Just Painting Around

Too Lazy to Color

2012-01-29T17:11:00.007-06:00

I wanted to use this image for a birthday card for a family member who loves shopping. I didn't feel like coloring all that background. So, I was thinking that these were pretty nice straight lines in that background so maybe I could mask and sponge it all in. I think it worked great!
Here's the image with the sidewalk and brick wall already sponged. I'll show you how I did this on the window.
I used sticky notes to mask off the area outside the window. Notice that I let those black lines along the bottom and left side of the window show. You can never sponge right up to the edge of the sticky note....this little black line is just the right amount of spacing to keep you from having a white edge there.
I sponged in the blue ink. Its a little hard to see here but I ALWAYS start sponging on the sticky note and work in a circular motion towards the center of the image. This keeps me from getting any harsh areas of color. Everything is nice and softly faded.
Here's what it looks like when I remove the sticky notes.

And here's the finished product again. I paperpieced in the lady. For the sketch I used SCS Sketch Challenge #369. Oh, and I used a fine black marker to draw in the cracks in the sidewalk and a few bricks.

Stamps: My Favorite Things What A Girl Wants
Paper: Whisper White, GP110, Night of Navy, Basic Grey Marrakech DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Basic Grey, Really Rust, Soft Sky
Accessories: Copics, Versamark, gold embossing powder, fine black marker, Crystal Stickles

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Not too late for a calendar.....

2012-01-16T21:17:00.007-06:00

Its only the middle of January so you have 11.5 months to go, right? I did make these for myself and my boss before we returned to work from the Christmas break. This is very similar in style to the calendar I made last year as that one just worked out so great (my post is here).

CALENDAR PAGES: The calendar pages are again from Cat (again, used the CD pages and cut them down). You can find those HERE.

DIRECTIONS FOR BASE: Cat also referred me to some great directions I used to put the base of the calendar together. You can find those HERE.

So get comfy and lets look at all these pages!

JANUARY: Stampin' Up Snowfall
January is so much prettier in real life...I just couldn't capture the sparkle of the Stickles.

FEBRUARY: Artful INKables Into the Moonlight
We are both Twilight fans so I figured why not use a Twilight image for the romance of Valentine's Day.

MARCH: Treehouse Stamps My Lucky Charm
I think this one needs something....should have added glitter!
APRIL: High Hopes Easter Basket
After I made this one....I realized I didn't check to see if Easter was actually in April this year! Shew, I'm lucky that it was!

MAY: CC Designs Sugarplums Olivia's Birdies
(lesson learned this year was don't be afraid to mask off the bottom of the stamp like I did here to the bottom of the bird bath....I like the look!)

JUNE: Artful INKables Pond Friends
I love that little fish. HERE is a tutorial on how I did this fish tank technique.

JULY: Oops, can't remember what star I used!
Again, I think I need glitter!

AUGUST: Stampendous Hey There Cupcake
Both of our birthdays are in August so why not a birthday theme. (see, glitter makes it!)

SEPTEMBER: Stampin' Up Trendy Trees
Again this year, September is my favorite! This was inspired by THIS post.

OCTOBER: CC Design Sugarplums Halloween
This was inspired by THIS post.

NOVEMBER: Stamping Bella Chefabella
See, I masked the bottom of the image off and again I like the look.

DECEMBER: Stampin' Up Welcome Christmas
I was inspired by several pieces on Splitcoast Stampers that used this image as an ornament.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Earrings and earring cards

2012-01-08T20:11:00.004-06:00

(sorry, not the best pic!) Each December, the 8th grade scouts at our school host a "Santa Sale" to allow all the students in the school to purchase inexpensive Christmas gifts for their families. The other grades at the school contribute hand made items to the sale. This year our troop made over 65 pairs of french wire earrings. I needed a way to package them inexpensively so the children could get them home. I decided to cut cardstock into pieces, punch holes to put the earrings through, and tape them to the back to secure. I stamped "Merry Christmas" on the front for just a bit of decoration. Where there is a need, there is a crafty solution!

Supplies: Riding Hood Red Ink, Double Rectangle Punch, sentiment from The Angel Co.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Who Made This Mess??!!??!!

2012-01-02T21:37:00.003-06:00

Hi and Happy New Year! I am so glad to finally get some time to stamp and work on my blog. This photo is a pic of my stamp area around Thanksgiving. As you can see, it is a total disaster and I'm afraid to say that almost all of this mess is mine! It was so bad that one day I walked in and shocked myself. I said "Did I do that?" Late summer and fall were filled with carpools to dance, soccer, baseball, and volleyball so I was rarely home (as I work full time also). All crafting time was done at the speed of light with no time to pickup (or that's my excuse anyway). I have now cleaned up a bit, heavy sports are over and I'm ready to spend some time sharing some project with you. I'll be back soon.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FS231 Off to Camp

2011-07-10T12:26:00.004-05:00

DD leaves for a week of camp today. I needed to quickly make a card to drop off so it could be delivered to her thru the camp mail. I found the perfect inspiration in THIS piece from today's Featured Stamper. I loved the simplicity of the woods in the background. It was hard for me to make a scene an keep it simple but I restrained myself! The two things I changed from the inspiration piece were the addition of the little girl and also the ribbon color (I just had to have some blue up there for the sky!).

The tree images were stamped and I used a sponge to color them in. I used a blender pen to color the tree trunks. A torn piece of paper was used as a mask to sponge in a little ground.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Audrey, Lovely as a Tree, sentiment by Innovative Stamp Creations
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Basic Grey Offbeat DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive, Pear Pizzaz, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa (sentiment)
Accessories: Copics, Blender Pen, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

I LOVE Versatile Stamps

2011-06-22T18:53:00.003-05:00

I just *LOVE* versatile stamps like this one. This example shows how I used her for DD's Easter card. I could have had her painting just about anything....snowflakes, a Christmas tree, a birthday cake, a car, a dog, a soccer ball, whatever the receipient of your card is into. You can really stretch your stamping budget by considering the versatility of a stamp like this. You know you'll use it many times!

I've also been experimenting a lot with DP lately. What? You haven't seen me posting any of them? Uh, that's because I haven't liked very many of them!

I'll be back soon with another versatile stamp example.

Stamps: Stamping Bella Artistabella, Stampin Up Easter Blossoms
Paper: GP 110, Gasic Grey Urban Prairie, Craft, Marina Mist
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Kiwi Kiss, Marina Mist
Accessories: Nesties, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Bookmark swap and beyond

2011-06-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

I made this for a bookmark swap I participated in (wow did I get some cool ones back!). I finally got my hands on that elusive Branch Out stamp set. I had tried to order it before it retired but I was too late. Finally, I found a decent deal on ebay!

Sometimes when I need some inspiration, I turn to the internet and look at some art. This bookmark was inspired by THIS piece of art.

I started by stamping and clear embossing the swirls at the top and bottom in River Rock. I used a torn piece of paper as a mask and sponged in the Really Rust and a bit of Espresso around the edges. Next I stamped the tree in Espresso. I sponged in the Pear green area of the tree and stamped a few leaves in Pear and Rust. I sponged River Rock in the mid sky area (and didn't really worry too much about it touching the other areas). The Marina Mist upper blue sky was sponged in next (and I was careful not to mix it with the River Rock as didn't want it to turn green). Finally, I stamped the text in with Espresso.

I made a few more than required for my swap (in case I messed one up) so I was able to use an extra to make a quick card.

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Branch Out, Papertrey Ink Text Style, Autumn Leaves Swirls V:I
Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso
Ink: River Rock, Versamark, Really Rust, Early Espresso, Perfect Pear, Marina Mist
Accessories: Embroidery Thread, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, Tab punch, large brad, Crop-o-dile

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Football Jersey

2011-05-26T05:51:00.000-05:00

Here's a football jersey made as a birthday card but I thought it might also be good for father's day. You can easily change the colors to your guy's favorite team colors. The template for the shirt can be found here. I made a "V Neck" using a square punch instead of a round neckline and didn't put any curves in the waist. I used my Cricut to cut the number (it was for an 8th birthday). I used my square punch to cut the trim around the neckline and just hand cut the stripes on the sleeves.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Has it really been so long?

2011-05-25T06:45:00.003-05:00

Where have I been? Well I have been busy fulfilling a long time dream.....to run a 5K (that's 3.1 miles). Yes, as you can see from the pic, I DID IT! Yippee! I started training in January and ran the race in May. Along the way, I lost 12 pounds too! If you are interested in trying this, check out the Couch Potato to 5K Plan I followed to get me started (there is an iPhone app also). I'll be back tomorrow with a card for you.

Michelle

First Communion & "Ray" Tutorial

2011-04-14T20:22:00.005-05:00

I made this for my son who will be making his first communion in a couple of weeks. I thought this would also be an nice Easter card! I started by clear embossing the large cross image. I then sponged just a little bit of blue around the edges of the cross (from the center outward). Be sure to always wipe the ink off your embossing frequently during this process! Warning: terrible pictures ahead but I think you'll get the idea! To make the "rays" you'll need a trusty sticky note! I like to imagine my piece is a clock and the sticky note is the hand that is anchored in the center. I start with the hand at 12 o'clock (straight up) and sponge a little blue ink from the sticky note onto the piece. I then move the sticky note a few "minutes" ahead, pivoting from that center point, and sponge again. Work your way all around. If you do not "think like a clock" you'll end up getting confused which way the rays are supposed to go and end up sponging some of the rays in one direction and the rest in a different direction (trust me). It may also be helpful to do the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions on the clock and then go back and work your way all the way around the clock.
Stamps: Treehouse Stamps Count Your Blessings Paper: Bashful Blue, GP 110 Ink: Bashful Blue, Versamark Accessories: Clear detail embossing powder, sticky note
Enjoy!
Michelle B.

B-I-G Flower

2011-03-29T19:22:00.006-05:00

A bit of an optical illusion going on here....this flower seems to be jumping off the page but the flower and the white background are all one layer! (the green card base is the only other layer) I colored the flower with Prismacolor pencils. I did not use any kind of Gamsol or blending medium of any kind. I colored the area with the lightest color and then moved to the next darker color and blended the edges with the lightest color. I then moved to the next darkest color and blended with the lightest again. Coloring the entire area in the lightest color first, put a waxy layer down over the area that allowed me to move the darker colors around a bit when blending. Here's the colored flower and the pencils I used. Now it needed something else.....hmmmm....I created a mask out of another sheet of cardstock and sponged some River Rock all around the edges of the flower working from the center outward and going especially dark on the areas that indent closer to the center. (I had to move the cardstock around a bit to get really close to the flower because the thickness caused a gap.) That looked good but I needed something else. I love text in the background and I love when its not completely uniform. So, I took advantage of that thick mask and stamped the text in the background without pushing down too hard. That thick mask and light pressure kept the text away from the flower a bit. Loved this now! It was sent to my Mother-In-Law for her birthday (and in keeping with my goal this year, I had it done several days early!).

Stamps: Stampin Up From the Garden, Papertrey Text Style
Paper: Perfect Pear, Whisper White
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, River Rock Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, SU Certainly Celery Ribbon, Crop-a-dile Corner Rounder

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Outer Space Tutorial

2011-03-20T17:57:00.005-05:00

I tried to describe how I made the outer space scene the other day and as I was writing it down, I was thinking "I really need a visual for this". So, here we go:

First I used Versamark ink and a dot stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds to place little dots all over the piece. Oh, the cardstock is Stampin' Up Whisper White which I love for sponging because it has a slightly slick surface that lets me move the ink around a bit. I covered the Versamark with clear detail embossing powder and heated to emboss. These will be the stars.

