Aargh, it be Pirate Hanna!

LOL Sorry for the corny title! The fourth set being released tonight at Hanna Stamps is Pirate Hanna. She is so fun! I stamped and colored my image. Then, I stamped the background paper using the map stamp. I matted everything and assembled the layers. This was a very fast and easy card to make.

Don't you just love that sentiment, "stamp or be stamped!"? The release party is over in the SCS forum tonight. Party starts at 9 EST. There is always lots of chatting, prizes and fun!

Recipe

Stamps: Pirate Hanna (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), river rock, chocolate chip (SU!)

Ink: black (Momento)

Tools: copic markers, long rectangle nestability die (Spellbinders)

Christmas Wishes

I don't think I have mentioned here how much I love Christmas and Snowmen. Christmas is my favorite time of year. When I saw the snowmen and snowladies at High Hopes Stamps, I fell in love! They are the most adorable snow people stamps I've ever seen! I picked up Snowlady Surprise last time I ordered and the rest are going in with my next order!

I am also loving the sneak peeks I've been seeing of Katharina Frei's new line of stamps called Whiff of Joy. She's having a guest designer contest so I decided to throw my name in the hat. She provided a sketch and details here.

I stamped my snow lady and colored her with copic markers. Then, I cut all my mats and patterned papers and used an edge distressor to rough up the edges and sewed the pieces together. I added fun flock to the snow lady's hat, mittens, and coat. Then, I assembled my card.

Here's a close up of the snowlady. Can you see the fun flock on her coat, hat, and mittens? I love the fuzzy texture it adds.

Well, wish me luck and have a great day!

Recipe
Stamps: Snowlady Surprise (High Hopes Stamps), Believe (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), Blush Red Dark, Herbal Garden Dark (Prism)
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)
Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)
Accents: red grosgrain ribbon, pewter brads and eyelet, white fun flock
Tools: copic markers, edge distressor (CTMH), sewing machine, nestability rectangle and circle dies (Spellbinders), Sakura glue pen

Trick or Treat

I mentioned yesterday that Hanna Stamps is releasing four new sets on Friday. Two of the sets are mini sets. One of the mini sets is called Trick or Treat. It's such a great Halloween set. I love the scarecrow. I have two cards today using him.

I decided to make a late night, Halloween scene using the scarecrow, bat, and pumpkin. I started out by stamping my images. Then, I colored them with copic markers. Then, I used the air brush system with the copic markers to spray the sky, moon, and ground. To make the moon, I punched a circle out of a piece of scrap cardstock and used it as my mask for spraying the moon. As a finishing touch, I sprayed the entire piece with a dark grey to make it look like it was dark outside. When I was making my card, I also decided to random stamp some cardstock to make my own pattern paper using one of the bats included in the set. I cut a mat and my card base, sponged all the edges, and stitched everything together with black thread. So, what do you think? I think I came pretty close to what I envisioned. The air brush system is so nice with the copics. It just lets you add something extra.

My other card is a very simple card. One thing to note with the copics, after I colored both my scarecrows, I used the colorless blender to make the clothes looked faded.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented yesterday. It's great to hear from each and every one of you. I guess it just helps me get to know my readers a little better when you comment so that is why I love hearing from you even if you just want to say hi. I turned the word verification off for now. If I start getting spam, I will have to turn it back on. We'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for sharing your opinions!

Have a great day!


Recipe for first card
Stamps: Trick or Treat (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), black, pumpkin pie (SU!)

Ink: graphite black (Brilliance), noir (Palette)

Tools: copic markers, copic airbrush system, sewing machine, circle punch, sponge dauber

Recipe for second card

Stamps: Trick or Treat (Hanna Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), blue bayou, pumpkin pie (SU!)

Ink: black (Momento)

Accents: blue bayou ribbon (SU!)

