Nuts about you...

Happy Saturday friends!

I'm up on the Hello Bluebird blog today with my first official blog post! New stamps are always exciting to add to our crafty stash. They bring with them new card ideas and fun new images to color. But I gotta say, the thing that gets me most excited whenever there is a new release is how I can 'mash up' my new stamps with older sets and breathe new life into those images. For my card today I really wanted to pair one of the darling fairies from the new Fairy Dance set with a happy squirrel from the older Oh Nuts set. This seated fairy was perfect because I knew she would look great resting on the branch watching her squirrel friend do a bit of a tight rope walk out there on the end of the limb.     

So I stamped them both first and masked them off before stamping the branch right over top. I also loaded up the branch with a bunch of acorns because I knew I wanted to use the Nuts About You sentiment from another classic Hello Bluebird set, Deer Friend. I placed all of that fairly high on my card front to help create the illusion that we are glimpsing them from up in a tree top. Then I stamped the ever versatile hillside from Storybook Friends in a lighter grey ink down towards the bottom of the card to help reinforce that perspective I was after. Once I pulled the masks away from the characters I was ready to color. Pretty fall hues of orange, brown and yellow accented with dusty blues and purples really captured the look of a lovely autumn afternoon. To finish off the card I framed the scene using the pinked edge of the Gallery Frame #3 die. I'm not sure why but pinked edges always remind me of fall as well so it seemed quite appropriate.

Alrighty then, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay crafty my friends! 

Supply list:

cardstock- My Favorite Things and Catherine Pooler

stamps- Hello Bluebird (Storybook Friends set, Fairy Dance set, Oh Nuts set and Deer Friend set)

ink- Memento tuxedo black and london fog

Hello Bluebird Gallery Frame #3 die

Sharpie extra fine white paint pen 

Wink of Stella clear glitter pen

Copic markers:

sky- BG0000, BG70, BG72, BG10, 0

mountains- BV20, BV23, V20

landscape- Y11, Y21, YR23, E33, E35, YR24, Y35, YR27, E59, Y02, E97, E09, E31, E33, E35, E55, E57, E79

branch/acorns- E31, E55, E57, Y11, Y02, YR21, YR14, YR27

skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20

hair- E21, E23, E35, E29

dress/wings- YR31, YR24, YR27, Y17, YR15, YR18, V20

squirrel- W0, W1, W2, W4, W6, R000, R00, E04

Pumpkin kisses...

Hello, hello!
 
I'm on the Bellarific Blog today with a new Scenic Saturday card to share. With October fast approaching it is time to start decorating for the season here at my house. A cornerstone of that seasonal decorating has always been the good ol' pumpkin. Big ones, small ones, orange ones, white ones, it just isn't Fall around here until there are some pumpkins on the porch. And I knew I had the perfect Bella stamp to capture this special time of year... Bundle Girl at the Pumpkin Patch has made the trip to her local farm and found the biggest and best pumpkin that she can carry. This little cutie seems bound and determined to get that perfect pumpkin back to her home so she can carve it up into a spooktacular jack o'lantern. 

Whenever I have a stamped image like this that is very obviously in motion, I like to stamp them closely to the edge of the card opposite the direction they are facing. By doing this, it creates plenty of space on the card for them to 'move into'. That empty space then becomes the perfect place for a bit of scene building to help tell the story and more importantly, the sentiment. If I were to stamp her in the center of the card or even closer to the right edge, the momentum her 'walking' eludes to would lead the viewers eye right off the edge of the card. So by placing her on the left, I can take advantage of that momentum and make it work in my favor design wise. Now the viewers eye is lead right to the Fall Sentiment, creating a more cohesive design. It's a small thing to think about when stamping that can make a big impact on your cards. :) 

Stay crafty my friends!

Supply list:
cardstock- My Favorite Things and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Stamping Bella (Bundle Girl at the Pumpkin Patch and Fall Sentiment set) 
ink- Memento tuxedo black and espresso truffle
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20
clothes- YG00, YG01, YG03, YG95, Y11, Y15, Y17, Y26, E55, E57, E47, B00, B52
pumpkins- YR31, YR15, YR07, E39, E81, E84, E87, YG01, YG63, YG97
sky- BG000, B00, B52, YR30, 0
ground- E30, E41, E42, E43, E44, Y23, YR23
hedge/fence- E59, YR12, YR24, YR14, E31
 

We go together like hocus and pocus...

