Thursday, July 29, 2010

Friday Focus - More is More!

Hello again Everyone!  How have your last couple of weeks been?  We are scheduled to return home about the time this post goes live, so I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you in the days ahead once I recover :)

But today is my turn for a Friday Flourishes Focus and it's a fun one today...I've asked Jami Sibley to join me on the Flourishes Blog to showcase the More is More challenge ...Jami was the originator of the challenge and it was so fun and a blessing to have her guest stamping with me.

Here are my More is More Creations pair....


It was so fun to use the Berry Sweet set again and color it in two different styles....


On this "less" version I went with a very Clean and Simple classic style.  I gave the berries and leaves color by stamping directly with my Ranger Distress ink pads (Barn Door and Forest Moss),  I used the larger leaves and berries in the set and my Eclipse tape to mask so I could form a berry bunch.  Then I used my waterbrush to slightly soften the colors directly from stamping onto the paper and then added a little distress in that I had smooshed onto an acrylic block to add in some more soft watercoloring.  I really love the softer effect.    Accents and the lines are really simple on this card.


Designer paper is actually from an old SU Christmas pack.

Now here is the "more"version.


Again I've masked and stamped the larger leaves and berries but this time in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it all in with Copic Markers.


I've added some layering to the main image, and then changed some of the shape to the under layers, adding scalloping etc.  I like the country feel to this card. I've doubled up on the ribbon using Satin and Crochet and some extra 1/2 pearls, and I also added dp to the sentiment layer, and I rounded the bottom of the card too on this version.

It's always fun to do More is More, be sure to check out what Jami did on the FLLC Blog and on her blog aptly titled ....More is More :)  

Thanks for dropping in again and I look forward to catching up with you soon, after bed, a shower and I'm sure a lot of laundry.  I know I'll have lots to share with you!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

ODBDSLC21 - I Sought the Lord

This will be a long post people....just so you know, lots of important stuff inside, creative and personal :) 

As this post goes live I am on a plane with my husband, our children and a number of our high school students and leaders (21 of us) on a Mission Trip.  I'm beside myself about it!   I thought about not saying anything but I thought maybe you'd like to know too.  We'll be working with two Churches doing a Vacation Bible School at one, and then a Sports Camp and construction at the other church.  My husband has done this trip with the HS'ers twice before, but this is the first time for me and the kids to go with the team.  My husband LOVES these people and they love him and the Pastor and his family told him that they next time he comes that he needed to bring us with him - or he couldn't come back :) 

But, this wasn't an easy decision for me.  It's a lot of time extending myself out with a lot of people 24 -7 and especially with our children with us there too, and I was very anxious about it.  Though I have a very extroverted job in ministry, I am in reality still an introvert and need down time to recharge....so all this was a big leap of faith and a big stretch for me. So, I promised my husband that I would pray about it.  I didn't get an answer for a long time, and then one day several months ago I just felt the Lord say "you can go", and I felt a deep peace about us going too.  His assurance washed over me and has left me a real sense of rest about the decision.  So....now we're on a plane.  You're prayers for doing our work well, and safety and effective ministry there are welcome!  It's so important to me to have our not only our HS'ers but our own children experience and love another culture, another economic situation, to see God at work in another place...and for them to be a part of it too.  Our heart is to be His workmanship and make a difference and do what God has prepared in advance for us to do.  (Ephesians 2:10)

So, this card for the ODBDSLC21 challenge (which is all about coloring) is kind of dedicated to what this Mission Trip is about for me, which I'll explain in a minute. 


Today is my last day on the Challenge Team with the lovely people of ODBD.  It's been just over 6 months and I've so appreciated serving with them.  They are wonderful women who's heart is to use their creativity to create and shine Light into the world.  Thank you so much Kelley and the ODBD team for your generous hearts and hearts for following Jesus.  It's been a pleasure working with you! 


I think this is still one of my favourite ODBD sets, Sing to the Lord, and I've given it color with Copic Markers (Y17, Y19, Y35, Y38, BH11, BG13, G12, G21, G24, Y3, W7), and popped the top blooms up with dimensionals.  I tipped the nestie shape slightly, framing it in the background with the Lotus shape Die. 


I love the accenting on the bottom with the folded papers (My Minds Eye), the Rings Border Punch from Martha Stewart and the Satin Ribbon. 

And I don't often decorate the inside of my cards, but I could not resist this one, it's from the Scripture Collections set and the verse really defines for me what the next days are all about. 

So...I'll be absent here on the blog for a little bit...I'll see you again toward the end of the month, with lots of news about all we've seen and done.  Thanks for your visit and your prayers!

