fintastic...

happy labor day! i hate that since it's labor day it means that summer is almost over. where did it go?? it's also monday, so that means h{ippity} hop time!! i love these little fishies. and they are so cute swimming in a big group. so tried my hand at masking. i discovered a super easy way to mask. post it notes. they are easy to cut and don't stick to your paper. plus, you can cut two at a time!! easy peasy. have a great day and go visit the other {ippity} chickies.

fintastic
stamps: ippity, kim hughes-chf

cardstock: soft sky-su; walnut cream-bazzill; my mind's eye pp

ink: blushing bride, pear pizzazz, early espresso, tempting turquoise

embellishments: prismacolor markers

friends not food...

it was so nice hanging out all weekend with my stamping friends last weekend, because you could be making something and get immediate feedback. like this. i had the background stamped and thought it needed a little something. i was thinking clear glitter. well, lesa happened to have picked up some cool bright colored glitter at the stamp convention earlier in the day and she held it up and said "how about this?" PERFECT!! of course ellie and patty were thrilled, because this was the second project that day that i had used glitter. they think i'm going to learn to like it. no way. still a mess! but it does look cute!

friends not food
stamps: ippity, kim hughes
digi stamp: hambo stamps
cardstock: buckaroo blue
ink: certainly celery, bamboo leaves, angel pink, tangelo
embellishments: prismacolor markers, glitter

4x4 canvas swap...

ok, stay with me here. this is another one of those "why did i join this swap?" posts. sometimes i just get caught up and can't lay of the "join now" button on the swap page. this was one of them. luckily, i found some inspiration and created this. it was so outside the box for me. it is a 4x4 canvas swap. kirsty sent the 4 other people in the swap the 4x4 canvases and instructions on what we were doing. we decided on the theme of "the ocean." (instructions are italicized)

THE OCEAN.
First layer: COLOUR
Squirt, smoosh, spritz – get that colour on however you like!
Think only of the colour – no planning of future layers allowed at this point.
Each of your canvases may look different at this stage – that is fine.
If you want to add texture i.e. gesso, tissue, glue to the colour – add away!

i've never painted anything (other than a single color) so i was a little worried about the background. i started with a nice light blue. then i added some layers with more shades of blue and a little green. i actually had a great time mixing colors and shades to get what i wanted. i also experimented a little with some tissue paper for texture.


Second layer: PATTERN
Stamped, printed, found: still not thinking too much about the outcome. Just follow your instincts!

i used a couple of different stamps for this part. i thought about using regular ink, but then i didn't know how bright the images would be. i ended up using the acrylic paint and i love how it worked. this and the next step kind of merged together.


Third layer: STAMPED IMAGES
These can be digital or rubber. Colour them and collage them on.
Fourth layer: TEXT – pop some in there somewhere.
Fifth layer: DOODLING
pens, markers, Paint markers – any media that makes doodling on your work possible.

i kind of doodled the pink coral before this step, but i did do a little doodling!

TAA DAA: You have created a MASTERPIECE! (5 actually!)
here is the finished project. i used some shimmer spritz on the canvas to give them a little sparkle. i covered them with a little glossy accents to give them a water-like look. i hope everyone else likes them!

go with the flow
stamps: kim hughes, ippity
ink: white craft ink
embellishments: tissue paper, white gel pen, glossy accents
other: acrylic paint, 4x4 canvas

wedding cards...

i've decided i'm not great at wedding cards. a lady at work asked me to make her a couple and i've been stumped. i've put it off long enough so i had to get them done. i made two different styles, a cutesy one and a prettier one. in the second one, i paper pieced the couple and used a glaze pen to highlight some of the flourishes.

happy day
stamps: stamping bella, unity
cardstock: basic black, me & my big ideas pp
ink: purely pomegranate, onyx black
embellishments: satin ribbon, prismacolor markers
inside card: happy day



congrats
stamps: heidi grace, kim hughes
cardstock: melon mambo, buckaroo blue, american crafts pp
ink: rose red, pink pirouette, melon mambo, onyx black
embellishments: glaze pen, glossy accents

graduation invites...

