A stamping buddy and I traded impressions of out favorite images from out stamp collections. One of my favorites of those she sent was this hummingbird. I like the way it includes double framing.

I colored using Copic markers and then covered the bird with Glossy Accents. This really intensified the color. I used color blocking with tones pulled from the image and framed up each piece with black borders.

MUCH bolder colors in real life.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I bought a couple of new sets of Spellbinders dies called 'Piercabilities' that I thought had promise for cutting card edges. This is the first one I used. They have a cutting edge, scrolls or other shapes that emboss, and little holes that I thought might emboss or even I could pierce through them and do stitching.

The edge cuts fine.

The embossing is faint.

The holes embossed so little that it looked tacky. So I left the die in place and pierced through the holes. Looked pretty lame. I decided to do faux stitching with a purple fine-line marker. Still looks tacky.

I decided to back it with purple to match the stitching lines and to cover up the pierced holes on the other side. Then I added a pyramid 3D illustration that I had backed with more purple.

I am not impressed with how this is impressed. I will try out the other 3 dies but don't hold out much hope for them. They may end up in my 'gift stash' to send of with a swap to someone.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I started a new topic category for this post because I started a self-challenge to use some of the free digital images I've found around the net. I print them out on my inkjet printer which means I have to use alcohol-based markers (Copic, Bic, Spectrum, Promarkers) for coloring. I use brands interchangeably because it is a particular color I am aiming for, not support of any product line.

All the cards I made for this post were printed on white cardstock, colored, cut with Nestabilities Frame dies, bordered in black and layered on coordinating papers, also bordered in black.

I love this little puppy in the wagon. I used somber papers to keep it on the masculine side but also to give it a little nostalgia. I popped up the puppy panel and the text on foam tape. The sentiment is produced digitally, as well, using a little pun.

This one also has a digital sentimen, but with a little creative trimming. I also added some yellow punched flowers with red pearl centers to echo the flowers in the illustration. I used a diedut that allowed the image to bleed off the frame so it puts you right in the picture.

For this last one, I cut it to let the illustration run off the bottom only. I found some printed paper that used the pink and blue from the illustration and then added the brown panel to match her hair. To brint the focus to the tray of hearts, I chose a rose-pink panel (that looks too red in the photo) to stamp the text. This text is made up of a set of separate words that allows you to create and stamp phrases as desired.

On the tray of hearts, the darker ones are covered in Liquid Pearls.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:00 AM PDT

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Both of the paper embroidery groups I belong to issued a challenge to make a baby card. I chose different patterns for them and non-traditional colors to make them uni-sex.

Fot the first I chose some of my favorite dotted cardstock and stitched a onesie in purple. I happened to have a matching purple bow from a swap and I used Liquid Pearls for the snaps. A purple tone-on-tone makes the card base and a sentiment is created with a gold peel-off sticker.

The second card is stitched with cream thread on cream cardstock. I added text with a white gel pen. A border of tan sets it off from the textured white background (recycled from a commercial greeting card). Another tan border and a white card basecomplete the layering. I used distress ink in 'old paper' to enhance the texture of the white paper and tone the edges of thebaby panel.

Ready for the babies...

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I created this pattern for my granddaughter who is learning ballet. She is having a recital and I wanted a special card for her. I am making the pattern available on my free pattern site at http://mystudio3d.com/StitcheryDoDodd.htm

I had a pad of paper that is all about music and selected this black tone-on-tone with a piano keyboard border. I used metallic copper for her hair, cream for the arms and legs, and shimmery lavender for the dress.

I mounted on a tone-on-tone purple card base and added a greeting in gold peel-off stickers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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If I get a challenge to make a card with an insect you will most likely see a dragonfly on it. I've always loved them. As a kid I called them helicopter bugs (truthfully, I still do).

I selected a ColorMe paper of swirls and used Glimmer Mist to give it a silver shine background. The weed is stitched with purple and green metallic threads and the helicopter bug is stitched with gold and copper threads. I used a black shimmer mat and a purple folded card base.

