papermonkey.org {make time for playtime}

Whiff of Joy: One Sassy Coat

Now this is one sassy coat that Whiff of Joy's Teenage Lizzie With Box of Chocolates is wearing! Not as sassy as say, Allan as he is about to go shovel snow (tee hee - he is going to kill me) but yes, this is sassy.

I love this image and think it can be used for either Valentine's Day (because of the box of chocolates that says Love) or Christmas as she is holding a gift and wearing a coat. Either way, any teen girl would really love this. The die cuts are Spellbinders Mega Rectangles cut with Stampin' Up! Bella Rose patterned paper and Pink PirouetteTextured Cardstock. The base is Cool Caribbean (retired).

I used one of my new favorite Copic colors, E70 Ash Rose to color the coat. There really is no color that matches this for a highlight/shadow, so I went with pinks and grays. I really love how the coloring turned out - so much so that I wanted to keep it the focus and I actually removed my bling! I know, shocker *feels forehead for fever*. 

The sentiment, which says You Warm My Heart, is also Whiff of Joy and stamped with VersaMagic Turquoise Gem ink.  I added makeup to her face because that's how I roll. I always love to add shadows, blush and lipstick lol - I used to be a makeup artist and I have drawers and drawers of the stuff. My hobbies are colliding :)  Her foundation (lol) is Skin White with Baby Skin Pink as a contour (okay - shadow color); the eyeshadow is Ash Rose with a bit of Cool Shadow (see? It is MEANT to be an eyeshadow!), her cheeks are Blush and Sardonyx which is just a tinge warmer pink, and her lips are Sardonyx. I have actually put makeup (MAC pigments) on my cards - wonder if I can put markers on MY eyes? Maybe not.

Ok I hope I made you giggle with my silliness.  I am off to do last minute shopping for Christmas. I have some recipes and my new Stampin' Up! class details to post soon - I will be teaching Watercoloring with Re-Inkers: Color Theory and Application in two classes, one for Demos and one for stampers (almost full). If you happen to live in Newfoundland, I would love for you to join us on January 19th. Stay tuned for more details.

Last but not least: a huge thank you to Susanna for posting my Blue Christmas card from yesterday on her Card of The Week blog! I love her site (it has links to her favorite cards, layouts, tutorials and projects) and am so thrilled to see my card listed with some really awesome fellow bloggers.

Thanks for stoppin' by! As Christmas nears, don't forget to BREATHE!

Whiff of Joy Giveaways & Guest Designer Call Reminder

Good morning!

There is SO much going on at Whiff of Joy that it deserves it's own post! Katharina is celebrating Christmas BIG this year and giving away stamps EVERY DAY until Chrismtas! Be sure to stop by her blog and play in the Whiff of Joy Advent Calendar Giveaway. She is also posting a Christmas card a day with the most incredible and inspiring cards.

DT member Suzanne is also giving away some stamps so be sure to visit her Blog Candy post here.

My time as Guest Designer has come to a close but I will still be posting and showing her beautiful stamps - the mailman did not accomodate deadlines this month and besides, I am now a huge fan and addict of these little cuties and they will always be found in my craft room and on my blog :)

If you love the sweet, feminine and fun style of Whiff of Joy as much as I do then don't forget to try out to be a Guest Designer for December and January! Don't think you are not good enough or let any of those bad thoughts enter your head - just stamp with your heart and get 'er done - nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? There is still time - read how here on the WOJ Group at Papercraft Planet. There is a group slide show for the entries which is so fun to watch too. Ah, such beauty.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Whiff of Leftovers: A Challenge & Tons of Contests, Deals & Candy

  

Hi there - hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you had lots of treats. As Kevin James says, Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. Love that quote! Here is my FAVORITE recipe for what to do with turkey leftovers - Turkey Bundles! It comes from Allan's mom Marg and it is sooo yummy.

Speaking of leftovers, does your craft desk look like your fridge about now - filled to the brim with scraps? Come play in the EI Friday Free For All Challenge and cook up a card with all those scraps! I am hostess this week and made a card using orphaned scraps from all seasons that have been laying on my desk, but I think they work together. The gorgeous flourished snowman stamp, Herb with Bird, is from the new limited edition Whiff of Joy winter collection.

Love all the tiny details on this snowman - see him lovingly holding the tiny bird? So sweet!

