No stamps, No Copics!

Greetings Earthlings!

Scroll down to earlier posts for freebies

YAY! It's finally here!!  The Operation Write Home blog hop for World Card Making Day! I hope you are having a great hop - or if you're starting here I hope you find lots of great inspiration!! If you want to start at the top, you can click on the banner above to get there.

I am supposed to say why I donate my cards and funds to Operation Write Home. To be honest, when I actually think about the men and women (& dogs!) that risk their lives half a world away I get really choked up. These are VOLUNTEERS, folks. VOLUNTEERS!  Please click on the link on the upper right and at least give this fine organization some $ to pay for shipping. The soldiers don't have to pay postage to send these cards home but we do have to

 pay to send these cards to our

HEROES.

I kept this Christmas card simple. I wanted it to have a 'classic' look.

I started by embossing the base of the card using a Sizzix folder. I surfed and found the one I used ON SALE! I like the Sizzix folders for embossing the bases of cards because they seem to be a teeny weeny bit bigger than most of the Cuttlebug folders I have.

Next up I cut out the deer with a Memory Box die. Have you seen these? They are so crisp and detailed. This one is called Deer Trio. I added the style number to this picture in case you go looking for it. I purposely cut it out off center to balance out the sentiment.

The way the die is made you can make the 'ground' they are standing on thicker or thinner.. I kept this thin to leave plenty of room for the

sentiment.

After I had it cut out I used the Cuttlebug folder Swiss Dots only on the 'ground' portion of the die cut.  This made the 'sandwich' very wide so I could not use my Texture Boutique to emboss, instead I used my Big Shot. Even so, the antlers were over the edge but being so thin they just bent a little as it went through the machine.

I made the sentiment with PSE and then cut it out using a Spellbinders Fancy Tags. I also embossed the die cut.

Just to help the sentiment stand out a little bit I used some Memento Summer Sky ink (yeah, I know it's a winter scene..) on a sponge and LIGHTLY applied it to the top 1/4 of the base. It barely shows and you're not really aware of it

until you look for it.

Put it all together with foam tape and voilà!

I still can't believe that I made a card without Copics or stamps!

Now you're off to the next stop on the blog hop! Have fun!

Party on, Wayne

Pushy Guest Designer

Greetings Earthlings!

Tomorrow is the big OPERATION WRITE HOME blog hop. Be sure to stop by then to get a lot of card making inspiration!

I had a pushy guest designer stop by to help me out today. And I have some more digi freebies for you! These are PNG files. I hope you can use them.

I am using an image by Mo Manning. It is called "Who Me?"  To make it look cold, I changed the color using Photo Shop Express. I made the outlines of the snow blue. I also made some of his clothes red. This is called CHEATING! I can't manage to use red without it bleeding - and it is almost impossible to correct red errors with the colorless blender! Having red lines means that I don't have to go quite to the edge with the marker.

Here is what the image looked like when I printed it out:

Well, ok, it didn't have the watermark all over it..

The Copics I used were:

And the finished card:

I cut out the image with a Spellbinders die and mounted it on dark gray card stock.  I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder on the card base and then I used a Memory Box die called 'Retro Border'. I think it looks

snow-flakey..

To help the cut-out show up more, I rubbed London Fog Memento ink along the edges of the card base.

Then I added my sentiment and a few snowflake buttons to finish it off.

I tried to get a picture showing how the border is cut out but my pushy guest designer would not co-operate!

Remember to stop by tomorrow for the big
World Card Making Day
 OWH blog hop!

Party on, Wayne

Hambo's Pig Sub

Greetings Earthlings-

I got a really fun free digi from Hambo this week! Why free? Because I entered their challenge LAST week.  YOU enter this week and you'll get a free image next week! See the pattern here?

This week's challenge is AWESOME! They are going to collect cards for my favorite folks at Operation Write Home!!

Here's what the fine folks at Hambo sent this week..

OK, I'm not sure why he/she has goggles on but maybe he/she is about to go diving?  I find it's best not to analyse a pig in a sub anyway..

