Happy Hoppers

I know I haven't posted in more than a year.  That is because I'd rather be making cards than blogging.

But, I have a little incentive to making this new entry.  I emailed pictures to Stampendous of some of my Easter cards made with their adorable Happy Hoppers stamp.  Laura asked if I had a blog on which the cards were shown because she said they might link them on their blog.

Sorry I can't list all the materials I used.  Little did I know anyone would ask for them.  All the images were colored with Copics.  Some of the bunnies were brown and some gray.  I experimented with lots of different color combinations.  They all have fine glitter on them, and two have that fabulous Stampendous green flake embellishment (wish I could remember its name, but I lent my jar to my friend.)

Spellbinders A2 Curved Matting Basics were used on this one, and green vellum was cut with Fiskars grass border punch.

 This is just a close-up of the image.

Have a great day.  Now it's time to get back to fun...making cards!

FEEL THE WIND IN YOUR EARS

WOW...this is my second post today!

Just as we have lots of golfers and sailors among our family and friends, we also have LOTS of skiers...so I usually buy every skiing image I can find.  These cards were all made with a set from The Cat's Pajamas.  It is part of their "Clearly Swanky Stamps" line.  It didn't have a name on it, but its item number is K-0704 CL.  It comes with the skier and 3 sayings...I used all 3.

With all these cards, I created a mask and air-brushed the background.

Here are the cards.  The only difference in these first 2 cards are the colors of the rabbits and the textures on the scarves.  The "Frosted Lace" Stickles (snowflakes) barely show up in all the photos, but are quite evident in person.

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B97 (airbrush), B69, B66, R39, R37, R01, R02, W01, W0, W00, Colorless Blender (polka dots on scarf)
Red, White & Blue cardstock
"Hit The Slopes/Fresh Track Signs" dp (Moxxie)
"Nesting Ovals" dies (Lifestyle Crafts)
Sticko Dimensional stickers
Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B12 (airbrush), B24, B26, R39, R37, R01, R02, E50, E51, E33
Red, White & Blue cardstock
"Hit The Slopes/Fresh Track Signs" dp (Moxxie)
"Nesting Ovals" (Lifestyle Crafts)
Sticko Dimensional stickers
Red (polka dots on scarf) Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B12 (airbrush), C03, C06, R29, R27, R01, R02, E40, E41, E42, Colorless Blender (polka dots on scarf)
Red, White & Blue cardstock
"Hit The Slopes/Fresh Track Signs" dp (Moxxie)
"Wonky Rectangles" (Spellbinders)
White Opaque Inkssentials Pen
Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B95 (airbrush), E01, E00, E000, E13, E11, R01, R02, BG49, BG45
Aqua, White, Pearlescent White, Glitter Aqua & Glitter White cardstock
"Kitchen Blue Stars" dp (Colorbok)
Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B95 (airbrush), C02, C01, C00, E39, E34, R01, R02, BG49, BG45
Aqua, White, Pearlescent White, Glitter Aqua & Glitter White cardstock
"Kitchen Blue Stars" dp (Colorbok)
"Create A Flake", Labels Four Small & Large (Spellbinders)
Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B97 (airbrush), C01, C00, C000, R85, R83, R01, R02
Royal Blue & White cardstock
"Snow Collection" dp (Memory Box)
"A2 Matting Basics" (Spellbinders)
Fiskars Oval punches
"Snowflake Border Punch" (EK Success)
Pink, Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape
Ribbons

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B95 (airbrush), C02, C01, C00, C03, C06, R85, R83, R01, R02
Royal Blue Metallic & White cardstock
"Snow Collection" dp (Memory Box)
"Petite Ovals" (Spellbinders)
Fiskars Oval punches
"Snowflake Border Punch" (EK Success)
Pink, Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape
Ribbons

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics: B97 (airbrush), C02, C0, C00, G03, G07, R01, R02
Royal Blue Metallic, White Glitter & White cardstock
"Snow Collection" dp (Memory Box)
"Snowflake Border Punch" (EK Success)
Green, Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape
Silver Snowflake Brad (Michaels)

Materials used on this card:
Copic X-Press-It Blending card
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Copics:  N04, N02, N0, G14, G12, R01, R02, Colorless Blender
Green & White cardstock
"Snow Collection" dp (Memory Box)
Green, Clear & Silver Stardust pens (Sakura)
Foam Tape

Thanks for taking a look.  Have a great day.

