April 23, 2012

Special Thank You for a Friend

Today I want to say a special 'Thank You' to a friend of mine.  She works with me at Archiver's and when I need someone to take a shift for me she pretty much will say 'yes' and always says it with a smile in her voice. It means a lot to me and I wanted to show her my gratitude....so I'm making a big shout out to VALERIE and posting a card I made for her today (well, it actually took me longer than today but shhhhh....she'll never know - she'll think I whipped it up in my spare time while watching TV, cooking dinner or doing laundry - LOL).

Valerie, thank you so much for taking some of my shifts at the store.  So, while the card is posted on the blog for all to see....the actual card will be in your in basket at the store on Saturday.


The stamped image is from Whimsy Stamps and is called 'Sweet Blossom' from the Wee Stamp Collection.  The artist's name is Sylvia Zet and I have about 13 of her images.  They are absolutely the cutest images I've seen in a long time.  She has one little girl named 'Heidi' which of course I had to purchase.  I had emailed the artist to let her know how cute I thought her stamps are and she's actually replied to me....that was pretty exciting!   at least to me it was!

The sentiments are by AmyR Stamps manufactured by CC Designs.  The outside one is from her "Handy Additions & Big Words' set and the inside one is from her 'Be Happy Sentiments" set.

The sweet little image is cut out using a Spellbinders Lacey Circle die and is colored with COPIC markers with just a touch of stickles on the flowers.  The little custom epoxy shapes in the upper right hand corner were made with the Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio

I hope you like it Valerie and again - thanks for being my friend!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Heidi

April 14, 2012

I Survived Friday the 13th

Well everyone, I hope y'all survived yesterday....the dreaded Friday the 13th.  Actually my day was pretty good.  At my day job, the meeting I thought I had from 1:00 - 2:30 was actually 10:30 -12:00...which meant that I could leave early from work on a Friday afternoon....yippee!  I also got paid plus received my tax refund so that was a big double yippee!  And you know what that means....time to do some 'crafty' shopping.  I taught a class this morning at Archiver's and did some major shopping after my shift. 

I've shared with you guys the fact that I love my Copic markers....and that I'm broadening my spectrum to include colored pencils with gamsol and Tim Holtz Distress Markers....well, I've done a comparison color experiment.  I colored the same image four different ways:  (1) Copics (2) Tim Holtz Distress Markers with water brush (3) Prismacolor colored pencils with gamsol and (4) Watercolor pencils with a water brush.

Here's a shot of all four of them together.



Let's play a game....I'll show the sample one by one and you try and guess which one of the four it is.


(1)

(2)





(3)


(4)


It's probably a little easier to tell the difference between the four of them in person where you can see them close up.  But here are the answers for you...

(1)  Prismacolor colored pencils and gamsol
(2)  Copic markers
(3)  Watercolor pencils and water brush
(4)  Tim Holtz Distress markers and water brush

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Heidi





April 4, 2012

An Easter Basket Card

Can you believe it's almost Easter?  All the little kidlets decked out in their new Easter duds searching for hidden eggs filled with candy - good times!  You can always tell when Easter is right around the corner when you see the grocery shelves all lined with Peeps!  I like the ones they have out that are completely chocolate covered. 

I have a couple of Easter cards to show y'all today.  This first card was actually published in the March 2011 issue of CardMaker magazine.  It's a gift card holder that looks like an Easter basket when closed. 

The bunnies, chick and carrots were stamped, colored with Copics and then cut out.  The grass was cut using one of the 2x2 dies from Lifestyle Crafts (previously QuicKutz).  The basket was made from two different colors of cardstock (kraft and brown) cut into strips and woven together in a basket pattern and adhered to the front of the gift card holder.



To make the actual gift card holder you take a piece of cardstock 4.25" x 11" and score it at 3", 5.5" and 8".  Fold along the scored lines in a valley, mountain, valley formation (accordian folds up and down).  Adhere the center mountain section together along the left/right/bottom edges only - snip the top part open creating the actual pocket to hold the gift card.


Here's a picture of the actual article.

Now here's a picture of another Easter card made back in 2010 and submitted with the Easter basket card.  Unfortuately it wasn't selected.  I love all the colors used around Easter time - yellows, purples, blues....and of course Stickles is always a must! Bling never hurt anything! I believe the Spellbinders die used was from the Label One set.  Of course the image was colored with Copics because I love, love, love my Copics.


Even though my heart belongs to Copics I am trying to expand my horizons and branch out to include Prismacolor pencils blended with Gamsol as well as the new Tim Holtz Distress water markers.  I must admit these other mediums are pretty fun to play with.

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Passover beginning this Friday at sundown as well as a Happy Easter.  Thanks for visiting......

Heidi