"Waiting for ther New Year"

Tuesday, December 28, 2010


Well, Christmas is over. The only thing left to do is stand in the returns lines, which is long and boring. I decided to skip that annual tradition and keep everything that I recieved. So, look out there might be some re-gifting.

The image I used for todays card is from "The Angel Company". It is the larger version of a stamp that I used previously. It is called "Who Loves Ya" TA-3324.The image resembles a "Magnolia" image.

Here is my rendition of the stamped image;


"Waiting for the New Year"


I of course used my Copic makers to color the image. The colors used were;
Face; E0000,E000, E00
Dress; R83,R85,R87
Bench; B01,B05 C1,C3
Hair; Y23,YR23,E13
The background papers used on this card are from a set called "Miss Moxie" from "The Angel Company". Very pretty paper setr and coordinates quite well. The base for the card is a heavy weight card stock in a dark brow from "The Angel Company".The flowers are from a small can of flowers that are from "Prima". I added a few stickles, of course, every card has to have some Stickles.
That's about all for now. Hope all of your return lines are short.
Please leave a comment if you enjoy this card. Your comments are always appreciated an welcome.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

"Last Christmas Card" I promise

Tuesday, December 21, 2010


I promise this is the last Christmas card for the year. My wife asked me for two more cards, but only needed one. I guess this one will be saved for next year.

I used the "Merry Christmas Tilda" for this one. It's a cute image and fairly easy to color. Of course I colored it with my Copic markers. The colors used were;

Face; E0000,E000, E00
Dress;YG03,YG05,YG09
Stockings and Blouse; R22,R24,R27,R29
Letters; Spica Pens in Red,Yellow,Green


"Merry Christmas Tilda"


The Tilda image was cut out using a Spellbinder Nesstibility Scalloped Oval die.I used the undercut method to leave some of the image outside of the oval. Takes a little work, but well worth it.

The background paper used were from my scrap stash. The flower is from "Prima" and the snow flakes and brads are from my open draw stash. Sorry I don't keep track of where some of the items come from.

So, all and all I am pretty pleased with this card, although not very fancy I like it.

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a very safe and happy holiday season. Looking forward to seeing all of your great work in the new year.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Candy Cane Tilda"

Saturday, December 18, 2010


I thought I was done doing Christmas cards. Surprise, surprise, the wife needed two more. That makes 58 cards completed.


Todays card is called "Tilda with Candy Cane. It is a Magnolia stamp that I have had for awhile. But is very Christmasie, if that a word.


"Tilda with Candy Cane"


Copic colors used for this card were;

Face; E0000,E000,E0
Dress; R22,R24,R27,R29
Stockings; YG03,YG07,YG09
Shoes; C1,C3,C7

It is of course colored with Copic markers. The papers used for this card were scraps that I had in my stash. I never throw paper away, you never know when you will need it. The base card was embossed wit a Cuddlebug embossing folder. I cut out Tilda with a Spellbinder Scalloped Oval die using the over hang method to have the feet outside the oval.

Pretty simple card. Hopefully the last one for the year.

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Bob L.

Scenic Cards and another Product Review

Tuesday, December 14, 2010


Well, we are about as ready as we are going to get for this Christmas, so on- wards we go.

Today I am presenting two cards that I made from a "Heartfelt Creations". The two scenes are made from a set called "Scenic Combo"HCP3355. It contains two different scenes. One is of a water mill on a pond and the other is a mountain scene. For about $15.00 it's a steal. They also sell Spellbinder dies that go with the images to give a window cut out and a window oval. Check them out they are very interesting.

Now for the cards. I call the first one "Mountain Cabin";

"Mountain Cabin"


The image was colored with Copic markers, of course. I cut out the image freehand following the outlines of the image. I edged the image with brown ink, got a little sloppy doing this as you can see. The scene was popped up along with the sentiment. The sentiment is from "The Angel Company" and is called "Life is Short". The mating was offset.

The second scene I used the "Window Die" HCD708 to frame the image;

"Out the Window"

This card was made using the second image in the set. I cut out the window frame using the die from "HeartfeltCreations" it is call "Fancy Window/Frame Die" HCD708. I used a paper from "The Paper Temptress" called "Gold Sparkle". Very nice gold sparkle paper. The background paper is from "The Angel Company" and is called "Winchester". The frame was popped up and a few copper glitter dots from "Jessie James" were adde to the corners. Niced touch with the frame.

I loved making these cards. Give it a try, and let me see what you come up with.

"Product Review of the Cricut Imagine"

I have a new toy, the new Cricut Imagine. My wife says I have to many toys, but as long as I have room, I'll probably keep buying them. When I get tired of them, someone gets a good buy.

My first impression of the Cricut Imagine is, "Boy is it Heavy". It weighs about 28 pounds is 23 1/2" long. Pretty hefty!!!