a friend at work asked if i would be willing to make her some invitations to her son's graduation party. i jumped at the chance, because i knew it would be a challange and thought it would be fun to try something other than a card. turns out, it's almost the same as a card! but it was fun making them anyway!! i made 25 of these bad boys. she told me her son thought they were "cool!"


invited
stamps: kim huges-chf, kollette hall
cardstock: handsome hunter
ink: onyx black, forest foilage
embellishments: prismacolor markers
font: snf metro

clouds go by...

you know those big fluffy white clouds? the ones that look like giant balls of cotton? sometimes don't you just love sitting and watching those go by? that's what inspired this atc. it's for traci's cloud swap.

clouds go by
stamps: purple onion, unity, kim huges, unity
cardstock baja breeze, fancy pants pp
ink: pink pirouette, certainly celery, baja breeze-su; onyx black
embellishments: prismacolor markers

summer days...

i am still dreaming of summer. probably because it keeps snowing almost every day. i can't wait to see the sun for longer than a day!! this is my entry in ellie's summer circle journal. hope she likes it! i think i used a record number of blue inks! i also tried embossing with versafine ink, which i didn't know you could do. i love it. it's my new fave black to emboss with. gives much finer detail than either black craft ink or versamark.

summer days!
stamps: hanna stamps, riley, studio g, purple onion stamps, eat cake graphics, kim huges, green grass stamps
cardstock: bermuda bay, soft sky, american crafts pp
ink: baja breeze, buckaroo blue, pacific point, blue bayou, taken with teal, onyx black
embellishments: prismacolor markers, clear embossing powder

ice cream, ice cream...

sometimes i think ice cream should be its own food group. except vanilla. which is just a waste of time. ice cream is made out of milk, so that's good for you, right? oh wait...there's the cream part... i love this ice cream cone stamp from kim hughes at chf. (that's cornish heritage farms, not congestive heart failure for all my work friends!) it's a great stamp to paper piece with, which is what i did. then i added a little glossy gloss to the cherry on top! and some sprinkles of course.

ice cream, ice cream
stamps: kim hughes, purple onion, river city rubber works
cardstock: melon mambo, creamy caramel, heidi grace pp
ink: melon mambo, frost white all purpose ink-tsukineko
embellishments: prismacolor markers, glossy accents

fly a kite...

it hasn't been good kite flying weather here (it snowed yesterday!) so i have to live vicariously through my stamping. this set of atcs is for chris's tree themed swap. i love these trees from whimsie doodles. they are part of a digital stamp set. and i love this little owl (big shocker, i know) from stampin up. the kite's cute too!

fly a kite
stamps: stampin up, kim hughes-chf
digi stamps: whimsie doodles
cardstock: hot fudge-mft; old olive-su
ink: old olive, baja breeze, onyx black
embellishments: prismacolor markers

so again, another swap i joined and thought later "what did i join that for?" i've been thinking of this swap for weeks and trying to figure out what to do. when i sat down to create this atc, i had a whole other idea in my head. this is what turned out after i was done. i like this version much better than the one that was in my head! i used some cool platinum ink on my stamps and i was surprised at how well it worked.
queen
stamps: basic grey, kim hughes
cardstock: perfect plum, pale plum
ink: pale plum, perfect plum-su; tattered rose, old paper-distress ink tim holtz/ranger; platinum all purpose ink-tsukineko

and so it begins...

another circle journal swap, that is. this one is a summer theme. i had a hard time coming up with my cj for this theme. i knew what i wanted to do for my pages (then did something completely different as i got going!) but couldn't figure it out for the journal part. i had an idea sunday morning and just went with it. this is the result. now that i look at it, it's kind of minimalist, compared to some of my others. but i love the simplicity of it. and i can't get enough of this cute paper and stamp set from stampin up. i originally used the hemp twine to hold it together during the mailing process, but i think i may leave it once i get it back. i think it's cute!









2010 summer cj
stamps: basic grey, eat cake graphics, kim huges, imaginisce, purple onion designs, riley, stampin up
cardstock: river rock, stampin up pp, bo bunny pp, my mind's eye pp, we r memory keepers pp
ink: baja breeze, pacific point, melon mambo, crushed curry, chocolate chip; onyx black, vintage sepia, majestic blue
embellishments: prismacolor markers, stickles
fonts: ck fun, ck new years day
tools: corner chomper, bind it all

whoot whoot...

here is another hybrid stamped atc. my love for owls is getting right up there with my love for penguins! and i am totally loving the digi stamps. it's so nice to reposition them however you need them and make them bigger or smaller to fit your project. and then there's the instant gratification of downloading them as soon as you buy them! this is for my owl themed swap.

whoot whoot
stamps: kim hughes, stampin up
digi stamps: digistamp boutique
cardstock: river rock, rich razzleberry
ink: chocolate chip, vintage sepia
embellishments: prismacolor markers

fall...

again...joined a swap (stinky's hosting this one) thinking i had all the right stamps for what i wanted to make but reallly didn't!! of course, i sat on this one for a while because i couldn't think of anything good for a fall theme. i had a cute scarecrow, but are they really fallish? then while organizing my stamps the other day (which i'm not close to being done with!), i found this little set of trees. so i figured i could make it work! i got a new alphabet set from kim hughes and cornish heritage farms the other day (love 40% off!) which i absolutely love. so i thought it would look cute on this! i also used those in colors again. love them!










fall
stamps: stampin up, kim hughes-chf
cardstock: dusty durango, crushed curry, soft suede
ink: dusty durango, crushed curry, soft suede, onyx black
embellishment: twine

a-z of me...

another entry in the my theme circle journal. this journal is sherri's and her theme was "the a-z's of me". what a hard thing to come up with!!




a-z of me
stamps: stampin up, kim hughes-chf, maryse carrier, magenta, stamping bella, memory box, heidi grace
cardstock: wild wasabi, unknown patterned paper
ink: onyx black versafine
other: bic markers
font: fonts for peas summer sweetness

happy grad, mad!

it's my cute niece, madison's graduation today! here's the card i made. i'm hoping to post pictures of her graduation later!


graduate
stamps: kim hughes-chf
cardstock: night of navy, bravo burgandy, midnight blue stazon
ink: onyx black & vintage sepia versafine, night of navy-su
other: bic markers, stickles
inside sentiment: hoop and holler, you're a scholar!

happy valentine's day...

happy valentine's day to you all. i was spoiled this year. since my laptop died last week, kerry bought me a new one for valentine's. i got him golf clubs. we both got something we love! here's the card i made for my honey.

owl always love you
stamps: su, kim hughes-chf
cardstock: close to cocoa, pink pirouette, riding hood red
ink: riding hood red, chocolate chip, onyx black
embellishments: su ribbon

a new circle journal...

well it's finally finished. i'm hosting another circle journal swap over at the shack and it's the first mail day today. i didn't realize when i picked this theme how hard it would be do create my cj! but i finally did. i love the papers...they are from we r memory keepers. very fun! and i was inspired by an idea from friend sarah that i should be using more of my embarrassing large collection/obsession of ribbons and fibers. so i found this funky turquoise fiber i had received in a swap (probably a few years ago!) and it worked perfectly i think!! i had a fun (or frustrating!) time trying to come up with what to do for each month, but i like how they all turned out. i left it unbound for now, since i have no idea how big it will be when it's returned to me!

