Christmas Cardinal

Hello, Hello! 

I tried to run one errand today (needed to pay taxes and change over the title on a new car), BUT, the DMV was closed.  Darn.  Had to come home and craft.  
 I needed to ink up this IO cardinal a got a few months ago.  I have a thing for birds.  Love this one. 

We have the most dreary of weather today, so lighting was a bear. 

FYI, Impression Obsession has a Fantastic Black Friday Sale going on right now, 

25% off the entire site!  

I used the gorgeous, Snowy Branch Cardinal and colored him with Copics.  Sentiment is 'Peace Script'.  This font is just gorgeous and works perfectly for a peaceful winter scene. 
The sketch is from Sketch Saturday. 

I added some patterned paper, a die cut I had lying on my desk- it is from Simon Says Stamp- the Outlined Cluster Leaves Die, the heat embossed sentiment and a few sequins.  I also used Wink of Stella on the snow. 
I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend as we enter the Christmas season~

Lee Ann 

Vintage St Nick

Hello All!

Hope you got plenty of turkey, stuffing, and pie yesterday!  Hard to believe that the Christmas season is officially underway.
I have a fun vintage Santa to share today.  He is an oldie but goodie from Stampendous. I don't have a particular style when it comes to Christmas cards, but when it comes to Santas, vintage is it! 

I stamped Santa on watercolor paper and colored him with 3 Shimmerz Coloringz- Keep Palm, Pink Stiletto and Scarlet's Fever.  His beard was done with Angel Wings Shimmerz paint.

I heat embossed the sentiment, which is from MFT, in black embossing powder.
The background was done with the Scarlet's Fever Coloringz. I started out applying the color using the packaging technique, but in the end, using my finger turned out the be the best way for the look I wanted.  Once the Coloringz was dry, I splattered white acrylic paint on the background.  Once that was dry, I stamped the music from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps Texture Tiles 1 Stamp Set.
Santa was fussy cut out and then popped up on dimensional adhesive.  A few sequins were added.

I am linking up to a couple of challenges-
Christmas Kickstart Challenge- Show us Your Santa. 
Double D Challenges "What is your Christmas Style"
Winter Wonderland Challenge- Use Holly and/or ivy on your card
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Thanks it for me!  Happy Christmas Season!

Lee Ann 

Freshly Made Sketches #413

Hello Everyone!
I assume lots of you are home baking pies and making stuffing.  When you get a break, join us for the latest Freshly Made Sketches sketch from the uber talented Cecile!

The sketch is true Cecile style, which I really love!

I tried various different things, and admittedly, this looked better in my head, but I ran out of time.
I started with my well loved Ken Oliver Color Bursts, making waves in various shades of green.  Eventually it all looked more like an abstract shape.  
I used the Stamplorations Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas stamp and heat embossed it in gold, added a few sequins and called it done! 
 That's it for me as Thanksgiving meal prep is calling my name!
We hope you find time in between your food prep, guests, traveling and whatever Thanksgiving brings you to join us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lee Ann  

Guesting with CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello Again!

I have the pleasure of joining the CAS(E) This Sketch team this week and creating with a great sketch by Brian King!

Anyone who knows me knows I am a mountain girl.  But, I know a lot more beach girls and they are beating me to retirement!  So this Art Impression Stamp set, Happy Trails,  was perfect.

Here is the sketch for this week~

My retiree is colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  My background was water colored with my beloved Ken Oliver Color Bursts. I grounded the retiree with a vellum rectangle.
I am linking up to Just us Girls for their color challenge this week~

 As well as AAA Cards- single image

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

Lee Ann

Freshly Made Sketches for Christmas

Hello All!

Sorry to be absent last week, but the brain cells were not all firing as life got nutty!
We have a great Freshly Made Sketches sketch this week from Jen Brum; Jen is a master at using lots of color, yet keeping her cards clean.  

This is a versatile sketch to work with!

