I was looking at the Christmas cards I got last year, and I found an awesome card
from Diana and I used the shape of it. Thanks Diana for the inspiration.

I made this card for Annemiek to say thank you to her. You know why Annemiek

I used a stamp from hÄnglar & stÄnglar ‘Posttjej’  and the sentiment is from
Stamping Bella (for the Dutch girls only, you can order them at Card Art)

~*~

Ik was aan het kijken bij de gekregen kerstkaartjes van vorig jaar en kwam een hele
leuke kaart tegen van Diana en ik heb de vorm van de kaart gebruikt voor deze kaart.
Dank je wel Diana voor de inspiratie.

Ik heb deze kaart gemaakt voor Annemiek om haar te bedanken, jij weet wel
waarom Annemiek, echt ontzettend bedankt!

Ik heb een hÄnglar&stÄnglar stempel ‘Posttjej’ gebruikt en het tekstje is van Stamping
Bella ( je kan deze leuke nederlandse tekstjes bestellen bij Card Art)

Have great day and thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Janneke

Stamp: hÄnglar&stÄnglar ‘Posttjej’ and sentiment from Stamping Bella
Paper: My Mind’s Eye ‘Be Loved’ and Cardstock
Embellies: Brads, Flowers and Staples
Tools: Quickutz ‘Circkle’
Color medium: Copic : E0000, E00, E02, E29, E31, E49, E59, R00, R11, R20
R22, BG10, BG13, BG15, W3, W5, W7

P. Kelly Smith

Welcome to Magazine Monday! I don’t know about you, but here at Paper Crafts we’re in full Christmas countdown mode. Today we’re decorating our hot pink, lime green and ruby red tree for the Festival of the Trees, a fundraiser that benefits Primary Children’s Medical Center. Make sure you stop by the Paper Crafts Facebook fan page to see pictures of our tree in all its yuletide glory.

If some of you are still needing a little push to get you in the holiday spirit, I thought I would bring in an expert on all things Christmas. She had so many gorgeous cards in Holidays Cards & More, Volume 4, I just knew she would be the perfect designer spotlight for this most festive time of year.

Grinches beware…let’s get to know the talented Becky Oehlers!

Becky Oehlers

1. Where did you grow up? 

I grew up in Bryn Athyn, PA , which is right outside of Philadelphia.

2. Do you work outside the home? If so, what do you do?

I am a professional opera singer and sing in many ensembles both in Philadelphia and New York City. I am also on the voice faculty at Drexel University.

3. If a movie were to be made of your life, who would you cast to play the part of you?

Judy Garland, if she were still alive. 

4. What song would you choose as the theme song for your life?

This is a hard one for me…I love all types of music from Bach to Alison Krauss to newly composed music, but I would have to say that Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony would be a pretty great theme song. 

5. What is one thing most people would be surprised to hear about you?

That I was a double major in college for both voice and french horn performance.

6. What/who inspired you to start paper crafting?

Nichole Heady. It was her blog that started it all. 

7. What is your biggest paper crafting challenge?

I think my challenge and my strength at the same time is trying to be innovative and really mold myself to the design of each stamp set that I work with. I try to let the style of the set dictate the art that comes from it.

Jingle All the Way Card by Becky Oehlers

8. If you were only allowed two items to create a card beside cardstock and adhesive, what would they be?

A well-designed stamp set and Copics. You are only as good as your tools.

9. What is your favorite occasion or holiday to paper craft and why?

That’s easy! Christmas. Definitely. I love getting the house all cozy and dramatic, and I think that comes across in the work I create. I think I always do my best work around Christmastime. 

Warm Winter Wishes Card by Becky Oehlers

10. How would you describe your style? 

Whimsical elegance

11. When is your favorite time to craft?

Very late at night. I have been guilty of staying up until 3 a.m. several times in my crafting life.

12. What sort of music do you listen to while crafting?

None. It actually distracts me. 

13. How does your family participate in your paper crafting passion?

My girls Emma (11) and Sophia (9) have often had card making sessions with me on the side. They have a little table in my studio. They even have their own small set of Copics!

My husband is too busy collecting his own stamps. He is a philatelist.

14. When it comes to calls and deadlines, how do you keep yourself organized?

This is a weakness of mine. I am learning to print out all assignments and keep them in a book. I have gotten much better, but organization is a learned task for me.

