Copic Color Challenge #20

This week's color challenge over on the Copic Colour Challenge blog is using these colors: I love these colors together. Once I saw these colors, I knew I was going to use one of my Frida Kahlo images. Plus, I had just gotten some new Lasting Impressions paper at Stamping Details in Poway, so it was a project made to happen. The CCC says that you should use the colors listed if you have them, but if not, then use a color close to what you have that works. You can also add colors to the image, too. I did not have YR68, so I used YR16 Apricot. The other colors I used were:

E51 Milky White

E31 Brick Beige

YG67 Moss

G85 Verdigris

R14 Light Rouge

C7 Cool Gray No. 7

• The leaves were another stamp I used. I used my chalk inks to ink the paper then stamp the image in a darker chalk ink color, and then I used clear embossing powder over the images and cut them out. The green leaves don't match the cardstock very well in this photograph, but they do match in real life. I hate it when that happens.

It was fun doing this challenge. If you participate in the Copic Colour Challenge, drop me a line so I can go check out your card. Have fun!

House Mouse Challenge #43

I had so much fun coloring this image. Granted, I colored it almost precisely as the image on the stamp block, but still... I chose this image because of the weight I am losing every day. This is how I feel when I get on the doctor's scale and the number is lower than the last visit. Yippee!! When I decide to color an image, I usually choose the printed paper first and then match my pencils with the colors on the paper. I didn't do that this time since I kinda copied the colors on the stamp block. I got lucky when I started digging through my paper and found this paper called "Tres Jolie" from My Minds Eye. I love this paper and I was probably hoarding it for some reason that I've forgotten now. Here's a little close-up of the colored image. I used my Prismacolor pencils to color this. I've been using my Copics so much lately, that I've missed my pencils. Coloring House Mouse images makes me feel like I'm coloring an image in a coloring book. I used to LOVE to color and I loved my coloring books. My favorite gifts when I was little were coloring books (no duh) and a brand new box of Crayola 64's. Oh man, I loved the smell of those new crayons. So that's it for today. See you soon with another challenge: The Odd Bird Sketch Challenge. Try it yourself! That blog post will tell you where to post your cards for the challenge. Have fun!

Craft tonight? I think not!

And this is why:

I love him to bits, but when Cheeto gets it in his head that he needs to keep me company in the craft room and lay on my project table, there isn't much I can do. I take him off, he jumps right back up there. He just needs his mommy sometimes, I guess. Whatever. There's always tomorrow.

Monkey Birthday

A little monkeying around. Is this not the cutest stamp? I love it! It's called Birthday Monkeys by Stampavie. So many cute stamps in the Paper Garden Store. The paper used for this card is from Daisy D's and it's called Bambino. Lots of sock monkey printed papers in this 8x8 pad. Lots of polka dots, stripes, solids and lots and lots of sock monkeys. Perfect paper for this stamp, I think.

I colored the image with Copic markers. I didn't keep track of the colors. Sorry. I used my colorless blender to lighten some areas. I outlined the image with C1 cool grey.

I gotta go. I'm craving bananas.

Sisters

This stamp by Leere' Aldrich is called Sisters. Such a fun image to color. I colored it with many color combos before I came up with one I really liked. Image is colored with Copics. The paper is Basic Grey's Porcelain. I love this paper pad! So many great colors and patterns. The brads, ribbon and twine tie are from the Paper Garden Store, too. The twine is from the I Want it White embellishment collection. I colored it with my Copic marker. Heart embellishment is from Michael's.

Father's Day Card

Next Sunday is Father's Day, and Odd Bird Planet is having a big sale on stamps that make excellent guy cards. You can see the list of stamps here. You can buy the stamps mounted or unmounted. The sale runs through June 22nd. For this card I used YOU ROCK and TOOLBELT PLUMBER BIRD. I colored the images with my Copics.

Check it out!

Paper Garden Projects is having a

June Special!

Free US shipping for all orders over $35.00* 20% off Copic Markers 30% off all Clearance Items

*Canadian orders, $7.00 shipping for orders over $35.00

Did you know that the Paper Garden Projects store carries those adorable Anya and Ian stamps?

