What's Best?

Well, I have to apologize profusely to everyone. I've been neglecting my Blog shamefully, unfortunately I had to go into the city which is 2 hr. away for my daughters hospital appointments, and then I had a Library class to run not to mention all the other fun stuff that is involved with being a homeschooling mom! For today I've decided not to do a card. Instead I decided to post something which might answer a few questions I've had in the past. Which Art medium is best and what are the differences? Now I don't know about you, but I love to see close-ups of the different techniques people use. I especially like when you have a repeated image with all the different types of techniques so that you can compare. I have not seen to much of that so I decided to do one myself. Thus my title. Which one is best? I have no clue, its all a matter of perspective. I just know that depending on the look I am going for, that's what I use. So to start, I used the image of Ollie and Olivia from Stampendous which you can purchase at All That Scraps . I colored it in using 3 different mediums.

If you look at the above photo's you will see that the image was colored in with Copic markers. Now the first image was colored on Shimmer white CS. the ink in both images is Adirondacks Pitch Black. For the shimmer sheet, the ink soaks in faster and blending is not easy. I tend to use a light color and then a color just one tone deeper. I keep the lines fairly clean, I go over the darker portions with the lighter to achieve a better blend. When using the Copic on Shimmer CS if find it just mesmerizing to look at. The color is bold and strong. The second image is stamped and colored on SU Whisper White CS. I blended color by keeping the areas wet and blending the dark into the light with the lighter marker. I also picked up darker color with my light marker from a plastic pallet. Now as you can see from the picture of the markers, I use both Ciao and Sketch Copic. What's better? It depends. The Sketch hold more ink, and you can airbrush with them which produces an even smooth backdrop to your colored images. So if you want Bold Beautiful color then Copics are great.

The next series of three photos is using water color. There are two variety's shown. The first is a more true variety of water color. It uses reinkers. The blending is smooth, the color bright, and the look of it is bold yet kinda dreamy. It is a softer look with the same bold color. I use more traditional methods to color with my reinkers. That means I might do washes of color, or wet on wet etc... The second method is my pseudo water color with markers. It is not as smooth in the blending you will always have more texture to it. But on the other hand it is convenient and still bold and lovely to look at. For the markers, you can use Tombow, SU and any other water based marker with good pigmentation. For the reinkers, any one will do. Use SU or Ranger distress or any other brand you might have. As long as the pigment quality is good, you will have good results.

The last method shown is Color Pencils. The first image of this type is shown in the traditional Gamsol magic technique. I outlined the color and then blended using stumps and Orderless Solvent. Now let me make something very clear. It does not matter what kind of Orderless solvent you use. I use an art store brand as well as an eco orange scented one. You don't need "Gamsol" which is just a name brand. The other thing is that any color pencel will blend. The result is dependent on the amount of pigment in the pencil. If you buy a cheap pencil, you will get less than colorful results. Red's may come out looking pink and so on. I use for my work Prisma artist quality pencils ( a wax based pencil) , Faber and Castel ( a German oil based pencil) , and Derwent. All of these are artist quality and each and everyone will yield beautiful results although Faber and Castel have an extra butteriness that I love. Now back to the pictures. The first as I said is outlined and blended and has that typical Gamsol look that we all love. But for the second one I used the blended solvent and then went back over with color pencil to add more color and texture. I love using color pencil over gamsol because it adds such depth to the image.

Now I know there are so many other mediums I haven't touched on yet such as Twinkling H2O which would go under the heading of water color with mica sparkles, and chalk or pastel. Both of these will be touched on later.Thanks so much and hope to be back posting a card soon.

Just a Quicky

I decided on a really quick card. I wanted to keep it simple and not fussy. I was also experimenting with using my Copic markers on different CS. For the most part I like using them on SU Whisper White CS. I usually stamp it with Adirondacks Pitch Black, letting it dry for about 2 min. and then begin the coloring process. The snow globe is done like this. I find that with the Whisper White, the ink stays more on the surface, and stays wet longer and is thus easier to blend direct on the paper. Also there is no discernible feathering. The only thing you will find is that the paper becomes somewhat shiny. The Wreath trim is stamped on Solaris White CS which you will find at Ellen's store. I stamped this one with Adirondacks Pitch Black Also, but you could also use Brilliance Black. When coloring the image, I found that the ink soaked in Quickly, and I had to use the technique of picking up darker color with a lighter color in order to achieve blending. Now each person has there favorites, and while I do like the final effect of the Solaris, my fav. is still the SU.
Recipe:
Stamps: Lockhart, MFT sentiment
Paper : Bashful Blue, Caramel, Real Red, WWhite, Solaris White
Ink : Buckaroo Blue, Distress Tea Dye
Other : Copic Markers, Airbrush tool, Spica Glitter pens, Piercer tool and template, Tattered Angel Glimmer Mist in Copper, Chocolate marker.
The globe was colored in with Copic markers, the background was airbrushed in BV000. Stickles and Spica pens were used to accent. The bough of pine was colored with Copic and Spica added for sparkle. Caramel CS was pierced in corners with Fleur de Lis type ornament , it was aged with Distress ink, stitching added around, and sprayed with glimmer mist. Sentiment was added last. The whole card shimmers and sparkles with subtle shine. Love it.
Thanks so much and have a great day!

