Saturday, August 31, 2013

More friendly postcards

     Yay!  More postcards have come in and as promised I'm sharing the new arrivals.  There's still room for more in the album if anyone wants to send one.  ☺


Renee, Kim, Bonnie, and two from Fiona


The top two are from Mau and the bottom two from Ros.

     I have just loved opening my mailbox to find these treasures.  Thanks so very much ladies!
     My dad should be coming home tomorrow so thank you also for the prayers.  A simple knee replacement surgery has now uncovered (or caused) several new health problems for him, but we're going to think positive.
     Be blessed!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Day 4 of the TSG new stamp release--Bring the Giggles

Well, it's the last day of our sneaky peeks for the new TSG releases this week.


Our last set is from Torico and is a super cute slumber party set called Bring the Giggles.


     Bring the Giggles is a 6 x 8 set that includes a total of 24 stamps and will sell for $24.00. This set will be for sale at 11 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 31st. 


     I just had to surround the girls with lots of pink.  You can't really tell in the photo, but the nail polish bottle and lipstick have Glossy Accents on them.  

Copics Used:
skin E000, E00, E11, R20

Girl #1 
Hair YR21, E31, E35
Clothes G12
Popcorn bucket R37, Y11, YR21
Girl #2
Hair E21, E23, E25, E27
ClothesY32, Y35, Y38
Girl #3
Hair E08, E11, E13, E15, E18
Flower R22, R24, YR23
Clothes B0000, B00, B02
Lipstick and mirror C00, C0, C2, R35, Y28

Nail Polish R20, R22, R24, R35, R37, R43, N3, N5, N7, N9
Lipstick R35, N3, N5, N7, N9
Bedding R81, R83, R85

     Would you like to win the new Bring the Giggles stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 
     You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, August 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.


Supplies:
Paper-- Crate Paper "Little Bo Peep", Recollections, Kraft Outlet Light Kraft
Stamps--There She Goes Clear Stamps "Bring the Giggles"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black
Miscellaneous--Michael's pearls, Glossy Accents, Yellow Stickles

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Day 3 of TSG new stamp releases--Wilbur

If you missed my Mo's Digital Pencil post for today, please click here.

It's Day #3 of TSG stamp releases and we have another awesome sock goblin to add to the family.


Today we meet Wilbur, the latest sock goblin from the talented Wendy Leach.

Wilbur is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 3 stamps and will sell for $9.00. 
This set will be for sale at 11 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 31st.


     I went for a thinner card for Wilbur.  Normally when I start coloring an image I do it once and it goes on a card.  I started Wilbur over four times and I still don't know if I'm happy with the colors I've chosen.  He definitely stands out.  hee hee

Copics used:
YR65, G12, BG75, Y35


     Would you like to win the new Wilbur  stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 
     You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, August 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.


Supplies:
Paper--Echo Park "This and That--Charming", Bazzill, Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--There She Goes Clear Stamps "Wilbur"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools--MFT Die-namics Notched Border, Nestabilities Classic Ovals
Miscellaneous--Offray ribbon, Michaels button

School's In


     Hard to believe it's almost September.  Our amazing Franz has chosen the theme of "Goodbye Summer" as hostess this week of the challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil.  Back to school pretty much signals the end of summer so I decided to use "Harvard" for my card.  Isn't he a cutie and look at that A+ on his paper.  hee hee  While searching for a sketch to use I ran across the current one for Sketch Saturday.  I love their sketches and decided to use it for my card.


     The idea of a line of pencils popped into my head so I searched the web and found a freebie line drawing of a pencil.  I printed it out seven times and lined them across the card.  Unfortunately the majority of them is covered up, but I still think it's cute.  Here's a close up of Harvard.


Copics Used:
hair E21, E23, E25, E27, E29
skin E000, E00, E11, E13, R20
clothes YG93, YG95, YG97, E08, Y26, C00, C2, C4, E21, E23, E25, E51, E53, E55, E57
books BG72, BG75, E09, E97, E99
paper W1, W3
pencils  E13, Y11, Y21, YR21, YR23, C00, C2, C4, E15


     Pop over to the DP2 blog and join us with a "Goodbye Summer" creation.  Please remember to use a Mo's image.  Don't forget we're looking for TWO Guest Designer who will get to play along with the DT for three months.  You can find the details on the DP2 blog.  You can also find a new title behind my name in the DT listing there.  Pat asked me to be the Co-coordinator for the blog and I accepted.  Basically I'll be her spare tire in times of need, but I'm glad to help.
     I'd like to enter my little guy into the following challenges:

MilkCoffee--back to school
By Lori Designs--Back to School
Perfect Sentiment--goodbye summer, hello school
Simon Says Stamp--anything goes
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations--Back to School
Party Time Tuesday--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash--for the boys
Make It Monday--anything goes
The Pink Elephant--Back to School
Sketch Saturday--sketch

     Happy Thursday!

