Monkeying Around

I did a lot of stamping today. Yeah, I was feeling pretty virtuous because I starting stripping the wallpaper in our dining room yesterday. Got a lot done, too, so I figured I deserved a day off. Besides, I had some Design Team assignments that I needed to work on, so it's not like I was just goofing off, lol!


Here's a card I did using images from DoodleFactory (Starving Artistamps) and a cool and easy technique called Depth of Field from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter. I colored Chip, from the Valentine's Remix collection, with Copic Markers and created my background with the jungle leaves from the same set.

Later, friends!

Blue Butterfly

This is my latest colored pencil drawing done from this reference photo at Wet Canvas. It's 5" x 7" done with Prismacolor pencils (and a white Pablo) on black Strathmore Artagain paper.

Thanks for looking, and we'll return to our regularly scheduled card postings tomorrow!

SA @ 2S4Y

That's shorthand for "Starving Artistamps is sponsoring this week's sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You"! Check it out...you could win the latest DoodleFactory release, Oh Baby!, there's a discount code good for an amazing 25% off Starving Artistamps and DoodleFactory rubber, not to mention some awesome cards to ogle over!

Here's mine. I used Zing! embossing powder and the Starving Artistamps Weaves BG on black cardstock to make the background, and the main image is Zeebo from the DoodleFactory Animals collection. The printed paper is from Basic Grey Urban Prairie, the flower is a Prima, the sentiments is stamped with black Stazon, and I did my coloring with Copic markers.

Got Inchies?

I do!!! And so can you...smARTworks now has a whole line of Inchie stamps AND they carry Inchie Arts products! I just got my order of goodies yesterday, and today I plan to play all afternoon. Yup. Life is good!

Here's my first card for the day. I used the sketch from Card Positioning Systems (CPS121), which is perfect for showing off an Inchie. I used the birthday cake from the Little Bits #1 set and a sentiment from Square Say. Believe it or not, I colored the cake with Copic markers. You need to have a very light touch, but you can color tiny areas with the brush tip.

Gotta go...I've gots lots more stamping to do!

Mark your calendars and set your alarms!

We're having another Blog Hop at Starving Artistamps! There's a new DoodleFactory release coming out on July 8th, and trust me, you don't want to miss this. Irene has outdone herself this time. I won't give anything away, but I will tell you that the new stamps are something new and different, but they still have that DoodleFactory quirky charm and will mix and match with other DoodleFactory collections. Did I get your curiosity up? Then make sure you check back here at 11 a.m. EST on the 8th to see what all the buzz is about!

Since I can't show off the new stuff yet, I'll share a card I made with one of my favorite Starving Artistamps images. I know I said that I posted my last tulip a few days ago, but I couldn't resist doing just one more. I stamped the large tulip with Versamark and embossed with Zing! white embossing powder. For the coloring, I did a variation of that watercolor technique that been so popular lately. I don't have many reinkers, so I did my version with Inktense pencils. I worked section by section and started by wetting the area with plain water. Next, I used my wet brush to pick up color from the tip of the pencil, and then dripped the color onto the wet paper. Worked like a charm!

Don't forget...mark those calendars!

Tea Party #20: It's pretty sketchy!

Dina is our hostess this time, and she have us a pretty interesting sketch to work with. Interesting for a couple of reasons: it's an unique layout to work with, and also because it is an icon that appears on a wall calendar from Murni Optical that she has hanging on her office door. I have no clue what it could mean...a stylized "M", maybe? I have expended much more valuable brain power pondering the question than I really have to spare, lol!





















Anyway, our challenge wasn't to find the icon's meaning, it was to create a card using the same layout, and here's what I came up with. The papers I used are from the Basic Grey Wisteria 6x6 pad. I added swirls to the background piece by stamping a flourish from smARTworks Swirly Gigs repeatedly with Wisteria Chalk Ink. Then, I applies some foil glue here and there and applied some copper sheet foil. It doesn't show that well in the photo, but the foil is VERY shiny. I stamped the flower (Star Flowers) with Versamark on a piece of purple paper, applied Heat and Stick powder, and then foiled that as well.

Be sure to check in on the other Cookies...they will be posting their creations throughout the day: Susan (and Peggy), Dina, Donelda, Giovana, and Trish. And as always, we'd love for you to join the party!

Garden Notes

I feel like I should send this card to myself... Congratulations on getting all the plants you bought in the ground! Yup, Hubby and I are feeling quite accomplished. We added 3 new Hostas to the Hosta garden, transplanted the Artemisia and Coral Bells from the rock garden to the side garden, replanted the rock garden with plants that will, hopefully, do better in that location, planted a pink Spirea and red Azalea the side garden, and put in a couple flats of annuals. Everything is neat and tidy and generally weed free. Oh, how I wish it would stay that way!

The card I'm sharing with you today uses a quick and easy technique from Technique Junkies called Newsprint Reveal. Actually, I'd seen this technique before it was published by TJ...it's a simple resist using newsprint (or a page from a magazine) clear embossing powder and dark dye ink. The butterfly image I used is from Starving Artistamps, as is the sentiment, and the paper is Basic Grey Wisteria 6x6.

Thanks for looking in!

One Last Tulip

All of the pretty spring tulips are gone now, and here's the last of the cards I made using the Spring Wishes set.

