Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day.  I normally don't post on Sunday, but I have a few cards that I didn't get posted this week.

First up, Splitcoaststampers had a fun challenge to use the first stamp you ever purchased.  This isn't the first individual stamp, but it is from the first stamp set I bought.

"Voila" from Stampin' Up!.  I loved it way back when and I still love it now.  It's been sitting on the shelf, mounted on wood and unused for awhile.  I've become addicted to using my stamping platforms to get good images and rarely will I use a wood mount stamp.  But I do like the look and feel of them so it is sometimes hard to take them off the blocks.  I finally unmounted this set and the set "Loads of Love".  I know I'll actually start using them again now.

My second card is for the sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  It's a super easy fun fold card.  I used the "Bubblegum4me" stamps and die from The Stamps of Life along with some of their paper.  It makes a fun, bright birthday card.

Well, that's it for this Sunday!  Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

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Hey Girlfriend

Happy Tuesday!  Time for a sketch challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  Julie gave us a fun sketch this week and I decided to make a Valentine card.  

Here is the sketch:

I was not super impressed with this stamp set in Stampin' Up!'s new spring mini catalog and had no intention of purchasing.  After seeing cards that were made with the images I became intrigued by the skirt on this girl and I really like the hands heart.  It grew on me.  So with my last order I ordered this with Hostess dollars.  (That's not even real money is it?  LOL!)

I'm so please with how this turned out.  I used markers and Prismacolors to color it.  This reminded me quite a bit of Stamping Bella images and those images are at the top of my "fun to color" list!

I'm now excited to color the other images in the set.  And as bonus that I did not see until I got this in my hands - the dog is from the retired Bella and Friends and the cat matches Pretty Kitty!

Products used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up! Hey Girlfriend
• Dies: Well Written, Layer Ovals, Be Mine
• Markers: Copics - N0, N1, N2, N3, E34, E39, E29, BG0000, R30, RV52; Stampin' Blends - Flirty Flamingo, Lovely Lipstick; Spectrum Noir Tri-Blends Fair Skin, Tan
• Accessories: Subtle Embossing Folder
  

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Laurel Burch Butterflies Color Challenge Card

Good evening!  I'm super excited to be the hostess this week for Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge!  I did a bit of alliteration this week and chose Blueberry Bushel, Bumble Bee and Bermuda Bay.  For the added dessert I asked for another "B" color.

My card uses a Laurel Burch artwork stamp from Stampendous.  Do you remember her art from the 80s and 90s?  (Am I showing my age?)  I have always loved her use of color and the bold, graphic nature of the designs.  So when I saw some of the images made into stamps a few years ago, I bought several.  I'm happy I did as I couldn't find any on the Stampendous website now.

I decided that for the bold colors I chose - and I added Berry Burst for my dessert - her images would be perfect.  I used markers to color match to the challenge colors and then used the reinkers to create a wash for the background.

I was torn between these butterflies and a couple of other images, but I thought I might need a few more colors on the other images I considered.  I've set them aside and hope to get to them soon.

These butterflies were fun to color and have dies to match but the dies only cut the wings / body; not the antennae.  And they do not cut with a white outline but on the stamped line.  To make the cut image clean I went around the edge with a black marker so any slight bit of white was covered up.  I used a multi-liner pen to hand draw the antennae.  I popped up the one overlapping butterfly using foam dots.

The markers I used were a combination of Copics and Spectrum Noir Tr-Blends.  I just purchased a few and am trying them out.  They are very similar to the original Stampin' Up alcohol markers with a light, medium, and dark tone, but these are all in one marker.  They nest in one another so you really have three short markers.  Since they only have one nib per color, you have to choose if you want to purchase the bullet nib or brush versions.  I purchased the bullet since my Copic have brush tips and on some stamps those are just too big.  These also fill in a few "holes" in the Copic colors but most of the colors I purchased were very close to Copic colors.  On the plus side they seem to blend just as nicely as Copics.   So far, I like them, but I'll keep you advised as I try them out a bit more.

I hope you will join us in the challenge this week!

Products used:

• Stamps and Dies: Stampendous Laurel Burch
• Stamps: Stampin' Up! Butterfly Basics
  
• Markers: Spectrum Noir Tri-Blends - True Blue Blends, True Blue Shades, Turquoise Green; Copic markers - RV63, RV66, Y21, Y26
• Ink: Stampin' Up! Berry Burst, Bermuda Bay, Blueberry BUshel
• Paper: Whisper White, Strathmore Mixed Media

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Snailed It Flip-It Card

Super cute, super fun and super easy.  Does it get any better than that!?!  It took me longer to agonize over what paper to use than to make this card.  But I am so happy with the results.

This card was created for the Team O Tic Tac Toe Challenge this week.  I chose the lower left to upper right diagonal - fun fold, circle/oval and bugs (technically, a snail is not an insect but I'm calling it a bug!)

Since I used a die to create this card it went really fast.  I LOVE the interactive dies from The Stamps of Life.  They make creating cards like this flip card SO easy.  I just had to choose the paper and follow the instructions.

I did do a little coloring of the snail, but because the images on the paper are graphic and flat I didn't want to add shading to my main little guy.  I did my best to keep him flat and I think came out just fine.

This card will be a Valentine from my daughter to her boyfriend, but it could be used for any number of occasions.

 Products used:

• Stamp and die: Stampin' Up Snailed it 
• Die: The Stamps of Life Circle Flip-It
• Paper: Stampin' Up! Snailed It
• Copic Markers: BG45, R00, R29 (I have never published a marker list so short!)
  

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Love Bandit

I'm so excited!  I was asked to be a Guest Designer for the next six months for the sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Today is my first week.  My card features an old stamp set but one that I hadn't used.  I actually purchased it second hand - I thought the images were so cute and my style.

Below is the sketch this week:

This card is pretty straightforward.  The only tricky part was masking off the  sentiment and image as I wanted to stamp them separately and they are on one stamp.

Products used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up! Love Bandit
• Dies: MFT Stitched Frames, Stitched Rectangles
• Markers: Copic markers - C1, C3, C5, R29
• Cardstock / Paper: Whisper White, Smoky Slate,  Smoky Skate retired DSP
• Accessories: Heart Punch

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