord. I cut windows in the Crate Paper card front a bit larger than the stampbord and the sentiment. Oh, the sentiment is by Stampotique. Adhered it all and it's done. Oh, the buttons are from Foofala. Another simple card. I used Stampbord again. If you haven't tried stamping on this surface yet, I would encourage you to do so. It is very easy and very fun. The more you work with it, the more you will like it. You can stamp, emboss, paint, scrape, or carve it. You can use pencils, pens and ink on it. Give it a go. I started out with the variety pack of Stampbord. It has sizes from 1x1 squares up to 3" ovals and circles in the package. Lots to choose from. I sound like an advertisement for Stampbord, huh? Ok, on to the card. I used my VersaMagic dewdrops this time to stipple the background on the domino-sized Stampbord. Magenta bird and flower stamps done in black Versafine. After the ink had a few minutes to dry, I used one of the carving knives to carve a few details into the Stampbord. This is the fun part of the Stampbord product - carving into it, making the details show. The JOYFUL stamp is by Hero Arts alphabet series. Again, I cut a window a bit bigger than the Stampbord into the front cardstock (Crate Paper) and adhered it all with double-sided tape. Stampbord again. Stamped with Magenta stamps, background with Peach and Raspberry dye inks. I scratched some details into the Stampbord with the scratch knife. There are various items you can use on the Stampbord. You can use the craft knives that are sold by Stampbord, you can use steel wool for texture (or for "erasing" images or mistakes). Rough grade sandpaper for background texture is fabulous. You rub the sandpaper on before you ink the background and it looks like wood, sorta, depends on which directions you sand. The "happy easter" letters are from the Hero Arts alpha set. Paper is Crate Paper.

I tried a new technique

I was inspired by another Pea today. I saw Jennerator's card in the TwoPeas gallery and thought I might try it. Do check out her card - it's really pretty. This technique is called emboss resist and here's how you do it. I used glossy white cardstock and cut and folded it to A2 size. I then stamped the I LOVE CAKE background stamp with clear embossing ink and used clear embossing powder on top. Then I heat embossed it. Next, I took my choice of Ranger Alcohol Inks on an applicator and dabbed it all over the whole front of the card. On the pink card, I stamped the Whimsy Frame on olive Prism cs and cut it out. I stamped the frame again on plain white cs and cut out the center of the frame, stamped Happy Birthday, and then colored the whole area with Spanish Orange and Raspberry Prismacolor pencils. I pop-dotted the frame on the front of the card. I basically did the same thing for the green card up until the frame part. Here, I stamped it on white cs and then stamped the Happy Birthday in the center. I did a bit of masking since the happy birthday stamp is horizonal and I wanted a vertical sentiment here. Then I colored in the frame with Caribbean Sea and Ultramarine. The sentiment area was colored with Limepeel (MY FAVORITE PRISMA COLOR) and Grass Green. All stamps are by justjohanna. Some people have asked me how I blend the colors, so I'll tell you briefly how do it. Using the green card as the example, I colored the background with the limepeel, first with a medium-light stroke covering the whole area, then I went over it again covering it with a heavy-medium pressure. Next, I put the grass green in the corners, on top of the limepeel, using a heavy coverage. Then I go back to the limepeel and using tiny circles, I blend the grass green into the limepeel. I go over and over the edge of the colors many times. Then, using a very light stroke with the limepeel, I draw light lines from the grass green into the limepeel. I do this to cover any obvious circlular areas and to blend it thoroughly. I guess that wasn't very brief. It probably took me about 20 minutes to do the pencil blending.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to my lovely niece, Dana and my fun-loving brother-in-law, Mike. I hope your birthdays are the greatest!

As the card says, "indulge a 'tini bit" and have a great day. Love, John and Debbie

Well, I crafted....

Here is the image from Magenta. I'm not very happy with it, though. I colored on white cardstock so the colors would be vibrant, but when I did the background with chalks, it doesn't look so good IRL. I don't like the fish being two different color types. I think they both should've been in the same color family. The dots on the background are blue stickles and I like that. What's not to like about glitter?

What's your opinion of this image? Do you like the image? Colors?

ADDENDUM * * * MARCH 25, 2007

I took Mary's advice and decided it wasn't so bad after all. I agree with Dana in that the purple fish needs other colors, but for this card, I'm going with what I've got.

