arte y pico

I really appreciate these ladies for thinking of me! Jimmi from Stamping & Shopping, Erin from Paper Pleasures, and Maria of Scraps by m. Wonderful artists in thier own rights, and so it really means a lot that each lady thought of me for this award. Thank You!

And now the rules:

1) The recipient must pick 5 blogs that she considers deserving of this award - talented artists that contribute to the blogging community.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author, as well as a link to their blog to be visited by all!
3) Each winner has to show the award that she has been given by the awarder.
4) Both the awardee and the awarder have to provide a link to the Arte y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) All participants must display these rules.

And so, I choose:

Alli Miles - Card Metaphors

Kelly Lunceford - Flutter

Lisa Zappa - Shabbychick Junk

Ana Wohlfhart - Ink a Stamp

Beate Johns - Fresh & Fun

Whew! That was hard.

Feeling Sultry

I cannot get enough of this Sultry paper by Basic Grey. It is so stylish! Here, I paired it with Lockhart's Cottage Flowers, colored with Copic markers.

I'm making mild progress thanks to Debbie Olson's tutorials such as this and this. And she is forever showing exactly which Copics she used for each colored project. This has helped me a lot deciding which markers to add next to my slowly growing collection. Just thought I'd share that, since I'm always seeing people ask, "which colors do I start with?" That being said, I forgot to take note of which markers *I* used here. Well, Debbie Olson I am not.

Anyway, the card design is adapted from Rose Ann's Flap Card tutorial, here. I used a 4.25 by 11 piece of card stock for my base, scored at approximately 4-3/8 and 9. The rounded edge is cut with a Coluzzle oval, rather than a circle. Just a few details to make it work with my image and to my liking.

I had read on a thread at Splitcoast that you could make your own magnetic snaps with the cropodile. Well, it did cut the pieces nicely, but they're not holding my card closed very well. I'll have to buy some real Basic Grey magnetic snaps and fix this up before sending it to anyone.

The sentiment is from my favorite collection, Verve Visual's "Phrases" as I think of them. There are four sets at the bottom of that page for just six bucks a piece. And I use them ALL the time. This "feel better soon" comes from Heartfelt Phrases.

Looks like I was rather long winded today. Sorry about that, and thanks for stopping by!

Stamps- cottage flowers (Lockhart stamp company); heartfelt phrases (Verve Visual)

Paper- pale plum (SU); white (Georgia Pacific 110); sultry (Basic Grey)

Ink- black (Palette); chocolate chip marker (SU); Copic markers

Accessories- rectangle Nestabilities dies; dimensionals; magnets; cropodile; word window punch, paper pierer and template, earth elements brads (SU); spring moss grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Star Dust Stickles

Proud of You Dad

The new Verve Visual stamps are available today! So I have another sample for you using Father Figure.

In an attempt to match the background paper, I inked my stamps completely in pumpkin pie, then dabbed them onto real red, then rolled the edges a bit on tea dye. Now, stamp. It only takes a few extra seconds, and really added a nice depth and color to the images. The chipboard started white, so I inked it directly with all of the colors listed below.

Stamps: Father Figure (Verve Visual)
Paper: Felicity (Scribble Scrabble); white, chocolate chip, sage shadow (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: tea dye and vintage photo (Tim Holtz Distress Inks); Oasis Green (Versamagic); pumpkin pie and real red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: pewter hardware (Stampin' Up!); chipboard (Top Line Creations)

In addition to the new stamps, here and here, Verve Visual is also having a Star-Studded Sale through May 15, during which you'll save 15% on some great products.

Father Figure

Verve Visual is releasing two new stamp sets tomorrow. The one featured below, Father Figure, and another set called Great Expectations.

This card is not only for my husband, but also inspired by my husband. How? I was working with this Father Figure set on another card and wanted to make sure I had the right "manly" feel. So I ask Josh, "Do you think this is a good guy card?" His answer was basically that guys really don't care unless it's shaped like something, like a beer mug or a golf ball. While I don't believe that his opinion speaks for all "man"kind, it sounded like a good start. I figured I could do a golf ball.

Emboss one sheet (about 4.25 inches square) of thick white card stock with the Cuttlebug spots & dots folder. Cut that sheet and a second sheet with the largest Nestabilities circle die. It will flatten your embossing only a little bit. Now sponge lightly with Sahara Sand ink. For the grass, use about a 2 x 8.5 inch piece of certainly celery card stock, scored at 4.25 inches. Use scissors to randomly cut out little triangles, making grass. Sponge with Old Olive. Stamp sentiment in brown and add three little dots. Stamp plain white circle with your choice of sentiment and dotted line. Glue both white circles to the insides of the grass. For tee holder, glue thin strip of chocolate chip card stock into a circle around the tee. Now, glue to card front. This way the tee can be slid right out of the loop. Because I figure Josh is going to want his tee back. LOL.

