August 2016

10 posts

If you have been reading my blog posts recently, it is very apparent I’m hooked on the Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. I just LOVE them and the awesome results I get from using them on my card projects. This week’s Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch #207 inspired me to make a card out of C.C. Designs – Chameleon (You Color My World!) rubber stamp. I purchased this stamp through Impressive Ideas stamp store in Norcross, GA. Here is this week’s sketch:

He is trying to camouflage himself amongst the bright yellow, orange, pink background of the card mat. He’s just too darn cute. The base of the card is SU! Tangelo Twist card stock. The bottom mat was created from a piece of SU! Whisper White cardstock using SU! Daffodil Delight and SU! Tangelo Twist a sponge dauber and SU! Happy Patterns Decorative Masks. The top mat was created using SU! Whisper White cardstock and distressing the cardstock with Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade inks. I squirted the paper with some water and blotted it dry and then allowed the mat to sit and dry completely before adhering all the elements. The square scalloped frame in the left hand, bottom corner is from SU! Layering Squares Framelits using Glitter Cardstock Matstack purchased from Hobby Lobby. I gave the card a little sparkle and glitz by gluing some Craft Medley sequins to the card. The gold twine, wooden heart, and washi tape are all from Stampin’ Up!. Note: The wooden heart was colored using the Spectrum Noir marker BP4 and then covered with Crystal Effects.

The chameleon was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Ink and colored using Spectrum Noir Markers. Here is the list of markers I used: LV1, CT4, OR1, OR3, CR10, CG3, GB7, TN7, CR6, CR7, CR11. I added SU! dimensionals under him to add depth and dimension to the card. I just love him. He’s sending everyone hugs and kisses!

PCCCS207

I hope you enjoy this chameleon as much as I do.

Just found out I was the winner of the TGIF#66 Card Challenge! Here is a picture of my card that won the challenge along with the link here for the original blog post (this post includes links for Heartfelt Creations and Marisa Jobs blog). Love, Love, Love the Heartfelt Creation product line. They are awesome. Thank you to Marisa Jobs for her design I modified to create a winning card. Also, thanks to Cheyenne Luken for being my stamping cohort.

Heartfelt Creations inspiration from Marisa Jobs

Heartfelt Creations
inspiration from Marisa Jobs

Yes, I’m on a Spectrum Noir coloring jag! And, my cohort in this coloring jag is Cheyenne Luken. We work very well together when creating papercrafting projects. We disagree with placement, with color choices, with everything, but in the end we love the other ones creation sometimes a little more than our own. In other words, we have a lot of fun! On these cards, we were making use of Cheyenne’s limited supply of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. We did use some Copics for the skin tones and the faint shadow around the images, and Cheyenne used more Copic markers on her card. I tried to stick solely to the Spectrum Noir’s, and we lamented the whole time we wished our orders were already here! We will receive our orders this week (Tuesday and Wednesday)!!!! AND, I was looking at Consumer Crafts this morning and the two 24 sets (the Darks and the Pastels) which were out-of-stock for many weeks are now in stock. We really need (o.k. want) the Pastels because most of the skin tones needed for lighter shading are in that set. I’m still on the fence about the Darks. I think I can hold off on ordering them until they have another huge sale. . . . . or, maybe not!

Anyway, Saturday Cheyenne gave me a call and asked if she could come over and make some more cards. She asked me, do you want to work on your make-n-take cards, do another Heartfelt Creation card, make a “shakey butt” card from Art Impressions, or go to the Stamp Store (Impressive Ideas) in Norcross? I immediately said, I want to go to the stamp store in Norcross. Who wouldn’t want to say that???? Really, like I needed to spend anymore money, but I have been wanting a die to use to make a stitching affect around the exact size of an A2 sized card (5 1/2 x 4 1/4). So, off we went . . . . . to the store that is – not crazy. I had forgotten Sandy Allnock was going to be in-house teaching classes but, I remembered Impressives Ideas’ newsletter with the dates for these classes once we walked through the store’s doors due to several tables set up with papercrafters creating some amazing projects. We were not hampered in the least by these tables as we made our way through the store. In fact we navigated around them like the shopping professionals we are. As we wandered around ooooooing and aaaahhhing at all the gorgeous card samples, Jenny Gropp, one of the owners, helped us find everything we needed to purchase (yes, I did find the die I wanted) and some more items to add to our ever-growing wish list.

