Mixed Media Hugs

I'm back with a card I have been working on for a few weeks now.  The theme of the card was inspired by a book series I am currently reading.  It is called Madly by M Leighton.  The books are about a teenage Mer Princess who is trying to save her home under the sea called Atlas.  Of course I thought a mermaid card was fitting.  

My card uses a lot of different mediums.  I started off with a plain white tag and embossed it with a Tim Holtz Alterations bubble embossing folder.  Next I sponged on some distress ink in peacock feathers and tumbled glass and some faded jeans distress stain.  I spritz with some Turquoise Tattered Angels mist and then sprayed the entire thing with Shimmer Goosebumps.  That made it slick and shiny.  I stamped the swirl pattern in Scrap Happy glue and then sprinkled with fine glitter.   

Once I had my tag done I colored my stamped images with Copics and added some Frosted Lace and Patina stickler.  I applied the fish on my card with a foam dot.  I tied on some Twinery Twine

To make my background I applied Adirondack Acrylic paint dauber in Pool directly to my Solar White cardstock.  I stamped my sentiment in Teal Zeal Memento Ink.

Supplies- Stamps Sweet November Stamps Current Ebbtide digi, sentiment by Kanban Crafts
Copics: E000 E00 E21 E04 Y06 G43 G46 BG000 B000 BG02 BG45 R56 E08 E07 BV11 YG11 BG57

Seas the Day!

Happy Thursday! Bit of news- one of my cards was featured today over at Color Me Copic as a design team favorite... I am so honored that my very favorite bloggers liked my card. Hugs to the gals at Color Me Copic!

Here is a card I made for Amy Rysavy's ATG Gun Giveaway contest. You can see the details of the giveaway on her blog Paper Prarie Ink here. I used AmyR Stamps Summer Fun Sentiments collection which I think goes perfect with mermaid stamps. I don't buy a lot of sentiment sets because I can just usually print what I want on my pc...but this set was so versatile that I just had to have it.

Ingredients:
Stamps- Amy R Summer Fun Sentiments, Current Ebbtide digi by Sweet November Stamps
Paper- SU! Crushed Curry, PTI Stampers Select White and Hawaiian Shores, Me & My Big Ideas Starfish Specialty patterned paper
Accessories- Island Lagoon Metal Accent Charms by the Paper Company Studio ,Nestabilities Oval and Scalloped Oval dies, sponge, velvet ribbon trim from stash, Antique safety pin, Smooch Illuminate
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black Dew Drop, SU! Crushed Curry
Copics: FISH -Y08 Y15 Y19 TAIL- BG0000 BG000 BG10 BG11 SHELLS- R00 R02 R05 HAIR- E31 E35 E37 E39 SKIN -E000 E00 RO2

WOYWW 69.. and enabling...Copic X-Press It Blending Card

I like this whole What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday thing....even though I don't have a work desk... I usually just stamp on a tv tray! Well...here is what I am working on this week. I decided to play a bit with my new Copic X-Press It Blending Card sample pack that I got from All That Scraps.

Here I have stamped Sweet November Stamps Fathom Calmsea in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on a sheet of X-Press It on the left and a sheet of PTI Stampers Select White cardstock on the right...which has been my go to cardstock for copic coloring for a while now. PTI cardstock is a brighter white and has more of a tooth than the X-Press It... it is also heavier cardstock 110 lb as compared to X-Press it which is 92 lb and very very smooth...reminds me of SU! Whisper White in smoothness.

LEFT- X-Press It Blending Card RIGHT- Paper Trey Ink Stampers Select White

I chose some colors from different color families (B0000 BV02 and BG05) to test out the blending capabilities of this new cardstock....

I used the mostly the feather blending technique on the tail to blend these three colors and as you can see from the results... the X-Press It Blending Card makes blending pretty easy. I had to work on the PTI a lot longer to blend these three colors together and you can still see a strong line of demarcation between the colors in the mermaid tail. If I had used anymore ink it would have bled way outside the lines.

On the X-Press it, I was able to go back in after I had let it sit and blend it even more. Blending colors the other colors (YG21 YG23 YG25 and Y13 Y15 Y19) on the starfish and seahorse was a cinch...I barely had to use any strokes or any ink...

Since I am very short on crafting time and energy... I like anything that makes my life a little easier. This cardstock makes blending quicker and easier for me. Plus using less ink is also a bonus! Even though it is a bit pricier than what I am used to, I will definitely be ordering some more X-Press It Blending Card! (*PS- I still love my Paper Trey Ink for clarity and vibrancy of the image*)

If you would like to get some X-Press It Blending Card of your own to try...here are some places that carry it:

Allthatscraps- $5 10 Sheets

Papermaniac- $4.19 10 Sheets

oozak.com- $44.95 125 sheets (free shipping on $50+ orders)

icopic.com- 57.99 125 Sheets, $15.99 25 Sheets, $42.99 65 Sheets (SCS2010 $8 off coupon code)

7kidscollegefund.com- $9.99 24 Sheets

iheartpapers.com- $5.25 12 Sheets

thebearyscrap.com- $9.99 25 Sheets

ellenhutson.com- $5.49 10 Sheets

Challenging Mermaid!

TGIF! I am back...so sorry to be gone so long. I had a bought of food poisoning...just awful!!
Since I was bedridden I got a chance to do a bunch of coloring. I decided to play along with the All That Scraps Monochromatic challenge and the Color Me Copic Black and White Challenge which has a great tutorial by Rach. I used with W00 W1 W3 W5 W7 for my black and white and threw in a cream colored handrolled rose that I made...love those roses...great use of my scrap papers.



