Easy CAS Christmas Card

I saw this stamp this week, and bought it because I ADORE these Inkadinkado stamps that have the hidden images within the images. 

Once I had stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black on Neenah... I clear embossed it and cut it with a round Nestie. I then cut the black Lacey Circle with the corresponding size, and the white from one size up out of the lacey nesties. To make the card I folded some white cardstock, and used the largest of the circle nesties I have and cut the folded piece soo that the top 1/8th or so of the circle was missing where the fold was. I then just slapped them all together. 

This was the FASTEST card I have ever made... And I love how it turned out.  Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a GREAT week.

A little Bling Bling

Cheryl hosted a second Bombshell Stamps World Card Making Day Challenge this week. Her challenge was to Bring on the Bling.

For my card I used the new Bombshell I got this week from the Butterfly Queen stamp set.

I colored her with Copics -  E000, E00 and E01 for her skin. She has a little bit of R20 on her cheeks and legs and stomach. Her outfit is colored with Y21, 23, 26 and BV01, 02, 04. Her hair is E33, 35, 37, 39. Once I had finished, I cut her out, and then I added some topaz hotfix crystals. I then added smaller clear crystals as the straps and on her belly button and shoe. These clear crystals I colored with BV04. 

She was placed on a Nestie shape. The black behind it was traced using the outside of the same Nestie that I cut the purple one out with.  I printed out the statement on yellow cardstock, mounted it on purple and then on the black. The crystals on the yellow were the clear crystals again colored with the BV04... And I added Topaz crystals on the black. Even larger clear crystals again with BV04 are on the corner of the DP. The DP by the way is from the Saffron Stack from DCWV.  Finally, after putting it all together, I added a strip of teensy eensy clear crystals on the outer edge of the Nestie, and the topaz on the top and bottom.

Thanks for stopping by! Gotta go and ink up some more stamps I just got in!

Bombshell Stamps World Card Making Challenges

So, Apparently (this was news to me too :-) )  World Card Making Day is on October 2.  So to honor that, Bombshell stamps is hosting several challenges leading up to the big day.

Every few days between now and October 2nd one of the design team members will post a challenge for you!

The “rules” are simple:
1. Use Bombshell Stamps somewhere on your project.
2. All submissions will be eligible for Bombshells' monthly drawing.
3. Challenge submission cards should be posted in the appropriate challenge thread on Bombshell's forum.
4. All posted entries will receive a 25% off coupon toward the purchase of Bombshell Stamps.
5. Feel free to participate in one or more of the challenges.
6. The deadline to post your challenge submissions--World Card Making Day, Saturday, October 2, 2010. 

The first one is hosted by Kathi:

"My challenge is to use the smaller stamps and/or icons included in each set of Bombshell Stamps to create a project of any kind. These stamps are great to use to create backgrounds, to use as embellishment accents, to decorate elements, or to support the larger focal image of each set. Use as many icons from as many different sets as you can to create a cohesive project!"

I am a little late on this, since I have been out of town on business this week, but I was able to finish this card today!

I used Flowers from three different sets. Two from Bombshell Angel, one from Sugar Skulls and one from Butterfly Queen. I colored them with all sorts of Copic colors, and then cut them out. I then used my newly acquired Lacey Circles Nesties, adn cut out some circles, and then layered the flowers in a wreath around it. I then added some more of the lacey circle nesties in the middle and added the final two layered flowers on top. I used Foam tape to adhere the flowers and the circles to give it some dimension.

After adhering them together I wrote Be Happy on the banner and mounted it to the white cardstock with the lacey border cut with MS punch around the page.

Challenges Entered: 

• Bombshell Stamps World Card Making Day Icon Challenge
• Bombshell Stamps - September Challenge -Rise to the Occasion
• SplitCoast Stampers - F4A31 - Scallops

Thanks for stopping by. I have a lot more to work on this weekend. Don't forget the Bombshell Stamps Monthly Blog Hop coming up this week! and check out some of the other challenges!

~~Alaine

Witchy Day

When I was looking at the Copic Creations challenge this week, I thought that this witch would really shine with the right shading.  I will list the colors I used below, but primarily for the shading part I used the W00, 1, 3, 6 and 7. 

After coloring the main image, I took the W7 and ran it slightly under he edge of the pumpkin, the pot and the broom. I then went over that one, still in a pretty thin line with the W6. Then I moved to W3 and smoothed it out and drug it down a bit... with more under and slightly to the right of the main portions. I also took the W3 and used it to the right of the pumpkin over the other greys and to the right of the broom as well.

I then took the W3 and ran it on the under edges, and to the right of the main images, with the light coming in from the upper left. I then dragged it a bit down and to the right with the W1 and then the W00.

Please excuse the photography today... I think things were a bit blurrier than usual.

Colors -
Greys for the pot - C3, 5,7, 9
Orange YR00, 02, 07
Purple BV01, 02, 04, 08
Green YG03, 05, 06
Broom E51, 53, 55, 57

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Stamps by Judith

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you all had a GREAT weekend!