I embossed the snowman and also the Rhonna Farrer flourish stamp with Silver Detail embossing powder, then colored with the Copic markers you see above. The embossing adds a festive shine a cool, wintery look, and it also helps you to color within the lines lol!

I wanted to use non traditional Christmas colors so chose this soft baby blue and off white pattern by Jenni Bowlin, Turquoise Wallpaper, cut with Nestabilities new die cut Mega Rectangles on a base of Stampin' Up!'s Soft Sky (retired) and Pink Pirouette Textured Cardstock. This was my least favorite of the new die cuts but I find myself now using it the most because I love the larger size. I wish they would come out with mega squares and circles.

Leftovers from all seasons were used to create this layered winter flower, including Imaginisce Snowflowers from the Snowy Joe Collection (the large glittery fabric snowflake), Princess Posies from the Fairest of them All Collection (the sheer flower on top of the snowflake), a May Arts ribbon scrap, Prima and hand crocheted flowers just sitting on my desk, and dollar store crystals from last Christmas.

Contests, Candy and Deals

Embellish-Online.com Specials and deals:

You can buy the Imaginisce, Prima and Copic products at Embellish-Online.com and save 25% using code discount25  in the voucher box. Yes - 25% off even Copics. This was a special code only given to newsletter subscribers but I will share it with you :) It is good until December 1st. Cuttlebug folders are on sale for $3.99 so with the discount that means $3!! Woohoo I love a deal.

Embellish-Online is also giving away a sweet prize on their blog!: Sweet Cakes, American Crafts, Maya Road Ribbon, chipboard and buttons! Visit the blog *here*to enter or by making a $30.00 purchase (after discount and before shipping costs) you'll be entered twice! The blog candy winner will be chosen Friday November 28th to kick off Black Friday sale so this one ends soon.

There is yet ANOTHER contest on the EI Forum to win over $30 of goodies - to enter just sign up for the draw *here*.

The EI Group at Papercraft Planetis participating in the Twelve Days of Christmas Challenges and Giveways. There are twelve days of challenges and 12 HUGE prizes being given away! EI is sponsoring day 11 so stay tuned for that but in the meantime come on over and join our group at PCP.

Magnolia-licious Stamp Sale

Diana has so many of my favorite Magnolia stamps on sale! Oh man this could be dangerous :)

Sweet n' Sassy Code:

Use code BLKFRI08 at the Sweet n Sassy store to get an additional 15% off your order, even on top of sale items! Korin stocks Copics, Stampavie stamps as well as her own line and so much more. You can buy Core'dinations here too (love that paper).

Whiff of Joy Giveaway:

Whiff of Joy is having a sale on many of their new Winter stamps.

Last, but not least, Whiff of of Joy DT member Bev  is giving away a Whiff of Joy stamp (Herb with Baby) and lots of other goodies so be sure to enter her drawing on her blog for a chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by - happy Friday!

 

Twin Lizzie ~ New Whiff of Joy & Fran's Blog Candy

Whine and ye shall receive. I just lamented how my new Whiff of Joy stamps hadn't arrived yet and lo and behold a few of them arrived! It was so hard to decide which of them to ink up first. After much thought I chose Lizzie, who is currently on sale in the store as are quite a few other limited edition winter release stamps.

I stamped little Lizzie twice to give her a twin sister, and colored her with Copic markers.  You can barely see it but I added dots of snow with a C1 Cool Gray marker. The card itself is pretty straight forward, although I did attempt to mix warm and cool colors together - there was enough warmth in the blue Bazzill Dotted Swiss paper to try. The patterned papers are Bo Bunny Gingerbread Dot,and BasicGrey Fruitcake, which was the only warm toned patterned paper in my stash that had some cool toned blue in it.

 I love digging through my stash and finding long forgotten treasures: Lizzie'slittle pom poms on her feet are chalk ball refills from my tool drawer; the crystals are from a .99 pack of cell phone accessories bought at Future Shop (an electronics store in Canada) last year. 

Ahand crocheted lace doily lies under the sentiment that Impression Obsession sent to me recently (thank you IO!). I went around the Mega Rectangle die cut with Copic markers.

I am not sure who makes the holly berries crystal sticker - that is another find I pulled out of my drawer today.

