Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Another snowman in purple!

While I had this paper out I decided to color another of the great snowmen that Cindy (YLM) sent to me in our trade. She had the snowman stamped a little to the right which also gave me the idea for this card. The My Mind's Eye 29th Market Street paper looks like snowball so I decided to only use this as my dp. I nearly had the card together and I thought the rectangle main image looked a little boring so I got out my coluzzle mat and circle template and cut the top in a semi circle. I like it much better. To stamp the sentiment I used my black SU marker and colored the "thank" part of the sentiment from SU's Short and Sweet. I cleaned that off really well then markered the "you" part so I could put it underneath.
I used amethyst ink and an old SU snowflake for the bg and sponged the edges in amethyst too.
The copic markers I used are as follows: BG10 (a real favorite of mine!) for the snowman and for the purple hat and scarf I used BV00, B63, BV13 and a touch of BV08.

I also photographed the inside of the card. I sponged white paper with Almost amethyst, then used Eggplant and Almost Amethyst to stamp these beautiful scrolled snowflakes from Magnolia-licious.


They are on sale now. You get the two sizes for $5.00.
As always, my sincere thanks for stopping by! I'm gathering up some goodies for when I reach 10,000 hits on my counter. All comments are read and reread!
Hope your day is fun! Blessings for 2009 to all of you!
Cheryl

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Thank you Snowman!

And thank you, Cindy! I've been working on cards to send as Thank yous to a few people for gifts and kindnesses and this is one I made today.
The snowman is from Whipper Snapper and when I saw the creations Cindy (YLM on splitcoast) made with him we worked out a trade of images and punchies. I'm so happy she stamped even the branch with the snowman so all I had to do was color! That IS my favorite part!
I used copics to color the image. I added a green marker to the green branches. I used a yellow copic marker around the image, evened that out a bit with the blender then sponged on some barely banana. The snowflakes are an SU! stamp that I added in Soft Sky and I sponged Soft Sky around the edges. I drew in the snow with my black fine marker.
I'm thinking that I will add some sparkle to the snow and branches with Stardust Stickles before he's mailed out to my friend, who, by the way, LOVES purple!
I guess that's it for today! I have lots to work on! Diana will be posting the January sketch for the Magnolia-licious store on Jan. 1st. Hope you can check it out and play along! Why not take a look now? She's added some great images to the sale section of her store!
Thanks for coming by! Have a great evening!
Cheryl

Sunday, December 28, 2008

New Year's Tilda for FS99

Hi everyone! I had colored one of these Tildas to use on a card today. Then I saw the Featured stamper on SCS and was inspired to also make an altered tin. I didn't have anything to fill it so I lined the box in Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red cardstock. Here's the inspiration piece that I used. thanks, Barbara (stampfilleddreams)!
My card uses the wonderful new paper by Cosmo Cricket called Chemistry. Great colors and patterns, but they don't scream Valentine's Day, so you can use them for other things. the border punch is a Martha Stewart lattice work punch. To make the background behind Tilda I swirl color on my white nestability shape with a stencil brush. Adirondack inks in Cranberry and Butterscotch give this great coral color. I LOVE it!
The Tilda is colored the same way. On the the tin I also used the awesome Basic Grey paper Bittersweet and Urban Prairie. The ribbon is Berry Sorbet from Papertrey Ink.

Copic colors used are shades of brown-E31, E33, E35, E37 and E47.
Pinks and corals include Eoo and E02 for her face with R20 fro cheeks
The others are R11, R42, R32, R35 and R29.
Her hair starts with Buttercup yellow and I add a little brighter yellow and then some of my browns to it. I'm not crazy about the blond hair I make, still trying to find the right combo.


Friday, December 26, 2008

Here's Violet!

Here's our kitten, Violet! She is 4 months old now. She's very petite and feminine, but can she climb! This is here IN our Christmas tree the other evening! Come on, how can you be upset when she is so adorable!These are a couple more of the money holders I made to give to our adult nephews. "Kids" in their 20s love that cash! Now that they all work, they really understand how hard it is to earn a buck! Thanks again to Tori for the design and coloring inspiration! You rock, Tori!
Have a good day after and I hope you were blessed this Christmas!
Cheryl



Thursday, December 25, 2008

Good morning and Merry Christmas! Here are a few gift card (money) holders that I made using Tori Wild's wonderful samples and directions! What a fun way to give a gift card card or money! Thanks, Tori!These use Stampin' Up's set Mr. Twiggy. The others use Anna Wight's set for Whipper Snapper, Cozy Critters!
Sorry about this last picture! I was counting on it to correct itself! Didn't happen!
My heartfelt thanks to you for checking out my blog! You make me feel special! (More Magnolia cards coming soon! Suzy H. has a sketch challenge for us and it's GOOD!)
Have a wonderful day with family and friends!
Cheryl





Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Bag in a Box


I know these have been all the rage lately and with good reason! If you haven't made one you've got to! They are so easy and fun! I made 10 to give to teacher friends at school today.
My directions came from Inking Addict. The directions are very easy to follow. Beware though, they hold A LOT of candy!
I used Always Artichoke cardstock and Basic Grey Wassail paper. I punch the flowers from Cranberry Crisp with my 5 petal punch. Then I wadded and curled, and just generally wrinkled them up. Then I sponged them with Bravo Burgundy. The Marigold morning flower is from the old SU punch with 3 flowers. It is sponged with Adirondack Butterscotch. The center star shape is the punch out from my Martha Stewart snowflake punch. They were EVERYWHERE so I decided to use some of them!
The scrunched flower idea came from Blondie090277's Gallery. Pretty neat, huh?
We have had TWO snowdays, but our Christmas cards STILL aren't done! I'm so frustrated. I really don't like doing them on Christmas Eve, but that's my plan for tomorrow! I don't send all that many, so there is no excuse for this! (Mad at myself here!)
Gotta go to work today!
Thanks for being here!
Cheryl

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Owl be Wishing you a Merry Christmas!


Greetings! I was up to my eyeballs in projects that it is necessary to finish when I saw today's Featured Stamper, Paula Tracy! What an amazing gallery! She creates magical cards with the gamsol magic technique! Wow!
Anyway here is my feeble case of one of her creations. Here's the card I cased, but you gotta check out her whole gallery! Amazing, I tell you!
My card has a base of Pink Pirouette stamped in one of the backgrounds from All that Scraps. I wanted a darker color than PP so I used Papertrey's Sweet Blush. The other cardstock is Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze. I used some of my precious My Mind's Eye dp. The colors are so gorgeous!
My image is stamped on watercolor paper. Then I masked the owl and swirled some of PTI's Aqua mist with my stencil brush to create a soft background. I kept the mask on and started to work on the branches. My main branch is an old PSX stamp and I started with Mellow Moss. Then I used a little Denami Design pine sprig in Kiwi Kiss. It still needed more dimension so I added some brown marker, a dark green marker and did a few needles with my thin black pen. Finally satisfied, I watercolored my owl with SU! reinkers. The had was stamped separately and glued on later. I went around my image with some aqua copic markers to try for some dimension.
Finally, I added liquid applique, and stickles (after I puffed the LA). My tiny sentiment is from my LSS (no manufacturer on stamp!) and is punched with the SU! punch and sponged in sweet blush. I think this will be my sister's Christmas card. She collects owls
I guess that's it for today! I must get to work on the projects I need for teacher friends. Lake Effect snow is expected tonight, but it would be shocking if we were cancelled again! My class party is tomorrow, too! All gifts are at school and still not wrapped!
Stampin' hugs! Cheryl

Duh! My owl and hat stamps are from Whipper Snapper, designed by Anna Wight. They are part of an amazing set called "Cozy Critters". How could I forget to mention that!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Not so Blue!


Happy Friday!
There are no Holiday Blues here 'cause we have a Snow Day! It's just the best to see your school's name on the TV screen and the word "closed" after it! My DH works in radio so he's swamped at work today. He still gives me a personal call to congratulate me on my day off! He used to have time to call me BEFORE it was on radio or TV, but computers have made it possible for television to be first. Enough of that! Don't mean to rub it in!
I had this card started early this morning when I saw Jeanne's challenge for LSC199 to use 75% blues in your card. I hope Aqua counts as blue! I {{love}} aqua for winter cards! I may have bent the other rule a little bit, I'm not sure. I used one type of embellishments, the brads. Paper embellishments are okay so I used a paper corner punch, stickles, and I snuck some Crystal Effects onto my little guy's saucer!
This is definitely what I would have been doing as a kid if we had a Snow Day!
Copic markers were used to color my favorite (at least for now!) Gruffie. I used BG10., BG72 and BG09 for his saucer and hat. I used E51, E31, E33, and E57 on my bear with E93 and RV42 for his cheeks. The sky is sponged with Baja Breeze and the SU snowflakes are also stamped with BB. The darker layers are Not Quite Navy and the card base is BB. The wonderful snowy dp is from Bo Bunny.
I hope you like what you see and have time to leave a comment. I know that I have some awards to acknowledge, post and pass on. I'll try to fit that into my extended weekend. All are very much appreciated!! Really!
Be safe! Cheryl

