Sunday, March 18, 2012

*gasp* It's clean!

By this, I mean the Dungeon.  6 months after I jumped in and rearranged it, there is enough space on both tables for me to use them both!  Not sure how long it'll last, but it's clean!

I have a friend and coworker who is also crafty - and we set up a craft "play date" for yesterday.  (Can you tell I work with kids?)  

It was a Pinterest inspired craft day.  We both did melty crayon pictures - mine in a simple rainbow drip, hers was inspired by the colors in sunflowers.  Apparently my hair dryer isn't powerful enough to make this happen or I'm too impatient - probably option #2 - but I wound up using my embossing gun to melt the crayons.  She also made a sunglass holder with a chunky picture frame, tiny eyebolts, and wire.  My second project is kinda secret - due to the fact that I'm not sure if my mother ever sees this blog and the project is meant as a present for her.

I had a lot of fun crafting yesterday and definitely need to get some pictures up: the long-promised picture of my new Copic storage, the clean tables and my crayon artwork.

I'm itching to get inky again, so hopefully more cards are going to be in the works, especially after my new Papertrey stuff arrives.

Have a good week,

Saturday, March 10, 2012

New Cards and Things I've Learned

Wow, time's flying by again.  I never mean to have so much time between posts, but somehow it seems to just happen.

Since finding that Embossed Layered Resist technique video I've been scanning all the stores for stamps that are reversed images.  I found one with snowflakes by TPC that I'll break out and go crazy with for Christmas. I had a 40% off coupon for JoAnn's today and I found another set by TPC that's reversed flowers, flourishes and butterflies - and had to get it.  This is my card:


Things I learned in making it:
1) I forgot to stamp the writing in the background before embossing.  I think doing that brings a lot to the total image and there's a whole lotta white on that card.
2) I need clear embossing powder that has a good coverage and made for fine details. It also needs to be clear, not clear with specks of black in it (like my current clear embossing powder.  Friendly hint: the SU! Embossing trays get static-y and you'll wind up with speckled embossing powders)
3) I also need to try this with another embossing ink because the problem might just be in the Versamark.
4) Be careful with the application of Spiced Marmalade Distress ink.  I'm not covered in orange ink, but I wiped out my carefully sponged pink flowers with my wild swirls.  There are 4 colors of ink on that image, not that you can tell.

Oh, I need to profess my love for www.icopic.com  Their website's easy to navigate (after you add something to your cart and click "keep shopping" it takes you back where you were,) their prices and shipping are reasonable, and it's FAST.  I ordered on a Sunday and it was in my hands by Wednesday of the same week.  I picked up some Copics and a The Greeting Farm stamp set.

Here's a card I made with one of the images:

Things I've learned from this card:
1) I need to create a list of Copic hair color combos and skin color combos because it's hard to keep looking stuff up on my phone.
2) I need to buy almost all of the Oliver and Amelia sets that The Greeting Farm has because they're so dang cute.
3) Memento Tuxedo Black ink is the best ink I've used for Copics.  I love Palette Noir, but it has a tendency to bleed while I color.

Goal for tomorrow: laundry (it's trying to take over my room,) making cards with the colored Oliver and Amelia images, and stamping Nugget wraps for a St Paddy's Day treat for my coworkers.

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend,