I know...

... it's been awhile.  But can you believe I haven't even wanted to go into my stamp room?!  Blasphomy, right?  :)  So I leave you with this uber-easy, not-so-great holiday card.

Stamps:  Peace
Paper:  kraft cardstock
Ink:  Memento Cocoa
Other:  Brown Scrapper's Floss, Scor-bug, Stardust clear gelly pen, misc. ribbon, PTI button

What do you think?
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Black Friday card quickie...

This is the first year in a long time that I haven't been one of the brave, or should we say CRAZY, people to venture out on Black Friday.  It helps that I don't have any spending money this year :)  

No, this year we will not be exchanging gifts... well not a lot... a couple of my very dear friends and I DID make a deal that we are only making handmade items with materials we already have on hand.  I haven't started mine yet :)  I don't even have an idea yet.  Scary.

Anyway, today I'm sharing a Christmas card quickie.  No layers!  I also wanted to show how different the same image can look depending on the coloring medium.  The reindeer image is from a retired TAC set called Christmas Fun, sentiment from Holiday Cheer, I used the Scor-Pal & Scor-Bug (again), and the ink is Memento Tuxedo.

This one is colored with Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral oil using artist blending stumps.  I'm able to get a large range of color & shading with pencils at a reasonable price.  We all know this is my favorite coloring medium :)

This one was done with Copic markers.  I know I could have done better had I owned a larger range of browns.  I do like how this reindeer looks fuzzy (furry)... this is achieved by going back over the brown with the colorless blender in a dotting pattern.  I've seen some great examples on the net using this method with a larger color range and they look so much better.

What do you think?
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Something a little vintage...

Real quick post today...

Occasionally, I'll get into an old-school, vintage mode... though I'll give it a little mod twist.  Case in point... this butterfly card.  Fabric & buttons oh my :)

Stamps:  True Beauty
Paper:  Toodle Loo, Angelee, White UltraSmooth, & Mulberry Meadow (retired) cardstocks
Ink:  Burnt Umber & Noir Palettes
Other:  Prismacolors w/ mineral oil blending, Cloud scissors, BG ribbon, PTI & misc. buttons, twine, EK Success punch, circle punch & fabric doily

A few weeks ago, I had soaked a white doily in a strong tea bath for several hours to age it a bit.  This is a quarter of the doily, so I have more for later projects.  I keep fabric scraps & such in a huge glass canister next to my table... it's really fun to go rummaging through it once in a while :)


What do you think?
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Squirrely Girl

Sorry guys... computer issues strike again... I haven't had access to mine all weekend.  I could check email from the laptop, but no photo editing, online forum discussions, google reader... nothin'!  I really didn't like it... I am such a junkie.   

Hi, my name is Barb, and I have a love/hate relationship with my computer 

{in unison "Hi, Barb"}

So, back to the good stuff for today.  I've been working on Halloween & Christmas cards year-round, so I thought it was high time to get an Autumn card in before November ends :)

Isn't she cute?  There's also an image with her & a snowman in the set that is just adorable.  I colored her with Prismacolors & mineral oil... rosey cheeks and all :)

Stamps:  Squirrely Girl, Trendy Greetings
Paper:  Penelope SWIC, Penelope, Kraft, DCWV lime green & Ivory UltraSmooth cardstocks
Ink:  Memento Cocoa
Other:  Marvy Flower punch, EK Success border punch, Scor-Bug,  misc. ribbon


What do you think?
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Blog Candy Winner!

Out of 77 comments... via Random.org... the big winner is:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

27

Timestamp: 2009-11-21 00:21:39 UTC

AND... if you scroll down through the comments, you come across this:

nadine said...

love the snowgirl! so hard to make a choice though, they are all AHHH-mazing :)))

November 16, 2009 7:46 AM

Yeay, Nadine Fuller!  Just pop over to my sidebar and shoot me an email with your mailing address... the goodie box is almost ready to go!

AND, in case y'all were wondering what the most popular vote was for THE Christmas card this season...

Cool Snow Girl

So, there you have it.  :)  Have a great weekend, and I hope you all get in a little creative time!

You are my sunshine :)

Does this just NOT make you smile?!  

That single little blue bird in the autumn tree... I'm gonna say it... FREAKIN' A-DOR-A-BLE.  I love love LOVE this TAC stamp from last year :)  I've also had this jar o' harvest colored buttons staring at me for months... I couldn't take it anymore, and the autumn button tree was born.  I've been seeing trees o' buttons all over the net and finally came up with this little bebe.