I matted the image with Prism papers and mounted it on DCWV glitter cs. Sentiment is by My Sentiments Exactly. Thanks for the input. This card will go in my Cards For Sale bin.

Ah, Saturday. It's so quiet here today. All the neighbors have finished mowing their lawns, no dogs barking, no more Realtors, it's just quiet. I have all the windows open and there is a slightly cool breeze blowing throughout the house. No tv's, no vacuums, no radios, no sounds except the cats. Hubby is out camping with scouts for the entire weekend so I am left to my own desires, which definitely includes crafting. Here's a card I made over the last couple of days. I have a bunch of images stamped, so I thought I'd start coloring. It's the most relaxing thing I can do for myself. I just love to color with my Prismas. This image is from Terry Medaris. He designs the coolest stamps. Check out his website. You can order stamps there. I have a lot of his stamps and honestly, I'm kind of intimidated to color them. If you go to his website, you can see how he colors his images. Amazing, isn't it? I learned to color his way by taking some of his classes, so I feel shy/intimidated/embarrassed to show him how I color his images. Does that make sense? Oh, I guess I just need to get over it, don't I? Ok, so I went to Cat's yesterday and I got some paper (awsome) and some stamps (Magenta- awesomer) and some Stampbord (awesomest)! Today I am going to use those things I got yesterday to make some cards. Wait until you see the fish stamp from Magenta. It is so damn cool. Cat knows what each of her customers likes, and she orders stamps accordingly. Well, she sure knows me! She just knew I would buy that stamp. hehehe Stay tuned, sports fans. Updates later today.

This is a bit off-topic for this blog, but I thought it was interesting. There is a website I got to once in a while that has aerial photos of the California coastline. You can see every bit of it (except for Vandenberg AFB) from the Mexican border to the Oregon border. This picture is of the San Diego/Mexico border. You can see the fence from the top of the picture to the ocean below. San Diego is on the left, Mexico on the right.. There was an article in The Reader (a free weekly publication) about 2-3 months ago that had a big story on the problems with immigration. In one part of the article, it mentioned that the families on the US side would go to this park and picnic while the rest of their families in Mexico would sit on the other side of the fence and they’d picnic together. Don’t even get me started on the immigration issue. I’m very opinionated and vocal about it. Wait, I just can’t resist ONE rant… Somehow, we must get our point across to the Mexican government that we, the people, are sick and tired of the Mexican government not cooperating with the US on the immigration issue. We need to hit them where it counts – in their pocketbook. I think we should stop vacationing down in Mexico. Mexico proper and Baja as well. Stop leaving our US dollars in their country. If we get enough people to do this, it will make a statement. In the past, we probably left about $2000 a year there. That doesn’t sound like much, but what if every family stopped doing that for just one year? That would definitely make a difference to their economy. This is not like the gasoline thing – don’t buy gas on a certain day and stick it to the gas companies. We can live without giving money to Mexico. Ok, I’m off my soapbox. For now. Your comments?

Here are some stamps I got from Stamp Camp at the rubber stamp expo this weekend. I only bought about 10 UM stamps. That's probably a record low for me. Hey, I was busy doing other stuff.....

This first one is pretty cool, I think. I love the flower. I'm envisioning so many different color combos. For this one, I only stamped it quickly with a dye-based ink. I normally use Versafine inks for my images. I just wanted to see what this image looked like done up right quick. Oh, and I used a crappy scrap paper. You can definitely tell the difference in coloring when you use the right paper. Also, I would normally color very heavily with the pencil. Lots of burnishing and blending. Lots of blending.

I like the simplicity of this stamp. I'm thinking this one could be done in the four seasons theme sometime. Another time Iwould glitter or lacquer the leaves. Heat emboss the image on a contrasting cardstock and leave it at that. I just like this image. I had fun doing the background on this stamp. I usually have a hard time with backgrounds, but I just thought that a gradient background might look cool. I didn't do this perfectly. I was just trying to get an idea of what it would look like colored this way. I did use a scrap piece of paper for this. This a very rough grade paper, so lots of white shows through and I don't like that. If you know me, I LOVE BOLD COLORS.

