Thinking Inking

Love Will Keep Us Together

Welcome! How about a clean and simple Valentine's card today?  I had some of my December Papertrey Ink sets still out and thought I would play with Wonderful Words: Love mini stamp set and its coordinating Wonderful Words: Love die. I paired those with one of November's release dies, Tipped Tops die for the white Love panel.

The card base is Raspberry Fizz cardstock, with Raspberry Fizz grosgrain running under the "Love" sentiment for simple texture. I used a True Black vintage button along with white crochet thread for a simple embellishment, and Smokey Shadow ink for the "will keep us together" part of the sentiment. Easy-peasy! Thanks for stopping by today,

Debbie

Friend: Reverse Confetti's Freida Fox

Welcome! I am playing along this month and next with a Reverse Confetti stamp set from their new January release. Love is definitely in the air with the six new stamp sets (including their new Quirky Cuties line) and three new Confetti Cuts Dies. You are invited to to hop along with the Confetti Crew, Challenge Crew, and a few other friends [that's where I come in] today as we share cards and projects using the new products. We think you’ll fall in love with this release!

The hop started over on the Reverse Confetti blog, and you should have made it here from Amy Kolling’s blog. It would be worth your while to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don’t miss a thing. We have tons of inspiration for you to see using all the new Reverse Confetti stamp sets!

The stamp set that I used is the Freida Fox set from the Quirky Cuties line; isn't she sweet?

These are the Copic Markers that I used to color Freida. I combined coloring with paper piecing (October Afternoon patterned paper), and I did some marker shading on the patterned paper as well. 

Here is the inside sentiment that I used, along with a strip of the patterned paper that I had used for Freida's dress to tie the inside to the outside of the card.

I used several Spellbinders dies on Freida as well, including Charmed I'm Sure, A-2 Bracket Borders One, and A-2 Matting Basics A. I used a glue pen to add glitter to both the heart and flower for a bit of sparkle, and I dyed my seam binding with Copic R30 and a few drops of colorless blender. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed hopping with Reverse Confetti today! Reverse Confetti sponsors a blog hop on the 8th of every month. Now it’s time to hop on over to Leigh Penner’s blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find the hop order and list of all the participating designers over on the Reverse Confetti blog.

A few things before you hop along though, just to keep you “in the know”…

January’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY is open for you to play along. Click HERE for a chance to win. AND, be on the lookout for a NEW COLOR challenge being introduced on January 16th and another way to win.

Celebrate the creative side of you!

Spellbinders Diamond Anniversary: Sneak Peek and Giveaway - Day 1

Comments and contest link have been closed
on this blog.
Please visit the rest of the
Spellbinders Diamond Anniversary
Sneak Peek Blogs
listed HERE for more opportunities to win!

Welcome! Today I am excited about sharing some NEW Spellbinders Paper Arts die templates from the Winter 2014 Diamond Anniversary release: Birds on a Wire (IN-024) and Celebration (IN-012), both used below. Not only do I get to show them to you, but (here's the exciting part) Spellbinders is also giving away the two new die template sets that I have used here today, as well as the new die template sets used on other sneak peek blogs this week and a fabulous grand prize! Be sure to  look at the end of the post for more details and instructions on how to enter the giveaway.

**Please Note: There is a clickable link at the bottom of this post for entering;
commenting on this post does NOT enter you into the giveaway.**

Becca Feeken of Amazing Paper Grace is the other
Day One Sneak Peek person--don't miss her post
and a chance to win there too!

First I have a card to share, along with some stepped out instructions. Card size is 5" x 7". 

(Stepped Out Instructions
removed for publication.
Thank you for your patience!)

Supply List

Spellbinders Products: Birds on a Wire, Celebration, A-2 Matting Basics A, A-2 Matting Basics B, Graduated Dots M-Bossabilities™ Folder, Grand Calibur Die Cutting & Embossing Machine

Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Sweet Blush (PTI)

Markers: YG23, R32, BG23 (Copic Sketch markers) and Copic Airbrush System

Accessories: glue, white seam binding dyed with Copic Various Ink (0, R30, and R32)

Here is a 12 x 12 scrapbook page that I made, featuring the same Birds on a Wire and Celebration die template sets. Aren't those girls sweeties? 

