Mini Vacation

My full time job doesn't allow for us to take extended vacations, so this weekend I am taking my girls and my nieces camping in Presqu'ile Provincial Park. The park isn't too far from home and perfect for the my nieces. Lots of sand and the water is fairly shallow for quite a distance.




So I will be away from the computer until Wed. when I will get back to sharing cards and news from Frog's Whiskers Ink.

Stampfest

Tom & Rose-Marie have returned from Bancroft. The travelling store has been almost unpacked and Frog's Whiskers Ink is full to the rafters once again. It always takes a few days to get everything back onto the shelves and find homes for the new products Rose-Marie usually orders in to take with them to the shows. This year the new product was Just Rite Stamps. Just Rite has created a system of stamping that includes the use of specially designed handles and co-ordinating stamps. Most of the kits include a variety of stamps that would suit many stamping occasions. And after a really quick look at the Just Rite website it looks like they are shaped perfectly to cut with Nestibility circles. (I forgot to get the specfics on which Nestie though, sorry.)

Flip Flop Sandal Card

Donna was directed to this free template here by Lauralee. Isn't this just a perfect summer card???

These cute cards can be made using designer paper or cardstock stamped to become beautiful. As you can see, Donna made the base card one colour and added DP cut slightly smaller to make the footbed. Embellish or not, that is up to you.

Playing with an Outhouse

When Tom took the show on the road to Kitchener, I asked Donna to look for an outhouse for me. I had purchased a stamp from Hambo and I really wanted a fairly large outhouse to go with the sentiment.

This is the outhouse she got for us from Impression Obsession. It is just what I was looking for. I stamped it in Artprint Brown. The background stamp from Inkadinkadoo is actually a winter scene but stamped in Brilliance ink with the house slightly hidden behind the outhouse you can't tell. "Bummer" is also a Hambo stamp.



This stamp was the inspiration stamp for the whole design.

Lauralee's May Challenge Card

You may recall that Lauralee's challenge was a tone on tone card. She made a stunning white card that was extremely challenging to photograph. I did manage to get a couple of photos that show just how beautiful that card is. Lauralee posted instructions for this card on her blog HERE.

This photo has a large shadow but really highlights the number of different butterflies and techniques Lauralee used to make this card. (Double click on the photo to make it larger.)




I cut off the bottom of the card in this photo but no matter. You will be able to see exactly how white this card is.




The white on white is a challenge I'm not sure I am quite ready to tackle, but I do have friends getting married this weekend. Just maybe......

Playing Around

Well apparently I was looking too high tech to solve my editing needs. In a brilliant flash of insight(yes I do have moments), I tried MS Paint and glory be just what I needed.

This beautiful Magenta stamp came to life for me after Rose-Marie had shown me what was being demoed at the workshop in Kingston they went to in May. I had a rainy Wednesday afternoon and went to work. The first is a crayon resist technique. Very easy but I am not thrilled with my background. I should have applied more than one colour but it is OK.




Next I tried colouring with Copics (on the left) and some Bic Mark-its(on the right) I had just picked up. Lessons here, copics don't work blend on sealed paper and the Mark-its have really excellant depth of colour.



And these are a couple of the finished cards. Jess coloured the yellow flower and we chose to leave the background the original stamped black. Sentiment is from Rosewood. Turns out this stamp, that I had looked at many times on the wall, has a lot of versatility.

Help!!!

I have never professed to be a techie but seriously how difficult should it be to find a basic photo editing program. I have a bunch of great cards and projects to share but I can't find the disc for the program I used to use and the software I have downloaded (uploaded?) doesn't do what I want it to do. I can create all kinds of beautiful effects but really all I need is to crop and resize. I am still sorting through stuff and getting pictures.

Wow, the July challenge date is nearly here and I haven't even shared the June challenge. Below is the sketch Barb has chosen for July. Her twist is to include at least one stamped image and it must include 3 layers. I know I have been finding that although the sketches are beautiful not many make stamping the central feature. So this challenge should bring us back to stamping.

New Products

There are still shipments coming in almost daily. We just received a huge shipment of Distress inks, Distress re-inkers and a selection of co-ordinating Distress embossing powders. We have Tattered Angels misters and stencils that will go beautifully with the Tim Holtz products. The store is really looking great with all the new colours.

Pop-Cuts Update

The Pop-Cuts are finally ready to go. We apologize for the lengthy delay in having these unique new stamps go into full production. Turns out the details that had to be made off site, were much more involved than we had anticipate. The wait is over and they are done, thank goodness. We have been so excited about these stamps and the delay has been a real frustration. Rose-Marie will have them with her at StampFest in Bancroft next weekend. I'm not exactly sure what Rose-Marie will be doing demos with there but be sure to ask about the Pop-Cuts