Hey all... I'm back and plan on posting much more frequently since I am now part of 2 Cute Ink's design team. Please check out her store; she has the absolute cutest images! I'm very excited to be part of this team. Life has been too crazy and it's time I took back the reins!
I will be posting on Sundays for the 2 Cute Ink Design Team blog and will copy that same post for this blog. In between, I will also be posting cards and projects I am or have been working on. Lots to come and I hope you will hang in there with me!
Please head over to 2 Cute Ink Digital Stamps. They have a 50% off coupon code (2500FANS) that expires tomorrow.
Happy stamping til the next time!
Hugs, Margaret
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Coloring Digi Images
Well... I have *finally* taken the leap into digital stamps. I have been collecting them here and there for about a year, but never really knew how to use them. This past week I needed birthday cards for twin 11-year olds that like to play video games and a 1-year old girl. I usually don't have cards for children stocked, so I had to hustle and get these made so they could go out in the mail! lol
These images were perfect for the kids. The same card, yet different. I'll have to post the details when I find the paper I wrote them on!
This card was just so cute!! I just nervous about the coloring, but it came out very nicely. I would love to add in flowers and lace and all kinds of stuff, but I'm a pretty simple stamper at heart. :-) Again, when I find the paper I used to write down the colors I used, I will post them.
Hope you enjoyed these Copic samples. I love my Copics and *cannot* imagine using anything else to color with. Next week I'll have a card made with a technique I've never done before. I've already colored the image with the new technique. New to me that is... this is NOT a new technique, I just finally got the works to be able to do the technique! hehe Be on the lookout...
Happy stamping til the next time!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Southern Women's Show/A Muse On the Road
Went to the Southern Women's Show on Friday with my neighbor/friend, Wendi. Neither one of us had been in years! There were a few stamping and scrapbooking booths. I went to the A Muse booth where I got to see first hand all the changes they've made to their products. Love the changes!! Love the stamps... *still*!! More news to come about that later. [wink wink]
After the show, I went uptown to the Crowne Plaza where A Muse had their On the Road class. It was awesome. I got to meet the owner, Linda Hartwich, who is just the sweetest person! She is totally committed to her demonstrators and (as always) customers. Here is Linda demoing the cards and explaining the products. She did a great job because we were done well before 9 p.m.
Here are the cards that were part of the evening's class. Super cute cards! We got to play with the new stamps that are a cling foam mount formulation. Pretty buttons & pearls that I know I am going to *have* to have. New satin ribbon that is so pretty and matches the ink and I'm not sure if it also matches the paper. Will let you know about that with my next post. The ink is pigment, but acts like chalk ink. Very nice and love the colors! The new dies are absolutely fabulous! Can't wait to get my hands on several of those. :-) My firsts will be the clouds and butterflies. Maybe even the stocking die because I can use that for Christmas cards. The mittens are also big enough for cards too. Very cool! A Muse has a scoring board with one channel for scoring that I can't wait to check out more closely. We used it to make a box, but I want to play with it some more. They have also added washi tape to their catalog. So nice! Anyway... here are their cards. My take on their cards will be posted tomorrow or Tuesday.
All cards: new ink, cardstock & stamps
L: new pretty buttons in many different colors
R: new pearls & ribbon in many different colors
**love it all**
L: learned how to make this cute box
R: new cloud dies, too much fun... the ideas I have for these!
**again, love it all**
L: new washi tape and glitter in many different colors
R: new paper flowers in several different styles and twine in different colors
Twine is very *hot* this year!
Here is our group. I can't remember their names off the top of my head, but it was a great group! We all worked together, chatted, and had a good time!
Keep an eye out for my take on their cards. ;-)
Happy stamping til the next time!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rubber Stamp Tapestry
It's been awhile since I've used these stamps. I totally love them, but for some reason they just end up closed away in a drawer. Made these two cards over the past couple days. Recently I started making cards and changing the sentiment on it so the card would appeal to more people. I like having those "extra" choices when I want to send one out.
