Warmest Holiday Wishes

In between shoveling snow and mopping paw prints off the floors today I tried to work on some of my Christmas cards. Looking out my window today I've watched big puffy wet snowflakes fall all day long and it really puts one in the holiday spirit.

This poinsettia stamp is by PSX. I stamped it with versamark on watercolor paper and embossed it with silver detail embossing powder. Next, using my Tombow markers and a #3 paintbrush, I watercolored. I applied Christmas red and Gunmetal stickles to the center of the flower.

The punched holly corners is a new punch that I cannot remember the name of. It isn't written on the punch.

The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!

Naughty or Mice?

Those cute little House Mouse stamps are out and inked up again. The sentiment (Naughty or Mice) as well as the Mouse in the tree are both House Mouse stamps from Stampabilities. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils. The background pinecones and pine branches is a cube stamp from Stampendous.

This week's Fluffy Fatbottom's Twisted Tuesday Challenge is the them of Naughty or Nice? So tell me. Have you been Naughty or Mice this year? :)

Santa Paws

This fun kitty-in-a-stocking image is by Maryse Carrier. I have a lot of fun Maryse Carrier Christmas stamps with dogs and cats and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of the critters holiday antics on cards.

I colored the image with Tombow markers direct to cardstock (no watercoloring this time). I like the bold color of Tombows and inasmuch as they watercolor beautifully, they also are great for direct to paper color and, then don't leave streaks like some markers. Gotta love my Tombows.

The paw print is sparkly. It is embossed with red tinsel embossing powder. Looks just like my own puppy has walked through colorful cookie sprinkles!

Pay it Forward

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this post requesting to join this Pay it Forward Exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it next week, but you will receive it within the New Year :) The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, you’re on. I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make for you. Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I got mine from LESA HERE. This is a positive way to start off the New Year. Thanx for the idea Lesa!

Christmas Magic

Whew! FINALLY I got a chance to stamp and make a card. This is very simple but it just feels good to have a chance to create something.

I think the snowman image is a Lockhart stamp design. I'm not positive as it was given to me. I colored the snowman with prismacolor pencils and added dimensional glaze and stickles to the lightbulbs to give shine as well as sparkle. The sentiment, Christmas Magic, is an A Muse artstamp.

The background is embossed using my cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. The snowflakes are punched using my Martha Stewart snowflake punched.

I wanted to create the feeling of dimension and falling snow all around so in real life if you could hold this card you'd see that one flake is mounted on a foam square while the other flake is flat to the embossed background paper. On the snowman image I adhered the white matt directly flat to the background paper and then popped the navy matt and image above it.

Sure feels good to be back making cards, even if it is just a simple one!

Christmas Craft Fair

It has been ages, it seems, since I've posted, made cards, been creative....I miss stamping and cardmaking! Between 'Bella's surgery and all of the physical care required to take care of her and the craft fair this past weekend, I've not been able to stamp or make cards. Funny how one can miss a hobby so much! Hopefully I'll be able to remedy the situation today and have some new cards tomorrow.

Now......about the craft fair. After months of preparations it was a complete BUST! We didn't sell anything. Nuthin'! Nada! Zip! Ok...that isn't entirely true. As we were setting up one of the other craft vendors saw Paul's darling toy trains and bought one before the fair started.

The man in charge of the craft fair said he'd been doing this 2-day craft fair for over 20 years and this was the dullest year ever! He was very apologetic but of course it wasn't his fault. All of the other vendors who had been involved in other Christmas craft fairs in the area the past few weekends said the same is true at all of them in our area. It seems people are just not going to the traditional craft fairs this year and buying. We have a new Walmart in our town that just opened two weeks ago. Could the people be going there? Nahhhh...well...I don't know. Could the strong Canadian dollar be sending people south and over the border to the U.S. to shop? Who knows.

Anyway, Paul and I spent two LONG days in close proximity...more time together than we usually do and we ended up just laughing the situation off. We figure we are all set for NEXT YEAR'S craft fairs, right?

