Monthly Archives: July 2008

Rose’s Garden

Posted on July 18, 2008 | 15 comments

roses-garden-1-diane-zechman.jpgYea!  It’s Friday!  And today I am sharing a sketch for you to try.  This is my second card with the Sarah Kay images from Stampavie and I am loving them!  I started out with this sketch in mind.  I was in the car one day, waiting for someone, and doodled a few sketches.  So I decided to use this one for my challenge today.  The dotted paper was chosen first because I was looking for something with a small pattern, knowing it would get mostly covered.  I have a hard time covering up those pretty papers!  Then I chose a nice contrasting color for the card base.  Next I was digging through my ribbons and found this one which I love and completely forgot I had!  It all came together from there.     

sketch-3-diane-zechman-7-08.jpgCutting the main image wasn’t too difficult…I don’t have any tricks to tell you.  Just cut a slant and use the first cut as a guide for cutting the second side.  Then adjust it to fit the card.

I hope you play along with the sketch!  If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword PCSC3 (for Paper Cookies Sketch Challenge 3).  And don’t forget to link back here…I would love to see them!  🙂

stamps- Sarah Kay- Roses’s Garden, Vases in Vogue

paper- Turquoise, White, Saffron, Choc. Chip, BoBunny Shabby Princess

ink- Black

accessories- Copic markers, ribbon, Key Tag punch, paper flower from Walmart, Quikutz flourish die, button

15 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., challenges, sketches, Stampavie

sock monkey banner

Posted on July 17, 2008 | 2 comments

sock-monkey-banner-diane-zechman.jpgYesterday I received the new SU! Sock Monkey set which is a preview for the upcoming new catalog.  I wasn’t sure if I’d like the sock monkey or not, but I think he’ll grow on me.  LOL.  When I first saw the set, I knew I’d want to make the pennant into a banner.  I haven’t been over to the SCS gallery, so I don’t know if anyone else had the same idea but I think it worked out pretty well.  (EDIT to add: I guess I wasn’t the only one!  Hehe.)  I used a non-SU alphabet to add the letters.  The Basic Gray layer was embossed only on the bottom and a craft white ink was applied very lightly to bring out the texture.  

The layout for this card came from Holly’s sketch.  I turned it though so I could fit the banner on.  Holly and a few of us other Dirty Dozen gals decided to have a few blog challenges since we’re missing all the fun at CHA.  😉  Check back tomorrow and I will have another sketch for you.  And I’ll try to post the other challenges with links as well.  We hope you’ll play along!

stamps- Sock Monkey, Dot Alpha- Stamp Craft

paper- Basic Gray, Saffron, Non-SU white and red

ink- Black, Craft white

accessories- Copics, Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough folder, Stickles

2 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., challenges, Stampin' Up!

Life’s too short…

Posted on July 15, 2008 | 5 comments

sweet-treats-2-diane-zechman.jpgHere’s another card I made using the C.C. Designs Sweet Treats set.  I thought it would be fun to use the same images that I used with the card kit before and see how different the cards would look just by changing the design.  You can see my previous card here.  The only stamp I used that was different is the heart background.  I just love this bear and the look that he has on his face! 

stamps- Sweet Treats and Heart background- C.C. Designs

paper- C.C. Designs card kit, watercolor paper

ink- Black, Pixie

accessories- ribbon & gems from card kit, Square & Circle Nestabilities, gel pen 

5 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CC Designs

a winner, a question, and a flower for you

Posted on July 14, 2008 | 1 comment

Happy Monday!  As promised, I picked a random winner for the blog candy.  Here’s what Random.org said:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

19

Jeni, that’s you!  Please contact me with your address! 

Thanks to everyone for your comments!  I think I only had one question e-mailed to me, so I decided to answer it here as well.  Here’s part of the comment:

“I love your cards and the monkeys are so Cute. Do you prefer mounted or unmounted? Are the unmounted the clear acrylic?”

I used to prefer mounted stamps but since I have been working with the Whipper Snapper,  C.C. Designs unmounted stamps and a few others, my opinion has changed a little.  I really can’t say that I now prefer one over the other.  I enjoy both!  I still enjoy the feel of wood mounts and like the fact that they are ready to go.  But I’ve also come to enjoy the versatility of the unmounteds and it only takes a second to stick them on a clear block.  I have also been pleased with the improvement in the quality of clear acrylics over the years.