Recipe: Shimmer Redkelp digi stamp by Sweet November Stamps, Sentiment by Amy R from Summer Sentiments collection, CC Designs Copic Quality Cardstock, SU Creamy Caramel Cardstock, PTI Vintage Cream Cardstock, Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress ink sponged, Want2Scrap pearls, Creative imaginations and Making Memories Vintage Findings patterned paper, Tim Holtz Symphony Tissue Tape, Nesties label 8, Hero Arts Little Clothes Pins, Island Lagoon Metal Accent Charms by the Paper Company Studio, Martha Stewart Adhesive Foam, Copics W00-W7

Have a Fin-Tastic Birthday!

Check out the latest release from Sweet November Stamps...mermaids collection available at All That Scraps. I loved Current Ebbtide the moment I saw her and squealed with delight when I saw she was available in digi....instant gratification! This card is for my Auntie's birthday on Friday. Lets hope the USPS is half as fast with delivering the card as it was to downloading this digi!
Recipe: Current Ebbtide digi stamp by Sweet November Stamps, Amy R Stamps Summer Sentiments, Me & My Big Ideas Starfish Specialty Paper, Wrights Rick Rack, Mark Richards USA Crystal Stickers Clusters, CC Designs Copic Quality Cardstock, Rose Bud Memento Ink, SU! Melon Mambo cardstock, Smooch Illuminate, Copics: face- E11 E13 E15 R43 hair E35 E37 E57 E59 tail and shells- BG0000 BG000 BG02 BG15 BG45 BG49 YG11

Fin-Tabulous!

Yay! I finally figured out how to post pictures using my old computer. My new computer is broken so I can't do my normal routine: take pic, insert media card in netbook, edit pic, post pic...etc. I had to go old school and stick the usb cable in the camera and hook it to my old dinosaur computer. Biggest problem with that is no Photoshop...so the pics are a bit rough.

I have had this image colored for a few weeks now, but didn't have any patterned paper to go with her. So I finally decided to just make my own. I had a ton of fun making this background. I sponged all kinds of colors together and then sprayed the whole thing with glimmer mist. Once it dried it had that spattery- watery look I was going for. Hope you like it!

Recipe: Pearl Tidepool and Seymoore stamps by Sweet November Stamps and Summer Sentiments by Amy R, SU! Bermuda Bay cardstock, PTI Hawaiian Shores Aqua Mist and Stampers Select White Cardstock, Die Cuts With A View Glitter Cardstock, Martha Stewart Daisy Punch around the Page punches, Texture Bobbin Ribbon, Jazz Blue Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Memento Tuxedo Black Bahama Blue Pear Tart Grape Jelly Cottage Ivy and Desert Sand ink, clear dollar stamps, Diamond Stickles, Copics: B000, B01, BG45, BG49, Y00, RV42, E000, E00, E93, E95, E21, R00, E70, E71, E74, E77, YG91, YG93, YG95

Salt Water Blog Candy

Remember that Salt Water Taffy you got from vacations at the shore when you were a kid? Well this ain't taffy...but it is just as sweet (without all the calories). Amy Young is doing blog candy for her new Sweet November Stamps Mermaids line...they are so beautiful, I can't even stand it. I will definitely be picking up all of these beauties next monday...but if you are lucky enough you can win them. Hop on over to Amy's blog for the deets...
A Thousand Sheets of Paper
I was lucky enough to win Ginger Fairy when Amy did that blog candy and that kit was amazing... There were so many goodies, I still have half of it left...

and yes, I am working on a card..I got the images colored but haven't figured out the rest...it is a very special card for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary...yes I said 60 YEARS!!!
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Ginger Gypsy

Happy Monday! Well, not quite. I am having one heck of a monday.... my milk for my cereal leaked all out into my bag this morning- no chocolate cheerios for me, both my team mates didn't show up for work so I have to cover, and I have a migraine that has been with me for the better part of two days. Hopefully the week will just get better from here, not worse. I am officially taking a break to share this card and hopefully staring at the pretty colors will improve my mood. I made this card over the weekend using the new Kaisercraft paper pad Gypsy Sister. I love the rich vibrant colors in this pack. Some of the papers are embossed and some are flocked. The flocked paper I chose looked almost like a rich brocaded fabric which imspired me to do some stitching on it. One day I may learn to stitch straight!

Recipe: Ginger Fairy stamp by Sweet November Stamps, Sentiment stamp by SU!, Kaisercraft Gypsy Sister designer paper, SU! Bermuda Bay cardstock, Janome Sew Mini, Diamond Stickles, PTI Stampers Select White Cardstock, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Versafine black ink and clear embossing powder, SU! Wide oval punch, Copics:

Ginger's sew cute!

Happy Monday! I made the most beautiful card yesterday with a card kit that I won from Amy Young's blog! She is the amazingly talented designer for Sweet November Stamps and she designed this fabulous Ginger Fairy stamp. I was so blessed to be chosen as the blog candy winner. I made this birthday card for my father to give to my grandmother. I did it extra early this year because last year I was supposed to make a card for him and I totally forgot!

Here is a close up of beautiful Ginger:

Recipe: Ginger Fairy by Sweet November Stamps available at All that Scraps, Chatterbox patterned paper, Prima Flower, MS Butterfly Punch, PTI Sweet Blush Cardstock, PTI Stampers Select White Cardstock, Large Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestibilities, Stardust Stickles, Velvet Ribbon and button from blog candy stash, Bow Easy, Reflections Pearls, SU! Modern Label Punch, Memento Angel Pink and Tuxedo Black ink, sewing

Copics used:

This is my first beautiful card that features actual sewing with a real sewing machine.

Here is my Janome Sew Mini and I have actually taken it out of the box, threaded it and used it.

It wasn't even to difficult because I followed Gina K's 4 part video tutorial on Stamptv! Thanks Gina K!!! That bobbin stuff would have been tricky without you.