Tools: copic markers, nestability circle and rectangle dies (Spellbinders), cuttlebug embossing folder

Teacher Hanna Inspires

Hanna Stamps is releasing 4 new sets on Friday (Thursday at 9 PM if you're on the west coast like me). Teacher Hanna is one of the new sets. Isn't she cute?! I stamped my image, chose my patterned paper, and colored Hanna in coordinating colors using copic markers. Then, I made all my layers and sewed everything together. I added silver brads, ribbon, and a tag to finish it off.

We'll have our release party Thursday night at 9 PM Est. There's always lots of fun, so be sure to join us.

Off topic question for you: What makes you comment on a blog? I'm curious because some days I might get 400 hits and 4 comments. I'm not complaining, just curious.


Recipe
Stamps: Teacher Hanna (Hanna Stamps)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), goovy guava, wild wasabi (SU!)
Patterned Paper: Afternoon Tea (SU!)
Accents: wild wasabi stitched ribbon (SU!), silver brads, tag
Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, threading water punch (Fiskars)

Wissshing You A Ssspecial Day!

I finally got a chance to play in the featured stamper challenge again over on SCS. This is one of my favorite challenges. I wish it were on a weekday instead of Sundays, but that's the way it goes. This week's featured stamper is Julia AKA Artystamper. I chose this card to case. You have to change at least 2 things and I changed the following:
* colors
* stamps
* added layers
* added stitching

Isn't that snake cute? I would normally not think a snake is cute (at all!), but this one is and I love the sentiment. I'll be back tomorrow with Hanna sneak peeks!


Recipe
Stamps: Neil Diamondback, Ssspecial Day (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), soft sky, river rock (SU!), black
Patterned Paper: Boxer (Basic Grey)
Ink: graphite black (Brilliance)
Accents: soft sky stitched ribbon (SU!), black brads
Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, nestability rectangle die

Let's Monkey Around!

High Hopes stamps are quickly becoming a favorite for me. Crissy's images are just absolutely adorable (not to mention her amazing gallery!!). I had a chance to play again with the Monkey Mike and some of the accessory stamps this week. I started out by stamping and coloring my images. Then, I cut the leaves, bananas, and monkey. I used my air compressor to add light blue to the sky. Then, I decided to stamp the banana image on wild wasabi cardstock to create my patterned paper. I assembled all the pieces and sewed around the edges. Then, I add the ribbon, sentiment, and image panel. I added all the stamped images on dimensional adhesive to pop them up and give them more dimension.

Here's a close up of my jungle scene. You can click on the photo if you would like to see an even larger version. Isn't the monkey just the cutest thing?! My last order from High Hopes came yesterday! I can't wait to play with all those great images!

Have a great day!



Recipe
Stamps: Small Monkey Mike, Bunches of Bananas, Single Banana, Banana Tree, Jungle Leaf Corner (High Hopes Rubber Stamps)

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), wild wasabi, blue bayou (SU!)

Other: copic markers, scissors, sewing machines, label trio die (Spellbinders), blue bayou stitched ribbon (SU!)

Papertrey Blog Hop: Vellum

Hi Everyone! It's time again for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. This month's challenge was to use vellum. I decided to do some dry embossing with vellum and a stamp set. I chose Lisa's Flower Garden set. I love how the embossed vellum looks over the Plum Pudding cardstock. I decided to make a card that could be used for any occasion and left the sentiment off the front. That way I can write or stamp any sentiment inside.

I can't wait to see everyone's creations with vellum! I have a tutorial below for how to do dry embossing with stamps and vellum.



Dry Embossing with Vellum and Stamps

The supplies you need are: vellum, a stamp of your choice, versamark ink, and an embossing stylus. I used versamark because it is a watermark ink that will not show up after you are done embossing. A very light ink would probably work as well, but I did not test it.

Random stamp your vellum with your image using versamark ink. (Sorry for the reflection. I took a bunch of photos and could not get rid of the reflection.)