The C.C. Designs images that I use are unmounted red rubber with a black cling backing.  They are deeply etched and I have been very pleased with the quality.  And Christine has great shipping charges!  The Stampavie images that I just received are clear acrylic and I was very pleased with the quality of those as well!  I would honestly recommend both without hesitation. 

Now…on to today’s project!  🙂

vases-spring-flowers-diane-zechman.jpgLast night I worked on some unfinished projects that kept getting shoved aside.  This one is a simple 4 1/4″ square card using the SU! Vases in Vogue set and some retired papers.  The vase was masked to stamp the small flowers and then paper pieced.  The large flower was cut out and popped up.  I hand drew the stem for the large flower and added lots of doodling.  After it was assembled I still felt it was lacking something in the lower left corner so I added a few dots of Liquid Pearls. 

Have a great week & stay cool! 

stamps- Vases in Vogue

paper- Spring Flowers dp, Moss, non-SU

ink- Black, Banana, Cameo, Moss

accessories- Small Oval punch, Liquid Pearls

1 Comment

Posted in blog candy, cards, etc., chit-chat, Stampin' Up!

my first Sarah Kay!

Posted on July 12, 2008 | 6 comments

picnics-of-daisies-1-diane-zechman.jpgYesterday I received my first Sarah Kay images from Stampavie and they are wonderful!  How sweet is this girl?  I started out making this card by printing the sentiment on the computer.  Then I used my circle Nestabilities to cut the words out and also create a mask.  The mask was positioned over the sentiment and then I stamped my image inside the words.  Before the mask was removed I sponged some blue around the girl.  Then she was watercolored.  I also used some Cuttlebug dies for the corners and flowers.  I was pleased with how it turned out and I hope you like it too!

Don’t forget to scroll down and check out my blog candy!  Have a great weekend!

stamps- Sarah Kay Picnics of Daisies- Stampavie

paper- SU Lavander Lace, Elegant Eggplant, Banana, Celery, White, dp- Paper Pizazz  

ink- Black, various for watercoloring

accessories- Cuttlebug Flowers and Vintage dies, Circle Nestabilities, purple Signo Gelstick, White Signo gel pen, words-computer generated

6 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., Stampavie

a monkey journal & blogiversary candy!

Posted on July 11, 2008 | 35 comments

monkey-journal-diane-zechman.jpgHi everyone!  I can’t believe that 1 year of blogging has passed by already!  To celebrate I made this journal with the C.C. Designs Summertime Fun and Sweet Treats sets.  I love the sentiment!  Life has it’s ups & downs but it sure can be sweet too! birthday-mouse.gif  Yes, I know…there’s too many candles on that cake!  LOL.  Hmmm…..that gets me in a baking mood.

I actually made 3 of these journals and I’m donating another one soon over at SCS.  More info. on that later.  I picked the journals and matching ribbon up at Michael’s a year or so ago and I’ve just pulled them out to alter them.  Sound familiar?  LOL.  I used the circle Nestabilities on them and the image was colored with Copic markers.

1-yr-blogiversary-diane-zechman.jpgI appreciate all of your comments and visits the past year, so I put together the blog candy shown here including the journal to say “thank you” for stopping by!  All you need to do is reply to this post and tell me what you enjoy about my blog, what you would like to see, or ask any questions that you might have.  I really appreciate the feedback!  I’ll use random.org to pick a winner on Monday. 

Journal deets:

stamps- Summertime Fun and Sweet Treats- C.C. Designs

paper- Choc. Chip, Saffron, Pixie, White

ink- Mustard, Black

accessories- ribbon, Circle Nestabilities, clip, silk flower, buttons, gel pen, glue dots, red line tape

Thanks for stopping by! 

35 Comments

Posted in 3D and altered art, blog candy, CC Designs

Lulu shaker

Posted on July 8, 2008 | 6 comments

lulu-shaker-diane-zechman.jpgI have been wanting to try another shaker card…it’s been a long time since I made one!  I found some micro beads at my local Ben Franklin store a few months ago that were super cheap.  There were several colors and the tubes were 4/$1!  I used some blue and clear beads in this one.  The frame was cut out with my square Nestabilities which made it super easy!  I embossed the bottom portion of the card with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder.  Then I also embossed the Prima to match!  In the center of the Prima I dotted some Stickles and added some of the blue microbeads. 