One of Cheyenne’s purchases was Piper from Saturated Canary by Krista Smith (her stamps can be purchased from Impressive Ideas’ store in Norcross). When we got back to my house after being at the store for 2 hours, we didn’t have time to make a card. I had to serve in our church’s cafe and I didn’t have any time to spare. So, she came back over on Sunday afternoon. And, we got started.

We stamped the images with Memento black ink on SU! Whisper White cardstock. Once we were finished coloring our stamped images, we cut them out using a Simon Says stitched oval die. The paper frame and mats came from Penny Black’s Painted Blooms paper stack. The frame was cut using a Simon Says stitched frame die. I do not have a name for the flower bunches we used as embellishments on the cards, but we bought them at Impressive Ideas (I threw away the packaging).

Once the image was stamped, we were ready to color them. I wanted to have black hair on my Piper because black hair is a challenge to color and I always like a challenge. Cheyenne chose blond hair because her children are blond-headed. This time I did remembered to write down the colors I used for the black-haired girl.

On my Piper, I used Copic markers for the skin E00, YR00, RV11, RV14 and N0 to outline the stamped image. For her hair I used Spectrum Noir BGR1, BGR3, and True Black; her shirt, apron, and leggings are Spectrum Noir PP3, PP5, and BP6; her jumper, petticoat, leggings, and shoes are Spectrum Noir PP3, PP5, BP6, BT2, BT4, BT5, BGR3 and oops, I didn’t write down the brush color. There is definitely room for improvement on her hair highlight positions, but for a first go at black hair coloring, I’m happy. Here is my Piper:

Marty's Piper

Cheyenne did use some Spectrum Noir markers on her Piper’s hair. They were CT2, CT4, and one of SU! Blendabilities yellow markers (the medium tone out of the 3 pack). I’m pretty sure she used Copic markers for her girl’s outfit. Here is Cheyenne’s Piper:

Cheyenne's Piper

Cheyenne’s Piper

Here they are together, they make such good friends:

 

Marty's Piper (left) Cheyenne's Piper (right) Saturated Canary stamps

Marty’s Piper (left) Cheyenne’s Piper (right)
Saturated Canary stamps

 

And, . . . . . we collaborated on this next Piper. She was abandoned at first because her hair was looking too muddy and muddled. Cheyenne took another look at her when we finished the first two and noticed her hair looked pretty good once the markers had time to saturate the paper and dry out. So, Cheyenne takes credit for the hair color. She handed her off to me for coloring the clothes. Once the clothes were colored, Cheyenne dug through my stash of paper and found the Glitter Cardstock Matstack I purchased from Hobby Lobby many years ago and had never used along with the Recollections Resist Paper Pad I purchased from Michael’s on a 70% off clearance rack. I used Tim Holtz distressed inks Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed along with SU! Lucky Limeade and SU! Rich Razzleberry to ink the resist paper mat. For the orange glitter mat and the SU! Elegant Eggplant frame we used Simon Says stitched frames. I accented the bottom right of the card with SU! Halloween Nights Enamel Dots.  Here is our Piper:

Marty and Cheyenne Piper

Don’t forget local ladies, I will be having Spectrum Noir technique classes to learn the basics and more complicated techniques. You will have to bring your own markers. The best price for them is through Consumer Crafts.