Also Eat Cake Graphics, Crafty Secrets (my fave), Penny Black and the new Lily and Milo stamps, too!

Take advantage of the free shipping all during June.

Thinking of you

Before I go clean up that horrible crafty mess, I must share a card with you. I made this one yesterday, but never posted it. sigh. Stamps are Thinking of You and Lovely Skull n Bones by Odd Bird Planet.

I stamped the sentiment first and then used my Nestabilities die to cut that out. Then stamped the skull n bones and cut that out. Colored that with my Prismas. Edged that cut-out with my Tuxedo Black ink. Pop dotted that off the front of the sentiment. Cut the black glossy cardstock with the next largest Nestie. Popped that off the front of the card. The ribbon is a gathered ribbon that I got at Michael's awhile back. The sparkly heart brad is from Basic Grey, but it didn't come sparkly. I put Stickles on the front and let it dry.

Besides working with my booty from the Paper Garden Projects store, I'm working on Kathi's red, white and blue challenge for Bombshell stamps over at Paper Craft Planet. She gives all the deets on her blog. Check it out and join the fun!

I can't craft like this!

I have crafted myself into a corner. It's horrible. This is only about 1/4 of the room I craft in. No, you cannot see the rest of it. Actually, the rest of the room is tidy, it's just this section where I sit that's such a mess. I like my supplies handy, but then I use them and then don't put them away. Yikes-a-rooni, I must go clean now or I won't be able to craft tonight.

I got some great stamps and supplies from the Paper Garden Projects store and I can't wait to share them with you, so off I go to clean the mess first. Forget dinner. I have priorities!

Happy Birthday to the Queen of Odd Bird Planet!

Today is Johanna's birthday. Happy birthday, my friend. I hope you have a fantastic day! One Caramelo with a cherry on top is headed your way soon.

Birthday Bag

Hey, have you missed me? I've been in a non-crafting mood, but I feel like I'm coming out of it. Hooray! I think I heard my stamps calling me. Whenever I feel stagnant in the crafting world, I try a challenge, either a sketch or a specific stamps. This project fulfills the Papertake Weekly Challenge for the past week. The challenge was to use dots and stripes in your project. For my entry, I got out my Basic Grey "Cupcake" paper to use with some stamps from Odd Bird Planet. I wanted to do something different than a card, so I went into my "bag stash" and chose a small bag. Ok, so a confession here: I am a gift bag hog. I love the ones you get at the dollar stores. So, do I give many gifts? Well, no. Not a lot of gifts, but I like having lots of choices when I DO give a gift. This bag is 4x7 and I chose it because I could cover the front and the side colors matched the cardstock I chose to use. Check it out below. One side of the bag is green and the other side is orange.

When doing this project, I realized I didn't have the right color of ribbon embellishment to use, so I got out my "I Want It White Embellishment Collection" from the Paper Garden Projects store. This kit is awesome. It comes with all kinds of ribbon and rickrack, prima flowers and dew drops. I used my Copics to color the rickrack in the colors to match my cardstock. One row of rickrack just wasn't enough, so I did three rows. I had some left over, so I used the scraps on my sentiment. I colored the dew drops in the same colors I used coloring the rickrack and the images.

Speaking of coloring the images... Since the BG paper is not a solid print, I wanted my image to match. The colors on the paper are a bit mottled, so using what I learned in the Copics Certification class, I texturized the image. Here's how you do it. Color your image first. Then, using a crumpled tissue and some Colorless Blender Solution, dab it on the image lightly. Put the blender solution on the tissue and then dab the tissue on the image. Let it dry before you dab the image again. The Colorless Blender will lift some of the color and the more you do it, the more color is lifted. Pretty nifty, huh? Check out the image below to see a close-up of my image.

These are all the items I used in this project. Did you know all these items are on sale right now at the Paper Garden Projects store? Oh yeah. From now until May 11th, you can take 15% off everything in the store, including sale items!!

I hope you like my little gift bag. Give it a try, it's fun and easy. Oh, and don't forget to check out the PGP store for some great bargains!

Supplies used:

Copics: Colorless blender, YR21 cream, R14 light YG63 pea green, B16 cyanine blue, C3 cool gray no. 3, C5 cool gray no. 5.

