Good morning!

Thought I would give you another video, it is short but a good tip.

Thanks for stopping by be sure and leave me a comment.  I’ll post the winner of the Blog on Sunday so be sure and stop back by!

Hi, everyone!

Here it is my first video!!!  It is short but I think informative and hopefully you will find it helpful.

Ok, now what did I learn?  I need to find a better place to put the video camera.  This is not as easy as you think it is, I now understand why it takes so many takes when they are making a movie or television program….LOL!  Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I hope to be making more in the near future.

Leave me a comment and don’t forget today is your last day to leave a comment to be added into the Blog Candy drawing!

I saw this technique on a card but it didn’t have any instructions on how to do it so I thought I would play and bring you along with me as I played.

I’m using UTEE to do this technique because I only have super fine and ultra thick embossing power in clear and I figured the UTEE would give me the best result.

This is what I started out with: heat gun, versamark pad, a stamp that has more negative than positive design (that’s important), coffee filter to catch the embossing power and some distressed ink.

I originally embossed on the pattern size of the pattern paper but I didn’t get enough contrast between the paper and the ink for it to show up.  If you use pattern paper make sure the ink you use over the paper has enough contrast to show up (that’s the little trick).  The embossing powder is clear so whatever the pattern or color is underneath will show through.

I turned the paper over and embossed on the white sized of the paper and then used TH Shabby Shutters to ink over the embossed flower and the paper surrounding it.  I took a wet wipe and ran over the embossed flower to take off any remaining ink residue.

I think this came out great and I can’t wait to play with it on a card or layout.  Now here is a little storage tip for you and the Distressed inks and the foam pad.

I ran just  little tape runner on the blue side of the foam pad I use for each ink and attach it to the bottom of the ink pad.  You could also glue the loop side of Velcro on the back of the ink pad too, but just a little bit of tape runner holds it in place.

This way you know you have the correct foam pad for the ink pad you are using.

I just ordered my video camera and it should be here by Tuesday, so watch out I’ll start doing some videos.  Hope I don’t sound to southern on them…..LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and leave me a comment.

I took the image from the stamp image and shrunk it down a little.  If you look closely you can see that this image is colored a little differently than the larger image I showed yesterday.  Just click on the picture to get a larger view.

I removed the little bee and the expression marks from the image. Tip: I used a correction tape runner to remove the items I didn’t want and then re-scanned the image.

I made the bee so it could be 3D.  I bought a stamp from M’s for $1 not too long ago and it had the bee and a saying “bee well”.  I stamped it twice; one time to get the bee with wings attached and the second time I stamped it on vellum  to cut out a second set of wings .  I took the first stamped image and colored it and stickled it and let it dry.  On the vellum wings I used a glue glitter (not Stickles) that was a holographic white and set it aside and let them dry.   Once dry I cut out just the bee and cut off the antennas, we’ll make them out of thread, and I cut just the wings out of the vellum stamped image.

Once everything is dry I covered the bee with Glossy Accents and then stuck the vellum wings into the Glossy Accents and made sure they were sticking up.

I created the antennas by taking a piece of black thread and folded it in half.  I placed a drop of Glossy Accents on the back of the bee and laid the thread down into the Glossy Accents.

I then cut the thread to the length it needed to be for the bee.

I raised the finished bee up on foam to give it a little lift, this along with the vellum wings gives the bee the feeling that he/she is flying over head and of course that little gray bunny is watching.

I also added a trail of a flight pattern up the side and across the top.

The image did not come with grass so I added it by starting out with a zig-zag stitch in green using Sulky thread and then  added addition color using Copic Markers.

This added some additional interest and texture to the card.

This is the back of the stamped image.  As you can see the color of the Copic Markers are bleeding through.  According to everything I’ve read this is a “good thing”.  It shows how well you have saturated the image.  Yeah, the purple egg is really saturated because I was having trouble getting it to look like I wanted it.  Which brings up a great things about Copics is you can add more color or use the blender pen to take away color and work it until you get just where you want it.

I also wanted to show you the back so you could see the zig-zag stitching.  When you look back at the previous picture it shows you how much the Copic Markers add to the stitching.

Here is the finish project.  I used Stampin Up’s ticket punch (with the corner guides removed) to cut the small half circles in the pink mat.  This helps keep the ribbon in place on the mat.  I also used the Swiss Dot CB embossing folder on the pink mat.

I used various colors of Tim Holtz’s Distressed inks to ink the edges of the card and mats using the foam applicator.  By the way you can use that foam applicator to achieve the same look with any stamp pad.

The inside was done very similar to the outside except I distressed the edges of the yellow mat with the edge of my scissors and then inked them.

Yep! That’s ducky that I had colored earlier.  I just cut him out and glued him right on top.

He was the perfect color and a cute surprise when you open the card (remember I colored him on watercolor paper).

I love the way this turned out and these little bunnies are a combination of using the Copic Markers and Prisma Color Pencils using MCPT (Magic Color Pencil Technique).