15. Do you remember what Paper Crafts issue your first project appeared in? How has your style changed since then?

Yes! It was Paper Crafting with Kids, 2008. I have become more consistent in my style since then.

Season's Greetings Card by Becky Oehlers

16. Have you contributed to any design teams in the past or present? If so, which ones?

I am currently on the senior design team at Papertrey Ink. I have also worked for Kitchen Sink Stamps, Starving Artistamps and Inque Boutique.

17. Name three designers whose styles you like and why they appeal to you.  

• Debbie Olson – She is a true artist. My husband even says he wants to be like her when he grows up! 
• Julie Ebersole – I really like her simple and playful approach to card making. That really appeals to me.
• Jeffrey Rudell – He doesn’t stamp, doesn’t have a blog, but what this man can do with paper completely inspires me and blows my mind! Google him!

18. Do you have any advice/tips for someone who’s never been published or who wants to submit for the first time?

I think in any situation like this fear is the only thing that will hold you back. Don’t be scared. Submit and submit. If you never try, you will never succeed. The worst thing that they could say is ”no”. Oh, well! Try again!

19. Do you have a blog or online gallery? If so, please provide the URL.

I do have a blog (www.hemidemisemiquaverdesignblog.com). Please hop on over!

Thanks, Becky! I’m definitely in the Christmas spirit now! Leave a comment for Becky here and one lucky winner will take home all of Becky’s Holiday Cards and More cards (pictured above), plus two other surprise gems! All comments must be received by midnight (MDT) on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Happy Monday!
Kelly

P.S. Since we know all of you like a good deal, make sure you take advantage of our huge Warehouse Blowout Sale at ShopScrapandPaperCorner.com! From now until midnight tonight, save 60% off select product, PLUS get free shipping and handling (on U.S. orders only) if $25 or more is spent. (Hint: The delicious–and I do mean delicious!–Paper Crafts Gourmet cookbook is only $17! Buy one for you and one for a friend!)

P.P.S. It’s time to announce the two winners from my Black Freebie Friday post!

1. Chris S. (Nov. 27, 9:54 a.m.)
2. rap (Nov. 27, 7:40 p.m.)

Congrats, winners! You’ve each won a copy of Holiday Cards and More, Volume 4 and Making Memories Flowers stamp set. I’ll be contacting you shortly to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!

Well, guess what I ordered today?  An iPhone!  Okay, so I’m very excited.  It’s refurbished, but I saved $150.  That’s cool, right? 

Oh and guess what else I got?  Some Copic markers.  Great deals at Taylored Expressions for Black Friday.

Yeah, I’m excited.

Regalos que terminaré cuando tenga ganas

It’s been a week since I posted anything so I forced myself to do a quick sketch of someone today.

Hello everyone. Since this is my first post, I figured that I’ll tell a bit of myself first. My name is “ohmonah”. I’m currently studying 2-D Animation in the School of Visual Arts (also known as SVA). I’m very interested in art, and I have always been (since a child), and will be. I wanted to make a blog of my sketchbook drawings as well as little things there and there (Perhaps to raise my confidence?). So hopefully I’ll keep this updated regularly. I’m going to purchase a better working scanner to constantly be able to update (goal: one a day, or every other day).

So…Here we go c:

Its already Thanksgiving Break! I just remember when college started. Since I don’t have classes Wednesdays, my class got a head start on the break. We go back to school…next Monday, so I should work on my loads of homework. Hehe. Yesterday, I had Animation class, and our teacher almost didn’t come (almost first absence in 10 years!). Luckily (?), he came in, but he looked really sick. I’m assuming he has a fever because he said he’s hot then cold, hot then cold, etc. In our animation block, the teachers really chill and nice, BUT, we don’t really do much, which is a bit disappointing. Compared to the other classes, although we’re getting a head start work on our end of the year animation/film, we’re not learning the basics (well. we learned how to do a walk and bouncing ball) but nothing else. So hopefully, I’m going to practice some animations on my own; because, it seems more like a feeling rather than something to study from a book. I’m going to also try to make a little comic series with my character named peter/”box”. I’ll post some character designs of him later.

