Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Tofurkey Love at the Clever Dexter Challenge

 Hi crafty friends! I'm guest designing over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog and hosting a reminder post for the November challenge. I hope you squeeze in a little time to play along while enjoying your turkey, tofurkey, or any other goodies.




My card is made with a super duper cute digi stamp from our fab sponsor Oddball Stamps. His name is Ted the Sweetest Turkey and don't you agree he's perfectly named! I also added cloud digis from her digital stamp shop too named Patterned Clouds and Hearts.


I was of course inspired by the red, orange, and gourds for the challenge. Staying true to my Copic love with digi stamps, I used a ton of colors and I'm in love with the combos. 

Turkey: Y21, Y23, YR24
Feathers: E25, E27, E29
Pumpkins: YR02, YR04, YR09, E35
Stems: YG63, YG95, YG97
Blank cloud: E08, E09
Heart: R37, R59

Okay, moment of truth...I never plan my backgrounds in advance. I let the colors, focal points, and layout of my images talk to me :) This background is made with some cool copper and gold embossing powder and a Tim Holtz background stamp. You can check out the shine on my Instagram page!

P.S. - I'm a vegetarian, so this one is special to me :) Thank you Oddball Stamps!!

Our grand prize is drawn at random, so play along. You have the chance to win a $10 virtual gift card from Oddball Stamps.


Thanks for stopping by!

If you'd like to see more of my creations, pop into my blog or Instagram page!
Have a safe, healthy, and happy Tofurkey Day!

I'm also sharing at Colour Crazy Craft Challenge


:) Deidre

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

What's a STAG by Any Other Name at CASology

Hey hey! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these times! At CASology, we're doing some crafting to keep us busy and our creative juices flowing. I'm sharing my mid-challenge post with the cue card. You still have a week to join us!


For my card, I used a reindeer stamp from Purple Onion Designs and sentiments from The Alley Way Stamps. I l-o-v-e how this little guy turned out with some Copic coloring. I reached for a different set of browns from my norm and they were a winner (see list below)! What do you think??


Don't forget to jingle all the way over to the DT member blogs to check out their creations!


And don't forget to play along...make a quick CAS (clean and simple) card, snap a photo, link up below. You can join from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, your personal blog...anywhere :)

There's a prize for this challenge's winner, provided by the awesome STAMPlorations!

SPOILER ALERT - there are COUPON codes at the CASology blog 


I'm also joining at Inspired By...#IB150 and CAS(E) this sketch! #398

 


Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Deidre

Copic markers:

Reindeer: E21, E23, E25, E27

Scarf: R24, R29, R85

Bells: YR24

Hooves & Antlers: C5, C7, C9

Friday, November 6, 2020

Gourds Galore and a VOTE Inspiration

I'm loving guest designing at the Clever Dexter Challenge! This month the cue is Gourds Galore and some great color options. I was provided a super cool digital stamp from Oddball Stamps and I hope you love my card :)

I was inspired by sooooo much; the colors of the pumpkins, the digi stamp, and even current events.



The digital stamp by Oddball Stamps is Bad Girl Carmen and I love it! If you have not tried out digis, they're amazing...seriously, for real :)
As you can see, I switched up the logo on her hoodie and gave her hair that is representative of an ethnic texture. There was a bunch of Copics used here:
Greens: YG00, YG01, YG06, YG23, YG67
Reds: R14, R29, R89
Oranges: YR02, YR07, YR18, Y28
Blues: B95, B97, B99
Grays: C1, C3, C5, C7, C9
Skin: E11, E13, E15, E17
Blush: R83
Hair: C5, C7, C9


For the background, I used some spray inks, stencils, embossing powder sprinkled on top of a metallic embossing paste, ink blending, and markers. I printed the quote and colored the strip of paper with the same Copics and adhered it to ground the card.


I really hope you misbehave a little and get crafty, inky, messy, and creative with us for the challenge this month. By the way, the awesome Oddball Stamps is sponsoring this month, so there's another chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you in the gallery...you have all month :)

xoxo, Deidre

Friday, October 23, 2020

My Boo! Guest Designing for Clever Dexter Challenge

What's up everybody! I'm back to guest design on the Clever Dexter Challenge blog and bring you some coloring goodness thanks to our fab sponsor of the month: ODDBALL STAMPS. We're heading towards Halloween and I'm loving the spooky creations for this month's challenge! The theme is: HERE FOR THE BOOS and inspiration colors are: GREEN, PURPLE, ORANGE, WHITE, & BLACK.



