Morgan's Birthday Card

I made this A2 card for my granddaughter's third birthday. When I asked her mom what she wanted for her birthday, I hear my practically perfect grandbaby girl holler "purple!" So everything about her gifts from us is PURPLE!

I used cardstock from The Paper Cut -- Grape Jelly and Grapsicle. I wanted to decorate inside of the card as well as the outside, so a heart-balloon diecut seemed to be the perfect addition. I selected black and white ribbon is from May Arts for my decorative touch because it's a good neutral color. I used my Imaginisce ribbon cutter to cauterize the ends of the simple knot to keep them from raveling. My Heart Balloon is an Elizabeth Craft Die. I used two Memento inks --  Tuxedo Black and Smoky Plum. Copic Markers Used: E000, E00, YR00, R20, E97, YR18, E19, C1, C5, C7, V0, and V04.

Hot Cocoa Marci

I think this is a good example of clean and simple style. After I finished creating my scene, I didn't really feel that buttons, bows and lattices would improve the sampling. I suppose I could have doodled a wallpaper design, but my purpose here was to present a colored Hot Cocoa Marci. I just might come back later on and add the doodles.

My scene includes La-La Land Crafts Hot Cocoa Marci (Item # 5182) in a Cotton Candy (The Paper Cut) room with her own mug of hot chocolate and a peek of embossed snowflakes (Darice 5”x7” snowflake embossing folder) through a partially open window (Spellbinders Window Two # S2-016). No wonder the poor little thing is cold!

I stamped Marci and the sentiment with Memento Rich Cocoa Dye Ink. I used the following Copic Markers to create my scene: BG11, BG13, BG15, BG09, BG18, BV00, BV11, BV13, BV17, E00O, EOO, E01, E04, E21, E34, E41, E43, E47, E49, R81, R85, R89, W2, W5, and 0 (Colorless Blender).

Pilot Luka

I got this stamp because my husband is a retired navigator and I thought it would be a great addition to our military scrapbook and our Desert Storm pages. This is La-La Land Stamp #5036. I used the following Copic markers on this project: B21 – Baby Blue; B73 – Antwerp Blue, E00 – Skin White, E02 – Fruit Pink; E21 – Baby Skin Pink; E71 Champagne; E74 – Cocoa Brown; E77 – Maroon; R02 – Flesh; R29 – Lipstick Red; W00 – Warm Gray No. 00; W2 – Warm Gray No. 2; YR000 – Pale Chiffon; YR21 – Cream; YR24 – Pale Sepia; YR31 – Light Reddish Yellow

Steampunk Top Hat Marci

I haven’t posted in more than a month. I’ve completed projects, but my work table was such a mess that I couldn’t find anything. It took me a month, but now I have a clean workplace where I can spread out and get things done. It’s no accident that Top Hat Steampunk Marci is the first of these projects.

Steampunk is:

1.      A subgenre of science fiction

2.      An artistic style that develops from steampunk fiction

3.      Happens with goths discover brown.

 

Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American Wild West. It visualizes a future which employs steam power as a dominant energy source and fictional machines which operate off that power.

 

I love the steampunk style and have been looking for ways to incorporate in my design aesthetic.  When I stumbled upon La La Land Crafts’ Steampunk Top Hat Marci (Item # 5190) I knew the time had come to move the project forward.

I stamped the image with Momento Rich Cocoa Dye Ink on Copic Blend-It cardstock. I cut her out and adhere the elements and her to a piece of Recollections 4”x6” piece of craft cardstock. I plan to add her to a Pocket Scrapbook page/project incorporating the Steampunk theme. 

I used the following Copic Markers to color my girl: E00, E000. E02, E11, E17, E50, E53, E57, R20, W2, W5, YG0000, YG11, YG93, YG95, YR0000, YR21, R24, and YR3.

I used my Spellbinders Grand Calibur to cut the gears (Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets #S5-048) out of The Paper Cuts Black Licorice and the lattice with The Paper Cuts Jellybean Green (Heartfelt Creations Decorative Lattice Swirl #HCD 733). My background is Steampunk cardstock form Graphic 45, circa 2011.

 

 

 

Pure Innocence: Sprinkler Girl

 

I had a lot of fun coloring my My Favorite Things Pure Innocence girls. I colored four sets of them and then set out on a journey to create some memorable cards. I got the idea for this one from Sharon Harist's "Hula Girl" in the new Copic Coloring Guide Level 4 book. I used SparkleNSprinkle's Stamp Set 29 "Blossoms" for my background piece. I also used it on my sentiment circle. I kind of took a chance here because I stamped the sentiment first and then stamped the background.  I used Memento's London Fog and randomly stamped second generational images using my Blossoms stamp set. I am especially excited about my layering pages. I was confident that they were straight and perfectly sized because I used my new Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics A & B.  I think I used size 3 from each grouping. I used two Paper Shapers punches to make my sentiment circle -- 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" scallop. I created my card base from my The Paper Cut collection -- Raspberry and my layering with Black Licorice. Of course, I used the Copic Blend-It cardstock for stamping and coloring my images. I stamped my Sprinkler girl with Memento Tuxedo Black. My ribbon is American Crafts Premium Black Gingham. I used the following Copic Markers: B0000, B00, B01, B02, E00, E11, E31, E35, G000, G21, G24, 518, R20, RV10, RV52, RV55, RV56.

 

 

 

My Favorite Things: Too Cute!

I've had this stamp set around for awhile and finally got around to creating a card just for her. This is part of the My Favorite Things Pure Innocence collection. I'm on a DIY kick as I strive to do more with less, so I created the stamp set with the Heartfelt Creations Posies collection. I shaped them with the McGill Paper Blossoms tool kit. I created the card with Spellbinders Labels 8 Nestabilities set. I also used the following markers:
C2 Cool Gray #2
E0000 Floral White
E00 Skin White
E19 Redwood
E97 Deep Orange
FRV1 Fluorescent Pink
R30 Blush
RV21 Light Pink
RV23 Pure Pink
RV25 Dog Rose Flower
YR00 Powder Pink
YR18 Sanguine

Starfish Make-And-Take

We're preparing for our first Heirloom Productions trade show in West Springfield, MA on June 1 and 2. Part of that preparation means inventorying product, finishing kits, and putting together Make-And-Takes. I created this 2.75" circle card as a make-and-take companion piece to the turtle, octopus and fish in a class I taught at Stamping by the Sea in Ocean City, MD a few months ago. He's part of SparkleNSpinkle's Sea Critters stamp set #235.

I used four Copic markers to color this little guy: B0000, R22, R24 and E07. I stamped the starfish with Memento's Tuxedo Black dye ink. The bubbles (SparkleNSprinkle 0242-91AA) came last with Memento's Bahama Blue.  I cut the circle card out of The Paper Cut Lunar cardstock with my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and I cut the circles with a from Copic Blend-It cardstock with a 2.5" circle punch.

Art Impression Gossip Club

I have a new kit in our scrappigators shopping cart that I've been planning to develop for more than a year. The first time I colored these three ladies, I used three different face colors. I finally got smart and decided to keep it simple. The kit includes the stamp and enough product to make three cards. I precut the card  and Copic paper. All in all, it was a fun card to do. I used the following Copic Markers: B24 – Sky, B37 – Antwerp Blue; BG000 – Pale Aqua; C5 – Cool Gray #5; E000 – Pale Fruit Pink; E00 -- Skin White; E19 – Redwood; E30 - Bisque; E41 – Pearl White; E97 – Deep Orange; G29 -- Pine Tree Green; R20—Blush; R29 – Lipstick Red; V06 Lavender; V12 Pale Lilac; W00 – Warm Gray #00; W03 – Warm Gray #03; W05 – Warm Gray #05; YG03 – Yellow Green; YG06 – Yellowish Green; YG 67 -- Moss; YR18 – Sanguine; YR21 – Cream; YR24 – Pale Sepia; YR31 – Light Reddish Yellow; YR82 – Mellow Peach

Mosaic Moments Design Team Challenge

Our assignment was to convey a “forget-me-not” message; more specifically, what we want others (and ourselves) to remember about oursleves at this phase in our lives. We were also to choose String, Mosaic Moments Cornerstones, and/or Doodles as an element or elements in our layout. 