"Cricut Imagine Front View"


Nice looking machine. The Imagine is a hybrid between a printer and an Cricut Expression. It not only cuts out the image, but also prints it in color. So, all you need is 12"x12" white cardstock. What is really impressive is that the imagine can be cut out two ways.

  1. As a single flat image
  2. As a paper piecing image, with each element printed and cutout. This allowes you to pop up the seperate elements for a 3-D image.

The Image will use all of the original cartridges plus the new Image cartridges. There are two slots on the machine. The one to the right of the main screen is for the Imagine cartridge. The one on the left is for your original cartridges. One thing I have found out is to plug in the original cartridge after the Imagine cartridge and the machine has fully booted up.

Here is a view of the "Main Screen"

"Main Screen"







The main screen reminds me of of the "Gypsy". The more that you use it the more you are reminded of the "Gypsy".

The only problem that I had setting up the Imagine, was uploading the updates. The problem was that my virus software was running. Once I disabled the software, everything loaded properly.

One other thing. The mats for the Expression may look the same but they are not, as you will notice from the picture below.

"Cricut Imagine Mat"




As you will notice from the picture above, the Imagine mat has black lines around the border. These line allowe the Image to find and cut the images that you print. The mat that comes with the Imagine appears to not be very sticky, but it works. A suggestion to make the mat stickier is to take the Cricut Scrapper and rub the mat down hard. This worked for me.

All and All the Cricut Imagine is an impressive machine. I'm still working with it and will give you updates and suggestions as I come up with them.

I have not had any problems with the "Imagine"as reported on other blogs. But, the more I use it time will see.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Last Christmas Card"

Wednesday, December 8, 2010


YaYaYa!!! The wife says I have made enough Christmas cards. It kind of surprised me because I only made 55 or 56.

The card I am posting today is the last version. It was made with a stamp set that I rented from "Raisinboat stamps" and it's called "Nature's Reflection". Very versatile stamp set. Here is the card;


"Musical Christmas"


The only thing that is unusual about the card make up is that the background paper used was printed on my new "Cricut Imagine". More about the Cricut Imagine at a later date when I'll do a product review. The musical notes background paper printed really well and comparatively quick.

The cardstock used for the card came from the "Papertemptress". I love doing business with her store, she is very custmer orientated and give great service.

The jewels on the trees are from I-Rock heat set jewels. I may have gone a little overboard with the jewels, but what the heck, "you can never have to much bling".

I know this is a short post, but I have to get to the Post Office and stand in line to mail some packages out.

Remember, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"One More for Xmas" and a Review of Wizard Grand Calibur

Friday, December 3, 2010


I'm still working on Christmas cards. The more I make the simpler the design get. This one was done in about 15 minutes and it shows.

It's of one of my favorite xmas flowers. The poinsettia. I colored the image with Copic marker in the folowing colors;

Flower- R35,R37,R39

Leaves-G14,G16,G17

Shadows-G00,C1

Here is the card that I am presenting today;

"Xmas Flower"





I double stamped the poinsettia so that I could cut out the small part of the flower and pop it up. The background paper that I used was from "Design9 Studio" and was appropriately called "Poinsettia". The mat paper was from the Paper Temptress called "Gold Sparkle". A little ink was used around the edges of the image and some Stickles added.

Very simple and quick card . I hope you like it.

"Product Review of Wizard Grand Calibur"

The Grand Calibur by Spellbinder is a pretty hefty machine. It gives you the impression that it was built to last just like the original machine the Wizard, the older crank machine. From using this machine it proves to be very durable and strong. The Grand Calibur weighs about 10 pounds, but move and can be carried quit easy.



"Grand Calibur Front View"




The feed rollers in the machine are very large, and exsert a lot of pressure on what ever die or embossing folder that you feed through. The advantage to this is with the embossing folders you get very deep embossed results.


Have you ever had a Spellbinder die that would not cut completely? Not with this bad boy. I have tried every die that I have, my wife says to many, and they cut with ease. Also because of the size of the plates, 8 1/2" X 11", you can cut a few dies a the same time.


"Grand Calibur Plates"



All of the plates shown above come standard with the machine, no extras to buy. The package also includes a 8 1/2"X 11" embossing mat. Nice touch!!!

One other feature of the machine is that it has a vacuum securing function, it secures it to you work surface very tight so that it does not move around.

You are able to use a lot of the dies that you already have. I have used the Spellbinders, Quic-Kutz, and Sizzlets. One handy cap is that you can not use the larger dies, tickness wise.

All in all I would give it an "A-" rating

Well, that's all for today. Remember your comments are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

In Honour of "Black Friday"

Friday, November 26, 2010


This year I am not participating in one of my favorite holidays, "Black Friday". It's not that I not a frugal shopper, but that I have so much stuff, that I don't in a lot of cases know WHAT I have. One of these days I have to make a list, but I'm not sure that I have enough paper to make a list on.


So in honour of you few that don't have everything, I have dedicated this card to you.


"Happy Black Friday"


Once again, I have colored the image with my Copic markers, but I stamped the image on GP cardstock from Wal-Mart. There is some bleeding. I think I will restrict my cardstock to my favorite "Cryogen". I think the card says it all, not that it's just women out there shopping, I know a lot of men that are out there too.

I don't want to hold you up, so get out there and shop.

On my next post I will do a review of the Wizard "Grand Caliber" a new die cutter from Spellbinder.

Remember, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY shopping.

Bob L.

"Waiting for Mail"

Monday, November 22,2010


This is the time of the year when we all keep pretty close watch on our mail boxes. Why, because we get those cards from people that we only hear from at this time of the year. They update us on the history of that year in thier life.


The missive is in the form of a long letter stuffed in a card. They are always welcome, but some time very sad, because we have not kept in contact more often.


My image today, is of my lonely mail box.

"Waiting for Mail"



The image is from "Raisinboat" stamp. it is from a set called "Joyous Garden, the same set I used for my last card. Although the color on the image and sentiment mats is a royal blue it shows in the picture a black. I colored the image with Copic markers. The background mat for the sentiment was punched with a new Martha Stewart "Punch all Over" punch that I purchased yesterday. I did a little inking around the edges of the image and the sentiment with ink from a Hybride Palette "Cote d'Azure" blue. I applied the ink with a sponge. The sentiment stamp is from "Hero Arts" it is called "Time to Enjoy" (F1843). The bow was matched to the ink color that I edged the image with.


I added some stickles to give the card some bling.


Simple card, but I like the finished card.


Your comments or questions are always welcome.


Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

"Peaceful Meadow and Product Review"

Friday, November 19, 2010


Today, I have two things for you. The first one is a card that I made yesterday at our Thursday Stamp Club. The second is a product review of a new type of punch by Martha Stewart.

The card I have today is from a set that I rented from "Raisinboat Stamps". The set is called "Joyous Garden". Very cute set and well worth the rental price.


"Peaceful Meadow"


The image was stamped with Memento Tuxcedo Black ink, and colored with my Copic markers on "Heavenly White" paper. The main background paper was from a "BasicGrey" collection called "Boxer". The mat paper is from the "Paper Temptress' it is called "Gold Sparkle". This paper is one of my favorite gold papers.


The flowers in the upper left corner are made using a punch. Very cute and easy to make in the color of your choice to match the colors in your card.

This card reminds me of what is to come after the long cold winter. Hope it inspires you.

Product Review

My wife says I have to have everything new that comes on the market. This is probably true to some extent. When I find something new I ask myself how can I use this item, if the answer is positive, I buy it.

The product that I bought yesterday was an unusual punch from Martha Stewart. The name of the punch series is "Punch all Over". And that exactly what it does. It will punch in the middle of any size sheet of paper. They can be order at the "Crop Stop" or "Michaels" is also carrying them, they are in stock.

"Martha Stewart Stars Punch all Over"


The punch is about three inches square and pretty light, but will cut through pretty thick cardstock. Here is the inside of the punch.


"Inside Punch"


As you will see on the picture, the four shiny dots on all four corners of the punch are magnets. The magnets can only be matched up one way. On the picture in the bottom right corner you can see a beveled edge. All of the rest of the corners are rounded. You place your paper on the base, and then lining up the bevels you place the top piece on and punch. Very simple and quick.


"Sample"



In the sample, I punched a 3"X5 1/2" piece of cardstock. Using the punch it is very simple to do. The punch work well and can add some very nice patterns and texture to your projects. The sample above would work very well for Christmas projects.

Well that's all for today, I'm off to do some more shopping.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Thank You Friend"

Sunday, November 14, 2010


I am getting ready to teach some classes in a watercolor mode. The stamps that I am using is "Art Impressions" element stamps. They are very easy to use and give a very nice effect, just like real watercoloring.

I have two samples to show you today. They are ones that I use for my beginners class. Very simple to do once you have the basics down.

Here is the first one;

"Being Grateful"



And here is the second one in a flower theme;


"Thank You Friend"



With just a few element stamps, you can make up many different images to work with. I buy the stamps unmounted because of the price and the ease of use on the clear acrylic blocks.

Hope you enjoy looking at them. Your comments are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Back To Xmas Cards"

Saturday, November 6, 2010



Well, atleast my "Honey Do" list is getting shorter. So far I have tiled two bathrooms, a fire place, installed 9 doors and crown molding and alot of painting. My better half said I deserved a break. yayay!!!

I did three cards at our Thursday club meeting. All three are Christmas themes. The two that I am posting today are very simple cards, I need the simple cards so that I can get to 50 to 70 cards made to send out.

