Treat Yourself

Are you thinking about the winter holidays already?  I am - it's my very favorite time of the year. I pretty much love the time from 1st November straight on through New Year's! I was SO excited when I first saw this new release from Sheena Douglass, full of six fantastic additions to her 'A Little Bit Festive' range.

I colored up this gorgeous image from the Christmas Cocoa set (also available from Crafter's Companion UK) set with my Spectrum Noir pens:

Reds: CR8, CR7, CR6 

Grey: IG4, IG2, IG1, blender 

Greens: DG4, DG2 

Pinecone: TN8, N7, GB10 

Berries: TB9, TB8, BGR3 

Bow: EB2, EB1 

Cookies, Cinnamon Sticks: TN5, TN4, TN3 

Bell: OR1, GB5, GB4 

Shadow: BG6, BG4, BG2

You can see all six new sets at Crafter's Companion US and Crafter's Companion UK, and they're available for purchase now!  And as always, there are some fabulous bundle deals :) It's never to soon to get started on winter season card-making and gift-giving!

Cheers Dad!

I made my dad a quick Father's Day card yesterday (yes, I know yesterday was Father's Day, and my card will be late. I'm a slacker like that!), using the Camden Town Male 1 stamp set from Crafter's Companion (also available in the UK).  After inking it up with my IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink in Tuxedo Black  I colored it with my Spectrum Noir markers:

Tub: BGR1, BGR2, BGR3

Beer Bottles: TN3, N4, TN5

labels: IG4, IG2, IG1

Tag: EB2, blender

Dotted Outline: OR2, OR3, TB5, TB2, IG1

I tried to make my tub look as much like galvanized steel as I could, so I purposely over-blended to give it a mottled look.  I hand wrote 'Dad' on the little tag, popped a large beer bottle up on foam pieces, and added a bit of jute twin and green bling to finish it off.  My patterned paper is Echo Park's All About Boy, from i {heart} papers.

Inside the card I stamped 'Cheers' and 'Dad' using IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® VersaFine™ Archival Pigment Ink in Onyx Black.

I totally think this card works for the current Spectrum Noir challenge, and the Crafter's Companion challenge as well...they're both Summer-themed this month!  You should come play along with one or both, for your chance to win! 

Red, White, and Blue!

The Artists-in-Residence at IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® were challenged to create a red-white-and-blue themed project this month, so naturally I had to turn it into a Fourth of July card!  Take a closer look at how I created this fun card:

I started by gathering my supplies:

• IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® StazOn® Solvent Ink full sized pads in Midnight Blue and Blazing Red
• IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink full sized pad in Tuxedo Black
• IMAGINE Crafts® Fireworks!™ Craft Spray in Lady Bug and Danube Blue
• card stock (Ultra Smooth White from Crafter's Companion US)
• Spectrum Noir alcohol markers
• acetate
• Stampendous stamps (both retired)

I started by spraying the Fireworks!™ Craft Sprays in Lady Bug and Danube Blue on my white card stock.  I set this panel aside while I worked on another piece of my project.

Next I stamped my image using Memento™ Dye Ink full sized pad in Tuxedo Black onto white card stock, and colored with my Spectrum Noir pens:

Blues: IB1, TB4 TB7, TB8

Reds: CR7, CR8, DR5

Yellow: CT2, CT4, GB5

Grey: IG1, IG2

Skin: FS2, FS3, FS9

After coloring, I used a craft knife to fussy cut the image out.  Then I got to work on my acetate panel (which just would not cooperate for step-by-step photos).  Here is the process I used to create that part of this card:

• stamp fireworks burst using StazOn® Solvent Ink full sized pads in Blazing Red
• repeatedly stamp star burst in StazOn® Solvent Ink full sized pads in Midnight Blue 
• stamp single star images using StazOn® Solvent Ink full sized pads in Jet Black 
• turn acetate over, use Spectrum Noir pens to color single star images as desired

I attached the acetate panel to my card using a large jeweled brad.

I stamped my sentiment using IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® VersaFine™ Archival Pigment Ink full sized pad in Onyx Black.  I tied a ribbon around the card, and adhered the colored image on foam dots for added interest!

Ooh La La!

Today is a fun day because Imagine Crafts® / Tsukineko® & Avery Elle have paired up for a blog hop!  There are going to be a lot of amazing projects on the hop today showing how well Avery Elle and Imagine Crafts / Tsukineko products work together.  We also have a fun giveaway, so be sure to visit all of the blogs participating.

