Delivering Christmas

It seems I am really liking the "North Pole." That is the set from Impression Obsession that I keep moving toward while knocking off Christmas cards left and right! This one I just stamped and chalked around the edge and on the sleigh. I used watercolor pencils to color the presents, & added some silver leaf marker on the sleigh's runners. I did add the stars from the set to the red strip of paper using Versamark ink. The other pieces were antiqued using the Tim Holtz distress ink in "Tea Stain." I added some mini gold brads.... and was done!

Until tomorrow....

By The Sea

Ok.... I went to a really cool demo at my LSS. My friend Phyl was showcasing some of the new Hero Arts collage stamps and one of the things she did was to stamp the collage on acetate and then "feature" a photo as a background. Well, the wheels started spinning. You have to capture those moments when it happens! I knew I had one image that would work perfectly with this technique! So, I stamped the Seashell Collage on acetate using Staz-On black ink. I then did something really fun. I took some Duo adhesive and I painted all the pearls on the back side of the acetate. Why? Because when the adhesive dried to a tacky state I "painted" them with Micro Pearl Pearl Ex. It turned out really cool! They really look like pearls. Then all I needed was a sea scene to put as my background. Well, when my husband wasn't looking, I stole one from his Sports Illustrated. How long do you think it will take him to figure that out??? Hopefully never! :-) I attached the acetate to the magazine photo with silver mini brads. Then, I found some fun metallic paper to tear and use as a mat. I took my Versamark Ink pad and put musical notes (Impression Obsession) and a torn canvas background (Hero Arts) all over the cardstock card to add a little dimension. I love the way it turned out. Thanks Phyl!

Ramblings on Christmas

Ok... this is still strange... making Christmas cards now! Anyone that knows me---KNOWS-- I wait until the week before Thanksging and I panic. This sends me into a tizzy with paper and embellishments flying. My husband won't even come near me because he is afraid he'll lose an eye! So, I will sit and pump out 40-50 cards. Amazingly, these cards will sit on a table waiting to address themselves! When December 15th hits and the news starts talking about the "busiest mailing day of the year!" I again panic. Those darn cards didn't address themselves. They didn't even sign my name! So, I remember the old sage advice of my dear mother. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." Darn cards. So, I address them and send them on their way. This is my tradition. Well, this year was different. Thanks to Impression Obsession sending me Christmas stamps in, well, July, I now have about a dozen Christmas samples done and waiting to address themselves on the table. It's kind of fun. HHHHHHHmmmmmm.... Where is the stress? No paper flying. No husband with a hockey mask on. This could be the start of something good!

This card is one that I actually did with Hero Arts new clear stamp holiday line. I love that little birdie!!! It will be a part of a class I am doing at my LSS. It's a Christmas Card club. Yes, me teaching a Christmas Card Club! We're going to meet the first Weds. of each month and make 15 cards - 5 each of 3 designs. By the end of the 3 month club, we'll have 45 cards! What could be better than stamping with your gal pals and getting something that huge out of the way!

Well, gotta run.. a few more Christmas cards await!!

Until next time.....

The Feeling of Fall

A few weeks ago, I picked up this stamp by Art Impressions at my LSS to get ready for a class on watercolor. I spent today painting in the colors of fall and thought---that time of year isn't all that far away! This card was done, not with traditional watercolor, but by "scribbling" watercolor pencils in areas and using an Aquaflow brush to blend and move the color on the watercolor paper. I can't wait until the summer, winter and spring images come in!

T.G.I.F.!

Gotta Have Hope...

Today's post is an easy card idea that I think I might just copy and use with other sayings, colors and ribbon. It was incredibly easy, but I love the result. I used one of the tea bag folding tiles from Impression Obsession and stamped it twice. Once in green for the bottom layer and once in brown for the top. I cut out part of the image, glued it down, added some brads, matted it and then went to town on the actual card. I used the Filagree clear set from IO as well and some brown ink. Then I stamped and embossed the word "HOPE" from IO's word frames set. Put on a brown ribbon & you're done! This is one of those simple "every occassion" kind of card that I'll keep in my stash for just the right moment!

Good News To Report!!!!

The Design Team pages are up at www.impression-obsession.com! It was really worth the wait. Mitra did a great job and I think that you'll see the variety of styles with IO's wonderful images! Have fun surfing!!!

Until tomorrow....

Here Comes Santa Claus

OK, It was 93 degrees here today and what was I doing? Getting a little Christmas in my heart! This card was fun to make. It was from a brand new Impression Obsession Clear Stamp Set full of fun little images! The Santa was stamped, chalked around the face with light blue and then colored with a mix of chalks and watercolor markers. I used chalks to color the face so that Santa wouldn't look freakish! After I colored him, I added glitter to the fluffy part of the hat and was done. The fake envelope was created by just making a small flap out of a folded piece of card stock. The fun "North Pole" stamp was also part of this set! You can't tell, but I also used a background stamp on the red piece of card stock. It's actually kind of a vine-like background also made by Impression Obsession. The "believe" is from a word frames set. But, can you "believe" this? The stamp set comes with a word believe but, I kid you not, I didn't see it until after I stamped the other one. Here I thought I was being all clever!!! Oh well. What can I say???!!??

