Copic Colored Flowers Thinking of You

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for visiting me today, I hope you’re all having a great day. I am so excited to share today’s card with you. I recently treated myself to a couple new crafty items and one of them was the Cosmos background stamp from Simon Says Stamp. I knew as soon as I saw it that the possibilities for coloring it were going to be endless! I have another example to share with you later in the week; but first, let’s talk about this one.

I stamped the background stamp in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 80lb Neenah White card stock. I know there are a lot of Copic friendly black inks out there; but this one is my favorite. I will always reach for it first, with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink being a close second. I let it dry for about 15 minutes and then just for a little added insurance, I took my heating gun and just lightly ran it over the image just to make certain the ink was completely dry. Once that was done, I set to coloring. I won’t bore you with all the blending details. Let me just be clear, however, I am NOT a Copic Color artist! I’m not certified, I’ve never taken a class or anything close to it. I just do what works for me. I take the tips and tricks and tutorials I’ve seen on You Tube, Pinterest and other blogs etc and try to learn from them and then apply it. So, please don’t criticize my coloring!

Red flowers: R35, R46, R59.
Turquoise flowers: BG45, BG15, BG49.
Yellow flowers: YR15, YR16, YR09, R59
Flower centers: E25, E29
Leaves: YG03, YG17, 25, 67
Background: W1, W3

After the coloring was completed, I added some highlights with a white gel pen. I die cut my new “Thinking of You” die 3 times from white card stock and once from black card stock. I stacked all the white die cuts together and adhered them to make a 3D type sentiment and then I off centered it with the black one, to give it a bit of shadow or depth behind it. Without that black piece behind it, the white words just get lost against the background.

That finishes the card. I have to admit, I was rather tickled with the results. I hope you like it too! Have a great weekend and I will see you all again soon!

1. Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes
2. Crafting by Design: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
3. Crafty Creations Challenges: Anything Goes
4.  The House that Stamps Built: Anything Goes
5. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
6.Brown Sugar Challenges: Anything Goes
7. Jo’s Scrap Shack: Anything Goes
8. Polkadoodles: Anything Goes
9. Simple Create Too: Anything Goes

Mojo Monday 521: Friendship has its Perks!

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you are all having a great start to your day! I’m so glad you’re taking a moment to visit with me! Today’s card is for a Mojo Monday sketch. I haven’t done one of these in SUCH a long time! I was sad to hear Julee closed the Verve Shop last year. Many of my favorite stamp sets are from Verve and I continue to use many of them frequently. (Having said that, I did go with a stamp set from Simon Says Stamp for this one, however.)

This sketch was fun and easy to work with. I decided to break out some patterned paper for this as well. I don’t use it very often but it definitely makes the card easy to put together! I just pulled some pieces from my stash that seemed to go together.

The stamp set from Simon Says Stamp is “What’s Brewing” and it came as part of a stamping kit of the month  a couple (?) of years ago. I stamped the mug from the set and then colored it with Copic Markers (E09, E19, E84, E87, E29) I stamped the “hello” sentiment in SSS dark chocolate ink and then I fussy cut it out and added it to the mug. I stamped the other sentiment in red ink (honestly...don’t remember which one) I die cut some circles, blended some ink over them for a little added color and interest. I layered the card as shown and finally added two small sequins in the corner of the small patterned paper piece and finished the card!

That is it for me today! Have a great one, and I will see you all again soon!

Challenges:

1.  A Bit More Time To Craft: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
2. Arty Divas: Anything Goes
3. Crafter’s Cafe Challenge: Dots or Stripes
4. Crafts Galore Encore: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
5. Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge: Use patterned paper
6. Lemon Shortbread Challenges: Anything Goes
7. Mojo Monday: Sketch 521
8. Love to Craft: Anything Goes
9. Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes
10. The Creative Crafters: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)

Die cuts and Stencils Thank You

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to my blog! I hope you all had a great weekend. I am back with another card using masking with die cuts and stencils. This card uses the mask of the die cut in the center to keep it protected while I stipple brushed distress inks in the background. For this one, I used Chipped Sapphire, Peeled Paint and Iced Spruce. Honestly, when I first thought about these colors together, I wasn’t quite sure I was go into like it! They just sounded very odd together. I should know by now, however, to just trust Kristina Werner’s keen color sense because I LOVE this color combination so much!

After adding a soft layer of color, I layered the swirl stencil from Hero Arts and secured it in place with some purple tape and added a darker layer of the same ink colors. I die cut the U several times which is from  an old Verve Stamps set and then stamped the Coordinating “U” stamp in Chipped Sapphire. I layered them all together for a “chipboard” type letter. I stamped the “thank” part of the sentiment which is from the same set in Iced Spruce and then layered it on the U as shown.; and then adhered it in the center of the die cut. I added a layer of diamond stickles to make it all sparkly and shiny.
That wraps it up for me today! Have a great start to your week and I will see you all again soon!

