Cattails With Sympathy

It just seems like this has been a summer of losses. One of my former colleagues lost her husband earlier this week. Lindsay told us about a former design team member who was killed in a car accident this week. My great nephew died in an accident earlier this summer. And a long-time friend of the family lost her fight with cancer about a month ago. To top it all off, one of my dear friends and colleague moved away a couple of weeks ago. It just seems like I've had to say a lot of goodbyes lately.
I created this card to send to Cindy whose husband died Sunday night from a heart attack. She and I used to teach at the same high school a few years ago when my boys were still in school. I went to Tuesday Morning Sketches to get my weekly design inspiration, but Melissa changed things up this week. She issued a color challenge. So the sketch is pretty simple and clean (best I can do on my own). I am glad for the color challenge because I don't think I would have picked these colors on my own for this particular card, but I really like how they worked together.
The cattail image, which just looks so serene, is from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I colored it in with my copics, masked it, and airbrushed the blue background. The background paper is PTI Green Tea Leaves. I used the SU Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment and punched it out with the SU modern label punch and the the movers and shapers modern label die for the mat.
If you haven't been to Lindsay's shop in a few days, you need to head on over. She's added several new images. If you are getting Halloween projects started, you definitely need to see what she's got in the shop and you need to check out the whole design team because one of them has a little Halloween freebie for you and it is super cute. Start at Lindsay's blog so you can be sure to check out the whole list of team members.
Project Recipe
Paper: PTI Kraft CS, SU Elegant Eggplant CS, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS, PTI Green Tea Leaves DSP
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Cattails #2, SU Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories: copic markers, copic air brush system, SU Modern Label punch, SU Movers and Shapers Modern Label die, sheer ribbon (unknown), Kaiser pearls (colored with copics)

The Color Purple

Is everyone on a purple kick these days? I've been doing way more purple projects than is normal for me. This project, though, is inspired by two challenges: Lauren Meader's Timeless Template Challenge and the DareU2DigiStamp challenge of the week. Both challenges required the use of purple. Lauren's challenge specifically called for a gift using one of her Timeless Templates, purple, and butterflies. I chose to work with the For Keepsake template to make a cupcake holder for one of my coworkers who had a birthday today.

The DareU2DigiStamp challenge involved using a digital stamp, which I used on the card, and lilac and lemon. I used a free digital image from My Grafico called Vases and Flowers. I colored it in with my copics and added it to the front of the gift card. Badda Bing--two challenges in one!

And, yes, I did use my copic airbrush kit! I wanted flowers for my box that matched my SU Almost Amethyst cardstock, so I took some inexpensive white flowers I got from Walmart and Hobby Lobby and "painted" them the right color. For my next trick...I think I'll try airbrushing on acetate, hmmm!

Project Recipe

Paper: SU Almost Amethyst CS, SU So Saffron CS, SU Tea Party DSP, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS, PTI clear acetate

Stamps: My Grafico Vases and Flowers Digital Stamp, CTMH Playful Flourishes

Accessories: PTI For Keepsake Timeless Template, copic markers, compressor and airbrush kit, flowers, MS butterfly punch, SU Beautiful Butterflies Sizzix Die, Cuttlebug, CB script embossing folder, piercer, MM buttons, twine, SU eyelet border punch, Ranger stickles

Forest Treats for the Kids

As the school year races to a close, I needed to get a lot of these little treat bags finished up. Several of my students have birthdays this month, but I'm also trying to get the summer birthdays their treats before the last day of school. I went into overdrive with my SU Forest Friends set. I wanted to see if I could design several of these using the same basic images and have half of them for the boys and the other half with a more feminine feel for the girls. The basic difference between the two sets is the paper I used. For the boys I used the darker, richer SU Always Artichoke CS, stamped the images on PTI Kraft CS, and pulled out some green prints from Basic Grey's Boxer set. For the girls I used the softer SU Mellow Moss CS, stamped the images on PTI Vintage Cream CS, and pulled out a lighter print from BG Boxer set.
Of course, the embellishments make a difference, too. Did you happen to notice the brown buttons in the top picture? Hey, I didn't have any brown buttons, but I did have some off white buttons, a brown copic marker, and my airbrush kit!! In a few seconds, I had brown buttons....like magic! Wonder what I'll work my "magic" on next! Stay tuned...

Daffodils in Springtime

I LOOOOOOOOVE my air compressor and copic airbrush kit!!! Okay, this is just a first attempt besides some testing and playing around. I know I need to practice more, but I think this is really going to be fun. It certainly was easy. I printed out my digital image from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff and then colored it in with my copics. Then, I cut out the oval with my cuttlebug and an oval nestabilities die. I applied a mask over my image and with the nestability die still on the cardstock, I airbrushed the background with two different blue copic markers. Leaving the die on the cardstock created the crisp edge to the oval.

And don't ya love the pretty daffodil??? Now is a great time to grab this image for yourself. Lindsay's got a special going on during the whole month of May--spend $5 in her store and you get a FREE digital image of your choice! Visit her store for details and a look at all the zippy images.

Project Recipe

Paper: SU Delicate Dots PP, SU Bashful Blue CS, PTI Kraft CS, GinaK Ivory Pure Luxury CS

Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Daffodil 2 digital stamp

Ribbon: PTI Spring rain gingham ribbon

Accessories: copics, airbrush kit with compressor, Spellbinders Classic Ovals Nestabilities die, cuttlebug, cuttlebug embossing folder, yellow button