Polished to Perfection

12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops - Week #8

 

Welcome to JustRite Stampers’ newest Wednesday feature, 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops 8! Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps!  And don’t forget that JustRite has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets -- you can find them HERE.  This week, the designers joining the JustRite design team are the Flower Soft and The Shabby Tea Room challenge blog design teams!  So mark your calendars for Wednesdays at 9am Central for great Christmas gift, card & project ideas, starting at the JustRite Inspiration blog!

Today my card using images from our new Cling Stamp Set - Simple Blessings plus a die from our soon to be released Justrite Custom Die Program.

 

This is the same set I used for last week's Christmas Blog Hop -- you can scroll down to see last week's project if you missed it.

I loved working with this image today -- as it reminds me of how much I miss landscape painting and watching the sunset.  In our old house, we were able to enjoy sunsets from all the main rooms of the house. I always made a point when my children were young of making them watch a sunset long enough to see how dramatically it changes as the sunsets. To just stop and take ten minutes out of our day and watch how beuatiful a sunset really is.  Everytime I hear one of my boys say look at the beautiful sunset --it makes me all warm and fuzzy knowing that I have taught them to appreciate one of life's Simple Blessings - the Setting Sun. 

 

 In the winter the Sunset is dramatically a different color than in the summer.  It is beautiful shades of lavendar, gray and blue - and I tried to capture that here in my card. 

To create the sky -- I first colored the sky with B00, Then I started at the horizon line and added in BV000, and worked the two colors into the sky.  Then I layered a wash of C1 over the B00 to give it a slight gray wash. 

 

Here is a close up of one of our new double ended tear drop tags from our new Nested Sentiment Die Sets.
These tags come with a die that allows you to cut a mat layer for the double ended tear drop.

JustRite Stampers:  CL02030 Simple Blessings
Dies:JustRite Custom Dies JB 08955 Nested Sentiment Dies (die cut for sentiment); Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Pendant
Paper: Best Creations, World Win Pearlescents
Ink & Copic Markers: Tsukeniko Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Cottage Ivy, Lulu Lavendar (for distressing), Jumbo Dauber; Copic Markers -BOO, BVOOO, C1, 0 (sky);C1,C3,G17,YG17,YR24 (Church & Trees)
Accessories: Art Institiute Ultrafine Transparent Crystal Glitter, Glue Pen, Foam tape

We have a huge group of very talented designers joining us for today's hop. Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today!

JustRite Design Team:
JustRite Inspiration Blog
Sharon Harnist 
Angela Barkhouse 
Sankari Wegman 
Stephanie Kraft 
Kazan Clark 
Michele Kovack 
Kellie Fortin 
Barb Schram
Debbie Olson 
Becca Feeken 
Heidi Blankenship

Flower Soft Design Team:
Jeanne Streiff
Debbie Seyer 
Gini Cagle
Linda Beeson
Deb Felts
Cibele Glazer
Vicki Garrett
Dina Kowal

The Shabby Tea Room Design Team:
Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Nicole Segnere
Clare Buswell
Pattie Goldman
Lisa Golzbein
Cathy Clark-Sanite 

 

Introducing JustRite Cling- Hangin' Around

 

 
 I am so excited to share with you my exciting news!!  JustRite is introducing a new line of Rubber Stamps.  JustRite Cling is Deeply Etched Red Rubber Made in the USA!!

 

 The New Cling Stamps come with this gorgeous storage panel which fits in our new JustRite Mini binder which will store 4 storage panels.

I had so much fun designing my first cards with the first cling set that we are introducing this week.
This set is named Hangin' Around.

  

 The backgound papers were all designed using images from Hangin' Around.

 

I had so much fun crochet on the edge of my ornament for last weeks blok hop that I decided to try a new pattern on this card.  This time I used die   of the Spellbinders Eyelet Nestabilites to crochet on the edge.  For this pattern -- slip stich into the first hole.  Chain 3 and slip stictch into the next hole.  For the corners which do no have holes in this size die - I chained 6 and slip stiched into the next hole.  This gave my card design a loose lacy feel.

