Do you realize, as of today there are exactly two months left till Christmas?! Are you ready?
I signed up for a shaker card exchange on SplitCoastStampers, and I've been working on some ideas. After a couple of epic fails (like glueing the darned thing closed *before* putting in the shaker bits!!) I finally completed a working prototype. Not sure if I want to make 5 more of these, but I do like the end result. And as it happens, this week is The Cats Pajamas Anything Goes challenge. Since this is from TCP set 'Reindeer Kisses' how perfect did that work out, huh? I haven't played in a TCP challenge for ages, so I think I deserve that part lining up for me... since I spent the weekend working on my failed cards. ;) They were both completely different ideas so maybe this one is meant to be!
I could point out all the glitches, but I won't! It's not like anybody reads my blog to learn stuff so I'm sure I can just keep those things to myself, hehe. I colored in the penguin and reindeer with Copics, and used Tumbled Glass distress ink for the 'sky'. I tried a new-to-me trick for the glitter. I used my clear double sided tape (the tape with the red liner that sticks to your fingers like crazy when you peel it off! lol) and covered it with glitter. Sure enough, once you've shaked and rubbed off the excess glitter, it still looks shiny and glittery but nothing comes off. I love that tape, it's pretty much my favorite adhesive. I just bought two 50 meter rolls for super cheap, I think I'm set for a while now. :)
One of my biggest pet peeves is the photography part. I suck at it. My hands are really shaky so I have a teeny tiny tripod that I use, but it's not very stable so I still need to steady it with my hands. And my camera isn't that great. Honestly, some days I get better pictures with my iPhone! So I'm bummed that you can't see that the sentiment is heat embossed. I used Crimson Red Versafine ink and Judikins clear detail embossing powder. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the light to catch the gleam of the embossing so it just looks flat in the picture.
Both the big and little circles were done with the Simon Says Stamp stitched circles. The stitching really takes it up a notch without any extra effort. Really glad I finally bought that set! I just need me some squares... and some rectangles... and, and, and... :D
I hope you're all having fun working on your Christmas cards. I'm not going to start mass producing till my MISTI arrives this week. Super squeeee!
Alright, I'm done for today.
This week, Tuesday to be precise, was my niece Clara's 3rd birthday. The big party is tomorrow, the theme is Disney princesses and will feature a real live princess! On Tuesday however, we had just family for dinner, so I gave Clara her bday card then.
I really love this little image, you'll have seen it a few days ago when I posted my practice one. It is by C.C. Designs, and it's called Swiss Pixies Birthday Gretel. I had so much fun coloring it! I'm also entering it in the C.C. Designs CAS sketch challenge.
I still have to figure out this whole photo thing, as you can see the colors are different between the two pictures. Granted, I was in a hurry, I was already late and almost forgot to take pictures! The top picture was after I remembered to open the blinds to get some natural light, so those colors are truer to the real deal I think.
I've fallen in love with some of CC Designs stamps, particularly the Swiss Pixie ones. I only have two of their stamps so far, but I'm always on the lookout when people are destashing on SplitCoast!
I spent the day Thursday crafting with two of my sisters in Vancouver, making decorations for my niece's 3rd birthday party. Truth is, I sat at my die cutting machine and cranked out circles... all... afternoon... long... but it was still fun! I think I must have cut 150-200 circles! When I was getting ready to leave, one of my sister's disappeared and reappeared with a ziploc bag full of Copic markers. She said she didn't have time for art anymore, and did I want them. Did I want them? Did I want them?? HECK YEAH! I think there were about a couple dozen, mostly Sketch with a handful of Ciaos, and there were only 3 that I had already (not including a colorless blender, but you can never have too many, right?)
Anyhow, I sat down with my newest CC Designs stamp tonight (last night? It's 3 am, lol) and decided to color it and hopefully use it for my niece's birthday card. I don't have any Memento Tuxedo Black ink yet, which I desperately need to buy... so I used Versafine Onyx black. I didn't heat set it, but I let it sit for 24 hours, but it still bled. Booo. Oh well, it really was a practice run anyhow.
So here is the end result. I'm pretty pleased, considering this is only my 2nd attempt at coloring with alcohol markers. And I'm not really artistic in that sense to begin with, so I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do, compared to others who have been coloring/painting/drawing their whole lives, you know?
I was looking for inspiration to color it, and I found a neat video tutorial for the balloons, using this very stamp! I think I did a pretty good job with the balloons, the video showed how to make them 'see through'.
One of the big challenges for me was figuring out the color scheme. Although I now have a good selection in some color families, others I have pretty much nothing. I have zero yellow Copics, and just one Shin Han Touch. I also don't really have any greens, just one Copic Ciao and one Shin Han Touch.
I applied some Perfect Pearls on the wings, and I think the shimmer is perfect for them. I was worried about the candle at first, it was looking too dingy grey, but I think I fixed it okay.
As always, I love feedback so please, positive and not-so-positive is welcome. :)
