Zoe birthday

I made this card for my niece for her birthday later this month.  I hope she likes it.  I know it is a little bit girly and she is in her 20's but I went for whimsy this time.  

Well, whimsy and chocolate.  I decided to color the cake chocolate flavor and use some chocolate scented embossing powder.  Well it smelt like chocolate for a little while.  I made this before we went away on holiday and came back and TBH I really can't smell the chocolate on it which is a little disappointing.

Still, I enjoyed making the card.  I used a half sheet of cardstock to stamp and coloring in the scene with copics.  I then used Versamark to color over the top of the cake to give the icing a glossy, chocolaty finish.  After highlighting her outfit with dots and coloring in the ground and wall, I stamped in the sentiment with the Memento and overstamped with Versamark and heat embossed with the chocolate scented embossing powder for more chocolaty goodness.

Once it was finished I die cut the front to pop up the center for interest and then stamped the envelope to match.

What it took:
Card size - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Cardstock - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb; Recollections Kraft;
Stamps - C.C. Designs Birthday Cake Lucy; Hero Arts  ; See D's Plain Jane Alphabet; 
Ink -  Memento Rich Cocoa, Versamark;
Color - Copics, 
Accessories - Gelly Powder Chocolate; 

University of Louisville Graduation Shaker Card.

 Sometimes the simplest cards take the longest time to keep them simple.  I think the photography doesn't do this card justice.  I wanted to do more stamping on the outside of the card but got involved in adhering it and remembering all the layers before I stamped it and then didn't want to mess it up.

I wish I had thought to seal in the glitter embossing powder.  Oh well, there will always be a next time and feedback is the recipient liked it.  I did use Love Letter and Rhubarb Stalk to get the right shade of red to match the embossing powder.

What it took:
Card size - 5 1/4" x 5 1/4";
Cardstock - Recollections 110lb;
Stamps - Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Graduation;
Ink - Memento Gray Flannel, Tuxedo Black, Love Letter, Rhubarb Stalk; Gina K Designs Black Onyx;
Accessories - Zing! red glitter embossing powder; Acetate sheet; Seed beads.

Black Ink Comparison

Every stamp group of which I have been a part, stampers ask about black ink.  So I thought I would stamp out my own and show the differences because a picture is worth a 1000 words right!

I have stamped out my blacks in Versacraft, Versacolor, Gina K Designs, Memento, Archival, and Stazon on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb.  I did my best to give them all and equal opportunity with the dollar rubber stamp I picked up from Michael's a few months ago.  Here is how they came out.  I would put Gina K (dye ink) 1st and Stazon (solvent ink) 2nd for blackness.  The foxes were stamped left to right, top to bottom (in case the stamp being "seasoned" had an effect).  Hope that helps anyone looking at these inks.  I use them all as some are better at different applications.

What I used:

Cardstock - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb

Stamp - Michael's

Ink - Versacraft Real Black, Versacolor black, Gink K Designs Black Onyx, Memento Tuxedo Black, Archival Jet Black, Stazon Jet Black

Ciao! Sandy Allnock's Hex Chart

So I have to admit, I was on the fence on Sandy Allnock's Hex Chart.  I waited to see what all the fuss was about before I purchased it last week.  I decided that for the cost of a Copic I would jump on the bandwagon. But you know what there is no bandwagon, this chart is doesn't need a wagon it is one of the most useful tools with my Copics that I have!

Here it is colored in with all my Ciaos and 3 Sketch.  I think it shows you get a good spectrum of colors with the Ciao markers.  

There is also a fully colored in chart with the blank chart so you can assess which colors you would like to add to your collection and will work with what you have.

I have no affiliation with Sandy Allnock and decided a long time ago that I don't have to promote stores etc that I buy from, but this is a case that I honestly believe that for good results with the Copic range this is a very useful tool.

If you are interested there are more resource links at http://sandyallnock.com/hexchart/ I paid for this product and am not an affiliate of any store including Sandy's but in this case I am one very happy customer.

What I used:
Cardstock - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb
Color - Copic Ciaos, Copic Sketch
Accessories - Hex Chart, Inkjet printer

All the boys wishing a Happy Father's Day!

ETA - I have entered this in the Mod Squad Challenge Blog  Father's Day! This week's sponsor is Kitchen Sink Stamps.