The two cards that I am postin today are from a stamp set from "Just-Rite Stamps". As I said they are very simple cards, but show well. They of course colored with Copic markers.

Here are the two that I made Thursday;

"Just-Rite Nut Cracker"



And here is the second card;


"Just-Rite Snowman"



As you can see, they are as I said very simple cards to make. A little stamping, a little layering, an walla you have two cards done. With the "Just-Rite stamps you can do as little coloring or as much as you want. On both of these cards I used the Copic Spica pens to add a bit of glitter. The matting is a little different, but it turned out well. What do you think?

Now that my wife has given me a break from the "Honey Do" list, maybe I can get some of my Christmas cards made. How is everyone else doing on thier Christmas projects???

That's all for today. Remember your comments are always welcom and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Thoughts of Christmas"

Sunday, October 24, 2010


Okay, so I am focused of Christmas. It usually take me a while to get in the spirit, but this year I'm trying to get a head start.

The card that I have posted today is from the "Penny Black" Christmas series. It's a very Christmasy, if that's a word, and very simple to do.

Here is the card;

"Thoughts of Christmas"


The image was stamped on and ivory cardstock and stamped in a Brilliance "Coffee Bean" ink. The edges were torn and edges with the same ink. I added colored to the pine boughs with Copic markers and added sparkle to the boughs with a clear Spica marker.

The fun part of this card is the flower. It is a stamp set from "Heartfelt Creations" from a set called "Lily Petals". What makes it so easy to use is that they also sell a matching Spellbinder set that works with this stamp called "Perfect Petals". Very easy to do, no cutting by hand. The flower was made up of two petal sizes, six of each size. After they were stamped and cut, I curled the petals slightly. After assembly the flower was sprayed with Glimmer Mist.

One other fact is that the card is a center fold.

Hope you enjoy todays posting, and leave a comment.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"First Christmas Card"

Sunday, October 17, 2010

It's time to start thinking about Christmas cards. We, the wife and I, usually send out about 50 to 70 cards each year, so I thought I would get a head start.


Today I am posting a card that was done with an image from "Just-Rite Stamps". They are so simple to use and color that I just can't resist using them.

Here is my first card;

"Seasons Greetings"


Just about all of the papers used for this card were from "The PaperTemptress". The papers used were "Gold Sparkle #111"for the matting on the image and sentiment, "Heavenly White"for the image and the sentiment, and "Red Pepper Columns" for the card body. The flower is from "Prima" it adds a nice touch.


The other paper that I used was the holly background paper from "BoBunny" called "St. Nick Holly Berry". It's a very nice double sided paper with stripes on the other side.

The image of course was colored with my trusty Copic markers. The colors used were;

Face; E000,E0,R20
Suit and Hat. R22, R24,R27,R29
Hat Trim; BG10
Beard; C01

It's a fairly simple card, but it's not one that I will send to everyone. Only the people that I know would enjoy a hand made card.

That's it for today, now back to my "HoneyDo List"

Hope you enjoy todays card. Your comments are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Boo To You"

Friday, October 8, 2010

Well, we are getting to the spooky season. So, in honor of Halloween I have posted this card to get you in the mood.




The stamp used for this card is from "Outline Stamps" and "The Stamping Studio". I have always thought of "Outline Stamp' as a company that made stamps that you stamped multiple copies of, colored and than cut out and stacked with pop-dots to form the image. That's not the case with some of thier newer stamps. As you can see from this card.
The image was stamped on Cryogen cardstock, which I bought from "The Paper Temptress". I love to color on this paper. And, of course I colored it with my Copic markers.



Here is the card;


"Boo To U"

The spider web and the sentiment were stamped on vellum. I cut them out with an EK Success punch called "Grass". Most of the ladies that I stamp with call it "Mouse Nibbles". The edges were touched up with a black Sharpie.
A little Spica pen color was added to the owl wings and the flower to give it some sparkle.

Hope you enjoy it and that you will leave a comment.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Copic Airbrushed Seascape"

Sunday, October 3, 2010
Last Thursday at our weekly stamp club meeting I decided to do a couple of airbrushed seascapes. I did not have my compressor with me, but I did have my ABS1 system and a can of air.

The scenes are made up of stamps that I recieved from "Raisinboat Stamps". They are silouette stamps so they work quite well with airbrushed backgrounds.


