August 2016 Calendar Page

...and then all the sudden....BAM! It's August!

Here's my calendar page for this month. Totally lovin' how it turned out!

I used the Crafter's Companion Walls and Corners stamp set from the Textures Artist Collection to stamp the sun rays. Quick and easy - just inked up with 3 colors of Distress Inks. Then I tapped on some Moonlight Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen, and stamped on the page. Super sparkly in real life!

For the fun and funky sunglasses, I used Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic - French 50's Cafe stamp set. I treated a piece of white cardstock with anti-static pouch, then stamped 3 different colors of Distress Inks. Then I quickly added clear embossing powder and heat embossed. Once cooled, I colored the lens area with Spectrum Noir Markers IG8, IG6, IG4 and IG2. Lastly, I used a Versamark Ink marker to color over the glasses, added clear embossing powder, then heat embossed.

After trimming out the sunglasses, I inked around the edges to finish them off so the white paper didn't show. They look really cool! I adhered the green and blue glasses flat, then popped up the red pair.



Have a happy day!

Supplies:
Crafter's Companion Textures - Walls and Corners Stamp Set
Crafter's Companion Sheena A Little Bit Scenic - French 50's Cafe
Spectrum Noir Markers: IG8, IG6, IG4, IG2
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear Overlay
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Shades of Spring Set
Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
Ranger Distress Inks - Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Abandoned Coral (Sunglasses)
Ranger Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade (Sun rays)
Clear Embossing Powder
Versamark Ink Marker
Anti-Static Pouch
Heat Embossing Tool
Dimensional Foam Adhesive
Tape Runner

Little Ray of Sunshine

Have you seen the new Verity Rose Collection? It's available NOW over at Crafter's Companion USA? YES!!! I'm in LOVE with these new products! Each character has a unique style and personality that takes you back to the 1920's - but with an added modern twist. I've used the "Sunbeam" character on my card. Sunbeam is cheerful, jolly, bright and breezy. To describe her in one word....Carefree. She likes sunshine, beach huts, deckchairs, fairgrounds and eating strawberry ice cream.

For even more fun, each character has a special animal friend and favorite flower. Sunbeam's animal friend is a flamingo and her favorite flower is a sunflower. All the accessory products are fabulous! They match perfectly with the characters, but you can use any of the products for crafting projects of any kind.

I colored the "Sunbeam" image, from the Verity Rose Coloring Pad, with Spectrum Noir Markers and Blendable Colored Pencils.

• Face: FS6, CR3, 009
• Eyes: GB8, TN7, EB6, IB2, Blender
• Hair: TN1, GB2, GB8, EB2, 015
• Reds: CR1, CR10, DR4, 095
• Pinks: CR5, PP2
• Flower: GB3, OR1, 015, 020, 022
• Cones: GB2, EB2, GB8
• Blues: IB1, IB2, IB3, TB1, TB2, TB8, TB9, 071

I also used my Black Spectrum Noir Marker to airbrush the black specks on ground and on the sentiment oval. To take it all up a level, I colored a few areas with Spectrum Noir Clear Overlay Sparkle Pen for some STUNNING shimmer! Yeah..I know...drool! LOL!

The fun just keeps on going with the stamps and matching dies!!! YES! The smaller sea shells and flamingo are die-cut, stamped and colored. I used the Sunbeam Accessories Stamps and Die set. No need to fussy cut those skinny bird legs! ha! I also diecut the Verity Rose Official Frame for the sentiment and tucked a bit of the Doily diecut behind the image panel. All these goodies are mounted to a card that is straight out of the Verity Rose Card Blanks Pad. And check this out...these cards are double-sided! Beautiful inside and out...even the backs are printed!

I mean...come ON! It doesn't get any better that this...right? Well...YES IT DOES! Matching Verity Rose Envelopes, Charms, Ribbon, Metal Dies, Paper Pads and Acrylic Stamp Sets! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! 


If you would like to get your hands on the Verity Rose Collection, this weekend is a great time to go shopping!. Crafter's Companion USA has $10 off when you spend $40 or more on the webstore. Just use the code 10JULY4 This code is good for all products on the website, not just the Verity Rose collection.

Happy crafting,

Supplies:
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Sunbeam Stamp Set
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Sunbeam Accessories Stamp Set
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Sunbeam Accessories Die Set
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Doily Die
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Official Frame Die
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Coloring Pad
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose Card Blanks Pad
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose 6"x6" Luxury Paper Pad
Crafter's Companion Verity Rose 6"x6" Envelope Pack 
Spectrum Noir Markers
Spectrum Noir Blendable Colored Pencils
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear Overlay
Black Ink
Distress Ink Scattered Straw
Clear Stamping Block
Ink Blending Tool
Die-cut Machine
Dimensional Foam Adhesive

June 2016 Calendar Page

It's June, and things are heating up outside! We're supposed to get up to 118 today!!! I think I'll stay inside and craft ;)

For my June calendar page, I created a wonderful little beach scene. Somewhere I would LOVE to be right now!

