It's a Wonderful Life!

OK,, I confess, I have never actually seen the movie but the stamp set I used is called "Wonderful Life" from Stampin' Up.  It's a buildable set.  I used 5 of the stamps in the set to make the scene. I stamped it on craft paper and used my Spectrum Noir markers to color it in.  I did virtually no shading because the cardstock didn't lend itself to blending.  I used fun flock for snow on the tree, car and gifts and a snow pen for the snow on the road. The tree pattern paper is from a Recollections paper pack, "Christmas Cabin" and the sentiment is from a generic die cut I have. I used some Glossy Accents on the window, bows and taillights and a few pearl accents I had from a previous paper pumpkin on the garland. Overall, I really like the vibe of this one.

Pumpkin Spice it Up!

OMG I LOVE THIS STAMP SET!!  This is the Pumpkin Spice it up set from a collaboration between Simon Says Stamp and the Greeting Farm.  The card is just some plain craft cardstock and 3 different patterns I printed and cut from my Silhouette.  I distressed all the edges.  I also printed and cut a couple of leaves from a file. I colored the stamp in with my Spectrum Noir, but I don't have a large selection of flesh tones (of any hue) so her skin is colored in, but it is WAY too light.  I used glossy accents on her glasses and I am still in the novice stage of hair coloring.  Even with all my mistakes, I just love this card.

Hey Pumpkin 2

I don't know about you, but I am SICK of summer.  In Florida, it is the same everyday: Hot, humid and afternoon thunderstorms. We don't get Autumn here, but I am going to take a 2 week trip up into the mountains this October and I am really looking forward to it!  I absolutely LOVE everything about Fall.  Anyway, this in the Hey Pumpkin stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  I used a printable paper and accents from my Silhouette for the card itself and colored in the stamp using Spectum Noir.

Birthday Balloons

This is a simple birthday card.  I used the Stampin' Up - Hand delivered set and colored it in with Spectrum noir markers and topped the balloons off with Glossy Accents.  In person, they look shiny, but in photos, they look wet.  I also added some star accents to one of the balloons.  I wanted to keep adding, but I stopped myself and tried to just keep it simple.

Wish upon a star

I just love this card.  I have no idea who I will send it to, lol.  I have the Lawn Fawn, Upon a Star clear stamp set that I got after watching a K Werner video.  What I don't have is any masking material or dies for the stamps.  I absolutely HATE to fussy cut and I don't have a pixscan mat for my Silhouette, yet so this is what I came up with for the night sky without have to stamp the critters separately..  I used a blending tool and Stampin' Up pad in Island Indigo followed by Memento stamp pads in Nautical Blue and Elderberry and blended out the night sky.  I stamped some stars and the hooting star and heat embossed them in white.  I had some gems from Dollar Tree and used one for the shooting star.  For the fox and bunny: The fox was colored with Spectrum Noir GB5, GB6, and GB7 and the bunny in EB1 and EB2.  I then used Stampendous Fun Flock on the bunny tail and the white parts on the fox's fur.  Overall, happy with the result.

Thankful

I wanted to toy with the idea of an offset, corner circle for the image.  I wasn't in the mood to make a Christmas card tonight (or any themed holiday for that matter) but I love this stamp set from Inkadinkado, "All Hallows Eve" and in particular, the pumpkins.  I stamped the image with a Colorbox ink pad called "Dune" and colored it in with my Spectrum Noirs.  The cover paper was a sheet I purchased (I am not kidding here) 20 years ago at, I think, Michaels.  I used a sentiment from a generic stamp set I got from Aliexpress. Finally, I used some ribbon I got from Tuesday morning and some orange butcher's twine to finish it off

Happy Birthday

This card was formed from the idea to repeatedly stamp a single sentiment and highlight it in one place.  I don't have a lot of sentiment stamps, so I had to use what I have.  The Happy Birthday sentiment stamp is from Stampin' Up.  I only know the bird stamp was a free digital stamp, but not where I got it (It's been sitting on my computer forever).  I colored it in with some Spectrum Noir and gave the top birdie a lollipop with a small enamel dot.

