Get a load of Lenny

Okay, so how adorable is *this*?


This image is Lenny Loader and he is a FREE digi-stamp available from Sunshine's Stamps. This is my first venture into digital-stampdom and I like it!!!

One issue I tend to have with "real" stamps is that sometimes the image is too small for what I need, other times it's too large. Well, no worries about that with a digi-image, since you can resize it to your heart's content!


I printed Lenny out twice so that I could pop-up his "bucket". I've used SU's Crystal Elements to give his eyes/safety goggles that lovely sheen. He is coloured in using Copic markers.


Lenny himself has been cut out using my circle Nesties, but since I used the largest one, I needed to go to my Creative Memories circle cutter to cut the mat. The sentiment is courtesy of my Just-Rite stamps - how cool is it that you can make any sentiment you want? And the little alphabet "tiles" remind me of the first stamp set I owned as a kid....way back in the 70s!


The wheel image is a retired Stampin' Up Wheel that I thought finished the inside perfectly.

Hope you enjoyed and make sure you pop over to Sunshine's Stamps and see what else they have to offer. You won't be disappointed!

What, no Copics???

Thought I'd try something different, or at least something I haven't done in a while. I used my SU markers (scribbled on a piece of acetate) and an Aquabrush to colour this image, the jeep from the SU set Hit the Road. I love this image as the first car I bought brand new (and likely the only car I will ever buy "brand new") was the lovely Jeep Liberty that I still drive - not that I always loved that car since it gave me plenty of grief, but I digress (and, besides, it's all good now...)

Cardstock is SU's Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip (sounds yummy, doesn't it?) and the image is stamped on some watercolour paper that I picked up at Walmart. I've sponged the edges to add a bit of depth...


The sentiment is from Hampton Arts, but I'm afraid I don't know the name of the clear set it came from. I bought it as a "grab bag" and it was from one of the unlabeled sets. It has been punched using SU's Round Label Punch and then glued on top of a punched circle. The brads (old SU and I'm too lazy to check and see if they're still current ;) ) are just there for "show".

The DP is from yet another DCWV slab (an old one...) and the border punch is Martha Stewart.

BTW, this set is still available from Stampin' Up even though it didn't make the "short list" to be included in the new catalogue. It is on what they call the "dormant list" which is really sad because it means a lot of people won't get to see it and it will likely fall out of favour and then be dropped (aka retired) by the time the next catalogue rolls around :(

Little Purple and Grey Goth Girl

I hate the SU colour Orchid Opulence - there, I said it! It really does nothing for me...



But, it matched this (unknown) DP, so I got to use some up. I have enough of it, LOL!



Stamps: Little Goth Girl is one of the Gorjuss Girl line of stamps from Sugar Nellie; Happy Birthday sentiment from TAC's Celebration Time (stamped in Orchid Opulence, but I've coloured in the words with a black journalling marker); circle border (in the offensive (to me) Orchid Opulence) from TAC's All Occasion Circles; border from Asian Borders by Hero Arts

Cardstock and grey and orchid (blech) ink all from SU, but DP is unknown. The main image is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.

Image is coloured using my beloved Copic markers and her tights are hilit using my Prismacolor white pencil.

Mermaid Anya

How cute is this image from The Greeting Farm? Alright, so I love any image that gives me an excuse to use blues, purples, and greens, supplemented with bling! On top of that, I got to use my old Fiskars texture plates (pattern: scales) in my Cuttlebug - oh, how life has been simplified since I found I could use these with a die-cutting/embossing machine. You probably can't see it well, but I've used it on the Bermuda Bay (SU) card front and again on the paper pieced tailfin (which I frugally cut from the larger piece of cardstock - the bit covered by the Nestabilities circles and scalloped circles). I further emphasized it on the tailfin by tracing a scale pattern (which does NOT match up to the embossed image, LOL) using a Sakura glitter pen.



To add even more sparkle, I've even given her some Robin's Nest Dew Drops (colour: water) in her hair and around her waist and further coloured over her bikini top using my Copic Spica pens. Thought I'd show the close up, even though it emphasizes the fact that I didn't "rub" the stray cuts from the scalloped die!

The ribbon was bought many moons ago (see honey, I'm using stuff up now that I have a "special place") and I could tell you who made it, but it would require my taking apart my "tower of ribbon holders" and pulling out that one spool. If you saw the mess of my desk right now, you would understand why that would *not* be a good idea! The sand pail "charm" came from a mixed bag of buttons that was again bought "many moons ago".

Sentiment is from SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes (fab set of 24 stamps that, although small, fit in perfectly when your image takes up most of the front of your card!)

Using only Stampin' Up products

Finally thought to upload a card made with Stampin' Up images. I blame SU on this hobby (borderline obsession) with papercrafting. Alright, so quitting soccer to be a Mum plays a role as well (this is the official excuse for DH who actually got me my first invitation to an SU home gathering. He had a co-worker who asked if I'd like to get out of the house for some "grown up time"...and the rest, as they say, is history. Many years later and I am still happily puttering along as an SU demo (to support my own purchasing).