I decided to paper piece this. I printed the image in reverse on the back side of my DP. I knew the print would not show up on the front.

I used my Copics to color in the details of the image. Then I went over the red with a red Spica pen. Not a lot of markers used this week!

If I had this to do again, I would use much darker colors on the ham. Since I added Glossy Accents to the window it looks washed out.  I also used a Viva Pearl Pen opaque to add the lines to the sub.

Here's the window detail:

Ohhh! Shiny!!

The background DP is really old but I have recently seen it for sale at my local Joann's. I also used a MS punch on the top edge. It had 3 rows of scallops but I trimmed the top row off because it was too wide. I added a silver heart to the sentiment and 3 clear dots to the bottom left corner to finish it off.

That's it for today. Be sure to come back OCTOBER FIRST for the World Card Making Day OWH blog hop!

Party on, Wayne.

Flo & the Gang

Greetings Earthlings!

I made a QUICK card to send to my sister.. She deserved it! (know what I mean?)

I'm thrilled that one of my favorite rubbah companies has started selling digi's! River City Rubber Works. I sure hope that they digitize more of their catalog!!

I have these fine ladies in rubbah but I used the digi for this card. I wrote their names on their name tags. Meet Vi, Bea and Flo. (Yup, that Aunt Flo.)

I used a Spellbinders Grand Nestie Labels 4 to cut the card base out of DCWV card stock. I also used the Spellbinders Labels 4 for the sentiment, which I made with PSE.

Here are the Copics I used:

I had a hard time photographing this card. It has lace doilies on it but you can't really see them well. The flower is also 3 layers.

Like I said, this was a quick card I had to get in the mail NOW so I didn't get many details on it that I would have liked..

For example - 

1) Add momento ink on the edges of the base - that would have helped the doilies stand out

2) Add lots of paper flourishes.. probably in white

3) Use Glossy Accents on their glasses

4) Some kind of ribbon, somewhere (anywhere!)

Well, I know my sister will get a good laugh out of it. Especially since I'm the evil sister...(and so VERY much younger than her..)

Party on, Wayne!

Come back kid! That's my dog!

Greetings Earthlings!

While I was working on this challenge for Mo's Digital Challenge, I got a serious case of ear worm.  I'll get to that later..

Mo's challenge this week was autumn colors. It didn't take much to get me into this as the weather here has been very fall-like for way too long!

I used an image that I had used in another Mo challenge - B & W. It was much easier this time around!

The digital image I used is called Fall Pup.

I have been playing with 'dots' as ground cover and even sometimes sky. I wanted this card to have more fall colors so that is what I used for the ground. Kinda an impressionist version of fall leaves covering the ground..

I wanted the sky to look cold - like it is here! I used Memento inks, London Fog and Summer Sky, applied with a foam blender.

I colored the image with my Copics.

I also wanted to be able to enter this card in an OWH challenge on their blog Stars & Stamps. I needed something round to qualify..


I needed a round sentiment and nothing I had worked.. Can you believe it? I don't have enough stamps! LOL!!

I ended up making this sentiment in PSE. Feel free to download it. I haven't ever posted something for you to download so I hope this works...

PNG

JPEG

I'm thinking you should be able to click on the image to bring it full size for you to save it. (fingers crossed!)

I ran some burgundy card stock through my Texture Boutique with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I used some brown Stickles and felt leaves to finish him off.

Back to the ear worm.. It's your own fault if you follow this link... You have been WARNED!

Party on, Wayne!



Mo's 100th Challenge!

Greetings Earthlings!

I just had to make something to celebrate Mo's 100th challenge! Oddly enough, this week's theme was CELEBRATE.  She's got some great candy for the winners, too! Why not come and join us?

I love the kids Mo draws.. I knew a birthday card would be a good choice - and throw in a cat to make it even better! Here's Maya's Balloons.

.