The only photos I took was while we were just starting to set up the table with Paul's trains. So here are a few snaps of his trains, his first sale (before we had even set up) and his fireman's ladder which you have to see in action to appreciate how they work.

ARGH!!!! Warning...this is a rant!

No photos today. No cards to show. I'm so frustrated! ARGH! I was making domino pins and frig magnets for the craft fair my husband and I are in this weekend. I've made domino jewelry and magnets before and with good results. I COMPLETELY ruined all of these for the fair. The ink ran after I applied the Sealent. I have never had this happen before. Then I say to myself, "Self! Calm down. Just work on a Christmas card order." I have 30 cards to get to my client. They are all stamped, cut created, matted and just need to be mounted. I'm using a silver metalic card stock for the mat with glossy card stock on top. No glue - NOT ANY KIND OF ADHESIVE that I own is working. The glue dries and they peel apart. I'm so frustrated. Everything I touch is a mess. Sorry for this rant but I'm at wits end today. Everything I've touched has fallen apart in some fashion. I sure hope my muse comes back tomorrow. I've got so much to do.

Let it snow!

This little snowman is all bundled up for the winter and by all of our forcasts, we are supposed to have a very snowy and super cold winter this year. LET IT SNOW!

The layout for this card is using JULEE'S MOJO MONDAYlayout challenge for this week's mojo Monday challenge on her blog.


My cute little snowman is a Close to My Heart snowman set. I've used Tombow markers to watercolor him. Someone asked about what type of watercolor paper I've used. This is particular image was watercolored on 90 lb. water color paper.

The patterned paper is from BoBunny and I used my dots cuttlebug embossing folder on the square shapes. The "Let it snow" sentiment is embossed with white embossing powder and then I added a couple of silver snowflake eyelets. The scan may not show it but the red heart on the coat and sleeves have Christmas red stickles glitter on them for some subtle sparkle.

Whew...this is my first card I've made this week. I've been so caught up with my Newfoundland dog, 'Bella, leg problems that I haven't had a chance to stamp and create. This felt good and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Snowman and the Christmas Tree

Have you ever made a card, been very pleased with your coloring and embellishments and so you reach to put it up somewhere where it can dry and then...the dreaded happens! Your finger, sleeve or some other object brushes across wet paint and smears the not-yet-dry creation?

This is my story with this card. Sigh....

There were three red dots of dimension paint just in front of the sentiments. The paint is permanent from the standpoint that once the color hits the paper, it is there. However it takes a while to dry hard. In real life this card has a big red smear just in front of the words "O Christmas Tree" and so, after a little bit of cursing I decided that I'd attach a red polka dot ribbon right on it, cover it and...VOILA! No one will notice....maybe...I hope.

The image is from Sunshine Designs and is watercolored with Tombow markers and water and a paint brush.

Gabe passed his first exam!

Gabe passed his basic obedience class last night! Wooo hooo! Atta boy GABE! It was really a fun evening but very nerve wracking too. Taking the floor one at a time, each dog was tested and scored individually. We could do a warm up practice and then told the instructor when we were ready to go through our paces. Tension mounting, Gabe and I took the floor. He was spot on during practice so I said "Let's do it!"

OK, Gabe has a lot of work to still do. We fully admit that. He doesn't "finish" at all, and still has work with maintaining eye contact, but all in all I'm very happy with him. We'll continue to work on skills and then begin our next set of classes probably the first of the new year.

WAY TO GO GABE-Y BABY! :)

Reindeer

A new stamp for me and I just love it. This reindeer is by Sunshine Designs. I've watercolored it with Tombow markers and added a touch of stickles glitter to the swirls in the background.

This image makes me wonder if Santa's reindeer are working out in anticipation of the big night?!!

Snowy winter night

This was a lot of fun to watercolor using Tombow markers but also a lot of detail. I'm still learning to control how much water is enough and/or too much.

