Saturday, September 28, 2013

Fall Pumpkin cards

A few days after making my fall Kitty card for a different challenge, JustRite issued their current Friday Challenge 106 - Color Inspiration for the same colors in the paper I had used.  So, I grabbed more of it & my JustRite stamps to see what I could come up with.


The stamps I have are from the original style that they had before changing to cling & clear and have (sadly) been retired in the past year or so.  The Pumpkin image is from the Autumn Blessings & Borders oval set.  The sentiment is from the Give Thanks Nested Frames set.



I stamped 2 images in case I really screwed one up like drop an ink pad on it, glue it upside-down & backwards, get startled by the dog's sudden bark while coloring...anything can (& has) happen! Since one card was completed without incident I went on to make a 2nd card.  Whoo hoo! 


Here I used the Spellbinder Nested Maple Leaves, largest leaf die as the backdrop for the pumpkins.  To make the black border around the leaf, I embossed the die on the black cardstock then cut it out using the outside embossed edge as my guide. In my excitement to quickly finish this card this evening, since I had it all laid out ready to glue together a few nights ago, I forgot I had colored baker's twine on my desk to put on here!  I see that now that I'm looking at my picture here.  Grrrr, oh well!

Stamps: JustRite Stamps-Autumn Blessings (pumpkins), Give Thanks Nested Frames (sentiment)    
Ink: Memento-Tuxedo Black, Tombo Markers    Paper-DCWV Fall Matstack    
Other: Spellbinders- Nested Maple Leaves, Ovals; Cheery Lynn Designs-Mini Flourish; Sakura Stardust pen

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm off to make some Birthday cards!!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Misc Garden pics


Sunflowers - very pale yellow & only about 5" across, bushy plant

One row of beans picked!!  8/23/13

Celery, looking good! 9/13/13

Broccoli, flowering & the bees love it. It didn't really form any big heads, 
just tall stalks with sprouts at the top. I waited a tad too long to harvest them.


Neighbor Lore's Lilies - couldn't resist sharing these little pretties!

Quick harvest before the anticipated frost this week. 9/16/13
Cabbage, Zucchini (our one zuc!), Beans, Snap Peas, Cucumber, Thyme

Nasturtiums, before the frost.

We had frost the past 3 nights. :(  Tho I'm enjoying the cooler temps, I'm not looking forward to the fast approaching winter.  It hasn't been a hard frost yet, but it doesn't take much to kill the bean, cuc, tomato & zuc plants.  The cole-crop plants (broccolli, cabbage, Kale, Cauliflower) are still alive but I brought in the remaining cabbages, just in case! Time to pull up the carrots & beets and clean up the garden!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

SSS228 Fall Playful Kitty


A fun sketch from The Sweet Stop


Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy Stamps-Pumpkin Kitty, Be Encouraged      Paper-DCWV Fall Stack    
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, TH Distress Ink Dusty Concord     Other: Spellbinders-Squares, Prismacolor Pencils

The full image of the stamp used here is a kitty popping out of a pumpkin.  I carefully inked the head, paws & tail to stamp in various positions on the squares.  I stamped a couple of extra images on scrap, one to use as a mask to sponge the background purple to match the fall paper.  The 2nd was to cut out the tiny paws to glue on the center square, like he's holding onto the edge.  Since this wasn't intended to be a Halloween card, with the typical black cat, I left the kitty white, adding touches of color with pencils. Quick & easy, compared to coloring a black cat anyway!  Hmmm, could this be considered a contra-Halloween card? White cat, "be not afraid", with the cheery color combo?!  Or a just a fall colored kitty card?  I did stamp the full image of the kitty in the pumpkin on the inside of the card. I think he's cute. :)

Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Daisy Wedding


The daughter of one of my bosses is getting married today.  We are invited to their reception here in the valley this evening.  The kids' (19 & 21) colors are Purple (his favorite) & Yellow (her favorite) and their flowers are daisies, purple & yellow daisies.  I looked up images of purple & yellow daisies on the internet for ideas.  All of the variations did not help me, only added to the questions as to what their flowers of choice looked like, what shade of purple, etc.  I said a quick prayer and just started coloring samples with different shades of purple, different inks & implements and matched with different papers then just picked one and went to work!  I had stamped the Vows on the vellum last month for another wedding card I was trying to make but it didn't dry fast enough so I had changed my design to not use it then.  Now I wanted to use it here.  With that in mind I knew I could color the daisies rather brightly to show through the vellum, but not too boldly that the words couldn't be read across the image.  After playing a bit I decided to use Prismacolor pencils for the flowers & markers for the stems.


I sponged some yellow ink  around the daisies to tone down the white cardstock.  To make the purple frame to cover the tape on the vellum, I used a rectangle die the height that I wanted for the width of the opening, following? :)  Using it twice I had the height of the opening in the frame.  Thankfully the frame didn't need to be any bigger & it still fit through my Cuttlebug!  I like how it came together, even with the time & patience needed to line it all up! I finished with 2 hours to spare before the reception :)



Stamps: Stampendous Daisy Stem Trio, To Have & To Hold        Ink: Versafine Black Onyx (words), 
Memento Tuxedo Black (image), Memento Dandelion, Tombow Markers    
Papers: DCWV, Vellum      Other: Prismacolor Pencils, Spellbinders rectangle die, Offray Ribbon,  Double Hearts charm (JoAnn)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

SSS227 Trust in the Lord



Another fun sketch from The Sweet Stop


Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy Stamps-Landscape Silhouettes, Our Refuge        Paper: K&Company super stack   
 Ink: TH Distress Ink-Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot, Versafine-Black Onyx  
Other:  Spellbinders-Circles, SU-Square punch

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Thinking of you Cocoa wishes with Blue Poppies


Stamps: Great Impressions (bear), Biblical Impressions (ToY)    Paper: Echo Park, DCWV     
Ink: Memento-Tuxedo Black, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers    Other: Deckle Edge scissors 

Hello!  Thinking of you!  I have a few minutes before my bed time and since the hubby is already sleeping, I can't craft up there, so I thought I'd pop in here for a quick post!  I made the above card for hubby several months ago.  I think this is one of my first attempts at coloring with my new Spectrum Noir markers.  Oooo, that reminds me.  I received an email notice from Crafter's Companion announcing their release of redesigned Spectrum Noir markers on October 1st!  Some of the changes include: new shape, reformulated ink, and compatibility with a new brush nib (sold separately)!  They say they will still carry the refills & nibs for the old style tho they won't sell the old design after Sept 14. Whew, 'cause I think I have the whole set (darn it!). Here's a link to their store & announcement.  
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Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy Stamps - Sweet Cocoa & Hot Cocoa Sentiments digis    
Ink: TH Distress Ink    Paper: DCWV, BoBunny    
Other: Spellbinders-ovals, wonky rectangles, MS Snowflake punch, Prismacolor Pencils

I made this for the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps September release challenge to use a warm beverage on a card.  They have a line of cute Cocoa the Mouse stamps & digital images.  I had this one I thought was appropriate. : )  I'm not ready for winter or snow yet!  We are into Fall here in AK; raining every day, leaves are turning colors other than green, temps are dropping; definitely cocoa (& hot tea) time for me!
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Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy-Poppies digi    Papers:  DCWV    
Other: Spellbinders-ovals, Prismacolor pencils, Eyelets

Here is the 2nd of 2 blue poppy images I had colored a couple of weeks ago. It was waiting to be matched with papers & assembled into a card.  I made this for the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps September release challenge to make a card using Blue, White and a third color.  My choice, green.  I was skimming through some old Splitcoast sketches and SC99 caught my eye for this image & the papers I wanted to use.  My adhesive wasn't sticking to the green glitter paper very well so I dug out my stash of eyelets to anchor the corners down. I have a rather large stash, I need to use them more often... : )

Good night!