I hope you like this quirky card.  Would you like to win Whiff of Joy stamps? DT member Fran is giving away  Charlie with Presents and Teenage Lizzie stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs across the miles,

  

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call

My term as a Guest Designer with Whiff of Joy is coming to an end this month.  The stamps for the November release haven't arrived yet  so you will be seeing my work a bit into December. I am hoping they were not lost in the mail - ack! I had the absolute best time - the designers really were wonderful and made us feel at home, and Katharina, the owner of Whiff of Joy sent us such fantastic, beautiful stamps to work with. 

If you would like to be part of the team the "tryouts" will be based upon this sketch by Katharina.

You will need to use at least one WOJ stamp on your card. The contest ends December 6th.

Please head over to the WOJ group at Papercraftplanet for full details on this post  to enter your sketch into the competition.

hugs,

Suzy

Making Memories FaLaLa Meets Simone & Double Blog Candy Alert

This is the latest Toodles & Binks stamp .  I wanted a tall, skinny card just like her.  The big card also gave me the chance to add lots of pretty papers and buttons. I may have gone a little crazy with the embellishments ha!

    

She was so fun to color- I used the Copic Markers you see above. They are the same colors as yesterday's card as they also match the Making Memories Music Note and Scallop Circle papers from the FaLaLacollection that I used today.  The scallop Nestabilities trim around her is Bazzill's Dotted Swiss cardstock in Blissful.

The buttons are from BasicGrey's new Christmas collection Wassail and the waffle pattern flowers are Prima Press N Petals Christmas. The green matting is Stampin' Up!'s Kiwi Kiss. 

Everyone went vintage this year for Christmas and used yellowish olive, burgundy, cream and brown! I mentioned yesterday that the reddish orange brown of some of the papers in Wassail was impossible to match with the Copics perfectly unless you mix colors. Well I did find an ink that was perfect-0: VersaMagic Red Brick. I used it to sponge this card.

Last but not least, I added Crystal Effects to her boots.

The sentiment is by A Muse.

Do you like Simone? I think she is so funky yet chic. Would you like to win  her? Kay sent me an extra Simone stamp to give away. Just leave a comment here and I will pick a winner next Monday! To sweeten the pot I will throw in some Zoomz (like Dew Drops) and other goodies too :)

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy Alert

Its Kimmie's turn to offer up some Whiff of Joy blog candy! Enter to win Charlie the Chimney Sweep, a good luck stamp, on Kimmie's blog here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

Whiff of Joy: Willow With Lantern

Ahh I am so ready for Christmas! I mean, I have nothing done, I am just in such a holiday mood. I have the music on my iPod, I am burning Holiday tarts (melted wax scented with a combination of sugar, spice, pine and wood fire), and can't wait to put up a tree. I am also thinking about the cards I will be mailing. This will be one of them - this image,Whiff of Joy's  Willow With Lantern, is so beautiful and detailed that it really is all you need on a card. While I used Primas and ribbon here, I think I will be mailing a few of these without to cut back on postage costs.

I had a lot of fun coloring her with the Copics you see above. The dress is actually very easy to color. While the shading may not be true to life, it still looks good no matter what you do - you can do no wrong!I think it is a perfect beginner coloring stamp. I used shades of pink, pinky red, and deep reds on her dress. I added soft yellow lighting from the lantern around her, and shadows of cool gray and blue at her feet.

  Stickles in Icicle were added to her hair and lantern; Xmas Red was put on the holly berries. It looks less chunky in real - just sparkles and yet you can still see the coloring work. I edged the cardstock with Gold Leafing pen for a shot of quick holiday glamour. The white just pops right off the page and really draws attention to the image, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to take a peek at the post below - Whiff of Joy has new holiday releases and a sale on them to boot!

hugs,

Suzy

Whiff of Joy Holiday Collection & Sale!

 

The Whiff of Joy Winter & Christmas Collection is here! Elisabeth Bell has made the most beautiful images for the new Lizzie & Herb line. Lizzie is a sweet and very chic girl, and Herb is a snowman with gorgeous flourishes and details.

 

Two sets of English sentiments are also being revealed - one for Christmas, and one for winter in general. Such pretty fonts and the perfect words to accent your card.

To celebrate the new collection Katharina is having specials in the store - the new stamps and a few others are on sale! Europeans also get flat rate shipping. These stamps are limited edition so get them while you can. Check out Katharina's blog for cards made using the new stamps. Mine are on the way - I can't wait!