The image is from Sunshine Designs. It is embossed in gold, watercolored with Tombow markers and red stickles added to the lights on the trees and houses.

I'm really starting to get in the mood to make Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by.

3-D Snowflakes

This week's theme for DARING CARDMAKERSis Snowflakes or Snowmen. You probably can't tell by the scan, but these snowflakes have dimension to them. I've cute a center portion of the flake and pop-dotted it to the center of each flake. The centers of each have stickles of glitter and the snowflake image is embossed in white.

Scanners are handy tools but they don't provide all of the detail of a photo.

Oh well...it was fun to play with this snowflake card with a watercolor wash over it. I'm not real keen on washes but I shall keep playing with the technique

Watercoloring with Tombows

Three more cards made by watercoloring with Tombow markers. These three stamps are from a set by Sunshine Designs now owned by the Stamp Barn in Ottawa. I think these fun Christmas-y images would be fun to use as thank you note cards.

The mitten card was the first one I attempted and it is pretty messy. I used too much water. That is one of the techniques with watercoloring that takes a lot of time and practice to learn: how much water to use. It takes a lot more than some other techniques, yet you don't want a flood.

Godspeed

I've got a goodie box to send to my son in Iraq and I couldn't seal it up without enclosing a card and note.

I love to stamp and color but I have the hardest time coming up with new layouts so I really am happy that there are so many great layout challenges on other people's blogs.

JACQUELINE posted her Theme Thursday challenge to use script on your card. One of the things I really like about this soldier stamp is the script in the background so I thought it perfect for Jacqueline's challenge.

For the layout I used "Mojo Monday Week #10 Sketch" created by Julee T and posted on her WONDERFUL and Inspiring blog, "Poetic Artistry".


The image and sentiment are from Stampin' Up! set called "GODSPEED." I watercolored the image with Tombow markers on watercolor paper. I added the grosgrain ribbon with a Fastenater staple. I've never been too crazy about seeing staple on cards but this gold one had a nice design so I decided to give it a try. The card is a square, 6" X 6" card.

Time to get Matt's box taped up and mailed with this card.

Watercoloring with Tombow markers

Yesterday I spent the entire day at Heather's Stamping Haven taking classes from Krista in watercoloring with Tombow markers. This card is actually an ornament that is two sided and layered so quite three dimensional and I'm not sure a scan shows that very well.


This adorable little penguin is one of Krista's images from Sunshine Designs. Again, using Tombow markers we watercolored the image and used lots of stickles for embellishment.

A total of nine different cards were completed! Whew...that was a lot of work but more importantly I learned a lot about technique, blending and PATIENCE! I'll post more of our projects throughout the week. Some real beauties to come!

The afternoon nap after an autumn walk in the woods

After the walk in the woods and raking one of the garden beds, it was just too much for two pooped pups who layed down in the cool, moist earth and zonked out asleep...side by side.

Autumn walk in the woods

We couldn't have had a more perfect sunny, crisp winter is a coming morning so we scraped the frost off the windows of the van, loaded 'Bella and Gabe in and headed to the woods.

This particular park is about 45 minutes away from our house but well worth the drive for Gabe and 'Bella to be able to roam off leash in the woods and trails.

This was a particularly good exercise for Gabe to show what he has learned in obedience classes about coming when called. He is such a class clown and loves to socialize with the other dogs and sometimes seems to say, "...uhhh yes, in a minute I'll come" but today at the park he came running back each time I called. Hurray for Gabe!

No walk is complete without finding a prize stick to carry around and of course showing it to all of the other dogs at the park. Gabe lets 'Bella find the stick and then he takes it and carries it for her. 'Bella wishes he'd just find his own. SIGH...little brothers!

What else can I say but, "Aren't I cute?!"

Bella was on a mission to find a bigger stick!

Gabe and 'Bella really are the best of friends. Never too far from one another's side.



Hurry up you guys! This is fun!

All too soon, we had to go home. Until next weekend.... Woofs and slobbers from 'Bella and Gabe.