Thinking Inking

Simple Thank You cards

Welcome! I've been coloring like a madwoman lately, but most of it has been for next year's Copic Workshop class samples. Tonight I needed a couple of thank you notes and thought I'd go the clean and simple route. I used some pretty papers and my Papertrey Ink Banner Sentiments stamp set--such a useful set! To cut the banners, I used my PTI Double Ended Banners die.

Papers are both Echo Park 6 x 6 pads: Baby Mine (boy version), and Sweet Girl. What did we card makers do before there were 6 x 6 pads? Oh, that's right. . . We stamped. ;-} I do like my little patterned paper pads! That's it for tonight. I'll get a Copic-colored card posted in the near future. My next-to-last batch of class projects goes in the mail tomorrow morning. Thanks for visiting,

Cupcake Birthday

Good morning! Today I have a birthday card to share. For the focal image I used an MFT Birdie Brown Sweet Birthday Wishes stamp set--isn't she a cutie? 

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. **Please note that after I took this photo, I went back and added pleats to the skirt and darkened the cupcake a bit as well. I forgot to take a second photo after I reworked her.**

The the background I used a Spellbinders Celebra'tions Rosette Wall embossing folder, as well as a Pierced Circles die cut for my cupcake girl to stand inside. (I hand-cut the cupcake girl, but there is an MFT die available that will do this for you.) The circle background is airbrushed with Copic B02 and C1 inks, and white seam binding was dyed with Copic RV21, RV23, and 0 Various inks. I used a little banner from Nested Lacey Pennants for the "Surprise" tag.

That's it for today's card. Thanks for stopping by!

Big Birthday Greetings

Welcome! Today I have a simple, potentially masculine card to share using JustRite's new Extra Grand Sentiments clear stamps (shown below), paired with the Modern Lattice Cling Background. For the sentiment's background, I played with Ranger Distress Inks (Crushed Olive, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, and Salty Ocean) and a spritzer bottle of water. I used white embossing powder and heat embossed the sentiment after the watercolored background dried.

If you're in need of large sentiments, most of the bases are covered with this set!

Cardstock colors are Rustic White (PTI), Tropical Teal (PTI), and Sno Cone (MFT). I stamped a white envelope with Snow Cone ink to finish my little ensemble. That's it--simple, and (hopefully) not too frilly, since I'm always needing more guy cards! If you'd like to see some inspiration with the Extra Grand Sentiments clear stamps, be sure to check out the blogs below, okay? Thanks for visiting,

JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken
Debbie Olson
Heidi Blankenship
Amy Tedder 
Eva Dobilas
Darsie Bruno
Kathy Jones
Marisa Job 
Michele Kovack
Kristi Schurr

Sunshine, Freedom, and a Little Flower

Welcome! Today I have a floral sentiment card to share with you using one of Becca Feeken's new JustRite stamp sets, A Flower for Your Thoughts clear stamps (pictured below). I used it with the Garden Trellis Cling Background stamp, stamped on PTI's Spring Moss cardstock with Spring Moss ink.

Becca has put together a really helpful TIP SHEET for using this set. (Clink on the blue link for the downloadable tip sheet.)

I wanted a little variety in the sentiment colors, so I started by inking the stamp with PTI Berry Sorbet, then added some Pure Poppy, and at the very bottom some Scarlet Jewel for an hombre effect. For the stems and leaves, I used Spring Moss and Simply Chartreuse inks. For the poppy, I used Berry Sorbet and Pure Poppy inks, then colored a hint of sky around the blossom with my Copic BG10 and Colorless Blender. I cut and embossed the lacy oval with a Spellbinders Elegant Ovals die template, and cut the plain sentiment oval with a Classic Ovals Small die template. I did a bit of stitching and distressing of edges, then tied some rustic twine and a button, and taadaa--that's it!

Would you like to see more ideas and inspiration using the A Flower for Your Thoughts clear stamp set? You'll love the blog links below! Remember that all of the JustRite 6" x 8" clear stamp sets are 25% off through September 7, including this one. :-) Thanks for stopping by,

JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken
Debbie Olson (here)
Kristi Schurr
Eva Dobilas
Heidi Blankenship
Darsie Bruno
Kathy Jones
Marisa Job

Healing Thoughts and Sunshine

Welcome! Can you handle another pink card today? JustRite's September release is here, and the Sunshine Vintage Labels Eight and Nine clear stamp set (shown below) was perfect for a card that I needed for a friend undergoing chemo. I stamped the frame image on PTI's Vintage Cream cardstock in Lavender Moon ink. I used Autumn Rose ink to stamp the sentiment. The background is stamped with the Framed Vintage Labels Eight cling stamp on Lavender Moon cardstock. (More about the rose later.)

One of my favorite sentiments in this stamp set is the Winnie the Pooh quotation: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think!"

So. . . true confessions: I'm not the best flower maker, even with a great collection of dies. I'm usually not patient enough to do all of the requisite cutting, scrunching, twisting, rolling, and distressing that convincing paper flowers require; but I really wanted a flower on my friend's card. I used my Spellbinders Rose Creations die template set for the blossom, paired with a Foliage die template for the leaves (Lavender Moon and Spring Moss cardstock). I needed a flower center and didn't want to use a brad, so I cut a 1/4" strip of yellow cardstock and cut one edge about 1/8" down, ever 1/16", approximately. Next I rolled that strip, trimmed part of the solid bottom off, stuffed it in the hole, and glued it in as my rose center.  I liked the result much better than having a brad in the middle. :-) 

I found out last night that all of the JustRite 6" x 8" clear stamp are 25% off through September 7--even the NEW ones like Sunshine Vintage Labels Eight and Nine. No code is needed; these sets should show a reduced price already.) Would you like to see some lovely creations that the other DT girls came up with? Have fun looking!