Supply List

Spellbinders Products: Birds on a Wire, Celebration, Grand Calibur Die Cutting & Embossing Machine

Cardstock/Paper: 12" x 12" Kraft cardstock (SU); Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, and Simply Chartreuse cardstock (PTI); October Afternoon Cakewalk patterned paper

Markers: R27, Y35, BG23, B97 (Copic Sketch markers) and Copic Airbrush System

Accessories: glue, Prisma glitter, white seam binding dyed with Copic Various Inks, red button, white cotton crochet thread

Tools: sewing machine

_______________

Prize Information

Spellbinders is choosing one winner from each sneak peek blog to win that day's NEW die template sets. There is also one Grand Prize, which includes all the NEW Spellbinders' products revealed during our sneak peek event, as well as a Spellbinders Grand Calibur® Machine and Raspberry Plate! How do you enter to win the contest?

To enter the contest, you must
[Link expired and disabled]
and follow instructions there.

(This link will be valid for 48 hours after my post goes up.)

You should receive an email confirmation when you have successfully entered the Spellbinders Paper Arts Giveaway. While I truly appreciate comments left, commenting does NOT enter you into the giveaway--only filling out and submitting the entry form does that!

Official contest rules can be found HERE.

Any questions? Address them to [email protected] 
No entries will be accepted at this email address.

Be sure to visit Becca Feeken's blog today for another chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Debbie

_______________

Comments and contest link have been closed 
on this blog.
Please visit the rest of the 
Spellbinders Diamond Anniversary 
Sneak Peek Blogs 
listed HERE for more opportunities to win!

Copic in the Craft Room: Crafty Spaces Blog Hop

Today's post is different, but I think you'll like it! The Copic girls are celebrating crafting with Copics by sharing pictures of our crafting spaces. I have to confess that it took me a while to get it picked up enough to be able to take pictures, but now that I can see all of the countertops again, I'm quite glad that you decided to visit! ;-D

Before I show you my studio pictures, I want to let you know that I have updated my Copic classes page HERE.

Copic in the Craft Room is a new community brought to you by Imagination International Inc., distributor of Copic products in the United States and Canada.  

Our program goals are:

To Inspire Copic crafters, both new and experienced, to use their Copic products and get crafty.

To Educate crafters, no matter their skill level, teaching proper product use for success and new ways to use Copic products.

To Grow both as a community and as individual crafters.

Since getting crafty can take place anywhere, we thought it would be fun to share our own crafty spaces with you. 

First, how about a close up of the action spot. This is my favorite coloring spot. I have all of my Copic markers and Various Inks within arms reach. The storage cases are actually display cases like the ones that stores use. I have a daylight temperature bulb in that lamp, but that's not my end solution; I have a light two pictures below that I'm planning to put under all of my cabinets. One project at a time though, and my kitchen needs under-cabinet lights first.

Here is my primary paper cutting area. I love that Genesis trimmer. I think it's almost time to replace the cutting wheel, but this has been a good trimmer for me for a few years now. I also have a guillotine-type Tonic trimmer that I use occasionally, mostly when I am trimming very thin papers that flex a bit when I'm using a rotary trimmer.

So, those lights I mentioned earlier, here is the one over my cutting board (view is looking up toward the bottom of an upper cabinet). It's an LED Slim Light made by Light Beam Industries and sold HERE on the Copic Marker site. I use the natural light temperature version. We have ordered these to go under our kitchen cabinets because I love this one so much!

Here's one more view of "command central"--ink pads to the right of the marker cases, and Various inks to the left of the marker cases. I probably would not purchase stools like the one in the picture again; it's pretty, but I can tell you that if you lean forward and get it slightly off balance, you will land right on your tailbone in the floor. Don't ask me how I know. . .

A little farther down the countertop is my die-cutting area. I have the dies that I work with most often in those blue Iris cases, on these magnetic die storage panels that I buy from Taylored Expressions. 

This is the opposite counter--computer, ribbon, printers, sewing machine, and light tent and photo lamps. (My husband built the ribbon storage hutch, but he's taken. ;-})

Here's a little longer viewpoint that shows the light tent setup a little bit better. That small plastic storage cabinet is mostly filled with Spellbinders dies and M-Bossabilities. The door at the very end is a closet. I'm glad that I can shut the door to hide a few things anyway!

Inside the closet I have card stock storage, more dies, stamps, and three tall cabinets of STUFF. 

Here is some patterned paper storage on the opposite side of the closet door, and alterables on the shelves past that. Let's pretend that I don't have a stack of stuff in the floor, okay? My cabinets are full. . .

That's the grand tour--I hope you enjoyed it! I know that I enjoy it more, now that it's picked up. . . I'm eager to see what the other girls' craft rooms look like as well. 

