Always a Scene.....

...even in a scrapbook page! My brain just works that way I guess. Here's another scrapbook page I made for Artful Inkables using the set Paradise Island. I simply used torn paper for the beach and ocean waves and added stamped accents throughout.

(Sorry I've been MIA...still sick! Uck!)

Enjoy!
Michelle

Proud as a Peacock

Ooh, I love this Peacock from the new Artful Inkables set Paisleys and Peacocks. I couldn't wait to color him!

My "clouds" are another image from this set. I think they are supposed to be frames for the sentiments but you know me...always seeing things differently. I thought they made wonderful clouds too!

A pretty simple card here for me....I didn't even sponge anything! I selected all brightly colored cardstocks to coordinate with my bright peacock. I selected the DP as it reminded me of layers of feathers.

There are lots of great images in this set so check it out. I'll be back soon to show you more too!

Stamps: Artful Inkables Paisleys and Peacocks
Paper: GP110, Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Garden Green, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Martha Stewart Grass punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Battling Scrapbook Pages

Which team are you? Me, undecided.

Kristin at Artful INKables asked her DT for some scrapbook pages for an upcoming convetion. I used the sets Fictionally Inspired and Into the Moonlight to create these pages.

I've been under the weather for a few days (thank goodness for scheduled blogger postings!) so I'm glad to be back at it here!

Enjoy!
Michelle

Wazz Up?

Oh man, that sentiment just cracks me up! I was thinking the little caterpillar was saying that to the dog. Wouldn't this be perfect for a teenage boy!

You know I am always looking for different ways to do my skies. Today, I am just using polkadots to suggest the sky. I got this idea from the TLC253 Van Gogh challenge and this work by Crissy Armstrong. It was a fun change!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Pitchin’ In
Paper: GP110, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, SU ribbon

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Artful INKables March Hop

Welcome to the Artful INKables blog hop! We are celebrating the March release at Artful INKables with 4 wonderful sets and a super fun new mini set!

If you haven't come here from Alicia's Blog, be sure to hop on over to the Artful INKables Blog, you don't want to miss anything for today's hop!

Today I'm showing you the new mini set Game On! I wanted this to look like one of those green tables for playing cards. Wanna know how I varied the colors of the playing cards?

• I stamped them twice in black and once in red.
• For the set on the left, I just added a bit of grey sponging along the line between the 5 and 10. This set will be added to the card first (this will be be on bottom).
• For the middle set, I trimmed off the 5 card and carefully trimmed the red line off of the 10 card (so the black line around the 10 card from the bottom sheet will show up. I also trimmed the edges off the Ace to make sure they didn't stick out. Grey was sponged on the line between the two cards. This piece will be added to the card next (this will be in the middle when I'm done)
• For the piece on the right, I trimmed off everything but the Ace. I added sponging around. This will be placed on the card next (so its on top).
  

Make sure to comment on every one's blog, because two lucky commenters will win some AI stamps! One will win In My Garden and Epic Tales, and the other will win Peacock Pagentry and Paisleys & Peacocks. Please leave your comments by Thursday, March 25th, 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time. The winners will be chosen on Friday, March 26th.

Thank you for participating in today's blog hop, now hop on over to Sammi's fabulous blog and enjoy the rest of this wonderful release!

Stamps: Artful INKables Game On
Paper: Basic Black, GP 110, Garden Green
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red, Going Grey
Accessories: Cricut & George Cartridge (for that white rectangle)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Happy Birthday AI

(This is my second post in just a few hours so be sure to scroll down.)

In celebration of Artful INKables' birthday, the theme of Think Ink Challenge #16 is to create a birthday themed card or project. You can find the complete details HERE. I hope you'll play along! Pssst....you don't have to own any AI stamps!

I love this cake image so of course, I thought of it first! It looks like a fairly normal card until you see the side. I made each layer of the cake stick out as a real layered cake would. See:


The candles are flat onto the main panel. The top layer has a pink paper scrap under it to hold it up just a tad. The middle layer is on an 1/8" dimensional and the bottom layer is on a 1/4" dimensional. Way cool! Bet its chocolate inside too. Mmmmm.

Stamps: Artful Inkables Birthday Best
Paper: GP 110, Papertrey White, Close to Cocoa, SU DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Copics, dimensionals, scallop edge punch, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD -Digital D'Illusions Hop

NOTE: The official start time of this Hop is Friday, at 8:00 AM (EST). If you arrived early, please be patient as all the links may not be live yet.

