So I am still warming up with regards to my cards. I feel still a bit like I am not quite up to snuff. Oh well, it will come. I had this image sitting around all ready colored. I figured it was time to use it. The image is Hanglar and is colored in with reinkers and Twinkling H2O's. I used the Just Right vertical stamper to create the word on the side. My flourishes are from Quickutz dies and the flowers are punches. I used a Martha Stewart lacy punch for the trim and some leftover brown polka dot ribbon to make the bow. All the stamped flourishes are from some Memory Box stamps. This is just a fast post and I hope to keep adding regularly.

High Hopes card and update

Amazing I know I am actually posting! I think this time I am actually ready to begin slowly easing into this blog. There is so much that I have been trying to do and still have to do. For instance this blog is in some serious need of revamping not to mention my life lol.
Well today's card is a High Hopes card with a bit of Quickutz thrown in . I love these bug stamps that High Hopes came out with a while ago. I have been using them for a bit, but have not had time to post them before they had to be sent out. I really like the different elements of the card. I have been branching out into different areas of crafting and am starting to include allot of die cuts in my designs. This card and envelope are cut with Sizzix XL Bigz dies. The image is colored on Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper, and I used Distress inks and some Twinkling H2O's to color it in.


The inside uses some Quickutz dies for lettering, flowers, bug and file folder. The other side is a spot for the message using Spellbinders deckle rectangle die. The envelope is Sizzix. Paper is Blush from Prisme(darkest).

I hope you enjoyed today's project and I should have another one soon. My plan is to post every 2-4 days until things are more stable.

I'm Back with a Blog Hop from Sugar Nellie

I am finally back, and posting! I thought I might never get to this point lol, but I think I have finally reached the point when I can start posting sporadically. I do a bit of surfing while I am nursing my new almost 3 month old son. It is the only time that I have to just sit and relax. I've been keeping up with every ones blog's but have never been that great at posting comments with only one hand lol. So I happened one day upon Sugar Nellies Blog when they were offering the chance to participate in a Blog Hop featuring their new artist Diane Duda. She is a phenomenal artist who features some truly unique pieces. I was thrilled to try one of her new stamps. They are whimsical and versatile. I was trying in these cards to create a totally different look from what I normally do. The first card is supposed to be the dark and light side found in all of us. The picture is not great because it is late and my lighting is terrible. I will try to re- do the photo's tomorrow. The second card is a gorgeous deep purple which sadly I have not yet captured but hope to do so tomorrow. It is created with Derwent Inktense. I love how rich these watercolor pencils are. Check out the next blog in the hop so that you can see some more fantastic artwork. Karen's Cards is next in the list, have fun.

Blog Candy Winner

Ackk! Time flies. I am so sorry to have taken so long. I have not been feeling up to anything lately. Hee, hee, finally found out why.....we are finally expecting our third child. Won't be due for a long while yet, but am certainly feeling the effects right now. So I will post the winner today, get the package out as soon as I get their address, and will post a project as soon as I feel up to stamping.
The winner is number 101:
lehtipollo said...
Howdy! What a great card. I love your style of colouring.
4:36 PM

Congratulations. I wish everyone could have won. I do thank everyone for participating and look forward to the next time that I can offer something up.
Cheers,
Sophie

Summer and Sea and Blog Candy!!

Eek!! I feel like I lost my mojo with my vacation from stamping. This is my warm-up DT card lol. I used Edwin's Town stamp for the buildings, The moon from the Goblin collection, and the boy from the Summer and Sea collection. Images are colored with Faber Castel, Prismacolor, OMS, Twinkling H2O's and a touch of Copic's for the hearts and windows. Paper is all from the Magnolia Store. Embellishment is Robin's nest Dew Drops. Stickles and Atyou glitter pens. Now for the fun part :)
Magnolia has very generously offered some wonderful Blog Candy for one lucky winner! There are two lovely Tilda's from their most recent release. There is also the picnic blanket for Tilda to sit on, a fence and a stitch for embellishment. Also included are some Flowers, rhinestones and some DP and a card base. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and I will be drawing on Friday when I get back from Ottawa. Oh ya, I just got back and I have to run off again for a few days. My hubby has some appointments for lenses and to see a couple more family members before he leaves. We are doing alot of running around trying to find stuff that he needs to take with him. So have a great rest of week and will be back with the winner on Friday!
Hugs,
Soph

