a sunflower bouquet - DCM challenge

It's been ages since I've made a card for a challenge. This week's daring cardmakers theme of sunflowers got me out of my chair and down the stairs to create a card though. Here are the details:

So, this week it's Rein's turn to set the dare and the theme is simple and straightforward;

SUNFLOWERS

We love their happy, sunny appearance, somehow seeing them never fails to cheer, does it? So we'd like to see lots and lots of glorious, cheerful sunflowers on your cards. Poor Rein has had a nasty fall and is very sore and bruised, so hopefully a great big bouquet of sunflowers will cheer her up and bring a smile back to her face.

Here's my card....


The sunflower die cut was made using sunflower dies by Spellbinders. The background layer was edged using the Fiskars lace and lattice corner edger punch and was stamped with sunflower and sun images by Hero Arts. The sentiment is also by Hero Arts. Originally I was going to trim the sunflower and keep the card A2 size. Once I tacked it on the card front though, I decided that I liked the way it looked sticking out beyond the edges and decided to leave it in all its popping-out-of-the-card glory.

Loved the theme, Rein, and I hope that you feel better. :-)

the flocking to flock

Flock has been around for a while, but it seems to be making a comeback. It's fun stuff. When I've used it in the past, it's mainly been for my winter cards, using white for snow. I've expanded into using some other colors now.


For this card I used yellow flock for the duck and colored the rest with markers. I used the art deco Fiskars corner edger to embellish the layers, as well as Robin's Nest dew drops.


Here's a closer view of the flock. I need to practice a bit, getting that glue into tighter spaces can be tough. At the same time, it's also easy to go outside the lines. Can't win! LOL!


I used both black and white flock on the skunk and colored the rest with markers. I used my Sakura Glaze pen on the raindrops. The Cuttlebug Bloom Dots embossing folder embossed my green strip. Memento dye inks turned my Bride's ivory flowers into bright yellow ones.


And here's a closer view of the front of that card. I love that fuzzy look!

The stamps were all by Clear Dollar Stamps and stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The yellow flock is from Stampendous. The black and white are from Cornish Heritage Farms.

a few cards

This is the busy time of year with the school year winding down. I hadn't really had much time to make cards, but here are a few that I managed to finish this week.

This first one is creatively Cuttled. I used a door hanger to leave the unembossed opening where I then used a modified small Cuttlebug embossing folder to add the zigzag circle with the Hero Arts sentiment stamped inside it. I used Fiskars corner edgers to embellish the layers and then added some bling.


This next card was first stamped with Hero Arts flowers and Versamark ink, then embossed using the Cuttlebug Bloom Dots embossing folder. I scalloped the bottom edge by partially running it through one of the long scalloped rectangle Megabilities dies. The other layers were made using scalloped Nestabilities dies. The sentiment is by Studio G and the penguin is by Imaginisce, colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. The scoring accents were made using my Scor-It.


This last card was also creatively Cuttled, again using a wooden door hanger to leave a round opening in the embossing. I used the Cuttlebug A2 Spots and Dots embossing folder. The stamped images are a mini set by Inkadinkado and stamped using Brilliance ink. The diaper was colored with the Ranger Inkssentials opaque white pen.


Can't believe that this is the first time I've posted since Monday. Feels good to get back in the swing of blogging.

A better alternative - Icky Sticky Stuff Remover

Not too long ago, I mentioned a discussion on a stamping forum which started me thinking about possible alternatives to the odorless mineral spirits like Gamsol that are typically used for the Magic Colored Pencil technique. These chemicals are not without their hazards, particularly under conditions of prolonged exposure or for individuals with health issues. I didn't care for the alternative of using baby oil. I'd found that Goo Gone worked, but I mentioned that it still carried warnings similar to that of the odorless mineral spirits, i.e. use in well-ventilated areas. The Mess-free pen was convenient and cut down considerably on the smell, but certainly Goo Gone isn't specifically formulated for artist use, a drawback for some folks.

Today I was doing my grocery shopping and made a discovery as I pushed my cart down the aisle with household cleaners. On the shelf next to the Goo Gone was another product--this one called Icky Sticky Stuff Remover, made by the same folks (Orange-Sol) who make De-Solv-It citrus-based cleaners. What struck me about this was that the label clearly said that it would remove crayon and wax, among other things--this was good because it needs to be able to break down the wax to move the colored pencil pigments; it could be used on skin and hair--usually citrus oil-based solvents carry a warning to avoid exposure to skin because of hypersensitivity reactions; it has no harmful vapors--WOO HOO! for that; and it was artist formula--excellent. Here's a link to the Material Safety Data Sheet for Icky Sticky Stuff Remover (now a.k.a. ISSR on this blog anyway--I have to abbreviate this! LOL!). It's always good to read some of this info for yourself.

So this product sounded like it had potential, but would it work on Prismacolor colored pencils? See what you think.


This is a quickie card that I made this afternoon to try this out. I stamped the flower images by Hero Arts using Archival black ink on a Cuttlebug tag die cut. I then colored the images with my Prismacolor colored pencils and blended the colors using the ISSR and a stump. I added the fibers, layered it on purple DCWV cardstock that I embellished using a Fiskars corner edger then attached it to the cardfront. I stamped the Hero Arts sentiment and added some decorative score lines using my Scor-It.

As of now, the Icky Sticky Stuff Remover is my magic colored pencil technique "solvent" of choice. It's biodegradable and more environmentally friendly than Gamsol or Sansodor, has no vapors, is formulated for use in arts and crafts, and from what I've read is a much safer alternative to mineral spirits, plus it works. It also cost only $2.99 USD for the 4 oz bottle and is available here in the US, which is more than I can say for some of the other alternatives out there that I would have liked to try. Now I just need to find a way to replace this spray top with a regular screw top lid or dauber top. :-)

smiling flowers

This may be hard to believe, but I got my hands on a Fiskars Threading Waters border punch last Friday and I didn't use it until today!


This is a Penny Black stamp that I colored using a modified magic colored pencil technique. The sentiment is by Hero Arts. I used a Fiskars corner edger on the stamped layer.

Pretty Pastels - DCM

I'm catching up midweek again. For the daring cardmakers challenge, the theme is pretty pastels. I like it! Spring feels like it's on its way, so this is good timing.


The stamped images are by My Favorite Things and colored with colored pencils. I used Fiskars Celestial corner edger scissors on the pink DCWV cardstock layer. I embellished with some bling and added the flower for even more of a spring-time feel.