Just a quick note...

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to give a quick heads up... My crafting will be put on hold for a bit - much to my dismay. We had a flood in our basement which is where I have my craft space. Thank God, none of my cardstock, inks, stamps etc... were damaged, but everything needs to be packed away while they do the repairs. The good news is that we were going to redo the basement at some point anyway - so, this has moved that project up - new floors, new drywall, new paint - yay! So, I am hoping to be back in my craft haven by the end of September (they say two weeks, but in real life I am banking on a month).

Happy Stamping,
Meg

One More for Paper Smooches Sparks

Hello Everyone,
It is an "Anything Goes" challenge over at PS Sparks. I have one more entry (you can see my first entry here). I used the PS set "Just a Note" for the focal image and the PS set "Scripty Sayings" for the sentiment. This is a very CAS card.

I got the idea for this one from Lisa Adessa of "I'm In Haven" blog. She posted a while ago that she is a supply teacher and leaves a thank you card for the teachers she replaces. My first thought was, "They should be thanking you." As a teacher I know how invaluable it is to have a reliable supply teacher when you need to be away from the classroom. So, I decided to make this card to leave for my supply teachers when they replace me in the classroom. Especially since I teach grade 7/8, so I really am endebted to them for covering for me!

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology 109: Java

Hello Everyone,
This week at CASology the cue card is "Java". Gotta admit that a morning is not complete without my cup o' java. As a matter of fact, every Sunday morning, I get up and meet my BFF for a long run and breakfast. We sit and chat and have cup after cup of coffee. So, she is the inspiration for this card. The image and sentiment are from the My Favourite Things set "Hot Stuff". I love this little set and although I don't pull it out all the time, it is perfect for this kind of card.

I coloured with Copics, but didn't have a flesh tone for her arms. So, I used my lightest shade of pink and then went over it with the colourless blender and it lifted just the right amount of colour.

 

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback too. Don't forget to swing by the CASology blog to see all the fantastic entries there.

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

 

Muse and Paper Smooches Sparks

Hello Everyone,
Today i am playing along with Muse and Paper Smooches Sparks. The Muse card this week is by the fantastic Marion Vagg. Here is the card she created for our inspiration:

I was inspired by the striped background with a white focal point. I decided to take a page out of the Stretch Your Stamps 2 lessons and use a non-traditional stamp to create my "striped" background. I have been a little obsessed with the Paper Smooches set "Just a Note" lately - I just can't get enough of it. Ihave been making all kinds of cards to keep at school with it. So, I chose the fat pencil image and coloured with Blue, Green and yellow. For the white focal point, I used a word bubble die (not sure what company it is from, and stamped the "Just a Note" sentiment in it. The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches set "Sentiment Sampler". I love this card - I will be mass-producing this one and keeping it in my desk drawer at school.

Hard to believe that it is back to school the week after next. Much as I enjoy my summers, I am keen to get back and meet my new batch of students! Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Time Out Challenge: Inspiration - Anita

Hello Everyone,
When I was checking in on My Paper Craft World (the blog of Anita in France), I saw that she is guest designer over at the Time Out Challenge. I never need any encouragement to take time out to craft! So, I decided to play along. I pretty much cased Anita's card with a couple of changes. I changed the orientation from portrait to landscape, embossed in gold instead of white and created the die cut shadow with a single shade. I am really pleased with the way this card turned out - thanks for the inspiration Anita!

Thanks for stopping by - love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Last Day of Class at Stretch Your Stamps 2 :(

Hello Everyone,
I am sad to say that today is the last day of class over at Stretch Your Stamps 2. Today we were to play with the things we have been taught over the last two weeks. I cased one of Laura Bassen's cards - she encouraged us to use an unusual stamp to create a background. I used an embellishment stamp from the Avery Elle Rounded Diamonds set to create almost a direct CASE of the card Laura did.

I used Pale Tomato, Orange Soda, and Butter Bar inks ( all Hero Arts) and Ranger Archival balck for the sentiment. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled's "Kindness Matters" set. Then I decided to look for a stamp that I wouldn't typically think of as a background builder. I pulled out Paper Smooches "Just a Note" and used the crayon to create the next card. The sentiment is from the PS set "Sentiment Sampler". I think it turned out okay.

