Just Wanted to Espresso My Love!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I had a great day, yesterday. I went with some friends to a nearby water park, then to dinner and the new ‘Sex and the City’ movie. One of my best friends couldn’t make it to the dinner so she and some of my other friends planned a little surprise desert thingy after the movie. Albeit it was 1 am by the time we got to her house. I was so delighted and surprised!!! Thanks so much ladies!

I find that cards either take me 10 minutes or 45, never in between. For some reason either I get stampers block or everything just works. This card falls into the latter category.

My first thought was to stamp the background in Sage Shadow on the matching background with a flower stamp, but then I remembered I had gotten this funky Hero Arts stamp at a garage sale (what a find!). So I went with that. I swear I stared at that piece of cardstock for 20 minutes. I could not figure out what to do next. SO, I did what I always do when I can’t figure out what to do. I do something else and come back a while later. AND it worked! Everything seemed to grove after that. I went with some other stamps from the garage sale and cut out a flower from some Junkitz Cardstock. I think it all came together well.

But, the most exciting thing about the card is the fact that I shot the picture with my BRAND NEW Nikon D40!!!! I need some practice but I have been having a lot of fun. Look at that vellum, you can see the glitter. What kind of camera do you all have???

Ely

Ingredients
Stamps: Hero Arts
Paper: Sage Shadow by SU, Bazzil
Ribbon: Jo-anns Multi pack
Ink: Memento Ink Pad (Tuxedo Black)
Copics: G21, G24, Y15

New COPIC VIDEO tutorial, managing to use Glorious Green, and other fabulous day-before-birthday adventures!

By popular demand I made another quick copic video tutorial. The tutorial mainly focuses on how to pick color off of a Ranger non-stick mat. It is really very easy and effective!

The most exciting part of this card is the fact that I used........

GLORIOUS GREEN!!

I swear I always feel accomplished when I use it. I find it so FUGLLYY, but on this card I think it works.

Ok well I'm off to play Wii... it's seriously addicting.

See you tomorrow, when I turn the big 2-0! SCARY

Ely

ps. How adorable are those two mice???

Ingredients
Stamps: 'Surprise Party' by Stampendous, 'In the Spotlight' by Stampin Up
Ink: 'Glorious Green' By Stampin Up, Memento Tuxedo Black by Tsuineko
Accessories: American Craft Ribbon
Paper: Glorious Green By SU, Pink Bazzil, Gold Vellum
Copics:B21, B24, B29, RV14, G24, G21, YR23, W1, W3, E00, R20, E31, E33

Birthday Week has Arrived!

As I have been mentioning, my family's birthdays are all within 5 days of each other. Today marks the official beginning of Birthday Week, as it is my Dad's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday DADDY! Tomorrow is my sisters (today's card is for her!), mine is on Friday and my Mom's is Saturday. Crazy, isn't it?!?

One of Ilana's favorite things is peace signs, so I knew I had to incorporate them somehow. I love how the peace sign fits perfectly in a 1 1/4 punch matted by a 1 3/8 punch further matted by the Stampin' Up Scallop Circle.

I also had fun paper piecing Bella's apron. It really is a lot easier then I thought, especially because I only pieced a simple cut out. I also outlined the pieced piece with my copics (RV11) to give it some added depth. Also the inside hand-peace-sign is from an old dry embossing template.

Well, I have to get back to my LSAT work, but make sure you check out LPS's newest design team members, Lynn Mercurio, Sarah Green and Bonnie Sharp. These ladies are super talented!!!

Ely

Happy Birthday Ilana

Stamps: Cakeabella by Stamping Bella, Groovy by Stampin' Up,

Ink: Pitch Black by Adirondack, Old Olive (stamped off once) by Stampin' Up, Black Staz-on

Paper: Fanci-ful Flowers by Junkitz, Tempting Tourqouise by Stampin' Up, Bazzil

Accesories: Peace Sign Dry Embossing template by DSC Designs, Ribbon by American Crafts

Punches: 1 1/4 circle and 1 3/8 circle by EK Success, Scallop Circle Punch by Stampin' Up, Marvy Mega Circle, Marvy Giga Circle

Last Sneak Peak Plus Release Time and the Winner of Blog Candy!