Now head on over to these girls to see what beauties they've colored up for you...Chrissy, Chris, Francie, Patter and Sabrina.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

New Release - Enjoy the Ride


How are you lovin' the release sets so far????  Such a great taste of summer aren't they? 

As a little girl I was always completely fascinated and enamoured with Carousels...they seemed so magical and lovely...and riding one you'd feel like a princess!  Today's sweet set from Flourishes will take you back to those sweet memories and help you create some new ones! 

Two very different samples for you today...the first one a little sweet the second a little sassy :)


I really love the palette in this Basic Grey Sugar Rush paper and I thought the colors would really suit a whimsical design for this carousel horse (Colored with Copics...tons of them that I didn't keep track of! Sorry!)  I created an "awning" out of dp for the horse to look like a carousel going around., punching with the dotted scallop border punch.  The pretty ribbon is faux suede ruffle. 


Now for the little 'bit sassy one...

Pennants are all the rage right now in papercrafting and when I saw this pretty Webster's Pages paper with pennants in it it sparked an idea.


I took my color cues from the papers and watercolored this awesome horse with reinkers and markers,  I love the depth to the color that you can get with watercoloring!  Then I cut it out with the Mega Scalloped Ovals Nesties.  I hand cut the pennants using the pinked hearts border punch to create the tops of the pennants, then stamped the cute sentiment over top.  I wish I would have cut them just slightly larger so the sentiment fit better but it was my very last step and I just didn't have the heart to rip it apart and do again.


I just love the boldness to the colors and all the patterns, it feels like a celebration to me!  LOVE it!

So visit these great girls to see how they've used the Carousel set

Danielle, Dawn, Julie, Laura, Leslie and Stacy and the Flourishes Blog to enter to win this great set!

Don't forget that the sets are now live and you can shop to your hearts content in the Flourishes store, be sure to check back for the Winner's Circle winners on the blog tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

New Release - Seeds of Friendship




Ok...you LOVED yesterday's sets I know, but I have ANOTHER set I know you will love too!  And if you're a Flourishes Fan you'll love combining this gorgeous set with some of your other FLLC sets too, it will give everything new life. 

Summer is the time for planting and picking....and it's just the perfect set for that!  Your own seed packet with all the fixin's! 

Again I have 2 samples for you today....

You know the old vintage crate labels that would come on fruit crates?  Vibrant colors, rich feeling...that's what I was going for here. 


I took the new Seeds of Frienship set and stamped it with Stazon on watercolor paper, as well as the Grown with Love sentiment.  Then I took out my reinkers and markers and set to work watercoloring these gorgeous peaches from the Cherries and Peaches set.  I took my colors from this gorgeous new 7Gypsies Victoria paper.  The colors were just right to me, and look at that, there's some Wild Wasabi Green, before the other day, I can't remember the last time I used that color!  A little Square Lattice embossing folder on the Baja Breeze layer, some sewing, and some beautiful Ivory Crochet Trim, Floral Accent Shapeabilities, and pearls makes for a fun vibrant card. 


Next is the card I first envisioned when I saw this set.  And gratefully it came out just like in my little noggin.  


I've combined my new favourite Cherry Blossoms set  with the Seeds of Friendship on Flourishes Classic White Cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  But!  I used two separate layers.  The Cherry Blossoms are on a single layer and the seed packed is popped up like a frame.  I just cut out the center of the stamped seed packet to form the frame and wound this gorgeous pink silk ribbon around it.

The coloring is done with Copics using the Hollyhock Collection and BG0000 and BG01 in the background for shading, and some Meadow Collection greens


The papers are Memory Box Spearmint which I've sewn on.  And do you see that gorgeous crocheted heart?  My sweet friend and fellow FLLCDT partner Stacy made them and sent them to me, she's SO great.  I've added a button and half pearl inside the heart.  I love that this card turned out pretty and feminine. 

Now you'll see lots of wonderful creative things with this set at the DT girls' blogs, so head on over to Dawn, Danielle, Julie, Laura, Leslie, and Stacy to see what they've cooked up....and head to the Flourishes Blog to enter to win this fabulous set!  You won't be disappointed. 

Don't forget about:  
  • the Release Party Thursday night in the Splitcoaststampers Flourishes Forum 
  • the Recipe contest to win the entire new release, check it out HERE
  • And you can pre-order these new releases already, check out this link!  

Thanks for stopping by friends!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

New Release - Berry Sweet


Oh I'm just beside myself to show you this new release from Flourishes!  Today's set is called Berry Sweet and it happens to contain one of my very favourite fruits!  Plus another fruit my boys just love.   Remember you can already pre-order this set already check this LINK!

