Mother's Little Helper

June JiFFy!

Hi, friends!  Sorry for not posting in a while.  I'm about to remedy that a bit.  I'll fill you in on the scoop in a different post, as well as letting you know what I've been doing the past several months.  If you're interested.  Which, you may not be.  Your choice.  The blogosphere is most definitely a democracy, and even if I wanted to force you to read my blog (which, have no doubt, I definitely do.  Despite my lefty ways, one of my very favorite cartoon characters is Plankton.  Read into that what you will), I can't.  It's your choice.  As it should be.  I guess.  Notice those three short sentences in a row; guess who hasn't had her coffee yet this morning?  But I digress.

Hang on a sec...

Now maybe I'll start making at least a wee bit of sense.  One can hope!

Okie dokie, folkies.  Here's the good stuff: it's JiFFy Time!  The one time of month I get together with a few of my madly talented stampy girlfriends for a challenge.  One of us selects an image and keeps it on the QT until another sends out her selection of patterned paper.  Sometimes paper and image blend beautifully, sometimes it's what we euphemistically call "a challenge," but it's always JiFFy: JUST FOR FUN!

This month, I selected the image, and Michele sent out the paper.  No more suspense -- here's what I came up with:

The image is the adorable "Surfer Girl" by Elzybells.  Isn't she cute?  She's so fun & summery, I couldn't resist her.  Even if she has one of those bodies wasted on the young; when I think what I as a 40 year old woman could do with a body like that... (insert picture of Plankton with soundtrack of his evil laugh).  Michele picked the scrumptious and oh-so-versatile "Shabby Flower" from the Paper Girl line by The Girls' Paperie.  I think it goes together well, don't you?  Office-y type paper is the new neutral, and that hibiscus print is right up Surfer Girl's alley.

I wanted to stick with the pink and Cool Carribean of the patterned paper, but I felt it needed a pop of color, so I added a border and a ribbon stripe of Crushed Curry.  The sketch is Jen's SFYTT from last Saturday.  The Beatlesque sentiment is from MFT's Jolinne - In My Garden.  Surfer Girl was colored with Copics on Neenah Classic White before cut out and glued onto the other layers.  I tried to create some waves behind her on the circle layer using a Fiskars border punch, but you can't see them very well.  My stamping room is in a state of complete and utter chaos (what's new?), so when I couldn't find my white pen to give her a few highlights, I just used a white Prismacolor pencil.  Here's a detail shot so you can appreciate my subtle artistry.  Repeat after me: "Oooh... Aaaah..."  

So you've seen what the likes of me can do with this image and paper, but I'm just the opening act.  I'm merely the Demi Lovato to my JiFFy Girlfriends' Jonas Brothers, the Jason Derulo to their Lady Gagas.  Please, for my sake, picture them all in beekeeper's hats, pants-less, and wearing Alexander Mcqueen lobster claw shoes as you visit their blogs: 

Michele "Pokerface" Boyer

Alli "Alejandro" Miles

Lori "Bad Romance" Craig

Kim "Paparazzi" Hughes

and our special June guest, Michelle "Shake Your Kitty" Woerner!  (Sorry, Michelle.  I couldn't resist.  The Sh sound in "Michelle" and the Sh sound of "Shake"... Not to mention the imagery.  I've never actually heard that Gaga song, but the title is intriguing, no?) 

Poor Julie "Just Dance" Campbell has had a time of it lately with the flu, but fortunately she's on the mend.  She's going to try to catch up with us Monsters (that's what Lady Gaga calls her fans, FYI.  I've learned more about Lady Gaga in the last five minutes than you probably care to know) later in the week, but I'm sure she'd appreciate a little love from you in the mean time. 

I know you're waiting with bated breath for the info I promised earlier.  I'll be back soon to fill you in.  For now, I've got to practice walking in these:

Featured Stamper Sunday - Papermoon04

My bossy toddler finally went down for a nap so I could get a little time to play today. I love the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS because it makes me take the time to comb through someone's gallery. Usually, I just look at the galleries for individual challenges or for recent uploads. But seeing pages of one person's work at one time gives a such perspective on that individual's style, and its so interesting to compare and contrast someone elses work to your own. For example, today's FS is Shelly, aka Papermoon04. She has a really elegant, flourish-y (that's a technical term) style, and her cards are very ladylike and sophisticated. Me? Not so much! So part of the FS Challenge for me is how to CASE another artist but still make a card that looks and feels like me. I chose to CASE this card by Shelly. She used a detailed image of a baby boy's outfit and the color combo of Groovy Guava and Soft Sky. I used her layout and all of her detail ideas, but changed the image and color scheme.

