where'd this come from?

This card is really not my style...in fact it looks quite a bit like the incomparable Julie Ebersole's style...which scares me a little and amuses me a lot!

I saw this card by lindsidawn on SCS a few weeks ago that didn't have layers, and it had a circle hole punched in the corner, with a frog cut out and 'popped' inside, showing through the hole. Anyway, that was my initial inspiration - loved the image popping out, and I need to simplify, so I thought it'd be fun to do a card without layering. :) I bought that cupcake from Designs Ink'd, but they've since gone out of business - I believe their images are being carried by Stamping Sensations now. (The cherry has a stem on it, but I cut it off when I cut out the image - not into cutting out little teeny things). I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and a little OMS on the frosting part. Stardust pen on the wrapper. The words are both partial stamps - 'Birthday' is from a Happy Birthday stamp from Impression Obsession (yeah, dollar sale!), and 'blessings' is a partial TAC stamp. I have a bad habit of cutting up my saying stamps.......... I doodled the line of dots in myself - because of that long 'y' I couldn't put the words close enough together, so something had to fill that space in.

Ooh, I'm just lovin' that cutie watermark! (Want one too?)

I'm happy dancing too, because I got paid today for the batch of cards I sent in to www.myheartstamps4u.com ... I also found out that they have one of my cards featured in an upcoming magazine ad! Can't wait to see it! I asked them to send me a copy of the ad, so I'll post it here when it comes. Plus I get to pick out a bunch o' new stamps to play with...! Can't wait. :)

Not fun...while I was posting this card on SCS, my little guy threw up all over me....then he pooped in the bathtub when I was cleaning him off. Poor little man!

watermark samples

I created an album of watermark samples - you can view them individually, then I put each one on a card so you can see them "in action"... you can click on this link here to view them.

Need a watermark?

OK, I'm game - check out the samples.... If there's anyone interested in having me tailor one of my ideas to your personal information for a small fee, email me! I would be sticking probably close to the same fonts and flourishes. Your watermark(s) would be emailed to you in a .png file, which can be layered over a photo using most photo editing software, or Microsoft Publisher. Cost would be 75 cents per element, so like the bottom 2 and the flower one would be $1.50 and the others would be $3.00. If you'd like a (C) line or a website line added, the 75 cent fee would apply. I can change your original white/transparent watermark to any other color for .75 more (per color). Payment will be through Paypal, and I'll let you view a sample copy of your watermark before I email it, just in case I spelled something wrong or whatever!

Gee, it'd be nice to create enough that I could get those flourish stamps I mentioned a few weeks ago..........! LOL

OK, here it is -

This the other bear card I had half done the other day, and on it is the new watermark I was playing with this morning..............it looks really sweet close up, but I think I might prefer the other one for sites that have thumbnails....but maybe that's just my ego liking to see my name on a picture on the internet.....we're really using watermarks so people don't steal our stuff, right?!

Quick credits - the bear is from Impressions of Faith, saying and frame stamp by TAC (partial stamp), Paisley BG from www.cornishheritagefarms.com. I got that ribbon here - was pretty impressed with that. I have another one that is olive instead of the cream. Love it! I used a Fiskars texture plate on the circle panel - I tried the mist it - rolling pin trick, but it just didn't give me the depth of embossing that I wanted, so I ended up running the end of a paint brush over the back anyway. Oh well! The bear is colored with Prismacolors and OMS.

Musings.......

I'd considered designing watermarks before, when it became such a hot topic of discussion on SCS........the thought of 75 cents per layer occurred to me...like in mine, there are 4 layers, really - the initials, name, created by, and the date, so $3 for one like that. I messed around this morning with another one for myself which I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally like...I'm a little nervous posting it though, since I altered an online stamp image to do part of it...

Anyway, just thoughts. DH said, NO, you have more important things to do, and I can see myself getting obsessed with it and never getting out of the house...... Just curious if there was interest, though, or what. Whatcha think?

Gotta go make brownies and sloppy joes for dinner guests later! Anybody need a good recipe?

Why in the world did I make a valentine?

