Photo coloring

This is my oldest child many moons ago. Liked coloring a couple of things in the background and her little bonnet. My, they don't wear bonnets anymore, do they? Look at how cute she posed.

Fashionista

One of our many kids birthdays - this gal loves to shop. The image is Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions. I absolutely fell in love with this stamp set - not sure if the hat I chose to use belongs to the guy figure or one of the gals but I liked the feather. Colored it with copics even though I stamped it in archival ink. Surprised the heck out of me that it didn't smear. I used that Tim Holtz distress glitter on the belt and hat band and used the Sakura Glaze pen on the feathers after I colored them. You can actually feel the lines in the feathers. I also used it on the feet. Since we are hand delivering this one, I used ceramic roses. They are super hard, don't know where I got them but they were the wrong color of blue so I recolored them in copics. I stickled them. Have had these forever as they are pretty deep and would never make it in the mail. Used some edge paper punches and a leaf punch. The card is a light gray. I used weathered wood distress to ink everything so it made it like it all came from the same place (paper wise), but it didn't. On the inside those cute fashion gals was just a strip on some 6 x 6 paper I found in my stash. I didn't want to use the rest of that sheet. I stickled a

couple of the skirts and one of the tops. The bottom is a piece of each paper I used on the front. I stickled in between spots here and there to give some pizzaz. So here are the copics I used (best that I remember as I picked up the wrong paper). B01, B02, B14, B0000, RV29, RV23, C3. The perfect greeting on the front came from a "fashion" stamp set by Stampingscrapping.com. They have little dresses on that set as well as some dies to cut them out. Of course I have them. Silly. But I chose to use this stamp.
I am recovering well from my eye surgery even though things are still blurry in that eye, I am allowed to drive now! Yayyy!!!!!! Prisoner let out for good behavior! I also found that I don't have to strain to see anything. Either I can see it or not. And for the most part, I can see it. I do not have the halos at night anymore which makes my sight better. The blurry is only in one eye.
Have been taking the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 102 and though it is super fast paced, I have been loving it. I managed to do through day 3 (see previous posts if you want to see the tags I did). I have learned a whole lot of new techniques using the things I already had. I only had to buy a couple of things for the class. We used stencils and I am thinking that I NEED at least a few of Tim's new line. I have so many now that I am considering making a system similar to my dies, stamps and embossing folders so I don't have to look through all of them to find what I want. I think all that excess handling deteriorates them quicker.
Jennifer McGuire has recently done a video on her ink storage systems. It is just wonderful! I went right away to the new place, Organizemore.com. And I just had to order the storage unit for 48 inks and reinkers( I found that the TH paints or stains also fit where the reinker goes.) I decided to order sage green as how cool is it that I could have a color in my room! It will be a few weeks until it gets here and then I will see how I like it. I probably will order another one if that works out so I can get all my ink where I can readily see it. I made an ink swatch card thing (see February 20, 2013 Some odds n ends). Now I think I will glue them to card stock and put them in my notebook. I use the cards a lot since I stamped each one on the card stock I usually use to copic color on.. I know exactly what color each ink will be when dry. It is easy to move them around but not so nice when I drop them! I think if I was going to do it again, I would just order my ink and stamp each one in that order on a cardstock sheet and put it in a notebook - only problem with the notebook thing is what do you do when you get new stuff? It wouldn't be in order anymore. I know by the stamp I use what kind of ink it is, etc - and how would I put all that information in a notebook for each stamp? I have my cards organized by color since that is best for me to chose which color (say red) that would go best with what I am doing. Maybe I will leave well enough alone. But I do need a place to put my ink pads. Guess I have rambled long enough. Hugs to you all, Barb F

Distress Glitter

In real life, this looks like it was dusted with diamonds!! This is just a trash piece of a box cut out with the TH Sizzix steel rule die. I just can't bring myself to put that bird behind the cage.  This is the rock candy glitter. I am not a fan of glitter as it goes all over the place and its not worth the effort. BUT THIS GLITTER!!!! OMG!! It doesn't stray from where you are and even goes back in the jar nicely. I didn't have it on everything when I was done! I am truly in love - but it still will not replace stickles in my heart! I only bought the one kind (they do make colored distress glitter) as I didn't think I would like it, but I knew I would need to try it for the class. I love it to pieces! Colored my stuff with distress ink first.

Faux cracker glass

Oh this technique is so neat - I did it on the TH vials as well as a piece of plastic packaging that is colored with TH alcohol inks. Let me tell you about those alcohol inks - awhile back they sold a cute TH container that is a metal box specially to hold the inks. I had to have it and of course I filled it - including a pen which by the way I have learned they are going to discontinue that refillable pen, so if you have been thinking about one, you might hunt one up before they are gone. The black ink on this is archival - had to see the difference.