Merry and Bright

 

Not real sure how I feel about this one.  In general, I like it, but I think I should have done this on white cardstock instead.  I think the colors would be much more vibrant.  Also, because I decided to do a simple, one-layer card, I screwed up the sentiment stamp.  Of course, that was AFTER I had stamped and colored all the lights and put the Glossy Accents on.  I know, I know...what a moron. I stamped on a blank sheet of Kraft paper and cut it out just horribly,  Ah well. I'll do this one again but cleaned up on white cardstock

Anyway, the lights are from the WPlus9 - Festive Greetings and the sentiment is from Inky Antics - Christmas Sentiments.

Jump for Joy

I absolutely LOVE this stamp set. It is Jump for Joy from Lawn Fawn.  I was feeling in a very autumn mood today and since we have a distinctive lack of fall leaves in Florida, I had to make them myself.  I don't have the dies, so my lack of ability to fussy cut is on full display here.  I colored them in with my Spectrum Noir markers, accented the acorn with Glossy Accents and the background paper is from Summertime Designs.  I put a few tiny gems for their eyes just because.  Enjoy :D

Flight of the Valkyries

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these stamps?!?  They are tiny, but so, so cute.  The Stamps are from Eat Cake Designs (a gift from a fellow critter lover)and are as follows: Crumbs Away, Hank (the dog) on his Hoover,  and Mr. Frisky Takes Flight . I believe there is also a chicken design on a bubble wand.  I had never heard of Eat Cake Designs, but I think I'll be shopping there soon.   I have no idea the brand of paper, in fact I am pretty sure it isn't a background paper but something I printed from a wallpaper. As far as the stamps, I just stamped on plain, white cardstock, scanned them and tried to cut them out using the Silhouette [It has been well established that i cannot fussy cut stuff out].  I colored them in with some Spectrum Noir markers.  I went back and forth wondering if I should put a sentiment on it, but finally decided against it.  I am sending this to the Humane Society who helped out my kitten so I'll probably just send it with a hand written note and a photo of my littlest one.  This is a combination Halloween/Thank you card.

What's This?

 

I wanted this card to be really simple.  I didn't sketch it out and I may, or may not go back and highlight the white cardstock.  I just loved this little girl from the MFT Stamps: Jingle All TheWay stamp set. I had some more of the candy cane paper from a previous card and some scrap pink ribbon.  I just colored her in using my Spectrum Noir markers.

Merry Kissmoose

 

This is another one that was just an excuse to use a cute stamp.  This is from the Paper Smooches 'Chubby Chum Pals' stamp set.  The paper I just have around (lost the cover and can't remember the brand but it was from a HUGE pack of paper covering all the holidays).  I cut him out by hand and it shows.  I really should have just done this on the Silhouette and cut it out that way.  After all, that's the reason I got the silhouette in the first place, because I cannot cut a straight (or curved) line without looking like I suffer from tremors.

Fleas Navidad

I used the Paper Smooches "Santa Paws" clear stamp set for the puppy, bone, hat and sentiment.  You can't really see here, but the hat is on a separate piece of card stock and placed on with a dimensional sticker.  I had the candy cane paper, green cardstock and silver ribbon on hand. I just colored the pup and hat in with my Spectrum Noir markers

Sarah in the Sunshine

I fell in love with this stamp the moment I saw it.  I was looking through some Kristen Werner cards and spotted one she did with a front and back stamp from Art Impressions.  Loved it!  For this one, Sarah looks so happy with her face turned up into the sun!  It reminds me so much of my mother in law.  She just loves spring and those big hats.  Anyway, she gave us a VERY generous gift card for our 10th wedding anniversary and I wanted to send her a thank you card expressing how much it meant to us.  Time to use my stamps!

Looking down from the top, it's difficult to see there are basically 5 layers to the front of the card.  I stamped and uploaded to my Silhouette so I could use them as a print and cut file.  

I used the Sarah front & back stamp and the Curtain window stamp set, both from Art Impressions.  I colored in using my Spectrum Noir markers.  I printed from my Silhouette using the reg marks, colored the stamps, then ran them through to cut.  After I assembled the card, I ran a black marker around the edges to give it a more finished look.   I had the polka dot paper on hand so not sure what brand but it was part of an Easter pack from a few years ago.

