More stamping stuff

I have really been neglectful at posting my creations. Call it laziness. Call it lack of inspiration. Call it whatever you want. I am trying to motivate myself to get creating some cards as I need to design and complete them for Convention. Yesiree, it is the female version of the Star Trek Convention- it is the Dream Big Stampin'Up! Convention in Denver at the end of July. A bunch of grown women getting really excited about rubber stamps. Hey, don't knock it until you try it.

There are a lot worse things to be addicted to- like crack. Or so I tell myself. But just like crack, the purveyors of all things crafty, are always reinventing the product so its bigger and better- the goal being to SELL more of their crafty stuff. Newer is always better. I have managed to not succumb to getting a new TV but new punches, well, an addicted gal has just gotta have 'em!


Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox and post some things I worked on in the past and some new things I've done.

First off- more inchies. The butterflies are one I created some months ago. I alluded to them in my previous post. The pears, too are ancient. I punched out the pears, used some chalks to give them colour and added some dimensional magic to it to give it a gloss and shine.



finally came up with a cool idea for my asian inchies. I used some scraps I got off a friend, so it was a bonus. She had brayered the Pumpkin Patch Spectrum pad and inked them on glossy cardstock. I love the gradation of colours from the Spectrum pad. It melds so well. I inked some chinese calligraphy in bronze(SU, od course, retired) stamped the buddha head over (same set, Ancient Asia), with the word "spirit" on it. This was done using Versafine Sepia(my new favourite ink!!)

The newest card I worked on is a baby announcement card. My friend Jen just had her baby- a little girl named Avani Marley. I promised her I'd make her some announcements. I love the new animals set from Hero Arts. I am also very sad that Stampin' Up! is retiring one of the best colours they've had- Cool Caribbean. Its such a fantastic, happy blue. The base is cool caribbean. I also paired it up with "Only orange"- I inked a reverse polka dot stamp from the "Petals and Dots" set ( SU Spring Mini) and punched out circles. The orange strip in the back also has some large dots in orange (stamped using a retired corn cob from the Vegetable Garden set, but can be recreated using small bubblewrap) and although you likely cannot see it, the dots on the orange strip also has some Orange Peel Stickles glitter glue on some of the dots for added bling. Ribbon is SU black grosgrain. The elephant is gamsoled. In other words, I used grey and pink coloured pencils to shade in the colour, then went over the image with a stump and some odourless mineral spirits to blend in the colours. I am doing a variation of this card for one of the numerous swaps I am partaking in at Convention.


The Christmas Card is also another card I am working on for Convention. The sets are mostly new- Baroque Motifs, Hugs and Wishes and an oldie lace stamp from Trimtastic (All Stampin'Up!)Paper used: Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Read Red and Black. Inks: Versamark (for embossing), Real Red, Sahara Sand and Pigment white.