My Daughter's Birthday Card

Well, I am back and have been since Tuesday. It has been a mad rush to get my house up to scratch, to the groceries, evict the unknown remains which were attempting to crawl out of the refrigerator and prepare for my Friday night Stamper's Club. Phew! I just had time to stamp out a card today for my daughter's Birthday. We are celebrating a bit early ( it is August 2nd ) since she will be away at camp for it. I had to make her a special card that was perfect for my Prima Dona. She is now a very grown up 9 :) .
Recipe:
Stamps: High Hopes horse and lady, Rosie's Roadshow star
Paper: American Traditional Designs in Celebrate (DP), SU Soft Sky, So Saffron, Rose Red CS, Stamper's Select White
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Marigold Morning, Pacific Blue,
Other: Old Olive Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Prisma color and Faber and Castel color pencils, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, white acrylic paint, Jessie James glitter dots


I just love these images from High Hopes. They are so whimsical and fun. I based the colors on the wonderful options given in the DP Which I got from Phebe at the Town Scrapper. She has the coolest stuff in stock, and it is always shipped fast and with a smile. I colored the image with color pencil and OMS and then highlighted with Gamsol. Hopes you like :) . I am off to work on a Magnolia DT card so Cheerio!!
Hugs,
Sophie

On Vacation

Just a quick not to let everyone know that I am not at home, and will not be till July 15th. I am spending time with family and friends and did not bring most of my stuff. Hope you all have a Fab. vacation.
Hugs,
Sophie

DT card, first attempt

This is my first attempt at a Pop-up card. So be gentle. This most certainly is not perfect. I have still not perfected the whole method. So I will be practicing till I get it right! This is from the new Summer and Sea collection.
Images were all stamped on Fabriano Artistico 140lbs Bright white, hot press watercolor paper. They are colored with Caran D'ache Supracolor pencils, Distress ink's and Twinkling H2O's. Card stock and DP is all from Magnolia's shop. Acetate was used to hold pieces in place. Background panel was hand drawn and a corner of Magnolia Cattails was added. Clouds and sun(High Hopes sun) were popped up with 3-D dots. I am back to the drawing board to improve my design.
Hugs,
Sophie

Ok, I added a cattail here in order to hide the acetate better. The problem was that I inserted it to high in the Background.

So Sorry.

People will honestly start thinking I am hopeless. I am afraid that my erratic posting will last until probably September. Let me explain. I have a BIG project that I am working on and that is my craft priority for the time being. Still can't say what, but hopefully by September or so I can say. Second my husband's vacation is through the month of July so we will be away a huge portion of the time. August he goes back to work and then beginning of September he leaves for 7 months to Afghanistan. So needless to say, my family is my top priority for this summer. This tour thankfully will be his last as a front line soldier. As soon as he gets back, he has a month off and then leaves for 4 months to do a course for a new trade in the Military. This is very exciting for us since he will have done his duty in the front line and can go into a less stressful position. That means that while he is away, I will be preparing our house to go on the market. We will be moving as soon as he finishes his course and gets his posting. So there is a lot of stuff happening in the next year. I will be erratic in posting, but will be doing my best.

OK so now no one can say that I am being lazy in regards to my Blog. On to my Card. This is a DT card from the new Summer and Sea collection from Magnolia. It is amazing. There is so much that you can do with it. I am so in love with every piece of it. In this case I wanted to capture a little boy just loafing by the edge of a pond.

Stamps: Magnolia, High Hopes Sun

Paper: Bazzill, Fabriano Artistico Cold Press 140 lbs, SU Olive, Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Memory box DP, Magnolia DP

Ink: Versamark, Distress: Tea dye, Vintage, Shabby Shutter, Pine, Broken China, Jean

Other: Tombow markers, Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, Gold embossing pwd, Cuttlebug embossing folders.

