Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Whale Under the Sea Tutorial

 

This is the first of about six stamps on the Close to My Heart Under the Sea stamp set (C1500). My focus on this tutorial is on the coloring techniques. I kept the card construction rather simple. I made the card using scraps from my Pemberly Workshop on the Go kit. I used embellishments from the CTMH’s Mocha Opaques Adhesive Gems (Z1333). You can order this sweet little stamp set from my CMTH website: http://dianecook.myctmh.com.
I used the following Copic markers:
0 – Colorless Blender
B0000 – Pale Celestine
B02 – Robin’s Egg Blue
BV20 Blue Lavender
BV23 – Grayish Lavender
BV25 – Grayish Violet

I also used Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Tombow adhesive, and foam strips. I stamped my whale image on Copic Express It cardstock.
Step 001 * BV20 - After applying a base coat of 0 –Colorless Blender, then, using a circular motion, color the entire whale with BV20 – Dull Lavender
Step 002 * BV23 - Using circular stroke along Whaley’s perimeter, color with BV 23.
Step 003 * BV20 - Using a circular brushstroke, use BV20 to blend the darker color into the rest of the whale. As you blend, feel free to leave a small area in the center of your image lighter.
Step 004 * BV23 - Now apply a second coat you BV23 inside your first coat of the darker color.
Step 005 * BV20 - Again, blend over with BV20. You will see Whaley darkening with the exception of the center light spot.
Step 006 * BV25 - With a small, circular brush stroke, edge Whaley’s inside perimeter with BV25
Step 007 * BV20 - Soften with BV20
Step 008 * B0000 - Apply base coat of B000 to waterspout

Step 009 * B02 - Accent with B02.
Sep 010 * Assemble your card as you desire. I used scraps from my Close to My Heart Pemberly set. I cut my wave with a Creative Memories border punch. I cut my Whale image to 3”x3” and graduated the matting sizes by either ¼” (for a 1/8” frame) or ½” (for a ¼” frame). I also used a foam strip t pop the waves.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Our Beginnings

This is the second Avonlea layout which is finished except for the journaling. I'm in the middle of a computer crisis at the moment with my desktop CPU downstairs next to my husband's desk. It's searching for a driver for its new motherboard. So I'm working off my laptop.
 
The good news is that I finally found my Avonlea pages which you didn't know were lost. That's another story. Nevertheless, both the first and second layouts are now safely secured in my green CTMH scrapbook. Now that I've given you far more information than you wanted to know, let me tell you about these pages.
 
I'm using the autumn/winter book layouts to share a bit about our history/memories/stories that David and I share. This layout is a reversed version found in Jeannette Lynton's Imagine book and it works quite well for these pages.
 
This is the bonus project that you can complete with the remaining product in the Avonlea Workshop on the Go
 
 I found the suede rub-ons most interesting to use and liked highlighting them with cocoa markers. I would love to do a slightly blinged up version substitutie opaque pearl flourishes for the suede which would open up a whole new dimension. Don't be surprised if I add some more Avonlea later in this heritage book.
 
Regardless, I found the Avonlea look to be quite exiting. If you like it too, pop over to my website (http://dianecook.myctmh.com) and order yours today.
 
Next up is Clementine.
 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Avonlea -- Our Wedding

 

When the Autumn/Winter 2012 Close To My Heart Idea Book came out, I decided to use our eight new Workshops on the Go as a launch point for my long-awaited heritage album. I started by scanning our wedding photos into my computer and selected the Avonlea workshop as the backdrop for our wedding. My only significant change in this layout is in the alphabet font -- I didn't have the Keepsakes Alphabet, so I substituted with the Field Trip design. I will be doing the additional layout with the remaining Avonlea products.
I ordered an extra Avonlea Paper Pack because I want to redo this layout with some distinctive changes, which I will share in another post. Since I still have the stamp set and instruction, I only needed to order the Avonlea paper pack for my redo. Of course, I let my fingers do the walking through the accessories pages of our Idea Book..
The Avonlea WOTG includes the Avonlea Paper Packet, My Acrylix Workshop, Colonial White Cardstock, Parlor Velvet Rub-Ons, Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems, and an Instructional Guide. Additional required tools are: E1024 My Acrylix Keepsakes Alphabet; Z2111 Chocolate Exclusive Inks Pad; Z2137 Olive Exclusive Inks Pad, Z2434 Chocolate Exclusive Inks Marker, and Z697 Sponge.  Visit my website (http://dianecook.myctmh.com) to place your order today.

