My First Oil Painting!

I have been working on this painting forever it seems. I'm still not quite done with the snow, but it's almost there and I just can't wait any longer to share!!!

This is my first attempt at anything with oils, and man, is it fun! The design is from Mary Owens, and the technique is one that she calls Oil Rouging. First you ink the design (I used Rapidograph technical pens), and then you paint. The oils are mixed with a medium so that allows you to create transparent washes of color. I did my painting on a piece of canvas board, but you use just about any surface. Cool or what?

I'm really hoping for some rubber stamping time later. I have to run to the store to get provisions for our Superbowl party tomorrow, but after that, I should be golden.

Hope you guys get some stamping in this weekend too!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today is my DH's birthday, so today I'll share a birthday card.

Just some simple stamping on this one, which every once is a while is a nice change of pace. The stamp is from Purple Onion Designs and I stamped it with black Stazon onto a background piece I made using the Color Pop technique from Technique Junkies. The green paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine collection.

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Doodle a Rainbow

Irene Silva, the talented artist who brings us our beloved DoodleFactory characters, has officially declared herself a cardmaker. Along with that epiphany, she had a brilliant idea -- she wants to create a DoodleFactory rainbow. She's got all of the deets on her blog, Tales from the DoodleFactory, but basically she's challenged us all to make monochromatic cards using DoodleFactory images in all the colors of the rainbow. Fun!!!

Here's the card I made for the rainbow. That's Rosie from the DoodleFactory Valentines Remix collection, colored with Copic markers. The background is the Big Weave background stamped with Cadmium Yellow Fluid Chalk Ink. The sentiment is cut out from a Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking pad called Hello Sunshine, I think. All of these stamps are available at Starving Artistamps.

Let's all give Irene a warm welcome to cardmaking and fill up her rainbow!

I'm Sweet on You

I just love cupcakes! This one is from the new DoodleFactory Valentines Remix collection available at Starving Artistamps. I made my background paper by repeatedly stamping the XO from the Sweet on You sentiments. This is a simple way to to make a custom background, but a stamp positioner is essential. Well, I think they are essential anyway...I really couldn't live without my Stamp-a-ma-jig!


I tried to used colors on this one that are a bit more on the masculine side. The inks are Fluid Chalk Lipstick Red and Chestnut Roan. I did some simple paper piecing on the cupcake, Cuttlebug embossed the bottom panel and not so carefully brayered on the brown ink. Some ribbon, red Stickles, and a pearl finish everything off. The layout is CPS63, which I chose for Pick your Favorite Sketch Week over at Card Postioning Systems.


Thanks for stopping by!

Owl be Your Valentine

It's snowing again so it's a perfect day to hang around the house and play with some of my new stamps. This little cutie is Esme from the new DoodleFactory Valentines Remix collection available from Starving Artistamps. In fact, all of the stamps I used on this one are from Starving Artistamps.

For the layout, I used sketch #SC211 from Splitcoast Stampers. My background panels are the Ornate Tooled Leather background stamped with Ranger Distress Fired Brick ink. I colored the negative spaces with a pink Copic marker. Esme is also stamped with the Fired Brick ink and colored with Copics markers. The branch and the leaves aren't a stamp at all, but my own amazing artwork, LOL!

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday afternoon as much as I am!

Something Different

I needed a quick gift for a baby shower, so I decided to make a baby afghan. I know, you're already thinking I'm crazy, but hear me out, it gets worse. It was only Tuesday (yup, Tuesday 4 days ago, LOL) and the pattern said it was an "8-hour project". "Hmmm", I deluded myself, "I have plenty of time for an 8-hour project." Well, apparently I knit at half speed because I spent more like 16 hours on this. I've been on a knitting marathon all week!

It's all good, though. The blankie is finished, and it's so warm and cozy. Speaking of warm and cozy, it's -2 here, which I know sounds like a heat wave to some of you. Try to stay warm, everyone!

Birthday Somethings Challenge

Starving Artistamps is sponsoring the "Birthday Somethings" challenge on the Stamp Something blog this week! The prize is awesome...one lucky winner will receive the new DoodleFactory Valentine sets and matching sentiments. That's 4 sets of stamps!!! All you have to do is make a "birthday something", and post a link on the Stamp Something blog by 7pm EST on Thursday, January 22nd.

But that's not all!! Starving Artistamps is also offering a 20% discount on Starving Artistamps and DoodleFactory rubber stamps to all Stamp Something blog readers until 1/26.

You'll find all the challenge details and the discount code on this post!

Now, on to my card! This is my "birthday something". I made it right after I got back from Florida, and I was still feeling pretty tropical, LOL! The images are from the DoodleFactory Tropics set, and I also used a couple of sentiments from Tropics Sentiments Collection 2, as well as the Mini Circle Background. I did my coloring with Copic Markers and stamped the backgrounds with Ice Blue Fluid chalk ink on white stock and Versamark ink on kraft cardstock.

I hope you can join us in the Birthday Somethings challenge, and may the best random entry win!

A New (to me) Product

I recently got some Flower Soft from Tracey at Starving Artistamps, and this was my first time playing with it. Cool stuff!

I used a stamp from Starving Artistamps and stamped the the main flowers with Olive pigment ink. The background flowers are also stamped with olive ink, but I stamped off once on scrap paper first so that the image would be lighter. I accented the foreground flowers with Ivory Flower Soft and created the ground with Pale Green. To give the ground a little dimension, I smooshed on some olive green ink with a cotton swab.

The printed paper is Basic Grey Offbeat and I created the blue main image panel using a Technique Junkies technique called Two Toned Crunch. The white flowers are by Prima, and last but not least, I used CPS #99 for the layout.

Have a great day!

BTW...Tracey tells us that the manufacturer will be increasing the price of Flower Soft VERY soon, so if you like the stuff, best to get it now!

Jeweled Valentine

I've been playing around with new stamps and stuff, and I'm just a bit frustrated. I have some really great ideas, but I just can't seem to get them to work. Some days it's so easy, but others, not so much!

This card is OK, I think, but in my mind's eye, it was much more elegant and regal, opulent even. The stamps are all from Starving Artistamps, and I think those round bezels are just about the coolest thing! I stamped and embossed them in gold and then used metallic markers to color in other precious metal colors. Used as a border like this or singly, they are perfect with stick-on rhinestones.

Have a great day. I've got some chores to attend to, and then hopefully, I'll get to stamp some more later.

Long Time, No Post

Happy New Year!!!!

So where in the world have I been? We snuck off down to Florida, that's where! I've been to Florida several times, but always to the Orlando area, and I have to admit that I just couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. This time, we spent only a few days in Orlando and then headed over to Ft. Myers. After spending a couple of days on Ft. Myers beach and daytripping over to Sanibel and Captive Islands in perfect 80 degree weather, I'm ready to move! I have seen the light, and it's Florida sunshine, LOL!

Anyway, I thought I'd have at least limited internet access while I was gone, but that didn't work out, so I also took and unexpected vacation from blogging. Hope you guys didn't give up on me completely!

This is a card I made a few weeks ago using stamps from Starving Artistamps and Inkadinkado. I used a couple of Technique Junkies techniques as well: Faux Designer Paper and Faux embossing.

See you again soon!