By the way, those two circles really are the same size. The picture just makes them look different.

Now you can head on over to the Verve Visual blog for more samples from the entire design team. You'll see both Father Figure (today) and Great Expectations (yesterday). There's also a chance to win each set.

Hang In There

I have wanted this Whipper Snapper Hooked Worm stamp for years, literally. And, no, I still haven't bought it. LOL. But I did get some stamped images from the Wish RAK group at Splitcoast. Woo Hoo. I was seriously excited. So I colored this last night with my Prismacolor pencils and gamsol, and put the card together this morning. I'll take it to my mom when I go to visit this evening. Hopefully she'll get a smile out of it.

I layered the image on papers from the Cutie Pie series by Stampin' Up! (Also from Wish RAK! What amazing ladies involved in that group. I'm loving it.) The sentiment is from an old, retired Stampin' Up set, Mini Mates. I've kept it all these years because there are so many versatile sentiments, and I like the small sizes. The smaller blue dots are punched from Bashful Blue card stock and covered in Crystal Effects. You can't really see it in the picture, but I also added Crystal Effects to the hook and a few air bubbles coming up from the worm to the blue dots.

Does anyone know of anything better than Crystal Effects? It looks wonderful, but my bottle is forever clogged no matter what I do. Something like Stickles, but non-glittery.

Stamps: Hooked Worm (Whipper Snapper); sentiment-Mini Mates (SU retired)

Paper: wild wasabi, ballet blue, bashful blue, Cutie Pie (SU); white (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: ballet blue (SU); black

Accessories: prismacolor pencils and gamsol; dimensionals; 1/8, 1/2, 1, and 1-1/4 inch circle punches; Crystal Effects, red grosgrain ribbon (SU)

A No Brainer

Hello Ladies! I haven't stamped in over a week, so I'm starting back again with this simple no brainer. But the colors are so pretty that I like it anyway.

I cut (and embossed) rectangles with my Nestabilities, then stamped the two step butterfly from Butterfly Kisses with Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranate. I added little dabs of Star Dust stickles to the butterfly body and a few dots on each wing. Then I finished with just a little accessorizing (pomegranate ribbon and glued-on crystal). Sentiment from Simple Little Things (free anniversary set).

Stamps- butterfly kisses and simple little things (Papertrey Ink)

Paper- soft sky, purely pomegranate (Stampin' Up!); white (Papertrey Ink)

Ink- soft sky, purely pomegranate (SU)

Other- nestablities rectangle dies; pomegranate stitched ribbon (SU); rhinestone, dimensionals

My mom had a tumor on her kidney, so they finally went in yesterday and biopsied it. They also "froze" it off as much as possible. They told her it was outpatient surgery, but 95% of people end up spending the night. When she went in the day of the procedure, they told her she'd be there three or four days. So instead of taking her home today, it looks like I'll just be going for a visit.

Also, starting tomorrow, Verve Visual will be posting two days of sneak peaks that you WILL NOT want to miss. The stamps will then release on Thursday, April 25th.

Thanks for stopping by!

Checking in and the Verve Challenge

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging all week. I can't explain how tired I've been. I made myself go to my mom's house Thursday to work in her flower garden. Then all I could do when I got home was eat and crash. Yesterday was fairly full as well. I sure wish I could get some energy, because I have so many new stamps sitting around waiting for ink. But for now, here's my interpretation of Verve Visual's inspiration challenge. Be sure to get your card linked by April 22nd for your shot at $15 in Verve Bucks.

Stamps: Thankful Blossoms and Thoughtful Florals (Verve Visual)
Paper: white (Papertrey Ink); summer sun, tempting turquoise, saffron prints (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: cool caribbean, tempting turquoise, so saffron (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: gold glitter pen (Spica); corner rounder (EK Success); Terrifically Tacky Tape and clear micro beads (Art Accentz); 1/8 inch hole punch; dimensionals

The Sweetest Flower

Check out this stylin' garden chick. She's called Picking Daisies, and comes from American Art Stamp. I colored her with Copic markers (Y17, E00, E31, G21, BV02, V15) and added a few highlights of Star Dust stickles to her dress, shoes, and flower centers. These are such nice big stamps, and I wanted her to take center stage. So I added her to a 4.25 inch square card. The yellow strip is embossed with a small embossing folder by Cuttlebug, and brushed with white cloud ink, then layered on white scalloped strips. Because the card was pretty full already, I added the sentiment (Green Thumb by Papertrey Ink) directly on my main image.

