Get Inspired Sketch 36

Today I figured I really needed to update my blog. It has been a very long time since I posted anything and everyone probably thinks I just gave up. The answer is no, lol, just been really busy with work, and my new hobby, karate and ju jitsu. This new hobby is six days a week and at least two hours a day. Yes, I am crazy to start this kind of hobby at my age, no I won't say just how old but a clue is older than dirt, lol. But I figured my son is eventually not going to want to hang out with his old mom so I better take advantage of it while I can and do this with him. I have to say, besides being great exercise, it is so much fun! Never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever think that rolling around on the floor with people, fighting each other, would be an activity I would so enjoy, lol. Now the karate I have wanted to try since my first son took classes years ago. One thing has now been marked of the bucket list. LOL.

Well, I will now move on to the reason you visit this blog, my other hobby of scrapbooking and card making. I haven't posted a sketch in a very long time and thought I would add one today. Loving sketches that have the sizes of the photos used is the inspiration for my sketches. It makes it so much easier to case so I will always give you the measurements to make it easy for you if you care to use one of my sketches. The three photos in this sketch are 3.5 x 5.25 inches. I will give you a little tip to make things easier for you when mounting your photos on this layout.

Start with a piece of cardstock 10.75 x 7.25 (or a 1/4 inch bigger on both side if you want a bigger border) glue your photos down and then cut out the corner where you didn't place a photo. I found this easier to do than to try to measure it out without the photos in place. On my layout I used the Bo Bunny line Snowfall. Don't you just love this paper. The blues and browns together are beautiful and the glitter on the paper is, well, gorgeous!!! The embellishments are from the same line, why mess with something so beautiful by adding other things. Vellum was used for my journalling and then attached with brads. To be honest, I have not found an adhesive that I like when working with vellum so I always attach it with brads, eyelets or stickers when using it. If you have one that you like I would love to know what it is so I can give it at try. Hope you enjoy this sketch and give it a try with your photos. Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day and have a great week. Happy Stamping and Scrapping, Ronda

Bits and Pieces

Well as promised, today's card uses just certain bits and pieces of the Hero Arts background stamp used in yesterday's card. When looking at the stamp this area just popped out at me and screamed wisteria (yes I am a close Desperate Housewife's fan). I know, I didn't use purple but still loved how it turned out.


If you are new to stamping you may not know this little trick so I have taken a picture so you can see what I mean. When inking up the parts that I wanted to use from this background I pulled out my die ink markers (not copic). Start with the lightest color ink and go to darkest. It will help protect your markers if you accidentally hit a part you have already colored with another marker. This is a technique I love to use. Take your markers and color the different parts of your stamp. When you have finished, breath on the stamp and this will help re-moisten the ink. It is a great technique to use when coloring flowers that are not line art images. You can blend the colors right on the stamp, which is just awesome.


The placement of this part of the stamp on the front of my card gave me pause trying to determine how I wanted the flowers to be, hanging or coming up from the ground. I think the next card the flowers will be hanging and purple, lol. After stamping the glue pen came out so so sparkle could be added. Yes, I need sparkle and/or bling on every card I make unless it is for a guy. Birthday Wishes came from a SU set I have had for a few years. I wanted the focus of the card to remain on the stamped image so I kept it clean and simple with not a lot of embellishing.

So, do you like the whole background or the bits and pieces better? I would love to know what you think.

Have a wonderful week ladies and thanks for visiting!

Happy Stamping and Scrapping,

Ronda

Hero Arts Fun

I have been having some fun with a beautiful Hero Arts background stamp. I just love this stamp because of its versatility. It is great using it as a whole or just in parts. Yup you heard me, parts of it can be used to make beautiful cards too. It also isn't holiday specific so it can be used all year long which is fantastic!

This first card uses the complete image as the main focus of the card. I stamped with versamark and then embossed with my Ranger black embossing powder. Let me tell you, this is the first time the embossing powder has come out of the jar in quite some time. Somehow it is always forgotten about and rarely used. That is such a shame considering how much I like this card, lol.



