Sunflower Studio

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS....

Doesn't this little scene sort of make you think of that journey to Grandmother's house?  If Grandma lived in a gingerbread house it would!!! ha ha ha

This is another Santa's Sweet Shoppe card.  It's a much more traditional card...for me anyway.  I've mentioned the K&Company Brenda Walton Peppermint Twist Christmas pad (I found it online at Amazon so that I could show you a photo of it.) that I've been enjoying.  Here's more paper from that pad.  There is such a variety of paper in the pad and there are so many great colors in to too.  I highly recommend looking for it at Michael's!  The gingerbread house is in the DoodleFactory Santa's Sweet Shoppe set.  The trees are actually from the Halloween set.  (What a great wintery tree as well as a spooky one, huh?!)  And the sentiment is from the DoodleFactory Winter set.  So great that you can do a little mixing and matching with the sets.

Supplies:  Stamps - All stamps by DoodleFactory at Starving Artiststamps; Paper - textured papers by Coredinations, Papertrey Wihte, patterned paper by K&Company; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento ink, SU! White Pigment ink; Other - Copic Markers, White EP, SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, SU! eyelets, SU! Red Robin ribbon and green gingham ribbon (maker unknown), brads by American Crafts.

TWO TURTLE DOVES

They're running a little Twelve Days of Christmas promotion over at Paper Craft Planet.  Not a member yet?  Well go on and sign yourself up.  Now's the time 'cuz there are FREE stamp set being given away daily...whooooohoooo!

Day two of the promotion is being sponsored by Alma at The Cat's Pajamas.  Post a card featuring a dove or a turtle or any reptile, in fact, and add it to the 12day2 gallery to be entered to win.  Easy Peazy!

My card featured the new ELEGANT CHRISTMAS set that just recently came out.  And this is the set that you can win too!  The actual dove in the set faces to the left.  I knew that I wanted to make two doves and have them face each other so I tried the ole stamp one image the regular way and stamp the same image on a solid stamp and then stamp it onto paper so that you can have the reverse image.  Neat, huh?!  Too darn bad I sold that big shape set that SU! used to have, that would have come in handy.  As it was, I had to do a little searching on the shelves for a solid stamp that would fit the dove.  I found that using black pigment ink gave me a more defined image but not completely solid.  I added black detail embossing powder and that filled in the shape a bit more. 

I also made the base of the card from a transparency sheet.  This is a great way to present that glittery patterned paper from the inside of the card...using it as a background but also dressing up the inside of the card.  Give it a try!

Supplies:  Stamps - Elegant Christmas by The Cat's Pajamas; Paper - patterned paper by K&Company, textured paper by DCWV, SU! Sky Blue; Shimmery White from Papertrey; Ink - SU! Basic Black Pigment ink; Other - Copic Markers, black detail EP, 3M Write-On Transparency sheet, SU! Silver cord, Dew Drops

HAPPY "NANNER" VERSARY

SO...I've always known that I'm my own best audience and I always laugh louder and longer than anyone else at my own jokes.  What can ya do?!

This was the card that I made for my parents 45th wedding anniversary this week.  For some reason that little Carmen Miranda penguin from Memory Box popped into my mind at card making time and what do you think followed that up?  You're right....HAPPY "NANNER" VERSARY!  ha ha ha ha ha.   NANNER...get it?  BA-NANNER!  hee hee  Don't get it?  Don't worry, I don't think that Mom and Dad did either.  At least I enjoyed making it and I giggled the whole time.

Supplies: Stamps - penguin and "cha cha cha" by Memory Box Co.; Paper - patterned papers by Basic Grey in the Urban Prairie collection, textured papers by DCWV, Papertrey White; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento Ink; Other - Copic Markers and Multiliner, paper piercing tool, Prima flowers

AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER...

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to Lynn
Happy Birthday to you!!!

There!  A big ole public shout out for my sister's birthday.  Sooooo, it's only a wee bit late...she hit the big 4-0 on October 29th.  I know I've mentioned it before but we stink at on time birthday presents.  I think part of the problem is that you have to mail the gifts since we live in different states.  That gives you all kinds of excuses as to why it just didn't get there on time.  We've come to expect thi,s though, and I actually don't mind the late gift...Makes the celebration go for a bit longer and when you do finally get the gift it's a surprise.  What's even more atrocious about this one is that I really did have the gift...it was the card that took forever to make!  JEESH!  And, on top of it all, I'm future posting this post so that it shows up after Thanksgiving because I'll be handing over the gift on Thanksgiving Day.  I know, I know...I'm a terrible sister!  I still love ya, Lynn!

And look!  I used flowers!!!  I haven't dragged a flower out in a boatload of time.  FOUR FLOWERS...to be exact.  I must really love her to have used that many of my precious treasures (of which I have millions!) on one card...ha ha

Supplies:  Stamps - Humorous Birthday set by Inkadinkado; Paper - Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Papertrey White, SEI Providence patterned papers; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento ink; Other - Copic markers, American Crafts brads, SU! Scalloped Border punch, flowers by Bazzill, Prima, Making Memories, and Doodlebug.

