Welcome! Today I have my next girl grad card to share. I'm headed to Calgary to spend the weekend with Sherrie Siemens and our Calgary Copic girls, so my husband needed all five six (now he tells me!) graduation cards before I left. :-) For this card I used Papertrey Ink's Congrats All Ways stamp set, combined with the numbers from For the Graduate. Patterned papers are from Carta Bella's new So Noted 6" x 6" paper pad. I thought that someone might have a question on how I got that card base with my Spellbinders Grand Labels Four die template, so I took a picture. I used the next to largest die template, making the folded card base about 5-1/2" wide and slightly less than 4" tall. I also trimmed the tips off after scoring and folding the die-cut shape, as you can see above. I did that to... Continue reading

Graduation cards. . . I need at least five this year--three guy cards and two girl cards. I thought I would go graphic and clean for my guy cards, but vintage and girlie for the other two. I had intended to get at least three made today, but considering that it's 11pm, I think that ship has sailed! I started with JustRite's Birthday Vintage Labels Four stamp set. (Graduation qualifies as a "special day," right?) Since I had recently acquired some envelopes for 5" x 7" cards, I pulled out some larger dies to play with on tonight's card: Spellbinders 5" x 7" Matting Basics A, 5" x 7" Detailed Scallops, Resplendent Rectangles, Stately Circles, and JustRite's Vintage Labels Four dies. Patterned paper is from an old K&Company pad, *I think.* (I don't have the cover any more--just this one favorite, hoarded sheet.) I dyed the ribbon with my Copic... Continue reading

Welcome! I started to clean my studio today--always a great way to get the creative urge. ;-) I couldn't put Dawn's Ruby Rose stamp set away until I'd made at least one more card with it, this time pairing it with Maille's Side-by-Side Sentiments set. For the card base, I used the Mega Mat Stack 4 die. On the card front I used both the Layerz Mat Stack 4 die and the Ruby Rose die collection. Patterned paper is from PTI's Hibiscus Burst Pattern Pack, and cardstock is Stampers Select White. Ink colors include Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Limeade Ice, and True Black. Finally, to the card front I added pink and white bakers twine, along with some Cotton Candy Stickles for the flower centers. Now I suppose I should get back to cleaning. . . but where's the fun in that? Have a great weekend! Continue reading

Welcome! Today I have several cards to share from Papertrey Ink's May 2013 release. The stamp sets used here will be available tonight at 10pm, EST, at Papertrey Ink. Several of this month's sets are geared toward baby cards or scrapbook pages, but there is quite a bit of variety in this month's release in case you aren't in the market for baby-related stamps these days! First up is a floral set, Ruby Rose. I love flowers, and my grandmother was named Ruby. . . What's not to love with this set? :-) All supply lists are included after each card. Ruby Rose Birthday Stamps: Ruby Rose Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Pure Poppy Ink: Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, Simply Chartreuse Patterned Paper: Pure Poppy and Berry Sorbet Pattern Packs Accessories: red Stickles Tools: Ruby Rose die collection, sewing machine Next is an Americana card. To get make the... Continue reading

Oh, yes--still kicking! I've been stamping too, but almost all of it is for the Papertrey Ink release on Wednesday. So what if I share a couple of things I've been playing with in conjunction with our Copic Color and Ink Workshops? For the card above, I was playing with Copic Various Inks (Reinkers), a Papertrey Ink stamp set, Stylish Sentiments Birthday, and two Spellbinders die templates from the Classic Rectangles Large and Classic Scalloped Rectangles Small sets. Since a small part of my class day involves doodling, I've been doodling like a madwoman. True confessions: While I've always loved to draw realistically, I'd never really done much doodling before. But there's nothing like teaching something to make you dive right in. It's seriously addictive. . . No, we don't color our doodles in class, but with all of the markers that live at my house, who could leave everything... Continue reading

Welcome! Today I have another floral card for you. After all, who can have too many flowers? (I saw blooming daffodils in town today and surely hope we don't get more snow!) Today's card is 5" x 7", made with two JustRite background sets: Botanical Postcard Background Stamp and Floral Flourishes Background. Isn't this is pretty one? I hand-cut around it after I stamped it, and then used foam tape to mount the image. I had purchased some Tim Holtz Distress Markers several months ago, and pulled them out to try on this project. The colors that I used are shown above. Most of them I used direct to rubber, then spritzed the rubber with water. For the blue background I scribbled some of the Broken China marker on acetate, and then used a waterbrush to pick up the blue ink and float in a background--easy and fun! I used... Continue reading