Autumn Blessings

I know I'm all over the place with seasons, but I wanted to try my hand at autumn leaves.  I'm not sure if I like them or not, but I think it's growing on me.  The papers are free papers from 'Thanksgiving Leftovers'  and I embossed the olive colored paper with the D'Vine swirls folder.

Children's Choir

I won't even say this was an idea I was inspired by.  I loved the original so much I basically tried to duplicate it.  The original, inspiration card is at Kreative Korner by Kelly.  The background sheet music is at Noel Noel Noel and the stamp is 'Choir' at Mo's Digital Pencil.  I have the pale hues pack of markers, but I am not yet skilled at coloring skin correctly or in such a tight space so I wasn't able to get the depth and shading I like but otherwise, I am really pleased.  As always, I distressed my edges to give it a more vintage feel.

PS- I KNOW my camera sucks for this.  I'll be getting a new camera in the New Year.

Spectrum Noir colors:
Skin (FS2, FS3, EB1, EB2, EB7, TN2, PP1), Hair (EB7, GB5, OR1, EB1, EB2, True Black), Gowns (CT1, CT2, DG2, DG3, DR5, DR7), Song books (BGR1, BGR3), Star (CT2, CT3, gold glitter glue from Dollartree)

FALALALALALALA

I have searched and searched ad I cannot tell you where the stamp is from.  As soon as I can, I will reference it for you.  I fell in love with this little guy the second I found him but had no way to color him in before.  The HOHOHO paper is from Scrapdot. This is another one of those sites FULL of awesome papers and embellishments for free.  The one caveat is it takes FOREVER to download a file due to the hosting site.  Well, worth the wait, but it can take 15 mins on a fast connection. Also, it doesn't appear to have been updated in a few years but plenty of archives to wade through.  I went out of the lines a few times simply because with my cardstock, the red likes to bleed.

Spectrum Noir markers used:
Skin (FS2, FS3, PP1), Hair & Shoes (EB7, EB2, EB1), Shirt/Sweater (CT4, CT3, CT2, CT1), Pants (BGR3, BGR1), Holly (DG3, DG2), Candle and Holly Berries (DR7, DR5), Lights [string] (JG6), [lights] (CT2, DR1, GG1, BGR3, OR1), Eyes (BGR3), Shadow (BGR1)

Making Spirits Bright

OK, so here is fair warning for anyone who actually reads my blog (Hi, Mom!), I just received the first of my Spectrum Noir markers.  This means that I, with my zero experience in alcohol markers, will be posting poorly colored, stamped cards for the foreseeable future.  Somehow, watching a plethora of Copic/Spectrum Noir tutorials has not yet made me an expert.  I am, however, LOVING THEM!  I have read scores of complaints that when using digital stamps, there is excessive bleeding of the printer ink.  I have a Canon MX410 and haven't had any problems, even using the blender pen directly over the ink.  I am just using standard, 110 weight cardstock and that bleeds like the devil though I'm trying to be careful (especially with the reds).  Anyway, back on topic for this mornings first card (Oh yes, there will be dozens in the next few days with no cohesive theme *evil cackle*:

This one wasn't inspired by anything but the stamp itself.  The stamp is from Stampin' Up Making Spirits Bright stamp set.  The candy cane paper is a from a free digital paper pack, 'Believe' from Summertime Designs.  If I haven't already mentioned it, her designs are GORGEOUS and the absolute BEST quality.  Seriously, go grab every single pack she offers.  I imagine you'll see tons of her papers here.  The branches are, of course, the Martha Stewart medium branch punch.  For the greencardstock, I didn't want to use a bunch of printer ink for 5.5" of cardstock that would be mostly covered, so I coordinated by using one of my markers to border it.  I then distressed my edges.  I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Spectrum Noir markers used:  Reds (DR7, DR5), Greens (CG1, CG2), [for the drink] Pale Hues (FS2), [the ribbon] Citrus (CT1, CT2) ad to shadow Blue Greys (BGR1, BGR3)