Friday, August 29, 2014

So Sorry...

Hello all,

I have a quick card to share with you today.  I needed to make some Sympathy cards.  I always feel like Sympathy cards should be simple and elegant.   I tried to mimic a Sunset with ink then stamped flowers in black to create a silhouette.  I also added some texture with a backgrounds stamp.   It turned out to be a messy card to make, but very pretty.



Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Elegant Angel

Hello friends,

Just a quick post today.  I'm headed up to Mom's for the day.   I hope your day is blessed.




copic used:

Blue: B12, B21, B23, B24, B26
Cloud: W3, W1, W0- sprinkled with glitter
Dove: E50, E51
Wings: BV20, BV23, BV25
Hair: E50, Y21, E31
Gold: Y17, Y26
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R11

Monday, August 25, 2014

Friggin' Candle

Happy Monday!

One of my students requested this card.  I used the image to create a Flip-Flop card.   If you are unfamiliar with this style,  the center piece flips to reveal a sentiment and message. These cards are so much fun to make.    It is nice to take a break from a traditional layout.




This is what the inside of the card looks like.

Copics used:
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R11
Cake: E44, E47, E49
Pink: RV13, RV23, RV25
Green: YG00, YG03, YG06
Hair: C1, C3, C5
Light Blue: BG11, BG13, BG15
Dark Blue: B34, B37, B39
Glasses: B000

Friday, August 22, 2014

Clocking Out

Greetings!

One my favorite sayings has always been "The most precious gift you can give, is Time".   I needed some Thank you cards and wanted to incorporate that idea.  No copics today.  This is all done with stamps and ink.  



No copics today

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Candy Corn?

Hello friends,

I've started Halloween cards!  They are some of my favorite cards to make.   My Monday ladies love hedgehogs....so when I saw this stamp, I inked it up for them.   I made a few of these that say "Happy Halloween" and a few that "My Fabulous Friend" for those who do not care for Halloween.




Copic used:

Orange: Y13, YR12, YR14, YR18 ( I added the Y13 to add a yellow base to the pumpkin. You can leave this part out).  E71, E74 for stem
Skin: E000, E00, R20
Hedgehog: W1, W3, W5
Mouse: E40, E41, E43, E44  ears R11
Ground: E30, E31
Candy Corn: YR18, YR14, Y13, Y11,

Monday, August 18, 2014

Deep Breath...

Hello Friends,

(scroll down to card..if you want to skip my story about the weekend)

This weekend was full of surprises.   The tree men came and cut down the trees.  They originally told us they couldn't squeeze us into their schedule for weeks, but they had a cancelation. We got a phone call that told us they were on the way.    We were only planning on cutting down two trees but after consulting with them it turned into three.   It was a thrilling to watch a man climb a dead 80 foot tree cutting into chunks.  Each piece was planned carefully so it didn't crash into the boat hoist, cottage, or boat house.  These guys were talented!  Our neighbors and passing boats paused to watch these guys work.   When finished we were all under the impression that they would stack the wood for us.  Well... SURPRISE...they didn't.  Check out the photos below. They left us a huge mess.   After a few minutes of panic...my family pulled together and went to work.  Ten hours later... the wood was cut and stacked.   My first weekend of resting my foot was an epic fail.  I'm incapable of just sitting things out.  I'm determined to do better this week.

Before Photo:   We cut down the three all the way to the left in the photo.

 We didn't think to take a photo before we started cleaning up.  We stacked a lot of wood on the right, but look how much we still had to go.

after 10 hours of clean up



Here is a Fishy card to remind us to take a DEEP BREATH and roll with the punches...  I hope you had a great weekend!





Copics used:

Fish Body: YR09, YR07, YR04, Y12, Y13, Y11
Fish Face: YR20, YR21, YR24, R11, R20
Lips: R32, R35
Cake: E43, E44, E47, E49
Frosting: E40, E41, E42, E43
Purple: V12, V15, V17
Green: YG00 YG03, YG06
Red: R24, R22, R20
Blue: B02, B01, B00, B000
I used a glitter pen to add some sparkle to the candles


This is Connor's favorite photo of the weekend.  He is such a ham.
Smiles,
Chris








Saturday, August 16, 2014

Zumba Chick

Hello all,

I'm so excited I finally finished a project off my "to do"list.    Connor and I have a friend that helps us out the Zumba class.  She fills in for Connor when he can't teach...and if I'm unavailable or not allowed due to my foot.   She does this without compensation from the gym.  They can't pay her due to some stupid rule.  She just volunteers her time.   I wanted to show our appreciation with a gift.   I made her this personalized phone case for her cell phone.   I love how it turned out!  I colored the image and then air brushed the background. I'm so excited... I can't wait to make more.    I hope she likes it!

I'd love your feedback? What do you think?  Do you think I should add words?

Happy Saturday,
Chris



Copic used:

Skin: E25, E13, E11, E21 lips R85, E04
Hair: 100, N0, N8, N6, N4
Blue: B32, B34, B37, B39
Orange: YR02, YR04, YR07, YR09
Water: B00

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Driving Me Crazy

Hello all,

After being bounced from doctor to doctor and a few tests later....I got some long awaited news today.  The medical community has determined that I did damage to the soft tissue surrounding the cuboid bone in my foot.  The doctor thinks I tore some ligaments and muscle and that is causing the swelling. The good news is I don't need surgery or crutches and if I stay off of it I don't have to wear a boot. Therefore I'm going to do my best to glue my butt to the couch/stamping table for the next few weeks.   Who knew being a couch potato was so hard?   Hopefully this will pass quickly and I can get back to Zumba and walking the dogs.  