Next, take you embossing stylus and trace the lines of your stamp. Don't push too hard or you will poke a hole through the vellum. I went over my images twice using light pressure.

ETA: I forgot to mention when embossing, put your vellum piece over a soft surface. I am using the underside of a cutting mat. I actually always have the mat turned over on my desk because it helps with stamp sometimes when you have a hard time getting a good image. Thanks, Char, for letting me know I forgot to mention my surface!


Flip you vellum over and you have pretty, custom embossed vellum. If you decide to make something using dry embossing and vellum, please share a link to your project.


Well, I'm off to see what everyone created. Thanks so much for visiting!

Have a great night!


Recipe
Stamps: Flower Garden (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: plum pudding, vintage cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: versamark
Accents: plum pudding satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), dew drops (Robin's Nest)
Tools: sewing machine, embossing stylus

Sorry I'm so Behind!

This sentiment fits my life perfectly right now! lol Until yesterday, I had not had a chance to make a card for the past week. My grandma came to visit last weekend and I had some scrapbooks to return to her that I had borrowed to scan. They are old family heritage scrapbooks with photos of some of my ancestors back to the late 1800s. They are priceless! Well, I've had them for a year and hadn't gotten them all scanned yet so I spent last week scanning photos every chance I got. I finally got them all done and backed up the files on cds. Unless my one aunt knows who the people are in the photos, I'm the only one who knows who they are besides my grandma so it also took a little longer because I labeled all the photo files with the names of the people in the photos.

Anyway, now you know why I am so behind and why I didn't get the Magnetic Build-a-Owl tutorial up until Monday. Isn't that hippo so cute? She's from Melanie Muenchinger's Just So Hippy set (available through Gina K). The only thing that you might not notice in the photo is I sponged soft sky ink on the edges.

Have a great night!



Recipe
Stamps: Just So Hippy (Gina K Designs)
Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), soft sky (SU!)
Patterned Paper: SU!
Ink: black (Momento), soft sky (SU!), dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Other: soft sky ribbon (SU!), rain dot eyelets, copic markers, sponge dauber

Magnetic Build-a-Owl Activity (with tutorial)

I am finally getting a chance to share my Magnetic Build-a-Owl activity that I made for the Papertrey release. I have had this idea in my head for a while and was waiting for the perfect set to make it with. Alli's Wise Owl and Wise Owl Bellies sets is perfect for this type of thing! I absolutely love this set! It is so much fun! I'm going to share some photos of the tin and then, I have a short tutorial at the end showing how I made everything.

This is the tin open. I used one of Papertrey's small 2.5 ounce clear top round tin. It's the perfect size to hold all the pieces and does double duty (this will make sense in a minute).

Here are all the magnetic pieces. My 4 year old loves playing with this set. There are lots of options for bodies, bellies, and eyes to create many different owls.

This is what I mean by the tin doing double duty. All the pieces can be dumped out and then, you create your owl using the bottom of the tin to hold the pieces together.

Here are a couple more examples of different owls you can create (using a second tin as well).

Magnetic Build-a-Owl Tutorial

Supplies
Stamps: Wise Owl, Wise Owl Bellies (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, white stamper's select (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)
Accessories: 2.5 oz clear top round tin (Papertrey Ink), dimensional glaze, copic markers, magnetic tape, magnetic sheets, scissors, nestability circle dies (Spellbinders)

These are the magnetic sheets and the magnetic tape. The thin sheets I bought around Christmas time at a dollar store. They are meant to put photos or something on them to use on a fridge. You can get rolls of magnetic tape at Walmart or a hardware store.

First, stamp the owl parts on white and vintage cream cardstock using dark chocolate ink. Stamp the beaks and feet on your owls because they would be too small to cut out. You may need to heat set if you get any smearing when coloring. I did not heat set mine. Color all the pieces. I used copic markers when coloring my pieces.