I'm Thankful for you

Never was there a truer sentiment. I'm so thankful to all you ladies for the inspiration I receive each day from your creations, as well as for the kind comments you leave me. Consider this to be my card to all of you. I used the MFT stamp Falling For You . It is such a fun set with everything included that you could possible need. As you can tell I'm totally into the fall colors now, and it is so refreshing after the bold bright colors of summer!
Recipe:
stamps: MFT Falling For You, SU Flannel Plaid, Paper Salon Hemline
Paper : Chocolate Chip, Sage, Rust, Celery DP, Whisper White, Cosmo Cricket
Ink : Sage, Chocolate, Ranger Distress in Tea dye and Vintage, Cocoa, Memories dye ink black,Versamagic White ink
Other : Bella Baubles, Crystal Effects, Copic Markers, Airbrush tool, Tattered Angel glimmer mist in Copper, Copper brads, linen thread, May art ribbon, piercer and mat, distress tool.
The image was stamped once on the white, and once on Eclipse masking tape. I did a reverse mask for the leaf pile and airbrushed the colors on. This was cut out. I stamped the image again and did a second mat of the image and airbrushed the sky, and then added clouds with Versamagic white ink. The leaf pile was then placed over the image with airbrushed sky to add dimension. The rest of the image was colored in. The rest of the card is self explanatory.
Hope you enjoy and have a great day!

MFT

I decided to pull out my MFT coffee break set. Can you believe this is the first time I use it? I am really starting to like circles, so I decided to make my focal image inside the circle. I'm also getting more comfortable using the Prima flowers. Its funny how playing with other styles can start to influence your use and comfort level of other things.
recipe:
Stamps: MFT, SU Linen
Paper : River Rock, Choc.Chip, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Winter Mini DP, Celery DP
Ink : Ranger: Adirondacks in Pitch Black, Distress in Tea dye & Vintage Photo
Other : Copic Markers, Airbrush system, Tattered Angel Glimmer mist in midnight Blue, Bella Baubles in Cappuccino, Prima flowers, May Art ribbon, Glue dots, Crystal Effects, hardware and Eclipse masking tape.
I started by coloring the image in with my Copic Markers. After I finished, I masked it and airbrushed the background with B00 Copic marker. After I left the mask on and sprayed the BG with the Tattered Angel Glimmer mist which can be found at EP. This mist adds a great subtle shimmer which can be seen in photo below. The only thing I find is that it does not spray a very fine mist, you often end up with gobs on your paper. What I did was keep a Kleenex close by and used it to blot the BG as soon as it was sprayed. The rest of the card is pretty self -explanatory. I adhered the Baubles tho with crystal effects.
Thanks so much for all your kind comments, I can't tell you how much they mean to me. See you all later and have a great evening.

Back Again

Well I apologize for not being around. I needed to take some time for myself and refresh! I indulged in chocolate therapy while watching movies in the evening. Tonight was also my stampers club and now it is time to put my nose back to the grindstone. I went and signed up for a second craft fair in November which should keep me busy, along with all my regular everyday stuff. Now for this card. I won't even tell you what a struggle it was. I'm trying to expand my borders still with this other style. I didn't quite succeed here. I decided to post it anyways since i wasted so much time on it and don't have anything else. I played around with multiple images and finally settled on this sweet High Hopes Image. It is actually half of the image. There is supposed to be another angel here, but it didn't fit. I find that these High Hope Stamps are the best replacement for the Hanglar or Magnolia here in North America. Now normally this style of card is on a larger square, but I was trying to adapt it to our standard size.
recipe:
stamps: High Hopes Stamps, Hanglar & Stanglar ( ribbon ), Flannel
Paper : Almost Amethyst, Celery DP&CP, Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue, Memory box DP, Real Red
Ink : Memories Dye ink pad black, Almost Amethyst, Celery
Other : Gamsol, Prisma and Faber Castel pencils, Prima, Quickutz, leaf punch, May Art ribbon, Spica glitter pen
Well, hopefully I will be posting tomorrow, but if not definitely the next day. Cheerio and have a great day.