Challenges:

1. Crafty Calendars: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
2. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
3. The Corrosive Challenge Blog: Anything Goes (3rd Entry)
4,  Dare to be Artsy Challenge: Anything Goes: (3rd Entry)
5. Get Creative Challenges: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
6. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies: Anything Goes

Masking with Die cuts and Stencils: Friend You are Awesome

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you so much for spending some of your day with me, I do so appreciate it! I have one more cross-stitch card to share with you; but I haven’t photographed it yet, so we’ll take a break from those for a couple of days and move on to some other cards I’ve been working on. Sometimes, I scroll through Pinterest or Instagram and I see all the manufacturers in the industry promoting their new sales and new releases and I ooh and aah and start immediately planning in my head all the “really cool things” I could do with all “that new stuff” Then, I pause a moment and look around at my desk and my bookcase where I store the majority of my items and I think to myself, “look at all this stuff you already have, Dori. Why not take a look through and see what you haven’t used or think of techniques you haven’t done in a while?” So, that’s what I did! And way in the back of a container I have, I rediscovered my stencils! I haven’t done anything with those in SUCH a long time. So, I scoured Pinterest and You Tube for some inspiration and went to work!
The card I’m sharing today started with a white card base, top folded. I cut a Pendant Nestablities die cut from Spellbinders and then used the negative piece of the mask to put over my white card card front, so only shape of the die cut was in the center. I then took my Martha Steward stippling brushes and brushed on a light blending layer of Cracked Pistachio, Faded Jean and Dusty Concord Distress Inks (yes, just the regular ones)

After that, I took my Swirls Stencil by Hero Arts and carefully laid it over the front of the card, positioning the areas I wanted over the die cut piece in the center. I secured it with some purple tape (which is a new purchase and fabulous!) and then took my ink blending tools and layered on a heavier coat of the same colors of ink over the stencil I pulled the stencil away, removed the mask
negative and viola! I had a very cool die cut center on my card.
For the “Friend” in the center, I took some of my old Quikutz dies and cut the letters individually. Each letter, 4 times in white and once in black. Yes, it took a long time...no, I didn’t mind. I stacked the letters and adhered them all together; and then placed them across the center of the die cut. I used a T square ruler to try to get it all straight and centered; but I think I still managed to get it a little crooked somehow!  The simple sentiment “you are awesome “ is from Altenew’s “You are” set that I’ve been reaching for a lot lately. Finally , I added some small clear sequins and some little white paint dots to the stencil background for a little pizazz! For the final touch I ran the edges of the card along my cracked pistachio ink pad just to bring a little more definition to the edges of the white card.

Phew! are you exhausted from reading all that! I think it took me longer to type out all the steps the card took than it did to actually make the card! If you haven’t tried this technique, I encourage you to give it a whirl, it’s a lot fun and really easy to get great backgrounds. Have a great day and I’ll see you all again soon!

Challenges:

1. Crafting by Design: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
2. Crafty Creations: Anything Goes
3. Creative Moments: Anything Goes
4. Simon Says Stamp: CAS

Cross Stitch Happy Friend

Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting with me today, I always appreciate your time spent here. The other day, I shared the first of a few cards with cross stitched backgrounds. If you missed it, you can check it out here

I’m back today with another card using this same technique. I was really pleased as punch with the final results of this background! I would definitely repeat this pattern again with different colors. (In other related news, I got my cross stitch die from Altenew in the mail yesterday and was SO excited, until I realized I ordered the wrong one! 🙄😫 Oh well, I’m going to do one or two backgrounds with it and persevere a bit with it; but will ultimately need to order the correct one to do the backgrounds I really want) Anyhow, I digress...

Since the focus of the card is ultimately to be on the background, I decided to keep the rest of it very simple. I used a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp “Square Sayings” and paired it with a Nestabilities label 1 die. I added some buttons and twine to finish the center panel. In order to draw even more attention to the focal point of the background, I added some gold stickles to the center of each colored design. Yes, stickles...I still use them, all the time!  

Anyhow, I hope you like it and I hope to see you all again soon!

Challenges:

1. Lemon Shortbread Challenges: Anything Goes 

2. Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes 

3. A Bit more Time to Craft: Anything Goes 

4. A Perfect Time to Craft: Anything Goes 

5. Crafts Galore: Anything Goes 

6. Love to Craft: Anything Goes 

7. Papercraft Business: Anything Goes 

8. The Creative Crafter: Anything Goes
9

Cross Stitched Hello

Hi Everyone!

So sorry I didn’t post more last week! I was very busy last week crafting and creating so that I will have things to share with you! This week I have several cards featuring cross stitched backgrounds. I have been inspired by Jennifer McGuire’s stitching on cards for a long time now. This was the perfect way for me to pass time in the car last week during our very long road trip to and from Colorado
.