Welcome! I just got home from the Boston Copic Color & Ink Workshop yesterday, so here's a wave to all of you Boston ladies! Today's card is made with another JustRite May Release, Birthday Vintage Labels Four. When Kellie first mentioned that one of JustRite's May sets would be perfect for the blackboard technique, I knew exactly where to find inspiration and how-to's--from stamping genius Betsy Veldman. (HERE is a link to Betsy's fabulous tutorial, in case you missed it.) I really like the old fashioned typography in this set and how well it lent itself to a easy-to-make, but ornate-looking card. For my card background, I used JustRite's Grandma's Attic Background Stamp, stamped in white pigment ink on black cardstock. I pulled this flower from last month's Floral Thank You set, then stamped it in Versamark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. Next I airbrushed the heat-set... Continue reading

Welcome! Today I have a floral card to share, made with the JustRite PaperCrafts Irises Vintage Labels Four stamp set. You know how much I enjoy coloring flowers! I chose the larger of the two floral images, paired with one of the set's sentiments, and a background stamp, Grand Damask Background. These are the Copic markers that I used to color the irises image, along with a Buttermilk and a Melon Spica Glitter pen. To trim around my focal image, I used JustRite's coordinating Vintage Labels Four dies, along with a Spellbinders Gold Labels Four die template and a tag cut with Charmed I'm Sure. While the card base is 4-1/2" square, the entire card counting the topper is 4-1/2" x 5-1/2. I dyed the ribbon with my Copic reinkers. Would you like to see what some of the other JustRite girls did with the Irises Vintage Labels Four stamp... Continue reading

Welcome! It was a beautiful day here again today, and my son and I finally got our bikes out of Winter storage, pumped up the tires, and took a bike ride late this afternoon. Our grass is just starting to turn green, and I saw some tiny leaf buds on our lilacs today. Here's hoping that we are finished with snow for a while! In the spirit of hoping for summer, I pulled out a stamp that I hadn't used yet--this lilies image from JustRite's Floral Vintage Labels Two set. I took pictures as I colored--hope that helps. :-) I used the Copic G40's for the lily greenery, and the YG00's for the leaves on the smaller flowers. That B34 was for some cast shadows on the leaves. For the lilies, I used an assortment of Copic oranges, with the YG21 being used for the flower centers as well as... Continue reading

Welcome! I meant to clean off my desk tonight; but while I was cleaning I found a Waltzingmouse Stamps rose image that I had stamped on watercolor paper before I decided to go with my Copic markers for the blog hop last week. Of course, watercoloring is more fun than cleaning. . . Yes, my studio is still a mess, but at least I finished with this image from the WMS Roses in Bloom set! I used some Sakura Koi watercolors to color the image. Next I used a Spellbinders Standard Circles Small die template to cut the rose out, masking with extra cardstock between the blade and the leaves that stuck outside the border. I also used Charmed I'm Sure for the tag shape, A2 Bracket Borders for the border shape, and the Quilted Delight M-Bossability for background texture on my PTI Hibiscus Burst cardstock. That's it for today--hope... Continue reading

Welcome! It's been another wild week here. Between some outside projects, some new release work, and life in a construction zone, my studio time has been shrinking lately. . . But that's life, and we ALL deal with it, right? My dining room floor is down--still needs stain and polyurethane--but it looks great! My kitchen and breakfast room are next on the schedule to be taken apart, so I spent time today trying to clear a few things out so that my husband would have room to work in there. I'm buckling in and expecting this to be a long ride, but won't it be nice when it's done? :-} So, on to today's little birthday card! I started with Papertrey Ink's Sketched Shapes set and its coordinating Sketched Shapes die, combined with some pretty birthday papers from Carta Bella's Cool Summer 6" x 6" pad. For the inside I... Continue reading

Welcome! I had a great weekend in Richmond with a wonderful group of Copic fans. {{Waving to my Richmond friends!}} It seems like it takes longer these days to get back into "normal mode" after a trip lately, hence the length of time since my last post. :-) Today's card is a bright and happy one made with Papertrey Ink's Happiness in Bloom set, with a sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages. Inks that I used were PTI's Limeade Ice, Orange Zest, Autumn Rose, and True Black. I also used some AMuse Studio Bubblegum ink for the lighter pink. I used three Copic markers: BG0000, T1, and the ) Colorless BLneder to soften that sky around the flowers. (The T1 was used to add shadows to some of the blossoms and leaves that I had stamped directly onto the cardstock panel. ) I used several Papertrey Ink dies, including Beautiful Blooms... Continue reading