TGIF! 

I'm up on the TGF blog today and I really wanted to play with the Halloween Nite digi set again, this time taking some of the elements and combing them with the Porch and Porch 2 digi sets to create a front stoop all decked out for Halloween. Once again the larger slimline card size gave me enough room to tell the story that I envisioned without having to sacrifice any of the builder elements that I wanted to include. This time around the bats and ghosts become silly window clings creating an inviting environment for our little trick or treater... Hallo Bean. She's an oldie but a goodie and still one of my all time favorite TGF Halloween images. I paired her with a new favorite... the meowing kitty from the Build-a-Laundry set and together they are both ready and waiting for some candy!   

Alrighty, here's hoping your weekend is full of more treats than tricks!

Supply list:
cardstock- My Favorite Things and Copic X-Press It
digital stamps- The Greeting Farm (Halloween Nite set, Hallo Sentiments set, Porch set, Porch 2 set, Build-a-Laundry Room set, Hallo Bean)
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Wink of Stella clear glitter pen
Copic markers:
skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20
hair- Y32, E33, E55
clothes- C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C10, 100, Y02, Y17, V04, V15, V09, YG00, YG01, FYG2, YG09, G07YR04, YR18
porch floor/door mat- E30, E31, E34, E44, E74, E31, E35, YR24, E57
siding/window/door- W00, W0, W2, W3, W4, W5, W7, N1, N3, N5, Y02, Y15, Y17
jack o'lanterns- YR15, YR07, E09, E84, E87, Y02, Y15, Y17, YR30, YR31, E31
hay bale/bushes- Y04, YR23, YR24, E37, YG25, YG95, YG97, YG99
kitty- C3, C4, C7, C8, R30, E04
lantern/kettle- T3, T6, T9, Y11, Y08, G20

Don't be a scaredy cat...

 

Hello!

I'm back with my second guest designer post for Whimsy Stamps. I mentioned last week that I couldn't wait to dive into a Halloween card so of course I went all out in the spooky cute department for my card today. This frightfully fun scene actually combines three newly released stamps from Whimsy, Haunted Parlor, Spooky Kitties and Fuzzy Spiders. Black cats and Halloween just go hand in hand, or should I say hand in paw? LOL, anywho... so I stamped and masked this Spooky Kitty with the broom then stamped the Haunted Parlor right over top. Once the mask was pulled off it now looked like kitty was caught standing there red handed as he 'borrows' the witch's broom for a midnight ride all on his own. The parlor itself was decked out in traditional Halloween colors and the spider webs were added at the very end of the creative process to help push kitty back into the scene a bit more. That and the addition of a sentiment really helped pull this fun story all together. :)

Once again I would like to thank Whimsy Stamps for inviting me to join the fun this month and I can't wait to see what you have planned for Christmas!  
 

Stay crafty my friends!  

Supply list:
cardstock- Papertrey Ink and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Whimsy Stamps (Spooky Kitties, Haunted Parlor and Fuzzy Spiders), Papertrey Ink (sentiment)
ink- Memento tuxedo black
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Copic markers:
walls- V12, V15, V17, BV13, BV04, BV17, BV29
floor/railing- E71, E74, E77, E79, E81, E84, E44, E49
couch- C00, C2, C4
painting/chair/clock- YR15, YR04, YR18, C2, C5, C7, 100, Y02, Y26, E23, E25, E27, E29
broom- YR23, YR24, E35, E39, E55, E57, E59
kitty- BG000, C1, 0, YG21, YG07, G09, G29, T3, T4, T5, T6, T8, 110, R30, E93, E04, RV95, E79
runner- YG01, YG07, G07, G29

Happy Halloween...

Hey friends!

There is a special super mini release at Purple Onion Designs today with the new Pumpkin Charm stamp by Stacey Yacula. This completely adorable Halloween stamp shows a bunny and mouse working together to carve out a giant pumpkin in time for the holiday. Not only that but for a limited time POD is also running a FREE SHIPPING discount on all domestic orders over $75 (no code needed) and $7 off international orders over $75, making this the perfect time to fill up a cart with fun new stamps for this holiday card making season.