Stamps - RST African daisy lg/sm, johnny jump-up lg/sm, delicate vine lg, botanical swirl sm, loop w/swirl lg, redbud leaf lg, loop sm, ladybug sm; Studio G birthday; Peddlers Pack girlfriend; Stampabilities a friend
C/S - white, stash pp, stash purple
I/P - VersaMagic purple hydrangea, spring pansy, pretty petunia, perfect plumeria; Memento black, grape jelly, bamboo leaves, pear tart; Brilliance gold
Supplies - red Glaze pen, 3/8" purple satin ribbon, gemstones
Stamps - RST 3 roses lg, 6 flower cluster sm, striped ripply foliage lg, triple leaf lg, dragonfly sm, delicate vine lg, botanical swirl sm; Studio G laugh; Peddlers Pack girlfriend; Stampabilities a friend
C/S - white, stash pp, SU! rose red
I/P - SU! rose red, only orange, garden green, true thyme; Memento black, bamboo leaves, pear tart; VersaColor bamboo
Supplies - 5/8" orange satin ribbon w/pink edge, orange gemstones
While I was visiting family in TN, I stopped into the Super Scrapbook Store in Sevierville. I bought a little square RST stamp that reads: Happy Autumn. Can't wait to use it with my pumpkin stamps. I also finally got the Inky Antics gamsol kit. I only wanted the darn little bottle that the gamsol comes in, but had to buy the whole thing to get it. At least I didn't have to pay shipping. :-)
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Playing with Dots
My previous post talked about the Sharpie Poster Paint and regular Paint Pens. Here are a couple samples I made this past week using the paint pens.
Stamps: Hero Arts full blossoms 1, single blossom 2, profile blossom 3, bud blossom 4; SU! Whimsical Words
C/S: various from stash
Ink: Memento black, SU! taken with teal & wisteria wonder
Copics: B60, B63, YG23, G07, BG10, BG13, BG15, V12, V15, V17, B21, YR61,YR65, YR68, R81, R83, R85, R89
Markers: Sharpie Paint Pens - pink, purple, lime green, white; black BIC Mark-It; black Micron pen 05
Supplies: 3/8" satin orange ribbon; SU! wide & scalloped oval punches; orange, green & peach adhesive gems
Stamps: SU! Pun Fun
C/S: SU! night of navy, real red & whisper white
Ink: SU! night of navy, real red, basic grey, & glorious green
Copics: 0, N0, N1, N2, N3, E50, E93, R81, R83, R85, B0000, B000, G19
Markers: white Sharpie Paint Pen
Supplies: Spellbinders classic & scalloped ovals; SU! scalloped & oval punches; 1/2" white ribbon w/red polka dots; pop dots
Hope you enjoyed the cards. Got a few more I'm working on. Hopefully my next post will have cards using digi stamps in them. I've been in the "collection" phase of these stamps; I think it's about time I start actually using them! :-) Have a great weekend!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Sharpie Poster Paint Pens & Paint Pens Review
I decided to take the plunge into the Sharpie Poster Paint & regular Paint Pens. I have to say... I like 'em!! Here's the difference between them...
The Paint Pens are opaque, permanent, oil-based, and can write on many different surfaces. The body of this marker is metal, similar to the standard paint markers that contain xylene. Available in 4 different nib sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, and bold.
The Poster Paint Pens are archival quality pens that are opaque, water-based, water-resistant, acid-free, and fade-resistant. The ads claim that it won't bleed through paper, but I haven't tested that yet. The barrel plastic and feels a bit "chunky" in the hand. I love the extra fine nib!! This pen comes in 5 different nib sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, bold, and extra bold. Both pens come in 15 colors: red, pink, magenta, orange, yellow, green, lime green, blue, aqua blue, purple, white, black, brown, metallic silver, and metallic gold. They are both the pump-style action nibs, which is the same as the xylene pens. So far it seems as though the Sharpies are not as messy as the other pens. If my memory serves me correctly, Michaels had all these colors; AC Moore & Hobby Lobby DO NOT carry these at all. I think these pens are on the expensive side. This coming from a Copic fanatic!! I got my first 3 on sale at Michaels for $2.50 each. When I went back for another 3, they were not on sale and were $3.50 each. I think some of them are $3.99; don't know if any were more than that. I have to go to Michaels today so I'll take a peek at their selection. This may be something I end up buying online to save some additional money, I don't know yet. OK, I'm saving the very best news for last... these pens are non-toxic because they do not contain xylene. Woo hoo!! No more stinky paint markers! Loving that!