So Excited!!!!!

Ok, Ok, you may be tired of seeing my craft fair projects, and I promise soon to have some different stuff to post, its just that this is what I am working on right now! Now, what has gotten me so excited? Well I made the ATS Design Team!!!! I'm so happy, I was doing a dance when I found out and just couldn't wait to share with you all. I will soon have some great projects to share using their wonderful line of stamps. Thank you so much Amy! You so made my day. Now unto this nights Craft fair projects. Once again same design for the CD tin card envelope sets. Everything is simple in design to showcase the image and to make it easier for me to make in large quantities. All stamps are those wonderful Rosie's Roadshow stamps. They are all water colored with SU and Tombow markers, as well as Twinkling H2O for the bear, and Spica glitter pens for bits and pieces. Thanks so much for sharing in my excitement!

More craft fair projects!

Well once again I'm using the same layout with different images. I mentioned before that these will be packaged in altered CD tins with matching envelopes. I have to keep the layouts very simple because I am making and painting these in large volumes not to mention all the other things I need to make for it. Every one of these images are made with Rosie's Roadshow stamps
These stamps are awesome, and so versatile! as you can see from the above picture, every element is separate, and I can mix and match however I please. This is one company that you can never get bored with!
Every image is colored with Tombow markers, and Spica glitter pens. The paper is all SU DP and CS. For those who did not see from previous posting, I am selling these for $12.00 Canadian, so that can give you an idea of my prices for craft fairs! Please enjoy and feel free to e-mail or post if you have questions or suggestions for doing craft fairs.
Cheers
Sophie

Trying Something New

For the past few months I have been browsing a whole bunch of Blogs from Sweden, Netherlands, and other country's. I have been translating pages and studying the cards made. There is a certain style there that I absolutely love. You often see it with the Magnolia stamps as well as the Hanglar och Stanglar stamps. The style is looser, often incorporating plenty of embellishments and shapes. There is usually different textures in DP and little matting. I am so intrigued with this style that I decided to give it a try. This is not cased from any one card but rather I took elements and ideas from countless blogs. I don't know if I was quite successful, but I am still happy with the results. I am going to be trying this style next with the High Hopes stamps as they are the closest to the style of images that can be found here in North America. For this card I did use Hanglar och Stanglar stamps, and I am so excited to say that I will within a few months be able to get these kits through a friend who is moving to Sweden. These kits are only available in Sweden and soon Norway! My hope is to use them in classes here at home as well as to sell pre stamped and cut kits online.

recipe:

stamps: Hanglar och Stanglar, Karen Foster Elegant mini snap stamps

Paper : Blue Sky, Shimmer White, Very Vanilla, Celery DP, Celery, Basic Grey, Bazzill red ,Caramel

Ink : Black memories ink

Other : EK success circle cutter, Quick Kutz corner tab, Markers Black and Cocoa, Faber and Castel pencils, Solvent, stumps, Prima flowers and leaves, Rhinestone brad SU, SU silver brads, green embroidery floss, Tab punch, Spica glitter pens in Clear and Turquoise, glue dots, pop up dots, crystal effects as glue for flower.

thanks so much for visiting today, I hope you enjoyed this project as I am treading of my beaten path!

Craft Fair

OK, I've been busy all week and there is so much going on right now. I had a leisure show last Saturday, I've been getting back into my Homeschooling year, I've been working every night on stuff for the craft fair that I'm registered in, and I've been preparing for upcoming classes and clubs. So today I worked on re-organizing the house a bit. It is Fall clean-up time over here and that means that we can put out all the old decrepit junk that we have been storing all this time. Well out went my husbands decrepit couch that even he finally agreed to let go of. I shifted things in my craft area and opened it up more s0 that I could now give classes down here instead of in my dining room. Well we were also moving down bookshelves and my husband asked me to help. Well go figure I had this extremely heavy shelf fall on two fingers of my right hand. My finger nails are black with bruises and swollen, not to mention painful. But thank goodness they are not broken. I was in a panic because for a while I thought they might be broken and all I could think of was that I would not be able to fulfill commitments not to mention run the house and kids. Well after painkillers and anti-inflammatory I am now stamping *happy dance*. So now to my project.
This is a set of four cards. The cards have to be relatively simple because I am making them in large quantities. This particular series is a set of 4"x4" cards and envelopes which are packaged in an altered CD tin. The CD tin is not shown because they have to be picked up on my next trip to the city. That will be at the end of September and then I can show the whole thing together. I will be selling it for $12.00 Canadian. The stamps are all Rosie's Roadshow . This is such an awesome stamp company. Everything is individual pieces which you can build into a scene. They are so versatile and fun. There are a whole bunch of fun sayings too, unfortunately I don't have them yet! Every image is hand water colored with markers, and sparkle is added with Spica glitter pens. Tomorrow I will show the next series of 4. I am planning on doing multiples of 8 series of 4 cards. This is lots of fun but also lots of work. Have a great evening and I'll see you all later!