Paper for Copics

Hey everyone... I bought some of the X-Press It Blending card and the Copic Illustration paper for paper crafters the other day, and wanted to do a comparison for myself. I have two papers I generally use - Neenah and Hammermill (Color Copy Cover).  So I cut out strips of each one, and stamped two simple images on each one. Although I was doing it for me, to kind of get a feel, I went ahead and took pictures of them during the process to show everyone here.

DISCLAIMER - I did not take a lot of time on each one... so the coloring and stamping isn't great. Please bear with me. Also, As I said - I did this comparison for myself primarily... so these are MY OPINIONS! LOL... I am not a professional, and I do not do this on tv.

These are the four cards under an Ott Light. Sorry about the one image off the Neenah paper... I wasn't real consistent with placement of the image at this stage.

Paper weight (thinnest to thickest)

1. Copic - WOW this is thin
2. Hammermill - This is 80 lb, but  is slightly thinner than the Neenah 80 lb
3. Neenah - 80 lb
4. X-Press It - Not sure the weight, but it was the thickest of them all

I used the following colors:

Bird - B21, B23, B24, B26
Butterfly - Feathering technique Y00, Y04, V01, V04

How did each one do..

The Copic one turned out to be the thinnest of all, and the most off white. Because it was so thin, it took next to no ink to get it to blend. Blending was fairly easy. However, because of the thinness and the color, I probably won't use this one nearly as much as the others. This I think will lend itself well to windows layered on top of it, as opposed to it being raised up. The color will also do better when not mixed with a white background. This one was $7.99 for 25 sheets. (~ 32 cents / page)

The Neenah is the second thickest of the cardstock, and was rougher than both the Hammermill and the X-Press It. Because it is thicker than the corresponding Hammermill - I tend to use this more if I am going to raise the layers and / or sponge off the side of the edges. It was a little harder to blend than the rest of the papers, I think because it took a lot more ink to soak it up. Also - - it is $30 a package. (~12 cents/ page)

The Hammermill Color Copy Cover was next. This has been my favorite paper for a while, so I am a little prejudiced. When I first purchased the Neenah, the store was asking what I was looking for. When I told them smooth and white, they pointed me to this one. It is smoother than the Neenah... and a bit thinner although it claims the same weight. It is Very close in color to the Neenah. As far as blending it seemed a bit easier to me than the Neenah. But again, I use this one primarily... and so that could be due to practice. :-). Also, the price is very right - - $15.50 a package (~ 6 cents / page).

The last one was the one I was really excited about trying. This one is the X-Press It blending card. The blending on this one beat all the others hands down. The ink just slid around the paper.  It was thicker than the others, but probably the most comparable to the Neenah. It was also the brightest of the whites, or truest... not sure how to describe it. 11.99 for 25 sheets (~48 cents / sheet) so it was definitely the most expensive of the papers. However, due to the color and thickness I will probably use it for cards where I am popping that layer up and need a very bright white... and coloring a bunch.

My final take is that I will probably use all of these at one time or another... with the Hammermill still being my go to paper, and the X-Press It and Neenah being used as well. I probably will not use the Copic that much, just due to the color being so off white, but I will use it if I want a more antiqued look.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you made it through this - WOW....  I am impressed. Again - only my Opinion.

See you soon!

Timeless Spotlight

It is time for another Timeless Tuesday Challenge. The focus this week was on the spotlight technique. One of my favorite Flourishes stamps is Winter Bouquet, but it is a ton of coloring. I thought it was PERFECT for the spotlight technique. I got to use it and yet... didn't have to color the whole thing! So Quick - but still fun!

I stamped the image twice, and then cut it out with Nesties. Once I colored the inside portion, I mounted it on the dark green cardstock and cut out a slightly larger edge. As I was looking at it, I decided that the total image was a little to plain with just white, so I "reverse" spotlighted on the larger image and colored the light blue background, but not the image..... I don't know if that is a proper term, or me just making stuff up... but it is what I thought of. :-)

Close Up of Spotlight

Background is B0000

Reds are R22, 24, 27, 59 

Greens are G21, 24, 28, YG23, 25

Yellows are Y21, 23

Browns are E21, 25

Thanks for stopping by. Check out the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge. There are always some really great cards people place in the challenge.

~~Alaine

Really Quick Christmas Card

I felt the need to do a Christmas card. I was thinking about this today and decided I needed to try to heat emboss something on patterned paper. So I took these two coordinating patterned papers, and stamped Outlines Poinsettia Ornament toppers (large and holly underneath) on them. I stamped in Versafine, adn then clear embossed. I cut out the two and layered them on off white cardstock that had been embossed in the Cuttlebug.  I did cut out the center from the reddish paper on the bottom. The gold balls were added on top of that. 

This was a very easy project, and I love how it turned out. It is something that is easy to mass produce and the longest effort is the cutting out of the flowers.

I am hoping to do at least one Christmas card a week from now until time to send them out. I think that is reasonable. Have a nice day.