Thinking of You

As Hurricane Irene approaches here on the east coast, I just wanted to pop in and let you all know I am thinking of you. Here is a card I made a few weeks back that I have been too busy to photograph and post. This is my very first Mo' Manning stamp..Rae with Journal.

If finally tried out the technique for making clouds. I just cut out a cloud shaped template on masking paper and sponged around it with sky blue memento ink and just moved the template all around until I got the look I was going for. It works really well.

Supplies:
Stamps: Rae With Journal clear stamp by Stampavie, Papertrey Ink sentiment
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Memento Sky Blue Ink
Paper: Kaisercraft Up Up and Away paper pad, Boise HD Color Copy Cover, Sahara Sand Stampin' Up! Cardstock
Accessories: Making Memories butterfly, Labels 1 Nestabilities, Dimensionals
Copics: E000 E00 E11 E55 E57 E59 YR23 R20 BG000 BG70 BG93 BG96 BG99 W00 W1 W3 W5 W7 G20 G12 YR20

Blog Candy and Vampires...Oh My!

Happy Weekend everyone! So glad it is finally here.

First, I would like to say thank you to everyone for their lovely comments and welcome to all my new followers and visitors too! I have had over 800 visits to my blog this week and that means so much to me!


Without further ado...the winner of the blog candy is....

Tina who said...
Wow! Sorry to hear about all the mix up, but thank you so much for sharing with us ;) My fingers crossed

Congratulations Tina! Please email me at michellena317@comcast dot net with your address and I will send your candy out on Monday.

Has anyone else been bitten with this whole Vampire craze? I am currently reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels... (The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris). I can't seem to get enough vamps.. Twillight and the Vampire Diaries... now I am reading all the different books... Morganville Vampires, My Blood Approves, House of Night...etc. Anyone know of any other good ones I should be reading? In the meantime, now I can make cards with them too...


Have you seen the cool new Vampire themed digi stamps from Tiddly Inks? I just ordered some and can't wait to print them up and color them. You can see the whole release here on the Tiddly Inks blog.

Image belongs to Tiddly Inks.


Finally, I want to share an update on last weeks crafty goals.

1) Figure out how to thread a bobbin so I can use my Sew Mini again- DID IT!!!
2) Try airbrushing clouds with my Copics (Sort of DID IT! Did some sponging with masked clouds...came out really well. Will share tomorrow.)
3) Make ribbon flowers out of Glubers (DIDN'T EVEN DO IT!)

4) Read my Shadows & Shading book by Marianne Walker (DID HALF OF IT!)


So this weeks Craft Goals are:
1) Ribbon flowers from Glubers
2) Finish reading Shadows and Shading
3) Sewing on Cards

Blog Candy Reminder

Hello Everyone! Happy Friday. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Can't wait until the end of the day for the weekend to begin. How does that joke go...

"I don't mind coming to work, but this 8 hour wait to go home is bull@#$%!"
Quick update on the blog candy. I will be doing the blog candy drawing tomorrow afternoon. I am throwing in one more Copic Sketch Marker- N5.

Blog Candy:
1 BG000 Copic Sketch Marker
1 Empty Copic Sketch Marker (you can fill this with any color refill or colorless blender solution)
1 Custom E23 Copic Sketch Marker ( I filled this myself with equal parts E21 and E25 refill ink)
1 E35 Copic Ciao Marker
1 G40 Copic Various Ink Refill
1 C1 Copic Various Ink Refill
1 Kaisercraft Up Up and Away Paper Pad
1 Shadows and Shading book by Marianne Walker
Some 1/4 sheets of Boise HD Color Copy Cover .80 lb cardstock for you to try
1 N5 Copic Sketch Marker

Rules: To win you must-
1) Have a US Mailing Address
2) Be a follower of my blog
3) Leave me a comment on the original blog candy post, scroll down or click the link to go there.

I will select and post the random winner tomorrow August 13th around 12pm EST.

Hey No Birdies!

I am sick and working from home today :0(. Normally I start work at 8:30 but because I am sick I can't fall back asleep so I figured I would hop on the computer early and share the card I made yesterday. I finally broke down and got the Kaisercraft Hey Birdie Paper Pad. I really love the color combinations in this pad but hated the "bird" theme. I don't know what my aversion is to birds but I definitely have one. In the papers I chose to use on the card, I actually covered the row of birds with a row of trees. Really don't like those birds! Hope you like the card without them.

