Saturday 19 November 2011

I'm Back!

It feels like forever since my last blog post. I am so glad to be back. The past 2 weeks have been super busy with family events since we have some family visiting, and although it was fun and all, I've been missing my craftroom. Anyway, my card is just an any day card. I was inspired by reds and blues. I know, not Christmas-y at all, but the Christmas "creations" are a-coming! hehehe. The image is from The Greeting Farm, called Cheeky Mate. I coloured her in with Copic Markers and I really like how she turned out. :)


I wanted to make a more vintage style card but I still love bright colours so I figured I'd combine those two elements. The cardstock is just a plain red cardstock from Recollections, and the printed papers are from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Retro Grunge stack, My Mind's Eye Playful Posies stack, and the K&Co. Best of Brenda Walton Pad. The stamp image is stamped on plain white Recollections cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and the copic colours I used are the following:

Skin: E53, E51, E50, cheeks: R20
Hair: E19, E17, E09
Bow and Boots: R29, R27, R25
Dress and Hat: B97, B95, B93, B91

I also used Ranger Distess ink in Antique linen to ink around the image and around the sentiment. The sentiment is from AmyR Lovely Sentiments set. It was stamped using the Colorbox Fluid chalk ink pad from the sand dunes set, and the embellishments are Recollections brads and some flowers that I got from a garage sale...


The inside of the card is just the same papers from the Tim Hotz pad and a scrap of cream cardstock with a print on the bottom. I left it blank since it's an "any day card." I hope all of you are warm and cozy. We got out first "real" snow fall the other day... Cheers!

Friday 4 November 2011

Warm Winter Wishes

It was soooo cold today! Coming off a night shift definitely was not fun this morning LOL. It really feels like winter has come early this year. I don't mind it that much because I love snow! Anyway, so the almost freezing temperatures inspired me to make a winter-themed card. I also got some of my new Copic Markers in the mail today so I wanted to use them. I got them from Scrappin' Great Deals~ a Canadian online store based in Ontario. There was a sale on Copic Sketch markers for 5$! An amazing deal that I could not pass up. So here is the card...


The layout of the card was inspired by Prairie Paper and Ink's Christmas Card Series. Amy has now posted 4 cards and she is great at it! I check everyday to see if she added a new video :) For this card, I used another image from The Greeting Farm called Beanie Anya. I love how warm and cozy she is in this image. I stamped it on Copic Xpress it cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured her with Copic markers. Here are the colours I used:

Skin: E53, E51, E50 with R22 as blush
Hair: E71, E53, E41
Socks: RV000

For the Clothes:
Purples: BV25, BV02, BV00
Greens: BG96. BG93, BG78
Blues: B99, B97, B91
Pinks: R89, R85, R81

The card base is from 3 Birds Design Overstuffed cardmaking kit, and the patterned papers are from K&Co. Seasonal stack, Prima Fairy Flora, and Recollections Pet Pad. I inked the edges of using Memento Grape Jelly ink and used buttons from a garage sale as embellishments. I just wrote out the sentiment. It took a couple of attempts before I was happy with how I had written it.


For the inside of the card, I just used the same patterned papers, inked the edges with Grape Jelly ink and used a couple of blue brads on the sides of the sign. I think it turned out well and I'm really happy with it :) I hope everyone's having a nice cozy night! I'm off to make some hot chocolate, sit by the fireplace and catch up on reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

A Minimalist Approach

I wanted to colour another image using Prismacolor pencils and odorless paint thinner, and after colouring, I thought I would challenge myself with whipping up something simple~ maybe a card that showcases only very few elements. I am really happy with the way it turned out. I usually spend so much time on my cards and I sometimes get carried away hehe.. When I finshed this card, I feel I've created something simple, but still quite nice. :)


I used a printed cardbase from the 3Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking kit. My image is from The Greeting Farm Miss Anya "Rain, Snow, Shine." I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on plain white Recollections cardstock and used the following Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils to colour "Miss Anya Snow."

