Running With Scissors...

Old World Santa

I’ll be getting started on those Christmas cards in earnest now,  I think.  Today I’ve used a favorite old PSX stamp which I usually only take out of the drawer and look at once in a while.  This time it made it all the way to my stamp table and onto a card.

I colored with Copic Markers on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock.  I actually set aside all the markers I used, but there were so many it seemed pointless to simply post a photograph of them.  I tried to minimize the variety of colors in this busy image, using green, red, gold and brown as my main colors with warm grays for his boots, beard, and fur.  I also used the warm grays for subtle shading around the image.  There were many shades of each color used and, consequently, I wound up with more markers than I could hold in one hand.

I thought this large image was another good candidate for embossing with my Grace’s frame Cuttlebug folder.  Once again I colored the inner debossed area.  I used Y21 for that.  To finish, I stamped the greeting on the frame in Always Artichoke ink, and mounted the panel on a Cherry Cobbler card base.

PSX is one stamp company that went out of business.  What a shame.  They had the most beautiful images.  Many of the stamps are considered collector’s items and fetch a pretty penny on Ebay these days.  I wish I’d bought more when the price was right.  However, I do have a large collection of very nice stamps which I plan to dip into a little more often – in between the new stuff, of course.

That’s it for today.  I’ll be back when stamping happens.  Have a very good day!

Stamps:  PSX Santa K-2046, Stampin’ Up! Glad Tidings greeting  Paper:  Cherry Cobbler textured, Flourishes Classic Ivory  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Always Artichoke, many Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Cuttlebug Grace’s Frame embossing folder

Friend. Good.

At long last I’ve gotten around to pairing my ages old Frankie stamp with this quote from Stampin’ Up! 

Frankie is one of my first stamps ever purchased.  He’s from D.O.T.S. – that’s what CTMH was called in the old days.  The quote is from a Stampin’ Up! set called Smarty Pants – retired, I think.

I colored Frankie with Copic markers, then masked him and stamped the spider webs and spider (also D.O.T.S.).  Again, my markers were all mixed up so I have no photo of them.  That’s what comes of stamping on the run.

And that’s the sum total of my Halloween cards this year.  I’ll be sending this to some old friends.  Old stamps, old friends.  Love them both.

I hope Frankie tickled your funny bone today.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Old Halloween stamps from D.O.T.S. (now called CTMH), quote from SU! Smarty Pants  Paper:  Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Flourishes Classic White, BasicGrey Eerie designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Going Gray, Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, screw brads, spider embellishment, Spellbinders Lacey Pennants die

Fairy on Tiptoes

This is a project I made way back in the beginning of September.

My friend saw me coloring this Lili of the Valley fairy image, On Tiptoe, and exclaimed how the colors matched the quilt she was making for her little granddaughter, so I decided to make it up extra pretty for gift giving.

It’s colored with Copic markers on Classic White cardstock and embellished with flowers and flourishes.  The larger purple flower with the pearl center is a Prima, but the roses are a Wal-Mart find from a long time ago.  I’ll list all the ingredients in the recipe at the end, but for a quick reference, these are the Spellbinders dies I used (cut in my Grand Calibur):

• Classic Squares Large S4-126
• Lacey Squares S4-295
• Twisted Metal Tags and Accents S5-071
• Nested Lacey Pennants S5-029

The finished product is sprinkled overall with fairy dust (Stickles Stardust Glitter Glue) and the Lacey Square is dotted with a rather inexpert application of Ranger Liquid Pearls.  The fairy’s red hair -- you guessed it -- matches the hair of the adorable little girl who will receive the card and quilt.

Ordinarily I like to keep my cards envelope-able (I know, not a real word). Even if they require extra postage for hand cancelling, I like them to be ready to mail in an envelope, rather than a bubble pack or box. In this case, however, I knew the card would be hand-delivered, so I was free to indulge myself.  I made a little window box for the card:

The construction of the box is not a new concept, but I’ve included a brief tutorial with measurements, photos, etc. for the sake of keeping it all in one place (and in case I make more lumpy cards in the future, I’ll have these instructions to refer to).

