Day 19: Super News

I picked up this funky Scotch Expressions Washi Tape that I thought would be perfect with Max's 1966 Batman obsession like ages ago. Then I realized we need a boy type birthday card this weekend,  remembered the awesome washi, and ten minutes later I had this...

The paper is retired CTMH superhero. Yes. I hoard old paper. I'm not ashamed. Much. I wish I had more of this stuff. I used the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. 

I added a cool red random button from my stash, some dots of gold glitter gel, and a few Black Acrylic enamel stars. I'm linking this one up to the Paper Issues Enamored with Enamel party. My sister Heidi is visiting and she suggested the Black card base. Smart girl! 

I used a phrase from next month's Stamp of the Month inside and out. I love the typewriter-y font. Tomorrow I've got a layout for you. Good night!

Zooming along to a super day!

Hi, Stampin' Friends! I made it back to the Stamp Pad today...to make another little boy birthday card for the 5 year old's birthday party we'll be attending this afternoon. Since the pieces from my last card were still strewn across my table... ahem...so another Super Powers card!

I couldn't have them be similar, of course, so I used the new sketch from Retrosketches for this card, replacing the flowers with a faint grey skyline, which I masked off and then random stamped the ZOOM repeatedly in Heavenly Blue to mimic a cloudy sky texture.  I tore one edge and added a few rounds of Cranberry Baker's twine along with a button and a glittered Milepost Shape to set off my (also glittered) ZOOM sentiment. But the real fun is inside the card...

This is my co-designer Gabe (age 6), who insisted on photo credit for his work today. He created the dinosaur themed art (since his friend loves dinosaurs) and added the hand lettering inside the card. The dino on the right is actually a big picture scene of dinos and superheros fighting off some villains that we folded up and popped into a pocket. 

And our superhero on the inside? He's popped up onto one of the cool Adhesive Springs so he literally LEAPS out of the card when you open it. I had to put this one into a big ol' 5x7 envelope to bring it to the party. 

Gabe is pretty excited to have his art featured today. He thinks he'll be famous now, lol. I'll be featuring one of your fab projects on Wednesday, so don't forget to link up! And go have a peek at the Retrosketches sketch for this week - it's so cute I may have to make it twice. I've been off my flower fix for weeks now!

Hope you have a super day!

Challenge Catch-up!

Happy Sunday! I was lucky enough to spend all day in my Stamp Pad yesterday, catching up on challenges and playing with my shiny new July SOTM. My fabulous team is coming over Monday evening, and i needed some new goodies to share!

This is my swap card for the meeting Monday night. I used the retro-mod color combo from the cute Colour Q blog. I translated that picture into Juniper, Ocean, Honey, Smoothie, and Colonial White and whipped up this adorable smackerel! The large sentiment is my FAV from the upcoming July SOTM.

I random stamped the  background paper with a cute little A-Sized stamp set called A Garden.

Then I pieced a LOT of flowers using shaped from the Art Philosophy Cartridge. The flowers I sponged and directly inked with Smoothie Ink. There are two layers of Smoothie flowers, and I used some fun foam and the back of my Piercing Tool to round and shape the outer petals on the top layer. The small scalloped flowers i swiped direct to paper with Honey Ink. And the Heart was waterbrushed with Juniper ink and swiped with Ocean then topped with a Sparkle!

The leaves were also waterbrushed and formed around my Piercing Tool. The dampness of the waterbrush helped the leaves to retain their shape when they dried.

 And now for something completely different, here's my super take on the Mojo Monday Sketch for this week as well!

I love this superhero stamp set - can't believe that paper is gonna be GONE in just over a month! Luckily I already have my Super Powers stamp set, so I'll be all set for my hero needs!

 Here I stamped the skyline image in White Daisy Ink across a Kraft CS base. I got my color combo from the Color Throwdown # 197. I chose Kraft, Smoothie, Tulip, and Pear as my closest colors, and Ben was thrilled to have a hero that wasn't blue and red!

I embossed the small squares from the Mojo Sketch with my cuttlebug folder,

then colored them with a Smoothie marker and topped each embossed dot with a drop of Liquid Glass to make them shiny.

To color my superhero I turned again to my trusty waterbrush...but this time I used it with 91% alcohol instead of water! I just poured a bit into a craft jar and used the waterbrush like a paint brush, dipping the tip into the alcohol then picking up color from the lid of my pad to paint on the colors. It's not a copic...but it only cost me 97 cents for the alcohol, and it makes the ink blend so nicely!

So that's my catch-up for this weekend...and more cards are coming, one for every day this week!

See what happens when I get a free afternoon and 3 cups of Earl Grey? Thanks for stopping by - YOU are making the world a better place!

Studio J Layouts

I spent a good bit of time last week working on 5 new more advanced Studio J layouts, but I wanted to be sure to share this one too, for the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Father's Day Challenge.   I did this one last year for John's Father's Day gift, and with the JPGs you get from your membership benefits, it's currently the background on my laptop as well! 