I like this one because it is very different than my usual stamp choices. I'm branching out. Reaching for new ideas. There was an awesome card sample done up at the booth made from this stamp, so just had to have it. I did use my Prismas on this image, but I tried something different. Very light coloring, and then I used the Marvy Blender that Julie gave me. I don't know that I'd use this blender every time, but I think it works for this type of effect. I just wanted a very light, watercolor effect. The scan is lighter than the card IRL, but you get the idea.

Stay tuned for the cards I make with these images. I can't wait to make cards, but today I must clean the room from hell.

If you're looking for stamps like these, check out Stamp Camp. Their UM prices are very good. Their rubber is thick and very well-detailed. I could've blown a whole paycheck at this booth.

Look what I got!

This weekend was the Rubber Stamp Expo in Del Mar. I helped out Johanna this weekend by helping with the hosted make 'n takes. It was a lot of fun! I even had time to shop and this is what I got. It's a personal binding system. It is very small. Weighs about 3 lbs and seems easy to use. It will cut holes in just about anything. Well, not wood or metal, but most cardstock and chipboard, I think. I got it for $53. What a deal, huh? This will make it so much fun when doing classes. I'm not a big ribbon person, so the books I used to make and bind with ribbon are now passe. Oh, I think I might tie a ribbon or two on the spiral bindings now and then. Look at all the cool things this binding system can do. I can't wait to make my first book. I read on a website that sells these systems, that it will even cut through CD's. Wouldn't it be cool to alter CD's and bind the CD's together with the wire binding? I think it would be cool! I'm off work tomorrow and I plan on making a little something with my new Bind-It-All by Zutter. Stay tuned.

Horoscopes

Do you believe in horoscopes? I do. Kinda. I like this one that I get on my Google homepage. Here's for today if you are a Sag like me: If you are feeling confident in your ability to succeed now, you probably aren't overestimating yourself. Your optimism is likely based on a very real assessment of your current circumstances. Fortunately, the two key planetary players are in your sign today, encouraging you to take action where you have previously hesitated. You've thought about this long enough; it's time to do it. Friday, March 16, 2007 I do follow this one because it seems to follow one point in my life right now. It's dead on. I think sometimes horoscopes are pretty generalized, especially if you read lots of them for one sign in one day. Each astrologer has his/her own interpretations of the planets. Whoever writes this one, thank you.

Purse a la Luggage

I've been working on this for quite awhile now. I've had the wooden purse (which I got at Michael's for around $4) for months, trying to decide what to do with it. So when Julie posted her fabulous card with the bird and flowers, I knew what to do with the purse. So with her permission, I made this.

First I removed all the hardware. Then I painted it using acrylic paints. I masked off the white area. Then I stamped the swirly things on the white with sage green (Julie's fav color). I used Mod Podge to adhere the cardstock to the front and back. Then Mod Podge over the whole purse, inside and out, to give it a nice smooth clear coat.

I stamped Danielle (bird stamp by justjohanna), and then used clear embossing powder on the stamped image, cut her out and adhered her to the purse front with tacky glue. I had to play around a bit with the flowers. I'm not really happy with the layout of flowers here. I enjoy Julie's composition much better, but I achieved the look I was going for.

Happy Birthday

to Buddah Pest! Stinky Gdness for everyone!

Not really much going on in my stamping world. I am working on a project, but it doesn't involve much stamping. You'll just have to wait for the final product before you get a peek at it. All I can say is, it's gonna be really cute! I kinda borrowed the idea from Mrs. Luggage.

Getting ready for the Del Mar Stamp Expo. It's in THREE DAYS! It's going to be so much fun. I will be working in Area C doing the hosted create 'n takes for justjohanna rubber stamps. We'll be stamping on Stampbord. It's a fantastic surface to stamp on. Stop on by justjohanna's booth and do a free create 'n take or stop by Area C and do a create 'n take with me. The projects are adorable!

Color play

Here's a stamp by Magenta I got at the Cupboard. I love this little hummingbird. I thought I'd play with some colors, so I got out my Prismas and played. I'm not sure the colors of the wings go with the colors of the tail, but hey, it's a bird from my imagination, so why not? I'll be making more cards with this image, that's for sure. I'm really liking the new images from Magenta. They're whimsical and fun.

