Saturday, October 31, 2015

Sheltering Tree

Happy Halloween!

You might be expecting a Halloween card today, but I wanted to do something a little different.  October is also Breast Cancer Awarness month.   Most stampers are woman and I think it is important that we acknowledge and support all those who fighting the fight.   This year, I tried to make it general enough to be used as a friendship card rather than a "get well"

I made two versions of this card.  



The first version of this card used flower soft to add the leaves.  I love the look of this, but it was time consuming and a bit messy.   You can see stuff flaking off in the top photo.   To simply things a little, I created this second version.  It is embossed with little flakes of glitter.   I wish the camera picked up the glitter a little better.  It is subtle effect.



No Copics Today

Friday, October 30, 2015

Cardinals

Happy Friday Friends,

Do you ever wonder where things got started?   Cardinals make me think of Christmas.  I'm not how they got associated with the holiday.  I usually see them flying about our backyard in the spring and summer.  Don't they migrate south for the winter?  I wonder if it because the beautiful red color pops against the snowy white?   I'm not sure I'll solve this mystery today... but they make beautiful Christmas cards!



No copics today!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Pandmas

Howdy Stampers!

I love this Panda Set.   These cuties are so much fun to dress up.  I had to search high and low to find hats that fit each one of them, but it was worth the work.  They are adorable!





Copics used:
Red: R29, R24
Green: G46, G43
Brown: E13, E15
Blue: B02, B05
glitter on the edge of snow bank

Monday, October 26, 2015

Snowy Window

Happy Monday,

I have another card to share with you from the Card Lover's class.  Using the window die to create scenes has become a popular trend in stamping. I couldn't sit back an let everyone else have all the fun.  I had to give the idea a try.

I didn't do a lot of coloring on this card.  I stamped the scene on white card stock and colored the snowman scarf/hat and trees.  I made the white piece of card slightly larger than needed so it gave me more freedom to position the scene as I wanted and then trimmed off the extra.  

I added some glitter to the snow bank.  I also put some small dots of glitter glue in the sky to make it look like it is snowing.

I had a lot of fun with this window die. I'm excited to see happens outside as the year goes!!




Copics:
Green: G46
Snowman: C1
Red: R29
Tree: E25

Saturday, October 24, 2015

A Blast From My Past

Hello all,

I have something a little silly to share with you.  My Mom was doing some fall cleaning and she found this card I made for my parents 15 years ago.   My parents were kind enough to help me finance a trip to Kenya and gave me my first camera.  When I look back, this trip was one of those events that shaped me as a person.   It changed how I thought about the world and my place in it.  

I wish I could share every story/lesson with you in this post...but I won't do that to you.  I'll limit myself to one. This was the moment that jumped to my mind first.  I vividly remember watching a woman drinking water from a small pond.  The water was thick with mud.  Just a few feet away from her was a man urinating into the same water.  This was the only water they had access too. Sure I had seen stuff like that on TV, but when you see it in person it becomes real.   You suddenly feel more thankful for the clean water that pours out in excess from the facet in my house.   When I came home, my mind was racing. I had been exposed to so many things and it took weeks to the experience.  I remember trying to talk to my peers about the experience and no one seemed interested.  I was so frustrated.  I came to realize that most of us in the US live in a bubble...it isn't our fault.  We are so far removed from the problems that these people face everyday.

 It eventually inspired me to lead several student based trips to the Galapagos, Egypt, Belize, and China.  I picked destinations that were very different from the USA.  I loved watching kids discover the world.   I hope that in some way I helped them seem see that we are part of a much bigger world.

I went on that trip to discover lions, elephants, and giraffes, oh my!  I had no idea that I would discover a piece of myself.   Thanks MOM and DAD for providing me with this opportunity.

Enough of the rambling... here is the card I made my parents.  OH MY, Look how stamping has changed!!!  I used computer paper and decorative scissors to create the card base.  I think I used every animal stamp I had to make the card.   What is that little guy doing under the elephants?!! I even made the mistake of getting a little extra red ink on the corner of the card.  I still make the mistake...somethings never change!    I wrote the card from the prospective of the African animals.  Yep....I'm pretty funny.



Copics used:
Copics??? What are those? 
I'm lucky that I had access to so many colors of ink! 
Thanks for taking a trip down Memory Lane! 

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

A Joyful Noise

Hello,

What a crazy turn in the weather outside.  We went from just 30 degrees back up to 75 degrees outside.  Don't get me wrong....I'm not complaining.  I love the opportunity to enjoy another day outside.  In an effort to soak up every ounce of sunshine, I took the puppies for a 4 mile walk this morning.   Now my "dogs" are barking...but it worth it.

The Christmas preparations continue.... today I'm sharing a favorite from the Card Lover's class this month.  I love this tiny bird swinging in his cage.  He looks like he is joyfully singing.


Copics used:
Green: G20, G21, G24, G28
Red: R14, R24, R29

Monday, October 19, 2015

Filled with Warm Memories

Happy Monday,

I can't believe that another week has passed.  On social media I keep seeing reminders that Christmas is Coming!!  AAHHH!!!! I'm not ready.   Today, I took one more step towards finishing my Christmas cards.  Hopefully, I'll have them finished before the snow flies!




No copics today

Friday, October 16, 2015

Flower of the Month: Chrysanthemum

Hello all,

It is time to share the next card in the "Flower of the Month Series".  This month started off just like the others... with a Google image search.  As I scrolled through the images I found that pink is a common color for chrysanthemums.   However, I was really captivated by the two-toned flowers. My favorite photo showcased a flower that was orange/red in the center and the petals faded to a yellow on the outside.  It was perfect for fall!

