Stamps, Paper, Scissors

New Cards & a Sketch

Didja miss me? Huh? Huh?

I've been busy. I started feeling a bit better on Wednesday, so I spent quite a bit of time stamping. Then we went to Kalamazoo yesterday for the whirlwind tour of gift opening with both sets of the grandparents and drove back last night. Yawn! Then it was up again today to go to the orthopedic surgeon for my husband's shoulder...why is it that men always want company when they go to the doctor, but women would just as soon go alone and men would just as soon let them?

I've just managed to take pictures of all the cards I've made over the past few days...you'll be startled to know I have done 5 cards in the past three days! Four on Wednesday and one yesterday morning before we went to Kalamazoo!

My old years' resolution is to get my design team obligations out of the way before the end of the month. I have a new set from Flourishes, plus a batch to finish from Starving Artistamps, and I also need to do a few Kitchen Sink things AND I still have new SU! stamps to work with and a swap to do and get in the mail for Controlfreaks using SU!'s A Beautiful Thing.

I'm delighted to say I got my Starving Artistamps batch completed and will be mailing off my cards tomorrow! And in the course of doing this, I came up with a sketch! I love using sketches myself and don't think I've seen anyone do a card quite like the one I'm going to show you at the end of the post. Let's start with the other ones, shall we?

Ingredients: Starving Artistamps Large Daisy (P18.04), Artful Inkables Friendship like Flowers (KSAI-106); Paper - SU! Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun; Ink - SU! Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie,  Chocolate Chip; Other - Chocolate 1/4" grosgrain (retired), gold eyelet, 1 1/4" circl punch, dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Marker, Old Olive Marker, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Summer Sun Marker, Stampin' Sponge wedges, Color Spritzer Tool.

I really love this spray of daisies. I inked it up in Summer Sun ink, then used sponge wedges to add the Pumpkin and Chocolate inks. I used a marker to put the Old Olive color on the stem and then used the Color Spritzer tool to add the speckles all over the background.

And actually, this is the second copy of this image I did. Would you believe after I got it all stamped and looking PURDY, I dropped the sentiment stamp right on top of it and ended up messing it all up?!?!? ACK! ACK! Stampin' can be a heart-breaking job at times, I tell ya! I tried covering up the slight marks the sentiment stamp left by adding the speckles, then by putting the sentiment on a separate piece of cardstock as it is now, but it covered up too much of the main image in the position it had to be in and it just looked STOO-PID!!!! So I had to start over.

Luckily, this is one of those techniques that looks harder than it actually is, so redoing it wasn't THAT hard. Finally got it done, decided I was satisfied with it..er..I thought it was GOJUS! and moved on.

This is actually the last card I did, but it is not the sketch card, so I am showing this next:

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Artful Inkables Lily (KSAI-101), Harlequin Background (P25.01),  Thank You So Much (47.07); Paper - Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White; Ink - SU! Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Perfect Plum, Adirondack Pitch Black; Other - Ticket Corner Punch, Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), white satin ribbon, Almost Amethyst marker, American Traditional Designs Cut & Fold Template (PC-508) Large Wide Arrow. Stampin' Sponge wedges, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol.

In searching for something interesting to do with this card, I came up with the idea of using this Cut & Fold Template from American Traditional Designs that I've had for YEARS. Doing this sort of paper cutting and folding was pretty popular a few years back and I think it adds just the right touch.

Because this lily image looks like something you'd see on a sympathy card and I don't have any With Sympathy sentiment from Starving Artistamps, I decided that omitting "So Much" on the thank you stamp would allow this to be a thank you card that could be used for sending out after a funeral, but it is certainly pretty enough to be used as an ordinary thank you. In fact...it's GOJUS!!! (YILM!)

Finally, here is the card and the sketch. I have all this Pearl Ex hanging around since Stampin' Up! discontinued it and I miss using it. So I decided it would look beautiful with this butterfly image:

Ingredients: Starving Artistamps Butterfly (P1.5), I Miss You (42.14), Cracked Grout Mosaic (P22.05); Paper - Vintage Violet, Confetti White, Ballet Blue; Ink - Vintage Violet, Regal Rose, Versamark; Other - Vintage Violet stitched grosgrain (retired), pink organdy (retired), silver brads, Pearl Ex.

