March 31, 2009

YEAH, My Kid's Turn for Twinkling Tuesdays! Mickey and Minnie Get Married

Jameson, my 8 y.o. son,  is the Temporary Twinkie this month! We came up with a cute inspiration challenge I hope you will all enjoy! After looking at the photo, read the story we came up with to go with it!

mttsc16mickey THE STORY

Mickey is a Park Ranger working in the national forest. One day on his patrol, he hears a cry for help. He sees a beautiful girl mouse with tears on her face because she has fallen while hiking and broken her leg. The gallant Mickey comes to the rescue of the lovely Minnie, administers first aid, drives her to the hospital, waits for her to be treated and drives her home. They fall in love and the rest is history. However, a few months later, when Mickey goes to pick up his tuxedo on the morning of their wedding day, they have accidentally rented out all of the mouse-sized tuxes! So Mickey shows up anyway in his Ranger uniform. Minnie starts up the aisle and is surprised to see Mickey wearing his uniform but she doesn’t care because that is how he looked when she fell in love with him!

I was hoping to stamp a wedding invitation card but I couldn't find the Mickey stamps I know I have somewhere. I can always mttsc16 mickey card find my own stuff but when I let Jameson play with them... So Plan B-a simple Mickey themed card. The twill tape is hand-stamped with the Mickey head that came with the Disney alphabet I used. Jameson doesn't know this but he will get this card from me one day when he really helps me out when I'm sick or does something else really special. Of course, he is pretty special everyday! I've been meaning to stamp a bunch of cute little notes for his lunch-gotta do that one of these days!

Hope you all have fun with this, I know I did! I really hope you will play along! Please upload to SCS or PCP with keyword MTTSC16 or to your blog and link back here! Jameson and I will be sure to take a look at your work and leave comments! WE can't wait to see what you do with this challenge! Check out the rest of the Twinkle Team's work, links on the sidebar! <----------------------

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
Disney alphabet, Gel*a*tins stars
Ink: Stazon black, black craft-SU!
Paper: DP-EK Success, black, confetti white, kraft CS-SU!
Accessories: Disney bellies-EK Success, silver brads-SU!, twill tape-UK, foam dots-Jody Morrow

March 30, 2009

More Masculine Thank You Cards

Like most card makers, I have trouble making manly cards. I mean, I can make them, I just don't enjoy it because there are simply fewer choices and fewer embellishments are appropriate! I looked at the list of people I have to thank regarding the dalmatian thanks2congregation party we had and there are not one but THREE single guys on there! I made on last week, but TWO MORE!?! I remembered the cutest Dalmatian puppies from a SU! fireman set that retired ages ago so I dragged it out and used it. Now, I want to know, can you give a fireman card to a guy who isn't a fireman? How many of us know firemen? And even if we do, once we use a set for our fireman bud, can you use it again? Why is it that I think that you can't give a card to a guy with a 'theme' unless it dalmatian thanks1reflects the guy? I am wrong about that? I'd give a card with a farm girl on it to a friend with no farm! Hmmmm... Leave me a comment if you have an opinion on this topic! Because of the 'theme' thing, I only used the dogs on these cards. Everyone loves dogs right?

I started with the first layout but it seemed too boring and empty so I reorganized the same pieces into another layout, not stuck on dalmatian thanks copicsit either. I was looking through sketches I'd saved and so many use ovals, circles or have ribbon in them. I love using sketches but none had the shape I needed for the puppies! The three black brads are bright copper coloured with my black Copic. The dogs are shaded with Copics also, E on the face and body, G for the grass, BG for a very subtle 'sky' effect just along the outer edge of the dogs, a tiny bit of C (grey) on the inner edges of the dog faces and pink (RV) on their noses. It is hard to shade white dogs but I had fun trying it. Because it is so subtle, I enlarged it for you.
dalmatian thanks closeup

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
Lexicon of Love, puppies (Unknown set name)
Ink: Stazon brown, chocolate chip (distressing), close to cocoa (sponging on white panel)
Paper: kraft, cranberry crisp, confetti white CS, DSP
Accessories: square brads-Making Memories, copper brads-SU!, Copic markers. All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

March 27, 2009

Grateful Quilt Card

THERE ARE TWO POSTS FOR TODAY! BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FOR THE OTHER POST!!

WOOO HOOO! I got to do another So Sketchy layout for my Guest Designer position this month! I was so excited to see this one. I could think of tons of ideas for the diamond pattern in the background. I also thought of woven ribbon and a stamped diamond pattern like SU! print pattern background. I thought it ss5 grateful quilt might look cool in a dark colour over a light patterned paper! Plus one more idea you will see in another card I made.

