Monster Balloons

~ sproatmeyer ~ 19 Comments

The challenge this week for Little Miss Muffet Challenges is “Stitching.” I used both real and faux stitching on this card, however, both are hard to see unfortunately. I machine stitched a zig-zag around the border of the card and then I drew in a faux stitching on the center diecut. I’ve actually had this monster colored up for a long time so it was nice to finally use it. ;D


DT Challenge: Little Miss Muffet Challenge #6 (stitching)
Challenge: Little Claire’s Designs Challenge #3 (pink & green)
Challenge: Shannon’s Sentiments Challenge #19 (spring colors)
Challenge: Sugar Creek Hollow Sensational Stitching Challenge
Challenge: Sweet Stampin Come Rain or Shine Challenge (weather: windy)
Main Stamp: Monster Balloons (LMMS)
Patterned Paper: Olivia (BG)
Metal Die: My Favorite Things Die-namics Cloud Trio Die
Copic Markers:
R11, R12, R14, R17, YR21, YR23, YR35, YR38, G40, G82, G94, G99, E40, E41, E42, E43, E44, E51, B91, B95, B97

Did you know? Otters are semi-aquatic mammals and the subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, and wolverines. Otters mainly eat aquatic animals, predominantly fish and shellfish, but also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals. An otter’s den is called a holt or couch. A male otter is a dog, a female a bitch, and a baby a whelp, kit, or pup. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp, being descriptive of their often playful nature, or when in water raft.
[Otter, Wikipedia.org]

Tips, Tricks & Techniques 0x021

~ sproatmeyer ~ 7 Comments

I don’t have a card yet but I did want to share the technique I tried out on this background below. First of all my tip is to get in the habit of opening up your Copic markers on the side of your project instead of over it. I had refilled one of my markers too much and discovered this tip the hard way on another image when two giant blue ink drops splattered on my nearly finished project! Anyway, back to the background technique – here’s the image first:


I wanted to create a rich earthy backdrop like I would see in a studio photograph. To do this I used over dozen different colors and kept building it up, layer upon layer, color upon color. When I started it would dry out in between colors but towards the end the paper stayed wet and allowed me to push and blend the colors more freely. I started with a couple spots in red and green (G24, R24) and then added browns (E40, E41, E42, E43, E50, E51, E53). Most of the red and green areas were “washed out” so next time I’ll add more. Once the browns were built up I went back in with Toner Gray (T0, T2, T4) and used the lighter browns to help blend it. Each color was added several times and worked through until I liked what I saw. If you give it a try I hope it works out – Good luck!

Bookworm Tia

~ sproatmeyer ~ 24 Comments

This is actually a card I’ve been working on for several days now and the challenge I originally printed her out for had closed. However, never fear, there’s always another around the corner. 😀 This is Bookworm Tia and the new challenge is to pleat something. I wanted to add pleats to her dress but I think they look more like puckers instead so I pleated the yellow paper in the background and sewed it to the card.


Challenge: Some Odd Girl Pleat Something Challenge
Main Stamp: Bookworm Tia (SOG)
Patterned Paper: scraps
Chipboard: Love Heart Swirls (MiC)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Seventeen and My Favorite Things Die-namics Cloud Trio Die
Copic Colors:
-skin/eyes: E000, E00, E11, E13, R11, R12, B91, B93, B95, B97, B99
-hair: E42, E43, E44, E47, E49
-clothes: YR18, YR14, YR12, Y21, Y20
-other: , G24, E42, R22, R24, R29, R59

Did you know? First Book is a non-profit organization based out of Washington D.C. and was designed to help get books into the hands of children who need them the most. Working with existing literacy programs such as Head Start centers, libraries, and after school initiatives, First Book ensures preschools and education programs have “age appropriate” books and evoke children’s interest in reading. In their first year, First Book distributed approximately 12,000 books to three communities and has since distributed millions of books to children across the nation.
[First Book, Wikipedia.org]

Alva with Flower

~ sproatmeyer ~ 19 Comments

I used one of my newest Magnolia stamps and this one comes with her own face! This is Alva and she must be one of the older ones but she is perfect for all seasons. The challenge this week at Make it Colourful is to color backgrounds. I used the Fairy Tree House and colored it with the same colors as Alva to help the images naturally match.