I will be back with a Whiff of Joy card in a few!

Suzy 

Whiff of Joy Holiday Collection Sneak Peeks & Specials

  

I will be back tomorrow with a Whiff of Joy card just in time for the debut of the holiday collection! Oh my goodness it may be my favorite yet!

Katharina will be having the following specials for the debut:

• special prizes for a lot of the new stamps and for our best sellers
• a flat rate shipping rate of 1,30 EURO for all orders from Europe, no matter how heavy the package is.

My package will be here soon I can't wait! Until then be sure to check out Katharina and the other DT members blogs for peeks!

Suzy

Whiff of Joy Project of the Month, My Giveaway Winner & Bev's Giveaway

This month's Project of the Month over at Whiff of Joy is to decorate a candle. I used the beautiful Willow With Lanternfor my project. First I cut my latest obsession, Bazzill Dotted Swiss paper in Blissful, a burgundy color embossed with Swiss dots, to fit the glass candle.  Over that I added a thinner slice of patterned paper, Poinsettia Stripe, from Making Memories FaLaLa collection. The papers are edged with another obsession of mine, the Krylon 18K Gold Leafing pen and attached to the candle with 1/2 inch Scor-Tape from Scor-Pal which is kind of like red line tacky tape.

Next I die cut the image with my Nestabilities, ran my gold leaf pen over the edge, then colored her with Copics. I applied Stickles in Icicles over her hair and dress- at night when the candle glows she is sparkles beautifully.

I used yellow Copics around her for a candlelit glow. The glittery Poinsettia Primas are from my Calypso Tin. Finally, I added Red Liquid Pearls to the holly berries and gold and pearl Dew Drops in Golden Berry to the Primas.

Be sure to visit the Project of the Month Gallery to see  all the DT members projects this month. Christmas is fast approaching and the gallery is a great place to find inspiration for home made gifting.

Christmas Angel Winner & Bev's Blog Candy

Thank you to everyone who entered my Whiff of Joy stamp giveaway. The winner is Heather Fullerton! Congrats Heather!

If you didn't win there are so many more chances as Katharina, the owner of WOJ has given all DT members stamps to giveaway and we are doing it TWICE a week well into January! Today is Bev's turn so visit her blog for a chance to win Charlie with Presents and other goodies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

Whiff of Joy Christmas Angel Card & Giveaway; Copic Chat Night

   

How's this for a simple card? Haha okay - so I went a little overboard. This is Whiff of Joy's Melinda The Christmas Angel. She reminds me of an angel used to top the tree, complete with a beautiful white satin dress that light up. I wanted a card like a tree topper - one that would be festive and sparkly. Thanks to Katharina, the owner of Whiff of Joy, I am giving away this stamp. Details on how to enter for the drawing are at the bottom of this post.

Card Details: To keep her dress white, I shaded it where the creases would be with Copic Markers in gray and blue shades. I went over her hair with yellow and gold Spica glitter pens, and also used them on her dress, present, and the holly, so she shimmers from head to toe. The present is so shimmery in real life but the photo didn't capture it.

The image was cut out and placed over Cuttlebug embossed gold cardstock and glittery poinsettia paper by Making Memories from the new Fa La Lacollection.   Her wings and the trim on her dress are covered with Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

 gave her blue eyes and a little red mouth. With her blonde hair in cascading waves she reminds me of 1940s film star Veronica Lake.

The Noel sentiment was a find at Michael's - it is flatback green plastic and was found in the Christmas section.

Would you like to win this unmounted, red rubber stamp? Just leave a comment on this post telling me what you top your tree with. Ifyou don't celebrate Christmas any comment will do. I will randomly pick a winner next Tuesday and announce it on the blog.

Be sure to keep an eye on all the Whiff of Joy DT member's blogs - we are giving away two stamps a week.

