LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Last week, I did some cards with Gina K's "Life Is Beautiful" set and Twinkling H2O's.  This week, I decided to do more with the set, but wanted to color the image with Copics.

If you know me, you know that I'm not a "one-of-a-kind-card" maker.  I always use a stamp many times and try to vary it by changing colors, phrases, etc. because I give away more than 1000 cards a year to charities, family and friends.

On all the cards below, I used Copic Express-It blending cardstock, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics and Copic markers.  The stamp set comes with a butterfly and a bee.  Whenever I used the butterfly, I stamped it on the original image and also on a separate sheet of  Copic X-Press-It which I colored, cut out and superimposed on the original image with foam tape for extra dimension.

Here are the results.

These first two were colored with the following Copics:
Leaves & stems G46, G43
Tulips G43, G40, G20, YG0000
Bee Y08, Y0000 (Stickles on wings)
Butterfly Y38, Y08, Y0000
Other Supplies:
"Life is what happens..." stamp (Stampin' Up "Full of Life" set)
Pale Green & Black Cardstock
Sticko Dimensional Stickers

Copics used on this card:
YG13, YG17, YR 18, YR16, YR15, YR12, Y17
"When you take a flower..." stamp (Dawn Houser for Inkadinkado)
Orange & Black cardstock
Sticko Dimensional Stickers

The phrase on the next 3 cards is from the "Life Is Beautiul" set.
Copics on this card: G99, YG63, R89, R85, R83, R81, BV17, BV11, BV00
Green & Rose Cardstock

Copics used on next 2 cards:
G99, YG63, R85, R83, R81, R11, BV17, BV11, BV0000
Green & Pink Cardstock

On this card, I used Glitter Adhesive Dots from Recollections

Copics used:
YG09, YG05, Y38, Y35, Y32, Y21, Y11
"Life is short..." stamp (Hero Arts)
Gold & Green cardstock

Copics: YG67, YG63, R29, R27, R24, R22, V28, E40
"May you always..." stamp (Stampendous)
Red & Olive cardstock

NEW NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

I'm adding a new resolution to my already-failed 2013 promises.  Let's hope I can keep this one...Doubtful!

As I was doing my post-Christmas cleaning, I came across a box in the upstairs bedroom that had 8 sets of Gina K. stamps that had NEVER made it down to my stamping room.  And that order was from last Spring.  So I hereby announce that I will (try) not to buy any new stamps until I ink up all the stamps I already own.

I couldn't believe that I had forgotten all about that order.  I decided to ink up Gina K's "A Beautiful Life" illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger.  All the images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on watercolor paper and colored with Twinkling H2O's.

I apologize for the glare on the pictures.  I tried taking the pictures with the flash on, then off, but they all came out the same.  Believe me when I say the tulips on the top are the exact same colors as the ones on the bottom, but the glare made them look different.

On all the cards, I stamped extra butterflies that I cut out and superimposed with foam tape over the butterflies that were stamped on the original frame.

These first cards all use the sympathy phrase that is included in the set.

PURPLES:

On this one, I only used one butterfly and added Sticko Dimensional stickers to balance the image.

 MAUVES:

 On this one, I used pearls from Queen & Company.

PINKS:

These next cards use a wedding phrase from the set.

 Wishing you a beautiful day,
Carlene

A-SAILING WE SHALL GO!

Surprise, Surprise!  Here I am back only one day since my last entry.

Today I wanted to share some sailboat cards I've made in the last few weeks.  Friends of mine are sailing enthusiasts, so I'm always looking for new sailboat images.  Their yacht club
has a raffle to support their Youth Sailing Program so I always make extras to donate.

As soon as I saw this sailboat stamp, I knew I had to add it to my collection.  It is a new image from Lockhart Stamp Company.  One of the amazing things about Lockhart Stamps is that they always send sample cards along with their stamps to stores.  This first card design was taken directly from the store sample.  The only difference is that Karen Lockhart uses Prismacolor pencils to color her images, and I used Copics on all mine.