I used my trusty Copics to color in the image. I highlighted the balloons with Ranger's Glossy Accents. The DP is from DCWV. I don't remember where I got the brads but they were a bit dusty.. The sentiment was cut out using Nestibilities and popped up using foam tape.

Congrats to Mo and her team on 100 challenges!

Party on, Wayne

Sing Your Art Out

Greetings Earthlings,


Welcome to "Sing Your Art Out" sponsored by Hambo Stamps!
You should have arrived from Carla's Corner. 

If you just stumbled onto this hop, you can go to the Hambo Blog to start at the beginning to make sure you are eligible for the hopper prize! A prize will be awarded to one participant whose song-themed creation tickles the Bacon Bits’ fancy in a singin' wingin' way!  Another prize will be awarded randomly to a hopper who comments on all the blogs along the hop. The winners will be announced on the Hoedown blog, as well as on the Hambo company blog, Talk to the Ham, on Wednesday, September 21. 

If you get lost or want to skip around, I have a complete list at the end of this post.

Today Hambo friends, customers, and the Bacon Bits Design Team are bringing you fun creations that depict song titles!

Gimme a beat!!!!!!!!

Ice, Ice Baby!

I combined two  fun images from Hambo stamps Ice Hole Set and Igloo/Ice.

Since I wanted this to look COLD I thought printing it in blue would be cool. (Yes, pun intended!) So I kept the penguin black and changed the rest to blue using Photoshop Express. Here's what I came up with:

I used my Copics to add color to the image. I needed a lighter B91 so I made my own blend! I've been wanting to try this for a long time and I finally got the nerve. I used one part B91 various ink to one part colorless blender. I had already bought a few 'empty' markers so I put the blend into one with a syringe I found at an art supply store. (And my husband wonders why I love to 'browse'!)

Here are the Copics I used:

Note the one I labeled -B91..

I used a card base by DCWV and applied Distress Ink Stormy Skies on the edges of it with an ink blender.

I used a reallllllly old Marvy corner punch on the main image too. It is my favorite corner punch. I think it adds just the right detail without being over-powering.

I embellied with some snowflake buttons - one of which I cut in half (with my 'crap' scissors). I also used some silver snowflake brads. I cut the 'brad' off with side cutter pliers (stolen from hubby.. shhhhh).. then used foam tape to mount them. I rarely leave the 'brad' part on because I don't plan ahead and I don't like the 'arms' of the brad showing on the inside of my card.

I hope my song choice doesn't become an earworm for you today.. I know I couldn't get it out of my head while I was creating!

"..word 2 yr muther.."

 Now hop on over to Hey Hey Paula  for another great sing-along song!

Here's that list I promised:

Talk to the Ham - Hambo blog - http://hambostamps.blogspot.com/
Gloria - http://girlgonescrappin.blogspot.com
Karin - http://karin-withaniforpaper.blogspot.com
Debbie - http://inklingtostamp.blogspot.com/
Dawn A. - www.alwayscrafting.blogspot.com
Bonnie - http://theluckyclucker.blogspot.com/
Jen - http://jetstudio.blogspot.com/
Lynn - http://creativecraftsbylynn.blogspot.com/
NoraAnne - http://www.robinsonsnest.blogspot.com/
Lindsay - http://awaytosayhello.blogspot.com/
Karen - www.busybusyhoneybee.wordpress.com
Libby - http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/
Carla - http://scrappypug.blogspot.com/
Dawn M. - http://art-orsomethinglikeit.blogspot.com/  (That's little ole me!)
Paula - http://heyheypaula-heyheypaula.blogspot.com/
Mary - www.mystampinhide-away.blogspot.com
Jenn - http://www.jaxbeanstalks.blogspot.com/
Paige - http://www.shewhomuststamp.blogspot.com/
Marcie - http://www.cardmakinchaos.blogspot.com/
Leslie - http://thecrookedstamper.blogspot.com/
Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com
Beverly - http://beestamper.blogspot.com/
Yolanda - http://yolanda-imaginemakeshare.blogspot.com/
Judy - http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/

Party on, Wayne!