Box bottom:

• Cut cardstock 6 1/2” square (to fit a 5 1/4” square card).
• Score all four sides at 1/2”.
• Cut each end to score line as shown below.

• Fold into box shape and tape closed with flaps to the inside (I used Scor-Tape).


Box top:

• Cut top 1/16” larger – 6 9/16” square.
• Proceed same as box bottom – score all four sides at 1/2” and clip ends.  Do not fold and tape yet.
• To create window, center die on box top (I used the smallest die of the Spellbinders Grand Squares LF-126).
• Cut and emboss.

• Apply Scor-Tape to inside around window.
• Cut acetate or clear cardstock (I used Flourishes Clear Cover Cardstock) 5 1/4” square.
• Adhere to inside of box top.

• Now it’s ready to tape into a box shape and decorate.

I used more roses and glitter and shapes from Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags and Accents, as well as pearls, metallic ribbon, and the Martha Stewart branch punch.  I also embossed two of the box top surface ends with a Cuttlebug Organic Flourish border folder.  With the Grand Calibur, embossing can be accomplished by sandwiching the folder between the Grand Calibur cutting plate and a Cuttlebug B plate.  Very easy!

Thanks for hanging in there with me and my erratic posting!  Bless all your little hearts, and I’ll see you again soon.

Stamps:  On Tiptoes (Lili of the Valley fairy image), Warm Words (SU! sentiment)  Paper:   Pink Pirouette, Barely Banana (Stampin’ Up!), Wisteria (Memory Box), Flourishes Classic White cardstock and Clear Cover Cardstock, Prima Sweet Fairy designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Flowers, pearls, ribbon, decorative pearl brad, Martha Stewart branch punch, Stickles Glitter Glue, Cuttlebug Organic Flourish embossing folder, Spellbinders dies as listed above, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Very Simple Christmas Cards

I hope you aren’t blinded by the white on these cards.  I was in a mood, I guess.  I sat down one day and made six cards along these lines thinking, “just get a few done and I’ll have time to do some of those warm, colorful cards later”.   Perhaps I won’t send out as many cards this year.  Perhaps I’ll even buy some cards (gasp!).  The only real plan I have this year is to not worry about it.

For both cards I’ve used glossy cardstock, though the gloss doesn’t show in the photos.  It embossed deeply and gave the cards a nice quality finish.  Very clean and simple.

Stamps:  Stampin’ Up! Heard From the Heart  Paper:  Glossy white  Ink:  Cherry Cobbler  Accessories:  Prima Poinsettia Flower, Petals A’Plenty Sizzix embossing folder (Stampin’ Up!)

I added a stamped border and ribbon to the second card.

Stamps:  Hero Arts greeting, Stampin’ Up! All in a Row (retired)  Paper:  Glossy white  Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke  Accessories:  Ribbon, Prima flower, Sizzix Petals A’Plenty embossing folder (Stampin’ Up!)

I think I’m going to have a very merry Christmas this year, and I hope you will, too.  Take care, and enjoy your weekend!

A Friendly Halloween Greeting

Well, now, don’t all those smiling faces beaming at you make you want to smile right back?

I made this card for a little girl, and that’s one of the best reasons I can think of to cut loose with the fun images and bright colors.  At least that’s the reason I’m giving.  Honestly, there’s a kid in me that just loves this stuff, too!

I’ve used my Whipper Snapper Hocus Pocus set, designed by Anna Wight.  It’s a few years old now, but since Halloween comes around only once a year it seems new every time I bring it out.