WARM THOUGHTS

Here's another card using the Santa's Sweet Shoppe images and Holiday Sweet Shoppe Sentiments by DoodleFactory at Starving Artiststamps.  How sweet is this guy?!!! 

I let my choice of patterned paper dictate the colors that I used on the stamped image.  In my world, the snow and the sky can be pink sometimes.  I love a little something different.  These lovely pink patterned papers are in a Christmas pad by Brenda Walton from K&Company (It's my favorite right now) and the textured papers are by Coredinations.  I also used some new Nestabilities dies.  They're so unique and different from the ones that I've been using.  I know...I'm late to the boat on these but at least I got here.  When I was all finished coloring my stamped layer, I masked the polar bear so that I could stamp the snowflakes behind him.  I used white pigment ink and white detail embossing powder.  Then, I added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter with a glue pen to sparkle things up a bit.  The seam binding ribbon from Martha Stewart and some Dew Drops finished everything off!

I've seen lots of stampers sharing a picture of the Copic markers that they used on a specific project.  I always pull the markers out as I use them but I keep them out on the table in case I need to use them again in the same project.  At the end, I usually have a big pile that I have to put away - in their correct color coordinated cubbies - each time I stamp.  Isn't it surprising to know that I used 14 different markers on this one little image?  Seems like a lot!  (You can click on the picture to see the markers and actually read the color names/numbers.)

Okay, off to bed.  Need a good night's sleep so that I can scarf down my turkey tomorrow.  I hope you enjoy your Turkey Day and spend lots of good time with family and friends!  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

TCP TUESDAY #35 - SKETCH CHALLENGE

It's Tuesday before Turkey Day!  I love Turkey Day...I love Turkey.  Who wouldn't love Turkey!?!  And...here's your TCP Tuesday Challenge.  It's Sketch Challenge time again.  I'm your hostess this week so you'll be posting your version of the sketch here on my blog.  Grab your Cat's Pajamas stamps and get to work.  If you're posting at Splitcoast, use keyword TCPTUES35.

The sketch this time is based on the front of a little gift back that was created by Susan Liles.  (She's so creative and fun!)  There are lots of little scallop-y elements.  Remember that you can flip the sketch to the horizontal direction or just flip the elements from top to bottom...those are just a few ideas...I'm sure you'll come up with tons of them on your own.

My card uses the FAIRY CHRISTMAS set.  I love this little fairy gals!  I used patterned paper from a K&Company pad that I found at Michael's.  I really like the upbeat colors and textures in the pad.  Just so you know that I too make huge coloring mistakes when I'm creating, my little fairy was originally on a rectangle of white paper.  I liked the way she turned out but her background, the paper piercing and the drawing of some stitch lines really screwed it up.  I didn't want to scrap her altogether so I cut her out and popped her up.  Still very festive and colorful!

Supplies:  Stamps - Fairy Christmas Clearly Swanky stamp set by The Cat's Pajamas; Paper - Sky Blue, Red, Pink by SU!, Papertrey White, K& Compamy patterned papers; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento ink, Onyx Black Versafine; Other - Copic Markers, Nestabilities dies, Sakura Clear Stardust Glitter pen, Papertrey ribbon, MME button, SU! Scalloped Edge punch, 1/16" paper punch

Edit - I forgot to mention the cut off for entries for this challenge - Saturday, Nov. 29th at midnight.  Sorry about that.  I forgot to mention the whole Swanky Stamper and Cat's Cash part too.  Must have been outta my mind last Tuesday.....eeek!  Thanks to all who stamped the sketch this week...WOW! Great cards.  I've now CLOSED the comments for this post. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU OLD BIRD!

I found some time to stamp some cards the other day that had absolutely nothing to do with my design team commitments.  That hasn't happened in a while and I have so many neglected NEW stamps in my pile.  (I have a whole area in my room for new stamps.  They can't join the "general population" until they get inked up at least once!  I'd hate for them to get lost in the shuffle, KWIM?  I know...I'm weird!)  So, this card uses a really fun set from Inkadinkado called, uh...profoundly, Bird Assortment.  All of the birds have such affected expressions or attitude.  I love them.

This card is for my grandpa's birthday.  I think he's 91 or 92 today.  Unfortunately, the card's still sitting here on the desk but I'll call him today and then mail it out tomorrow.  Makes the celebration last a little longer, right? 

Doesn't it look like one big stamp?  It's actually 6 stamps total:  the first owl on his piece of branch, the standing owl on his piece of branch, the little owl on her branch, the pointier piece of branch, the cardinal, and then the sentiment.  There's an example of the amazing-ness of those clear stamps!  So easy to stamp these all in a row and have them fit perfectly together!  I colored everything with my trusty Copic Markers.  And this gorgeous patterned paper from the Basic Grey Scarlet Letter collection let me squeeze this card into last week's Color Challenge #193 at Splitcoast - Red, Black & Kraft - an oldie but a goodie.