The images were all stamped on my watercolor paper with Versamark then embossed in Gold. They were colored in with Tombow markers and Twinkling H2O's. Everything was then cut out. Layers of paper were run through the Cuttlebug and then cut in varying wavy shapes. The layers were taped down, and images were glued and popped.

Thanks so much for dropping by,

Soph

Blog Candy Winner and Decorated Colour book

So I have had this decorated now for a couple of days, but have also been in the midst of preparing for a scrapbook class that I gave last night. My original intention had been to post the winner last night after the class, but since we did not wrap up till close to 1:00 AM in the morning, well ...I was too tired! So without further ado ( not sure how you spell that one), using the most sophisticated method ( names written on paper in a basket, then picked by my daughter), the winner is:

Annelies said...
I'm planning on redecorating my room, and would like inspiration to create something to put on the wall (f.e. canvas). Maybe you can help? Greetings from Belgium, Annelies

So Annelies, please e-mail me your snail-mail address so that I can send this off to you.

I want to thank everyone who participated, and gave me lovely suggestions. I will do a Twinkling H2O tutorial next, and will work on some of the suggestions for following tutorials and projects.

So for the above book, recipe:

stamps: House of Mouse, SU Alphabet

Ink: SU craft Chocolate Chip, Stewart Superior in Burnt Umber

Paper: SU Afternoon Tea DP, Fabriano Artistico Hot Press water color paper, Poison Ivory Shimmer CS

Other: Watercolor pencils, Re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, acrylic white paint, Spica glitter pens, Dew Drops, SU satin ribbon, Prima flowers, rhinestone brad.

Image was colored in layers with different mediums ( will show in next Tutorial), Letters were stamped with craft ink and embossed in clear. I then cut out letters and adhered. Everything else is easy peasy. Hopefully be back soon,

Soph

Sorta Back, and Blog Candy

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth lol. But I have been a busy beaver trying to create order out of chaos. I did not want to take longer than necessary by dividing my attention between that and stamping. There was one thing that I have also worked on though in that time. And that was to create a book with all my colors, mediums and names shown. I find this is a great way to see exactly what a color looks like. I won't tell you how many hours this took me, but thankfully in the end it should save me plenty of time. This was my first attempt using my Bind It All. I was not totally successful. I find the instructions they give are not half as helpful as what is on the website. That being said, I did not think to look at the website until half way through. So there are some mistakes, but I am still happy with my results. Now i can have the fun part of decorating my book :) . The really scary thing here is that these lists do not include my reinkers . I will be doing a separate book for that!

Book cover is Cardboard covered with Afternoon Tea DP and Groovy Guava CS. Wire is decorated with SU In color ribbon and May Art ribbon.

This lists my water based markers on Fabriano Studio watercolor paper. Chart had to be done by hand because printer toner ( or whatever it is called ) does not adhere to watercolor paper. It is a mix of SU and Tombow. ( this list has 2 pages ).

Color pencil on Stampers Select White.
Twinkling H2O's on PaperTrey Stampers Select White.
Copic on Stampers Select White.
Watercolor pencil on Fabriano Studio watercolor paper. The entire book consists of 11 pages of color charts on those mediums mentioned above.

Ok now for the Blog Candy. Up for grabs are High Hopes Scotsman and his Scottish dog. And a Magnolia little girl from most recent Club kit. That is a total of 3 un-mounted stamps for one person. All you have to do is leave a comment here about what sort of projects ( other than cards) and tutorials you would like me to cover. Anyone can participate from anywhere. I will draw on Friday.( actually my daughter will draw on Friday). Must answer question in order to be placed in draw! Good Luck!