  

This is how I started my background paper.  I used the design of the paper to create a grid to stamp my pumpkin image on.

 

This is what it looked like after I colored it.  This would make a great background paper for a scrapbook page too!!

 

 Here is a closeup of the scarecrow image-- I just love Spellbinders Labels Ten -- it's a fun way to change up an oval image and make it fresh.

 

 A closeup of the leaf paper I created using the 2 leaf images from this set.

 

Here's a sneak peek of one of the dies from the JB 08955 JustRite Nested Sentiment Die set.  More details will be revealed about these dies over the next few weeks.  They are of course - custom dies manufactured by Spellbinders for Exclusive sale by JustRite.

 

These are the wonderful Copic Colors I used to color the images in the Hangin' Around set.

Project Recipe- Scarecrow Card by Kellie Fortin
JustRite Cling Stamps: CL 02000 Hangin' Around
Dies:JustRite Custom Die -JB 08955 Nested Sentiment Dies;Spellbinders Nestabilites
Labels Ten- Die 5 & 6
Paper:DCWV The Rustic Stack 12 x 12 Neenah Classic Crest- Natural White, WorldWin Double Mates-
Inks: Tsukeniko Memento Tuxedo Black, Desert Sand, Jumbo Sponge Dauber
Copic Colors: - Pumpkins - Orange Quad (YR00, YR12, YR16,YR18), Soft Green Quad (G21, G24), Crows - Warm Gray Quad ( W3, W5), Jeans -B21, B34, Corn- YR00, G21, E33, Straw Hat - E33, Leaves - YR00, YR21,Y17, YR16.

Project Recipe- Autumn be Kellie Fortin
JustRite Cling Stamps: CL 02000 Hangin' Around
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilites Eyelet Squares - Die 2 & 3
Paper: DCWV The Rustic Stack, Neenah Classic Crest- Natural White, WorldWIn Double Mates, Red Cardstock
Inks: Tsukeniko Memento Tuxedo Black, Pottery's Clad, Desert Sand , Jumbo Sponge Dauber
Accessories:Orange Crochet Cotton, Crochet Hook

JustRite Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to the JustRite Christmas Blog Hop.  Today 33 designers are showcasing the New Christmas Releases from JustRite Stampers which are now available for purchase on the JustRite website.

Today I am sharing with you a Custom Christmas Card I designed for the JustRite catalog. 

 

I just love how you can combine JB 08780 1 5/8" A Merry Little Christmas Stamps with theJustRiteJB 08405 2" block with 15 point font and the New JB 08785 Holiday Demi Phrases to create your own stamp image.

 How fun is it that you can design Christmas Stamps with your familie's name on it!!  Here are just a few of the phrases that I have custom designed for this blog hop and future Christmas projects. 

When I played with the first 2" stamper prototype for the first time.  I loved how the 15 point font fit on the block, but I was amazed at how many 15 point letters it took to fill the rim of the block.  And I instantly knew that I needed to give you the tools to make writing on the outer rim of the 2" stamper a breeze.  So I developed 15 fun Holiday Demi Phrases --- I started the thought now you need to finish the demi phrase.

To read more about how you assemble all three JustRite Products to make these custom designs read my post today on the JustRite Blog.  JustRite also has some fabulous blog candy available for those of you who take the time to visit the entire Christmas Blog Hop.  Be sure to read all the details on the JustRite Blog.