I have two pretties to show you today...


Aren't these blueberries gorgeous?  So perfectly drawn by Marcella, and just the right size for a card.  I've used copics to color (I believe I used Delphinium and Violet Collections with Spring Greens on the leaves to color), masked and sponged it with Soft Sky ink, and framed it with a Labels 12 array of Nesties and a Floral Accent.  This is new paper too from Memory Box, the very lovely Enchanted, yum. 


I've used the SU label punch for the sentiment and also punched a few to accent the row of dp.  Some gorgeous Lavender silk ribbon and chenille dots ribbon too. 

Now on this next one I've used some Prismacoloring because I knew it would give wonderful definition to the raspberries. 


I've used the Mega Deckled Rectangle Nesties and some out of the box cutting to accent these berries, as well as another gorgeous new paper from Memory Box  - Jubilee, totally my kind of colors!  I randomly folded up some of the paper and sewed it on as accent and kept my accents simple and sweet, with some polka dot sheer ribbon for fun.  I've even kept the top berries a little "unripe" by adding a little green, and then colored some of the other berries darker to imply they are ready for picking! 


Now which is my favourite...???  It's the Raspberries :)  They are the summer fruit I look forward to most, I grew up with raspberry bushes at my house, and we planted them here at our home as well.  This year they don't seem to be doing as well, and I'm not sure why, but my parents will have tons to supply me.  My boys love blueberries so they're a staple at our home too, though we don't grow them, they need more sandy boggy, loamy type soil (can that be a combination?) than we have.  

Makes you hungry for fruit doesn't it???

Well, the Flourishes girls have fantastic things to show you, that I've already drooled over and I know you will too    Julie, DawnDanielle, Laura, Leslie and Stacy.  

You can enter to win this set today at the Flourishes Blog so don't forget to pop by there too!   We'll announce all the winners Saturday in our Winner's Circle!

Happy Mail

It's pouring here today, it was pouring here yesterday, I think it maybe pouring here tomorrow, and the next day.  It's just so unusual for us when we've had drought for several years.  I'm beginning to feel a bit like I live in Vancouver, not Sunny Alberta.  BUT!  That's ok, I know the rain is a blessing.

Yesterday was a happy mail day!  I received some yummy Verve, (Hibiscus and Hebrews 11:1) and between laundry loads today I had some time to do something simple to show you with today's Color Challenge Colors at SCS.  Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist and Wild Wasabi.  


The one color I did have in the combination is Wild Wasabi, so I decided to make that the base of my card. Copic colors used....R27, R29, R39 and R59  - I haven't seen Cherry Cobbler yet (but I will tonight!  And I'm gettin' it cause it looks awesome!) but I'm thinking these would be a good match.  G24 and G82 to me are a perfect match for Wild Wasabi...with a teeny tiny bit of G05 in the depths.  And I know this isn't a good match for Marina Mist - I'm just guessing here, the Copics are B24 with B0000 for softening, and I used Buckaroo Blue for the papers.


I've embossed the Wasabi designer paper with Floral Screen and also used my new MFT Ric Rack border and texture, plus a little scoring as accent on the top.  SO fun :)

This verse means so much to me, as having HOPE has such an importants meaning to us.   These verses in Hebrews are ones we clung to when my husband was being treated for cancer 3 years ago.  They continue to give us great encouragement.  Our hope is in Him!

Come back tonight around 11 pm MTN....I'll have some NEW Flourishes deliciousness for you!

Recipe:  Stamp:  Verve - Hibiscus, Hebrews 11:1 Plain Janes;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Wild Wasabi;  Paper:  Wild Wasabi, Buckaroo Blue, Flourishes Classic White, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi Prints Pack DSP;  Accessories:  Copic Markers, Big Shot, Floral Screen CB Folder, Wide Scallop Punch, SU Bird and Branch Punch, MFT Scallop Border Die and Texture Die, BG Rhinestones, Scor It, Dimensionals, Wasabi Ribbon.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Creative Process - Copic Markers

So, I am typing to all you cyber friends on our brand new MacBook!!!!   Seriously!?!! SERIOUSLY!!!

The other day after my husband came home from work he got a call from the Mac/Apple store where he gets things for his work computer and they informed him that his name was drawn from 600 entries to WIN as in FREE, a MacBook laptop!   We were just over the moon!  If you've been following me at all you know that computer issues have been ridiculous for us this year with the boat anchor oops, I mean desk top PC we have at home.  Very honestly it's just not made to do as much as I'm asking it to do.  So we were talking about our next purchase being a Mac.  And I was thinking it would take us about a year to save for it, and here God just drops it in our laps.  Sigh :)  I'm so happy.  It's taken a while to move info over (and I'm so glad my husband knows what he's doing) and it will take me a while to understand everything, but I'm so thrilled.   Just the load time on pages alone is a fraction of the time I was waiting/wasting before on the old computer.  Surfing the net is WAY more fun now!  And I know work will be much more effective with this computer too.  And it looks so darn cute on my desk too!