Stamps:  This Girl (sentiment), Early Bird (retired)
Paper:  Ivory UltraSmooth cardstock, kraft packing paper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo, Burnt Umber Palette
Other:  Copic markers, brown Scrapper's Floss, Glue Dots, misc. buttons

The part that took the longest on this bad boy, was tying all of the floss to the buttons... but it looks soooooo much more finished off than if the buttons had been left plain.  Glue Dots are the BEST adhesive to hold buttons onto cardstock that I have found so far... two thumbs up {insert cheesy grin here}.

I left the card pretty plain, but I really like it.  You can't really see it, but I did a little subtle sponging with brown ink on the main panel.


What do you think?

p.s... only one more day to enter for the blog candy drawing!  Click HERE if you haven't entered yet!

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A little Monkey Business...

I was going through my card stash the other day, and I have noticed that I make a TON of love cards... ask my hubby how many he's received over the years ;)  
{to be read as:  not many... why else would they still be in my stash :)}

So this time, how about a "like" card?   It's kinda like love, right... what you're really trying to say is:  I love you, but I just don't want to say it out loud yet ;)

How cute are these monkeys?  Pretty darn... I know.  The first guy is stamped right on the white base along with all of the tree branches, but the other two dudes are cut out... oh yes... yes... they... are.  Are your fingers spasming just thinking about it?!


But the effect is great.  Having the two guys cut out allowed me to arrange them willy-nilly until I liked 'em.  Willy-nilly should not to be confused with Milli Vanilli... you 80's fans know what I'm talkin' 'bout :)

Once again I used my Prismacolors with mineral oil... it really worked great on getting dimension on their faces.  The "Oooo, Oooo, Oooo" (monkey-speak) was stamped with TAC's Mini-bet, and the sentiment within the sponged circle is from Tag Tidbits.  The monkeys & branch are from Monkey Business, and the patterned paper is Mulberry Meadow (sadly, retired).


What's cool about this set, is that you can dress the monkeys... paper doll style.  Overalls, shorts... there are even flip-flops!  Cute cute stuff.


What do you think?

ps:  don't forget to click in the upper right hand corner to enter my blog candy!
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BLOG CANDY!!

It's been a REALLY long time since I've offered up any sweet stuff... my bad!

Here's what all is in this bit o' papercrafting yumminess:  

12 yds. skinny ribbon, 3 sets of alphabet stickers, autumn sticker sheet, buncha love stickers, epoxy tile stickers, Melissa Frances rub-ons, 4" accordion mini-album, a dozen or so grab-bag rubber stamps from The Angel Company, Charlie stamp from ClearDollarStamps, wood mounted iris-folding stamp, 6x6 album to alter, a dozen apple/leaf felt shapes, round metal glass top tin, & a bit-o-Scrapper's Floss.

Small Baggie Samplers:  Lilly Anna tags (TAC), white Fun Flock, sparkle embossing powder, and Punk Purple Sparkly Fluff.


From Making Memories:  summer signage, family eyelet words, copper alpha charms, eclectic brads, card/envie pack, sampler of Lemonade Buttons & Blossoms, metal frame with charms, brads & ribbon.

Kits by me:  6x6 scrapbook page, mini-meander book, & a birthday tag.  There are also two mini projects designed by a fellow TAC demonstrator.

Whew.  Now, "how do I get this schtuff"... 
1.  Simply leave a comment on this post telling me which one of THESE Christmas cards is your favorite.  There are three pages of posts, but you don't have to go past the first one if you don't feel like it ;)

2.  Please feel free to share this on your blog if you like... it would be appreciated :)


That's it, man.  Yeah, not too many hoops to jump through, right?  I'll leave this open until next Friday, November 20th at 6pm central time.  Then I'll do the ol' random number generator thing... cool?!

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"Weebles wobble...

... but they don't fall down."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq0OQBdIhsc

Do you remember those?  Or did I just date-stamp myself?

{yes, I'm old... well... I feel old :)}

We had the plane, the bus, and I think the car & camper... they were some of my favorite toys when I was little.  Those and all of the little Fisher Price people with the hospital & the baby and all the furniture, parking garage with the elevator, the barn, and the house with the doorbell that actually worked!  The house & barn were SO old-school, that they were made of masonite... the others that came later were all plastic.




{screeching... dying cat style}   "Meeeeeeeeeeeeemories.... light the corner of my mind..."  
...is that how it went?  ;)  Thankfully you can't hear me... I swear I'm tone-deaf.  As I recall, I lip-synced a lot in chorus in junior high (yes, yes... it's true)

ANYway, thoughts of those little Weebles kept running through my head when I was making this card.  Cute, right?  This little penguin image actually has really long stick legs that are super cute, but I lopped them off for this card {whack!}


His eyes, beak, & the little heart are all colored with Stardust glitter pens... love the subtle shimmer.  I thought that the front needed some kind of sentiment, so I stamped "joy" right on top of the little guy's belly.