I colored the look of water and sand on the panel using Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens. Moonstone from the Perfect Pastels Set and Sand Dune from the Vintage Beach Set.

I used 3 different Crafter's Companion stamp sets. From the Sheena A Little Bit Scenic - Silhouette Highlands, I used the sandcastle. The umbrella is from Sheena A Little Bit Sketchy - Only Words - Through The Rain.  The sun is from Textures - Walls and Corner.

Designer Tip: Using partial images is a great way to get more bang for your buck with stamp sets. The umbrella image on this project is located on a large sentiment stamp from the Through The Rain set. It worked perfectly for this little beach scene!

To stamp the umbrella, I inked it up with Ranger Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and then colored over that with the Blue Topaz Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen. For the pole, I colored it on the stamp stamp with the Charcoal Spectrum Aqua Marker from the Essentials Set.

For the sandcastle, I inked it up with Antique Linen Distress Ink and then colored over that with a Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen in Sand Dune from the Vintage Beach Set. I inked the flag on the stamp using Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen in Solar Red from the Summer Time Set.

For the sun, I inked up first with Neon Electric Yellow Ink, then dabbed a bit of Neon Electric Orange ink, then colored over with Spectrum Noir Sparkle Moonlight from the Shades of Spring Set . To make the circle on the sun, I punched out circle from white cardstock and applied ink direct to paper with same neon orange and yellow inks. Then I brushed on Moonlight Sparkle Pen. The circle is adhered flat and trimmed.

I'm going to enjoy looking at this simple little summer beach scene for the entire month.

Summer hugs,

Supplies:
Crafter's Companion Sheena  A Little Bit Sketchy - Only Words - Through the Rain stamp set
Crafter's Companion Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - Silhouette Highlands stamp set
Crafter's Companion Textures - Walls and Corners stamp set
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens
Spectrum Noir Aqua Marker - Charcoal
Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
Distress Inks - Antique Linen and Salty Ocean
Distress Stickles - Antique Linen 
1 1/4" Circle Punch
Tsukineko Neon Electric Yellow Ink
Tsukineko Neon Electric Orange Ink
Orange Rhinestone
Black Rhinestones
Dimensional Foam Adhesive
Liquid Adhesive

Summer Fun

Hello friends. Are you enjoying summer yet? I live in Arizona (Phoenix area) and it's definitely summer here. HOT doesn't even begin to describe the weather. More like turn on the oven to 350 and hop in. I would rather be at the lake and enjoy a few lazy days of summer. Yeah...like this...

I made this card for the July Challenge over at Spectrum Noir. The theme is "Summer". Get all the challenge and prize details HERE.

I colored with Spectrum Aqua Watercolor Markers:  Peach, Spice, Tan, Kingfisher, Sunset, Aquamarine, Teal, Sea Green, Evergreen, Moss, Sunflower, Topaz, Jasmine, Desert, Chestnut, Sepia, Boulder, Charcoal, Slate.

All these great stamps are from Eat Cake Graphics and stamped on Crafter's Companion Watercolor Cardstock.

The boy is stamped on watercolor cardstock, painted, cut out and popped up on foam adhesive. For the sentiment, I stamped and heat embossed on a hand cut cloud from designer paper. Around the edges I added yellow glitter, then adhered it down on white cardstock, trimmed around it and popped up on foam adhesive.

I hope you have a chance to join in on the challenge. We love seeing your projects colored with Spectrum Noir products.

Happy coloring,

Supplies:
Eat Cake Graphics Stamps - Ben Puddlesworth; Boat house; Pier; Lazy days (text)
Spectrum Aqua Watercolor Markers
Crafter's Companion Watercolor Cardstock
Art Glitter
Misc. Red Rhinestones Stickers
White Woodgrain Cardstock
Red Cardstock
Designer paper from my scrap pile
Watercolor Brushs
Foam Adhesive

Just Imagine You're Here!

Have you checked out all the NEW Sheena Douglass stamps that have been added to the A Little Bit Sketchy Collection from Crafter's Companion? Oh my word!!! FUN!!!

I used 2 of the new stamp sets on this card - Endless Summer and The Beach. With summer right around the corner, this just makes me all sorts of happy.