Next I sponged some Pacific Point kind of randomly. I made a line across the top and a "V" shape across the bottom. Always wipe with a paper towel after each inking to keep those white spots white!

Both above and below the Pacific sponged lines, I sponged Not Quite Navy.

Both above and below the Not Quite Navy, I sponged Night of Navy.

Finally, I added black all around the edges and heavier into the corners. Ta Da! You are all set to put this piece into use in an outter space card like this one:

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

Calendar

2011-03-03T13:39:00.001-06:00

As part of my "not being with it" in the past, I waited until January to make a calendar! Why am I showing this to you today.....in March? Because the 2012 templates are out and we can get a head start on next year!

I found the calendar template on SCS (click HERE for 2011 and HERE for 2012). I printed them off my computer onto some GP 110 cardstock. I cut them to the size I wanted (just made up a size that centered the calendar in the bottom and left stamping room at the top).

The idea for the physical structure of the calendar came from THIS blog posting. I loved that paper insert and it works amazingly well (and made it easy for me to fold this an take it to work).
Here's the rest of the calendar pages include a side shot of the structure. In case you are wondering....September and October are my absolute favorite!

PS: January uses Clear Dollar Stamps Snowman Wishes and my Snow Drift Tutorial is here.

February: Stampin' Up Happy Hearts

March: High Hopes St. Pattys Day Hat

April: Pink Cat Studio Limitless Limbs

May: My Favorite Things Bundles of Bouquets

Check out my Ground Sponging Tutorial I used here.

June: My Favorite Things Can Ya Dig It?

July: Verve Up, Up and Away

August: Hanna Stamps Pool Party

September: Papertrey Ink Through the Trees

October: Gina K. Spooky Silhouettes

November: Stampin Up Voila to Go and you can see my Table Tutorial HERE (except that I had to sponge in the base color first instead of using a piece of cardstock).

December: Papertrey Ink Take a Bough

And here's a side shot of the structure.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Outer Space

2011-02-15T21:58:00.004-06:00

Here's a birthday card for a space lovin' Nephew. OK, I admit, I fell a little short of my goal as I mailed it on his actual birthday (so it arrived late). Anyway, this is about progress not perfection right?!?

My inspiration for this piece was this photo. Whenever I need some inspiration, I simply google the topic (in this case, outer space) and check out some of the images that come up.

To make this background, I first clear embossed the little dots. Next sponged Pacific Point randomly (turned out to be a > shape at the bottom and kind of a line across the top). Then I sponged Not Quite Navy next to the Pacific Point areas. Moving outward a little bit, I sponged Night of Navy next to the Not Quite Navy. And finally, I added some black at the very edges. I'm thinking I should have taken pics and written a tutorial as I'm not sure the description is enough here. OK, its on my list of things to do.

The images are colored with Copics, cut out, and glued into place. I used a little embroidery thread to make the cable connecting the astronaut to the ship. The planet is a embossed circle with some grey sponging.

PS: Not sure why the sentiment looks so blurry here and the rest is fine....looks ok IRL. Sorry.

Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Out of this World, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Hanna Stamps Things Hanna Would Say
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Papertrey White (card base)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Basic Grey, Versamark
Accessories: Embroidery Thread, Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Crop-a-dile Corner Chomper, Clear detail embossing powder

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Asian Bird

2011-02-09T17:56:00.004-06:00

Still working that birthday card list here.....I actually made two of these as I thought there were two people on my birthday list who would enjoy this scene. The idea is a direct CASE of a card I did at a Michelle Zindorf class. You can see her version way down by her signature on THIS post. Definately take a Michelle Zindorf class if you get the chance!

The large bird, branches, and flowers are stamped and embossed. Then the sky is brayered in. A torn post it note serves as a mask to sponge in a few mountains. Finally, the shadow bird, branch, and flowers are stamped in.

Stamps: Innovative Stamp Creations Tranquil
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pacific Point
Ink: Versamark, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Really Rust, Tangerine Tango, Cameo Coral, Rose Red, Creamy Caramel,
Accessories: Clear detail embossing powder, Photo corners punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

PS: Yes, I finished the inside as well (keeping with my goals this year)!

FS209 Lizard Skin

2011-02-06T10:18:00.003-06:00

For today's Featured Stamper Challenge, I choose THIS card to CASE. I kept the blue/green color scheme but darkened them, I kept the basic elements of the sketch but simplified and turned it, and I kept the embossed green card base but made mine into "lizard skin".

The "lizard skin" was made using the Faux Leather technique (except I didn't add any colored ink as I forgot!). I also added a little "lizard skin" to the colored image. First I colored with Copics as I normally would:

Then I took an old wash cloth that had some texture to it and I poured a little Copic clear blender refill on it. I pressed the washcloth into the green colored areas of the dragon and held there for 2-3 seconds. When I lifted the washcloth it leaves a little bit of texture as it lifts some of the color. The challenge here is not to get this into the presents!

A simple sponged sky and sponged ground finished the scene.

Stamps: High Hopes Gavin the Givin’ Dragon, High Hopes Got Cake?
Paper: GP110, Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Accessories: Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic Embossing Folder, clear detail embossing powder, EK Success Dotted Wave Punch, Copics, Nesties Labels 8

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

A Toughee for Me

2011-01-26T19:19:00.004-06:00

First, sorry I've been away but I was literally in bed sick for over 5 days. So glad to be back!

I have a family member who loves ladybugs so that's how I got my start on this card (I'm working that birthday list of mine!). I really like how so many of you can mix and match dp and make it look so good. I wanted to give this another try. Its SO HARD! I worked for hours on this trying to get the look I wanted. I'm pretty happy with this but I need to get a lot faster at this!!!

Stamps: All That Scraps CC Designs Sweet November Sprites Darby & Bumbles
Paper: GP110, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Real Red, SU DP, Recollections DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Clear Button, Nesties, Red embroidery floss, EK Success Rock Fern punch, EK Success Embossed Curve punch, Martha Stewart Scallop Dot punch, Martha Stewart Grass punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Crop A Dile Corner Chomper punch, sewing machine, Copics

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FS206 Ruffle Girl

2011-01-16T12:56:00.004-06:00

You know what I hate? I hate when I don't have a birthday card ready for someone's birthday and I'm rushing around at the last minute. Like I didn't know the birthday was coming or something! I really fell apart this Christmas and was totally disorganized. SO, I'm trying to make a birthday card for someone with any challenge that I play. I've listed all the birthday's out by date and some general ideas of what the different people like to keep me on track. I am also REQUIRING myself to finish the inside of the card before I can consider myself "done" as I often neglect that last step.

When I saw THIS card from today's SCS Featured Stamper, it reminded me of ruffles on a little girls dress. I changed the color scheme to more bold shades of pinks and I changed the sketch to use "ruffles" across the entire card. This is for my niece's birthday in March.

Stamps: Pink Cat Studio Dress Up Lily, Pink Cat Studio Lily & Billy Accessories
Paper: Whisper White, GP110, Melon Mambo, SU DP, Basic Grey DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Stickles, Angel Wingz Shimmerz, Nesties Labels 4, slit punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

SC314 Drink at the Beach

2011-01-04T23:44:00.003-06:00

Posting twice in one week! Yippee!! The SCS sketch challenge used to be the one thing I never gave up and I even lost track of that lately. It felt great to play!

My DH loves margarita's so I thought this would make a fab card for his upcoming birthday.

I used the brayered sky technique to create the sand, sky, and ocean. I colored the margarita and cut it out and glued it into place. A few (messy but fun) dazzling diamonds for the "salt" on the glass.

Stamps: Amuse Margarita, CC Designs AmyR Underwater Sentiments, Sanded, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Taken with Teal, River Rock, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White
Accessories: White gel pen, Fiskars wave punch, Versamark pen, Heat and stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Happy New Year & FS204

2011-01-02T10:40:00.002-06:00

First off.....Happy New Year!!!! I found myself home alone (that doesn't happen very often) so I decided to play the Featured Stamper Challenge this morning. I choose this card to CASE. I changed from the original by 1) changing the color scheme and 2) simplifying the sketch a bit.

I used the brayered sky technique to create the color on the main panel with a brayer. Whenever I use silhouette stamps like this, I always add a few white highlights to make them pop. The punched butterfly only has one wing glued down - the other is "flapping in the wind".

Stamps: SU Essence of Love
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pacific Point
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point
Accessories: Stamp-a-majig, white gel pen, EK Success Punch Morocco Lace, Martha Stewart 3-in-1 Butterfly Punch

Best wishes to you for 2011!
Michelle B

2010 Christmas Card #1

2010-12-01T22:40:00.003-06:00

Shew, I have almost all my Christmas Cards done! 2 years ago, I made all the same card. B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! Last year I made 75 different cards. EXHAUSTING! This year I'm making 10 or so of 4 or 5 different designs. JUST RIGHT! Here's my first one.

Obviously, this is a Michelle Zindorf inspired piece. To make the main panel, I masked the snow area, brayered the sky (first in lighter blue and then just a tad of darker blue), stamped the trees and removed the mask. Next I stamped the deer into position. Just a tad of inking around the edges of the panel. All that was left to do was stamp the images onto the card base and assemble. It went much faster than I expected.

Stamps: SU Dasher, SU Lovely as a Tree, Papertrey Ink Damask Designs
Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, and eek, I can’t remember….was it Pacific Point and Night of Navy???
Accessories: Stamp-a-majig

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

New Barn Birthday

2010-11-13T10:10:00.003-06:00

I really enjoy making birthday cards for people that reflect something that has happened in their life in the last year. I have a family member that built a new barn this year so that inspired this card.

For this scene, I started by stamping and coloring the barn with Copics. I colored over the barn with a Versamark pen and embossed with clear detail embossing powder (gotta use the "detail" embossing powder!). I brayered the sky. I sponged the grassy hills in using a torn piece of paper as the mask (been using the same torn piece of paper for years!). Finally, I stamped in the large tree silhouette.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Create-A-Scene (barn), SU Nature Silhouettes (tree), Papertrey Ink Faux ribbon, Hanna Stamps Things Hanna Would Say
Paper: Basic Black, Marina Mist, Early Espresso
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Accessories: Versamark Pen, clear detail embossing powder, Stamp-a-majig

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

Long Time No Stamp!

2010-11-05T12:18:00.002-05:00

Hey, How are you? I think I needed a break here! Thanks to those of you who were checking up on me! That was so nice!

My DD just had a birthday and I couldn't decide what kind of card to make her so I decided to do a collage style. I went thru my stamp inventory and grabbed any image that reminded me of her. This was super fun and really captures who she is! You can find a tutorial I wrote on collage stamping at the Artful INKables blog HERE.

Stamps: EVERYTHING I OWN!!!! Ha! Stamping Bella, Pink Cat Studio, Artful Inkables, Hanna Stamps, H&M Stamps
Paper: Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Green Galore
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sky, Marina Mist, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Virsamark
Accessories: Clear detail embossing powder, Photo Corners Punch, rhinestone

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Chore Chart

2010-09-11T13:58:00.002-05:00

Long time no post, eh? I needed a little break here to catch my breath. To tell you how crazy things have been, I went 90 days without buying any stamping things. THAT is VERY serious!!!!