I am hoping to post this right at midnight, when the 10 all-new release sets go live!!! I have displayed almost all of them in the last couple of posts, some almost secretly, so watch out for creative usage! I will also be showing some more cards with the new sets in the next couple of days. Julia is running a couple of specials for May including 15% off till June 3rd. Also she is giving away free shipping with a 45$ or more purchase!

To me the new set 'Basic Shapes' is like a little black dress, it goes with everything, always looks good and is essential. I love the shapes included in this set and I keep going back to it for more! I actually stamped the solid star with Twinkling H20, which was very easy to apply with a paintbrush.

I am also totally getting into my Tombow Markers which are basically just water-based markers. They are VERY bendable and work best on 90 lb water color paper. I am using it so much that my copics are starting to feel abandoned *gasp*! I am hoping to do a video tutorial on them in the coming days, so please check back.

I also have the privelege of announcing the winner of the wonderful set 'Take the Time'. The winner is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

41 

Timestamp: 2008-05-27 03:49:19 UTC

Bunny B said...

Oooo.. Sweet! Thank you so much for the chance to win :)

bunnybox9 at gmail dot com

May 24, 2008 7:27 PM

Bunny please PM or comment on this thread!!! CONGRATS!!

Well, I'm off to bed!

Ely

Ingredients

Stamps: 'Graduation' by House Mouse Designs, 'Basic Shapes' by Little Paper Shop, 'All Occasions' by Little Paper Shop

Ink: Silver Encore Pad, 'Black Onyx' by Versafine(my favorite for acrylic stamps)

Paper: all by Bazzil

Accessories: Twinkling H20s, 'White Gold' Embossing Powder by Judikins

LPS Sneak Peak #4 and the Wii

My name is Elyssa and I have a problem. I am addicted to the Wii. Since my birthday is Friday and my sister's is Wednesday we got the Wii as a joint gift. I am in love! We have been playing Wii Tennis and Guitar Hero and on Friday I will be opening Wii Fit. Do you guys have it or like it?

This card is going to be for my Mom's Birthday on Saturday (my dad's birthday is Tuesday, weird, I know). It uses Little Paper Shop's set 'Still Hot'. I water colored the main image with my Derwent water-color pencils. It is a lot easier to watercolor an embossed image because the embossing stops the color!! The inside of the card uses a sentiment from the set which says 'Happy Birthday; You're still hot, it just comes in flashes'. How funny is Julia??? 'Mom' is written with the a-z alphabet from LPS. I love it's simple serif design.

I also wanted to remind y'all to enter in DAILY for blog candy!!

Ok, I'm off to game night with my friends.

Ely

Ingredients

Stamps: 'Polka Dots Backgrounder' by CHF, 'Simple Sayings' by SU, 'Still Hot' by LPS, 'A-Z' by LPS

Ink: Rose Red by SU!, Versamark, Black Onyx Versafine

Paper: Rose Red by SU!, Bazzil and Bazzil Bling

Accessories: Derwent Watercolors, Fine Black Embossing Powder, Bling from Ms

LPS Sneak Peak #3

So...what happened to me yesterday? I let you down. I said I would update and I didn't.

But, I had an excuse.

A good excuse.

An excuse I couldn't tell you yesterday.

I was busy planning and executing a SURPRISE party for my sister!!!!

She reads my blog (Hi Ilana!) so I couldn't even hint at it! It went really well and she was super surprised. I also found out that some of my friends read my blog, so 'Hi Hillary!!'

Parties are really fun for us stampers and believe me there were plenty of hand-stamped touches. I stamped a sign in board and added peace signs (from SU's Groovy set) to some banners. Isn't one of the best aspects of stamping the fact that with some good black staz-on ink you can customize EVERYTHING!


