Karen's Doodles - Challenge #17

Red White & Blue is the Challenge colors at Karen's Doodles USA Challenge blog.  Click here to check it out.  This is my entry.  Cruisin' - Celebrate Freedom



Card Recipe
Stamps:  Karen's Doodles Cruisin' & Studio G Celebrate Freedom
Paper:  Stampin Up Whisper White Cardstock, Paper Studio Designer Paper & The Paper Patch Red & Navy Allstars Vellum
Ink:  Stampin Up Real Red
Tools:  Crop-a-dile, Sissors, Paper Trimmer, ATG tape, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots
Embellishments:  Rhinestones, ribbon, eyelets, brads
Other:  Prismacolor Pencils, Mineral Spirits, Sakura Gelly Roll Glitter Pens

I loved the "Flag" paper but it seemed too bright so I topped it with the vellum.  The image was colored with both colored pencils and glitter pens.  Glossy accents was added to the sun glasses and headlights.  Here is a closeup.  You can click on the picture for a larger view.



I love how carefree these 2 look.  Arent' they cute?

Rubbernecker's Ethel

Isn't she a pistol?  I love the expressions on these old character stamps.  I started this card at a friends house this past weekend and finally finished her at home.

Ethel was stamped in Stazon Black and colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  After matting the image I added a lace frame.  The buttons are from Stampin Up.  All the DP is Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

The inside sentiment reads:  "I'm in shape. Round's a shape isn't it?"  A perfect card to give as encouragement to a friend that is trying to lose weight.

Karen's Doodles Challenge #16

I created this card as my entry in Karen's Doodles USA Challenge #16.  We were given the following sketch to follow:

The image is a digi freebe that I printed out onto SU Whisper White cardstock.  The bear was colored using Prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits.  I added my own doodles to match the sentiment (which I found at an expo several years ago).  I've never done a long card before so this was a fun, out of my comfort zone, challenge.  

I didn't win....

I entered this card in the "Featured Diva" contest over at Karen's Doodles.  I met Karen at the Fall 2009 Milwaukee Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo.  She was just getting started and I enjoyed speaking with her.  She was demonstrating her drawings and she drew a character for me.  I also received a copy of her new children's book.  Here is a photo of Karen and my "Doodle"!




A couple of months ago I saw her again at the Spring 2010 Milwaukee Expo.  She now has a website selling her Digital Images and has recently launched a line of rubber stamps.  She told me about her website and since I picked up a couple of her stamps I thought I'd give it a try.  There are some exceptionally great card makers entering her contests.  I didn't stand a chance.  But it was fun trying. Pop over and take a look at her stamps.  They are sooooo cute!

Playing around with my stamps

Do you find that you collect stamps and then never use them?  Well I do... so I dug through my stamps and came across this one from Rubbernecker.  I hadn't used her because I was looking for just the right saying.  I found a saying at an expo 2 months ago so I have no excuse!  This is Edna, one of the Rubbernecker "Old People" stamps.  They are so cute I wish I had them all.




I used Stampin Up cardstock in black, Night of Navy, and Sage Shadow.  Using Versamark Ink I stamped a coffee cup over and over to create a background pattern.  The black decoration is a left-over frame that I had cut from my cricut for another project.  I think it was from the Storybook cartridge.  I took a background stamp that is coffee beans and stamped with versamark over the frame then heat set clear embossing powder.

Edna was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I added glossy accents to the lens' of her glasses and stickles on her slippers and necklace.

The inside saying says...  Behind every successful women is a substantial amount of coffee.

Las Vegas - Paris

The Paris Hotel and Casino was very cool.  I was impressed with the architecture of the building.  I decided to go for a layout that had the look of an old photo album.


I created a mock postcard for the journaling on this page.  I printed my journaling from my computer onto a tan cardstock. I increased the font size for the word Paris to act as the page title.  The postcard was grunged up with Old Paper Distress Ink.  I used a Stampin Up postage stamp from an old set and smeared it a bit to give it an aged look.  Photo corners were added to all the pictures.  The corners were cut on the cricut using the Jasmine cartridge. 

Las Vegas - The Tropicana Casino

We had such fun playing the Wizard of Oz slots at the Tropicana Casino.  For this page I created tags to put the title on.  I cut the letters out using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  For the tags I used some small tags that I had in my stash, and stamped the circles 3 times with different color inks to match the polkadot border at the bottom.  I have a tornado stamp that I found at an expo so I stamped that over the circles.  Added some fiber for "fun" and I think this is a cute layout that really blends.

Here is a close up of the tags.

Black Magic Technique - Round 2

Here is another card using the Black Magic Technique.  You really have to try this!  The image gives you a look as if you actually drew it, but in reality you cheated!  How cool is that?



And the close up:



For those wanting to try this technique here is a link to the instructions on Karen's blog.

Black Magic Technique

I've had fun trying the Black Magic Technique I read about on the SplitcoastStampers web site.  It really is easy and the end result is very striking.

Using Stampin Up's Whisper White Craft Ink I stamped my flowers 3 times on black cardstock.  Heat set the ink with your heat gun.  When totally dry color over the flowers with Watercolor pencils.  After you finish coloring add accents with a white gel pen. 

Take your unique creation and make a card!  Here is my 1st attempt.


 

And here is a close up showing the detail a little bit better.

Las Vegas - We have arrived!

Since this was my first trip to Vegas I was so shocked to see that there were slot machines in the airport!  I was even more shocked when an airport employee came by and put his arm around me and welcomed me to the city.





I realize this is a pretty plain page. But I wanted the focus to be on the photos not the design of the page.  I used the Keystone cartridge to do the title.  I welded the shadow letters together in Design Studio and cut the tan letters out separately.  I added dots of stickles to give it that Vegas Lights look.  Since this page is next to the first page I used the same patterened paper but changed out the solid cardstock.  Same but different.....

Las Vegas Scrapbook - The beginning

This isn't the most elaborate scrapbook but I tried to do something creative on each page.  This first page I used the Cricut to cut out an airplane from the New Arrival cartridge.  Then I typed my journaling in Word so that it would fit on the plane.  I think this is a cute trick to make your journaling a little more interesting.  The clouds were cut from Mickey and Friends and Jasmine was used for the title.

I'm back....

You wouldn't believe what I have been up to lately.  I finally finished my Las Vegas Scrapbook!  It took a lot of time and dedication to stick with it, not get distracted, and keep my mojo going.  But I did it....  So watch for my upcoming posts where I'll show off all the pages. Well maybe not all of them, but most.

In the mean time I wanted to show you this adorable card I made using a stamp set and template that I purchased at a recent expo.  It's made by Art Gone Wild.  They have some really cool stuff.

We needed a birthday card for one of the bosses at work and I was asked to make a card.  This is what I came up with.  Hope you enjoy it!




Now here is the cute part....  The oven door and the broiler door open!



You can click on the pictures to see a larger view.  Isn't that cool?