I was having trouble keeping up with what chores my kids had done and how much to pay them at the end of the week. So, my daughter and I made this chore chart. (Well, it was my idea but she did most of the work). The sticky notes show all the chores that needed to be done for the week. When a chore is complete, they move the sticky note next to their image (I have a DD and a DS). Then at the end of the week, I know who to pay and how much. To reset each week, just move the completed chores from the child's box back up to the top so they are ready to do again.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Summer, Dylan, and Flirty Edward
Paper: GP 110, Certainly Celery
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Posterboard, sticky notes, Cricut George Cartridge, fine black marker

Enjoy!
Michelle

Don't forget the dog!

2010-08-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

I was making this piece when DS had a friend over. His friend was fascinated with this dog image and insisted I work it into my piece. I think he was right!

I am saying another goodbye here today as this is my last official post for FireCracker Designs by Pamela. Snif. I can't believe its been a year already! I'll be keeping my eye on those girls!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Sally’s Garden of Weedin, Pitchin’ In, and Just Breathe
Paper: Riding Hood Red, GP 110, Whisper White
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, Clear detail embossing powder, Versamark pad

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Baseball Locker

2010-08-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

First let me say that it is with great sadness that I must announce that this is my last official Artful INKables Design Team post. I have loved the people and the stamps at AI. It is now time for me to move to less structured stamping as my job continues to be taking a lot out of me.

Now on to the happy part....my DS's bday was this week and he loves baseball. It doesn't happen very often but I had absolutely NO IDEA what to make for him. I spent about an hour looking at baseball cards over on SCS and I stumbled upon this one made my Kristin of Artful INKables. The way the bat was positioned on that card made me think of it leaning inside a locker and here I am.

The card is 2 1/8" by 5 1/2". I drew a thin black line about 1/8" from the edge all the way around. For the vents, I cut 3 straight lines at the top and then snipped the eges up a bit. I rolled them in my fingers to open them up a bit. I repeated these steps at the bottom of the locker door. I masked the word "vampire" while I inked up the baseball stamp and then stamped it into position. I colored in a little locker door handle with Copics and a white gel pen. For the inside, I stamped the ball and bat image into place and colored it with Copics. A sentiment finishes the inside.

Thanks for the fun to all the Ink Girls....I'll be keeping my eye on you!

Stamps: Artful Inkables Fictionally Inspired (front cover image), Into the Moonlight (ball & bat), and Birthday Best (sentiment)
Paper: Real Red, GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, white gel pen, fine black marker

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Funky Garden

2010-08-24T12:47:00.003-05:00

This piece was totally inspired by this funky dp. I find I like these DP's with the large bold patterns but I'm not always sure what to do with them. Here's a little learning experiment. I drew all the colors on the main image panel from the dp.

The fence & frog were stamped, colored, and clear embossed so I could sponge in the dirt and sky right over them. The lovely lady was stamped and colored seperately and glued into position.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Sally’s Garden of Weedin
Paper: Reflections DP from Mike’s, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, GP 110
Ink: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, clear detail embossing powder, Versamark pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Gears

2010-08-20T09:02:00.004-05:00

Inspiration is everywhere. This piece was inspired by a logo screen on some computer software we use at work! When I saw these lock washers at the hardware store, I immediately thought of all the gears on this stamp set.

The main piece was simply made by brayering two shades of blue in the corners and then stamping the main image in the darker shade of blue. I used glue to attached the lock washers.

Stamps: Artful INKables Steampunk Sarah
Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point
Ink: Bashful Blue, Pacific Point
Accessories: Lock Washers

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Book Inspired Hop

2010-08-19T21:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the August Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! This month's theme is to be inspired by a book cover. I choose to use both the sketch and colors from THIS book.

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.

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.) The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out! **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).

I made each of the colored panels by stamping the images in the darkest version of that color. I then sponged the ink color to match the paper about half way to the center. I then sponged the darkest version of that color just around the edges of the panel. The vanilla center panel is cut with a Nestie and then 3 sides were trimmed with my paper cutter to get the same shape as in the book cover. Love when I can figure out how to replicate something like that!

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to PAM'S FAB BLOG!!!!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Sally's Garden of Weedin
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, So Safron, Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Bravo Burgundy, Pefect Plum Elegant Eggplant, So Safron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Nesties Labels 3

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
Designer for FireCracker Designs by Pamela

Dragonfly Loveliness

2010-08-17T21:45:00.003-05:00

Well.... Everything is lovely here except my photography! I have taken so many pics of this card but just can't get a good one. So, I just gotta let it go!

I used my score-pal to make the grid. I stamped the lovely dragonflies on the main panel. Although you can't see it here each dragonfly body has glitter pen accents. I attached the main panel to the card base. The rhinestones were placed in the open spaces and touched with a light blue copic so they coordinate. A ribbon and sentiment finishes the piece.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Sally’s Garden of Weedin and Oops-a-Dasies (sentiment)
Paper: Papertrey White
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: Score-Pal, Kaiserkraft Rhinestones, Copics, Circle Punch, SU Bashful Blue Ribbon, glitter pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Purple Sunrise

2010-08-13T06:21:00.002-05:00

There is still time to enter Think Ink Challenge #26! This time we are to make a non-standard card and use purple. Complete details are HERE.

Since I love purple, this was a fun challenge! I used the brayered sky technique here for my purple background. Then I simple stamped some flowers and leaves. Don't forget to add a bit of white gel pen to those silhouettes to really make them pop! I also added a punched butterfly silhouette and let one wing fly off the page for fun!

Be sure to check out the Artful INKables clearance sale HERE.

Stamps: Artful INKables Plant Prints
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Almost Amethyst, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Nesties, White Gel Pen, Stamp-a-majig, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Last Wacky Wednesday

2010-08-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

FYI - This is the last Wacky Wednesday sale over at FireCracker Designs by Pamela. Today only, Horses of Courses is 50% off!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Sunny Window

2010-08-10T06:03:00.003-05:00

I love making window scenes! I haven't done one in a while so this was really fun! I am combining two sets from FireCracker Designs by Pamela. One thing I love about so many of the FCD stamp sets is how they all work together.

HERE is how I make the window frame and ledge. I sponged the yellows and blues onto a piece of cardstock. Then I cut them apart into 4's. When I do this, I actually remove 1/8". I don't just cut them apart and spread them out. This gives a more realistic look especially on more complicated designs. AFTER I cut them apart, I decided I needed the shadow of the flower tree. Ideally, I would have stamped that first but you gotta be flexible, right! The water can and plant were stamped on separate cardstock, colored with copics, and cut out to glue into position here.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Sally’s Garden of Weedin and Silhouette Flowers
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Papertrey Kraft, Whisper White, GP 110 (plant and water can), SU DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Score-Pal, pop dots, Copics, White Prismacolor pencil (for accents on the silhouettes)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Vintage or Christmas?

2010-08-06T05:54:00.002-05:00

I started off making a little vintage purse but after I started, I realized I had choosen Christmas colors. I guess it could go either way. Ya think?

The box inside is based after THIS tutorial (had to change the size a tad to fit inside my main panels). The outside is a die cut piece of Vanilla cardstock with 1 1/2" squares of dp as my "quilt". I die cut another piece for the sentiment and little swirls in the center. Here's a side view of the piece so you can see how it all fits together.

Stamps: Artful INKables Sew You
Paper: Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, Basic Grey Boxer DP
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Nesties, Paper Piercing Tool, Making memories Brad, Score-Pal

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

Twirling Scarecrow

2010-08-04T04:00:00.001-05:00

Hello! Today's FireCracker Designs by Pamela sale set for Wacky Wednesday is Tumbling Scarecrow. Hurry over and get yours for 50% off today only!

I decided to make him really tumble and twirl by making him a spinnner card. HERE's a tutorial for the spinner card. I was two lazy to walk upstairs and get two pennies so I just layered some punched circles to get the height and stiffness of a penny. It works pretty well. Of course, I had my heart set on placing the cutout just as you see here before I realized my word window punch wouldn't reach. So, I sketched the back of the piece with a pencil to mark where I wanted to cut and then made the cuts with my paper cutter.

The clouds are just roughly sponged with More Mustard onto Very Vanilla for a very fall look. The grass is sponged using a torn paper mask. The leaves and sentiments were then stamped into place. I happend to pay attention to the time and it took me 45 minutes to make this card. Here's another look:

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Tumbling Scarecrow
Paper: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, GP 110
Ink: More Mustard, Soft Suede, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, ¾” circle punch, pop dots

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Bee Bucket

2010-07-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

So I've had this can of scissors undecorated on my stamp table for years....litterally! It was a baby formula can from my son who will soon be 8! With the nice cabinets and counters in my stamp room now (I'm almost all moved in so I'll show you soon), the formula can just wasn't working for me so I decided to dress it up.

I choose this image and sentiment as I am a busy little bee in my stamp room making bee-utiful things! Ha! I wrapped the can in kraft paper. It took two sheets so I scalloped the edges to make the seam a feature instead of something to hide. I attached the sheets together on one seam and stamped in the bees and the sentiment. I kept the bees high up so they would not be covered by the ribbon. For the bee bodies, I punched a small circle and embossed with my Candy Cane Stripe embossing folder. Then I lightly sponged black on the raised portions and they were ready to place into position. All I had to do to finish was attach the piece to the can and tie on a ribbon.

Stamps: Artful INKables Spot On Summer
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, More Mustard
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: 1/2” Circle Punch, Candy Cane Stripe embossing folder, Scallop Edge punch, yellow ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, sorry the black/white ribbon is a scrap from an unknown source

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Trio of Butterflies

2010-07-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

This was one of those ideas that popped into my head but I wasn't sure where it came from. This is an odd shaped card (about 4 x 8) which I thought might be good for me as I like to stick to the norm most of the time.

This is probably a pretty straight forward card to make. The embossing folder was too short so I embossed from either end and strategically placed the "seam" where this lovely ribbon is. To enhance the embossing just a tad, I added a light sponging of Pretty in Pink.

PS: It's Wacky Wednesday so be sure to visit Pamela's Blog to find out what the 50% off set is for today.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss
Paper: Cryogen White Iridescent from Paper Temptress, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, D’Vine Swirls Embossing Folder, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Tip: Save The Date

2010-07-26T19:28:00.004-05:00

I often write the dates on my supplies. In this case, I am showing you my refill bottle of stamp cleaner. Every time I refill my little spray bottle I write the date on the refill bottle. Why? Read on......

This helps me budget (I know approximately how long I can go before I need to purchase this item). If I see this item on sale, I know if I should buy three (probably not in this case) or just one.

I also do this with my Momento Tuxedo black in pad, my 6 pack of adhesive for my ATG gun (can't seem to keep those in the house!), my special papers such as Papertrey White.

Hope that helps you too!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

My Sewing Table

2010-07-23T05:25:00.003-05:00

You gotta know that isn't really MY sewing table - there isn't near enough supplies out on the table! ha! Maybe I should have called this "What I wished my sewing table looked like!"

Hey, I made my own background paper here! Don't miss the current Think Ink Challenge to make your own background paper so you can try to win some free stamps! Complete details are HERE.

For the main panel, the images are emboss resist. Then I sponged in a faux table (kinda like THIS except that I sponged the lighter color into the oval cutout....thought I did a tutorial for this but couldn't find it. I'll write that on my list of things to do.) My mask moved and I had a "blop" of ink where it wasn't supposed to be so I made "wallpaper" by adding some blops all around. I attempted to make some faux buttons. I like the blue one so I'll owe you a tutorial on how to do that also....Now I gotta get to work!

Stamps: Artful INKables Sew You
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (sorry, I have a lot left!)
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Nesties, Versamark pad, clear detail embossing powder, circle punches, paper piercer

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Crocus in the Snow

2010-07-20T21:28:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure where this idea came from....I think the shape of the flower stem made me want to put some snow on top and I just ran with it from there. The shape of this lovely flower is such that it could be almost any flower - just change the color and setting.