Tomorrow is going to be the 5th year in a row that I’m spending thanksgiving by myself, home alone. (or so planned). I usually just watch a japanese animated movie (studio ghibli or something), so yesterday I borrowed a movie called Cat Soup. I saw this movie at the beginning of the year, and it’s MAD weird, but I love the animation and the simplicity of it. On Friday, I’m going back to my old “hometown” to meet up with all my old high school buddies again. However, since college started, I feel like I’ve drifted a lot from my friends. My best friend has a completely different personality now…So I feel a bit lost and unsure of myself, who I am, what I exactly like, etc. So hopefully I’ll figure that out later.

GOOD NEWS: Theres an end of the year sale at the local art store by my school, where they have copic markers for 50% off aka $235ish (not including student 10% discount?) . The cheapest I’ve seen …EVER! Luckily my mom said shes going to buy them for me, because she thinks I’m improving with them a lot, and who doesn’t love a large array of colors. c:

I guess thats enough blabbing for today. I’m going to order the scanner asap this week, so hopefully I’ll update more random pictures and drawings, also to keep my imagination and motivation rolling. Thanks for reading. <3 Bye. Peace.

Current Music Obsessions: (back to 2005s) All-American Rejects (1st album) Green day (american idiot), and Good Charlotte (young and the hopeless). Good times c:

I was going through my paper stash and found this paper with non-traditional Christmas colors. The pink and green gives a nice fresh color scheme, I really like how the pink, burgandy and green works together. The tree and snowman sit atop a muffin, the digital images are from Whimsie Doodles. I used my Copics to color the images.

I love the look of a square shaped card but I don’t make very many of them due to the added postage needed to mail them but after making these cards I think the added $$$ is worth it.

Well, the craft fair was a huge success. I had a blast with my buddy Kazan Clark and so many wonderful friends at St. Anne’s. Let’s hope it happens again next year.

Now that I have a little breather, I wanted to try my hand at some challenges. This week, I figured since I had such a great time with Kazan, I would go over to
2 Sketches 4 You and try out their challenge. Click the link to check out the sketch.

I love the little play on words “Snow Love” because 1) I love snow and 2) “sNOw Love” is for when people feel a little left out in the cold. So leave a warm message inside when you send this one to a friend.

Important Stuff: Wizard™, S4-222 Create a Flake One (Spellbinders™); Crush patterned paper, Head Over Heels (Fancy Pants); Black/White patterned paper (Die Cuts with a  View); Tis the Season snowflake ribbon (Jo-Ann’s), Black/White stitched ribbon (Michael’s); 95 pt. Letter Stamps, Horizontal Stamper (JustRite Stampers); Encore! Silver ink (Tsukineko), Glue Rings (Glue Arts); Heart Brad (WesTrim); Jackpot Embossing Powder (Powder Keg); 3D Foam Squares (SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVE by 3L); Diamond Glaze (Judi-Kins); Sketch Markers-C3, W3, W5 (Copic)

Other Stuff: Clear glitter, White cardstock

(A close up to finish it off…see all those little sparkles? Glitter. Snow-looking Glitter!)

If I don’t chat at you before then…have a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

Eli

I’m taking a (very) short break from making holiday cards  – this card was created for two different challenges at SCS this week and  I wanted to use this particular image, so it turned into a thank you card!

Basic Grey Euphoria paper was the color inspiration.  I pulled the bright pink from this designer paper for the dogwood blossoms.  They were stamped in palette noir and colored with copics using the hydrangea and green grass collections, with the background done with the sky collection.  I stamped a few extra blossoms and added them to the original image to make the entire  image larger.

The dogwood blossom is from Stamp Francisco, the sentiment from Flourishes.  A Martha Stewart punch was used for the scalloped with ice blue rhinestones added.

Thanks for stopping by!

I haven’t been drawing the past few days. I’ve been distracted with other stuff and also I haven’t really been in the mood, but I managed to do a quick sketch of someone today.

Actually it’s just a bloke with a beard. I think it’s just that when I see an older man with a big white beard and fat belly it reminds me of Captain Birdseye.

I created this card for the limited supplies challenge at SCS and was so happy to come up with a card featuring a stamp from Flourishes Christmas Tea set, to be released tonight.    The image on this card is a little deceiving – it’s actually a set of three stacked tea cups, but I only wanted the bottom cup on this card, so I carefully inked the image then drew in the back of the cup. 