So, I had this idea for a card and I think it pretty much turned out as planned! Woohoo! How often does that happen.  I wanted to make a stamped scene with our boys and our furry boy.  And this is what I came up with.  

I really wanted to try the popped up die cutting from the scene so I knew I would have to shade in the background first which meant I needed to stamp in the boys and dog and mask them.  I then airbrushed the background in.  

I took the background to my Cameo and cut out the letters.  I'm still new with it so I although I slowed it down I should have increased the depth of my blade a little bit for a cleaner cut.  As I didn't want to redo the background I just used my xacto knife to ease the cuts.  I also cut 3 cuts out of blue cardstock to make the height for the letters.  They were nearly perfectly aligned until I had to hide the card for the bazillionth time as the husband kept walking through my craft space.  

After all the glue had set up I decided I need more of a scene, so I stamped the fence and tree in the background and colored them in with copics as I didn't want to get too invested if it wasn't going to work.  Big sigh of relief when it did, or at least I think it did!  After that I worked on the dog coloring to make it look like our Bagle (Bassett/Beagle mix) and the boys.  After coloring, I stamped the words onto the grass and embossed them with clear.  Ugh! They aren't showing up as much as I want so I over stamped in Memento hoping to give some more depth and ended up creating this shadow effect.  I thought at that point it was best to leave it alone!  So I re-colored the eyes and nose of the "bagle" and covered in glossy accents.

Next up, the envelope!  I didn't want to do the whole scene so our "bagle" make an appearance on the envelope.  Because the envelope isn't marker cardstock it bled outside the lines a little but honestly very few people look THAT close, and just notice the overall image.

What it took -
Size - 8 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in
Cardstock - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb, Recollections 65 lb blue, 110 lb white;
Stamps - C.C. Designs SW1093 Brother, Clear Dollar Stamps Cocoa the Dog, High Hopes Stamps Fence, High Hopes Stamps Tree, Kitchen Sink Stamps Never a Loss 4 Words, Kitchen Sink Stamps Ready 4 Any Holiday;
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Cottage Ivy, Versamark;
Color - Copics;
Accessories - Clear Embossing Power, Copic Multiliner, Glossy Accents, Silhouette Cameo.

Sunset Swan Anniversary

I made this anniversary card for my Brother in Law and Sister in Law.  When I made it I liked it but... and I think that is the problem.  It is the scene I wanted, just a lake and a sunset, but ....  I think it is missing something.  Initially, I attempted a no line watercolor with it and clear embossed the swans and even with the intensity of the colors in the back ground they were just lost in the scene so I over stamped with gray which created an interesting shadow effect with the clear embossing as a highlight.  I like this but I wish it was better and the only way to get better is to keep trying.

What it took - 
Card size - 8 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in;
Cardstock - Watercolor paper, Recollections 110 lb white, 65 lb blue;
Stamp - Stampendous Swan Pair;
Ink - Versamark, Memento gray;
Color - Koi Watercolor

Butterfly Time Silver Anniversary Thank Yous

We recently celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary and I needed to send out a few thank yous.  

My inspiration for these cards was the silver, clocks, and butterflies, which all related back to the gifts we received, as well as all the colorburst/watercolor techniques so many talented cardmakers are using at the moment.  I can't justify buying any more coloring products so I made do with my watercolors and a splatter technique after stamping the clock stamp in Delicata silver.

I know it isn't strictly colorburst but it seems to imitate the part I like, that moment when the color hits the paper and bursts into many patterns and colors.  So my happy little heart just splattered away!  And I love the white space it left too.

With the clock and gears they were stamped before any techniques and I love the way the splatters layer on the shimmer of the Delicata ink.  I also decided to add the vellum for the sentiment to emphasize the subtlety of the shimmer.

The butterfly was stamped at the end and layered upon the splattered colors.

What it took -
Card size - 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 in
Cardstock - Recollections 110 lbs white, 65lbs gray; Watercolor paper; Vellum;
Stamps - Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Butterflies; Kitchen Sink Stamps, Stampendous Many Thanks; Hero Arts Watch Gears;
Ink - Delicata Silver; Memento Angel Pink, Memento Rose Bud;
Color - Koi Watercolors