This is one of the SU sets I got at my workshop, called Peace Within. I love cats, so I had been eyeing this one for a while. I particularly love orange cats, so I colored my kitty orange. This is the second one I did, as I colored the orchids on my first one purple. Then I decided I wanted to use that (retired) DP, so I did it over with pink orchids. I stamped the image in Palette Noir and used CO-pics to color it. Still need lots more practice with those things...I did discover that Neenah Solar White was better than Gina K for blending, too bad it's so darned expensive. I need to order some of the Copic CS (even MORE expensive) and see how I like that. But I guess if you're going to spend more than $6 per marker, you'd better be prepared to spend a little on paper. Insanity! Oozak.com has better deals on that stuff though. I'm still working with the markers I got for Christmas. But my birthday, anniversary, and Mother's Day are all coming up...

I used Nesties for the image and layer. Colors are Apricot Appeal (ret.), Tempting Turquoise, and Rose Red. Card base is PTI white. Thanks for stopping by today!

The Birds and the Bees...

No, no, not THOSE birds and bees...stamped, springy ones! My customer wanted some blank inside note cards, and these are two of the ones I came up with. Clearly spring has got my mojo working! This first card uses the (retired of course!) SU set Cheep Talk. Ink colors are Summer Sun, Pacific Point, and Kiwi Kiss. Baker's twine is from this year's Occasions Mini Catalog. Everything is cut out and popped up. Card Base is PTI white.

This card uses PTI's Honey Bees and Around and About sets. Ink colors are Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Regal Rose, and Tempting Turquoise. That cute little bee fits in the circle really well and I used an itsy-bitsy rhinestone for her eye. I really like both of these--hope you do too!

Anniversary Card

Years ago SU came out with three related stamp sets--all had the word "sketches" in the name. This image is one of my favorites, but they're all great. A customer needed an anniversary card for her daughter and her husband, so I used this stamp with Michelle Zindorf's brayered sky technique. I am slowly getting better with this technique, but still a long way to go. It would probably help if I practiced more!

I stamped and masked off the couple. I brayered Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo, and Rich Razzleberry on the top, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede on the bottom, and created a horizon with Perfect Plum. I sponged Old Olive on the plants around the couple and Early Espresso around the edges of the panel. I used my white gel pen for the whitecaps. I used my little marker/air gun thingy to spray some Crumb Cake ink on the bottom for sand grains. After unmasking the people I colored them with ink pads and blender pens. CS colors are Crumb Cake, Peach Parfait, and Rich Razzleberry. Main panel is Whisper White.

I like the way this turned out. There are some things I will do differently next time I try this, but all in all it's kind of cool. Thanks for dropping by today!