Supplies List

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Melinda The Guardian Angel by Elisabeth Bell

Paper: Select White by Papertrey; gold cardstock, Making Memories Fa La La glittered paper

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copic Markers and Spica pens; Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Taffeta ribbon and gold brad; Nestabilities; Stickles in Green, Goldenrod and Xmas red; Prima Flower, Cuttlebug Snowflake  Embossing Folder; Krylon Gold Leafing pen

Copic Chat This Thursday Night

Emily Laurel, Embellish-Online.com's Copic rep, will be hosting a chat over at the Forum. She will be discussing what makes these markers special, answering your questions and giving examples on making the most of the markers. The chat is this Thursday night October 30th at 6pm PST (9pm EST) in the Forum. Participation is free, you just need to be a registered user (also free).  I will be there, I hope you join us!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day, and if the weather is being a grouch where you are stay warm and safe!

Suzy

Whiff of Joy Guardian Angel & Prize Alerts

 

Today's card was made with this week's sketch by Heather over at the Whiff of Joy Challenge Blog. Their sketches are amazing and often feature lots of layers to show off pretty papers. 

I rarely make masculine cards as I have such a hard time with them, but the boys in the Guardian Angel series can just as easily be given to female friends. It just depends on the colors chosen for your layout.

For today's card I used both masculine (Stampin' Up! Pacific Point, a vibrant blue) and feminine colors (BasicGrey Two Scoopspatterned paper) but I think the feminine tips the scale thanks to the Imaginisce Pocket Full of Posies  1 inch and Ring Around the Rosies 1.5 inch flowers.

This was a very simple, straightforward card. There were so many layers with the papers that I kept the image simple. Matthew With Presentwas colored with Copics. A bit of Signo pen was put in his hair and on his jeans to highlight. I outlined the wings with a Zig Glue Pen and dusted them with ultra fine glitter. This way I didn't lose the Copic coloring, and the definition of the wings remained.

The sentiment You Are Amazing is from the Elisabeth Bell Accessories & Sentiments Collection. Gold Leafing pen was added just because I am addicted to it! Tip: the nibs fray quite easily (for me, after edging about 20 cards), which can ruin your card. Be sure to keep refill nibs handy.

Prize Alerts!

WOJ Design Team members are taking turns giving away tons of free stamps thanks to WOJ owner Katharina!  We will be giving away two stamps a week. It is Rach's turn so be sure to visit her blog for the chance to win a Melinda Hugging Heartstamp, a BasicGrey Two Scoops Pad and buttons, and tons more good stuff.

Friday October 24th will be Camilla's turn to give away a Whiff of Joy stamp. The Challenge Blog awards prizes to participants too. So many chances to win!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzy

Supplies List

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Matthew With Present and Elisabeth Bell Accessories & Sentiments Collection sentiment

Paper: Select White by Papertrey; Stampin' Up! So Saffron and Pacific Point; BasicGrey Two Scoops

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! Pacific Point

Accessories:Copic Markers; Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter; Nestabilities; Signo Opaque White Gel Pen; Fiskars Threading Water punch; Krylon Gold Leafing pen; Imaginisce Pocket Full of Posies and Ring Around the Rosiesflowers; buttons from Wal-Mart Pound of Buttons bag (for $2!!)

Tea Sachet Gift Set

 

The Project of the Month at Whiff of Joy is to make a gift set that involves tea. What I made is something super quick and easy. I took a plastic Pillow Box (available at Embellish-Online.com) and decorated it with pretty papers from BasicGrey's Eva collection (I am hoarding the paisley paper - it is one of my faves). The pillow box fits right into the mug, which can then be wrapped with clear wrapping paper and tied with a pretty bow.

Card Details: I used my Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die cuts to make the tag. A white frosted glass heart bead from a jewelry store dangles from the tag with a little snippet of May Arts velvet ribbon.

The gorgeous velvet corduroy ribbon is from Making Memories Passport collection. The small scallops on the paper were made with Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Edge punch.

Willow was colored with Copics and embellished with opaque white pen and Mint Green Liquid Pearls on her pants. Her cup has Crystal Effects and was created using the Curve and Pop method (a tutorial for that is here).

I stamped the sentiment Celebrate The Everyday repeatedly in Memento Bamboo LeavesInk and wrapped the goodies up to put in the pillow box. The words peek through the clear plastic.

A packet of cocoa or up to 4 tea bags will fit in the pillow box nicely. Twinings Vanilla Tea is made with black tea and vanilla pods. It smells and tastes just like sweet vanilla cream cake. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but now I love it.