This post is showcasing a card my friend, Cheyenne, and I completed this past Tuesday. We case’d the card from Designs by Marisa with a few additions to our cards. The card is made with stamp sets and 12 x 12 paper stack from the Farmer’s Market Collection sold by Heartfelt Creations. The coloring of the stamped images was completed using Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.  I had been researching alcohol markers and trying to decide which ones I wanted to purchase. The Copic Ciao and Sketch markers seemed to be the best investment because you can refill them; and, they would have been an investment. They are definitely not inexpensive. I had also considered Prismacolor alcohol markers, but they are not refillable and they are not much less in cost than the Copic markers. My friends, Debbie and Cheyenne, had purchased Spectrum Noir alcohol markers but neither of them had really used them for any card making sessions. By the way, Spectrum Noir markers are refillable and are sold at a great price point. So, Cheyenne suggested we use her Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to color the stamped images on this card.  Prior to Cheyenne’s arrival, I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to use the Spectrum Noir markers and felt confident I would do well using them.

Once she arrived at my house, I stamped a fairy image onto some SU! Whisper White card stock and gave the markers a go for the first time. I think my coloring turned out well. I noticed when I cropped the photo, the mushroom doesn’t look well blended, but in “real life” it looks well blended and great. Here is my first attempt with the Spectrum Noir markers.

spectrum noir

Now, to the show piece. This card took us all afternoon to create. The base of the card is a stair step fold using SU! Elegant Eggplant cardstock. We started with the peaches first and colored them using the Spectrum Noir markers (no, I did not write down the numbers we used – too excited to color and couldn’t be bothered to slow down and take notes – lol). The rest of the peach stamped image was colored using the Spectrum Noir markers as well as the blackberries, apples, vines, olives, and bottles. The glass part of the three bottles and the bottle on the tag, along with the blackberries were accented with SU! Crystal Effects. The peaches and blackberries were dusted with fine glitter. I found one of Cheyenne’s sunflowers from our last card session and claimed it for my card.

We should video our creative sessions because they are quite humorous. We compete against each other to see who has the better card. And, many times we pull our own card apart to do what the other one is doing. At the end of our sessions, we text a picture of both our creations to friends and family and have them vote on the one they like best (we don’t tell them who made which one). It’s usually 50-50 and we both agree the other ones card is better. Although, this go round, I think my bottles turned out better than Cheyenne’s (yes, Cheyenne, they are better than yours – ha), but her apple looks better than mine. My apple looks really good, but i had to cover my yellow highlight area because I put too much dark red near it and it had to be blended out.

All in all, I am sold on the Spectrum Noir markers. In fact, I ordered as many of them as I could from Consumer Crafts (www.consumercrafts.com). They are having a sale today, August 11, 2016, until 9:00 p.m. You will receive $10 off of every $40 spent. That is a great deal. For all of you local ladies, I will be having technique classes using these markers. You will need markers to take the class. You don’t have to buy all of them. You could start out with the following 6 packs: yellow, red, green, essentials, and a blender pen.

Here are several pictures showing the card we created (I used Spectrum Noir packs – yellow, purple, red, green, blue, essentials, and pink):

Hearfelt Farmers Market

 

Heartfelt Farmers Market

 

Heartfelt Farmers Market

The Pals Paper Arts Challenge 312 sketch was a great sketch to showcase the Elizabeth Craft Design Hydrangea Die I purchased at our recent Scrapbook Expo held in Duluth, GA.

ppa312

To keep the main focus on the hydrangea, I kept the background and the cardstock band neutral. The Elizabeth Craft Design die comes with an irregular shaped circle, a die for the petals and several different sized leaves.  I cut three of the circles and cut the second and third down to create a stairstep affect on the bottom circle. I adhered each of the circles onto the larger circle using SU! dimensionals. This adds greater dimension to the hydrangea.  I sponged a little SU! Pool Party on to some Whisper White card stock and then cut out the petals. I shaped the petals using the Elizabeth Craft Design tool kit for flower shaping; then, I cut the leaves out of SU! Old Olive and sponged the edges with SU! Old Olive ink andshaped the leaves. I  adhered the flowers on the cardstock circles and I took a dry watercolor brush (a stiff one) and took up a little Pool Party ink from the ink pad lid and brushed the color lightly across the petals.

The band is cut from SU! Crumb Cake cardstock and embossed with the SU! brick wall embossing folder. I cut the strips on top of the Crumb Cake from Old Olive using the SU! Swirly Scribbles Thinlits. The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive and is a Bo Bunny – Amen stamp set which I purchased on sale from Hobby Lobby. The mat and base are SU! Very Vanilla cardstock.