Won't be long and they'll be flying around for real.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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For an Easter card assignment I selected a fairly simple pattern and stitched with a verigated bright thread which makes it look more complicated. I decorated inside the branches with gold peel-off elements and bordered the panel with peel-off borders. The background is printed cardstock which contains all the same colors as the cross and kind of looks like stained glass. This anchors the front panel. I used a blue folded card base.

Simple elements - dramatic impact.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I've been stitching again, trying to 'get ahead' on swaps and challenges that I know will be taking place on two of the lists I belong to. Today I have Christmas Cards - 2 for April and 2 for May.

For the April cards I made two from the same pattern of tree. This one is on a shimmery paper that is finely dotted. I chose light/bright threads for it but the dots still make it blend in more than I would like. I used lime green for the tree and sunshine yellow for the ornaments and star. I mounted with a very fine line of yellow and a green folded card base. An off-center mounting maintains the whimsy introduced by the pattern style and colors.

For the second tree I also started with a dotted background but found thecontrasting threads to be much more effective. I selected dark green for the tree, burgundy for the ornaments and metallic gold for the star. A fine band of cream sets it off from the burgundy folded base.

For the cards for May I selected two different snowman patterns. This first is pretty straightforward so I stitched it onto a background embossed with a holly branch. I used a shimmery blue thread for the snowman so he would stand out from the white background. Makes him look icy, I think. I mounted on a printed blue paper over an orange folded base which picks up color from his carrot nose.

Finally, is this very whimsical snowman on skates. How adorable! I placed him on a printed blue cardstock and used bright colors for his mittens, scarf and hat. The buttons are actually brads. This is mounted off-center to expose more of the lacy pink cardstock and the card base is lime green to match the trims of his outfit.I left room on the left for a greeting if I decide to add one later.

That adds up to 10 Christmas cards completed in stitching already!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Wednesday, 11 April 2012 8:00 AM PDT

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Assignment: Make a paper embroidery card with stamping on it.

I started with the stitching by choosing this border pattern and then selecting the background paper for it. The thread choice was nest and when all the stitching was done I decided on the stamp to use and settled on the brown chalk ink for it. Because the sentiment is embedded in the stamp image no additional text was needed.

Since the stitching was so low-contrast with the background the image is the real focus of this. I reinforced that by swiping the chalk ink on the panel edges before mounting on a golden backing. I selected a brown and a gold ribbon and knotted them together around the golden panel and mounted all on the chocolate brown folded card base.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I haven't worked much with 'digital stamps' (also known as 'digis') because 1) there haven't been many free ones I have been impressed with 2) I don't have a printer at the ready so I have to save, move to a thumb drive, take to another computer, and print 3) I have a lot of stamps already and should use them since I paid for them!

However, I did download and print some free digis from the OWH Stars and Stamps site and have started coloring up a few. Because the printer is inkjet I have to use Copic or other alcohol markers to keep from smearing the ink when I color.

This is the first I have colored up and I also tried an alternate shading method that I saw done on a blog. This method uses a light neutral (I used warm grey) to color the shadow areas FIRST then color over the image areas with the feature color. This way I used only four pens: a light warm grey, a medium warm grey, one pink, one green.

I used one of my own card sketches for the layout and layered green and yellow over a light pink base. The image was cut close around with a craft knife and a pink ribbon tied onto the stems.

Fine-line pen doodles adorn the edges of the diagonal sash and a layered block provided a place to stamp the sentiment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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One one group I signed up for a swap of cards made with 'stitching stickers'. These are generally an outline in clear with a silver or gold design and pre-marked holes. One affixes the sticker to a background cardstock, pricks out the designated holes, and stitches through them to enhance the sticker design. I also have some in sparkly white and a matte gold finish.

I chose four sticker sets to work with:

This is actually multiple stickers from a single sheet, arranged to form a blooming vine. Very small number of holes to stitchso I chose bright threads in order for them to show up. The little flowers are decorated with a single french knot in the center hole. I rounded two corners, stamped a greeting in chalk ink and mounted to a coordinating folded card base. (all the photos today have the image sharpened a LOT so the clear stickers with their fine detail can be seen)

This next is also multiple stickers (4) arranged to form a wreath. The larger flowers have 6 hole, allowing for a starburst stitching. The smaller ones have only that center hole again so they have only the french knot in them. Knowing that I was going to use this specific pyramid image I selected the thread color accordingly. Then I layered on green and rust cardstock, echoing the pyramid image with rounded corners.