So, back to todays card. Based on the poll so far I am going to go back to an ingredients list and commentary, sort of the way I did it when I first started my blog. Let me know what you think!

I've been getting really into water color pencils. I love their light colored look and the free flow nature of their color. I invested in a 36 color set from Derwent. Part of me wishes I had gone for the 72 pack as I do feel that I am missing some colors (like a good pink). However, it was only 44.99 at Michaels and you can get it a little cheaper online.

I am a sucker for background stamps. But they get a little pricey. Enter in LPS's newest set Basic Shapes. It is basically a bunch of basic shapes. Oh yea, I can use my words to describe things with the words of the title. I am creative. I am original. I am tired. The joy of acrylic is the fact that you can position multiple shapes on one acrylic block to make a pattern. I used the three sizes of asterisks that are in the 'Basic Shape' set to make this design. I like it!! I love how it looks like glimmer of stained glass.

So, to the ingredient list. Please let me know what you think of this posting style and don't forget to enter for blog candy on yesterday's post. One post per day please!!

Ely

Ingredients

Stamps: 'Stained Glass' by See Dees, 'Small Sayings' by Stampin' Up, 'Basic Shapes by Little Paper Shop

Paper: All Paper by Bazzil

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Encore Silver

Accessories: Derwent Water-Color Pencils, Black Fine Embossing Powder, White Gold Embossing Powder by Judikins, Rhinestones from Michaels

Everyone loves a little BLOG CANDY!

In honor of Little Paper Shop's May Release Julia is giving all design team members a set to give away!!!! She is just so generous. I picked 'Take Time' which is a 3x4 set which includes the Calla Lilly as well as a tropical flower(which has been previewed on other DT's blogs) and some sentiments. The same rules apply from last month, one entry/comment per day on this post! Unlike last month, you don't have to c0mment anything specific!

:)!!!

I'll post another sneak peak after the gym.

Ely

LPS Sneak Peak Day 2

Got Mud? This card certainly does! The minute I saw last month's release ATV stamp from Little Paper Shop, I thought of using it with Liquid Appliqué. For those of you who don't know Liquid Appliqué is a gel like substance that when heated puffs up. It is so perfect for dirt and male cards. Plus, one of LPS's new releases 'Boys will be Boys' set to be released May 27th, contains the sentiment 'Got Mud'. How perfect is that?!? For this card I partially heated the Liquid Applique then 'mushed' (I'm sure thats the technical word) the LA around. I also used my fingers to spread it over the image to create motion. I colored the ATV with BG10, BG13, G21, G24, E09, and E31. The 'birthday wishes' stamp is from Hero Arts.

Also, I have a new poll which asks whether or not you love having ALL the ingredients to my cards. It takes a long time and while I don't mind doing it, I'm not sure if you all want to spend the time reading every piece of ribbon's origins. Regardless of the poll, I will always tell you the stamps and copic colors. There are a couple of choices, SO please let me know!!!

Thanks,
Elyssa

LPS Sneak Peak #1

Do pictures or places ever give you inspiration for your creations? The color inspiration for this card was from the University of Moscow building in the heart of Moscow. I loved the color of the building. This picture was taken on a boat ride through the Moscow Canals.

This card has special meaning. One of my mom's oldest friend's daughter is getting engaged, which is so exciting! I decided to couple two Little Paper Shop sets to create this fun card. The Calla Lilies are a sneak peak from the LPS set 'Take the Time'! Julia did such a great job of creating the shape of these flowers as the two-flower stamp nests perfectly with itself to create rows of gorgeous lilies. I stamped the image with Adirondack Espresso on Georgia Pacific. I colored it in with the following copics: Y000, YG00, YG21, YR31, and YR23. I then matted it on Old Olive paper.

Next I stamped the double ring image from the Little Paper Shop set Words of Love in Barely Banana from SU on the Barely Banana base. This set was from last month's release! I continued to use the Words of Love set and stamped the label in Old Olive on tan paper, then I stamped the sentiment 'The beginning of a beautiful forever' in Adirondack Espresso. I cut the label out and pop-dotted it up.