If you have been keeping up with my posts, you know I have really fallen in love with 3D flowers. I think this card is clean and simple and would be a great card to give someone as a sympathy or get well card.

PPA312

Enjoy!

After seeing this past TGIF challenge winner, Bronwyn Eastley’s fancy fold card, I decided to CASE her card and create my own fancy fold card for TGIF #66 Case Your Fave challenge. If you have been keeping up with my previous posts, I attended Scrapbook Expo 2016 held in Duluth, GA. I fell in love with the Heartfelt Creation flowers, dies, and paper stacks. My fiend Cheyenne and I created a side-step card initially featured in Heartfelt Creations gallery but with a few changes (here’s the artist’s post here). We love Marisa Job’s designs! This side-step card creates a unique blend of 3D flowers in a 3D card. I LOVE this card!

Before I post the picture, I should say this was an all day project. Cheyenne had just purchased the stamps, dies, and paper to create sunflower cards and since we do not have a lot of practice flower shaping, it was a long arduous task but very satisfying. We first stamped our flowers on SU! So Saffron cardstock in SU! Soft Suede ink. I sponge daubed my flowers with SU! Hello Honey in the center of each petal and in the center of the flower. I then sponge daubed the edges and the outer portion of the flower center with Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade distress ink. The leaves were stamped with SU! Old Olive ink onto SU! Old Olive cardstock. We shaped the flowers and leaves and set them aside to create the card base. We used SU! Crumb Cake cardstock with Heartfelt Creations Sunflower paper matted on SU! Mossy Meadow cardstock. We cut out some Old Olive from the SU! Swirly Bird dies and a Sizzix die Cheyenne picked up from Hobby Lobby. This was one of the design changes due to neither of us having the corresponding die to match their gallery pic. Once the base was created, I added black beads from Hobby Lobby in the center of my flowers and glitter to my flowers. Note: Add glitter first to your flowers, because the beads held the excess glitter and I had to add extra beads to cover the shine. I placed my flowers on my card and adhered everything together. Now, this sounds very straight forward, but . . . . . Cheyenne and I both are perfectionists to a certain degree, and we just weren’t satisfied with the balance of flowers on our cards. We pulled flowers off and re-adhered them many times until we were satisfied. This was not an easy thing to do because Heartfelt Creations glue is a very strong adhesive. I, also, had to pull the large bottom flower off and move it down so the sentiment was not covered up. Here’s another tip: If you decided to watch a YouTube video to created a specialized fold card, make sure to watch it all the way through. We were following along with the video, when the woman creating the tutorial said she messed up. What!!!!???? She didn’t edit that part out or add text prior to the goof? We had to cut more paper and start over. Sweet Shananigans!

#tgifc66

I can’t wait to create more 3D projects using flower shaping!

This is the last of my Scrapbook Expo posts. I know I can be addicted to papercraft shopping. O.k., that’s an understatement, but I do have some restraint. So, I planned before I arrived at the Expo to purchase a Misti. I have been watching numerous YouTube channels featuring many papercrafters using the Misti, and I just had to have one. During the Mega Make-n-Take, designated vendors set up shop and offered products at a reduced rate or with a special bundle price. One of the vendors offered such a great deal, I purchased my Misti that night along with the cleaning solution. It is WONDERFUL! You can check out the Mist at www.mysweetpetunia.com.

www.mysweetpetunia.com

www.mysweetpetunia.com

I, also, purchased that night some items from Queen and Company.  On a previous post I featured their make-n-take shaker card. Along with making the card, we had extra epoxy and sequin embellishments left over, enough to complete several more card or scrapbook page projects.