Isn't it GOJUS!?!?!? And here's the sketch:

Please feel free to try this and link back here to this post by commenting! I can't wait to see what you've done with it!

So good to be home....

So I could get back to my stamps! I don't know about you, but when I'm in the mood to stamp, I want to stamp RIGHT NOW! It really is hard not to have anything with me. Usually, I bring things along, even on vacation, but I figured I could stand not stamping for a couple of days. Hah! Not!

I was so stressed out by not having any rubbah to hand for the last two days that I ended up buying more stamps online last night when I got home...sigh...I have no resistance now, NONE! And here I was trying to find an image someone else was looking for, but instead of finding it, I ended up finding a couple of new companies whose stamps called my name in a very loud voice. At least they have them unmounted! Saves me money!

ANYWAY, I did get a couple of cards done before I left with my Starving Artistamps:

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Artful Inkables Sea Grass (KSAI-201, Thinking of You (46.08); Paper - Soft Sky, River Rock, Whisper White; Ink - River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Versamark, Soft Sky; Other - Ticket Corner Punch, Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched grosgrain, gold brads, Clear detail EP, Stampin' Sponges, white gel pen, aquapainter.

Isn't it GOJUS?! I stamped one of the sea grass images with versamark, then embossed it in clear. Then I? stamped additional images using Certainly Celery and River Rock inks, then sponged more color on top. I added a little more color in the leaves of the embossed image with my aquapainter.

Here's the next card:

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Artful Inkables Elephant (KSAI-606), Hello! (46.15), Cracked Grout Mosaic (P22-05); Paper - Kraft, Old Olive, Basic Grey, Bravo Burgundy; Ink - Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive; Other - Prismacolor Pencils, Word Window Punch, Copper Brads (Making Memories), Twill Tape, stampin' sponges.

Isn't this STINKIN' CUTE?!?! (YILM!!!) I used the Painterly Pencils technique that I showed y'all in a tutorial a ways back (just click on the Tutorials category to find it!)

Well, time to go do the usual Saturday stuff: go photocopy the church bulletin, take my kids to the library and, of course, stamp! Tah!

Panting, she races to the post office....

Just in time to get her cards for Starving Artistamps in the mail!

Phew! It was an intense stamping session the past couple of days, but I'm happy to report I got my obligation out of the way and can go back to working with othah rubbah! In fact, I already snuck some in (and NO they are not Stampin' Up! stamps, but you must be patient with me...)

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Harlequin Background (P25.01), Get Well Soon (46.11), Starving Artistamps Artful Inkables Mexican Hat Flower (KSAI-802); Paper - (all SU!) Barely Banana, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Watercolor paper; Ink - (all SU!) Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa; Other - SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons, SU! Very Vanilla Tafetta Ribbon, SU! dimensionals, SU! Vintage brads (retired.)

I used the watercolor crayons directly on the rubber, then misted lightly before stamping. I love the soft color combination and think this came out GOJUS!!!

I've been really busy this weekend, had the BFF's over to play on Saturday and will have a couple more cards to post later today or tomorrow. And yes, there are some Stampin' Up! stamps on them...stay tuned! But the next post is another company's stamps...oh, dang! It's deja vu all over again!

Oh, yes, Mammie, the best days are when new stamps come!

OOOOH, guess what I got yesterday!

My new Gina K. stamps came! I'm thrilled, because inside the box was my free set, my MAJOR AWARD for winning the sketch contest up on SCS last week. Woohooo!!!

I may just have to break down and use those right away...I mean, it would only be natural, wouldn't it? So I decided I'd have to get TWO cards done yesterday just so that I can get to my new stamps faster. Makes sense to me!

