Shapely Chicks

Shapely...as in card shapes *wink*

Julia challenged us to think outside our norm....it was almost painful! lol...but then I remembered a card Joanne had done using the Writer's Block Backgrounder *grin*

This is also a Sneak Peek at a fabulous set from Mona Lisa called Invitation Essentials which will be available this week on the 23rd, and another one, Frosty Friends, available tomorrow the 21st at Cornish Heritage Farms.

I also managed to combine it with a challenge I do with some friends on SCS...to make a Suspension Card with a Winter or Christmas theme. You can see all my friend's cards here. <------ and the tutorial here <------

I only inked the edges of Writer's Block then trimmed close to the brackets. The image is colored with Copic markers and snowy highlights with Inkssentials white gel pen and a white Souffle gel pen. The Art Glitter Faux Snow is glued with Glossy Accents.

The inside has Magic Paper, you know that kind when you make a mistake and have to cover it up somehow?....yeah...that's Magic Paper! I'm too honest....lol
Ok, so I got in a hurry, didn't use my stamp positioner and stamped crooked! I just stamped the Writer's Block on a folded piece of cardstock (that gave me two), this time cutting inside the brackets, then took my red marker and ran it around the egde. *wink*

I also only inked up "Date, Time, Place & RSVP" because I didn't need "For". The title is part of Warm Hearts that goes with the image and Party from Invitations Essentials!
The left hand side is Cuttlebugged with Snow Dots.

And there you have it my friends! Now, to see what "shape" the other Chicks are in, just click on each name to go to their blog.
Julia
Lisa Silver
Kristine
Alli
Carole
Joanne
Val
Michele
Lesley
Julie
Kim

Thanks for stopping!

Some Sneak Peeks!

A large post today....*grin*

Cornish Heritage Farms has a new Friendly Kritters by Tom Allen, Frosty Friends. This will be available next week, the 21st.... AND... a whole new line called "Scene It"! You know how I love to do scenes....I'm gonna have so much fun!
This first one is called Beacon of Hope and will be available the 24th.

Stamped Frosty Friends, masked and stamped Perfect Plaid Scrapblock™.
Colored with Copic markers and highlighted with Inkssentials white gel pen.

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This is a stair step card, sponged with distress inks, colored with Copic markers with Inkssentials and Stardust gel pens for accents.

A simple, one layer card colored with Staedtler watercolor pencils. The oval was made by nesting Spellbinders Nestabilities ovals and dry embossing.

And last, but not least...coasters...or, they could be displayed as a picture.

This is still a learning experience for me. I need to find the right medium to use to color on these!

Stamped with Timber Brown Stazon ink and colored with reinkers...which take forever to dry, IF they ever do! Maybe I don't have the patience to wait....even with a heat tool! So, I just gave them a shot of Krylon clear sealer! Hey, worked for me! *wink*

For the edges, before the clear coat, I used a sea sponge and Walnut Stain distress ink.

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Tomorrow we're supposed to take the llamas to another nursing home, I'm waiting on confirmation from the activities director (watching the weather). Hopefully I'll get more pictures to share this time!

I also dyed another batch of yarn the other day! So keep checking to see how it knits up!

Thanks for stopping!

Sneak Peeks and A Sketch Challenge

I'm nearly bursting with excitement from all the new images coming from Cornish Heritage Farms!

Here's a sneak peek at the new Friendly Kritters by Tom Allen....

Is this cute or what!!

Colored with Copic markers then an Inkssentials white gel pen for the snow and icicles. I used a trick I learned from Kim Hughes, bending the rubber! Since it's an unmounted sentiment and flexible, you can play with it!

You'll be able to get this stamp and the sentiment next week on the 21st.

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This one is the Sketch Challenge today on SCS. Rox always comes up with the best layouts, sometimes on her own, sometimes from fellow stampers.

This is October's Stamp Of The Month (SOTM), Ahoy Matey, by Kim Hughes and Large Volcano Treasure Map.

This will be Seth's (my grandson) birthday card....shhhh, don't tell *wink*! I found this really cool "Pirateology" book at Ollies the other day. It tells all about pirates and even has a really cool chipboard model to put together! Perfect for a 7 yr old!
I might have to go get another book so I can have one for pictures like this! lol

Colored, again with Copic markers, Spellbinders Nestabilities for the circles and ovals. That cool paper is from DCWV Travel Stack.