Cutting the paper was easy. Getting it glued on straight was very hard because corners of the 'quilt' pieces didn't go right into the corners of the mat. So I marked the half way points on the middle of the 5 full-sized squares and lined them up with diagonal pencil marks joining the corners of the chocolate mat. Perfectly straight! TIP: When adhering paper you intend to sew, keep the adhesive away from where you will sew. My adhesive is right in the center of each square, well away from the sewing! In case you are wondering, I sewed the squares in two long rectangles from corner to corner. It was much easier than any other sewing pattern and the fewest corners to turn! I switched thread for the outer square for more contrast. The chocolate mat was done using THIS TUTORIAL.

THERE ARE TWO POSTS FOR TODAY! BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FOR THE OTHER POST!!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
sentiment-H & M Stamps
Ink: chocolate chip-SU!
Paper: Sugared pack by Basic Grey, pink pirouette, chocolate chip CS-SU!
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, SU! oval punch, ribbon-UK, Kaiser blush pearls, Mettler thread, foam dots-Jody Morrow, chocolate marker(distressing)-SU!
Techniques: paper piecing, sewing

Copic Class

Sorry for the delay in posting these pictures. With lupus and fibromyalgia I REALLY need my sleep. I basically never book anything before noon and preferably before 2pm! Yeah, I know, weird way to live but most of the time it works. Except for when a class starts at 9am 1.5 hours away! Never mind time to get up and mw cafe get ready etc before leaving. To top it off, I always have trouble sleeping when I know I have to get up at a specific time so I woke up at 3am when I didn't have to be up until 6am! Well, that was on Tuesday. It is now Friday and I am just catching up on my sleep which is why I am telling you this sad tale! It is my excuse for not posting these photos sooner.

The class was great, it is amazing to actually see an expert do the colouring techniques. mw geisha1Step-by-step instructions like on Marianne's blog,  I Like Markers, are great, but it just isn't the same. Flick, flick and the colour is on, precise,  tidy and perfectly blended! My girlfriend Janet came with me, funny thing, she'd never tried Copics before and now she is Certified! She (and I) have lots of practicing to do. I left my camera in the car at lunch so someone else took our photo but I don't have it yet. Hopefully, I will get it soon so I can post it.

As this is a technique only class, I have no cards to show and my samples are not complete. But I hope you will enjoy Marianne's artwork that I mw mermaid1photographed from her sample book and the original turtle drawing she did at lunch!

Take a look at the geisha's dress. The pattern was created entirely with the colourless blender! The mermaid's belly and 'bra' shells show a technique called feathering which helps combine two colours that will not blend without becoming muddy together. It is hard to get good at it but boy does it look so nice IRL!

mw turtle

March 25, 2009

Copic Certified!!

Yeah, I was Copic Certified today and I am so excited! The class was
great and I have awesome photos to show you. Meeting Marianne and
sitting with her at lunch was so cool; she drew and coloured the
cutest cartoon turtle while we waited for lunch! What an awesome
artist!! But I only got about 5 hours sleep last night since I woke up
for no reason at 3:00! Now I am a totally wiped. I should be able to
update you tomorrow! I can't wait to order an airbrush kit. I always
wanted to buy it from seeing samples on the Classroom and Thinking
Inking (links on the sidebar) so actually trying it out was so cool!
Now that I have been persuaded to switch from SU! cardstock to another
of the easier-to-blend-markers-on varieties I should have lots of cool
samples to show you! I'm no expert yet but maybe seeing my learning
curve can help you avoid some problems. If you have opportunity to
take this class, I highly recommend it!

Rebecca

March 23, 2009

Manly Thank You for Twinkling Tuesday

We had a great party last night for our congregation. So many people helped out and since I really didn't (I made food but nothing else), I wanted to say thanks to all who did. I mean, honestly, I have a box of cards and don't send many; isn't mttsc15 man thank youthat silly? So I got a list from the organizer, a lovely lady who is a friend of mine, and one of the thankees is a single guy-EEEEK! No flowers or ribbon or pink-I'm  lost! So I got out my standard 'man paper', used 9 y.o. Brittany's wonderful sketch and killed two birds with one stone so to speak! I really like this sketch! So simple and easy with lots of design possibilities. I couldn't use scallops for the chocolate layer so I cut a plain circle and used my postage stamp scissors on it. I have clip_image002no idea how long it has been since I used those but the effect is interesting and totally manly; reminds me of a gear! I just wish the blades were switched. Most right-handed people cut with the scissors to the right of a shape. I had to cut to the left to get the pattern this way. Otherwise it would have been scallops with a straight area between each KWIM? One other small thing, I used a dark brown Copic to dull the extremely shiny copper brads, they were practically mirrors!

As I mentioned, this week's sketch was designed by 9 year old Brittany Cunningham.  Her mom Cathy is a follower of the TT blog.  Cathy's blog is http://cathy-cunningham.blogspot.com. I hope you will visit her blog and say hi! If you want to play along, we'd be happy to have you. Link your creations from your blog, PCP or SCS (keyword MTTSC15) to Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesdays blog.