Here are the two cards that I made;


"Relax by the Sea"

And here is the second card;



"Lighthouse by the Sea"


To airbrush the backgrounds, I use text weight paper as a shield. I rip the paper to the shape that I need for the scene. Save the torn pieces, because you will need them for the reverse shield. Very simple, but effective.
All of the stamping of the images from the stamp sets was done in a Memento, Tuxcedo Black. Where ever I did not get a good solid black image I filled in with a black Copic marker.
Where I wanted sea gulls, I used as black Copic Multiliner pen.
The waves and the foam along the surf line were made using a white gel pen.The other embelishments were hemp twine and some seashells. The seashells were painted with a Krylon Copper Leafing pen.
Don't be afraid of trying airbrushing with you Copics, it's easy, give it a try.
Hope you enjoy and are inpired to give it a try.
Now I back to my honey do list, home improvement.
Your comments are always appreciated, and I enjoy reading them.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

"Happy Harvest"

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Well, according to the calendar it's fall. We have not seen much of a change in the temperature, but if the calendar says it's fall, IT'S FALL.

The card I am presenting today, is a stamp set from "The Angel Company" called "Hedgehog Happiness". The stamped image is actually made up of three of the eleven images included in the set. The set includes to make cards for a number of holidays, including Valentines Day, Christmas, Easter, and Spring. Great set, and very flexible set.

I have made the card as a Fall or Halloween card;


"Happy Harvest"




First I stamp the hedgehog with the wagon, then the pumpkins in the wagon. I cut a mask to cover the wagon and pumpkins and stamped the trees. The image was stamped on Cryogen paper, my favorite, and colored with Copic markers. The colors I used were;

  • Hedgehog; E11,E13,C0,C3
  • Wagon; B01,B02,B04
  • Pumpkin; YR02, YR07
  • Trees; YG09,YG07YG67

After the image was colored I added "Crystal Glaze" to the pumpkins. You can see this in the picture. A little silver glitter pen was added to the hub caps on the wagon and on the tree. I used a Copic multiliner black poen to add the spikes to the fur of the hedgehog. The copper glitter dot are from "Jesse James"

It's a bright cheerful card and I hope you enjoy it.

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Copic Marker Paper Blending Test"

Tuesday, September 21, 2010


So many papers work with Copic Markers, but which one is the best one to use. I decided to do a little test to see which one I like the best.
In this test I tried three different pieces of cardstock;

Caboodles, The Angel Company ($.44per sheet)
Cryogen ($.37 per sheet)
Copic X-press It Blending Cardstock ($.36 per sheet)

I used the same image from "The Angel Company" called "Lil' Cuties". The image is rather small, 1 1/4" X 2", so you are working in a rather small area. I also used the same colors on each image. Overall the papers blended about the same. The feel of the paper differ a little. The Copic X-Press It has a very smooth feel. The Angel Company Caboodles has just a little tooth to it, but it is still very smooth. The Cryogen is sort of an off white has a little tooth to it, but has an iridescent sparkle to it which shows up through the copics.

Here is the samples of the images that I colored;

"The Angel Company, Caboodles"



Blends very well, and cleans up well if you go outside of the lines.


"Cryogen"


The "Cryogen" paper blends very well and also cleans up well. The cardstock has a slight off-white color, but highlights the coloring quite well. I like the sparkle of the paper.


"Copic X-Press-It Blending CS"



This cardstock blends very well. It has more open time to blend. It cleans up with a Colorless Blender very well.

Overall all three of the cardstocks work very well, and I will probably use all of them. The real question is what will you use. You will have to do your own test to see which one works the best for you, that's the important thing.

When you doo you test, let me know what your preference is. You know how it goes, "Different stokes, for different folks"

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Oh yes, She Did!"

Monday, September 20, 2010

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know that the wife and I did. We made a trip to Columbia, SC to "The Stamping Place" to see what new items were available, and to take advantage of thier 15% off sale. Needless to say we picked up a few items include some of the new Spellbinder Nestabilities and some very cute stamps from "Justrite" with Xmas ornaments.I also bought the new ScorBuddy from Scor-Pal. This ScorBuddy looks like it will be very useful, it fits right into my stamping bag. We always enjoy visiting with Barbara and Judy.



The card I am posting today is from a stamp set from "The Angel Company" called "Oh No, She Didn't". The set consists of seven stamps, of which four are images to color and the rest are sentiments.



Here is the image;

"Oh yes, she did!"

Doesn't she look mischievous??

I completed this one at our regular Thursday Stamp Club meeting. This is unusual for me because normally I just color at these get togethers and do the card at home. But this time I had some papers with me so I finished it up. For using scraps, I think it coordinates pretty well. What do you think?

The image was colored with Copic markers. Some of my markers were running out of ink, so I really had to work at coloring this one. Don't you hate when that happens.

Sorry I did not keep track of the colors that I used, but with the markers running dry, I was distracted. Sorry about that, I'll slap my hand.

Please comment on the card, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"I Frogot"

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sorry I have not posted for awhile, but after finishing the bathroom remodel, I came down with a real bad chest cold. My wife says that when I get one of my chest cold, I keep the whole neighbor hood awake with my coughing.


The card I am posting today was done for a workshop that I held. The purpose of the card was to demonstrate the "Folded Frame " element. It's an old technique, but well worth the effort to master.