Day 3

The red/blue one was done with distress stains and the green/yellow/gold one was done with distress paint. Both were done with a brayer! Super neat technique! The one with the butterflies is called smudge stamping and what a cool technique that one is! Its done with a Tim Holtz stamp set and distress ink.

Embossing with stencils & Ink mono print

The left one was done with a Dyan Reavely stencil - see I told you I love her stuff! and distress ink. The red one is also done with one of her stencils and distress ink.

Stencil sketching

This technique is going to be a favorite one! Got to use my distress markers here as well as some stencils. The letters are from a Dyan Reavely one and the stamps are Tim's. Of course distress ink.

Stencil stamping & embossing through stencils

Both have distress ink ( all my tags have distress ink even if its only around the edges). The first is done with a Wendy Vecchi stencil and Tim Holtz stamps. That plane is my most favorite stamp of my entire collection of stamps! The dotted one is using a Dyan Reavely stencil which so far of my huge stencil collection all of hers are my favorites. I am dying to get Tim's new stencils - especially the star one!! Anyhow I used Ranger's embossing powder on this one.

Mixed media layering & Paint mono print

Look closely at the leaf stamped tag and you will see layer upon layer upon layer! Done with distress paint, distress ink and stencils. The red white and blue tag is distress paint and stencils.

Happy 21

Our grandson turned 21 and I really wanted to make this a special card. I haven't colored since I had my eye operated on and was a lot leery of doing so. I couldn't find the just right image in my entire stash (which is huge) so I turned to digital images and found this one on Makeitcrafty.com. It was perfect for him. I was so surprised as how much easier it was for me to color now compared with before! Anyhow I did keep track of the copics for a change and will list them at the end. The star paper was made with the Tim Holtz foil sheet, embossed and painted with his paints. Loved this technique. I bought that foil twine for the class and it was perfect to use. Of course I stickled some things - look for the silver on his buttons and I made him have tap shoes! The "greeting" is one of my favorite sayings and is cut from spellbinder's scalloped ovals. I pop it up so it could lay on top of that twine. I colored it with Peacock Feathers as it matched everything else.  The inside of the card is below (the color is not real good in this photo).

I made some more peacock feather paper and used a border
punch on it and took a strip of the background striped paper
from the front. That star is another piece of that colored
card stock cut from a sizzix thin die. I figured that the star
would match the stars on the embossing. Those numbers
are metal and altered with paint and stickles. They were
actually 1/2 separated by a horizontal bar. I broke them apart, filed the edges and altered them. They look like brads are holding them in place (there are brads in use) but I did glue them. The edges of the star is stickles and it is on dimensionals. Happy Birthday is done with a white pigment ink. I think this maybe wouldn't have been quite so nice if I wasn't taking Creative Chemistry 102. And here are the copics: E00, E11, R20, BG05, BG13, BG15, C2, C3, C5, C7, B39. Hope you enjoy this. It was really fun to make. Hugs to you all, Barb F

Industrial technique

This was my only try and I decided that I wasn't going to try it again today as I was covered with paint when I got done! Good thing I was wearing my apron!

Eroded Metallic - day 1

I used blue sapphire paint on this one as I don't have black paint.

Day 1- colored crackle

My first tag for today I decided to do the marbling technique with the paints again as I really wasn't too fond of yesterday's tag. Since I put my crackle pieces aside to dry, I knew I would put them on this tag. I have a bunch of grunge shapes and thought I would actually use a few - have been hoarding them for just the right thing and decided to finally use them!  Since I want to post all my tags to the class, I am just posting the photos for the other two I did today. So much fun. Hugs to you all, Barb F

Day 1 of Creative Chemistry 102

What a wonderful class! If you want to be a part of this, it's not too late. Onlinecardclasses.com. You do have to pay for CC101 (preferably read it all and listen to the videos before you start on CC102). before you get a code to allow you to register and pay for CC102. Its a little confusing, but so worth the effort! Can't tell you how, but these are all done with using Tim Holtz' distress paint. The little metal tag I embossed using a vintage folder on my Vagabond machine.The blue one is done with a paper I made awhile back using Dyan Reavely's new spray inks made by Ranger. They are so pretty!!  I love that I can make such a neat embellishment of metal. I colored that tag with distress inks. I dearly love learning new things using stuff I already have. Hope you enjoy- Hugs to you all, Barb F

Scrapbook cover page

I never made one of these before. DH went on a trip and it was very important to him. He traveled Route 66 and took a million photos. I asked him to chose one of them for his cover page. I blew it up to what looked like a decent size and then I ordered a paper collection from Twopeasinabucket.com. It is called Wild and Free and I ordered it mainly because it looked western themed and it has a wonderful page full of horses. DH saw a herd of horses cross the road in front of him so I figured it was perfect. However, it has a lot of pink in it. It is gorgeous but mostly unusable for this. So I was stuck. I knew I wanted to use that horse paper but nothing seemed to go with it. Then I remembered an old travel collection that has a black and white paper that reminds me of a lot of roads.