Queen and Company embellishments

Queen and Company embellishments

They offered a special on shaker card component purchases. I chose a zig-zag die which came with two foam shaker pre-cut card components. These are awesome. All you have to do is pull the adhesive off the backside of the shaker component and adhere it to your card. You can add embellishments or if the design allows, you could stamp images on the card stock before placing the foam. Next, you remove the adhesive from the front of the foam and place the window sheet (acetate) on top. Once this is completed, you apply adhesive to a pre-cut piece of thicker than regular cardstock and place it on top of the window sheet to finish the project. The cost for these complete kits minus the embellishments runs around $3.00. Instead of purchasing the shaker card components by themselves, I purchased a bundle which included the die. The die allows to me create as many cards as I would like. One way is to purchase “fun foam” sheets from a craft store. I was able to find some with adhesive on one side, and I purchased mine from Michael’s with a 50% off coupon. You would need to cut approximately three sheets of foam to have enough height to allow the embellishments to move around and shake.

Queen and Co. zig-zag die with black fun foam

Queen and Co. zig-zag die with black fun foam

Queen and Co. shaker card components

Queen and Co. shaker card components

We received during the Mega Make-n-Take some adhesives and rhinestone embellishments. I cannot remember who supplied them, but it was a great freebie.

Glue dots, rhinestones, one bottle of adhesive not shown

Glue dots, rhinestones, one bottle of adhesive not shown

It’s Cheaper Than Therapy gave each make-n-take attendee a FREE embossing folder. My folder is Christmas themed.

It's Cheaper Than Therapy embosing folder

It’s Cheaper Than Therapy embossing folder

The next two days after the Mega Make-n-Take are designated workshop and shopping days at Scrapbook Expo. Most of the workshops offer free products when you take a vendor’s workshop. Heartfelt Creations offered a free stamp set up to a $19.95 value for each of their workshops. I took two workshops with them; therefore, I received two stamp sets.

Heartfelt Creation Free Stamps

Heartfelt Creation Free Stamps

There are various vendors in the exhibit hall offering free make-n-takes as well as make-n-takes with a nominal charge. I had been looking forward to Fun Stampers Journey exhibit all year. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a seat to come available, but it was worth it. We made a cute card and received a stamp set for FREE! I have pictured the make-n-take card along with an extra design they offered. I made that card for my make-n-take class.

Fun Stampers Journey Card

Fun Stampers Journey Card

FSJ Card 2

FSJ Card 2

After making the shaker card the night before at the make-n-take, I wanted to purchase some sequins, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. I stopped by the Tall Mouse booth www.cre8tiveartz.com and purchased a selection of sequins along with some rhinestones all under $20.00.

www.cre8tiveartz.com

www.cre8tiveartz.com

www.cre8tiveartz.com

www.cre8tiveartz.com

After a wonderful experience with Heartfelt Creations and their flower shaping class, I went by a booth that offers 3D dies for flowering creations. I wanted a hydrangea die and Elizabeth Craft Designs had one. I had my friend, Debbie, go back the next day and purchase the flower shaping tool kit.

Elizabeth Designs

Elizabeth Craft Designs

Last but not least, Debbie went back to the Heartfelt Creations booth and purchased the Berry Cafe 12×12 paper pack (not pictured). All in all I had a great time and came away with some great products and new papercrafting skills. Next year, I plan on taking more workshops and attending the exhibit hall two days in a row. We didn’t have time to stop at all the booths to compare prices and purchase more crafting supplies. I hope you enjoy this post.

Friday, at Scrapbook Expo 2016, Cheyenne and I had a class with Heartfelt Creations. It was Flower Shaping 101. Cheyenne and I have wanted to learn how to make 3D flowers since visiting Heartfelt Creations booth last year. This class was awesome. We made four flowers.

 

Heartfelt Creations Flower Shaping Class

Heartfelt Creations Flower Shaping Class

I think my flowers came out really well.

Our second and final class was Hearfelt Creations Sparkling Poinsettia Class. We made three gorgeous cards. This class was definitely fast paced and we barely finished in time.

Here are the cards we made in class:

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

 

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

 

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

Heartfelt Creations Workshop Card

I plan on saving money each month to take more workshops; especially the Heartfelt Creation workshops. In addition to making wonderful samples and cards, we could pick out for each workshop a FREE stamp set up to a $19.99 value. Here are the stamps I chose. I would have the 12X12 paper stack I purchased (Berry Cafe), but I think I put it in Cheyenne’s bag of Heartfelt Creation haul after we made our Bee Hive Card.