I chose to break color family when coloring this flower.  This can be a little tricky.  Don't forget to play with your colors on a scrap piece of paper to get a feel for how they will work together.  Some markers blend together easily and others you really have to work.  This technique does take a little practice...so don't give up!  If you are looking for an advanced blending class. I have a DVD class available that walks you through the process step by step.

To color the Lila Grey flower, I started at the center of the flower.  I slowly worked my way out to the outer petals.   I worked about 5 petals at a time, so that the ink stayed wet to help facilitate blending.  Please adjust this depending on how fast you color.

I only used R05 on the inner petals.  I wanted them to be the darkest.   Once I completed the two inner rows of petals, I put R05 away.  I started my flick strokes at the base or where each petal connects to the flower.   I worked the color out towards the edge of each petal.  I only used the lightest colors on the very tips of the petals.   Once I finished colored the entire flower, I did add some W3 in areas that I thought would be farther away or in shadow.

When I first started coloring, I thought it looked like a hot mess.  I'm glad I saw it through till the end.  Once I had all the colors in there, it really came together to create a beautiful fall chrysanthemum.  I hope you are inspired to give this flower a try!  All the flowers in the series can be purchased from Lila Grey




Copics used:
R05, YR14, YR12, Y15, Y13, Y11
G46, G43, G40
I added some shadows with W3

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Beary Nice Fall

Hello Fall!

Connor and I had a really productive weekend.   First we went to the lake to winterize and put away the boat.  My Dad came down to teach Connor how to do it.  Before they started Connor had the urge sneak in one more water skiing trip.   I don't know how he did it...it was cold!   The water temperature was 69 degrees.    He hopped right out of the lake and took a hot shower.   We will need to go to the lake one more time to wrap up a few more things, but we are almost ready for winter.


After the lake, we came back to our house.  My Dad and Connor worked in the basement.  They managed to install insulation in 75% of the basement.   It looks great and another baby-step towards having a real craft room!

While they were hard at work, I colored up this cutie.  This stamp set is made by Newton's Nook was a limited edition stamp.  I was lucky enough to get my hands on one before they disappeared. I can't take credit for the card design.  I CASED they layout off the manufacture's web page.   However, I picked my own colors and used a different techniques to achieve a similar look.  



 In my card, I chose to airbrush the ground and cloudy sky.  This created a harsh line of color where the bag of leaves and bear sit.  I wanted to soften the line...so I added a bunch of dots to soften the look.  My bag of leaves also didn't sit perfectly on the ground.  The bag was floating a bit.  To fix that I just added a little hill by adding dots of color underneath the bag.   It worked out really well.  Just be sure to make your dots all different sizes.




Copics used:
Brown: E47, E44, E43, E42, E41
Bear: E35, E33, E31, E30, W4
Belly: E53, E51
Metal: C3, C1
Leaves: just picked fall colors and also used each color to add the dots to the ground
I put a little glitter on the leaves

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Fall Wreath

Happy Fall Ya'll,

Fall is in full swing.  Our back porch is full of colorful leaves, the air is crisp, and I've had to dig out my fuzzy socks so my toes do not freeze.   I love the colors and tastes of fall...I just with the temperatures would be a bit more pleasant.  BRRRrrrr.....

I created this card using a Christmas stamps set.  I wish I could take full credit for the idea, but I was inspired by all the beautiful cards on pintrest.



No copics today
I just added some glitter to the center of each flower

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Weather the Storm Together

Hello there,

I have a card to share with you today that will turn anyone's frown upside down. I love this boy and his bear friend.  It is so sweet.  I sponged the backgrounds, but used copics to color in the main images.





Copics used;
Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y17, E13
Brown: E31, E33, E35
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20
Blue: B04, B02, B00
Green: YG01, YG03, YG06
Yellow: Y17, Y15, Y13
Orange: YR18, YR15, YR12
Red: R39, R29, R24
Purple: BV04, BV02, BV00

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Balloon and Stars

Hello friends,

I have a fun masculine birthday card to share today.  I love this technique.  I layered inks to get an ombre effect.  I think I'd like to try this again in some other colors.  I think there is some cool possibilities with this technique.



No copics today.
Optional: I added a little glitter to the balloons.  It doesn't show up well in the photos

Monday, October 5, 2015

Grateful Butterflies

Happy Monday,

I have an unusual card for you today.  I was challenged by a friend to a color challenge.   The colors where a little unusual, but it wouldn't be called a challenge if it wasn't difficult.   Some students loved this color combo and others did not.  I can understand both sides of this.  I like it because it is different, but don't think I'll reach for these colors often!





Copics used:
YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97
I added highlights with gel pen

If you are looking for alternatives to the green... these butterflies look beautiful colored in oranges and yellows.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Ghostly

Hello all,

I have a super quick card today for Halloween.  I'm in love with these Ghost dies.  I decided to dress this one up a little.  I glued in the pieces from his eyes in mouth back into the die then added orange glitter.  If you don't have orange glitter you could color the pieces orange and use clear glitter.  It just added a little pop!



No copics today

Friday, October 2, 2015

Blown Away

Hello all,

The last weekend we were at the lake, we saw a hot air balloon floating over the water.  There is something so magical about watching them dance through the sky.  It inspired me to get my hot air balloon stamps out.  I love the soft blues in this card.  It helps the colors pop on the balloon.



Copics used: I kept these really simple
Red: R24, R29
Orange: YR12, YR15
Yellow: Y13, Y15
Green: YG03, YG06
Blue: B02, B00
Purple: V20
Basket: E31

I sponged the clouds with blue ink