CDS Sneak Peek - Winged Whispers

Phew! Here we are at the final day of the CDStamps sneak peeks and I just have one more set to show you! It's called Winged Whispers and it's my other new release in the Dreamtime Designs line for the month of October :) This set has some really beautiful sentiments in it as well as 4 different birds: a cardinal, a kingfisher, a sparrow and a robin. To see a picture of the full set, please click here.



I love the fact that this is the final card that I get to show you for this set of releases! It's the first time that I have tried to make a tent topper card and I combined it really some really subdued colours. I wanted to make my beautiful blue kingfisher really pop so I sponged in some inks to create a graduated pastel background.

The bird was watercoloured with my tombow markers and aqua painter. I then cut out the wings and popped them up to create a more realistic bird. We have so many of these lovely creatures around here that I wanted to immortalize one onto a stamp :)



Thanks so much for coming by to see all of the cards that I have been busily working on. All of the stamps that I have shown you will be available on October 1st. Don't forget to pop by the blogs below to see what the other girls have been creating :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

***Just a little reminder for anyone who is interested in learning to watercolour with their Tombow Markers. My online class starts tomorrow, so if you haven't signed up yet then you best be at it ;) lol! I can't wait to see you all in class! ***


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps -Winged Whispers
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Sand, Chatterbox DP, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Apricot, Orange, Lt Green, Lt Brown, Dk Blue
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Satin Ribbon, Mini Pearls, Martha Stewart Branch Punch, Corner Rounder, Tombow Markers

CDS Sneak Peek - Dog Days

Yay! It's finally time to show you one of my newest sets! I have to admit that I really have a special fondness for this sweet little cutie, after all she's modeled after my 17 year old English Cocker Spaniel, Olivia (Bitty Bits is her nickname). This set is called Dog Days and it has some fun sentiments, 2 dogs and a doghouse, as well as a few doggie accessories ;) You can see the full set over on Lori's Blog.




I watercoloured the dog with my Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter and then sponged in the cloud scene. I added the second layer to pop up the dog and make her 3D. Just a reminder for those of you that are interested in learning to use Tombow Markers, the online class that I am teaching over at My Creative Classroom is starting this Thursday! I'm soooo excited! :) Ahem, now back to your regular scheduled programming ;0)





As you can see by the picture above...I got a little crazy with my cuttlebug! I'm pretty sure that I was busy singing along to my favourite tunes instead of monitoring my over use of embossing folders and embellishments. Oh well, where this card is concerned...I guess anything goes! lol

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Dog Days
Paper: Gina K, Black, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Turquoise, Lt Green, Mustard
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Charm, Brads, Dew Drops, Mini Glue Dots,
Towbow Markers

CDS Sneak Peek - Rock On!

Whoo Hoo! Are we having fun yet? So do you think that you can handle another two days of CDS sneak peeks? I sure hope so because today and tomorrow I will have 2 of my newest stamp sets to show you! But first I have this rocking new set to preview, called Rock On! This set is perfect for any music lover in your life or those people who are hard to make cards for...men and tweens!




I chose to go with grungy colours that look like they have been run over by a Mac truck to go with the whole Rock n' Roll theme ;) I went to a Pearl Jam concert on the weekend and I'm pretty sure that this card would have fit right in with all the music that was played there...and some of the people too! lol




I watercoloured the guitars with my Tombow Markers and aqua painter, cut them out and then popped them up on my sponged back drop. I played with the layout for what seemed like forever and this is what I decided on in the end! I hope that you like it as much as I do ;0)

As always, there is more fabulousness to see at the links below. Don't forget to come on back a little later so that I can show you one of my newest sets =)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Rock On
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Basic Grey, Unknown DP, Black
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Olive, Red, Dk Yellow, Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Mini Brads, Tombow Markers

CDS Sneak Peek - Charliene Bakes

Well it's been a crazy and hectic evening around here and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and write this post! This sweetie of a horse is called Charliene Bakes and will be available on October 1st.




I decided this time that I would skip the paper tole and play with another technique that adds another element of fun to a card...paper piecing! Charliene's oven mitt, apron and kerchief has all been paper pieced with some coordinating designer papers and then I painted in some shadows with a sand colour of re-inker.




