This weeks Challenge #6

I made 2 cards for this Techno Stamper challenge but didn't like the first one. It is now taken apart and I will try arranging it differently later. The second one though maybe it is the colors but I liked how it looked. If you'd like to play along you can find her blog here: http://technostamper.blogspot.com/

Got my hands on an Opalite Pad

Saturday I purchased a pad and came home to try that technique out again but this time with the right kind of ink. I haven't made this into a card yet but wanted to share with you the results. It definitely needs to be an Opalite pad and you should be able to see the difference between the 2. Just scroll down a little to the 2 cards I did with Brilliance. You will see the Opalite is much more vibrant. I wish you could see the glimmery shine in the photo. Now if the pads I ordered from the internet would show up I could play with some more colors. The second card is another pouncing. I used Ranger acrylic daubers. Dabbed them on the card stock and then went back over the paint with the saran wrap. There is a little texture to it. The stamp is retired Su. I used my ribbon weaving punch once to have a place for the bow. Worked great.

Pouncing Pouncing Pouncing

Didn't have much time this week end for card making. Saturday was my Florida groups get together at Scrap and Stamp Art Studio in Lecanto. I demo'd my favorite TJ technique veined marble. Surprised a few how that webbing can perk up any background. Even ones they had decided to throw away. We also used a stamp from Coronado Islands called the Bloomer. I had bought one of theses stamps about 4 years ago in Ohio before I moved here. Hadn't used it much. Dawn demo'd this and I bought a smaller sized one. I think this is the size for me. The first card uses the little roses I made. They are just the right size. The second card is the first made from all my pouncing. A technique in the current TJ issue. I spent several hours Saturday evening pouncing. I pounced Lumieres, alcohol ink, Acrylic dabbers, dye inks and Glimmer Mists. They were all over the kitchen. The bunny birthday card uses one that was pounced with dye inks. The bunny is from House Mouse. I also did some punching and piercing; which I have noticed everyone doing. Will be adding more pounced cards and I did get an Opalite Pad to try out and compare with Brilliance. I can tell you the Opalite is way brighter. I will post that picture to. Have to finish the card.

Sketch Challenge #5

This Mondays Techno Stampers sketch proved to be a real challenge for me. I just couldn't make anything fit in the 3 graduated spaces on the right hand side of the card. I worked all evening and finally came up with these 2 cards. The first one uses Fossil Stone technique on regular card stock. Matched it up with SU Groovy Guava and a SU flower I had already colored in awhile ago. I cut it out and used it for the bottom of the 3 spaces and then went looking for words that would match in some way for the other 2. Came up with Smile and Cutie Pie. Kept expecting Husband to ask who Cutie Pie was. I wanted a gold outlined butterfly but didn't have any but found this little butterfly sticker and he finished the card off. The second card uses paper I bought over a year ago. I'm not a paper person but had laid this out on my desk over the weekend with the intention of using it on something this week. Ripped the zig zag and put the 2 papers together and then just stared for a while trying to figure out where to go from there. Pulled out all my embellishments and found 3 silver circles but they were too big for the space together. Rectangles didn't work for me with this paper. So kept looking and decided on 2 buttons and the middle size silver circle. Added a brad to that and attached them. Stared some more. This card was just not me!!! Had no clue what to do with it. Pulled out the raffia I bought months ago and on one of my groups we are swapping cards that use a "punch" and that gave me an idea. So through my collection of punchies I went and came up with 3 that were the right colors. I sort of like it now. Could make a nice mans Birthday card don't you think?.

