Autumn Fun

{Second post today ... don't miss a fun announcement

and the Skipping Stones Design giveaway winner.

Scroll down one post, or click HERE}

What's your favorite season? I'm a Fall girl, all the way! I love the cooler temperatures, curling up with my children under a blanket, coats, boots, scarves -- all of it! This adorable fall image, Autumn Fun, is from Stampavie. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Copic X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with Copic markers. I had so much fun trying to mix colors to create the look of leaves turning their magnificent fall colors. The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye's Lost & Found Two "Breeze" collection, and the scallop border is Spellbinders' new Classic Scallop Edgeabilities die set. Accents include distressing, ancient Kaisercraft flowers from my stash, a leafy sprig from Spellbinders Foliage Shapeabilities, and a simple circle tag (sentiment from JustRite's Elegant Charms set) strung from some household string.

Thanks for peeking! See you early in the morning as the SFYTT sisters unveil the new October sketch and sponsor!

Hugs to You

When the coloring mood strikes, I love to reach for the wonderfully detailed Stampavie images. This one, illustrated by Sarah Kay, is called Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki, and is available at Stamper's Dream. The last time I colored this image, I used a much different color palette, and although I liked it okay I guess, personally, I find the earth tones that I used today much more appealing. Just my taste though -- I'm certain Josephine would look darling no matter how she's colored! Today's tones were drawn from one of my favorite paper lines -- Prima's Reflections 6x6 pad. I made this for a friend who could use a big hug right now and was delighted to find the perfect sentiment, Hugs to You, in my JustRite stash.
 

The pretty paper flowers are also from Prima. The trim is by May Arts and the gold string (hemp?) is from my stash. I did a lot of distressing, with both ink and an edge distressing tool. The image is colored with Copics for the most part. I did add some french gray shadowing with Prismacolor pencils.

Before I go, wanted to give you the heads up to tune in to Splitcoaststampers tomorrow morning at 8 am Central, as past and present "dirty girls" (it's been two years, and I still marvel at the honor of having held that title!) host the annual Dare to Get Dirty extravaganza for Fan Club members. It's always such a fun time!! If you're not a member of the Fan Club, whatcha waitin' for? I'll be posting my challenge samples here on my blog, too -- can't wait!

Have a fantastic Friday, friends!

Josephine and Kiki

 

Hi friends, I have a card to share today that features a sweet, sweet image illustrated by Sarah Kay for Stampavie called Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki. I've always loved Sarah Kay's little girl images and now I'm excited to see some older girls in the mix, too! You can find a broad range of Sarah Kay images, as well as images by many other Stampavie illustrators, under the Stampavie label at Stamper's Dream.

I colored Josephine using mostly Prismacolor pencils (hair and skin were done with Copic markers) in shades of purple to match some of the patterns in the new My Mind's Eye Lime Twist "Happy Go Lucky" collection. The stamped image is die-cut with a Labels Eighteen Nestabilities die by Spellbinders. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink to add a soft frame around the image. The sentiment is from Forever Friends by JustRite Stamps. Embellishments include some lacy trim, Stampin' Up's Rich Razzleberry polka-dot ribbon, a Prima mini rose, a Webster's Pages butterfly stick-pin, machine stitching, Prima turquoise and purple flowers, and some glittery gems from Pizzazz Aplenty.

Here's a closer look at the layered sentiment:

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you're having a great weekend!





Stamps: Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki (Stampavie); Forever Friends (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and Hawaiian Shores card stock, Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry and Kiwi Kiss card stock, Copic X-Press It Blending card stock, My Mind's Eye Lime Twist "Happy Go Lucky" dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink, and Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Stampin' Up ribbon, Wright's white lace trim, Webster's Pages butterfly stick pin, Prima Botanical Sugar Blooms flower, Prima Cappella Blue Symphony flower, Prima ivory mini rose, Spellbinders Labels Eighteen Nestabilities, Pizzazz Aplenty glittery gems, Prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps, Stampin' Up Top Note die, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Gifts For You

Today's card features an adorable Stampavie Penny Johnson image, Gifts For You. I colored the image with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. The scarves and stockings are paper pieced. The patterned papers are all from Crate Paper's Snow Day collection. Other details include snowflake accents (Martha Stewart punch and MFT Let It Snowflake Die-namics) that have been glittered with Frosted Lace Stickles, liquid applique on the furry parts of Santa's suit, an open scallop border (another MFT Die-namics die), and a random sprinkling of bling.



