My Inner Bombshell

I have been really lucky to be a Guest Design Team member (Ms. January 2011) for Bombshell Stamps. The girls over there are AWESOME, and so incredibly talented. As my final project of the month I wanted to post something from a Design Team Challenge that they are having. This project was to show off your inner Bombshell. Well - - I took that REALLY literally.

I used Bombshell Angel for this. I had just received a catalog at work for an anatomical chart company (I get some really interesting things there). There were some REALLY interesting pics in the catalog, but I tried to get close to the size for the Bombshell Angel, and fit it to her. I think I have cut pieces from 6 or 7 of their various charts. LOL.

I made a Bookmark out of her. I love to read - so I think it fits. LOL. I cackled the entire time I was making her.

Again, I was so honored to be asked to be Ms. January for Bombshell Stamps. Check out the other Design Team Members blogs (they are on my sidebar) - they are all so wonderfully talented. And keep up with the Bombshell Stamps Blog and forum!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Silever and White Embossing

So, I was over at SplitCoast today looking at the favorites thread, and a ex design team pal had an embossed card in the faves for the week. Terrie's card was so pretty, and made me want to go and pick up my embossing stuff again. 

So, I collect eggs... the kind that are decorated, and lovely, not the ones that you eat. :-)... Anyway, when I was in Atlanta over Christmas, I found this Holly Berry House Egg stamp. I hadn't done anything with it yet, so I decided I needed to ink her up and start. I was going to do her in pink and blue and white, but once I saw the silver zing on the white, I decided it had to be all silver and white.

I stamped it 4 times with Versamark and embossed it with Silver glitter Zing EP. I cut out the first layer and layered it on the grey cardstock. I then cut out another large section of the layering and popped it up. The last two images, I used to cut out two layers of the flower toward the bottom... and the heart up top. The grey bling paper and the sentiment card stock are also edged with Versamark and embossed with the zing EP.

For the flowers I used silicone dimensional adhesive to pop up the outer edges of the flower leaves, and heart. The edge is a MS punch and the bling between the card and the filigree is a white decorative "ribbon" with silver beads.

Thank you for stopping by. Hope to see you back soon.

Hey Y'all

Hey there all you peeps out in Blogland. I am having a GREAT day here today. Woke up this morning to find out that I had won at Kenny K's challenge. WOO HOO!!!!  Very exciting. I have a pretty new badge on the side of my blog now. I also figured out how to make 3 collumns on my blog page. YAY.

For the latest card I have done, I colored this lovely lady from Kraftin Kimmie Stamps. They are having a challenge over there that is Fairy Tales. OK... so I don't have a specific fairy tale I am working with, but whenever I think Fairy Tales, I think SOMEBODY has to be poisoned. I also went with the colors from the latest iCopic Challenge which are purple, green and orange (shudder on the last one). After adding the embellies, I turned it into an easel card, one of my favorite card types to make. I modified it a bit, because I have trouble keeping it standing as I want when I have an oversized card, so I added a folded piece of paper with velcro on the back  so that it will stay in place when stood up.

Her dress is YG11, 13, 17 for the green. The purple is V12, 15, 17, and the greys are cool grey. Her hair is YR00, 02, 07 and then I added R08 in to darken some spots. At the end I went over all of it with Y21. I like how it gives a glow in certain areas. Her skin is E000, E00, E01, R20. I cut her out with a Nestie, and then I airbrushed all around her with W00, W1, and W3 closest to the edges.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I have a tutorial posted over at Bombshell Stamps Blog on making faux metal paper. I hope to post another card soon that I have made using this technique... Someone has to get it first though! COME ON USPS!!!!! Get it delivered!!!!

Icy Hot!

Hey Y'all! This is a card I did for the Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge #28 which is Blue and White and Silver.

I colored the Lovely Jesse Jane up. She is colored with the following Copics:

Blues: B12, 14, 16, 18
Skin: E0000, E000, E00, R20
Silvers: C0, C1, C3, C5 and a little C7 in the hair

I colored everything from lightest to darkest, and then blended after that. I used crystal Stickles and painted over her hair, belt, buckles, armbands, hatband and shoes.. This left the color underneath, but a little sparkle in the light. Once I was done with that I cut her out and then added the white buttons and snaps with Enamel Accents white.