Stamps:  Tag Tidbits, Vintage Santa, Pea Pickin' (retired TAC)
Paper:  white UltraSmooth & scarlet cardstocks, misc. green cardstock
Ink:  Palette Noir, Frost Dazzle VersaMark

Other:  Scor-bug, black Scrapper's Floss, Stardust glitter pens, misc. ribbon, half-pearls (Michael's)

You can barely see in the photos, but there are some snowflakes stamped with the Frost VM onto the scarlet card base... subtle is good.

Thank you for joining me on my journey down memory lane ;)

What do you think?

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Thursday Quickie...

This is a card I made for a recent swap.  I really like the clean look to this... "white" space is good!  This is actually a little modified from the original... I kept staring at the old one thinking that something was wrong... unfinished.  What fixed it?  Layering the aqua panel onto a kraft base.  Yeah, really.  Duh.  It lightened up the card and focused more on the kraft butterfly.

Here's a little tip.  Ballet Blue Palette ink matches this Hemingway cardstock perfectly.  So perfectly, in fact, that you can't see the tone-on-tone effect I was trying to acheive with a large solid border image stamp that is between the Scor-bugged lines.  I totally should have used VersaMark... now I know.  After I stamped it and came back to it the next day... POOF... gone.  

Stamps:  Friendship Strips, Butterfly Bits, Enjoy Nature (Hostess Level A set)
Paper:  Hemingway & kraft cardstocks
Ink:  Water Lily Green Palette
Other:  Reece Ribbon & Lemonade Buttons & Blossoms, twine

What do you think?

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Guess Whoo....

How cute is this little bandit?  I KNOW, right?!  He is my favorite image out of that stamp set.  He just makes me giggle.

{tee hee}

see?

If he isn't an owl, I just made him one for purposes of this card :)  He's colored with Prismacolor pencils & mineral oil (yes, yes... I went back to my Prismas).

I layered Bandit up on this funky piece of... ummm... I don't know what it is.  I'm wondering if it is that stuff out of which old-school belts are made.  I am just not sure.  It came in a bag of ribbon remnants from Hobby Lobby.

Stamps:  Fall Harvest, What a Hoot
Paper:  Mulberry Meadow SWIC & cardstock (retired), White UltraSmooth, kraft & black cardstocks
Ink:  Noir Palette
Other:  funky trim, olive jewels (from Michael's)

This would make a cute "secret sister" card, or maybe a "yeah, it's been awhile and you probably don't even remember me" card ;)  Pop a santa hat on him and it would be perfect for a "secret santa" gift... ok, you would probably have to switch the colors up a bit, too :)

What do you think?
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50's Sock Hop...

Ok, so remember when I said my "go-to" coloring method is pencil with mineral oil?  Well, today we are switching it up!  Yes, it is true... I am steppin' out on my long term relationship with my Prismacolors... just this once ;)

Let's call her "Sandy" shall we?  Sandy was colored with my Tombow markers and Niji Waterbrush.  All you do is scribble the marker onto an acrylic block or one of TAC's plastic clamshell containers, pick up the color with the waterbrush, and start painting away.  You do have to keep scribbling if you have large areas to color like this image.

What is also cool is that you can mix your own colors... that's what I did so that I could get a flesh tone.  I mixed a light pink and light tan (I think).  How did I get the darker shadow tones?  While the area was still damp from the color wash, I went back with the actual marker and VERY LIGHTLY drew a line... the dampness of the paper draws the color from the edge, naturally blending on it's own.

Granted, it's not blended as well as Copics, BUT it works pretty good in a pinch!  For example, Sandy's dark purple collar, light purple blouse, and the medium purple shadow line on the right are all created from the same marker.

Stamps:  Sock Hop (Sandy & record) - TAC's Seminar 2009 set - for seminar attendees only!, Merriest Wishes (sentiment)
Paper:  Angelee, Toodle Loo, White UltraSmooth cardstocks, Mulberry Meadow cardstock (retired)
Ink:  Raw Sienna & Noir Palettes 
Other:  Purple Stickles, Black & White Ribbon, Niji Waterbrush, Tombow markers, EK Sucess scallop punch, pop dot, Sparkly Fluff

BTW... how do you like her sparkly velvet skirt?  I was lucky enough to get some Sparkly Fluff at that Crop-n-doodle-do Crop last month from Angelia... thanks!  It is fun stuff.  It's like Fun Flock with teensie bits of tinsel in it... not glitter... this stuff is uber-skinny & really shiny!

What do you think?

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Cool SnowGirl...