Last night the new C.C. Designs sets were released so go check them out!  This image of Lulu is from the Summertime Fun set.   

stamps- Summertime Fun- C.C. Designs

paper- Bashful, White, Saffron, Celery, dp-DCWV

ink- Black

accessories- Copic markers, Square Nestabilities, CB Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, acetate, dimensionals, Prima, Stickles, Blue & Clear microbeads

6 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CC Designs

Headlines ATC

Posted on July 7, 2008 | 6 comments

headlines-atc-diane-zechman.jpgIt’s Monday…and the sun is shining so it can’t be all that bad, can it?  Don’t forget to check out the ATS forum….tonight is the release of the new sets I posted the past few days! 

Today I thought I’d share an ATC I made recently for a swap.  I started with the word stamp and designed my ATC around that.  I hoped that my ATC would look like a bed and I needed a pillow to go along with the theme.  I didn’t have any pillow stamps though and I couldn’t find any pillow clip art that I liked so I drew the pillow by hand.   Then I drew lines on the pillows with a liquid glue and applied white fun flock to look like corduroy material.  It still needed something else so I decided that the little AMuse teddy bear would look great on there.  I glittered his shirt with some Stickles to make him stand out. 

headlines-atc-message-diane-zechman.jpgThe sheets on the bed were actually made into a little pocket.  Then I stamped and attached the words to the pillow so they slip into the pocket when the pillow is in place.  I have had this unmounted stamp with the words for several years now.  I picked it up at the Creative Mode booth at a stamp convention.  When I went to use it, I knew that the word corduroy was not spelled as it should be.   But I figured there must be two ways to spell it??  It wasn’t until now that I actually looked it up on dictionary.com and realized that the company did indeed spell it incorrectly.  They have already been swapped and I know that spelling can bug me, so I apologize to those who will receive this!  I plan to cut the stamp apart and fix it somehow.  It’s going on my to-do list!  Despite the mis-spelling, I hope the recipients get a little chuckle from it.  Have a great Monday!

stamps- words-Creative Mode, bear- AMuse, pillow was hand drawn  

paper- Orchid, White, non-SU! brown, retired SU! Sweet dp

ink- Black, Turquoise, Orchid

accessories- white fun flock, Stickles, pop dots

6 Comments

Posted in ATC's and Calling Cards

sweet treats

Posted on July 5, 2008 | 7 comments

sweet-treats-1-diane-zechman.jpgHow adorable is this bear?  He’s having a grand old time munching down a cool snack!  This image, the cone and words are part of the new C.C. Designs set called Sweet Treats.  It also includes a monkey and some more cute sayings.  Fun set!  I just love it!  All of the sets I’ve shared the past few days will be available to purchase on Monday.   And all of the supplies used on this card are available at All That Scraps as well.  Don’t forget to check out the ATS blog and gallery for more great samples.

stamps- Sweet Treats- C.C. Designs

paper- French Roast Core’dinations, Bazzill Bubblegum, Doodlebug Cherry Chocolate Paisley and Neopolitan Stripe, watercolor paper

ink- Choc. Chip, Caramel, Celery, Pixie, Black

accessories- May Arts Solid Fuchsia ribbon, Doodlebug Sugar coated brads- Bon Bon, Doodlebug bubblegum jewels 

7 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CC Designs

Summertime Fun

Posted on July 4, 2008 | 4 comments

summertime-fun-1-diane-zechman.jpgHappy 4th everyone!  grillsmile1.gif  I hope you are keeping cool and having fun today… just like this cute monkey!  He’s part of a new stamp set soon to be released by C.C. Designs called “Summertime Fun”.  There are 3 super cute images and a few words to go with them.  It’s a fun set!  I had this paper and ribbon from All That Scraps laying close by that was leftover from another project and thought the polka-dots would go well with the dots on the monkey’s innertube.  I had to make his dots bright and colorful though to really stand out.  He was colored with Copic markers and I used the same colors from the innertube to make dots around the words.  I really liked how I ran the ribbon off the edge on a previous card and wanted to try it again. 

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!  

stamps- Summertime Fun

paper- Bliss, White, Black, dp- Piggy Tales

ink- Black

accessories- Copic markers, circle punches, brad, ribbon

     

4 Comments

Posted in cards, etc., CC Designs