This was a pretty basic Studio J layout - sing in, choose a kit, choose a layout, drop in your pictures, and change the colors on the toggle accents (that's all the pre-suggested embellishments) I did add a line of stitching across the top - this was back when you had to line up the buttonhole stitches one at a time to make a row of stitching. When working this last week I was pleased to see that now you can drag and drop a whole row of stitches or even stitched hearts, circles, etc... What a huge improvement!!

Of course, if you've been following me a while, you've seen my Father's Day project for this year - this Superhero album! Here are some more pics from the inner pages - sorry I didn't get any with the pictures added yet. It's been a rough week healthwise for me, so blogging hasn't been at the top of my list. Stinkin' Allergies! But here's all the innards- I am loving this picture collage thing!

If you have already bought a Consultant kit for this workshop, I'll be emailing you this JPG later this week as I get caught up on my To Do list. Thank goodness for Prednisone! 


If you are not a Consultant and missed the kit and want to make one now, just drop me a line and I'll send you the details! 

Hope you had a SUPER Father's day weekend too!

I'm linking this post to the amazing Paper Issues Stars and stripes Party!

New Offering for Consultants!

Relax with a Stamping Rules Workshop! 
If you are a CTMH consultant looking for an awesome workshop to offer your lovely customers, you've come to the right place! Easy to prep and order kits use full packages of products. To Pre-cut, or not pre-cut - you can choose the level of service you’ll provide and the full color instructions for your students include the cutting guides. This is a nice benefit, as they can replicate the fabulous project you’ve taught them with more product (from you!).

The Consultant Workshop Kit provides you with the instructional materials you need to quickly put together your own sample, plus you’ll still earn your own consultant discount by purchasing the majority of the project materials yourself. With the purchase of the consultant Workshop kit, you'll have permission to use my designs, photos and cutting guides/instructions, (not only to create for your own personal scrapbooking) but you'll also be receiving the consultant guide and license to hold your own workshop for your customers.

What’s in a Consultant kit?
*1 level 2 paper packet shipped directly to you (US Only, for Canadian Kits it will be two packs of Mini Medleys to keep the reshipping cost reasonable!).
*Full color Workshop guide with cutting and assembly instructions (emailed PDF files).
*Consultant Guide, Supply List, and License (PDF) to help you successfully plan, market, and host your own workshop! The license allows you to distribute Workshop Guide in a specific way: one hard copy per student who attends your workshop or purchases a kit from you. The Supply list enables you to use your own stash, or earn your own commission by ordering for yourself the majority of the items for your workshop sample.
*(1) Web Ready Jpg file for use in advertising the workshop on your blog or in your newsletter.
By purchasing this consultant kit, you agree to abide by the consultant license copyright regarding the use and distribution of this workshop and any instructions, designs and photos provided. This is my personal work – thanks for playing fair!

Consultant Only Price - $15 

Price includes shipping and tax. US consultant orders accepted online here. Canadian friends, a solution is coming soon! 

Want it All Prepped for you? No need to place a separate order, you can purchase the full customer style workshop kit for everything you need to create your workshop. You'll receive the same pre-cut workshop kit that I create for my own awesome customers, shipped directly to you, but as a CTMH consultant you will also receive the PDF Consultant Guide and License for hosting your own workshop!

Available Kits:

Stunning Stella Mini Album  (See more pictures)

Consultant Kit Options

Stella Consultant Kit $15.00 USD  Stella Consultant Full Kit $30.00 USD

 

Superhero Chipboard Album (See more pictures)

Consultant Kit Options

Superhero Consultant Kit $15.00 USD  Superhero Consultant Full Kit $30.00 USD

 

Pemberly Card Box (See more pictures)

Consultant Kit Options

Pemberly Consultant Kit $15.00 USD  Pemberly Consultant Full Kit $30.00 USD

 

Want All Three Kits?
Get all three consultant kits or three full customer kits with a nice discount on shipping!

I Want It All Kit Options

Consultant Kit Only : Stella, Pemberly, Superhero $35.00 USD  Full Kits: Stella, Pemberly, Superhero $85.00 USD

 

Why buy a Consultant Kit? 

Q: Can I just buy the instructions without the paper pack? 

A: No. Corporate policy does not allow CTMH consultants to sell instructions or templates without the purchase of product. This consultant "mini kit" adheres to corporate policy. 

Q: Can you ship to Canada? 

A: Yes. There is a Candian shipping option in the drop down menu for the mini kit. The full kit option is not available for international shipping. 

Q: Can I just stamplift your project? 

A: Sure thing! I love stamplifting (with proper credit, of course). The point of the consultant kit is for you to make use of my professional looking computer generated instructional handouts (which take me hours to put together, in the middle of the night, while my three small boys sleep if I’m lucky). If you want to stamplift my project from a few blog photos and create your own handouts, please do so and enjoy – sharing is caring! But you cannot use my personal photos, illustrations, or wording to create your handout, or ask me for the instructions without a kit purchase. Thanks for playing fair!
Q: Why are the US and Canadian Kits different? 

A: Since I live the the US, I didn't realize that shipping a paper packet to Canada would cost me an arm, a leg, and my first born child - crazy! To make it fair, I'll be sending two Mini-Medleys for each kit purchased to our Canadian friends, so everyone gets a similar amount of retail product for their kit purchase, and it won't force me to make the Canadian Kit cost more for shipping (I hope!)
Q: When will  get my kit? 