Welcome to the FireCracker Designs by Pamela Digital D'Illusions blog hop. We were challenged to use one of the fabulous new Digital images from FCD and to create some sort of optical illusion on our piece. I choose to do a reflection in the water of this cute little child called Child of Summer.

This is a “circular blog hop” where the only beginning is wherever you start!! You will know you are at the end of your blog hop when you’ve come back to the blog you’ve started from! (It’s not a huge circle…so it should be easy to remember where you started.)

BLOG CANDY!! One winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess…so you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog so you don’t miss out! It’s like a treasure hunt inside a blog hop…he he he Prize this month?? 5 Free digitals!! For the Birds; Audrey; Giroid-Hey There!; Manaone; Warm My Heart

**To find out if you’ve won… you will be contacted by Pamela via e-mail (so be sure to leave it with your comment.) and you can also find out on Pamela’s blog after the blog hop ends on Mon, at 8:00 PM (EST).**

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to SHELLY and keep going until you’ve come back to where you’ve started! Thanks so much for playing along with us and we hope you have a great time!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Child of Summer (digital)
Paper: GP 110, Basic Grey Archaic dp, Old Olive
Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Linen Thread

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Alice Rocks!

We took our kids to go see the new Alice in Wonderland movie last weekend. Wow, did I get a ton of inspiration from the scenery/sets in that movie!!! I wanted to get my notebook out and start jotting down ideas but it was supposed to be a family day so I tried to control myself! I'll have to see the movie again WITH my notebook! While all those Alice inspired ideas were floating around in my head, I found THIS Alice challenge blog. I used this week's sketch to get me started on this card.

Here's how I made this card:

• SKY - Masked off ground with sticky notes and brayered Baja Breeze from top down (you can always sponge where I have brayered if you are not comfortable with the brayer). Then brayered Not Quite Navy from the sticky note up into the Baja Breeze. Next brayered a bit of Night of Navy from the sticky notes up. Remove the sticky notes and turn them around so they cover up the sky.


• GROUND - I put a post it note in the center of the sky and sketched in the little path. I cut that out and left the center portion of the path in place as a mask. I brayered Always artichoke from the outsides in on each side. Next I brayered Night of Navy from the outsides in but left some of the green showing. Removed the mask on the path.


• PATH - I used the outside pieces of the path to mask off the ground. I sponged Going Grey all over the path. I sponged just a bit of Basic Grey from the edges inward.


• MAKING IT FIT THE SKETCH - Before I go and cut this piece up, wanna see what it looks like at this point? Thought so. Here ya go:

Yes, I know there is a big blotch right in the middle. Don't worry about it! I'll be covering it up with the images later. So the next thing I did was cut that center circle out with my Nestie and inserted the grey curvy Nestie Frame.

• IMAGES - All colored with Copics, cut out, and adhered into place.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Wonderland (digi)
Paper: GP 110, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, Basic Grey, Going Grey
Accessories: Nesties, Copics

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

Me and My Experiments

I have been seeing a lot of really cool cards made lately using multiple little circles. Why not try to do a scene that way? So here I am. Not sure this is the BEST way to carry this out but I think I might give this idea another whirl again soon.

I used lots of green for the Clear Dollar Stamps Think Green CIC9 challenge.

I punched out the little circles first. I stamped the little fountain and added a bit of darker color shadows with the blender pen and ink. I colored the fountain with my Versamark pen and embossed. I masked the sky area with a piece of torn paper and sponged in the grassy areas. I sponged in the sky next. I stamped the bench and added a little shadow to the bench with my blender pen. I stamped the tree trunk and then the leaves (stamping twice without touching the ink in between to give some color variation). I played with the circles a while before I came up with this layout and decided to stamp the full trees in coordinating ink on the card base (with help from my stamp-a-majig).

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Walk in the Park, Clear Dollar Stamps Designer Garden (sentiment)
Paper: GP 110, Certainly Celery
Ink: Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Basic Grey, Sarah Sand, Going Grey, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Old Olive, Baja Breeze (how did I squeeze all that color into those tiny circles!)
Accessories: 1.5” circle punch, Stamp-majig, Versamark pen, clear detail embossing powder, Blender pen, White gel pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Artful INKables SALE!!!