I made a fun, colorful card using Avery Elle's 'Bonjour' stamp set and coordinating dies.  Here is a closer look at how it all came together:

I started by gathering the supplies I thought I might need:

• IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink full sized pads in New Sprout, Dandelion, and Cantaloupe (which didn't actually make the card!).  Not pictured is Tuxedo Black.
• Various patterned papers (Echo Park's For the Record 2 - Documented)
• card stock (Neenah Desert Sand, Crafter's Companion Ultra Smooth White)
• Avery Elle Bonjour stamp set and dies

I die cut each of the shapes and stamped them as desired.  The great thing about clear stamps is that it's easy to position them right where you want them!  And how fantastic is the little bow die?  That saved me all sorts of fussy cutting!

In the middle of my card I used a large die from Crafter's Companion UK.  Here's a little trick: place wax paper between the die and your card stock before cutting.  It helps to more easily release intricate shapes and you then get a second die cut image to use (I placed mine directly behind the white one)!  I hand doodled the black lines inside the circle. 

The kraft strip across the middle of my card is the long border image from the set.  I stamped three small shapes in the lower right corner, and added the sentiment on a baner die. 

I love how easy Avery Elle made using this set - the coordinating dies are fantastic!  I'm definitely a big fan of their stamps now, too.  Have you seen Hipsterpotamus?  I made a great card with that set recently, just because it makes me smile.  If you don't have any Avery Elle yet, you're missing out!

Avery Elle / Jamie

Chunyuan Wu

 Nina Yang

Heather Campbell

JJ Bolton

Donna Mikasa

Kasia Curry

Linda Lucas (Lovely Linda)  

Eric Ericson    

Taylor Usry  

AJ Otto 

Renee Zarate  

Tenia Renee Nelson 

Kazuko Kocho  

Emily Lanham    

Debbie Gaetz    

Maureen Cronin    

Jennifer Ingle    

Naghma Husain    

John Creighton Petersen

Now it is time for our giveaway! Leave a comment below and/or on any of the posts in the hop to be entered to win.  We will be selecting two random winners.  One will win a $50 Avery Elle gift certificate and the other will win $50 worth of IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® product! You have until June 14th to comment for a chance to win! The winner will be announced on the Avery Elle blog on Monday, June 17th.

Thanks for hopping with us!!

Filled With Sunshine

Spring is almost finished, and summer is just about here...so I thought a nice, cheery, quick and simple spring/summer card would be fantastic.  This one features  IMAGINE Crafts® Fireworks!™ Craft Spray in Dandelion and Tangelo, as well as IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink full-size inkpad in Rich Cocoa.

I started by gathering my supplies:

• IMAGINE Crafts® Fireworks!™ Craft Spray in Dandelion and Tangelo
• IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink full-size inkpad in Rich Cocoa
• IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® VersaFine™ Archival Pigment Ink small-size inkpad in Spanish Moss
• Sunflower stamp (Stampendous)
• Thoughtful Wishes stamp set (Stampendous)
• various Spectrum Noir pens
• Ultra Smooth White cardstock

I trimmed a large piece of the white cardstock to 5 3/4" inches square.  I place pieces of scratch paper over it, to create diagonal stripes.

I sprayed Fireworks!™ Craft Spray in Dandelion and Tangelo alternately until I was happy with the results (moving the papers as necessary).

I inked up my stamp with Memento™ Dye Ink full-size inkpad in Rich Cocoa and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers:

Petals: OR1, GB5, CR4, CR3

Flower Center: TN4, TN4, TN3, DG2

Then I inked up my clear sentiment using VersaFine™ Archival Pigment Ink small-size inkpad in Spanish Moss.   I stamped it where desired, than placed the fussy cut sunflower on the panel with dimensional dots.  To finish the card, I added some fabulous strips of bling and then adhered the whole panel to the card base using foam tape to add even more dimension.

Supplies: 
Stamps: Sunflower, Thoughtful Wishes (Stampendous)
Card Stock: Ultra Smooth White (Crafter's Companion), Bazzill
Ink: Rich Cocoa (IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® Memento™ Dye Ink), Spanish Moss (IMAGINE Crafts®/Tsukineko® VersaFine™ Archival Pigment Ink), Tangelo, Dandelion (IMAGINE Crafts® Fireworks!™ Craft Spray)
Coloring Medium: Spectrum Noir
Accessories: Bling strips (Eyelet Outlet)

Five Minute Friday: Panda Hugs

Waving Hello

I am loving the current nautical trend!  I made a quick card (I ended up sending this to my Dad, for his birthday) using the Wicked Nauticool set from Paper Smooches.  I added the fun anchor die on top of the scalloped tag, and finished it with some Hemptique twine. 

The fabulous paper is from the Down By the Shore paper pad - it's a MUST have!