Sketch Girl - Bling, bling Elf

Hey there! Hope you've hopped on over from the Sketch Girl blog - if not, drop by there to check out how you could win a stamp set!

It's Xmas in July for me! This is actually the first Xmas card I've made this year. I have friends that make an Xmas card every time they follow a sketch. I should do that since I hate making multiples!

I used two different widths of red line tape to make the background paper. Once I had my pattern laid out, I covered it in Martha Stewart's Garnet glitter and shook off the excess. The snowflakes were next in line. They were cut and embossed with Spellbinders snowflake dies. The embossed parts are covered with Glossy Accents and then covered in Doodlebug white glitter and the garnet glitter from MS. Each flake is adhered together with a mini glue dot and the glitter dot on top is adhered with some more Glossy Accents. The little tag is from another Spellbinders die, embossed and sponged with red ink. The *Merry Christmas* sentiment is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and is from the PTI set, Mixed Messages. The little elf is from C.C. Designs, Sugarplums North Pole. He is colored in with Copics. His coat collar and covered in Liquid Applique and heat set once it was dry. The last little embellishment is a faux dew drop (from Michael's floral section) colored with a Copic and set as the little deers nose.

Hope you like my *Xmas in July* take on the sketch! Please visit the Sketch Girl blog to check out how you can win a stamp set! Check out what the other ladies have done with this sketch too:

Annie

Bonnie

Chris

Eve

Harriet

Jennie

Jess

Julie

Katie

Randee

Sara

Tiffany

Be sure to give them all a little love! Thanks for stopping by! :o) lyss

Copic Creations Challenge #8 - Botanicals

I can't believe I ever tried to talk myself out of this set! I hope you all aren't getting tired of it ;o) I wake up with ideas of how I want to use it or what I want to make with it next, well, that is, I wake up with ideas along with the theme song to Blues Clues or some other such nonsense. Ahhh...the life of a mother! LOL

My mother does a ton for me - she moved herself from her home of the last 25+ years to live within a mile of me to be able to help me on maternity leave and be my daycare provider. She doesn't ask me to pay for diapers or food, and she is always on hand to babysit if we want a date night. I, honestly, don't know what we would do without her! She is so supportive and loves everything that I make, so I thought I would make her a few items that she can keep out around the house. I was fortunate enough during the Stampin' Out Alzheimers event to win a My Timeless Template - and on the first day, no less! I have finally gotten around to using it and I am so happy with the outcome. If you've never tried one, you should. Lauren has taken all the guess work out of them; they truly are a print and assemble template. I printed the outsides on Chocolate Chip cardstock and the divider on Kraft. The mat layers are printed on PTI's Rustic Cream - I love the natural look of it! I used post it notes to mask off flowers and leaves and then colored them all with my Copics. What a huge difference between PTI Stamper's Select White and Rustic Cream on absorbency of the colors. Not only did the colors come out different (which you would expect), but the Rustic Cream felt like it was sucking the ink right out of the marker.

The sides are a bit different with the addition of the little budding blossom stamp. Once everything was colored, I used the Vintage Touch Inking System around the edges of each panel. Guess what? It worked like the blender marker to remove color. On the front panel, I went back and added color to the flower petals. The sides are left blended out. The other interesting thing about this little duo was that I was able to remove where I had added too much with the Copic blender marker as well. So, my lesson for the day is that if you are as challenged as I in the sponging around the sides technique, use this little duo, but keep your Copic blender pen close by! lol

Hope you enjoyed my entry for the Copic Creations challenge. I happen to like it so much that I don't want to give it away! {wink} Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the full reveal of the Sketch Girl card! I'll be setting blogger to post, so I hope that works out for me. Have a great day, and, as always, thanks for boppin' by! :o) lyss

ETA: If you would like to see the finished project with journal and cards, bop on over to this post. :o)

Sneaky Peeky

Here's a little Sneaky Peek at my card for the second sketch from Sketch Girls that will be revealed on Thursday, July 30th. Check back then to see the full card. Also, check out the Sketch Girl blog {on Thursday} for the sketch and info on how you could win a stamp set!!

On another note, check out my sidebar for a new blog candy link!

Shake, shake, shake that baby!

I know, I know! That is not a very nice title, but I used to joke with my son when he was getting me to my breaking point that I was going to 'shake the baby' and give him a little jostle. Not enough to do any damage or anything - just enough to make him giggle which, in turn, made me giggle! He has the best little giggle on the planet. And really, is there anything better than a baby laugh? I think not!
Here's my shaker card. I made this as a sample for the baby store. The base is PTI Aqua Mist and is stamped in VersaMark with an argyle background stamp. I got it at one of the big chain stores and I will never use it again b/c I got the larger Stampin' Up! one that covers an entire A2 card at once. I dotted where each of the diamonds met with a white gel pen. I cut a strip of PTI Lemon Tart and stamped it in VersaMark Champagne with the star cluster from the PTI set, Out on a Limb Additions. I used a Long Rectangle Nestabilitie to cut a window out, lined it with acetate and foam tape, added the sprinkles, and placed a backing of white to hold everything in. The ribbon is some Aqua Mist satin and is so soft.
The inside is finished with a sentiment from Bitty Baby Blessings. The stars are from star nesties and then smooshed in the Champagne VersaMark pad for some extra sparkle. The moon is cut with circle nesties cuz there ain't no way I could cut a straight line, curvy line or otherwise. Gotta use my tools! Hope you like! Have a great weekend!! ;o) lyss

RSCC #12

Hey there again! I don't think I've posted this much in one week ever! I'm back with another color challenge. Dawn always has the best inspiration photos. When I saw this challenge, I pulled the colors out and set them right next to my computer so I could see them at a glance and perhaps become inspired. In the end, my new order from Papertrey came in and was my inspiration. I tried, yet again, to convince myself that I didn't need another stamp set. I have a flourish set from Target, but I don't like how casual they are. This Fancy Flourishes set is just that - fancy and classy! The largest flourish is stamped on Vintage Cream with Scarlet Jewel ink. I let Dawn be my inspiration again with the flower that I made. I used the Peony nestabilities and cut out three different sizes in Raspberry Fizz and Scarlet Jewel. Before I cut the RF layers, I stamped them with Damask Designs in SJ. Every layer was crumpled and distressed and then wired together using floral wire and a Vintage Cream button. I cut the leaves from Certainly Celery cardstock and then sponged them with the same ink. The tag is cut with a Spellbinders tag and embossed. The 'Good Luck' sentiment is from Mixed Messages. I stamped it in VersaMark first and then in Certainly Celery then onto the cardstock. I then embossed it with Filigree clear embossing powder. The last little detail is a strip of Raspberry Fizz that is punched with an EK Success slim border punch and is popped up on foam dimensionals. Hope you like it! It's another [out of the box] card for me! Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!! :o) lyss

The one I wish I had posted...

Do you ever make a card, look at the leftovers and make something you like a gajillioin times better??? Well, that's what happened to me with this color challenge on the post below. I always try to make two of the same card, one to give away and one for the stash or to sell. The glitterfied letters on my last post were kind of a pain to make, so I started looking at what else I could make. I took out more of my circle punches and came up with this beauty! I love it!! It is so much fun and it was so easy to make!
I used the 1", 3/4" and 1/4" punches to make different sizes and shapes of circles and rings then either glued them down or popped them up with dimensionals. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things. It should've been one long strip but I masked it off to fit the area better. Hope you like it!! Have a fantastic day! :o) lyss

KWCC #56

First off, check out my sidebar for a link to the Whiff of Joy store. The new Fall Stamp Kit is available for pre-order till August 7th. Check them out! They're always super adorable stamps!



