Congrats to the New Grandparents!

My sister and her husband became grandparents for the first time Thursday afternoon, and this is the card I made for the wonderful occasion.

This awesome stamp is from Impression Obsession, and I colored it with Copic markers.

Thanks for the visit today. The weather this weekend in Louisville is wonderful for November, and I plan to take full advantage. Have a good 'un! 

Hugs,

Colleen

Happy Anniversary

Another order fulfillment card. I really like the way this turned out and so did the customer. The balloon is from a Verve set and cut with Spellbinder's Label 10. The dp is from a 6x6 pad of OffBeat from Basic Grey. Background embossing and felt clouds used PTI products. On my monitor, the dark color looks black but it's dark brown, and what looks white is Neenah Natural White (cream). 

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope it's been a good one for ya.

Hugs,
Colleen

OLW 28 Up, Up and Away

Well, I did get my room cleaned up . . . somewhat . . . mostly . . . so decided it was not too late to participate in OLW28. Since I still had a few remnants of the makings for the card from this post, I decided to see if I could make it a olw qualifier. The colors are not as brilliant used on the kraft card stock, and I didn't do as much blending since I was trying my best to keep the inks from bleeding through. But this is the result. All stamps from Papertrey Ink except the background which is Cornish Heritage Farms.

Thank you for the visit today.

Hugs,

Colleen

Up, Up and Away

I had a special order for thank you cards with a hot air balloon theme, and this is what I came up with. Nichole Heady used kraft, white and red so effectively in a recent post, that I wanted to use that same color combination. I also looked back on Nichole's coloring of the balloons during the count down projects for this set and got ideas from that for some of the balloon colors. Other than that, this is pretty self explanatory. If you have any questions, I'm only an email away.

Thanks for the visit today. I may make another balloon card (without layers) for OLW28, so hope to participate in that later. I must clean up my room before I can do another thing, though. It looks like a bomb went off in there LOL . . . no, seriously.

Hugs,

Colleen

OLW27 Merry Little Christmas

A couple of $1 stamps stamped with Memento inks and enhanced with a little Copic Spica glitter pen. Done.

Thanks for the visit today.

Hugs,
Colleen

More is More

Sometimes, I don't know when to stop adding "stuff" to a card. This card is a perfect example. This card is similar to the one in my previous post. I made this card first, but the bow wouldn't play nice, so the card made for Lana was actually my second attempt. The Martha Stewart hydrangea punches are a good match for the flowers in the Cosmo Cricket Seaside (Beach Chair) designer paper. The tag is also courtesy of MS. The flower pot punch is an old one from Emagination. The highlighting and shading was done with colored pencils. The ribbon is seam binding dyed with Copic R27. I can see myself doing this a lot more in the future. I can dye seam binding in half the time it takes me to locate the right color ribbon for a project =D

Thank you for your visit today. And thanks to the folks "Following" my blog. such fun putting faces to names.

Hugs,
Colleen

Happy Birthday, Lana!!

Today is my step-sister's birthday, so I thought I'd share her card and gift and take the opportunity to announce to the world that she's another year older =D

If anyone needs information on the products used, just shoot me an email. I really must get some dinner on the table . . . my husband likes to eat.

Hugs,
Colleen

Happy Christmas

I usually mass produce Christmas cards, and it becomes a chore. So this year I think I'll just create some cards and see how many I can make before panic sets in and I have to resort to Plan B - the assembly line.

This card came together just as envisioned, beginning with the Musical Score stamp by Stampendous. LOVE this stamp. I have other music background stamps, but the small scale of this one makes my heart go pitter pat. The holly branch is from Impression Obsession, and I colored it with Copics. The sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly is stamped in VersaMagic Spanish Olive on white card stock, clear embossed and popped up on a Stampin' UP! ornament punched from Cherry Cobbler (my new favorite red). A little red Copic Spica sparkle on the holly berries to complete the look. Part of me toys with adding more red bling in the bottom left corner to complete the visual design triangle, but it just didn't feel "right" to me - maybe later . . .

Thank you for your visit today.

Hugs,

Colleen

Additions to CAS Card Set and a Tip

 

Here are some additional cards for my gift set (see previous post), and again clean and simple is the design. Copic coloring of Stampin' UP! sets "Fruit Stand" and "Sun Ripened" (both retired) and sentiments from Papertrey Ink.

And now for my Tip of the Day. For those little smudges of ink that find their way on a finished card, try erasing as much of the smudge as possible (I use Sanford Magic Rub), then giving it a light scuffing with a sanding block - sanding first in one direction, then the other. Or, if it's more than a smudge, try using the very tip of your craft knife to lightly scrape the offending blob and then smooth the surface with afore mentioned sanding block. This has worked for me numerous times and worth a try. Here's another idea. Where you suddenly have a mysterious black dot on your base card, add to the dot and make it a design feature (see example in pear card). I created a triangle of dot groups to disguise one little black dot that was annoying me. I used a Copic Black Multiliner. What do you think? I like the look.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Hugs,

Colleen

Card Set CAS

As promised in yesterday's post, here is a set of cards I made recently. I cannot remember the name of the Stampin' UP! set I used, but I know it is long retired. If anyone really needs the name, I'm happy to look it up in some past catalogs, so just email me.

I'm still working on adding to this set  . . .  I like to give at least six cards . . . and I'll post those when I finish.

Thank you for stopping by. And a big THANK YOU to those who have become "Followers" of my blog. It really helps me be a better blogger. 

Hugs,

Colleen

Alayna is 7!

A very special young lady turned 7(!) on Monday, and this is the card I made for her. Depending on what day you ask this girly-girl, pink is (sometimes) her favorite color. The first time I saw layered scallops on a card, I knew I wanted to replicate that idea for Alayna's birthday card. It's so her.

I used pop dots between the scallop layers, and the sentiment is a rub-on. I cut the number freehand from a lightweight coaster.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm still fighting a sinus infection that just won't give up, but I have been creating some card sets that I'll share tomorrow.

Hugs,

Colleen

Welcome Madelyn Rose

My niece, Ashley, and her husband are expecting their first child in November. There was a baby shower Sunday, and I made this card to go with the gift. Inspired by my girlfriend, Carol, I added a "pinafore" type layer from dotted vellum and secured it with ribbon. The dress began from the Sizzix Baby Onsie, but I only used it as a pattern for the top of the dress and then used a Spellbinders Mega Scalloped Oval nestie to create the hemline. No pattern for the pinafore . . . just a series of trials and errors, but I'm pleased with the result and, more importantly, so was Ashley. The little rose bud on the bow was added for her middle name, and just polished off the card . . . imho.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hugs,

Colleen

Look Who's Turning 4 - Peyton!

Sometimes a card comes together just as envisioned. Other times, like with this card, it evolves. And what started out in my head as a very girly card, ended up gender neutral leaning toward boyish. Hey, there is a pink balloon in the bunch . . . Anyway, after investing so much time in the process, I opted to send it on its way - not completely satisfied with the final product, but realizing it will serve its purpose. Hey, I can't be Julie Ebersole or Susan Raihala everyday, right?

The balloon is an old  (1995!) stamp from CC Rubber Stamps with a matching punch from Punch Bunch. Sentiment is from Impress Rubber Stamps, and for information on the fabulous background stamp see this post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Colleen

Masculine Card

Feeling a little under the weather today, literally.  Louisville has gone from daily high temperatures in the upper 90's to frost advisories tonight, and it's creating havoc with my sinuses. So a simple card it is... This beautiful stamp is from Inkadinkado, and I just stamped it and highlighted a few areas with Copics. Sometimes that's all that's needed. Then again, tomorrow I may look at this card and feel differently. . .

I appreciate the visit today.

Hugs,

Colleen

OLW21 Inspired By Nature

Another fabulous challenge by Susan this week. I'm a little late to the party because I was out of town and am still rushing to get caught up.

This butterfly stamp from Inkadinkado jumped off the shelf and insisted on coming home with me on a recent shopping trip. For someone who is not particularly crazy for butterfly stamps, I certainly have amassed quite a collection.

The coloring (Copics) is not my best. The prototype actually looks better. This one needs more blending, but it was either use this or skip the challenge. My husband expects dinner when he comes home from work. LOL

Thank you for the visit. I hope to spend lots of time in my stamp room in the next few days. I absolutely go through withdrawal after being away from it so long.

Hugs,

Colleen