The last of the Outlines Entries

In a bigger effort to be as brief as possible I am posting the final two designs submitted for the Outlines Design Team. Keeping it short for two reasons: I want to do Tim Holtz's tag #4 (it is soooooo cute) and DS will be ready for bed soon. This first one is done using one of their mandela flower type stamps.

I had a load of fun using my Sakura pens to color them in to create a unique design.

I used my craft knife to cut away the 'leaves' from the main image and curled them using a pencil. The underside was spritzed with Glimmer mist so there would not be any glaring white peeking out. I stamped a second image to use under the main flower.

I made a mask by removing one petal and used that to spray a different color of Glimmer Mist on each one. After drying them, I used my Sakura pens to mimic the pattern on top.

This reminds me of a lotus blossom. If I were to do this card again, I would stamp the main image and then remove the inside petal of the large petal and create a third level for added dimension. I secured the two with a brad and gave the upper petals a slight turn to the right. It does matter how you place the top. Make sure that the petals are aligned correctly prior to turning. This is another shot but with normal lighting. Look at how glistening it looks.

The Believe is from a metal embellishment from Pressed Petals. I simply used it in my Cuttlebug and was able to get the impression to show very well on the Bazzill cardstock.

I wanted to keep the background and the accessories as simple as possible so as not to detract from that breathtaking stamp. I lightly embossed a petal background using a Sizzix texture plate. You can really see the stamp's dimension.

The final card was a Halloween one. This one should be titled looks are deceiving. I stamped this image 5 times. Twice in black, once in green, orange, and brown. I did quite a bit of paper pieceing to make this one happen.

The image was built up from the cats. I went over them with a black embossing pen and heat embossed. They have a lot of solid dimension.

I distressed the pumpkins after heat embossing them. I used an orange Sakura stardust pen to highlight the veins on the pumpkins and to create the Jack-o-lantern face. The leaves and stems are all pieced to the main image. I traced over the leaves and vine with a Sakura metallic pen.

I distressed the edges of the card using a combination of Dusty Concord and Vintage Photo. I colored the moon with a Yellow embossing pen and then went around the cat to create a slightly scary shadow. Considered doing something wierd to the eyes, but decided to leave them alone. The paper is Halloween Echo Park Collection, ribbon is from a swap and the Boo is one of the EK Success slimline punches--love those. The pumpkin prop was borrowed from my son. :)

So, it is back to the drawing board for me.  I will either need to re-work my ideas or come up with something much more clever or have less talented people to compete against to make it for the next design team call.

In the meantime I will continue to create and ink in the name of love.

Until then.

Bah Humbug

Well, not quite, but close enough. First I want to say a huge congrats to Laura Cox for being selected to be a guest designer for one month on the Cosmo Cricket Blog. She did some fabulous cards and layouts using the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather collection. Make sure you go and take a look at her work and leave her comment or two. I know that she likes getting them.

So why the 'Bah Humbug' you ask? Well a fellow scrapper and I submitted projects for the Outlines Rubber Stamp Design team but neither made the cut. Bummer. There is always next time.

To refresh your memory, this is one of the projects I submitted. The trees are from Outlines. I stamped them in clear embossing ink and then colored them using Distress Inks. I cut them apart and reassembled them onto a base tree stamped in black and embossed. The leftovers from the trees, (I cut them out) were used to create the presents at the base of the tree.

The Journaling is computer generated and I like the look it adds to this layout. I used the Sakura white gel pen to create the look of snow on the font.

Here is a closer look at those awesome trees. I love paper piecing. It is super easy to do with Outlines. I stamped and embossed the trees with clear ink. I then distressed each tree, cut it apart and reassembled it. I used Sakura Stardust pens to bling them out. Added a bit of the same glimmer to the presents--Fiskars Squeeze punch.

In addition to the layout, I also submitted the following card. I really went out on a limb and tried to think outside of the box for this one. My aim was to show how versatile one stamp could be. I frosted the trees with a combo Flower Soft mix. The reindeer are from Joys of the Season. They are soooo cute that I can barely stand it. The snow drops are the new enamels from Ranger.

 

I did the same stamping technique on this one except I kept the tree whole, used a variety of the green Distress Inks, and blinged out all of the decorative elements. This is a pop up card and you are seeing the inside. I tried to attempt a winter forest look. So I added a few snow drifts to the scene. It looks very festive to me and quite woodsy.

It's getting late and I want to get my fingers inky before retiring to bed.
Until then.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

It is so hard to believe that another year has passed. I look down and before I can look up again, time has marched forward. I am thankful to celebrate another year and share it with all of you.

There have been a number of well wishes sent my way and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone. One of my Yahoogroup friends, NJ Debbie, sent this adorable card to me.

A little known secret is that I love Outline  Rubber Stamps and I can only imagine the time it took for Debbie to put this beauty together. I could not keep this treasure to myself and she did give me permission to share. 

Each layer is cut out and layered onto another layer. The second and third levels are raised on foam. I am honored that Debbie took the time to make this for me. The colors are gorgeous.  My picture taking does not do it justice. Everything has been embossed and has a nice textural look to it.

The entire ensemble is just breathtakingly stunning. I think the jewels are the icing on the cake.

Speaking of cake, I have to go and cut the one my son and I made together. It has been an awesome birthday for me. If you get a chance, check out my Youtube Vee-dio that I will post on my birthday scrapping HAUL...thought I would need a U-Haul to get out of there. lol.

As always use color to help bring a bit of joy to your lives. If it is inked in love, it is sure to be a winner just as my Birthday Card is from Debbie.
Until then.