Tips, Tricks & Techniques 0x01F

~ sproatmeyer ~ 4 Comments

I’m always on the look out for great storage ideas but today I wanted to share an idea with you. I needed a way to store my Prismacolor Pencils because finding one color in the pile was too time consuming. I came across these containers at the hobby store (Michaels) and thought they would be perfect.


I created a specialized chart because my pencils are very old so there are a lot of retired colors and names that have changed. To do this, I arranged them all out on the table and fiddled with the rainbow until I was happy. Then I transferred the number order into a spreadsheet, printed it and finally colored it in.


The containers come with one large one and two smaller trays in a bundle. I combined two bundles and used four smaller trays for the pencils which correspond to each column in the color chart. Then I tacked on one of the large trays to carry around the extra equipment and other small items.

This also makes it easy to color on the go… just store a couple extra stamped sheets in the bottom tub then grab and go! I hope this gives you some ideas too and good luck!

Louisa and Leoncio

~ sproatmeyer ~ 18 Comments

Welcome to Day 2 of the Valentine’s Blog Hop brought to you by The Stamping Bazaar and the fabulous Marina Neira! I made this card using Louisa and Leoncio which will be released this Saturday, January 22. Louisa is one of my favorite TSB characters so I was excited to see she had mate. I’m tring to get back to the basics with embellishments so I used a few of my “staples” on this card including lace and pearls. I’m always surpised at how well stitching will finish off the look of a card and alternating between stright stitching and zig-zag was fun.


There will be lots of prizes given away each day for commenters… so make sure to leave everyone your thoughts along the way! Finally, at the end of the week one lucky winner will be chosen to win the entire set of three (3) digis!!

Here’s the complete blog hop list:

Barbara {me}
…and then it’s back to The Stamping Bazaar Blog.

DT Blog Hop: The Stamping Bazaar – Valentines Blog Hop Day #2
Challenge: Tuesday Throwdown – Challenge #32 (Valentines)
Challenge: Copic Creations – Challenge #42 (New digi)
Challenge: Wags ‘n Whiskers – Challenge #44 (With love)
Main Stamp: Louisa and Leoncio (TSB)
Patterned Paper: Vintage (Creative Memories)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Dahlia
Copic Colors:
-lions: E43, E44, E47, E49, YR20, YR21, YR23, YR24
-clothes: R43, R46, R59, E41, E42, G40, G85, G99, B91, B93, B95
-other: W2, YR12, YR14, YR18, Y32, Y38

Did you know? Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids is an animated series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters. The show premiered in 1972 and ran until 1985. The show, based on Bill Cosby’s remembrances of his childhood gang, focused on the lovable, oversized Albert, with his signature rumbling exclamation “Hey hey hey!”, and his friends.
[Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Wikipedia.org]

Chickie’s Valentine

~ sproatmeyer ~ 32 Comments

Welcome to another fabulous blog hop from The Stamping Bazaar featuring three new designs by Marina Neira!! This week we’ll be featuring Valentine cutsies which will be released this Saturday, January 22!

For this first day, I made this card using Chickie’s Valentine and added simple embellishments to complement the cute Valentine design! I tried using Liquid Pearls for the heart and wings similar to the lasercut embellishments before, but I don’t like the solid effect. I think embossing or glitter will be better and will have to try that out nextime.


There will be lots of prizes given away each day for commenters… so make sure to leave everyone luvs along the way! Finally, at the end of the week one lucky winner will be chosen to win the entire set of three (3) digis!!

Here’s the complete blog hop list:

Barbara {me}
…and then it’s back to The Stamping Bazaar Blog.

DT Blog Hop: The Stamping Bazaar – Valentines Blog Hop (Day 1)
Chalenge: Stamp Something Challenges (Anything Goes)
Challenge: Phindy’s Place – Challenge #38 (Valentine Card)
Challenge: Delicious Doodles – Challenge #8 (3 Colors)
Challenge: Pattie’s Creations – Challenge #10 (Anything Goes)
Main Stamp: Chickie’s Valentine (TSB)
Patterned Paper: Vintage (Creative Memories), Farm Fresh: Chicken Coop (October Afternoon) and scraps
Metal Die: My Favorite Things Die-namics Scalloped Edge
Copic Colors:
-chick: YR21, YR23, YR26, YR12, YR14, YR18, E04
-other: R02, R05, R08, E09, B32, B34

Did you know? Toss bombing is a method of bombing where the attacking aircraft pulls upwards when releasing its bomb load, giving the bomb additional time of flight by starting its ballistic path with an upward vector. The purpose of toss bombing is to compensate for the gravity drop of the missile in flight. A more dynamic variant of toss bombing, called over-the-shoulder bombing, or the LABS (Low Altitude Bombing System) maneuver (known to pilots as the “idiot’s loop”), is a particular kind of loft bombing where the bomb is released past the vertical so it is tossed back towards the target. the maneuver had allowed the bomber to change direction and distance itself from the target.
[Toss Bombing, Wikipedia.org]

Challenge #1 – Reminder

~ sproatmeyer ~ Leave a comment

Just a reminder about the challenge I have going on – my Mom and I would LOVE to see how you are using the FREE digis!! 😀 Plus we’ve updated the prizes too which now include something from both of us:

“Christmas Dino”
(Although it’s just as suitable for a birthday!)

