Singing in the rain :)

It has been cold and rainy here so it made me feel like using this adorable umbrella and rain boots from my Paisley Cricut cartridge. I still am not crazy about the color of the card base (light lavander) but I didn't like the other colors I tried. I guess you don't have to LOVE everything about every card you make.... :)

For those that are interested, I cut the umbrella at 3" and the boots at 1.5". Thanks for taking a peek.

Tutorial : Blending colored pencils with baby oil

Hello all! I have been experimenting with a new techique for using colored pencils. I was doing research about how to blend them and found lots of info on using Gamsol or Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS). The one thing that bothered me was that it has toxic fumes - even if you can't smell it as stongly as other thinners like turpintine. So, I was on a hunt to find something non-toxic as possible. I found a few links that said they had used baby oil - hummm... smells good... used on baby's bum... can't be too toxic, right?

I knew that I had some baby oil somewhere so I dug it out and gave it a try... IT IS SO EASY AND WORKS GREAT!! I had also seen recommendations for Goo-Gone (which I had in the garage) so I tried it too just to compare. In my opinion there is no comparison - the baby oil just works better and easier. I am just using regular old Crayola pencils ($5.99 for 50 at Target)- I think they work just fine and you can't beat the price! :)

So, on to the tutorial...

Here are the supplies you will need....



A stamp
Dye-based or permanent/archival ink
Colored pencils
Baby oil
Blending stubs or q-tips

I like q-tips for larger areas but the blending stumps are the best for the small areas. I have tried ones made in China and Taiwan and don't personally see any difference. (I read a couple of place that the ones from Taiwan work better - go figure!)

Step #1 - Stamp your image.



Step #2 - Color your image. I like to laydown a heavy layer just inside the line, then lightly color the center of the area. Some people only color just inside the line and blend toward the center but I thought it left the center without enough color. You can play around until you get it to look right for you.



Step #3 - Baby oil. I recommend you put a small amount of the oil onto a cotton pad or make-up sponge like in the supply photo above. You just need a little bit and if you dip it directly into the oil your blender will be saturated. You can also blot the tip on a dry paper towel if you feel you picked up too much.

Step #4 - Blend. Rub the tip of the blender across the area with the most pencil first to breakdown the wax. Then, using small circles, blend the color toward the center. Continue blending from the areas of high color toward the center until you like the effect.



My advice - play around before you use it for a project! As long as you are not using too much oil you shouldn't see any oil on your finished product. Good luck and happy coloring! :)

How to make a shape card w/o the Design Studio!

One of my fellow crafters on The Pink Stamper's Facebook page was wondering how to make a shape card if you don't have the design studio. So I did a little research and this is what I came up with. I used a pretty complex cut so it would be a little easier to figure out if your shape was solid. :)

Step ONE - Cut your shape and pieces. Then cut 2 shadows of the shape. The black phones piece are the shadows. Assemble the piece on ONE of the shadows...



Step TWO - Use the plain shawdow piece as the back of your card. You want to score and fold about a 1/2 inch section on one side of the shape to glue to the top layer. For this card I only scored the base of the phone - the cord and handset are glued to the top layer... (This picture only shows the inside and back of the card.)



Now you can write or stamp your greeting on the inside of the card - since this is black I would put a layer of white down before I stamp. :) Let me know if you have any questions. Here's the final basic product!

Caterpiller Greetings

Isn't he cute! My friend Tammy and I bought a pack of paper to split and it had this cute garden-theamed paper that I knew would be just perfect for the little caterpiller from the Walk In My Garden Cricut Cartridge. I also love this sentiment from Paper Trey Ink. :)

Another SSSC #58!

I like this sketch so much I decided that I HAD to make another card! LOL Hope you like it! :)

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #58

This was such a beautiful Sketch I just had join in. Here is the sketch to follow -




If you'd like to play along the deadline is Thurs, so you still have time... Sweet Sunday Sketch Challange #58

Have a wonderful day!

Get well card. :)

I think this stamp - Sick Lily - by Pink Cat Studios is just so cute! I had so much fun coloring her. :) The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink Stamps.