These cute owls are a sneak peak of one of C.C.Designs’ new sets soon to be released.  They will be available at All That Scraps next week.  This one is called A Hootin’ Good Time and includes 8 owls, a tree, a branch, 3 word stamps and some leaves.  Owls are so popular right now and these were a lot of fun to work with!  They each have their own personality.    This set and another one that I’ll share tomorrow come unmounted in a cute CD tin. 

I made this card a gate fold and attached the patterned paper to the left side.  The images were watercolored and outlined with a Copic marker.  I was planning to stamp the owl at the bottom on the branch that is in the set but then I decided to try to pierce him a branch to sit on.  He has the funniest look on his face….I’m not sure that branch is too comfy!  LOL. 

stamps- A Hootin’ Good Time- C.C. Designs

paper- White, Artichoke, Choc. Chip, dp- Hot Off The Press

ink- Artichoke, Caramel, Rust, Cocoa, Choc. Chip, Black, Copic- Cool Gray #1

accessories- eyelets, paper piercing tools 

At the WNY gathering on Saturday Tracy & Holly planned some demos in the afternoon.  Tracy did watercoloring techniques, Holly showed Alcohol inks, Michelle used the Copic markers and I did the Scor-Pal.   Before the gathering I made up these very quick card samples.  I wanted to show how easy the Scor-Pal is to use and how you don’t need to put a lot of time into making a cute card.  I had a few samples of boxes there as well, but I’ve shared those here previously.  Thanks to Diane617 for sharing her card samples that day as well!  They are gorgeous!  Diane is a sweet gal that I’ve met through our gatherings.    

The first card is a Z-fold.  The tutorial was done by Rose Ann Reynolds and can be found here on the Scor-Pal website. 

The second card was inspired by Debbie Olsen who did a tutorial on the Scor-Pal site called Scored Lattice.  I love this Thomas Kincade stamp but didn’t have the time to properly color it in.  I can’t believe how detailed the images are!  I ended up stamping it on glossy white cardstock and coloring it with my SU markers.  (just don’t look too closely!)

In the third pic, the card on the left just has some scored lines on the left side.  And the card on the right has the top & bottom embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and then lines scored in the middle.  This was also my first time using the Copic markers!  Tracy was kind enough to let me try hers out.  (More about those later in another post)  ;)  

Edit to answer some questions:  I placed the Cuttlebug embossing folder over the cardfront and started rolling it through so it embossed from the folded edge first.  I only rolled the folder through part way and then backed it back out.  I had to smooth out a few partially embossed dots with the Scor-Tool.  Then I placed just the bottom of the cardfront into the embossing folder and ran it through again.  I hope this makes sense! 

In the fourth pic you can see I was having fun with some of Anna Wight’s stamps and scoring the bottom.  The card on the right also has the right side scored which is a little difficult to see. 

The last pic shows a card that I made just playing around with the Scor-Pal.  I wasn’t sure what image I wanted to stamp in the diagonal space I created but I think the flowers I masked & stamped repeatedly worked out great.  This was a fun card to create so I decided to demo this one.  It really is quick & easy!

 I hope the ladies got some useful info and I didn’t bore them!  LOL.  I do really love the Scor-Pal and use it on every card I make.  It’s a great tool!

stamps- Cause For Celebration, One of a Kind, Thomas Kincade- CHF, A Little Bit of Happiness, Time Well Spent, and Topiary Perch & Three Chocolate Truffles- Whipper Snapper

paper- White, Bashful, Elegant Eggplant, Lav. Lace, Celery, Glossy White

ink- Black, Bashful, Not Quite Navy, Copic markers

accessories- Scor-Pal, ribbon, Stickles, brads, Watercolor crayons

Just a quick post to share my 3-D swap project.  I still have a lot to put away and catch up on here so this will be short.    I found these 4 x 6 1/4 wood clipboard frames at ACMoore.  I painted the backs and sides of them and covered the fronts with Ginger Blossom paper which was applied with Mod Podge.  They were pretty easy to paint & cover since all the hardware is removable with screws.  After they were completely dry, the words were stamped with Stazon and ribbon was attached with Red line tape.  The butterfly was stamped onto the scalloped circle and again onto white cardstock.  The wings were watercolored and cut from the white, then attached onto the green piece.  I applied a light coat of Mod Podge over the circle to help protect it.  You have to be careful to avoid smearing the ink.  When the circle was dry, it was stuck onto the ribbon with Red line tape so that a photo can be tucked underneath.  Some Stickles was applied to make it sparkly.

stamps- Time Well Spent

paper- Ginger Blossom dp, River Rock, White

ink- Stazon Black, Guava, Ruby, Cameo

accessories- scallop punch, Guava ribbon, red line tape, Mod Podge, Stickles

Wow- another gorgeous day outside to finish off a fantabulous weekend!  The Western New York gathering was so much fun!!  Tracy and Holly did an awesome job pulling it together!  I met some great new friends and enjoyed seeing the ”old” ones too.  We had so many laughs.  GREAT food (thanks, Greg!), great friends, great fun! 

Here’s some pics of my project for the gift swap I was in.  Each participant makes and wraps a gift of a $5 value.  Then the gifts are picked up from the table or “stolen” from someone else until all numbers are called and each person has a gift. 