“Monster Nom-Nom”


One lucky winner with get BOTH digi stamps!! Everyone is welcome to join including family, friends and fellow design team members. You can enter as many times as you like and combine them with as many challenges as you can find too!

Challenge Rules:
1. Use Monster Love, Monster Sweet Tooth, Valentines Bear,
Monster Bubbles, Birthday Bunny or Easter Lamb!
2. Link to this post
(3. Make monster noises while you color)

Enter your submissions by January 31st and a random winner with our top three choices will be announced together with the Blog Candy winners on February 1st!

CLICK HERE to go to the challenge post.
Good luck – we can’t wait to see what you create! 😀

Pergamano Fairies 2

~ sproatmeyer ~ 8 Comments

This card has been waiting for weeks to be published – and here it is finally! I made it using a Pergamano Fairy and Pond-a-Lily from Make it Crafty. Because I had bright and busy decorative papers, I keep the embellishments to a minimal and only added a few Dew Drops. The dragonfly was unplanned but I decided I didn’t want to cover it so I cut it out before possitioning the fairy over that area. It worked out nicely and I didn’t have to color another one!


You can see most of the background already but here is a detailed look before it was put through the Cuttlebug. I really debated about coloring the frog a different color but green would have blended in too much and orange or yellow would have been too much next to the flowers. So in the end, I used my E70’s Copic colors. As a final touch, I added sparkles to the flowers and dragonfly wings – because we all need a little sparkle on our cards.


Challenge: Stampavie and More – Challenge #124 (Glitter)
Challenge: Stampin’ B’s – Challenge #93 (Use diecuts)
Challenge: Digi Doodle Shop – Challenge #42 (Pink & Green)
Main Stamp: Fairies 2 (P) and Pond-a-Lily (MiC)
Patterned Paper: Olivia (BG)
Metal Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Two
Copic Colors:
-water: BG10, BG11, BG72
-frog: E70, E74, E79
-reeds/gravel: E41, E42, E43, E44, E49
-dragonfly/wings: BV01, BV02, G21, B000
-girl: E000, E00, E11, E3, YR220, YR21, YR24
-clothes: E70, E74, R12, R14, R46

Did you know? The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that became the first states in the Union. The last revision of the design was 50 years ago on July 4, 1960 with the addition of the 50th star representing the state of Hawaii.
[Flag of the United States, Wikipedia.org]

S.S. Hoppity

~ sproatmeyer ~ 9 Comments

Welcome to the first challenge of the year at Lollipop Crafts! Today we have a fun sketch for you and I used our sponsor’s image S.S. Hoppity by Robyn’s Fetish. I’m seriously lacking in guy cards but I’m not sure this one qualifies with the stitching and cute rabbit but it will have to do! 😀


One thing I try to do is keep it simple without over embellishing the cards – although that is hard to do sometimes. On this card, I used a decorative bottle cap but needed something to put in it. After hopelessly searching my stash for a suitable trinket, I ended up drawing a fish instead.


DT Challenge: Lollipop Crafts – Challenge #22 (Sketch)
Challenge: Moving Along with the Times – Challenge #81 (Dreams – gonna catch that fish!)
Challenge: Crafty Ann’s – Challenge #32 (New die, stamp and fish, old paper and twill)
Challenge: Stamping For the Weekend – Challenge #1 for 2011 (New stamp and Blue paper, water) Challenge: Totally Papercrafts – Challenge #49 (Birthday) Challenge: AiFactory Challenge #64 (Anything Goes) Main Stamp: S.S. Hoppity (Robyn’s Fetish)
Patterned Paper: Vintage (Creative Memories)
Metal Die: Tim Holtz Alterations Mini Baroque
Copic Colors:
-rabbit: E41, E42, E43, E44
-clothes: E08, E18, E19, B91, B93, B95, B97, B99
-other: YG91, YG93, YG95, Y23, Y26, W0, W1

Did you know? The Founding Fathers of the United States were political leaders and statesmen who participated in establishing the American Independence by signing the Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American War for Independence, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some other key contribution. Within the large group known as the “Founding Fathers”, there are two key subsets: the “Signers of the Declaration of Independence” and the “Framers of the Constitution”.
[Founding Fathers of the United States, Wikipedia.org]