I watercolored on 90# hot press watercolor paper with these Tombow Markers:

The designer papers are not Halloween at all, but something old called Kaleidoscope from My Mind’s Eye.  I’ve been using them for kids’ Halloween cards for years.  I matched them up with Memory Box cardstocks in Wisteria and Key Lime and matted that on Stampin’ Up! Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie.  The Wisteria panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Seeing Spots folder, then sanded to bring out the white core.  I also used some CTMH black cardstock in the design.  It’s not as black as Stampin’ Up!, but I love that it can be sanded to show the white.

The bat is covered with Black Diamond Stickles, and each character has one tooth glittered with Stardust Stickles (clear).  There’s more Stardust on the pumpkin leaf and banner.  Not such a great photo sparkle-wise.  It’s much more effective in real life.

The Spellbinders dies used are:

• Standard Circles Small
• Standard Circles Large
• Labels Sixteen S4-301
• Floral Flourishes S4-327

And that wraps up Halloween for now.  I would have loved to make more Halloween cards for the fun of it, but there are so many things to do just for the fun of it, and only so much time.  What’s a girl to do?  And what about Christmas?  I’ll pop in with a little bit of that on Friday.  Hope to see you then!  Have a great day!

From One Desk to Another

I’ve made this card in response to a notecard I received from an acquaintance, asking me to make 6 sympathy cards and 11 birthday cards for her.  This is a woman who frequently buys cards from me.  The fact is, she sends more cards and letters than anyone I know.  Her art is letter writing.  She’ll even send cards to people she doesn’t know.  She may read about them in the paper, or hear of them at church.  She writes beautifully, never runs out of words, and the reader is left feeling blessed with a new friendship.

I thought this Flourishes set, From The Desk Of, would be perfect for the occasion.  I had stamped the image some time ago, having always intended to come back to this set since I think it’s so beautiful.  I stamped on Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with Copics.  I’m sorry to not provide a photo of the markers used.  This is one of those occasions where I had several projects going on at once, carrying markers in my bag to work, everything got mixed up and ultimately put away with no photo.

Absolutely everything I used on this card, except the Chocolate Chip cardstock (Stampin’ Up!), came from Flourishes at one point or another.  What a wonderful place to shop!  It’s all listed in the recipe, below.

Thank you so much for your time.  You’re all one of this life’s blessings.  Have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  From The Desk Of  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom, Flourishes Classic Ivory, Webster’s Pages Lullaby Lane & Life’s Portraits Combo Pack designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Vanilla for sponging, Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Green butterfly lace trim, pearls, Spellbinders Curved Rectangles S5-006, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Sweet Peas

Just because it’s Fall doesn’t mean I can’t stamp flowers, does it?  Gosh, I sure hope not!  My heart desired to color up one of my all-time favorite Flourishes images, and not just a little corner of it, but the whole fabulous, frilly, feminine, full floral fantasy of it.  Love these Sweet Peas!

I’d call this clean and simple, but it’s not really simple to do all that coloring, is it?  I mean, maybe if the image wasn’t so big and I wasn’t so slow and coffee breaks weren’t so short…  These are the Copics I used:

Once I’d finished the coloring, I wanted to give the image a nice frame.  That part was both clean and simple.  I embossed Grace’s Frame (ProvoCraft embossing folder) directly onto the image, then colored the debossed area of the inner frame with the E50 marker to give it more definition.  An ivory silk bow held in place with a glazed brad completes the design.

I sent this as a birthday card to a friend who usually gets a fall-themed card from me.  Just wanted to do something different this year.

Have a beautiful day!

Stamps:  Sweet Peas  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Copics as shown above for coloring  Accessories:  Silk ribbon, BasicGrey Sugared glazed brad, ProvoCraft Grace’s frame embossing folder

Double Adorable

First of all, I would like to thank you all for the warm "welcome back" on my previous post.  You give me a happy heart, and that is a wonderful gift!

