Sending My Love-Valentine Challenge

Boy, you would think that I would learn that you can't photograph glittery images late at night. I must have taken 10 pictures before I got one that the poor dog didn't look like a zombie dog. Oh, well, I have to keep my day job so I do the best I can.

This card is for the Valentine Challenge on The Greeting Farm. The challenge is to make a Valentine Card. The challenge ends Saturday and the winner, chosen by Marie who is the company owner, will receive 30.00 dollars to use in TGF store. We can enter a maximum of 3 times. We were to write a poem to accompany the photo and mine was:

Sending this letter from so far away

To the one I think of every day

I miss you the most when the day is done

I'm sending this post so you know you're the ONE!

I will try to complete at least one more card but Saturday is coming very quickly.


About this card, I had bought this cute tiny heart flower paper specifically to do valentine cards this year. I bought it at Michaels, on sale of course. I colored the Dorothy Any digi stamp in red to be more valentine colors. I drew a letter with a heart stamp and cut it out and mounted it on a dimensional in Anya's hands. I added two red heart brads to her braids. I just can't seem to leave her braids un accessorized :)

I added heart brads to the corners, added a red polka dot piece of designer paper under the main image that I had mounted on SU Red Riding Hood cardstock. I tied the white grosgrain ribbon with red hearts on and my card was complete. The final step that caused my camera problems was the stickles on the brads and glitter glue pen for a twinkle in the eyes of Anya and Toto.

My stamps for the DogGoneStamps DT have gone MIA. Poor Nancy is sending me another set but I have been so bummed that they haven't arrived. It's a good thing for the mail person that I work days because I would be stalking them daily. I know that I probably won't see them until next Monday, she says with a big pouty face.

Sorry I didn't post last night but I decided that it was high time that I organized my stamp room again. I had stacks and stacks of stuff. I knew where everything was but I was afraid that it might topple in the middle of the night and I would be buried and it would take me all might to dig out. It wasn't really quite that bad but I did need to put everything back where it belongs so that my stamping goes smoother and faster.

Be sure to stop back on Saturday when I will have my first sneak peak for a new stamp for InStyle Stamps. I will post a card sneak peak on Saturday and on Monday another sneak Peak will be on the InStyle Stamps blog.

Okay, that is enough news and stuff for tonight. Thanks for stopping by and staying through the whole ramblings.

Good Night,

Cathy

Totally Downloaded Card

The Greeting Farm has two downloadable kits that I wanted to try. I always have trouble coordinating designer paper that matches to my specifications. These downloads make it so easy even I can do it, See!

I had downloaded the Anya image a week or so ago. On Wednesday I bought the Cupcake kit and the Wonderland kit. This paper is from the Wonderland kit. I really like blue and brown together so this kit was perfect for me. I colored Anya to match the blue and brown flowered and polka dot paper right behind the main image. The other paper I used was the blue with brown polka dots which is my main dp. The flowers look like they were cut out and stacked but I only cut out one, sponged the edge brown, and added the ribbon bow.

The only things I added was the brown checked ribbon. This card took me less than 1/2 hour to complete.

I am going to make some cupcake cards over the week-end so check back.

I am also working on some Artistic Outpost projects with the Keeper stamp plate, gonna be cool, and I am anxiously awaiting my first Dog Gone Stamps.

If you think this little darling is so cute you can't stand it, The Greeting Farm is launching a ClubAnya beginning on Sunday, Feb.1, 2009. If you need something to do while the guys are watching the Super Bowl check out the launch party. For details of the ClubAnya launch go to The Greeting Farm blog here.

Have a great day TGIF!

Cathy

Another Unicorn Card

Doesn't this little unicorn look happy and bright. I love using the Copic technique called Gradiant. It is a method where you blend the colors into each other and get a really smooth color transition. It is really hard to do this on a stamped image and takes quite a bit of practice to keep all the blending inside the lines as you push the colors together during the blending process. I'm getting better.

I got the scalloped flower border along the bottom at Michaels the other night in their bargain bin. It is a Martha Steward favor package and it was marked down to 99 cents.

After I colored the main image and sponged the edges I attached the scalloped border to the bottom and added the two bands of ribbon from my ribbon stash. I know it is a pretty extensive stash, but I usually have something that I can use in that stash. One of these days I will get it better organized. I currently have a drawer that I go to first, then two additional totes. I wasn't kidding when I said it was extensive.

I am going to make one more Unicorn card yet tonight. Because they are images that I downloaded I used the printer option to mirror the image and it will be facing the opposite direction. If it turns out good you will probably see it tomorrow or Monday.

I didnt get to stamp at all today, decided I needed to reclaim my kitchen and do laundry. My daughter and her 3 kids came over for the afternoon and it was finally warm enough that we went out and played in the snow.

Cole is my almost 4 year old grandson and he built a snow man today and was really proud of it. Here is a picture:

Doesn't he look ornery? The baby was getting cold so Cathryn, I and Bailey went inside and Cole stayed out to play some more. Pretty soon I looked out and saw Cole by the swingset eating the carrot. He was dipping the carrot in the snow and eating the carrot and snow.

It was a fun day but I have lots of projects that I need to do yet tonight and tomorrow so I need to go get busy. See you tomorrow. Have a good one.

Cathy

Love Unicorn

This card is for the Magical Unicorn Contest at The Greeting Farm and we are supposed to create a project using the downloadable unicorn image and tell something about it. Here is my story :)

This is a Love Unicorn. Some folks do not believe in Unicorns because they only believe what they can see. I Believe that Unicorns exist because I believe in Love and I can't see that, I can only feel it. I believe in unicorns because we all need beautiful, sweet, good things to believe in and make us smile and if for only a little while, carefree. That is Magical.