I know some of you are wondering where my Stampin' Up! cards are - I just got in my Christmas stamps and I have been busy coloring up a storm, so look for those soon. The deadline has passed for the Odd Bird Planet Design Team tryouts so if I get brave enough to show you my cards I will :) We are heading to a Wine Tasting event tonight so maybe after I return would be the time to post- one glass and I am gone, lol! I am so nervous, I really hope they are good enough.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

Merry & Bright

This little fellow is Santa Charlie from the new Whiff of Joy release. I just love the retro feel of the image, it reminds me of my favorite Christmas claymation shows.  I tried to add to that retro feel by using red and green felt in my Cuttlebug to make funky snowflakes (the die cuts are actually flowers) as well as off white cardstock dipped in ultra fine holographic glitter.

I had a lot of fun coloring Charlie with my Copic markers, and using my Curve and Pop method (tutorial here) to add dimension to some of the presents. I needed to curve the present in Charlie's hand so that his hand could still be seen, so the left side of the package is more flat than the right.

Other Details: I added Crystal Effects to his eyes and boots, and some Liquid Applique to the trim on his Santa suit.

The sentiment is put on top of red felt and the apple is popped out too.

Stickles and Opaque white pen were applied here and there. I also outlined the sentiment and the card with my handy Gold Leafing Pen that I seem to be using so much lately.

Tomorrow will be a project you can give as a little stocking stuffer, or a just because gift. It has been a while since I made something other than a card ~ I can't wait to share it with you.

Don't forget to check out the sneak peek of the new little deer from Toodles & Binks in my post below this one - someone will win him!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Suzy

Supplies List

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Santa Charlie and Merry & Bright sentiment

Paper: Bazzill Bling off white textured cardstock (name unknown); Select White by Papertrey; Red and Green felt from Wal-Mart; Stampin' Up! Ridinghood Red

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Cuttlebug Snowflakes and Flowers die cuts; Nestabilities Squares and Scallop Squares; Crystal Effects; Copic Markers; Stampin' Up! Dazzling Diamonds glitter; Ranger Inkssentials Opaque White Pen; Krylon Gold Leafing Pen; Stickles. pop dots and glue dots.

Curling Up With Hot Cocoa & A Book: The Curve & Pop Method

Yes I know...helloooooo layers! I have been restraining myself a bit because of my self-editing goal, but decided to unchain the beast for this baby. Willow is a recurring character at Whiff of Joy and she has gotten her own accessories for the October stamp release. The Willow With Hot Chocolate stamp fits perfectly into this luxurious new chair. Surrounding her are all stamps from the Elisabeth Bell Accessories & Sentiments Collection. I will give you a few details about the card then discuss how I shape 3D props on my cards, a method I call Curve and Pop.

I love curling up with a cup of cocoa and reading on  chilly day. I wanted to recreate that warm, cozy, indulgent feeling in this card, so chose brocade type patterns, velvet flocked papers, texture rich felt and luxe gold accents. All images are gold embossed and colored with Copic markers. I used mostly YR24 Pale Sepia on the chair and also in Willow's hair and jeans.

Willow herself also has Copic Spica glitter pen in her hair. I even gave her a bit of light blue eyeshadow :) The light is hitting her from the left, so I tried to create more shadow using darker colors on the right. Shadow Pink was perfect for this.

Notice how her cup of cocoa is curved and comes out of the card? That is the Curve and Pop I will show you how to do in a bit.

I added Liquid Pearls to the floral centers of the decoration on her pants. The gold flourish and hinge thingy is Grungeboard that has been dabbed gold with Krlon.

Here she is about 3 layers of Copics in. I have been asked what skin color I use - mostly it is Baby Skin Pink with Blush for the cheeks.

For hair color I like to use a light yellow (Canary Yellow Y02), an orange yellow (Golden Yellow Y17) and my favorite Pale Sepia. Then I use more of the orange yellow to blend, and more of the lightest color to highlight and/or take away color. I use these three colors on almost all my images - the variation in hair color can be quite different depending on how you blend. I added a bit of E57 Light Walnut - a darker brown color at the end to  bring out the golden yellow.

I also changed the cup color to purple later. The Colorless Blender lets you change your mind and erase mistakes.

Embossing is a great way to help you stay within the lines as you color small areas like this Melinda's Heart and Book stamps . And I think it looks pretty too.

I am addicted to this Artful Stamper shade of Detail  Gold Embossing Powder. The shimmer you see is from Spica pens, also made by Copic.

