House Mouse Challenge #16

Glitz and Glitter......

FUN card this week. I'm back to the holidays.....after slipping last week into Birthdays...but now back to thinking about Christmas cards for friends and family. For this weeks House Mouse Challenge I used Leaf-ing the Tree Farm. What a great stamp!! I colored it with Copic Markers - still working on my blending - but also for the first time I used Memento Dew Drops in Tuxedo Black for my image. WOW! Much easier and Much nicer than Staz-on. I'm learning lots from the Paper Monkey ;-). Also Stickles for the snow and on the hats. All of the paper for my card is from Stampin' Up except the Brushed Silver is from Michaels. The ribbon is from Stampin' Ups winter mini - Brown Felt...I love it. The snowflakes are felt and I purchased those at the New England Scrapbook Company Store. I punched the brushed silver paper with a border punch by Martha Stewart.

Ellen J's Version

House Mouse Challenge #15 - POLKA DOTS

My second House Mouse Challenge.....I had to forget the holidays because my imagination was heading elsewhere. For this card I used a 1998 House Mouse Stamp called Wrapped and Ready. I see it on the website now with a colored Stampabilities version - mine is an older version from a different supplier with just black ink. I colored the mice with Copics and added a picture of the copics that I used below. I'm a newbie with Copics and I think this card is my best so far with blending colors on the mouse fur. All of the card stock and designer series paper is Stampin' Up. The sentiment stamp "Happy Birthday and the punch is Stampin' Up. I used STICKLES in Diamond for the bows on top. My first time using Stickles...loved them! The flowers, brad, ribbon, Martha Stewart Star Punch - all from Michaels. I didn't have the easiest time photographing this card - I decided to use the version with my flash off :-). I have to keep working on the best settings of the photographs.....

House Mouse Challenge #14

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

My first try at the Monday House Mouse Challenge. It was a lot of fun. It is a 1998 stamp from Ellen J - "Have a Sleigh Ride". I colored the House Mouse Stamp with Copic Markers. Paper is Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, Vintage Violet, and Designer Series Paper Holiday Thyme. Ribbon is SU! double stitched grosgrain River Rock. Embellishments are SU! HodgePodge in Aged Copper. SU! Stamps embossed with vanilla - "be merry" from Warm Words and "Merry Christmas" from the Curly Label Punch Bundle set/Punch Kit. Definitely Lots of Fun!! Hope to join next week also :-).

House Mouse with the Paper Monkey Tutorial :-)

My Blick Art Order came in today!! I had ordered the recommended House Mouse colors from Suzy's PaperMonkey Tutorial. I had to take a try at a House Mouse stamp with the new copics and the expert directions. SU! Papers Naturals White, True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp, Vintage Violet (I loved the IN COLOR's from 2007) and SU! Designer Series Paper Holiday Thyme. SU! Hodgepodge Hardware SU! Stiched Grosgrain Ribbon Vintage Violet. SU! Stamp "Be Merry" from the "Warm Words" set. House Mouse Stamp "Warm Tree Light". Martha Stewart Craft Star Border Punch. Copic Markers - from now on I will post a picture of the Copics that I use but if you check out PaperMonkey, I tried to duplicate the Brown Mouse and Grey Mouse.

Paper Monkey Tutorial:

http://blog.papermonkey.org/index/2008/11/house-mouse-coloring-tutorial-with-copics-junk-challenge.html

Close-up Pix of the Mice...I'm fairly happy with the Grey Mice, my Brown Mice seem kind of orange - could be my camera :-). I'm going to have to work on my Brown Mice copics. I didn't have the best colors for the light and tree but worked with what I had.

Here is Ellen Jareckie's version on www.house-mouse.com

My First Blog Entry

I have been inspired by Papermonkey.org to start my own blog. I do not understand many details of blogging but I think I can at least post two of my latest cards. Hopefully I will learn some cool blogging tips and hints as I get up to speed so the posts are a little more exciting.

First Card - Thank you card for our HORIZON of HOPE event at the Thayer Hotel at West Point Academy. I'm became an Independent Longaberger Consultant in 2008 to bring down the cost of my severe Longaberger buying habit. It has been fun, I haven't gone too crazy with it - but one of the special events of the year is Horizon of Hope. Several consultants hosted a brunch to raise money for Breast Cancer Research - we have raffles, silent auctions, and door prizes!! My thank you card for my donors below. The paper is Stampin' Up (Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, Pumpkin Pie) and the pattern paper on the outside of the card is from Martha Stewart Crafts. The stamps are House Mouse "Relaxing Wild Flowers" colored with SU! Watercolor Crayons and SU! Stem Silhouettes.

Second Card - Also a special card made for the troops http://www.cardsforheroes.org/ . Our stampin' group put together a huge box of cards about a month ago - some new and some from our collections. It was a great project. I chose a Christmas card. The paper is SU!

Naturals White, Brocade Blue, and True Thyme. The patterned paper is Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey. The stamp (my first copics artist foray) is from American Art Stamp Karen Stolper's "Building the Snowman". I found Karen Stolper's Cling Thing American Art Stamps at the Ink Pad in NYC and fell in love with them. Please take a look at the website http://www.americanartstamp.com/ or try a visit to the Ink Pad - we love this store!! The letters are Hippie Chick from Cuttlebug on a metallic copper paper. The ribbon is from the bargain bin at Michaels :-).