Congratulatory card...

... there is nothing like seeing my little sister (in law) accomplish her dreams of becoming a doctor. And touching to be able to be there to sit through her convocation ceremony. Didn't understand a word of it however, but that's ok.

It may have taken me six months to get all my stuff together and find her a pretty necklace as well as come up with a card.

Inspiration that triggered it: Case Study Challenge 148 : Iwona Palamountain's interpretation.

And I brought the roses inside along with a saying from Scrapbook Statements - Everyday Life. I learned so much from a Copic tutorial on blending that Iwona Palamountain posted a while back and it has made a world of difference - my colors blend better and I learned to work dark first as opposed to light first. I also realized through that post that sometimes you can use all sorts of combinations of colors - you don't necessarily have to stick to one set of shades.

I was so thrilled with  my blending technique... but I think pigment inks would be a better choice for not bleeding next time. I've picked up a set of these mini pigment pads - basic - and can't wait to play with them.

CTMH:
* Dreams Come True (retired)
* Scrapbook Statements - Everyday  Life
* Happy Valentine's - Jan 2013 SOTM
* La Belle Vie Level 2 Paper Pack
* Adhesive Pink Rhinestones
* Adhesive Opaque Pearls
* White Daisy Ink
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Smokey Plum Ink

Others:
*... will post the Copic Marker #'s later!!
* Cream cardstock

Congratulations again to my little sis for becoming a doctor - she's gorgeous, smart and has a huge heart. I wish her all the success in her career.

Nothing like arrival...

... Of new products to get you revved up again and your creative juices flowing. The new catalog has been released to consultants and will be rolled out to everyone else Aug. 1. There are a lot of gorgeous new stamps, and my favorite two new things yet - a workshop to go geared towards making cards alongside the popular scrapbooking workshop to go, and a brand new Cricut cartridge! I can't wait! My mom's birthday is coming up next month and my sister in law is visiting, so posts next month may be sporadic but time will also be precious.

Want to see what's in Artiste - the new cartridge? Provocraft has just released the digital handbook for a peek!

The inspiration for this week's card is from Got Sketch : Sketch 145.

I just found out that I can't upload images from my iPad to the blog (or even to Facebook). Boo to the fact that Flash is not supported on Apple mobile devices.

I took this opportunity to check out some of the special effects that the iPad Adobe Photoshop app has. Kind of neat, but lacks the entire force of what you can do with the full package. I also wasn't able to watermark the images. I combined two paper packs here - Stella and Florentine and the border with the rhinestones is the back side of Florentine.

The ribbon is sourced from Crave Cupcakes :) I never throw away free ribbon! I have been slowly collecting Copic markers based on a starter list that I mentioned in a previous post. This time I have actually three shades of red that I used on the flower.

I used the same flower on the inside and decided to use Stella patterned paper on the inside as well. The little flourishes and sentiment are from Pair A Phrase, a retired set.

I am still battling technical issues so you may see more iPad based photos for now.

Michaels etc:
* Ribbon
* Solid color cardstock
* Copics R29, R24, R22

CTMH:
* Stella Level 2 Paper Pack
* Florentine Level 2 Paper Pack
* Friendship Bouquet - May 2012 SOTM
* Opaque Adhesive Pearls
* Bitty Sparkles
* Pair a Phrase - Retired
* Cocoa Ink
* Smoothie Ink

First try with Copic Markers...

I only own four, of which two of the markers are the same color but different shade (because I had no idea what I was buying). Thank you Suzanne Dean for providing a basic starter list! She also has great tutorials as well on how to get started.

This was actually inspired by a layout I had done previously for a housewarming card but sticking to the cleaner colors of a wedding card I did before the card workshop.

I wanted to stick to bright, spring colors to reflect the sunflowers from May's stamp of the month, and the yellow ribbon I had picked up somewhere on sale was the perfect compliment. It's a gentle shading, but I used Y11 and Y13 and then used a brush and chocolate ink for the middle of the flowers.

I always like to decorate the inside of my cards, something I started doing after I discovered Teneale Williams' blog. I took the same sunflower and inked up two of the corners, coloring with the same technique.

I will be off for the next few weekends as I'm finally on the trip to celebrate my father-in-law's 60th birthday in Portugal! Hope that the sun comes out by the time I am home!

Michaels, etc:
Ribbon
White cardstock
Copics Y11, Y13

CTMH:
Friendship Bouquet - May 2012 SOTM
Cocoa Ink
Chocolate Ink


Listening to the birds chirp and the echoes of the Denmark vs. Netherlands Euro 2012 game,