technostamper AND mojo monday.......

Starting off today with the sketch from MJ:













And the card:

I am still out of skitter bug beads but SO adore my little bugs and really wanted to use them so i came up with another idea. I stamped them on and then put a flat drop of dimensional pearls down for the bodies. once dry i drew the black details on with my sakura pen. TA DA!! still prefer the skittles but until the new shipment arrives........


Here's a close up so you can see their shimmering little bodies!!!

The next card up is for Julee's mojo monday sketch:

And the card:

For the circle panel I stamped butterflies a flutter in versamark and then clear embossed with rangers detail embossing powder. next was a little experiment - i got some of the tsukineko walnut ink sprays (not up in the store yet as i try to decide if i should carry them - if you DO want them be sure and make your voice heard). i have them in the traditional brownish walnut color as well as a distress looking pink, blue and purple. for the card above i sprayed first with the pink and then a bit with the brown. i DO love the look but am not sure what makes them different than what i can do in my mini mister KWIM??? the square panel is a scrap from the SEI Chocolat line - SO yummy AND they are having a great sale 25% off right now on alot of stuff so run on over there!!!

may not get much playtime this weekend as i am doing a lot of work on the website in preparation for a big announcement on monday - so STAY TUNED!!!!!

gettin' scrappin' done

i have been determined to keep up with my scrppin and have joined an MSN group - scrapping friends - that is really helping motivate me. this first LO is for their weekly sketch challenge:

This one is for one of the many summer challenges - using stickles on a LO - which of course i use all the time - for this one i used a sketch from page maps (one of my faves):

been terribly busy - doesn't help that me, hubby and pezzy are sick and trev has already been hurt in football so i am driving him to the chiropractor every other day.

a new shipment of studio G halloween inks and glitter glues arrived today and are going right back out. i will have extras of the glitter glues if you haven't ordered yours yet. still waiting on a last shipment of series 16 and warmth inks.

inkadinkado has gotten more of the halloween trails clear stamp sets in finally and those are on the way. i highly recommend these stamps sets - just gorgeous.

skitterbugs - lady bug and bee are sold out. a few snails left. all beads are sold out but more were shipped from canada on monday. look for more exciting skitter critters coming soon! want to dress your skittles for the holidays...???

skitterbugs minus the skittles for OCC challenge

So I have been doing my best to keep up with the challenges on my friend Amy's blog she does with a very talented group of girls - Our Creative Corner. The challenge is posted on Saturdays and the last one was a limited supplies challenge - NO designer/patterned paper and FOUR layers or LESS. So here is a 3 card set i came up with using some as yet uninked stamps from My Favorite Things. In addition they each have one of my newly released skitterbugs stamps.


Now i DO LOVE them with the altered skittles for their little bodies (see pic at right) but i wanted to show everyone they can be just as cutie patootie on their own!



So here are my 3 cards:

Colored with copics. New cuttlebug folder along the bottom and then inked with a versamagic dew drop (also available on my website). stickles in the center of course. The strip across the center is velvet paper. shape is the new storybook cricut cartridge, dots are liquid pearls and then each corner has a kaiser stick on pearl. little bee skitterbug.

another new CB folder and lots of the new glitz stickles - ruby slippers, colored with copics, red is another velvet paper. scallopped oval is cut with nestabilities. Little ladybug skitterbug.

finally, top and bottom are velvet paper embossed with CB borders. stickles dots and a little snail skitterbug.

for an update - my altered beads for these are completely sold out :( but no worries!! order away and they will be shipped straight from sugar n scraps in canada. i still have stamps left but they are going fast! in addition i have three more in production that i am sure you will love including one for halloween!

don't forget to sign in for blog candy on yesterday's post!!!

now off to work i go - meaning holy mess batman - my kitchen looks like an explosion!!!!!!!

blog candy winner, another reinker tutorial AND MORE blog candy to give away!

AND THE WINNER IS>>>>>>>> alienanessa!! give me a shout so i can get your details and send your paper on it's way!!