The layout bears some resemblance {wink} to Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this week:

I modified that main circle panel to suit my image and adjusted the placement of the circle accents just a bit.

More sketch inspiration ...

Jen del Muro with guest designer Stepanie Muzzulin
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

To play along with the sketch, just link up your creation to Jen's post. Remember to use keyword SFYTT when you upload to online galleries. This is the last weekend of the month, which means next weekend we'll have a brand-new guest designer getting sketchy with us. Will it be you? Play along and it could be!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pile of Penguins

It's hard to resist even a single cute little penguin. Pile six of 'em in a pyramid, and I'm helpless. This is one of those images that just had to come live with me! It's called A Pile of Penguins and it's from the Laurence collection by Stampavie, available at Stamper's Dream. I stamped onto Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, colored with Copics, and cut the image with a Labels Fourteen Nestabilities die. The papers are from My Mind's Eye's Alphabet Soup Boy collection, which, incidentally, has tons of aqua and red patterns just perfect for winter-themed images.

I'm super excited that Stamper's Dream is now carrying a selection of Die-namics steel dies from My Favorite Things. I used the Let It Snowflake Die-Namics with white felt for the snowflake accents. The camera doesn't pick up the warmth and texture of the felt very well, but in real life, it has such a nice, cozy feel. I also used the Open Scallop border Die-namics for the large black scallops along the right side.

A few other details ... I added some Martha Stewart Snow glitter to the snowy ground beneath the penguins and then dotted the snowflakes with a Viva Decor Iced White pearl pen. The stitching is by hand. Instead of a stamped sentiment, I coated some white chipboard letters with clear glitter. The dry embossing on the red panel was done with Cuttlebug's Seeing Spots embossing folder.

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try:

Find more sketch inspiration here:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Lesa Smaligo
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

To play along, link up your creation to the linky widget on Jen's blog and remember to use keyword SFYTT when you upload to online galleries.

Have a fantastic weekend! My boys will all be gone most of the day today (my youngest is at "Camp Nana" for the weekend, and my oldest and DH will be at a Boy Scout event). I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to some girl time with my DD! She turns 7 in a few weeks and wants to have a very girly spa party with her friends. Today will be the perfect day to practice our nail painting and hair styling. Better yet, we could head to a spa for some professional pampering and inspiration {grin}.



Stamps: Pile of Penguins (Stampavie)
Paper: Neenah Clasic Crest Solar white card stock, Stampin' Up Real Red, Papertrey Black, My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Boy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Viva Decor Iced White pearl pen, Martha Stewart snow glitter, Spellbinders Labels Fourteen Nestabilities die, needle and thread, foam adhesive, Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, MFT Let It Snowflake and Open Scallop border Die-Namics steel dies, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, glue pad, ultrafine clear glitter, Papertrey ribbon
Size: 5 1/2" square

Noel Faith

Happy Friday! Today I have a Sarah Kay image to share with you - Noel Faith. Isn't she a sweet one? The Sarah Kay stamps are always so much fun to color. Don't let the detail on the artwork intimidate you - it actually makes the coloring easier because a lot of the shadowing and highlighting are already there for you. I used Copics for most of my coloring, then then went back in and touched up with Prismacolor pencils. I first envisioned this image in soft pinks, so I don't know for sure how I got from there to here {grin}, except that these gorgeous papers from Graphic 45 were calling my name. Love the vintage look, and they seemed to fit the image so perfectly. I did a lot of sponging with my Ranger Distress inks and added in a lot of stitching to enhance the old-fashioned charm of the image. The lace trim mimics the ruffle along the bottom of the skirt, and buttons are placed at each scallop point for added interest.



Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend! I'll see you tomorrow with my sample for a brand-new Sketch For You To Try. Until then, toodle-oo!



Stamps: Noel Faith (Sarah Kay from Stampavie)
Paper: Prismatics Brown Suede Dark card stock, Prismatics Simply Smooth Ivory, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Graphic 45 dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, and blending stumps, petite oval Nesties, foam adhesive, lace trim, PTI buttons, May Arts ivory burlap string, sewing machine, paper piercer, Offray ivory satin ribbon
Size: 5 1/2 x 6 (a very odd size, indeed)

Mouse On Daisy

This past week flew by, and here it's Saturday already! Looking forward to the long weekend, are you? Jen has a really cool Sketch For You To Try this week AND a goody bag up for grabs, so I hope you'll be able to play along! Take a look at the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Lorelie Kim's sample, at i{heart}2stamp. Also making samples are Amy Rohl, Kelly Lunceford, Leigh O'Brien, and Susan Liles. You probably saw on Jen's blog last week that Carole stepped down. We'll miss her!

For my sample, I've used an adorable Stampavie image, Mouse on Orange Daisy, illustrated by Tina Wenke. Stamper's Dream carries a wide assortment of Stampavie images. This particular one is sold out, but you can see other Tina Wenke images HERE and all the other Stampavie illustrators HERE. I colored with Copics and Prismacolors and popped up the daisy and mouse, the ladybug, and the bird for some extra dimension. I also added some ivory FlowerSoft to the other flowers, so they'd look like dandelions.

Have you seen all the new goodies at Stamper's Dream? You know I have paper issues, so I'm particularly itching to get my inky fingers all over Cosmo Cricket's new Nutmeg Collection and Webster's Pages Holiday Collection and Sweet as Cherry Pie. And check out the Say It In Pearls and Say It in Studs from Prima. I've never seen anything like these - gorgeous!

I received a question recently about how to color with both Copics and Prismacolors. I start with the Copics and then when I'm finished with those, I go back and work with the Prismacolors. As I recall, you shouldn't color over Prismacolors with Copics because the wax in the pencils can mess up your markers, so start with the markers, then move to the pencils. I like to use Prismacolors for skies and any other time when I'm trying to fade to white. I find I have much better control with pencils for the fading.

Speaking of questions, I've been bad lately about answering them - I'm sorry! A Q&A is coming soon - I promise.

Thanks so much for visiting!




Stamps: Mouse on Orange Daisy (Stampavie)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate and Vintage Cream, Stampin' Up Real Red, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, October Afternoon dp (green grid), Jillibean Soup dp (green paisley), K&Co dp (blue)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps, Gamsol, Spellbinders petite oval Nestabilities, Stampin' Up ribbon, Close to My Heart flowers, Papertrey buttons, May Arts burlap string, foam adhesive, EK Success border punch, FlowerSoft

Lovey Dovey First Kiss

I am so lucky to have made so many stamping friends over the past year! This week, I've received some amazing handmade cards and goodies. Among those goodies was a stack of pre-stamped Sarah Kay images tucked inside a gorgeous Christmas card from Michelle at Stamper's Dream. One of the images, called First Kiss, was perfect for today's challenge from Our Creative Corner.

Julee Tilman, our December host, is celebrating her 11th wedding anniversary with the love of her life, her awesome husband Mark. If you've been to any of Verve's online release parties, you'll know Mark as Mr. Verve on SCS, and he really IS awesome! The fact that he knows what SCS is, much less has a user ID, makes him awesome in my book. Anyway, Julee's challenge for us is to make our best lovey dovey projects. Think anniversary, Valentine's, or anything for that special person in your life. See what I mean about First Kiss being perfect? It's just the sweetest! And how about that sentiment? From Verve, of course. The set is called Fairy Tales, and it's a fantastic mix of {mostly} sentiments.

Check out the Our Creative Corner blog for all the challenge particulars, plus samples from all the OCC designers. I lovey dovey these girls . For more chitchat on the samples, visit the individual designers' blogs.