First I die cut my white panel. I stamped the flower and colored it with Copics. I used the emboss resist technique on the flowers and snowflakes. Then I used the brayered sky technique on the sky. I stamped the sentiment. Finally I added the "snow" on top of the flower. The card base is also die cut.

PS: Its Wacky Wednesday again at FCD so be sure to check HERE for today's 50% off set (Snow Lady Wreath)!

PSS: My big project at work is up and running and going well. Hopefully life will return to normal soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss and Snow Signs Extra
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky (sorry, I still have a lot left!)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Versamark pad & pen, clear detail embossing powder, Polar White Flower Soft, glue pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

A Girl Scout for DD

2010-07-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was short a card to send to DD while she was away at girl scout camp so I had to make this one quickly. I used a sketch #26 from the Club Anya blog HERE. Remember I said I needed this quick....so I made the entire background by dragging inkpads across the paper. No sponges or stamps.

I started by dragging Kiwi across the grassy area side to side. Then I inked in some grass by pulling the Olive pad upwards. The sky was a blue pad drug side to side and I didn't worry if I covered completely as white spots were clouds, right? I used a Cocoa cube to rough in some tree trunks by just dragging the side of it down. Then I used the corners of the greens to make the pine tree shapes. As is my favorite style, I cut the shapes of the sketch into my solid piece after I was all done inking and glued the little scout into place. I have some improvements to make on this dragging technique but it was quick and fun.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Cute Troop
Paper: Whisper White (scenery), GP 110 (scout), Chocolate Chip
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive Baja Breeze, Close to cocoa, Garden Green
Accessories: Nesties, Copics

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Picnic Time

2010-07-16T06:30:00.002-05:00

(this is my 3rd post in 24 hours so be sure to scroll down)

Yippee! I'm a Featured Friend over at Clear Dollar Stamps! How cool! You can read the complete article HERE. To celebrate I created a little something with my new Picnic Time Set!

I stamped and colored the images with Copics. I clear embossed the flowers and masked off the bottom of the basket before sponging in the grass. Next I used Mother Mark's cloud technique for the sky. If you are careful, you can pull off this technique with no masking as I did here.

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps Picnic Time
Paper: Real Red, GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Copics, Versamark pen, clear detail embossing powder

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

Look Ma! No coloring!

2010-07-16T04:00:00.001-05:00

Yep, that's right. I didn't use any coloring on this one....just lots o' layers and a bit of sponging. (do you think my stress at work is causing me to be inspired to do all these beach scenes lately?? Hmmmm.....)

I started by stamping this image on all the different colors of cardstock. Then I cut them all out (see below). I added some sponging to each piece. For the two focal circles, I choose to treat the sun circle with an embossed swirl and the coconut was given some texture by carefully peeling away the top layer of the paper so I could see the rough insides.

Stamps: Artful INKables Spot On Summer
Paper: Papertrey White, Basic Black, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, River Rock (oops, meant to grab Creamy Caramel), Soft Suede, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: D’vine Swirls embossing folder, ¾” circle punch, ½” circle punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD July Hop

2010-07-15T21:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the July Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! This month's theme is a sketch challenge.

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.

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.) The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out! **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).

I used the brayered sky technique for the sky and then stamped the images in black over the top. I used a nestie to cut out the sentiment. I added the black cardstock borders. The linen thread around the bottom was brown. It just wasn't working for me so I colored it black with my Copics! The flower was stamped onto the die cut which are also available from FCD (saving me some work!) and colored with Copics.

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to CHRIS'S FAB BLOG!!!!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Mahalo
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: So Safron, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Riding Hood Red, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nesties, Mahalo Die Cuts (so I didn't have to cut the flower out), Copics, Linen Thread (colored black with copics)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
Designer for FireCracker Designs by Pamela

Parisian Bookmark

2010-07-13T23:39:00.004-05:00

As always when I need a little inspiration, I go searching for some art to get me started. I found this beautiful piece and ran with the idea for this bookmark. Wouldn't this be great as a bookmark for a romantic book?

This is a perfect example of how I think ALL stamps with great lines can be silhouettes. Just color them in all black. I also stamped a few fleur de lis around on this dp for some extra interest in the background. The curved top of the bookmark was made with the embossed curve punch.

Hey, its Wednesday again so be sure to check out this Week's FCD Wacky Wednesday 50% off stamp set HERE.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance
Paper: Basic Black, Basic Grey Sugared DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, River Rock
Accessories: EK Success Embossed Curve punch, horizontal slot punch, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Stitchin' It Up

2010-07-09T04:00:00.000-05:00

The current Think Ink challenge (#24) is to use real or faux sewing on your card. The complete details are HERE. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win some AI stamps!

I am loving this new Sew You set from Artful INKables and it goes perfectly with this Cosmo Cricket DP! I sewed a lot in my high school days (Old enough to remember prairie skirts? Yep, I made my own!). This set brings back fond memories of all the time and patience I used to have! Ha! One of my retirement goals is to get back into sewing and make some quilts.

Stamps: Artful INKables Sew You
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Cosmo Cricket DP
Ink: Chocolate chip
Accessories: Nesties Labels 3 (with the sides cut off), sewing machine & thread

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Monochrome Eiffel

2010-07-08T04:00:00.000-05:00

I've sooo been loving all the black and white cards I've seen lately and those black and white papers.....ahhhhh, love them! So I'm doing a little black/white/grey combo here for you today.

Please bare with me during the next couple of weeks J-O-B will be taking all of my time. I'll be back to visit your blogs again soon!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance
Paper: Basic Black, DCVW DP
Ink: Whisper White
Accessories: Nesties, Basic Grey Ribbon, horizontal slot punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Artful INKables July Blog Hop

2010-07-05T03:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Artful Inkables blog hop! If you haven't come here from Ann's blog, then you will want to start at the Artful INKables Blog so you don't miss anything along the way. This hop will feature the 2 new FABULOUS stamps sets Artful INKables is releasing!

Be sure to follow us all the way to the end of the hop and make sure to leave a comment on everyone's blog, you never know which blog we'll be choosing a winner from! You will have until Friday, July 9th at midnight Eastern Standard Time to comment on all the design team blogs for a chance at the blog hop goodies!

Today, I'm showing you a card made with a new set called Spot on Summer. I remembered the tutorial from the AI blog for faux stone. I thought this technique would be perfect for these little turtle shells! So I used this technique on my background frame. Shhh...To save time and cardstock, I just punched the circles out of the center of the frame. It will be covered up with the main image panel later, right? The turtle bodies were stamped, colored with Copics, and embossed (emboss resist technique). I punched out a wave border and used it as a mask when sponging my water area in working from the lightest color to the darkest color.

The next stop on the hop is the lovely TANYA!

Thank you once again for joining us today for the Artful INKables July Release Blog Hop, be sure to head on over to the AI store to order these fabulous stamp sets right away!

Stamps: Artful INKables Spot on Summer
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Pacific Point
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sky, Bashful Blue, Pacific Point
Accessories: Copics, Versamark pen, Clear detail embossing powder, Bashful Blue ribbon, Horizontal slot punch, Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic embossing folder, Versamark pad, Nesties Labels 8, Fiskars Boundary Waters Punch, circle punches

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

AI Sale....Hurry!!

2010-07-04T18:46:00.004-05:00

Hey, in case you didn't hear already....Artful INKables is having a 25% off sale. HERE are the complete details. Hurry....there are just a few hours left! (sorry, I have been out of town)

Michelle B.

A Silly Girl's Scrapbook Page

2010-07-02T04:00:00.001-05:00

Finally getting a chance to show this to you. I made this scrapbook page for Artful INKables and it was kind of a last minute thing I had to get in the mail right away. I quickly took a pic, stuffed it in the envie, and mailed it at the PO. When I got home and downloaded the pics from my camera, I noticed that I had placed the center image so that all the words on the surrouding background were sideways (the "HB" is vertical instead of horizontal)! HA!!!! How embarrassing! So, I had to send a quick note to AI to correct that little boo boo by turning the center circle before AI displayed the pages at a show! Guess that's what happens when ya rush! It was still a really fun page!

Stamps: Artful INKables Birthday Best

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Artful INKables Twilight Eclipse Blog Hop

2010-06-30T03:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to our Customer and Design Team Twilight Artful INKables blog hop! Make sure you start at the Artful INKables Blog, so you don't miss a single thing!

To celebrate the release of ECLIPSE today, we're highlighting the Artful INKables Twilight inspired sets: Into the Moonlight, Fictionally Inspired and Epic Tales. Artful INKables also has a set of Vampire Romance Themed Charms available!

I've been into graffiti lately and wanted to make a Twilight inspired graffiti wall. I started by drawing in the sidewalk. Using the emboss resist technique, I stamped the Twilight images. Then I masked off the sidewalk and sponged in the wall color. I drew in a few bricks here and there. I unmasked the sidewalk and colored it with Copics adding a few sprigs of grass here and there. I thought I was done but my DH asked how I could have a vampire card without blood. Good point I thought....so I made a special trip to the store to buy the drippy goo punch (not on sale and no coupon! Eek!). I punched out the goo on a scrap and used it as a mask to sponge the dripping blood here. NOW I'm done!

The next stop on the hop is ALISON.

In case you get lost along the way, here’s the order of the hop:
Kristin Soboloski
Laura Boyd
Michelle Barnett
Alison Heikkile
Sammi Betbeder
Michele Lourenco
Kim Nath
Erica Johnson-Wanzer
Patti Nelson
Chelsea Van Wyk
Tanya Johnson
Dawn Knight
Jennifer Olauson
Joy Stagg
Jackie Rakoski

Make sure to leave a comment on each blog along the way for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Artful INKables! Please leave your comments by Midnight, July 4th to be eligible to win!

Stamps: Artful INKables Fictionally Inspired
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion
Accessories: Fine black marker

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD Wacky Wednesday 6/30

2010-06-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

Today only (til Midnight), FireCracker Designs by Pamela will be offering the set Yoga 1 Chakras at 50% off! Check it out!

Michelle B.

Hot Pink Butterfly

2010-06-28T21:25:00.005-05:00

Just a little CAS design for you today. For some reason I really wanted to color that butterfly from Bliss hot pink so here we are. I am loving this sparkly Cryogen White Iridescent paper from Paper Temptress. It's easy to color and blend with Copics and it retains the sparkle even after coloring. Here's a close up for you:

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss
Paper: Paper Temptress Cryogen White Iridescent, Paper Temptress Magenta Basis, Paper Temptress Olive Basis
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, white gel pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Black and White

2010-06-25T20:51:00.008-05:00

This cool striped paper and fabulous ribbon are from Paper Temptress. I thought it looked kind of elegant so I wanted to keep with that theme and just use a simple fleur de lis image. I tried to color the image to look 3-D by putting a little grey shadow on the left side and varying the darkness of the image as your eye moves across it. I found that you can blend your Copics pretty easily on this paper and I like that you can see the stripes thru the coloring.

PS: Be sure to enter the FCD Eclipse Challenge. Details are HERE.

PSS: Get your FCD free weeekend digi HERE.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance
Paper: Paper Temptress Laser Silver Lustre, Paper Temptress Eclipse Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Paper Temptress 5/8” Black and White Stripes Grosgrain, Kaiserkraft rhinestone, Copics, Nesties

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Challenge #23 Backpack

2010-06-25T05:25:00.003-05:00

Artful INKables Challenge #23 is to make anything but a card using red, white, and blue. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win free stamps! You can find the complete details HERE.