Another thing Shelly does that I would love to emulate is the way she leaves so many positive, encouraging comments on other stampers' cards. I don't spend nearly enough time in the gallery, giving feedback -- it seems like I have barely enough time to get something made and get it uploaded before having to run off. Shelly is really generous in the time and effort she takes to make everyone posting at SCS feel special. Thanks, Shelly!

By the way, I used my Cuttlebug with a Fiskar's Texture Plate (Lace) to emboss the background layers on this card. Whenever I mention that I do that, a lot of people email me and ask how to do it. It's really easy, especially compared to doing it by hand with that tiny tool Fiskar's makes; I tried that for about two seconds before realizing it would surely drive me insane. Here's the Cuttlebug sandwich you'll need: your A plate, the Texture plate you want to use (desired texture side up), your cardstock ('good' side toward the texture plate; I mist mine lightly with water to get a good emboss because the texture plates are more shallow than Cuttlebug embossing folders), rubber gasket (this is a small piece of rubber you can find at Lowe's or any plumbing supply store) and then your C plate on top. Now, you're ready run it through the Cuttlebug!

Supplies used -- Stamps: image and sentiment by Elzybells N.A.; Paper: Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, Georgia Pacific White; Ink: Brilliance Archival Graphite Black; Accessories: Cuttlebug, Fiskars Lace Texture Plate, Marvy Uchida Mega and Giga Scallop Oval punch, Crop-a-Dile, small hole punch, ribbon, Copic Sketch and Spica markers, 3-D Dots, corner punch.

Figure 8

I just finished these Elzybells ATCs for one of Taylor Vanbruggen's famous ATC swaps. This is first time to participate in one Taylor's swaps, and I'm excited to see what I get back. I just love things that are miniature, and ATCs are kind of a miniature card, don't you think? This ATC was inspired by the classic Schoolhouse Rock episode, "Figure 8" ("If you skate, you would be great/If you could make a figure 8..."). I have to say, I think it's pretty darn adorable!

Elzybell's skating tracks were made via paper piercing, and she's colored in with a combination of Copic Sketch and Spica markers. Her jade-colored outfit was colored with Tombow ABT marker # 281. The image layer was a tiny bit plain on it's own, so inked the edges with silver chalk ink, and then added a bit of Martha ribbon and snowflake brads on the empty corners. The background patterned paper is by EK Success, and the base layer cardstock is Soft Sky.

Supplies used -- Stamps: Elzybells NA Ice Skater; Paper: Soft Sky and Shimmery White by SU!, patterned paper by EK Success; Ink: Brilliance Archival Graphite Black, Colorbox silver chalk ink; Accessories: Copic Sketch and Spica markers, Tombow ABT marker # 281, paper piercer, ribbon by Martha Stewart for Michael's, Making Memories snowflake brads.

Diva Update!
A week or so ago I posted about how our Lab puppy, Diva, was at dog-training boot camp. Here's the latest email I received from the trainer:

Diva has had a little set back with her stay. This is normal. Looking at 2 weeks, she is sitting immediately when you stop. Her down is reluctant but there, there is no more jumping on people. She will move into our house this weekend to finish her house breaking, and house etiquette. All in all she is doing great. Her only fault is her pray drive, wanting to chase anything that runs, but she will listen to you to come back and as she matures, so will her focus. I know she is as excited about going home as you are.

I interpret this to mean she should be home in a couple of weeks? We miss you, Diva!

A Sketch For You To Try!

It's Saturday, so you know what that means -- Jen del Muro has another Sketch for You to Try! Here's my interpretation of Jen's latest sketch. I adore these sweet Elzybell stamps, and this is my favorite of all the images. In fact, it was the first one I put in my online basket. I just love how she's dreaming away while a silhouette of Santa and his sleigh crossing the full moon is glimpsed through her window. Precious!!

The card is a 4.25" x 4.25" square. I colored in the image with my Copics. The stars, snow, and window frame were colored with a white pen, and Elzy has Copic Spica glitter pen highlights in her lovely copper-colored hair. I wanted to add a little embellishment, but didn't want to distract from the image, so I opted for a bit of embroidery floss hand-stitching on the corners of the image. The horizontal and vertical panels were ran through the Cuttlebug, and the sentiment was heat embossed with jade embossing powder.

Be sure to check out my buddies Shannan Tuebner and Susan Liles's blogs to see how they've used the same sketch!

Supplies used -- Stamps: Christmas Memories by Elzybells NA; sentiment from the Solo B set by Close To My Heart; Ink: Staz-On Timber Brown, VersaMark; Paper: Creamy Caramel, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Shimmery White, patterned paper by My Mind's Eye; Accessories: Cuttlebug, Copic Sketch and Spica markers, Uniball Signo white pen, jade embossing powder, embroidery floss, Nestabilities, Tonic distressing tool, 3-D Dots.