Supplies:
Paper--We R Memory Keepers "Hall Pass", Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp--Mo's Digital Pencil "Harvard", Michael's Studio G alphabet
Ink--Archival Jet Black, Prisma Color Fine Line red marker, Faber Castell Pitt pen
Tools--Nestabilities Standard Circle, Fiskars Circle Cutter
Miscellaneous--Glossy Accents, Darice Hemp Cord, Wal-mart buttons, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I ♥ My Teacher


     First off let me thank you all for your prayers and questions about my dad's condition.  He is still continuing to improve.  He's never had heart problems so that came totally out of left field.  They have that stabilized and now we are just working on getting his knee surgery recovery back on track.   He should probably come home tomorrow.  I really appreciate all your support.  You guys are the best!
     I have ALWAYS loved the Wryn images from Tiddly Inks, but never bought any because I was so intimidated by the hair.  Hair is my Achilles heel when it comes to coloring.  Christy had a great sale not long ago and enabler friends (you know who you are) who kept posting all these cuties pushed me over the scary cliff to give them a try.
     The current challenge at Tiddly Inks is a Back to School theme.  I've used Wryn Grow a Little Love for my card.  She's bringing her blooms to her fave teacher as the chalkboard says.  The idea to create a chalkboard for the background popped into my head out of nowhere and I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I used a couple of There She Goes Clear Stamp sets to stamp some fun chalkboard style doodles onto black paper.  I stamped some kraft with a woodgrain stamp to create the frame.  I used a MFT die to create a piece of paper and used Prisma color pencils in blue and red to create the lines.  The pencil is also from one of the TSG sets.
     Here's a close up of Wryn.


Copics Used:
skin E000, E00, E11, E13, R20
hair E21, E23, E25, E29
dress R81, R83, R85, R89
flower pot E93, E95, E97, E99
flowers R35, R37, R39, R43
pencil Y11, Y21, YR21, YR23, C00, C2, C4, E13, E15

I'd like to enter this card into these challenge also:

By Lori Designs--Back to School
Perfect Sentiment--goodbye summer, hello school
Simon Says Stamp--anything goes
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations--Back to School
Party Time Tuesday--anything goes
Make It Monday--anything goes
The Pink Elephant--Back to School

     Now I'm off to fix a bit of lunch and then curl up in the recliner with my Kindle to catch up on what you've all been up to.
     Have a great day!

Supplies:
Paper--We R Memory Keepers "Hall Pass", Kraft Outlet Brown Kraft, Recollections, Georgia Pacific, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp--Tiddly Inks "Wryn Grow a Little Love", There She Goes Clear Stamps "School Doodles" and "Chalkboard Memories", Stampabilities "Woodgrain Background"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Colorbox Mixed Media Jasmine
Tools--MFT Die-namics Notebook edge die
Miscellaneous--Recollections brads, Michael's ribbon, paper clip

Day 2 of TSG new stamp releases--Amalia and Laylah

     Day #2 for There She Goes Clear Stamp new releases!


Today we have a new set from Megan Suarez called Amalia and Laylah.


      Amalia and Laylah is a 3x4 set that includes a total of 2 stamps and will sell for $9.00.
 This set will be for sale at 11pm EST on Saturday, August 31st.


     For my card I've used the great sketch we had last week at TSG.  My image is done in Copics and I just couldn't resist adding a little LOT of doodling.

Copics Used:
Amalia
hair E08, E09, E13, E15, E19
skin E000, E00, E11, R20
clothes R21, R22, R24, YG11, BG11
flower R21, R22, R24, YG11, YG17
Laylah
hair Y11, Y21, YR21, YR23
skin E000, E00, E11, R20
clothes YG11, YG17, BG11, R22

     Would you like to win the new Amalia and Laylah  stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 
     You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, August 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.



Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "Sweet Girl", Kraft OUtlet Light Kraft, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--There She Goes CLear Stamps "Amalia and Laylah"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black, Faber Castell Pitt Pen
Tools--Nestabilities Standard Circles, MFT Die-namics Fishtail Flag Stax
Miscellaneous--The Paper Studio pearls

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Day 1 TSG new stamp releases--Life is a Circus

(Thank you so much for all the prayers for my dad.  He is out of ICU and they have stabilized his heart rhythm with medication.  He is having some swelling issues with his knee and is behind on his physical therapy for it, but is doing much better.)


     WOOHOO!  It's four days worth of new stamp releases from There She Goes Clear Stamps this week.  Talk about some amazing sets too.  