My son, Jameson's turn is next week-YEAH! I'm not sure what kind of challenge he wants to do. Every time I mention a sketch he gets frustrated because his sketches are more appropriate for scrapbook pages. I don't want to see him frustrated but at the same time, I don't want to help him too much because I want it to really be his work. Somehow we will make it happen. Maybe an inspiration or colour challenge.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
swirly leaves wheel-SU!, sentiment-H & M stamps
Paper: bordering blue, artichoke, burgundy, confetti ivory, patterned paper-all SU!
Ink: chocolate chip, old olive-SU!, Adirondack black
Accessories: brads-Oriental Trading Co., Fiskars scissors, Nestabilities, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Crop-a-dile, dark brown Copic

March 22, 2009

Fifth Avenue Baja

I made this card ages ago but wasn't all that happy with it. Still, it is kinda pretty. I just wish the baja breeze ink matched the cardstock. It doesn't because the ink mixed with the vanilla paper makes it greener than it should be. For once it looks better in the photo then IRL!! I usually stamp darker colours on vanilla paper so I forget lighter colours are yellowed by it. This card fifth ave baja is narrower than usual to allow for the ribbon sticking off the edge. It will still fit in a standard invitation envelope. I just noticed that in the photo I cut off the tips of the grosgrain ribbon on the right, OOPS! It is only a wee bit longer than what you see anyway.  The ribbon looks a bit crooked, it isn't adhered at all, the left side threads through a slit in the card's fold and the silk ribbon threaded through the button holds it on. I will just adjust it and maybe throw a glue dot back there before I mail it.  I made another in chocolate, you can view it HERE.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
Fifth Avenue Floral, Hero Arts rickrack
Ink: Versamark, baja breeze
Paper: baja breeze, vanilla
Accessories: vanilla grosgrain ribbon, button, silk ribbon-UK, vanilla EP-UK
Techniques: heat embossing
All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.

Wanna See My Mess?

