Pumpkin Patch

Happy Halloween!!

I love pumpkins.  I don't necessarily mean pumpkin flavors.  Those are good too... but I mean actual pumpkins.  Check out this beauty!!!

No copic today

Here are some photos of my pumpkin.  These are from his 6 month photo shoot.  Thank you to my sister for helping.

Sending Hope

Hello friends,

As you are probably know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  I always try to make at least one card to show my support.    My heart go out to all those who fight.  We are with you!

No copics today-- just glitter on the ribbon

Oh Deer!

Hello friends,

I'm sure dogs worldwide can relate to this guy.   I know my dogs can (see photo below).

This photo is from a few years ago.  It might be time to dig out the antlers again.  

 Copics used:
Brown: E30, E31, E33, E35
Ears: E30, R00
Nose: R24, R29- finished off with glossy accents.
Antlers: E40, E41, E42, E44,

Winter Awaits

Howdy!


I'm trying to switch gears and start thinking about Christmas/winter cards.  It is amazing how fast this holiday sneaks up on us!  Every year, I vow that I'm going to finish my Christmas cards before Labor day.  Every year... I regret not keeping that promise.

How many Christmas cards do you make each year?  Do you make them all the same or do you make many different ones?

Here is a wintery one... to help us get in the Holiday spirit.  Check out the look on the dog's face.  LOVE IT!!! Do you think something is chasing them?

***There are some baby pictures at the very bottom***

 Copics used:

Dog: C7, C5, C3, C1
Skates: W9, W7, W5, W3
Blue: B18, B16, B14, B12
Green: G46, G43, G40
Purple: BV08, BV04, BV02
Ice: B00, B000
White: E40, E42, E44
Hair: E33, E35, E37
Skin: E000, E00, R20
glitter pen

On the home front: 
Here is a little shout out to a fellow stamper Donna.  She made me this wonderful Christmas Card last year ( I save all the handmade cards sent to me).  My little helper found my stash.   He was fascinated with this card.  I wish I could read his mind.   Look at how focused he is on it!  He wasn't happy when I took it away.  :(  Sorry the photos are a little blurry.  It is hard to get the monster to hold still.

Franky wants Candy

Hello again!

Halloween preparations are well on the way.  I toyed with the idea of doing a family costume this year.  I couldn't find an idea that worked.   I can make that a goal for next year.  Do you have any cool traditions that you do with your kids during the holidays?  

I have a confession... I've had this stamp for a long while.  This is the first time it has seen ink.  I hate that.  I'm sure we all have stamps in our stash that have collected dust.  I don't know why I waited so long... he is so cute!

This card is a little challenging to color.  It has lots of details and shadows.  His face is covered in bumps and lumps.  Each with its own shadow.   His legs are also tough.  The artist didn't give you much detail to go on.  I just tried to keep the general shape without turing it into a blob.   I love how this guy turned out.  He looks ready for a yummy treat!

 Copics used:
Green: YG11, YG13, YG17
Purple: BV04, BV02, BV00
Orange: YR18, YR15, YR12
Ground: B63, B66
Black: N9, N7, N5, N3
Red: R29, R24

Best Witches

Hello friends,

I love Halloween!  I'm really looking forward to this year because it is Ryan's first Halloween.  I know he will never remember it, but he is going to look so cute in his costume.  I promise to post pictures once I have them.  So far... I managed to keep his costume a secret.  If you want to see what how he reacted to seeing his costume, click here.


Here is my first Halloween card for the year.   I made several of these.  I made some with yellow sequins and some with purple candy dots.  There are also slight differences in the coloring of the cat.
This card was a little tricky because it has so many small details.  It is a great way to practice coloring with a light hand.

Copics used:

Orange: YR12, YR14, YR15, YR18

Green on pumpkin: G46, G43

Stem: E71, E74

Cat: 100, N9, N7, N5, N3, N1

Purple: BV17, BV04, BV02, BV00

Yellow: Y15, Y17

Pink: R00, R11

Green: YG11, YG13, YG17

Wonderful Beginning

Hello again,

This card is long overdue to be posted.  I made it years ago.  I had some requests for wedding cards, so I dug this one out.  I love the simplicity of this card.   I kept the coloring minimal to enhance the elegance of the bride.  There is a touch of glitter on the dress.  My favorite part is the subtle pink around her dress.  It is really hard to see in the photos.

