Noel Christmas Card
This is the Christmas card I made this year. It has been a very hectic season, Tim's son with his wife and daughter came up from South Carolina and spent a few days with us. I was up, one night, until 3:00am finishing and addressing my cards and got them out in the nick of time. The card I made is cased after a card I saw on Pintrest and called a gap card. Deciding what I was going to make this year was very difficult. I wanted to use papers I already had, but I did have to buy a couple of items to make the card, the "Noel" die, and the embossing folder for the swirls under the the word "Noel". My sisters and I went over to our local Archiver's store on Black Friday to work on them, but I soon found out I didn't have enough of the gold shimmer paper and Archiver's was sold out. I didn't get far on my cards that day. I went to another store that I knew would have the paper I wanted and got some. I tried making it a few times before I decided just what I wanted it to look like. At first, I tried a red paper instead of the gold shimmer, but it didn't go with the printed paper so I tried with the gold and it looked much better. The layers on the top of the card were too plain when I first made that part. It need something to jazz it up, I tried tearing the one edge and I liked that a lot better. The "Noel" is cut out twice, one for the front of the card, the other goes on the back of the first one. This adds stability to the card and also gives the inside a finished look. So, I do hope you enjoy the card.

Paper - gold shimmer paper, cream colored paper, print paper, I don't know what the name of it is or who       put it out

Accessories - Noel, Sizzix die; embossing folder, Ironworks

Leaves of Fall

Leaves of Fall

This card took me a few days to make, I just couldn't make up my mind as to what I wanted it to look like. First I made the leaves and acorns. These are made with outline stickers, in copper, which I picked up at a stamp show a few years ago. I put them on a sheet of Wonder Tape, this was a sheet of tape that I used. Then a transparent micro fine glitter was sprinkled on top and rubbed into the Wonder Tape. This leaves a beautiful glitter look without the shedding of glitter. I then took my copic markers and colored over the glitter, hence the colored leaves and acorn. The Wonder Tape is sticky on both sides and I didn't want any other colors coming through so I stuck it onto white paper and cut out the leaves and acorns. After I cut them out, the thinking came, what am I going to do with them. I pulled out the mustard colored card stock for the base of the card and then matched it with the red card stock to bring out the red in the leaves. There is some red tints in the designed paper and the red card stock brings this out. The print paper was the hardest to pick out. Now things started to come together, but it needed something else. I was looking for some bling swirls, I thought I had some, but couldn't find them. when I started looking through all my embellishments to see what I had, I came across the swirls I add here. They worked perfectly!I also found the words to rub on. The leaves and acorn where attached with dimensional tape to add a little depth. Enjoy the card! Any questions? Let me know!

Leaves of Fall

Paper - mustard card stock, red card stock, unknown brand; dp, Forever Fall by BoBunny

Copper outlines - Starform

Swirls - Autumn Bling by Jolee's EK Success

Words - rub on by unknown brand

Other - Copic markers, Glitter Ritz transparent micro fine glitter, Wonder Tape sheet, lift tape



Lilacs

Lilacs

I wanted to post this picture on my blog. I colored it last night at the Copic Intermediate class I took. I took the Standard class on the day before. What does this mean, you ask. Well, I am now certified to teach art using copic markers. I am so excited about it. I learned so much in the class. It was long, especially the class yesterday, but well worth it. The instructor was Debbie Olsen and she was an excellent instructor! I would recommend taking both these coarses, especially if you are serious about your copics. The standard class covers the basics about copics and how to blend with them. The intermediate class covered shading and shadows, skin and hair, and how to choose what colors will work together. The colors I used are written on the paper, but the writing might be a little hard to read. If you look at the two leaves at the bottom of the picture, you will notice a dark spot in the middle of the bottom leaf. That is the shadow of the the top leaf. I would never have thought of doing something like that! Anyway, enjoy!

An Apple a Day

An Apple a Day

I colored this apple a few times before I got to the point where I liked it. It is done with copic markers, of coarse. The stamp originally had lines in the apple depicting gloss on the apples, I didn't like these line, I felt I was limited as to where to put the gloss. So, I took my sisters stamp carving knives and took out those lines and I do like it a lot better. It is a lot prettier and easier to color.The next problem was how I was going to make a card with the apples. I wanted the focus to be on the apples so I made the rest of the card black and white.The labels with the apples on them and the labels with the words have lift tape under them to add a little dimension to the card. My best friend will be going in for surgery in a couple of weeks so I think I will be giving it to her as a get well card, if I don't make another card. Again, I used scraps of paper so I can't give you the brands on much except the stamp. The black cardstock is a shimmer cardstock left over from my nephew's wedding invitations. I hope you enjoy the card.