For this card, I started with the Ms Ann Thrax digital stamp from Oddball Stamps. I had a little photo-editing software fun (flipped the image to look the opposite direction and added a bat to her headband). If you haven't followed my work before, I love to add an ethnic spin to images, so after it was printed and dried, I added the curls to her hair by hand using a Faber Castell pen. This lays the groundwork for some cute, dark, coily hair.

The next step is to pull out my Copic markers and get to work. I used a stack of purples, greens, grays, reds, and oranges for this image. If you're interested, the list of markers are at the end of this post.

 For the sentiments, I used another Oddball Stamp digital set called Creepy Cute Sentiments Banners and Badges. This set has a ton of awesome halloweeny options that you can customize! By the way, I grabbed the heart and bats from that set too :)

For my background, I used some embossing ink smooshed through the Dot Fade THS 006 stencil by Tim Holtz, and then coated it with orange embossing powder. Head over to my Instagram page for a close-up!

I hope you love Ms. Ann Thrax as much I as loved making this card! Please link up and play along for a chance to win a prize from Oddball Stamps. See ya!

I'm also joining at:

Copic colors:
Skin: E23, E25, E27
Eyeshadow, Jacket & Shoes: V04, V06, V09
Vest, Leggings, Tag: YG06, YG13, YG17, YG67
Skirt: YR02, YR04, YR07
Lipstick, Glasses, Eyeball, Heart: R24, R29, R89
Shirt, Hair, Bones: C1, C3, C5, C7, C9, 100

xoxo Deidre


Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Staying DRY at CASology

 Hey crafty peeps! We're back at CASology with a new cue card for the next 2 weeks. And after the weather we've had here the last couple of days, this was right on time:



I used a repeating umbrella design, which required a little masking, and some simple ink blending. I added some darker yellow shading to the umbrellas using a colored pencil. Both the umbrella and the sentiment come from a stamp set from Create a Smile, titled Bad Day. To finish it off, I popped on a few clear dew drop embellies and yellow sequins and called it a day! Funny how the light caught that one sequin and made it look green :) CAS cards are supposed to be quick and easy, but that doesn't mean they can't have some pop!

Tip: When layering stamps using masking, remember that the images you stamp first will be in the foreground and fully visible at the end of your project. You can use that concept to create real depth to your cards.

Be sure to check in on the other DT members and how they used the cue card! There's some really fun ideas to get you going. And please be sure to link up a card you've made - we LOVE giving away PRIZES from our awesome sponsors!

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

VACAY at CASology

It's mid-challenge post time! Have you popped in over at CASology for our cue card?? We have a fabulous returning sponsor - STAMPlorations - who's providing the winning $25 discount!




If you're like me, a vacation sounds like a phenomenal idea!! I'm itching for some Vitamin SEA :)

This card was fun to make because I knew I wanted to layer some pretty blues to make the water. The stamp that I used as waves comes from Ellen Hutson's Wonky Backdrops. I smooshed on Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide Inks at random...or kind of at random. I definitely used my MISTI to keep the stamp in place so I could get just the right layers of ink. The sentiment stamp is from Simon Says Stamp One with Nature set.

We want to see your awesome designs, so swim over to the blog and link your CAS card!
You don't have to have a blog to play along...you can share from your Instagram, Flickr, or Facebook post. Hope to see you there!


I'm also joining at Time Out Challenges #170


xoxo Deidre




A Witch's Spell at Clever Dexter

In case you haven't seen this month's Clever Dexter Challenge, you should really head over! The theme is "Hit the Books" and I love the "spell book" that was included in this awesome digi stamp from Stampers Delights!




I used a boatload of Copic markers for this image, some Dina Wakley acrylic paints, gelli printing plate, stencils, metal die, embossing label maker...you name it  :)

Hope to see you there!

I'm also joining at Creative Fingers Challenge #193 and Colour Crazy Challenge wk 37

xoxo Deidre

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Clever Dexter Challenge is Hitting the Books

I'm having a blast guest designing over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog! What a great concoction we're crafting with this month! The 9th challenge is perfect for the new school year,  with a twist of color.

Stampers Delights is such a great sponsor and has gifted their digi stamps to use for this Clever Dexter Challenge.