THIS AND THAT

It is so much fun to have a friend come over to make cards.  And because my friend is new to card-making, I get to play "teacher"...a role I've always loved.

So I searched through some techniques I've used in the past, so that I could share them with her.  Little did I know how much I would love re-visiting them.

Years ago, I attended a class that Dave Brethauer (Memory Box) taught at Bella Art in Johnston, RI.  Dave taught us how to make a watercolor background with Twinkling H2O's.  My friend and I made these cards using that technique.  (Twinkling H2O's add a lovely shimmer that really doesn't show up on these photos.)

Materials used on this card:
Watercolor paper
Twinkling H2O's "Sunburst" & "Hot Cinnamon"
Black, Red & Yellow cardstock
"Lovely As A Tree" (Stampin' Up)
Brilliance Graphite Black
"Rebecca" Cuttlebug Folder
Spellbinders Large & Small Petite Ovals

Materials used on this card:
Watercolor paper
Twinkling H2O's "Teal Zircon" & "Sea Glass"
Black & Aqua cardstock
"Tree Border" (Memory Box)
"Thinking of You" (Savvy Stamps)
Memento Rich Cocoa & Brilliance Graphite Black
"Polar White" Flower Soft
Ribbon

We also "played" with brayering a background.  I saw a card similar to this on Memory Box' website and couldn't wait to show my friend how to accomplish it.  (Again, the colors are truly more vibrant than they appear in this photo...must do something about my awful photography skills!) 

Materials used on this card:
Glossy White cardstock
Black & Gold cardstock
"Cattail Birds" (Memory Box)
"Celebrate" (Stampin' Up)
"Creole Spice" Kaleidacolor Rainbow pad
Memento Tuxedo Black

One of my Great-nephews just turned 9 yesterday and has wanted a puppy his entire life.  He finally got one last Friday, so I wanted to make him a birthday card with a dog on it.  Would you believe that I don't own one dog stamp!  So I turned to my Cricut to make his card.

These perfect images came from the cartridge "Nate's ABCs".  I couldn't believe how much the new puppy looks like this image.

Couldn't resist decorating the envelope too.

ROSES FOR YOU

A friend came over last week and found Wordsworth's "Rose Card" stamp in one of my "flower" drawers and thought she would like to make some cards with it.  I don't think I have inked up that stamp in more than 10 years; but when I saw her finished card, I knew I HAD to revisit that stamp.

I think the reason I haven't used it (aside from the fact that I keep buying and stamping NEW things LOL) is because the image itself measures almost 5 7/8 x 3 inches.  I prefer to make A2-sized cards because they fit nicely in the boxes I use for giving cards away.  This image size meant I had to come up with some different layouts and envelopes.

These first cards are 5 x 7.  When Wordsworth came out with the "Rose Card" stamp in 2000, it also came out with a series of word stamps that fit inside the border of the image.  This "Happy Anniversary" is one of those complementary phrases.

Other materials used on these cards:
Copics: R89, R59, R39, R29, YG97, YG95, YG93
Copic X-Press-It Blending Card
Memento Tuxedo Black
Black, White & Red cardstock (Olive cardstock replaced the Black on the second card.)
Fiskars Border Punch
Red chiffon ribbon
Adhesive rhinestones (Recollections)

I always decorate my envelopes to coordinate with my cards.  I couldn't use the same stamp, so I found this delightful "Delicate Rose Stem" stamp from Hero Arts.

All the remainder of the cards are 6 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches.