Hair: Terra Cotta
Skin: Light Peach, Peach, Pink
Ear Muffs: Sand, Yellow Ochre
Scarf: Sand, Yellow Ochre, Light Cerulean Blue, True Blue
Fur linings: Cloud Blue
Coat/ socks: Lilac, Imperial Violet
Boots: 70% Warm Grey

The sentiment I used is from the AmyR Get Well Sentiments, and as usual I stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I used Ranger Stickles on the fur to give it a bit of sparkle and I used Recollections yellow half pearls as embellishments. 

That's pretty much it. I have to say, I'm really liking this new technique using coloured pencils and blending the colours with odorless paint thinner. I like that I can show dimension and play with light. I'm off to do another project now. I'm taking advantage of a few days off before I start my set again!

Using Prismacolor Pencils

This is my first attempt at colouring with coloured pencils. It definitely has a different feel from using Copics. I love the "softer" effect, but I know I need more practice. Anyway, I made a gatefold card this time. I used another of my Stamping Bella stamps. She is Bessie Lulu. I just love the scallop detail on her dress! She is so pretty! :)


I used a plain green gatefold card base from Studio G that I just got from the dollar bins at Michaels. I also used some printed textured cardstock from the My Mind's Eye Playful Posies stack. I thought the orange paper with glittery flowers went well with the image. The image as well as the sentiment are stamped on plain white Recollections cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I inked the edges with Ranger Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters. As I mentioned, I used Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils to colour my image, and here are the colours I used.

Skin: Light Peach, Peach
Hair: Light Umber, Sepia
Flowers/ parts of dress: Cream, Canary Yellow, Yellowed Orange, Orange
Dress/ stems: Chartreuse, Apple Green
Shadow: 20% Warm Grey

I also used buttons that I got from a garage sale as embellishments. Now, onto the inside of the card.


I used another textured and glittery cardstock for the sides of the card and I stamped the image again on plain white Recollections cardstock using Memento Pear Tart ink. I find it really hard to get the image to "transfer" when the stamp has no cling mounted to it, and since the stamping bella stamps are unmounted, I think I'll just get some EZ foam cling and attach them. I also used a flower stamp from Inkadinkadoo for the flowers on the top right corner. I used Shabby Shutters to ink the edges of the writing area. I think my first Prismacolor card turned out okay :)

I'm entering this card to the Simon Says Stamp Buttons Challenge 

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Happy Birthday Bubby!

My hubby's birthday is coming up on Sunday and I made him a special birthday card. He loves it when I bake him cupcakes so I used this image from Stamping Bella. She is "Harriet" from the lulu collection. I know that the card is so girly but I think he'll still like it. I really enjoyed making this card because it has two of my favourite things- cupcakes and stamping :)


The plain orange card base I used is from the 3 Birds Design Overstuffed Cardmaking kit. I then used some printed cardstock from DCWV Sweet Stack. I love the glittery little cupcakes! I also used Recollections border punch, and inked the edges with Studio G ink pad (it doesn't say what colour, but I used one of the blue ones). I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Copic Xpress it cardstock and coloured it in with Copic markers. Here are the colours I used:

Skin: E02, E00, E000
Apron/ headband/ flowers: BG13, BG11, BG10
Small hair flowers: B02, B000
Polkadots/ roses: R85, R81
Cupcakes: E17, E13, E53
Dress ruffles/ stockings: W3

I also used a white satin ribbon and some flowers and "gems" from a garage sale as embellishments. The sentiment is from AmyR Birthday Sentiments. AmyR sentiments are my favourite! I'm building my collection, and next on my list are the Baby Sentiments and the Thankful Sentiments. Anyway, on to the inside of the card...


I used the same patterned cardstock from DCWV Sweet stack on the inside of the card. I also cut out the middle "writing area" using the Cricut Expression and Storybook cartridge. The sentiment is stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on just plain white Recollections cardstock. The sentiment is from AmyR Lovely sentiments. I did stamp it a bit slanted :( but oh, well.... I'll be more careful next time.
I hope you all had a good Halloween! I wish you a lovely rest of the week!

I am entering this to the Tiddlyinks Tuesday Challenge #71 Anything Goes and Birthday Sundaes Guest Designer Birthday Card Challenge