So here, without further doo doo, is another Western themed card using my Starving Artistamps:

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Cowboy (6003), Standing Horse (6002), Fern Leaf Tooled Leather Background, Hey Ya'll (6004), Cracked Grout Mosaic (P22-05); Paper - (all SU!) Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla; Ink - (all SU!) Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Blue Bayou, Sahara Sand; Other - Circle Scissor, Star Punch (SU!), Copper Eyelets & Brads (SU!), Natural hemp (SU!), Twill tape (SU!), notch corner punch (SU! retired), dimensionals, sponge dauber

I stamped the cowboy first, then masked him and stamped the horse so that the cowboy is now working on his horse's tack. Then I watercolored him and the horse using my aquapainter and ink pads. Then I was trying to think of a good embellishment, since I already used those cool star snaps on the card I made yesterday and I came up with these stars that look like the decorative elements you'll see on a saddle that hide points where things are attached. I think it turned out STINKIN' HANDSOME!!! (we can't use "cute" on the Marlborough Man, it just doesn't seem right!) Oh and YILM!

Then I got off the horse and went in to do some gardening instead:

Ingredients: Stamps - Artful Inkables (Starving Artistamps) Black Eyed Susans (KSAI 804), Friendship Like Flowers (KSAI 106); Paper -  Basic Grey Periphery Paper Pad, SU! Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Night of Navy, PaperTreyInk Stamper's Select White; Ink - (All SU!) Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Gable Green, Barely Banana; Other - Prima Flowers, rhinestone flower (Target $ Spot), 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain (SU!), Ticket Corner Punch (SU!), Color Spritzer, Brocade Blue Marker, Vintage Brads (SU! retired)

Isn't it GOJUS!?!?! (YILM!) I had a job matching that green in the Periphery paper, let me tell ya! Tracey wanted us to limit our use of patterned paper in our samples, but since she sells this pad of paper, I didn't think she'd mind at all! These paper pads are perfect for card making...I used to not want to cut up a 12" x 12" piece of paper to use on a card; often the pattern wouldn't translate to the smaller size or most of the design wouldn't show. These papers are miniature versions of the full sized ones, making them just right for cards!

I'm almost done making cards for my rush batch of stamps with Starving Artistamps and then I can get to all the OTHER rubbah calling my name! What? What's that?!?! Hey, I can hear it calling my name right now! Must dash! Tah!

The apostasy continues....

Yes, I'm going to post yet another non-SU! card. No, I am not quitting SU! I am still a cult-member, devoted to Shelli Gardner (may she live forever!) But right now, I have some obligations to fulfill, so I am working my tail off to get some samples off to Tracey at Starving Artistamps, so she can take them on the road with her to their next show.

After all, if someone sent you a nice padded envie full of new rubbah FOR FREE, wouldn't you oblige with a few cards for them, hmmmm? In fact, whenever I get free rubbah from SU! I feel obliged to Shelli Gardner (may she live forever) to use it immediately! But I haven't gotten any lately (sob!), though I hear we are getting a new level 3 hostess set called Time Well Spent some time soon...it is one of the new sets in the Spring/Summer Collection and it is a present for every demo that was still active on October 31st. YAY!!!!

So, fear not, SU! will return, I still have sets I have not used, as well as sets I have not plumbed the depths of creativity with, so you just need to be patient. As a matter of fact, I'm getting a shipment tomorrow with some new goodies I got with my hostess bennies and maybe I will feel inspired to use them ASAP! One never knows whither the wind will blow....

But before I break into "Blowin' in the Wind" I'll show you my latest Starving Artistamps creation:

Ingredients: Stamps - Starving Artistamps Cowboy Silhouette (6009), TL Berkley Quote (6006), Fern Leather Tooled Background;  Paper (all SU!) - Buckaroo Blue, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Brushed Silver, Very Vanilla; Ink (all SU!) - Chocolate Chip, Really Rust; Other - 1/8" stitched grosgrain (SU! retired), Giga Oval Scalloped Punch (Marvy), Ticket Corner Punch (SU!), dimensionals (SU!), stampin sponge wedge, sponge dauber, paper piercing tools, stylus, star snaps (Making Memories)

I am really thrilled with this background, which just MAKES this card! It's GOJUS!!! I stamped it in Chocolate Chip on Creamy Caramel cardstock, then used a sponge dauber to rub some Really Rust into the design, making it look just like leather.

I wanted the oval scalloped mat to look like a concho, so I used my paper piercer and embossing stylus to make a pattern in the brushed silver cardstock. I think it really adds to the look. The star snaps just made the whole thing complete!

