Just Because...

I've had a card in mind for a while, and today I spent time working on it.  Everything in the scene, except for the reeds, was sponged.  I hope it looks like a little swamp or bog with cattails by it at sunset.  I used Marina Mist and Pacific Point to create the water, and Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, and Pumpkin Pie for the sky.  The setting sun was sponged in Pumpkin Pie and then some Daffodil Delight over the top.  The land around the water was first sponged on with some Chocolate Chip ink, then covered over with Old Olive.  The reeds were then stamped over the image in Old Olive ink.  I used the slot punch and a scrap of card stock to sponge on the cattails (in Chocolate Chip).  I had planned for this card to be a standard 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inch, but while sponging the far right cattail, I accidentally smeared some Chocolate Chip ink on my image, so it's now covered up with the scallop circle and sentiment.  The card now measures 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches as a result.  I made it for my DH as he's been so wonderful this summer while we've been on break from work.  He does a great job of making me feel loved and appreciated, and I wanted to make a special card for him to let him know I appreciate him, too!  Here's the card I made for him:

Technique Card: Black Magic With a Twist

I had planned to share the Black Magic with a Twist technique with the CA non-convention goers this past weekend, so since the event was canceled, I'll share it with you today!  I know it's been used A LOT, but I started out by stamping the coneflowers from Inspired by Nature in white craft ink onto black card stock.  After letting it dry, I grabbed my watercolor pencils and got busy coloring.  You simply color over the dried white ink, adding shading to the image.  You can then either use the image as is for a project, or you can jazz it up by using a white gel pen to outline all or part of your image.  I got a bit carried away with the dots on mine, but I still like how it turned out.  I turned it into a card, which I prestamped for the gals - all they'd have had to do would be to color the image, adhere it to the card, and add ribbon.  I made eight card kits, so I'll save them in case we do get together later.  Otherwise, I'll use it for one of my own stamp camps in the fall.  Here's how it turned out:

Once again, I'm photographing my stuff late at night, but I think you get the idea.  I used the polka dot embossing folder, and the sentiment is from a new set called Perfect Punches.  The card once again started out as a Mojo Monday sketch (an old one) that got modified as I played with it.  I thank you for stopping by and hope you have a great day!

Black Magic... Without the Twist

Hello there!  One of the cards I am going to share with you later this week is a card I created to showcase the Black Magic with a Twist technique.  The Black Magic technique itself can create some stunning images.  I'm not the greatest when it comes to shading, but here's one of the samples I was going to share with the gals last Saturday:

I started by stamping the image onto Basic Black card stock, using craft white ink, leaving it to sit for a while to dry.  Once it was completely dry, I used my watercolor pencils to color over the image, starting with the lighter yellow shade, and adding the darker to highlight.  I did the same with the flower centers.  The stems are all the same color - just colored more darkly in spots to create highlighting.  What's important is to get a nice stamped image to start with.  This one was a little uneven on the right side of the two flowers (the ink was a little blotchy, not as smooth as it was for the rest of the image), and you can see that the coloring here isn't as smooth as a result.

This was all I'd originally planned to have the gals do, but I ended up designing a quick card to go with it, which I'll be sharing with you later this week.  I know Inspired by Nature has been used A LOT, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of it - it's one of those stamp sets that I'll never part with. 

Well, the weekend is winding down, but be sure to stop back by each day this next week - I actually have five posts scheduled to go during the week (amazing for me to post that often!).  Hope to see you later!

Nothing New... Just Revisions

This weekend I finally got a chance to stamp. I had extra cards left over from my last stamp camp, as well as swap cards to make, so that's what I did. I ended up changing a few things in the final versions, though. For the Reverse Spotlighting card, I found that the card was too big to fit into a medium square envelope, and too small to fit into the leftover Chocolate Chip envies I have from last year's Carousel Notes. So, I ended up adding a back panel out of Chocolate Chip to the card (the card above is photographed on a scrap sheet of Confetti Cream - it actually ends at the Chocolate Chip). The actual card opens with the Tangerine Tango layer, so thankfully the change worked out. I was able to finish the five extra cards I had left over from our last technique team swap. I also finished the ten Dazzling Diamond Dust cards we made at my February stamp camp.

Tonight I finished making the swaps for the technique swap meeting I missed last Sunday - doing the Grid Technique. Originally, I had used More Mustard with Pumpkin Pie highlights on the flowers, but after looking at my sample, it looked somewhat muddy, so I thought I'd try it again, this time using Summer Sun with Pumpkin Pie highlights - much better! I finished up those five cards, and thankfully before assembling them, I was able to cut them down the 1/4 inch I needed so they'd also fit in a medium square envelope (the card above was photographed on a scrap of Chocolate Chip - it actually stops at the Confetti Cream square). During the week coming up, I'll be getting ready for my next stamp camp where we'll be making the CD Folder Albums I posted last month. Not a lot of prep for those, as it's up to the stamper how she'd like her album to look. I'm anxious to see how they turn out, as a few of the gals chose a different designer paper for their albums. I'll post some images after my stamp camp on Friday. For now, have a great week, and go Jessie Royer - she's the musher my daughter and I are following in the Iditarod!

Grid Technique

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm looking forward to a yummy Victoria's cut filet mignon steak tonight at Outback with my dear hubby to celebrate. For my gift, he brought me home last night a beautiful bouquet of a dozen red roses that I got to admire while I was working on my next project - soooo pretty and they smell wonderful! He also got me the Nestabilities dies I've been wanting to try. I found the circle and scallop circle set that he got me at Ritz Camera online for a great price (they're giving 20% off scrapbooking supplies during the month of February, so you might want to go check it out at ritzcamera.com). I also want the square and scallop square set along with the Labels One and Labels Two sets, but will ask for that for my birthday later this spring. Right now, Labels One and Two are out of stock at Ritz, but I'm hoping they have them before the end of February so my hubby can order them up while they're still on sale.

Last night I worked on my swap card for our next stamping team technique swap. I chose to do the Grid Technique. I wanted to use Inspired by Nature for my card as I still haven't used it yet, so this is what I came up with. The flowers in this gorgeous set remind me of growing up in rural New York - you'd see Black-Eyed Susans and Queen Anne's Lace sprouting up just about everywhere in the spring. I used my Fiskars trimmer with a scoring blade to score a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch square of Confetti Cream card stock, starting at the center diagonal line and scoring every 1/2 inch to the edge of the paper. I then stamped over the grid with my now retired Canvas background stamp in Creamy Caramel. I used markers to color the flower stamp - Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Chip. After stamping the flowers onto the grid, I inked up the reeds image with Always Artichoke (marker), stamped off once, and then stamped over my main image. The grid is mounted on Summer Sun and then Chocolate Chip. This is then mounted on a 5 x 5 inch piece of Always Artichoke stamped with Itty Bitty Backgrounds. A piece of 5/8 inch Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon is tied around the bottom of the card. I then added Chocolate Chip triangles (2.5 inches along the edges) behind the Artichoke and mounted it all on a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch card base of Confetti Cream. I think I'll end up using this technique again - it's so easy to do, and gives a different look to your finished project.

Have a great rest of your day, and thanks for taking the time to visit!