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A coworker asked if I’d make a couple of baby cards for her – one for a boy and one for a girl.  I held out my arm for twisting.  Truthfully, I’m thrilled to be able to use my new Popcorn the Bear Bundle of Joy and Little Cutie sets again.  I have since made another card with these sets, as well, and I’m happy to be able to move them from the “new stamps” basket and onto the shelves with the rest of my stamps.  It feels like an accomplishment.  I have lots more uninked stamps in the basket and I plan to make no further purchases until I’ve satisfied myself with them.  We’ll see how that goes.  I know… I’m a weak person when it comes to stamps.

So, here’s the baby boy card using the Bundle of Joy set:

He’s watercolored on 90# hot press watercolor paper with these Tombow Markers:

Ribbon, buttons, lace, and designer paper from my stash made him cute and baby-frilly.  The sentiment is stamped in one of the JustRite custom dies by Spellbinders.

The next one is for the baby girl.  Bet you could tell, couldn’t you.  I used the Little Cutie set for this:

It’s colored up all soft and sweet with these Tombows:

More ribbon and lace from my collection – the ribbon is Offray and the lace is from my sewing stash.  I have yards and yards of lace of all kinds, most of which came from a fabric store, as do many of my ribbons.  I added Kaiser flat-backed pearls and a flower for embellishment.  I removed the flower’s center and replaced it with a button tied with linen thread.  The papers used on this card are Stampin’ Up! Pink Pirouette, including the Prints designer paper (a couple of years old).

Spellbinders dies used are as follows:

• Standard Circles Small
• Standard Circles Large
• Picot Edge Circles S4-345

Alright, then… it’s good to be back in the swing of things.  I hope you enjoyed these cards.  See you soon!

The Leaves are Falling

Hello?  Is anybody out there?  Well, here we are at the first Monday in October and it’s time for me to step back into blogging.  I have to say I enjoyed my break, but I did miss communicating with you all through this medium.  Funny, how that is… it’s become such an integral part of my life.

During my break I did a little stamping, though not as much as I expected.  I found I enjoyed it more when I didn’t have unfinished business in the back of my mind, and, goodness, I do always seem to have a lot of other things on my mind!  One makes time for the things they love, however, and… well, we all know how I feel about stamping.  Now that I’m no longer designing for anyone, my only deadlines would be self-imposed, and I think I’ll not go down that road.  It’ll be free-flowing, come what may, when the mood strikes and time allows.

Since the season changed while I was lollygagging, I thought it appropriate to come back with a Fall card today.

I stamped Flourishes’ Falling Leaves on the Basketweave background and watercolored with Tombow Markers.  I used Palette Cognac for the Basketweave, and Palette Noir for the leaves.  All Palette inks are waterproof and perfect for watercoloring.

My designer papers are from the Kaiser Craft Hunt & Gather collection, including the curved border along the lower edge.  It’s one of the punch outs that come with the collection.  I sanded the edges of the designer papers, and the center chocolate panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder.  I added Spellbinders Floral Flourishes S4-327 along one edge of the image panel, and the sentiment is cut with Labels Four S4-190.

I took pictures long the way, so I might as well share those, too.  It’s sometimes fun to see how an image evolves.

Stamped leaves, masking one.  I used a pink Post-It note for the mask.

I masked all four leaves before stamping the Basketweave background.

I cut the panel down to size and colored all leaves in a mustard yellow base.

Added gold, green, and red with center leaf in all three colors.

The finished image has a little brown shading around the leaves to add depth.  I did that with SU! Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa markers.

I hope you’re enjoying these early Fall days.  They’ve been incredibly beautiful here, for the most part, and all the better when savored at a slower pace.  Thank you for visiting today.  I’ll see you again soon!

Stamps:  Falling Leaves, Basketweave (both Flourishes)  Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, 90# hot press watercolor paper, Flourishes Classic Ivory, Kaiser Craft Hunt & Gather designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir, Palette Cognac, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron (for sponging the sentiment panel, SU! and Tombow Markers for watercoloring  Accessories:  Velvet ribbon, decorative brad, Cuttlebug Argyle embossing folder, Spellbinders dies as listed above