Artwork for Anna...

I thought I'd share the artwork I made for my niece, Anna, for her 2nd birthday a while back. Little Anna is really into ballet (pronounced "bah-way" LOL) right now, so her mommy and I decided on some of the cute digital images by Mo's Digital Pencil.

First, we have Anna's name frame for over her bed:

Anna loves giving kisses, so the adorable "Kissy" was perfect for her name frame.

The image was colored with copic markers, and then carefully cut out to layer onto the background. I added a bit of star dust Stickles to her tutu and a gold Spica pen to her crown for a bit of sparkle. The background itself was made by cutting pieces of Nitwit's Buds n Blossoms digi paper into little squares and layering them quilt-like onto my base paper. I printed "Anna"onto PTI Sweet Blush paper, carefully cut out each letter and ran them through my Cuttlebug for some added texture.

My apologies on the horrid photos of the other 3 pieces in this set. I forgot to take photos of them before giving them to Anna, and so was stuck taking the photos in her not-so-well lit room after they were hung on the wall.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Touch of Spring...

Happy Friday! Are you ready for another challenge with Stamp Something? Janna is hosting this week, and she has chosen the following theme:

A touch of Spring

I don't know about you, but after all the snow we've been getting lately, a bit of spring sounds very appealing! Be sure to check out the Stamp Something blog to see what the rest of the dt has in store for you, and to check out how you can win a delightful prize from this week's sponsor, Whiff of Joy.

When I think of Spring, I tend to think of weddings, so I decided to create a cute little favor bag to show you today. The vellum bag is from a Martha Stewart wedding favor kit I've had kicking around forever and keep forgetting to use. I replaced the topper that came with it with a piece of pretty designer paper from my scrap pile and tied it all together with some pink grosgrain.

I used Wedding Carriage by Whiff of Joy for the tag. It was colored with copic markers and accented with Stardust Stickles. I cut it out with a circle Nestabilities die, and then layered it on a piece of SU Pink Pirouette that was cut with a Nestabilities Labels 5 die. The flower to the side was originally white, so I airbrushed it with the copic ABS and a R81 marker and added stickles to the petals for more interest.

Challenges I participated in with this project:
Stamp Something - touch of spring
A Spoonful of Sugar - springtime
Pink Elephant - ribbon
Our Creative Corner - making something new out of something old
Crafty Angels - flowers
Copic Creations - coloring embellies with your copics

**I'll be posting some blog candy this weekend to celebrate 20,000 hits, so be sure to stop back to check it out!**

Have a great weekend!

Gift set...

Today I thought I would show you the gift set I made for a dear friend. She loves penguins, so I used Penguin Snowflakes by Elzybells for the image on the card and on the ornament.

Both images were colored with Copic markers, and then had Twinklets applied to the snowflakes and the ground for a nice wintery feel. (Have I mentioned my Twinklets addiction? LOL!) For the card, I decided to try my hand at an easel card (great photo instructions can be found here).

I know you are supposed to put a brad or some such in the middle to hold the card in place, but the three layers of card stock I used on the base seemed to work just as well. 

For the ornament, I used the same papers as I used on the card to decorate one of those little party favor tins by Wilton. I used them for a baby shower last year, and have a ton of them leftover, so I'm glad to finally find a use for them! 

I used a nestabilities circle die to cut out the image, added a bit of Elmer's glue to the inside bottom of the tin, and then smooshed the image in place. Once it was dry, I added some more Twinklets to the container to turn it into a shaker. Before I put the lid on, I added a line of Elmer's around the edge to hold it in place. The outside was covered with a stripe of designer paper, and then the front and back were decorated with more Nestie cut-outs.

My project does quadruple duty today, as I played along with the Elzybell's challenge 33 (making a gift), the Create4fun challenge (making an easel card), the Stampstacular Sunday challenge (not using red or green), and the Colour Create challenge (using purple, aqua, black and white).

Copic markers used:

ISS Blog Hop - Set the Table

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! If you didn't come here from Lysa's blog, then you might want to go to the InStyle Stamps blog to start the hop so you don't miss any of the great projects the dt has in store for you!

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, this month our theme is "Set the Table". And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime images, Virginia and William. Aren't they just the cutest little pilgrims?

Around here, "Setting the table" during the holidays always includes a pretty container of seasonal flowers. I decided that my pot of mums needed a little dressing up, so after coloring Virginia and William with my copic markers, I cut them out and used glue dots to attach them to a pair of chop sticks I had laying around (unused, honest!).