These 2 cards use a "Happy Birthday" stamp (Clear stamp...sorry I don't know company)

Other materials used on this card:
Copics: Y08, Y06, Y04, Y02, YG97, YG95, YG93
Copic X-Press-It Blending Card
Memento Tuxedo Black
Black, Yellow & Olive cardstock
Yellow/white ribbon
Sticko Dimensional Glitter Dots

Other materials used on this card:
Copics: RV09, RV06, RV04, RV02, YG97, YG95, YG93
Copic X-Press-It Blending Card
Memento Tuxedo Black
Black, Bright Pink & Olive cardstock
Check ribbon
Sticko Dimensional Glitter Dots

These last 2 cards use the "With Deepest Sympathy" phrase that was another stamp designed to compliment the "Rose Card" image.

Other materials used on this card:
Copics: R85, R83, R81, R11, YG97, YG95, YG93
Copic X-Press-It Blending Card
"What the heart has once owned...(Stampin' Up "Loving Memories" set)
Memento Tuxedo Black
Black, Light Pink & Olive cardstock

Other materials used on this card:
Copics: R89, R85, R83, R81, YG97, YG95, YG93
Copic X-Press-It Blending Card
"What the heart has once owned...(Stampin' Up "Loving Memories" set)
Memento Tuxedo Black
Black, Rose & Olive cardstock

 Here is a close-up of the image on the envelope.

Thanks for taking a look.  Have a great day,
Carlene

SO EASY & VERSATILE

Sometimes it takes hours to make a single card...especially if there are lots of details to be colored, blended, highlighted or shadowed.  And sometimes, you find a stamp that lets you make MANY cards in a single afternoon, even if you use different mediums for the colors.

When I saw Hero Arts DESIGN BLOCK "Silhouette" I knew that it would allow me to make many cards that had commonalities, and yet, look very different.  Here are the cards I made with it.

On the first 3 cards, a wash of Twinkling H2O's ("Dutch Iris"/"Green Tea" OR "Sky Blue"/"Fern") was made on watercolor paper for the background.

Other materials on this card:
Lt. blue & green cardstock
"just because" (Savvy Stamps)
Versamark & Memento Tuxedo Black
White Detail embossing powder

Other materials used on this card:
Lt. blue & green cardstock
"have a beautiful day" (A Muse Art Stamps)
"PEARLustre Sapphire" Embossing powder
Versamark & Memento Tuxedo Black

Other materials used on this card:
Royal Blue & Green cardstock
"Get Well Soon" (clear stamp...don't know company)
Versamark & Memento Tuxedo Black
White embossing powder

On these next two cards, I used a brayer to apply ink from multi-colored stamp pads onto Glossy White cardstock.  I used a mask to create the moon.

Other materials used on this card:
Purple & Black cardstock
"Creole Spice" Kaleidacolor inkpad
"thinking of you" (Savvy Stamps)
Versamark & Memento Tuxedo Black
Black Detail embossing powder

Other materials used on this card:
Green Mottled & black cardstock
"Autumn Rainbow" Memories inkpad
"thinking of you" (Savvy Stamps)
Versamark
Black Detail embossing powder

There are no layers to the next 2 cards.  Both use Memory Box Designer cardstock as the card base.

Other materials on this card:
"thinking of you" (Savvy Stamps)
Versamark
Blue Metallic embossing powder

Other materials used on this card:
"Get Well Soon" (Rubber Stampede)
Versamark
Green Metallic embossing powder

Materials used on this card:
White, light & charcoal gray cardstock
"With Sympathy" (Stampin' Up "Warmest Regards" set)
Versamark
Pewter embossing powder
ribbon

Materials used on this card:
White, Gray & Metallic Silver cardstock
"anniversay wishes" (clear stamp - don't know company)
Versamark
"Bridal" embossing powder (PSX) & Silver embossing powder
silver metallic ribbon

Thanks for looking.  Have a great day.

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