There is so much details on the house and a lot of it I didn’t notice until I started coloring, like the fence in front. I think this house can be combined with a variety of images and there are endless ways to color it.


DT: Make it Colourful Challenge #12 (coloring backgrounds)
Main Stamp: Alva with Flower (Mag) and Fairy Tree House (MiC)
Patterned Paper: Stella and Rose Mabel (MME)
Chipboard: Frame Corner Flourishes (MiC)
Copic Colors:
-skin: E000, E00, E11, E13, R11, R12
-hair: E53, E55, E57
-other: E42, E43, E44, E47, E49, G21, G24, G28, B0000, B00, C1, C3, C5, YR21, YR12, YR14, YR18, R27, BG11, BG72, BG75, BG78, R22, R24, R29, R59, Y11, Y32, Y35, Y38

Did you know? Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by a tapping sound that is created from metal plates attached to both the ball and heel of the dancer’s shoe. These metal plates, when tapped against a suitable surface, create a percussive sound and as such tap dance is a form of dance as well as the act of playing a musical instrument.
[Tap Dance, Wikipedia.org]

Opal Wishes

~ sproatmeyer ~ 3 Comments

This is the second release today at Little Miss Muffet Stamps and she is called Opal Wishes. She is the “sister” to Butterfly Kisses. The inspiration came to me while watching a movie late one night and I had to pause it to quickly draw up the sketch. 😀 Hope you like her!


Challenge: Card Cupids Spring Time Challenge
Challenge: The Crafty Pad Challenge #113 (use digi)
Challenge: Sparkles Forum Challenge #7 (Mother’s day)
Challenge: The Corrosive Challenge #108 (3 papers, 2 ribbons [ribbon flowers and ribbon lace], 1 image)
Main Stamp: Opal Wishes (LMMS)
Patterned Paper: Stella and Rose Hattie (MME)
Chipboard: Frame Corner Flourishes (MiC)
Copic Markers:
E41, E42, E43, E44, E47, BG10, BG11, BG72, BG78, E0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, R11, R12, T2, T4, T6, T8, B91, B93, B95, B97, B99

Did you know? The Marathon Dam is a gravity dam on the Charadros River 28 mi (45 km) northeast of Athens in Greece. The dam created Lake Marathon for the primary purpose of municipal water supply. Constructed between 1926 and 1929, it was the sole supplier of water to Athens until 1959. The Marathon Dam is coated with the same Pentelikon marble used to construct the Parthenon and is symbolic of the Battle of Marathon.
[Marathon Dam, Wikipedia.org]

Tilly

~ sproatmeyer ~ 23 Comments

Welcome to my second Simply Betty Stamps preview featuring Tilly from the Sweet Gothic Kids Easter lines. She is my favorite of them all and I am thrilled to be able to bring you this sneak peek! Of course I’m using my latest paper pack which has dominated all of my project this week. These Sweet Gothic Kids will be available in rubber and digi tomorrow!


Challenge: Craft Your Passion Challenge #50 (appreciation)

Challenge: Diecut Dreams Challenge #85 (special friend)
Challenge: NettieG’s Digital Gems Bein’ Different (5 papers)
Challenge: Ooh la la Creations Challenge #76 (special friend)
Challenge: Pollycraft Monday Challenge #85 (swirls & pearls)

DT Preview: Simply Betty Stamps
Main Stamp: Sweet Gothic Kids Tilly (SBS)
Patterned Paper: Stella and Rose Mabel (MME)
Chipboard: Swirly Corners (MiC)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Beaded Oval
Copic Colors:
-skin: E000, E00, E11, E13, R14, G20, G21, G24, G28
-hair: E42, E43, E44, E47, E49
-clothes: YR20, YR21, YR23, YR24, C1, C3
-other: G20, G21, G24, G28, BG11, BG72, BG75, BG78

Did you know? The Jetsons was a prime-time animated sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was Hanna-Barbera’s Space Age counterpart to The Flintstones, a half-hour family sitcom projecting contemporary American culture and lifestyle into another time period. While the Flintstones live in a world with machines powered by birds and dinosaurs, the Jetsons live in a futuristic utopia in the year 2062 of elaborate robotic contraptions, aliens, holograms, and whimsical inventions.
[The Jetsons, Wikipedia.org]