I chose a circle sticker for this card and added the corner stickers from the same sheet. Very few holes to stitch but it suits the delicacy of the 3D foil image that I intended to use. (all three of these cards use stickers from the Dazzles line available from Paper Wishes)

The last sticker is left over from a kit I designed cards for (CardMaker Kit of the Month Club) several years ago. It has much more holes for stitching. I used a verigated thread on this one, cut the stitched medallion out and mounted it on a maroon dotted cardstock. The bow on this card is the first I have tied with my new Bow-Easy which I won online as blog candy. Several coordinating card layers bring this all together. THis is the one I sent for the group swap.

Sorry it is so hard to see these clear stitching stickers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I made up this little 3D image at least a year ago and kept setting it aside over and over. I finally decided to MAKE myself use it.

I first cut it out using a scalloped die and in the process flattened all the self-stick pearls I had placed on it. Now they are little colored disks, but it will mail better (LOL). I used fine line marker to doodle the scallops as they did not stand out enough from the background.

Speaking of the background, this is make up of strips of table scraps.

I stamped the greeting onto the background and used a soft golden folded card base.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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In a recently recieved gift package I got a card 'kit'. There were 5 envelopes, 4 folded white cards and 3 cello packets of silver, white and pink snippets. I pulled some light pink checked paper from another packet and - for one card - also added some burgundy table scraps. I came up with 4 cards but they are very sparse on the decor and, due to the coloring of the elements, really freaked out the camera. It was like taking pictures of a white rabbit eating cotton balls in a snow bank.

If you can manage to see any detail on these, consider yourself fortunate!

This uses the pink background paper, a square of white cardstock (part of the packaging), a square of pink non-woven mesh, a square of vellum, a mother-of-pearl heart charm, a white bow (not part of the kit), a silver paper imprinted 'thinking of you', and a single heart rhinestone.

This card was turned on its side and border punched throught the front layer. It uses the pink background paper, a square of white cardstock (part of the packaging), a square of pink non-woven mesh, a square of vellum, a mother-of-pearl circle charm, a strip of silver cardstock, a silver paper imprinted 'thinking of you', and three heart rhinestones.

I went back to the original orientation for the rest. This uses the pink background paper, a square of white cardstock (part of the packaging), a square of pink non-woven mesh, a mother-of-pearl heart charm, a silver paper imprinted 'thinking of you', three heart rhinestones, and a couple of strips of silver peel-off borders (not part of the kit).

Running short on the provided bits I added some burgundy dotted cardstock for more impact. To this I added the pink background paper, a mother-of-pearl circle charm, two strips of silver cardstock, a silver paper imprinted 'thinking of you', three heart rhinestones, and a diecut burgundy heart (not part of the kit).

I guess it is OK that the 5th folded card was not in the kit as I only have a single pink rhinestone heart to decorate it with. THAT would be understated!

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Like yesterday, I used an illustration from the clipart section of my bargain book. This time it is the frilly heart. You've seen this one before as there was a whole page of them in a couple of sizes. The colors shown are so far off as to be laughable. The only thing that appears really correct is the love heart and the flowers in the basket. The embossed background matches these exactly in real life! The frilly heart is printed in pink and yellow rather than the orange and green it looks like.

These were all left-over pieces except for the flower basket 3D sticker which was a gift I received from an online friend. I added the ribbon snippet to the basket and to the tag to tie the elements together.

No sentiment - I let the embossing and the heart say it all.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I'm still finding little illustrations I got from the clipart section of a book from Goodwill. This little 'ark' and elephant were cut away from blocks in one picture.

I pulled out a mix of table scraps for making a striped background and connected all the pieces with faux stitching using a Sharpie pen. I layered a couple of punched border strips and then created a black diamond for the ark background.

The card did not have any blue to match the elephant so I found a scrap to stamp the greeting. I backed it with black like the ark and added 'stitching' to it as well.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I used all sorts of table scraps and an illustration from the page-a-day scrapbooking calendar to put together a little collage card.