Michele Boyer

Lori Craig

Sharon Harnist

Cindy Lawrence

Colleen Schaan

Sherrie Siemens

Marianne Walker

Then, be sure to stop at the Copic in the Craft Room Facebook page and like us to share your own crafty spaces photos. Thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Coffee with a Friend

Welcome! Are you a coffee or tea drinker? I really enjoy my one strong, sweet, creamy cup every morning. When I saw the JustRite Coffee Cup Cling Stamp, I knew that I would have fun with this one. :-) 

I loved that rose on the saucer; it reminds me of an old fashioned tea rose!

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the coffee cup image, most of them on the flower.

To frame the sentiment I used a Spellbinders Floral Ovals die template and airbrushed Copic R32 with the template still in place as a mask. For the background, I used Roman Romance M-Bossabilties,  and then hand-cut  the scalloped edges and did some stitching around the perimeter. I dyed the seam binding with Copic R30 and a couple of drops of R32 as well. Card size is 5-1/4" square.

Would you like to see some more JustRite Coffee Cup Cling Stamp projects? I hope you get a chance to visit the blogs below! Thanks for stopping by,

Debbie

JustRite Inspiration

Debbie Olson (here)

Michele Kovack

Kathy Jones

Marisa Job

Kristi Schurr 

Sheri Holt 

Heidi Blankenship

Kazan Clark

Darsie Bruno

Margie Higuchi

Hello Daisy, and Happy New Year!

Welcome, and a Happy New Year to you!  I'm starting the year out right, by posting. :-) Today's card is made with JustRite Papercraft's Hello Daisy Cling Stamps (full set shown below), colored and airbrushed with Copic markers, and enhanced with Spellbinders dies. 

(I think I've been on a daisy trend lately!) 

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. [Click on the image to see it larger.] I used the B32 and B34 to airbrush the background with my Copic Airbrush System, using a Spellbinders Classic Squares Small die template to cut, emboss, and mask for the blue sky. 

The mat behind the sky layer is cut and embossed with Captivating Squares, and the white background is embossed with  the Garden Lattice M-Bossabilities. I dyed white seam binding to coordinate with my background. Card size is 5-1/4" square.

If you have time to browse the following blogs, you will see not only Hello Daisy products, but also some really creative Tufted Cling background projects. Enjoy, and thanks for visiting!

JustRite Inspiration

Debbie Olson (here)

Marisa Job

Eva Dobilas 

Michele Kovack

Kazan Clark

Angela Barkhouse

Sheri Holt 

Kathy Jones

Darsie Bruno

P.S. To celebrate the New Year, JustRite has a 25% off coupon code--simply use this code during check out NEWYEAR (all caps with no spaces) to receive 25% off your entire purchase. Sale ends January 15th at midnight EST.

Praying for Sunnier Days

Welcome! Today I needed an encouragement card for someone special. I felt like coloring, so I found this floral image that I hadn't colored yet in JustRite's Black Eyed Susan Vintage Labels Five Clear Stamps set. It fit the bill--cheery, but not too formal or fussy. :-)

       

These are the Copic markers that I used to color the image. The one on the right next to the colorless blender is a custom blend, lighter than B41, so I labeled it B40. (I needed a paler blue to use in the background, but wanted a cooler blue than I had.)

I used three different Spellbinders die sets, Labels Twenty-Eight, Decorative labels Twenty-Eight and On The Edge (for the edge of the plaid piece of patterned paper). I stamped the focal image after cutting and embossing my Labels Twenty-Eight shape, so a couple of small parts are cut off of the image. I dyed my white rayon seam binding with a couple of Copic reinkers to coordinate with my October Afternoon patterned paper.   The plaid pattern is from and 8 x 8 Sidewalks paper pad, and I'm not sure which line the blue polka-dotted paper came from--maybe Seaside? My paper stacks have gotten a bit mixed up, and the OA papers coordinate well enough from line to line that I can't always keep them straight!

Well, that's it for today. Thanks for visiting!

Debbie

Three Last Quick Christmas Cards

It's been a bit of a crazy year here, with serious illnesses on both sides of our family. I have to confess that today was the first day that I have actually mailed Christmas cards. . . Yes, you heard that right. And my sweet husband said, "Don't sweat it. Sending cards is the least of our worries right now." Since I still had stamps out on my desk, and I had plenty of pretty papers that will most likely work their way down in my stash as new ones come out, I thought I would stamp a few more quickly last night--the easy-to-make, easy-to-mail kind. (I have made too many of those cards that cost an arm and a leg to mail this year--one trip to the post office told me that!)