Today's tutorial may look different as I have new editing/photo software on iPhoto, but so far so good, I'm learning as I go here.    I'm going to show you a few fun things with Copics today.  One thing I realized when doing this tutorial is that I really color better when I'm not stopping to take pictures a long the way.  But, I hope you'll get the ideas.  I have some adorable new PI girls from MFT that are perfect for coloring with Copics.

Now why are Copic Markers so popular with card markers right now?  Well, here's my thoughts, really they come in almost every possible color under the sun, they have superior blending ability, and you can create fantastic effects with them, and honestly - coloring is FAST with Copics.  As compared to watercoloring which is a much more patient art - Copics color smooth and speedy.  Which is really nice.

This cutie patootie is called Lather, Rinse, Repeat.  I knew I wanted to use these papers from My Mind's Eye - Home, so I went to my Copics to match some colors.


First layer of color on the tub.  I saw Sherrie Siemens leave an area without color on her blog recently - this way as you're coloring you fill that in last and it will remain the lightest color....you'll see what I mean as we go.



Here I've added a little more depth in my second layer. This isn't super smooth looking, but it will get that way.


I've smoothed out the color a little by coming back with my G40


Then below I've added another layer of G40 to the whole tub - see below how the lighter area is more highlighted? I used smooth circular motions with my G40 to blend.


To me I wasn't getting quite enough darkness in my depths, so I added another deeper green



A little more "smoothing"


Now I want my paper to dry just a little bit so I move on to the sponge.


A nice little bit of depth with the darker Y38


And then I wanted it to look more "spongey" so I came in with my Y15 and spotted up the center of the sponge with the tip...this lifted some of the color and added it a softer yellow.


Then the fun part, I knew I wanted to make a polka-dot -flowery tub.  So I took my blender pen and added some dots to the tub which lifts the color.  This is one round with the Blender Pen, but I ended up doing two rounds, it just whitens it more.


Then I came back with my Copic Multi-Liner pen and drew in swirly flower petals, sort of with the feeling of the swirly bubbles. Fun isn't it?


Next I wanted to add some really light swirly color to the bubbles so below it's a very light BG0000


And with a few more colors, just with light swirly strokes, because bubbles have greens and pinks shimmer in them too. You might not even be able to see the color in the picture - but it's there :)


Next we move on to the skin.  A light layer of E00 to start with.  Moving in up and down curved motions to match the lines of her round face.


Below I've given some depths to her face edges with some "feathering" strokes with E21, put your marker down and then lift slightly as you lightly flick out, it leaves a softer outward edge.


I've come back and smoothed out the colors with my E00 in long strokes and then added some pink cheeks with R01.  



Now onto some hair....she's a blondie so I start with Y21


Then fill in with Y23 and some E31.  I find that yellows sometimes are so smooth looking when you lay the color down that you hardly have to blend them.


Now the claw legs on the tub.  Because my paper from Mind's Eye has a warm grey in it I chose warm greys for the tub.


Below this looks really dark, and I probably could have used an intermediary shade, but I didn't!  It just means blending well.


And after blending, it still wasn't smooth enough so I did even more blending with the W3 after this picture.


Now her cute little shower cap, and again I'm leaving some highlighted area for coloring in on the last layer.


Below with a little Y38 feathered in...



And below she is all colored with a final layer of Y17 on the shower cap :)  I think she's so adorable!





And here's the card I made with her:  You can click on her to make it bigger, my photo angle is a bit wonky and I already gave the card away.





Totally thrilled with how this came out.  I loved this paper and how some of it looks like the old honeycomb tiled floors we used to see. I added "beadboard" to the wall with some scored white paper, and then some patterned "wallpaper above".  And you just can't go without that rubber duckie!

Can you see the bubbles?  I added Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds glitter to shimmer it up.



Oy how much cuter can it be!  Hope you've had fun watching me color and I hope you feel more confident diving in and playing with these great markers!

Stamps:  MFT - Lather Rinse Repeat;  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black;  Paper: Whisper White, Flourishes Classic White, My Minds Eye - Home DP;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels 8 Nestabilities, Circle Punch, Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dimensionals, 1 1/4 circle punch, Basic Grey Satin Ribbon, Scor It.