Challenge #4

While I was getting ready for a workshop I hostess online I realized there were no purples in any of my backgrounds. So I got busy with my Distressed inks and worked with TJs Spritz and Flick and Polished Rainbow. What I came up with was really pretty and decided I needed to fit it into this weeks TJ/Techno Stampers challenge. It took forever. I needed just the right color of card stock and image. Finally pulled out my SU card stock and there was the right color of purple. It matched perfectly. I found an embossed piece of green in my stash. That looked perfect. Now for the image. Nothing looked like it belonged until I held up this I Brake for Stamps Japanese Lantern. My problem this glossy paper does not take color. It has a pearly look to it. Bought a package of it and haven't been able to do anything other than emboss on it. I have been really disappointed with it. I tried ink, H2Os, pencil and was ready to give up when..... out came the chalk and the blending brush and color at last. I was so excited. So added the image and then the corners of the card looked too bare. I tried several things but didn't like anything I did. Finally cut 2 pieces from my scraps from the triangle and that did it for me. I hope you like it. It took a lot of time pulling this one together but I am pleased with the results so it was worth the time.

I shall own an Opalite Pad soon

Tried the Opalite Infusion technique with my Brilliance ink pads. I can hardly wait to get a couple of Opalite pads to see the difference. These however turned out nice. There is a shimmer you can't see in the pictures. And it is the kind of a technique that I really like. One where you smear and smoosh. The first card also has a tab attached of Reinker splash. It matched so well and the card needed a little pizzazz. I think that helped. The background stamp is from StampinBack and the little rose is SU. The second card is also the same technique. I used Distressed reinkers. The stamp is from StampinBack. The one is cut out and popped out. The saying is SU. I shall redo these 2 cards as soon as I get the correct pad for the technique. The Opalite pad looks really interesting being clear on the pad and so colorful on dark card stock. I will let you all know the difference. Thanks for looking

This afternoons work

In between laundry and sweeping I was able to try out a few techniques from the TJ Feb issue . The first card uses Reinker Splash and Penciled Twinks. I have had my H2Os for a long time. They have gotten little use until today. I twinked up lots of images. Really like this technique. The Reinker Splash is wonderful too. So shiney and you never know how much EP is going to stick. The Rose stamp is from River City Rubber. The second card uses the Penciled Twinks technique. The sunflower is from I Brake for Stamps. I cut it out and added it to a number of layers. Had to include a small piece of my all time favorite Veined Marble. Thanks for looking. Watch for tomorrows post. I will add a few more cards then.

Sketch Challenge and my new stamps

Today when I got home from work I sat down to work on the Techno Stampers Monday Morning sketch Challenge. I put together my 2 favorite techniques again. Spritz and Flick and Veined marble. I used the SU Slit punch to make the scallops. If you line the punch up just so it comes off in one long piece to use as a scalloped border on another card. I know on my next tries I will make the center strip wider so I can make use of a larger circle. I was limited by the size of circle I had to use. I used my Tiny Morsels from See D's ocean stamp set. The other card I made today uses my latest purchase from I Brake for Stamps. As soon as I saw this set I knew I had to have it. It is a sheet of Background Elements. All very interesting. The rectangle behind the flower uses PearlX in a Resist Technique. I LOVE this stamp. You will be seeing lots of it in the near future. The corner pieces and the flower are embossed with black and the card front is another TJ technique called Technicolor Watercolor. The Happy Birthday stamp comes from The Angel Co. As soon as I get the rest of my new stamps mounted I will be very busy coming up with some really cool card designs to share with you. Now I'm off to work on a few more before I have to go and pick up my daughter from work. She works in the little grocery store in town. And then we will be watching one of our favorite shows, House..

Glitter Glitter everywhere

Over the weekend I had a chance to try a few techniques. These 2 cards use the Glitzy technique from the Feb. issue of TJ. That bird sure was a challenge but I think it turned out pretty good. The other card also uses Reinker Splash. A very interesting technique. Has a real nice Shiney look to it. Now off to work on the Techno Stampers next Sketch Challenge. It looks like it will keep me busy for awhile.

The Beginning

This is my first post. I hope to share with you my love of stamping and card making. This card was for a Sketch Challenge by Techno Stamper. I love this set up. I used 2 different TJ techniques. Veined Marble and Spritz and Flick. I find these 2 techniques work well together.