Mini-VSN cards from last night

Splitcoast stampers held their mini Virtual Stamp Night last night and it was a rootin tootin good time. I tried to participate in as many as I could (you still have time to check them out and play along if you want to). The Houston Sized Rodeo is August 27 and 28th and I will be hosting one of the challenges then, so make sure you ride on over and join in the fun!

I am showing off a couple of my faves from the festivities last night that I put together (and one my daughter did).

First up is from the Challenge to Bring on the Clowns. For this challenge they wanted us to use 4 bright colors in our card. For the bonus round they also asked that we use something that was popped up. Ok, I cheated a bit and used the bling on that one. The bird is from the Bombshell A Pirates Life Set, and I colored it up with the Copics.

My second card I am showing off today is a little bit of Faux Brayering. The challenge was to brayer a sunset on the plains. As I told them over there - I TRIED. REALLY REALLY hard. I just am very very bad at it. So I cheated, and used my airbrush and Copics to create the majority of this scene. Everything is airbrushed with the exception of the sentiment (Flourishes), and the little black shrubs (Stamps by Judith).

And last, but certainly not least is probably my favorite from last night - the All that Glitters challenge - the challenge was to use SEQUINS. I don't ever use those, so that was a challenge. But luckily - - my assistant (12 year old daughter) came to the rescue and made this lovely card with the sequins as snow. Didn't she do a fabulous job. I am very proud of her.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you back here really soon!

A very COLORFUL Blog Hop today

Hey there all! It is Blog Hop time over at Bombshell Stamps.  If you arrived here from Alison's blog you are on the right track. If not - head on over to the Bombshell Stamps Blog and start your trail off right!  We are a hopping away today with a little bit of a color challenge. The Rockin Alison - The Goddess of the Bombshell Blog Hops has asked us to follow this wonderful colorful theme in our pursuit of Bombshell Hoppiness today!

 Apparently she wanted us to use at least three of the colors in this. You know me - I can never just sit back and coast through, so I used ALL the colors. :-) The image is from the new GORGEOUS Lotus Garden Stamps - one of Bombshell Stamps new Asian themed stamp sets.

I used V000 and then RV63 and 66 for the main flower. The water is BG70, 72, 75, 78 for the water.  Now - A few of you know this already - I did take the Intermediate Copic Certification about a week and a half ago. It was AWESOME! One of the things they encouraged was more use of Shadows and darker colors. So I also added in a bit of RV99 to the flowers. I thought - it looks good, but to me the shadows really show up cool in the close up.  I hope to show some more off, but have not had the time since I got back later Saturday night and I have not had much time to practice. And trust me when I say, the key to Copics is PRACTICE.

Now - Your next stop on the hop is to visit the lovely  Jennie's blog.  And if you get lost you can always head back to the Bombshell Blog and start again!

Thank You for stopping by. I hope to see you again REALLY REALLY soon!!!

Summer Daze

Hey there all! Our lovely Ms. July over on the Bombshell stamps blog has challenged us this month to make cards that remind you of summer.   The little trick this time, was to make your own embellishment out of another Bombshell stamp. OK... I can do that.

The background is airbrushed with  B0000, B000, B00, and E30, 31, 33, 35.

I colored up the Rise and Shine gal with the R3x series, and then cut her out. in the areas that are "Nuthin but net" I masked off the other parts and then airbrushed those so it would look like the background. The "buttons" holding up the hammock are made from little floral images colored up and then cut out with a circle punch. I then used crystal lacquer and let them dry and then added them on. The blue background "paper" is actually fabric as is the towel I have hanging over her feet on the hammock.

The only thing my little girl said was "Mom why is she hanging by flowers in the middle of the air". Uh hunny - this is my dream... In my dream I can float anywhere - and I can be super model skinny!!!! :-)

Now, HEAD ON OVER to the Bombshell Stamps Blog and see what all the other lovely Bombshells have cooked up for this challenge. And you might have a chance to WIN SOME RUBBER if you enter. Seriously... you should enter. Free Rubber. What could be better?

Talk to you later.

Flourishes Farm Fresh Challenge

If you are looking for my Bombshell Stamps Sketch Challenge Card - Scroll on down to the next entry!

The release challenge for this month for Flourishes was to do a card or project that captured fresh picked fruits or vegetables. I chose to color up this lovely basket of Strawberries that have obviously just been picked.

After coloring it up I chose to cut it out and pop it up in the center cut out. I wanted to go very traditional looking so chose the gingham blue and red gingham ribbon. I love how it looks very picniccy.

The basket is colored with E31, 33, 35, 37. The cloth is B21, 23, 24, 26. The strawberreis were really fun to color. They were colored with R20 to start. Then I went over them in areas with R22, 24, 27 and a little 29. Once I was done blending the reds I went over the ends with Y11. The tops were YG23, 25 and then a little G28. After - I went over the entire thing with Glossy Accents.

If you haven't yet checked out the Flourishes Challenge - DON'T - IT MIGHT RUIN MY CHANCES OF WINNING. :-)

Talk to you later!

Balance the Sketch

If you know me, then you know I LOVE and ADORE symmetry in design, and I believe that Kathi - our Bombshell stamps glorious Sketchy lady with the mostest - has achieved that Spectacularly with this months Sketch Challenge.

I used the Lotus Garden stamp set from the New Asian inspired sets over at Bombshell Stamps. I chose to color up the Lotus Flower as the focal point of this. As usual, afterI colored it up I found the paper. But this paper from Kaisercraft was perfect for it (of course it was the absolute last paper pad I went through - so that was a bit frustrating).