So...what do you think of the new stamps?!?

More to come tomorrow! Don't forget to look at the other LPS DT members blogs :)

Ely

A Whirlwind Vacation!

The picture above was taken at St.Basils Church also known as the Church of Resurrection, which is right outside of red square. It was so amazing looking!

Russia was absolutely gorgeous! I went to St.Petersburg and Moscow, each for about 5 days. The summer brings 'White Nights' to St. Petersburg which means that the sun only goes down for about 2 hours! Yep, that's right! From only about 11:30-1:30 it's dark! St.Petersburg was so pretty. Peter the Great visited Europe during his tzardom and fell in love with venice. So he decided to top it. He built huge canals throughout the city and his summer palace (Peterhof) is modeled after Versailles.

Moscow was much more city-like. The stylistic changes of the city from pre-peter, to western style to Soviet style to modern buildings was astounding. During the Soviet Era a lot of apartments were built very quickly and they look like a bunch of pre-fab blocks stacked on top of each other. It was scary looking.

I do want to mention that Moscow and St.Petersburg are not indicative of the entire Former Soviet Union nor Russia. Even though I saw plenty of wealth, I was told numerous times that it is mainly in these two cities that people are living well. The outskirts of the country are having rough times.
This is just a quick card that I whipped up this morning. The Notebook Paper Backgrounder is inked in Bashful Blue and is from Cornish Heritage Farms. It is one of my favorite stamps and is so great for graduation cards as well as teacher thank yous. Next I stamped the House Mouse Graduation stamp in Black Staz-on. I colored it with Tombows, which are water based markers on 110 lb water color paper. The 'Happy Graduation' stamp is from Hero Arts. I actually got it on clearance for like $1! The bling is from Michaels.

Well, I'm off to run errands. I managed to sleep through the night so I am hoping it won't be hard to adjust back to eastern standard time.

Ely

Back to Reality!

I just got home from a WONDERFUL trip to Russia. It took 3 flights (St.Petersburg-Moscow; Moscow-Atlanta; Atlanta-Miami) and around 24 hours of travel time, but I made it back!

I have so many things to share with you about the trip as well as some new Russian inspired cards to share tomorrow, so I just wanted to check in!

Also, Wednesday starts the Little Paper Shop countdown for the release on May 27th (3 days before the big 2-0!). The stamps are GORGEOUS!!!

I'll give a fully detailed post tomorrow!
Ely

Hello from Moscow

I just wanted to do a quick update.

I am able to get internet at coffee shops here in the city. It is totally gorgeous! You would never have guessed that they have only had capitalism for 20 year based on the amount of shops, cars and restaurants. It is amazing!!!

I have taken lots of pictures and I plan on having a 'moscow-inspired-blitz' full of cards that were inspired by things here in Russia. The city has so many cool buildings, textures and sculptures that I feel totally artisitically inspired.

Have you ever felt that way about a trip or a city?

We head to St.Petersburg (Leningrad) on Wenesday, which is supposed to be every more inspiring. I can't wait to share all the pictures with you!!!

Don't forget that the 20th starts Little Paper Shop teasers and Julia really outdid herself this month!!!

Well I'm off to explore,

Elyssa

Russia, Here I Come!!

This is the cover to my 'Russia Journal'. It is a Journal from SEI with 8 1/2 x 11 pages. I left all of the inside pages blank. I plan on bringing some colored pens and a glue stick. A sorta journal/scrapbook on the go.

First I covered the album in Tempting Turquoise cardstock. I then stamped it with the Hero Arts Clear Design Travel Journal. Then, I added a piece of K&Co patterned paper. Next I tied a piece of American Crafts Ribbon.

Then, I made 4 seperate design elements.

The first element is in the top right. I stamped three sentiments from Hero Arts (the same three that I used for the background) in Taken with Teal. I added 3 rhinestones from EK Success. I sponged the outline with Cameo Coral Ink.

