Mr Cardmaker Stretches Again

I'm continuing with an idea I shared last week on THIS post, using what was sold as a Christmas stamp set in a different way.

Well, I have another version of that idea today.
I made this--

Okay, to be 100%, this was one of the images I colored at Christmas, but it got stuck into my watercolor pad, and given up as lost. I was happy to find her, and I did this birthday card with her.
She's colored with Zig Clean Color Watercolor markers, and I added highlights with a white gel pen.

I stamped this balloon background right on my card base in colors that sort of related to her outfit without matching exactly. As I explained last week, I want the image to merely relate to the background, rather than getting lost in what I call "visual wash." Yes, I DO make up words..

I die cut the birthday word from some glitter cardstock (which actually is from a Christmas stack, btw). I white heat embossed the "it's your" on a hot pink cardstock scrap, and then dry embossed that for some texture. I like that the strip sort of gives her something to stand on, as well.
I added enamel dots to tie in all the colors (because that pool color wanted HELP), and that was that.

Stay tuned! I have one more in this idea, which looks TOTALLY different. I'll tease you by saying July birthday people will love this one, especially...

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Remember to stop by and see me on Instagram @Rlbreaks!
All Best-
Richard

#MFTstamps

Mr Cardmaker is Stretchy

You know, I actually make Christmas cards all year long, with the obvious exception of JANUARY, which is my "Lort, I am BURNT out, I'll never have a good card idea again" month. Nope, no Christmas cards then. Rarely ANY cards, now that I think about it...

Well, I was going through my Christmas stamps, and I came across one of my favorites.
As I'm looking at it, I'm thinking, well, why does this HAVE to be for Christmas?
So, I decided it didn't, and I made a card.

We're stretching our stamps!

I made this--

So, yeah, little girl with a stack of presents. Great for the holidays, sure, but who says this can't be for birthdays, too? Not this cardmaker, that's for sure...

This is a My Favorite Things Pure Innocence stamp, colored with copics, with some white gel pen highlights. Uh, some of those lines could be a tad bit straighter on that purple gift, I think. Maybe less coffee while crafting...Yeah, RIGHT!! Get used to wavy lines, folks...
My favorite part is adding the patterns to the clothes. Freehand, folks. Love that!!

Oh, and the background is done with my new Lil' Inkers Quilted Stitched Spiral die. Don't you LOVE that? Lil' Inkers is just down the road from me in Dedham, MA, and they do CUTE stuff!

I love that floral paper, and I finally gave it up from my hoard. I purposely went with a paper that SORT of went with my image, but I wasn't looking for a perfect match. I think it makes your eye move around, rather than just getting a visual wash, so-to-speak. (I make up words, you know...)

Now, who'd look at this and insist it was a Christmas stamp?

Stay tuned; I did a few cards with this idea, all different, and I promise you'll dig them ALL.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

#MFTstamps
#lilinkerdesigns

Mr Cardmaker has Cups to Go

More Concord & 9th stamps! I really love so much of what they do at Concord & 9th. They just seem very considered and innovative about what they put out, and they seem to stay away from some of the trendy stuff.

I bought the "Let's Chat" stamps, and really love them. I like the bold, yet loose style, and the sentiments are nice. And, of course, it's about coffee. 'Nuff said.

I made several cards, but because they're pretty similar and were SO quick and easy, I'm showing you all of them today.

I made this--

So, because these images are so wonderful, I hated to do too much with them.
Here, the only embellishment is the little bit of glitter in the spoon, because...well, because shiny!
This is on lighter weight cardstock, so I will use this for a quick hello, as opposed to something special.

Next, I made this--

So, iteration #2. More color, more stamping...whatever. I added the foam image with white embossing this time.
I think I went a bit crazy with the pinks here. No worries; I have pink lovers in my life.

Next, I made two of these, thanks to my MISTI stamping tool--

One of these days I will learn to do sentiments in more than one color, I swear. I do like that the color changes are mostly in line images with no coloring, so you have to look at it for a second to grasp what's happening. The bold heart and very strong brown of the coffee make me happy. More glitter in the sugar spoon, for the aforementioned shiny.
These, too, are on a 80# cardstock. They're also four-bar sized. (I had the envelopes hanging around)

So, these were fast and fun, and great to grab when I just want to quickly send out some happy mail.

Speaking of, I've been SO GOOD at that lately!
I have managed to get two or more random happy mail cards out every week for a while now.
OMG- If you are having a cruddy day, digging out a few cards and sending them is a GREAT way to get yourself into a much better mood! I can't recommend it enough.

In fact, I'm going to do that now. These cards are outta here! Can't buy more joy for the price of a stamp, I'm telling you.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is a Hugger

So, I have to admit, I am not the first guy to jump on the bandwagon when it comes to buying the latest and greatest products out there. I like to look, make sure it's not a flash in the pan, that sort of thing. I add things to wish lists all the time, and I'm GREAT at filling a shopping cart and then clicking out at the last possible second. I'm probably the sole reason why those emails from companies saying, "you left stuff in your cart" were invented. My apologies. Really.

I do buy stuff, and plenty of it, though I notice there are plenty of folks out there who really do buy EVERYTHING. ALL OF IT.
I am glad I restrain myself, though. I think there were a few fads that came and went and I was glad I missed.

I am limping along, picking up some faves here and there, and I bought the Concord & 9th Hugs stamp set. I passed on the dies for now, but the wish list abides.

I did cards with the bear image from this set a while back--you can see them HERE.
This time I went for the citrus slices, to see what could be done with them.

I made this--

This was actually my very first attempt to use copics with this set, and I definitely have some practice to do with them. The white panel was actually a full panel originally, but I tried to make some grapefruit slices and BOMBED with them. It seems I haven't got the right pink markers...
Happily, I was able to trim those off, and it left me with this panel.

(Wow, I am looking at that coloring; how embarrassing.)

Anyway, I used versamark ink to stamp the slices on the card base, which is made from Stampin Up Summer Starfruit cardstock. Discontinued. So sad. I love that color.
Once I made sure it was TOTALLY dry, I stamped all the "Hugs" and "More Hugs" and white heat embossed them. Do check to see that one step is dry before moving on, otherwise you'll have a big mess, which really is not so much fun.
I added the yellow striped paper along the side of my panel for some energy and separation, and added the enamel dots to finish.

I thought it would be fun to do the inside, too, because there was a sentiment in the set that was so perfect for it.
I did this inside--

I love the little splash image. Perfect.

A simple card, really, not too bad for a first go with these stamps. I hope you found some inspiration!

More next week!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

#concordand9th