A Little Note...CC117

I'm not always a realistic stamp purchaser. I buy stamps that require intensive amounts of coloring times without thinking about it. This has been the case with Thomas Kinkade stamps and many House Mouse Stamps. This particular card involves an overzealous stamp purchase.

Y'all know I am a sucker for House Mouse Designs and when my lss had that 40% sale, I went HM nuts. This stamp is huge weighing in at around 5x4, when the average card is 4.25x5.5. I finally decided to conquer this purchase yesterday when I saw the Color Challenge 117 which called for Ruby Red, Certainly Celery and Elegant Eggplant. I think it works really well for this card!! What do you think?

Elyssa

Stamps: House Mouse, Karen G
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Elegant Eggplant (SU)
Copics: R14, R27, R29, BV000, BV08, Y13, BG10, B01, R20, E31, E33, C1, C3, W1, W3, YR31, YG91, G21, G24

Relaxing is Mice...

How fun is this stamp? I have literally spent the last two days coloring and stamping. Between the sale at my LSS and the Little Paper Shop Sneak Peak starting TOMORROW! I have been a creative machine!

This particular cards is colored with copics, of course. I used R20, R14, Y000, YR31, B01, BG10, G21, G24, BV000, V01, E00, E31, W1, W3, C1 and C3. I got great use out of those markers for this one, because of course the more you use something the less it costs.

The last thing I did for the main image is to cover the glasses in Glossy Accents by Ranger. Then I mounted the image on white cs (I think the white brings some relief for the eyes between all the bright colors and the busy-sh image). After that, I inked the edges with color box chalk ink in Deep Blue. The base card is Rose Red Stampin Up Card stock.

I'm off to finish up some LPS samples, check back tomorrow for the first sneak peak!

Happy Birthday Hopper

It is no secret that House Mouse and Stampendous hold a special place in my stamping heart. They are just so precious and fun to color. Their 'Happy Hopper' line provides just the same colorin' fun. You may recognize this little creature as I have done some cards with him on this blog as well as a tutorial. I just love this look for birthday cards of all ages!

This card came together so quickly with paper from Stampin Up(Taken with Teal) and Bazzil cardstock. Plus memento black ink and only orange ink from Stampin up and of course my favorite and yours, copics!

Quick, Easy and Purty, my kind of card.

PS Get excited for this month's Little Paper Shop releases, they are out of this world!

Ely

Graduation Season

It is offically Graduation Season. That lovely time of year when you get to spend your hard earned weekend afternoons in people's hot humid backyards eating food that has been out for G-d knows how long and that always tastes burnt, fishy or melted and you 'get' to discuss your summer plans, your future, why you made this decision, why you didn't make another, where you are at school, what your major is, how many hours your potential work day may be, what the 'interviewer'/parent's friend's personal experience is with your job/internship/summer plan of choice is, what their child/angel/overachiever/perfect-specimen is doing, why your not doing that exact thing/ where you plan to go to law school/dental school/medical school and why you aren't picking their alma matter, how wonderful your ambitions are BUT to remember not to 'rush it' and basically any other unassuming question that stresses any teenager-young adult whom does not have the rest of their life meticoulosy planned. But then again, there is always the chance that someone will fall in the pool on the way to the buffet table, so it's totally worth it.

One of my favorite things about this season (besides the chance of seeing Uncle ___ fall in the pool) is making school specific cards. ESPECIALLY when the grad is going to the University of FLORIDA!! I love to use my 'Go Gators' stamp and the very floridaTASTIC color combo of Orange and Blue. This card was just so much fun to make!

I'm off for more LSAT. Thanks for the well wishes, I was happy with my score from yesterday :)
GO GATORS!
Ely

Go Gators
Stamps: Graduation House Mouse by Stampendous, Go Gators by Kankorkards, Circle of Friendship by Stampin Up
Paper: Only Orange by Stampin Up, Bazzil Cardstock, Georgia Pacific Cardstock from Wal-mart
Ink: VersaColor Pigment (Black), Brilliant Blue by Stampin Up
Punches: 1inch circle by Ek Success
Coloring Supplies: Tombow

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

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

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

You're my Cup of Cocoa and a Funny Story

I love House Mouse Stamps! They are just SOOO yummy and fun to color. But, they are also hard to color. The intricate lines and the shading is a fun challenge for me. This particular stamp is from Hobby Lobby and is very detailed. It is actually one of the first images I colored with copics! My shading is a little off and they are colored with markers I would never use now. (E09 for one of the mice...yucky)

But, I wanted to show you how far I've come! These markers are not easy but they are wonderful once you get started!

I wish I could tell you the exact colors I used on this card, but it has been a while since I made this card. I do know that I used the Aida Cloth background from SU!.

Have you checked out the Background Blitz at Cornish Heritage Farms? I broke down yesterday and ordered 3! Hopefully they will arrive in Miami when I do (in a week) and I can show you all my creations.

And now for my funny story...

So this is a picture of my Bubbie (grandma in Yiddish) and me at Passover. Isn't she pretty???m She wore this fun outfit from JCPenney (or Penne like the pastas, as she likes to call it, sorta like targe for target). The ENTIRE Seder I kept staring at it because I couldn't get over it's resemblance to the 'Wonderful You' set and 'Stems and Silhouettes Wheel' from Stamping Up! It totally looks like it was stamped in Night of Navy, Real Red and River Rock on Whisper White.

I know I'm loosing my mind. BUT... I wanted to know if this ever happens to you. You see a color or a design and you instantly think of a stamp or a color ink?

Oh the mind issues of stamper! I might need therapy. JK!

Officially off my rocker,
Ely

Yummy Friday!

You are going to love this tutorial!

In it, I am coloring a gorgeous Happy Hopper from House Mouse. I love House Mouse designs, because their detail is just so amazing. The shadowing makes anyone's coloring look fantastic!

This tutorial is designed to show you how to layer lots colors to make a gorgeous effect.

Tomorrow I am off to the Scrapbook Expo in Orlando with my demo and another women from stamp club. I am so psyched! I went last year and loved it so I am very excited to go back! I'll take some pictures and show you all the goodies that I will have purchased!!!

Hope you enjoy the tutorial :)

Elyssa