Hugs,

Sophie

Still Alive

I am still here slugging away at my stuff. I am also in the midst of organizing my craft space. I am trying to do up charts of all my colors of different mediums and also to go through all my stamps and decides what is for keep and what must go. It is a long tedious process, but one which I am trying to put all my energy into so that it gets done. I will be back tomorrow with some blog candy for your patience. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be finished and have something to post!
Hugs,
Sophie

Masking Tutorial

So today is the tutorial I promised on tricky masking. I did a duck card a while ago. One of the things that is important to know how to do when using Rosies Roadshow stamps is how to mask. Know I know that masking is pretty basic for most of us, but when using a ton of accessories as is common with this line and Magnolia is that you really have to stop and think about order and little tricks to make it easier. Oh ya, and I was also asked a question about creating the blue backgrounds on my stamps.
For starters I make masks out of Eclipse paper for everything I am going to need to mask. The great thing about Eclipse paper is that it is pre-tacky and comes on a big roll. It will last forever and it saves me the time of putting the two way glue on my images. The other thing I have in hand is my Stamp-ma-jig which is essential for proper placement.


To create the duck card I started with placing the mask down in the spot where I would wanted the bath to be. Please remember that I am doing this quickly and am not aiming for perfect placement right now. If you notice, I have cut up a section at the back of the bath so that the bath line will not run through my duck.

Using the Stamp-ma-jig I stamp my duck and shower head.
I remove the bathtub mask and then place a mask over the duck and shower head. make sure the duck and shower mask do not go below the front bath tub line. If you prefer not to cut your duck short, then let the mask sit normal and fill in the lines after you stamp the bathtub. That is what I did so that I could keep my mask complete.
Bathtub is stamped.
I remove my mask and you see the empty spot where the masks were.

I then fill in the lines with my Faber Castell Pitt Pen.

I replace the bathtub mat and and stamp the rug.
Here is the finished piece. It is actually quite fast to do when the masks are all cut out. ( yes I know I did a bad job stamping the rug, I was doing it fast).
Next I hand draw the little hearts. If I had a heart stamp I would use my stampa-ma-jig to stamp them.
Ok, for the background color I use Twinkling H2O's. I pick the colors I want and using my waterbrush and a quick circular motion I pick my points to add and spread color. Usually I go into the V areas and then blend the colors out. You could also use watercolor or re-inkers to do this. If you are not using watercolor paper then please remember to not overdo the water.

I then move in with my darker color and again look for the natural V's to add in a darker shade for more depth. Hope this helps.

Hugs,

Sophie

DT Magnolia

Tonight is another fast post because I just finished my second Stamper's Club and I am pretty tired. This card was finished yesterday, but I have not been able to post till now. I wanted to create something a little different. I wanted my Tilda to be a beautiful brown with dark hair.....like me. I am half Mexican, and wanted her to reflect some of my own heritage. ( my other half is Hungarian). The background panel was created using the images from the Magnolia Goblin line. Tilda is from the most rescent release of their Lilac line. This has such beautiful woodland accessories. I wanted it to look like she was walking through a forest. Tilda was stamped on water color paper, and colored with Caran D'ache watercolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's and Radiant pearls. Back panel was stamped with PTI Stampers select white and colored with Copic Markers and Twinkling H2O's. Paper, CS and flowers are all from Magnolia's web shop. Oh and if you have not heard the news, Magnolia's new forum has opened. Keep checking it out to see upcoming events and information.

DT Lilac Angel

Just a quick posting today. I decided to use the Magnolia Lilac Angel which is one of my favorite from the newest release! She is just beautiful with her bouquet of Lilac's. There is a matching lilac stamp ( as seen in card below). All images are Magnolia, sentiment is Papertrey and Ink ( Green Thumb), Paper, ribbon and Prima are all from the Magnolia shop. Tag is cut with Spellbinder tag dies, Image was stamped on PTI select white and colored with Copic's. Sorry for the short post, but am super busy!
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia DT

I saw this card on Anita's Blog, and was totally blown away!! I wanted so much to try something like it. I did not quite succeed, but still like it anyhow. Eventually I will get it down pat!
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU sentiment
Ink: Versamark, Stewart Superior Burnt Umber
Paper: Bazzill, DP from Magnolia's shop, Fabriano, Vellum CS
Other: Watercolor pencils, Radiant Pearls, Twinkling H2O's, ATC glitter, Spica Glitter pen, May Art ribbon, Nestability circle.
to start, I layered my DP on my Brown CS and cut a circle with the nestability. Then I placed it on the pink CS and drew in the circle and then cut that out with the nestability. I stamped all the images and colored them in. For a fantastic tutorial on coloring with watercolor pencils and Twinkling H2O's, check out Katharina's Blog tutorial. Next I stamped the girl in the centre of the piece of vellum CS ( using Versamark) and embossed her with SU glitter embossing pwd. Then I placed the vellum between the brown and pink CS and adhered it. The circle colored girl was placed below. Flowers and sentiment were adhered to frame it and little spirals of paper were added here and there. Hole was punched through vellum and ribbon run through and tied, and glitter was added to the centre of the apple blossoms.
Have a great day,
Hugs,
Sophie