I put the photo here so you can follow along. That background is black. Then I found some red card stock and stamped it with red memento ink "route 66" It is an old Tim Holtz stamp.  I dug out any stickers I had with black, red or aqua (the horses, remember?). That "wheel" at the bottom left had an orange center which I covered with a red enamel dot.  The H card was an embellishment that I didn't like the rest of, so I pushed it under the photo.  That is true also of the word one on the top right. I love that font that the route 66 stickers came in. There were little dot things that were in the center of all the o's that kept sticking to my fingers, so I  finally just stuck them here and there on the page. I kind of followed them along with black enamel dots. That "road trip" is also from the same Tim Holtz set. I double framed the photo - it is gray and then aqua. It was a matter of trial and error and using what I already had. I can't imagine how hard it would be to go to the store and buy stuff just for one project . It would take forever to go through all that. I edged my papers with Vintage Photo as usual and also decided that the white behind the horses was too much so I added a little ink to that also. That strip goes all across the page. I didn't know where the photo would end up and its better to have too much than not enough. 

So let me tell you how I add to my stash - I go to places like Two peas and only check out their clearance stuff. That site does a wonderful thing - they arrange products in their clearance by % off. How can you pass us wonderful papers for pennies? They ship in a larger than 12 x 12 box and everything is in perfect condition. I order stuff that is new while I am at it that I just have to have but the shipping isn't too bad and it comes pretty quick. I do the same with several companies that I have come to rely on. Like Oozak - I get all my ink and refills from there as well as their clearance stuff. And Stampingscrapping.com - they have great products by them as well as a real clearance section arranged by price. I also use Simonsaysstamp.com and a few others. I am taking a Gltter Girl class at Two peas right now and will start the new Tim Holtz one on Onlinecardclasses.com on Monday. So excited about that one. My vision is still a lot blurry and I still haven't tried to color as I am still having a bit of trouble with my depth perception. Hope you enjoyed this post. Hugs to you all, Barb F

At the Ocean

I am apologizing again for my lack of communication. Have been having problems with my eyes. I am on the mend now and even though my vision is less than normal, I have been making scrapbook pages. Coloring has been out of the question and that pretty much eliminates my interest in cards. Thought I would post this latest page and see if anyone is still out there. I have also been pretty absent from my Yahoo groups.

Normally I would have chosen a color scheme to go with the photos. But you know even people who like bright colors tend to wear the same colors most of the time. So this time, I thought I would chose colors I don't work with - mainly gray. I don't have much gray in my stash but some. It is a color I don't care much for but it does work nicely for accents. I have had that dark aqua/turquoise paper for a long time and stripes is also something I don't usually choose. The back of that one has little hexagons which would normally be more to my liking, but this page is all about challenge. Then next I chose Ripe Persimmons which is a Tim Holtz distress color that I adore. There is a light aqua similar in color to the striped paper but lighter. I took my orange paper and layered a "wedding" gray paper on top. One of my goals here was also to use a lot of products! I want new and have lots of old in my stash!! At this point in my process, I was at a standstill. I had orange paper backing my photos (not stuck yet) and decided on a title - Half Moon Bay  a day at the ocean. So I put the words a day at the ocean at the bottom of the orange paper. I did stick those down. When I changed my mind about the orientation of the  photos, I had them vertical, I cut the part with the words off. I change my mind a lot in the process and don't usually stick my photos down until I am really sure how I want them to be. I do use repositionable tape but sometimes it doesn't come back up so well. I had these lovely balsa wood shapes that I thought would be so neat for Half moon bay. Colored them with ripe persimmon and dried them with a heat tool, but knowing they are distress ink, dipped them in a clear, glittery embossing powder and heated them just to be sure the ink wouldn't come back off. Then I glued the silvery letters down and covered them with glossy accents to be sure they would stay on the wood. That banner was one of an entire sheet of banners. I fussy cut the one I wanted to use. I have been doing this in advance of all my scrapbooking - take a day to choose the papers and put them in a 12 x 12 container or folder. Then I go through my stickers and cut out the ones I might use or put that sheet in my stash for this project. I use a lot of little baggies sometimes. I find embellishments - brads, metal pieces, enamel dots. gems, that go and bag them. I cut things to use as embellishments if I have a die I want to use or two. I pick out inks that I might want to use and also stamps. Sometimes I put ribbon or twine in my folder (I use a plastic one that has a thread tie thing. So you have the idea - nothing is planned but even the photos go in that folder. It is a very fun process for me as I get to go through my stash of stuff and it reminds me of all I have. Then when I have time or inclination, I can just work on putting things together. If I don't feel the page, I will usually stop, cover it up (my cat licks photos!) and come back to it. If I am really frustrated. I put it all away in the folder and on my bookshelf for another time. All of it. When I get inspired, I can go like the wind and finish a page super fast because I don't need to look for anything. When I finish, I make myself put all the supplies I didn't use away before I do another thing. So my room stays neat except while I am making something. If I bought some new kinds of embellishments, you can be sure I am trying to use them. For your reference, this page took me 4 times in my workroom. One to put supplies together, two to lay out the photos, and one more to put it together. Usually I only spend a couple of hours at a time in there but it did take me several hours to put the supplies together as it is still a bit difficult to see even colors. Sure missed your comments so we'll see how many of you are still looking. Hugs to you all, Barb F