As far as how I want to be remembered, among, many things, I want to be remembered as an artist. My artistic journey has taken many twists and turns, but it’s always been there, sometimes taunting me, at other times blossoming through me, and always fighting its way to the surface. This layout chronicles some of my artistic endeavors. 

As far as the process involved in this page, I knew I wanted to add doodles, but I wasn’t sure of how many. I started by dusting off some very old Sizzix alphabet dies and cut them out using Paper Cuts Licorice black cardstock for the shadows and Copic Blend-It cardstock for the detail layer.  Using a 0.5 black Copic multiliner pen, I doodled the flowers and colored them with B21, B24, B29 and G21. I liked the general effect, so I continued with the black framing and doodled squares throughout the rest of the layout. I added a little extra depth by placing large faux pearls at the top of each diamond.  I did not pop the squares. They seem to pop all by themselves. The title “Artistic” and books are the only pieces using foam dots on the page. for more on this story, visit my challenge response on www.journella.com.

BIRTHDAY GIRL

 

Isn’t it amazing how a casual comment can turn into something exciting? That was the case with this layout that is the first of my Scrapbook in a Year program. I used a Hero Arts stamp set and Close To My Heart Cotton Candy ink to create the background, the new Elizabeth Craft Designs cupcakes diecut to create the embellishments, my Pazzle to generate the title, and Paper Cuts Pink Lemonade, Razzleberry, Black Licorice and Sweet Tooth papers. Making the cupcakes was a blast with my Copic markers and SparkleNSprinkle glitter. This kit is jam-packed with product and is selling for $25. If you’re interested in purchasing this kit, email me at diane@scrappigators.com. By the end of next week, you will be able to order on my website (www.scrappigators.com).

Whaley Under the Sea Tutorial

Under the Sea

By Diane Cook

This is the first of about six stamps on the Close to My Heart Under the Sea stamp set (C1500). My focus on this tutorial is on the coloring techniques. I kept the card construction rather simple. I made the card using scraps from my Pemberly Workshop on the Go kit. I used embellishments from the CTMH’s Mocha Opaques Adhesive Gems (Z1333). You can order this sweet little stamp set from my CMTH website:  http://dianecook.myctmh.com.

I used the following Copic markers:
0 – Colorless Blender
B0000 – Pale Celestine
B02 – Robin’s Egg Blue
BV20 Blue Lavender
BV23 – Grayish Lavender
BV25 – Grayish Violet

I also used Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Tombow adhesive, and foam strips. I stamped my whale image on Copic Express It cardstock.

Step 001 * BV20 - After applying a base coat of 0 –Colorless Blender, then, using a circular motion, color the entire whale with BV20 – Dull Lavender

 

Step 002 * BV23 - Using circular stroke along Whaley’s perimeter,  color with BV 23.

 Step 003 * BV20 - Using a circular brushstroke, use BV20 to blend the darker color into the rest of the whale. As you blend, feel free to leave a small area in the center of your image lighter.

Step 004 * BV23 - Now apply a second coat you BV23 inside your first coat of the darker color.

Step 005 * BV20 - Again, blend over with BV20. You will see Whaley darkening with the exception of the center light spot.

 

 Step 006 * BV25 - With a small, circular brush stroke, edge Whaley’s inside perimeter with BV25

 Step 007 * BV20 - Soften with BV20

Step 008 * B0000 - Apply base coat of B000 to waterspout

Step 009 * B02 - Accent with B02.

Sep 010 *  Assemble your card as you desire. I used scraps from my Close to My Heart Pemberly set. I cut my wave with a Creative Memories border punch. I cut my Whale image to 3”x3” and graduated the matting sizes by either ¼” (for a 1/8” frame) or ½” (for a ¼” frame). I also used a foam strip t pop the waves.