Now, cut all the pieces out. The eyes coordinate with a 1/2" circle punch. (I did not have a punch that size so I just used scissors. It would be much quicker with a punch.) Here you can see all the pieces.

Cut some rectangles out of the magnetic sheets that are large enough to cover the backs of the owls. Peel off the backing and stick the owl bodies to the pieces and trim around the edge with scissors. (I tried sticking the owls down before cutting them out and cutting all at once and it was more difficult to cut through the layers. The edges are cleaner if you do this in two steps.)

Cut small pieces of the magnetic tape to put on the back of the bellies and eyes. I used the magnetic tape for the eyes because the magnet is stronger than the sheets. The magnets have to go through the thick cardstock of the owl bodies so you need something stronger.

Here you can see the magnets on the backs of some of the pieces.

Now, it's time to decorate the tin. I wanted to use one of the sentiments to make a patterned paper to go around the tin. I chose "have a hoot of a day." To make things easier to line up when stamping, I put both of my stamps (my sentiment and the dot) on my block and stamped them at the same time.

I stamped my sentiment repeatedly along the bottom of a piece of vintage cream cardstock. Then, I cut the strip out and adhered it to the bottom of my tin.

To decorate the top of my tin, I chose one of the small owls in the set. I cut out a vintage cream circle using a nestability circle die and cut a chocolate mat using the next size circle die. I left my vintage cream circle in the die after it was cut to make centering my image easier. Then, I stamped my owl in the center of the circle. I colored the owl using copic markers and added the mat. Then, I added my image to the top of my circle tin.

To make the inside look more finished (and so you can't see the adhesive), I cut another chocolate circle the same size as my mat on the top and added it to the inside of the tin.

The last step is to add dimensional glaze to the owl's eyes and the dots in between the sentiments on the strip going around the bottom of the tin. I used CTMH's liquid glass because that is what I have, but any brand would work. Just let it dry and you have a cute little activity for your little one. If you make one, I would love to see it so please share a link it in the comments!

Have a great day!!

Papertrey Ink: Wise Owl and Owl Bellies

I absolutely had a ball with Alli's new Wise Owl and Owl Bellies stamp sets! They are so much fun! I love how all the different owl pieces are separate.

This was my favorite card I made with these sets. I just love the aqua mist with chocolate and the patterned paper created with one of the owl bellies. I started out by stamping my owls on white cardstock, coloring them with copic markers, and cutting them out. Then, I stamped my patterned paper using one of the owl bellies. I cut all my layers and wanted to add more aqua mist so I added some stitched ribbon and the sentiment on a ribbon slide die.

I added some fun flock to the owl bellies to make them nice and fuzzy. It is so easy to do. Simply color the belly (because you can sometimes see through the fun flock). Add glue (I used a Sakura glue pen) and add fun flock. Push the fun flock down into the glue and let it dry. When it is dry, tap off the excess fun flock and you have a cute fuzzy tummy.

I decided that I wanted to make a criss cross card since I haven't made one in quite a while. I just love how they look. I used the tutorial on SCS. I used the alphabet sheet from the 12x12 Chocolate Remix patterned paper and the plaid from the 6x6 Chocolate Remix. I sewed my patterned paper onto my card. Then, I wanted another pattern for the band, but decided to stamp my own using an owl belly stamp. I love the patterns you can make with these owl bellies. After stitching my band, I added it to my card. Then, I created a label for my sentiment using one of the ribbon slide dies. Then,I stamped my sentiment on the slide and added it to my card with some ribbon.

I just love that quote "You're writing the store of your life one moment at a time" and had to include it on the inside of my card. For my insert, I created all the layers and sewed them together. Then, I stamped the sentiment in the bottom left corner. I punched a tab out and added brads to it before adding it to the insert. Then, I stamped the owl on white cardstock, colored him with copic markers, cut him out and added him to the tab.

Here you can see a close up of the owl's fuzzy tummy. It is very easy to do and adds such a neat detail that I had to add it to this owl, too.