Here is the card I made;


"Sorry, I Frogot"





The image is from a stamp set from "The Angel Company" and it is called " Hoppy Everything"The instructions are simple. The first step is;

Take the 4 ¼” square piece of patterned paper, and use the Scor-Pal across the points at 1” and 1 ½” on all four corners. Points should be at the 3” mark. See photo below.



The pencil line in the middle of the sheet is for illustration only.
Once you have the paper scored, pre-fold the scores to form the frame. I used green ink and a sponge to color the edge of the frame. Cut your colored image to 2 7/8" X 2 7/8" to fit in the center of the folded frame. Use pop-dots to adhere the frame to the image.
Pretty simple, add some stickles and your done. If you have any questions about this card, please ask.

Just a footnote, while I was doing this post we had four power outages. Which means that I was getting pretty frustrated. As you can see I did finally succede.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Joy, Found"

Monday, August 30, 2010
Well, with renovations on a brief hold until my wife decides what she wants done next, I am back to my first love, CARD MAKING.

The card I have choosen today is a card that I made for a card swap. I made about four cards, but could only enter one. This image is from a stamp set from "The Angel Company" called "Joy, Found". It's a very cute image and reminds me of my child hood. My mother would have fits when I would bring them home. Happy moments.

This is the finished card;


"Joy, Found"


The image was colored with Copic Markers, mainly in the blue and green range. I used the following colors;

Skin; E000,E01, R20
Shirt; Y13,YG09
Pants: B00,B01,B04
Frogs; YG21,YG07,YG05
Water; BG01,BG05,BG07

A lot of blending was required on the water, but it all came together. The image was stamped on my favorite paper, Cryogen Iridescent White. I love this paper for it sparkle that it has. A few Green Stickles was added for more sparkle.

Hope you enjoy my efforts and your comments are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

" The Lighthouse"

Wednesday,August 25, 2010
It has been a busy two weeks for me. I have been trying to catch up on my "Honey Do" list. My project for the last two weeks has been to remodel the downstairs bathroom. That included a complete gut of the room and start over. I re tiled the floor,painted, and trimmed the whole place.

The remodel came out great. The wife is happy, some I guess I did a satisfactory job. Now I just have to wait for the next request.

The card I posted today is called "The Lighthouse". I made it for a swap but never entered it. Just to many cards to enter.
It was colored with Copic markers. It's a little over size, 4 1/4"X 6.0". This was to accommodate the Spellbinder die that I wanted to use called "Label Ten". The sky was done with a mask and chalk.



"The Lighthouse"

It's a very simple card, but effective. The embelishments I used were buttons that my wife bought in Michaels. I colored them with a Copper Leafing pen fro Krylon. The rope in the upper left corner was made out of paper cover wire to resemble a coiul of rope. I wanted hemp string but could not find it in my stash. You know how that goes!!!
Hope you enjoy my effort. Your comments are always appreciated and welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Crush On You"

Sunday, August 8, 2010


I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for thier comments on my last post, "Bubble Hearts". My wife Rose feels vindicated on her choice of stamps.

Todays post is from another stamp that she picked from the "Stampavie" collection called, "Crush on You". The image is very cute and fun to color. It was of course colored with Copic markers.


"Crush on You"

The background paper in a lilac was cut to 4"X5.25" and run through the Cuddlebug to give it some dimension. After it was embossed it was cut diagonally from point to point to provide two triangles. The bottom left triangle had a .50" cut made to the bottom and side , to leave a .50" gap in the center.


Hint: Don't throw anything away. The mat for the image was from a Kleenex box, where the pattern added to the overall image. I save alot of household items such as onion bags, bubble wrap, and of course the inside of security envelopes, and last but not least, wall paper samples that I get free from the paint stores.
I use my equivilant of the 0f the popular "I-Rock" to place the swarovski crystals on the card. The bow in the top left corner was som pre-made bows that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I am not very good at tying bow.
The colors used for this card were;
Skin; E0000, E000,E00,R11
Boys Hair. Y23,YR23,E35
Girls Hair; Y13,Y26
Boys Shirt; G03,G07,G09,YR68
Skirt&Pants; BG000,BG01,BG05
Girls Blouse; RV000,RV00,RV02
A little white gel pen was used to give high lights.
Hope you enjoy todays card. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

"Love Hearts"

Saturday, July 31, 2010


On our last trip to "The Stamping Place" in West Columbia, SC, my wife fell in love with a couple of new StampAVie stamp sets. What could I say but, "If you want them, Get them". Needless to say, I am the one that does most of the coloring and stamping.
I colored most of the images at last weeks Thursdays stamping get together. I do this alot because I can concentrate on coloring and assemble the cards at home. Much easier, I don't have to carry so much.