Cindy Haffner
Dawn Easton
Denise Marzec
Jennifer Meyer
Julee Tilman
Laurie Schmidlin
Lynda Benden

And how about this: check out who we were lucky enough to snag as our guest designer - Jackie Pedro!! Woo hoo Jackie - so glad to have you this week!

Something else I lovey dovey is when YOU play along! Leave a comment on the OCC blog with a link to your creation so we can check it out. If you upload to SCS, use keyword OCCC (that's three C's). And YOU will lovey dovey this week's prize ... a randomly chosen challenge participant will win a $30 Verve gift certificate!

This card doubles as my sample for Jen del Muro's Sketch for You to Try for the week. This sketch is definitely a keeper for any sketch library - perfect for all of your larger, vertical images especially. Visit Jen at i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Lynn Put's sample. Amy, Carole, Shannan, and Susan have samples, too. To play along, leave Jen a comment with a link to your project. If you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT. Can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!



Stamps: Sarah Kay First Kiss (Stampavie); Fairy Tales (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red and Old Olive; Neenah 80# Solar White; SU Holiday Treasure dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Chocolate Chip classic and craft; Ranger Antique Linen Distress ink
Accessories: Copic markers; SU ribbon, buttons, sponge daubers, sponges, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, paper piercer, and scallop border punch; Nestabilities; Pink Hedgehog Papercrafts burlap string; Close to My Heart paper flowers; Boss Kut flourish die-cut; sewing machine and brown thread
Size: 5 1/4" square

SFYTT and OCC

Is it just me or do those intials sound more like some kind of international trade treaty and a psychiatric diagnosis than stamping lingo? Rest assured, you're at the right blog, and this fine Saturday, it's all about a pair of sketch challenges.

First up is my weekly sample for Jen's Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT) challenge:



This week's sketch was a bit of a toughie for me, and consequently, I believe I bent the sketch to suit (but just a wee bit). So for sure you'll want to go to i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch and two proper samples from Jen and guest designer Dawn Easton. And you won't want to miss Carole's, Shannan's, and Susan's samples either. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword SFYTT. We'd love for you to play along!

I thought the sketch would be perfect for my new Lily - My Little Friend image by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie, which I acquired thanks to some serious enabling by Shannan, Julee, Jessie, and Jen (thanks girls!). Seriously, the Stampavie images are just SO cute!!! All of my coloring is done with an aqua painter and reinkers. I added some sparkle to some areas with a Sakura Stardust pen.

Second, today is the official start of the new Our Creative Corner challenge blog. Yay!!! The amazing Cindy Haffner is hosting this month, and she's kicking things off with a sketch challenge. Be sure to head over there this morning to see the sketch and samples from all the OCC designers. You're gonna LOVE what you see! We all hope you'll play along with us (all the how-to is on the OCC blog)!! This is my take:



For this one, I used Wendy Papillon by Stamping Bella and colored her with a mixture of Copics and reinkers. The sparkly wings are done with Frosted Lace Stickles. For both cards, I used sentiments from Verve's Thoughtful Florals set. When your card is "full" already, these sentiments are the perfect size to tuck behind your image kind of like file folder tabs. I LOVE them!!



Stampavie SFYTT:
Stamps: Lily - My Little Friend (Stampavie); Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black (SU!); watercolor paper; dp (Pink Paislee); pink textured card stock (source unknown)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Close to Cocoa, Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Barely Banana, Going Gray, Blush Blossom reinkers (SU!)
Accessories: paper flowers (Prima); pink rik-rak (Fancy Pants); Stardust Stickles (Ranger); Stardust glitter pen (Sakura); aqua painter, paper piercer, and Green Galore buttons (SU!); sewing machine


Bella OCC:
Stamps: Wendy Papillon (Stamping Bella); Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: Real Red (SU!); Stamper's Select White (Papertrey); dp (Bohemia/My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Soft Sky reinker
Accessories: Copic markers; paper flowers (Prima); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger); red brad (Close to My Heart); aqua painter, paper piercer, wide red grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, key tag punch, dimensionals (SU!)