I thought this little backpack idea looked pretty cute so I gave it a shot. It was really funny and took just a little over an hour (I am sure I would be much faster the 2nd time after I had actually seen a finished one). You can find the instructions and templates for this backpack HERE. The only thing I did differently was that I printed the templates right onto my cardstock (instead of making a pattern from them). I just made sure that the printed side ended up INSIDE the box so none of the marks would show.

I added a little unusual embellishment on the ribbon. When I was out shopping for washers for necklaces, I came upon these little lock washers. They reminded me of all the clocks and gears in the stamp set so I grabbed them. Fun eh?

Stamps: Artful INKables Steampunk Sarah
Paper: Real Red, Night of Navy, GP 110
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Accessories: Brads, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, Lock Washers

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Twilight Challenge #4

2010-06-23T20:35:00.004-05:00

Time for Twilight Challenge #4 hosted by Artful INKables. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate and the opportunity to be a guest designer for a month! The complete details are HERE.

This week's challenge is to make anything but a card. I chose to make a team necklace but its kind of a sneaky one....its Team Jacob on one side and Team Edward on the other side! You could flip it around depending on who you are hanging out with that day. HERE are some instructions on making these.

Stamps: Artful INKables Fictionally Inspired
Paper: Real Red, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Metal washer, black leather cording, Tombow Mono Multi Adhesive, emery board for sanding edges, Glossy Accents

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

An Unusual Request

2010-06-23T07:41:00.004-05:00

A while back I received a phone call from my cousin's boyfriend. He asked if I could create a birthday card for my dog loving cousin using photos of her dogs. I said "sure" but wasn't quite sure how I was going to go about this. I hadn't tried to use photos on a card before but I was up for the challenge (I had to help this thoughtful guy out!). This is what I came up with.

Stamps: H and M Stamps Doggy Years
Paper: GP 110, Craft, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Spots & Dots EF

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Kid Silhouettes

2010-06-21T06:26:00.003-05:00

I saw the most fabulous silhouettes of children on Nichole Heady's blog HERE and I just had to make a set!

(The blur in the right lower corner of each silhouette is where the kids signed their own name. I am a bit of a privacy freak when it comes to my kids so I obscured that in these pics)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Ocean Diorama

2010-06-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

You know how I love my scenes and creating depth....so why not a diorama box! The basic instructions for making a diorama box are HERE.

I used Nesties to cut the centers of my boxes out. I used the darkest color cardstock at the back and went lighter to the front, again creating depth. My little fishies are suspended on white thread that was colored blue with Copics. This was a really fun project and went quicker than I expected. Give it a shot!

Stamps: Artful INKables Aquatic Fantasy
Paper: Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Cool Caribbean (from an old stash. Sorry, I had to!), GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White, Pacific Point
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Thread

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Open Roads - FCD Hop

2010-06-17T21:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the June Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! This month's theme is "Open Roads" and we are to focus on our favorite traveling tunes. I live in Missouri and my mom lives about 45 miles away in Illinois. This trip requires us to cross the Mississippi River and drive through rural areas. When the kids were little we used to sing "Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go" and that is what inspired this piece.

I wanted to point out the cool papers and ribbon from Paper Temptress I used in this piece. I am LOVING this Cryogen White Iridescent paper that is used in the main image panel. It sparkles all over - even after sponging or coloring with Copics. I tried to get a pic of that sparkle for you:

The How To:
RIVER - I masked off the river area with a cut piece of paper and sponged the whole river in Bashful Blue. I sponged Tempting Turquoise just along the bank area. I stamped the "ripples" in turquoise.
GRASS AND TREES - I used the other piece of paper to mask the river area so I could sponged Old Olive in the grass area. I sponged Kiwi Kiss into the tree area. The trees were stamped with Old Olive (and I stamped twice before going back to the ink so that some trees look far away). I used a blender pen with Chocolate Chip ink to color in the trunks a bit. Grass was added to the river bank in Old Olive ink.
SKY - I sponged a bit of Bashful Blue into the sky and added a Chocolate Chip bird.

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.

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.) The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out!**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'S FAB BLOG!!!!

And don't forget to check out FCD's Eclipse Challenge HERE.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Just Breathe
Paper: All from Paper Temptress - Blue Ice, Cryogen White Iridescent, Canyon Brown/Cream Skinny Columns
Ink: Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 3/8" Brown Blue Polka Dot Grosgrain from Paper Temptress, Oval Nesties, Scallop Trip Border Punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
Designer for FireCracker Designs by Pamela

Twilight Challenge 3

2010-06-16T22:10:00.007-05:00

Time for Twilight Challenge #3 hosted by Artful INKables. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate and the opportunity to be a guest designer for a month! The complete details are HERE.

This week's challenge is to show which team you are on. I am TEAM JACOB! I modeled this after one of my favorite shirts (although mine is purple, silver, and has a big fleur de lis on the front). After I was done with this I realized that the way I made this pretty much followed my Collage Tutorial so there you go! What? You can't sketch out the shirt shape? Have no fear, here's a rough template for you to print out and trace onto your cardstock. Sorry I didn't have a chance to clean it up. Note that I used a circle punch to cut the neckline.

COPYRIGHT and ANGEL POLICY
This image is copyrighted to Michelle Bartnett 2010. All rights reserved. This image is for your personal use only. You may not redistribute them in any fashion including copying, lending, re-selling, duplicating, sharing, giving as a prize, or posting the raw images or files online. It's free for heaven's sake - just send them here to get it!!!!!! This images may not be made into physical rubber or acrylic stamps. Please give credit for the image. You may sell hand made products that include this image.

HOW TO USE THIS IMAGE
To use this from a Windows machine, just right click on the image and you'll be able to choose to save the file to your computer. I usually go into a program such as a graphics program or Word and insert this file and print. You can also resize the file before printing if you want.

Stamps: Artful INKables Into the Moonlight, Artful INKables Fictionally Inspired
Paper: Very Vanilla
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories: Clear detail embossing powder, stamp-a-majig, circle punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FireCracker Designs by Pamela - News

2010-06-16T16:56:00.003-05:00

Today's Wacky Wednesday sale set is Leading Ladies.

Don't miss the Eclipse Challenge HERE.

Or the free Twilight Inspired digi HERE.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD Eclipse Challenge

2010-06-14T20:27:00.003-05:00

Friends, I have been sooo busy lately, I haven't even had time to spend any money on stamps or supplies! THAT is SERIOUS! Ha!

This evening I am sharing a piece for FireCracker Designs by Pamela's Eclipse Challenge. The complete details are HERE. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win free stamps! PS: No whining about not having any FCD images! You can pick up a freebie digi HERE.

I am doing challenge #1 - Black Circle, White Circle, Red Ribbon. The black circle is embossed with the Bird Call embossing folder (I kinda moved it around to only get the grass and no bird) and has a red ribbon tied around it. The white circle is stamped with the wolf and 2nd generation stamping (ink the stamp, stamp on a scrap, and then stamp again on the piece without reinking...gives a soft look) of the moon, and the word Eternity. The edges of this circle are sponged as well with Basic Grey and a bit of black. The base layer has some wolf prints, the word Forever, and the edges are heavily sponged in black.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Love Bites
Paper: Basic Grey, Basic Black, GP 110
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Basic Grey, Going Grey
Accessories: Bird Call embossing folder, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, nesties, stamp-a-majig (sentiment)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

French Country

2010-06-12T08:23:00.003-05:00

I have been working on this card off and on for 2 weeks....just couldn't get it right! Originally, I had the yellow base, the blue horizontal stripe, and the main image panel. I trimmed down the yellow base and the main image panel and layered blue behind each piece and that's exactly what it needed. Now I am ready to show this to you.

With a torn piece of paper, I masked off the area where the bottom of the Eiffel Tower would be and then stamped the tower. I used the same torn piece, moving it around, to sponge in the greenery under the tower. I used Mother Mark's Cloud technique for the sky.

FCD NEWS!
FCD is hosting an Eclipse challenge. The complete details are HERE. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win free stamps!

Also, don't miss this weekend's digital freebie HERE....also Twilight inspired! No whining about not having an FCD stamp appropriate for the challenge now!!!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance
Paper: Summer Sun, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Old Olive, More Mustard

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Spotlight on Fish

2010-06-11T04:00:00.000-05:00

Think Ink Challenge #22 is to try a new technique. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win! Complete details are HERE.

Yes, I know I create spotlighted scenes all the time but here I went for the more traditional spotlight technique where the rest of the piece is UNCOLORED (gasp!). It was very tough for me to leave all those images uncolored but I think it turned out kinda cool. It also gives me an alternative for those time when I'm in a rush! I'm guessing you don't really need much instruction here, eh?

Stamps: Artful INKables Aquatic Fantasy
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Papertrey White
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, Stamp-a-majig, fine black marker (to draw the sea floor and a few sand hills), Fiskars Boundary Waters punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Twilight Challenge 2

2010-06-08T20:37:00.006-05:00

Time for the next Twilight Challenge hosted by Artful INKables. I hope you'll play along for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate and the opportunity to be a guest designer for a month! The complete details are HERE.

This week's challenge is to use Twilight Themed colors - red, black, and white. I was inspired by this little screen saver thingee my DD put on my phone (she said it was perfect for me and boy was she right! She also told me its an iPhone app called Backgrounds).

I stamped the images in white. Then I went over certain areas with a white gel pen to darken. I also colored in certain areas lightly with a white Prismacolor pencil for a little shading.

Stamps: Artful INKables Fanciful Flowers
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: Whisper White
Accessories: White gel pen, white Prismacolor pencil, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD Wacky Wednesday 6/9

2010-06-08T20:30:00.004-05:00

Today only (til Midnight), FireCracker Designs by Pamela will be offering the ATC Set at 50% off! Complete details are HERE.

Also, FCD has a sketch challenge (and a chance to win a digi from the FCD store!) on a new digi forum located HERE.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Oh, Man! This Rocked!

2010-06-08T20:00:00.005-05:00

Most of the time, I have no problem giving away a card I have made. Every once in a while, I like one so much that I kinda want to hang on to it. This was one of those cards I had trouble letting go of....but I had to leave for the party 5 minutes after I finished it! (I would have liked to get a better pic but I was out of time).

I started with THIS sketch from Club Anya. I "frankensteined" this girl by using the head from Camille and the body of Odette so she would look most like my graduate. Now...I need a graduation cap. I started by punching a 1 1/4" square of grey cardstock. I trimmed it to make it more diamond shaped. In the photo below, I placed a punched pink 1 1/4" square under it to show how I trimmed. I sponged a little black in the center bottom. I also punched a little more than 1/2 of a 1 1/4" circle. I used the 3/4" punch across the bottom to make the two arches. I added a little white highlight on each piece and a tassel of embroidery thread to finish. Fab!

Stamps: The Greeting Farm WS Camille, The Greeting Farm WS Odette, The Greeting Farm Roll Call sentiment Paper: Basic Grey, Pink Passion, Very Vanilla, We R Memory Keepers dp, GP 110
Ink: Basic Grey, Momento Tuxedo Black, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: CB Stars EF, EK Success Binding Edge Punch, Nesties, Copics, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, embroidery thread, white Prismacolor pencil

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Collage Tutorial and More About Me

2010-06-07T18:34:00.002-05:00

Hiya! If you haven't already seen it, hop on over to the Artful INKables blog HERE and check out the tutorial on Collage Stamping that I wrote. If you'd like to learn more about me, I was recently their featured stamper and you can see that article HERE.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Its a Wedding Summer

2010-06-06T12:24:00.003-05:00

I have several weddings to attend this summer so I need to get those wedding cards done! This was inspired by (but not an actual use of) a sketch from Taylored Expressions (# 116 HERE). Although it looks dark in the photo, the hearts and sentiment are actually shiny silver. Anyone have any good tips for me on photographing shiny things? I can't figure it out!