Seriously I have no idea. It just happened. It's not really my husband's style and my kids are too little to appreciate it (to my satisfaction, anyway!), and I can't afford $2 each time I want to send a card to the States...BUT ANYWAY...I made this totally cute valentine and here it is! Maybe I'll send it to myself, like I did my birthday card...LOL!

The circle and half circle are cut with my coluzzle, and I also used my Marvy giga scalloped punch. That little frog is from www.cowtownstamps.com, and he originally was holding an envelope, but I cut through it and put the little heart in his paw instead (Biblical Impressions). The grass stamp is also BI, and I used a cloud stencil and chalks for the background. On the red panel - the heart swirly stamp was a gift-with-purchase from TAC (last year? year before?). The saying was from a SU set called Have a Heart, which I only have part of (thanks Jacki!) and that is only half the stamp...the other half has a cutie little frog with a heart in his mouth, and I may just have to make another valentine with him...!

Thanks for checking in on me!

Favorited!

SplitcoastStampers has a new gallery feature that lists how many times each card has been put into someone's "Favorites" gallery - oooh, how validating! Click here for my most "Favorited" card........!

Sketch Challenge 108

I had to rebel a little on the sketch challenge this week (once again I didn't look at it until Thursday...remember the gauge of how busy my week is?!) - I decided to mask off the blocks instead of trying to piece them...maybe I'll get another one done later in the week with actual layers! It's not quite a no-layer card, but it could have a lot more. I tried.

Stamp credits:

Lighthouse: originally from Stender Designs, now carried (I think) by Peddlers Pack

Map background - Hero Arts

Bird & Saying - TAC

Compass - Stampabilities

I used quilter's tape (just really skinny masking tape, 3/16" maybe?) to mask off the blocks, then stippled Adirondack espresso ink around the edges. The CS I used has a linen texture to it, so I lightly rubbed a Memories Soft Wheat inkpad over each area. All the stamping is done with Espresso ink. I did a little shading with a blender pen and watercolor pencil.

After I was done coloring, I went back and edged the blocks with watercolor pencil and blended with a waterbrush, intentionally going out of the lines a little bit here and there. After that was dry I went back in with a little bit darker Prismacolor pencil and defined the edges a little more.

The eyelets were not my original intention...I was going to cross ribbon there, but after I did it it was too distracting from the saying, so I went with the eyelets instead, though I was appalled at myself for using 8 eyelets on a card...yes, I horde.... Funny how ideas and cards evolve, no?

The saying says "We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." Not sure who said it...but I like it...

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

I went to place my Joann order before the free shipping and Ott lite sale was over......the Ott bulb I needed is out of stock, and the CB folders are apparently out of stock too! I ended up just getting a bulb on ebay (grrrr, for $5 more than I was going to originally get it for at Jo's), and forgetting the embossing folders for now....sigh.....I need to get something for my light - I've been sitting in the dark at my desk since October - I had ordered 2 bulbs on ebay for $8 apiece and they never made it to my in-laws - and I want to get a bulb in a care package that our Bible study group in CA is sending out to us soon.

Nothing stamped to share today...I have a half-finished navy version of the bear card in the previous post, but that's about it. Not done yet. I did order a catalog from smARTworks...they don't have their full catalog online, but the teaser they do have has got me verrrrrrrry interested! I've been on a quest for images of children that are cute/realistic/a little bit vintage, without being cutesy. They have some pretty pressed flower images too. Guess we'll see.....in a month or two.....!

Love bears all things...........

Had to use another of my bears from Impression of Faith...they have been longing to come out and play for a loooooooooooooooong time, poor things! Broke out the mineral spirits too...something about bears...they just beg to be colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS...not gonna reinvent the wheel - here are some great tutorials on this technique:

Gina K's Video

Anna Wight's Tutorial

SCS Tutorial

I have an off-brand of OMS, not Gamsol.....and it is a wonder that they're able to market it as 'odorless' cuz it sure is not!

