My creative Therapy

Hanging up my blogging hat...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:53:00 +0000

After weeks and weeks of pondering, I've decided to hang up my blogging hat. I'm trying to de-stress my life and blogging has become another thing to add to the to do list. I won't be deleting it just in case I decide to start it up again sometime in the future. I look forward to just checking out what you all are up to and starting a new job! Till later....bye!

MIA...

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:16:00 +0000

...no, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! With the end of the school year, everythings wrapping up and I'm super busy. My posting will be very sporatic in the next month unless I get a block of time to do a bunch of posts together. I haven't even made it into my craft room for 2 weeks:( I can't wait till the girls' activities are done!
Have a great day!

Hummingbird card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Here's another from my last class using the same Inkadinkadoo set.

The hummingbird was stamped with black stazon and colored with tombow markers. The swirls are a basic grey set that were stamped with a glue pad and then dusted with perfect pearls. The wings are covered in stickles.
Inside, the swirls are repeated with cranberry adhirondak ink.

Have a great day!

Swan card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Here's the second card from my class last saturday. It is also from the patterned birds and bugs set from Inkadinkadoo.

The swan was stamped in black stazon. Her body was stickled and then fun flocked and the water was created using twinkling H2O's

Inside is a simple dragonfly, also from the same set.

Have a great day!

Owl card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:33:00 +0000

Here's a card I dod for a class on saturday. It is using an Inkadinkadoo set called patterned birds and bugs.

Here's a close-up. The owl was stamped with black stazon, cut out and then perfect pearls were used all over using a glue pad.
The inside has a simple bumble bee that is also from the same set.

Have a great day!

PMS Friday Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:01:00 +0000

I'm so excited to be today's Paper Makeup Stamps' friday feature! I made these tiles to hang in my girls' room. They are made using 4" x 4" 1/2" acrylic blocks that I had cut and then I asked them to round the top edges.

Here's a close-up of each one. The first one uses Kirsten. It is absolutely perfect as my middle daughter is named Kirsten and it's nearly impossible to find anything with her name!

The second tile uses Lauren in Love.

The third tile uses Jaina fairy.

The fourth tile uses Sprout (which I told my youngest is Caitlyn fairy because she was jealous of Kirsten:))

All of the images were stamped with Black Stazon ink onto watercolor paper. They were then watercolored with Stampin up! watercolor wonder crayons. I also used twinkling H2O's on the wings and for their hair streaks.

Here's another angle of the tiles.

This is what the girls' wall looks like. I'm hoping to make more as new fairies are released and add to the collection! The girls are absolutely thrilled with them!

Thanks for looking and have a GREAT day!

Hydrangea card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Here's a super quick card using Stampin Up!s Bloomin beautiful set. It is made with watercolor paper and watercolored using Watercolor wonder crayons.

A close up....
Have a great day!

One Layer Lily

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:56:00 +0000

This super simple one layer card was done for a one layer challenge in the Pink Cat studio forum over on Paper Craft Planet.

Lily is colored with prismacolor pencils using the gamsol magic technique. The 'ribbons' were created by scoring 2 lines 1/4" apart on all 4 sides using my score pal. I then colored them with the same pencils that I used in the image and blended them with the gamsol technique. I added the flower for the finishing touch!

Have a great day!

Happy Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Here's a card I made using a retired Stampin up set called 'Gifts of spring'

I absolutely love this image with the 3 bunnies!

The image is watercolored on watercolor paper using Stampin up!s watercolor wonder crayons. I've had them for a couple of years now and haven't really played with them much until now. now I love them and couldn't live without them! Okay that might be a little dramatic....but they're AWESOME!

A close up view....

Here's the inside....also done on watercolor paper.

Here's hoping for spring to come soon!

Have a great day!

ATS anniversary challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:23:00 +0000

I love challenges! I think they push me to do something that's a little different for me. The All That Scaps blog issued a challenge for their second anniversary and this is what I came up with. It is using the CC Designs Olivias birdies set. I chose to make a book mark cuz I really needed one! The image is stamped and paper pieced onto pearl paper that I bought at my LSS. It is a DREAM to use the copic markers on! The long rectangles and scallop rectangles were cut out with Nestabilities. The trim on the bottom puts it a little over the top for a bookmark, but I LOVE how it turned out! Have a GREAT day!

paper pieced hippos

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Another card from one of my June '08 classes. The background was watercolored with shimmerz paints. Once the shimmerz were dry, the hippo was colored with tombow markers. The umbrella is paper pieced on top to match the background paper. Can't wait for summer:)

Paper pieced starfish

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:33:00 +0000

I did this card for a class last June. The starfish stamp (yes, the whole image is one stamp) was stamped on the tan shimmer cardstock as well as a dark purple, an orange and a dark red( I was trying to mimic real starfish colors) and then each of the paper pieced starfish were cut out. Some were glued directly to the tan piece and others were mounted with foam dots to make them pop out a little. I love the final effect. Makes me wish it was warm enough for the beach:) Hope you are having a great day!

