Summer Camp Happy Mail

I've managed to find a little time (between moving furniture around for the drywall guys and laundry) to stamp again!  It was a good way to end the day yesterday.

My daughter wanted a card to send to a friend that is away at camp and she needs to get it in the mailbox today, so I had to work quickly.  I decided one layer (goes with this Lawnscaping challenge) and to make it look like a postcard (goes kinda with this Simon Says Stamp challenge).

I used two Lawn Fawn sets for this one.  I was inspired by the book Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie.  There are great illustrations of scenes from each city Toot visits along with a postcard he writes to Puddle.  It is a favorite story in our house.  The only thing I wish I had done was to change the bell in the stamp to the paw print.  I just don't think fast enough late at night anymore!

Late to class

Things have been really quiet here on this little blog o' mine.  We are in the midst of a big construction project and things inside the house are in disarray so I find very little time to stamp because it is hard to get to the space!  I've stamped here and there over the last couple of months but nothing worth sharing, really.

But, I have the desire to get back into it, so I signed up for the Online Card Class Summer Card Camp 2.  It has been going on for the last three weeks but I am just now really getting into doing any lessons.  My note for the teachers for being tardy: I was out of town and came back pestered by an allergic reaction and two of my kids have gotten sick.  It hasn't been the most ideal circumstances to jump in to watching the videos and trying some new ideas, but I'm trying.  I actually stamped the last two nights just so I could participate while class was actually in session!

A quick share, using my phone photos (because the main home computer hard drive has decided that four years old is old enough!):

This is for a sketch from week 3.  I need a card for a babysitter who is off to college in a few weeks and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get one made.  I also used the color combination for the week.  Two birds with one card...

This was for the Week 3 Day 4 assignment: try something new.  I've only done the distressed ink/spritz/watercolor/resist thing once before, so it is still new to me.  Instead of spritzing with water, I used a sparkly finishing spray to experiment.  It came out ok and much more subtle than all out glitter.  I also am trying to use pattered paper more.  I've got loads of it, but I'm not very good at incorporating it into cards.  One day I hope to be better at it!

Well, I hope to have something more to share later, especially cards that I find satisfying.  Here's hoping...

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.