Rakle Stamps

Wow, now this is exciting!! I just got these amazing images from Phebe at Town Scrapper, and let me tell you, I am blown away! This particular image really attracted me because it is so totally boy, with no feminine aspects. The stamp company is Rakle, and I think they are from Norway. The rubber that they are on is really deeply etched and high quality. They come EZ mounted in beautiful packaging. since I was a bit tired of making cards, I thought it would be fun to decorate something that I use. This is a mini Clipboard that I got at the dollar store. It is 6" x 9". I wanted to have a teen boy feel, a nice change from all the girly that I love doing. I did some doodling on the paper ( which is stamped) to look like a bored teens notebook page ( everything but the work he was supposed to be doing), and the Key was sketched and thrown on to show just the sort of stuff you might find in his pocket.

recipe:
Stamps: Rakle Skater boy, CHF lined paper, SU Genuine Article, My own key
Paper: Basic Grey Dp, Fabriano watercolor paper, Whisper White
Ink: Stewart Superior Black, Distress in: Marigold, Marmalade, Vitage, Tea Dye, Walnut Soot, Pine, Shabby Shutter, Jean, China
Other: Bind it All, mix of ribbon, Radiant Pearls, Rangers blue Cloud Acrylic Paint, Mod Podge

Image was colored with Distress Ink and then enhanced with Radiant Pearls. Note paper was stamped with SU Turquoise and then put through the bind it all to give the look of having been ripped out. Next the other side was cut with my Create-A-Cut and given that torn look. Distress Ink in Walnut, Tea Dye, and Soot was spread around to show wear and lack of care. Doodling was added. Key was sketched on watercolor paper, lines drawn over with Faber Pitt pen in Umber and then colored in with watercolor pencils and Radiant Pearls. all images were cut out, and the whole item was painted and adhered. Thanks so much for coming by, and have a wonderful Tuesday!!
Hugs,
Sophie

Magnolia DT-- Warning!

Warning: doing the vellum cut-out will cause squinting and twitches in the eyes, cramping of the fingers, and a strain on your time and patience!!

That being said, I don't know why I get these bright ideas late at night. I wanted to use the beautiful Magnolia flower bundle as a focal point in a card. That's when I decided it would look nice as a medallion in the centre of the card. Well my bright idea took me several hours into the night. It probably did not help that I was watching movies on the movie channel at the same time. For some odd reason it takes me longer to stamp when there is a good movie on.
recipe:
stamps: Magnolia, SU Beautiful blooms
Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt Umber, Distress in Tea dye, Lipstick, white Memories ink
Paper: CS vellum, PTI stampers select, Bazzill, SU Chocolate Chip,DP paper from Magnolia
Other: Copic Markers, Tombow markers, Twinkling H2O's, Lemon and Diamond stickles, SU gold cord, circle nestability.
Ok, for starters I layered the DP on to the brown CS. I then used the circle Nestability to cut the circle. Then I placed the cut out circle on the vellum in the centre and drew my circle. I took the Magnolia flower bundle stamp and stamped it out in a rotating pattern with white memory dye ink. I made sure that no images overlapped, but sometimes touched. I then lay it out on my cutting mat, and with my exacto knife, I cut out tiny piece by tiny piece. I did not try to take out to big a piece at once since the vellum can be fragile, and I did not want to damage my image. Once it was all cut out in the circle, I colored it in on the backside of the white lines with my marker, using the brown to depict the branches of Magnolia tree. Once it was dry I adhered it to the back of my DP/cs layer, and then adhered it to the card base. Twinkling H2O's was used to create the shadow of blue to act as a backdrop. Tilda was stamped on the PTI CS and colored with my copic markers. Her wings were stickled as were the lines of her magnolia blossom and the medallion blossoms. Holes were punched in the CS of the card and cord tied around on both sides. Thanks so much for coming by to peek.
Hugs,
Sophie