The yellow bow is in the upper right side to represent the sun.  I think it came out so cute.  Yes, I know there is a lot of work in this project.  Unfortunately, I agonize over getting these things perfect and I can’t help but put in all the little details and get the coloring just right.

Thanks so much for stopping by and please leave me a comment I would love to hear from you and what you think!

I’m finally getting the “knack” of using Copics (click on the picture to make it larger).  I really can’t tell you how important it is to have the correct color combinations of markers.  Tip: Start with the lighter version of the colors first, example RV00, RV02, RV06.  I started with RV34 and then had nothing to be the light or dark .  Be sure to read my other suggestions here is the link.

Last year I belonged to a MCPT (Magic Color Pencil Technique) card challenge on the Circut Message Board.  April, the lady that kept the challenge going, would send the challenge image for the month stamped (on Bristol Smooth) and then additional stamped images just on regular card stock.  I took all of those stamped images and scanned them into my laptop now they are digital stamps and this is one of those cute images.

This stamped image is colored with a combination of Copic markers and MCPT.  I first colored everything with the Copic markers and then where I needed additional light, medium or dark I used the Prisma Color Pencils using MCPT.

I love the results, in the areas that I felt my coloring with the Copic markers was still rough the MCPT smoothed the image out and added an additional layer of depth.

The gray halo around the image is done using MCPT.  You can see this technique demonstrated @

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCCo9799dWo

I’m not crazy about this little bee, nor the black line marks around the gray and reddish-brown bunnies.  I couldn’t tell if they were suppose to be whiskers or expression marks.

I changed this up when I took this image and made a card.  That is what is so good about digital stamps and since I’m running out of room to store wooden stamps and acrylic stamps I’m getting ready to increase my digital stamp inventory.  I can also take my wooden stamps and acrylic stamps and stamp them, then scan them and make them digital.

After I got the coloring done I went back in with Stickles, some Glossy Accents and the little white highlights are done with a white Sakura Souffle pen.  I have various white pens that I tried but this worked the best this time.  The only issue with this is that when you first mark with the ink of the Souffle pen it doesn’t show up that much.  It gets more intense as it dries.  I’m looking for Sharpie white poster paint extra fine pen (this is suppose to mark on anything), but it looks like I’m going to have to order over the internet I haven’t found it at any office supply store yet.   I also used Scribbles 3D paint in various colors (copper, black, yellow) on the top of the flower.

I’m working on a card using a smaller version of this image and a 3D bee so be sure to check back and check it out.  Also, please be sure and leave me a comment, I would like to hear from you!

Gareth (who is 4) has been very sick this month.  He has had the H1N1 flu and no sooner makes it pass that when he comes up with strep.

Since we are headed out of town I decided I would make them a little gift box for Halloween.  This is the stuff I found and most of it is $1 stuff from either Target or M’s.

Rylan is 17 months old and although she didn’t get the H1N1 she definitely got strep.

This is the stuff for her Halloween gift box and most of them were $1 from Target and M’s including that cute little stamp that says “There can only be one Queen and I’m It”!

When I went to put the boxes together I discovered I did not have the right color tissue paper nor did I have anything that look like something for Halloween.  So I decided I would design my own.   

I had white tissue paper, stamps and ink surely I could come up with something.  I pulled all my Halloween stamps and some orange and black ink.   On Rylan’s tissue paper I used her stamp but left it off of Gareth’s tissue paper.

I then started randomly stamping all over the tissue paper.  TIP:  This best way to do this is take the lighter of the inks (this case orange) and use all the stamps.  Then go back with the darker ink (this case black) and re-stamp using all the stamps.  This way you don’t have to clean the stamps in between using the two stamp ink pads.

I think this worked out perfectly.

Here they are ready to go.  I took 3 different ribbons and tied little knots around the metal handles.  I also made them little tags (not shown) that I tied onto the handles with “To” and “From” and some additional Halloween decorations like pumpkins and bats.

This year Gareth is “Tigger” and Rylan is “Piglet”.  They are so cute and for some reason it doesn’t take them long to figure out if you say “Trick or Treat” you get candy.  For some reason that doesn’t work as well for adults, you usually get the trick instead of the candy.

Today is my DH’s birthday.  He is a golfer and when I found the iron on transfer at JoAnn’s or HL (can’t remember which), I knew I wanted to use it to make him a card.

I think this came out very well and it is a nice masculine card.

Usually you would put an iron-on transfer onto T-shirt material or some cotton.  I didn’t have any of those things so I decided I would use a used fabric softener sheet.  I think it is important to use a used one that way the softening ingredients are gone.

I followed the directions on the iron-on transfer and used a dry iron.  It pressed beautifully onto the dryer sheet.  The dryer sheet also gives a nice texture behind the iron-on.  It also give some transparency to the face and hands (if you can call them that).

Choosing my color scheme I paid attention to the colors in the iron-on and built up from there.  I made the card 5-1/4″ by 9″, used Tags, Bags and More Cricut cart to cut out a couple of tags.