I had to try, since everyone's talkin' about using their rolling pins with cuttlebug folders and I don't HAVE any....to use my rolling pin with a Fiskars texture plate, which I rarely use because I don't have the right tools.......usually I just try to find the grooves from the back of the cardstock and emboss by hand with the end of a paintbrush! (I know, how uncool.......) The plate I used is a polka-dotted one. I spritzed the cardstock with water first, then taped it to the plate, covered with a piece of craft foam, then rolled. Not sure if you can really tell....but it did work~! I liked the results better with 24# paper, but I don't like using lighter weight paper on cards, besides that it warped a bit from the spritzing. Saying is by Hero Arts and the star flower is from a TAC set. This layout is sketch challenge 105, which I missed! I love the partial circle element....I cut those with my Coluzzle...and I cut inside the white layer, so I have another circle to use on another card, another day! ("Oh, the cleverness of me!" --Peter Pan (I've been reading that to my son this week......!))

One more trick - I usually can't stand having un-layered layers, but I found if I flip a layer over and score 1/8" from each edge, it gives a little frame effect and doesn't need a layer. So that's done on the bear layer.

Another tool moves from the kitchen to the craft room.....

Someone posted this link on SCS, showing how the Cuttlebug folders can be used with a rolling pin - YEAH! Check out that tutorial - how much easier can that be?! Sooooo......I need to place an order from Joann's while their Ott lite bulbs are half price, and they have that 'free shipping over $25' deal, so you know how that is...you have to spend a little more to save some money...? (My dear Daddy always says, "You can't afford to save that much!") Hmmmmmmmmm.........................

Valentines Sketch Challenge

I got my sketch challenge in within the week this week...that's an improvement over last week! This is SC107. I challenged myself to use a stamp I'd never used before...this was a contest win from Impressions of Faith...they used to have a monthly word search posted, and if you completed it correctly and sent it in they entered it in a drawing. I entered for months and finally won a $25 gift certificate. I bought 3 full sheets on special, and the next month I entered a card in their monthly card contest...which was returned to me because the company went out of business! But I got this set of lovely seasonal bears. I wonder if another company has picked up the bear designs? I know several other companies purchased the plates...Biblical Impressions purchased some, but not the bears. ANYWAY........I colored the bear and box with Prismacolors and OMS. The card is seriously not so fluorescent looking in real life! There's Stardust glitter ink on the bow, which you probably can't see. The background of the stamped panel is watercolored - I made a border just inside the edge with my watercolor pencils and brushed in with a waterbrush. Used Snap Stamps for the saying in the corner. The BG paper was so busy that it just seemed excessive. LMK if I need to try again. :) The paper is a free download from www.amsdigiscraps.com - Your Love is Better Than Chocolate(c) 2005 Ams Digi Scraps. It's amazing the cute digital paper you can find online...I did a little bit of digiscrapping, but I have more fun finding cute paper to print and use on cards, since I can't get patterned paper here in the tropical stamping wasteland. I'll be sending this card to a friend in-country for Valentines day...I'm going to have to start sending my cards as e-cards to my friends in the States...to send a card (less than 1 oz.) home the other day cost me more than $2.00! Could not believe it.

Thanks for checking in on me!

Back again!

Just got an email that Eureka Stamps has reinstated Biblical Impressions' "Partner Program" for former commissioned partners! When they went out of business in 2005, the partners were just dropped...I had been a partner for over 3 years and that was a really big disappointment...especially since I had about $40 in commission owed me! The program is set up a little different, but it's good to belong again! Thanks Eureka Stamps! Soooooooooooooo................ if you're ordering from Biblical Impressions, go through my link:

http://www.biblicalstamps.com/dini/

(I'll put it on my links list in case you forget!)

Here's one of the cards I recently sent in to Eureka for their BI gallery. The birdbath was stamped first, then masked to put the bird "in" it. I filled in the lines to complete the circle of the top of the bath with a black pen. Stamped in the grass with Adirondack Lettuce ink, and used a cloud stencil to fill in the sky. Coloring is done with my Prismacolor Pencils. Did a little creative layering with some scraps. The "Rejoice" in the background is a partial stamp (yep, I cut up another one) - before it said "Rejoice in the Lord!" but I don't think I ever used it like that...so now we have "Rejoice". The background stamping and edge sponging is done with Adirondack Eggplant ink.