The mums came in one of those plain jane green plastic pots, so I rummaged through my collection of decorative pots and found this great tin basket. I added some green ribbon around it, and then used my nestabilities to make a cute flower for the sentiment.

The flower is very simple to make. Just use a scalloped circle nestie in a size to coordinate with your center circle, and snip in each scallop toward the center to make your "petals". The sentiment is computer-generated using one of my favorite fonts, Kayleigh. (Download it for free here.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

I'm the last stop on your hop today, so now you'll want to go back to the InStyle Stamps blog to vote and enter the hop contest.

Thanks for playing along with us today!

Holiday Wall Art

This weeks challenge on Mo's Challenge blog is to make anything but a card. I've had an idea kicking around for some framed holiday art since I made a card with the oh, so sweet Singin So Beautiful last week, so I decided to participate.

Once again, I colored the kitties to look like my two Siamese, Octavian and Emmalee. The image was colored with copic markers (you are going to gasp if I ever use anything else, right?) and then I added Twinklets to the ground for some snow. I thought the sky needed a little something more, so I drew in some snowflakes with a white gel pen and added more Twinklets for some snowy sparkle. To finish off the piece, I used glue dots to attach real miniature bells to Octavian's collar, and then added 3 larger bells and a ribbon to the mat.

I had one heck of a time getting a decent photo of the entire frame, so below is a close-up of the image so you can see it better.


I forgot to take a photo of the copics I used, so sorry! They basically are the same colors I used in this post, with the addition of G85, G82, G40, and G24 for Octavian's collar and hat.

Blog Hopping with InStyle Stamps

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! This month, the design team has been challenged to show you some Treats! And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime image, Patches. Isn't he a cutie?


My little nephew, Ryan, dressed up as a pumpkin for his first Halloween last year, so every time I see Patches, it makes me think of him (he's a cutie, too!).

I love using the Staples brand gel pens for work, and they come in clear plastic boxes that are just too nice to toss once the pens are gone. I re-purposed one into a treat container by making a new insert for it and tying a little ribbon around the outside. (Please excuse the slight waviness at the bottom of the box. The clear plastic kept picking up all kinds of reflections.)



Patches was colored with copic markers, and then layered using Rectangle & Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities. The pretty orange polka-dotted background paper is from an ancient DCWV paper stack that I've had for 4+ years. Have I mentioned that I hoard paper? LOL!


For the back of the box, I downloaded Meltdown, a Halloween-appropriate font from dafont.com and printed off my sentiment. The center of each letter was colored in with a YR14 copic marker.

On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post answering the following question:

"What is your favorite fall treat?"

My favorite fall treat is fresh apple cider from The Cider Mill in Endicott, NY. Mmmm. If you are ever in the area, make sure to stop by to get a gallon of it. It is freshly squeezed, and is so much better than that stuff you can get at the grocery store.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Now what are you waiting for? Get hopping!

Jennifer http://www.kiyomikrafts.com/
Jodi-Ann http://inkedinspirations.blogspot.com/
Joy http://daiseyfreak.blogspot.com/
Kim http://www.craftsbykim.blogspot.com/
Lysa http://lysaq.blogspot.com/
Mary http://mycardz.wordpress.com/
Maylee http://mayleescreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Piali http://touchofcreation.blogspot.com/
Raquel http://raqode7.blogspot.com/

CD Sleeve tutorial, and a chance to win...

I thought you might like a peek at one of the 3 cd cases you can win as part of the InStyle Stamps Over the Hump candy I mentioned earlier today. Be sure to pop over to the InStyle Stamps blog to see the two other cute designs that are up for grabs, and of course, to enter to win.

Now on to the instructions...

Easy Peasy CD Sleeve

*See template for visuals.*

-Cut a piece of 10x6 card stock.
-Score down the middle of the 10 inch side.
-Rotate the paper, and score in 1/2 an inch on each end of the 6 inch side of the paper.
-Cut out the 1/2 inch tabs on one side of the paper as shown, and dispose of them.
-Fold the paper in half on the 5 inch score line and punch out the half oval with a circle punch. This is optional, but it makes it easier to get your cd out of the finished project.
-Fold in your 1/2 inch tabs on each side and glue in place.
-Decorate as desired.

Told you it was easy!

Over the Hump Day Candy with InStyle Stamps

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of posts recently. We are doing a little basement remodeling and it has been eating up all my crafting time.

Are you ready for Over the Hump Day? We're half way through the week AND half way through the month, so InStyle Stamps is celebrating with a little candy.