There is also a strip of brown paper that I used the Cuddle Bug on to add another masculine look and texture.

I cut the dryer sheet with the iron-on transfer down to fit the yellow tag and thought if I run it through the Xyron it would make a great adhesive for this project.

Tip: The dryer sheet is too porous and the Xyron adhesive would not stick.   Waste of Xyron adhesive, but that is the way you learn.

I used my large Zig glue pen and coated the underside of the dryer sheet and then flipped it and adhered it to the yellow tag.  The yellow tag has been inked using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and a brush.

Tip:  Be sure and use a craft mat because the glue will go right through the dryer sheet, but enough stays on it to adhere down on the tag. 

I then took a brayer and rolled it down.  The yellow tag with the Vintage Photo ink made it take on a nice flesh tone for the rub on.

I ran the brown strip of paper through the CB using the Argyle Embossing folder (nice masculine touch) and then I inked it with Tim Holtz Vintage photo distressing ink.  It make the embossing on the stip pop.

I had a couple of brads that looked like screws so, I punched a couple of holes in the brown strip of paper before I adhered it to the card.

Finished it up with some more golf icons on the inside.  These are cut from the Everyday Paper Dolls cart.  I made multiple cuts of the same icon in different papers and colors so I could cut and piece them together to get a more original feel.  I also adds the 18 on the flag and did some doodling on the golf bag.

Now, what do you give a man that basically has everything he wants…….I’m going to give him a check so he can add money to his golf fund.  What is a “golf fund” you ask?  It’s his budget for playing golf every week.  Because after 39 years of marriage I know if I keep him happy, he keeps me happy!

Love you sweetie!  Happy Birthday!!!!   

On the dazzle sheets after you pull off an element you are left with “innies”.  These are the left over cuttings from the design.  You can get twice as much for your money when you learn to use these left overs in your design.

Usually, you would use what they call a transfer sheet to lift these off the paper and then transfer them onto whatever you were making.  However, I didn’t have a transfer sheet so I decided I would see if I could use masking tape.

I cut around the leaf pattern and placed the masking tape over it and rubbed it.  This will cause the sticky side of the tape to adhere to the top side of the innies.

Tip:  When you cut out the area that has the innies left in it cut on the outside of the design capturing a little line of the left over open space.  This will give the leaf an outline rather than just random “innies”.  I learned this the hard way.

If you look closely you can see the leaf under the blue tape.  This is the top of the blue tape and I rubbed my finger over it several times to be sure that the blue tape picked up all the little pieces.

 I picked up the edge of the tape and pulled it back slowly revealing that it had captured all of the innies from the dazzle sheet.

If I had cut around the outter edge of the open space on the dazzle sheet I would have had an outline of gold around the innies – it would made for a  better looking leaf.

I turned the sticky side (the one holding the innies) face down on the card stock and ran my fingers over the innies.  This will transfer the innies to the card stock (that is because the adhesive that was holding the innies to the dazzle sheet is now exposed and when you place it on the card stock it will stick to the card stock).

Once you have rubbed this onto the card stock “slowly” pull the masking tape back.  I keep a craft knife in hand to help the innies release from the tape.  If you do this slowly you can keep those rogue innies from getting out of line.  You will also notice that some of the gold came off on the tape but that is ok it doesn’t hurt the dazzle.

 Here you can see two sets of leaves.  Two are the outline dazzles (the “outties”) and two are the inside cuts (the “innies).

I just cut the shape of the leaf around the “innies” and if you look back at the card posted yesterday, you can see that they look just fine.

I haven’t tried this yet but using repositionable tape may work better on the Dazzle innies.  This type of tape is not as strong and would probably release the innies easier; however, you may have to rub the tape over the innies harder to get it to adhere well enough to lift them off the dazzle sheet.

Don’t let transferring dazzle “innies” psych you out.  You don’t have to have a “special transfer sheet”.  If you have a transfer you need to make that is bigger than the strip of tape you are using, just overlap the tape a little and make the tape transfer as large as you need.  You need a low tack tape to make this work.

We have a minor league baseball team here in the metroplex called the Rough Riders.  The stadium where they play is beautiful and we purchase 8 game season pass each year.  It is just fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors and I love to people watch.

When you buy season passes they send you a calendar of the games.  This is a nice size calendar and it is magnetic so it can sit on your refrigerator.

I’m in this cleaning out mode (I think it is because I’m working on my Mother’s bathroom and she has so much stuff) at home.  I’ve set myself a goal of cleaning out a closet or drawer once a week.

I reached up to throw this calendar away since the season is over for the Rough Riders and realized that this was an excellent sheet of magnet.  Do I need a sheet of magnet?  I’m sure I can find something to use this sheet of magnet for and recycle or up-cycle it without just throwing it out.

Oh well, so much for cleaning out.  Somethings are just hard to throw away.  I’ve worked on Mom’s bathroom Saturday and it is coming along nicely.  I’ll have additional pictures to show later.