Chevron + Ombre = L O V E

I have had a chevron punch for quite some time, but since stamping got put on the back burner for a while, I never quite figured out how I wanted to use it.  Instead of playing with it, I let it sit on its little perch looking cute in my craft room.

Then I had a brainstorm.

Ombre is in.

Chevron is on its way out.

Why not combine them for a timeless look?

So I rummaged through my drawers of card stock searching for a few ombre combinations, and these cards are what I came up with.

All the fall colors have inspired me lately.  They are so warm and comforting to me.

Once again, I thumped the leaves for a multi-colored autumn leaf look.

I loved my card so much, I used my other ombre combination to make a similar card.

I love it even more!

Get it?  Love grows.  I couldn't resist.

The hearts are just miscellaneous single stamps, "love" is from a small alphabet stamp set, and "grows" is hand written.

I really love how the ombre chevrons ground the trees without being too overpowering.

Supplies used:
Stamps - PTI Falling Leaves, misc heart stamps, mini alphabet stamp
Paper - PTI
Ink - Choc Chip, So saffron, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango/Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Real Red
Accessories - chevron punch, markers for thumping

Have you ever used ombre and chevrons together?  I would love to see what you come up with.

K

Whootin' Hi

What is it about a sale that makes us lose all rational thought and fork over our hard earned money?  I mentioned before about our local Xpedx store putting all their stamping items on clearance, and I got some great deals the first time I shopped their sale.

Then I found myself stopping by again.  I guess I thought I might have missed something the first time.

And I did.  I bought a few more things.  Things I really needed.

Whatever.

Then, you'll never believe what happened next.  I went back again!  And found more things I just had to have that I missed the first two times I was there.  What is up with that?  I was secretly hoping they had lowered their prices even more, but they hadn't.  Obviously, I didn't let that stop me.

One of my final purchases was the woodgrain circle stamp by Hero Arts.  All of a sudden it dawned on me that I could use it with my owl and bird punches, and this card was born.

One thing I love about punched animals, is you can make them any color you want, and they still look cute.  Because I'm such a perfectionist, when I color stamped images, I usually Google real pictures of whatever it is I'm coloring to make sure it is colored correctly.  But when it comes to punched shapes, anything goes.  I think that is what makes them so fun for me.

Supplies:
Stamps - Hero Arts woodgrain circle, PTI Wise Owl
Paper - tangerine, saffron, marina mist, black, old olive, Bali Breeze DSP (retired), GKD PL white
Ink - Memento rich cocoa
Accessories - Two-step bird, owl, and 1/8" punches, dimensionals

The best thing about my new stamp is that I only paid $2 for it.  The clerk knew I had been in three times, so she gave me even better deals on a few of my items.  That's a good way to try to get me to go back, but I think I'm done.

Finally.

K

CAS83 a sketch challenge

Here are a couple cards I made for my first challenge as a CAS DT member.  It is a sketch challenge based on Denise's (resqbarbie) card seen here.

The first one turned out ok, but I still think it needs a window frame or something.  I didn't want it to be too busy, though, so I just left it plain.

I made a template to use as a reverse mask.  The image was stamped with Versamark and Memento black ink, then embossed with clear EP.  While the mask was still in place, I sponged the background of the image, and colored the deer with Copics.  When I removed the mask, the ink had bled a little into the 'frame', so I just used my Copic blender pen to push the color back where it belonged.

Disaster avoided.

Supplies used:
Stamps - noble deer, PTI birthday basics
Paper - GKD PL white, wasabi, garden green, crumb cake
Ink - Versamark, Memento black, bashful blue, crumb cake, wasabi, choc chip
Accessories - clear EP, heat gun, Copics, daubers, MS branch punch


Here is the second card I made.

The squares are up on dimensionals, and I bent the wings of the butterflies after I adhered the pearls to the centers.  That gives the card a lot of dimension, and balances out the weight of the buttons.  The sentiment in crumb cake is a little light, but espresso or choc chip would have been way too dark.  I like the soft feel the lighter ink gives to the card.

Supplies used:
Stamps - PTI birthday basics
Paper - pink pirouette, melon mambo, regal rose, pretty in pink, crumb cake, espresso, white
Ink - crumb cake
Accessories - MS butterfly punch, half pearls, 1 1/4" square punch, dimensionals, buttons, hemp twine, white crochet thread

This is such a versatile layout.  There are so many possibilities!  What can you do with it?

K