Today's tutorial piece is used on a LO i did of Pezzy's favorite backyard activity - her sand & water table:

more skitterbugs of course!! the colorful band, die cut shapes and title are all cut from a paper i colored using a technique i call reinker smoosh (for lack of a better word). i originally saw the idea in the technique junkies newsletter which i highly recommend.

As i said in my last tutorial - reinkers can be used for more than reinking your stamp pads. So we gather our supplies: 2-3 colors reinkers - it is especially nice if you have a metallic or shimmery reinker - in this case i used a purple opalite reinker. i have found the brilliance to be too thick and the dye reinkers seem to work better than pigments. in addition you need a brayer, 2 sheets of acetate, either ranger glossy cardstock or plain cardstock. If you use glossy cardstock you will need to cover it in clear embossing powder and heat because the ink won't dry. this gives it a different look - shinier darker deeper colors.

now i rarely make an entire full size piece. instead i cut my cardstock down - you need two pieces and place them back to back if using glossy. then i cut my acetate in half. squirt the reinkers randomly over one piece of acetate.

working sort of quickly (no pressure!), place the other piece of acetate on top and run your brayer over it to move the reinker around. i find it is better to use a light hand and move it toward the center not toward the sides or it will be too thin and all ooze out. you want to have it a bit thick. now peel the acetate sheets apart, place your papers down, cover with the other piece of acetate and brayer quickly. lift the acetate off and take the pieces out. now IF you used glossy paper you will need to cover it with clear embossing powder and heat.

i tried to take pics of each but it is hard to compare in just a picture so i encourage everyone to try both and experiment. this first one is the glossy with embossing powder - i DID have this occasionally flake off a bit but not enough to ruin my project.

This one is plain cardstock - the opalite makes more of a presence on the plain cardstock but the overall color is somewhat duller...i like both ways really.

Here you can see the title, one of the die cuts and a bit of the strip.

and there you have it! reinkers can be purchased on my site. i have the majority of the ranger reinkers in stock. i have yet to "accumulate" all of the tsukineko reinkers but will always order it if i get a request. especially the opalites!

how about another bit of blog candy??? winner will be picked at random. post a comment and tell me the wierdest place you have ever scrapped. iam incredibly boring and scrapping on the floor because my table is too messy is as weird as it gets with me :P but at CKC everyone had the coolest super totes and then in a magazine a lady said she takes stuff up to scrap in front of the tv at night so i thought - where else do people scrap......??

What can you win???? how about your choice of 4 tiny ink pads any color - choose from memento dew drops, brilliance dew drops, versamagic dew drops or encore squares!

and if you try this technique DO let me know how it goes - i am always curious if anyone gives something new a try!

Do your skittles want to play dress up??? new stamp release!

To answer some questions on the skitterbug stamps - i drew them myself and they can not be purchased form anyone else. the skittles i used are died and then painted by hand by Catherine (my sidekick-hee hee) - she will have pics of her snail shells tomorrow - they are better than my attempt :)

is it really the END of the day????? good heavens where did it go??
so do you remember these gorgeous flowers we sprayed with shimmer mist yesterday? well they ar eback to help me introduce some new additions to my rubber stamp line!



















I am using fridays cupcake sketch from taylored expressions:

now what on earth are skittles some of you may be asking. Skittles are very similar to the robin's nest dew drops and i currently carry many altered "skittles" as bead pops on my website. they were nicknamed skittles after the screen name of Catherine, the girl who does the altering. and so we got to thinking and here is what we came up with:

And now some close ups:

And the stamps:

i know the pic is insufferably tiny but click here to see them on my website! Now it is simple to dress up your skittles - simply stamp the little bugs and add skittles. each set comes with 8 alterd skittles (or bead pops) and more can be purchased if you want them. You can also make your own OR simply use the little cuties on their own as stamps. more samples to come!!

In addition don't miss my little giveaway i posted yesterday - a pack of SEI's velvet paper - oh so yummy! just post a comment on yesterday's post by 3am eastern time wednesday - i will pick a winner when i get up! i'll have more to giveaway tomorrow!