Plenty of Fish

 Hello! 

This was a fun project.  This stamp/stencil combo creates a panel (like you see on the left below).   You are meant to turn that into a card and Viola! you have a card.   The set does come with dies to cut out the fish.  So I made a second panel and die cut all the fish to see wha tI could make with them...   I ended up with three really fun cards.  I stamped them a variety of sentiments so I can use them for Father's day and Birthdays.    If you scroll down you can see close up of the cards.  I'd love to know what you think of them.  I really had fun playing with this set.  I'd like to make more in different colors. 

No copics today

Under the Sea

 Hello, 

I'm in love with these shimming bliss sprays that I picked up at Akron convention.  The photos don't do these justice.  They a silver sparkle to them.  I tried to take a photo at an angle to capture the sparkle.  It shows it a little better.   I used a white gel pen to add some bubbles and make a frame around the center panel. 

Materials:

Stamps:  use code TJ10Chris to save 10%

Sea Floor Stamp

Lessons from the Ocean

Sprays: use code TJ10Chris to save 10%

Mardi Gras

Dolphin Cove

Can you see the sparkle?

While I had the stamps out I thought I'd look through my stash of backgrounds.  I found this shaving cream background that I had left over.  I thought it looked like water.  I love the way the Sea Floor background looked stamped on it.  To help focus the attention on the sentiment I used a Hero Arts fish tank die on top.  I added dimensional foam to parts of the frame to give this card a 3D look.  

I'd love to know what background do you like better? 

Side Step Fishing Card

 Hi! 

I love cards that can "Wow"  the recipient.  Side step cards are a great because they easy to create but don't skimp on the WOW!.   I've made a few center step cards in the past that are similar.   They are linked here if you want to see them (friendship, birthday, and cowboy).  

The really nice thing about a sidestep card vs. a center step card is you have the ability to create hanging elements that help create that "Wow" impression.  This card still fits into a A2  envelope but the fishing pole and sign hang off the card.  The steps help create the illusion of an immersible scene.  

Check out the video here 

You can see the video for this card here 

Materials:

Stamps: Rubbernecker Stamps
Under the Sea Stamp set

Fisherman

Copics: Copics used for this project:   This is the best deal that I know of for here.

Fisherman: 

Blue- B91, B93, B95, B97, B99

Green- YG99, YG94, G99, G85

Bag and Sign: E44, E43, E42, E41

Shirt: E50, E51, E53 with stripes drawn in with brown marker

Skin: E000, E00, E11, E13

Hair: C3, C1,

Orange Fish- R05, YR18, YR16, YR14, YR12

Green Fish- YG17, YG13, YG11

Crab- R37, R35, R32

Green/Yellow Fish: YG17, YG13, Y15, Y13

Dies:

Side Step Die- (size I used in video) https://divinitydesignsllc.com/side-step-card-die/

Side Step Die (small version)- https://amzn.to/384AOVY

Wave Die- Scrapbook or Amazon  

Stencil:

Cloud Stencil: MFT or Amazon

Men and Fish are alike... (with video)

Greetings, 

I think this little guy needs a help. I love all the different expressions on the fish faces.   

The vellum on this card is a key ingredient. The stencil created a beautiful wave pattern in the background,but it made it really busy.  It was hard to know what to focus on.  The vellum softens the pattern and brings the worm and fish into the foreground.  The best part is that I don't think the vellum is that noticeable.   Most people wouldn't give it any thought.  Cool huh? 

Check out this 3 min video to see this Quick Tip. 

You can see the video here. 

Materials:

Stamps:
Under the Sea

Lunch in

Embellishments:

White Nuvo Drops: Scrapbook or Amazon

Copic:  Best deal as of posting - click here

Purple: V17, V15, V12, V01

Orange: R05, YR16, YR14, YR12

Pink: RV11, RV13, RV14, RV17

Green: G46, G43, G40

Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, YR12

Brown: E31, E33

White Gel pen: Scrapbook or Amazon 

Sign: E50

Stencil:

Wave Stencil- the one I used

Similar stencil  or here 

Vellum: -Spellbinders

Thoughtful Fish

Hello there,

Today is day 2 of the coloring challenge.  The theme is "Thinking of You".  There was something about the look on this mermaids face that made me think she was thinking of someone special.

I pushed myself with the colors a bit.  I usually choose bright colors for mermaids.  This time I picked a more muted color scheme.  I thought the fish looked a little bit like koi.  This was my first time trying to make this marbled look.  I love how it turned out and I think I might try to do this to a mermaid tail soon.