The image was stamped in Palette Noir and colored with copics from the Sky and Fuschia collections.  The blue papers are from SEI’s Winter Song pad, and the red glitter paper is my last sheet of holiday paper from last year.  An EK border punch was used for the scallops. 

This set has some great images – especially for making cards and tags with tea or coffee related gifts.

I hope you like what I have created – please visit the Flourishes Newsletter more more inspiration using this set.

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s always hard to put something up after you put up your heart’s delight…those 3 purple journals. I love them all and appreciate your taking a look. Today, I’m showing a four pack of birthday cards…all with the same stamp but colored and embellished differently.

This stamp, A Star Is Born, was a total impulse buy…and I totally love it. It is my fave bday card image for anyone with girls or who is a princess at heart.

The skirts were so fun to color. With Copic Markers, a designer can shade as if looking through the tulle skirt. When you look at a tulle skirt, it is darker at the top where it gathers and lighter at the bottom. The trick is to begin at the waist band. Using the side of the blender end of the marker, flick it, lifting as it moves towards the bottom. Continue around the skirt adding “thin layers” of color until you are satisfied. This takes some practice but the results are totally worth it!!!

Each has a mat using Spellbinders™ S4-161 Labels One, probably my fave as the most versatile label shapes. I also used Ranger’s Crystal Stickles on all of them. After all, what girl doesn’t need a little bling on her tutu! Inside, each is stamped with “Happy Birthday!”

Take a closer look, if you’d like:

Meet Popcorn Bear and his wishes for a Happy Birthday. Inside reads, “The secret to an enjoyable birthday can be found in achieving balance, forkful of cake, a spoonful of ice cream, forkful of cake, spoonful of ice cream… Have the happiest of birthdays”. I feel like a kid again coloring these images but it is so much fun with my Copic markers, these markers make it a lot easier to do some shading here and there.

bd15

I found this adorable image on-line at Pink Cat Studios, this card would be perfect for all of you that are cupcake lovers. The inside reads, “You deserve a day sprinkled with FUN!”.

bd16

I’ d like to wish all our veteran’s a Happy Veteran’s Day and express my heartfelt gratitiude for their service.

Now…on to stamping!  Created for the sketch challenge at SCS, this card uses the pretty Memory Box paper – Dewfrost for the background and squares.  I love the pale blue hues paired with winter white and a grey/chocolate neutral.

The image,  from Flourishes The Holly and The Ivy set,  was stamped and embossed in black and colored with the copic collections of Spruce and Flesh Tones 2 with the background airbrushed using colors from the Sky collection.

This is a large card – just over 6 inches tall!   It can be made smaller by using the smaller dove image in the stamp set. 

I hope you are enjoying this time of year – I’m working on more holiday cards and scoping out all the holiday magazines looking for inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anyone who knows me fairly well, knows that my favorite color is purple. So this weekend I’ve been working on journals for the show and several of them are purple. YEAH! Just thought I’d take a moment to share the pics with you and to wish you a fabulous week.

Dream

Important Stuff: White silk flowers (Oriental Trading Company); Sketch marker, V-09 Violet and Air Brush System (Copic); Glue Dots (Glue Dots International); Metal cream label holder (Making Memories); Bind-it-All coil binding system (Zutter); Lumiere Purple metallic paint (Jacquard)

Other Stuff: Purple ink jet paper, 9×6″ white envelopes, Mini letter stickers, Glitter glue, PVA Glue, chipboard

Life

Important Stuff: Wizard™, S4-117 Petite Scalloped Circle SM, (Spellbinders); La Paperie patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye); Purple Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Letter Sticker (BasicGrey), Bind-it-All coil binding system (Zutter)

Other Stuff: Ribbon, chipboard

Tulip

Important Stuff: Wizard™, S4-209 Tulips Pendant Die Template (Spellbinders™), La Paperie patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye), Bind-it-All binding system (Zutter), Platinum Stickles (Ranger)

Other Stuff: Ribbon, PVA Glue, Purple ink jet printer paper, White 9×6″ envelopes, chipboard

Hey, as always, thanks for checking this out. I really hope it is inspiring and you may find some creative energy seeping into your bones.

Happy Creating, Eli

Click image to enlarge.