Rock 'N Roll Technique on Thank You Card

This is a card I made using the rock 'n roll technique, where you load up your stamp with a lighter colored ink, and then use a second, darker, ink around the edges. This card shows the technique particularly well since I used a light blue ink for the interior and a brow ink for the edge.

This card did double duty. I used it as my project for the Madison Mingle in March and then again with my Create-A-Bunch Club in April.



The card uses The Angel Company's Damask Backgrounder stamp and the sentiment is from the Thinking of You set. The ink is Versa Magic Sea Breeze and Gingerbread.

Elegant Thank You

For my second card for the Create-A-Bunch group in January, I also used an idea I saw on Eva's blog, but this time, I made several changes to it, so that it hardly resembles the original except for the initial sketch.



This card uses the Damask Backgrounder and Running Stitches stamp sets from The Angel Company and the retired Great Greetings set. The paper is from Paper Pizazz.

Quick Thank You

While in the process of moving, my friend Sue's husband, Mike Vanderwalker, did us the favor of reading and explaining our survey to us. Mike has been a surveyor for years, and pointed out some things that we should address before the move so as not to cause problems later on. To show our appreciation, I made this card for him to go with a little gift card that we picked up.

Since we're in the middle of moving, I was limited to supplies and came up with this quick card using The Angel Company's Aged Ornaments stamp set to make all of the pattern in the card. Then I added some Christmas Red Stickles as accents with a little red ribbon, and a small sentiment panel using the Thinking of You set and a small scrap of red paper.

Blast From The Past Blog Hop

I'm kind of excited. This is my very first official Blog Hop - The Taylored Expressions' Blast From The Past Blog Hop. Our challenge was to pull out any Taylored Expressions stamp set that was released prior to March, 2010. I LOOOOOVED this Berries and Cherries set from the minute I saw it and figured it would be the perfect stamp for a summer hop.

This is the card I made using this set when I was helping to man a booth at a crop. We were demonstrating Copic markers and I spent a good part of the afternoon working on the shading of the strawberries to show some of the girls what could be done with Copics. Unfortunately I got all the way to the end and the C1 I was using bled out a big grey spot at the corner of the strawberry basket when I went to add the shadow, so I had to do some quick thinking to save it. I ended up cutting the image out with my Labels 1 Nestabilities die and masking off the strawberries so I could spray some Tattered Angels mist around the edge. Since I was working while I was "working" I wasn't thinking to write down things like the paper collection or the Copic colors I used, so I can't give any credits for anything but the stamps.



Here is a close-up of the strawberries:



To see the ideas other hop participants came up with, click on the link below.

Eiffel Tower Thank You

At our anniversary party, one of Tom's cousins told us about how her son really likes the Eiffel Tower. Because of that, she got a gift bag for the bottle of champagne she gave us that had an Eiffel Tower on it. In return, I used a stamp of the Eiffel tower on the thank you card just for him.



This card uses the Eiffel Tower image from The Angel Company's Go Abroad stamp set and a sentiment from Hero Arts' Thank You Messages set.

To tie it into the theme of the party, I went with the same Pop Rockz paper that I used on the table decorations and other thank you cards.

Anniversary Cards - Variation Number 2

This card, is so much like the last card I posted, but stil feels a bit different. Perhaps it is because I turned it on its side and gave it a border with my Fiskars Threading Water border punch. Other than that, it uses the same paper and stamps as my prior post.



Out of all my cupcake thank yous, I think I like this one the best.

Anniversary Thank You Cards - Variation Number 1

As a variation on the thank you cards I posted Wednesday, I created this new batch that also uses The Angel Company's Pop Rockz paper collection. This time the cupcake comes from Hero Arts' Cupcake set. And features only Copic Marker colors RV10, RV34 and C1.

Anniversary Thank You Cards

Now that the anniversary party is over, I found that I had some thank you cards to write. Silly me, I thought that when I said no gifts please, people would actually listen, so I didn't have any on hand.

Since many of the people I would be sending to are family, I thought I should have a few different variations on my thank you cards, so that everyone didn't get the same thing. The first is this one that uses a trio of cupcakes and sentiment from the same Inkadinkado Birthday Cupcake set as the inviations. It also uses scraps of paper left from The Angel Company's Pop Rockz paper collection that was used on the original invitations and the table decorations.



The background is texutrized with the Argyle Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and the cupcakes are colored with Copic Markers RV10, RV34, V12, YG03 and C1. A little glitz was added with the Gelly Roll Clear Stardust Glitter Pen.