My craft space that is! This week has been busy and tiring, not because it was March Break necessarily, but because my hubby and I have been tag teaming it to take care of a baby who JUST WILL NOT SLEEP! I am so tired, I've had no energy to stamp! Fortunately, my hubby had time and energy to get a fabulous shelving unit for me on AMAZING sale at IKEA. It was regular $60 down to $20-ish! YEEEAAHHH! I really needed something else behind my craft table because my ribbon was on the floor! So, here is my space now. Everything on the shelving unit was on either the desk or on on the floor where the shelving now sits. craft space overview
The photo is crappy-sorry. I should have used a flash but it seemed bright enough at the time. I corrected the brightness and exposure so now you can see everything but it just looks weird! **SIGH** The glass table top (with love written on it in various languages!) and trestles are from IKEA. The table top was $80 and the trestles were on sale for $20. (All Canadian $s) I've had the office chair for ages. The china cabinet houses our video/DVD/cords etc plus some extra things I don't use much in the bottom part. Typical china cabinet pretty things are in the top. The new shelves to the left of the cabinet.
craft rooom2
This photo is slightly to the right of the last one, you can see the same china cabinet. This bookcase has 5 shelves, the middle three are home to my mounted stamps, wheels and some tools and stuff. The very top is way too messy with a family coat of arms we don't have a good place to hang, our iron (we set up the ironing board there to stay away from small, fast hands) and my scrapbooks. I keep them next to the main door in case of disaster; I hope I can safely grab them quickly. The top shelf has my religious books but in front are things the baby shouldn't get hold of like stamp cleaner, Primas,  Krylon fixatif, pins, UTEE etc. plus some projects I've done like a clipboard I covered and a teddy bear I made from scratch the old-fashioned way-mohair, excelsior (sp?)  filling, glass eyes etc. craft room3 My front hall closet is on the other side of the wall to the far right (in the photo above). Basically, you walk in and see my entire craft room to your left, the closet is directly ahead. Not my favourite set up but it is temporary. I have a craft room in the basement but it isn't set up for a baby/toddler. When he was little, I could get a few minutes by putting him in his baby swing.  I want to put a small play room right outside my craft room door but DH and I aren't handy so this is a big deal in an otherwise unfinished basement. I'm actually pretty handy but I don't really do WALLS! So, at least upstairs I can hear them and get up to check on them if needed. Sorry, I digress as usual...
craft room4 My NEW SHELVES! Looks like a store huh? Pathetic! (pathetically fun!!) Can you tell I was a sewer first, them a crafter? My thread colours are way too garment-ish! The stack of paper right under the thread is my Basic Grey pads, behind that and to the left are pretty much all embellishments, flowers, ribbon plus all my beads, baubles, buttons and bling! The striped box on the second row fits 4.25x5.5" cards PERFECTLY, behind that is stuff I don't use much. The Kraft photo box appropriately holds chipboard, my markers are on top. I have room for another magazine file, both of which I will eventually cover with patterned paper. To the left of the magazine file, I have my dies except Sizzix alphabets, as well as Cuttlebug plates and embossing folders. The bottom shelf from left to right, white embroidery thread case, ribbon in IKEA jars~ colour-coded, BB SU! ink, chipboard in 12x12 format in a folder, white and gold swirl box-liquid ink and watercolours with EE re-inkers on top, White and golf toile box with misc junk!, solid white box with clear stamps and underneath hidden are my crochet cotton and silk embroidery ribbons. WHEW!
craft room5 This is my not-fully-cleaned-up-yet table! :) Most of the things on here stay, yes I can create in a mess, because I like stuff closer more than I like it neater. Clockwise starting at the upper left: bin with upright storage for colour wheel, chalks, watercolour crayon tin, pencil crayons and my embossing kit-embossing powders, brush, emb buddy and small powder pal. Next should be empty space but has bright blue cards my DS made and hasn't given yet, then a bin filled with misc stuff like candies, a stamp handle I was going to use as a felt ink applicator until I bought the Tim Holtz version... My 'punchable' scraps in the lid of the aforementioned bin, two garbage cans- one for paper/recycling, one for garbage. My Ott light, my tool caddy full of scissors, foam dots, stamp wheel handles, adhesives, paint brushes plus those little round containers of SU buttons, eyelets and brads in the drawer at the bottom. I'd prefer to keep them over on the new shelf with all the other bellie choices but they keep the drawer from collapsing! LOL!! Then my stamp scrub sits vertically next to my ink pads in their need-to-be-decorated cardboard holder. Works great and was SOOOO cheap! My most used pads are in there including most RR, EE, SS plus Stazon black and brown, Adirondack black and Versamark. Next is a spinning tool/pen caddy with bone folder, pens, pencils, stamp cleaner, eraser and tape. The stick with white rolls on it is a bamboo skewer with Eclipse tape, double sided photo tape and cheapie foam tape on it. Then a couple stamp sets I need to clean, my workspace which is about 8" wider than it was now that I got my new shelves and my two paper cutters. In the first photo, you can see my easy chair in the background under the right window, on it's seat are my punches. They are in cases but it they barely close so they just sit out there. No one ever comes to watch me craft anyhow. The only people who do come by to watch are crafters who get their own table to work on. That reminds me, you can see my photo booth set up behind the main table; it is on a card table guests get to use. So where is all my paper?
craft room6 Under the table! Because the table top is clear glass, I can see through it into this bin with all my cardstock plus a few of my current fave paper packs. You can really only see the lid, but the brown storage box to the left under the trestle holds my loose sheets of patterned paper in labelled-by-topic accordion files. A twin sits under the other trestle with various brands of patterned paper packs and the cardstock and patterned paper/cardstock portions of my scrap kits from Sweet Pea Scraps (link on sidebar); the bellies and ribbons from the kits live with their kin! My Scor-Pal lives under there and on the front of the trestle are stamp sets that need to be returned to the shelf plus a couple I use often. You can see my covered Clip-It-Up under the photo booth table. It has all of my alphabets, stickers, rub-ons and printed fabric sheets. Along with paper storage, the other trestle houses my VERY small sewing machine and my Cuttlebug! OK, I know that was long, if I knew how to save half and do it in two posts I would! The only major problem I have in this lovely room is the windows! Yes, I know they are great but everything fades so quickly! I would much prefer my old method of storage with my paper easy to see in transparent bins and my Clip-It-Up uncovered but I am noticing fading already because I leave the lid off the cardstock bin ALL THE TIME! Oh well. I'm just glad I have a dedicated space unlike so many others. Hope my organized but superficially messy room inspires you to keep your stuff neat! Helps you to remember what you have so you don't buy doubles!

Enjoy, Rebecca

March 19, 2009

Seed Packet Thanks

Second Post for Today, Scroll Down For First Post

I love seed packets. Some of the vintage ones are real works of art and I would guess they are now collector's items. Now seed packets are all photographed which is way more accurate unless the artist is  very good but they sure aren't artistic! This cute little  card was another for my card class two weekends ago. I wanted to make some springy cards so pulled out my 'ink-virgin' seed packet wheel stamp. I apologize for the crappy stamping but I WAAAAY over reinked my Stazon brown so I was taking it easy as I rolled to seed packet thanksavoid splotches thereby missing some of the image *SIGH*.  I would have redone it but I was way behind in prepping for this class. I actually preferred it before I added the dots but again, I didn't have time to redo it. I offered the option to my students and 4 out of 5 chose the dots. What do you think? Perhaps I could try the Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder-more subtle?