Until tomorrow......

Best of intentions....

Remember how I said I have some catching up to do??? Well, I went down to my stamp room, sat down, stared at all my stuff and said, "Hmmmmmm..." Well, not even 3 seconds later, the phone rings and a friend of mine says she wants to stop by. If you saw my house you would shreak. Definitely not fit for company. Before the dust started to fly and windex sprayed like a fire hose, I did find this cute card I made recently to share. It's cool because it's actually styled like a little notebook. It has three pages that are all different lengths with fun stuff stamped at the bottom. The top was scored 1/2" down for ease of opening. I think this could be improved upon - but you get my drift!



Here's a look at how the inside works....




Happy Thursday! I might just get down to my stamp room yet!

Hello Again..

Well, It has been a long, long time. You know when you wake up one morning and you say to yourself, 'What just happened?' Well, that was a bit of my last month. Work. Kids. Things that come up that you don't expect. Sadly, part of my month was crazy because my 15-year-old cat went into liver failure and died last week. Because there were other health issues, this last month has been full of trips back and forth to the vet, worries, etc. It's funny how such a little creature can become so much a part of your life. Anyway, the vet and staff were wonderful. So much so, I decided to jump back into stamping with a thank you card for their kindness.

I love this stamp from Stampendous. The saying is from a clear set of sentiments from Impression Obsession. I just watercolored, matted, added ribbon and a saying and I was done! Off for now, I have a lot of stamping to catch up on!

Stick It To 'Em

Close to two years ago, Phyllis, a stamping friend introduced me to the world of stickers with some fun Christmas creations using Penny Black stickers. I guess before that, I was kind of a snob. Stickers? No. I am a rubber stamper. I don't need to use stickers. Well, she showed me how elegant it could be. I made 40 that year for Christmas cards and haven't stopped making cards here and there since! This set was from one of the more recent Penny Black sets.

This is how the sticker sheet came.... and below are all the cards I got out of that one sheet!


The stickers & cards...

For The Love Of A Ladybug...

How can you know someone for several years and just find out they adore ladybugs?? They search for and collect ladybug paper and love to add ladybugs to their rubber stamp collection! Well, this is my friend, Karen. We took classes together for years... then, she decided to up and leave the Billings area to be closer to family in Sheridan, WY. Needless to say, I miss her! So, Karen, this one is for you!

FYI, Karen is just launching her own blog called onladybugwings.blogspot.com. (You can actually just click on Karen Lindsay on my list of inspirational websites and blogs!) No posts yet--she's in the middle of another move! But trust me, it will be worth the wait. She is a very creative woman!

Off for now!

Been A Long Time...

Well, I looked at my blog and said, "This is pretty sad." No posts. No new cards. No Nothing. So, I went down to my craft room and said I was sorry to the stamps I have neglected! :-) Actually, work has been taking over and I have been lacking in the creativity department. Grabbed a cup of coffee and made a couple cards. It was kind of a gray day, so I let black and white dictate. This card was made with Leigh Hannon's Flourishes in Impression Obsession's Clear Stamp line. THIS SET IS NOW AVAILABLE! Isn't it great when all the cool things unveiled at CHA are ripe for the buying. Love it. The saying is just part of a clear set called Greetings Galore. The set is awesome because it has "Happy Easter," "Thinking Of You," plus holidays etc. etc. etc!

Well, gotta run. I think I have a few cards left in me!!

Fun & Festive

Happy Saturday!
This card was kind of an experiment. I used the Block Elements from Impression Obsession and wanted to create kind of a patchwork of colorful boxes that I could "dress up" differently. I love ribbon. I love rhinestones. I love flowers. Well, I could do it all on this card! I have to admit, someone might need sunglasses to recieve this card but, Oh well! Everyone needs a little fun in an envelope every now and then!

Hope you are enjoying a weekend of fun!

All Boxed In...

TGIF!! Can you tell I am excited about a weekend? Work and home projects (we just moved recently and I still have boxes etc!)have taken over my life this week, so, time for a breather! I haven't even really had time to stamp!

This card was one I made last week and didn't post. I wanted to try something monochromatic and had the background paper as my starting point. I used the Impression Obsession word frames, a flower punch and some Pearl Ex. I stamped the frames on two shades of pink, cut the inside out of the frame on the light pink and then stamped the words on each cut out box. The color of ink I used to stamp the boxes and words was a tad bit too dark, so while the pigment ink was still a tad wet, I brushed on some Micro Pearl Pearl Ex and it toned the whole thing down and actually matched my paper quite well!

Hate to say this, it's back to the daily grind for me! Hope you are sailing into Saturday, enjoying today!

C is for Creativity....







I did these cards a few months back but, they continue to be some of my favorite cards! I was hoping that seeing these cards would make me want to take these stamps out again and go crazy! These cards were the results of a class at my LSS that I took to get my "girl time" fix. The class featured the Hero Arts clear alphabet sets and Paper Crate paper. I think the results were pretty darn cute! Thanks Gayle & Phyl for the creativity! Fun stuff worth sharing!!!