Supplies-

Stamp- Miss Anya Hats Off by The Greeting Farm
Other- Memento Tuxedo Black and Lilac Posies Ink, Cardstock and sentiment- Stampin' Up!, Hey Birdie Paper and Pearls by Kaisercraft, dimensionals, Copic X-press It Blending Card
Copics-Skin- E23, E25, E27, E29 Hair- E23, E25, E27, E29, E49 Denim- B91, B95, B97 Clothes- RV00, RV63, RV66, V91, V93, V95, Boots- E31, E33, E34, E35, E37

Blog Candy!!!!

Ok, so we have all made the occasional mistake and purchased a dupe of something we already had, right? Well, I had some assistance on this particular blunder. Allow me to share with you the saga of how the United States Postal Service did me wrong. Right before the Aug. 1st Copic price increase, I decided to order 1 Copic marker and a few refills. Well of course I decided to order from a lovely online store called I Heart Papers. Great store, great lady who owns it, local to me...she is in New Jersey. I figure I am doing a great thing ordering there because I want to support local small business owners as often as possible. Well I decided to order $50 worth of things from the store to qualify for free shipping. I don't really understand the way of the human mind and how this saved me any money. It didn't, all I did was order things I didn't actually need. I decided to add on two things that I have coveted for a while now... the Kaisercraft Up Up and Away paper pad and the Shadows and Shading Book by Marianne Walker.

Well $50 bucks later my order ships and 2, yes I said 2 days later I got a delivery confirmation that my package was delivered to my home. Great you say, well no, not great. I got home from work and there was no package. Darn it... I am running all kinds of mail theft, "the garbage men threw it out" scenarios in my head. Well I waited several days and no package shows up. I chalked this one up to LOST and decided to re-order my items from another store before the price increase... So now those things came three days later and now I have my book and my paper pad and my markers and my refills...blah blah except the next store sent me the wrong marker color. I ordered a T5 and got an N5. I have no luck!!! It would be ok if I didn't already have one of those. Dupe! So now let's fast forward exactly one week and what shows up today slightly damaged and tattered in my mailbox....yes that is right my original lost I Heart Papers order. UGH!!! MORE DUPES!!!! Now I know I could sell all of this on eBay and make my money back but.... I have decided that my misfortune...will be your Blog Candy! I will do a Follower Appreciation Blog Candy as a thanks to all of you Lovelies who follow my blog. It means a lot to me to share creatively with all of you. Blog Candy: 1 BG000 Copic Sketch Marker 1 Empty Copic Sketch Marker (you can fill this with any color refill or colorless blender solution) 1 Custom E23 Copic Sketch Marker ( I filled this myself with equal parts E21 and E25 refill ink) 1 E35 Copic Ciao Marker 1 G40 Copic Various Ink Refill 1 C1 Copic Various Ink Refill 1 Kaisercraft Up Up and Away Paper Pad 1 Shadows and Shading book by Marianne Walker Some 1/4 sheets of Boise HD Color Copy Cover .80 lb cardstock for you to try I may throw in one more Copic Sketch Marker -N5 if the store I ordered from is not willing to replace it for me. Rules: To win you must- 1) Have a US Mailing Address 2) Be a follower of my blog 3) Leave me a comment on this post I will select and post the random winner August 13th around 12pm EST.

How to Select Copic Marker colors... Continued

I wanted to share this great picture from last weekend. This is my favorite baby Ava and she is checking out the card I made for her Mom as a congratulations for getting a promotion. Ava is so smart and so amazing. She actually got up on the chair, picked up the envelope, took the card out, admired it and then put it back in the envelope... she is only a year and a half old. She is a genius... and has excellent taste..lol!

What is everyone up to this weekend? My crafty goals for this weekend are:

1) Figure out how to thread a bobbin so I can use my Sew Mini again
2) Try airbrushing clouds with my Copics
3) Make ribbon flowers out of Glubers

4) Read my Shadows & Shading book by Marianne Walker (Yes i finally got it...that is a whole other story for another time)

I would love to hear what everyone else is working on!

Continuing on the discussion of How To Select Which Copic Marker Colors To Buy, I thought I would suggest another approach.