Charliene herself, was watercoloured with Tombow Markers and an aqua painter. I then completed the card with some vintage looking designer papers and some gorgeous taffeta ribbon. Love that stuff ;0)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Charliene Bakes
Paper: Gina K, Suede, Watercolour, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Blue, Lt Brown
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Nestablilities, Ribbon, Button, Linen Thread, WW Punch, Sponges, Pop Dots, Tombow Markers, Aqua Painter, Corner Rounder Punch, Sand Re-inker

CDS Sneak Peek - Holiday Nutcrackers

Welcome back for sneak peek number 2 of 3 for today :) This stunning set is called Holiday Nutcrackers and I knew the minute I saw them that I had to have them! I adore nutcrackers!




For this King of the nuts *giggle* I watercoloured him with Tombow Markers and an aqua painter and then sponged some ink on the die cut oval to create some dimension. I wanted to add that old fashioned vintage ornament feeling so I added a couple of layers of clear embossing powder and created the cracked glass effect - although it's incredibly hard to tell in these photos!





Don't forget to swing on by a little later in the day for the last sneak peek of the day, and until then, pop by and visit these lovely ladies and their awesome creations!

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Holiday Nutcrackers
Paper: Gina K, Chocolate, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Dk Brown, Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, MS Snowflake Punch, Sizzix Die, Chunky Glitter, Ribbon, Brads, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - Christmas Blessings

Welcome back to day 2 of the CDStamps sneak peeks! I know that you are all just as excited as I am for multiple postings! Hold onto your horses ladies because I have 3 cards to show you today :) The first one of the day is called Christmas Blessings and its a sentiment set perfect for the holidays. This set will be available on October 1st and you can see the entire set here.





This card really did start out with great intentions...then I think that I got a wee bit carried away with the rhinestones! lol You don't really notice them when you first look at the card...that is until you see it in broad daylight and you are blinded. What can I say...it was my first time using the rhinestone sticker flourishes!





Now lets forget about the blinding bling and concentrate on these lovely chunky glitter snowflakes. This is a technique that I borrowed from the fabulous Anna Wight but instead of the glass glitter, I used Martha Stewart Chunky Ice glitter and added some vintage looking brads...I'm accident prone and I'm thinking that decision to not use the glass glitter was a benefit to my health care insurance! They can thank me later ;o)

Don't forget to swing on by a little later in the day for a couple more sneak peeks and until then, pop by and visit these lovely ladies and their awesome creations!

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild

Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Christmas Blessings
Paper: Gina K, Grey, Watercolour, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Sand, Suede
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Brads, Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch, Chunky Glitter, Crystal Effects, Rhinestones, Brads, Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, Sponges, Pop Dots

CDS Sneak Peek - Let Us Gobble Together

This is the final CDStamps sneak peek for the day and this adorable "stuffed" turkey is from a fun set called Let Us Gobble Together from Guest Illustrator Heather Rolin. This set, as with all the other sneak peeks will be available on October 1st :)




I watercoloured this whimsical little guy with my Tombow Markers and aqua pen, then popped pieces of him up on pop dots. Don't mind his little foot...I must have bumped the card while I was taking the picture! lol It really doesn't look like that on the stamp! If you would like to see the entire set, click on over to Lori's blog.





I finished off the card with some fun fall coloured designer papers and added some coordinating ribbon and leaf accents make with my Martha Stewart leaf and branch punches. That's all I have to show you today, but don't forget to come back and visit tomorrow for day 2 of the Clear Dollar Stamps sneak peeks :)

All of the CDS Designers have some goodies to show you today, so why not pop by and show them a little love? :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Let Us Gobble Together
Paper: Gina K, Suede, Sassafrass Lass DP, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP, Orange
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Lt Brown
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Leaf Punches, Cuttlebug Dies, Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter

CDS Sneak Peek - With Thanksgiving

Welcome back for card 2 of the 3 CDStamps sneak peeks that I will be previewing today :) This gorgeous scripture set is perfect for the upcoming holiday season! I couldn't help myself...I had to pair it up with these gorgeous fall colours and falling leaves :)




To highlight the scripture, I sponged in some shades of brown to both highlight the shape and add a little bit of aged goodness. I placed the sheer ribbon in the corner to balance out my die cut leaves that appear to have just fallen from the trees.