I used a Nestie to cut out the white and blue inner boxes.  After playing for a LONG time with Impressabilities, I decided I like them as accent embellishments as opposed to embossing things with them.  I did impress this butterfly in, but then I glued it in. I love how it looks. I then added the white Enamel Accent dots around the blue frame as well.  The white in the back was embossed with a Cuttlebug Folder, and then the corners cut off with a quarter of a hole punch. I mounted this on blue cardstock, and applied the white dots on it as well. As a final touch I added larger pearls on the four corners.

Most of my cards are larger, but this one ended up being 4.25 x 5.5, which is unusual for me! I was really excited.

Have a great night, and I will see y'all later.

~~Alaine

Happy Birthday Dad (a few days ago)

I made this card for my Dad's Birthday.  This stamp (Inkadinkado) I have had for a while... but not made very many cards with it.  I bought it because of my Dad's love of red wine.

I stamped the image on off white cardstock, with Memento ink. I used RV 91, 93, 95 and 99 for the wine and the grapes. The leaf is YG91, 93, 95 and 97.  The glass was colored with B0000 and BV0000. Once I was done coloring it, I cut it out with a Nestie and then I airbrushed the bottom with W1, and the top edges with the RV91. I then spritz airbrushed it with the RV93 giving it the spotted look. The glass was painted over with glossy accents to give it a shine. The cord was made into a bow with my bow easy, and placed under the wine image which was popped up with foam tape. The paper is Websters Pages.


Thank you for stopping by. See you all again soon!

Alaine

Unique Fold Paper Prettie

This weeks challenge over at Paper Pretties  is Unique or Non-Traditional Folded cards. I chose their Giving Thanks Sofia as the focal image. I think it is adorable that she is holding out her dress, and the Thank You sentiment fit so well on it.

I chose to do a Spring Card. The tutorial is located HERE on SplitCoast. For Sophia I colored her with Copics. The colors:

Skin E0000, E000, E00, R20
Hair E11, 13, 15, 17, 18
Flower RV10, 13, BG10, 11, 13
Dress and Hair bow BV00, 11, 13, 17

I like how her dress scallops out. I colored the entire dress with the BV00, and then in each scallop, I started with BV11 and did a single feather stroke up the dress. I did that again with the BV13... and then again with the BV17 over it. This made the streaks in the dress that look like pleats. You can see in the close up where the starting point for each scallop was...I need to work on making it more subtle. :-)

Once I was done coloring her, I cut her out with a Nestie, and then airbrushed the BG0000 and BG000.

I then decided to mirror her dress with the scalloped circles of the background.

Thanks for stopping by. Going to go do some coloring now before the work week starts again!!!! Have a great week everyone!

January 2011 Sketch Challenge

Hi all! Ms. January 2011 here with my card for the Bombshell Stamps monthly Sketch Challenge.

It is a  really cool sketch and you are allowed to flip it mirror it, do whatever you want with it. I decided I needed to flip it a bit.

I used the Sugar Skulls set. While looking for paper - I wanted something a bit more cheery and not my standard black and white. I found this Cosmo Cricket paper. On one of the sheets there was a statement that says "a giggle a day keeps the glums away"  I thought it was great, since these skulls are just cracking up!

The Sugar Skulls I stamped on Hammermill color copy cover with Memento and colored with Copic Markers. I matched the colors on the top strip as close as possible. I used R02, 05, 08 for the redder flowers, YR61, 65 and 68. The leaves are G40, 82, 85.

For the skulls I used a Copic Blender and the tip to tip method. I used the blender to grab color off of BG72 marker and shaded areas of the skulls. This made it more subtle than coloring with BG72 and trying to blend after the fact. And the BG72 matched more closely the paper.

Once complete I cut up the sentiment, and added the rest of it to the inside of the card mounted on black cardstock on top of the blue design paper.

I really like how it turned out.

So now everyone needs to head on over to the Bombshell Forum and try your hand at the sketch for the month. You are eligible to win some free RUBBER of your own!

