Quick and Pretty!

Wowza, what a beautiful day, we have sunshine and heat in the northeast and all I can say is Yippee! I have something else to say “Yippee” about, I have been asked to be on the Creative team at Nicecrane Designs!!! They have the most amazing Asian and Vintage collage sheets and papers I have ever seen, best yet they are downloadable so I can have them in my hot little hands in seconds! Look what I made with Japanese Patterns Vol1 CS by Nicecrane Designs:

Asian papers: Nicecrane Designs, Rubber Stamps: About Art Accents, Envelope Templates: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

I used pretty ginko leaf stamps from About Art Accents, I inked up my stamps in plum then rocked the edges in eggplant ink before stamping for a two toned look. If you want to make a quick project choose silhouette style stamps, they pack a punch of color without having to add more color later.

Of course I had to make matching envies! I use the scallop envie template from my Envelope Bonanza kit.

Papers: Nicecrane Designs, Stamps: About Art Accents

I used this weeks sketch at Oriental stamp Art for the above card. This weeks OSA theme is “pearls” so I added a few 🙂 Also “pearls” is the challenge over at Annabelle Stamps. I knew I had to use these yummy Nicecrane Designs papers with this sketch. I used papers from several collage sheets, it was so easy, just print and cut (I didn’t even have to open my image editing software!) The quality of these collage sheets is exquisite! The designs are clean and crisp and the colors are rich! Some of the paper even looks as if it is fleck with metallic gold, I don’t know how because my printer does not have gold ink but the paper almost sparkles!

Stamp: About Art Accents, Papers: Nicecrane, Punch: Fiskars

I’m just thrilled that I get to work with all of the fabulous products that Nicecrane Designs has and that they go perfectly with my stamps from About Art Accents, two great companies! If you want to try Nicecrane Designs products before you buy be sure to visit their blog where you can snag some freebies and be sure to check back often to grab new ones as they are added, you will love the quality!

Thanks for stopping by and till next time happy crafting!

A couple cards for ya!

I did both challenges from Oriental Stamp Art this week!

I decided it was time to lean how to make a crafty video, I first tried with the Neko Cat card, It was pretty good except for the 28 seconds of dead air as I went to the paper trimmer to cut a panel, so I tried to edit it on my camera and ended up cutting out everything BUT the 28 second piece I ment to cut LOL! So I tried again and I made the other sketch challenge card, I did it in one take in 8 minutes! Woohoo, so I went to upload it to u-tube and 20 hours later that video just wouldn’t upload! So maybe some day I will get the hang of it but for now here are the photos:

Stamps: AAA, Punch: SU!, Coloring sheet: http://www.thecoloringcastle.com

Both of these cards use stamps from About Art Accents, aren’t they pretty! I didn’t have a Neko Kitty so I used a coloring sheet from this website, it worked pretty well I think.  I printed it on GP cardstock and colored it with my Bics, Prismas and Copics.

This card was done using this weeks sketch at OSA design Challenges, I do love a funky fold!

That is all for today, thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

Zen Panda

The challenge over at Oriental Stamp Art this week was to use the sketch and Asian stamps to make a valentine. Here is mine, I call it Zen Panda aka Peace, Love and Happiness:

Stamps: Panda (inkadinkado) All others (About Art Accents)

The background and conversation hearts are from About Art Accents. The funny panda is  a clear dollar stamp by inkadinkado I picked up in the dollar bin at Jo-Anns last week, I couldn’t resist 🙂

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

You’re My Cup of Tea!

Sometimes you just need to get inky, am  I right? I saw the cutest sketch this week over at Oriental Stamp Art Challenges and I had to give it a go! Best part is that the card only took a few minutes to make, I used doublemates cardstock so when I folded over the circle flat you see both shade of the green paper:

I used a teal, pink, peach and green color combo, sometimes I like to look for colors that seemingly would clash and get them do work together, I like it!

The teapot is from About Art Accents. The set it comes from is called Teapots

This set of 6 large red rubber stamps is only $24!

Isn’t is precious? You can buy any of the stamps individually for $7-$7.50 or get the whole sheet for $24. They have a special on the “Mice” stamps: 3 for $14! I’ve never seen such a cute sale! This is one of my favorite About Art Accents sets 🙂

That’s all for today, thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Feeling a bit Challenged today…

…but in a good way! I had a chance to play in my studio this morning with my new pile of “rubbah” from About Art Accents (I so needed to get inky) and I got 2 challenges done! The first is this weeks sketch over at 2s4u:

Stamps: About Art Accents, Sketch: 2 sketches 4 you

I know the simple sketch would showcase the beauty of these stamps. Isn’t the bamboo lovely? The rectangle with the blossoms on it is from this plate of lovelies. The bamboo and sentiment is from this plate. You will notice that I cut the english word and bar apart from the calligraphy, that is the cool thing about unmounted stamps (or clear for that matter) you can cut them apart to suit your needs. I will write the meanings of the caligraphy on the back of the stamp (and the orientation) so I don’t forget! All About Art Accents stamps are REAL RED RUBBER so they take ink really well for a perfect impression every time, try them you won’t be disappointed;) They are a good deal too 🙂

Stamps: About Art Accents, Tool: Cricut Die Cutter/SCAL software, Cart: Storybook, Font: DB Asian Serenity

Over at Oriental Stamp Art they challenged us this week to use a panda in out artwork. Can you believe I don’t have a panda stamp? (I probably just need to look harder LOL!) so instead I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) software to cut this panda dingbat from the font DB Asian Serenity. I sized the panda to 3″ and cut it in normal mode from black, then cut it from white with the shadow blackout mode on and pieced it together. I love how I can cut the fonts and dingbats on my computer with SCAL, it is perfect when I just need a little something for a card!