Since this is my last post before Christmas, I wanted to take the liberty to share a few things from my heart. In spite of all of the health issues and related pressures, I am supremely thankful for the Baby Jesus, born to die so that we might live eternally. I know in my heart that I will see loved ones again. While that fact doesn't erase the grief of watching people you love in pain, it definitely takes away the sting of hopelessness.  Why? Because there IS a Savior, and because God IS good. There is always hope because of God's Supreme gift at Christmas. 

So, about the cards: I used the same PTI stamps that I had out on my desk from the last post,  Peaceful Pinecones and Beautiful Blessings: Holiday. Inks were Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, and Scarlet Jewel. I used three different Spellbinders dies for my focal images, Romantic Rectangles for the card just above, and Decorative Labels Twenty-Eight and 5 x 7 Matting Basics B for the two other cards in the top picture.  Papers are from an Authentique 6 x 6 Christmas paper pad. 

Well, that's it for today. I truly appreciate your visiting my blog this year, and I wish you and your loved one the merriest of Christmases!

Peace, Goodwill Toward Men

Welcome! We're still not ready for Christmas here, but it will come anyway. . . ;-) I have another Christmas card or two to share, as well as some information at the bottom of this post about Copic classes that are currently open. The card above is 5-1/4" square. I used three Papertrey Ink stamp sets, Peaceful Pinecones, Background Basics: Twinkle, and Beautiful Blessings: Holiday for the inside sentiment. Ink colors are Ripe Avocado, Kraft, and Dark Chocolate (PTI).

I also used several Spellbinders dies, including Adorning Squares (the Kraft layer). Labels One (the focal image layer, also used as a mask when I airbrushed some Copic BG23 lightly in the background), and Charmed I'm Sure for the tag. I dyed off-white rayon seam binding with Copic YG97 reinker and a few drops of colorless blender.

In case you are thinking ahead of December, I wanted to share a list of the Copic classes currently open. Most of them still have spaces available, but you need to register now, as classes will be capped soon for CHA/Anaheim. Visit our site for more details and to register.www.copicmarker.com/certification 

    Standard Certification: 
    Jan 8, Anaheim CA Taught by Sherrie Siemens 
    Feb. 21, Tempe AZ Taught by Sherrie Siemens 
    Feb. 21 Orlando, FL Taught by Lori Craig 

    Intermediate Certification: 
    Jan. 9 Anaheim CA taught by Sherrie Siemens 
    Feb. 22 Tempe, AZ taught by Sherrie Siemens 
    Feb. 22 Orlando, FL  taught by Lori Craig 

    Workshops: 
    Jan. 8, Anaheim CA, Artistic Mixed Media Apron, Taught by Michele Houghton 
    Jan. 10, Anaheim CA Whimsical Faces and Hair, Taught by Colleen Schaan 
    Jan. 10, Anaheim CA, Airbrushing for Papercrafters, Taught by Colleen Schaan 
    Jan. 12, Anaheim CA, Alcohol Ink Painting, taught by Colleen Schaan 
    Jan 12, Anaheim CA, Tracing Memories (2 different times) taught by Marianne Walker 

    Feb. 15 Portland OR, Tracing Memories (2 different times) taught by Marianne Walker 
    Feb. 22 Charlotte, NC Whimsical Faces & Hair, Taught by Debbie Olson 
    Feb. 22 Charlotte, NC Airbrushing for Papercrafters, Taught by Debbie Olson

That's it for today. I hope that you are having wonderful times with those whom you love!

Debbie

December Freebie: Ruby Reprise

Welcome!  Yesterday several of the Papertrey Ink girls posted cards made with a December freebie stamp set, Ruby Reprise.  I've been in Texas visiting my sister's family and didn't make it home in time to finish a card to post with them. I've had a solid week of reading piggy and elephant books to my lovely nieces, as well as snuggling my new nephew. (Nothing smells sweeter than a baby's head snuggled against your shoulder and cheek!) Today I had a few minutes to play with Ruby Reprise and thought I would share it--better late than never, right?

If you already have the Ruby Rose die collection, then you're in luck--several of the dies coordinate with this set as well as the original Ruby Rose stamp set! Here are details on how you can get this stamp set, Ruby Reprise, for free. That's all for today--thanks for visiting!

Debbie