Cards for Soldiers and Blog Candy

Hello Everyone! I was reading Paula's blog today and she told us about a friend that is looking for cards to send to soldiers. This has always been a task dear to our hearts so I thought that I would pass it on to you. As incentive (as if we need it), Mary is offering some wonderful blog candy. You have until May 15th to send in your "embellishment free creation". Check out Mary's blog here.

Good Luck!

Cath

Copic Certification Class in Grand Rapids, MI

I know that some of you have expressed an interest in attending the Copic Certification class to be held in Grand Rapids, MI. I recently received information directly from Copic and the date has been set as June 12th (sorry Laura). You can access the application and receive class details by going directly to the Copic website here.

Good Luck and have fun!

Cath

Copic Cubby

I just had to share my newest storage solution with you. I purchased this Copic marker wooden box at the Kitchener Scrapfest from Skribbles and Scraps. They are a local scrapbook store across the pond, as we say, in Sarnia, Canada. The owner's husband Bob sold me on this. It comes unfinished and in a variety of sizes. They actually have one that stores 300 markers! I told him that was a bit much but I needed room for a little more than the 140 markers I own. He found one that holds 156 markers and I said sold! I quicky ran to good 'ol LumberJack to find some ebony stain and some poly so that I could stain this to match my desk. I love the way it turned out and love to see all my markers in order staring me in the face. I do have a few of my markers out for the April and May classes so that accounts for some of the holes you see but once they are all in - this is just about packed. Neat thing is that Bob said he would grow with me if need be and would special order so that the next box I purchase would be in similar height as this one. Is that service or what? Second neat thing, this was only $25. I thought it was a great way to see my markers in order - the neat freak in me hated when I pulled one out and they all spilled into the space. This should easily solve that.

Now onto a card...



I found this while cruising through the internet and thought it was a beautiful springy card. I've had a stash of Jolie flowers for years and immediately thought that they would be perfect embellishments on this card. Once I got the design down I was able to duplicate this a couple times and have given it out to my Spring birthday girls this year. I love it!

The tools I used were an EK Success border punch, Netabilities oval and labels 4 dies, Martha Stewart triple butterfly punch, Kaiser pearls, Jolie flowers, silk ribbon, an Impression Obsession leaf stamp stamped with Anna Griffin green pigment ink and a Penny Black sentiment stamp stamped with VersaMagic pumpkin spice chalked ink. Papers are a combination of AC Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest solar white, and pink parchment.

Hope you are having a great week.

Cath

Permitted to drive...

Happy Monday! I found this neat stamp by Artful Stamper at the Kitchener Scrapfest. Living on a golf course I thought would give me ample opportunities to send this to our friends. Note - the Auggies do not golf...we collect golf balls in our yard and have a cool refreshment with our friends as they come past our backyard (our house sits on the back stretch of hole 9 on a 9 hole golf course). Today though, I know a fine young golfer who I think is turning 16. That means that his Mom might like him to start driving this before he attempts to drive her Envoy!

I colored up the cart using my Copic markers with some light shading using prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I used both the large and small Classic Circle Nestibilites to create the golf balls in the background. I did not think this up on my own, they had this as a sample in the booth on Saturday. You can find it online as well here. The grass is actually the Icles border punch my Martha Stewart that I turned upside down.

Nothing fancy, I'm sure what's inside will be alot more important to this guy than any creative coloring I might do on the outside.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

Cath

Izzie has prezzies...

Happy Weekend Everyone! I did something very impulsive yesterday. I headed to Kitchener, Ontario (yup, Canada)to attend Scrapfest. I wasn't planning on attending becuase my cousin was coming from NY to visit with us. Unfortunately she was unable to make it so I starting coniving (I mean wishing). I knew about the event, knew that Stamping Bella was having a booth in the Marketplace and knew that my two favorite Bella Babes were going to be doing make-and-takes. I was dying to go once I found all that out. So when I came home from work on Friday, Auggie said, "make the trip, you know you want to see your girls and it's only 2 hours away." He followed it up with "cripe, you drive 45 minutes each way to work everyday so this should be a piece of cake and I was with my Homie's last weekend." Is he the best DH or what?

I also had a list of Bella's I wanted especially with the new images that were released on Friday. I knew that Emily was offering 15% off online orders through Tuesday the 20th but I couldn't wait. There were so many great new stamps - I just had to have them now! If you haven't already, you should head on over and see all the new, adorable, stamps. Did you hear that Mo Manning is joining Stamping Bella as a designer to release her unique images in rubbah? Head to Stamping Bella and check it out. Woo Hoo - my two favorite stamps in one place. Don't forget to check out the Blog to see all the creations the Babes have made.