FCD News - Be sure to check out the FREE patriotic digi for this weekend HERE.

Check back with FCD on Wednesday for the Wacky Wednesday Special!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss & Parisian Romance
Paper: Papertrey White
Ink: Versamark pad
Accessories: Silver embossing powder & heat gun, Cricut George cartridge

Enjoy!
Michelle

Peace

2010-06-04T05:21:00.003-05:00

How about another card for DD at camp? She's going to be gone a whole week! Eek! This is her favorite color combo and she loves all the clothes that are out now with peace signs on them.

Feels funny not to write instructions but I'm figuring you've got this one covered!

Don't forget to participate in the Twilight Inspired Challenge HERE.

And the Eclipse Blog Hop HERE.

Stamps: Artful INKables Pick a Pocket Piece
Paper: Papertrey White, Green Galore
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Butterflys Fly Away

2010-06-01T23:58:00.004-05:00

Hey, how have you been? I've been working a ton of hours and had no time to post anything. Now there are probably 1000 things I ought to be doing besides making this card but I just had to be me for a few minutes!

I need to make some cards to send to DD while she is away at Girl Scout Camp. I started with today's Sketch Challenge. I wanted to use the "giggle" sentiment with this little cutie. Then I guess its getting late and I'm getting slap happy: I then started to wonder what she was giggling about. How about a butterfly on her head? I will also enter this into the Club Anya Song Inspiration Challenge. The song? Miley Cyrus has a song called Butterflys Fly Away and also Party in the USA says "Butterflys Fly Away" and I thought either of the lyrics to those songs would be appropriate for DD going away to camp.

This image was colored with Prismacolor Pencils.

The sky is DP with a bit of sponging (the white was just too bright). The grass is some really old DP that I can't remember where I even got this. There's a little fence punch and some butterflys with White Prismacolor pencil accents. The trick to getting those clouds and fence to match up all the way across....build the scene as a 4 x 5.5 scene and then cut it to fit the sketch. When you put it back together, everything will match up.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Summer, The Greeting Farm Anya Says
Paper: GP110, DP, Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Martha Stewart Fence Punch

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

A Sneaky Pocket

2010-05-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

The current Think Ink Challenge is to Think Pockets. HERE are the complete details on how to play and have a chance to win free stamps. So I got this idea in my head to make a pocket card that looks like jeans where the gift card slips right into the pocket. Only one problem: my gift card was too long. I didn't let that stop me! I just thought for a second how I could make this work (stubborn I am!).

So what I did was stamp a pocket on the blue base and sponge a bit from the center out (to create that little shadow you get around your jean pockets). I used a few punches from my Word Window punch to make a wide hole for my gift card to slip through. Then I adhered the blue base to the green card base. I added adhesive around the side and bottom edges of the pocket. I also added a strip just beneath the hole so that my gift card would slide thru to the correct hole. There wasn't enough room at the top left and right for tape so I used a dab of glue to seal those corners.

I stamped the lizard on a piece of cardstock and colored with Copics. I trimmed the cardstock around the lizard and left a large piece at the bottom just large enough to frame the giftcard. Here's the gift card inserted into the pocket.

I stamped another pocket with white ink onto the blue cardstock. I carefully trimmed this pocket just inside the solid white line. I wanted to show the white stitching on the pocket but not the border. I adhered this pocket over the one with the whole and inserted the lizard. I added a few white "gain" lines by just using the straight edge of the sponge lightly.

Stamps: Artful INKables Pick a Pocket Piece
Paper: Old Olive, Baja Breeze, GP 110
Ink: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics

PS: Don't forget to sign up for the Artful INKables Twilight hop (details HERE) and watch for the Artful INKables Twilight Challenges coming June 3 (details HERE)!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Twilight Challenge 1

2010-05-26T20:12:00.004-05:00

Today begins the fun of Twilight Challenge Month at Artful INKables! Yippee! I've been so exciting for this to begin! I hope you'll play along for a chance to win a $25 gift card and be guest designer for a month! The complete details are HERE

This week's challenge is to be inspired by a book cover. I chose the cover of Breaking Dawn.

I stamped the image and added just a bit of shading with grey Copics. I colored the image with a Versamark pen and clear embossed the image TWO TIMES as wanted to keep that white as bright as possible. Next I sponged a glow around the image and sponged a ground beneath it. I also darkened an area of the ground as a shadow. The grey base was stamped twice with the diamond pattern stamp. Shhhh! The "seam" between the two stamped images is hidden beneath the main panel.

Stamps: Artful INKables Into the Moonlight
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Grey, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Going Grey, Basic Grey
Accessories: Copics, Clear detail embossing powder, Versamark pen, SU ribbon

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

14th Anniversary

2010-05-26T00:18:00.003-05:00

Our 14th wedding anniversary is just around the corner and I'll need a great card! I used Sketch Challenge SC282 to get me started. I chose bright blue for the base as that was the color used in our wedding. The image of holding hands walking along the beach is reminiscent of our honey moon. Aww, I'm getting all mushy now....

The image was stamped onto GP 110. The arms didn't quite reach for the position I had them in so I just extended them a bit with a fine black marker. I colored them with Copics and clear embossed. I sponged in Baja Breeze about 2/3 of the way down the paper. I used a post it note mask for my turquoise horizon line. Finally, I sponged in the sand (extending into the water just a bit) and stamped the sentiment. I used a heart image from Bliss to add some interest to the bottom portion of the piece.

BY THE WAY....Its Wacky Wednesday so FireCracker Designs has Scatter Joy on sale 50% off today only!!!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance, FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss (just the heart)
Paper: GP110, Pacific Point
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Baja Breeze, Tempting Turquoise, River Rock, Pacific Point
Accessories: Copics, Clear detail embossing powder, Versamark pen, Atyou Spica pen (on the bracelet)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Quick Sympathy

2010-05-24T22:02:00.006-05:00

I made this a few months ago but haven't had a chance to post it. It was a last-minute-need-a-sympathy-card creation.

I simply brayered Sage Shadow at an angle on the top right and bottom left corners. I sponged some black into the bottom left. I think I brayered a 2nd color into the top right (maybe basic grey or baja breeze but can't remember now...sorry!). I stamped the images in black. I also sponged black around the edges. I thought it was really nice when I completed it but now I'm looking at the photo and hoping it wasn't really that sloppy looking!

Stamps: Innovative Stamp Creations Art 4 Frames II, Stampin’ Up Inspired by Nature
Paper: Whisper White, Sage Shadow
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Sage Shadow, Is that all?
Accessories: None?

Michelle B.

Pop Art Paris

2010-05-22T07:56:00.004-05:00

Today I am inspired by the bright colors and simple repeating patterns of pop art using my new (and loved!) Parisian Romance set from FireCracker Designs by Pamela. Prolly no instructions needed today, eh?

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance
Paper: Papertrey White, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Whisper White, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: 1 ½” Square Punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Pocket Notebook

2010-05-21T06:54:00.005-05:00

My son brought home this tiny little pencil from school the other day. I wonder if he could see the light bulb going off in my head when he showed it to me? I had been toying with the idea of a pocket on the front of a notebook but couldn't think of what I should put in the pocket. The tiny pencil made perfect sense!

I started by cutting down a box that my favorite soda had come in. The cardboard is cut in 4" x 4" squares and covered with this denim look DP. I cut the pages for the inside to 3 3/4" x 3 3/4". I used my handy Bind-It-All to assemble the book. I stamped the pocket onto the denim look DP and cut it out. I sponged a little ink around the edges of the pocket. I knew I couldn't just tape this pocket down and expect the pencil to fit so.....I cut some strips leftover from adhesive dots and ran those along the edges of the pocket (keeps the pencil from slipping thru too!). Here's how it looked when I was cutting those strips.

I added the pocket to the front of the notebook with the cute tab. Next I put rhinestones in each of the little circles on the pocket. The pencil was a bit snug so I sharpened both ends and it slipped in just fine (DS had already removed the metal end and eraser for me!).

Stamps: Artful INKables Pick a Pocket Piece
Paper: denim look DP from Mike’s, GP 110
Ink: Blue Bayou, Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Bind-It-All, cardboard from a soda box, Kaiserkraft rhinestones, pencil from DS, adhesive dots

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD - Grunge Hop

2010-05-20T21:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the May Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! This month's theme is "May Mayhem" aka Grunge and Distressed. I don't think I've tried this style before but I found that I LOVED it so I'll definately be doing this again.

I started by stamping the large flower onto the Very Vanilla base. I colored with Copics (not to perfect as this is supposed to be distressed) and embossed in clear. I swiped a Sahara Sand ink pad down the left side. I sponged Close to Cocoa around towards the center and then Chocolate Chip near the edges. I also stamped the large fleur de lis type image several times in Cocoa. Now for the fun....I folded and crumpled the whole piece. I sponged Chocolate Chip on the folds to accentuate them. I also use a distressing tool to rough up the edges. As I was punching the border, I thought it would make a cool mask so I put it on the main piece and sponged thru the wholes a couple of times. The swirl was a piece I had stamped with fleur de lis and little accent stamps to use as a border but I didn't like it as a border. I love it as the swirl!

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.

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.) The winner will be chosen from a mystery blog hostess that we don’t even know who it will be until the hop is over…so that’s why you’ll want to leave a comment on EVERY blog, so you don’t miss out!**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).

Hey, did you know Pamela is looking for a few digi designers? Complete details are HERE.

Now, to continue the circle, you will need to hop on over to SHELLY'S FAB BLOG!!!!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss & Parisian Romance
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very VanillaInk: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, , White (just on the swirl)
Accessories: Copics, Versamark pen, clear detail embossing powder, word window punch, EK Success Fleur de Lis punch, Tim Holtz distressing tool

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
Designer for FireCracker Designs by Pamela

Eclipse Blog Hop!!!

2010-05-19T20:59:00.003-05:00

Whoo Hoo! Artful INKables is sponsoring a Twilight inspired hop to celebrate the new Eclipse movie release! The complete details are HERE! Hope you'll join us!

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Oopsa Daisy on Sale

2010-05-19T00:20:00.004-05:00

Today only (til midnight-ish) FireCracker Designs will be offering this fab set, Oopsa Daisy, for 50% off! No coupon required - just run on over and get yours! Complete details are HERE.

This card was a little challenge to myself to make a card & post it in 30 minutes. I did pretty good until I got stuck on the photography. Gets me every time!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Oopsa Daisy
Paper: Papertrey Kraft
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Kraft ribbon, Prismacolor Pencils (sorry, in a rush and forgot to keep track of which ones!)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Artful INKables May Hop!

2010-05-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Artful INKables blog hop featuring some fabulous new releases! If you haven’t come here from Marti's Blog, then you'll want to start from the Artful INKables blog, so you don’t miss anything along the way. You are going to love this release! We are releasing 3 full size stamp sets and a new mini this month. There is sure to be something for everyone! Now follow us all the way to the end and make sure to leave a comment on everyone’s blog, you never know which blog we’ll be choosing a winner from! You will have until Thursday, May 20th at midnight Eastern Standard Time to comment on all the design team blogs for a chance at the blog hop goodies!

