Fly Away

For my last day of my leave (sniff!) I wanted to play around some more with my Copics.  I chose a really old Penny Black stamp I have had for probably 8 or 9 years.  I thought it would be a good image to practice my shading/blending as it has a colored index label, which I copied 100%.  Once I colored the image, I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, which I flipped on its side.  The main image is popped up on dimensionals.

Yep, definitely a learning curve to these markers, but they're still fun!

This is the sketch I used:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated):

Stamps:  Fly Away (Penny Black)

Cardstock:  Basic Black; Shimmer White; Lucky Limeade; Island Indigo; 2011-13 In Color DSP

Ink:  Brilliance Graphite Black

Accessories:  In Color Brads; Copic Markers

Cheers

Karren

Thanks Card

I'm enjoying my week off work and wondering how I can convince my boss to keep paying me to stay home LOL.  Somehow, I don't think he'll be as keen on the idea as I am!

Here is another card I've made this week.  This time it covers three challenges, Pals Paper Arts color challenge; iSpy Sketch Challenge and SUO Challenges, which is to make a special thank you card.  The iSpy sketch challenge is new to me, but I saw the sketch on another blog and loved the symmetry of it, so had to play along.

There is no stamping on this card, it's all Big Shot dies and hand-cutting for the rolled roses.  I love these colors together.  I was never a fan of Daffodil Delight  but I've been using it a bit lately and it's growing on me.  One of the upsides of challenges!

Here are the challenge details:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Early Espresso; Cherry Cobbler; Daffodil Delight; Brights DSP; Regals DSP

Accessories:  1 3/8" circle punch; Little Leaves Sizzlet; Naturally Serif Alphabet Sizzlet

Cheers

Karren

Just Add Winter

The theme this week at Just Add Ink is Just Add Winter - not much of a stretch as we're in the middle of what feels like one of the coldest winters since I was a kid.  I combined the theme with the sketch at Create with Connie & Mary to come up with this:

This is the third winter card I've attempted over the last couple of days.  Suffice to say, the other two will never see the light of day - they were hideous!  I'm slightly happier with version 3.0.  I used what is one of my all-time favorite DSPs - Ski Slope.  It's so pretty, it's a shame to cover it up with stamping!

Here is the sketch, which as you will see, I turned on its side so I could fit my image in.

Thanks for looking.

Edited to add:  The team at Create with Connie & Mary chose this card as one of their 3 top picks this week.  The team at Just Add Ink also chose this card this week.  Double happy!  Thanks!

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Branch Out; Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock:  Early Espresso; Very Vanilla; Ski Slope DSP

Ink:  Early Espresso; Baja Breeze; Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  Pearls

Cheers

Karren

Paper Players #103

Well, it's Day 2 of my week's holiday and it's great!  This morning I took our puppy, Dexter, to the groomers and he came back looking adorable.  Check out this little bundle of cuteness:

I have to admit the bow came out as soon as the photos were done.  I'm not a fan of making dogs look like humans.  

Anyway, while Dexter was at the groomers, I made a card for this week's Paper Players color challenge.  These colors look gorgeous together, so I was quite keen to get stuck in and make a card.

I started with some gloss white cardstock which I clear embossed with the En Francais background.  Then I sponged with Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral.  Once I'd done that, I ran it through the Big Shot with the oval Designer Frames EF.  The little flowers are made using the MFT Rolled Rose die.  The leaves are a cut up Little Leaves sizzlet.

Onto the card:

And here is the challenge:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  En Francais; Afterthoughts

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Glossy White; Calypso Coral; Daffodil Delight; Lucky Limeade

Ink:  Versamark; Calypso Coral

Accessories:  Clear EP; MFT Rolled Rose Dies; sponges; Wide Oval Punch; Designer Frames EF; Little Leaves Sizzlet; Pearls

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen as a Cut Above this week by The Paper Players.  Thanks, guys!

Cheers

Karren

Razzleberry/Olive

The color challenge at Dynamic Duos this week is Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive.  I really, really don't like Rich Razzleberry, so this was a true challenge for me.  I combined the color challenge with the sketch from Stamping 411.

I went simple with this card, letting the Big Shot and the colors do the work.  I used my Daisies die and the Little Leaves die to create a flower and leaves.  I sponged all the die cuts to give a bit more dimension.  All said, despite not liking Razzleberry, I actually quite like this card.  I think all the white softens the glare of the Razzleberry somewhat.

Here are the challenge details:

Thanks for looking.  Hopefully, I'll get some more posts up this week, not having to deal with that pesky full-time job for a week LOL.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!)

Stamps:  Happiest Birthday Wishes

Cardstock:  Whisper White; Rich Razzleberry; Old Olive

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry; Old Olive

Accessories:  Daisies Die; Little Leaves Die; Brights Buttons; White Bakers Twine

Edited to Add:  This card was an Operators Top Pick at Stamping 411 this week!

Inspired By Nature

I didn't get a chance to stamp over the weekend as it was my son's 10th birthday and he had a sleepover for his birthday.  Oh joy!  Actually, the boys were very well behaved but they still need adult supervision so the stamping had to take a back seat.  Luckily, I have a week's annual leave from work, so I get some stamping time anyway.

Here is my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketch challenge.

I pulled out Inspired by Nature and after stamping it in white on black, I colored it using Stampin' Pastels.  Without checking, I think this is the Black Magic technique?  I also used some new dies I got the other week - love the intricacy of these dies.  The main image is popped up on Dimensionals.  (Excuse all the little white flecks on the photo - they aren't on the card, so I think my lens may need a clean.)

Here's the sketch:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Inspired by Nature

Cardstock:  Basic Black; Old Olive; Tangerine Tango

Ink:  Whisper White Craft

Accessories:  Stampin' Pastels; Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork and Piestra Tile Dies

Cheers

Karren

Winter Post

The color challenge at Dynamic Duos this week is Crumb Cake and a color of our choice.  I chose what is one of my favorite colors - Cherry Cobbler.  Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler scream Christmas to me so I made my first Christmas card of the year.  This card also qualifies for The Paper Players challenge this week, which is Christmas in July.

Another of my favorites is the Winter Post set.  I love the vintage images, so I went vintage for this card.  For the card base, the DSP layer and the sentiment panel I used the Music Notes wheel, and on top of that stamped the postmark and snowflake image from Winter Post, all in Crumb Cake ink. The main image is stamped on Crumb cake and colored using markers, so by necessity it had to be a quick job, with little time for shading.  The sentiment comes from Contempo Christmas.

Some sponging and the card was ready to assemble.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Winter Post; Contempo Christmas
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Cherry Cobbler; First Edition DSP
Ink:  Black Stazon; Crumb Cake; Early Espresso
Accessories:  Music Notes wheel; Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler markers; Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon; sponge; Dotted Scallop punch

Edited to add:  This card was picked as the Headliner at Paper Players this week.  How cool is that!

Cheers
Karren