This looks much better IRL! I used SU! water-based markers and tried to blend them somewhat, like Copic markers, but it doesn't work nearly as well! On the iris, I started to colour the upper petals and I realized the tip of the marker was slightly split. This gave a streaky look that very much resembles variegated petals common to irises! So of course, I ran with it! Click on the photo for a better-quality, enlargable version. One of my students coloured with blush around the flower on each packet and kept all the wording boxes the same colour. Looked really nice. I am going to try that next time. This card is actually a great one to make ahead without any sentiment. Then you can quickly add a sentiment at the last minute when you need a card; takes just a few seconds. The style allows students to choose their sentiment too so it is a great card for classes.

OK, time for another cutie patootie kid story. My baby is a big snacker. (Come dinner time he won't eat much; he prefers to snack all day. Yes, of course, I try not too give him snacks too close to dinner but when he is hungry (always) he is VERY insistent!) One evening, I was eating Bits n Bites while watching TV and he was sitting not next to my elbow but pretty much on it, insisting on sharing. OK, so I started to give him some. He tried to grab some himself but he doesn't get to handle food himself unless he is in his highchair to minimize mess! So I told him, "Mommy will do it." I give him a few, then I slowed down because I was blurfing. He asked a few more times and apparently I was way too slow so he grabs my hand and jams it into the bag! Is that cute or what? In fact, he was so insistent, he jammed my hand not just into the bag, but right down to the bottom! He is amazingly strong for 22 months!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
dots jumbo wheel, seed packet wheel, I forget the name of the sentiment set
Ink: Stazon brown, amethyst, eggplant
Paper: amethyst, confetti white, celery CS
Accessories: eggplant grosgrain ribbon and markers.
All products by SU!

Silver Snowflake Card

This is the third and final So Sketchy card I did for my Guest Designer position for March! Again with this card, I chose to do something other than use the two vertical panels on the sketch. I used a single piece of patterned paper and split it down the middle with pleated ribbon. This ribbon isn't very wide and any adhesive I ss2 winter might use would gum up my needle and since I am using my $2800 sewing/embroidery machine, I am not about to screw it up with adhesive. So I started the ribbon with a backstitch, then as I sewed I used a bamboo skewer to push the ribbon under the foot thereby pleating it! I deliberately wanted it uneven. TIP: A bamboo skewer is a sewers best friend because unlike other tools meant for assisting while pushing or adjusting things under the foot, it will not break your needle! If the needle hits it by accident, it will split the skewer and you can simply remove it!

The nifty stitch is actually called a lightening stitch and is one you get on mid- to higher-end machines. It is actually used as a stretch fabric stitch for very stretchy areas like adding ribbing to cuffs and collars! I just thought it looked cool!

I do wish this card was a bit better proportioned. Had the start been larger and the ribbon wider I would have liked it better. The vellum circle is edged in silver ink and looks much better IRL!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
CTMH
Paper: Aspen paper pack-CTMH, navy CS-SU!, vellum-UK
Ink: navy-SU!, silver
Accessories: silver snowflake charm, white snowflakes, ribbon-UK, pewter brad-SU!, thread-Mettler, foam dots-Jody Morrow
Techniques: sewing, pleating

March 16, 2009

Porcelain Card and Scrapling-Twinkling Tuesday

I super **LOVE** this paper! I didn't want to waste ANY so I cut the center out of the panel used on this card and used it to punch the flowers on the scrapling! I can't remember the last time I bothered to do that! The whole paper pack is just gorgeous! I zigzag porcelainhaven't made a scrapling before. For those who are not familiar  with scraplings, they are made from the excess paper leftover porcelain scraplingwhen you cut a 4.25" square card from a half sheet of cardstock. I  think a lot of people precut their cardstock into 8.5x5.5" sheets in preparation for making cards. Cut that down to 4.25" square (when folded), and you have a 4.25x1.25" bit left. Someone decided to use that as a mini card or tag! Clever! I personally do not precut my cardstock but I happened to have a pre cut and scored card in my cardstock file. Guess it was a leftover from a class or I changed my mind at some point. I cut off the strip to make  a square card and got the idea for the scrapling. I think it makes for a cute set. The buttons are a pale celery colour, they washed out a bit in the photograph. If you look carefully, you can see a yellow wash floated in around the flower.

The challenge last week was a sketch by Jack! (I goofed and did this week's challenge last week so I am catching up. Click HERE to see the colour challenge project I did that was scheduled for today.) His sister is the one who usually does the sketch but little clip_image002brother Jack decided to try his hand at inspiring the Twinkle Team. Great sketch Jack. The very specific paper piecing element apparently comes from Jack's love of the piercing tool. I guess boys love pokey things :) I started out by using my Ornare piercing template but it looked stupid because the panel is too small for the design and I could only pierce part of it-looked goofy. So I redid it with my SU! piercing template and liked it much better.

