For You x 3 + 1

Hi everyone!  It is almost Friday and I am ready for the weekend.  Mr. Shac has been traveling a lot the last two months and this is a weekend that has nothing too big on our calendar.  The spring busy-ness of baseball starts soon, so I need to take advantage and maybe try to stamp some!  Yesterday was a snow day, although some people in these parts didn't get much snow at all.  We had measured four inches, but it was wet and slushy by the end of the day.

Anyhow, with the kids home, I snuck a few minutes and made a card during the day and a few more after they went to bed.

The first three actually have no stamping on them, unless you count digi-stamping.  I found this cute label on the Avery Elle blog last week.  It has a bit of a vintage vibe, so I downloaded it and printed it out in the original size, as well as slightly smaller and slightly larger.  I figured I'd mix patterns here; polka dots and gingham go nicely together!

Here is the smallest version of the digital stamp.  It has a very delicate look when sized down, don't you think?  I used similar colors for these two cards since I didn't feel like pulling out different Copic markers.

And, finally, with the larger version, I changed the color scheme, but went back to gingham.  I also used colored pencils to create a softer look to the flowers.  I'm no good at incorporating larger ribbon on cards, especially if I want a bow.  I'll need to work on that skill.

Did I say finally on that last card?  Well, I lied.  I actually have one more.  I've been thinking about my brother who has a BIG birthday (one month from yesterday) and wanted to make him a card that would express how he might feel turning 40.

My chevron stripe was not think enough to suit for a Charlie Brown shirt, so I doubled it up.  It could not have been a more simple card, really, and it gets the message across just about right, I think.  What do you think?

stamps by Avocado Arts and A Muse Studio; die by Simon Says Stamp.

Here's hoping I get around to stamping this weekend.  I actually got some new Avery Elle stamps in the mail today using a gift certificate that I won during their March Blog Hop.  Fun!

One Last Card

I had time this evening to stamp one more card.  I had this idea last night while stamping the three cards from one set, but I knew I was too tired to try to make it as I had envisioned.  I had not yet done anything from Day 9 - Using Textures and very much wanted to try to add ink with a brayer to embossed paper.  I had some scraps of embossed paper in my little scrap pile, so I got to work.

I added black acrylic paint to the scraps of paper and cut those down to small strips and trimmed.  Then I put washi tape onto other small scraps of paper, trimmed the ends and adhered those strips to the card. For a bit more texture, why not some felt?  I'd had this one hanging around for a while, so it was a pretty quick card, especially since I used the heat gun to speed up the drying time of the paint.

I have really enjoyed the class session.  I look forward to seeing what the next new class offering will be.  And, I hope that this has got my stamp senses tingling!  Thanks for checking in these past two weeks and for the comments. 

Stamp by Avery Elle.

One Stamp Set, Three Ways

Well, the end of last week got away from me and I didn't get much time to stamp until late last night.  I was determined, though, to do something.  Big mistake.  I ended up with three very uninspired cards for the Day 10 homework.  I'll share anyway because I did participate, but I know better than to stamp after too long of a day!

I used the Get Outta Town set by Paper Smooches for these three cards.  I have other palm trees but I really like these because they are two stamps and you can change the placement easily.

I used black colored pencils to color in the sunglasses.  I tried pencil, Copic marker and a fine line pen and the pencil covered best.  Who da' thunk it?

This is my favorite image from the set.  I probably bought the set just for this stack of luggage.  I had some patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket that worked great to give the luggage a vintage vibe.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps by Paper Smooches.

Sweet Sketch

Happy Friday!  I managed another card last night; this one from Day 6 - Sketches.  I took some liberties with the last sketch from Debby Hughes.

I did a bit of masking, a bit of sponging ink and a bit of coloring on this one.  My daughter saw it and her eyes got real big.  I'm sure she was thinking about how delicious all of those treats would be!  I think it will be one she asks to send to her friend in Belgium.

I hope to find some time to stamp today, so if you're so inclined, check back soon.  Thanks for being here - I appreciate it!

Stamps by Lawn Fawn.

Sketchy Tone on Tone Thanks

I mentioned that I found some time to stamp right?  Well, I managed a little bit more time this afternoon!  This one if courtesy of Day 6 - sketches.  Kristina shared a tone-on-tone card for her sketch, which I really liked.  My biggest problem is that I don't own many big or background stamps.  

Yellow and navy blue are very pretty together and make me think of spring.  I think the tone-on-tone works so nicely with this background stamp.  It has a very dressy feel but it was fairly easy.  I am having so much fun with this class; thanks to Kristina, Jennifer and Julie for putting together a terrific set of lessons so far.  I'll be sad for it to end!

Stamps by Market Street Stamps and Paper Smooches.

You Are Loved

Here is another one layer card (for Day 7) using the watercolor paper and markers for an ombre effect (for Day 8).  I did this with a popsicle stamp last week and really liked how it looked.  This time I did swipes of marker onto the watercolor paper and then went back over one edge to make a fade-out.  After it dried, I carefully placed different sized heart dies over the colors and cut.  

 

To add a little extra something special, I spritzed some shimmer spray over the hearts.  I know some people will say that this isn't a one layer card because of the die cuts, but I consider it a one layer card.  Super easy and pretty cute!

I just realized that this card can qualify for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog challenge - Have a Heart.  Some of the heart dies are from Simon Says Stamp!

Stamps by Paper Smooches.

Happy Everything!

Hello!  I've been away form my stamping space for a couple of days and have been a bit bummed to not find time to do any of the Clean and Simple Card Making homework.  I'd watched videos while folding laundry, though, and got to stamp a little bit today.

The Day 8 lesson was on Inking and Stamping techniques.  I don't usually use a lot of techniques because of limited time so this was a challenge.  Instead of using the ones highlighted in class, I went with a resist technique.  It is similar to the crayon resist from your grade school days, but I used clear embossing powder instead of wax crayons.

I stamped right on the watercolor paper and embossed.  Then, using the slick craft sheet, I tried the watercolor marker technique that Kristina used to add the color.  I kinda like the messy, artsy look to the card even though it is not a clean, crisp design (nor can I get it to flatten!).  I really liked using the watercolor markers again and managed to use them again for another card that I'll share soon.

Stamps from Hero Arts and Paper Smooches.