This is one of those quick and easy cards. I cut a rectangle out of white cardstock using a rectangle nestability die. I started by stamping the owl and then masked my image and stamped the branch from Out on a Limb. Then, while the owl was still masked, I sprayed the sky with a blue copic marker and the airbrush system. Then, I created all my layers and assembled my card. For my sentiment, I used one of the label dies. I stamped my sentiment, trimmed one end, and punched a hole to tie my ribbon through.

Have a great day!

Recipe for first card
Stamps: Wise Owl, Owl Bellies (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: aqua mist, vintage cream, white stamper's select (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)
Accessories: ribbon tag trio die, long rectangle nestability die (Spellbinders), aqua mist stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink), copic markers, Sakura glue pen, caramel latte tan fun flock
Dimensions: 5.5 x 6

Recipe for second card
Stamps: Wise Owl (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: vintage cream, white stamper's select (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Chocolate Remix 12x12, Chocolate Remix 6x6 (Papertrey Ink), (hand stamped)
Accessories: ribbon tag trio die (Spellbinders), round tab punch, sewing machine, caramel latte tan fun flock, glue pen (Sakura), brads, copic markers, dimensional glaze
Dimensions: A2

Recipe for third card
Stamps: Wise Owl, Owl Bellies, Out on a Limb (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Chocolate Remix (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Labels Trio die, rectangle nestability die (Spellbinders), copic markers, dimensional glaze
Dimensions: A2

Papertrey Ink: Floral Frenzy

I love the style of flowers that Melissa created in her Floral Frenzy stamp set. The style is just so different than the other Papertrey flower sets. I think my favorite flowers in the set are the daisies.
I think this card is one of my favorites I made for the release. I just love sweet blush with chocolate. This card started with the idea of the large flower. I stamped the flower and then the vision for the card just hit me. I random stamped the daisy on the sweet blush cardstock using sweet blush ink for a subtle pattern. The sentiment fits perfectly in the center of one of the nestability circles so it has an embossed edge around it.


I also wanted to create some simple, but pretty one layer cards. I decided to stamp the flower image across the bottom of the card at various heights. I stamped the sentiment above the flowers. Then, I added some ribbon and some dimensional glaze to the flower centers.

I liked this card and decided to try it in another color scheme. I think this card is so easily reproduced that it would make a great gift set. The color options are endless.

A close up photo so you can see the dimensional glaze on the flower centers.

While I was stamping with Floral Frenzy, I discovered the the two dot stamps with rings create a neat pattern if you use them together. The smaller one fits perfectly in the center of the larger one. I stamped my piece of cardstock with Lavender Moon ink and the larger stamp. Then, I went back in and stamped the smaller stamp with Dark Chocolate. The polka dots end up having rings of different colors (dark chocolate center, lavender moon ring, dark chocolate ring, vintage cream ring (the color of the cardstock you stamp on), and then a lavender moon ring.

Hope you have a great day! I will be back tomorrow with my creations for Alli's Wise Owl stamp set.



Recipe for first card
Stamps: Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: jardin moss (Palette), sweet blush, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: sweet blush, vintage cream (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Chocolate Remix 12x12 (Papertrey Ink), (hand stamped)
Accessories: long rectangle nestability die, circle nestability dies (Spellbinders)
Dimensions: A2

Recipe for second card
Stamps: Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: jardin moss, noir, water lily green (Palette), berry sorbet (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white stamper's select (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: berry sorbet satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), dimensional glaze
Dimensions: A2

Recipe for third card
Stamps: Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: jardin moss, noir, water lily green, l'amore red (Palette)
Cardstock: white stamper's select (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: red satin ribbon (target), dimensional glaze
Dimensions: A2

Recipe for fourth card
Stamps: Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)
Inks: lavender moon, dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: lavender moon, vintage cream (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: (hand stamped)
Accessories: lavender moon satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), brown brads
Dimensions: A2