If you'd like to play, please upload to your blog, or PCP or SCS using MTTSC13. Visit Madelynn's blog and leave a link to your creation. Don't forget to visit the TT's blogs to see their take on this week's challenge!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp:
SU!
Ink: pink pirouette, pretty in pink, regal rose, old olive, celery, saffron (all used for watercolouring), celery, close to cocoa for distressing, Stazon brown
Paper: Basic Grey Porcelain pack, vanilla, cocoa and celery CS
Accessories: buttons- , ribbon-white taffeta, Copics RV10, R21 blended to dye ribbon, Spica clear pen, Mettler thread, watercolour brush, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, flower punch-EK Success, 1/16" hole punch, cocoa marker, tool kit, ivory ribbon, slot punch (hidden under vanilla layer), Crop-a-dile
Techniques:  Copic ribbon dying, scrapling, watercolouring, sewing. Products not otherwise listed by SU!

Lovely Ladies - Another So Sketchy Card!

Here is the second of three cards I did for the So Sketchy Blog. Allison's sketches are so interesting! If you like sketch challenges, you have to to visit often. She comes up with really interesting card and scrap page sketches. Link on the sidebar!

I like asymmetrical sketches best and this one is relatively symmetrical. So on all of my cards, I did something other than ss3 vintage ladies use  the two vertical rectangle panels in the sketch. On the beach card a couple of  posts ago, I used fish net. Here I used the two ladies in place of my vertical panels. They are coloured with Copics and adhered with foam dots. Only problem was, I distressed the panel below with the new Versamark Twinkle ink called Champagne. If you haven't tried it, it gives you a very subtle shimmer similar to a Spica pen or very fine glitter gel pen. I haven't used it for stamping yet but so far, I really like it. So why was this a problem? Like all pigment ink, it stayed wet for a very long time and the foam dots wouldn't stick! GRRRR!! I really liked the result though. The striped May Arts ribbon I bought from Sharon Johnson of No Time to Stamp? Click on the link at the top of the page right under her blog banner to see other May Arts ribbon she has for sale.

The rosette in the center is made by my great friend Rebecca-thank you! It is hard to see of course but the card base is sprayed with Glimmer Mist. TIP: I read somewhere that if you spray your paper while it is held vertically, you are less likely to get blobs that drip off the nozzle than if you spray while the paper is on a flat surface.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
ladies-Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (I think), french script bkgd by SU!
Ink: Versamark champagne, chocolate chip-SU!, Adirondack black, sorry-don't remember what colour was used for the script stamp
Paper: Graphic 45 patterned paper, Bazzil textured CS, vanilla, black CS-SU!
Accessories: Glitter Mist gold, gold corners-UK, May Arts striped ribbon, tan ribbon-Masterstroke, pearl brad-UK, reproduction vintage perfume label-Victorian Papers, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Copics

Easy Way To Sew On Buttons-Sneak Peak!

I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of my TT card scheduled to come out later today and show you a shortcut for sewing on buttons. I like to semi-fill the holes of the buttons with thread. Sure, a card doesn't need extra strands for strength like on clothing but it looks wimpy, IMHO, to only use one or two button closeup porcelainthreads! OK, so guess how many times I passed the thread through these holes... Looks like a lot right? 12 strands. However, I only actually pushed the needle through the holes 3 times! Start with a larger holed needle than usual for hand sewing. Pull out twice as much thread as you think you will need. Double it so you now have two strands. Then thread the needle using the folded end of the thread.  Now you should have 4 strands of thread. Even out the ends and tie them making sure that all the strands are the same length between the knot and the needle. You will get loops of extra thread sticking out as you sew if they aren't the same length. Now you only need to pass the needle through the button's holes 1/4 of the times you normally would to get great 'coverage'! I hope this tip helps you out!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE See post later today!

March 14, 2009

Beautiful Beach

This is my favourite of my So Sketchy cards. Funny thing about how I create; I never know what I am going to make until I sit down to make it. Even as I am creating, I don't know what the next layer is going to be. Whether that layer is on top of what I am working on or underneath depends on the card. For this one, I started with the card base and corners and worked up. I did that for my other So Sketchy cards too; just suited the way my brain ss1 seashore
thinks when doing this sketch. This card is pretty big to accommodate the layers and 'corners', 6x6". The netting under the top layers is actually real fish net I picked up at a little shop on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. Ocean City is the PG, family version of Atlantic city. And not a single 'chain' restaurant, store or hotel in the whole city. Fabulous place to visit, we had a great time. The beach is gorgeous thus inspiring this card!

Anyhoo, the card layers are distressed with either creamy caramel, close to cocoa or buckaroo blue. I was surprised to see how similar bordering blue and buckaroo blue are. The 'sticks' under top circle are bits of raffia. Several layers are up on foam dots, especially the top circle. It is dotted on either side of the raffia. The label 1 die is dotted between the fish netting. It is actually in two pieces because the sketch showed two separate panels for that layer.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
shells (I forget the name of the set), cheesecloth and linen (or was it canvas??)  backgrounds
Ink: close to cocoa, creamy caramel, buckaroo blue
Paper: Kraft, Buckaroo blue, bordering blue,
Accessories: Heidi Swapp distresser, twill tape-UK, raffia and fish netting-UK, label 1 and circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, foam dots-Jody Morrow. All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

March 12, 2009

Blog Candy

Visit Kerry at threecloversdesigns.blogspot.com for fun blog candy. Get ready to do some guesstimating! The link to the candy post is at the top of the page just under her blog banner!

