'Tis the Season!

Oops!  It seems that I've forgotten to post anything here in over a week.  Maybe this will explain...

Ha-ha...cracks me right up!  The stamp is from Sparkle-n-Sprinkle and it's colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The background technique is one from the December 2010 Technique Junkies Newsletter, called Pencil Resist.  The papers are Basic Grey Fruitcake collection, and the sentiment is from Stampin' Up!

I've got to go make merry...hope you're enjoying the holiday season as well!

Merry Winter!

Well, technically it's not winter yet, but it sure feels like it around here.  My thermometer is showing a measly 13 degree right now.  Brrrr!

The card I have for you today uses a technique from the August/September 2010 Technique Junkies Newsletter called Soft 'n Sparkly.  I have quite a bit of Flower Soft in my collection, but I don't think to use it often enough.  While working on this card, I remembered this technique and decided to give it a try for the trim on Juniper's outfit.  Boy, was I surprised at how much I like the look over plain Flower Soft.  I just wish I know how to take a photo that shows off glitter in all of it's true glory! 

The stamps I used (Juniper, the circle background, and the sentiment) are all from Starving Artistamps.  I did my coloring with Copic markers and used Ultra Fine Pine Flower Soft and Sparkle and Sprinkle Laser Green glitter for the Soft 'n Sparkly technique.  The papers are from the Basic Grey Jovial collection, a new favorite of mine.

Happy Stamping and stay warm!

I Just Can't Wait

Remember when you were a kid and it seemed like Christmas would never get here?  Now it seems like it gets here so fast there's no time to enjoy the season.  I'm sure it's because, as kids, the only thing we had to do is sit and wait like little Jupiter here.  Although...he's an elf so shouldn't he be busier?

Jupiter (from Starving Artistamps) is colored with Copic markers, and the brick wall he's sitting on was made from a tutorial in the December 2010 Technique Junkies Newsletter.  I took my wall one step further and embossed it using extra coarse sandpaper as my embossing plate (I used a piece of black gasket rubber and a couple of shims to get just the right sandwich thickness for my Cuttlebug).  I lost some of my "mortar" after I did the sandpaper embossing so I went over it with a Versamark pen and added more embossing powder.  It went on kind of messy, which actually made the brick look more realistic.  

Here's a detail so you can see the texture. 

I made the tag from a piece of white chipboard airbrushed it with a Copic marker and a couple of grungeboard numbers that I dyed with distress ink and covered with distress Stickles. 

Whether it's going by fast or slow, I hope you're enjoying your holiday season!

A Neat New Technique for You

The background for this card is a technique I came up with for Technique Junkies, and it appears in this month's newsletter.

The newsletter has a step-by-step tutorial for this technique, but I'll give you the condensed version here.  First, go dig up those blue Fiskars texture plates that you just had to have a few years ago.  You're finally going to actually use them!  Take one of the plates and smoosh a couple of colors of distress ink all over the plate.  Spritz the plate with a little water and then lay your piece of cardstock on the plate.  After a couple of seconds, lift off your cardstock and check out your totally cool background!

I used the snowflake plate with Broken China and Stormy Sky ink to make my background.  The image is from Starving Artistamps and is colored with Copic markers.  It's doesn't show in the photo, of course, but the white and blue panels are glitter paper.  The layout is this week's sketch 195 at Card Positioning Systems.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your new technique!

Busy as an Elf...

That's been me the last couple of days making cards with my new Juniper and Jupiter stamps from Starving Artistamps.  The little cutie is Juniper Elf.  She's partly colored with Copic markers, and partly paper pieced.  The card layout I've used here is called Flap Fold, and it's one of the cool tutorials on the Technique Junkies Fancy Folds and Motion Paper Crafts CD.  I have to admit that I don't always have the patience to do fancy folded cards, but this one was easy to cut and even easier to put together.

Stay tuned...I'll have more holiday cards to post other the next couple of weeks.  Like I said, I've been busy as an elf!

Finally!

I can finally start sharing some of the projects I've been working on lately!

I'll start off with this set of Artist Trading Cards that I just finished for a trade over at Drawspace.com.  The theme was Windows and Doors, and I decided to use Art Deco stained glass window designs for my cards.  I sketched the designs in pencil first and then inked them with a Rapidograph pen.  The coloring is done with Inktense pencils.

Have a great day!  I'll be back tomorrow with a greeting card or two to share.