CORRECTION: Hobby Lobby does carry these pens, however, they are sold in sets and none of the sets have the extra fine nib. I didn't get the chance to see if AC Moore had the sets as well.
CORRECTION: Hobby Lobby does carry these pens, however, they are sold in sets and none of the sets have the extra fine nib. I didn't get the chance to see if AC Moore had the sets as well.
I've started with 6 colors: pink, purple, yellow, orange, & lime in the Paint Pens in a fine nib. The other pen is a Poster Paint in white with an extra fine nib. I'd like to pick up a red and magenta maybe... that will depend on what Michaels has. :-) I'm looking forward to playing with them; seeing what all I can do with them. I've made a couple cards using them that I will post later.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Altering Project(s)
Did you ever see a fabulous deal for some type of decorative item, but didn't quite like the colors or maybe it was a bit beat up? Even though it may look rough, you just knew you could fix it so it would look totally beautimous in your favorite room. Well, something similar to this happened to me recently except that I wasn't the one finding the great deal, a friend of mine did. Her daughter is turning 30 and she wanted to do a black and white theme. She found a really nice hanging plaque in Hobby Lobby for a fabulous price. The only problem was that it needed a color change. This is where I come in since I do crafts. :-) We also picked out her daughter's initials and 3 metal words (Live, Love, Laugh) for me to work on. Do you know how many styles of initials are out there and how many DO NOT go together at all? We decided to go to the craft stores together to find the perfect letters plus we needed to find something to "fix" the plaque with. Definitely paint and maybe some nice rub-on wording would fit the bill.
So far it's sounding pretty simple, huh? The first problem was spraying the metal words. I mean it's just a bit of some black glossy spray. How hard could that be? I ended up having to wet sand, spray, and respray the words several times. Bubbles kept popping up while I was spraying. The icing on the cake was when I was spraying and the spray can got stuck ON. It was everywhere including all over me!! Besides me, it got all over a deck chair and the deck. I should have been spraying in the grass... aaaackkk!!! That can is so going back to Wal-Mart if I can find my receipt!!
The plaque was another comedy of errors. I knew I would have to sand the center to get some of the wording and paint off. That done, now I was on my way to getting this baby finished. NOT!! I couldn't get the wording to cover nicely or get the paint on smoothly. So here I was *again* wet sanding and painting over and over. Good grief! I finally decided to give gesso a try. Why did I not do this in the first place?? Gesso totally did the trick! Now I was on my way. I wish I would have taken a before and after picture. It turned out so nice! I love it! Here are a few pics. It was difficult getting a nice up-close of it; the gems and pearls aren't showing up the way your eye would see it, but you get the idea.
These initials were so much fun to do that I've bought myself several different kinds that I plan on altering to hang on my craft room wall. I love the fact that the paper on the "J" matches the plaque. The patterns are both damask, but they are opposite; the plaque is white on black and the "J" is black on white. That wasn't even planned! I love it when things come together like this. :-)
This is one of the many things I've been doing over the past few weeks. I couldn't post til today because her birthday party was last night and that's when this was being given to her.
The next week or two will be busy because my 12-year old niece is coming to visit. I'm so looking forward to having her! All kinds of fun stuff planned! We're going to be cooking, baking, going to the pool, reading (she's an avid reader just like me), stamping, shopping, and whatever else I can do to keep us busy. I'm expecting her to want to stay more than a week because I don't think a week is long enough to do everything in. We'll see. It's her first time away from home and she may want to stay but be homesick.
OK, enough for now. I'll try to schedule some posts so I don't stay away for too long.
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