I used V000 and then RV63 and 66 for the main flower. The water is BG70, 72, 75, 78 for the water. The stem is YG61, 63 and 67.  The yellow center is an amalgamation of about 7 or 8 different yellow and Yellow Reds because I couldn't get it just right, so I don't know which ones they are. The flower and water was colored with a little Spica and then some Gelly Roll star for a few highlights.

The background for the image and the sentiment are not quite white. They are both BG70.  :-)

The band across the bottom is used with my favorite new obsession - microbeads. I used the red line tape and then covered it with Microbeads. However, since I plan to send this to Operation Write Home, and they don't want anything prone to falling off that is sparkly I went over all of the beads with Crystal Laquer.

I hope you liked my card today. Please head over and check out the loveliness that the rest of the Bombshells have for you, and then get your own Bombshell on and join us in the Challenge. You can possibly WIN some rubber. Go ahead - CHECK IT OUT!

Koi Tattoo

Bombshell stamps has some GORGEOUS new Asian inspired stamps reminiscent of  lovely tattoos - Koi Tattoo and Lotus Garden. And even better, money from the sale of the sets goes to support Japan Relief fund. YAY.  A couple of us on the DT got together and decided to show them off. My card uses Koi Tattoo, and I decided to go a little simple in the design, to showcase the image.

The fish was colored using Copics (of course). I used BV0000, 000, 00, 01 and 02 for the purples and tried to blend them into the greens on the fins. For the scales I used a technique I use on a lot of mermaids. I color the entire thing with BG10, and then lightly layer slightly darker and darker toward the inside of every scale (BG11, 13). I smooth over with the BG10. I tried to give some shading so I went a little darker on the underside of the fish in general. Once the scaling is done, I went over it all with YG11. This gives it a nice coloration.

Once I was done coloring the water, and the fish, I added a little bit (okay a LOT of bit) of Copic qhite on the waves. :-)

I cut out the image and monted it on a blue as close as I could find to the water I colored.  I also used some Clear Spica on the fish, but it is not easy to see in the images because it is so subtle.

That was my first project.  For my second I used the Lotus Garden set and made some Magnets.

The tutorial for making the magnets are over at the Bombshell Stamps blog here.

Thanks for joining me today, and I hope you check out more of the teams inspiration through the weeks over at the Bombshell Stamps Blog!

Flutter Fairy Baby

I have this adorable stamp from Stampavie by Mo Manning, and finally got a chance to color it up. I chose my colors first and then the paper. I need to start with paper some time, it may save some time in the end when I am trying to make the card. LOL. Now I know why I like cardstock so much - much easier to match. :-)

I used BV0000, 000, 00, 01, 02 for the purples, and then BG10,11,13, 15 for the Aqua colors.  Her skin is the lightest I could get it with E0000, E000 and E00 with a bit of R20 on her cheeks - both sets, and her leg and shoulder!!! I outlined her lightly with B0000 to give her a little glowing feel.

The paper is an adhesie multistack I have with Bazill underneath and white cardstock for the base. I then used a bit of Red Line tape as "ribbons" and then my new Recollections micro-beads on them in a similar color to the Aqua.

The sentiment is from Inkadinkado, and the pearls are white pearls that I colored with BG18. When I color accessories, I find I need to ues the darker shades to get what I am used to as a lighter shade.

I think this is an adorable image to use for a baby shower gift or first birthday.  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you stop by again soon.

Shot Through the Heart

Hey there all. I have had a great long weekend so far - how about you? YAY - No work tomorrow for me. YAY YAY YAY.

Ok... now that that is out of the way, I have a new card to share with you... This is one of the REALLY cute digital stamps over at the Paper Shelter. I bought a few of them the other day, and this one just made me smile all over my face.

He was so very cute, and a lot of fun to color up. I got to practice a lot of little things on this. Shading, White, Black, Red, transparent things... all those hard things in one card. WHEW. I think it is time for me to have a drink... maybe a Margarita or something. :-)

The blacks are cool greys, and the Skin is E0000, E000, E00 and I added a little R20 in places. All the reds are R20, 22, 24, 27, 29. The Golds are the Y2X family with Y21, 13, 23, 26 and 28 and the White is actually blue - B0000 feathered and then spread more with some Colorless Blender. I went over the wings, the tips of the arrow etc... with a clear gelly roll star pen. It has more sparkle than Spica, so I use it when I don't want subtle, but still want the colors below to show through. For the glasses, I colored everything under the glass as if it would be completely clear. Then I added B0000 and B000 over the coloring I had already done. This gave it a transparent look, but still maintained the color under. I also added some Crystal Effects over the glass in the glasses.

I am entering this into both the Paper Shelter Anything Goes challenge and the Copic Creations white clothing challenge (Diapers are white clothing right? )

See you soon. I plan to color a bit more today and tomorrow and then enjoy some good old fireworks.

Ghostly Skulls

The Bombshell Stamps Design Team has challenges issued to them occasionally.  The last challenge was for us to use a technique that we have never used before. I decided to ETCH GLASS and stamp with STAZ-ON. It was very very easy.

I took some Frisket Film and used a Nestie to cut out a shape. I placed that shape on the top of a mirror. I then brushed on the etching solution and then let it set for a while. When I wiped it off I had the clear mirror in the middle and then the smoked glass on the outer edge. I then took a Sugar Skull and used white stazon and stamped the skull in the middle of the mirror. After it dried I had the lovely mirror. My older daughter has already stolen it even though I intended to give it to her. LOL.

Here is another picture of it. I LOVE the reflection of the image on the blue paper.

Thanks for stopping by. And head on over to the other Bombshells that took up the challenge to check out what they have done!!!

Have a great weekend, and see you again soon.