I did all the coloring with Spectrum Noir Markers. For the water and sunset, I used markers and airbrushed with my eBrush. So simple! I love simple...how about you? :)

• Sunset - CT3, CT4, GB5, OR2, CR7 (with eBrush)
• Ocean - BG6 (with eBrush)
• Surfboard- EB2, GB8, CT2, BT2, BT5, CR2
• Tree Trunk - EB2, EG6
• Palms - CG1, CG2, DG3
• Sandals - IG5, IG9, Blender

The sand beach panel is hand cut from Gold Dust Shimmering Cardstock topped with Antique Linen Stickles glitter glue and then sprinkled on top (while glue is still wet) some Distress Antique Linen Dry Glitter. I did the same on the little mound under the flip flops. The sentiment is diecut and popped up on foam adhesive. It's hard to see...but I also made some coconuts on the palm trees using Cinnamon Stickles. The surfboard also has a touch of Orange Peel Stickles for a bit of sparkle.

Ahhhh....what a beautiful place to imagine.
 
Thanks for stoppin' by,

Supplies
Crafter's Companion Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy - Endless Summer stamp set
Crafter's Companion Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy - The Beach (sentiment)
Crafter's Companion Die'sire Scalloped Circles Dies
Crafter's Companion Shimmering Cardstock Gold Dust
Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
Spectrum Noir Markers
White, Blue and Black Cardstocks
Ranger Distress Antique Linen Stickles
Ranger Distress Antique Linen Dry Glitter
Ranger Orange Peel Stickles
Ranger Cinnamon Stickles
Natural Twine
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Masking Paper
Dimensional Foam Adhesive

One last time

Hello friends!  Hope you're having a happy Monday so far.

Even though it's officially "Fall" -- the weather here in my neck of the woods is still warm. We've even had some days in the 90's! It's NICE! Sooooo....how about one last dip in the pool :) Or shall I say one last JUMP in the pool! LOL

These stamps are from Eat Cake Graphics. Aren't they fun!?!

Here's a couple close-up pics. If you want more details on the card, click on over to the the Eat Cake Graphics - Sprinkling of Samples & Techniques Blog.

 

Eat Cake Graphics stamps used:
1125-L Jimmie’s in charge of the hose
2011-F Yippy for Yardley kitty
7034-I Bunch of Grass
9039-E Swimming Pool


Thanks for checkin' in with me today,

The Perfect Day

Just in case you missed this over on the Eat Cake Graphic Blog - A Sprinkling of Samples & Techniques...

Eat Cake Graphics stamps are soooooo FUN!!! This little lake scene takes me back to my childhood. The only thing missing is the boat and water ski's :)

The stamps I used are all from Eat Cake Graphics:
1057-D Lilly Puddlesworth
1058-E Ben Puddlesworth
6026-H Pier
7069-O Little Line of Trees

Everything is colored with markers. The water is airbrushed with markers. I did some masking to create the scene of trees behind Lilly and to airbrush the water.

I die-cut a piece of clear acetate with a border die to create a fun dimensional layer to look like water. In the close-up pics you can see where I colored over places with a clear glaze pen and shimmer spray.

I've got all the details step-by-step on how to create this design. You can get'em HERE over on the Eat Cake Graphics Blog  :)


Here's to a perfect day!

FIN-TASTIC DAY!

Hi again! I've got another fun mermaid image to share from the Fresh Brewed Designs Digi Release this week. This one is a CAS design. A classic layout that I use often.

This image is called Drema - Mermaid. It's one of my fav's from the new release. I colored with Spectrum Noir Markers and then colored Sheer Shimmer Spritz on top of some areas:

Skin - FS2, FS4
Lips - CR4 (Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz)
Tail - IB1, IB2, IB3 (Frost Sheer Shimmer Spritz)
Hair - LY1, GB4, GB8 (Gold and Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz)
Coral - CR1, CR10, CR9, FL3
Sand - EB1, Blender
Water - IB1, Blender
Water bubbles - IB2, IB1, Blender (Frost Sheer Shimmer Spritz)

I added Dry Rock Candy glitter on the sand and Glossy Accents (sprinkled with a little Dry Rock Candy on top ) on the coral and starfish.  To make the water bubbles, I put down a dot of marker IB2 - then touched on top of that with IB1 - the touched down (for a little longer) with the Blender marker. Added a touch of Frost Sheer Shimmer Spritz and topped off with Glossy Accents.

The image panel is foam mounted to Crafter's Companion Black Pearl Shimmering Cardstock -- them foam mounted to Gold Dust Shimmering Cardstock. This cardstock is beautiful! Some sequins and embossed sentiment (retired from A Muse Artstamps) finished off the card.

Hope you've enjoyed my "mermaid" designs this week. I've had fun! You can shop for all the new digi images over at Fresh Brewed Designs.

Have a FIN-TASTIC Friday!

Supplies:

Waves of Fun Digi Release

It's finally Monday! That means we get to share the NEW Digi Images today from Fresh Brewed Designs!!! Can I get a "WHAT WHAT!!"

