Here is a sampling of what I did for the Splitcoasters' Virtual Stamp Night a couple of weeks ago, themed Winter Olympics.

The challenge for this first card was based on one of the
"official" sweaters. The background was sponged (simulation of Zindorf's fabulous brayering technique) with basic black on one side and burgundy on the other side. I then ran the panel through my Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder. When I added the burgundy twine to the brads, I like the way the background has a quilted appearance. I was very pleased with how this turned out.

For this next card, we were to make the card as much white as possible. I used some of the CB embossing folders rather than actually stamping images and used a very thin bashful blue mat to help the layers pop. Super simple - I think it only took me about 10 minutes from cover to cover ... well within the 45 minutes they allot you.

This card here was based on a sketch of the symbol representing these 2010 Winter Olympics. Not the 5 rings, but an "Inukshuk". An Inukshuk is a stone landmark (or cairn) built for centuries by people of the Arctic North Americas. They've been used for navigation, land markers and even food caches. If you're interested in more information, Watch this YouTube interview. I'm finding myself drawn to some of the older Stampin' Up sets - I used my Zig brush markers to color the stamps themselves and then 'huffing' on them before stamping. And yes, I've seen flowers this color, lol.

This challenge from VSN for the Winter Olympics was to incorporate GOLD! I think you can see it, but this Japanese designer paper is almost like rice paper, very thin and delicate. The flowers are all outlined in a wonderful shimmery gold. So that's the first use ... Then there's the mat behind the image & sentiment. Last is the gold ribbon. I love this paper. I ended up buying 2 sheets of 3 papers, and am squandering it - "Is THIS card worthy?" It's perfect for that subtle effect.

I won't bore you will all my VSN challenges, but these were some of the ones I was most pleased with. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment.

I couldn't wait to open up my Butterfly Dreams from PTI. Only sad part was I didn't have their matching die, but I've since rectified that, now that they're back in stock. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here's another digital image from Squigglefly, colored in Copics. I like the coloring, but I will be the first to admit that I "need" a bigger selection of colors to do some of these justice. I wanted to keep this one fairly simple to bring focus to the image.

This is a new 'purchase' - Thanks, Carrie, I LOVE it! These are so fun to color with copics, lots of larger areas that you can get in & mix and match & blend til you're happy. I so want to take a class to finesse my technique. They're certification classes are few and far between - distance wise. And you have to be affiliated with a store; teach classes, etc., or they'll bump you to the last come/last served list. Hard to plan a long distance trip on the off-chance you may get in, you know? Ok, off my soapbox. I DO love coloring with them, it wasn't a complaint.

Thanks for stopping by - would love to know what you think.

This was a fun challenge for me ... we were supposed to use a color we're not prone to grab. I have to admit, while I LOVE the Carribean waters, Turquoise just doesn't grab me, you know? This is another digital image, Kai in Snow, from Mo's Digital Pencil. I do like the way it turned out with keeping the coloring on the bright side to match the main color. Thanks for peeking in ...

This is one of my first forays into the digital world. I think I need to play around with these a little - I tried heat setting, but I'm still seeing a smear. I tried again couple of days later and had much better luck with the colors not running. Some of the images out there are really cute, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of my ole tried & true rubber stamps.


Thanks for stopping by ...

Here are a couple of cards I've recently done. The "Dream" card was stamped with versamark and clear embossed then I used chocolate to sponge around the edges to bring it out. The second one is one of my favorite techniques - Collaging. I just love the vintage look to cards.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Today's challenge over at Whiff of Joy was to create a card with the "Love" theme. I went with the sibling affection since I've been itching to get at this stamp since I got it last week. I colored the image with prisma colored pencils and gamsol. On top of the chair I added a thin coat of Shimmerz in Angel Wings to add a smidge of sparkle. Finishing touches include some butterfly crocheted trim, burgundy grosgrain ribbon and some pink gems that I added to the trim as well as the corner of the card.

I think I'm going to try this again double stamping so I can do the chair in a small patterned DP with the images cut out on top.

Come back soon to see how that turns out. Thanks for stopping by!

Worked on a couple of cards again today - I'm on a streak! The first 2 are nearly identitical except for the images. They both combine the Splitcoasters challenge from yesterday (Color Challenge to include crushed curry, burgundy and grey) as well as today's sketch challenge.

I left them on the simple side since they felt like cards for guys.

Thanks for stopping by!

Made this card couple of days ago following the sketch challenge #64 over at Whiff of Joy. Because the Birdhouse image from Elisabeth Bell is so large, it got a little stretched out, but basic structure is the same. I love this image and happy with how it turned out. Elisabeth Bell is still at the very top of my favorites!

Thanks for stopping by!

Good Afternoon to you all ... Hope you're all staying warm. We're supposed to get another couple of inches tonight into tomorrow. Don't get me wrong. I love winter, but it's got to be 25 degrees or above for me to enjoy it. We've had so much snow the last couple of months (compared to years past) that I'm about ready for the spring thaw.

Anyway ... I logged into Splitcoasters first thing this morning and decided I was going to forgo the challenge - I'm not a super 3-D fan. But after chores around the house I decided what the heck ... The challenge was to make one of these Bucket Handbags. Mel (SCS: stampztoomuch) created a template which can be found here:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11948156&postcount=1

I actually put the c/s in my printer & took the easy way out. The back side has the same DP but no embellishments like the front.

Ok ... so it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Actually turned out kind of cute, so I'm glad I overcame my resistence and completed it.

Thanks for stopping by.

This past weekend was a mini warm up for the Virtual Stamp Night's Olympic weekend coming up later this month. There were 6 challenges on Saturday Night.

The first was to be inspired by one of the flags of the participating countries. Didn't take me long ... I was looking for Australia ... I SO want to visit there - it's on my Bucket List! Their flag has a Union Jack in the upper left corner, so I put my image panel there matted on red. The background is a bright blue with some white stars. I tried clear embossing, which ended up looking darker in stead of lighter, but it works for me.

The 2nd challenge was to use snow or ice and white embossing or white Flower Soft. I embossed the white and dotted the center of the snowflakes with white embossing, but didn't show up as well as I'd have liked so I sponged blue over the entire surfact ... still can't see much, but like the way it popped the snowflakes.

The 3rd challenge was based on those ADORABLE mittens that the participants get to wear in the opening ceremonies ... I wanna get me a pair of those. I used some red felt material (left over from a costume of the Queen in Star Wars). I punched it with my scalloped Cuttlebug dies and stacked. I love this Penny Black image so much ... Just can't get enough of it.

The 4th was to use the Chalk Board technique. I sponged the images with white Craft ink and then swished some pastels into the design til I got what I was looking for.

This next one was basedon the Slalom Course, so we had to incorporate an "S" or wavy swirl of some kind, use the "Kissing Technique" and to use pink ... Ok, so I o.d'd on the pink. The wavy was achieved by running my c/s through the swirls CB embossing folder. I stamped the image in blush blossom then overstamped a floral background in rose red onto the image stamp (does that make sense?)

This last one, we were to use the "Spotlight Technique" and try to incorporate our favorite event of the Olympics (um, Ice Skating, of COURSE!) - with bonus points for using the 5 colors of the Olympics (red, blue, yellow, green & black - not in that order) ... I pulled out my stash of old, old SU Designer paper and created one background. I love this Skating Mudzie from High Hopes. After all was said and done and I was editing my photo ... I realized, "oops, where's the black?" Um ... the ink, YEAH, that's it, lol.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek! Have a fabulous day!