A Study In Black and White

Jenny Gropp did it again. (Jenny's Blog) The detail on this card is just wonderful. I especially love the stitch work she did around the medallion. Black and white cards are just so timeless. This card needed to be shared.

Now for Jenny's words:
I like this quote! This was a fun little card. I used a simple outline stamp of a Butterfly image, stamping it twice on the ivory. A third time, I stamped it over a printed butterfly image on the DP (the same Butterfly DP used in the background) to get the detailing on the butterfly wings. I used Perga Glue which is a fancy type of silicone glue for crafts --dries clear and it is not ooeey gooey gross like the cheap stuff (ummm... yes, I know that from a messy experience). Anyway, I popped some perga glue in between the layers of my wings and they stand right up, you can mail it and the wings are going to keep the lift and not flatten out. You can barely see a hint of the clear silicone in between in my pic to the right. I used some jute string to embellish my Spellbinder's Scalloped Oval, by winding it around and in between each little scallop. I added a teeny teeny bit of Spica gold to the butterfly wings for a little sparkle, looks better in person than in the pic! A few little buttons along the bottom to finish it up. I love, love, love ivory and black together. Card size is an A2.

• Stamps: All stamps by Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps - Delicate Butterfly #CC0042, Knowledge Sentiment #CC0012
• Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
• Paper: Black, Neenah Environment Ivory,
• Other: Cuttlebug Folder, Misc Buttons, Jute String from Sharon, Spellbinder's Petite Ovals, Spellbinder's Curved Rectangles, Spellbinder's Labels Two, Spica Gold Pen, Perga Glue

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Trying out a little bit of Blog Candy!

We're newbies to the concept of blog candy! But we do have a great first blog candy package and if you want a chance to have these goodies mailed to your door step - then become a follower, and post a response to this link. A winner from this thread will be picked, contacted and posted September 15th! The photo is not that great, buy you can get a better look at the stamps online at http://www.prickleypear.com

Here is what you could win.
8 unmounted stamps from Prickley Pear:
Swanky Witch, Pumpkin, Cattails Flourish, Adirondack Chair, Happy Fall, Black Cat,
Candy Corns and the Haunted House
Prima Flowers
Fall & Halloween ATC Transparency Sheet
Vintage Boys ATC Transparency Sheet

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Fall is in the Air

Mary Boesel did it again! She created this beautiful little card that features the Cornucopia. She pulled out her copic markers and colored in the cornucopia and then punched all of the leaves with shrink plastic and colored all in before shrinking. Well done Mary!

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It's Fun to Say I Knew them When

Jenny Gropp was on the very first design team I put together about 4 years ago. She is such an AMAZING paper artists. Her work is always dimensional, beautifully colored, thick with layers, well designed, and simply stunning. I always looked forward to packages in the mail from her. Felt like Christmas. She has a great blog that I have started to follow One Krafty Cat and then another blog she is very active on OCC. Both sites are packed full of great samples, challenges and inspiration. Jenny recently agreed to be a Guest Artist for us coming up in October. We will have more of a write up on her then. But for now, she graciously send us this beautiful sample for us to share on our blog.
Celebrating in Colors:
Jenny used Copics to color her Harvest Pickings Scene . She then airbrushed around the edges with yellow and taupe, adding some shading underneath the image to help ground it. She inked up the Celebrate Tag with Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango, then trimmed it out and roughed up the edges a bit before sliding it in between her layers. The color card stocks she used were: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Soft Suede DP - and the reverse side of that was the tiny green polka dots. She embellished liberally with Buttons, Silk Ribbon, Jewels, Border Punches and finished it off with what else, but a few doodle stitch marks. Finished card size is 6" Square.

• Stamps: All stamps by Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps: Harvest Pickings #HH0021 , Celebrate #BB0033
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango
• Paper: Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Soft Suede DP (reverse side: Green Polka Dots), Neenah Enviroment, Dusty Durango
• Other: Copics/ABS, Martha Stewart Punch, K and Co. Jewels, Silk Ribbon by May Arts, Jute String, Buttons from Papertrey, White Gel Pen, Brown Micron Pen, Bow Easy Tool, Spellbinder's Labels One

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A Haunting Halloween Card

This stamp was so much fun to produce. I have always loved cemeteries, when I was a college student in Denver, Co. I lived by one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in the city. I used to ride my bike through the grounds and look at the tombstones. Some of the artwork and the detail to the etchings are just stunning. The trees were large, mature and well manicured, not a spooky place at all, but beautiful and somehow comforting.

We decided that trees were in line for Halloween this year. And I thought of my favorite cemetery. With a little creative freedom and outside inspiration, I drew up this little tree with bats and gravestones.

I stamped the image with Versa mark onto cream card stock. I then pulled out my pebbles chalks and rubbed dark brown, purple, blue, green and black onto the stamped image. I then swirled more of the same chalk colors to give the effect of a twilight sky. I mounted and finished with black and brown Prima flowers. They added just the right touch.

I love this tree. The rest of our Halloween Trees will be found shortly on Addicted to Rubber Stamps as exclusive releases. Be looking for samples soon!

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New Fall and Halloween ATC Transparency Sheet!

We have another beautiful ATC Transparency sheet now available. All images collaged, match our line of stamps. Use the stamps and transparencies for beautiful coordinated looks. There are a number of mediums you can use to the back side (printed side) of the transparencies. Glitter, double sided tape and chalk, alcohol inks, copic markers, radiant rains and more! Layer them up and use as a centerpice to your card, or use as just an ATC to trade with. We are sure you will love using them!

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EEEck! We pressed too many stamps!

Our mistake is to your benefit. And just in time for our favorite holiday. Halloween! We pressed to many of the swanky witch, the haunted house and candy corns. We are posting these three stamps on our online store as a group purchase for over 30% off! All three would retail for 11.55, but they will be on sale for only 8.00 (unmounted only). I like stamping the candy corns with versa mark ink, all over, and any which way, to create a great background. The haunted house makes a great centerpiece for a card. And the swanky witch has great attitude when painted a slight tinge of green! There are only 16 sets of these. Once they are sold, the offer will go away!

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Exclusives at Addicted to Rubber Stamps

We have exclusive stamps that can only be found at Addicted to Rubber Stamps. They are brand new releases, great for guy cards and we are posting a really fun sample that Mary B. has created. The backround and stamping is done with distress inks. The barbed wire journaling stamp was done with distress embossing powders. The "Howdy Partner" you get through the Prickley Pear store front, but the rest can only be found at Addicted to Rubber Stamps. All images shown in photo are exclusives.

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Sharing Some Samples we did in Novi MI

A big thanks to all of those who stopped by to see us in Novi MI the first of the month. We had a blast. Mary was busy demoing all weekend. She sent me samples that I can now share with everyone on the blog. Yeah Mary!

Here are some of the techniques we featured:
Make your own rub on with your rubber stamps or a photo. The eyes, ghost, Cardinal flourish, butterfly, and girl with flower dress are all rub-ons.

Copic marker coloring – Grim reaper, small pumpkin, and Adirondack chair

Copic marker on transparencies with silver glitter - pumpkin on ATC

Distress inks – all backrounds

We will be featuring some of these beautiful and cutting edge techniques in Tucson AZ this September 11th and 12 at the Tucson convention center. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Looking for a Design Team

There is still time to apply! Deadline for DT submissions is September 1. Read the posting from Wednesday July 8 for full details!

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New Fall & Halloween Releases Have Arrived!

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