Ingredients:

Stamps: Picking Daisies (American Art Stamps); Green Thumb (Papertrey Ink)

Paper: white, apricot appeal, vintage violet (Stampin' Up!); Scrapbook Walls: Violet Dahlias (Chatterbox)

Ink: onyx black (Versafine); cloud white (Versamagic)

Accessories: Copic markers; celery grosgrain, slot punch (SU); corner rounder (EK Success); scallop scissors (Fiskars); fancy corners embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

The Friday Funny

Verve Challenge...WITH PRIZE

I just wanted to give you all a heads up, since I'm not scheduled to post until next Friday, then the deadline is April 22. There is an inspiration challenge going on over at the Verve Visual blog. Check out all the deets here. Now get stamping!

Essence of Spring

I was throwing away some stray papers on my desk this morning, when I noticed I had written: "vanilla, kraft, soft sky" on a corner of one of them. So, I figured I knew what I was talking about and used the combo for today's card.

The card base is 4.25 x 11, scored at 1.5 and 7 inches. Layer sky (embossed with textile) on kraft on bottom flap of card. For top, emboss flowers and butterfly with white (or vanilla, if you have it) embossing powder on sky. Layer on kraft, then on top of card. Punch strip of kraft with slit punch for scallops. Layer on bottom edge of card top. (See second photo for side view.) For photo corner. Punch kraft with giga scalloped square punch, then again with photo corner punch. You'll have to trim some excess. The sentiment is on two layered flower die cuts, and glued only on the bottom half so it can be used as a closure.

Ingredients:

Stamps- Essence of Love (Stampin' Up)

Paper- vanilla, kraft, soft sky (SU)

Ink- Versamark, creamy caramel (SU)

Punches- photo corner, slit (SU); giga scalloped square (Marvy)

Dies- flower dies, textile embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Ribbon- aqua mist luxe satin (Papertrey Ink)

Accessories- detail white embossing powder (SU); rhinestones, sponge dauber

And now it is time to get ready for THE PENS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME. Yes, I will be there! Yes, I am excited! Any Pens or Sens fans out there? WooHoo! Lets Go Pens!

The Happy Forest

Hola Chicas! It is a gorgeous day! And I'm wasting it away in the house. As soon as I'm done here, I'm out! Buster and I are heading for the trail. But in the mean time, here's the Happy Forest by Stamping Bella. And quite the happy looking little forest it is, wouldn't ya say?

I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch (only a day late, WooHoo!) to show off my YUMMY new Basic Grey Sultry paper. This may be the first thing I've ever bought that I found too pretty to actually cut into. It took me a whole three days to get over that. LOL. It seems to be selling out everywhere, but I see Julee must have just listed some at Verve Visual, here. The image is colored with markers and a watercolor brush.

Hope you're having a happy sunshiny day.

Ingredients:

Stamps-happy forest (Stamping Bella)

Paper-chocolate chip, pixie pink (SU); sultry (Basic Grey); watercolor

Ink- noir (Palette); close to cocoa, garden green, brocade blue, pink passion, only orange, summer sun, pixie pink (SU markers)

Accessories- pin (Heidi Grace); ribbon (May Arts); sequins and mini brads (Queen & Co. Kissy Fit Sassy Sequins); slot punch (SU); d'vine swirls embossing folder (Cuttlebug); dimensionals

Use What You Love...or else

I pulled out Jen's Sketch For You To Try last night, and this is the result. This card makes me a firm believer in the thought...Use things you love and you'll love your card. I forced myself to use this paper, and therefore these colors, because it's been sitting here for probably a year. And while I don't hate the card, and can't find anything exactly wrong with it, I don't love it.

So, here are a few deets. This darling image from Stamping Bella was sent to me by Sandy (Hi!, if you happen to stop by). I know it's a permanent black stamped on (I think) Georgia Pacific white, which held up quite nicely to just a little bit of water coloring. I mostly colored with Stampin' Up markers (More mustard, creamy caramel, ruby red, certainly celery), but smoothed it out a bit with a watercolor brush. I added a few shadows with Copic C-1. I knotted some thread around the buttons (dollar store?) before adhering them with glue dots. Yummy ribbon is spring moss grosgrain from Papertrey Ink. And that not-quite-my-style paper is Mod Mat Stack from Autumn Leaves.

The Friday Funny

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.

She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, " Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery! "

The husband said, " Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff? "

"Doesn't matter, " she said. " Just get out. "

******************************************************

A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license. First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test. The optician showed him a card with the letters:

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'

"Can you read this?" the optician asked.