Thanks again for stopping by. I love having you and hope to see you again soon!

~~Alaine

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 100th Celebration Blog Hop

I love Flourishes stamps. Really... I LOVE THEM. So when they challenged us to pick our favorites for their 100th Challenge, well.... I could NOT pick. All the stamps were screaming at me that they were my favorite. Out of the ones that initially screamed the loudest, in the end just sat there militantly pouting that I hadn't used it in a long time, and it deserved to be picked. I know I shouldn't give in, but I felt drawn to it. Maybe it reminded me of someone? :-)

Humming Along is so pretty, and one of my other favorite things to do is the feathering technique merging two different colors into a new one, so I decided to color the trumpet blooms in this manner.

I used RV32 and 34 with R39 to create the petals. These fade into YR31, Y32 and a touch of Y35. For the leaves I mixed some series together a bit too. I used YG21 on the outer edges. Then I colored G21 all over each leaf, even over the YG21. This gave some yellowish highlights to the green. I then added my shading with G24 and 28 and went back over it with G21 to blend. In the end I lightly colored the YG21 again. I added gold stickles to the centers of the flowers that you can see. The Background is B32.

Once done, I used the out of the oval technique to cut the oval and leave all the image intact, while still being able to get it in the center of the largest beaded Nestie. Another favorite go to of mine is to airbrush while still in the Nestie. This is what I have done with the beaded oval Nestie, again using the B32. I added the pearls in (another fave technique - gotta have some bling) and made a bow with my new Bow Easy toy.

So Faves abound in this one - Coloring, Bling, Nesties, Airbrushing and of course Flouriushes stamps.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you back again soon. To get back to the blog hop click HERE!!!

~~ Alaine

Vintage Sweet Peas

Hello Ladies. We have a LOVELY blanket of snow out today, and I am at home with my kiddoes. Ok... so, I am really just kind of scared to drive on the ice and snow, so I am taking a break from working online at home to post this card that I completed last night. This is using the Flourishes Sweet Peas set that I got for Christmas. I colored the sweet peas with RV2x series, and the YG2x series. Once I had it colored, I cut it out with a nestie and then airbrushed the edges while still in the nestie with B21. I then cut out the red matting from the next size up nestie.

I found a piece of Bazzill pink (not sure the exact color) cut it to the size I wanted and cross hatched it on my score board every 1/2 inch. Once that was done I swiped my white ink (Imprintz Pigment) and then used white EP over that. It wasn't an exact science, and didn't show up only on the crosshatching, but I love the distressed look it gives without distressing much.  I placed a piece of lace across the center, and used white pearls in two different sizes to dress it up a bit. The white ribbon was formed into a double Bow on my bow easy... and  placed on top of the stem bunch.

I am entering this in two different Flourishes Challenges... first the FLLCJAN11 Release Challenge which was to use the colors of love (pink, red and white); Second the BBB06 challenge - Bringing Back Beautiful, the Beauty of Vintage challenge. This one was to use vintage on the creation - i.e. lace, old buttons, etc...

Thanks for stopping by... See you again really soon.


~Alaine

2nd Snow Bunny

As Ms January 2011 for Bombshell Stamps I chose the theme for the monthly Challenge as Snow Bunnies. You can see my initial post here, and you can enter here.

I recently got the Man's Ruin Stamp. The lovely lady on here decided she needed to hang out in the hot tub at the ski resort.

I started with the background with a quarter sheet of plain white cardstock. I used the denim Distress Inks and sponged it on with a swirling motion so that it would look a little like the night sky. I then tore another quarter of the white cardstock into several pieces. On the backside of the white torn paper I distressed lightly with the blue ink. So that when you turn it over, there is a very faint line of blue you can see.

Before I constructed the background and the "snow", I covered the entire surfaces with VersaMark Dazzle, and then clear embossed it. It gives it htat sparkly shine you see on the snow and the sky. I feel like it makes it have a cold frosty feeling.

The Hot Tub is an image I found online. I cut it out and masked the different parts and airbrushed with copics. (E71, 74, 77 and BG0000, BG000).