Today I'm delighted to be blog-hopping with Waltzingmouse Stamps in their 2013 Flower Show! If you are following the hop order, you have arrived here from Taheerah Atchia's blog; and you will be going from here to Meredith MacRitchie's blog. You can find a complete list of all participants at Claire's blog. For my floral set, I chose the WMS Roses in Bloom set. I loved the big, beautiful rose bloom and knew that it would be fun to color! My card is larger than I normally make at 5" x 7". I could have used a standard 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card base if I had turned the base horizontally, but I liked it better this way. These are the Copic markers that I used on the floral image. (Click to see them larger.) The Spellbinders die template that I used under the floral image is from the 5" x... Continue reading

Welcome! Today I have a few cards to share from Papertrey Ink's April 2013 release. The stamp sets used here will be available tonight at 10pm, EST, at Papertrey Ink. Several of this month's sets are geared toward masculine cards or scrapbook pages. If you're anything like me, guy cards are more of a challenge than, for instance, floral cards; so I'm always happy to have some new masculine sets! My first card (above) has a baseball theme. Loving that big ticket look! I added a couple of lines of curved stitching because it reminded me of the stitching on a baseball. All supply lists are included. Best Day Ever! Stamps: Big Ticket Basics, 7th Inning Stretch Ink: Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening; Chamomile Distress Cube Cardstock: Blueberry Sky, Rustic White Patterned Paper: Enchanted Evening Collection Tools: Big Ticket die, sewing machine Love You, Dad Stamps: Boutique Basics: Father... Continue reading

Welcome! My last posted card was a birthday card for a little girl. I started thinking about how big sister (almost 5) was going to feel if she didn't get a card too and figured I'd better make another little girl card! (Hey, any excuse for sweetness and pink, right?) As I was re-shelving some of the stamp sets that were stacked in my studio, I saw this little Papertrey Ink Heart-2-Heart #5 mini stamp set and knew that it would be perfect with some new Carta Bella Cool Summer paper that I had recently received. The sentiment is from the Flower Fusion #6 mini stamp set. I took my ink color cues from the cloud paper and used Hibiscus Burst, Simply Chartreuse, and Harvest Gold for my banners, as well as Dark Chocolate for my banner cord. for the little bows, I used a Copic E49 to color some... Continue reading

What? A blog post with no pictures? Sorry about that! I'm in the library with my son right now, but I wanted to let you know that I've updated my Copic Certification Page for classes that are currently open. Are you in the Indianapolis area? Lori Craig has both a Copic Standard and an Intermediate Certification there TOMORROW and Saturday. There is still some room left if you'd like to go! Sherrie Siemens is headed for Toronto right now--also a Friday and Saturday Standard and Intermediate, if you can make that. My next teaching trip is next weekend to Glen Allen, Virginia (near Richmond), but both classes are FULL. I hope to meet some of you there! Other cities with posted Copic Certification classes include: Greenville, SC; Lyndhurst, NJ; Hanover, MD; Salt Lake City; and Columbus, OH. Are you looking for a Copic Color and Ink Workshop? Currently open cities... Continue reading

Welcome! I've been playing blog hookie for the past few days so that I could get some work done, but tonight I had a chance to get a card made for a sweet little girl. I pulled out my Papertrey Ink Fancy Folk Art stamp set, along with Stylish Sentiments: Birthday for the inside sentiment. I thought that the Stylish Sentiments set worked well with the Fancy Folk Art set, even though the fonts aren't the same. They are both playfully mixed and have the same graphic feel to them. These are the Copic markers that I used to color the folk art image--pinks and greens to coordinate with papers from my Carta Bella True Friends 6" x 6" pad. I used several Spellbinders die template sets to frame my images, including Resplendent Rectangles for the bottom rectangular sentiment tag (except for the little green banner, which I hand-trimmed), Stately... Continue reading

Welcome! Today is the final day for JustRite's April release week. I chose the Secret Garden Background Stamp, paired with the Botanical Swirls Labels set. My card size is 4-5/8" x 6-5/8". I used my Metallic Gelatos (Violet, Blue, and Teal) to "ink" the Secret Garden Background stamp, first misting the stamp lightly with water, and then scribbling the Gelatos directly onto the rubber. I misted lightly again before stamping onto cream cardstock. As a reminder, the Faber Castell Gelatos are all 20% off on JustRite's site through April 9. I've already ordered, so soon I'll have more than four colors to play with. ;-) I used several Spellbinders die templates, including Botanical Swirls and Accents, 5" x 7" Detailed Scallops, 5" x 7" Matting Basics A, and Framed Tags One for that sentiment in the center. So, are you ready to see more of the JustRite Secret Garden and... Continue reading