The mat is from the Storybook cart, it is a sneaky peeky shape, press the key that says “from” and make sure the accent shadow button is lit up and there it is, I thought it looked Asian 😉 This is my first time using this cart as I just bought it on sale for $24 last week, yay me!

All the stamps on tha panda card are from About Art Accents as well. thanks for stopping by and till next time happy crafting!

OSA layout #39

Just a quick post today. Here is a card I made using the sketch over at Oriental Stamp Art. The stamps are by About Art Accents.

Stamps: About Art Accents, Paper: American Crafts, Other: Charms, paper tagger, hot glue dots

Thanks for stopping by, till next time happy crafting!

Feeling Sketchy!

Each week the folks over at Oriental stamp Art post a sketch and challenge their members to complete it. I don’t always get it done but today I found some time to make these:

Stamps: About Art Accents, Cardstock: SU!, Paper Co, DCWV, Embossing folder: Cuttlebug, Tool: Scor-Pal/scor-bug, other: Homemade dew drops and crocheted flowers

On this card I flipped the sketch:

If a sketch doesn't work just flip it!

On this card I rotated the sketch:

Stamps: About Art Accents

And I made this from the scraps!

Waste not, want not, make a card with the scraps!

I used lovely Asian stamps from About Art Accents, they have one of the most extensive selections of Asian themed stamps and accents on the market, really lovely stuff and since you can buy the stamps unmounted by the sheet you save a ton of money, poke around the shop, they always have hidden goodies on sale too!

Thanks for stopping by and till next time happy crafting!

Madame Butterfly (and a freebie!)

This week over ar Oriental Stamp art they challenged us to make a geisha themed card, as soon as I read the challenge I wanted to make this:

Stamps: About Art Accents, Cardstock: SU!, GP, Tissue paper: Dollar Tree, Watercolors: M Graham, Ink: Versafine

I spotted some pretty holographic tissue paper at the dollar tree and it reminded me that I bout some a year ago(and never used it, oh the shame!) and it could be perfect for iris folding. So I stamped the pretty geisha from About Art Accents with onyx black versa fine ink, heat set it and watercolored it with my M Graham watercolors. The Versafine ink is so cool, it gives great detail, it’s waterproof and your colors won’t run into each other because the oil in the ink resists the water so you get a clean professional look! After the paint dried I used an X-Acto knife to cut out the fan portion of the design. I cut 1″ squares of pink, green and clear holographic tissue paper (you get 3 20″x20″ sheets in a pack at the good old Dollar Tree) and folded them in half and taped then to the back, covering the hole, of the stamped image. I placed a scrap of white cardstock behind the iris folding because the tissue paper (which is actually a thin plastic mylar) is transparent and I wanted the colors to shine brightly. When you hold the card she appears to be fluttering her fan due to the light interference on the tissue paper, how cool is that!

The tissue papers are folded behind the fan cutout

I mounted the stamped panel on fuchsia a 1/2″ larger and used a butterfly corner punch on it, then I wrapped some metallic pink embroidery floss around the card.

For the base I used So Saffron cardstock and stamped the Painting is Poetry stamp and the small black butterfly using my mixed berry kalidacolor inkpad. To cut the base I used my Cricut and SCAL software. I welded a 5″x10″ rectangle from the basic shapes menu to the scalloped fan border I designed because I wanted it to look like an oriental fan.

Download my scalloped fan border svg file here.

I had such fun making this card! Thanks for stopping by and til next time Happy Crafting!

You’re a Doll!

I got 2 sketch challenges done today, not bad for a Monday, eh?

Stamps: About Art Accents, Paper: My Minds Eye, Clip Art: Lettering Delights, Ink: Colorbox Chalk Amber Clay

The first card uses the sketch over at 2sketches4you, I love to “do” the sketches over there because it is a nice warm up to my other artistic endeavors and I can usually guarantee that I will get one thing made on a Monday:

Stamps: About Art Accents, PAper: MME, Clip Art: Lettering Delights

Also over at Oriental Stamp Art (a fabulous yahoo stamping group) there was a layout challenge, I think it was supposed to be a quick and easy one but, well, I did not get mine done in under 10 minutes LOL!

Stamps: About Art Accents, Paper: MME, Clip Art: Lettering Delights

All of the stamps I used are from About Art Accents, They have a fabulous selection of Asian themed stamps as well as wonderful vintage Christmas stamps, fairies and some teacup mice that are so sweet that you will get a toothache when you see them and if you buy 2 mice you get one free (they are next on my list LOL!)

The Kokeshi dolls are clip art that from lettering delights, I love how all of it works with the pattern paper from My Minds Eye.

That’s all for today, that’s for stopping by and till next time happy crafting!