Tilda with Chocolates

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I was busy preparing for the local SCS get together that was held yesterday. Making swap cards ate up all my free time.

I know I am a little bit late posting this, but I thought I would share the card I made my husband for Valentine's Day.


Stay tuned for my swap projects from the get together. :)

Happy Birthday!

Sorry about not posting for a while. I have had an eventful few days. My sister and her family are in town for a late Christmas get together, DH's b-day was yesterday, and to top it all off, we had a plumbing disaster on Saturday, and have been without water ever since. DH has been working diligently on it, but every time he thinks he is finished, something else starts leaking! Our house is only 20 years old, so you wouldn't think there would be so many issues already! DH assures me it should all be fixed later on today. Here's hoping!

Any hoo, as I mentioned, yesterday was DH's birthday. It wasn't very birthday-like since he spent the day working on the plumbing, but I did make him a card, and thought I would share it with you.


My friend, Mary, swapped some Magnolia images with me (Thank you Mary!!!), and this adorable Edwin with guitar was one of them. DH is very musically inclined, and can often be found in his music room playing one of his guitars, so this image was perfect for a card for him.

Edwin was colored in using a combination of copic markers and water coloring with ink and watercolor crayons. I used Crystal Effects on the guitar to give it a glossy finish. It didn't photograph well, but trust me, it gives the same effect as the finish on a real life guitar. To give the project a little more depth, I cut the bench out of a second image (Edwin comes sitting on it), glued it to the white background, and popped Edwin up on top of it with pop-dots.

The solid paper is SU Ruby Red and Certainly Celery. The dp is "stripe" and "mini brown dot" from the Making Memories Travel Collection. I found a pack of 48 sheets at Big Lots for $2 last week, and was so excited. Be sure to check your local Big Lots soon as they seem to be getting in more paper crafting supplies.

Happy New Year!

Ok, so it's not quite midnight on the east coast, but I thought I would share a card while the final hours of 2008 tick by. I made this card for DH and just set it on the sofa for him to find. He's currently down in his lair, otherwise know as his music room, playing keyboard, and will probably need prompting to come up for air later. He's as bad with his music as I am with my stamps! LOL! We have a "date" for baked brie and chocolate martini's while watching the ball drop, and I have to tell you, I am tempted to start a little early on the martini's. I'm not usually much of a drinker, but Godiva Chocolate Liqueur is yummy!


Back to the card... I used Tilda and Edwin under the Mistletoe for my image. It is actually two stamps - I cut each one out after coloring them with copic markers, and nestled them together so they could get a smooch in while the ball drops. I used the SU Bigz Top Note die to make a spot for them to sit, and the Sizzlits Scribbles Swirls die for the flourishes. *Note that I was able to use both dies in my Cuttlebug.* Santa forgot to put the Nestabilities Labels set under the tree for me this year, so I improvised by using the SU tab punch to mimic the Top Note die for the "Happy New Year" tag. I finished off the card with a few silver dew drops, and some yummy sheer silver ribbon that I found at Big Lots ($1 for 20 yards!!!).

Here's hoping you and yours have a safe and prosperous new year!

Roses on Paper sketch challenge

Santa was very good to me this year, and brought me lots and lots of stamps! I've been wanting to play with them, so I inked one of my new Magnolia's up to participate in the Roses on Paper sketch challenge. To play along, all you need to do is make a card with your choice of either a Magnolia, Rachelle Ann Miller, Sarah Kay or Whiff of Joy stamp using the sketch provided by Iris.

I always need birthday cards, and decided to make a girly one for this sketch. I based my colors around the pretty dp from Making Memories Garden Party scrap booking kit. It was an unheard of 57F here yesterday, and it put me in a mood for spring colors.

The image was colored with copic markers, and had stickles added for some sparkle. If you click on the image for a larger view, you can see that I also put some stickles on the flower petals. Love the bling! I sponged SU close to cocoa ink on the bottom for the ground, and SU soft sky ink on the rest of the background for some sky before layering it onto a piece of SU pink pirouette paper. I finished off the card by adding small gemstones to the flower centers, and 3 larger gemstones in the corner.

Mmmm... Gingerbread...

One of my favorite things about the winter holidays is making gingerbread. The smell of it wafting through the house while it is baking always puts me in a good mood.

I ordered Tilda with Gingerbread last week, and knew I had to make a card with her and my gingerbread house stamp from Studio G. I have to admit that this card did not come together the way I was picturing it in my head, and gave me some trouble coming up with a layout that satisfied me. Don't you hate it when that happens?


Both images were colored with Copic markers and have Diamond stickles added for some sparkle (I LOVE sparkle, in case you haven't noticed! LOL!). I used Crystal Effects on the peppermints and gumdrops to make them pop. They weren't quite dry when I took the photo but I wanted to post this tonight. I'll take a "dry" photo tomorrow and update it. The pretty designer paper is by Heidi Grace Designs. I'm afraid the name is hidden under my ribbon, sorry about that!

Non-traditional holiday card...

I've had this gorgeous purple fiber for ages and have been dying to use it on a card, so I went digging through my paper stash today to try to find something that would coordinate. The lavender in my Boho Chic paper pack by Making Memories was a good fit, so this is what I based my card colors around.