 

 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

CELEBRATING THE HARVEST WITH AN ARTISTE HARVEST BOX

 

PRODUCTS:

*  B1395 My Acrylix So Grateful Stamp set
* 1245 Olive Cardstock
* 1388 Colonial White Cardstock
* X4928 Saddle Cardstock
* Z2123 Goldrush Exclusive Inks Pad
* Z2137 Olive Exclusive Inks Pad
* Z2171 Saddle Exclusive Inks Pad
* Z1088 Chocolate Waxy Flax
* Z1743 Sparkles Brown & Tan Ass’t
* Z1790 Cricut Artiste Collection
* Z679 Liquid Glass
Take a favorite stamp set, mix in custom-designed shapes from CTMH Cricut Artiste Collection and you have a perfect gift box to fill with goodies for those special people in your  circle. I got the idea from page 74 in our current Fall/Winter catalog and proceeded to put it together in a matter of minutes.  Feel free to order your products from my CTMH Website (dianecook.myctmh.com).

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Getting Ready for Christmas


 
 
Christmas will be here sooner than you think, so I planned my first CTMH Christmas Card Workshop on the Go for September 18th in Lewes, Delaware and on September 23rd at our studio in Dover. This is a three-hour class and is well worth the time. I also plan to offer it again in October. I've added this sweet cardholder from our new Cricut Artiste cartridge which is a great use for the scraps. Of course, I wanted to see if I could get all the cards to fit . . .and they did! All 15 of them!!! So now all I have to do is address them. I have more class details on our website (www.scrappigators.com) or if you wish to tackle the workshop on your own, you can order G1052 at my CTMH website (http://dianecook.myctmh.com). To round out your purchase, consider the Cricut Artiste Collection (Z1790) which includes the cartridge with 700 images, My Acrlyix D-size stamp, and 12" x 9: Dimensional Elemings in coordinating shapes.
 
Also, we're hosting our first day crop on October 13th at the Kenton Ruritan Clubhouse in Kenton, DE. The $30 fee includes a salad and sandwhich bar for lunch, snacks, beverages, free make-and-takes and door prize drawings. We'll have vendors from Close to My Heart (me), Christian Lifestyles Scrappigators (my friend Melissa and me), Stampin Up (Laura Barthlemeh), and Creative Memories (Catina Bright). Visit our scrappigators website for more information about our Scrappigators Love to Crop day crop.
 
Finally, if you want to see a totally cute Christmas card featuring Copic products, pop on over to our scrappigators blog (http://scrappigators.blogspot.com) for a quick look-see.

 


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

CMTH Sunflower

 
There's nothing like a bright yellow sunflower to perk things up, especially this month. I completed my Intermediate Copic certification class, had surgery the following week, had to cancel a weekend event I had my heart set on attending the week after that, and am now forced to wear a clumpy boot on my right foot (not related to surgery) for at least a month in hopes of calming the bursitis and tendonities in my right heel. Yes, perky sunflowers are a perfect way to end the month and usher in a new season of Copics and classes.

This was the a Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month (S1205) that I simply fell in love with. My background paper is from the Dotto collection that was a bonus pack from several months ago. I used the following Copic markers to color this image: E37 Maroon; G94 Grayish Olive; R29 Lipstick Red; Y08 Acid Yellow; Y17 Golden Yellow; YG23 New Leaf. The buttons came from my Close To My Heart button stash from maybe their 2010 collection.

On a final note -- this will be my last duplicate entry from my scrappigators blog(http://scrappigators.blogspot.com).  I intend to use this blog to highlight my Close To My Heart projects, products, promotions, and workshops/classes. If you're interested in seeing more Copics, Mosaic Moments, EK Success and other projects, then please subscribe to my scrappigators blog as well. By the end of the year, I also hope to post at least one tutorial on the blogs as well.

Okay, I'm done. Have a great day!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Lolly Garden

I had a wonderful time at Intermediate Copic Training in Lyndhurst, NJ this past weekend and have been practicing with some of my new images. Alas, I need to finish some new samples so I decided to work on my August Flower of the Month, I planned to post it today. Then I stumbled upon my SparkleNSprinkle Lolly Garden (Set397) stamp set and decided to go town! Sadly, I had to nix it after the project was finished because it requires 13 markers! But, I'm going to do four more myself because it's such a cute card. I used the following Copic colors:

BG11 Moon White
BG13 Mint Green
FYG1 Fluorescent Yellow
C2 Cool Gray 2
C5 Cook Gray 5
E000 Pale Fruit Pink
E01 Pink Flamingo
R22 Light Prawn
R24 Prawn
BG0000 Snow Green
BG000 Pale Aqua
0 Colorless Blender
100 Black

I made my card base from a Recollections paper pack I had in my stash. For the flowers on the front, I stamped three each of four colors on paper scraps and used a 3/4" punch (I think) to cut out the flowers portion. I stamped the flowers around the bottom of the card and covered the flower portion with my punched colors. I used EK Success Repositional adhesive on the overlaping edge of the larger flower to keep the front closed. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next ones look like.