     First off we have Life is a Circus from Torico.  You are not going to believe the amazing mix of stamped images you will get out of this set.


     Life’s a Circus is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 35 stamps and will sell for $24.00. This set will be for sale at 11 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 31st.


     For my card I've used to of the bears, the set of juggling balls and the spinning plate, the ticket, the curtain top and last but not least the curved banner and a sentiment.  I'm telling you the possibilities are endless!

Copics Used:
Bears E31, E33, E35, E39, E93, C8
Clothing (1) YR65, YR68, R35, R37, R39, R43; (2) Y11, Y21, YR21, YR23, BG10, BG11, BG13
Balls YG06, YG07, Y111, Y17, BG10, BG13, YR65, YR68, R35, R43
Plate and stick YG11, YG06, YG07, N3
Shadows W1, W3, W5

     Would you like to win the new Life’s a Circus stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 
     You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, August 31st with the winner being announced during the release party chat.



Supplies:
Paper--American Krafts, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--There She Goes Clear Stamps "Life is a Circus"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools--EK Success Corner Rounder, Bow Easy
Miscellaneous--Michaels gemstones and ribbon, Glossy Accents

Monday, August 26, 2013

An "Out of the Box" technique tutorial

     I have been on a roller coaster ride for the last week around here.  I had mentioned that my dad was having his second knee replacement surgery.  Well we thought everything was going fine and they sent him home after lunch on Saturday.  Around 7 p.m. he was running a high fever and was advised to go to the Emergency Room.  As anyone who's ever gone to the ER knows, it will NOT be a fast trip.  LOL  Well, the fever became the least of our worries because he went in to an irregular heart rhythm.  They ended up putting him in ICU and he's still there.  The cardio doc says it's nothing life threatening, but obviously needs to be brought under control.  Weekends aren't the best time to get lots of answers from the doctors so hopefully we'll know more today.  I'd appreciate it if you would keep him and us in your prayers.
     One of the comments on my "Watchin' the Flutterby's" card last week was a request to show how to do the Out of the Box technique.  There are lots of great tutorials out there on this technique, but since several of you asked for more tutorials I figured I'd throw my own version into the lot.  This is a very simple technique that can really add a lot of interest to your card.  So here we go.

1.  Supplies.  You'll need your stamped image, a die, scissors, and a pencil.


2.  Place your die, cutting side up, over your image and decide where you'd like it to be.  Placing the die cutting side up will make it a bit easier to judge where your cutting line will fall.


3.  With your pencil, lightly trace along the inside edge of the die next to the parts that will be sticking out.  You can trace along the whole inside circle, but it's not necessary.


4.  Here's what you'll have after the tracing.


5.  Remember, the line you just traced is NOT the cutting line.  You're die will cut a little less than an 1/8" further out from the drawn line.  In the photo you'll see that I penciled in a dotted line roughly an 1/8" out from my first line.  This isn't necessary, but it sure helps you to cut more precisely.  The arrows indicate where you will start cutting in.  It's necessary to cut straight in or you will have a visible cut line in your image edge.


6.  This photo show everywhere that I have determined I will need to cut.


7.  Time to cut!  If you follow the arrow down to the dotted line you should have an invisible cutting line when finished.  Simply continue cutting until you reach your original traced line.  That's as far in as you want or need to go.


8.  Once you've made all your cuts you'll be able to slip the die under the cut outs and line it back up perfectly with your inside pencil marks.  Make sure your die is now cutting side down.


9.  Run the image and die through your cutting machine.


10.  This is what you will end up with and then all you have to do is finish trimming around the hair and paw.


11.  You'll end up with a trimmed, ready to use image with some parts sticking Out of the Box errrr....circle.  hee hee


     Hope this was helpful.  Have a great week!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Blog Candy Winner

     Today's the day to announce my blog candy winner.  Thank you all so much for your comments and suggestions.  I'm trying to implement several of them.   Without further ado, the winner is:

FRANZ!

     WOOHOO!  Congratulations Franz!  You suggestion of more close up pics is one I've already been using.  Please drop me an email so I can get you your gift certificate.
     Thanks so much to everyone who played along!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

1000+ Followers Blog Candy!!!!!

     Did you notice that number in my Followers box on the right?  Well I sure did.  1000+!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
YAY!
     A HUGE thank you to all my followers whether you do it by Bloglovin, email, or some other form.  I appreciate each and every one of you so much.
     In appreciation of those of you who hang with me despite the eclectic offering here (or maybe because of it) I want to offer up a bit of candy.  I wish it could be more, but I don't work.  Physical mailing costs have become outrageous not to mention trying to figure out an assortment of goodies that my fellow crafters would like and use so I decided to go with a good old fashioned gift certificate so you can pick out exactly what you want or need.  How about a:

$25.00 Gift Certificate
to


     Let's keep this simple.