To create my card I used Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis Pendant die which is my favorite set of dies from the new Spellbinder's Release.  I die cut turquoise mirrored paper for my first mat layer and a multi-toned green DP from Basic Grey cardstock for the back layer.  I love glitter and this card has tons.  The card itself is a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" Turqouise Glitter Card from Die Cuts with a View.  The fun beaded snowflakes are Jolies Stickers. After I stamped my image with I diecut  and embossed my image with the Spellbinder's Scalloped Circle Nestabilitie I chalked the embossed area with a copic markers then added Designer Dries Clear Adhesive and Ultrafine transparent Crystal glitter from the Art Glitter Institute to the edge of the diecut.  I also applied glue & glitter to the center of the snowflake image.For even more bling I added Kaiser Pearls and multiply shapes of rhinestones.

JustRite Stampers Blog
Becca Feeken
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Johnson
Kazan Clark
Sharon Harnist
Laura Davis
Debbie Olson
Michelle Woerner
Taylor Van Bruggen
Jenn Balcer
Michelle Wooderson
Lori Craig
Lauren Meader
Beate Johns
Barb Schram
Kimberly Crawford
Michele Kovack
Jami Bova
Kellie Fortin
Jennifer Buck
Heidi Blankenship
Angela Barkhouse
Lisa Somerville
Gerrie Johnnic
Kathy Jones
Debbie Seyer
Kim Sonksen
Terre Fry
Sheryl Dickinson
Bonnie Sharp
Mary Pfaff
Holly Simoni
Angela Robledo
Thanks for stopping by...be sure to check out all the fun projects from this fabulous group of designers!!

Just a little love from Rubber Stamp Tapestry

I have had this set of stamps- Flourish Plate 1from Rubber Stamp Tapestry in my stash for months and today I finally got to play with them.  I absolutely love this set...it makes such beautiful dainty lines and the paper design possibilities are endless.  To create this card I started with a fun paper from Best Creations. The center of the daisies are pre glittered and the paper already had a light pink flourish in it so I thought it would be the perfect canvas for this set.  Here is a photo of the paper before I started stamping.

Next I added in the flourishes and embossed them in Rich red.  I then used graphite black brillance ink to add the love words...this set has 4 variations of the word love. Here is what the paper look like after I stamped it with the gorgeous flourishes.

Next I used the graphite black ink to scuff the edges of the paper. I used the leftover brighton paper from last night's card as my card base and I also scuffed these edges.  To create the tag I altered a counter top chip sample by applying versamark watermark ink to the entire surface and applying the rich red embossing powder to the chip and embossing it.  I then re- applied additional versamark ink and added a second layer of rich red embossing powder to the chip.  When it cooled I used my graphite black brilliance ink to the apply flourishes to the tag and to grunge the sides of the counter top chip.  To speed up the drying process I heat set the ink with my embossing gun.  I found these cute little vintgage key holes from Melissa Francis and the mini vintage brass keys are from 7 Gyspies.  The ribbon is from Creative Impressions.  To adhere the lock and the key I used Scotch tacky adhesive glue...which I love as it dries clear and holds even metal. Here is a close up of the tag.

Now I still felt like I needed a little something more for the card ...so I found 3 heart clips ( I am not sure who they are from) and I used the graphite black ink to antique them and then adhered them to my card with the Scotch Tacky Adhesive. Here is the close-up view:

And then of course I added Red Rhinestones from Kaiser Crafts.  Wouldn't  this stamped paper make  a beautiful scrapbook page ??  Off to design more fun projects...it's great to be creating again!!

Here is what the set looks like...can you just see the endless possibilities!!

I know...now you just gotta have it!!

Copic Airbrushed Autumn Ferns with Dreamweaver Stencils and Paste

                           

I love Autumn, it is my absolute favorite time of year.   This card was designed using 2 Dreamweaver Stencils (LJ 829 Fern  and LJ880 Deckled Edge Rectangle),the Copic Airbrush System and Dreamweaver Gold Embossing Paste on Gold Ore Petallic Cover from Worldwin.  I matted the finished image with black Chromekote and Copper Petallic Cover also from Worldwin. The beautiful fall verse is from Inkadinkadoo and was the inspiration for creating this card. 

