Dia de los Muertos

Hello friends,
Yesterday I finally had time to get out my NEW stamps from Paper Wings Productions, that I had ordered and play with them. This set is titled "Dia de los Muertos Hombre "clear stamp set. Click here to see more of their New stamps that are available now!
I especially liked this set because of the papel picados and rose garland spray stamps that were in the set with the "hombre".

I have never celebrated Dia de los Muertos, (Spanish for Day of the Dead) which is a Mexican holiday celebrated in Mexico and around the world in many other cultures. It is celebrated on November 1 & 2 and focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember those who have died. I have enjoyed hearing and reading the history of the holidays, and always thought it was a good idea to celebrate and honor family members and friends who have passed on before us.

Traditions include building altars and decorating with pictures of the deceased, sugar skulls, marigold flowers, and favorite foods and beverages of the departed. Celebrations should take on happy tones, remembering fun events and anecdotes about the departed.

This card made me happy while making it, because it reminded me of the great times I spent with my Mother and Dad before they passed away. I first stamped the hombre on white card stock with Memento black ink, and colored his hat, shoes, and facial decorations with my copic markers. Then I stamped the rose garland twice, and colored the roses in pink, which was my Mother's favorite color rose. The shrine stamp is from Stampers Anonymous, and was colored with my Distressed markers. The pieces were fussy cut and then mounted on some printed scrapbook paper to give it a little pop! A length of matching ribbon was knotted in the center and adhered to the unit before attaching it to the card front, which I shaded along the edges with chalk ink.  I then attached the banner and my card was complete.

I don't know for sure if I will send out this card or not. I may just keep it for myself, happily remembering my friends and relatives that have gone on before. Take time to remember someone you love.

Busy Week; Now back to Cards

Hey everybody,
It has been a really busy week for me, which means I didn't get to post here OR make any more cards. Well, thankfully my obligation was fulfilled, and now I can get back to my card making and lallygagging!

The last post mentioned that I was looking forward to my friend, Jane's Halloween Card
Making class. It was a blast, and we had so much fun making 4 really awesome cards using the House Mouse line of stamps, and even one Grumpies stamp. If  you like these, and think you might like to take one of Jane's classes, here in S.A. click here, and click again on her class information tab to see classes that are upcoming.

I am so blessed to have such a talented friend that enjoys teaching and sharing her ideas with others in her classes.  I love using my Copic Markers, and that is what this class was all about.  Learning how to blend the colors on their fur, both bears and mice, so they look so realistic.  Jane is a certified Copic Marker instructor, and she really knows her stuff.

I keep looking at the 4 cards, trying to pick my favorite. But after a week, I still cannot pick out just one!  I love how they ALL turned out. 

Well, I am back in the crafting mood now, so I'd better get busy with my cards and projects. Have a good weekend, and enjoy life!  I'll visit with you again soon.

Let Your Dreams FLY!

Happy Friday Everyone!
Today's card is the last in the series of Melange Women that I made on World Card Making Day last weekend. This is Cassandra.

Cassandra is one of four Melange Women cling mounted rubber stamps from Paper Wings Productions. To check out these and other wonderful stamps, click here.

I started the background for this card as a 4" X6" piece of watercolor paper. I then edged the paper with grape and peach Gelato pigment sticks from Faber Castell. These Gelatos are so much fun to work with, they are like an oil pastel stick in a chap-stick tube, that are water-based instead of oil-based. You just draw with them like a crayon and then either blend them with your fingers, a baby wipe, or a water brush like watercolors. I just scribbled through the middle of the watercolor paper, and then blended it together somewhat. When it was dry, I used purple Smooch ink to swirl over the top and make more swirls and squiggles. I then put the background aside to completely dry before moving on.

Next I stamped Cassandra in Wild Honey Distressed Ink and colored her with my Copic markers. I had a saying in my computer about "catching a star that lets your dreams fly" so I printed it out and trimmed around its edges. Before putting the card together, I assembled a felt flower with three layers and adhered a pearl embellishment in it's center.