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tilda with Prisma Pencils


Good morning! The Magnolia-licious design team had a request to see some Magnolia stamps (Tildas) colored with Prisma and Gamsol.
This card is the result of my efforts with this technique. I think she turned out okay, you get a softer look this way.
Thanks for asking us to do this, Deb! Obviously I need to practice. I also want to watercolor some of my images when I get the chance. Those copics are just so easy to grab and start coloring!
My Tilda with Dalecarlia coat came from Magnolia-licious and the Magnolia-licous group you can join to talk about all things Magnolia is here. Diana always sends an email when she has added new stamps for order or preorder on the store site. She also has 2 different sets of copic markers to check out.
No to card details:
My card base is olive. The dp is 2-sided and is made by Creative Imaginations. The tiny Merry Christmas sentiment is one I picked up at my (nearly) local stamp store Buffalo Stamps N Stuff.
I JUST got some of these primas from Michael's the other day (smiling here). The nearest Michael's is an hour away, so when I was Christmas shopping I just HAD to buy something for me! The card size is 4.25x4.25.
Thanks for visiting! I really do appreciate it!
Cheryl

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

SC207 Zoomin'!!


I really hate when I can't post for days! I zoomed through this card so I could post it before work! Was hoping for a delay in school due to the weather, but no luck!
This is a wonderful Gruffie stamp by House Mouse designs. I colored it with my copics. I used aqua mist to sponge around this cute guy. Added liquid applique and stickles to his hat and stickles to the snow. I fussed with the card before the stickles were dry so I have them smeared everywhere!! Anybody else been there?
I used today's sketch challenge for the layout. I think the strip pieces should have been wider for more effect, but it will do. DP is from My Mind's eye (the red) and Bo Bunny. Real red is used for the card base.
Hope YOUR day is calm and relaxing! (Ha! Not likely is it?)
Cheryl

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Peppermint Snowman


Hi! I have another Christmas card done! Yeah! This one is pretty self explanatory, but I'll write a bit about it.
The snowman is from Magnolia-licious and is sooooo easy to color.
Here's the link to the snowman
The snowflakes behind him are from an old SU! set, but I don't know which one.
The snowflake is a blue felt one (SU!), one of Anna Wight's beauties made with glitter and a punch and then a red one punched with a Marthat Stewart punch. I used Real Red, Basic Gray, and Basic Grey Wassail for the paper. I colored my snowman with copic markers. I used Coral and Lipstick Red. The snowman is shaded in B10 and is outlined in Grays (C-1 and C-3). I mad ribbon tabs at the top to balance out the effect of the snowflake. Iused another MS edge punch on the RR piece on the bottom.
Thanks for stopping in! I've got to get some more stamping done! (Did you notice I linked the word instead of the whole URL? this makes me very happy)
Love ya! Cheryl

Friday, December 12, 2008

Tilda Elf Takes a Break

It must be VERY busy at the North Pole just now so here is Tilda (the elf) outside getting some air. After 20 minutes (Santa gives generous breaks!) she has to go back into the workshop and make more toys!
I was "on a break" last night! I finally had an evening at home this week and NO creativity! ZERO! My husband and I get up at 4:00 and that's when the creativity flows for me. He goes to work at 5:00 (morning radio is alive and well!)
Anyway, that's my favorite time to stamp! When is yours?

This is Tilda in Christmas hat, Snowflake background, Winter Bench and Winter Trees all from Magnolia! I get my images from Diana Crick here:
http://www.magnoliastamps.us/index.php
If you are done with your Christmas cards check out her store for New Year's AND preorder for Valentine Tildas and accessories! Click on Shop and then look at the small print for the categories of stamps ato see all the wonderful pictures of these images!
My card base is Bashful Blue (no aqua for a change!), then a red layer of cosmo Cricket. My nestie has Bashful blue ink swirled on with a stencil brush (just like airbrushing! hehe!). I colored with copics. I don't have the colors listed (sorry!) because I colored images a week or so ago and didn't write them in my little notebook. I colored the trees this morning and used shades of blue green so they wouldn't match the olive colors on Tilda. I added liquid applique (let it set for 45 minutes), heated it then put stickles on that.
Thanks for all the support you've given my feeble blog! The numbers keep adding up (Love that!) and I am getting blog candy lined up!
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend! Cheryl

Sorry my pictures got switched. Please look at whole card!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Tilda as St. Lucia