Because of the elegant font that was used, I added a more detailed boarder punch and all of those mini pearls :) This card is 4x6" and is quickly becoming one of my new favourite shapes of cards!

All of the CDS Designers have some goodies to show you today, so why not pop by and show them a little love? :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - With Thanksgiving
Paper: Gina K, Dk Brown, My Mind's Eye DP, Basic Grey DP, K&Co DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Orange, Lt Brown, Med Brown, Dk Brown
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Sizzix Leaf Die, Pearls, Fisgars Border Punch, Ribbon, Brads, Sponges, Pop Dots

CDS Sneak Peek - Patchpal Scarecrow

Whoo Hoo! It's the famous 4 days of sneak peeks brought to you by the designers for Clear Dollar Stamps :) I'm back today with 3 different sets to showcase so peek back a little later for more CDS goodness ;)

This cutie of a set is called Patchpal Scarecrow and I have used a small portion of the set to create this little kitty and the great pumpkin card. The image has been watercoloured with Tombow Markers, cut out and then placed on a Sponged Ink Background.





I then created the pumpkin shaped card by drawing a pumpkin shape on the back of some cardstock and then cutting out all the various pieces. I sponged and cuttlebuged each piece before assembling it on another pumpkin shaped cardstock and adding the decorative machine stitching.

All of the CDS Designers have some goodies to show you today, so why not pop by and show them a little love? :)

Laurie Wilson
Lori McCroskey
Linda Borneman
Nancy Grant
Katie Renz
Candy Fosta
Sarah Taylor
Angela Thomas
Tricia Traxler
Cassie Trask
Linda Anderson
Trudy Sjolander
Wendy Hall
Tori Wild
Stacy Morgan

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Patchpal Scarecrow
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Orange, Olive
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Mustard, Lt and Dk Orange, Lt and Dk Olive
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Hand Drawn Template, Brads, Tombow Markers and Aqua Painter, Sponges

Roses for My Parents - Tombow Style!

Way back in May I made this for the Dirty Dozen Gallery called Art of Every Woman because it was inspired by my mom. I kept this card hidden away since then and recently gave it to my parents for the celebration of their 36th Anniversary :)

Whenever I think of feminine things, I think of my mom and her love of them. She has a collection of fine bone china very similar to the teacup in the picture and that's what made me use this particular Rose Stamp. I think that my Mom's china is a bit of a representation of her - Beautiful, resilient, memorable even with a few fine cracks along the way...or perhaps because of them! lol :D (Did I mention that I take after my mother?) *giggle*





I watercoloured up the rose with my tombow markers and then carefully added 5 coats of clear embossing powder to do the cracked glass technique. I really wanted the cracked glass rose to resemble the inside of a well loved teacup, where the tea makes fine cracks in the enamel over time. I chose to use very soft colours of patterned paper and continued the tones with the butterfly punchies and neutrals of the pearls.

I really love how soft the background palette is and that the roses really stand out against it even though they have been watercoloured with semi soft shades. I only wish that I had taken more photos of this card before I gave it to my parents!

For those of you who might be interested in learning how to watercolour like this, I will be teaching a six week online class for Watercolouring with Tombow Markers over at My Creative Classroom and it starts October 1st. Enrollment is open now ;)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Local King Rubber stamps
Paper: Gina K, Sand, My Mind's Eye DP, Inque Boutique DP, Watercolour
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Sand, Pink, Versa Mark
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Coluzzul, Pretties Kit, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Waterbrush, Corner Punch, Ribbon, Martha Stewart Butterfly and Doily Edge Punch, Kaiserkraft Pearls

FS136 - A Bug for Shannan

How excited was I when I saw that THE FABULOUS Shannan Teubner (Steubner)was being honoured as this week's Featured Stamper? Pretty darn excited that's for sure! Not only is she incredibly talented but she is the biggest sweetheart too :)




So with that being said, of course I had to play along! Here is the card that I cased from Shannan. I made a bunch of changes but the card still has the same feeling, shape and colours...that's my story and I'm sticking to it *wink*



I watercoloured Anna's Whipper Snapper bug with both Re-inkers and Tombow Markers, then cut the image out and placed it on my sponged background. I added some stamped flies with my CDStamps Catchin' Flies Wheel because I thought it was a really sweet match and added the word window punched accents at the bottom with my computer generated sentiment.