Long Time No See!

Man, it has been the craziest week and a half EVER! So crazy, I need to save the bulk of it for FREAKY FRIDAY. Finally, however, I was able to get a little inky this evening, and I couldn't resist playing with my brand-spankin' new Elzybells stamps! When I saw that banner on SCS last week, I swear a Hallelujah chorus was playing on the soundtrack of my mind. Are they not the cutest, sweetest little images ever?! I tell ya, that Linda at A Muse (who discovered these wonderful imports from the UK and is now Elzybell's exclusive US distributor) is one sharp cookie with her finger on the pulse of the stamping universe. (Note: I don't know Linda personally, nor am I affiliated in any way with A Muse Artstamps, other than the fact that I am slavishly devoted to everything they do and I'm even wearing a cute A Muse tee-shirt as I type this. Yes, it's that bad.)

So, for my first card in what seems like an eternity, I combined three of this week's challenges:

Color Challenge 137: to use Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, and Soft Sky;
Sketch Challenge 147; and
Ways To Use It Challenge 137: to use the masking technique.

Color challenge -- well, I used those colors. Sketch Challenge? I used the sketch. Ways to Use it: Elzybell, her sled, and the snow was masked off to create the sky background by stipple brushing Soft Sky. Both the image and the sentiment are Elzybells; based on the size of the image layer, I wanted to stagger the sentiment. In order to do so with Purely Pomegranate (which as a current In Color -- aka temporary -- SU! color, PP doesn't have its own marker to ink the stamp with, and I'm not careful enough to be able to ink just a bit of the sentiment with an ink pad), I brushed re-inker on the sentiment stamp and positioned it with my beloved Stamp-A-Majig (definitely a tool that would make it to the proverbial Desert Island with me). Elzy (that's what I call her, for short)'s coat is trimmed in Liquid Applique, and her tree is decorated with A Muse twinkle stickers. She's colored with Copic Sketch Markers and SU Re-inkers in Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky. There are touches of sparkle throughout, thanks to Copic Spica Markers, though I'm not sure they show up in the photo.

Supplies used -- Stamps: Girl with Sleigh and sentiment by Elzybells Art Stamps, distributed by A Muse Artstamps, Canvas bg by SU!; Paper (SU! unless otherwise noted): Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky dp, Nena Crest Solar White (available from Ellen Hutson's online store); Ink: Brilliance Archival Graphite Black, SU! Reinkers in Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky; Accessories: Copic Sketch and Spica Markers, A Muse Twinkle Stickers, stipple brush, SU! ribbon, snowflake brads by Creative Impressions, Nestabilities, Liquid Applique.

Other Big News...
I was pleasantly surprised last week to find an email inviting me to be a member of Starving Artistamps Design Team! I had applied a while back for the DT call, having fallen MADLY in love with the DoodleFactory images that SA distributes. I say I love a lot of stamps -- and I do -- but DoodleFactory? Those images are truly muse-like for me. I just love, love, love their unique-ness. They're quirky and subversive while at the same time adorable; and for me, that is an irresistible combination. Anyway, I figured Tracey Berkey (owner/operator of Starving Artistamps) must be one cool chick to realize the potential of something as off the beaten path as DoodleFactory, so I REALLY, REALLY wanted to be a part of the SA DT. I've applied for a couple of other DTs in the past and didn't make the cut, but those didn't bother me so much. I've written in an earlier post about rejection just meaning you haven't found your 'tribe' yet, but this was one tribe I felt I was meant to be a part of. I'm really grateful that Tracey agreed, and I'm stoked to be on a team with the like of such stamping luminaries as the ROCKIN' TexasJodyLynn aka Jody Morrow, annieht aka Ana Wolfarht, andreasscraps aka Andrea Cloutier, Cammie aka Carolyn King, Donnarie aka Donna Duquette, SweetHeidiJo aka Heidi Kingery, Jan Tink aka Janine Tinklenberg, Wasatch Wizard (and designer of the awesome and new-to-me stamps, Artful Inkables, available through SA) aka Kristin Soboloski, tashers aka Natasha Trupp, stampingpam aka Pam Varnell, stamps4funinCA aka Tosha Leyendekker, and Valorie Wibbens (not sure of her SCS screen name yet!). I'll have links to all of these amazing stampers' blogs or galleries in a special section soon. I hope you'll take the time to get to know their work, as I'm certain you'll find so much to inspire you.

Coming tomorrow: Freaky Friday and all the deets regarding my time in the white hot spotlight of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and -- almost as thrilling -- SCS Featured Stamper! In the meantime, I'm in desperate need of some sleep to recover from all the recent excitement!