I have a friend who loves anything purple, so I decided to make a holiday card for her using Tilda with Wine and Basket. She also LOVES her wine, so this will be the perfect card for her! Tee hee!

I heard about a new coloring technique called "drunken watercoloring" and decided to give it a try. You can read all about the technique at Jody Morrow's blog, Confessions of a Ribbon Addict, but basically what it boils down to is using rubbing alcohol instead of water in your aquapainter and using it to "watercolor" with SU reinkers. Neat, huh? Jody developed the technique and has a nice comparison of alcohol vs. water in the link above.

I used reinkers in SU Pale Plum, Baja Breeze and Wild Wasabi for the drunken watercolor technique, and then colored the rest of the image in with copic markers. I added white gel pen for accent, and a bit of SU Crystal Effects on the wine bottle to make it look like glass. I used oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities to cut out the white and Wild Wasabi layers, and sponged the white with Baja Breeze ink for a soft look. Tilda was cut out with my paper snips, and glued onto the layered piece.

Happy Birthday Carly!

Today is my niece's 5th birthday, and of course I had to make her a special card to celebrate. Carly looks a lot like New Year's Tilda, so that determined what image I was going to use for her card.

I wanted something pretty and girly for the background, so I sorted through my paper stash until I found this pretty designer paper by Making Memories called Box Flowers. I colored Tilda in with copic markers, basing my colors on those found in the DP (there is pink in there, honest). When I was finished coloring, Tilda was highlighted with a white gel pen, and carefully cut out with my paper snips.

Tilda needed something birthday related to sit on, but I couldn't come up with any stamps that were the right size, so I drew the cupcake by hand. The wrapper was colored with copic markers to match her outfit, and highlighted with white gel pen. I made the frosting with brown liquid applique, and added several colors of stickles for sprinkles. I then used pop-dots to make Tilda sit on the cupcake.

Do you think she will like it?

Skating...

I am just loving the stamps that came in the Magnolia Winter Club! This is the first time I've ordered it, and it certainly won't be the last!

For today's card, I used Tilda and Edwin skating. Isn't it just the sweetest image? They were colored in with copic markers and pain-stakingly cut out with my trusty paper snips (and an exacto knife for those tricky little skates!). I used a white gel pen for highlights, and a Sakura gelly roll pen to add some sparkle to the blades on the skates.

The background is "Skate Pond" by The Stampin' Place. I masked off the bottom half of the pond and stamped it onto a piece of SU Soft Sky. I added some color to the town and background skaters with copic markers. I used a Versamarker to color in the pond (expanding it a bit) and embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP. I then sponged white craft ink onto the areas where I needed snow, and accented it with some white liquid applique. I finished off the card with a sentiment from the SU hostess set, Best Yet.

Magnolia Winter Club - Tilda with Bell

As promised, here is the first of several cards I have made since my Magnolia Winter Club arrived on Monday. This one actually got a "Wow!" from my husband, which is quite the compliment coming from him! LOL! In person, this card looks like one of those 3-D cards that changes depending on the angle you are holding it at. Kind of hard to capture that in a photo though.


The main image is Tilda with Bell, and was colored in with copic markers. Tilda's outfit was highlighted with a white gel pen. I don't really care for using the white gel pen for highlights in hair, so I decided to try something new, and used my Sakura gelly roll pen to mimic light reflecting off of her hair. I used a bit more on the bell for a nice metallic shimmer.

The background for this card was fun to make. I stamped the row of trees from SU Lovely as a Tree onto a piece of Bordering Blue cs, and then sponged the "ground" with white craft ink. While it was still wet, I embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP, and let me tell you, it sparkles like crazy! I then added white liquid applique "snow" to the base and branches of the trees, and added dots of snow to the sky with a white gel pen. This was layered onto Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip cs, and Tilda was attached with pop-dots. The sentiment is from a $1 Studio G clear stamp set.

Check back tomorrow for another card made with images from the Magnolia Winter Club.

67 days til Christmas!!!

That's right, there are only 67 day left until Christmas! Ack! Guess I'll have to buckle down and get to work on my holiday cards, eh? Here's one I made a while ago, but didn't get around to sharing yet.


After seeing all of the adorable holiday cards featuring Tilda on various blogs that I read, I was itching to make a Tilda holiday card. Unfortunately, the Magnolia winter/christmas 2008 stamp club hasn't shipped yet, and I don't own any winter Tilda's. I went digging through my stash of pif images, and found Tilda with flowered jeans. Doesn't she look cute in holiday colors? I used copics to color her, and then added stickles to her wings.

Tilda needed something to sit on, so I masked off the cat on Whiskers & Fur by Penny Black so I only stamped the present. This was also colored in with copics, and then the gold ribbon had Beeswax Shimmerz painted on it to make it sparkle. It didn't photograph very well, but trust me, Shimmerz are so pretty in real life! I'm hoping Santa will bring me a few more colors for Christmas...

I debated about what to use for embellishments on this card, and decided on little pieces of tissue paper. After all, what says Christmas morning better than bits of tissue / wrapping paper on the floor? LOL!

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!