The row of birdhouses is the main feture of this card and I tore two edges to border the top and bottom of it. This is layered over a circle-dotted paper on which I added a strip of text-printed scrapbook paper. The clouds are stamped from one of the Hero Arts sets onto printed paper and cut out. 

Because of the lines created by stamping the clouds I thought it needed more lines so I added faux stitching around all the torn edges.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I started with a dry embossed page and used a craft knife to cut away the plain background. I backed this with a pink and green hand-marbled paper and placed both on a green folded card base.

I used large letter stickers and little tag letter rubons to create the text.

OK, it's a bit corny but I kinda like it.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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The commonality between all of this batch of cards is that they use printed decorative tags as their focal feature.

For the first I pulled out a background I've had for a long time - a glossy cardstock stmped with Versamark and brayered with multiple colors. I tore some printed scrapbook paper for the left edge and then added a matching tag to the right side. On top of this I layered a square 'sample' from the packaging of some scrapbook paper (save everything!). Then I placed a cameo from a jewelry catalog as a feature. Multiple stampings of text from one of the Hero Arts sets and a ribbon are the finishing touch.

For this next one I started with an embossed white background and carefully colored in the raised elements with markers. I backed it with a green mat and added the same mat to the chosen tag. On the tag I stamped with oen of the Hero Arts stamps from the OWH sets and added the stamped solid hearts. When they did NOT stamp solidly I filled in with markers and it gives them a 3D look. Cool! I stamped the 'love text' heart on blue scrapbook paper and layered it over a white mat. This is popped up on foam tape.

I love this little bear I cut from the clip-art section of an arts book. The only disappointing thing is the face is so dark and then they did not color the hands so the head really stands out a bit too much. Oh well, it is what it is. I chose a lacy tag to back it and then used a razor blade to scrape some of the edges to remove printing and give it a shabby-chic feel. For the background I pulled out a patchy pastel with overall text script. The Hero Arts stamp set had this cute house and I used it to stamp over the whole background. The text and hearts on the banner are from the set as well.

This one has a totally different look. Dark tones are the main difference and bandinge every element i black is a part of this. I chose a couple of butterflies in different materials (one tatted and one punched) and different colors. The yellow is then echoed in the text banner and base card. The white is echoed in the heart border. Then I echoed the pink heart with the tag ribbon and glitter inside the white butterfly. The stamp set used for this one is NOT the Hero Arts.

4 tags - 4 looks.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Challenge: Use a scoring tool to make a background with the scoring as the focus.

I started with a scrapbook paper with a large diamond tone on tome print. By scoring all the intersections as well as halfway between each of them I created a small diamond that now looks like argyle! I had enough to make three cards from this sheet.

First I added a scalloped border to the bottom and a tag to the center. The tag was stamped with a combination of stamps. I got the jeans illustration from a tag on the new pair I bought. The tag had a button printed on it so I took a cardstock one, tied twine through the holes and popped it up on foam tape. One rounded corner makes it even more casual.

For the second card I started with the same card base, background, and tag. I added an illustration from a page-a-day calendar and a scrap of polished stone background paper with a stamped text. This stamp is from one of the three new Hero Arts sets in cooperation with Operation Write Home. I just picked up all three sets. To create a more casual feel I added faux stitching lines around all the elements.

With two smaller pieces of the argyle paper left I used it to create bands at the top and bottom of this card. I started with a dark blue card base and added a greenish leafy print paper. Over this I added the bands of argyle and a center band of polished stone paper. Each of these was thinly banded. Two scalloped borders of dark blue frame a strip of felt diecut hearts. I added one rhinestone to the strip of hearts and on the lower right is another stampr from the Hero Arts set.

I am loving having all these challenges from the groups I belong to - it gives me a great starting point when I sit down to create.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Color Challenge: Yellow and Orange

YIKES!

I used two tones of orange and one of yellow to stitch on yellow cardstock. This was layered on two tones of orange cardstock and added an orange punched dragonfly with orange Stickles on him.

The text is gold peel-off stickers.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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