For my background I taped together strips of scrap paper, embossed the whole piece in my Cuttlebug, then lightly sanded the surface to highlight the embossing. The vertical strip uses a Technique Junkies technique called Drywall Stitching. The Pierced Spotlight around the tulips is also a technique from Technique Junkies. I did my coloring on this one with Prismacolor pencils.

The tulips may be gone now, but I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful foxgloves that are blooming in my garden right now.

Go For It!

Come on...you know you want it...eat the cupcake!

My images are DoodleFactory from Starving Artistamps and the paper is Cupcake from Basic Grey. I colored my cupcake with Copic markers using the Van Gogh technique featured in this month's Technique Junkies newsletter. Basically, it pointillism, and it's a cool way to shade your artwork when you color with Copic markers, or any other kind of marker for that matter. It's fast and easy...just color your image with the base color and then add shading with dots and little lines. You really should give it a try...go for it!

And, once you've given it a whirl and made a card, you have until June 15th to enter the Starving Artistamps Van Gogh contest and win a bunch of really cool stamps. Not only that, you can also use the same card to enter a contest over at Technique Junkies.

Yeah. You should go for it!

Just Silly...

Think monkeys will never fly? Think again...swine flu. Ha-ha...get it? That just struck me so funny, I had to make this card. The image is Blox from the DoodleFactory Animals collection from Starving Artistamps.

The papers I used are Basic Grey Blush, coloring (including the small flowers, which used to be white) is done with Copic markers, and stamping ink is Memento Tuxedo Black. The wings are Grunge Board covered with Ivory Flowersoft. And see my perfect bow? I made that using the Posi-Bendr Bow-Easy tool that I bought today...soooo easy! Oh, and notice the bird perched at the top of the card? Yeah, well, sometimes stuff just works out, kwim?

One more detail that I would be very remiss to leave out. I did this card for the Featured Stamper challenge (FS122) on Splitcoast Stampers. Kisamari is featured this week, and I used her cute Just Bugz card as my inspiration.

Be well, peeps!

Where the Buoys Are -- Finished!

I finished this the other day and thought you might like to see. Now I just need to decide how to frame it, which may take more brain power than the painting itself!

I'm off to the Heirloom Productions Rubber Stamp and Paper Arts Festival n West Springfield, MA today. Starving Artistamps will be there, so if you can, stop in and say hi to Tracey.

Love Bug Challenge

We do a bi-monthly challenge on the smARTworks Design Team, and this time Susan sent us the Love Bug set to work with. Now, I have to admit that I've found some of these challenges, er, challenging, but not this one. This set is stinkin' cute! Making this card was nothing but pure fun!

I started with my background panel by stamping the ladybug border several times (very easy to do with my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig). I colored my bugs in with various shades of red and orange Copic markers. It still looked like it needed something so I added some rows of Drywall Stitching (Technique Junkies Apr 09) and some extra green dots.

Next, I stamped and colored the basket of flowers. Hmmm, that looked like it needed something, too--those flowers were just too sparse, it seemed. So I added extra green dots. Lots of them! That was better, but it still needed something. So I added darker green dots to create shadows. Perfect. And, EASY!

The other Cookies did some pretty awesome cards with this set, and you can see them all here.

And, I've saved the best for last. You can enter for a chance to win this set by visiting Susan's blog, In the Works, and suggesting a sentiment to go along with the set. I'm also pleased and honored to say that Susan featured my flower basket on her blog today. Thanks, Susan, I'm glad you liked it!

Van Gogh Contest!

Back in February, we did a blog hop to introduce a new release of DoodleFactory stamps drawn by Irene Silva for Starving Artistamps. Well, Irene's genius isn't confined to doodling, and she blew everyone away with the amazing card she made. Tracey took one look and knew that the coloring technique Irene used would be perfect for the Technique Junkies Newsletter so she contacted Pat Huntoon. Pat agreed, and I'm thrilled to say that Irene's technique, named Van Gogh, was published this month. To celebrate, Tracey and Pat are both sponsoring contests and they've made it easy for you to enter to win both. All the contest details, Irene's original card, and some awesome examples from the Starving Artistamps Design Team are posted on the Starving Artistamps blog.

This has all been such a kick for me because I love being on Tracey's Design Team, Irene's DoodleFactory images are so much fun to work with, I'm a total Technique Junkie, I love Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, and several of Van Gogh's painting are among my very favorites. I ask you, could it possibly get any better? The answer is YES! Pat published my card in the newsletter! I'm telling you, it's enough to make me hyperventilate!

So...here's the card I made using the Van Gogh technique. As much as I love Irene's DoodleFactory characters, I just couldn't resist using Tracey's gorgeous sunflower to make my own version of a Van Gogh painting. I did my coloring with Copic markers, and I just love the result.

So what are you waiting for? Go Van Gogh!

Tea Party #19 - No White at All

Trish issued an interesting challenge this time--make a card with no white. It was a teensy bit of a challenge because I've been really into coloring lately, but I don't always use white, so no worries!

This is a color scheme that I've used before and love, violet, kraft brown, and green. The flower image, from the smARTworks Real Stems and Blossoms set, is stamped with Fluid Chalk ink. The pearl center used to be white, but keeping in the spirit of the challenge, I colored it yellow with a Copic marker.

To make the background, I used a fun technique from the latest Technique Junkies newsletter called Double Bugging. The frame is also a TJ technique called Torn Frames.

The other Cookies are all playing this week so be sure to check out their blogs: Susan (and Peggy), Dina, Donelda, Giovana, and Trish