Can you believe it... I'm still in my pj's :)  Yep, I am a slacker... well, I did clean the kitchen... sorta.  ;)  Nothin' like having a day off of work... except when you get a work call at 8:30am.  Good thing I was already up... they might have gotten an earful otherwise {insert evil "mom" eye w/ raised eyebrow here}

On to the good stuff!  Another super simple card today... I don't know what's up.  These little babies where part of the batch of colored images I had done at the downer craft fair in October.  This is such a sweet snowangel, don't-cha think?

I stamped the snowangel and then masked her so I could stamp the bracket label image on the same panel.  The only problem with that is the panel ended up pretty large... no room for embellishing (how sad).  I think I should have totally sucked it up and cut around her & the bracket and layered them up on pretty papers... hmmmm... I may have to make a couple more of these.

Stamps:  Merriest Wishes (snowangel & "You are so cool" sentiment), Ornamental Snowflakes, Thinking of You (Hostess Level C - "Happy Holidays" sentiment), Label Lingo (Hostess Level D - bracket label)

Paper:  Toodle Loo (lt. blue), Lilly Anna (dk. blue), Mia's Cottage (pink) & White UltraSmooth cardstocks

Ink:  Reflection Blue & Noir Palettes
Colorant:  Prismacolor pencils w/ mineral oil blending
Other:  Scor-Pal & Scor-Bug, Stardust Stickles, misc. ribbon


I did stamp off once before stamping the snowflake images... this made them just dark enough.

These six little lovelies bring me up to 74 of my goal of 75 handmade winter holiday cards this year!  Yeah... I don't know why I didn't make just one more either... silly me.  So, one left to do.  Well, until I go through my card list and realize that I actually should make 20 more (how's that for positive thinking?!).


What do you think?
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{heavy sigh}...

It's a lovely, chilly autumn day, and as I write this, I can see orange & crimson leaves dropping from the branches with every gust of wind... sigh... I love Fall.  The crunch of the leaves underfoot, the squirrels scampering up trees & across fence tops, and the subtle scent of wood burning.  mmmmm...

Speaking of squirrels... yep... you guessed it!  Another squirrely card.  I can't help it... he is so cute.  If it is any consolation, my next post will NOT feature this little dude :)

Another VERY simple, clean layout... I do believe my WOSFF (web-o-sphere friend forever) Laurie is rubbing off on me :)

Stamps:  So Squirrely
Paper:  Penelope (orange), Kraft & DCWV lime cardstocks, Mulberry Meadow (dark green - retired) cardstock
Other:  Prismacolor pencils, Scor-Bug, BG ribbon, EK Sucess Icicle border punch, foam tape

The squirrel kinda looks like he's standing in a field of something... harvest time!  He & the sentiment are popped up on foam tape.  And he wasn't too bad to cut out... except around his feet :)


And may I say that I love love LOVE the ribbon?!  Typically I'm not a plaid girl... a little bit country-fried for me, but this one worked great.


What do you think?
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How about a little autumn-ness tonight?

Is this little squirrel cute, or what?!  My friend & fellow demo Angel, Kim Sears, was kind enough to stamp a couple of these cuties off for me a while back, and I finally used them!  These images are part of the August Stamp of the Month (which is still available online!) set, and I'm thinking I really need to buy it!  

My go-to color medium is almost always Prismacolor pencils with mineral oil... blended with artist drawing stumps.  You can find the stumps in the art department of JoAnn's, Michael's, or Hobby Lobby next to the artist charcoal pencils, etc.  Do NOT get the ones that you can 'sharpen' by unrolling the paper... get the pressed kind.  You can clean & sharpen them by running them along some sand paper or sanding block.

I've got a handy-dandy little Tupperware Smidget (about the size of a half-dollar) in which I soak a cotton ball with mineral oil.  I've tried baby oil, but for whatever reason, I just can't get it to work as well as the regular mineral oil from the pharmacy.  I can fit the Smidget, an eraser, a pencil sharpener and my blending stumps all in a $1 pencil case from JoAnn's yep, cheap & easy {no comment from the peanut gallery, please ;)}. 


Stamps:  So Squirrely
Paper:  White UltraSmooth, basic black, DCWV lime green, & Mulberry Meadow (retired) cardstocks

Other:  Giga Scallop Square Punch, BG ribbon, PTI twine, foam tape, 1/16" hole punch

I'm still trying to figure out how to work our digital camcorder so that I can start doing tutorials.  In the meantime, there is a great one on Mischelle's blog using mineral spirits... the same principles apply to the oil.  And no... it doesn't leave an oily sheen at all.

Anyway, back to squirrely...  I left the inside blank so that it could be a "whoops forgot your birthday" card or a "BIG whoops I totally screwed up... my bad... it's all my fault" card.  Not that I'm sure most of us need the latter one much, but just in case ;)

What do you think?!
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