Good morning all!
A quick, simple card today made with Tilda as St. Lucia. St. Lucia day is celebrated at the end of this week in Sweden. The oldest daughter in a family acts out the part of St. Lucia dresses as in this picture and serves rolls to her family in the morning.
St. Lucia was a young girl in Sweden centuries ago who became a Christian. I think she may have been killed for it. I have to check my history. In my 2nd/3rd grade classroom we talk about how the holidays are celebrated around the world and this is one that we talk about.
In Jamestown, NY near me there is a very large Swedish population.
Disclaimer: I apologize if I gave ANY incorrect information and would be happy to edit if there is someone who wants to comment with more details. thank you!
My card base is Papertrey white, then a layer of Hunter Green. The dp came from Joann's. Tilda is colored very simply with just a few copic markers. I painted her dress with Shimmerz in Angel Wing white. If you can't see it, maybe it will show if you click on it to enlarge. I used my usual stickles, Stardust on her candle flame.
Thanks for all your sweet comments yesterday!
Have a good Monday, Cheryl

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Waiting for Snow!

This is Tilda Waiting. Is she waiting for Snow? Waiting for Christmas? Waiting to go skiing? I guess only she knows!
I made this card so I could use Tilda AND this beautiful Winter Forest (also by Magnolia) and available from Magnolia-licious
http://www.magnoliastamps.us/index.php The trees are a big stamp. The two larger trees overlap and the third is about 1/4" away. The can be used together or separately. A really wonderfully drawn image, I think! Anyway, I combined aqua and greens to make this card around the background dp that I got from Joann's. Darn, I only got one sheet!
My card base is Sage shadow, then a layer on Hunter Green (the older shade which had more blue to it). The nestability is cut from Papertrey white Select. I use a large stencil brush to place color on from my inkpad. I use a circular motion and just keep going until I have the color I want. Then I stamped some Magnolia snowflakes in Baja Breeze on it and stickled those. I colored my Tilda and trees with copics. and layered it together. then it needed more, so I added the MS snowflake and gem and the white ribbon. This is the first time I've curled ribbon with my heat gun. Love that effect!
The trees have liquid applique. I puffed it then added stickles to it.
I used my usual colors (it seems to me!) of
B10, B72
E31, E33, E35
YG91, Yg95 and then a touch of dark olive (not sure of number) This card is an unusual size, 4.5" x 5.5"





I took this second picture so you can see how the Tilda and the small tree stand out from the card!
I'm off to look at anna'screations, she's the featured stamper on SCS today!
Hope your day is delightful!
Cheryl
P.S. this is the last day for Lisa's blog candy. Please rush over and comment on her blog!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Man's card?


What do you think? I made this card for a (man) friend of ours whose birthday is tomorrow, Dec. 6. It has a little sparkle because I couldn't resist! I tried to use manly colors to match the Wanted dp from Stampin' Up and Cosmo Cricket. I'm going with it because it's the last minute and I don't have time for another! I kind of like how it turned out, too.
I used Sage, Rust and Chocolate from SU! and Papertrey Ink White select cardstock to stamp and color. I used Copic markers to color this adorable Cupcake Mouse from Whipper Snapper designs. I have had him a LONG time and had never inked him up! Poor little guy!
There is some sponged ink around the image that is mostly soft sky and baja breeze. I grabbed a dirty sponge from my table and didn't even need the ink pad! LOL!
Please stop by my friend, Lisa's blog, Kind Creations. She is lakind on SCS. She has some great blog candy ready to go because she has reached 10,000 hits! Way to go, Lisa! You have such a "classy" blog. Here's the link:
Better get to work! Wish the weekend was more than a mere 48 hours!
thanks for taking some of your precious time to visit here! Cheryl

Monday, December 1, 2008

A Magnolia-licious Challenge!


Good morning! It's back to work for me today! But not before posting this card I made for Diana's Magnolia-licious challenge!
Claudia designed the sketch for the challenge. She is head of the Magnolia-licious design team and is SOOO deserving!
My card recipe:
The base is Papertrey white, then a layer of Real Red. The dp is Bo Bunny and My Mind's Eye. Behind Tilda is a white sparky paper by Doodlebug. Her medallion is real red sponged in Cranberry Crisp. This is my FIRST corner punch medallion (if you don't count the 3 practice ones in the garbage!!) It was fun to make. I used Becca's video tutorial which in linked to the TLC on SCS. Thanks, Becca! I used white gel pen dots around the edge.
I made one of Anna Wight's crystal snowflakes and used the Martha Stewart branch punch behind it. The beautiful dotted ribbon is Papertrey inks' pure poppy. There is a pearl in the center of the snowflake, colored with green copic marker.
Tilda is colored in with copic markers and the colors follow:
Face E00,E02 and R20 for cheeks
Reds R17,R29 and R59
Greens YG23, Yg17 and G05
Her hair E33, E35, E08 and E37
Be sure to check for creations from Claudia, Suzanne and Suzy (Links on my blog list). Diana herself may have one, too!

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