In Memory of the Peeps

Peep-A-Boo
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

Easter has come and gone, and so have the Peeps. Which is a good thing really. If you've been with me for the past couple of years on this blog, you know how I love Peeps. A sugar addict's dream really. So, the Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter Peeps are now nowhere to be found on the store shelves until late August, so maybe I can shed a few pounds. That's it, I'll blame my weight on Peeps. I think there might be a little more to it than that.

Anyway, this blog has gotten a lot less personal over the past year and has mainly just been a means of sharing my creations. I think that is okay, and really just reserve the right to talk about whatever and share whatever whenever. I do want to share for those of you that's been with me for a while that I've had a good year being back in the schools. It was a good decision, yet I'm still not where I need to be. I'm working on that as I speak and will share soon. But, some stresses have been eliminated from my life....the class I was taking is done (I got an A, worked my ass off, yet learned NOTHING), the after school class I was teaching and just dreaded doing is also over, so I'm going to be having some time now to do what I want to do. Yippee.

This week was a busy week with lots of things concluding, so I'm just now getting around to sharing these two cards I made last weekend, in response to LSC160 on SCS. The challenge was to use 3-4 stamped images, 1 piece of patterned paper, and some colored cardstock, and white cardstock to make 2 or more different cards. These are what I came up with. I had so much fun playing with a smaller focal image, as usually I'm all involved with coloring the monster images I tend to have and use.

The Peep image is from Stamp In, a store in Minnesota that I visited during my former career a couple of years ago. Also used was Canvas from SU! and Karen Foster Snap Stamps. The Peep image was stamped with Marvy Dye black and colored with Copic markers, but it didn't really require any real coloring efforts.

Bye Bye Peeps (though we'll see eachother in August, I'm sure) Hello New Life...in many, many ways.

Bunny Day Tag Card

Bunny Day Tag Card
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

This is a card I made as a result of Ways To Use It Challenge #158 on SCS. The challenge was to use tags. I decided to use an image that was actually a tag...the bunny image in a tag from Whipper Snapper. I thought, how could I not, given the upcoming holiday this weekend. So, I played around with bright colors and came up with this.

Whipper Snapper image stamped on Georgia Pacific cardstock with Marvy Dye black ink and colored with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils. I used a piece of patterned paper for the color scheme, yet didn't actually use it on the card. Hmm. Does that happen to anyone else?

I stamped the sentiment with an alphabet set from Impression Obsession. The grass is a stamp from Art Impressions and the Peep bunny is from Michaels.

The bright colors of this make me happy. Here's wishing you all a very happy bunny weekend....you know Peeps, white chocolate rabbits, etc.

Dachshund on Pillow

Dachshund on Pillow
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

I made this card for SC168 on SCS.

The main image is one of many dachshund stamps that is made by Cowtown Stamps. I stamped the image with Marvy Dye ink on Georgia Pacific cardstock and then I colored it with Copic Markers and Prismacolor Pencils. The sentiment is from Rosie's Roadshow. A bit of distressing was done with Distress Walnut Ink. I decided to make this a long/short card to mimick a dachshund. Hehe!

I'm guessing that I'll have Sloopy give this card as a thank you to my Mom. My Mom is saying that she bought Sloopy an Easter gift she's going to love. Hopefully she'll love this card too.

So, with that, I officially have too much time on my hands. Spring break and I'm making cards off of Sloopy's list. Not that I'm complaining.

Rabbit with a Palette

Rabbit with a Palette
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

A just for fun card, attached to absolutely no challenges. I just wanted to do some coloring.

The cute rabbit artist image is from Northwoods. I just love their stamps. I stamped the rabbit with Marvy Dye black ink on Sterling Matte Coated paper from Arvey's. I then colored the image with Copic markers. Gave it a few simple framed layers, and there you have it.

I can't believe I actually combined the colors blue and yellow. I try to shy away from such a combination because...well, you know. Must have been the Tylenol PM.

Not So Sweet

So Sweet
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

This was a very frustrating coloring experience for me. Allow me to explain...

Last year, I bought this adorable Whipper Snapper image in Wisconsin. It hadn't seen ink until this weekend. Not because I didn't like the stamp...just because I wanted to color the image perfectly because I like it so much.

So, when I saw this week's Inspiration Challenge #119, I immediately thought of this image. Could I do it justice? NO! I tried, and tried and tried through several attempts. I wanted to use the same bold color scheme as the inspiration piece, but I found it was too many colors and it seemed entirely too busy with color.

My final attempt is what you see here. I decided to reduce the color palette to the colors you'd find in a roll of classic Life Savers...still bold, just less busy.

I still remain layout challenged too.

But hey, I learned a lot from the process, I think. Back on the shelf this stamp goes. I'll hopefully try it again later, with much more success.

Lizards' Night Out

Lizards' Night Out
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

I had today off....as the city is still digging out from the snow. So, I got to participate in TLC#159 on SCS. It was for a technique called Faux Cloisonne', something I had never heard of before today. Anyway, what you do is find a page from a magazine. Stamp an image on the magazine page and gold emboss it. Cut out the image and put on a black (or other color) background.

I don't really have any magazines, so I had to revert to an old OSU football program. I found an ad from a local restaurant that was featuring appetizer samplers, complete with wings, potato skins, etc. So I stamped this lizard by Magenta all over the ad with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I then proceeded to cut them all out. I kinda threw them all on a black piece of cardstock, and what resulted was this card. I added some sequins for some bling, and matted the card to some gold and green cardstock. The black cardstock is lightly sponged with the Brillance Galaxy gold.

And there you have it. No coloring with pencils or Copics. Just some good old fashioned heat embossing. It was really fun to get outside my comfort zone. I hope the lizards had fun too.

Snowed In and Stamping

Woman In Adobe Village
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

We're still digging out from the blizzard. It is so nice to be confined to the house. What's a person to do...clean or stamp?

I chose to tackle a stamp I bought last winter in Sedona. I fell in love with the image and knew it would be a doozy to color. It lived up to its expectation. But, since I have lots of time right now, I just colored away.

I colored the image, which is from a company called Stamp A Mania with Prismacolor pencils on Bristol smooth paper. The image is cut out, and the stained glass window was made using acetate and Perfect Pearls.

I doubt if this woman in this adobe village will see any snow soon. We've got it all anyway.

Making My Own Green

Leprechaun Bear
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

Green is not a color you will see right now where I live.

We have just went through a blizzard Friday and today. It left 20 inches of snow, a record here. Needless to say, there is white everywhere...not a speck of green to be found. So, I needed to make something green...just to help remember the promise of spring.

Actually this card is inspired by a lovely green quilt, featured on IC118 on SCS. I had this stamp by Darcie with the quiltlike border, so I just went with it. I colored the image with Copic markers once it was stamped with Marvy Dye ink on Sterling Matte Coated paper from Arvey's.

Blizzards are good for stamping. Really.

Blue Girl With Wicker Basket

Blue Girl With Wicker Basket
Originally uploaded by Buckeye

This is my take on Inspiration Challenge 117 on Splitcoast. The inspiration piece was of a gorgeous blue bedroom. My guess is that it belongs to this girl that is on the card I made.

The girl stamp is from Art Impressions. I stamped the image with Marvy Dye black ink on Sterling Matte Coated paper. I colored it with Copic markers, including the watercolorlike wash. Various patterned paper and cardstock used. Heart brads, ribbon and Cuttlebug tag for embellishments.

I'm guessing this will be used as my Mother's Day card for my Mom in a couple of months. Wow! Imagine that?! I'm ahead of the game for once.