Enchanted Gamsol Magic class

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:39:00 +0000

I'm using the enchanted Lily set from Pink Cat Studio today to teach a class using gamsol and the gamsol magic technique...

I kept the cards really simple so the beauty of the technique would shine through as well as giving the ladies a chance to take their time (I've been told I'm a slave driver:) )
I used plastic canvas as a guide to get the brads evenly spaced. Line it up and pierce holes in every second hole. Turns our perfect every time!

Have a fairy nice day!

Birthday mice

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:50:00 +0000

Here are a couple of super quick water colored cards that I made to put into my etsy store. They are using a Penny Black stamp and Stampin up Watercolor wonder crayons.

I added stickles to the cupcake top and candle flame.

This one has a blue cupcake for a boy

But it still needed stickles on the cupcake top and candle flame!

Have a great day!

April Showers

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:16:00 +0000

I colored this cute image when I was taking the copic certification class last november! I finally got a card together to share! I colored the image 2 times and then cut out the umbrella and mounted it with pop dots.

Both the umbrella and the puddle were also colored with spica glitter pens and then covered with diamond glaze. It looks awesome!
You can see the effect a little better here!

Have a great day...Hopefully not too many april showers!

Playful christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:40:00 +0000

This quick card uses Kitchen sink stamps' Playful christmas set. I was a super quick card. The 'Happy Holidays' was done with a nestabilities label set. This was another card I sent out this past christmas and made using scraps from my scrap bin!

Winter trees spring brayer class

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:00:00 +0000

I did these cards in the fall for a winter class and had a request to do one for the spring, so this is what we did:

Supplies used:
Stampendous winter trees
Hero Arts Fantastic Flourishes
Removeable adhesive
Brayer
tombow markers
Scrap paper
Adhirondak ink
Circle punch

Vertical card
Cut list:
1 – 8 ½ x 5 ½ - pink bazzill
1 – 5 ¼ x 4 – blue-grey bazzill
1 – 5 x 3 ¾ - white 80lb cardstock

Inks used:
1 – olive stazon – to stamp hill scene
2 – cloudy blue – over whole sky
3 – stream blue – over upper edge of sky
4 – salmon – sponge on horizon and around sun
5 – lemonade – sponge inside sun
6 – willow – over grass area
7 – lettuce – over lower grass area
8 – saddle brown stazon – to stamp deer
9 – lettuce – swirls on the grass area
10 – white versacolor – swirls on sky

Horizontal card
Cut list:
1 – 8 ½ x 5 ½ - blue-grey bazzill
1 – 5 ¼ x 4 – pink bazzill
1 – 5 x 3 ¾ - white 80lb cardstock

Inks used:
1 – olive stazon – to stamp hill scene
2 – cloudy blue – over whole sky
3 – denim blue – over upper edge of sky
4 – salmon – sponge on horizon
5 – willow – over grass area
6 – lettuce – over lower grass area
7 – saddle brown stazon – to stamp trees and deer
8 – lettuce – swirls on the grass area
9 – white versacolor – swirls on sky

Have a great day!

PMS party challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:46:00 +0000

THese are my challenge entries for the PMS march release party on March 15th over in the Papercraft Planet PMS forum.

The first challenge was to create a 3D item. I decided to pull out the polyshrink and make a necklace from PMS' Kirsten fairy. I made it for my middle daughter Kirsten, who is now proudly wearing it! I used 2 pieces of polyshrink and stamped one with the image in black stazon. I cut out one as a circle and one as a scallop circle using nestabilities. After they were shrunk, I used a versamarker and pearlex to add the color to the back of the stamped piece. I then layered the 2 and put them back in the oven for the 2 pieces to fuse together.
The second challenge was to use the colors orange green and white. I kept it simple and watercolored this card:

The last challenge was a sketch challenge, so I created the following card from the sketch.

This is the inside:

What fun challenges these were! Hope there's another PMS party soon!

Have a great day!

cards and gift box set

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:03:00 +0000

I did this gift box and cards set for a class in february.

Box bottom: Score 9 x 7 ¾ cardstock at 1 ½” on all 4 sides.