Now on to how I created this card. I printed this image as it is a downloadable image. I printed this one off as a 5X7 so that it was a little larger. I have some others that I have printed that are 4X5 so they are just a little smaller. I am going to play with them next. I colored the mane and tail with copic markers. I knew that I wanted to make this a Valentine colored Unicorn because I planned to make a Valentine card out of it.

I had the image all colored and thought that the unicorn was just a little too plain. I should quit while I am ahead usually. So, I decided to add some blush to the cheek. That was my first mistake, I picked too dark a pink, ugh! I tried to blend it out with a lighter pink, tried to blend that out with a blender marker but it was looking pretty bad. So being the type of creator who never sees things as a mistake just alterable I drew a heart around it and colored the rest of it in and blended the edges just like it was supposed to be there. Walla a Love Unicorn was born!

I thought I would like to see if I could cut the colord image out with my Top Note Sizzix die cut, which I love, so I positioned it and with a hope and a prayer beginners luck paid off. I usually cut out my top note panels and then stamp on them, not an option when you are printing the image. I could cut it out but was too lazy this time.

I used my Copic Airbrush to add the green and pink around the edge of the main image. I added pink checked ribbon and green checked ribbon under the main image and tied a knot bow on each. I added the medium large pink glittery dot in the upper right hand corner and stamped Believe in Always Artichoke ink on the side.

I added stardust glitter pen highlights to the unicorn horn, flowers and eye. I traced the word Believe in the glitter pen and traced around the outside of the top note panel with the pen as well. It just doesn't photograph very well.

This was so much fun. I will try to create another card or project for the contest which ends next Thursday night. The prize is two stamp sets of your choice and I could sure use some free stamps right now although that isn't the real reason I am doing these, just an added bonus.

I should have a pretty quiet and creative week-end, at least that is my plan, so stop by and see what I have been doing if you get a chance.

Goodnight

Cathy

Beautiful Geisha Downloadable Image

I just have a few minutes before I go to work but I wanted to show you this darling Geisha girl that is availble for download at The Greeting Farm, isn't she adorable?

I printed the image on GP white cardstock and then I masked the image and stamped my asian foliage. I added the Tranquility sentiment which is a retired Stampin Up set.

I colored with copic markers. I thought about going with the more traditional red and black but decided on red and purple.

I added highlights with my stardust glitter pen.

The Greeting Farm is also having a Magical Unicorn Challenge to create a card or project with their downloadable unicorn image. Check out their blog for more details. I will post more details tonight and my Magical Unicorn card.

Have a great day.

Cathy

MoJo Monday Challenge card

I did the MoJo Monday Challenge for the first time today. I think I followed the sketch exactly, pretty good for me!

I downloaded this cute Anja image from The Greeting Farm. I didn't realize when I first downloaded the image that it was Anja dressed up as Alice in Wonderland but I decided that she could be dressed up in a Valentine costume haha.

I colored her with copic markers and added white gel pen dots to her dress and headband. I was going to paper piece a pink headband but I have been getting over the flu and just didn't do it. I did add white dots to coordinate with her dress. I know I am bad!

Since I made this card for the MoJo Monday Challenge I used some cute flowered dp that I got at Target, yep in the dollar bin. I used my Quikutz scalloped circle cookie die to cut out the Rose Red scalloped circle, I used my Fiskar's circle cutter using the inside of the scalloped cookie die for my pink circle and used my Fiskar's circle template to cut the main image. Not as perfect as I would like, but you gotta use what you have.

I used my Martha Stewart heart punch for the rose red hearts and added the Sateen flowers to which I had added a pink heart brad.

I stamped the Happy Valentines Day sentiment from the Dr. Pea_Nut stamp set from Our Craft Lounge on vellum and trimmed it to the size that I wanted. I then punched a small hole and cut a slit so that it would fit around the heart brad that I had placed in Anja's hands.

To finish the card I used my white gel pen to add white dots to the hearts, around the scalloped circle of the main image and corner dots on the card base.

Tomorrow I am going to work with some new Artistic Outpost stamp that I got a couple of weeks ago and haven't inked up yet.

I am still adjusting to a new work schedule since I bought my new car. I decided that I needed to work 40 hours a week instead of the 35 that I had been working so that I wouldn't have to use my extra money I usually use for my stamps and supplies for my car payment. I am going to like the extra money but not the hours that I can't spend stamping.

Enough complaining. I need to get to bed so that I can go to work in the morning.

Have a good one!

Cathy

I might be in trouble with this concept :)

Sorry I have not posted for a couple of days, I have been fighting a flu bug, ugh!

I was browsing some of my favorite blogs the other night and stumbled upon some cards that Frances, Stamp Owl Studios, had created using downloadable stamp images from The Greeting Farm (formerly Pink Poison) . I thought I would give them a try when I saw the cute images.

This was just too cute to pass up. I ordered 3 images, this unicorn and two Anya stamps. It was way too easy to do. Added bonus was the price, only 3.00 per image. Because you download them there is no shipping. You just put the order in and within seconds of paying you have the images to download. You just print them off and color as if you had stamped them off.

My biggest concern was that my printer ink would smear when coloring with my copic markers but I didn't have any problems at all.

I colored with my copic markers and then added some sparkle on the butterfly, unicorn horn, and along the hoof line with my star dust sparkle pen.

This will be a short post but I have a couple more images to show you tonight. Have a great day.

Cathy