The lovely Mans Ruin lady was stamped on Hammermill with Memento ink, and then I colored her up with my copics. She is colored with BG01, 02, 05, 07 for her shoes and suit, BG0000 is her glass, E25, 27, 29 for her hair and E000, E00, E01 with R20 for her skin. After she jumped into the hot tub and kicked back in a relaxing position, I added Glossy Accents to the water, and her shoes and the glass.

After it was all done, I assembled the card. I am not sure what the inside will say - she hasn't told me yet... but I am sure it will be fun.

Thanks for looking and Hope to see you back again soon.

~Alaine

Really Quick Post

This is just a very quick post on a card I did tonight. I spent most of my time organizing, but I was able to get this one finished.

This was colored with E50, 51 on the background of the image, and the leaves were E53, 55, 57. The Roses were colored with R02,05,08, 59.  That was it. I cur out the image by hand, and then mounted it on two Nesties. The background paper is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and then I added the gold beading.

I am entering this into the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, and the iCopic Color Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to have something more a little bit later... ok... so tomorrow sometime (I still claim it is Saturday night since it is just a bit past midnight!)

Alaine

Howdy Horsie!!!!

I absolutely adore this horse stamp from Paper Pretties. I think he is just adorable and he was a lot of fun to color.

I had already colored him up on Monday, and then I saw the Wednesday challenge (sketch) over at the Paper Pretties blog, and decided he needed to be showcasead that way.

He was stamped on Hammermill Color Copy Cover (my go to paper) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.   The Howdy is another stamp I have from Deadbeat Designs. I cut all three shapes out with a Nestie. The brown paper was some paper I had from Bazzill - I think - which has a mottled color to it. I beefed that up more by Spraying Suede Glimmer mist on it. It gives a really pretty golden brown sparkle to the paper. I then inked up the edges with Jumbo Java VersaMagic.

Most of the image was colored in the different brown shades. The main body was E11, 13, 15, 17 and 18. His mane was the E50, 51, 53 series.  His hooves I went over with Warm Greys to add a bit of the browner colors since they were stamped in the black. The post was colored with the E70, 71, 74, 77 series.  The flower is YR21, 23 and R24 added in the middle of hte petals and then blended. the greens were YG21, 23, 25, and his eyes are B21, 24. I don't think you can see it here very well, but his teeth are outlined (uh inlined???) in Y0000 - cuz really a horse with white teeth just didn't seem right LOL.

I think he turned our really pretty.

A coworker of mine has a daughter in Elementary school who is selling her handmade cards for $1 each to raise money for a school trip. I have volunteered to donate some of my cards to her for her to sell. I think this is going to be one of the first ones I do that with. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you all again really soon. With any luck, I will be able to do a lot of crafty stuff this weekend! 

~~Alaine

I'm So Blue! - But in a Good Way!

Hey all... I had a blast with this next Sweet Pea stamp. I love her design and coloring her was so much fun. 

The stamp is Light of Beautitude. I colored her with the following Copics:

V12, 15, 17 for the purple portion of the gown.
B12, 14, 16, 18. was used for the blue portions of her gown
BG11, 13, 15, 18, B12, YG11 for the Scales and flowers.
E0000, E000, E00, R20 for the Skin
E13,15,17,18 for her hair - On the left side near the candle, I added Y000 in the light areas.
V0000, V000, V12, B0000, 000, 12 for the wings.
G12, 14, 16, 17 for the leaves at the base of the candles.
Y11, 13 for the flame, and Y0000 for the glow of the candle

Once I had her colored up, I started adding the stickles. For the dots on the hair and gown, I used Mermaid Stickles. For the wings and the hair, I lightly added a bit of crystal Stickles - to get a nice thin layer of  shimmer - it gives a bit more than the clear spica, but still lets the Copic Colors come through. I did the same to the edging on the blue gown. The flames and the belt are gold stickles.

The paper is from KaiserCraft Utopia Collection and the blue is Coredinations. The sentiment is a Flourishes stamp and I LOVE their fonts. It is stamped on AC white cardstock with Versafine and Clear embossed.

