A Few Cards...

My mojo's been a little wonky the last few days, but I've had to forge ahead and make some cards anyway. Don't hurt yourself laughing, okay?

This first card I made today, and I guess it's not too bad. I was hoping for something with more POW, but ended up with a sweet little birthday card for my nurse.

Stamps: Birthdays Count, Always, Always in Bloom wheel
Colors: Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver
And: Silver Detail Embossing Powder, Scallop Border punch, small circle punch, white taffeta ribbon, sponge


The card below is one of the ugliest cards I've ever made -- definitely a case of a good idea gone bad. Maybe if I make the candle a pastel color, and print the "Look Who's Turning 1" in black... or maybe this should just end up in a circular file!

Stamps: Big Birthday Candle, Really Retro
Colors: All Wrong (I should stick with SU! products that I *know* will work together when my mojo's off!)


Hopefully your eyes aren't bleeding and you can look at the next one, which is a little better.

Stamps: Just B, Really Retro, Oval All, Three for You
Colors: Mauve Mist (a retired SU! color), Lavendar Lace
And: Paper from a DCWV Glitter Stack, Flower Trio punch, Oval and Scallop Oval punches, Star Dust Stickles, cool ribbon found on my worktable (smile), Stampin' Dimensionals


The two party invitations were choices I gave to my friend in Georgia (hi, Nikki!) for the upcoming first birthday party for her granddaughter (hugs to Samantha!). I had planned to give Nikki a couple more choices, especially since the one was such a dud; but she really like the purple one, so that's the one I'll be making multiples of. Gosh, how can Sam be a year old already? She was just born!

Wild Birthday Card

My friend and stamping buddy Christina is having a birthday this week, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINA!), so that naturally calls for the making of a birthday card!



This is one of those cards that took on a mind of its own in the making. I started out with some paper from a DCWV Glitter Stack, and the card just sort of evolved into a multi-layered, colorful "thing." Although it's wilder than my usual style, I really like how it turned out.

Pet Sympathy Cards

I was called on to make some pet sympathy cards recently. It's never fun, but I do my best to honor the pets and console their parents.



This first one is for the brother of one of my BFFs who had to say goodbye to his German Shepherd companion. I googled and found this picture online, printed it in black and white and colored it with chalks. The photo doesn't capture the rich colors you'd see in person.






The next two cards were made in honor of Steve the cat, and since I know and love Steve these cards were more difficult than usual.

More Autumn Days

I recently stamped and markered a bunch of pheasants from SU!'s Autumn Days set which I was borrowing. I'll eventually get this wonderful set for myself, but today I was content to assemble the pieces I created while my NC friends were visiting.



Stamps: Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Warmest Regards

Colors: Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Ruby Red

Punches: Modern Label, Designer Label, Word Window, Ticket Corner, 1" Circle

And: Stampin' Dimensionals, Color Spritzer, In Color markers, grosgrain ribbon

Quick Asian Artistry Card

My BFFs from North Carolina came to visit this week, and in the course of chatting and chowing and chuckling I managed to start seven different cards. Here's one of them.



Stamp set: Asian Artistry

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo

And: In Color markers, Melon Mambo polka-dotted grosgrain, color spritzer tool (my new favorite toy!), square gold brads (non-SU!)






My hot water heater broke this week, so I've been dealing with clean-up and downstairs neighbors and all kinds of frustrations that are keeping me from stamping as much as I'd like. I'm also working on a couple sympathy cards that I can't show at this time. After that, I hope to finish up the cards I started earlier this week, and then come up with some ideas for a baby first birthday party I've been asked to make invitations for.



I also realized this morning that it's officially "birthday season" -- oddly enough, most of my close friends have birthdays in August and September, with a few stragglers in October. Looks like I've got plenty to keep myself busy and out of trouble for awhile! :)

Just Jessica

In my many years of being a stamper, I'm sure I've used thousands of stamps -- some once or twice, some over and over again. I "met" Just Jessica (by Hero Arts) shortly after I moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Columbus, Ohio, and Jessica has since become one of my most cherished stamps. I've used her to make countless birthday, holiday, and special occasion cards as well as paper dolls, tags, gift wrapping, and framed art. I just love paper piecing distinctive outfits for her using different stamps and designer papers! I've been neglecting poor Jessica for over a year now, so I pulled her out this afternoon to put her to work once again.



Hero Arts stamps: Just Jessica, Handwritten for You

Stampin' Up! stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Canvas background

And: Trio Flower punch, Word Window punch, handheld 1/8" circle punch, Stampin' Write markers, Stampin' Dimensionals



Today's first Jessica card has a Pretty in Pink card base stamped with the Canvas background in Rose Red. A bit of Bashful Blue offsets the bright colors in the Raspberry Tart designer series paper.






My second card for the day features Jessica wearing a Raspberry Tart print dress again, but this time with Kiwi Kiss offsetting the print on a Cameo Coral card base. I found some non-SU! brads in my stash that work perfectly with these colors.






I used the new In Colors Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and Crushed Curry in my last card for the day. I don't have my In Color markers yet, so I just used a watercolor brush to paint some reinker for Jessica's shirt and tights. I couldn't work with these colors and NOT use the new polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon!




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I'm wondering if any of my readers are noticing an improved picture quality on today's posts. I have a new camera with an auto-focus feature (hooray!), and it seems to be adjusting the lighting as well. I still have to learn the ins and outs of this new camera, but I'm thinking the difference is already noticeable... ?



Wishing you a peace-filled day!

Joyce Spear

a.k.a. StamperJoyce

A Bad Day for Surfing

I have to share this hilarious card made by my friend Katie. Only she would see this macabre scene in SU!'s cheery set Just Beachy!






I'm not sure what cracks me up more, the piranhas chomping on the surfboard and sandal, or the expressions on the faces of the trio of fishes looking for lunch. Either way -- thank you, Katie, for your most unusual perspective!

Asian Artistry Gold Embossed

I pulled out my gold embossing powder and played a bit with the Asian Artistry hostess set again this evening. The flower images are colored in with markers.



Cameo Coral and Old Olive:






Real Red and Glorious Green:






Pretty in Pink and Garden Green:

Asian Artistry

I wanted to play with the Level 2 Hostess Set Asian Artistry today, but I wasn't feeling terribly adventurous -- so ended up with three pretty simple cards.



My dear friends in North Carolina (Hi Katie! Hi Fonda!) introduced me to the Dotted Wave edger punch from EK Success by punching up a pile of SU! cardstock for me to use as card bases or whatever. (I know you're shocked to read that as soon as I saw the borders this punch makes, I had to get a punch of my own!) That batch of cardstock was calling out to me this afternoon to be used, so that's how I ended up resurrecting my old color friend Wild Wasabi for this first card.



Colors: Wild Wasabi and Almost Amethyst

Additional Supplies: Keytag punch, pastel and dragonfly brads from my stash, Stampin' Dimensionals






My second card is similar, but this time colors are Certainly Celery and Cameo Coral.






As sweet as these two cards came out, I was starting to put myself to sleep, so I dragged out a different punch, this one by Martha Stewart, and decided to make a vertical card. Colors are yummy Burmuda Bay, Cameo Coral, and Basic Black. I don't have my new In Color markers yet -- they're on their way! -- so I opted to use a watercolor brush to color in the bird with Burmuda Bay reinker. Despite reading a million times (not that I ever exaggerate) about the quality issues with the Burmuda Bay inkpads and reinkers, I puzzled for awhile over why the bird wasn't the same color as the card base. (Did I mention my brain was a bit sluggish today?) Mental note: Do not use the Burmuda Bay inkpad or reinker until I have my replacements!






Oh! I almost forgot to mention... See those three black dots on the card? Those are not brads. (Gasp!) I thought I'd be hip and trendy and do what the big girls are all doing these days; namely, I used a hand hole punch to make the circles and then covered them with Crystal Effects. Then began the grueling work of watching a two-hour movie (A Room with a View) while the CE dried before I could finish assembling the card.



Ohh!! I got the COOLEST card today that I can't wait to show you! I tried to take a picture of it tonight, but I just couldn't do it justice. You'll have to wait until my new camera (*see Joyce do her happy dance*) arrives so that I can get a decent photo of it. You'll either be amused like me, or else worry about my sick friend who came up with the idea. Stay tuned!

Playing with Chickens

I played with a free digital stamp and a sketch challenge from The Digi Shack this afternoon. For better or for worse, here is the result:






The caption reads, "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you."



Colors: Stampin' Up!'s new Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, and Soft Suede; Ruby Red


Backgroud DSP: from SU!'s Razzleberry Lemonade

And: SU!'s Soft Suede polka-dotted grosgrain ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, paper piercing tools, blender pens

More Butterflies

I felt compelled to play with the Field of Depth technique some more, and ended up with four additional cards with the butterfly theme. On this batch I used the same butterfly from the background as the focal image. I embellished with Opaline half pearls instead of metallic ribbon, and like the effect better. On one of the cards I used white gel pen instead of paper piercing the scallops.






As I was puttering about with this project, I had a light bulb moment! Why not use silver Encore metallic ink in place of Going Grey dye ink? Although I'm not sure the photo below does it justice, I'm quite pleased with the results. (As ever, click on the photo to enlarge it.)






I wouldn't mind making another dozen butterfly Field of Depth cards, but I imagine it would get pretty dull for my readers. I will definitely be experimenting with this technique again in the future, though.