I started with a poinsettia from the Poinsettia set of 4.  It was heat already heat embossed in black as I pulled it from my unused 'stuff' pile.  I colored it with Arteza Real Brush Pens using burgundy, red, orange and pink.  Because of my poor lighting, you cannot see the variations in the color- much better irl.  Save 10% on the Poinsettia set of 4 at TJ with code TJ10LeeAnn. 
I paired the image with a print from my gel plate.  The sentiment is from Impression Obsession- Warmest Christmas Wishes- and was stamped in Versafine Black ink.  I made the mistake of letting it sit a while to dry on the acrylic paint from the print.  Instead of staying put and drying, it started to wick on the acrylic paint print.  I quickly added some clear ep to it and heat embossed it. 
That's it for me! 
Pop over to the FMS blog to see the rest of the fabulous inspiration, then paly along!  Hope to see you in the gallery! 

Lee Ann

Parade of Poinsettias

Hello All!

Sorry to have been a bit MIA, life kind of went spinning out of control for a bit.  I hope to be back to normal (whatever that is!) by the end of the month.
Today I have a trio of cards using the gorgeous Poinsettia Greetings Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  This is truly a beauty.  In my humble opinion, this is the best poinsettia out there.
I have colored the image with 3 different mediums.
First up, Copics.

To begin, I must give credit where credit is due.  This card design is CASed from the amazing Yana Smakula.  I adore how this turned out, especially the pop of black on the pink.  Those fun sentiments are from the Christmas Wordfetti Stamp Set.  Details on this card are on the Sweet n Sassy Stamps Blog.  I am linking this card up to Addicted to Stamps and More for their 'Holiday' challenge.
This next card is a CASE of myself- I cased this blue poinsettia.

I used my beloved Ken Oliver Color Bursts for this card.  The flower center was colored with a white Gelly Roll pen.

Lastly, this version was colored with various Shimmerz Paints products.

This one has a totally different look to it (and was a bear to photograph!).
Here are the steps to doing this card~
-Stamped the flower in Memento Tuxedo Black, using my MISTI, then painted a light layer of Miner Miner  49er Inklingz over the entire flower.
-Once that was dry, I painted some Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz Paint at the base of each petal (approximately the first 1/3 of the petal).  
-While still wet, I blended out with Keep Palm Coloringz that I applied with a brush (approximate middle 1/3 of each of the petals).
-While that was still wet, I blended out with Miner Miner 49er Inklingz.
-Once everything was dry, I decided that the Tickle Me Turquoise was too bold and needed to be toned down so I went over the top of it with Keep Palm Coloringz.  This was where the magic happened as the Tickle Me Turquoise still showed through but was much more subtle.  I wish you all could see this in real life!
-I worked each petal a bit more with the Keep Palm Coloringz and the Miner Miner 49er Inklingz.
-Once I was happy with the layers of color, I decided to emboss the image so I put it back in my MISTI and stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.
-Now all that was left was the background.  I used my Well Blue Me Down Coloringz and painted in on in layers, drying in between to get all of the hard edges.


That's it for me!  I hope I have inspired you to try different mediums on your images!


Lee Ann 

Sweet n Sassy Stamps New Release in Red!

Hello!
Welcome to the November New Release Blog Hop from Sweet n Sassy Stamps!  You are in for a treat, as Korin knocked this month's release out of the park!  Leave a comment at each blog along the way for a chance to win a $10 gift voucher to the snss store! 
First up, the gorgeous, new Poinsettia Greetings.

I can't get enough of coloring this flower.  It. Is. Gorgeous.  This one is done with Copic markers.  The flower center was fancied up with clear seed beads.
On the bottom pink panel, I stamped the Christmas Wordfetti set in Versamark.  I inked and stamped it right from the sentiments mounted on the acetate sheet.  I curved my sentiment, also from the Christmas Wordfetti Stamp Set to match the curve of my die cut panel.  The sentiment is embossed in gold and popped up on dimensional adhesive with some gold thread nested behind it.  A few sequins and some clear Wink of Stella finish off the card.

Next up, I have a simple card that still packs a punch.  I have used the gorgeous Folk Art Snowflakes for this card, specifically, the largest snowflake. 