 

 

Blue Roses

We get to do something with our Copic markers that nature cannot! We get to create a blue rose. Apparently, roses do not have the gene they need to enter the blue spectrum. They have come to symbolize mystery and longing for the unattainable. So, if you see a blue rose at your local florist, it is most likely a white rose that was dyed blue somewhere along the way.
     With all the end-of-the-Mayan-calendar predictions, what is more fitting for a new year Copic floral class than one that features the unattainable blue rose? In this case, our rose is part of the SparkleNSprinkle collection (Stamp # 3184-402N also in Stamp Set #402). This is also the first of our four-marker classes that we’re introducing to our students in 2013. The four colors in this care are B12, B24, B26 and Y15. The Colorless Blender is a staple and she be brought to every class.
     My $17 kit includes everything except the markers, adhesive, foam dots, Memento Stamping ink, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink . It also includes a step-by-step illustrated instructions, the cushioned-for-acrylics stamp and enough product to complete three cards. Visit our website at www.scrappigators.com for ordering instructions.

Copic Winterbirds

 

My friend, Margaret, came by yesterday for my first Copic Winterbirds class. We had a wonderful time and managed to finish these two cards in two hours. Our goal was to create a relatively realistic representation of these winter birds using short strokes and shading. I’m rather happy with these cards (except for some red smudges on the ribbon) but that’s what I get for rushing. My third card for my “Winter Birds” collection is a cardinal, but I’m opting to add that in later because it strayed from the color scheme I used in the “sparrow” and the chickadees. The real beauty is that we were able to finish the cards in two hours. I love it when a plan comes together.

We used the following products for this project:

Copic Markers:

0 - Colorless Blender, C1 – Cool Gray 1, C2 - Cool Gray 2, B24 – Sky, E51 – Milky White, E53 – Raw Silk, E55 –Light Caramel, E84 – Khaki, G29 – Pine Tree Green, R27 – Cadmium Red, R29 – Lipstick Red, W3 – Warm Gray 3, W5 – Warm Gray 5, YG23 - New Leaf

Stamps:

Northwoods “Four Chickadees On Pine Branch” and SparkleNSprinkle Nestle In For Christmas

Tools & Supplies:

Memento Tuxedo Black inkpad; Paper Trimmer; Adhesive; Starform Text Stickers, Silver #351; Flower Soft Peel Off Borders, Silver #306

Cardstock

Copic Express It Cardstock; Paper Cuts Red Hot Cardstock

 

September Background of the Month

 

I've been talking about it and talking about it -- now I finally did it! I've created my first to backgrounds which I will conform into scrapbooking pages a bit later. My little sun guy above I stamped with Inkadinkado's new Stamping Gear product and used SparkleNSprinkle's embossing powder to bring it out. I think next time I do this page, I might spritz in a bit of yellow. I used Copic Various refills to spritz in the sky and a The Crafters Workshop template to lay in the birds. I also used Ranger Distress inks for color and a cream Pearl Pen to add dimension to the centers of the flowers.

This one is all about spritzing and masking. I'll come back in later today or early tomorrow and update the product details.

Lolly Garden Card

I had a wonderful time at Intermediate Copic Training in Lyndhurst, NJ this past weekend and have been practicing with some of my new images. Alas, I need to finish some new samples so I decided to work on my August Flower of the Month, I planned to post it today. Then I stumbled upon my SparkleNSprinkle Lolly Garden (Set397) stamp set and decided to go town! Sadly, I had to nix it after the project was finished because it requires 13 markers! But, I'm going to do four more myself because it's such a cute card. I used the following Copic colors:
BG11 Moon White
BG13 Mint Green
FYG1 Fluorescent Yellow
C2 Cool Gray 2
C5 Cool Gray 5
E000 Pale Fruit Pink
E01 Pink Flamingo
R22 Light Prawn
R24 Prawn
BG0000 Snow Green
BG000 Pale Aqua
0 Colorless Blender
100 Black

I made my card base from a Recollections paper pack I had in my stash. For the flowers on the front, I stamped three each of four colors on paper scraps and used a 3/4" punch (I think) to cut out the flowers portion.  I stamped the flowers around the bottom of the card and covered the flower portion with my punched colors. I used EK Success Repositional adhesive on the overlaping edge of the larger flower to keep the front closed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next ones look like.