Well, it's almost 5AM...yes...5 IN THE MORNING!! What am I still doing up!! I couldn't sleep and these stamps just couldn't wait to see ink!!
Hello...my name is Dawn, and I'm an addict!
I'm gonna go hit the couch and catch a few zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

Thanks for stopping!

Cuddling Cardinals Sneak Peek and a Blog Candy Alert

No, I don't have it ready yet....but be watching! I'll have some blog candy up soon!!


I wanted to share this new Tom Allen Friendly Kritters, Cuddling Cardinals, with you! Isn't it just adorable!!

It will be available next Tuesday the 23rd!

I colored them with Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil. Clouds were done using my homemade template and sponging off the edge with ink. And I just love my new Branch Punch by EK Success!! The snow is Puffy Paint heated with my heat gun.

span style="color:#003300;"> I've been wanting to try coloring on dark cardstock with my Prismas for a while and this was the perfect opportunity! The Pine Needles & Cones Backgrounder was stamped on the Sage dark, then I just took a light green pencil to the needles, light brown and a light gray to the cones....blended it a bit with my blending pencil. I really like how it turned out, although I'm not sure how well you can see it in the photo. But I can assure you, it won't be the last time I do it so you'll have more occasions to see it *wink*

Oh, and the sketch is from Cardmaker's newsletter.

Thanks for stopping!

O' Christmas Cone Glass Block

I haven't done a glass block for some time now and when I got the newest Friendly Kritter's image, O' Christmas Cone, I knew I had to try it on a block!

If you'd like to try your hand at glass blocks, I have a tutorial here
The block is painted with Gesso, stamped, then watercolored with reinkers. I use a homemade cloud template to sponge off (just a piece of cardboard cut with scallop scissors).

I like to use Fantastix instead of a waterbrush as I feel it gives me a little more control with the colors. They're made by Tsukineko, kind of a dense foam with a point.

Before giving it a final coat of Krylon sealer, I went around the edges with a Pearl Dabber by Ranger.

thanks for stopping!

More YouTube!!

Sherrie does an excellent job showing you how to stamp and color detail images, here she uses the new Friendly Kritters!! What fun!! You can subscribe to the Cornish Heritage Farms videos...cool!

CHF Challenge Chicks Sketch Challenge, Frogs and Goats

Hey, Chicks, Frogs and Goats.... it's a farm, remember?!
Lesley gave us this great sketch for today's challenge
Be sure to see what all the other girls did. Julia Stainton -Lesley Langdon -Kim Hughes-Sherrie Siemens -Lisa Strahl - Julie Campbell -Lisa Silver -Allie Miles-Kristine Reynolds

As soon as I saw this Frog Chorus, the new Tom Allen Friendly Kritter being released tomorrow, I thought of three part harmony. Here's my frog trio singing their hearts out for someone's birthday The frogs were stamped with Distress Black Soot then immediately embossed with clear EP. I used Adirondack reinkers to watercolor them. Broken China Distress ink was sponged for the background.

I wanted to be able to use the larger sentiment from this great set coming soon (we started sneaking this one early!! shhhh, don't tell *wink*), called Birthday Centers. Since it was 3-part harmony, it had to be stamped 3 times...right?! I found a wide piece of regular bias tape (from my sewing days...haha), sponged my Fired Brick Distress ink across it...voila...I had my bass, tenor and alto cheers! The verse is from the same set. Oh, you're gonna love it!!

I would have liked to have stitched like the example, but if you could see what I'd have to move to get to my machine...... ugh! It was easier to just use the Scor-It!

All images are Cornish Heritage Farms

Tom Allen's Frog Chorus Mona Lisa's Birthday Centers

Cardstock/PP Georgia Pacific DCWV My Mind's Eye

Ink Distress Black Soot, Fired Brick, Broken China Adirondack reinkers

Accessories/Tools Waterbrush Clear Embossing Powder Bias Tape Dauber Nestabilities Scor-It Dimentionals

This card fits a business size envelope ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to share some pictures with you.

Quite a few of our friends and family homeschool their children. Every year they have a "Project Fair". This year we learned about Eskimos, Poetry, Insects and Goats.

The family with goats brought their 2 sets of twins, not quite 2 weeks old. They brought bottles filled with Mama's milk and each child got a chance to feed them. 4-legged kids are just too cute! Mix them with 2-legged ones and oh boy...let the fun begin!!

The 2 boys are my grandsons (out of 5).

Thanks for stopping by!