Artful INKables is 2 years old this week! To celebrate their birthday, they are offering you a sweet deal on any order you place this week. Enter Code AIBDAY2 into the coupon field when you check out to get 15% off a $35 order. This coupon is only good until next Sunday so be quick like a bunny to take advantage of this SALE!

Also be sure to check back soon for the next Think INK challenge. Mark your calendars for NEXT MONDAY because AI will be having their NEW RELEASE BLOG HOP featuring all of the new, uber-talented INK girls and FOUR new stamps sets you will surely LOVE!

And finally, if you are located in the Salt Lake City area of Utah, be sure to come visit the AI booth at the SCRAPBOOK USA expo in Sandy on March 26th and 27th.

Michelle

No cutting......

All this palm tree stamping I've been doing is making me ready for a vacation! Well its not exactly a vacation but this card was made a bit easier by using die cuts from FireCracker Designs by Pamela that coordinate with the stamp set. I have never used these before but they were pretty slick. All I did was take a die cut, stamp the coordinating image in black onto the die cut (my stamp-a-majig helped me line them up but I didn't worry about making them too perfect), and then color it in with my Copics. Here's a pic of the process:


The main image on this card was stamped in black. Then I used a post it to mark off the bottom portion (ocean) and I sponged Regal Rose across the horizon line and up into the sky a bit. I sponged Tempting Turquoise from the sky down towards the Regal Rose but not quite touching (I didn't want them to mix). I moved the post it note to cover the sky and sponged Tempting Turquoise along the post it and down towards the beach letting it fade as it came closer to the beach.

PS: FireCracker Designs by Pamela has new digis in there store HERE.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Mahalo
Paper: GP 110, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Mahalo Die Cuts, Copics

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Inspired by carrot paper...

I just received the new DP from Cosmo Cricket called Garden Variety! When I saw the carrot paper, I knew I wanted to make a little carrot garden scene. This little farmer from FireCracker Designs by Pamela's Pitchin' In set was just the guy for the job.

For the carrot garden scene:

• Carrot Prep - Started with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. Stamped the carrots into rows. Colored them with Copics. Color again with Versamark pen. Dust with clear detail embossing powder and hit with the heat gun.


• Dirt Rows - Turned piece upside down. Used a torn piece of paper as a mask (I've been using the some one for years! It's lucky now! Ha!) and sponged from the mask up to the next row of carrots letting the ink run out and get lighter as you go. Notice that I sponged one row of dirt without carrots for the farmer to stand on. I didn't want him standing on a carrot or sticking his pitch for into a carrot! Here's a pic:

• Sky - I get tired of blue skys every time so I decided to use More Mustard for a nice warm summer sun. The clouds were sponged using Mother Mark's cloud technique. I am really happy with the way it turned out as a blue sky just wouldn't have worked as well with this color scheme. Stamped the sentiment at the top.
• Farmer - Stamped the little guy on GP 110, colored with Copics, cut out and adhered into the scene. Here he is:
  
  
• Assemble - Did you notice that I actually used 3 coordinating strips of DP! There might actually be hope for me yet with the DP thing! Ha!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Pitchin’ In
Paper: GP 110, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard
Accessories: Versamark pen, clear detail embossing powder, stamp-a-majig for sentiment placement

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
"Queen of the Scene"

An experiment....

There is still time to enter Artful INKables Think INK Challenge #15! This time it's a sketch. Come on and play along for a chance to win free stamps!

So the sketch gave me this basic idea of a birdhouse hanging from a tree. But I couldn't quite figure out how to work in all the elements of the sketch. I finally decided to try a little experiment: SIMPLIFY and include many of those elements in just one layer. In fact, I liked it soooo much, I was wishing that I had sponged in those vertical elements as well! Maybe next time!

Now, you may notice that the "Welcome" is curved on my piece but its really a straight stamp. How? I cut a few straight lines down towards the lettering so that I could curve the piece a little more. You'll need some stronger adhesive to hold this guy onto the block in such a contorted shape. I simply use a piece of tape. Here is a pic of my stamp all ready to go on my block:



Well this is my last official piece for my design team term at Artful INKables....BUT.....Hooray! I'm going to stay and play there some more since I joined mid term last time!

Stamps: Artful INKables Any Birdy Home
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Soft Suede, GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede
Accessories: Sewing machine, stamp-a-majig, linen thread, paper piercer

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Fab Purse

Love this! I saw a tutorial HERE at Artful INKables on how to make this beautiful texture. I thought it looked like leather so I wanted to use it to make a little purse. This flower from Fanciful Flowers was the perfect accent.