I found these cute test tubes in a clear stand on clearance at Target after Valentine’s Day.  If you click on the thumbnail below, you can see the original packaging.  They held hot cocoa and marshmallows.  I thought they were cute and would be great to hold embellishments!  I applied some Berry Bliss paper to the back and bottom of the clear holder and also decorated the tubes.  The second thumbnail pic below shows the labels on the top which were printed on the computer and punched out. 

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend! 

stamps-  Boho Backgrounds

paper- Berry Bliss dp, white

ink- Pretty in Pink

accessories- circle punch, ribbon, Scor-Tape

Here’s my shoebox project for the WNY gathering.  It’s a little 3 3/8″ Karen Foster chipboard book.  The cover is a pretty blue…close to SU’s Soft Sky.  And it came with the word “happy” embossed on it.    I didn’t want to cover the word, so I worked around it.  When I was finished the word just didn’t stand out enough though, so I traced the letters with a black pen.  The background was stamped with Bordering Blue ink and I added the black cardstock and ribbon (which matched perfectly- yay!)  The inside of the covers were pretty ugly (plain chipboard) so I covered them with white cardstock.   The flower was embossed with black embossing powder and watercolored with Twinkling H2O’s for some shimmer.  An eyelet was inserted in the center and the flower was raised on dimensionals. 

stamps- Embrace Life

paper- white, Black

ink- Versamark, Bordering Blue

accessories- Black embossing powder, Twinkling H2O’s, eyelet, pop dots, ribbon 

Have you been enjoying the weather?  We have had several gorgeous days here!  It’s great to see some green again! 

Here’s a pic of my cardfront swap.  This is a cute set!  I am anxious to use it some more.    The idea of running the circle off the edge of the card was inspired by Petal Pusher on SCS.  I thought it was cute and that was my starting point.  I also love how the Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls embossing folder goes so well with this set.  I don’t remember where I got the paper for the card base but it has a great texture to it.  The main flower in the small circle has Stickles applied to it and finished the card nicely.

stamps- Spring Solitude

paper- Cameo, non-SU

ink- Celery, Cocoa, Cameo, Caramel, Turquoise

accessories- Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls folder, circle punches, Mega scalloped circle punch, pop dots 

I have been busy getting ready for another gathering.  This one is hosted by two of my Dirty Dozen Alumni friends,  Tracy Harp (Lodichick) and Holly McMillen (Toy).  I can’t wait!  It will be great to see some of my stamping friends again and meet some new ones!  I will have some projects to share with you over the next week that I will be taking with me. 

This first project is for the 6×6 recipe swap.  I look forward to this swap and seeing all the wonderful recipes we exchange.  The recipe I scrapped here is a new family favorite that was shared by my friend, Linda G.  I changed it up a bit, adding the diced tomatoes.  Everyone reaches for seconds with this one….yum!  I can smell the pesto now.  ;) 

The chicken is Anna Wight’s image called Greta.  I watercolored her and paper pieced her apron with some retired SU! paper.  The ravioli were made by punching some squares of vanilla cardstock and rounding the corners on the large square.  I hope they look like ravioli! 

stamps- Greta by Whipper Snapper

paper- non SU! and Olive

ink- Black, various colors for watercoloring

accessories- square punches, Round Tab punch, button, corner rounder, Three for You flower punch, paper paint

Jackie Wright nominated me for the arte y pico award.  Thanks, Jackie!  The award was originally designed by Eseya at arte y pico . You are supposed to pick five blogs that you think earned this award based on their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogging community.  Well, I have a hard time choosing….there are so many great blogs!  If you are on my blogroll or if I’ve ever left you a comment, consider yourself nominated.  :)   

Poor Queenie….she is forever cleaning house!  ;)  Ever have one of those days where you just want to shout “I want my fairy godmother!”?  heehee.  This is another cute set of unmounted stamps by C.C. Designs (All That Scraps) called Cleaning Queenie. 

The words were computer generated and punched with the SU! Key Tag punch.  The words are longer than the punch so in order to get the words to fit, you first need to cut the words with your paper trimmer to be in a 1 inch wide strip.  Then holding your punch upside down, slip one end through the bottom opening and punch.  Repeat with the opposide end.  Make sense?  I layered the sentiment onto a scrap of Cool Caribbean and trimmed it.  Then I punched each side with the Horizontal Slot punch to run the ribbon through.  The main image is popped up on dimensionals.

 stamps- Cleaning Queenie- C.C.Designs, Lizzie anne- Shapes and Stitches

paper- White, Saffron, Celery, Black, Caribbean, dp- Die Cuts With A View

ink- Black, Blush Blossom (to watercolor her skin)

accessories- watercolor crayons, Key Tag punch, Horizontal Slot punch, ribbon, pop dots, brad 

This Level 1 hostess set caught my eye when the SU! catalog first came out.  I loved the sample in it and how they stamped the flower without coloring it!  So when I finally pulled this stamp out to make a sympathy and another card, I was planning to stamp it without coloring it in.  Well, one thing led to another and as you can see….the cards did not evolve as planned.  After I colored the flowers, I decided to cut them out and layer them over an embossed background.  When the cards were finished I wanted to add Crystal Effects to the flower centers and then decided to also add some clear microbeads.   So what was supposed to be a quick, monochromatic card turned into an all night project.  But I do like the end results.

stamps- From The Garden, Hope For Comfort, One of a Kind

paper- White, Lilac, Rose Romance

ink- Black, Lilac, Rose Romance

accessories- watercolor crayons, ribbon, Cuttlebug Script folder, oval punches, Crystal Effects, microbeads