K, I'm trying to sneak this one in under the wire. I chose to try a card completely out of my comfort zone...and I think I like it! I used Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue and White. Sorry for the crummy pic, like I said, I'm trying to sneak this one in. The circles are punched out with a 1" circle punch. The *thanks* sentiment is from the cuttlebug alphabet that I have. I cut it out of a coaster, used some spray on glue, combined turquoise and dark blue glitters, sprinkled them on and sprayed it with a matte finish to help seal the glitter on. The top and bottom rows of circles are up on dimensionals. The middle row is glued straight down and the sentiment is up on dimensionals as well. The side is punched with one of the EK Success slim border punches. Hope you like! Have a great night! :o) lyss

ETA: I posted a much cuter card with this color combo today (Monday). If anyone is still looking around, please give it a gander! :o) lyss

I never knew...

that chimney sweeps were lucky, did you? I read it on Kimmie's blog when this stamp came out from Whiff of Joy back in October. She also reminded me of the song off of Mary Poppins and now my little guy and I sing it every night before he goes to sleep. Good Luck Charlie is stamped on PTI white with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored in with various Copics. He hasn't gone to work yet for the day, so he is still relatively clean. I'll have to figure out a way to dirty him up next time - he is a chimney sweep after all! ;o) I printed the sentiment out on my computer and used the little shamrock that came with him stamped in Memento London Fog to accent the sentiment. I got the sentiment from a Waltzing Mouse Stamps set called Irish Blessings - it's been out of stock and I really wanted to get this card finished, so I used it as inspiration! The background is the Diamonds in the Rough cuttlebug embossing folder that I swiped a Smokey Shadow ink cube over once it was run through. Topped it off with a little saddle stitch True Black ribbon and called him done!

I'm using the card as an entry for a bunch of more Copics!! Crafty Goings On is having a blog candy challenge of sorts for - get this - 72 Copic markers!!! I don't know why I'm even entering! I'm sure I've used up all my good little girl karma for the month since I just won the butterfly stamps. How about this? If I win, I promise to share the wealth - that is, if I already have the colors, I'll give them to someone who doesn't! That should get me a little good karma, eh? Here's to crossing my fingers!!

Hope you like my little chimney sweep! Have a wonderful day! :o) lyss

Sketch Girls Inaugural Sketch

Or Sketch Girls Sketch 1 since the title sounds so formal! The sketches will be a bi-monthly thing because a week just flies by too fast! Check out the Sketch Girl Blog for more info and become a follower so you know when the sketches are posted!

In all honesty, I hate making duplicates - I think I've mentioned that before somewhere. But I also hate to make a card I love and not have more in stash once I hand it off. So generally I make 2 - 3 of a card when I'm making one. I had a hard time with this sketch - sometimes my brain is too literal! LOL! So I opened it up in my photo program and flipped it and rotated it until it made sense in my head ;o) The cards use a couple of Stampin' Up sets (one of which is retired) and a new set that I won from All That Scraps by Amy R Stamps, Amy's Butterfly. Since I have a few butterflies tattooed on my upper arm, this was the perfect set for me! In fact, that particular butterfly is flying up to a big flower and is on the top of my arm/back of my shoulder. Monarchs are such a beautiful butterfly. The images are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then cut out with Nestabilities - the main image is the Megabilities Curved Rectangles and the butterfly is a Classic Circle (not sure if it was large or small). The first card uses Copics to color both images and Pure Poppy satin ribbon. The second card uses colored pencils and OMS to color the images and Scarlet Jewel twill.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you liked what you saw! Now hop on over to the other Sketch Girls blogs to see what they did: Annie, Eve, Harriet, Jennie, Sara and Tiffany.

Hope you have a great day!! :o) Alyssa

RSCC #11

OMG!! I didn't use my cuttlebug or nesties on a card! Alert the media! (had to steal that one - it cracks me up!) I actually jacked this color challenge up b/c I had my Soft Stone and Stamper's Select white out right next to each other. I stamped my flowers on the white instead. Oh well! At first glance, this probably doesn't look like it follows the challenge with the bright pink and red, but I used the pink and red Copics to color the flowers. Everything is outlined in a soft grey to help define it a little. Another whoopsie! The centers of the flowers don't follow, but they turned out just how I want them, so I'm not too bothered by it {wink}. The black panel is raised on dimensionals leaving a 1" border - just enough for the little rub on sentiment from Stampin' Up (retired).

I tried and tried to convince myself that I didn't need this set- Papertrey's Friends 'til the End. I mean, really - do I need another floral stamp set??? The answer, of course, is Yes! Yes! Yes! And I deserve it!! psst...you do too! ;o) Hope you like!! Have a great night!! :o) lyss