This release is total summer fun with mermaid images! You're gonna love 'em! Some of the images will tickle your funny bone...while others will take you to a happy place. I absolutely adore the new image called "Memory". When I first saw this, I knew right away it would be perfect for a "miss you" card.

I dug through my 12 x 12 designer papers I've been hoarding and found the perfect double-sided cardstock (by Bo-Bunny) for my project. I colored the image with markers to match. I'm lovin' how it turned out!

I printed the image a 2nd time and cut out just the mermaid "dress" to adhere and pop up the bottom "fin". I guess that's what it's called??? You know what I mean! LOL.  Just look at the close-up pic.

Oh...and check out the bling! YUM! First I colored over the dress with Clear Wink of Stella. It wasn't sparkly enough for me...so I added Ultrafine Transparent Sea Shell glitter from Art Glitter. THAT did the trick!  On her hair, I added little strokes of Gold Wink of Stella. It turned out really pretty. The starfish is colored over clear glaze pen.

Make sure to hop on over to the Fresh Brewed Designs website to see all the new images

Go ahead and treat yourself to a couple images while you're there ;) And check out the great samples our design team has to share with you on the Blog. Don't forget to join us for some fun on Facebook.

See ya later!

Life Is a Picnic

Hey everyone! I have a great summer card to share today that I colored with Spectrum Noir Markers.

 

 

Isn't it so cute! I love how all the images...even the little ones...have a matching die. This is a new set from My Favorite Things called Life Is a Picnic.

 

I have a little tip on using one of the Florescent markers. When I colored the leaves on the hat - I used CG1 and CG2. The color was fine -- but they didn't really stand out enough from the color of the hat. To brighten up the green, I colored over the leaves with FL3. It worked perfectly! You can see in the close-up that they don't look florescent at all...they just look bright. I did the same thing on the other leaves and grass.

 

 

I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed white. A few touches of glitter added on the flowers and sun to give it a nice summer sparkle. :)  I love coloring stamped images!

 

Have you played the Spectrum Noir Challenge this month? Our theme for July is "Summer"  You still have time! Get all the details HERE.

Have a great weekend!

 

Supplies

Spectrum Noir Markers:

  Skin - FS2, FS4, FS3, CR3, TN2

  Hair - GB1, GB9, EB3

  Shorts, Hat, Flowers - BT2, BT4, BT6, Blender

  Shirt - GB3, OR1, OR2, Blender

  Sandals - EB3, GB9, TN2

  Sun - CT1, CT4, GB5

  Leaves, Grass - CG1, CG2, FL3

Stamps & Dies - My Favorite Things Every Day is a Picnic

Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Cardstock - A Muse Studio, Other

Misc - White Embossing Powder, Crystal Glitter, White ric rack ribbon, Twine, Fiskars border punch

The Lazy Days of Summer

Good Afternoon! Yes..another post today :)  I've got a little theme going on...summer, water and boys! 
 
Eat Cake Graphics has the most adorable stamp images...and Ryan Relaxes  is one of them! Ryan is staying cool in the water this summer!

I pulled out my Kuretake watercolors paints and Fantasia watercolor pencils to color this project. So refreshing...and vibrant! The sentiment stamp - Lazy Days (text)  - also from Eat Cake Graphics - is perfect for this card!

The orange twine embellished with a few beads really added dimension and interest. Kinda reminds me of those ropes they have floating in public pools. The finishing touch…Waterfall Stickles glitter glue! Ryan is ready for a relaxing summer day!
 
This project is featured over on the Eat Cake Graphics Blog - A Sprinkling of Samples and Techniques. Won't you please head on over there for more information and leave a quick comment to let Holly know you stopped by.


Thanks for hanging poolside with me today ;)

Totally Dude!

Goooood morning crafty peeps! Today we have a new challenge over at Fresh Brewed Designs.

The Theme:  By the Sea/Summer

You can get all the challenge and prize details over at the Fresh Brewed Designs Blog HERE. Check out this "like totally awesome" surfer dude!

He's a digi stamp from Fresh Brewed Designs -- called Tommy Surfing. The sentiment is also a digi stamp from Fresh Brewed Designs -- called Totally Dude.

Tommy is one cool cat!!! LOL I added some glaze pen to his shades and some Distress Stickles & Dry Rock Candy Glitter on the sand and around the sun.

I really had fun creating this one! I actually used some great designer cardstock that matched the design theme. Yep...I dove into my pile of "special" papers that I've been hoarding. Saved all these years just for this card :) OH...and check this out!!! The yellow cardstock sun layer...I cut that out using my pinking scissors! They worked perfect!!!

Hope you have time to play the challenge with us.