Ok on to this lovely little lady. This is Izzie has a prezzie. She is my favoritist (my word not a typo). I bought about 5 new Izzies. Since they came out I have been wanting to get my hands on them. Paula Tracy and Linda Heavens do a phenominal job of providing us inspiration on how to color them up. I went with prismacolor pencils, gamsol, and blending stubs. I stamped her on Neenah classis crest solar white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The design paper is also purchased from Stamping Bella and is called The Thrift Shop by October Afternoon. I love this. I should have bought more though 'cause I can see me using this alot! The colored cardstock is Prism and the satin ribbon is Offray and I finished it off with a Martha Stewart floral border punch. The last addition was some glittah on the presents - also from Bella land. Linda and Tracy use this alot and I love the way it's so super sparkly. It's a very fine dust and doesn't take much.

I did learn how Linda adds shading around her images and I gave it a whirl here. She uses Wheat colored VersaMagic chalk ink with ColorBox sponge applicators. She starts off the paper and using a swirling motion comes onto the image so that you don't get globs. When I watched her, I was like - "that's how they do it!" We all need to spend a day with our idols so we can learn their tips. I can't wait to sit with Paula again on May 1st!

Well that's the start to my Bellas. Don't worry, I have lots more to show you and hope that I can find the time during the week to get them going.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cath

Ivy Ketto and Bella releases

Hello Everyone! I'm psyched the week is finally on it's way to the weekend! That means more play time. To start a little early, I decided to work on a submission for the Bella weekly challenge. There are some great new stamps being released and it sure would be fun to have some Bella bucks to buy them with. Each week Emily awards $20 in Bella Bucks to one lucky contributor and one lucky commentor gets $10.

This week the challenge was open - no control over the theme or layout. I have a little bit easier time with these. I pulled Ivy Ketto out and inked her up with Momento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock. Then I colored her up with my prismacolor pencils, gamsol and blending stubs. Paula Tracy had a sample card on display at Scrappin and Stampin where she used shades of green and yellow and I loved the way it looked. I tried to keep that theme here. Papers are scraps I had in the huge pile I've accumulated so I can't share those with you. The Martha Stewart Daisy border punch was a perfect fit, I thought along with a fabric flower, button and hemp cording. The sentiment is also a Bella and I stamped it on a Cuttlebug tag. The golden yellow ribbon is from my Mary Maxim stash and it finishes this little card off.

Hope you enjoy your Friday and are off to a great start on the weekend.

Thanks for looking and hope to see you here again soon.

Cath

May Flowers

Thought I'd share the card I'm teaching for May Copic classes at Mary Maxim. I found another Stampavie Photopolymer Clear Stamp. This one is by Tina Wenke titled Mouse with Sunflower. I LOOOVE sunflowers so this was a no brainer. I've been trying to use the colors from previous classes and build by adding a few with each new image. My intent is to show what blends with what and the versatility of colors when used in many different venues. Like E31. My magic color. It is great for blending browns or making blond hair not so yellow or to smooth out the colors in the center of this flower.

While I have been demonstrating dark to light coloring, in this image I colored from light to dark, blending the darker into the lighter color by adding another layer of light. The result is a little more blended.

All cardstock is by Prism. The design paper is another by TCP Studio. This one is full of rich golden yellows and is titled Boho Blooms Lemon Love. The finishing touch was a couple brads in the upper corner.

If you are in town, I hope you can stop by for a couple hours of fun.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cathy

Baby Clothesline

Hello Everyone. Hope you are all enjoying the warmer Spring weather. I have windows open and lots of cleaning projects going on...but there is always time for creating too.

First up is a baby girl card. Yeah, I was supposed to have gotten this out about a month ago but I just didn't have the right stamp. Te He, you'd laugh if you saw my craft room but I had a particular image in mind. I love the Stamping Bella Ketto's clothesline stamps. I knew that Mary Maxim had a similar stamp so I went shopping after teaching class on Saturday. I found this little cutie and ran home to give it a whirl.

The stamp is wood mounted called appropriately, Baby Clothesline, by Art Gone Wild. The posts aren't part of the stamp but I just added my own. I used my prismacolor pencils, gamsol, and blendng stumps this time. I even gave a whirl at adding some grass to make it a little more realistic. I love the way Paula Tracy and Linda Heavens do this but I am not so great. I have a new motto - practice, practice, practice or you will never feel comfortable doing it. If I can encourage people to feel comfortable with their Copics, I should be able to practice what I preach in other areas as well.

I actually cased a card from Linda Heavens for this layout. I didn't have all the elements but I came pretty close. Cardstock is Bazzil, the DP is from K&Company's Small Wonders Baby Girl 12x12 pack. Deckled rectangle Nesties, Ribbon Tag Trio, and Martha Stewart Daisy border punch finish it off.

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping by!

Cathy