JustRite Inspiration
Debbie Olson (here)
Kathy Jones
Heidi Blankenship
Eva Dobilas
Marisa Job
Kristi Schurr
Darsie Bruno

Time to Celebrate!

Welcome, and Happy [almost] Labor Day! Today I have a birthday card to share. I was told to check out the digital images at the A Day for Daisies site--oh, my! There were some really fun images there, so I left with a couple in my shopping cart. This one is called Curvy Balloons. I printed it out on X-Press It Blending card with my inkjet. (Not all inkjets inks are Copic-compatible, but mine works pretty well, so far. Printed ink is tested the same way that stamped ink is tested, in case you're wondering.)

Shown above are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. Spellbinders dies that I used were some of my standbys, A-2 Matting Basics A for the Berry Sorbet background, and 5 x 7 Matting Basics A to die-cut and emboss the focal image. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Banner Sentiments stamp set; I liked that the fonts were elegant but still fun like the focal image. I'm sure that this won't be the last you see of A Day for Daisies images on my blog--I loved this one!

Thanks for visiting today,

Thinking of You Mum

Welcome! I've been a little busy here lately with life, but finally had a chance to get downstairs to work last night. How about a floral card today? I stamped and colored this  chrysanthemum from my Papertrey Ink Year of Flowers: Mums stamp set. The sentiment is from the Keep It Simple Mini Thinking of You stamp set.

I had put my card together already before I remembered that I usually take a picture of the image for a Copic Color Map--oops. . . The Copic Sketch markers that I used on the blossom were: R20, R22, and R24, with some BV00, BV01, and BV04 for cast shadows. For the leaves, I used YG61, YG63, and YG67, along with BV02 and BV04 for cast shadows. 

I used a Spellbinders Elegant Ovals die template to cut my oval, then left it in place while I airbrushed with a Copic B02 marker and Copic Airbrush System for the background. Ribbon is seam binding dyed with a Copic R21 and Colorless blender. The "stitching" around the perimeter of the Sweet Blush cardstock background is embossed with a Spellbinders Stitched Rectangles die.

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm hoping that it won't be that long before I get back downstairs to work this week. Thanks for visiting!

Little Dreamer Notecards

Welcome! I have different kind of card project to share with you today. A couple of weeks ago, a sweet friend from childhood mentioned that she would like to have some notecards featuring a photo taken by my sister of my little dreamer-dancer niece. I've made a set of eight, but I thought that five would probably be enough to give you the idea. ;-)

After editing the photo and adding a watercolor filter to it, I printed off photos with my  Canon Selphy printer, two to a 4" x 6" print. I had some beautiful Spellbinders Celebra'tions embossing folders that I thought I would use for backgrounds, not wanting anything really busy that would detract from the photo. The card standing up uses the Doily Art folder. Other folders that I used were the Fabric Weave folder (looks like crumpled paper--really cool!); the Framed Canvas folder (dainty and sweet); and the Rosette Wall folder (which would work great for framing a small, round sentiment). On a couple of the embossed fronts I also used a Pierced Rectangles die template for a stitched frame effect.

The tags use sentiments from my Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags stamp sets, cut with a couple of Spellbinders Back to Basics tags die templates. Ribbon is white seam binding, and cardstock colors are Papertrey Stampers Select White, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, and Smokey Shadow. 

So, it;s a simple project, but it's just what my friend wants, I think! Thanks for visiting today,

How about a Birthday Cake?

Welcome! Is the end of Summer crazy for you too? Besides the normal things, I've been on a cleaning and organizing streak. My studio was getting too disorganized to work in. Clutter saps my creativity--makes me want to just go back upstairs and read a book. But after several days of sorting, culling, labeling, and and reworking my storage, I'm starting to see the light. . . and the countertops. Yay! 

Tonight I wanted to share a birthday card that I made with the To You stamp set by Fun Stampers Journey. (Sorry, but I can't direct link to FSJ stamp sets yet; the set has three great, whimsical birthday cake images, but if you want to see it, you'll have to search the online catalog.) 

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. (As always, feel free to pin the image if it's helpful.) I added some ultrafine glitter to the candle's flame and Glossy Accents to the little green cake decoration-balls.

I used three Spellbinders die template sets on the card, A-2 Matting Basics A and B, and Back to Basics Tags. The little Happy Birthday sentiment is from a different FSJ stamp set, Gifted Wings. Patterned paper is from the Echo Park Summer Bliss 6 x 6 pad--love those happy colors! I dyed white seam binding with my Copic reinkers, using a few drops of colorless blender to dampen the seam binding first.

That's it for tonight's card--I hope you're having a great week!

Birthdays, Like Shooting Stars. . .

Welcome! Today I needed a belated birthday card for a sweet friend whom I keep missing lately (hence the need for a belated card). When I saw this Shooting Stars stamp set by Taylored Expressions, I knew that it would be perfect for my friend.

These are the Copic markers that I used on the image. The sky and grass are airbrushed with my Copic Airbrush System. (Click to see a larger image.)

To frame the image, I used a Spellbinders Classic Ovals Large die template and an A-2 Matting Basics B. I stamped the sheep and star images twice, then cut out the star and sheep's body to mount with foam tape--much simpler than masking. It still needed something, so I used my Copic Colorless Blender to push stars into the night sky.

I'll miss my birthday friend again tomorrow--guess this will have to go to her husband to deliver! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend,