Make a Difference

I found the latest issue of Stamp It from Paper Crafts and CK Media on my doorstep last Friday. I was very excited to have several projects published here, a real honor considering the Splitcoast Rock Stars and Dirty Girl representation in this issue.  There are cards for almost every holiday and occassion in these pages. 

This is one of my projects in the issue. The santa image (WhipperSnapperDesigns) was one that I got in an image in a swap with my Portland Pals when we all traveled to Portland, OR back in October. I came home and colored Santa with Copics and glittered him in all the right places.  I loved how this came together with non-traditional Christmas colors.

The sweet folks at Paper Crafts sent me an extra issue to give away, as well! So, leave a comment here, and I’ll choose a winner tomorrow afternoon and send this out on Wednesday morning.  If you want to look for this issue locally, it’s a bargain at $5.99 US, and can be found in even the most remote Wal-mart stores or probably your local grocery. Thanks for letting me gush!

Happy Birthday to my sweet father-in-law today! My daughter and I made cards on Saturday and popped them into the mail so they would arrive ON-TIME! Can’t tell you the last time that happened. I am going to have a new found love in my WhipperSnapper stamps with these Copics. The wide open space and clean lines make them wonderful coloring images. This image is by a favorite WSD artist, Shelly Cominsky. The ‘file folder’ was left over from another project and stamped with the Wood Grain Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms.

My 7 year old, Ashley has really gotten into watercoloring with dye ink and an AquaPainter. She did a few images a while back that we never did anything with. On Saturday, she wanted to send ‘Pa’ a birthday card all on her own. She really loved this lion, King of the Jungle, another Shelly ~ WhipperSnapper Stamp. I am thrilled with her watercolor because this is only the 2nd time she has tried it, and she wasn’t looking at anything as a color guide (not even the stamp label). Notice her shadowing and image outline.  She grounded the image and added a flower. It’s going to be fun as my girls mature, and we are able to share paper crafting. (Note: We had a long talk about those Copic markers…she understands they are OFF LIMITS. I am a meanie-mom!)

• Stamps: WhipperSnapperDesigns, CHF, Lizzie Anne (You ROCK!) and SU! Stamp of Authenticity

• CS: Curious Iridescent White , Stampin’ UP!

• Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, SU! Real Red - various dye inks for watercolor on the lion

• Accs: Copic markers, Brads - American Crafts, Ribbons - Stampin’ UP! and Nestabilities

Until 2004, I was blessed to have a relationship with and love all 4 of my natural grandparents. That February, I lost my grandpa…. Baling and hauling hay are part of  my earliest memories of my grandpa’s life. His hay hook now hangs on a shelf in my ’studio’ (term used loosely). It reminds me of hard work and love.

When I saw this Anna Wight Whipper Snapper stamp, I knew it would be mine. Though my grandpa produced square bales, the image takes me back to young summers at the farm. I would stand on a chair at the kitchen window to catch a glimpse of the tractor & hay wagon on the hill, the smell of alfalfa in the air… I miss my grandpa.

This came to me when I was thinking about the Queen’s Fan Club challenges this month. The theme is Autumn Harvest. If the link doesn’t work for you, you need to sign up for the Fan Club by clicking here first! So timely, since corn was harvested about a month ago, and now our fields in Central Missouri are littered with large round bales. It’s so pretty to see the changing seasons from a field’s perspective. Back to the card….the sentiment is hand written.

• Stamps: Hay Bale by Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper Designs
• CS: Daisy D, watercolor paper, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip & Ruby Red
• Ink: Palette Burnt Umber - various dye inks for watercolor
• Accs: linen thread, aged copper brads, Prima flowers, sponge daubers, aqua painters (various sizes)

One super sweet Dirty Girl was the first to kick off a solid week of stampin’ challenges and chatting dirty girl style. This is my card for Anna Wight’s challenge. Personally, I felt I had to use a WhipperSnapperDesigns stamp for this challenge. Sniffs of Spring is one of the few WhipperSnapper stamps that I own that was NOT originally created by Anna, herself.  He’s colored in with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

I’m not going to write much about the specific challenges to these cards, but you can check the SCS homepage for the deets if you wanna take a dirty dare…do ya?  

Last week or sometime in the flurry of last week of school activities, I mailed some of these images and DieCutsWithAView paper to Angel, Beate, Jenn & Sharon. Beate wasn’t happy with me…about the purple…but what was I thinking?? This was a tough one for me, too!

Bird by WhipperSnapper stamped in Black StazOn on Shimmery White. He’s colored with SU! reinkers and an aquapainter. The green paper is from Basic Grey - LilyKate collection. The scallops are made with my SU! corner punch (guard removed). To make the double layer, I started with the patterened paper and punched the scallops, then I laid the green over that and matched up the punch to the middle scallop, punched one and then worked my way to both edges. “Chirp UP!!” is with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps.

I’m off to check on the other girls’ cards….I’m sure they did much better with purple tones, and I have no one to blame but myself…<sigh>

This is for a WhipperSnapperDesigns swap that I am participating in. Can’t wait to see what the other gals come up with! Little guy, an Anna Wight original design, is stamped with StazON Black on Shimmery White, colored with aquapainter and SU! inks - from the ink box lid. I gave him some extra shimmer with Dazzling Diamonds on the tail feathers and the leaf, added a Prima where Anna’s flower should be, ticket corner punch the top edges and layer on black. The sentiment is stamped with Karen Foster Snap Stamps, and the tag (made with the 3/4″ circle punch) says “Chirp UP!” Color scheme for card is Caribbean Cool, Pretty in Pink and Basic Black. Ribbon is pink grosgrain and pink gingham.

The black layer is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to try my Cuttlebug embossing folders? I have had them FOREVER - or atleast 6 months! I use mine with a Sizzix machine (because I refuse to buy another dust collector!) I’ll post pictures of how I do that later tonight for anyone who is refusing the Bug, but not the embossing plates!

I made 2 extra cards of this design this morning, and they have both been used by my family today for friends in the hospital and not feeling well. And, speaking of Anna Wight, she’s got a big ole blog candy secret this weekend. Check it out at Sassy & Sweet!

Thanks for looking!

I have finally closed the door on several projects and stampin’ deadlines, and I am looking forward to SplitcoastStampers Challenges all this week. I got to kick things off today with the Featured Stamper Challenge, where the idea is to use the ‘featured stamper’ as a source of inspiration. This week’s featured stamper is Alli Miles aka themilesmum. Take a peek at her gallery, and when you come back in a few hours <wink> you can view the card I used for inspiration here: Happy Harmony Slider.

 I chose to use the same layout, slider concept and ’stapled’ ribbon, yet change the colors, stamps and background paper.

I used my brand, spankin’ new WhipperSnapperRubber that found it’s way from California to Missouri….in my suitcase! This one is another WSD stamp designed by SweetMissDaisy, Anna Wight, paper genius.

Image is stamped on Curious Poison Ivory shimmery cardstock (GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS! cardstock - just like SU! Shimmery White in texture, sparkle and weight, but vanilla in color) with StazON. Watercolored with aquapainter and Classic ink pads from SU! There is just a hint of shimmer on the cattails with my GellyRoll Shimmer Pen. The slate and medallion papers are from Chatterbox, and the skinny strip of paper in the center of the panel is from the Christmas paper collection in the last Holiday Mini from SU! The sentiment panel  slides out by pulling the tabs, and the stamp is from Biblical Impressions, a now out of business stamp company that I *loved*.

Took at peek at the Splitcoast Technique Lover’s Challenge from Monday (since I have some extra time this afternoon). Man oh Man! Frayed Ribbon! Perfect for my little chick card! 

This card was hard to photograph because the bottom 1″ is cut from the front panel so that “thinking of you” shows through on the closed card. This lone chick is another of Anna Wight’s, paper genius, new releases over at WhipperSnapper Designs.

The chick is watercolored with an aquapainter and Classic ink from Stampin’ UP! The card base is Cool Caribbean and the polka dot paper from the Polka & Paisley line in the new Spring Mini. Scalloped punch is from Marvy Uchida. I’d recommend a place to buy, but I think they are like a needle in a haystack these days, something about importing issues, I think.

I have used a little glitter to accent the flower in the chick’s mouth and some of the white polka dots. The pink grosgrain ribbon is frayed by snipping off the outer edge of the ribbon and then shredded apart. Voila! Chicken Feathers! 

Stay tuned for some new SU! designs tomorrow! I need to create a few samples for my classes and workshops this month. 

WOW! I am on my second SCS challenge for the week! That’s a record for me!

Here is some more new WhipperSnapper Rubber. This stamp, called “King of the Jungle“, was created by Shelley Comiskey. I have several of her stamps in my collection. I love her style, and the size (though big) makes them easy to watercolor. I also love that the stamps themselves come with a colored sticker on the wood block. It makes it easy for me to see where the original artist intended variations of color and shading. EASY! EASY! to watercolor that way.

 This layout is for this week’s SCS Sketch Challenge. This image is stamped on watercolor paper with Timber Brown StazOn ink. I like the fact that WhipperSnappers come pre-cut and mounted for your immediate stampin’ pleasure, but I have had some trouble picking up ink on the edges of the stamps from time to time. Everytime it happened, I had pressed the stamp too hard into my ink.  I have solved this issue by turning my stamp upside down and gently gliding the ink pad over the rubber image. 

King, here, is watercolored with SU! Classic inks, directly from the pad with an aquapainter. The background is stamped with the Canvas BG stamp from SU! The strip of Bashful Blue cardstock has some decorative punches made with the paper piercer and template from my SU! tool kit. I used some rhinestones, small Making Memories brads and a little bit of pale blue CindyRibbon rik rak to finish off the card.

The kiddos are playing oh so sweetly, so I might go back and check on Monday’s challenge! Thanks for peeking in on my blog!

Had some time for the SCS Color Challenge today, and was I ever surprised to pop in and see my friend, Sharon Harnist, paper genius, as a guest host for the weekly challenge!

 Today’s theme for Color Challenge 104 is So Saffron, Regal Rose and Certainly Celery. Sharon called her sample Saffron Roses, but I am still smitten with my new WhipperSnapperRubber. So I went with one of Anna’s new stamps and created …

Saffron Chickens!

These hot chicks are stamped with Timber Brown StazOn, and watercolored with the aquapainter and ink pads. Colors are So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Regal Rose accented with Chocolate Chip. I often use Chocolate Chip where others might choose black. It just seems to work so well with …well, almost everything. Card is accented with Loves Me paper from the SU! Winter Mini, Apricot Appeal Grosgrain , Hodgepodge Hardware and a bit of Dazzling Diamonds. The inside of the card has a matted layer of So Saffron and the words “Hey Chick!”