Leafy Thanks

This is a card made using Cut N Dry foam, The Angel Company's retired Luscious Leaves stamp set and the Thank U set in the current catalogue. I demonstrated Cut N Dry Foam at the Tinley Park Rubber Stamp Expo in September, and made the background panels you see on this card during my demonstration. I completed the cards by adding the thanks panel and a bunch of leaves I made with leaf punches. This card was created in a matter of minutes.

If you're not familiar with Cut N Dry Foam, it is a piece of foam you can use to make your own personalized ink pad for a certain stamp. You stamp your image on the foam, and then use re-inkers to color the image on the foam in in the colors you want your stamp to turn out. Then you line your stamp up with your inked image on the foam and use that as your stamp pad. It's a great way to get multiple colors on a stamp without having to color it in with markers every time, and it's perfect for when you need to mass produce a bunch of the same card, like I did with this one that went out to everyone that visited me and signed up for my mailing list at the Expo, or for Christmas cards where you want the stamped image to have more than one color.

Retired from Ratings Panel

Tom and I were on a broadcast ratings panel. We each wore a little device that recorded data about what t.v. shows we watched, or radio stations we listened to for two years; and the data got downloaded to one of the companies that compiles it and supplies it to those that make the ratings.

We loved being part of the panel. I'm one of those people that either finds something I love only to have it discontinued, or I'm right at the beginning of the trend of what everyone jumps on. Generally the former. I had been tired of having shows I liked get cancelled on me, and always wanted to be one of the "Nielson Families". Two years ago, when I was away at Seminar, we got called and asked to participate. We faithfully wore our little data collectors every day and downloaded the information in each night.

Yesterday we were informed that our two years was up and we had to send our little data collectors back :(

To thank the company that asked us to be on the panel, and let them know we enjoyed it, I made this little Thank You card and put it in the box with the collection devices.

Now my little meter has been sent back, and my hip feels lighter and emptier. I'm going to miss my little data collector, and making a difference.



This card was made with scraps of paper I had lying around and The Angel Company's More Elegant Sentiments stamp set and literally took less than 5 minutes to make.

Another Whimsy Blossoms Card

Once I had my Whimsy Blossoms paper out, I decided to challenge myself to make sefveral cards from the same paper collection. Here is a thank you card I made using the More Elegant Sentiments stamp set. This card was really very simple. The paper did all the work.

Fall cards

A few months ago, the Poetic Artistry Blog posted a one sheet wonder, with some cards that I thought were classically simple. I stored them in the back of my mind for a while, and when I had a chance to play today, I went and looked the post up. These are cards that I made using the same one sheet wonder (although I ended up removing the .75" x .75" square on Card #2 when I changed the orientation due to the verse I picked). It's amazing how different the exact same template can look with different color choices.

My Second Mojo Monday Card

O.K. So I've been out and back, and ended up having to cancel one set of this evening's plans, but at least I have time to post this card I made using Julee's current Mojo Monday Sketch, Sketch 45. Since I had the Angelee paper pack opened, I decided I'd play with it a little more, and this is the card I made for the sketch.



The stamp sets are Old World Ornamentals and the new Linear Sentiments. I also used the Purple Hydrangea Versa Magic ink pad, which is not one of the ones that our catalogue lists as a coordinating color, but worked really well. When it was all assembled, it still felt like it needed something, so I got out my "Petrified" art glitter and made some faux brads, which was just what it needed.

Doodle Tag Thank you

Recently my husband decided to overhaul his musical equipment. Let me tell you, it's been like a child's Christmas every day for the past few weeks. I've been waking up to, "It's so exciting! [Some component or another] might be arriving today!" Our stay-at-home neighbors have graciously been accepting the deliveries for him while we've been at work. To thank them for being available to take in numerous packages over the span of several days, my husband bought them flowers and I made this little thank you tag to go with them.

The tags are Lasting Impressions Doodle Tags that have been hiding in my craft closet for a while. The stamps are The Angel Company's Fanciful Flowers (one of my staples) and Write It. I inked the flower using Pearlescent Yellow Brilliance ink, and then tapped Pearlescent Orange Brilliance ink around the edges. This is a technique that works best with the Dew Drop ink pads. You can really be precise about where you want the edging color to go. I don't have the Dew Drop pads because I generally prefer full pads, but if I start using this technique more often, I might have to invest in the Dew Drop pads as well. The leaves are Pearlescent Thyme Brilliance ink using the leaves from the Write It set. The "Thank You" is one of the Gift With Purchase stamps you can get free if you place a $30 order with a demonstrator from The Angel Company and will retire at the end of June.

This tag took a minimal amount of time to complete, but has great impact. Especially if you see the pearlescent ink in direct sunlight. It really sparkles!