I trimmed the background to fit an A2 size card blank and adhered all the layers to the card front. Cassandra was adhered with foam tape to give the card dimension. The felt flower is very soft, so it will smash down when mailing the card.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am attending a Halloween Card Making class, given by a friend of mine, and we will be using stamps from the House Mouse line of stamps. I think they are one of my favorite categories of stamps.  So, have a stampin' good time this weekend, I know I will be.

Hello Friend!

Hello Friends,
Today's card is using the 3rd Melange Woman stamp from Paper Wings Productions, and her name is Diana.

The background of this card was made from a piece of eggshell card stock run through a Sizzix embossing folder on my Cuttlebug. After removing it from the folder, I took an older chestnut roan chalk ink pad and ran it lightly over the embossed image.  Be very careful if you use a new chalk ink pad, because they are very juicy when new. I then stamped out Diana on the same eggshell stock and colored her with my Copic markers. Most of the shading is on the stamp itself, so is very easy to make the image look so real. Then using a flourish die from Die-namics and "Hello Friend" from a Sizzix plate, I ran a bronze sheet of stock through the Cuttlebug for the embellishments.  All the pieces were then adhered to a kraft colored card base.

A very easy card with just a little time needed to complete it. Tomorrow I will show and explain the last card in the series of  Melange Women group. Again, if you would like to have a set of these wonderful images or purchase them singly, click here.  See you tomorrow!

Hats Off to You! Paper Wings Productions

Hats Off to You! fellow stampers,
Here is card #2 of my Melange Women cards made on World Card Making Day this past weekend.

As I mentioned yesterday, I love this set of cling mounted rubber stamps from Paper Wings Productions, click here to see all of their wonderful stamps. This beautiful woman is Claudette.

I started with a piece of antique lace I got in a goody bag at an antique store years ago. (I'm sorry it is so hard to see in this photo.) It was a shaped applique of a flower, and I thought it would look lovely as a hat. I covered my card base with a sheet of A Ladies Diary paper from Graphic 45 and made a rectangular accent square with other bits from this same line. I adhered them to the front of the card, and then using a thin layer of tacky glue adhered the lace applique in the top right corner. I then stamped the focal image, face and body with Tuxedo black memento ink, and colored in with my Copic markers. I wanted the head to really stand out, so I adhered a 1" button between the lace and the cardstock head. To the button I attached some looped ribbon, the cut-out, more small bits of lace and some sparkly gemstones.

Then using my Cuttlebug I die cut 2 fancy flourishes from Die-Namics. I accented the paper strip on the side with a piece of ribbon and glued the two flourishes down, one on each side of the figure.  I then stamped the banner from Bannerific by Lawn Fawn stamps and the phrase "hats off to you!"

I had been dreaming about this card for quite awhile, picturing how I would put it together in my mind. I finally found the stamp I wanted to use, and practiced coloring the image many times before I finally got it like I wanted it to look. I am so glad I could finally share it with you, and say "hats off to you" my friends.

Happy Birthday Card with Paper Wings Productions Stamps

Hello friends,
Happy Tuesday!  By the time you read this it may be Wednesday though. I want to share with you the rest of the cards I made on World Card Making Day this year.

I used a set of cling mounted rubber stamps from Paper Wings Productions.
www.paperwingsproductions.com
called Melange Women. I have just found out that they are also selling the individual women stamps,  and this is Heather.

First I stamped Heather on white card stock with potter's clay Memento ink. I then colored her with Copic Markers or you could use colored pencils if you don't have the markers. I then cut out around the image and put aside. I had a small piece of scrapbook paper that had fruit on it in soft colors. Apples, peaches, and pears, along with some flowers and leaves and three flourish squares. I fussy cut all of the images and matted the squares. I cut a piece of printed cardstock for the background of the card and positioned the face and fruit around it before I glued it all down. I tried to adhere it in different layers so it would have some depth in it. For my ribbon embellishment I took the three matted squares and attached them to a double length of ribbon using my Tiny Attacher from Tim Holtz. Then I used foam tape to adhere the sections to the card front.

The Birthday medallion was punched from a 3" scalloped oval, and 2 1/2" solid oval, then stamped with a birthday greeting from Hot Off the Press.