 The trickiest part of these were punching the holes for the stitches. I have since come to my senses and ordered the Altenew Cross stitch die cut! Can’t wait to get it and make even more backgrounds.
For this card, I chose orange, turquoise and purple for my background colors. I die cut the “hello” which is from Hero Arts several times from white card stock and then stamped one of them with the coordinating stamp using my MISTI tool to line it up just right. I stacked all the die cuts for some dimension and then layered a coat of glossy accents.

The sentiment below is from Altenew “you are” set. This is a set I often forget about; but have recently rediscovered it and hope to use it even more in the future.
I hope you enjoy the card and I hope it inspires you to create your own stitched backgrounds. Have a great day and I’ll be back soon!

Challenges for this card:

1. A Gem of a Challenge Anything Goes
2. Little Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
3. The Corrosive Challenge : Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
4. Dare 2B Artsy: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
5. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies: Anything Goes

Polka dot pinwheel birthday and Estes Park!

Hi Everyone!

I am finally home after our wonderful family vacation in Colorado. I’m sharing a couple of photos at the end of this post. If you ever get a chance to visit Estes Park, I highly recommend it!

So, now back to the matters at hand. I have another birthday card to share. I know I’ve been sharing a lot of those lately. Full disclosure:  Many of the cards I’ve been sharing since I started blogging again have been cards I made a while ago and had just stashed away.  So this is the last birthday card I have and now I’ll need to actually get situated at my craft desk and make some cards!

This is another super simple card I made using some polka dot pattern paper. I made some simple pinwheel flowers and added the sentiment at the bottom.  I added the panel to a piece of Aqua Mist card stock from Paper Trey Ink and attached it all to a white card base.

Not a whole lot else to say about this one. I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by today and I’ll be back again as soon as I can!

Challenges for today’s card:

Sunday:

1.  Dare to Be Artsy: August Anything Goes
2. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
3. The Corrosive Challenge: Anything Goes

Monday:

1. PammiesInkyPinkies: Anything Goes

 Finally a few pictures from our vacation!

Cupcake Birthday Wishes!

Hi Everyone.

I am still on vacation in beautiful Colorado! I posted some pictures to my Instagram story...hope you get a chance to pop over there and take a look

Sharing another quick birthday celebration card. This one made with inkadinkado stamps. This is one of those stamp sets that I always seem to keep no matter what othering purging I do of old craft supplies.

I layered some fun bright colors and stamped the little cupcakes with Simon Says Stamp very black ink and then colored them in with some Copic markers. I don’t remember where the sentiment came from and I’m not at home to look. I think it’s a Simon Says Stamp one; but it’s quite possible it could be from an old “Verve” set

Have a great day everyone and I’ll post again when I can!

Challenges:

1. Crafting By Designs:  Anything Goes
2. Crafty Creations: Anything Goes (2nd Entry)
3. Crafty Gals Corner: 3+layers
4. Creative Moments: Anything Goes

Celebrate your Birthday!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you’re having a great day so far. By the time this posts, I will be in Colorado for a family wedding. I’ve never been to Colorado, but have always heard wonderful things so I am looking forward to it. I will share pictures over on my instagram account, so be sure to follow me over there if you haven’t yet. Just click the green circle instagram button over there to the right ➡️😊

So I am prescheduling a couple of posts for while I’m away so that I keep my rhythm going here in the blogosphere. Today’s card I’m sharing is another very simple card just using some patterned papers and sentiment stamps. The sentiments are from Altenew and honestly I don’t remember the paper. I think it’s just a pad of paper I picked up from Michael’s a while ago.

I loved all the different fun colors and polka dot patterns and then I just added a couple of hearts with glossy accents to add something extra because otherwise it was a little too much polka dottiness going on.

Anyhow, I do hope you enjoy it.  Thanks for visiting me and I’ll be back again soon! Have a great day.

Challenges for today:

1. Cute N Crafty Challenge: Anything Goes
2. Get Creative Challenge: Anything Goes (no twist)
3. PammiesInkyPinky Challenge: Anything Goes
4. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Birthday!
5. Crafty Sentiments Design: Anything Goes
6. Lemon Shortbread Challenges: Anything Goes
7. Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes

Simple Floral Thank You

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple of days! Busy prepping for a late summer vacation. As a matter of fact, I am in the car typing this while my DH drives and the kiddos are all happily entertained amongst themselves.

Super simple card that I made a while back with some pretty floral pattern paper and prima flowers and a simple thank you sentiment on the bottom. Not a lot of detail to discuss with this one, it’s pretty much just as simple as you see it here! 

I decided to keep the embellishments and sentiment simple since the floral patterned paper takes most of the focus of the card. Simple; but I hope you like it!

Have a great day everyone and I’ll be back again in a couple of days!

Challenges:

1. Brown Sugar Challenges: Anything Goes
2. Colourific Challenge: Anything Goes
3. Creative Fingers: Anything Goes
4. Polkadoodles: Anything Goes
5. A Gem of a Challenge: Anything Goes
6. Crafty Calendar: Anything Goes