Today I'm showing you the new Aquatic Fantasy set featuring this lovely mermaid. I stamped her, colored her with Copics, and cut her out. Oh, the texture on her tail....simple made by holding down the tip of my Copic colorless blender in a spot for about 2 second and then moving on to the next spot. It takes a minute to develop and then you'll end up with this scaly texture. I made the little ocean panel behind her by sponging Bashful Blue at the top, Tempting Turquoise in the middle and Pacific Point at the bottom and really "scrubbing" those sponges to blend the colors. I assembled all the pieces and stamped the sentiment to finish.

Now hop on over to Kim's Fab blog for the next sample!

Stamps: Artful INKables Aquatic Fantasy
Paper: GP110, Whisper White, Papertrey White
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point
Accessories: Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog, Atyou Spica glitter pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Need Sympathy Cards...

2010-05-14T21:28:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately, I recently found myself in need of several sympathy cards in just a matter of weeks. I hate to rush to make a card at the last minute as I was doing then, so, I am trying to build up a little stash of sympathy cards and hope I never have to use them.

I stamped the flower and colored it with Copics. I clear embossed it twice. Then I brayered Bordering Blue and a bit of Blue Bayou at an angle in the upper right (you could sponge or airbrush for a similar effect). I brayered Old Olive and a bit of Always Artichoke at an angle in the bottom left. The sentiment is actually two different stamps. I love how FireCracker Designs by Pamela images always work together within a set and across various sets!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss

Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Blue Bayou
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bordering Blue, Blue Bayou, Old Olive, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Copics, Nesties Labels 4, Versamark pen, clear detail embossing powder, fine black marker (to extend the stem of the flower just a tad)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Think Ink Challenge #20

2010-05-14T06:24:00.003-05:00

The current Think Ink Challenge is a Recipe Challenge: 3 buttons (oh, that was painful for me!), 2 ribbons, and 1 circle. You have until Monday, May 24th to enter for a chance to win a grab bag of AI stamps! Complete details are HERE.

I really struggled with this and worked on it for about 3 days. I think I need more practice working with buttons. You know what that means? Yep, I need to shop for some buttons. You always shop first and then figure out if you know how to use it later, right?

I used a Nestie to cut out my circle and left the Nestie on the circle while I airbrushed some green along the bottom left and purple along the top right. I stamped the butterflies and colored them with Copics. I used 2 different punches to make my little button flower garden. For the green background layer, I used some of the sentiment stamps from the set and stamped them randomly. Then I sponged the edges of that layer. I love text in the background!

Stamps: Artful INKables Fairy Whimsey
Paper: GP110, Mellow Moss, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Mellow Moss
Accessories: Nesties, SU buttons, Copics, Copic airbrush system, Boho Blossoms Punch, Martha Stewart Branch Punch, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

FCD Wednesday Sale

2010-05-12T06:39:00.002-05:00

It's Wednesday and that means FireCracker Designs is offering a stamp set for 50% off today and today only. This week's stamp set is Yoo Whoo! You can find the complete details of the sale here.

Enjoy!
Michelle

Said So with Audrey

2010-05-11T05:03:00.004-05:00

My 11 yo DD picked out all the colors/supplies/embellishments for this card according to the Club Anya "Because I Said So" challenge.

As soon as I told DD about this she wanted to do this card NOW! She picked out several things she thought were pretty and when I arranged them on the table she said "Ewww, those don't look so good together". I told her I had an idea that I thought would work. She said "Good luck with that" and she walked out! Ha!

I colored this image with Prismacolor pencils and did NOT use any kind of goo gone/baby oil/mineral spirits kind of blender. I simply used the pencils to move the wax around. I'm still kinda perfecting this so I will keep practicing and share this with you soon. I have a hard time reading the colors on the pencils in my dimly lit basement. DD made labels for me and that is REALLY helping! Lisa C had asked that I post what color pencils I used so here ya go:

The sky and grass are just DP. The sun was cut with my Cricut, sentiment stamped in the middle, and then sponged with a very dry sponge of Rose Red (closest I had to Melon Mambo). Audrey was colored with Prismas and her shirt and hat were paper pieced in (they receieved a little chocolate Prismacolor shadows). The flowers were sponged with inks and had a eyelet inserted. I drew in a wavy line stem with my Prismas and some circle "leaves" to match the DP.

Stamps: The Greeting Farm WS Audrey, The Greeting Farm Anya Says
Paper: Basic Grey Lime Rickey DP, Melon Mambo, Yo Yo Yellow
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Rose Red, Yo Yo Yellow
Accessories: Cricut & Doodlebugs cartridge, Flowers from Mike's, Yo Yo Yellow eyelets, EK Success Dotted Wave Punch, Ribbon from Pink Hedgehog

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

I'm a Lucky Duck!

2010-05-10T05:33:00.003-05:00

My MIL is getting new cabinets/counters in her kitchen and she gave me her old ones for my craft area! This includes a center island, upper cabinets, and lower cabinets. I was so excited and then I got a little overwhelmed. I have to decide how to arrange the different pieces to work best for me. I couldn't figure out how else to do this besides move all of my things into the cabinets and see how they fit (now you know what I was doing all weekend). I have "moved in" to the center island and have it in place already. I'll show you the finished product when I get there.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Reversible Washer Necklace

2010-05-07T04:00:00.000-05:00

The front:

And the back:

I've been seeing these washer necklaces a lot lately and wanted to give it a try. HERE are some instructions.

When you are shopping for washers at the hardware store, be sure to consider the weight as some of the larger ones are way to heavy to hang around your neck! These are about 1 1/2" across. When I bought these, the nice lady checker said "what size are these?" I said "I don't know. I just bought them because they were pretty." She gave me a funny look so I said "I'm going to make necklaces out of them." Then she said "Where do you sell your jewelry?" Ha!

I traced the washer onto the cardstock and stamped the images. Then I cut the shape out and adhered it to the washer with adhesive. After it dried, I sanded the edges. Next I put a thick layer of Glossy Accents over the entire piece. Pop any bubbles that may appear. DO NOT tap the piece on the table or you will end up with tons of bubbles (I know because I did this on the black side and now you know why the pic looks so bad!). Let dry for 24 hours. After I had completed one side I thought....hey, why not do something on the back too and here we are!!

Stamps: Artful INKables Fanciful Flowers, Artful INKables Paisleys and Peacocks
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Metal washer, black leather cording, Tombow Mono Multi Adhesive, emery board for sanding edges, Glossy Accents

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Simply Paris

2010-05-06T06:11:00.002-05:00

Whoo Hoo! I just got my hands on this fabulous Eiffel Tower image from FireCracker Designs by Pamela. This image is part of a large set called Parisian Romance. I also used a few images from Bliss. One of the cool things about FireCracker Designs by Pamela sets is that they all work together for endless combinations!

This was pretty quick and simple. I just stamped the images, swiped some Sahara Sand ink randomly across the page, distressed the edges, and folded the corner down. I could have sworn I saw this somewhere as a vintage postcard but I couldn't find it....guess I only saw it in my head.

PS: Be sure to stop by FireCracker Designs by Pamela on Wednesdays for a featured set that is 50% off!

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Parisian Romance, FireCracker Designs by Pamela Bliss
Paper: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand
Ink: Sahara Sand, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Distressing Tool, Stamp-a-majig, pop dot (to hold that corner down)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Another Alice Inspired Piece

2010-05-04T06:12:00.004-05:00

An Alice in Wonderland lovin’ friend has a birthday coming up. I went to look for some movie inspiration and found this piece and set off to create.

I brayered the sky (Bashful Blue then Bordering Blue) and the grassy area (Old Olive then Always Artichoke). I wanted to emulate the swirls in the inspiration piece so I stamped out a couple of Sizzix Scribbles and Swirls but it just looked to harsh so I pulled the scrap of paper I had punched out of and used it as a stencil and sponged in the swirls varying how dark they were for depth. I cut the oval out of the center. The images were colored with Copics (I was going to list them per a request I received but it was over 35!!! So maybe another time.) and cut them out. The flowers were touched up with Copic airbrushing to make them match this scene. Their centers are from a 1/4" circle punch and the Scribbles and Swirls die. Hmmm, have I ever used flowers before???

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Wonderland digi
Paper: GP110, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue, Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Basic Grey (edges)
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, Sizzix Scribbles and Swirls, Kaiser Flowers, 1/4" circle punch

Enjoy!

Michelle B.

FireCracker Designs Specials!

2010-05-01T10:38:00.002-05:00

FYI - It's National Scrapbooking Day and to celebrate, FireCracker Designs by Pamela has put together these 2 sets, especially chosen for use with scrapbook pages:

Red Rubber set:
Butter/Dragon Fly, 2x3002, 4.49
Dots – Hollow Bubbles, 2x3005, 4.49
Dots – Distress, 2x3004, 4.49
Doodles 7/Paisley, 4x5019, 8.99
Doodles 8/Journal Jammer, 4x5020, 8.99
Innies/Outies 4, 4x5025, 8.99
Total value: $40.44
That's SIX red rubber sets for ONLY $25.00!!
Sale price for set: $25.00

Clear Polymer set:
Curly Bird, CS2X2003, 2.99
Ribbon Moon, cs2x2007, 2.99
Blue Bird, CS2x2011, 2.99
Star, CS2x2012, 2.99
Pussy Willow, CS2x3005, 3.79
Boy w/ Flowers, CS2x3008, 3.79
Total Value: $19.54
That's SIX clear polymer stamps for ONLY $12.50!!!
Sale price for set: $12.50

NOTE: FCD reserves the right to make equal substitutions to fill orders if an item is sold out.

You can see the sets HERE.

OH, and don't miss this weekends FREE digi from FCD! You can find it HERE.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Fairy in a Frame

2010-04-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of different inspirations coming together again for this vintage fairy picture frame. I actually started to create a frame for a picture that was accented by these cute images from Fairy Whimsey but these images were so lovely, I decided to make them center stage.

To get started, I cut out 4 of the large Labels 8 Nestie in Soft Suede. The first two just get adhered together to make a strong back of the frame. The second two get the center cut out with a Nestie oval shape (cut one and then lay it over the top of the other and cut again so that they line up exactly). The 4th piece also gets cut apart at the corners, embossing (lay the pieces in the embossing folder so the "grain" all goes the same direction), sponging, and then adhered to the 3rd piece with the oval cut out of it. Did that make any sense? This treatment was inspired by this Faux Wood Frame tutorial.
Now I had to "invent" some way for my frame to stand up. I cut a piece of Soft Suede into a 3 x 3" square. I scored it at 1" intervals. I cut about 3/4" off the left and right at the top so there was just a tab in the center. I cut from the outside corner in to the tab to form the angled sides. It wasn't quite sturdy enough so I cut another 1 x 2" piece of Soft Suede. I scored it at 1/2" and 1 1/2".
I adhere the small piece inside the larger piece to add some stability.

The main Vanilla panel is cut in an oval shape (make sure its one sizer LARGER than the oval you cut out of the frame so you have some area to attach it with). The images are stamped in Chocolate Chip and colored with Copics. I sponged just a hint of River Rock across the colored areas and around the edges. I then used the Cracked Glass technique on this panel. (My DS loves to "break" these!)

Now I just need to assemble everything. I used small dimensional dots on the edges of the frame because the main panel was so think with UTEE. Here is a pic of the back (I am really proud of how neat it looks!)

I don't usually have the patience to design an original 3-D piece that actually works so I was pretty proud of myself!