So easy- I heat embossed the snow flake in white on red cs.  It is framed with a white scalloped rectangle die.  The sentiment is from the Poinsettia Greetings  Stamp Set. I finished it off with white gems and a wood snowflake embellishment.  

The last day for you to comment on the blogs is November 19 at 10pm ET.  Winner will be announced on the snss blog.  

And to sweeten the deal, we are celebrating our 12th birthday this month and you get the presents!  The entire snss store is 12% off!  

Now on with the HOP!  Enjoy! 

Sweet n Sassy Stamps blog
Julee Tilman
Cathy McCauley
Ceal Pritchett
Diane Zechman
Jane Bosi
Lee Ann Barrett- You are HERE!
Lucinde van Ballegooijen
Lyn Tomlin
Sheri Gilson

 

Thanksgiving Floral

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to do some coloring and this Concord and 9th image was really calling my name.  The colors from The Color Throwdown were perfect.

Everything is colored with Copics with a bit of highlighting with a gold pen (which you cannot really see as I struggled with photography today).  The sentiment is from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps So Grateful Stamp Set.  I just love this font. 

The inspiration photo at The Card Concept served as my floral inspiration.  I kept my card CAS style.

I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, Thanks/Thanksgiving.
 
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!

Lee Ann 

Be Jolly!

Hello!

I have yet another snowman card using my favorite colors this season.

This chubby guy is from the Snow Much Fun Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  He is colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  My background is done on Tim Holtz watercolor paper; I stamped snowflakes from both the Snow Much Fun stamp set and Folk Art Snowflakes in versamark ink and heat embossed them in white ep.  I then watercolored the background using the emboss resist technique.  I used my much loved Ken Oliver Colorbursts.
The sentiment is done with a die from Stamplorations and is perfect for this jolly guy.  I die cut it 4 times and stacked the dies, the last one being offset to give a white shadow effect.  I colored the sentiment with Copics in an ombre style.
I put my snowman atop the 'l' as if he was twirling up there on his skate.  A few sequins finish the card.
I am linking up to a few challenges-
Christmas Kickstart Challenge- 'snow'
Krafty Chicks Challenge- 'winter'
Addicted to Stamps and More- anything goes

Freshly Made Sketches Gets Snowed!

Hello, Hello!

It's Wednesday and that means it is time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!
This week our hostess is Linda, who makes every sketch look effortless!

I took some liberties with the sketch, using stenciling to replace the back panel.

My sledding, candy cane loving, snowman, from the Snow Much Fun Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps, was colored with Copics and fussy cut out.

I had a teal watercolor panel that was also spattered with white paint in my stash that was perfect for a snowy, sledding background.  To represent the back panel, I stenciled some flourishes with a Tim Holtz stencil- Fourish- and teal ink.  The sentiment is from the Poinsettia Greeting Stamp Set and was lined up using my MISTI.
That's all from me!  Stop by the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the rest of the amazing inspiration, then link up a creation!

Lee Ann 

Snow Much Fun!

Hello! 

Today I am up on the Sweet n Sassy Stamps blog with this snowman card, using the new Snow Much Fun Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.

My snowman is colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  The background was done on watercolor paper; I heat embossed the largest snowflake from the Folk Art Snowflakes Stamp Set in white ep.  Then I put a light blue wash down using Daniel Smith Watercolors. 
On a separate piece of watercolor paper, I did the same thing with a smaller snowflake and used red watercolor paint.  Once dry, I fussy cut the snowflake and adhered it on top of the larger snowflake. 
My snowman was popped up on the snowflake with dimensional adhesive. 
The sentiment is from the Deck the Halls Stamp Set.  I was able to get a good, solid impression of the sentiment because I used my MISTI and stamped multiple times with Versafine Black ink. 
Some Wink of Stella and a few sequins finish the card. 
I have a second card on the Sweet n Sassy Blog that uses this set along with the snowflake set.  Stop by to check it out!

Thanks so much for visiting and have a blessed day!

Lee Ann  

Soothing the Soul with Bible Journaling

Hello All! 