Heartfelt Creation Free Stamps

Heartfelt Creation
Free Stamps

I will be posting either today or tomorrow the cards Cheyenne and I made with her haul of Heartfelt Creation products.

 

In a previous post I had mentioned posting about my experience at the Scrapbook Expo 2016 in Duluth, GA. It was an awesome time of fun and shopping with some close friends. It all began Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The doors opened for the Mega Make-n-Take. We were there waiting in line to get in and save some tables for our group. The actual make-n-take didn’t start until 5:00 p.m. The cost was $45.00 and it was well worth the cost. Each attendee chose a free gift just for attending the make-n-take. I chose the glitter.

Mega Make-n_take glitter

My friend, Cheyenne, chose the glitter as well, but she received bold and bright colored glitter.

The friends at my table, Cheyenne Luken, Debbie Kissel, and Kevin Kesler got settled in to begin the make-n-take. The following pictures and descriptions are not in order of when they were made.

JustRite Stamps started off the night with a scrapbook page. I thought it turned out well even though these are not my favorite colors.

We made a laser cut All About the Mouse by Paper Wizard, Inc. It is adorable.

The next item is a fancy Fold-A-Long Thank you card by It’s Cheaper Than Therapy. This company sells Sizzix dies, machines, and anything Sizzix. I put my Thank You in the wrong place and when it opens up, it looks a little odd. We, also, received an embossing folder. My folder was Christmas themed.

We made another card from Scrap That! It came with a free chalk marker and a selection of sequins.

Krazy Kreations had a really cute gift purse with shoes accenting the front. Love it!

Last year Cheyenne, Kevin, and I attended the A to Z Scrapbook workshop and really loved their products. They were at the make-n-take and we created a scrapbook page entitled Enjoy. I ended up giving this page to a friend for her birthday along with one of the pages I made last year since the pages were from the same kit.

Craft Fantastic was here again this year. We made a pendant and a necklace. These are so easy to make and look so elegant.

I can’t show the Doo Dilly Design scrapbook page embellishment, because I messed mine up and then threw it away. Boo Hoo! It was really cute!

Shoestring Productions had a 6×6 coffee layout. This company has incredible laser cut page kits at a reasonable price.

Loved, Loved, Loved this Happy Birthday Easel Card by Craft Fancy.

Queen and Co. had a fantastic shaker card to make and we walked away with extra sequins and epoxy embellishments.

We did a Crazy Bird Birthday Card by Bee Creative. Everyone received a Spectrum Noir glitter/sparkle pen. My pen was purple!

All of this fun ended at 11:30 p.m. I didn’t get home until 12:00 midnight!

As I was browsing through the card challenge websites, I was inspired to create a black and white card with a pop of color from SUO Challenges website. Since I have a TON of SU! Stacked with Love paper, and most of the paper is black and white, I thought what a great way to use up some designer series paper and make a really cute card in the process.

The card started out to be a regular two mat card with a couple of flowers (the pop) accenting the lower left corner. I had yet to use the Sale-a-bration set “What I Love” from Stampin’ Up! and I thought this flower would work really well for this design. I stamped and cut out the flowers along with some petals and began to place them on the mats (nothing was adhered) trying to find the perfect spot for them to “pop”. Then, it occured to me I could make a shaker card. I made a really, really cute shaker card. I used some sequins from my Scrapbook Expo haul this past July. The picture does not do them justice.

 

 

Sentiment and pearls

Sentiment and pearls

 

I had an extra flower and leaves along with the center portion of paper from the shaker card. So, I pulled out some more of the cross hatched paper for the first mat, placed the center of the cut out paper from the shaker card onto it using dimensionals. Then matted the first mat in black to make it stand out from the white cardstock. I added a sentiment banner to the top of the center mat and the extra flower to the bottom left corner (both are raised using dimensionals). I finished the card by brushing some clear Wink of Stella onto the flower and leaves.

Here is card number two:

SUO Challenge #153

Enjoy!!!

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