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.

DT Call for InStyle Stamps

InStyle Stamps is currently searching for a new design team for the September 2009 – February 2010 term – could this be you?

We are interested in fresh, funky and fun designs. We are looking for artists with great coloring techniques and photography skills, who have the ability to think outside the box and post regularly on their blogs. If you fit that mold, please apply for one of our team positions.

How to apply:

We ask you to submit 4 of your very best projects. At least one of those projects must be non-card related. The use of InStyle Stamps is not required, but certainly will be noticed! These projects must include line art stamped images that you have hand colored. Coloring technique is very important to us since all of our stamps require coloring. You will also need the following information along with your submission:

1. Name
2. Mailing Address
3. Phone number
4. Email Address
5. A List of your present/past design team positions. Note: You will be considered even if you do not have design team experience.
6. A link to your blog and gallery on SCS, PCP, or anyplace else you like to hang out.
7. Tell us which team you would like to apply for: Anime, Retro, Digital. If you are applying for more than one, please list teams in order of preference.
8. A brief “about me” summary to include; interests, crafting history, etc. Whatever you would like us to know about you and your experience.
We should receive all submissions no later than August 25th, 2009 by 11:59 pm EST.
Please email your applications to:

InStyleStampsDT@aol.com

The new design team will be announced at the blog hop on August 28th.

Requirements of the position:

Your Design Team duties will last for a period of 6 months (September 2009 – February 2010).

Because you will need to share your InStyle Stamps creations, you are required to have a well-maintained blog for posting your artwork and any information concerning InStyle Stamps. Ability to photograph and post your creations is a must.

As a part of the InStyle Stamps team, you will receive a selection of images to work with each month. You are required to post a minimum of 4 projects per month (one per week) to your blog using the images provided. We require one non-card project a month. Please note that all images are provided digitally, so the ability to print the images is a must. Please do not apply if you are not comfortable working with digital stamps.

We have a yahoo group dedicated to the Design Team. You would be expected to join this group & participate in discussions with others as well as giving suggestions or ideas when asked.

As a DT member, we would like to see you posting your creations in online stamping community galleries, such as at Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet. This will help to increase exposure to our stamps and images.

The perks:

You get a badge to display on your blog to show that you are apart of the InStyle Stamps DT!!
Every month you get 6 digital stamps to design with as well as our monthly Club kit.
The projects you create as part of your design team requirements are yours to keep.
You get a 50% discount on website purchases, for as long as you are on the design team.
You will receive a welcome package with lots of goodies to get you started.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail Melissa at: InStyleStampsDT@aol.com

We look forward to seeing your submissions! Best of luck!

Copic Creations Challenge #9 - Coloring Eyes

I have exciting news to share! I've been invited to be the guest designer for today's challenge on the Copic Creations Challenge Blog, which will feature my eye coloring tutorial (see previous post)! I feel very honored to be invited to join these amazingly talented ladies!

This week's challenge is to use your Copic markers to color eyes, and is sponsored by InStyle Stamps.

For my card, I used the digi version of Mellie by InStyle Stamps. Using the digi version allowed me to enlarge the image to show off those gorgeous eyes. I also used my photo editing program to mirror the image so that Mellie is holding her cake the right way to work with the layout I wanted to use. Try doing that with a traditional stamp!


I printed two copies of Mellie, and used just the jacket and the cake from the second image to give the card a 3D effect. The shoulders are attached to the main image with a dab of 2-way glue, and then the arms are popped up on a foam dot to make it appear that Mellie is holding the cake out for the birthday girl to blow out the candles. The yummy chocolate cake was given white Liquid Applique frosting, and then I added a touch of star dust Stickles on the platter and the candle flames for a bit of sparkle.


Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to go check out the lovely creations by the amazing Design Team at the Copic Creations Challenge blog. If you’re new to Copics, or just want some pointers, you’ll love all the Copic tutorials that can be found there.