Ladybugs

This is a "just for fun" card I did when I probably should have been doing something else. It's from the Inkadinkado 99121 Mindscapes stamp set. Inside the ladybug shell is a fantasy pattern that begs for some kind of special treatment. I used five Copic colors plus At  You Spica 00 Clear. The cardstock came from my stash amd the sentiment was from a Close To My Heart sentiment stamp set. My marker colors are: 

• R27 Cadmium Red
• R29 Red Lipstick
• G20 Wax White
• G24 Willow
• Y08 Acid Yellow

I'm going to play with this one some more, I think. 

Copic Butterflies

These three cards are from SparkleNSprinkles Fancy Butterflies (Set 437) collection. I created the cards using The Paper Cut Lemon Drop, Blu Raspberry, Sour Apple and Sweet Tooth colors with matching envelopes. My Copic colors were BG01 Aqua Blue, BG05 Holiday Blue, Y15 Cadmium Yellow, and Y17 Golden Yellow. Of course, I used Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp my Copic images onto Copic Cardstock. I thought about adding bling in the form of glitter, maybe embossing, and more, but couldn't bring myself to it. This seemed to work well, espcecially with the Paper Cut colors. I'll be adding this workshop to my August selections.

Scrappigators Flower of the Month

Hiding behind their Copic project cards, Elaine G and Carolyn S are holding up the Copic Card Project we did last Wednesday. Two of the cards are mind, the orangy/pink one Elaine did, the lavendar one was Carolyn's creation, and the third blue one came from Sharon G's pens. We started by creating our own backgrounds using the same markers we used to color one single flower. We then stamped the floral images on our background paper, colored one whole flower on Copic cardstock, punched circles in the colored one and strategically placed them on the design. This is definitely a class I will teach again and again.

Copic 101 Revised

After almost a year of teaching my Inkadinkado Copic Floral Class, I decided it was time to refresh my Copic 101 class and start to work on Copic 102 -- Birds and Bugs OR Birds, Butterflies and Bugs. While the cornerstone of the class is working with these IN-CRED-BLE Copic markers, I'm also integrating some primo products from SparkleNSprinkle. In this case, I used the Celestial Glitter to set off the floral centers. I also used SparkleN Sprinkles Blossoms Stamp set to create this WONderful card bouquet. My papers came from Bazzill, Paper Cuts, Melissa Frances and Recollections. I'm also redirecting my color blending pallete embrace the balance of threes. in this case, my "threes" are pink and blue -- selected to embrace Copic Blending rules. Best of all, I got to use my Sizzix Vagabond (brand new happy dance for major progress on decluttering my craft room) to cut out the Spellbinders Nestibilities. That's when I discovered what I ddin't have but is now on order to maximize the awesomeness of my Sizzix. Another big bonus lies with my newly revamped website (www.scrappigators.com) -- a continuing work in progress. I've streamlined the site a bit and am excited to see what the changes will bring.

Copic Flower of the Month Test Drive

I'm  revisiting, revamping, and reworking our Copic program. At the recommendation of one of my students, I'll be offering a 3-5 tiered teaching program with each having its own monthly club offering. I'm totally excited about my Copic Florals class. I cardlifted the circle call-out element from the Annie's Attic Copic 2 book but scaled it down to a 4.25" x 5.5" card. After watching a Copic Sketch DVD from Imagination International, I decided to create my own background. I also decided to use At You Spica pens for the center of the flowers which are from the Gina K "A Year of Flowers" stamp set. So you see, it's totally a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a cool techniques. You can't really tell on this photo, but the center flower's call-out element is backed with foam dots to give it some extra dimension.

I used the following markers to complete this project:

* B000- Pale Porcelain Blue

* BOO - Frost Blue

* B02 – Robins Egg Blue

* BG05 – Holiday Blue

* At You Spica 02 - Pink

* At You Spica 10 -  Black

* At You Spica 14 – Blossom