I was thinking that I could make a bunch of these and keep them in my desk at school, so that when I have a bravo to report on one of my students, I can send home a little card instead of just sending an email.

Thanks for stopping by - I would love to hear your feedback!

Happy stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 10: CASEing Laurie Willison

Hello Everyone,
I have long loved Laurie Willison's very minimalist style. So, I was thrilled to see that she was a guest teacher today at SYS2. This card is pretty much a direct case of the cards she demo'd. Essentially you do some tone on tone stamping using a silhouette floral stamp; then on white cardstock, you create your won designer paper by stamping with the same colour and stamps. This paper is the panel out of which you die cut your sentiment. I really love the very simple look it creates.

I used Pale Tomato Hero Arts Shadow ink and dug out some old coloured cardstock to match. Here is my second card - not as direct a case - I added a little dash of Megness to it!

 

I am super pleased with the way these two turned out.

 

Thanks for stopping by - love to hear your feedback!

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 9: Gettin' Squidgy and Scribbly!

Hello Everyone,
Dawn Wholeslagle of WPlus9 demo'd this technique yesterday and I have to admit that it scared me a bit. Then i was over at Shirley Bee's (please go to her blog immediately if you have not already been introduced to this stamping genius) and loved her description of it being squidgy stamping and then scribbling. That was all the encouragement I needed. I must admit that as my card was coming together I was trepidatious - I did not think I was doing a good job at all. Then all of a sudden it was done and I loved it. All the scribbles that had me going "Uhoh" just worked! If you haven't tried this technique, you really must. In particular I love the scribbly freehandedness of the background juxtaposed with the crisp bold sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by - I would love to hear what you think!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Ghost Stamping

Hello Everyone,
Over at SYS2 Yana Smakula demonstrated a ghost-stamping technique using some silhouette leafy stamps. It made me think of this gorgeous card I had seen over at Maureen Merritt's blog. This card uses white pigment ink to create a faux Bokeh effect. Dawn at WPlus9 had done a video at her blog. The technique demo'd today at SYS2 inspired me to case Maureen's card and this bokeh technique. Since this uses the Spring Blooms set from WPlus9 on which we are focusing in class, I thought i would uplaod it! My circle inking was a little splotchy, so I think I would prefer to use circle stamps - great excuse to get the circle set from SSS!

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch your Stamps 2: Day 9 Multi-colour inking

Hello Everyone,
Today over at SYS2 Jennifer McGuire demo'd a multi-layer inking technique to add shadows to stamps. So that is the technique I decided to try. Instead of stamping then re-inking in darler shade and wiping some of the ink off, I used a q-tip to add my shadows. I pretty much cased Jennifer's card. I didn't use a background stamp though. I also didn't add the "gilding" to the leaves. I am pleased with the way it turned out. This card uses WPlus9 "Spring Blooms" and Winnie and Walter's "Big, Bold, and You".

Happy Stamping.
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 8: Part Two

Hello Everyone,
Here is card number two that I made today. This card is a CASE of another one that was demo'd in class today - this time it was encouraging us to use graphic stamps to create borders. I used the smallest rounded diamond from the Avery Elle set of the dame name to create my border pattern. It was stamped in Pale Tomato and Orange Soda Hero Arts inks. The sentiment is a Paper Smooches die ( I love this die). Great way to make a really striking, quick and easy card. I love it - if i do say so myself! If you are not familiar with the online card classes, you really should check them out - I have taken them all and find them to be super-fun and very informative!

Thanks for stopping by - Love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day 8 Rounded Diamonds

Hello Everyone,
Today over at Stretch your Stamps 2 online card class we are again focusing on the use of graphic stamps to create backgrounds and borders. I love the samples provided today. The first card i made is a CASE of a card demo'd by Kristina Werner. It uses the medium tear drop from the AVery Elle stamp set "Rounded Diamonds" to create a repeating ombre pattern. I used Hero Arts shadow inks: Butter bar, Orange Soda, Bubble Gum, and Pale Tomato. I used the Lawn Fawn "Milo Alphabet" to stamp the sentiment. I am much happier with the inks and stamping I did today. I do find that using Hero Arts inks require some real "work" to use, but I think I am getting the hang of it.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day 7 Rounded Diamonds