I'm using the Story Time and Chibi School Girl Jill images (which I flipped and resized two additional times) to create a scrapbook page that would be great for a school-themed page. I use Photoshop Elements with my digi stamps to truly personalize my layouts.


In sticking with the color inspiration for this challenge, I used the same colors for her outfits, but just switched up each article of clothing. This was a lot of Copic coloring fun. I love how Stampers Delight images have just enough detail to give you some idea of how to color, but still leave it up to your imagination. I even handwrote the subjects on the book spines.

Colors (loads of them):
Skin: E11, E13, E15
Hair & Shoes: 100, C9, C7
Eyes: E37
Lipstick: R29
Clothing: Yellows: Y02, Y06, Y15
Pinks: RV00, RV02, RV04
Teals: BG11, BG23, BG57
Books: see Ys, Rs, & BGs above plus YR000, YR02, YR14
Purse: C5, C3, C1



I added bits and pieces of ephemera from my stash to ground my images...I didn't want them standing in space :) Also, the Story Time (book image) digi stamp is perfect for journaling and adding a couple of photos.


I hope you want to join this Clever Dexter Concoction! 
Hit the Book, maybe use our colors, grab a couple of Stampers Delights digis (though not required to win), and make something awesomely creative!

Thanks for stopping by!







Thursday, August 13, 2020

Clever Dexter Challenge Guest Designer - Dog Days of Summer

It's almost the weekend! I'm excited to be guest designing with the 
The theme is "Dog Days of Summer"... boy am I feeling that saying.
The super cool sponsor is Doodles Daisies and Ink and she has some great digi stamps in her shop!


My first card is made with the Ready for the Day set, which has a school bus image. I used photo editing software to stretch it out a little and make a "hippie" bus. I think those vans scream summer. I added the flowers, peace symbols, hearts, butterfly, and "love" directly to the image and went to town with some Copic coloring.
Did you find all of my little additions??


My second card is using a fabulous set, and I do mean FABULOUS, called Work from Home. How many of you can relate right now ;) ?? This set has so many individual digis that you can make tons of cards and not repeat a design. And don't worry if coloring isn't your thing, there's also pre-colored images in the set. #winning


I used the same software to position all of the digis. I even flipped the hanging lamp to be a floor lamp and made the picture on the wall a photo frame in the bookcase. I used what turned into a small mountain of Copics to color the scene and make my working lady a curly 'fro.


I fussy cut pieces of the scene and mounted them on top of some decorative tissue that I colored with dark red and orange spray ink and gesso and a striped piece of paper that I freehand cut into a roundish shape :)
I hope you agree that we're ready for a vacay in these "Dog Days of Summer". Be sure to join the Challenge this month, check out Doodles Daisies and Ink, and have an awesome weekend!

xoxo Deidre

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Curve BALL at CASology

So glad you popped into my blog! We have a new CASology cue card. This will be our last monthlong challenge before we return to bringing your cue cards every 2 weeks. 


There are so many ways to use "ball" and I'm pretty sure I went through all of them in my head :)
When I found this sentiment stamp in my stash, it was a definite Bingo! moment.
I'm not sure about any of you, but life is throwing all kinds of curve balls,



and I keep swingin' for the fence. I made this card by blending Broken China Distress Ink across the skyline. I used a 1.5" hole punch to make the baseball and drew the stitching by hand using a black India ink marker and a red fine point Sharpie. BUT first, I used a C1 and colorless blender Copic to create the very faint shadow on the ball. (It's so much easier to see on my IG page lol). 

Art TIP - Create the shadow first and let it dry, then draw your stitching. Copics are alcohol-based and so are Sharpies. If you color over your stitching, the red will bleed...ask me how I know ;)

I stamped the dotted line from the Simon Says Stamp set Circle Friends and the sentiment from a very old Inkadinkadoo set Tell It Like It Is. I was very careful about using black Versafine ink on every part of the sentiment stamp except the "swing", which I colored with a red Zig Clean Color Brush pen and stamped repeatedly (thank goodness for stamp positioners).


I hope you get a chance to see how the other DT members stepped up to the plate for this challenge.


Deepti Stephens
Jacquie Southas
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Karen Haman
Melissa Chipperfield
Milka Gubo
Nancy Elrick
Sandie Munroe
Sue Symens

Guest Designer: Anushree
Sponsor: STAMPlorations


I'm also playing along at AAA Cards

Thanks for swinging by!
xoxo Deidre