Box top: Score 8 1/8 x 6 7/8 cardstock at 1” on all 4 sides
I absolutely loved this paper and think it looks so nice as a box lid. No stamping at all!
The flowers were painted with shimmerz paint.

They look so pretty IRL.

I couldn't decide which side of the printed paper I liked best, so we did 2 of each card and just reversed the paper. The swirls and butterflies on this one were stamped with a versamark dazzle pad. It gives the watermark look with a touch of subtle shimmer. The final touch was the silver dew drops on the upper right hand corner.

For this one, the flowers in the background were stamped with the versamark dazzle pad and then the happy birthday sentiment was stamped with a cranberry adhirondak ink pad. I added 3 dew drops to the bottom right hand corner of one of the cards.

Each card had envelopes stamped to match. I love the color of this stream adhirondak pad. The flowers in the last 2 cards were also painted with shimmerz paints.

Ribbon puff Lily

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:25:00 +0000

Ribbon Puff card
1 – 10 x 5 sweetheart bazzill
1 – 2 x 2 white 80lb cardstock
1 – 4 ¾ x 4 ¾ Just in Jersey print
1 – 4 ½ x 4 ½ the fifth add print
1 – 2 ¼ x 2 ¼ rust bazzill
1 – 4 x 1 ½ rust bazzill
1 – 3 ¾ x 1 ¼ Just in Jersey print
1 – 3 x 2 Finished birthday cake
1 – 3 ¼ x 2 ¼ rust bazzill

Other supplies:
7” green ½” grosgrain
15” green polka dot sheer ribbon
15” brown polka dot sheer ribbon
15” pink polka dot sheer ribbon
15” pink ric rac
15” orange plaid ribbon
6 dew drops
black stazon
tombows
piercing foam and paper piercer
Plastic Canvas square

Cut 15” pieces of ribbon into 3 - 5” pieces and stack them on top of each other. Use one of the pieces to tie the stack onto the green ribbon. One by one, starting at the bottom of the pile, tie the ribbons around the one use to attach them Alternate tying them first on one side of the knot and then on the other. Continue until all ribbons are tied and make a ribbon puff.

Picture tutorial can be found here on splitcoast stampers

Have a great day!

PMS blog hop

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:50:00 +0000

I'm going to be playing along with the PMS Party and blog hop today. Here's my card using Chelly the clover fairy.

I wanted to make this card with a St Patricks Day theme. Chelly is watercolored and the flowers were colored with copic markers to match the card.
I added stitching detail to the card and love how it turned out.

I also added layers and stitching detail to the inside of the card, as well as a copic colored flower.

Have a fairy nice day:)

Watercolored Jaina

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Here's a card I whipped up last night using Jaina Fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps

I have really gotten back into watercoloring this week. I haven't done it since I was in Fashion Design, and I forgot how much I really enjoy it, So I think I'll be doing a lot more watercoloring in the future!

Lily and Billy standing pop up card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Free standing pop-up card
Cut list:
1 – 11 x 4 ¼ - parakeet bazzill
1 – 5 x 2 ½ - white 80lb cardstock
1 – 5 ¼ x 2 ¾ - Just in Jersey print

Other supplies:
6” lime ½” grosgrain ribbon
2 flowers
2 brads
sticklestombow markers

Instructions are here on splitcoast stampers

Have a great day!

Lily and billy sweethearts card

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:16:00 +0000

This was the image that made me fall in love with the Billy and Lily swwehearts set. Although I love all the Billy and Lily stamps, I imediately knew what I wanted to do with this one...a step card.

Step fold card:
Cut list:
1 – 10 ½ x 5 rust bazzill
1 – 5 x 5 sweet heart bazzill (for largest large scallop nestabilities
1 – 5 x 5 Finished birthday cake print (for largest large circle nestabilities)
1 – 5 x 5 white 80lb cardstock (for largest small circle nestabilities)
1 – 5 x 4 parakeet bazzill
1 – 5 x 3 – parakeet bazzill

Other supplies:
Tombow markers
Adhirondak ink in lettuce and aqua
Sponge
White gel pen
Dew drops

Pink cat studio Lily and Billy sweethearts
Stampendous winter trees set

General instructions:
On the 10 ½ x 5 piece, score at 1 ¼, 2 ½, 4 ¼, 6 and 8 ¼” marks

This pic over on splitcoast was my inspiration for the card.

Swinging Lily

noreply@blogger.com (Cheryl) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:21:00 +0000

Here's another of the cards for my upcoming copics class. I used the Enchanted Lily set from Pink Cat Studio.

I added stickles to the wings and flowers and 'rubbed' the sides of the card and glittered them for extra sparkle.
The flower is also colored with copics to match the card.

Have a great day!