Using the Gold Ore Petallic paper, I placed my deckled edge Dreamwear stencil on the paper and airbrushed the all 4 edge of the stencil. Then I picked up the stencil and placed it randomly in a new location and airbrushed around the edges of the stencil again.  I continued to repeat this process until I had designed a full Background sheet of paper. To clean your stencil use the Copic Various Ink 00 blender on a paper towel.  It will remove all the excess Copic ink and your stencil will look like brand new. It will also clean the ink from your hands too. This paper is available in 8 1/2" x 11" so I could get two card fronts from one sheet of paper. 

Next I taped my Fern Stencil in place using removeable tape. I then airbrushed the Ferns using a combination of the following Copic Sketch Colors E09,G21,YR04, R29, R59. After I completed airbrushing a fern I picked up the stencil and moved it to the next location and airbrushed another.  Remember to place these ferns randomly. I made each fern using a different combination of colors.  You may also decide to airbush both sides of the stencil for a little variety. Remember to clean the stencil between uses if you are using both sides. If you have every watched ferns turn color - they all turn differnt colors within the same bunch.

Now I selected my favorite section of paper and trimmed it to a 4 x 6.The gold fern in the upper right hand corner of the card and the bottom left hand corner of the card were created using Dreamweaver Gold Embossing Paste.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to use this embossing paste - you don't know what you are missing. It will breath new life into your stencil collection.

Here is a brief embossing paste tutorial:   

1. Place your stencil in place and tape all 4 sides with removeable tape ( Do not skimp on the tape).  Start with your first tape at the top, then tape the right side, the bottom and the left side.  On the last piece of tape leave a little extra and fold it back on itself ao it forms a tab for easy removal.
2. Using a metal pallete knife, pick up a quarter size drop of embossing paste on the back side of your knife.  Use the 3 strikes rule: Spread in one smooth motion across the entire stencil. For strike 2 scrape off the excess paste using the side edge of your knife in the same direction as the first strike.  Place the excess paste back into your jar for a later date.  For strike 3 Clean up any air bubbles or missed area by spreading paste in the opposite direction as strike 1 or 2.  Note: Do not spread the paste like you are frosting a cake or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This may cause some of the paste to seap underneath the stencil.
3. Now remove the tape in the opposite order of application.  Do not remove the first piece of tape.  Use this piece of tape as a hinge, lift the stencil up and away and remove the tape after you remove the stencil.  Be very careful not to bend your stencil as you remove it. Set image aside to dry.  Drying time is 20 to 30 minutes depending upon the humidity.
4. To clean your stencil place it immediately in a tray of water and use a foot brush to scrub the stencil clean.  Make sure your stencil is always on a flat surface when you are cleaning it.  To wipe off the excess water place the stencil flat on top of a paper towel and with a second paper towel pat it dry (while it is still flat on the table).  This will ensure that you do not bend your stencil.      

To create the gold embossing paste ferns on my card.  I decided where I would like gold ferns and followed the directions for applying embossing paste.  Since I only need a portion of the fern stencil,  I masked of the area of the stencil I would not be using with a scrap piece of paper and removeable tape.  After I embossed the first fern, I followed the tutorial directions and removed the stencil.  Take off all the tape and throw it away....it has excess paste on it...do not reuse it.  Clean your stencil. Be careful not to stick your fingers in the wet paste of the first fern. Now flip your stencil over and use it on the reverse side to create your second gold fern and repeat embossing paste steps.  Now set aside the image to dry. Next I used Brillance Graphite Black Ink to stamp the verse on the card. I designed the card so I could use this beautiful verse from Inkadinkadoo "Autumn turns every leaf into a precious jewel."  I chose this ink because it is made for stamping on a glossy surface and it has a bit of a metallic sheen. After the image was completely dry I assembled the card.

A great storage and organizational tip from Theresa Winters: is to store your brass stencil collection in 4 x 6 photo albums. This allows you to flip through your collection easily and prevents them from bending while stored. When your albums get full make sure you store your albums upright, so that the weight of the stencils stored in the albumn does not bend your more fragile designs.