Oh well..............

My card didn't win the AMRSC contest....sigh.....guess there's always next month! I always like challenging myself...winning free stamping stuff is nice too, especially since I'm living in a stamping wasteland (though I am surviving with the things I brought with me and the basics I've been able to find here)! Here are the entries w/ instructions...mine is listed 2nd after the winner, not sure if that is significant or not!

Marcie, this one is on it's way to ya today! Trish, yours is going out too! Congrats, girls!

Whoops...........

I did stamp today, a birthday card for a friend in the States....but it just occurred to me that I wrote in the card and stuck it in the envelope before I even took a picture of it. Whoops! It was really cool too...so in the interest of blog filler, here's a 'about me' thang I saw on someone else's blog....had to find something that didn't require too much thought! Sorry it's not very deep.....

A. Available or married: married! 7 years this year.
B - Best friend: just one? I have a collection from different phases of life...all are 'best' in their own way. :)
C - Cake or pie: tough one...I guess a good cheesecake - what does that count as?
D - Drink of choice: water with lemon
E - Essential item you use everyday: my fluffy pillow!
F - Favorite color: chocolate brown
G - Gummy bears or worms: worms
H - Hometown: I claim Bakersfield, CA, only because it's the last place I lived before leaving home.
I - Indulgence: Ferrero Rocher candy
J - January or February: January - my birthday month
K - Kids & names: Evan, Emmaleigh, Benjamin & Elliot
L - Life is incomplete without? music
M - Marriage date: May 28, 2000
N - Number of siblings: 1
O - Oranges or apples: apples (unless they're Red Delicious - never cared for those)
P - Phobias or fears: heights, swimming, clowns, and probably more that I don't want to admit to!
Q - Fave quote: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." --Jim Elliot
R - Reason to smile: new rubbah
S - Season: Fall
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: you, you, you, and you!
U - Unknown fact about me: I've eaten bat, rat, and dog meat (and all within the last 5 months!)
V- Vegetable you don't like: canned peas
W - Worst habit: trying to do 10 things at once...or being so overwhelmed that I can't do anything at all.
X – X-rays: chest and teeth. I lead a pretty quiet life... ;)
Y - Your fave food: spaghetti
Z - Zodiac sign: Capricorn (FWIW!)

There, now you know a little more about me........!

Inking of You

I finally got my SCS sketch challenge done for the week! This is #106. To be truthful, the sketch challenge is my gauge for how busy I actually am....this week I didn't even look at the challenge until 2 days after it was posted. Today we're hiding out, and I think this card is all I've actually accomplished besides a pan of homemade rolls!

This color combo was in an ad banner I saw yesterday, and I had to try it out. That green is not in my usual color palette, but it works.

I don't actually own the TAC stamp set this stamper girl came from...I looked at it in the catty and only liked that particular stamp, and didn't figure I'd use the others much, or even that one much for that matter...I asked on SCS if someone would send me some stamped images instead, and somebody sent me a TON of them. I colored with Prismacolor pencils, and used a little mineral spirits to blend. The background of the image is watercolored a little. I cut the sentiment from one that originally said "I was thinking of you today", which was much too long for a Thinking of You card anyway, and just begged to be made into something I could only use on a stamper's RAK. :)

The leaf stamp is from Impression Obsession - I stamped it repeatedly for a flourish effect...I still haven't gotten the flourishes from Tuscan Rose....I told myself I AM going to get them, but I'm going to wait until I receive compensation for the cards I sent to My Heart Stamps for You. I still haven't heard from them....sigh....

The background is from Cornish Heritage Farms...love the paisley. I still have a few more of their backgrounders on my wish list...gotta wait though.

I flipped the corner up...I don't know that I've ever done that before, but I just needed a distraction in that corner since all the brown dragged the focus up above center.

Thanks for checking in on me!

contest voting is open.....

Here's the link to vote for that contest I mentioned I was entering...! Voting will close Jan. 14th. http://www.rubberstampsclub.com/vote.html

Not much time for blogging this week....we are helping with a conference, and I've been busy stamping t-shirts for 30+ kiddos and designing prayer cards for 20+ families!