This month we are giving away 3 custom cd cases that contain 5 Journal Cynthia images printed on Neenah paper for you to color and a CD filled with InStyle Stamps Non-Anime Images. That's over 80 images, absolutely free...just for creating a project!!! How great is that!?! Be sure to pop on over to the InStyle Stamps blog for all the details on how you can be entered to win.

Now on to the project:

My sister has the most fabulous spa tub in the master bath of her new house. When I was visiting a few months ago, she let me indulge in a nice long soak. Aah. It was dreamy! But one thing was missing - nice relaxing music. (Val, don't scroll any farther if you are reading this - it'll spoil your stocking stuffer!) I'm trying to get a head start on my Christmas gifts, so, since I have a hubby with a gigantic music collection, I decided to make her a custom mix to listen to as she unwinds from a stressful day with the kiddos.


I printed Asia from Club Anime on Neenah cardstock, and colored her in with copic markers. I have to share that this was my first time using Neenah. I normally use Georgia Pacific, and let me tell you, coloring on the Neenah blows the GP out of the water! My ink went on so easily, the colors blended without having to go over and over everything like I do with the GP, and best of all, the markers didn't bleed at all! I'm hooked!

Blog Hoppin' with InStyle Stamps

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping InStyle Stamps! Our theme for this month is Back-to-School, and of course, we have some fabulous new images to help you celebrate getting the little munchkins out from under your feet! As usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I made a cute little backpack for a co-worker with two children who will be returning to school soon.
You can find the pattern for the backpack here. I used Circles and Posies and pink gingham (coming soon!!!) digital paper for my pack. Isn't it pretty? Here's a side view so you can see the ribbon "straps".


Now, what's a backpack without something to go in it? When I was in grade school, my mother would always tuck little notes into my lunch box, so I've included four little 3x3 notes inside the backpack for her to use for her children.


I used Janice and Jacob, and the soon to be released school house for her cards. Aren't they cute? I hope she likes them!

On to the blog hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs (you can find them in my sidebar), and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) The leave us a comment on that post in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize.

InStyle Stamps Blog Hop!

Welcome to the first InStyle Stamps blog hop! The blog hop will be held from 11:30 am EST to 10pm EST on the InStyle Forum. Come join the fun, and be on the look-out for contests to win some great prizes throughout the day! Plus, make sure to vote for your favorite DT member project, as well as play “Meet the DT Trivia” to be entered into our drawings for the grand prizes to be held at the end of the hop!

This time around, the design team was challenged to create a home decor project. For my project, I decided to alter a frame for a special someone (who shall remain nameless as she hasn't received the gift yet...). She had her first child recently, so I thought that making her a special frame for her favorite photo of her and her son would make the perfect gift. After all, what new mommy doesn't want to show off photos of her new little munchkin? LOL!



Do you think she'll like it? The photo I put in it is one of my favorites, but of course, mommy can switch it out if she likes.

I stamped Jasmine with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored her in with copic markers. Isn't she just the perfect image to go with the photo? What a proud mommy she is!

The sentiment is one of my favorite quotes by Victor Hugo - "A mother's arms are made of tenderness, and her children sleep soundly in them." I used my word processing program to print it out, and layered it with my nestabilities.

The dp used on the frame is scraps that were leftover from some other baby projects I made for this particular mommy, so it will coordinate with everything else I've made for her. Neat, huh? I knew there was a reason I never toss my scraps! LOL! I layered the dp onto SU lavender lace cs, and used a glue stick to attach the paper to the frame. You wouldn't think so, but I've found that Elmer's glue sticks are the best thing to use for attaching paper to any wood or plastic surface. I always stock up on them when the stores do the big back-to-school sales.

Here are my answers for the "Meet the DT Trivia." Pay attention, there will be a quiz later! LOL!

1. What is your favorite color combination for crafting? pink and brown
   
2. If you were stuck on a deserted island, and a box washed up on shore, what 5 craft supplies would you most want to find inside? copics, stickles, designer paper, memento ink, stamps
   
3. What is your favorite coloring medium? copics
   
4. What embellishment can you not live without? It is a toss up between ribbon and stickles.
   
5. What are your hobbies (other than papercrafting)? reading, photography, baking, indoor gardening, jewelry making, painting, just about anything computer related
   
6. What’s your favorite spring time activity? I look forward to taking photos of spring flowers. We have apple and peach trees in the yard, and they are always lovely in the spring.
   
7. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go? New Zealand
   
8. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why? Superman. Amazing super powers combined with a young Christopher Reeve in a form fitting suit. Enough said. LOL! I so wanted to be Lois Lane!
   
9. What is one item that you really should throw away, but probably never will? The sweat shirt from the softball league I played on as a kid. It is totally ratty, and will never, ever fit me again, but I just can't bear to part with it for some reason.
   
10. If you were an animal, what would you be? A dragon. Hey, no one said it had to be a real animal! ;)
    
11. If you could have an endless supply of any food item, what would you get? Haagen-Dazs Fleur de Sel Caramel ice cream. Seriously. It is that good!
    
12. What is your favorite movie? Serendipity
    
13. Who is your favorite actor/actress? Hugh Jackman / Natalie Portman
    
14. Do you have a pet? If so, what do you have? I have 2 very spoiled Siamese cats. And a husband - he counts as a pet, right?
    
15. How did you first get introduced to stamping? At a Stampin' Up! party.
    

Now that you've finished reading my ramblings, be sure to check out the blogs of my fellow DT members to see what they came up with! And don't forget to high tail it over to the InStyle Forum for all the details on how you can get entered into the prize drawings!

Jen B.
Jennie H.
Joy S.
Kim G.

Latrice
Maria B.
Mary G.
Michelle O.
Risa W.
Sandy B.
Shary N.
Silke H.
Taylor U.
Vicky C.
Virginia

And introducing our newest team member, Cathy! Cathy didn't make a project for the blog hop as today is her first day on the team, but stop by and tell her "hi!".

InStyle Stamps Method Monday

It's time for Method Monday at Instyle Stamps, and it is my turn to host! Today I have an adorable card box for you. Now don't worry, I promise that it is easy to make even though it will look like you slaved over it for hours! LOL!


To make a card box of your own, you will need:

• 1 piece of 8 3/4 x 7 1/2 card stock for the bottom
• 1 piece of 7 7/8 x 6 5/8 card stock for the top
• a scor-pal or other scoring tool
• scissors
• glue dots
• assorted embellishments for the top

Once you have cut your 2 pieces of cardstock to size, take the piece that will be the bottom of your box and score it 1 1/2 inches in from all four sides. Referring to the red areas in the template to the right, use your scissors to snip out a triangle from each corner. Now fold up your scored edges so that your paper looks like the sample in the photo to the left. Bring the sides together, and attach the remaining triangular flap the the inside of the box using a glue dot. Repeat with all 4 flaps until you have formed the bottom of the box.

For the top of the box, take your remaining piece of card stock, and score at 1 inch along all 4 edges. Follow the directions from the box bottom to form the top, and decorate it to taste.


Now wasn't that simple? :)

Don't forget that this Friday is the first ever Instyle Stamps blog hop! Be sure to check out the InStyle Stamps forum for all the details. The design team has out done themselves with their projects for the hop, and you will have a chance to win some great prizes! Be there, or be square!

MDCC24 - holiday ornament

I'm a few days late posting this, but better late than never, right? I actually made this last weekend, and then forgot to post it in the last minute holiday rush.


This is another holiday ornament that doubles as a gift card holder. I needed two to send to my niece and nephew in Texas, and figured they might fight over them if I didn't use the same layout on each one. This one obviously is for my niece since I can't see my nephew digging the girly colors! LOL!
I used the cute holiday Mouse from Stampavie for my image, and colored it in with copic markers. I added gray fun flock to the mouse for fur, and Shimmerz to the ornament for some sparkle. The dp is Sweet Satin Ribbon from the Fairest of them All collection by Imaginisce.

Holiday Candle

Today was our Christmas party at work. We always do a Secret Santa type gift exchange as well as bring in lots of holiday goodies. Mmmm. I've been on a bit of a sugar high all day, so bear with me. :)


I decided to get a little crafty for my Secret Santa person, and decorated this yummy Vanilla Cupcake scented candle for her.

My person has 2 children, so I decided to mask off two of the caroler's from Carol Singers by Elzybells Art Stamps to use on the lid. I colored them in with Copic markers, and added diamond stickles for some sparkle. I then added some liquid applique for some nice poofy snow.

The pretty designer paper is Ribbon Candy by Frances Meyer. Isn't it yummy? I love the colors! You can't see it all that well, but there is also a strip wrapped around the bottom of the lid. I'll let you in on a little secret - 12 inches of dp wasn't quite enough to wrap all the way around the jar or lid, so I used the bow and the "let is snow" medallion to cover the gap. Shhh... don't tell! LOL!