Personally I feel that cards made using black and white with just one other color, especially red, are very classic and elegant. So keeping this in mind that is just what I did. Rhinestones were added randomly on the card and some beautiful red satin ribbon completed the look. Loving the way this card came out, what about you?

Check back tomorrow to see what I did using just parts of this background.

Happy Stamping ladies!!!

Ronda

With Sympathy

A while back I was browsing one of the magazine blogs and saw that they had a call out for cards made using masking techniques. This made me pull out my copics together with the airbrush system for them, and get to work coming up with this card. When I was done I put it in my pile of things on my desk and proceeded to completely forget to submit it. I was going through some things on my desk the other day, straightening up when, to my surprise, I found said card. Yes, I thought to myself, that's great, I am loosing my mind. So, since I don't have to wait to hear back from them, I can post for all to see.

I really love to airbrush with copics. They blend so seamlessly. Every time I do this technique I am surprised at how beautiful it looks considering how easy it is to do.

After masking off the area to be airbrushed it was time to decide what colors to use. I finally decided on the following: Y21, Y23, Y17, Y38, YR07 and R08. You want to start with the lightest color at the top and go a little bit further than where you want the color to end then go over that last little bit with the next color. Keep repeating this process until you get to the last color. This is what will give you that great blending of the colors.

When finished the silhouette flower stamp was inked up with memento ink and stamped. The left hand side of the card looked as if it needed something so I used some of my scraps and put a thin piece of matching cardstock along the edge of the airbrushing. To finish off the card I used some really pretty taffeta ribbon and pop dotted the sentiment onto the card.

I am very happy with the way this card turned out. As much as I like the card I truly hope that I won't have a use for it anytime soon. Hope you all enjoy this technique and, if you can, give it a try using your copics.

Have a great Christmas and a safe New Year!!!

Happy Stamping and Scraping,

Ronda

Tri-fold Shutter Christmas Card

Well, I know I mentioned a while back that I had made a card to submit at work for a contest. It took a little bit to find out if anyone from our store had won and sadly, no one did. There were two other ladies who submitted entries and their cards were both beautiful. If you like Tim Holtz you need to check out Ruby's entry here: http://rubycraft.blogspot.com/2011/10/collectors-edition.html. Her work is just beautiful, so don't miss out, go check it out!!! Ruby is a huge Tim Holtz fan and is participating in his 12 Tags. Her work is stunning, just saying!

Now onto the card that I submitted. I really wanted to do something a little different, not just a regular A2 card and I had been wanting to make a tri-fold shutter card for a long time and just never got around to it. This was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. If you have not seen a tri-fold card, they are really beautiful and very easy to make.



If you would like to give it a try you will need a piece of card stock cut to 5 1/2 x 12. On my card I used Cloverleaf Bazzill paper, which is such a pretty color and really went well with the My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 Lost and Found Christmas paper I planned to use. You will take your paper and put it in your Martha Stewart scoreboard horizontally and score the paper at 2, 4, 8 and 10 inches. You will then take your paper and turn cardstock a 1/4 turn. Along the long edge, measure in 1 1/2 inches and make a slit with your craft knife between the score marks at 2 inches and 10 inches. You will repeat this step along the other side of the card.



You will want to fold the card to look like this. You will then decorate as you like. There are lots of great ways these cards can be decorated, just use your imagination and go wild, lol! On my card as mentioned above, I used the paper from My Mind's Eye, Lost and Found Christmas. The moment I saw this cardstock, I fell in love. It is just gorgeous with the colors they used in it and the glitter that is on the 12 x 12 cardstock. I used Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist over the designer paper to give it some sparkle. It turned out very pretty, and wasn't to overwhelming on the card.



The front of the card I did contemplate what should go on there for some time and then decided that the Martha Stewart's scoreboard needed to come out again so I could make a rosette to decorate the front of the card. The tip to making these rosettes, I have found is to cut your cardstock, staple it together and the start scoring and folding. Helps so the ends will meed up correctly. You will also need a good glue gun and depending on how big you want the rosette to be, make the circles on's on ether end bigger than shown on the instructions. I then used the accessory pack and picked up a beautiful sticker for the middle of the rosette.