This card uses the new sets The More the Merrier (hostess) and Sweet Little Sentiments. It also uses some of SU's new In Colours for the 2009/2010 catalogue year: Bermuda Bay (the card base), textured Soft Suede (the mat that has been punched using the SU Eyelet Border Punch), and Melon Mambo (behind the sentiment and punched using 2 x the new Modern Label punch). For the first time since they introduced the "In Colors" (spelling per the SU/US way), they have also come up with a set of matching markers - YAY!!! I was able to use them to watercolour the cupcakes (scribbling an a piece of acetate and picking up the ink with my aquapainter) AND to colour directly on the sentiment stamp (allowing for the Melon Mambo focus on the word "cupcake:). This has been punched out using the Modern Label punch and popped up on dimensionals.

That lovely ribbon is also part of the "In Colour" line. It is available in all the colours and is polka-dotted on one side, plain grosgrain on the other. I only have 3 colours so far, but the other 3 will be on my next order for sure!

I added a small Melon Mambo punched "cherry" to the first cupcake. It has been slightly popped up using a rolled up mini glue dot. The only other thing I've done is paper pierced a border to frame the cupcakes and pierced a single row to "centre" the sentiment on the punch (it looked too low when stamped and punched, but needed to be placed where the little "bumps" in the punch allowed for the longer line of words)

...and that was it!

Here is Tilda in Heart Overalls (by Magnolia Stamps), an image I snagged in the Canadian Express Image Swap on Splitcoaststampers. She's been coloured using Copic markers with a bit of white Prismacolor pencil hilighting her knees, gloves and boots. The background was sponged with SU Bashful Blue ink using a handmade cloud stencil (moving and rotating it as I went).

The image has been cut out and matted using my Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle dies. I learned this "out of the Nesties" technique from the blog of Katharina Frei (owner of Whiff of Joy stamps) as I would never have figured this out for myself.

Card base is SU Kraft, and the DP is from an old SU sampler print pack in Real Red. The Happy Birthday sentiment is unknown, but it has been cut out and matted on a combination of SU punches. Sheer ribbon unknown, but the red ribbon is also from Stampin' Up.



I am showing the slightly opened card to show how I've "gussied up" the inside. So simple, but it just seems to finish it off.


Love this card so much that I don't want to give it away, LOL!

Retirement...

No, I haven't given up on the blogging thing already...


This particular card was made for DD's principal who retired this year. It uses SU's A Sense of Time (both the images and the sentiment) and is stamped using Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. The whole sponged cardfront is mounted on a Close to Cocoa card. I wish I could remember where the copper paper came from, but it was in a pile of many scraps I have kicking around. The Close to Cocoa clock was punched out and mounted on a dimensional glue dot.

This was such an easy card to make, but it's probably one of my favourites (and I normally find a masculine card difficult; heck, I find anything that's not cutesy/kid-like to be a stretch, LOL!)

Slacking off again...

...not from creating, but just from posting. I'm pretty good at getting things made these days, but since I do most of my creating at night, the light is horrible for pictures by the time I'm done. So, then I postpone it until "later", but when I sit down at my desk the following afternoon (dang work interfering with my hobby, LOL!), I start playing with my toys again.

It doesn't help that my ancient laptop takes forever to upload pics from my camera either, but I could make excuses forever. Instead, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and post some pure pics, unadulterated (ie. Photoshopped) in any way and missing any watermark. Perhaps I'll edit these posts later, but somehow I doubt it :)

Today, I'm sharing the card I made for DD's Grade One teacher who is moving back to Edmonton. She will be sorely missed at the school as she was a wonderful teacher and ran (it seems) most of the sports clubs they had going.


The main image is Teacher Anya from The Greeting Farm. I love this stamp company and own (ahem...cough...clears throat) most of their images. They are just so fun and a joy to colour with any medium. I used my Copic markers on this one (I know, *there's* a surprise, LOL!) She's been "cut out" using my circle Nestabilities and matted with both the circles and the scalloped circles. The "inspire" comes from Stampin' Up's Define Your Life and I thought it a fitting tribute to a great teacher. I've used SU's large oval punch (think that's what it's called) and the SU Tab Punch.

Colourwise, the card base is SU Real Red, and the mats are Glorious Green and the new (and textured Dusty Durango). The Tab Punch is also Dusty Durango, but sponged with Dusty Durango ink to darken it and bring out the texture a little more.

Other than that, all I've used is some Crystal Effects (SU) on the apple. Inside, although I forgot to take a pic, I've stamped the apple from Tart n' Tangy (SU) and the big THANKS from Thanks for Everything.

Goodbye Ms. Adante...you will be sorely missed!