DT Magnolia

Yay, yesterday my DT package arrived from Magnolia!! Now I know that you have probably been wondering what on earth happened with my Magnolia cards lately. Actually, we in Canada accidentally got overlooked for the Shabby Chic release. So I was quite excited when the most recent package arrived. If you go over to the Magnolia shop, you will see the latest Club release and Lilac Magnolia! This is one of the images from 2 releases ago, but it is the first chance I had to use it. Flowers, images and most of the paper is from the Magnolia shop! So today I decided to participate in the Friday's Sketchers. Today's sketch is brought by Magnolia DT member Beatrix.

recipe:

stamps: Magnolia, SU Fancy Flexible Phrases

Ink: Stewart Superior Burnt umber, Distress in Tea dye and Shabby Shutter

Paper: Bazzill, Magnolia shop paper, SU Certainly Celery DP, SU Eggplant cs, Fabriano

Other: reinkers, Radiant pearls, Twinkling H2O's, Prima Flowers, Dollar store rhinestone brads, Velvet ribbon, Nestabilities.

Now I know that I promised a tricky masking tutorial, and I promise it is coming. Just give me a wee bit more time. Got a nasty cold along with the kids and have been dragging my feet all week. Honest to goodness it is just one thing after another!

Hugs,

Sophie

Little bits of everything!

Wow, the days just fly by! There is lots going on here. We over here in Petawawa have entered that wonderful period of Spring Cleaning!! Twice a year the trucks will go by and pick up all the large bits of junk that we want to get rid of. It also the time that people go around checking to see what everyone is getting rid of. Sometimes, by the time the truck comes by there is nothing left to pick up. You know what they say...." one man's junk is another man's treasure!". Also I just picked up a baby trailer for the back of my bike. Now this is exciting because that means I can take my fellow with me wherever I want to go. I have come to the conclusion that the less money I give to the gas companies, the happier I will be.
So some new to share, I have decided to step down from my DT position at CCdesign. As you know I have been hinting at a project that I am working on. It is big, I am excited, and I won't be able to share for a few more months. Now I love working with CCdesigns, and I love the fantastic images that Christine comes out with every month. Sadly I don't feel that I can give my all at this time. There is to much on my plate, and I am trying to bring things down to a manageable level. So wish me luck and I hope you will be as excited as me when I can finally say what I have been up to!
OK, so next I have this card that I made over the course of a few days. The image has been stamped and colored since this weekend, and I just placed unto the card today. I usually have a store of pre-colored images that I like to do in my odd minutes of the day. The images are all from Rosie's Roadshow. All I can say is FUN ! I love how you can use them in an infinite amount of scenes. the sky is the limit with these images! I showed the images that I used down below to show you how every image is individual, and it is up to you to mix and match.
recipe:
stamps: Rosies Roadshow, Norsk Stempelblad ClearStamps
ink: Stewart Superior Burn Umber, Soft Sky, River Rock, Old Olive, Mustard, Tea Dye, Vintage
Paper: SU Marigold Morning, Soft Sky, Fabriano watercolor paper, Chatterbox DP
Other: Stamp-ma-jig, Eclypse paper, Prima flowers, EK Retro flower, dollar store brads, stickles, re-inkers, Twinkling H2O's, Radiant Pearls.

I started with coming up stamping my images on Eclipse paper and cutting out for the masks. Image was decided upon and then stamped using stamp-ma-jig. I colored image using watercolor brushes and re-inkers, then intensified the colors with Twinkling H2O's and Radiant Pearls ( originally made by same company as H2O's, and not made any more but I have left over). Stickles was added to the hearts. The image is so shimmery and lovely, and it is too bad that the camera can't truly capture how it looks. Stay tuned for my next posting when I go through the steps of masking. It is a little more complicated then standard masking.
Hugs,
Sophie