That's all for tonight as it's really late here. Be sure to pop by Shannan's gallery to take a peek and if you get a chance, play along with the challenge. Let's show this diva some love people *wink*

Congratulations Shannan! You deserve it :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Clear Dollar Stamps - Catchin' Flies
Paper: Gina K, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP, Basic Grey DP, Scenic Route DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Dk Brown, Lt Brown, Dk Green
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilies, Embossing Folders, WW Punch, Brads, Corner Rounder, Oval Punch, Sponges, Pop Dots, Aqua Painter, Tombow Markers, Re-Inkers, Stickles, Computer Generated Sentiment

A Poppy for the Papertake Weekly Challenge

I got a chance to participate in this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge that is sponsored by My Creative Classroom. The challenge this week was a sketch and I have to admit, that a sketch challenge is my favourite kind of challenge :)




I finally got a chance to step foot into my craft room after being away camping for most of the month of August. It felt a little strange to pick up my card making supplies and being creative! But I quickly got over the foreign feeling and pulled out this gorgeous set from Flourishes that I have been itching to get inky for quite some time! lol




I stamped the poppy three different times and watercoloured various pieces of it with my aqua pen and Tombow markers and then paper toled it to be 3Dimensional. I then placed the poppy onto my sponged background and then added the little frame that I made with my Nestabilities. I paired up the poppy with my Martha Stewart twig punch to created the fun leaves and added a sentiment from on of my sets from a rather large direct sales stamp company.

The Gina K ivory card stock was run through my cuttlebug and then sponged and distressed to warm up the paper to blend it with the tones of the designer papers. I rounded all the corners with my Chomper Tool and stitched most of the edges with coordinating threads.

I had a great time with this sketch and don't forget to play along this week as the girls from MCC are donating a $25 gift certificate for this week's prize and it can be towards the class of your choosing :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Flourishes - Poppy Patch, Serene Spring
Paper: Gina K Ivory, Dk Brown, Basic Grey DP, Watercolour, 7 Gypsies DP
Ink: Lt Brown, Dk Brown, Mustard, Dk Green
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Ribbon, Brads, Sponges, Pop Dots, Distressing Tool, Corner Rounder, Aqua Pen, Tombow Markers, Martha Stewart Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Well ladies, you asked for it! I have been keeping this under my belt for a little bit but it's time to spill the proverbial beans and let you all know that I will now be teaching online classes through My Creative Classroom! Yay!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the website, it is a place where you can go to learn anything crafty from the comfort of your own home on you own time schedule :) Currently, MCC has 24 very talented instructors and close to 80 classes open for enrollment under these categories: Die Cut Machines, General Arts and Crafts, Mixed Media, Rubber Stamping, Scrap booking, and Paper Crafts. They even have a section of free classes!

I'm pretty excited because I now have an online outlet to teach some of the things that I'm always getting asked about...so ya wanna know what I'm teaching? I have two classes open this fall and they are Watercolouring with Tombow Markers and Sponged Ink Backgrounds for Cards. Each class will have instructional slide shows or videos, photo tutorials, a student art gallery, discussion forums, and additional informational links. Sounds pretty good right? - I thought so too *wink*

Watercolouring with Tombow Markers
Starts: October 1, 2009 (6 week session)
Cost: $50.00

Sponged Ink Backgrounds for Cards
Starts: October 21, 2009 (4 week session)
Cost: $30.00

So do you want to learn more about these classes? Just click on the links above and they will take to you a detailed course description as well as a link to the supply lists so that you can see what few supplies you will need to have on hand :) While you're around the MCC parts, be sure to check out all the classes that are being offered and see who the talented instructors that provide the classes are. I hope to see you all in class *said in my strictest teacher voice possible* lol