More Cards......

In A Jiffy!

Need a card in a hurry? This one is one of my faves. I took patterned paper, ran it through my die cut machine with two sizes of circles (Spellbinders, the Wizard with nesting circles), stamped a Hero Arts saying on the smaller circle, layered a ribbon and then attached a paper flower and crystal rhinestone. So easy! So bright! So cheery! The longest part of this card is running the paper through the die cut machine!

Happy Monday!

Here Comes The Sunflowers!

It's funny how you can find inspiration for cardmaking.... right in your own backyard. There is this open field, right behind our home that is full of sunflowers. They are so vibrant and pretty that one night on our "family walk," I decided to bring a camera along just to capture a few. When I came home, I dug through some stamps and found this one right one top... one I just received from Impression Obsession! I love the rich golds and vibrant greens that you can take straight from the mother herself- Mother Nature! On this card, I simply used Prismacolor Pencils in varying shades of yellow, brown and green. I started with the lighter colors, added shading and then blended the colors with the lighter shades to meld it together. I love the wax base in these pencils because they are just so blendable! I always put a workable fixative spray on when I am done to bring some sheen and luster to the work when I am done. This also helps prevent a white film from forming on the wax as the card "ages." It is called "wax bloom." Don't ask me how this happens! :-)

Happy Saturday!
Julie

Christmas... In July!

Well, I must be on a kick for Christmas because that's what I grabbed last night when I was trying to create. This is a new stamp from Impression Obsession that will be released at summer CHA and available July 23rd. I love it! I actually used two matching stamps - one is a background and the other is a trio of trees that I randomly stamped on the tag. I also antiqued the tag with Distress Ink. The saying is just one of the clear sets full of Christmas sayings that IO puts out. I colored these images using Prismacolor Pencils, with mineral spirits and a stump to blend. If you don't know the "Magic Colored Pencil" technique, google Debbie Gimmel or Magic Colored Pencil and a tutorial is sure to pop up. I had the pleasure of learning this technique from Debbie herself at a stamp show several years ago. She is a kick! This technique is really a fun way to blend and get a really unique look! Be careful, however, when you use mineral spirits. Make sure it is odorless and work in a well ventilated area!

Well, off to the pool I go! It's supposed to be 103 degrees here today!
Stay cool!
Julie

Happy Birthday!

Ok, it's no one's birthday- just an opportunity to stock up on some cards! I have to admit, I always feel guilty about "pre-making" birthday cards. I like to make each one specifically for the person as a kind of gift in and of itself. A friend of mine also taught me that when you give a card, write your note on a post-it note so that the person will have the card to give to someone else! I'll keep this one on hand as a "just in case" card! This one was made using one of the cut out cards by The Paper Cut. It had the three holes pre-punched at the bottom (or side - depending on how you make your card). I used the "Young At Heart" clear stamp set from Impression Obsession and stamped the gifts so that they would peek through. The cool thing about this set is the package body is one stamp and the outline and bow is another. I used a line and dot border stamp repeatedly to create the lines on teh card. The Happy Birthday saying is also part of the set. I stamped it on a strip of white and then matted it crooked on a black piece of paper. Add a loopy brad with a few pieces of ribbon and VOILA!

Happy Thursday!
Julie

Fly & Be Free

Happy Fourth everyone!

This is a card I cooked up last night burning the creative midnight oil. It's been a long time since I have used vellum! I love coloring the backside of it with colored pencils. It takes on such a light reflective quality that can, at times, look so realistic. On this card, I used an aqua and a royal and then blended them together with white. You can barely see in the photo, but I stamped the blue card mat all over with the butterfly stamp (Impression Obsession) in black ink. I wanted it to make the colored butterfly pop. I added a bit of sparkle with a silver gelly roll pen on the butterfly's wing dots. The brads were colored with a black Sharpie and then the blue piece was matted onto a dark blue Star Dream paper from Paper Cut. Pretty simple card! It's actually kind of "old school!" This is something I might have stamped 4 or 5 years ago! I guess it's always good to revisit and recreate!

Happy Fourth! Hope you are all relaxing and enjoying this day of independence!

Julie

To the Point - settia...

I'm back and now, after a day of just being a kid with my kids, I am dreaming up new ideas to put to paper! I have Christmas on my mind right now. I know that is insane! Three years ago I started making all of my cards in July and, I mean to tell you, that is the only way they get to their destination! When November hits, shopping, family, parties, Thanksgiving etc. take over and I am - in a word - overwhelmed. So, when the temperature hits 100 plus, I am in my basement thinking snow, pointsettias, and Christmas scenes!

This card was made using the Impression Obsession solid Pointsettia. I colored it with red ink, cut it out and layered it with a second cut out flower, and then stamped it again in green for the leaves. The yellow buds at the center of the flower (I forget the true name of these) are now actually pink rhinestones. I used Versamark ink and a musical note background to add a little punch to my red paper card. The strip of gold letter paper is background paper from Penny Black Inc. The saying is also Impression Obsession and is a part of the company's clear stamp line.

Not much to this card! Other than cutting out the flower, it is pretty easy to reproduce in bulk!!

Hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer!