colorwhimsy

A Little Extra Bling

Do you like the logo on the Outside the Box site?  Well, it is now a stamp!  I Inked the Clear Tree Border (D1334) with black memento ink and stamped it onto some Spearmint paper.  I then stamped it again onto white cardstock with the same ink.  After I colored the circles with an assortment of Copic markers, I cut them out and layered them onto my patterned paper trees.  I placed everything onto a Bayou notecard and then decided the card needed some bling...a lot of bling.  Instead of adding individual diamond jewels to the card, I added an entire strip.  It went a lot faster than dealing with the jewels one by one!

Easter Tree

I had a wonderful time stamping with some buddies today and thought I would share one of the cards I made.  It features the new Easter Egg Tree Combo (G1343) as well as the saying that is found on the side of the stamp.  I colored the eggs with Copic markers and then planned to cover them with a clear gel pen to give them a glossy sheen.  I accidentally picked up a white Souffle pen instead.  I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with the end result.  The eggs still have a sheen to them, but they also have a white cloudiness to them that makes them look more egg-like.

To finish the card, I cut out the tree and a background layering piece (Bayou cardstock) using my Nestability Labels 3 dies.  I placed the tree onto some paper from the Spearmint 6" x 6" paper pack and layered everything onto a Pool notecard.

Nuts About You

So, I have to say this weekend has been interesting.  We received 30" of snow, lost power, and had twelve trees crash down to block off our cul-de-sac from the other roads.  I am really hoping to see a snow plow tomorrow!  The good news is that it left me with some time to craft...

Today I decided to play with some of the latest log and squirrel stamps.  They are just so much fun to color!  I stamped the log home (D1324) on either side of the stump parade (C1323) using brown Memento ink.  I then added the large squirrel from the 2 Squirrels (B1320) stamp and colored everything with Copic markers.  For the sky, I colored the outside edges with a Copic B00 pen and the inner part with a B0000 marker to create a gradient of blue.  I added some hearts from the Tree of Love (D1312) using Versafine Crimson Red ink and the Nuts About You (B941) saying using brown Memento ink. To finish the card, I layered everything onto some vanilla bean cardstock, added some Frond patterned paper, and placed everything onto a mocha notecard.

Happy Fall

Do you ever see a card that looks perfect to you?  Do you then have the hardest time imagining using the stamp in another way?  That was what happened to me when I saw Dave's take on the Tree Silhouette (E1302) which you can see here.  Isn't it wonderful?  I love the elegance of that card!

I decided to force myself to use the stamp in a completely different way.  I thought the easiest way to start would be to change the season of the card.  After all, it isn't winter yet! 

To make this card, I stamped the trees twice onto white cardstock using Rich Cocoa Memento ink.  I then used a cloud stencil, a sponge, and some Adirondack Sailboat Blue ink to create my sky.  For the ground, I sponged on some Antique Linen Distress ink.  I liked the look but decided it needed a bit more variation in color.  I then added a bit of yellow chalk here and there on the hills to give them a bit more "umph."  For the trees, I dotted some Y21, Y17, and R22 Copic markers to the branches.  R22 is called Light Prawn and actually looks a bit pink.  However, I found that true reds were too dark to use on the card.  They just didn't match the muted tones of the rest of the card.

To finish, I added layers of mango and vanilla bean cardstock to a mocha notecard.

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight....one extra hour for sleep.  Yeah!

Oh Christmas Tree

I'm trying to remember what Christmas cards I have posted, and I don't think I have done a Christmas tree yet.  How is that possible?!  The nice thing about the Twisty Pine (E1286) is that it works as a plain tree, but you can also add a lot of "bling" to make it a jazzy Christmas tree.

For this card, I cut Kraft cardstock and some Spiceberry patterned paper using my Nestability circle dies.  I stamped the pine onto the kraft cardstock using brown Memento ink and colored it with two shades of green Copic markers.  To make the card sparkle, I used red and green jewels from the Christmas jewel pack as well as some canary jewels.

For the bottom of the card, I added more Spiceberry paper and cut out a kraft tag using a label Nestability die.  To finish the bottom, I added a red ribbon as well as a Happy Holidays (B929) saying.

You are so cool

If you are a fan of Dave's polar bears, then you are going to enjoy the Memory Box Brighter Days release.  Not only is there the sweet bear holding an ice cream cone, but there is the cute Fishing Bear (C1306) that I used on this card.  The fishing bear would pair well with a Christmas saying because of the Santa hat, but I decided to make a more generic winter card instead. 

To make the card, I layered some Dewfrost paper to resemble water and a snowy sky.  I sponged some Ice Blue Colorbox Chalk onto my pond so that it would look darker at the top.  I then stamped the bear onto my patterned paper and again onto some white paper using black Memento ink.  I cut out my bear from the white paper and layered him onto the bear on the patterned paper.  I added a bit of gray, red, and brown Copic markers to the bear and some green Copic marker to the fish.  To finish the card, I added some mocha cardstock, more Dewfrost paper, and mint pearls to a Pool notecard.

Happy Fall

Ahh.....fall.  I just love this time a year!  I never get tired of making fall-themed cards.  There is just something about fall images and colors that speaks to me.

For this card, I stamped the Maple Branch (D1099) onto cream cardstock using Rich Cocoa Memento ink and colored the leaves with my Light Reddish Yellow (YR31) and Yellow Ochre (YR23) Copic Markers.  I then added a little extra shading with my Warm Gray #3 marker around the branches.  In keeping with my current "use up my scraps" mode, I layered pieces of Jack-O-Lantern, Vanilla Bean, and Gourd cardstock as well as some leaves I punched out of leftover Twilight paper.  Here is a close up of one of the leaves:

 

I wanted to include a close-up so that you could see that I edged my leaf with some brown ink and then drew some veins onto the patterned paper using a fine detail brown pen.

To finish the card, I added a brown satin ribbon and stamped Happy Fall (B946) using Dark Brown Colorbox Chalk ink.

Using Up Scraps

I was going though my paper tonight and found out that I have a whole bunch of scraps from the Memory Box Twilight paper pack.  The nice thing about paper collections is that you can take the tiny pieces you have and piece them together to create a decorative background.  Because they are from the same pack, you know they will coordinate well with each other.

To make this card, I stamped the Shady Window D1274 onto white cardstock with black Memento ink and colored the window and pumpkin with Copic markers.  I used the Warm Gray #7 for the window sill because I wanted it to appear dark, but I often find the Copic black marker to be TOO dark.  Does that make sense?  Plus, the Warm Gray has a hint of brown that worked well with the Twilight papers.  To make the window pane, I colored it with Y00 and then colored over the center part with the Copic blender pen to fade the yellow a little.  The pumpkin was colored with Y38 Honey.  To finish the window, I stamped the image onto a scrap of Twilight paper and paper-pieced the curtain onto the window.  I popped the window up onto the card with foam tape and then stamped Halloween Greetings (B1140) onto a cantaloupe notecard.

Red/Green Snowman

I hadn't had a chance to play with the Snowman Friends clear set (cl144) yet, and my first instinct was to pair it with the new Dewfrost paper.  After all, the Dewfrost collections features frosted blue papers and has a snowy feel to it.  However, I thought it might be fun to try the snowman with the reds, greens, and golds of the Spiceberry pack. 

To make the card, I stamped the snowman onto white cardstock using black Memento ink and shaded him with my Copic W1 marker.  Usually anytime I shade snow or water, I use a Cool Gray marker because it has just a hint of blue to it that looks great with water and ice.  However, I noticed that the card as a whole had a rustic feel to it with not a hint of blue in sight.  I hoped that the Warm Gray marker with its hint of brown would match better with the papers and not look like dirty snow.  Yikes!

Here is a close-up of the snowman before shading:

Here is my snowman after shading:

You can see that adding just a touch of gray really helped add some dimension to the snowman.

To finish the card, I paper pieced the snowman's scarf and mittens and added a hat that I had stamped onto red paper using black ink.  I added many more layers of the Spiceberry paper behind the snowman, added some 24K pearls, and then layered everything onto a Cherry Soiree notecard.  It is hard to tell from the picture, but I also added a bit of Stickles to my snow.  I think the close-up shows it a bit better:

 

Winter Owls Revisited

Do you ever finish a card (and maybe even blog about it) and then think that it needs something?  After posting my card yesterday, I decided it needed to look a bit more frosty and cold.  What better way to do that than with a little glitter?  I am not a big fan of loose glitter, so I went with glitter glue instead.  To finish my card (for the second time), I added some Diamond Stickles to the tree and the top of the hill so it would look like ice.  I tried to tip the card when I took the picture so that the sparkle would show up better, but it is still hard to see the glitter on the hill.

What do you think?  Better?  Or, should I have left well enough alone?