My person seemed to like her decorated candle, and my office mates had a good chuckle over the Christmas Tranquilizers (see previous post).

Check back later, because I will be posting some fun blog candy in honor of the holiday season. Details coming soon!

Mothers & Daughters Creations gift card challenge

The Thursday Card Challenge for this week is to make a gift or money holder card. I decided to make mine multi-functional by turning it into an ornament that can be hung on the tree after the gift card is used. Or, if you don't need to mail it like I do, you could just hang it on the tree for the recipient to find Christmas morning.


The image for this project came all the way from Australia courtesy of one of my SCS friends! Thank you Shannah! I colored it in with copic markers, and added stickles to Santa's outfit. It still needed something, so I put Crystal Effects on the boots to give them that freshly shined look.

All of the circles and scalloped circles were cut with my Nestabilities dies. I made an extra scalloped circle for the gift card to hide in so you don't see it when the ornament is closed. I used the SU slit punch to make three tabs for the gift card to slide into. (Sorry about the bad photo of the inside. It is meant to be hung, so it doesn't lie flat nicely for a photo.) Before assembling, I scored a line across the scallop right above the gift card so that the base will fold out nicely to make it easier to remove the gift card.

The ornament top is gold shimmer paper made with the SU label punch with the tops cut off. You need a really good glue to hold it all together, so I used Terrifically Tacky Tape.

*Tip* Terrifically Tacky Tape tends to gunk up whatever scissors you use to cut it, so I have a pair that I use exclusively for it. Now I don't have to worry about ruining something because I cut it with scissors that had a bit of Tacky Tape residue on them.

easy 3-D star ornament

I promised you an easy-to-make ornament, so here it is! I even included the pattern. How easier could it get?


For my star, I used a 4.25 x 8 sheet of SU Baja Breeze cardstock and stamped on it to make my own designer paper, but you could easily make this with a sturdy double sided designer paper if you didn't feel like stamping. I used the Flurries clear stamp set from Basic Grey to stamp all over both sides of the paper. I used Perfect Plum ink for the swirls, and then stamped the scrolls in white craft and embossed them with iridescent ice embossing powder. I added some lavender stickles to the ends of the swirls for a little more sparkle. Trust me when I say that the photos don't do this ornament justice. It sparkles like crazy in real life!

To make one for yourself, print out the pattern (shrink or enlarge it depending on what size star you want to make) and cut out the star. Trace the star twice onto whatever paper you want to use and cut them out. Cut the indicated line to the middle of each star, and join the stars by threading the lines together until they meet in the middle. Punch a hole in the tip of one of the points, and thread a length of cord through the hole to make your hanger. Easy, huh?

I made a bunch of these at work a few years ago, and hung them from the ceiling of my office. It made the room nice and festive for the holidays, and didn't take that long to do.

If you decide to use my pattern to make some ornaments of your own, leave me a link in the comment section so I can ooh and ahh over your creation. I'd love to see what everyone comes up with!

2 more holiday projects...

I love the rustic, old fashioned Christmas feel of the new Home for Christmas set in the SU holiday mini, and had to have it as soon as I saw it. It brings back happy memories of sledding at Grandma's house when I was a child. They have a nice big hill out back, and my uncles would always flatten out a path from the top of the hill out into the field at the bottom. It was quite the hike to get to the top, but worth the rush you got going back down!

The image was colored in with copic markers, and the designer paper is all no-name I picked up at Joann's. For the snow, I used liquid applique, poofed it with the heat gun, and then added stickles on top for some sparkle.

The next project I have for you involves no stamping whatsoever. Oh my! I found the pattern for a gift card holder in a craft magazine, and had to make one of my own. I always need at least one gift card holder over the holidays, and this one can do double duty as a ornament for the tree.


I used a pigma micron pen to draw the frame and snowman, and then colored everything in with an aquapainter and SU ink refills. I added red and green stickles for a finishing touch. The eyelets were custom colored with a green copic marker before being added to the project with my crop-a-dile.

Hmmm... looking at it now, I think I need to add a tag to the ribbon...

wall art for baby Ryan

As some of you may know, my brother is expecting his first child this month. I just got the call that my SIL will be induced tomorrow, so baby Ryan will be here VERY soon! I'm so excited!!!

I've been very busy making a scrapbook for him, and took some time off from that to make a piece of wall art for his nursery. The happy parents-to-be decided on a star and moon theme with a lovely aqua color on the wall, so that was my starting point for this piece.