Copics used:

B000 on dress

RV10 as shadow

W1 on ground

R29 as flowers

E42, E44 on hair

Skin: E000, E00

Glitter

Love You More Than Coffee

Good Morning,

Do you have a love affair with coffee?  Personally... I don't get it.   My husband has a passion for it.  He has it making it down to an art form.   Our dogs even know the process.  Every night just before bed he starts his coffee ritual.  They watch for this... and know it is time to go outside for their "last chance pee".     As a non-coffee drinker.. it has been a learning experience.   It is because of him... I had to have this stamp.  Any excuse for another stamp, right?

 Copics used:
Hair: E40, E42, E43, E44, E47, E49
Skin: E000, E00, E11, E13, R20
Shirt: R20, R21, R22
Mug: V91, V93, V95

Seeds of Tomorrow

Greetings!

I'm finding more and more that having encouragement/thinking of you cards on hand is helpful.  It is nice to send them out to friends that are having a tough day.  Who doesn't love happy mail?!

Copics used:
Mouse: E40, E42, E43, E44
Red: R39, R29, R24, R14
Green: YG03, YG06, YG09
Yellow: Y32, Y35, Y37
Black: N9, N7, N5, N3
Pink: R11, R00
Glitter on the flower

The Nicest Thing

Hello all,

Yikes!!  I've fallen a bit behind on the blog.  It has been a busy few weeks at our house.    Last week, we made a long over due trip to Delaware to see some friends.  I was a little worried about how the baby would deal with the 6 hour car ride.  It was all for not.   He did AMAZING!!

We filled every second of the weekend we could with activities.  We wanted to see as many people as possible.   We played frisbee, went hiking (several times),  ate at all of our favorite restaurants, and got locked in a room!  Have you heard of the new craze, were you get locked in a room and you have to solve clues to get out?   You have an hour to solve the puzzle.   It probably sounds crazy, but we had a great time.   Our room's theme was US. History and only a 3% success rate.  We sadly didn't solve all the clues/puzzles in the one hour time frame.  We were really close.  We were working on the last clue.  I think if we had 3-5minutes...we would have solved it.   If you ever have the opportunity to try it... I would recommend it.  It feels like you are in a movie.

Okay.. back to stamping.   I have a lot of post planned for this week.   Time to catch up!

I've been teaching myself to watercolor.   I've been coloring cards in both copics and watercolor.   It has been fun to compare the two.  What I found is watercoloring is much, much faster.  It is also way easier to make backgrounds with watercolor.   However, the colors are more vibrant in copics.  You also have more control over the ink to achieve a more detailed look.    I'm enjoying playing with both mediums, but copics are still my FAVORITE!

 Copics used:

Brown: E30, E31, E33, E35, E37
Pink/Red: R30, R32, R35, R37
Black: N9, N7, N5
Green: G02, G05, G07, G09
Tennis ball: YG00, YG03, YG06
Gel pen
Sponged Sky with Blue ink

 Watercolor version:

Card Lover's Class

Hello Stampers,

Every month I put together a Card Lover's class.   I started doing this about three years ago!  It is amazing how fast time flies.   This past month, I decided to change the format a little.  The focus used to be on making six quick cards.  However... the focus slowly changed to making more in depth cards and learning new techniques.  It was becoming harder and harder for us to finish the cards in 3 hours.
The focus of the class will now be on the exploration of new techniques/ideas.  I like having this learning component in each class even if it means reducing the number of projects to five.    I'm also going to TRY to make a instructional video each month.  This way if you live outside the Corning, Brockport, or Ithaca area you can participate.    If you would like more information on this please drop me an email.   I hope to get the first edition of this out soon.

Don't worry I'm also going to continue the Copic Card Club each month.

Here is a photo of September's cards.

Here are some close-ups...

Love this Turkey card!