Hello Everyone,
I have been doing a lot of stamping today, but don't really have a lot to show for it - nothing seemed to be working out to my satisfaction. Laura Bassen demo'd a great card using Avery Elle's "Rounded Diamonds" to create a beautiful rainbow coloured flower. I did make my own version, but was not happy with the way my inks were stamping this solid stamp. First I tried Hero Arts Shadow inks, but find when they are fully dry, while they even out beautifully, the colours are muted and almost muddy looking where they overlap each other. So, next I tried my SU! colours which were definitely brighter, but were way blotchier. AAARGH! I am in the market for new inks, but don't know what to invest in. I am intrigued by SSS inks, but know they are formulated the same way as Her Arts, so I am not sure I want to invest in them. Any advice? Here is the card...

This is the one with the SU! colours - the blotchiness is not as bad in real life as it appears in the picture - I think I will try again tomorrow. I also made this card with the same set using the Hero Arts inks... I think I like the way it turned out, but as I mentioned I find the final colours a little dull for my taste.

For this one I covered the darker inside shape with clear wink of stella to brighten it up a bit.

 

Anyway... Thanks for stopping by - As always I love to hear your feedback!

 

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Day 6 Stretch Your Stamps: Outline Stamps Colouring

Hello Everyone,
Just a quick post to show my take on the tag demo'd by Laura Bassen. She was showing how you can use tags to crop an outline image and use colour boldy to highlight a portion of the image. I chose the water lily image from the Clearly Besotted set "With Love". Orignally I was going to make the focal image a tag, but then I decided I liked it as a panel instead. I stamped the flower in Memento Jet Black ink and coloured with my Copics. I used Y17, YR09, and RV09 for the petals and YG 05 and 07 for the lily pad. When I am layering colour with copics, sometimes I find that the outline of my stamp disappears or dulls a bit. In order to "crisp up" the outline, I simply trace it with a black marker.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle's "Oh Happy Day". I embossed the card base with an SU! woodgrain EF and added a few gems.

Thanks for stopping by - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Day 6 Stretch Your Stamps: Colouring Outline Stamps

Hello Everyone,
Here I am with a card I made based on the technique demo'd by Debby Hughes of Lime Doodle Designs - if you haven't been to her blog, you need to go right away! She showed a card that she had made where she stamped and coloured on Balsa wood. I had some wood veneer sheets that I  purchased from Stampin' Up! a long time ago. So, I cut my tag and got to work. I must say that I love this as a slight twist on something we do all the time. I used white EP for the flower and then coloured with my Copics (Y17, RV09, YG05, YG07). Finally I stamped the sentiment in Ranger Archival Black ink - I think it is my favourite balck ink. I mounted the tag on some Simon Says Stamp white woodgrain cardstock. I am really pleased with the way the card turned out. The flower and sentiment are from the Clearly Besotted set "With Love".

Thanks for stopping - I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

CASology: Stripes

Hello Everyone,
Just a quick post to join in the fun at CASology this week. The cue card ist "stripe", so, I made this straight forward elegant thank you card. I used my post it masking tape to mask off the stripes and sponged Delicata Gold ink to create the back ground. It is hard to see in the photo, but this ink really shimmers in real life. Once all the stripes were done, I stamped the sentiment - I love this big bold Thank You - it is from Uniko Studio's "All Occasion Sentiments #3". I mounted the panel on a black background and went over the balck (top and bottom) with a bit of clear Wink of Stella.

Thanks for stmpping by - love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps Day Four: Sentiment Stamps.

Hello Everyone,
We have had some great techniques/ideas for using alphabet stamps and sentiment stamps in different ways over at the Strech Your Stamps 2 class. I tried out two techiniques/ideas from yesterday's classes and they did not turn out at all. Well, I suppose they turned out okay, but I realize that my result did not appeal to me as much as the idea appealed to me - well, that was clear as mud. Let's just say I am not going to post them. Then, today Kristina Werner Demo'd this great card using sentiment stamps to create a background. I was really excited because it looked so cool. I got to work and again I wasn't that pleased with the results. My mojo seems to be off a bit. My inks were splotchy and I kept getting ink on hands then transferring it onto my card - aaargh! Anyway, even though I am not 100% pleased with the result, I am going to post it anyway.

I am going to head over to the gallery to see what others have pposted in the hopes of finding more inspiration! Thanks for stopping by - love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch your Stamps Day Two: Perfect Pearls

Hello Everyone,
I bought my Perfect Pearls awhile ago and have used them mostly to create beautiful shimmer mists. Today at the online card class Stretch Your Stamps 2, Jennifer McGuire demonstrated a beautiful use of perfect pearls with reverse back ground stamps. I decided to try this with a new stamp I bought from SSS - Impression Obsession's Birch Trees. I thought that this could make a really beautiful non-traditional Christmas card. So here is the first card I created:

I stamped with Versamark and then used the dark blue Perfect Pearls to create the background. In the pic the blue looks quite light, but IRL it is definitely a dark metallic blue. I added the PTI peace die cut and coloured it with Clear Wink of Stella. I liked it so much, I decided to make another and try a blend of colours the way Jennifer did. Here is the result:

I like this one even more. I stamped on black cardstock and used the blue, purple, and pearl colours of perfect pearls. I die cut the same PTI die, but I covered it with Glitter Ritz Ultra Fine transparent glitter - it looks really pretty (if I do say so myself). What I love about this card is that it is non-traditional and has the subtle pearlescent glitteriness that I love.

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg

One More Day One Background: Stretch Your Stamps 2

Hello Everyone,
I was tidying up my craft table after yesterday's crafting extravaganza, when I found the negative from the "Hugs" die I had used on the cards I posted yesterday. I realized quickly that I could use it to create a third card - talk about stretching your stamps - three cards from one background piece! I simplyglued the piece across the cardbase and added a strip of black top and bottom. Lastly, I coloured the black strips with clear Wink of Stella.

Thanks for stopping by  - I would love to hear your feedback.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day One: Part Two

Hello Everyone,
Here is the second card I made (again a direct CASE of Kristina Werner's card). If you want to read about the technique used, please scroll down to my previous post. One neat thing I added to the card is that I layered the die cut "Hugs" with the same die cuts in the rainbow colours used to create the background. Not really noticeable if you are just looking at the card head on, but a cool added touch that just gives a more detailed finish.

I really love the way this card turned out. The "For You" sentiment is from the SSS "Handwritten Sentiments" by Kristina Werner. Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback. I will definitely be back tomorrow with the results of the other techniques demo'd in class.

Happy Stamping,
Meg

Stretch Your Stamps 2: Day One Background Stamps Part One

Hello Everyone,
This card I am sharing was CASEd from a card demonstrated by Kristina Werner in today's lesson over at Stretch Your Stamps 2 online card class. The idea is to use a background stamp in different ways. So we were to use a watercolour resist technique. Basically, you ink your BG stamp in Versamark and heat emboss it with white EP. Then you water colour a wash (very watery base coat) in whatever colours you want. Let it dry (or if you are like me, help it along with your heat gun) and then go back in to intensify the colours in certain areas of the background pattern. I used the same rainbow colour scheme that Kristina demo'd. I intenisified the "petals" and left the "diamond" part of the pattern more faded. After it was all dry, I put a coat of clear Wink of Stella on the faded "diamond" part - it adds beautiful sparkle that is really hard to capture. I also coated the "Hugs" die cut in Wink of  Stella and then clear embossed three times to give it a shiny sparkle.

The "I miss you" sentiment is from the Altenew set "Sohcahtoa". I love the way this card turned out. I did find that even though the background turned out beautifully, it took a good hour to create. As a result this will definitely be a card I send to someone who really appreciates the effort!

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,

Meg

Case This Sketch and SSS Wednesday Challenge

Hi Everyone,
With this card I am combining challenges: CASe this Sketch and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. I flipped the sketch on its side for my card. I used the Memory Box Tilth flower die (I think this was one of the very first MB dies I bought and I have been hooked ever since) to cut the flower from a piece of left over cardstock that I had water-coloured. I used the same die to cut the black outline. Then I used the SSS "waves" stencil to create the background. I sponged with Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I used the same tilth flower die to cut out the main panel and then inlaid the black outline and the water coloured petal centers. Finally, I pulled out a Technique Tuesday stamp I bought ages ago and have never used. I inked that up with Versafine Black Onyx and stamped - card complete. This card did not really come from a set plan; it just developed organically as I completed each step. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.

Thanks for stopping - I would love to hear your feedback!

Happy Stamping,
Meg