Copics used: RV93, RV91, G40, G82, G85, E00, E0000, YR21, E 25, E27, E29, E33, R20, R81, and a custom mixed pale R81

Eye colors: G85, G82, G40

How to Color Anime Eyes, a Copic Tutorial

One of the things that make anime stamps so appealing is their large, soulful eyes. When InStyle Stamps was preparing to release our line of Anime stamps back in January, I browsed the web and looked at tons of anime images to determine just the right way to color the eyes to show them to their best advantage. I made a little tutorial for our design team, which I am now going to share with you.

For my tutorial, I printed off a card front sized version of the digi image, Lizzie, from InStyle Stamps. (Note Lizzie is also available in red rubber for those of you who haven't jumped on the digital bandwagon.)


Step One
When coloring in the face, leave a white area around the eye going from the tip of the eyelash to the line under the eye as shown. In my sample, E00 is used to color in the face.


Step Two
The eyes are going to be colored in layers. Pick 3 shades of marker, a dark, a medium, and a light. I used my darkest blue, BG05 to lay down my first ring of color.


Step Three
Now add in a second layer of color in a lighter shade than the first, in this case BG01. Go over the BG05 color layer with the BG01 marker to start blending the two colors together. Notice that while there is some definite blending where they overlap, each color is still distinct.



Step Four
Add in your lightest color, BG000 in the sample, for your third layer of color. You will again go over the previous layers of color to blend. Leave a small area at the bottom of the eye uncolored. This adds depth by showing where the light is hitting the eye.


Step Five
Add a layer of the lightest color, in this case BG000, to the ring at the top of the eye where light is being reflected.



Finished Eye



See how easy it is to get a fabulous looking eye? Now what are you waiting for, whip out those Copics, and get coloring!

InStyle Stamps Fantasy Blog Hop

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 was given an image from our new fantasy line, debuting today! 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!

When Virginia showed me the new images, I knew I had to work with the adorable new Twirling Fairy image. She is just so cute!


For my blog hop project, I decided to make a birthday card with matching wrapped gift for a friend who's is celebrating the big 40 next week. Think she'll like it?


Matching wrapped gift, you say? How did you do that, you say? Well let me let you in on a little secret... not only is digital paper great for cards and scrapbooks, but it makes great custom gift wrap!

For my gift wrap, I printed the White Circles and Posies digi paper onto copy paper. Yup, you read that correctly, plain old copy paper.


I then added on ribbon, lace, and a pink button to match my card. See how quick and easy it is to add a personal touch to your wrappings?


For the card, I colored in Twirling Fairy with copic markers and added some highlights with my trusty white gel pen. I don't know about you, but when I think of fairies, I picture gauzy dresses made out of some gorgeous shimmering fabric, so I went over the image with Angel Wings Shimmerz to try to recreate that effect.


As you can see, the designer paper is more of the White Circles and Posies digi paper, this time printed onto cardstock. I used the ribbon and lace from the gift wrap, and added in two pink buttons in a smaller size so everything coordinates.

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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 answering the following question in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize:

What is your favorite fairytale? (Now or as a child.)

My favorite fairytale has always been Sleeping Beauty. I saw the Disney movie as a child and was enchanted. The amazing music and the funny antics of the 3 Fairy Godmothers sucked me right in. "Make it Blue." "I said Pink!" LOL. I've read many other versions of the tale (Robin McKinley's "Spindle's End" is an entertaining romp with a less helpless heroine.) over the years, but the Disney movie version remains a favorite.

Wedding Cake

While blog hopping last week, I came across this adorable wedding cake card by Melissa Rove. It is so sweet, it instantly went into my "must case" file. LOL. My co-worker got married last weekend, so that gave me the perfect excuse to make a wedding cake card of my own.

My cake actually consists of 3 separate layers glued onto a card base. Here's how I did it:

Cut a piece of card stock to 4.25 x 5.5 inches. (I used a piece of shimmery white card stock for my card.) Cut 2 inches off of this for your bottom layer (you will have a 2 x 4.25 inch piece). Now cut the remaining piece in half so you have two 1.75 x 4.25 inch pieces. Trim one of your 1.75 pieces to 1 3/4 x 3 5/8 inches, and the other piece to 1 3/4 x 2 7/8 inches. Use your corner rounder to round 2 edges of each piece as shown on the card.

Now that you have your layers made, emboss each layer with the Cuttlebug folder of your choice (I used D'vine Swirl on mine.) before gluing them in place on a 4.25 x 5.5 card base. Carefully cut the card base to the shape of the cake, and you are ready to decorate. I used the Martha Stewart small hydrangea and branch punches as well as some pearls that were leftover from my wedding decorations.

I know it sounds complicated, but trust me, this card whips up in no time flat.

Oh, and...

Congratulations Jeff and Rachel!!!

Yippee Ki-ay! It's blog hop time!

Today is the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps!

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!) Make sure to leave a comment in addition to voting in order to be entered into the drawing for the grand prize.

This month's theme is Cowboys and Westerns, so I decided to use the new Anime cowboy, Nate for my project. Isn't he a cutie?

And now on to my project... I have a nephew who wants to be a cowboy when he grows up (or maybe a farmer, he hasn't quite narrowed it down yet). His birthday is coming up, so I thought Nate would be perfect for his card.

Nate was colored with copic markers, and layered using the rectangle Nestabilities set. The reverse scalloped trim is actually the leftovers from cutting out the scalloped rectangle. I outlined the trim and the black scalloped rectangle with a silver copic aytou to make it stand out a bit more (click on the image for a larger view if you'd like to see it better). The sentiment was hand written, and punched out with a SU word window punch.

Nate and several other new cuties will be released later today. While you are waiting, be sure to hop on through the rest of the design team's blogs for more peeks!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Last weekend was my niece's first birthday, and I was lucky enough to take a few days off to go visit with her and her family. Sorry for the lack of posts this week - I am still recovering from the 5 hour (each way, no less) car ride.

Do you like the card I made for little Anna? She, of course, could care less, and was much more interested in the presents, but her mommy seemed to like it.

I decided to play along with the Roses on Paper challenge #13 - using pink, yellow, and green on your card, since the colors were perfect for a project for a little girl. If you want to play along, you need to use a Magnolia, Alota, Sarah Kay, Rachelle Anne Miller, or the Greeting Farm stamp.

For my card, I used the sweet girl with doll image by Alota. Isn't she a cutie? I purchased her a while ago for the express purpose of using her on some projects for Anna. She was colored in with Copic Markers, and then was accented with a white gel pen. I added Copic atyou Spica in clear to her shirt and hair bows for a bit of sparkle, but it doesn't show all that well in the photo.

InStyle Stamps Wednesday Challenge - Summer

This Wednesday on the InStyle Stamps blog, the challenge is to make a summer themed card. I decided to use the adorable new digital image, Leila, for my card. Isn't she just perfect for a summery card?

If you'd like to play along, just make a summer themed card using an InStyle Stamps image, and link it to this post. One lucky winner will receive a digital image of their choice! Hurry, because you only have until Tuesday night to enter!

Wednesday Challenge and a Sneak Peek!

Father's Day is just around the corner, so to help you get prepared, this weeks Wednesday Challenge at InStyle Stamps is to make a Father's Day card. Be sure to check the InStyle Stamps blog for all the details (there is a prize involved!) and to see some more inspiration from the design team.

For my card, I get to give you a little sneak peek of Lance & Lisa, the new Anime couple that will be released this Friday! Aren't they sweet?



My Father's Day card is for a friend who is a father-to-be. They deserve cards too, right? It's hard work putting the nursery furniture together and getting the mommy-to-be chocolate ice cream at all hours of the night! LOL!



Be sure to check the InStyle Stamps blog on Friday. Not only will we have more sneak peeks for you, but we'll have some exciting news!