Other Materials Used:
"Oh, the places you'll go..." (also a Lockhart stamp)
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Stickles
Red, White & blue cardstock
Star dp (Frances Meyer, Inc)
foam tape

On the next 2 cards, I used "Water Waves" dp from The Paper Studio.  This 1st card was actually a mistake as I cut the dp the wrong way.  I had wanted my card to have the waves going across the 5-1/2" length of the card, so I had to redesign my layout.  With too much empty space, I turned to some adhesive rhinestones to mask the mistake.

This was my original design for the card.

 Other Materials Used:
"The cure for anything..." (My Favorite Things "The Sea Set")
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Stickles
White & blue cardstock
ribbon
foam tape

On this next card, I used one of my favorite layouts.

 Other Materials Used:
"Life is a beautiful ride" (Unity Stamp Company)
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Stickles
Light & medium blue cardstock
"Cool Morning Stripes" dp (Around The Block)
Stickko Dimensional stickers
foam tape

Here is my last card.

 Other Materials Used:
"Keep the wind in your sails" (My Favorite Things "Smooth Sailing Flopsey")
Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Color Box Royal Blue pigment ink
Stickles
White & royal blue cardstock
"Funky Blue Waves" dp (Paper Pizazz)
Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles & Ribbon Banners
foam tape

A NEW YEAR

I can't believe it was a month ago that I last posted anything.  My only excuse is Christmas.  I can finally say that all my decorations are now away, and my rooms have been put back to their pre-Christmas condition.

I did, however, sneak in some hours of stamping during that time, but never took any pictures of my cards until this morning.  So here is what I've been doing.

First of all, I know I bombarded you with my Memory Box "Catalina Wreath" cards.  Well, my girlfriend wanted to come over to learn how to make cards.  I've been sending her cards for years, and she recently asked if she could come over to watch the process.  I told her she couldn't watch...she had to get knee-deep into cardmaking.

I also told her that she had to keep my secret...that being, that cardmaking is relatively easy if you have the right materials.  She's HOOKED now and may never shop in Hallmark again!  LOL!

Here are the wreaths we made.  (She took the die home with her and created many more on her own.)
On this one, we used the technique I described on the previous post and Gina K's "Parisian Garden" dp.  The sentiment and die are from Taylored Expressions "It's a Banner Day 2."

On this one, we used Stampin' Up "Petal Patch" dp.

On her next visit, we made these cards with the wonderful Sizzix/Hero Arts Stamp & Emboss set "Floral Wreath Set" that I found at Bella Art in Johnston.  What a great set...the embossing folder pops the flowers.  I hope you can see that in these pictures.

On this first card, we stamped with SU "Real Red", embossed, added a bow and Stickles.  The  "Flowers of gratitude..." phrase is from the 2005 SU set called "Flowers of Gratitude."

On this card, we stamped with Memento "Rich Cocoa" and colored with Copics (RV14, RV 21, G21, G24).  After coloring, we used the ef, added a bow and Stickles.  "Grateful is from the SU set, "Small Script."

On this card, we stamped with Memento "Tuxedo Black" and colored with Copics (Y19, Y08, G03, G07).

On her third visit in less than 2 weeks (I told you she was hooked!...so nice to have someone to share your passion), we made some butterfly cards.

Here are the materials we used for this card:
Stamp: "We delight..." Gina K "Dreams" set by Tami Mayberry
Cardstock: Gray, Purple, Blue, & "Wisteria" dp by Basic Grey
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: MFT Die-namics "Butterflies", Spellbinders Ovals & Scalloped Ovals, Stickles, adhesive pearls (Recollections), ribbon, foam tape.

These last 3 cards vary only slightly.  They all used the "Time does not change us..." stamp from SU (sorry I could not find the name of the set...I do know that it is one of 4 stamps in the set and came out in 2005); blue cardstock; "Blue Silk Scarf" & Blue Downtown Dot" dps from Cosmo; Memento "Tuxedo Black" & "Rich Cocoa" ink and a ribbon.

This first card uses a butterfly from PSX Stamps and Twinkling H2o's.

These last 2 cards use two different butterflies from SU's "Wonderful Wings" set and a variety of blue Copics.