Homey Thanks

I needed to make a few Thank You Cards lately for some of my TAC customers. I love giving my customers a handmade card with every purchase. I hope it inspires them to start using their new purchase. This card uses the Welcome Home set by TAC. I colored the houses with colored pencils. The sentiment is from Ordinary Greetings .. one of my favorite new sentiment sets from TAC ... it basically has a sentiment for everything and I love the whimsical look of this font. I used my white gel pen to create the dots. I love the color combo of black, white, and red.

One Stamp 7 ways



I participated in a swap over on the Stamp Shack where we took one stamp and made 5 ATCs out of it using different techniques. I got a little carried away though and made 7 with 7 techniques. The stamp I used was from TAC in a set called Luscious Leaves (it's retired now). I just love the look of this stamp in a variety of ways. This set was made for my partner in the swap Sue (artyfarty) who lives in England.

This was all 7 that I made. Details and close ups of each one are below.

Versamark & Kaleidacolor on Glossy

With this technique you stamp your image with versamark on glossy paper. Then you take a brayer and ink it up with a Kaleidacolor ink pad. I used Autumn Leaves here. After you brayer it you wipe off any ink that remained on the stamped image ... and viola ... just gorgeous and pops! Using black Stazon I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner (from the Goodness of God set) and added a decorative brad in the upper left corner.

Colored Pencils and OMS

For this technique I stamped the image using black Palette ink. I colored the image (just the outer edge) with my Koh-i-noor colored pencils and then blended them with blending stumps and Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS). I then stamped the saying (retired TAC GWP) in the lower corner and attached 3 green brads.

Perfect Pearls

This images was stamped with the Perfect Medium and then had Perfect Pearls applied. These products come in a kit and are one of my favorites. You can't see by the picture but these are very shiny and metallic. I stamped the saying below (retired TAC set) and then added the 3 gold eyelets.

Twinkling H2Os

This image was stamped using brown Palette Ink and then colored with Twinkling H2Os. I love the glistening and glittery look of these paints. I little goes a long way and I love to use these with just a tad of water (makes them more shiny). I added the ladybug button as a neat accent and then used this sentiment from another retired TAC set.

Versamark with Chalk

With this technique you stamp your image with versamark. Then you take a pom with chalk and rub it into the versamark. Using green landscape Palette ink, I stamped the sentiment (from the Oh How! stamp set) across the bottom.

Joseph's Coat

This was the first time that I tried this technique ... and it was really really cool!!! First I brayered glossy cardstock with a Kaleidacolor ink pad. I used Autumn Leaves again here. Then you stamp on top of the color with versamark and then emboss with clear embossing powder. After that is complete and dry then you brayer over the entire card again in a solid color (I used burnt umber Palette Ink). When that is done you take a cloth or paper towel and wipe all of the ink off of the embossed image ... just magical!!! I added a ribbon and a metal tag holder to finish it off.

Opalites

This is the first time that I have ever done this technique as well. The photo doesn't really do this ATC much justice .. it is much more sparkly and vibrant in real life. First you start with black card stock and you stamp your image with versamark and then emboss with clear embossing powder. Then the magic starts .... using Opalite inks use a direct to paper method to cover the paper with the Opalite ink pad. Then using a water brush and the reinker ink (I used artic emerald), you color in the leaf and again all I can say is WOW .... it really pops! Added ribbon and green metallic snaps for the finishing touch.

I love how they all turned out ... which one is your favorite????

Calendar Swap

October 2009

This is the second year that I am participating in a TAC Calendar swap with other demos. I was lucky enough to get assigned October and use my Halloween stamps. Each person makes 12 calendar pages of their month and then you will get back January - December that are all made by other swappers. This was really fun last year and every month was inspiring. I can't wait to see what everyone else did this year.

For this calendar page I used the TAC set Trick or Treaters. I stamped the orange paper with "trick or treat" in black ink. I then stamped 3 of the trick or treaters on white paper and colored them with colored pencils and OMS. The "October" is TACs Double Line Bet that I colored in with orange colored pencils and OMS. The pumpkin is from the For All Seasons set and is also colored in with colored pencils and OMS. I edged the edges with black ink and matted the calendar and month with black cardstock. I found a great web site to print calendars too.

Personalized Thank You

"Reid-mobile"

I made this card for a family in my son's class. Due to a recent injury my husband could not drive for 1-1/2 weeks. That made it really tough when it came to driving my son to and from school everyday. The Reid's stepped in and helped and I am forever grateful for their generosity. She is a huge fan of my cards so I made this one for her and put a gas gift card in it as well. The cars are from a retired TAC set called Let's Race. I colored them with colored pencils and OMS. I die cut out the letters with my Sizzix and typed "-mobile" on my computer and added a ribbon. The inside of the card said "Thanks for All of the Rides". I really liked how it turned out.

Amuse Classes at Smudges!!!

I arrived in Minnesota and went to an Amuse Halloween class at Smudges. In this class we made 5 cards. The class was taught by Lyndsay Neumann who is a certified Amuse instructor

"Have a Spooky Night"

For this card we made a little scene with a picket fence, raven, and pumpkin. We stamped a yellow moon in the corner and then added glitter to it.

"Got Candy?"

We colored this little girl with with copics and added bling buttons to her dress.

"Come over for a Spell"

This was my favorite ... lots of details. Stamped Sabrina the witch and colored her with copics. Stamped the toad and added mini mini googlie eyes to him and a little bling to the end of his hat. Stamped a spider web and then used a fine glue pen and black glitter to add more bling to this card.

"Have a BOO-tiful day!"

Outlined the ghost with copic marker. Added glue to the ghost and then glittered him up. Ghost is pop-dotted on the card.

"What's new pussycat?"

Colored this trick-or-treater with copics and then added glitter to her ears.

This was such a fun way to kick off the entire Scrapfest weekend!!! I really enjoyed this class and the cards that I made.

2009 Rolodex Calendars




This was a swap over on the Stamp Shack that was hosted by my friend Angie (Shuggy). We each were given a month and had to design a Altered Rolodex Card for that month.


Here was mine:

If you'd like to see all of them (and they are AWESOME) head over to Angie's blog ---> HERE

Cute Cute Snowmen

I know it's only Labor Day and I should not bring up things yet like snow. But my friend Angie sent me these images a year or two ago and I just had the best time coloring them and coming up with this idea.

Here is the image made by Tara Reed. The image is a little long for a standard card so I colored it and cut it apart. I colored the noses and scarfs with new Bic Mark-it markers. They are great permanent markers that come in bright and vibrant colors.

After I cut out just the heads, I found this great "snow" paper from Frances Meyer. I matted it on white. I then found my 1" circle punch and punched white circles and edged them with black ink. Adhered everything and "viola" ... cute cute snowman ATCs ... they are a little "plain" from what I normally do ... but I absolutely LOVE them.

So go ahead don't be scared .. pulled out those Christmas and Snow stamps!!!