1st July Birthday

 This one was so much fun to do! I tried out a few techniques that I either have never tried or its been a long time. I really wanted to use that green paper and loved how the blue goes around the very edges. This is a 5 x 7 card and the paper is 6 x 6. It is pieced to give the border effect. I don't think its very noticeable even in person. The part that says Happy Birthday uses a lot of the same papers, but I didn't have any green left. That edge is a border punch. After I colored this image with my copics, it looked really odd and it took me a bit to realize that the "rug" I had put in was very crooked. I thought it was just the way I had it on the card stock and cut it out with a spellbinder die.

It still looked odd. I took a ruler and pencil, drew a straight line where it should have been and recolored. I didn't even need to erase that line and think it looks so much better. There is very little use of stickles, but it is there! Lots of papers on this one. I started out to make the card from that blue. When I folded the scored line, it cracked. I do not know what I do, but I hate that Bazill (or however you spell it) card stock. I decided to cut it pretty close to size and thereby salvage the mess I made. I ended up liking that white border around it better than it being plain. The butterflies are a punch. I do use that one a lot. The copics I used are: E00, E11, E49, E31, E33, E35, E37, E18, YG91, YG95, R46, R59, R20, B0000, BG72, C1, C3, W2. I have two more birthday cards to make this month. Both girls cards.
Have been working on my project life, a bit at a time when the mood hits me. Decided that was the best way for me. We are finally wrapping up our bathroom remodel. Just have to show you how neat it came out. This is most of the bathroom.

The walls are a very pale yellow green. You can see the difference as that towel is yellow. I am truly in love with my bathroom! Wish my entire house had as much light! So maybe now I might get some stuff done ! My mind hasn't been working too well lately!! Wonder why?
Good thing I have been Zentangling - it has been keeping me fairly calm! Hope you enjoyed today's post. Hugs to you all, Barb F

Not enough candles

 This one is for my "baby" son1 He is officially old at 40! I think it bothered me a whole lot more than him!. This is a new stamp for me and as you all know I just adore Edwin. Had to make him something to sit on though! Sometimes it is easier to cut out the image and prop it on the background than to draw something after you have stamped it. This came out only due to the coloring. It looked awful as a drawing. And its only a box. I wanted it cheerful since Edwin has such an odd look on his face (I know - hard to tell with him having no mouth and all). His hat is cut out and on dimensionals. It came from a stamp

that had other things on it that I cut away after I stamped and colored it. The balloons on the inside are paper pieced and those banners are stamps that I colored and cut. Loved those gems and they added just the right touch. I wanted the cake to be colored so I had to add it as a square. I know he liked it a lot! I really think I enjoy making anybody's card as long as I know they like bright colors so I get to let go!
I did want to add some scrapbooking stuff so I am not posting this just yet. All these things are colored with copics.

