Thursday, April 23, 2009

It's Spring!

Although it's still a bit chilly today, it's time to celebrate the final departure of snow! (I'll probably jinx the weather by saying that. Oil City seems to get those freak mid-spring blizzards!) In any case I'm excited about the change in weather (can you tell?) Here's a card I made for the newest sketch challenge on SCS to reflect my enthusiasm...

I used papers by K & Company, punching a lace border effect onto some of the panels. I also used scalloped circle dies for my Cuttlebug and an image by Stampendous! I took care to ink only half of the image with Chocolate Chip, to only allow 2 of the flowers and 1 butterfly to show. I colored the image by hand with chalks and added some sparkle with ultrafine glitter. I used pop-dots to give my card some 3D interest and added a grosgrain bow.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Dotty Gift Card

Happy Wednesday! And greetings from Oil City, Pennsylvania!
I've been playing with rubber stamps since 1999 and thought I should celebrate this 10-year milestone with a blog to catalog my creative adventures. After staring at this blank page for months, I decided there's no better time than a dark and rainy spring afternoon to get started!



This is the first time I've used my new nestabilites dies and I love them! For the longest time I used a circle cutter and tried managing my scalloped scissors, but there's really no substitute for a die-cut machine! On this standard A2 card, made from Stampin' Up! Kraft card stock, I added coordinating scrapbook papers from K & Company. After inking the edges of my polka dot mat and both scalloped circles with Stampin' up! "Chocolate Chip", I punched 1/16" holes into each scallop with a hand punch. I added some more edging closer to the middle on the smallest circle with "Pink Porcelain" Artistique Chalk Ink by INKADINKADO. The stamped gift package image is by Anita's. I used the same brown and pink inks on the end of a tapered cotton swab to shade the image. The whole design is topped off with a "Happy Birthday" ( Hero Arts) tag held on by a cotton string.

Well, that wasn't so bad, I guess I can get started after all! Watch for my next post any minute now!

~~Jenna