Supplies:  Stamps - Bird Assortment set by Inkadinkado; Paper - Papertrey White, SU! Real Red, Kraft, and Basic Black, patterned paper by Basic Grey; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento Ink; Other - Copic Markers, paper piercing tool, ribbon fro Papertrey, American Crafts brads

Storage Units, Ink and More! - Design Team Call

Storage Units, Ink & More! is looking for three new members to be added to our team starting in January! Do you think you can make the cut?!

Here are the rules of the call...You do not need to use SUINK (www.suinkandmore.typepad.com)
stamps to participate, but if you have them you might as well flaunt them, now is your time to get in on the fun...

Pick out three or four of your favorite cards, or make some new ones if you are feeling really ambitious. Email them to our design team coordinator, Mary Jo Price-Williams, at yourrep@roadrunner.com. Include a few words on why you would like to be on the team and who you design for now or worked with in the past.  SUINK is looking for people who are dependable and enthusiastic. It is not required that you have been or are on another team so don't let that intimidate you newbies. They want fresh designs and people who can work well with others.

The requirements are pretty simple. It is a six month term. You will receive three stamps sets per release and your design team commitment will require you to send back two cards per stamp set and one 3D item. There are a few more details (including some monthly challenges and such) but Mary Jo can fill you in on them later.

What are you waiting for?!  Send in your samples today! Deadline is December 7th with announcements on the 9th! Good luck!

OH HOLY NIGHT

Here's a little Christmas card that I made using the new OH HOLY NIGHT stamp set from Storage Units, Ink & More!  I tried to follow the Sketch Challenge #203 at Splitcoast for this one.  It's an interesting sketch.  My card varies from it a little but I think it still contains the "flavor" of the sketch.

This cute little set contains Mary and Jesus, Joseph and an angel in addition to all of the elements to create this little nativity scene.  And the sentiment that I used here is from the ALL HOLIDAY SENTIMENTS set that is being offered FREE during November with the purchase of any six SUINK stamp sets.  BONUS!  They've got a bunch of November Specials at SUINK so don't forget to head over and check those out before it's too late!

Supplies:  Stamps - Oh Holy Night and All Holiday Sentiments sets by Storage Units, Ink & More!; Paper - textured cardstock by SU!, DCWV, and Bazzill, patterned paper by Basic Grey, Papertrey White; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, Gold Colorbox Pigment ink; Other - Copic Markers and Multiliner, Nestabilities dies, Sizzix Holly and Berries die, Inkssentials White Gel Pen, Gold EP, SU! Gold cord; EK Dual hole punch

A LITTLE SOMETHING SWEET FROM SANTA'S SHOPPE!

I've been working on some festive holiday cards using the new SANTA'S SWEET SHOPPE by DoodleFactory at Starving Arstiststamps.  I just can't get enough of the DoodleFactory images!!!  And this new set is just as great as all of the ones that have come before it.  Here's a little sampling of what I've made so far...

LOLLIPOPS-A-PLENTY

Santa's out for a stroll in the lollipop garden.   How cute are these big pops?!  And who could resist jolly ole St. Nick!

Supplies:  Stamps - Santa's Sweet Shoppe and Sweet Shoppe Sentiments by DoodleFactory at Starving Artiststamps; Paper - textured cardstock by DCWV and Bazzill, Papertrey White, SU! Black, patterned paper by KI Memories; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento Ink; Other - Copic Markers and Multiliner, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, glue pen, American Crafts brads

SAD LITTLE GINGIE

Oh, poor little Gio the gingerbread guy...he's so sad that his special someone won't be home for Christmas this year.  He's so cute though!  You either want to hug him or EAT him...ha ha

Supplies:  Stamps - Santa's Sweet Shoppe and Sweet Shoppe Sentiments by DoodleFactory at Starving Artiststamps; Paper - textured paper by DCWV, Papertrey White, Burgundy by SU!, patterned paper by Karen Foster; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento ink, SU! Chocolate Chip pigment ink; Other - Copic Markers and Multiliner, Nestabilities dies, Dew Drops, Dark Brown EP, Inkssentials White Gel Pen

TO THE NORTH POLE!

Here's your non-traditional Santa...he's Frosty with holiday excitement!  I did a little masking to add him to the sleigh.  He's ready for take-off at any time...on Dasher...on Dancer....

Supplies:  Stamps - Santa's Sweet Shoppe by DoodleFactory at Starving Artiststamps; Paper - textured cardstock by Coredinations, Papertrey White, SU! Blue Bayou and Silver, patterned paper by Heidi Grace; Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento Ink; Other - Copic Markers and Multiliner, SU! Scalloped Edge punch, Sizzix Paddle Punch, KI Memories ribbon, paper piercing tool, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, glue pen, Stardust Glitter Pen