This zentangle is for an online group as a form of "payment" to play a game! How much fun is that?
 I have started my idea of project life. I did buy some of the special page protectors but am finding that I could just glue my things to a 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and put it in a regular protector (which I have lots of). Its also a good way for me to get rid of some paper so I have room to buy new and things I will use.
By the way, if you aren't too far into this hobby, don't buy those huge books of papers. You will find that you don't use them very much and before too long will have a storage situation. When you are new, you just want to have stash  so you have something to choose from. Well, you remove that fun element of going to a store (online or on land) and actually getting to pick out what you would really like to have for that project. You will have plenty left over and it will accumulate quickly enough but slow enough that you will be able to come up with ways to store it so you know what you have and where you put it.
Speaking of where you put it - I now have a notebook for all my stamps ( they are numbered according to whether they are wood block or any other kind) that I can leaf through and find what I want and where it is stored. Also did the same for my dies. I haven't numbered them yet, but am going to do that once I figure out how I am going to keep them. I have a system in play right now but have so many and so many different kinds that my system isn't any good. I still spend way too much time looking. I am also going to do my stencils by number and a book. The principle is this - instead of looking through the product, you look through a notebook which is divided by categories that make sense to you. For example, I separated my dies by the set up on my vagabond = sizzix big dies, spellbinder's or thin dies, and sizzix makes another type. I do need to sub-divide those sections into things like my stamp book (I am still working on what the dies should/could be categorized into).
I have lately done a couple of scrapbook pages. The one I chose to share here doesn't have any people photos. I took these on a grand trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago. While making the medallion, I decided to try hot glue (used to use low temp, but this was the hot). Burned myself and took a chunk out of my finger while I got the glue off it! So I had to use that thing I made!!!  I have been watching "Glitter Girl" you tubes put out by Twopeasinabucket.com.
I actually made you a real link this time! I print my own photos so I can make them whatever size I want. I just keep the proportions of the original. Also I found that I could fix them a little on Photoshop.  I am sure there are less expensive programs out there, but I have that one. So here is my page. Hope you enjoyed this post. It has been sitting awhile longer due to my "accident".

Til next time - Hugs to you all, Barb F

My take on 'tangle

I have never figured this blogger thing out and when I put up all these "Zentangle" photos, I thought I should make use of this empty space since I have trouble moving the photos around. This zentangle stuff is making patterns, one stroke at a time. It breaks them down into easy strokes and even someone like me who can't draw, can make stunning things - at least I am pleased with them. The materials I used are ones that I had. I felt the tiles when I was at a show and they are similar to drink coasters - they are nice and thick. I have scads of Gina K white card stock since that is what I used to learn copic coloring on. I tried lots of things in the beginning. The ink sits on the top and doesn't blend super well, but it doesn't bleed either. I use it when I can't put something behind. It doesn't bleed thru either. I do a huge amount of blending now and when you get too much ink on the Gina K, it builds up and shines. Do not like that. But I did learn how the ink works very well. I went from that to Staples card stock which is fairly thin but if you are careful, blends great. I use the simply smooth (which I now think is made by Bazzil) or xpressit which is the

copic cardstock.
For these zentangles, since I didn't realize they would come out so good, I used the staples card stock as it is so cheap and I have lots of it for making card bases. I use it for about everything. I have found that my favorite pen to use is the new sharpie pen. I have lots of the Sakura pens left over from my quilting days and I like them but I like the Sharpies more. They are about half the price, too. Maybe even less. You can get online and find instructions for about all the patterns that are official. There are even some you tubes. I find its much better for me to start with someone else figuring out how best to make that pattern. As I copy it into my book (will tell you shortly), I have the chance to make notes and write better ways for me to make the pattern. Like direction I am drawing - maybe bottom up works better.
So any of you who follow me, know I keep notebooks for my supplies. I have a notebook for my stamps which is organized by type - flower, people, words, things, animals.

I have a notebook for my dies. That is organized by type and on the page I have where I keep that particular die. I am still not thrilled with my die storage as I need to keep everything moveable. So this notebook  for the zentangle patterns is just a blank one that I have drawn the patterns in. I could have used a notebook - looseleaf but I started with a little blank book that would be handy to travel with. Go to www.tanglepatterns.com and splurge a tiny bit and buy their electronic book of patterns. It works so nicely and takes all that looking online for patterns away. You click on a picture of the pattern you want, it takes you online to where it shows you step by step. I am only in the "c"'s! I do look ahead for patterns when I am filling shapes in though. This one is a very inexpensive art.The shading on all of these was done with pencil. I don't know why they photographed so oddly. I am going to post some of my cards for Operation Write Home. I made quite a few lately and need about 15 more to fill my box so I can send them. I am thinking of making Christmas cards next. I think that deadline is in

October sometime. I took photos of most of them. There are some very similar to others, so I didn't take photos. Hugs to you all, Barb F

Various Odds n Ends

 First is a graduation card for a guy. I used my copics to color Edwin and then cut him out. He is on dimensionals.  Most of this card is from a page kit that is a couple of years old. Since we have so many grandchildren - lots of ages, I pick these things up when they are super cheap and just hang onto them until I need them. Of course, you have to like most everything in that pack. I probably will never make a page from any of it, but it sure works well for cards. This is actually the second card I made with this kit and I do have quite a bit left - even the stickers. I glittered stuff up with stickles and that was about the size of it.