I really love this card and think that it came out rather beautiful


Well I hope you enjoyed today's post, I know it has been a long time comeing. This tine of year leaves little for crafting, sigh... I would love to be doing this all. Oh well, a girl cane dream right, lol. Hope you all enjoyed this card and give it a shot. If you do, let me know what you think, if it was easy or hard.

You all have a wonderful weekend and, if I don't post again for Christmas, I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Years and please be safe!!!!

Happy Stampin and Scrappin
Come back again soon!!!

Ronda

My Mind's Eye Christmas

My last post with the cute little snowballs mentioned that we had a contest at work for Christmas cards. This is another one that I made that the girls liked but was not the one that they liked best. The upside to making more than the one card we were allowed to submit is I now have a couple of cards already to send out for Christmas, lol.

This card was very simple to put together which is one of the things I liked best about it. The little squares were punched with a 1 1/4 inch punch with My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Christmas paper. I just love this this paper. The little 6 x 6 pad doesn't have the glitter that the 12 x 12 paper has but that's okay with me, it is still beautiful. I used iridescent gold Glimmer Mist on each of the squares to give it some shimmer then I used cinnamon and candy cane stickles around the edges of the squares. The background paper is from Graphic 45. I used chestnut roan ink around the edges of this and also on the Tim Holtz embossing folder before embossing the paper. This gave the paper a very pretty look which I hope you can see in the photo. Be Merry is from the My Mind's Eye embellishment pack. The glitter ribbon finishes this card of nicely, don't you think. I think next time I am at work I may have to pick up some more of this ribbon, maybe in some of the other colors.

Now I can't post pics of the card I submitted but I think I will try to make one that is similar tonight and post pics of that one tomorrow or Monday so check back soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Stamping and Scrapping,

Ronda

Jingleball Christmas Contest Reject

The past couple of nights I have been staying up late trying to get some cards done for a contest at work. I ended up making three cards and then brought them into work and asked the girls which one I should submit. Unfortunately we were only allowed to submit one card, such a bummer since I liked all of the cards I made. Well the votes were unanimous, they loved all of the cards but this one was not the one they chose so I thought I would share it with you all. I don't think I will be able to share the one that they picked but I do plan to make another one, very similar in nature but not exact since I don't know if it would be okay to share it. Couldn't find that info anywhere in the rules but though it best to be safe rather than sorry. The winner gets a $50 gift card to Archivers so I really hope that I win!! There is so much at work that I would love to purchase, lol.

Well on to the card details. Isn't this the cutest little snowman stamp. It is by WhipperSnapper and is called Snowballs. Makes me smile every time I see these little guys. As a lot of you know, I just love coloring with copic markers and this card is no exception. After coloring them I used Smooch paint on the top hat to give the snow a shimmer, I also outlined the little snowballs with it as well. Using a glue pen I added some shaved ice under these cute little guys. Boy does this stuff sparkle so pretty in the light, reds, pinks, blues and purples, oh so gorgeous!!! My next step was to add flower soft to the santa hat. I have found that a glue pen really isn't strong enough to hold this on the card well so I use liquid tombo glue. You could also use glossy accents or the Ultimate glue.

The designer paper is from Graphic 45 and sprayed with Glimmer Mist Pearl and was also sprayed on the red layer for more shimmer. Remember, you can't have enough sparkle on your cards and pages, even if you have boys, lol, they will get over it. The cute little crystal snowflakes started off clear but I decided that they would look better if I used my copics and airbrushed them blue and they look so pretty that way! Give it a try if you haven't already! To finish off this gate card I used some red rhinestones and some new American Crafts Glitter Ribbon (omgosh is this ribbon beautiful). Oh, I also colored the jingle bells and the notes with a gold Spica pen, another way to add some great sparkle to your project.

I can tell you I took a lot of time making this card and maybe it should have been the one that I submitted but what's done is done and hopefully I stand a chance, no matter how slight of winning. So please send along some good luck, I would appreciate it!!!

Ok some of you may be wondering which copics I used for this cuties so I thought I would end this with a list of one ones I used. Here is is: C1, C2, C3, C4, C6, R27, R29, and R39, YG93, YG95 and YG97, B34 and B37 for the scarf and hat band as well as the snowflakes and E25 for the arms. Last but not lease I used BG000 to outline the snowballs to give them a little shadow.