A: You should receive the PDF files for the Workshop Guide and the Consultant Guide/License within 24 hours of placing your purchase. US product orders will be placed within 3 days of the order and shipped to you within the standard CTMH turnaround time for your location. Canadian product orders will be placed within 3 days of the the order and re-shipped to you once CTMH delivers product to me! The three day window allows for Paypal transfer time. Questions? Contact me for more details!

Avengers Assemble! Superhero Album is here!

In the Great Hall of Wendy's Stamp Pad, our Stamping Heros assemble to enjoy the world's greatest crafting materials created from the CTMH legends of the universe!

Superman! Stamping Rules! Giggling Girls! And YOU!

Their mission:
To fight for amazingly fun Girl Time...
To create that which is adorable...
and To serve all mankind. . .
or at least conquer Father's Day gift giving!

Great Hera! That workshop is just $25!

 Sessions available at 9 am or 1 p.m, or crop all day from 9 to 4 with no additional fee.

Swoop in  to save your spot on May 19th for a SUPER good time!!

Each kit includes pre-cut papers, bases, and embellishments including the new Superhero Rub-ons and Superhero Badge Buttons plus full color instructions to make everything pictured - just add adhesive! 

Please RSVP by May 9th to reserve your kit for the Superhero Album workshop. You can contact me via email, or reserve your spot via the Paypal Link below. You don't have to have a Paypal account to use this feature! To Go kits are not limited to quantity, but the May 19th Workshop (which includes a light lunch at no extra charge) is limited to 8 attendees total per session.

Bring a friend I haven't met for a free Bonus stamp set! Email me for details!

Workshop and TO GO Kits

Superhero Album Kit $25.00 USD  TO GO: Superhero Album Kits $30.00 USD

 

I'm SUPER...Thanks for asking!

Here's the last of my Stamping Royalty submissions...There's a lot of detail here and a cool coloring trick!

The stamps are mostly the April SOTM, combined with the new Superpower stamp set and an old fav, Thank You.

I did some faux stitching (an awesome technique described at the end of this blog post) on the center panel.

The 3-D center embellishment was stamped with the superhero image. Then I made a little mask out of a post-it to cover up my hero and over stamped him with the grid image in Pacific ink, then sponged it with Sky ink. I filled in around the hero with Bitty sparkles on the grid junctions. I stamped the top layer with the stripe image and sponged it with Cranberry ink.

I colored in my hero using my plain ol' water brush dipped in a bit of 91% alcohol. I know blending pens are cheaper, but water brushes are more versatile to me, plus I've been using mine for like 6 or 7 years - how I haven't lost it before now is a wonder, but they truck on forever!  I squeezed my pad to make a little puddle of ink in the lid. Then I used my alcohol dipped water brush to pick up a bit of color and started shading. The alcohol mixes with the dye ink and gives you a lot more flexibility in the shading and blending! Perhaps not Copic level coloring...but way cheaper!

I'm getting ready to close the order for the Stella Album workshop for April. If you've been waiting to order your kit, this weekend is the time!  Here's the link to the RSVP info - the workshop is precut, so we have to order early so I can all the work done for you!

Thanks for flying by - have a fab weekend!

Hope you have a SUPER birthday!

We went to a SUPER fun birthday party yesterday at Bullwinkles. This was Gabe's first Kindergarten school birthday party, and he had a blast playing mini golf, laser tag, and bring silly with his friends.

I put together this card Friday night at my club meeting using the Superhero papers and the coordinating Super Powers stamp set.  I used the sketch from Mojo Monday, which is a square or round challenge this week, so this card is 6x6. Instead of flowers like the sketch indicated, I used the star images from the coordinating Superhero rub-ons.  I embossed lines at 1/4 inch apart across the Black CS band, then trimmed it with my big fat heavy Pinking shears.

Other embellishments include ribbon and buttons from the Pacifica Assortment and Pearl Opaques that I colored with  a red sharpie to match my papers.

I colored my super hero image using a waterbrush and alcohol to make my own alcohol inks! I just put some 91% alcohol into a little craft jar and dipped my pen tip into the alcohol, then picked up a little ink from the lid of my coordinating ink pads. This allowed me more freedom with blending the colors and shading the ink.

I used "A Typeset" and my favorite Polka Dot Alphabet to make the sentiment (and the "G" logo on the superhero). I stamped the SUPER letters in Pacifica, then used my Cranberry marker to fill in the dots. Then I finished off the letters by outlining them with a .02 fine tipped marker pen and fussy cutting. That frame is another of the Superhero rub-ons that I applied to the Red pop art print form the paper packet and cut out.

I decorated the inside with more Superhero papers and a big blank panel, which my little guy filled in with a handdrawn sentiment and a picture of himself and the birthday boy playing ninjas. We added one more grouping of rub-ons to the back where I gave Gabe credit for the creation, since he was delivering the card to his friend.

I love having a sketch to start from - the whole card, including the coloring took about 20 minutes to whip up! Go check out the Mojo Monday sketch blog and play along too!