The image I used for todays card is from "Stampavie" and is called "Love Bubbles". It's really a cute stamp. So here is my rendition;


"Love Bubbles"


The image was colored with Copic Markers of course on Cryogen cardstock. I love the hidden sparkle of this paper. The image and the mat were cut out using the "Spellbinders" die "Label Seven" and embossed the image mat with a "Cuddlebug" embossing folder.

For the embelishments I attached twelve swarovski pink crystals using a tool simular to the very popular "I-Rock". Very simple to use.

Hint: When you want to place crystals evenly spaced, I find that if you take a piece of 7-count plastic canvas you can get you spacing of the crystals very even and centered. Just place the plastic canvas on the space you want to put the emblishment in and count to hole. A small pencil maker will help you place the crystals.

The hearts and the glass where covered with "Crystal Lacquer" gives a little depth and shine.

If you have questions about this card, leave a comment and your email address, and I will answer you promptly.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

Thomas Kinkade- "Stonehearth Hutch"

Sunday, July 25, 2010



Today I have posted another Thomas Kinkade stamp called "Stonehearth Hutch". It was colored with Copic Marker, but could be colored wit any good marker such as Marvy, Prisma-Color, Stamp'n Up, Tombows or what ever you have. The trick, as I said is to color in the bright areas first, then fill in around the bright spots.



This image would make a very nice Christmas card for someone very special. There is a lot of white areas, the snow, in this image. White is easy to color, it's already colored for you, it's white. The only thing you need to do is shadow it in blues, greys, or blue greens.



Here is my rendition;



"Stonehearth Hutch"



These images are relatively easy to color once you get the principles down. I have some classes to give at "The Stamping Place" in west Columbia, Sc in September and October. After the classes I will post a tutorial on coloring these types of detailed image.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Skaters Pond by Thomas Kinkade"

Sunday, July 18, 2010


It's been a sad week for me. One of my favorite online stores "Cornish Heritage Farms" is closing shop as of the 15th of July. They had a great line of stamps, with some of my favories from the "Thomas Kinkade" line and the "Saturday Evening Post" series. I will soarly miss them. Hopefully someone will buy the copyrights to these series and start selling them.

Todays post is from the "Thomas Kinkade" series. It is called "Skaters Pond". Seeing that it is never to early to start Christmas card that is what I have done today.



I will be doing a pair of classes at "The Stamping Place" in West Columbia, SC, starting on September 18, 2010. The first class will be on coloring the Thomas Kinkade stamp "Foxglove Cottage". We will learn how to clor the image using Copic Markers.

Here is my rendition of "Skaters Pond" using Copic Markers;




"TK Skaters Pond"

I love the "Thomas Kinkade" series. They are so bright and cheerful. You do noit color them in the usual maner as you do with other Copic colored images, but its easy to learn. The trick to coloring these images is to do the bright spots first , then fill in around those spots. Very little color blending.
If you are in the West Columbia, SC area on September 18th, come on in and join the class. I would love to get to meet some of my followers. There will be another class in October, a christmas series using the Thomas Kinkade series of the above image.
Hope you enjoy my rendition of this image, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

"Corner Book Mark Card"

Friday,July 8, 2010
I don't know if you have noticed, but it seems like the "Corner Book Marker" is all of the rage on the blogo-sphere right now. The are very cute as a gift to someone special. But, how do you present it?

My idea is to work it into a card. Not very original, but different from what I have seen so far. Here is the presentation card that I came up with.


"Corner Book Marker Card"




Very simple to make after you make the Corner Book Marker. It give you a place to stamp a sentiment on the front of the card, and a note inside of the card. Plus the book marker keeps the card closed. Work very well together.

I have written up instructions for making this project and they are posted here. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in the comments.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Dreams"

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Good Morning Everyone;

The card I have posted today is from a set from "The Angel Company". The set is called "Precious Girls" it is a discontinued set, but I like it so much that I have hung on to it. I did one other card from this set that I posted awhile back called " Wait for Me". I love the set and the many ways that it can be configured.

"Dreams"





The papers used for this card were all from "The Angel Company". The card was colored with Prisma-Color pencil, have to keep in practice . I used some mini green brads to decorate the elements of the card. The flowers on the image where colored with Spica pens to give a little glitter, although you can't see it in the picture it's there. The image was cut out in a random pattern and attached to the card with popdots.

The mats behind the image were cut to size, then I measured up 1.00" on one side and cut from th corner to the mark. It gives a nice and unusual mat.

Hope you enjoy my efforts. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.







Country and Cute

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I'm going a little country today. Todays image is from "Raisinboat" stamps. The set is called "Gals on Mountain View Drive". It's a very cute set and also has a gal on a motorcycle.
For todays card I used the cowgirl image. Here it is;

"Country and Cute"

The background was airbrushed with my Copic markers, to give the appearance of land and sky. After this was done I cut around the edge with a pair of deckle scissors. The mat paper was from a set from " The Angel Company" called "Winchester". The main mat for the card was a sticker paper in a wood grain.