Don't you just love the adorable boy on the moon image by hÄnglar & stÄnglar? I fell in love with it the minute I saw it and was really bummed because they don't sell to the US. One of my SCS piffing friends heard my plight and was sweet enough to send me a few stamped images for my projects for Ryan. Thank you Cal Bear Stamper!!! You're the greatest!!!

The image was colored in with Copic makers, and placed on pop-dots to add depth to the project. The three stars on the side were hand drawn to match the one the boy has on a string. I thought they needed a little something more, so I dug through my jewelry making supplies for the wire and beads for the "tails". You can't really tell from the photo, but I bent the "tails" up a bit so they really pop out at you. "Ryan" was printed on the computer since I am sadly lacking in alphabet stamps. I can't remember the brand of the designer papers I used, but I purchased them all at Joann Fabrics. I love the pretty green stitched paper and will have to go back for more for my stash.

I had the hardest time photographing this, so please excuse the slightly off-center photo. I kept getting glare on the glass of the shadowbox frame, and this was the only angle that worked.

This project was inspired by a page I made for Ryan's scrapbook. I will post it in the near future...

a little hello...

My birthday was at the beginning of September, and not only did DH get me some Copics, but I used my birthday money from family to purchase more. (check out www.oozak.com for the best prices) As a result, I've been on a bit of a Copic craze lately, and have been coloring like mad to try out my new markers. Here's my latest project:


I haven't done a pop-up card in a while, and thought that "Tilda throwing hearts" would be perfect for one. After coloring Tilda with Copics, I added a bit of accent with a white gel pen. It doesn't show up to well in the photo, but I also added some stickles to her wings and the lace on her dress and apron.

For the center piece, I used a sponge to apply some SU Soft Sky ink to the background. I then added the tree from Olivia's Birdies and some grass from Scenery Set (both by CC Design stamps), and colored them in with, drum roll please, Copics. (You saw that one coming, right?) ;) The Copics go right over the sponged background without any of the color distortion you would get with water based markers. Gotta love it!

Copic tidbit: Did you know that you can use your Copics to make custom colored brads and eyelets for your projects? Neat, huh? I didn't have any eyelets in an appropriate color for this project, so I used a pink Copic (RV10) to get the exact shade that I needed to match Tilda's dress.

You can find the instructions for free standing pop-up cards on SCS here. I know they look complicated, but trust me, these are actually pretty easy to put together. Just make sure you use a super-strong adhesive like Provo Crafts Terrifically Tacky Tape to stick the center pieces that form the base together or it might not hold up very well.

My sister has a thing for hearts, so this card will probably go to her. Shhh... don't tell her!

3 little DReaMs September sneak peek #4

For today's sneak peek, I made a matching folder to hold all of the cards I have been making with my 3 little DReaMs September kit. Isn't it a cute way to package some pretty cards to give as a gift for that special someone?


These are really easy to make. You need a 8.5 x 11 piece of sturdy cardstock (I used the Bazzil orange peel that came with my kit. It is such a nice weight!) You score it at 6" and 6.25" from the top (so your score lines go the long way), then at 5-3/8" from each end (leaving 1/4" in the middle, which is your spine.). Using scissors, cut out the part of the spine that falls below the 6" score line. and then angle each of your flaps so they look like the flaps in the photo ------>


Now you are ready to decorate the front!

If you look at the large view of the front of the folder, you can see that the chickadee appears to actually be sitting on top of the branch. Neat, huh? I stamped this little guy twice, carefully cut out one of the images and popped him up with pop dots at the head and a glue dot at the tail to make him "sit" on the branch.

There are several different ways you can attach the ribbon (or you can leave it off if you prefer). With the folder folded, (gee, that sounds funny!) I punched through all the cardstock with my crop-a-dile, and threaded my ribbon through the holes. I used some glue dots under the ribbon on each side to hold it in place when the folder is open. (LOVE my glue dots!)

*Note* You can adjust the size of the folder to fit different sizes of cards by simply lengthening or shortening the distance between score lines. The folder I made will hold 4 cards and envelopes, but you could easily make it hold more cards by moving the 6.25" score line down a bit. Clear as mud?

I hope you have enjoyed all the sneak peeks! I should have one more for you over the weekend. Katie, Queen of 3 little DReaMs, has challenged the design team to make something out of the plastic container that our brads came in. I'm still pondering over what I want to make, but I think it might involve chocolate! LOL! Check back later to find out!

All paper, stamps, bling, etc are from the 3 little DReams September SNS kit. Coloring mediums are copics, SU inks and watercolor crayons. Scalloped oval is from Nestabilities.