The Curve & Pop Method

I used what I call the Curve and Pop Method on the cocoa cup. What I do is to cut her hands and mug out from a second stamped image, then curve the paper in the shape I want it.

After I have curved the paper, the area I want to be the highest part of the card I use the thickest type of glue dot on, here it is the center of the mug. The area where the lowest part of the cut out piece is her hands. For them I used Glue Dots which have no height but a lot of sticky power. This is what I did to Willow's umbrella on October 9th's card - a 3D Dot went to the center and the top edges have sticky Glue Dots to seal it flat at the top. 

One more tip - because of the height the top image gets, you need to color even the bottom layer underneath.

I hope you liked today's over the top card! One more note because I have been asked - yes you can see the Whiff of Joy site in English. If you head over to the site you will see country flags on the left - click a flag and the site language will change for you. Shipping takes about 7-10 days, so it is not too bad at all.

Thanks for stopping by!

Your friendly global neighborhood enabler,

Suzy

Supplies List

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Hot Chocolate;  Willow's Armchair; Elisabeth Bell Accessories & Sentiments Collection.

Paper: Bazzill Bling off white and textured tan and purple papers (names unknown); Vintage Cream by Papertrey; Doodlebug Chenille Flocked Velvet paper from the Bon Bon Chiffon Collection and Lilac Le Fleur; Scenic Route Sonoma Scrap Strip 1; GCD Studios Tinted Medallions from the Rose Colored Glasses Collection

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; VersaMark

Accessories: Nestabilities Oval and Circle Scallops & Ribbon Tags Trio; Crystal Effects; Copic Markers and Spica Atyou Glitter Pens; Heidi Swapp Felt flowers; Stampin' Up! Boho Flowers Punch; Ranger Inkssentials Opaque White Pen; The Artful Stamper Gold Embossing Powder; May Arts Ribbon, Krylon Gold Leafing Pen; Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Harlequin Grungeboard; Liquid Pearls.

Coloring With Copics Tips ~ Willow With Umbrella

I am really enjoying my Guest Designer stint at Whiff of Joy - Katharina was so generous with her stamps and even sent extra to use as Blog Candy, which will be coming up very soon. Todays card uses three new Whiff of Joy releases, Willow With Umbrella, the Fall Grass background stamp and a sentiment from the General Sayings Set. It was so fun to color everything with my Copic Markers  (for tips see below).  I stamp an image then watch Law & Order as I color and it is so relaxing.

This image was stamped twice so that I could cut out the umbrella, the shape and layer it so that it is both curved and three dimensional. I added some Crystal Effects to the polka dots and also the rain.

I used the second stamped image to cut Willow out to create a mask for her so that I could fit her into the Fall Grass background. I will just keep that mask with the stamp for use in the future.

My final trick on today's card was to color her eyes blue, then add a bit of Inkssentials Opaque White Pen to the pupil. I used the white pen on the rain and to highlight here and there as well.

There is so much going on with the main image and the background stamp so I kept the rest of the card simple. The sentiment was stamped on  the new Nestabilities Ribbon Tags Trio.

I sponged around the paper with a bit of pink chalk ink. Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink ribbon was slid through.

Copic Marker Tip: So many people are jumping on board the Copic wagon only to be disappointed. Play with them a bit and you will fall in love. Like any artistic product, there is a learning curve. You need to learn how to use them as they differ significantly from other mediums. I will start giving a series of tips to help you if you are new.  Be warned: I myself am still learning and hope to one day take a Copic Certification with Marianne, the Queen of the Copics.

Todays tip is layering. People hate to layer because they feel it will waste their product or ruin the paper. The magic of alcohol ink markers is that they do NOT ruin your paper, and as for the waste, the sketch and Original hold a LOT of ink and they are refillable.

Layering

Two ways of layering make alcohol markers special: tone on tone and the highlight/main/shade or highlight/main/contrast type of layering. I am completely self taught so may not use the official words, but I get a lot of e-mails asking, and that is what I do. You can get several colors from ONE marker by going over the same area again with that same color. You can't do this with water based markers as it will eventually break down the paper. The alcohol of these markers dissipates so it doesn't ruin the paper.