1.  Leave a comment below telling me how you follow
2.  NO candy only blogs 
3.  You can post this on your sidebar if you like but it's NOT a requirement.
4.  Just for fun if you want to, let me know in your comment if there's anything you prefer to see more of OR less of in my postings.  I know I've asked this in the past, but I like to get the feedback.  I want you to enjoy your visit.

     I'll leave the candy open until August 24th and announce the winner on the 25th.
     Thanks again for making my crafty journey so much fun!



Thursday, August 22, 2013

Watchin' the flutterbys


     If you've been following along on the There She Goes Blog this week you'll know that this is There She Goes Again time where some of the older stamp sets are showcased all week long.  Today the Trendsetters are revealing brand new cards using the "In All the World", "Ruh-roh", and Garden of Life" sets.  I've used "In All the World" for my card.  I'm definitely a doggie person so I just had to color this cute little guy up.
     Don't forget you still have time to join in our "Fur Friends" challenge at the TSG blog.
     Here's a close up of the image.


Copics Used:
dog  E42, E43, E47, E79, R35, R37, R39, R43
fence C00, C0, C2, C4
tree G40, G82, G99, E71, E74, E79
butterflies BG11, BG72, BG75, N5
flowers R22, R24, R29, Y32, Y35, Y38, G40, G82, G99
ground YG93, YG95, YG97, G21
sky B0000, B000

     Have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "Miss Caroline--Dolled Up", Kraft Outlet Brown Kraft, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps-There She Goes Clear Stamps "In All the World"
Tools--MFT  Fishtail Flags Stax and Scalloped Border dies, Nestabilities Standard Circles, Fiskars Circle Cutter
Miscellaneous--Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String, Wal-mart button

Do the robot


    This is a very special day at Mo's Digital Pencil.  You see, it's the real honest to goodness birthday of our illustrious DT leader, Pat Frank.  This lady is such an awesome card designer not to mention person.  I guess you can all figure out why as our hostess she's looking for birthday cards.
     I've been eyeing "Bip Bip Birthday" for a while.  I knew he'd be a great way to work on learning to color metal surfaces.  Thanks to a great tutorial from Jennifer Dove I think I've done a pretty decent job of it for a first try.
     Have you been checking out all the amazing new stamps Mo has added to the store.  Hope you were able to snatch some of them up during the sale last week.  She's still adding more!  Grab a Mo image from your stash and come play along this week.
     Here's a close up picture of Mr. Bip Bip.


Copics Used:
robot body C00, C0, C2, C4, C6
robot other E93, E95, E97, E99, R35, R37, R43, YR65, Y21, N3, N5, N7, N9, W1
hat E93, E95, E97, BG13
gift bag BG10, BG11, BG13, Y11, Y32, Y35, E31, E33, E51, E71, E74, E79, E97, YR23
balloon Y11, Y21, YR21, YR23
grounding W1, W3, W5

     I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:
Shopping Our Stash--oldest hardware (the screw brads are ancient!)
Cutie Pie Challenge--anything goes
Make It Monday--anything goes
Sketchy Colors--sketch
Kitty Bee Designs--birthday

     Come join in the birthday fun!

Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "Handsome Boy", Bazzill, Copic Xpress-it Blending card
Stamps--Mo's Digital Pencil "Bip Bip Birthday", sentiment from Create with TLC
Tools-- Nestabilities Standard Circles and Classic Scalloped Circle, Fiskars Circle Cutter, hole punch, unknown circle punch, sewing machine
Miscellaneous--Recollections brads, Kraft Outlet Baker's Twine and Natural Twill tape

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Postcard Mini Album video is up

     sigh.............the video is finally up.  No kidding I must have started taping thirty times to make this thing.  My tongue literally felt like one of those Celtic knots.  I spent half of yesterday alternately trying to tape and recharging the camera battery.  LOL  My dad had knee replacement surgery this morning so I let sleeping dogs (and cameras) lie until this afternoon and then went for a streamlined short and sweet run through the album.  It's a pretty simple construction that could be resized to anything you like.


     As promised here are the photos of the great cards I've received so far.  There are even a couple of handmade ones.  Sorry for the bad pics but those shiny cards are almost impossible to film glare free.


Nonni, Tracey, Ira, Christine, Ivonne


Sue, Danni, Sue, Linda, Sharron


Jennifer, Donna


Tracey

     I also received this incredible card from the uber-talented Heidy Blom.


     Thanks so much for the cards ladies.  I'll continue to share as I receive.