I am entering this as a second entry in the Copic Creations Challenge for Sparkle. I think I achieved that! I am also entering it into the Sweet Pea Stampers Challenge Anything Goes. I thought about entering it into the Technique Challenge on SCS - which was painting with Stickles... but Since I relied on Copics for the colors, I didn't think it quite qualified. :-(

Thanks for Stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Alaine

Is it a Mermaid or a Rose Bush?

I ordered several new stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps over the holidays including this one called Blue Rose Tattoo. I think these are so beautiful.. I was thinking gorgeous girl, wonderful flowers... then I started coloring her.  I realized that the leaves and flowers were growing out of her fingers and hair.. WOW... didn't get that before I ordered her. Now, I thought it was WAY cool, but it kinda threw me a bit in the coloring department, because is her hand skin colored or stem colored?

I attempted to make it a transition.. but it was after I caught the change... so it was a little more difficult.  The Tail Scales were colored with BG10, 11, 13, 15 Once they were done I went back over them with YG11, to give them a subtle change of colors.I did the same thing with her eyes. The leaves and tail fin are G20, 21, 24, 28. He skin is E000, 00, 01 and a bit of R20 in places (cheeks, etc). Her hair is E11, 13, 15, 17, 18. At the end of some of it I transitioned into the green. I tried to feather it out to make it seem as if it was a natural extension. The roses are YR21, 23 and touched up with R22 to give it a variegated look.  Once I was done coloring her, I edged her with BG0000 and BG000 behind her and feathered out to make it fade.

The DP is Origins from Basic Grey. The ribbon is a white ribbon that I colored with E15 Copic to match her hair. I used a Bow Easy to make the triple bow.

I hope you enjoyed her. Like I said, I didn't get all the subtleties of the image when I bought it, but now I think it is even cooler - need to go check out all the other images! I am entering this into the "In A Sweet Pea Dream" Challenge this week which is Ribbons and Bows.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Alaine

January 2011 - - BRING ON THE SNOW BUNNIES!

Happy NEW YEAR!

I am really Excited to serve as a Guest Designer - Ms. January 2011 for Bombshell Stamps! I love these pinup ladies, and do a lot with them. As part of my guest design team honor, I get to choose the challenge for the month of January.

Since January is cold and icy, I thought it would be fun to do a theme of Snow Bunnies (oh and Doug at work helped me a little with the theme as well!!)

My first take on the challenge is to do a card with a Playboy Bunny on it. Ever since I first saw the Bombshell Angel stamp, I have imagined her as a Playboy Bunny. Now I get my chance to dress her up like one.

I have chosen to do her in shades of icy blue and snow white, with silver highlights. I masked the Bombshell Angel's flower, and then added the detail to her hair. After coloring her with Copics, I drew in the bunny ears. I realized after I was done that I did not put on her little wrist cuffs and neck collar and bow, but that just means I get to do another one sometime in the future to correct my mistake. :-)

The Angel was colored with the following Copics:

E000, E00, E01 and R20 for her skin
B0000, B000, B00, B02 for her outfit and Ears
Y21, and then overcolored with E31, 33, 35 for the hair

Let me tell you a little about her hose. I first colored her legs with the E000, E00, E01 as if she were bare. Then I over-colored her legs with W00 and W1. This makes it look as if she has some sexy black hose on.

Once she was colored and cut out, I went to work on the rest of the card. The white layer was sprayed with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist, and then embossed with the Cuttlebug. I then added an ice blue shimmery paper under that. Then I added the silver edged white ribbon. The bow was made with a Bow-Easy that I just got this weekend - woo hoo. I made a triple bow, and then wrapped it around the blue and white. Then I layered again on white and blue, but on these two pieces I used VersaMark and then Silver Zing and heat embossed the edges. I added a little bling to the center of the squares with the square Jolee's hotfix crystals. Playboy "Bunny" was then added on top with dimensional foam pop ups. The inside of the card has another layer of the blue and white cardstock.

Please check out the challenge over on the Bombshell Stamps Forum! If you participate you have a chance to win a fabulous prize!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a GREAT Year!