Fun and Elegant

Hi friends! If you did some blog hopping from my last post, you might have read that CHF releases about 50 new original images a month! Can you say

So, I'm going to share a couple with you. Lisa Stahl (Mona Lisa) has been so busy creating some fabulous sentiments...I LOVE sentiments! To just slap something on your card is so shallow, to me it completes the card if it says something from the heart.

This card was done for the Sketch Challenge on SCS.

This Script Essential Expressions (3 stamps used here) will be released tomorrow at CHF. It's a 'use alone' or 'mix & match' huge selection of sentiments!

The West Quoddy lighthouse was watercolored with reinkers. The Ocean Scene was split to accomodate the space of the sketch and is also watercolored with sponging added with distress inks (still on sale through tomorrow by the way!)

I wish the map were nautical, but since my son was taking a pilot's course this is the map I have...lol. I sponged it with distress inks also.

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If you've seen any of the Tom Allen's Friendly Kritters, you have to smile! These singing frogs from Frog Chorus will be released next Tuesday. I get so tickled when Liz says she's working on a new one!

This card was done for the Color Challenge on SCS. The frogs were colored with pad inks and a waterbrush (the green is copics). *here's a tip* to watercolor with your inks, smoosh the lid into the pad and pick up color with your brush *wink*

All Images Cornish Heritage Farms West Quoddy, ME Script Essential Expressions Ocean Scene Frog Chorus My Strength My Song Cracked Montana Earth Backgrounder

Cardstock: Mystic med, Birchtone lt, Frosted Orange, Desert Coral lt- Prism Papers Georgia Pacific white

Ink: Adirondack reinkers, Mountain Rose, Salmon, Slate- Ranger Distress Brushed Corduroy, Old Paper, Broken China, Walnut Stain, Black Soot- Ranger

Accessories/Tools: Niji waterbrush brads daubers- Tsukineko foam mounting tape crop a dile cuttlebug/embossing folder Spellbinders Nestabilities- ellenhutson.com craft knife

No Fun!

Sorry for not posting for a few days....I've been under the weather.I don't even feel like looking at stamps let alone using them.... that's SICK!!!

Be sure to head over to Cornish Heritage Farms soon, as the Friendly Kritters are now available!!

This Week is Gonna Be LOADED!!

Are you ready for MORE Sneak Peeks??!! Whew! I've got rubbah flying fast and furious!! If only the family didn't think they needed meals, clean clothes and a path to walk through the house!!! sheesh!

Okay, you had a peek at the Friendly Kritters yesterday (had to do another one today *wink*), and now sneak peeks of Asela's new line coming next Wednesday at Cornish Heritage Farms!! Fabulous real life drawings!!

Enough already you're saying....GET ON with the peeks!!!

colored with copics, Reverse Dots backgrounder stamped in Tangarine fluid chalk...also used the same color direct to paper for the card base.
Sparrow is colored with copics.The leaves stamped with 2 colors adirondack inks.Sophisticated Swirl was inked up with Latte then I used a q-tip to remove some color from the flowers, coloring then with a copic marker.
Almost what I envisioned in my head...my 'white caps' need some work, but overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I stamped the seagull on the card base first, made a mask and covered it. Stamped the bird again on another piece of CS and colored it with copics, cut it out and set it aside. Using a piece of torn copy paper, I sponged off the edge for the beach and water, using several colors of Distress ink. The white caps were made by using a white painter's marker. After the sponging was done, the bird was popped on with dimensionals

All Stamps are Cornish Heritage Farms:

Bunny Presents, Friendly Kritters-Tom Allen

Bird Sampler, Asela

Garden Friends, (leaves, sentiment) Asela

Reverse Dots Backgrounder

Sophisticated Swirl Backgrounder

Cracked Montana Earth Backgrounder

The Lord Is My Rock

Tall Weeds

Cardstock/Pattern Paper:

Georgia Pacific White

Spring Willow med, Birchtone med, Herbal Garden lt,

DCWV

My Mind's Eye

Ink:

Adirondack Pitch Black, Juniper, Willow, Latte- Ranger

Distress Brushed Corduroy, Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Black Soot- Ranger

Tangarine Fluid Chalk- Clearsnap

Accessories:

Copic markers- www.ellenhutson.com

Spellbinders Nestabilities- www.ellenhutson.com

Jumbo Daubers- Tsukineko

circle punch

dimensionals

raffia

painter's marker- Elmer's