Some people are company loyalists, they have their favorites and they stick to it. Do you have a giant stash full of cardstock from a particular company like Stampin' Up, Paper Trey Ink, or Close to My Heart? Well if you do, you may want to consider picking your Copic Marker colors to match your existing paper and ink supply.
(Keep in mind you should still select markers colors in groups of 3 or 4 blending colors within a color family so that you get the best effects from your Copics.)

Below is a link to a really great chart by stamphappy1650 on Splitcoast Stampers with Stampin' Up! Matches:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/attachments/tool-product-talk-f128/223913d1311470915-su-color-chart-binder-pp-2011_2012-pdf

Here is a chart I made for Coordinating Copic colors for Paper Trey Ink colors:

Click the link for the post where I list the PTI color matches. (Where it says Shores...it should say Hawaiian Shores and Smokey Shadow I didn't have T4 and T6 so I used T3 and T7)

CTMH Colors:

Spring

R00- Baby Pink

R29, R37, RV29- Tulip

YR01- Taffy

R22- Sorbet

Y00, Y13, YG00- Sunkiss Yellow

Y32- Creme Brulee

G40- Key Lime

B000- Heavenly Blue

BV00- Amethyst

BV20, BV000- Lilac Mist

BV04, BV13- Spring Iris

Summer

R27, R35- Holiday Red

RV09, RV06, RV04- Watermelon

RV14- Bubblegum

YR68- Orange

Y13, Y15- Sunny Yellow

YG01, YG03- Citrus Leaf

G14, G07- Clover Meadow

G94- Topiary

BG49, BG07- Ocean

B24, B14- Dutch Blue

B18, B16- Star Spangled Blue

V17- Hydrangea

Fall

E09- Barn Red

R37, R85- Hollyhock

E08, YR06, YR18- Autumn Terracotta

YR14- Goldrush

Y17- Sunflower

YG93- Garden Green

G97, BG93, YG05- Olive

New England Ivy - G99

B26, B45- Indian Corn Blue

B99- Outdoor Denim

V09- Pansy Purple

E04- Vineyard Berry

Winter

R46- Cranberry

RV11, RV32- Blush

Y21- Buttercup

Y35- Honey

YG13, G21- Sweet Leaf

G29- Ponderosa Pine

B02, B12, BG05- Crystal Blue

BG75, BG09- Twilight

B29- Moonstruck

V95, V15- Petal

RV95, RV93, RV91- Smokey Plum

R39, E19- Garnet

Basics

E31- Bamboo

E55- Desert Sand

E33, E35, E37- Brown Bag

E27, E47- Chocolate

E47- Cocoa

E00- Vanilla Cream

R01, YR00- Parachment

C5, BV20- Grey Wool

Another question I have seen posed is- "What if I only want to buy Copic Ciao markers, what colors do I select?"

There is a great Australian store called Lime Tart that had a Copic Club and in the club they did Ciao Markers. They offered the following club packs:

0 B02 B05 YG00 YG03 R32 R35 RV10 RV13 E31 E35

E00 E11 E37 V000 V12 V17

C1 C3 C35 Y11 Y15 Y17

B00 B32 YG63 YG67 YG91 YG95

V06 V09

B93 B95 B97 YR02 YR04 YR07
W1 W3 W5 E50 E51 E53
YR23 Y28 E04 E08 E93 E95
BG000 G10 BG15 R000 R02 R05
G00 G02 G05 R37 RV14 E33 BG13 YR20

As always, I hope you find this info helpful.

Innocent Girl

For all of you Digi Stamping and Coloring enthusiasts out there, there is a great site called Deviant Art that has a coloring club where artists will post their illustrated images up for you to color. This is a great way to get free images to practice your Copic coloring on. For my card today I have used an image called Innocent Girl illustrated by Devgear. Supplies:
Digi image- Innocent Girl by Devgear on Deviant Art
Paper- Boise HD Color Copy Cover, DCWV Garden Party, PTI Aqua Mist Cardstock
Accessories- Stampin' Up! ribbon, creative charms brad, Prima flowers
Tools- Bow Easy, Memento Desert Sand dew drop ink pad, Nestabilities
Copics:
Skin- E0000, E00, E11, R20
Hair- E55, E57, E59,
Dress- B0000, B000, G000, W1, W3