The next element I worked on was my main title 'Russia'. I stamped 'Russia' in Rose Red with the Headline Alphabet from Stampin' Up. I also stamped 'Let's Go with Versafine Black. I stamped a background image from Ms in Tea Dye from Ranger.

The third element is the green notebook paper. The notebook paper stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I stamped it in Old Olive. Next I stamped the 'remember this' element by Hero Arts in Versafine Black. I doodled the date and subtitle with BG39 and RV29 Copics. Love my copicss!! I then placed another 3 rhinestones on the right hand corner.

The last element is the tag from the Hero Arts Set. I sponged it in Cameo Coral, Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise. I then stamped 'enjoy the journey' in Cameo Coral and 'World Traveler' in Old Olive.

WOW, that was a long explanation!!!

I hope to update at some point on the trip, but if not, we'll talk a week from Monday when I will start Little Paper Shop May teasers!!!

Uvidimsya (see ya!),
Elyssa

An Early Mother's Day Card

2 Days til Russia!!! I am going to try to update from there on my grandfather's computer, but I can't promise anything. I am really going to miss my daily blogging fix. Since I'm going with my grandparents, I won't be with my mom for mother's day. I am totally bummed about that part of the trip. The dates just sort of worked out like that.

My mom seems cool with it and I thought we should celebrate a little early. She found a great bag that we are all going to chip in on. I also made her this card!

The main image is from Hero Arts and is colored with copics. I stamped it with Adirondack Pitch Black. I stuck with a warm palette to match the patterned paper. I used R39, YR23, B24 and Y000. They all utilized my 'one color, two layers' technique. I also colored with YG95, BG10, W1 and W3.

The sentiment is from Little Paper Shop's All-Occasion set. I stamped it in Stampin' Up's Old Olive. I punched it out with my Stampin Up 1 3/8 punch. Then I backed it with Stampin Up's scallop punch.

The patterned paper is from K&Co. The card base is Old Olive from Stampin' Up. The mat is done with Bazzil. I did all of the scallops with my corner rounder (the green one) from EK Success. I even did the mat with it, since I am too cheap to buy nestablities.

Soon to be in Russia,

Elyssa

Do you Drink or Eat Soup?

So, tonight during Idol the question of whether soup is eaten or drank was brought up.

What do you think?

There's a poll on the side bar.

Let us know.

A Girl Should Be Two Things

Stamping Bella stamps just do it every time!!! Their cuteness and wonderfulness is totally perfect for a note card to a friend. In fact I think this one is about to be sent off to my sister as a little 'thinking of you/ I love you'.

We have a Maltese and this ParisBella is totally reminiscent of him and her! The Coco Channel sentiment is also one of my favorites.

I used the following copics: E00, V09, B24, V01, RV20, YR31 and V03.

The White Ribbon is from offray (wal-mart). The paper is all Bazzil.

:)
Elyssa

I've Been Tagged!

Its Day 10 of my cold and I am seriously tired of it. Ugh.

The good news is I am having tons of stamping time because I am home more. This lovely card is made with Lizzie Ann Stamp's Funky Floral and Stampin' Up's Full of Life. I stamped the flowers in Staz-on Timber Brown and colored them in copics: RV14, RV34, BG21, BG10, G21 and G24. The blue and off-white CS are Bazzil, while the white paper is Georgia Pacific and the designer paper is from Junkitz. I am having trouble getting a clean image stamping directly onto the Bazzil. Has anyone else had this same issue? Its quite annoying! The baubles are from Michael's Accents.


Julia from The Little Paper Shop has tagged me in her circle of friends! It has been such a joy working with her and I was so honored to be tagged! Thanks Julia!!!

So I have decided to tag some other LPS ladies!!

Laura from ScrapnExtras and Renee from Stamping for Sanity.

You women are awesome!!