Feeling better

I'm feeling a bit better today. I went to get my teeth cleaned this morning. After that, I got a pedicure. Got my toes painted pink. Oooh la la! Had some lunch at Sushiya. mmmm sushi. I had albacore, tuna and a spider roll. Then off to Wally World to get some pants, milk and some two-sided tape. Thrilling, eh? Then off to the doctor's office. Had a good visit and I'll go to the lab tomorrow to get some tests done. And if that wasn't enough for one day, I went to the Chiropractor. My back is so messed up. It is really locked up. I did get adjusted and I feel better. It's amazing what a few bones out of place does to ya. So, after I go to the lab tomorrow morning, I have a massage scheduled for noon. That will definitely make me feel better. After that is over, I'l head on over to the Cupboard for a day filled with make 'n takes and expo prep again. This is the last weekend before the expo, so we've got lots to do. I'm going to need a vacation after all this expo business is over. I'm sure the rest of the crew feels the same way. Ok, so after I got home from the Chiropractor, I made a few cards. Well, I played around in the craft room anyhow. I played with color on some images. Here's card I finished, but I'm not sure I really like. What do you think? Is it "enough"? Is it boring? Be honest now. How can I make better cards if you don't tell me what can be improved? C'mon, I can take it. I feel like I don't know how to make cards anymore. I've been away from it for so long (it seems) that I can't do the layout part. I need to get back into looking at my magazines for inspiration. Or maybe I should look at your blog? Leave your blog info in a comment. I'd love to look at your cards on your blog.

What a crappy day

I'm gonna start calling Thursdays "migraine Thursdays". Yep, another one this week. This is getting annoying. This one woke me up at 5am and didn't let up until after 3pm. After that it's just the medication hangover. I've not been feeling well for about a month, so I'm going to go to the doctor tomorrow and get a complete blood workup. There's got to be something out of whack.

On the crafty side of life, I wish there WAS a crafty side to life right now. I'm not feeling very creative at all. I've tried to make some cards and all I can do is make a mess. Don't believe me? Here's a view of the craft room from the computer desk. It's actually much worse than this because you can't see all the crap on the extra work table right in front of the camera. This mess makes me feel so unorganized (ya think?!) and uncreative. Maybe I'll have time to straighten it up (again) after my doctor appointment tomorrow.

See you then.

I need a 12-step program for Blurfing

Julie has coined the phrase, "blurfing". It's a combo word from "blog" and "surfing". The way you blurf is simple. Just click the NEXT BLOG button at the top of a blog. When you're done with that blog, just hit the NEXT BLOG button on that blog. Do that for about 2 hours or until you fall asleep at the computer or until you realize your child has gone from Kindergarten to Second grade already. I have found some awesome blogs out there. Last night I found psychokitty. It's a blog written from a Cat's point of view. Before you say, ok whatever, you should check it out. Very funny. Then there's nacchans. She gives you a shopping list for the week and then gives you menus to make with the stuff. Here's an interesting one: 911 Blog. I'm a skeptic, and I've always wondered if there was something fishy about 9/11/01. Ok, before you flame me and tell me it's all about terrorism, do yourself a favor and check out the 911 blog. Keep your mind open. I don't believe much of what the government tells us. I do not believe we've been to the moon. Laugh if you must, but I believe that. Ok, so enough about THAT. Try your hand at blurfing tonight. Move your mouse to the top of my blog and click the NEXT BLOG button. You know you want to. Go ahead. No one's watching.

Look out, I've got the pencils again!

Here's a card I've been working on for some time now. I finally got the image mounted on a card. These stamps are from Art Impressions. Melvin and Eunice are separate stamps - I just masked and put them close together. I think these stamps are hilarious! Probably because I can see myself in so many of them. Sheesh! I think I am going to color up some Art Impressions stamps and submit them to a magazine. I don't see many cards done up with pencils like this, so what the heck?! It took me 1.5 hrs to color their skin and then about 5-6 hours to finish up the card. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy. Back to my recipe cards.

A card

I'm working on some recipe cards, but I found this card I made last week. It's done with the embossed background that Erin made for me. I used my Versamagic inks on the dragonfly and then applied Stickles for some sparkle. I also used Stickles on the inside scallop. I love these scallop punches. I want them ALL!

I'll be back soon

I need to go relax with my Prismas. See you later. Here's a picture to look at while you wait.