This one to the right is the inside of the card. I was really pleased with it and too late realized that it could just as well have been the outside! The background on the outside was actually fussy cut so that it actually had whole words even though Edwin is in front of part of them. After I put the gray banner sticker on, it looked so plain, so I put the grad's name on it using stickers that also came with the kit.

This one is the anniversary card I made for DH. Those little houses are made of wood and colored with copics that I chose to match the colors in the star paper. Finding that paper was a happy accident! It was among a bunch of sport papers that I have never found a use for - it is now missing all the stars!! I love that shape for some reason. That banner is from a spellbinders die and I actually cut two of them. One was white. I arranged my stamp greeting on the white one and cut out the entire front. I thought it would look so nice on the red, but it didn't. Then I colored it very lightly with Tim Holtz vintage photo and cut it out close to the letters. After I glued it on, I added

glossy accents over the letters and really liked the way it came out. That car is from a Sizzix movers and shapers die. It can be cut if you have just the tray which I bought early on so I could use those cute little shapes. Before I cut though, I embossed a piece of card stock with a new Tim Holtz embossing folder. It looks like the diamond tread that is used on trucks where people might walk so they don't slip. I colored it with the pewter TH paint that just finally became available and let it dry. Then I cut the car out. It looked ok but I added a small piece of red card stock behind the windows and stickled them. Then I really liked it. The "road" is just a piece of wavy cut card stock. You can draw the shape on the back so you know it will have gentle curves. The line is done with a unibol white gel pen. It is the whitest white and flows so very nice. The inside heart is cut from a spellbinders heart die and then I cut out the love which is a mover and shaper die. If I had to do this again, I would cut the word out first and then place the heart die where it needed to be.  I got very lucky and it actually came out for me. I added some white colored with vintage photo behind the words so it would match the front lettering. And it looked plain so I added the dots of stickles. The bottom houses is from a sizzix on the edge die. I absolutely love that die and have probably used it more than almost any other I have. You can set it several inches above the edge of your paper if you wish or right on the edge or anywhere in-between. I have cut this out of chipboard and painted it for embellishments but this one is cut from the star paper and glued to a red piece of paper. The dice are from a cheap flat sticker that I stuck to card stock, cut out and put on dimensionals, also stickled the dots. The winner is a purchased sticker.

This is a new page in one of my art journals that I thought I would share with you. Lets start with the background. I used a spellbinders die as a stencil. It cuts out dresses. It is a new die for me and I also bought the stamp set that goes with it and haven't had a chance to use it at all. So I thought why not? I colored the background with distress inks and if you look closely you will see 3 different dresses. The leaf stamp at the top is from a Dyan Reavely set (as is the turquoise dress and hat). The other leaves are from a Heartfelt Creations set. The purple flowers are stamps and dies (Asters) also from Heartfelt Creations. I stamped that hat and dress directly onto the page and also on card stock that I colored with copics. Cut them out and glued them where I stamped them on the page. The reason to stamp on the page is that it will not only tell you where to glue your image but also if you cut any of the black edge off, it won't look like it.  And then added stickles. That dark blue at the top is something bled from the back of the page. See that cool line by the spiral binding- it is from the same set as the leaves at the top.
I have been learning zentangles lately and it is about the most relaxing thing you could ever imagine. Very similar to doodling only it is making patterns one line at a time. At least that is my take on it. I bought an online book of pdf's that is the neatest thing - it takes you directly online to where each pattern is laid out (how to create it). you will find it at Tanglepatterns.com. They ask for a really small amount of money for this book so they can continue to support this art form. I can't believe how very pretty most all of my things are. And it is so relaxing - I said that didn't I? There are lots of youtubes out there if you are interested. Maybe next time I will post some. Until then, lots of hugs! Barb F

Almost missed May!

Have been really busy - will tell you about it after I post these two cards.

 Believe it or not, that says on your first birthday - I love this image which if memory serves me is either Elisabeth Bell or Victoria Case. I am not sure which as I fell in love with both designers at the same time!  The inside of this is a cake with paper pieced candle! I colored the flame with copics but the rest is paper pieced. I love having that option!

I used all of the outer side papers on the inside also. I thought the inside was almost as cute as the outside. What do you think?

This one is of course for a guy. I love this image and paired it up with those cute fish - The fish came with a Popcorn the bear set but I can't remember where the fisherman came from.