Stamps: Artful INKables Fairy Whimsey
Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Ink: River Rock, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Copics, Nesties, Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder, Ultra Thick Embossing Powder, Versamark pad

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Think Ink Challenge #19

2010-04-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

Think Ink Challenge #19 is a makeover challenge! Participants are to make over an old card. Hope you'll play along for a chance to win free stamps! The complete details are HERE.

I didn't pick a very "old" creation to redo but I picked one from a couple of weeks ago because I kept saying "I should have" while I was making it! Here's the original piece:

The "I should have's" that I'm addressing in my made over piece are 1) I should have used some white to separate the images 2) I should have used spring like colors or even more than one color family. Hopefully this piece will give you inspiration for lots of color choices if you try this technique. HERE is a tutorial from the original card.

Stamps: Artful INKables Plant Prints
Paper: Papertrey White (base), Whisper White
Ink: Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lavender, Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Rose Red, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive
Accessories: Versamark Pad, Clear Detail Embossing Powder

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Heidi's Playing the Sketch

2010-04-28T06:22:00.004-05:00

I'm playing along with today's sketch challenge on SCS (#278). Yippee! I'm glad to have the chance to play as this one is my favorite. And I reward myself for getting up early with my favorite soda on the way to work!

I had this little girl all colored and ready to go so I just cut her out with a square Nestie. Next I took a 4" x 4" piece of cardstock and used the same Nestie to cut out the center so I could insert the little girl instead. I stuck these two pieces onto an old Cricut mat to hold them still while I inked. I stamped some grass and a couple of clouds. I masked off the grass with a torn piece of paper and also masked off the clouds. I roughly sponged in the sky....no need to be perfect here. I didn't mask off the girl - just sponged softly right up to her. Then I masked off the sky with the other half of my torn paper and sponged in the grass. One thing to note on the grass is that I colored a bit darker BEHIND the grass....not the grass blades themselves. This makes those blades pop out rather than hide.

Here's a couple of tutorials with pics of how I do this type of card:
Cut then Ink Technique
Cutting a Sketch with DP

Stamps: C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Heidi Among the Flowers digi, C.C. Designs Sugarplums Scenery
Paper: GP 110, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi (behind the grass blades and under Heidi), Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Nesties

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Art-y Pear

2010-04-27T04:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of inspirations here coming out in one piece:

1. The whole "pear thing" started when I was thinking about a piece of art a co-worker used to have hanging in their office that was just a single pear. This fab digi pear called Forever Postage from FireCracker Designs by Pamela reminded me of that pear.

2. I have a piece of art hanging in my home that has this type of background. To create this, I just drug my River Rock ink pad across the top inch or so. Then I wanted to use Sage Shadow on the center strip but I didn't want to mask anything so I just drug it across the River Rock and down into the Sage area. Finally, I drug my Always Artichoke pad across the bottom section. I sponged Artichoke and Chocolate Chip around all the edges (got a little sloppy here didn't I?) and a little Chocolate Chip for a pear shadow.

3. I made a HUGE mistake the other day and decided to figure out how long it was going to take me to own every Copic marker.....eons!!! So I decided to go back to my colored pencils again. I could finish that collection in just a month or two! So I studied up on YouTube and tried out some new things I had learned (like using purple in shadows!). The pear is colored, cut out, and adhered to the background piece.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Forever Postage
Paper: Whisper White, Sage Shadow
Ink: River Rock, Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils & Goo Gone (to blend)

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Drum roll please.....

2010-04-26T06:17:00.003-05:00

And the winner of the Cosmo Cricket DP is

Gail's Card Cafe!!!!! Yeah!!! Just send me a note with your addy and I'll get that right out to you.

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

So Soft Fairy with Paint Swatches

2010-04-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

There are still a few days left for Think Ink Challenge #18 to use paint swatches. You could win free stamps so hurry over and play!

I happen to be in the process of picking colors to repaint our whole house so I just happen to have many paint swatches here. I choose a couple of pretty colors and punched butterflies out of them and also used those colors to inspire this whole piece. I always color with such bold colors that I thought I'd try something different for this sweet little fairy from Artful INKables Fairy Whimsey set....and color softly. I got a little carried away on the wings but the rest of her is exactly what I was aiming for.

Stamps: Artful INKables Fairy Whimsey
Paper: Papertrey White, Soft Sky
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sky
Accessories: Nesties, Copics, Cricut & George Cartridge (ovals), paint swatches, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Woo Hoo! I'm off today!

2010-04-22T08:57:00.003-05:00

Woo Hoo! I am off work today! So I decided to play along with today's Ways to Use It challenge over on SCS. Today's challenge is to mix up patterns. Eek! That's usually a little rough for me but this came to me pretty easily.

I wanted to do a sunset behind this lovely tree from FCD's Mahalo and when I saw the oranges and yellows in this DP from Basic Grey Maraakech, I decided to take the easy route and just stamp the tree onto this beautiful DP. Using DP like this is a great alternative for those of you who love the look of brayered skies but aren't ready to take that on yet. I sponged just a bit of brown along a torn paper mask for the ground below the tree.

The 3 pattern DP's are also from this line. For the green piece I just stamped the leaves onto it. The red/orange piece is stamped with the sun image from this set. The multicolor piece had some bright white in it which didn't really go with this piece so I just colored in the white with my E31 Copic.

Stamps: FireCracker Designs by Pamela Mahalo
Paper: Soft Suede, Kraft, Basic Grey Marrakech DP
Ink: Soft Suede, Really Rust, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Nesties, E31 Copic

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Art Inspired Flowers Tutorial

2010-04-21T05:54:00.008-05:00

Wanna know more about how I created that card yesterday for the Artful INKables hop? I always hesitate in adding a tutorial to a blog hop post because there is so much going on there already. So, here ya go:

I start with a piece of "slippery" cardstock (helps the ink move around). In this case I used SU Very Vanilla. I used the emboss resist technique to stamp the two dark flowers. (Emboss resist=ink first in Versamark and then Chocolate Chip before stamping to paper. Dust with clear detail embossing powder. Heat with the heat gun). Now, these are dark images....why didn't I stamp them in the end? Because 1) I wanted their dark stems to be seen all the way through the picture. If I had stamped them later, they would have been broken up by the other embossed images and 2) This helps me place all the other images, masks, etc. for the rest of the piece.

Next I embossed this beautiful leaf image in just Versamark.....no ink and embossed. The leaf on the left was a little too high off the edge of the paper so I used a Versamark pen to extend its stem to the edge of the paper.
The ferny leaves were stamped using the emboss resist technique again and River Rock ink.
Placement of the sticky note mask here is critical. NEVER put this right smack in the middle. It will always be more interesting to place this more towards one side or the other. It is also important that it cuts the brown flower on the right in half. Again, this is more interesting and helps tie the two halves together.

I sponged Sahara Sand ink from the outsides inward all the way around. I always place a scrap paper underneath my piece and start sponging completely OFF the piece and work my way to the center swirling and rubbing all the way. See all the ink on my sticky note! I let the ink run out as a I get to the center which gives that nice fade. When its time for more ink, I start off the piece on my scrap again and work towards the center. I like to leave just the tiniest bit of the Very Vanilla showing here.

(Sorry forgot to take a picture between these two steps) Close to Cocoa ink is sponged in the very same way except that I only go in about 1/2" or 3/4"....not all the way to the center. You should still be able to see the Sahara Sand sponging so don't cover it up completely.

Here's some helpful tutorials on sponging:

Sponging a Glow (written for Artful INKables)

Using Sponges

Now I move the post it note around to cover up what I just did. You cannot sponge all the way up to the post it note so I always leave a sliver of the completed side showing so that I don't get a white line between the two sides (hmm.....although that would have been an interesting effect. Maybe I should try that!). I sponged Close to Cocoa on this side using my usual technique (start off piece and move to center, leave a little Vanilla showing in center). Then I used my Soft Suede ink pad and drug it from off the page towards the center lifting as I went to give me a faded, textured appearance.

All that's left is to remove the sticky note and add this to a card base!

Stamps: Artful Inkables Plant Prints
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Ink: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Soft Suede
Accessories: Versamark Pad, Versamark pen (to extend the stem on one of the leaves that I stamped too far in!), clear detail embossing powder, embossing buddy

Enjoy,
Michelle B.

Artful INKables April Hop!

2010-04-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Artful INKables blog hop! We are celebrating the fabulous month of April with some amazing April flowers the Artful INKables way!

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

My favorite Artful INKables set is Plant Prints. I love to look at pieces of art to get inspiration for ways to use this set. Today I was inspired by this piece. I used the emboss resist technique on the flowers and leaves. I masked and sponged the panels in much the same way I sponged a glow in THIS AI tutorial. I drug my stamp pad across the right panel from the top down and bottom up to give that cool effect. I am thinking now that maybe I should have done in this piece in some more spring-like colors.....maybe next time.

Make sure to comment on every one's blog, because one lucky commenter will win a $10.00 gift certificate to spend at the Artful INKables store! Please leave your comments by Friday, April 23rd, 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time, one lucky winner will be chosen on Saturday, April 24th.

Thank you for participating in today’s blog hop, now hop on over to JOY’s fabulous blog. I am sure you will love everything you see today!

Stamps: Artful Inkables Plant Prints
Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Ink: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Soft Suede
Accessories: Versamark Pad, Versamark pen (to extend the stem on one of the leaves that I stamped too far in!), clear detail embossing powder, embossing buddy

Enjoy!
Michelle B.

Just Painting Around

Too Lazy to Color

Not too late for a calendar.....

Earrings and earring cards

Who Made This Mess??!!??!!

FS231 Off to Camp

I *LOVE* Versatile Stamps

Bookmark swap and beyond

Football Jersey

Has it really been so long?

First Communion & "Ray" Tutorial

B-I-G Flower

Outer Space Tutorial

Calendar

Outer Space

Asian Bird

FS209 Lizard Skin

A Toughee for Me

FS206 Ruffle Girl

SC314 Drink at the Beach

Happy New Year & FS204

2010 Christmas Card #1

New Barn Birthday

Long Time No Stamp!

Chore Chart

Don't forget the dog!

Baseball Locker

Funky Garden

Gears

Book Inspired Hop

Dragonfly Loveliness

Purple Sunrise

Last Wacky Wednesday

Sunny Window

Vintage or Christmas?

Twirling Scarecrow

Bee Bucket

Trio of Butterflies

Tip: Save The Date

My Sewing Table

Crocus in the Snow

A Girl Scout for DD

Picnic Time

Look Ma! No coloring!

FCD July Hop

Parisian Bookmark

Stitchin' It Up

Monochrome Eiffel

Artful INKables July Blog Hop

AI Sale....Hurry!!

A Silly Girl's Scrapbook Page

Artful INKables Twilight Eclipse Blog Hop

FCD Wacky Wednesday 6/30

Hot Pink Butterfly

Black and White

Challenge #23 Backpack

Twilight Challenge #4

An Unusual Request

Kid Silhouettes

Ocean Diorama

Open Roads - FCD Hop

Twilight Challenge 3

FireCracker Designs by Pamela - News

FCD Eclipse Challenge

French Country

Spotlight on Fish

Twilight Challenge 2

FCD Wacky Wednesday 6/9

Oh, Man! This Rocked!

Collage Tutorial and More About Me

Its a Wedding Summer

Peace

Butterflys Fly Away

A Sneaky Pocket

Twilight Challenge 1

14th Anniversary

Quick Sympathy

Pop Art Paris

Pocket Notebook

FCD - Grunge Hop

I LOVE Versatile Stamps