I wanted my pumpkin carving party to take place out in the woods so I paired them up with the older Birch Tree Background stamp and a few freehand tree silhouettes even further in the background. The colors in that sky are a bit more pastel than you see on most Halloween cards so I made sure to add a bit of traditional orange and black in the scarves the critters are wearing. The sentiment is from the Essential Happy Sentiment set and it is the perfect straight forward greeting that I needed to bring this darling card together. :)

Toodles!  

Supply list:
cardstock- My Favorite Things and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Purple Onion Designs (Pumpkin Charm, Birch Tree Background and Essential Happy Sentiment)
ink- Memento rich cocoa, london fog and tuxedo black
My Favorite Things Blueprints die
Copic markers:
sky- YR30, YR31, R81, R83, V95, V99, YR02
trees- V93, V95, V99
pumpkin- Y15, YR02, YR15, YR07, E25, E81, E84, E87
grass- YG21, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97
ladder/stool- E43, E44, E47
bunny- E50, E81, E31, R30
mouse- N0, N1, N2, N4, R30
scarves- Y35, YR04, YR18, 100

Autumn blessings...

Hello friends!

My Dreamerland stamps were calling to me yesterday and this pretty gal in particular was really wanting to get inky. She is called Thinking of You and I can't get over how lovely she is. With the wind so obviously blowing through her hair I knew she would look great in a fall scene with leaves blowing in that same breeze. So I paired Thinking with the much used Mix and Match Mailbox and Wall set as well as the Mix and Match Window and Gate set. The birch trees from the Mix and Match Trees and Leaves 01 set were then stamped in a lighter grey ink behind her so they would appear further off in the distance. Once all of that was mapped out it was a fairly quick and easy coloring session to create this lovely autumn day and I'm so happy with it!
 
Ok, I've gotta head into town today so time for me to get ready. Have a good one! 

Supply list:
cardstock- My Favorite Things and Copic X-Press It
stamps- Dreamerland Crafts (Thinking of You, Mix and Match Mail Box and Wall, Mix and Match Window and Gate, Mix and Match Trees and Leaves 01), My Favorite Things (sentiment)
ink- Memento tuxedo black, espresso truffle and london fog
My Favorite Things A2 stitched rectangle stax set 1
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
skin- E000, E00, E11, E04, R00, R20 
hair- Y32, YR14, YR27, E29
clothes- YR30, E50, E31, RV25, RV29, E18, E19, YG23, YG95, YR16
wall- E42, E43, E44, E47, E81, E84, E31, E34, W2, W4, W5, E71, E74, T3, T5, C3, C5
ground- E30, E50, E31, E43, YG01, Y11, YG11, YG91, YG93, YG63, G94, G99
sky- BG10, BG11, BG53, C00, C1, 0 
trees- W2, W3, W5, T6, Y11, Y15, Y26, Y28

 

Autumn Greetings...

 Good morning!

I received my order from the Purple Onion Designs anniversary sale last week and it was full of fall and Halloween cuteness that I've been quite eager to get my hands on. And I know I've told y'all about my fondness for adorable scarecrows and their black bird friends so it shouldn't come as a surprise to see that the first stamps to get inked are just that, LOL! I mean come on... aren't they a completely darling pair? For the background I grabbed another new stamp, the 2 Cornfields and stamped the larger field twice after masking off Mr. Scarecrow. Having those detailed stalks in the front allowed me to quickly fill in the space behind them with a bunch of vertical stripes in various brown and golden hues to effectively elude to the rows of drying corn stalks behind them. It's a simple scene but to me it really captures that feeling of fall. :)

 TTYL!

Supply list:
cardstock- Bazzill and Catherine Pooler
stamps- Purple Onion Designs (Scarecrow and 2 Cornfields), My Favorite Things (sentiment)
ink- Memento rich cocoa
Papertrey Ink Noted pinked edge die
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
scarecrow- E50, E42, E81, E84, E08, E19, Y02, YR24, E39, E55, E57, E79, YG01, YG03, YG93, YG95, YG97, E87, E89, E23, E25, E47
crow- C3, C4, C6, Y11, Y17
sky- BG0000, B000, B41, B32, 0, C00, C1
corn field- Y11, Y21, YR23, E44, E47, E39, YG93
dirt/grass- E31, E42, E43, E44, G24, YG93, YG95, YG97, G94