Thought I would add another fish to the inside. I did use the same papers on the inside as on the outside. I had kept track of the copics I used for coloring, but since it has been awhile, I lost the little color card I made.
So did any of you get to go to the Mega Meet in Novi, MI? It was ultra fabulous!! I got to meet and talk to Tim Holtz and Mario!! How cool is that?! I took my first card making class at a show and it will be done lots differently if I do that again. Next time, I will just sit there, take some notes and take my entire kit home intact. It was just too stressful to me to try to make 3 cards in one hour not knowing what I was making. I ended up not being able to use any of the cards I made. I do NOT do glitter at all - I am in love with stickles, but I do not use regular glitter. It is a mess and gives the recipient of the card also a mess. All of these had glitter. Of well. I bought so much and of course had to spend lots of time putting stuff away when I got home. All of my organizing lets me play with new stuff right away!
OK - so I went to a scrapping show and spent a few days with my close girlfriend card making with all the new stuff we bought at the show. Also Tuesday Morning had a whole bunch of Tim Holtz stuff including all 3 sizes of his cargo cases. Tim did tell us at the show that all 3 had been discontinued which explains why Tuesday morning had so many.
The week before I went to Mega Meet, I attended the Great Lakes Region of Embroiderer's Guild of America seminar. I took a two day class and had a wonderful time! It was in Indianapolis, IN this year. I love all kinds of needlework but especially the finer stuff - lace making.
Wanted to tell you about something new - at least it was to me. Ranger Industries Wendy Vecchi embossing paste. Wow is it ever worth the purchase price! It is a white or black paste that is just a tiny bit thicker than gel medium. I used the regular and heavy gel mediums to see what the comparison would be. The paste dries within a couple of minutes and is opaque even without adding coloring. The gel mediums take hours to dry and your paper crinkles until it is completely dry. The embossing paste doesn't crinkle the paper at all. Wendy colored it using almost a nothing drop of distress reindeer. You just take the dropper out and don't depress the bulb part - just a tiny bit of liquid from the outside of the dropper will color a huge amount of paste! I love having another use for my stencil collection! You could also color what ever you make with copics, etc.  It has a slightly rough feel as opposed to the slick feel of the gels.
Recently bought a digital camcorder or whatever its called now. Realized I could upload a video to my blog so I will do one on my organization as I did promise a post on that again. Having some work done around the house so I may or may not get that video done soon. The birthdays keep coming so I still need to keep making cards! Hugs to you all. Thanks for hanging in there! Barb F

Hey, hey hey - almost ready for May!

Things sure have been mounting up - I have been busy, that's for sure. I just finished up 4 cards , 3 of which are for May birthdays (have about 3 more left) and one that was for April. We have so many kids, grandkids, etc that we have multiple birthdays every month except none in August.  I have really enjoyed making cards without coloring them, but somehow they seem a little more special to me when I color them.  The cards are for a 1 yr old girl, a seven yr old girl, a 5 yr old boy and a man. These were lots of fun to  make and I was amazed that I colored them as quickly as I did after not coloring for so many weeks. Have a fun thing to pass along just in case you haven't heard of it - Zentangles. I thought  - Oh, just doodling with a black pen. Not so - it is making patterns starting with one line of the pattern at a time. Very very relaxing and you end up with some really neat things that you could showcase on a card. You could also use them on scrapbook pages or journals or art journals. Do a search and you will see that there are lots of you tubes as well as blogs having instruction for free. Of course you could pay also!
So here is the first card - the one I made for April.

 Its a bit unusual for me to cut an image out this way, but it worked! The dp on this one is shiny - didn't realize that when I bought it and was amazed that I didn't have any problems with it. I have been wanting to stamp clouds for a long time and they just seemed to work here. Sometimes you can fussy cut paper to illustrate a point. I was lucky to get the five in my background paper and how neat that the five on the jersey was just perfect!

I paper pieced a couple of the balloons and added some more clouds to the inside. Thought a clear envelope with a little cash would qualify for a little happy! It took a little fussy stamping to do this, but I think it was so worth it. Copics I used are;
B12, B14, Y21, Y28, YR23, R27, R29, G82, E47, E00, E11, R20.

This little gal is one of my most favorite ones. She is very hard to cut out but I did another odd cut and I think it worked out ok. You can see the L shape I cut. I also just watched a youtube from Sparkletart. She colored white mulberry flowers with colics. I did match the colics I chose for these papers and even though the flowers came out darker, they are still the same color family and look spectacular. This was a very odd layout but it was fun to work out.

