Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Just Plain Simple

Today I wanted to just make a simple card and play a little.  I have the Tim Holtz crayons and really haven't had much time to give them the love they deserve.  I unfortunately didn't take step by step pictures as I made this card, but the background was made with the crayons on watercolor paper.  Using a stencil and a baby wipe I created the background design. I found no way that any photograph would show the small design that I also put on the background using another stencil and clear gel medium.
I promise you, its there and looks cool in person.
 I stamped a design, added a couple of accent flowers and a sentiment.


I hope you had a good holiday weekend.  I got to spend some valuable time with my fabulous husband and a splendid convertible ride.

Thanks for stopping by today,


Nancy

Friday, May 27, 2016

Alternative Papers

This past month I've been working on  Copic coloring using alternate papers other than 'white'.
Well today I have a fun tag that I made with a Julie Nutting stamp.  Now most of Julie's stamps are very long or tall.  Difficult to make a card, I decided to make a tag for a gift bag.  
I colored the image on some dictionary paper.  I had fun with this and will do more in the future.



I haven't placed a sentiment on the tag but it will be super easy since the back is blank.

Thanks for stopping by today.


Nancy

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Working on Transparent Objects

I had the pleasure of teaching a Copic Class last night at Scrapmania here in Cedar Rapids.
Our focus for the month of May has been techniques and coloring transparent objects.
After my little craftroom clean-up I uncovered this image that never made it into production.  I had colored it with Copics several months ago and decided now wold be a good time to put something together. I gathered up some scrap papers and her ya go.


This cute little fairy in the glass shows the shadow of the glass making it have that transparent look. 
Of course this image was screaming Shaker Card!

Just a reminder, I will be teaching one more class this month at Scrapmania,so if you're in Cedar Rapids and want to take a Copic Marker class just call sign up.
The class is Sunday, May 29th starting at 1:00
319-377-9999

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Copic and Foil Flowers

So I needed to do a little desk cleaning today before I head out for my Copic Class at Scrapmania.  Many of you know that one of my favorite things to do is make cards out of all the scrap laying around.  I have been playing around with Deco Foil and how it reacts with Copics.  
I found that they do play well together and I will be experimenting more very soon.
The image is from my digital stash and printed on a laser printer.  
I used a  laminator to adhere the foil


This is the front of the card using some simple circles and gems to add the finishing touches


I tried to take a close-up so you could see the shine on the foil.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Nancy

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Hey Culligan Man!

Okay, so you're probably thinking I'm crazy.... but today I had to wait for the Culligan Man to come deliver salt and I thought what a better way for me to use my time than to color something fun.
I selected this stamp from Hampton Art that allows me to do one of my favorite techniques.


I love using these types of stamps that have background areas I can color using a solid gray tone.  I wanted to practice using some vibrant colors that would stand out from the gray.
You can also see that I didn't get a perfect blend between my colors. As I try to continue to step out of the box and use colors that are NOT in a natural Copic blending group, I find you can get fabulous results even though the coloring is not perfect.  
I matted my colored piece several times using fun foam and kept this card simple.
Listed below are my color combo's


Y02                    G00                 E51               RV02              RV0000                YG23
RV06                  BG02              BV00            RV04              BV02
Y38                    BG49              E11                RV06              B23                       W5



Thanks for stopping by today.


Nancy

Friday, May 20, 2016

It's Graduation Time

I decided to get a jump on the Graduation cards this week.  We only have 3 invites this year, but I have a birthday party this week and I'm teaching 2 Copic classes next week.  Not wanting the time to get away from me I decided to knock them out last night.  
You might see a theme with the acetate panels because I had the acetate out from another card and decided, why not?

Three cards needed, two girls, one boy and three different schools.  I'm so lucky to have a fabulous scrapbook store right here in Cedar Rapids that stock papers from most every school in our area.  Scrapmania has all your needs with papers, stickers and stamps for your graduation and sports needs.
So here are my three cards.






I made matching envelopes for each card including a fun belly-band.  
Fast and easy, include a gift card and we're ready to go.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Nancy

Thursday, May 19, 2016

It's A Jurassic Birthday

I never thought that I would say this, but what do you get a 3 year old that has everything.  Maybe I should clarify that he has every Dinosaur and knows them all by name.
My grandson is having his third birthday party this weekend, and you guessed it...

JURASSIC PARK is on the agenda.