Wow, I just looked at my "Stamping Top ##" button and it jumped from 489 to 119 now! How fun is that?!

Going tribal card #2

Here's that card I was working on...this is my second entry for the Art Impressions contest next month (theme: Going Tribal). I know the shield images are African, but they just went so well with the paper and all...so there they are. :) I stamped them on colored cardstock and added shading and highlights with my Prismacolor pencils. That batik paper is actually wrapping paper - isn't it beautiful? The border around the window is faux stitching - I poked holes at even increments around the window and 'connected the dots' with a white gel pen. It reminded me of some furniture we saw here (in one of the stores where we can't afford anything) that was black leather with white stitching...I promise that part of the card looks better in real life! I cut out around part of the middle man's hand and stuck the spear in it (my husband is proud of that feature - it was his idea!), over the bow he's actually holding. It really looks like he's coming out of the picture, don't you think? I wouldn't to mess with him.........

Those swirly flourishes in the corners are alphabet stamps, stamped with Brilliance Moonlight White ink.....I don't have a flourish stamp from AI (not sure if they have one or not?) so I had to make do with what I had. If you look close, maybe you can make out an s, l, r, y...? :)

and the winners are.............

MARCIE

and

TRISH D!!

Email me your address, Marcie...Trish, I have yours already...I'll get those cards and stamps in the mail as soon as I can (keeping in mind that we have a conference to attend next week, and no vehicle of our own). Congrats, girlies!!!

cracked me up......

My little guy got hold of a stamped piece that had been further embellished by my 4YO, and proceeded to suck on it a while - this is how he came to me....just cracked me up! (And don't you just wanna squeeze those cheeks?!)

another contest entry

Here's one of my entries for next month's AI contest...I didn't do so well on last months (*mutters under breath about popularity contests and people asking for votes*). The theme for the next contest is "Going Tribal." We are not in a tribal location, but we do have lots of friends who are, and we actually work with some people who are from tribal locations.

All the stamps I used are from Art Impressions (or is that obvious?)...I saw a card using this 4-square motif in the new Sellabration catalog from Stampin Up...I don't have many of their stamps and I don't like their copyright policy, but that doesn't mean their people don't have good ideas! I raided my scraps and cut squares out using my coluzzle template. I'll have to take a picture of my paper holder sometime - it is actually a shoe storage unit and it was my husband's idea to use it this way, amazingly enough. I keep my scraps by color family in page protectors - I read that tip on SCS. Love having them sorted rather than thrown in a box. :)

The tribal hut is stamped with Stazon on watercolor paper and watercolored with the trusty Derwent pencils. Did I tell you I have allllllll the colors now?! I used a white gel pen to color the edge of the water. On the background squares - I featured a different tribal image on each one - the image in the green square is actually the top of a pineapple. :) In keeping with my current obsession with flourishes, I had to think of something, so I used my alphabet stamps to fill in.

I have another card "in progress".....it will probably take a few more days to finish...not for complexity, but for lack of time. :)

On another note....I'm getting ready to order homeschool books for next schoolyear so my parents can bring them when they come to visit in April....this is my first time having to buy, and *choke*! Already over $600 on my list, and that is with hunting down the best prices on new/like new books (we have 4 kids, so we figured if we started 'new' the books would last longer).

restrain? or buy myself a birthday present.......?

I mentioned the Rhonna Farrer flourish stamps, then I saw THESE at www.tuscanrose.com .......OMG, they are gorgeous, and the big ones are HUGE! (the picture represents a full sheet, 8-1/2" x 11") But the price, good-NESS! $28.50 for the sheet?!! (here we say - "aduh!")

But I like...

Arrrrrrrgh, what to do?

I probably wouldn't use the corner-ish ones, so could I justify the purchase thinking I could sell the ones I wouldn't use and recover some of the cost? (Anyone interested, by the way?!! enable me, anyone? anyone?!!)

*sniff* .......they really like me.......!

Hello! Check out this thread on SCS!