Using the same dp on the inside as the outside makes it go together. I recently bought the Sizzix flourish die and just had to use it. Lots of stickles on this one. The copics I used here are: E00, E11, R20, Y11, Y15, C2, C3, R81, R85, RV29, BG34, E31, E35, E37, E47, Y21, Y28, YR23.
I will try to keep posting and making as I need to get a little ahead. I recently bought some new Lawn Fawn stamps that have dies to match. The dies were not in yet, so I am waiting for them. I can hardly wait to get them as I thought they were just so cute! I have a real passion for making scrapbook pages. Since I have soooo  many old photos, I can usually come up with a theme and find photos from different years that fall in to that theme. It lets me scrap old with newer ones so I don't feel so overwhelmed by the sheer quantity! I recently bought a new video recorder. Once I learn how to use it, I will see if I can upload videos to this site. It would be so much nicer to actually show you how something looks. You know, a picture is worth a 1000 words.  Hope you enjoyed these two cards. The inside gives you a chance to try other ways of using the same papers. It also uses a bit more so if you are lucky, you won't have a whole lot left! I am dying to buy new paper but promised myself that I needed to use up a whole lot before I can. I don't have room to store any more!! I did manage to get some more 12 x 12 for my scrapbooking as I have been using it like its free!! I did make a dent and bought some more. Hugs to you all, will try to get the other two cards posted real soon. Barb F

Pattern play day1

This is actually the second card I made from the same materials. I am posting the first below. I didn't really like the color band I had next to the orange band so I covered it with another paper. It looks better, but I think the orange band takes over the card. This was learning how to use BIG patterns. I love this paper - what I have left but I think I am not as fond of it for cards. I like this top one better for some reason. If you have this paper, I am sure you recognize it. It is from a 12 x 12 stack. These were scraps, so now I have 2 cards from them. Think I will try day one again as soon as I have a chance. Hugs, Barb F

New Class this week day 2

This is from day 2 - it uses only ink. I added some gems. The paper I used is patterned and has those cute little flowers at the bottom. I cut off some of the edge designs. I cut out some Hero arts butterflies (reallly thin computer paper) and put them temporarily down. Then I stamped that zigzag pattern in different colors of ink. I started to remove a butterfly and realized it was just an unstamped place - you really didn't see a shape. So I actually stamped the butterflies. I would do it the other way around if I was doing it again - stamp the butterfly on the card and cover it with the cut mask and then stamp the zigzag. It still looked not quite right to me so I covered the butterflies again and used some distress ink just where they were. I chose a light one. Stamped the greeting and added the gems. It covers the entire card front.
I need to post these so I can post them to my class. If you are interested, it is going on this week. Onlinecardclasses.com
Hugs to you all, Barb F

2 March Men

For the Maggie Lover's, today's post is right up your alley! Before I get into the post though, I have been making Operation Write Home cards and I am closing in on 100!! I only have 6 more to finish (yep - they are started). I am so excited to be able to send so many! I found that the amazon boxes (from all the amazon stuff we order online) are perfect. At least the last couple of things gave me 7" deep boxes. We are also trying to remodel our bath as well as our dishwasher has been giving us fits. Way too much for me!
So this first card is for one of my sons. Somehow I thought of him when I got this cute Edwin image of the pilot. He doesn't fly - Edwin does!

The plane is a Tim Holtz stamp and I did the background with a matching distress ink. That dp has been here for a long time. I loved this and wanted to be sure some of it showed. I had to mix my copics to match the colors. I don't do that very often as they are usually close enough but this one wasn't so I mixed them. You do that by coloring with the lighter one first and coloring right away over it with the more predominant color but the lighter shade. The two together will be darker than you think. Use a scrap of the same paper you are stamping on to test out your colors. Let them completely dry before you make up your mind. I match up to actual colors - take your test directly to the paper you are matching and look under really good light. Another thing you may not know, I always color underneath where I use Stickles. Depending on what color of stickles you put on top will give you different looks because there is color underneath. This card is kraft and I liked the way it came out.  Here is the inside:

I pieced a dp from the front on another piece from this collection - if I knew which one it was, I would have ordered another one as I liked it a lot. I used a star stamp for the stars and stickler whatever has stickles using silver. The two messages are done on die cuts that I did on my Vagabond. And here are the copics I used: E53, W3, E37,E31, E33, E57, E59, E00, E11, R20, BG93, BG72, C3.
That plane is probably one of my most favorite stamps. It really doesn't need anything once you stamp it. All the Magnolia stamps are my favorites! Guess I have a lot of favorites!!

This card is for a very athletic grandson. I found those darling letter beads somewhere - got a whole lot of them and thought that I could add his name on the banner. It is that lovely soft twine.  The only stickles are in the grass. Just had a good time laying this one out. I didn't have enough width on the papers that look as though they go behind the image, so I cut them and put a piece to each side. It works pretty well as they are only shy of about 1 1/2" and that gap is behind so it doesn't show. Here are the copics I used on this one: E00, E11, R20, R14, R17, YG95, Y21, Y26, E47, E49, E43, G99, G94, G85, YG67.
I do have two female birthday's coming up this month and will post again before too long. Sorry I have been so lax about posting - Will try a bit harder. Thanks to all of you for hanging in there! Hugs to you all, Barb F