Happy National Card Making Day!!!!!!

Impression Obsession Seashell Collage

While I have been posting my One Heart..One Mind Marathon,  I have been very busy playing with new card designs.  Here is on of my favorites.  The stamp is from Impression Obsession, as you may have noticed I love the Ocean so I fell in love with this stamp and it's verse " Listen and you will hear a Symphony."  To create the card I stamped with stazon ink on another Judikin Laminating Sheet.  I let the image dry and then I peeled off the backing and gently tapped on leftover Pieces of Gold Leafing, I chose to place the copper toned leaving in back of the verse so that your eye would be drawn to the verse. Using a stencil brush I burnished off any excess leafing and placed the excess back into my gold leafing tin.  I save every particle of leafing material as you can use even the tiniest piece as you will see in tomorrows post. I have tried several brands of leafing and I prefer La D'ore Gold Leaf, it comes in ten color combinations and since these were scraps I am not sure which leafing color this is.  I love them all. The are available in Designer colors or Variegated Colors.

Next I mounted the image on Black Kromekote and then placed it on a piece of Fall Foliage Polished Stone Paper from Murdock Country Creations.  The starfish and shells are real.  Since the starfish were Rather delicate I used B100 in my Airbrush system to air bush the back and sides of the starfish to give them depth on the card.  Then I used my Gold Kyrlon pen to color the top of the starfish.  For the shell I used the brush end of my B100 Copic Sketch marker to color the entire shell and then I gently touched the top surfaces of the shell with my gold Krylon Pen.  My Black Ribbon has an interesting woven vertical stripe which unfortunately does not show in the photography.  The letters are an Antique Mold Alphabet from Jo-Ann ScrapEssential line and have been in my stash for a couple of years. For the final touch I used my Kyrlon Gold Leafing Pen to edge the entire card.  Here is a close up of the card:

 

I will try to take a more closeup view of the shell so you can see how beautifully antiqued it is with the Copic Marker and the Gold Krylon Pen.

Just a little More Merry from One Heart..One Mind

Now I must admit that everytime I made a matching envelope....you got it!!!  It inspired another card!! Any of my students will tell you that before this One Heart.... One Mind Marathon I had never made an evelope...okay don't shoot me!!  True confessions..I make cards to teach classes with...I never send them.  Athough I guess that will have to change too since my mom recently announced that she now expects a handmade Birthday card.

Now part of the reason that I had not made any envelopes is that I didn't have a great template...but One Heart ...One Mind has thought of everything they have 3 great templates.  One for square cards and one for rectangular cards.  The third template is an envelope lining template.  Which I used to dress up some of my plain white Diecut with a view envelopes left over from all the glitter packs of cards I have cut up.  Since all the envelopes I made with the two Merry Merry Collection were DOUBLE SIDED!!  I love double sided paper- it's like having twice as many scraps!!

Next I created yet another glitter card... I couldn't resist playing with the border piece of paper that said "I've been naughty...I've been nice"  and thought this would be a great gift certificate holder card. To make the card fit a 5 X 5 envelope I trimmed down the 5.5 x 5.5 Red Glitter Card and while I was cutting I also decided to trim one inch of the bottom front edge of the card so that you could see the I've been Naughty...Nice verse both from the front of the card and from the inside where I made a pocket to place a gift card.  I thought that whoever I sent this cute card to would certainly have to think about whether they were naughty or nice.   So that's the end of this marathon...and I made everything that you have seen on the last 4 Posts in one afternoon!!  I love it when it all just flows without any designer blocks!!

Thanks for visiting.   The Merry Merry Border Paper is an absolute must have as it can be cut into tons of cards.