The glitter dots used on the corners are from "Jesse James Beads". Check this site out, they have some very useful embellishments to use on cards. A little hemp bow finished the card. The horses were stamped in a "Briliance" "Coffe Bean" ink. The last thing I did was to cute out the main image, the cowgirl, an popped it up. The line of horses were form "Stampabilities".

Of course I colored the image with Copic markers. The colors used were;

Face; E000,E00,E01
Blouse; Y02,Y06,Y08
Hat &Boots; E11,E13
Hair; Y23,YR23,E35

Very country and fun to make.
Hope you enjoy my effort. Your comments are welcome and appreciated.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

Morning Glory

Wednesday, June 23, 2010


Welcome to my blog. I hope you like and are inspired by some of my cards to create a new cards yourself.
Todays card is of a "Morning Glory". I don't remember what company the stamp came from, but if you know, let me know so that I can make a note of it.

The image was stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. The reason I like to work with these pencils is the vibrancy of the colors. One other advantage of these pencils is that once the first color is dry, it can be shaded with the next color without disturbing the first color. You can see this in the flowers.

And here is my rendition of the flower;


"Morning Glory"

The patterned paper used is from "The Angel Company". The cardstock use is from "WinWorld" the Colormate series.

For those of you that like to use Watercolor Pencils, you really need to try the "Derwent Inktense" watercolor pencils. One suggestion, if you by them, buy atleast the set of 24 colors or higher. These sets give a much larger selection of colors.

Have fun, practice with what every coloring medium you chose. Each one has thier own characteristics. You will find the one that suits your coloring preference.

Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.







"For You Dear Friend"

Friday, June 18, 2010

Suprise, Surprise. Todays card is not colored with Copic Markers. It was colored with Prisma-color pencils and Oderless mineral spirits. Although I love my Copic Markers, I also like to switch to different color mediums for a change and to keep my self proficiant with all coloring mediums.

"For You Dear Friend"



The stamp image used for todays card is from "The Angel Company". I love the image, it is so cheerful and happy. The patterned paper used are from a paper pad from "BasicGrey". There are two different patterns. They have been edged with a border punch and over lapped. All of the other shapes were cut using Spellbinder dies.
The card could be used for just about any occassion. I would probably use it as a Thank You note.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.

Brown,Pink and White

Sunday,June 12,2010

Yesterday we had our monthly stamp club meeting, we always look forward to it. The theme this month was a "Shoe Box Theme". The theme for this month was to design a card using only the colors of Brown,Pink, and White. Everyone came up with some very pretty cards. Remember you were only allowed to use the chosen colors.

Below I have shown some of the card designs.
This was my wifes card. She says the gold does not count.



Here is another card designed by Toni. She calls it a paper saver.



Here is a card by Shirley. It is her rendition of the "Center Fold Step Card" that I featured awhile back.

And last but least here is Ramonas card. Very pretty and the cupcake looks yummy.



All and all it was a fun day. An we ate alot of great food. OH, I forgot to mention that, everyone brought a salad. We had everything from Taco salad to Waldorf Salad. So I got to do two things that I love to do, "Make Cards", and "EAT".

Hope you enjoy the cards. If you wish to leave a comment, please do so, and I will pass the comments on to the card maker.

Have a GREAT DAY!!!

Bob L.

"Wait for Me"

Sunday, June 6, 2010


This has been a busy week, but I made it. Between giving classes and regular stamping club meeting and get togethers, I have not had much time to sit down and post to my blog.

In honor of the end of the school year, I made this card this morning. It portrays a typical activity for all of the children set free and the parents now in daily run mode. Good luck with your summer fun.



The stamped images I used today are from a discontinued set from The Angel Company. The set is called "Precious Girls". The set has five different stamps in the set, and I just love to use it. The stamps in the set lend themselves to Copic markers. The papers used on this card are from my scrap stash, so I don't know where they came from. Don't we all have this problem?


Here is my creation for the day;

"Wait for Me"

The sky was free handed in using Bo1 and Co1 with a touch of yellow for the sun. You know we have to have sunny skies for summer break.

The colors used for this card were;
Running Girl;
Face;
E0000,E000,E00
Dress; R81,R83,R85
Shirt & Socks; B00,B01
Hair; Y23,YR23,E35

Riding Girl;
Face;
E0000,E000,E00
Pants; BG000,BG02, BG05
Shirt; R21,R27
Hair; Y23,YR23,E35
Bicycle; G02,G05,G09

I added a checkered bow, some stickles and some Spica silver to the bicycle spokes
to add a little sparkle. Walla, another card finished.

Hope you enjoy my creation. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Have a GREAT DAY!!!
Bob L.