Gotta Love House of Mouse

This is the last of my older pre-made cards. After this I will have to start making some new stuff. I had a great time at the Leisure fair that I was signed up in, and I met a lot of great people. Now unfortunately I have a lot of imputing and following up to do. It is the not so fun part of having a home business. I would rather be stamping fun stuff, but instead must be disciplined and do the work first!
So anyways, for this card I used a House of Mouse image. I just love these naughty mice. The card is a simple gate card, 51/4"x 51/4".
recipe:
stamps: House of Mouse, Baroque Motifs, Oh so Sweet
CS : Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Older Basic Grey, Whisper White
Ink : Memories black dye ink, Ranger distress in Tea dye and Vintage
Other : Prismacolor and Faber & Castel pencils, Orderless mineral spirits, Crystal effects, brad,glitter embossing pwd, glue dots

The image was stamped twice and colored in. Sections were cut and added with glue dots to add dimension. Crystal effects was used on dripping chocolate to add realism, Swirls were stamped and embossed with glitter holographic embossing pwd. Everything else is easy to see.

Have a great day and see you all later!

I should be working, but stamped instead!

I should be folding pamphlets, and cutting door prize forms right now, but instead chose to finish this project! I am making a series of 4 pictures for each of the children's rooms. This one is for my daughter. She saw me working on it and was so excited that I vowed I would finish it tonight! My idea is to have the four seasons portrayed on her wall with a feminine touch. For my son I plan on doing the 4 seasons but with a more boy take on it. All the pictures are to be made with High Hopes Stamps. This company has amazingly talented artists. The pictures are just what I wanted when I came up with this idea. This picture is my summer representation and is 12 x 12. The background and tree are hand made by me with scraps from my basket. I wanted the colors to be bright and rich. The sky is the same kind of gray/blue you get after a rainstorm. You know that color and light level that make every color look alive. I used this little girl with apples ( I'm calling her Clarabelle) I think her original name is Annie and had her walking from a distant orchard. In the foreground is the sheep field where a small flock is munching on apples from the tree in their pasture. I know, I know, I'm always compelled to come up with a storyline for my scenery's. I just love how this turned out although I don't dare say how many hours I spent on it punching, painting, cutting, pasting and popping! I can't wait to start the Autumn scene with more High hope Stamps which I will unfortunately have to order. I'm planning on a Indian girl scene with a surrounding corn field.

Recipe:

Stamps: High Hope Stamps ( girl and sheep), SU lovely as a tree and Watercolor minis, Lockhart apple,

CS : Various greens, browns and blue from Bazzill ( I have no SU 12x12), Olive and Celery DP

Ink : Memories black ink, Garden Green, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Versamagic Tea Leaves & White, Basic Brown, Chocolate Chip, Caramel, Cocoa

Other : Spica Red, Melon and Clear, SU and Tombow markers, Leaf Punch, Crystal effects, Pop up dots in two thicknesses, glue dots.

I started by sponging clouds with a quick template that I cut out. I then added the treeline in the back, sponging greens and browns on the ground line. I used the leafy piece of Watercolor minis to add the shadow of leaves on the trees in the various greens. I then started tearing the green CS in Roley hill form. I adhered them after playing around with the layout. The tree was had sketched and then scored with a blade in a bark pattern. it was then adhered to a darker brown. I then took a sander and my nail and started distressing the cuts to simulate bark. Browns were then sponged on. Leaves were then punched out ( hard on the hand). I used DP in Olive and Celery. I wanted to get a bit of that quilt applique look which is why I used Designer Paper over regular CS. The leaves were then adhered one by one using glue, glue dots and two thicknesses of pop-up dots. I wanted it to have a lot of dimension. The girl and sheep were stamped, painted, spica'd and glazed the apples. The sheep have had heads removed so that I could pop them and tilt them at different angles. They were placed in the field along with Clarabelle. Apples were stamped, painted, spica'd and then scattered on the foreground and in the tree. Little apples out of Spica were also dotted on the distant trees. I added two suckers to the base of the apple tree. At my dad's house where I grew up, The apple trees always get tons of suckers which have to be hand pruned.

I hope you enjoy this posting, i don't normally do two in a day, its just that I'm so happy to have finished my first picture. Have a great evening, and I'll see yal later.