Tonic Studios Border Punches - Holly

                           

For this card I made cut an A2 card from the Retro Squares/Polka Dot paper.   Then using one of my Scalloped Circle Nestability dies I die cut the jingle from a sheet of Invitation paper, then I die cut a slightly larger scallop from the red glitter paper from Die Cuts with a View.  Now the Merry Merry Border paper is an absolute must have. I used it everywhere.  It is a solid sheet of diamond strips alternating with merry merry verse plus it is double sided with a beautiful stripe.  Have any of you seen or used a Tonic Studio Punches yet??  Even my husband was intriqued with their incredible design and great price point. The punches are designed with a boot Punch - an elongated base with a mushroon shaped plunger cap for extra Power Push..which gives you a crisp clean cut with less fatique.

They are available in 10 Corner Punches and 14 edging punches.  Add the New Border system and these punches will all make beautiful borders.  Do you own any fiskars border punches??  Did you wish they had made them to punch cardstock not just copy paper...well leave it to Tonic Studios!! These punches will effortlessly punch even card stock. 

The corner punches are designed with unique wings which separate from the punch to convert your corner punch into a border punch.  I created this holly border using the holly corner punch without the wings in the border system.  Simply remove the wings and place the punch on the Border system with the Boot punch facing the grid. Position and punch your first design. Move your paper line up your marker(the blue arrows) with the center of the first design and punch your second punch.  To create this border on my card I started in the center of the paper(using      also form One Heart..One Mind) and punched to the left and then punched to the right.

I found the great red mini brads at Creative Expressions at CHA and they are the perfect size for the berry holes created from this punch.  Make sure you put them in place before you add your green cardstock mat so that the backs of the brads will be hidden within your card. Next I adhered the merry merry border to my green cardstock mat and added the punched border.

                          

These two great cards were created with more great pieces from One Heart...One Mind.  The Striped paper and the Mat print for the Merry Embellishment are both from a great piece of paper designed so that you can make 5 cards ( all different sizes from one sheet of paper).  I chose to use them as mats on my glitter cards. Don't you just Love the wide sheer Polka Dot Ribbon!!

Art Institute Glitter Butterfly - Hello Friend

                        

In search of more sticky backed surfaces I could glitter I came across stickers from Ecstasy Crafts which are designed to be stitched.  I haven't stitched them yet as I have misplaced my pamphlet showing what they should look like when stitched.  Now today, that was actually a good thing, because when I went to peel them off to see how to use them I discovered that they were similar to lamenting sheets...and you know what that means.  A little glitter please. My recommendation for applying glitter accurately to your image is to use a plastic coffee stirrer. I always use transparent Art Institute Glitter. Simply snip the stirrer at an angle so it makes a tiny shovel. Then dip the shuffle into the glitter and apply the glitter where you want it. Using Art Institute Designer Dries Clear adhesive , I glued the butterfly to a piece of Sherbert Polished Stone Paper to highlight the glitter. Remember you need to place your glittered item on a light colored surface because the glitters are transparent. Then Ginger and I set out to design a card for my glittered Butterfly.  After choosing a green glitter card from Die Cuts with a View, we added paper from A2 Z Essentials.  We used sunshine leaves from the dulce sunshine collection, dreams 103 and possibilties 101 from the Imagination collection. if you are not familiar with this company yet, they have beautiful double sided papers.

Next we decided to Paper Pierce the Glittered Butterfly where it was suppose to be stitched. This really added dimension to the Butterfly. I used a paper piercing tool with a foam mat.  This allows the tool to make a large enough hole for you to see.  Then we decided to use some Dot Sparklers from Stampendous in the butterfly and as you can see I just couldn't stop adding a little bling here and a little bling there. The tiny paper butterflies are also from Ecstasy Crafts. These clippunches come in sets. First you punch the paper clip punch then line up the shape and you create a mini diecut which you can clip onto your card. 