Copics used:
Skin: E000, E00, E11, E13, E21
Purple: RV91, RV93, RV95, RV99
Teal: BG70, BG72, BG75
Hair: E30, E31, E33, E35, E37, E27
Orange: YR04, YR02, YR00
Gray: C1, C0
Water: B66, BV04, B12, Blender pen

Fin-tastic Birthday

Hello friends,

I'm sorry I've fallen a little behind on the blog.  It has been raining...and raining...and raining.  It is really hard for me to take photos of cards when it is so gray outside.  Someday I'll figure out a better lighting system so Mother Nature can't rain on our card parade. 

I love this card it.  I had no idea where this card was going when it started, but slowly it evolved.  I love the texture of the wave background die.   I only removed some of the wave pieces just to give it more interest.  The whale and sentiment can be found here.   This set has some wonderful sentiments.  I think I'd like to make a few more of these with the little squirt sentiment.

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Please leave me a comment.

Materials:
Whale Set 
Wave Background
Banner

Copic used: BV20, BV23, BV25, BV29
White gel pen

Fish in a Box

Welcome, 

I'm so excited to share this card with you.  I saw some similar ideas floating around the internet.  I wanted to give it a surprise pop-up box.  This was so much fun to make.  This little duck is perfect for this type of card. 

Copics used:

Yellow: Y11, Y13, Y15, E13, 

Orange: YR02, YR04, YR09

Rock: W5, W3, W1

Seagull: C5, C3, C1

Green: YG09, YG06, YG03

Mermaid and Flounder

Hello all,

I hope all the Dads out there had an wonderful Father's Day.   I spent the day with my Dad.  We had perfect weather at the lake.  We spent the entire day outside watching the little one splash in his kiddie pool.  It was such a perfect weather...no one wanted the weekend it end. 

I have a mermaid by Unity to share today.    I cut her out and put her on one of my backgrounds in my stash. 

Copics used:
Hair: E21, E23, E25, E27
Skin: E00, E000, E11, E13, E21
Blue: B05, B02, B01, B00
Purple: V01, V12, V15, V17, BV08, 0
Red: R24, R29

Swimming in Hair Gel

Happy 4th of July!,

I hope you are finding some time to enjoy summer activities today. Can you tell that I'm enjoying summer and warmer weather?  My love of water has creeped into my card making today.  We usually do not water and paper to mix, but this card is the exception.   I've used hair gel to mimic the look of water.   I'm afraid the photos will not do this card justice.  It was surprisingly easy to make.  This card is addictive to play with.  It was a favorite in the Card Lover's class this month.

Copics used: BV00, 0 on jellyfish

Life is Good - makeover

Happy Father's Day,

I have a card makeover for you today.  I originally made this card back in 2012 (click here to see the old post)  It have always been one of my favorites.    I wanted to revisit and give it an update.  I changed the sentiment so I could send this one to my Dad.  I thought this would also make a great retirement card.

Copics used:
Boat: E70, E71, E74, E77
Water: B12, B14, B16
Jeans: B91, B93, B95
Green: YG93, YG95, YG97
Red: R29
Brown: E31, E33, E35
Skin: E000, E00, E11

Here are some photos of the older card.

Fishy Friends

Hello all,

Sorry for the lack of posts last week.  I got that nasty cold that was going around.  It just knocked me on my butt.  I'm back at it this week.  I colored this card in both watercolor and copics.   I like the copic one better.   What do you think?

Here is the watercolor one...
I like the softer water in this one, but the fish is not as impressive.

Here is the copic one:  The colors are more vibrant.   I love the translucent look on the tail.

Copics used:

Mouse Skin: E000, E00, E93
Mouse Fur: E30, E31, E33, BV23
Stones: V12, V15, V17
Water: B02, B01, B00, B000
Sea Weed: YG03, YG06, YG17, YG67
Fish: Y17, YR12, YR14, YR16,
Ground: W3, W1

I embossed the fish bowl on both cards to make it look shiny.   I haven't done this in a while. I love the finished look.

Geez, Get a Room! with Video Tutorial

Hello all,

I have a real Knee-slapper for you today.  

Breaking out of traditional blending groups can be tricky because we don't know where to start.  I have a few tips that will help you create a rainbow.  Check out my video to see how I do it. 

Materials:

Stamps: 
The stamp sare from a small company. I couldn't find them online. I did find some similar finds

Fish- digital

The sentiment is a Fractured Funny by Hambo stamps

Copics used: Copics used for this project:   This is the best deal that I know of for here.

Blue: B00, B000
Blue Fish: B01, YG03, YG01, Y13, Y11
Pink Fish: RV14 (tiny bit), RV13, RV11, Y13, Y11 (orange YR12, YR14)
Seaweed: YG06, YG03
Sand: E31, E33

If you'd like to see how I colored this card below, click here. 

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