I wanted to send  a huge THANK YOU to all you who have sent well wishes.  Stamping is such a wonderful hobby filled with such kind hearts.  I have not met many of you in person, but you took the time to write me words of encouragement.  Your kindness means a lot.  I'm so blessed to have you in my life.  

It has been a while since we have had a manly birthday card.  Creating a masculine cards can be a challenge.  Stamp companies just don't create as many masculine images as cute girly ones.   I think that is starting to change...but it was still a challenge.  I found this image of the man in the car.  It added the balloons to make it a bit more festive.  






Copics used:

Red: R14, R24, R29, R39, R56
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20
Hat: W1
Ground: W5, W3, W1, 0
Tires/Car: T10, T8, T6, T4
Blue: B12, B24, B26  or B21, B24, B26
Green: G12, G14, G16
Orange: YR04, YR07, YR09
Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17
Purple: BV00, BV01, BV04

I used a black multi-liner to draw the balloon strings in.  If you don't have a copic multi-liner color the entire image first.  Then use a black marker to draw the lines in.  It is important to color first because the black marker might ruin your copic tips.   Let me know if you have questions.

Those who have taken some advanced classes with me, learned to do a translucent look on balloons. I choose not to do this because I wanted the colors to be more vibrant.  I wanted the balloons to be as vibrant as the car.  Please feel free to use creative license with this.  Do what feel right to you.... just wanted you to know my thoughts.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Patience, Young Grasshopper

Hello friends,

This is the traditional time of the year for Upstate New York to experience the "Dog Days of Summer", but I don't think this is what they meant.  I sat down on a small little porch rocker to relax and take in a beautiful view.  It wasn't long before I found myself in this "Dog Pile".   I'm glad Connor was able to snap a picture.  The two lab mixes are ours.  The little dog belongs to my sister. 

I'm still in love with fairies. I just never get tired of coloring them!  The have such a sweetness about them. 



Copics used:
Mushrooms: E70, E71, E74, E77
Grass: G20, G24, G28
Flowers: R20, R22, Y13
Purple: BV000, BV00, BV01, BV04
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R11
Wings: B02, B01, B00, B000, glitter
Hair: YR21, E15, E18
I think I should have wrote hair colors down. I was trying some new combos.


Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Morning Glory

Hello Friends,

I'm off today to meet the Tree Man.  My family has owned a small very modest cottage on Keuka Lake (inspired the name of this page).  We have a row trees in our front yard that are slowly dying.  They have reached the end of their life.  Below is a photo from 2006.  Now the branches are almost bare and the bark is falling off.  I know they are only trees.... but I'm sad to see them go.  They are dying and going to land on our cottage.  So with my head hung low,  I'm going to meet the men who are going to bid on the job to take down our two of our trees.  


On a more cheery note, I have a Morning Glory card for you.  When I bought this stamp set, I thought this would be fun to color... but had no idea what a Morning Glory looked like.   Thank the LORD for Google image.  I would have never guessed how colorful this little flower was.





Copics:

Green: G20, G24, G28
Purple: BV04, BV02, BV01, BV00
Pink: V05, V04
Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y17

I sponged some yellow stamping ink around the flowers.  I also put spots of glitter on the butterfly and in the center of the flowers.

Hugs to you all,
Chris





Monday, August 4, 2014

Happiness Grows

Happy Monday,

The card as a whole is a reminder on why you should plan out your card before you start coloring.   I love to color...so I often find myself just coloring images and I usually have no idea what I'm going to do with them.   I have a stack of them... that need to be turned into cards.  What I have found is that once the image is colored it is hard to find card stock or embellishments that match the colors used I used in the image.   So they sit... unfinished.  It is much easier to plan out a card and and leave the coloring for last.  

Old habits are hard to break.. I colored this cutie up and loved her hair.  I have been practicing black hair.  I find it to be the hardest of all the colors to get to look real.  I'm determined to get it right. I'm really happy with how her hair turned out.   I think I did a little dance when I got it all finished. WhoooHOO!     I was so excited... that I wanted to finish this one into a card.  I didn't want her to sit in the pile.

Here is what I came up with.  She is carrying what the artist is called a "Fantasy Flower".   I originally colored the flower pink, but hated the way it looked with the red dress.   So I used some purple tones to darken it up.  I picked green card stock for the card because red and purple looked was too strong.  It was a long process... and took a lot of playing around.... but finally it is done.

What do you think?



 
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E11,R20
Hair: T9, T7, T5, T3  or you could do dark brown E33, E35, E37
Red: R24, R29, R39-- white gel pen to accent
Brown: E40, E41, E43, E44
Green: G43, G36
Flower: R81, R83, R85 covered with V04, V05, V09 ---not sure if I could repeat this process. I would just pick your own color for flower.  Yellows would look nice: Y11, Y13, Y15.  I put a little glitter pen in center of flowers.

This was a fun one to color, but challenging.  You can do it!  Take your time. ....and good luck with the flowers  :)


Saturday, August 2, 2014

Blue Daisies

Hello all,

Connor and I just got home from seeing Hairspray at our local community theater.  When we arrived we found out that the show not only sold out, but over sold tickets.  They pulled out folding chairs and squeezed them into every possible space.  That sounds awful, but we ended up sitting almost on stage.  It felt like we were part of the production.  The cast was running by us in many scenes.   It just added to the magic of the theater experience.  If you are local, I hope you check out the show.  The cast really poured their hearts into the production!

Tonights card is a favorite of mine.  I picked up this stamp recently.  I feel in love immediately.  I know daisies aren't normally blue....but it just felt right.





Copics used

Blue: B00, B12, B24, B26,
Center of Flower: Y11, Y15, Y17, E13, E15
Purple: BV01, BV00