You may have noticed that I rarely stamp a verse on the front of my card.  Usually I get so caught up in the design that I forget to leave space and I am still trying to build my verse collection. So today's challenge was to use a verse and I absolutely love the delicate font of the Hello Friend - this is from a beautiful set of clear stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry .  The set has verse for lots of occasions and I love using clear stamps especially for the verse, because often this is the last step in my card and I love that I can see where I am stamping. 

Copic Sketch Markers to the Rescue

Now I must confess, that my husband help me design tonight's card.  I often use him to bounce ideas off, as I am designing and tonight he was on fire!!  Yeah, I know I'm really spoiled, he gets it -all of it!! Now sometimes there is an advantage to my husband helping with the design process and tonight's card is a prime example.

Using Stazon Jet black Ink, I stamped this beautiful F1480 Fish Stained Glass from Impression Obsession onto a sheet of transparent Laminating sheets from Judkins. I peeled off the backing and slowly sprinkled art glitter from the Art Glitter Institute (they have an incredible line of transparent glitters in way too many colors) by color into each section of the stamped image. For this project I used their Pee Wee Caribbean Set. To really make the image show off the glittered background you need to place the image on a light colored background. Robin's Nest Polished Stone Paper looked great behind the image, but as we were trying out Polished Papers and Glitter Papers, we came across this yellow glitter paper from Diecuts with a View and it just made the glittered image sing!!  I used the largest die from my Large Scalloped Nestability Set to die cut the yellow glittered scalloped circle.  Now what's extremely cool about these nestabilities is that you can actually nest them before you use them.  So I was able to use my Circle set to cut The Turquoise Polished Stone ring around my image, this was key because the glittered image did not work on the Turquoise Polished Stone. To accomplish this I placed the two largest circle dies together on the B Plate of my Cuttlebug and taped them in place, so they wouldn't shift during the die cut process.  This allowed me to create the beautiful Turquoise Ring.  I also ended up with the interior circle which I will save for a later date.  These dies were designed to all work together, so I could have also cut the exterior circle with a scalloped edge and the interior with a regular circle.  Once you get playing with these dies and all the great scraps circles and scallops you won't be able to stop designing. (I'll show you what I mean in tomorrow's post.)

After adhering together my image ,rings and scalloped mat, I placed it on the Robin's Nest Polished Stone mat.  I made a 5 x 7 card from Turquoise Polished Stone Paper.  Now I liked where my card was going but in the 5 x7 format there was way too much blank space.  So this is when I ask my husband for a little help.  He really wanted to edge the Robin's Nest mat with a black line (If only a Krylon pen came in black!!) So we decided to mat it with black glossy Kromekote paper leaving only a 1/16th inch border.  Next he decided it needed a fancy corner punch.  Of course I went to my bubbles corner punch, but remembered that it wasn't meant to be used on a card front , so we settled on the basket weave punch.   Again, he wanted a Black Krylon Pen to color the basket weave design, I reminded him that they don't make one and he said "why can't we use your Black Copic Sketch Marker", I was a little skeptical...but wow it worked on Murdock's Polished Stone Paper and looked just like Black Kromekote!!  Now I was still feeling like there was to much open space in the design,  my husband once again said "don't you still have Class a Peel seashell stickers leftover somewhere"  After a bit of digging I found some from Stampendous and additional stickers from Magenta. But some of my shells were plain silver and some were multi colored....but not for long, you guessed it...COPIC TO THE RESCUE!!!!! Just add a little yellow, a little green and a little pink Copic added to your silver stickers and now they are all multicolored!!! The ink dried instantly and I was dancing a happy jig!!  I decided to place the stickers on scraps of glittered paper and to give them a little more depth I added --you guessed a little more Copic Color.  These markers are truly amazing!!! I can't wait to add more to my collection!! For the finally touch I added a blue dot sparkler for the fishes eye. I love these, they come in tons of colors and each sheet has tons of dots in lots of sizes.  They work perfect for adding a little more bling to almost anything!! 

                                             

Thanks for visiting!!!