Goals finally accomplished

Of course it's a day late - when do I ever seem to do things for this blog on time? For this, I truly apologize to whomever reads this blog.

I made my CC (color challenge) card last night... and forgot my camera upstairs. I get home after 6 every night and it's dark outside already. It's kinda depressing - especially when you want to take pictures of your work and the best lighting in the house is fluorescent. *sigh* That's going to turn into rant, so I'll stop while I'm ahead. I wasn't sure about the color combination - 3 neutrals: vanilla, sand and black? I need to stop doubting Emily - who chooses the color challenges.

I like how this card turned out. The card base is cut using the largest scalloped circle Nestie die I have. The black layer is cut out with another circle Nestie. My image is stamped in Palette Noir ink and colored with 2 Prismacolor pencils and baby oil. I then added some shimmer to the snow with some Oyster Twinkling H2Os and sparkle to the card with Black Diamond Stickles.

Stamps: MFT - Baby, It's Cold Outside. Paper: Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Basic Black. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: baby oil, Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2Os, Stickles, Nesties, ribbon, word window punch.

And, my 4 Christmas card designs for 2008.


On a great note: one of my coworkers who saw the set of cards I made my Secret Santa wants me to make her a set for her best friend. Yay for the fact I'm making money off my craft! (slowly anyway)

Wishing everyone a good night!

Christmas Cards #... Darn, I Lost Count

I've been playing around with Christmas card designs for the last week and I've officially lost count.

Here are the 2 cards that I didn't take pictures of yesterday because of the dark. It's still raining, but there was enough light to take pictures - and for the pictures to turn out pretty well.

I wanted a card that leaned toward the masculine end of stamping. Something that was simple and not too fussy to make in bulk. Since I'm working a lot more than I was last year, I need something that can be cut and assembled relatively quickly. The tree is stamped in Burnt Umber Palette Ink and then watercolored with Old Olive ink - which warped the paper slightly. I think I'm going to make a change over to chalk pastels which should color nicely and not warp the paper.

Stamps: SU - Lovely as a Tree, PTI - Take a Bough. Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Olive Press dp. Ink: Old Olive, Burnt Umber Palette. Accessories: brad, aquapainter, dimensionals.

I was trying to think of other stamps that would make Christmas cards - when I remembered Baby It's Cold Outside by MFT stamps. I'm also in a very monochromatic mood, so the entire card is Rose Red. The image was stamped in Palette Noir ink and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and blended with baby oil. The snow, skirt, scarf and snowman are all shimmery with Oyster Twinkling H2Os - now that I figured out how use them successfully, I'm in love. The ribbon is woven through holes punched with a Martha Stewart ribbon punch.

Stamps: MFT - Baby It's Cold Outside. Paper: Select White, Rose Red cs and dp. Ink: Palette Noir, Rose Red. Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Twinkling H2Os, ribbon punch, organdy ribbon, tacky tape.

I've also been playing around with my Christmatini card - and trying to figure out how to stop the marker from smearing when I put the Twinkling H2Os on. After deciding that I needed to use a non-waterbased marker, and questioning if I wanted to buy a red Copic marker JUST for this, I remembered that Sharpie markers are alcohol based. The red Sharpie works fabulously and after I changed the color of the Twinkling H2Os, I'm getting the look I wanted.

Hoping the rain ends soon,

Christmas Card #3 - revised

The laundry's almost done, I did my shopping and I made 3 cards.

It's been a good day - although rainy.

With the rain, it's been pretty dark this afternoon and I try to use as much indirect natural lighting as possible when I take my pictures. So, I only have 1 card to show off right now. Hopefully it's not raining so hard tomorrow.

The snowflake card. After I created the first card, I sat down with a pad of graph paper and really started thinking about what I wanted it to look like. I'm thrilled with how this turned out.

Stamps: Snowflake Serenade. Paper: Soft Sky, Select White. Ink: Soft Sky. Accessories: Scalloped Square Nestability die, white organdy ribbon, paper piercer, sponge, dimensionals, snowflake ornament.