Well, I need to get some more work done and go to OfficeMax for more CD cases (fancy! I used up all 25 I bought a couple of weeks ago, have I really gotten that many new stamps?!?) and PTouch tape, so I know what is in all the cases. Tah!

Got sunglasses?

Welcome to the grayness (or greyness for Canadians and Brits) of November...are you lovin' it yet? I'm sure those in the south of the country are going "Huh?" but those of you in the northern parts know just what I mean. It's cold, it's gray and it's going to last a long time. Now that we've turned our clocks back and darkness sets in soon after 5 PM, we all crave as much sunlight as we can get.

It was with this in mind that I chose my color scheme from some ribbon I had bought at Michael's, took 3 of my new Artful Inkables stamps from Starving Artistamps and with a new sketch (CPS #38), I set out to make a card that practically lights up the room all by itself:

Ingredients:  Artful Inkables Hibiscus with Leaf (KSAI-103), Artful Inkables Friendship (KSAI-106), Starving Artistamps Harlequin Background (P25-01); Paper - Whisper White, Summer Sun, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black; Ink - Adirondack Pitch Black, SU! Taken with Teal, SU! Green Galore; Other - Tria Markers, Prismacolor Blender, Dots, Dashes & Checks ribbon (Michael's), silver brads (SU!), dimensionals (SU!)

Isn't it GOJUS?!? I had decided after stamping the flower that it really looked like it was swimming in the middle of the paper, so I decided to crop the paper up to the edges of the image and let the leaves "bust out" of the frame. I drew pencil lines parallel to the edge of the paper up to the edges of the image, then cut along those lines until I got to the image, then cut around the image itself. It worked beautifully and I'm really happy with the result.

For the image itself, I decided that for maximum intense color, I couldn't beat using my Tria markers and the blender pen I have from Prismacolor. I like using SU! Whisper White for this...it's easier to push the color around on the cardstock because of the coating on top of it. If you really want more workability, spray the cardstock after you stamp with a workable fixative...the color floats even easier than it does here (it's what I used on that card with the curtained window a while back).

This card makes me think of tropical beaches and warm weather and helps drive away the gloom of a November day. I hope it brightens your day a bit!

What, another post?!!?

Okay, this is the last one today...PROMISE!

First, I have to tell you I got my first batch of Starving Artistamps this past week and sat down to work with them last night. I had a ton of fun playing with them. These stamps are very high quality, deeply etched rubber, in fact, I think these stamps are probably the most deeply etched stamps I've ever seen!

This card uses this sketch from Lauren Meader's blog, My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence:

Ingredients: Starving Artistamps Pansy with Flower (P20.02), Hello! (46.15), Harlequin Background (P25.01); Paper - Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace, So Saffron, Certainly Celery; Ink - So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Certainly Celery; Other - Flower brads & clipiola (Making Memories); Apricot Appeal 1/4" grosgrain, green gingham (American Craft), Twinkling H2O's, Color Spritzer Tool (SU!), Elegant Eggplant marker.

Here's a detail of the Twinkling H2O's:

Yes, it turned out GOJUS!!!! I've still got stamps to play with yet, so expect more cards in the next week or two featuring Starving Artistamps!

Now for the blather...I did say that the BFF's (which would be Paula, Mary and me) had a weekend adventure and yes, we did! We decided it had been a while since we had been to Paper Tales so we were going to go. I wanted, in particular, to visit their ribbon rack, which has lots of luscious ribbon from May Arts and Maya Road. That's where I got the yummy ribbon on the Hanna card I posted earlier!

So after church, I headed over to Mary's house and we piled in Paula's car and off we went. But before we left, Paula gave us each one of these:

It's a magnet made with the stamp I bought Paula at Recollections in Texas...Best Friends Forever is kind of our joke name for our threesome and it was awesome that this stamp showed three women on it and I just HAD to buy it for Paula (it's by Inkadinkadoo Stamps, if you're wondering!) So Paula made us each a magnet using the cracked glass technique and Cosmo Cricket paper...I just LOVE it and it is going high on my fridge and no children are going to be allowed to touch it in any way. TOO COOL and Paula does GOJUS work!

As for Paper Tales, I won't tell you the total on my bill or even show you all my loot, but hopefully I'll use it all up in the next month or two and you'll see it in projects that I post, right?