I have really been getting into Bible journaling lately.  I find that when I have no MOJO to create a card, getting into God's Word frees my creativity and calms my spirit. 
I am still trying to find my 'style'.  Try a little of this and a little of that.  But the process is fun and rewarding. 

 Psalm 146:2- I will sing praises to God with my dying breath.

Tonight I finished a page I started a couple of weeks back.  This song speaks to me.  I could listen to it all day.  And it reminds me again and again that I need to praise GOD in ALL circumstances. 
I drew my woman in and then colored her with Daniel Smith Watercolors and Ken Oliver Colorbursts.  I then went in with the Colorbursts to do the background.  Something wasn't quite right so I set it aside. 
I came back to it tonight and used my Lyra Aquacolor Crayons to add more color to the background.  Next, I used the Chunky Alpha Stamp Set and Versafine Black ink to spell out 'Hallelujah'.  Then I used the School Days Alpha to spell out 'Raise A'. 
Then there was the happy accident.  I accidentally got some Versafine black ink on the block and when I stamped it got onto the page. Well, it looked great!  That is what was missing!  I went and added more black ink by inking the edge of the block and lightly dragging and stamping it on the page. 
Texture was needed as well and I stamped the Typewriter Text Background in its color corresponding to the background color.  I added white gel pen to the alphas in Hallelujah and called it done. 
 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the Heavens. 
I tried working with Distress Oxides here.  I stamped the leaves from the Autumn Splendor Stamp Set in the same color as I planned on coloring the leaves.  I started adding Distress Oxides to the background and leaves and then colored in the leaves as well.  I was not happy with the look, so tried to overstamp the leaves in dark brown ink. 
Once I was happy with it, I stamped the word 'Be' from the Just Be Clear Stamp Set,  content and season are stamped with the letters from the School Days Alpha,  'me' is from the Living Water Stamp Set, and the letters for 'God' are from the Rebecca Script Alpha. 
I finished the page off by spritzing it with a pearlescent spray and splattering with white acrylic paint.
Thanks for stopping by! 

Lee Ann  

Poinsettia in Blue

Hello!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has a new release and it is simply amazing!  I love my florals, so this incredible new Poinsettia Greetings Stamp Set was calling my name!  It is huuuuuge!

It is a 6 x 6 set to be exact and comes with two large sentiments as well.
This is colored with Ken Oliver Colorbursts.  I started with some Arches 140# Cold Press Water Color Paper and sprinkled a small amount of Ultramarine Blue Colorburst blue across the whole panel, being a bit more generous over the flower.  Then I went over it with a large brush and water to get a light wash.  Once this was dry, I colored the Poinsettia, using a wet on wet technique with Prussian Blue powder.  I dried inbetween layers to get the shadowing and depth I wanted.
Once all was dry, I spritzed the entire panel with Iridescent Shimmering Bliss Spray from Technique Junkies.

I finished it off with some splattering of Shimmerz Paints Coal Paint, with more wonderful shimmer.
The sentiment is heat embossed in silver on vellum and sequins finish off the card.

This stamp is such a great way to start off cardmaking for the holiday season!  Getting ready to color it up again!
I am linking up to Mix It Up Challenge- watercoloring.
I am also linking up to Time Out Challenges with my "Big" poinsettia.

Thanks for stopping by,
Lee Ann  

Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

Hello!
It is that time of year when we celebrate coffee (or tea or hot chocolate) with the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!  A huge thanks to Amy Tsuruta for her work in putting this hop together.

I fell in love with this fabulous die from Impression Obsession, Tea Cocoa.  I decided to make it look like old fashioned milk glass by embossing it with a polka dot embossing folder.

I kept it simple, with some patterned paper and some glitter.  YES, glitter.  I never use it as frankly, I hate it!  But, it was perfect to jazz up the whipped cream.  While I had it out, I put down a length of Score Tape and burnished some glitter into it.
The wonderful sentiment is also Impression Obsession- I am obsessed with the font- and is called Warmest Wishes.

I am linking up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 'Anything Goes. 

Super simple!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!

Lee Ann