Wishing for sunny skies,

Christmas card #4

I am so glad the week is over. It's been long and crazy. It's also really interesting when you hear a boy say, "Miss Sara, I was hatching my egg..." (He was sitting on a basketball and someone took it away to play with it.)

So I have another Christmas card to show, with help from the SCS Sketch Challenge 193 and Kwerner's Color Combo #22 of Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Soft Sky, and Whisper White. Kwerner's blog is in my blog roll, if you're interested in looking.

Stamps: PTI - Take a Bough. Paper: Select White, Bravo Burgundy, Soft Sky, Regal Rose, Rose Red. Ink: Regal Rose, Soft Sky, Rose Red, Bravo Burgundy. Accessories: ribbon, dimensionals, tacky tape, Burgundy and Crystal Stickles.

Hoping for a weekend that isn't completely filled with laundry,

Christmas card #3

This card's been on my mind since I started thinking about Christmas cards last week. I remembered buying as many of these snowflake ornaments as I could last year when they went on clearance (I got them at 75% off) and wanted to use them on my cards this year.

It's definitely a rough draft of a card. Things are going to change - I just needed to see it in real life.

The layout is going to change and I need to "fancy" it up (maybe add ribbon, etc). The color's probably going to be a different blue.
Stamps: None. Paper: Select White, Baja Breeze. Ink: None. Accessories: dimensionals, snowflake ornament.

Hope everyone's enjoying their day!

2 Christmas cards

Or prototypes more specifically. I'm trying to be a good stamper and get my ideas solidified before it's too late and I have to *gasp* BUY cards.

I was talking with my best friend about unusual color combos for Christmas cards and yellow and green came up as a possibility. I pulled out the one image I'm positive I want to use - the Christmatini stamp that I bought from Stamping Bella. I made the card, thought about it for a moment and decided against it. It just didn't look right.

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Christmatini, PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: So Saffron, Spring Moss, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Spring Moss, So Saffron. Accessories: Argyle Cuttlebug folder, Twinkling H2Os, dimensionals, aquapainter.

After thinking about the first card, I realized that it needs a stronger color than just pale yellow and green. Red works. I switched around the layout and made the CB'd background only about half the card. It's still not quite where I want it to be, but it's definitely closer.


Stamps: Stamping Bella - Christmatini, PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: Real Red, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red. Accessories: Argyle Cuttlebug folder, Twinking H2Os, Aquapainter, Corner rounder punch, dimensionals, Burgundy and Crystal Stickles.

That's as far as I've gotten with my Christmas card creation ideas.

Wishing everyone stamping success,

The Search Begins...

I have a card to share - it's one I made right after VSN but never got around to taking a picture or uploading.

I've really enjoyed the look of sewing on cards, but I didn't like the price of sewing machines. The cheapest I could find for a regular machine was around $100 and let's face it, if you've seen any pictures of my table in the Dungeon, I don't have room for a full size sewing machine. I found a Singer Sew Quick (a hand-held sewing machine) for $15 in a store and figured I'd give it a go.

It's easy to use and only does a straight stitch. The downsides that I can see are:
1) if you're left handed, you might have trouble because it's designed to be held in your right hand with your left hand holding and guiding the material and
2) the way the presser foot is designed - it holds down the material really well and I've had the problem of trying to get paper out, I inadvertently push the needle back into the paper.

Stamps: Out on a Limb, Out on a Limb Additions, Out on a Limb Sentiments. Paper: Tangerine Tango, Only Orange, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla. Ink: Creamy Caramel, Only Orange. Accessories: dimensionals, Sew Quick.

Now, onto my search. I need to find my Christmas card designs - I'm so behind where I was last year. I want one of my cards to be just red and white, another to be yellow and green (I'm different), and I have an idea for another card's image. I made a card last night in yellow and green, but I'm thinking that it would work better as my red and white card.

Wishing everyone a great week,