Versamagic ink: Sea Breeze.

Odd Bird Planet Stamps: Happy Birthday and Ellie the Elephant

I Want It White Embellishment Collection

House Mouse Monday Challenge #34

The theme for this week's House Mouse weekly challenge is "Springtime". I thought lots of cardmakers would be making cards with flowers, so I thought this image would be great for spring, too. Whenever the weather gets warm, I always go for the popsicles. My favorite flavor is orange, so that's what I gave these mice. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the challenge. It's always fun.

I used the spotlight technique for this card. It's easy to do. Stamp your image twice. Choose an area on the image that you want to highlight. This would be an area of interest, like the two mice and the popsicle. Color the area on one stamped image. Cut it out with your circle cutter. Since my stamped image is very large, I chose a large circle. If I would've chosen a smaller circle, it would've looked a little silly, I think. So I cut out the circle area and then I used a black marker to edge the circle for a little definition. Adhere the circle to the card. That's it. Try this technique sometime. It's quick and fun.

Earth Day winner!

Thanks to all of you who participated in my Earth Day Challenge. The winner of my challenge is: Jenn! Double N Jenn! Here's a link to the winning card. Congrats, Jenn. Please EMAIL ME and give me your name and address so I can get your prize out to you!

Earth Day Challenge

** Holy guacamole, my post didn't post on time! I had it set to go but I must've put in the wrong time. A million apologies. On with the post: Happy Earth Day!! When I think of Earth Day, I think of doing things that save the earth and the earth's resources. When I buy things, I try not to buy things that have a lot of packaging that will be thrown in the trash. That's just me. When I read magazines, it bugs me so much that they put in so many of those little inserts, attached or not, that want you to subscribe to their magazine. I've found 4-6 of them in just one magazine! My challenge to you, is to take one of those subscription inserts and use it somehow on your card. You can color it, tear it, stamp on it, ink it, paint it, whatever! Here's what I did with one of the inserts from my magazine: I used all OBP stamps and stamped them on white cardstock, cut them out and mounted them on top of the subscription card. I pop dotted the earth topiary and the kitty. The chaise is cut out and adhered to the card and the chandelier is stamped, embossed, colored and glittered directly to the card. I colored my subscription card with Copics. I gave it a good base coat with one color, then used a tissue soaked with colorless blending solution and another Copic color and dabbed it on. You could do the same thing with alcohol inks if you had a glossy cardstock. Let's see what you do with your subscription cards. You have until midnight tomorrow to finish this challenge and all the other challenges by OBP design team members. You do NOT have to use OBP stamps, but if you have 'em, use 'em! Here's what you do. Make your card and post it on your blog. Make a comment to this post with a direct link to your post on your blog. Here's some more info: OBP's Design Team will be hosting challenges on their blogs. These challenges will also be posted on OBP's Group area of Paper Craft Planet. You'll have until Thursday at midnight to complete any and all challenges. Do you want to know what you're playing for, other than the satisfaction of making some awesome cards and projects? One winner from each of the challenges will receive either an Earth or a "Limited Edition" Al on Earth stamp. That one winner will then be entered into the drawing for one of the grand prizes:
 o One winner will receive $100 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
 o One winner will receive $50 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
 o Five winners will receive a 25% discount coupon when they place a Odd Bird Planet order. Here's the schedule (all times are PDT), challenge hostesses, and their blog urls: 6:00 am – 9:00 amRina, Sparkle, Suzy, Godelieve 9:00 am – 12:00 pmNicole, Tracy, Dianne 12:00 pm – 3:00 pmKim, Tanis 3:00 pm – 6:00 pmBeth, Marnie, Teresa 6:00 pm – 9:00 pmLaura 9:00 pm – 12:00 amDebbie, Kathi Ok, enough information! Let's get crafting. I want to see what you can do with those pesky subscription cards!!!

Happy Earth Day!

Well, 6am came and went. I overslept. Check HERE for the schedule of Earth Day events. Each person on that schedule will be hosting a challenge in that time slot. Follow the instructions on each blog so you know where to post your card. Don't forget to check out the OBP forum on Paper Craft Planet. Lots of info and happenings there, too. My challenge is at 9pm tonight. Come back and see me!