Rebecca

Design Team Work Revealed!

Yeah! I can finally tell you about my DT work. I am the Guest Designer for So Sketchy this month! My work was featured on the 10th. I will be posting the cards here in the next three days (one per day) but you can see them all right now by going to SO SKETCHY! I can't even begin to describe how happy I am or how excited! I worked my butt off on these cards and I think it shows. They have lots of details and layers I don't normally add to just any card! WOOO HOOO!!!!!

Spring Chicken LOL!

Here's hoping that spring is right around the corner! Isn't he cute?! Super easy card using nearly all SU! products. The chick was cut with a Coluzzle oval template. The wings are crimped then punched with the SU! oval punch; the curves on the bottom edge are hand cut. The grass edge is punched with the scalloped punch. The beak is punched with a 1/4" square punch but I only put the cardstock in halfway on the diagonal. I thought it needed some more colour so at the end I added the pink ribbon.
spring chick 

I have an update on my Glue Dots complaint. I was at a scrapping store this weekend and was given permission to try out the first glue dot on the roll of a new box. The boxed Glue Dots are CLEARLY a different formula, way stickier than the ones in the dispenser. So be careful! I only even wanted the dispenser glue dots because the rolled ones aren't as convenient, the dispenser protects the dots and you do not have to tear away the paper. ***SIGH!*** Why can't they put the 'good' dots in the dispenser??

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp:
dots n daisies background
Ink: barely banana
Paper: retired DSP, whisper white, barely banana, apricot CS
Accessories: oval and scallop punches, Coluzzle oval, pink ribbon-Offray, apricot and black markers, foam dots-Jody Morrow, 2-way glue. All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

March 10, 2009

Twinkling Tuesday-Corset ATC

I am an idiot! All the Twinklettes were emailing endlessly about the colour challenge intended for next week (we got two challenges at a time this week), laughing about one member's aversion to one of the colours-brown, and my aversion to one of corset ATC other colours-garden green. The discussion got hilarious and well, it was on my brain when I went to make my challenge 'card' today. I completely forgot that it was for NEXT WEEK'S challenge! I am not feeling very motivated today because of a headache I've had for the last 24 hours so I am not going to do the sketch challenge intended for this week. I'll do it next week instead. If this was a list and I got them in the wrong order, I'd just draw a curved line with arrows on each end pointing to both items showing that the order should be switched! AHHH!

So the colour challenge that I was inspired by was from Temporary Twinkie Ava Grace, Taylor's DD! If you aren't familiar with TT, it was started by Jessica whose DD brought her a sketch and The Twinkle Team was born. Now, every so often, other member's kids take turns being the Temporary Twinkie, coming up with the week's challenge! We'd love it if you'd play along and take a look at all the other Twinklette's work! They will have the (correct!) sketch challenge for this week posted on their blogs! If you play along, visit the official TT blog (link on sidebar) and leave a link. Upload your work to SCS, PCP or your blog with keyword MTTSC13 for the sketch challenge and MTTSC14 for the colour challenge. The official colours are close to cocoa, garden green and white but I obviously took some liberties with the colours.

I didn't even end up stamping on it! But in a way this is good because I never get around to using all the gorgeous vintage stickers I *HAVE* to buy! I did an ATC because they seem to be getting popular again and it was fast and easy on my brain, headache and all. Maybe later I'll mount it on a card so I can actually use it instead of storing it somewhere. Although they are called Artist TRADING Cards, not too many people actually trade them from what I know. I think the name comes from the fact that they are the same size as sports trading cards. The lovely crocheted flower is by my BFF Rebecca. She actually has fun making these! What a great friend! I should ask her if she wants to make enough to sell! I'm sure she'd have tons of takers.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps and Ink:
*GASP* NONE!
Paper: SU! sage and chocolate
Accessories: stickers-Crafty Secrets, rhinestones-Zva, crocheted flower-fabulous girlfriend!, ribbon-SU!, embossing folder-Cuttlebug

March 05, 2009

Sorry for No New Posts

I usually really try hard to not let more than one day pass without a post and to post at least 5 times a week if not everyday. I'd like to thank all of you who subscribe for not unsubbing during my illness.

I am doing some DT work and have been asked not to say anything until the announcement is official. Please bear with me. I am thrilled with the card I designed last night and can't wait to show it to you! Hopefully, I can show you at least one of the cards in the next couple of days as I submitted my work tonight. In the meantime, I now have to prepare for a class on Saturday so as I make samples, I'll be sure to post them!

Thanks for hanging in there with me and thanks for the lovely comments; they mean so much to me!

