Birds are Singing, Spring Must Be Near

Spring is my favorite time of year. I can't for it to get here and it's over way too soon. This time of year when we start to get a few warm days, I sneak out into the garden and start the spring clean-up. Here in northern California the daffodils are starting to bloom and I love to enjoy their fragrance and see the bright shinny blooms bob in the soft breeze. In addition to the daffys the birds are comming back. I have several feeders that needed attention and even though I like it when they all sart to sing, today they are squawking because they want me to fill the feeders! OK, OK I hear you, but  first I need to play in my Stamp Room.

One of the other joys of spring is going to an annual retreat the end of April. For the retreat I need to make about 80 artist trading cards so of course I needed to go on a little shopping trip yesterday to find a new stamp or two. I'm sure I have stamps I could use, but I need to offer some sort of excuse for buying a couple more don't I? I found a great Tim Holtz stamp set (Eclectic Plette) with stamps that are going to be perfect for my ATCs. I'm not ready to start stamping the ATCs but I wanted to use the stamps to see if I thought they would work for what I think I want to make.

I made this card using background papers that I make using a variety of Memories Mists. I stamped the bird using the new Tim Holtz set and embossed with black embossing powder. The words are from Stamp Mania.

I hope you enjoy the card, must go feed the birds, Happy Stamping!

Making a Scene

I'm really not a drama queen, but I do like making a scene and I like to mix and match stamp sets. Rarely do I use just stamps from one set. This card was made using a stipple brush, torn Post-It's to make the hills. To make the sky I brushed Stampin Up! classic inks starting with Regal Rose, Cameo Coral, and Only Orange for the sky that fades into YoYo Yellow to Certainly Celery. The stamp set is my all time favorite SU set Lovely As a Tree. The tag is from Tiny Tags and the new Medium Jewelry Tag punch. To create the grass in the foreground I used the tree image from Nature Silhouettes. I masked off the tree and stamped the image with Sahara Sand. Oh and the little squirrels are from Pendant Park.

The key to getting a smooth finish with a stipple brush is to use an excellent quality brush with tight bristles. You load the brush with a lot of ink and make small circular motion with the brush. I start of the edge of the paper because I usually have a heavy hand when I first start. You don't need to mash the brush into the paper because if you do, you'll leave brush marks in the paper.

Ladybug Button

Isn't this ladybug just the cutest? I made the bug body and antanae by drawing the line and dots with a Basic Black marker on a Stampin' Up! real red corduroy button. The words are from SU set Flight of the Butterfly. I drew the dots with a marker. The image is matted on Basic Black and Basci Grey mounted on real red . This card is simple, sweet, and make me smile, how about you, do I see you smiling just a bit?

Technique Junkie - new found love

I love techniques, stamping tools, and playing with all types of media and Technique Junkies is my new found habitat. There are so many techniques I can't wait to try. I made this card using 3 of their techniques and one of the layouts. The leaf is an old embossing template from Sizzex and the samll leaves is an Cuttlebug embossing plate. The squares the smaller squares is texture paper that was colored with SU Shimmer Paint and ink refills. I really love how the alcohol ink colors the metal for a rich jeweled effect.