With pressure and layering you can shade and graduate color in a beautiful way similar to working with charcoal pencils. If you are new to Copics, start with simple images with enough space to show the color graduation. Draw a circle and practice using only one marker. First color the circle in completely, then outline the edge again and again with the marker, moving toward the center, yet using the most pressure at an angle so that the tip presses more on the outer edge than the center.

The vibrancy of the colors develop even more when you use a color that is completely different yet still able to blend - for example a light pink, a medium pink, and a pinkish brown or a red. The brown or the red makes the pink appear even more PINK and makes it pop. Not sure if this makes sense but try it!

In the Magnolia Image to the left I used Baby Skin pink all over then Blush for a child's super rosy cheeks, and under her eye as a shadow I used Pale Sepia (a tan brown), which I then washed out with more Baby Skin Pink and a Colorless Blender. You would never think to use brown on a face but it does work her to emphasize her chubby cheeks. Copics makes it possible to use such an odd color combo.

I also like to use orange with yellows, or green with blues. When you layer over the dark or contrast shade it will blend thanks to the Colorless Blender and/or the highlighting shade (the lightest shade).

As I did this  on the fly please forgive the bad pictures but this messy one to the left, using R20 Blush as the main color, shows the three effects I talked about today. Outside the circle is the orignal Blush at one layer.

I hope that helped and wasn't even more confusing. It is so much easier to show I need to learn to do a video tutorial - but I am REALLY techno challenged.

Thanks for stopping by - happy coloring :)

Suzy

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Umbrella, the Fall Grass background stamp and a sentiment from the General Sayings Set of 6

Paper: Bazzill Bling and Bazzill; Select White by Papertrey

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic Pixie Dust and Turquoise Gem

Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities Ribbon Tags Trio; Stampin' Up! White and Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon; Crystal Effects; Copic Markers; button; Fiskars Threading Water punch; Stampin' Up! corner Rounder punch; Ranger Inkssentials Opaque White Pen.

Guardian Angel - Whiff of Joy (SC197)

Meet Matthew the Guardian Angel, one of Whiff of Joy's new collection of stamps just out this past Monday. This is my first work for them as a Guest Designer. If you saw the gorgeous card on the Whiff of Joy banner ad on Splitcoast today, then you know I have some pretty big boots to fill. Those ladies are something! The stamps are awesome too: deeply etched, real red rubber. I was so impressed with the quality of these sweet, nostalgic stamps.

I thought today's sketch at Splitcoast would be perfect for this stamp. I made it a masculine card with BasicGrey Boxer papers and some fabric letters that I hit with my navy and green ink pads a few times. I colored Matthew with my Copic Markers.

For something a little different, I stamped the image twice so that I could have an extra angel wing, which I then shaped for a bit of 3D effect. The original image only has one wing. the dang glitter looks pink here, but it is green in person! It turns out to be holographic - arg.

This is a quick post as I am off to mail my designs to Johanna at Odd Bird Planet. I am a finalist for that Design Team, cross your fingers for me please! I had about 1 day to whip up the cards so I know how the contestants at Project Runway feel! I just kept thinking....make it work. I hope I did! I will show you my cards after the deadline.

See you tomorrow with another Whiff of Joy card to share. Thanks for stopping by!

Suzy

Supplies List

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Lying Matthew With Sentiment

Paper: BasicGrey Boxer; Select White by Papertrey; Stampin' Up! Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze Cardstock

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: American Crafts Fabric Thickers; Copic Markers; Stickles; Linen twine; vintage buttons

New Stamps at Whiff of Joy

    

Today is new release day at Whiff of Joy! SIXTEEN new stamps and stamp sets! Woo hoo! I haven't received mine yet  (I am hoping for Monday) but you can bet I will be posting lots of cards with these sweet stamps as soon as I do! Until then, be sure to check out Katharina's blog and the rest of the Design Team members who have made some gorgeous cards for you.  It is so fun to see the different styles of cardmaking from around the world.

While you are on the WOJ site be sure to check out the WOJ Project of the Month, Creative Packaging for Tea and Tea Cups. The projects can all be seen here.  Really stunning work - I am so honored to be included on a team of such amazing designers.

The challenges have begun on SCS I am off to play! Member Companies like Odd Bird Planet and others having fun challenges with prizes as wellas the SCS challenges. Be sure to comment on this thread at SCS for a chance to win some fun prizes! Be back later with my Technique Card and a Tutorial!

Suzy