Rebecca

March 03, 2009

I forgot...

...to add in my Twinkling Tuesday post below that you should be sure
to scroll down past that post (after reading it of course *GRIN*) to
see my belated LAST week's Twinkling Tuesday card! Thanks for reading!!

Rebecca

Evidence of Ideas-Twinkling Tuesdays

I finally felt like stamping today! Yeah! My best girlfriend's son has been having a terrible time with his correspondence courses lately. He is in high school but takes courses online as well as a few credits in brick and mortar school. His mom is one of those 'hero' moms who decided to home school her kids-good for her. I wish I had that much discipline! Anyhow, he has been swamped by one particular teacher so I thought I'd make him a card to tell him I am thinking of him. I don't make a ton of manly cards but I found a sheet of SU! striped patterned paper and since I have too much groovy guava and wild wasabi paper leftover from an In Colour mixed pack, it worked out perfectly.
mttsc12
I hope the gears give the impression of the 'gears' in poor Bryden's brain trying to churn out ideas. That was the intention anyway. Besides the fact that gears are manly and I don't have many manly stamp sets! I wish I had the other set of oval Nestabilities so the mat wouldn't have been quite so wide but embossing it helped. Then I inked the edge and the embossed edge inked too-cool! I hadn't meant for it to but it looks really good. The gear panel was sponged to grunge it up around the edges. The little clip with the star matches so perfectly I couldn't believe it. My other idea was to use three brads placed vertically in the same corner which would have looked better I think but I have to use these clips sometime! It is hard to see but the guava layer is also stamped with blush blossom gears. Doesn't that sentence sound funny??!! I didn't buy groovy guava ink because I'm not big on orange.

The card sketch is from Madelynn for Twinkling Tuesdays.  clip_image002Madelynn is the clever daughter of Jessica from The Whimsical Butterfly. She has her own blog each week featuring one of the Twinkle Team's work, link on the sidebar <-----. We encourage you to play along with us; upload to PCP or SCS using MTTSC12 or your blog and link to Madelynn's blog so we can all see your work. Be sure to visit the Twinkle Team's individual blogs for inspiration too!

I have to take this opportunity to tell a little story about my baby. He is 21 months old and really doesn't say much yet. Yes, I know I have to watch him carefully because I don't want him to get behind. Anyway, when I have a long, hot bath, I bring him in and plays on the floor so today I brought in some Caramilk eggs and and we shared them. The joy on my baby's face when he sees something he really wants to eat is just priceless! He just learned to say 'wow' and kept saying it over and over again until the chocolate was right near his lips when it changed to 'mmmm mama'. So sweet! Then he wanted to play with bubbles after he saw my hair full of shampoo. My hair is quite long so there are a lot of bubbles in there! He stroked my hair and flicked the bubbles all over the bathroom, then I squeezed the bubbles out of my hair onto the edge of the bathtub. The bubbles were quite soupy and he happily splatted them all over, giggling all the while. Each time some hit his face he goes, "Ooooh!" and laughs louder. I so love him! I am growing my hair to donate to Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children with various diseases causing hair loss. They need 12" though and I don't want to have too short hair when I am done so I have about 5 more inches to go. I hope it doesn't start breaking or I'll have to give up.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
It's About Time-SU!, sentiment-Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (I think)
Paper: Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, confetti white CS, patterned paper-SU!
Ink: Chocolate chip, close to cocoa, blush blossom
Accessories: frame and metal clip-Dollarama, foam dots-Jody Morrow, brads-SU!, oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug

March 01, 2009

Yes, I am alive!...

...though not all together whole in body yet. Seems like a lot of people have been hit very hard by a variety of nasty bugs lately. I am mostly better but have no energy yet. I struggled to make even this most basic of cards :( Oh well, I am trying at least. I am having trouble  with a design team project I have to do so I started with something a bit easier-last week's Twinkle Team challenge I was too sick to do. This time it was an inspiration challenge rather than a sketch challenge. I had lots of ideas since I have quite a few coffee stamps I just wasn't having much fun doing it. I guess I am still  just low on energy. Hope you like it.
mttsc11
Very obvious construction on this card, I used foam dots between all the layers. I would have omitted one of them if I had clip_image002remembered that I always use foam dots between layers when I use this thick ribbon. I will have to deliver it by hand! The button is from SU! latte pack threaded with dusty rose silk ribbon. The tea cups are watercoloured using my new Koi water brush. I am not a big fan of water brushes because they do not have enough control but I heard this one was da bomb. Still not a big fan but it is way better than any other I have tried.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:
Stampington
Paper: CTMH CS and Amore patterned paper
Ink: creamy caramel, close to cocoa SU!, Stazon brown
Accessories: gold and rose gel pens, rose and cameo button-Jesse James, silk ribbon-UK, chocolate button and ribbon, watercolours-SU!, Kaiser pearls, foam dots-Jody Morrow