Now I accidentally cheated a bit on the tutorial and started with Creamy Caramel cardstock (instead of white). I used my Cricut to cut the purse shape out. I then embossed the entire piece. Next I sponged Chocolate Chip over the entire piece. Finally, I rubbed the Virsamark pad over the entire piece and embossed with clear. I added a pretty ribbon and this lovely flower accent. The center of the flower is up on dimensionals. My picture doesn't do this justice but it looks awesome IRL! Maybe I should start a new blogged for the trials and tribulations of a rotten photographer! Ha!

Stamps: Artful INKables Fanciful Flowers
Paper: Creamy Caramel, GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip, Virsamark
Accessories: Cricut & Tags, Bags, Boxes, and More Cartridge, Tiny Mosaic Embossing Folder, clear detail embossing powder, Ribbon from PHH, dimensionals, Score-tape (my new fav!)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Getaway!

Ahhh....after a long week I am ready for a getaway! Unfortunately it will only be on my card as DD has a dance competition all weekend! Ha!

This month I'm featuring the Mahalo set from FireCracker Designs by Pamela. Here's what I did:

*IMAGE - I started by stamping the image in black and trimming the panel to the size I needed.
*SKY - Next I brayered Summer Sun from the top all the way down. I punched a sticky note to create a mask for my sun and placed it into position. I also used sticky notes to mask off the bottom of the scene from the water down. I brayered Pumpkin Pie most of the way down to my sticky note water line. I brayered Really Rust about half way down to the sticky note water line. (You can sponge to get a similar effect too!)
*WATER - I masked off the "sky" area and brayered a bit of Really Rust from each side going towards the center about half way in. Don't cover up the yellow sun reflection in the water! I thought I needed a little more so I sponged just a tiny bit of More Mustard into the water area under the sun to define the horizon line there.
*FINISHING - I sponged a bit of black ink across the bottom of the image panel to make sure no white was showing thru still. I brayered the lower left and upper right corners of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock with rust ink and assembled everything.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Mahalo
Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust
Accessories: None. Really? That’s unusual!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
"Queen of the Scene"

Barely Square

Here's a last minute entry into Clear Dollar Stamps Hip to be Square challenge. This was supposed to be a square challenge but I decided to be a rebel and just make the card square and round off everything else. Ha!

I couldn't decide what I wanted to do until I left for work this morning and saw the reflection of a park bench in the lake by my house. Aha! That's it. As usual, this idea "nagged" me all day until I had time tonight to "let it out."

I used the clear piece from my Stamp-a-majig as a mirror image stamp to create the reflected park bench. Next I used an oval nestie to cut a mask for the grassy area around the lake (trying not to be too perfectly centered) and sponged in some Baja. I used the inside piece of the mask to cover the lake while I sponged in the hill. I moved the mask around to softly sponge in the hills in the distance and also let a little green spill over into the water for reflection. I sponged some darker blue close up in the water and added "ripples" with a white gel pen. I stamped in the bench, sentiment, and tree. I sponged clouds and added brown sponging to everything else.

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Walk in the Park, Clear Dollar Stamps Designer Garden (sentiment)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Cosmo Cricket DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Nesties, Stamp-a-majig

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

"Queen of the Scene

SC270 Baby’s Bath

Whoo hoo! I was able to play the SCS sketch challenge this morning!!! I thought the different panels on today’s sketch looked like parts of a quilt which made me think of babies and here we are. I was doing this from memory so I didn’t realize until now that the main panel should have been off center. Oops.

I stamped the image on GP110 and colored him in with Copics. I drew the two horizontal lines of my "baseboard". I masked off the image and baseboard and sponged a little ground in around him (sponging a little ground tutorial HERE). I cut along the top of the baseboard and around the top only of the image. I stamped the image again on my DP "wallpaper" and then "paper pieced" the colored piece onto my wallpaper. There are glitter pen highlights all over the bubbles but I still haven't taken that "how to photograph shiny things" class. Ha!

Stamps: Artful INKables Newborn Blessings
Paper: GP110, Certainly Celery, So Safron, SU DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Copics, White Gel Pen, Glitter Pen (on bubbles and water although I didn’t capture that in the photo), Nesties

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

"Queen of the Scene"