I Love this Melange of Women and made a card with each stamp. I will show the other three women this week, so stay tuned.  "Same Bat Channel" as they say on ME TV! See you soon.

Two More Halloween Cards

Greetings, Cardmakers!
I have two more Halloween cards for you today, that I made yesterday for World Cardmaking Day, using Graphic 45 papers.

They are both collaged, using bits and pieces from the 8" X 8" Halloween paper pad from Graphic 45, plus foam tape, and adhesive gemstones along with a few flower petals and buttons.  I didn't do any stamping for these cards, just cut out the bits, arranged them on the blank cards, them glued and taped down the layers to give them some interest.  I also added a little bling here and there to give a little sparkle, and the cards were done.

I also didn't participate in a group card making for World Cardmaking Day, just worked on them at home, while staying in touch with a couple of groups that were holding hops and card making sessions on their blogs. I got about 5 cards done, these three Halloween and two birthday cards that I will feature tomorrow!

The weather here was so nice today. Our first "breath of fall" or what little fall we get here in south Texas.   It was down in the fifties this morning, and mid-sixties this afternoon, just right for opening the doors and windows to let a little fresh air in.  I hope you all had a great day, until tomorrow!

Steampunk Luc at Halloween!

Hello friends,

Halloween is about a month away, and I love decorating and dressing up for the holiday. I have been lucky, the 30+ years I have been working, the other employees and I have always worn costumes for Halloween. I have worked retail sales, and every Halloween we would dress in costume, and customers would come in just to see our costumes.  Of course, by the time I got off work and headed home, I was ready to rip off the costume and wipe off the make-up. After my bath it was into my jammies and off to read or watch TV.  Especially in my later years, there were no trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood to hand out candy to.

This card was made with papers from the Graphic 45 Halloween collection, bits and pieces of ribbon, and the Luc stamp from Paper Wings Productions.  I also found a breastplate "costume" for Luc in the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutant paper collection that fit him just fine.   I also stamped three pumpkins on a tag, colored them in with Copics, and made one to look like a carved Halloween pumpkin.  Then the embellishments were just adhered to the card in different layers with foam tape, some popped up, and others not, so it wouldn't be so flat. Then glitter and gemstones made it sparkly and blingy to boot!  I have a few more Halloween type cards started, and will post in a few days if I get them done this weekend.

The weather is predicted to "cool off" this weekend, with a cold front on Sunday.  I wish it would cool off some, I am ready for me some winter!  Not slushy, snowy winter, just temperatures a lot cooler than 90 degrees!  See you again soon.

To Say Thank You!

I want to say Thank You to everyone who visits my blog. I really appreciate your visits and comments. From now through October 30, 2012, anyone who leaves a comment on any of my blog posts, will be entered to win a  drawing for a Christmas Greetings clear stamp set from Hot Off the Press. Remember: The more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning.

There are 27 acrylic stamps in this set, perfect for adding to your holiday cards, scrapbook pages, or home decorations.  Some of the greetings are even suitable for inside and outside of your holiday cards, both sentiments in one set.

I have used one of the greetings from this set on my card sample of the day. I stamped the greeting and holly design in Memento ink, and used my Copic markers to fill in the letters.

Next, I tied a bow from red sheer ribbon and adhered a green sheer ribbon band around the white base. Adhere the white base to the red card and adhere the red bow to the center of the green band.

Punch 7 holly leaves from green card stock with a Martha Stewart punch, and break down the sizing in the card stock and dry emboss vein lines on the leaves with a ball stylus. I then accented the vein lines with a green ink pen. Glue 4 of the leaves around and among the red sheer bow and 3 leaves clustered in the top right corner of the  card. I then stamped tiny snowflakes from the stamp set above the wreath in Baby Blue Memento ink.  Embellish holly leaves with red gemstones for berries, and use Stickles on the stamped berries and snowflakes to finish your card and give it some sparkle.




Now is the time to start working on your holiday cards.  Don't be like me and wait until the last minute to do your cards, or everyone on your list will be getting theirs for New Years!  Ho Ho Ho!