what i {love} about
stamps: studio g, hero arts, ctmh, autumn leaves, fontwerks, imaginisce, chf, 3 scrappy boys
paper:we r memory keepers, close to cocoa (su); kraft (bazzil)
ink:
jardin moss (palette)
old paper distress ink (tim holtz)
vintage sepia, onyx black (versafine)
cool caribbean, summer sun, riding hood red, pink pirouette, tangerine tango, always artichoke, blue bayou (su)
embellishments: rubons-scrapworks, jenni bowlin, american crafts; ribbon, twine (su, making memories, american crafts); unknown ribbon
fonts: ld woodland, ld distorted drusillus, db journal doodles
other:: weeds and wildflowers designs digital images

here is a link to sherri's circle journal. she's so on top of the game already!!!

christmas cards...

i actually took time to craft this weekend and was quite successful. it seems like i haven't made cards in a while, but i made about 20 cards total from the following three styles. the center of the first card is raised with demensionals to give it some depth. i used a different technique on the howly jowly christmas card. i put some white cardstock through the cuttlebug, then inked the embossed parts lightly so it has just a little color. i think it turned out cool. the last card is a remake from an atc i made a while ago.

bright
stamps: stampin up, amuse
cardstock: purely pomegranit-su, dcwv christmas stack
ink: versafine onyx black
other: su wild wasabi ribbon, bic markers

howly jowly christmas
stamps: kim hughes-cornish heritage farms
cardstock: not quite navy-su
ink: versafine onyx black, not quite navy, chocolate chip (su)
other: snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder, bic markers
**inside card says howly jowly christmas

seasons greetings
stamps: kim hughes-cornish heritage farms
cardstock: riding hood red-su
ink: black & white craft ink
other: clear embossing powder, bic markers

christmas and atcs...

i'm finally finishing up the bazillion swaps i had that were due in the past few weeks. whew!! here are a few that i've done in the past few days. i had more fun with fun flock (it's hard to tell, but the moose's hat has it) and i even broke out the glitter. i'm starting to be more patient with glitter. i bought some of martha stewarts chunky glitter, so it's not as fine and annoying. plus i put it in a ziploc storage container and just spoon it on over the container so it's much less messy. this is what i do with embossing powder, too, and it's so much easier on clean up!





merry kissmoose
stamps: kim hughes (cornish heritage farms)
cardstock: riding hood red
ink: versamark
embellishments: fun flock, clear embossing powder

snow owls
stamps: hero arts, su
cardstock: night of navy, 3 bugs in a rug patterned paper
ink: onyx black versafine
embellishments: glitter

merry christmas
stamps: su, green grass stamps
cardstock: riding hood red, american crafts patterned paper
ink: riding hood red, wild wasabi
embellishments: stickles, star brads

more atcs...

i've been a crafting fool lately (or maybe just a fool!) i've got a bunch of swaps that are due in the next week. here are a few i've been working on lately. the first one is for a snowman swap that chris is hosting. i used my cuttlebug and inked the embossing folder before running the cardstock through. i love the technique! the second atc is for a swap sherri is hosting. the theme is our favorite christmas movie. it was hard to narrow it down, but i love the movie "elf"! so i created this atc around one of my favorite quotes from buddy the elf!!! and the last atc is for a special project that i can't reveal right now!! needless to say, it's for a friend going through a rough spot!!

thanks for visiting!!

brrr
stamps: close to my heart
cardstock: soft sky, blue bayou(su)
ink: blue bayou, soft sky (su), white opaque (stazon)
other: cuttlebug sledding with snowman embossing folder, doodlebug sugar coating (glitter)

buddy the elf
stamps: paper salon, studio g, imaginesce
cardstock: old olive(su), figgy pudding (basic grey)
ink: riding hood red, pumpkin pie, barely banana, certainly celery (su); onyx black (versafine)



hang in there
stamps: purple onion designs, cornish heratige farms-kim hughes
cardstock: soft sky, blue bayou, designer prints (su)
ink: blue bayou(su); onyx black (versafine)
other: bic markit markers, ribbon (su)