" Read it? " the Polish guy replied, " I know the guy. "

******************************************************

Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, " I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent. "

"Thank God, " said an elderly nun at the back. " I'm so tired of chardonnay. "

Something Cute

What a great mail day I had! I got my order from All That Scraps with some new Sultry Basic Grey paper AND brads. I got some stamped Elzybells images. And my Bella order arrived, as you can see below. And yes, that is from Stamping Bella, is just not *a* Bella. It's called "new friends ella and looloo", and I think it's so sweet.

I think everything is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just leave you with a list of what I used. Except maybe the fact that I colored the clear gemstones (on her crown) with a blue Copic marker. But please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Stamps- new friends ella and looloo (Stamping Bella); Family Phrases (Verve Visual)

Paper- watercolor, kraft (Stampin' Up); spring moss, white (Papertrey Ink); Romani (Basic Grey)

Ink: noir (Palette); blush blossom, pretty in pink, old olive, certainly celery, going gray, bashful blue, close to cocoa, so saffron (SU markers); copic marker B23

Accessories: gold atyou Spica glitter pen, fruit punch stickles, Hero Arts gemstones, Papertrey spring moss ribbon, primas (Hydrangea and forever flowers); SU word window punch; dimensionals; corner rounder (EK Success)

Spring has Sprung!

It actually felt like spring yesterday! I even worked in my gardens (and I use that term loosely). Not long though, since it was so windy that everything I tried to clean up just blew around my yard.

I REALLY liked this sketch Jen posted way back on March 22, and it's been on my mind ever since. Well, I finally used it. I think it's really crisp and clean, allowing for a lot of open background, which I like. Perfect for SPRING! And that paired up so well with these Lizzie Anne stamps, called Jolies Fleurs. And since I was kicking the spring theme, this color combo came pretty naturally...one of my faves: pretty in pink, certainly celery and so saffron, with touches of old olive and cameo coral.

Cut and embossed three one inch squares with Nestabilities dies, stamp the little flower and color with Stampin' Up markers, then layer on So Saffron. The "butterfly" was stamped and colored first, then cut and embossed with a circle die. So really, do whatever works for you. You can cut/emboss first or stamp first when using the dies. I added a bit of glow around the butterfly with So Saffron ink and an aquapainter. Layer the three tiles on a pretty in pink strip, and add a row of piercing. You have to add the ribbon BEFORE the butterfly circle. Punch a hole and thread the ribbon up through. THEN, you can adhere the butterfly circle to the strip. THEN pull the ribbon tight and tie your bow. The tiny butterflies are an old punch I had sitting around. It looks like it might have been a Michael's dollar punch. After punching, I covered each butterfly with Crystal Effects. Let it dry, and adhere to card.

Thanks Jen, for another great sketch! It was really fun and easy.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Jolies Fleurs (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Paper: cameo coral, so saffron, pretty in pink, certainly celery (SU); white (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: noir (Palette); so saffron, cameo coral, pretty in pink, certainly celery, old olive (SU)
Dies: Nestabilities square, circle and scalloped circle
Ribbon: American Crafts
Tools: Cuttlebug, paper piercer and template, aquapainter, 1/8 inch circle and butterfly punches
Other: Crystal Effects, dimensional adhesive

Design Opportunity

Julee's at it again over on the Verve Visual blog. She's added a sketch challenge for the month of April. All you have to do is make a card inspired by this latest sketch using at least one Verve Visual stamp, link your card, and you could be a Verve Visual Guest Designer for the month of June! So show us what you've got. And here's an example to get you started.

This card measures 3.5 x 6.25. All stamps are from Verve Visual's Anniversary Birds set. I started by stamping several flower stems, then I turned it upside down and stamped the end several more times for some grass. I topped the stems with petite Primas. The centers are Crystal Effects covered in black glitter while still wet. I cut a couple of black tag corner punches and glued them to the corners. Then, I inked only the "so happy" portion of one of the sentiments with black ink.

The bird, I stamped on white and trimmed out. Stamped on patterned paper and trimmed out just the body. Glue it to the white bird. Then, one more time, I stamped it on Caribbean and cut out just the wing. I rubbed the edges on my black ink pad, and adhered with dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Recipe:

Stamps: Anniversary Birds (Verve Visual)

Paper: white (Papertrey Ink); Taken with teal, pretty in pink, cool caribbean, black, Petals & Paisleys (Stampin' Up)

Ink: black (Versafine); old olive, cool caribbean (Stampin' Up)

Accessories: tag corner punch, crystal effects (Stampin' Up); petite flamingo flowers (Prima); black licorice brads (Lasting Impressions); bloom dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); black glitter, pop dots