Hope you enjoyed all of the work that went into this little guy. Should you have any questions, please fell free to ask me and I will try to get back to you quickly,.

Happy Stamping and Scrapping,

Ronda

Sharing in Your Sorrow

This year has not been a very good one for my family. Not long after the loss of my dad my uncle passed away. Sympathy cards are not a favorite card of mine to make, as a matter of fact, they are very difficult. I never know what to say inside, not sure what to put on the outside either.

My aunt and uncle spent a lot of time in Maine, it was one of their favorite places. I can actually remember going camping up there with them when I was little. So this made my choice in images for these cards very easy. I used one of my favorite old stamp sets, Coast to Coast. It was perfect because one of the lighthouses in this set is from Maine.

I didn't want to do a lot of coloring with these, it just didn't seem right to make it bright and cheery so I only used one copic marker, B000 on the sky. I stamped with Memento brown ink and used kraft cardstock as the base with brown cardstock and soft sky as the layers. I had a 6 x 6 pad of designer paper from My Mind's Eye (one of my favorite companies as I love all of the papers they have put out this past year). This one is called Stella Rose - Hattie. The papers in this pack went with the colors I wanted to used just perfectly. To finish these off I used brown satin ribbon and a scalloped punch.

I really like the way these cards came together. I hadn't planned to share these cards tonight but the ones that I did plan to share may have to wait since I can't find the cord for my camera that I need to download my photos, sigh. Hopefully I can find it soon. Not sure where my memory is lately.

Hope you enjoy.

Happy Stamping and Scrapping,

Ronda

My Little Lion King

It has been a long time since I have had a chance to post. The page I am going to share with you tonight I actually made about a month ago, maybe a little longer but haven't had a chance to actually take pictures and post here for you all to see. As you can see from the photos, this are really old since my cute little boy is in high school now. Yes, I am a bit behind in my scrapbooking. I know, I know, I really need to get it in gear and get scrapping.

Well I was inspired by the cute zoo line by Bo Bunny and the fact that Lion King was being re-released in theaters since Jacob is dressed as Simba. I just love this paper line and all of the accessories that came along with it. Super, super cute. The layout came from Page Maps book. What a great resource if you are stuck or just don't feel like coming up with a layout yourself (actually me being lazy that night and just wanted to get something done, lol).

Enjoy and don't follow my example, get scrapping!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happpy Scrapping and Stamping,

Ronda

Congrats to You

Just this past week a friend of mine got herself a much deserved promotion, way to go Joyce. So to celebrate I wanted to make her a special card and I just love this little dragon stamp with his balloon. He is made by Stampavie, Lelo Designs and is called Party Dragon. Isn't he just the cutest little thing.

The copics used on this card are:

Wings, horns, patch on shirt and one balloon: V0000, V000, V01 and V12
Shirt toenails and one balloon: YR0000, YR000, YR01 and YR02
Last Balloon: BG10, BG11 and BG13
Dragon: YG93, YG95, YG97 and YG13

I spent some time trying to decide what papers to use and found some from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist called Happy Go Lucky that went with the colors I used just perfectly. The cloud paper is also My Mind's Eye but from the paper pack called Fly a Kite. This piece of course needed so sparkle so out came the Pearl Glimmer Mist. This adds just the right amount of sparkle and gets used quite often in my house. Everything must have a little sparkle.

It may be hard to tell from the pictures but did you notice how the balloons look wet? Crystal effect was used on these to give it a latex look. It was also used on the Congratulations banner. The little dragon is pop-dotted off the cloud layer. To get the layered shape I used my nestablities, gotta love these. Tho I always have to search youtube to remember what platform to use when cutting and embossing with these on my Big Shot.

After putting the card all together I decided it really needed a little something else to finish it off so I used my handy dandy Bow-Easy, which by the way makes the most perfect bows ever, to make a cute triple bow with some gingham ribbon and then added a cute little corduroy button.

Hope you have enjoyed this card.

Have a great Sunday. Happy stamping,

Ronda