Cherries yet again

This is another one of those cards which I had already made for another purpose, but am only now posting. It is water colored with markers, and is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4. I am still pretty busy, the one fun project that I am currently working on is almost finished, it has been a time consuming project, but well worth the effort! I am hoping to post it over the weekend. I am also participating in a leisure fair on base on Saturday so I am madly trying to prepare for that as well as getting a head start on my Stampers Club for September!

recipe:

Stamps: Hero Cherrie bowl and cherries, Lockhart sentiment

CS : Chocolate Chip, Wasabi, Rose Red DP, Petals and Paisley DP, Rose Red, Watercolor paper

Ink : Memories dye ink pad in black

Other : Tombow and SU markers, Stickles red glitter, glue dots, Organza ribbon, silver brads, sewing machine

the image was stamped twice and water colored once completely and once partially, I then took apart the partial and popped up sections of the completely colored with glue dots! I added stickles, mounted everything up and sewed. Then mounted to the main panel which was sewed, added my brads and ribbon, adhered to card and stuck double large cherries to the ribbon with a glue dot! Easy shmeezy, but cute none the less. Cheers and have a great day!

Magnet Tin

This is another one of my haven't got around to posting projects. There are day's when I'm just to busy to do all the writing portion! This little tin is half full of magnets. I haven't decided yet on if I am going to make more magnets, or if I am going to put a magnet on half of the base, cover the whole with CS and then fill half with paper clips, and half with the magnets. I was trying to come up with little office gift sets.
recipe:
Stamps: Lockhart Autumn basket
CS : Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Daisy D DP
Ink : Ranger Adirondacks Pitch Black
Other : Copic Markers, Airbrush system, SU Chocolate Chip ribbon, stones, round magnets, SU flower punch, May art ribbon, A Muse bling, Sakura Stardust Pen, Spica pens in Orange, gold, and melon, White gel pen, Glue dots.

I stamped the image out and then colored it in with my Copic Markers. I then created a mask out of Eclipse tape, and then airbrushed. Spica and Sakura were used to accent the image. The small flowers were punched out and then embossed in the centre to force the petals up and out. The insides were dotted 3 times with the gel pen, and then it was lined with sakura. A few rhinestones were added to select centres for bling. The daisy D DP was cut and then adhered with crystal effects as was the ribbon. Image was laid down, and then flowers adhered with glue dots and the bow glued in. The magnets were created by stamping and coloring the image, gluing the pebbles over the image with crystal effects,trimming the paper to fit the pebble then gluing on the magnet with crystal effect. And there you have the finished product. I am thinking like I said of finishing the inside with half a magnet flour and then covering the whole with CS.

Have a great Tuesday and I will see you tomorrow!

Lockhart Monday

As everyone knows, I'm a big fan of Lockhart! This little card was made with the Foxglove vase and greeting from this wonderful company. It is a card that I love quite a bit actually. It was made a little while back, and I am posting it and three other projects this week as I will be fairly busy with other commitments. I have a Leisure show which I am booked in on Saturday, and want to make sure that I am ready for it!
recipe:
stamps: SU garden Silhouettes, Lockhart Foxglove and sentiment
CS : River Rock, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Rose Red DP, WWhite
Ink : Ranger Adirondacks Pitch Black, River Rock, Wasabi, Old Olive, Ranger distress in Tea dye, Chocolate Chip
Other : Copic Markers, Sakura Stardust pen, River Rock ribbon, gold brads, Cuttlebug textile folder, Ticket Punch, slot punch.

The coloring of this image was done with Copic Markers. I plan on doing a tutorial of my technique for Copic, along with all my coloring methods over the next few months. I worked quickly to achieve decent blending.
Well I must put my nose back to the grindstone, but I will be back in a day or two with something new to show you. Have a lovely Monday!

LSC131

I can't tell you how much fun I had making this card!! I just love High Hope rubber stamps. Speaking of which I am so excited! I just won one of the categories for the contest at Craftin Kim's Corner. You will find her link on my Blog sidebar. I just won through her more High Hope stamps *big grin*!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited? Well onto the card. I did my first attempt at a Limited Sketch Challenge. You had to make a Fall scene, insert animal who is not normally used in this manner and make it a tent topper! I'm not sure I got the last part of the challenge with the tent topper, I did make it go higher, but oh well, I love how it turned out! I don't normally toot my own horn but the colors are just so yummy, and I'm so tired of summer colors lol. I think I will have to keep this one for myself!
Card recipe can be found here . Well its late, I am so past my bedtime and I am so going to regret this late night tomorrow.