Elyssa

Countdown to Russia

I made this cute luggage tag for my baggage for my trip. I leave friday and I am SO excited :)

I love to make custom luggage tags and these cute images from Stamping Bella are perfect! I colored the main image with copics on one side. The other side is where I am going to put my address and contact info. How perfect is the 'Oh the places you'll go' sentiment?!? I love it. I cut out the flower from the maya road paper and popped it up.

The twill ribbon says 'the joy of discovery' and is from my local scrapbook store. The plastic is an ID tag holder from Office Max.

I love it!!!

Elyssa

Happy National Scrapbook Day

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!!! I am off to a 12 hour crop, cold and all. I figure I can stay home and mope or go to the crop and play. I voted for playtimeee!!!

I really like sending cards for people who aren't feeling well. But, thankfully by the time the card gets there the person is usually over their cold or flu. So I love this thinking of you style sick stamp from Stampendous. It's one of my favorite sentiments.

I used Ruby Red ink and cardstock plush some of this adorable designer paper. The ribbon is from offray. The bling is from the 1.99 bin at Michaels. I sponged some sage shadow over the sentiment. If I had Soft Sky I probably would of matted it on that, but alas none to be found in my stash.

Elyssa

Organization, Coughing, QVC and Birthdays

Somewhere between finals, moving out and stamping I've developed a cold. It's one of those never-ending sniffly coughing colds that makes you want to lay down and watch scrapbook stuff being sold on QVC. Truth be told I'd probably want to watch scrapbook stuff on QVC regardless of my cold, but now I totally have an excuse! I am lusting over that imagenise set, I must resist!

I have also spent the morning getting ready for tomorrow's national scrapbook day crop. I have a very specific system whereby I organize my pages. I have a TON of stuff, which makes it hard to become mobile.

Thus I utilize my Crop In Style PSB. Each page's pictures and embellishment are organized in 'chunky style' refills with the full page inserts behind it. Anything that is too large for the chunky refills are placed with matching paper in the 12x12 inserts. Ink pads, stamps and anything 3-d are stored in plastic iris containers. I then place a post it note on the chunky refill that says which iris container has it's matching ink pads...etc.

I know it sounds complicated, but when you have been scrapping for 8 years it is the only plausible way to ensure that you have everything you want at the crop without bring tons of bags. I am hoping to only have to bring my Crop In Style XXL and of course my AMM tote-ally tote. Which is packing light, believe me!

So to this simple card...

The sentiment block is actually from Junitz patterned paper. I always send handmade cards, but sometimes I know the recipient just doesn't get my hobby. That's totally OK with me, it just means I'm not going to send them my most ornate, worked over card. Simple cards like this are perfect for this type of person. All I did was stamp my 'Hot to Dot' wheel from SU on an angle in Sage Shadow on matching CS, layer this block and tie a bow. It took literally 5 minutes! It is still handmade and gorgeous!

Enjoy,
Elyssa

Happy First Day of May!

Wow! I just cannot believe that it is already May. This year is just totally flying by. May is a huge month in my family because it is my mom's, dad's, uncle's, great uncle's, sister and my BIRTHDAY month! Its totally fun and totally crazy.

I thought I'd start the month off with a fun thankful card because I have so much to look forward to this month. This card utilizes Basic Grey Periphery designer paper and Georgia Pacific card stock. My sentiment is from the Occasions Mini from SU and is called 'Full of life'. I feel in love with this set the minute I opened the catalog. I stamped it in Versafine Black.

The flowers are from the Little Paper Shop Set 'Inspired by Asia'. First, I stamped the flower in it's entirety. However, I knew that I wanted more blossoms, so I masked off the stem and and re stamped it. I love to re-work and re-purpose my stamps by looking for new possibilities in their designs. I colored the blossoms with copics: RV11, Rv14, G21 and B01.

Next I pierced two lines of holes and connected the dots for some faux stitching. Lastly I used some cheap offray ribbon from Wal-mart and I was set. I like the simplicity of this card.

Hope you are enjoying your May!
Elyssa