Stamp - Apples by DRS Designs, words are computer generated

Ink - Tuxedo Black by Memento

Paper - white by Georgia Pacific, black

Embellishments - ribbon, lift tape, label dies by Spellbinders, Trio Labels by Spellbinders

Techniques - Copic Markers

Relax and Enjoy

Relax and Enjoy

I loved this card the minute I saw it. I cased it from "Copic Coloring Guide, Level 2". It is so much fun learning to use copic markers and every time I use them, I learn something new. The card that was in the coloring guide was a "Bon Voyage" card and I decided to make this into a Father's Day card. I made a second card, maybe using it for a sympathy card but I haven't put any sentiment on it yet so I'll see what I'll use it for. Now, the words on the front of the card look like I did something wrong when stamping, maybe double stamped it, but that's the way it's supposed to look and I like it. The water turned out a lot darker then in the guide, but no matter what I did, it would never turn out the same as their water and it isn't supposed to. The stump that the seagull is standing on, I thought the one in the guide was too brown so I put more grey into it. What I did learn, while making this card, was how to color water and how to color weathered wood. I still am not total satisfied with the fiber I used, I tried string on the first card I made, but it was too thick. I was looking at my hemp, but like this, it was too thin and too brown. I'll have to do some looking around to see if there is something else out there to use. I think the hardest part of making this card was cutting out the bird on a stump. It is on dimensional tape to give it some depth. I do like the look of it, though. Well, enjoy the card.

Relax and Enjoy

Stamps - Coastal Wishes Stamp Set from Our Craft Lounge

Paper - Georgia Pacific White, Bazzil Black, DP paper is My Funny Valentine Crush by TPC

Studio

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Embellishments - Scrappers Floss

Other - Dimensional tape and copic markers

Tim's Valentine Card

Tim's Valentine Card

I had to get a Valentine card made for my husband. We will be leaving for SC in a couple of days and will be down there for Valentine's Day so if I didn't get it made, he wouldn't get a card. Since it was going to a man, I didn't want to make it real pink and flowery. The templates for this card were featured on Splitcoast this week. I really liked the technique so I thought I would try it. The card was easier to make then I expected. There was a template on Splitcoast for the letters and heart. I printed them off, copied them on regular paper, and then traced them on to the design paper. To do the cut outs, Stampin' Up has a gadget to trace around things, like the letters, and leaves a border. I can't remember what it is called, but there are different sizes starting at 1/8" and going up to about 1" and they look like washers. I don't use it much, but this was a good time to get it out. The heart needed something, the poppy really doesn't match, but it was all I had that I thought would look good. The base of the card is 3 1/2" by 10 1/2". It is then scored at 3 1/2" and 7". The letter and heart are then attached, each centered in it's own square. This is where the Stampin' Up gadget comes in. Take the 1/8" washer and go around the areas as seen on the card. You can also use a ruler and just make around the letters and 1/8". This is what the instructions said to do. Use an exacto knife and cut out these areas. Put whatever embellishments that you want on it and your card is done. There is no ink, the papers I used where scrap pieces to I can't give you names for them. The poppy is from Jolee's. I hope you try to make this card, it wasn't as hard as I thought.

Little Bean's Bear Valentine Card

Little Bean's Bear Valentine Card

Connie, my good friend, called me yesterday and asked if I could help her make a few cards. I said yes, I had to make a card myself. This is the card I made. I don't have any children's Valentine stamps, so I went on line to look for a digital stamp. Digi stamps are so handy, they are downloaded right away so there is no need to go to a store to buy them, they are cheaper, this one cost two dollars, and you can keep them on your computer forever and use them when you need them. The bear and balloons are colored with Copics markers, very fun and very relaxing. If you are stressed out, try coloring with Copics. It is hard to see in the photo, the envelope and tag are colored with a Stardust pen. After all, all little girls like sparkles. The balloons are also outlined with the Stardust Pen. The white paper with the bear on it has lift tape under it. That is also hard to see in this photo. The lift tape adds dimension to a card, it doesn't look as flat. The fiber also adds dimension to the card. I have done cards without any embellishment to them and I think, yes, cards do need embellishments. Enjoy the card!

Little Bean's Bear Valentine Card

Stamps - Love Balloons by Di's Digi Downloads

Paper - Textured Raspberry by Bazzle, My Funny Valentine Crush by TPC Studio, white

Ink - Copics, Stardust pen

Embellishments - Hemp fiber, lift tape

Girl on a Trike

Girl on a Trike

My little granddaughter is celebrating her second birthday today. And we gave her a backpack with some things in it. I had to make a card for her and have been looking at this one for a while, it is so cute. This is a digital stamp from Mo's Digital Stamps. The nice things about digital stamps are, they don't cost that much, it's a good place to get a stamps that you might not use that much, it's a good choice if you do not have time to go out and buy one and don't have one you like, and you have a lot of choices. There are so many companies out there selling these and once you download them, which only take a few seconds, you have it for the rest of time. So there are a lot of advantages. Copic markers, I can't say enough good things about copic markers. They are so fun to use and there are so many websites out there to teach you how to use them. Look them up, you won't be sorry. I wanted to use buttons on this card, but didn't have a size or color that I liked so I took brads that looked like buttons and colored them with copic markers. The color was uneven, but I liked them. The words I used were all made on my computer. I don't always have stamps to say what I feel and the computer comes in really handy when that happens. The ovals were all cut with my Curvy Cutter. I don't use this often, but when I need shapes this size, it does come in handy. I also have the circles and squares for the Curvy Cutter. This is a good tool to have also. The words were cut on my Cuttlebug using Spell binders Tri Labels. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted this card to look like, but when I did get it made, I was happy. Enjoy the card!

Girl on Trike

Stamp - ByeBye by Mo's Digital Stamps

Paper - DP - BoBunny Easter paper, white and green cardstock - scrap paper

Accessories - white brads (color with copics) , Copics, Curvy Cutter ovals, Cuttlebut, Spellbinder's tri labels