Naturally I went looking for some paper to make a card and I found one sheet made by Reminise..
Now this sheet was meant to be for a scrapbook page and the Dino's are huge.  Solution was that I made a copy and reduced the size appropriate for a card.  Now I have paper for the card and another sheet for pictures of the party.
The card is still bigger than I want but great for a 3 year old.


This is the front of the card,where I placed an acetate panel so you could see the inside of the card.
You can see the Happy Birthday that's stamped inside


This is the inside and I hope it appears that this Dinosaur is roaring
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

You might ask if this card is too scary, Nope, No Way, Nadda, 
Jurassic Park is his favorite movie.

Thanks for stopping by today


Nancy

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Copic Marker Class

I've been asked to by a Guest Teacher at the local scrapbook store here in Cedar Rapids for the month of May ans June.  I've decided to focus on basic techniques and transparent objects.  If you know anything about Copic markers, there seems to be a Huge shortage everywhere.  One of the things I want to focus on with this May class is to use the markers you already have in your collection.  We will step out of the box with some techniques and also step away from the basic blending groups we have all been taught.
I will have two class offerings at Scrapmania here in Cedar Rapids.
Wednesday, May 24th 6-8pm
Sunday, May 29th 1-3pm

Space is still available so please call and reserve your place for this class.
319-377-9999

Here's a short introduction video preview for the class.





Thanks for stopping by today.


Nancy

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Best Friends Continued......

As promised, I want to share some of the pictures from the recent Bridal Shower that my best friend hosted.  There was lots of glitter and bling, which the bride-to-be LOVED.

Entrance Table

Candy Table

Cupcakes

Lanterns with Lots of Bling

Gold Jars with Blush Pink Peonies

Window Covering

Food Table

Thanks for stopping back by. 

Nancy



Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Best Friends

Today I want to share a card that I made for a Bridal Shower.  I am very fortunate to have a great friend that no matter how long it's been since I talked with her, we can just pick up where we left off.
We think alike and can be somewhat dangerous when together.
Well this weekend my friend is hosting a bridal shower for her "soon to be" daughter in-law.  I have been asked to help decorate, which has been fun.  The colors are blush pink, cream, gold and touches of black.  I will take pictures this weekend and post them later, but I wanted to share the card I made for the shower.


I understand the bride loves 'bling' so I used bright gold paper and added some sequins.

Check back later for more pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Just One Of My Coloring Books

I mentioned that I have been doing a little coloring in one of my coloring books.
I've chosen to share with you one of the pages I did from this fabulous book,


I love this book because it focuses on a bible verse on the left hand side and then the coloring page on the right. This is a great start for a daily/weekly devotional and then you can study more on the Bible verse throughout the week.
The left side of the book where the verses are have small borders and areas you can color if you'd like.
I use Prismacolor Premier pencils for this book so I can color each side of the page without a bleed thru of color. The pages are 9 1/2 inches square, making it hard to add to my Journaling Bible, so I will keep them in the book for now.  I have thought about cutting the pages out and then putting them in a frame in my craft room.  

Here's my page for 
PSALM 23:3
He Restores My Soul


This took me several hours to color and not totally sure I'm finished,  I do like the areas that I left white, plus the simple color palette I selected.

I hope this gives you some inspiration and thanks for stopping by today.

Blessing, Nancy

Monday, May 2, 2016

Happy Sunday

Lazy day here in Iowa with the cold rainy weather again today.  After our standard Starbucks run after church this morning I've been able to spend most of my day in my craft room.
Needing to catch up a little on Bible Journaling, I colored a few pages with pencils and did a little studying. I will share a few pages a little later in the week.
I played with a little stamp set from jillibean and created this shaker card.


This set has the pre-made shaker shape which is nice but it does stand off the card base which will make it harder to mail.  After making it, I have a few more ideas of how to make this work a little differently, so you will probably see this again.
I stamped a few lemons on the card base then stamped and colored more lemons, cutting them out to include as shaker bits.  Adding a few sequins and glitter to finish it off.

Hope you had a great day!

Blessing, Nancy

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Watercolor Look With Copic Markers

You are probably seeing a trend with my cards the past two days, but todays Power Poppy image was colored on watercolor paper with Copic Markers.  Once again I created the background around the image and them added texture with various fabric.  
I then colored the image as usual.
I hope you enjoy.


I hope you've had a great weekend and its not as chilly and rainy where you are.

Blessings, Nancy