Design Call for Crafter's Companion Guest Spots

Crafter's Companion is an award winning crafting & rubber stamping company. We  are looking for guest designers to help us on our Crafter's Companion Info Blog working with our amazing stamps. We have new stamp releases often and would love for you to be a part of them!

You can see all the information to apply here:

http://crafterscompanion.blogspot.com/2012/02/official-guest-designer-call.html

Call Ends March 28th. 

The two blogs the Guest Designers will appear on are:

http://www.crafterscompanion.com/

http://crafterscompanion.blogspot.com/

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

Party Over Here!

Today I'm having a party with Anthony & Burt and Spectrum Noir Markers.

It does not matter if it's a celebration for a birthday, a graduation, a promotion, or a 'just because' party, Anthony and Burt are ready!  I can image they are ones who are the last to leave.  The host would have put away the food and beverages, turn off the music, and almost have to push them out the door before they would go home. :o)

To provide them a place to party, I hand drew a lily pad with a multiliner that works with alcohol ink markers and then colored it in with CG2, DG3 and JG6. I did not blend the lines completely because I wanted to leave some leaf veins  in like on a real lily pad.  I googled clip art lily pad to see what they look like up close.

Here's what I did to make this little party scene:

1.  Stamped Anthony and Burt image onto Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock for Alcohol Markers. I recommend Memento with alcohol based markers.
2. Stamped the image again onto design paper. Also stamped the sentiment.
3. I colored Anthony and Burt on the white card stock using my Spectrum Noir markers.  I used two or three markers in an area to color and blend. For tips on using Spectrum Noir markers, you can visit Youtube, or get Leann's DVD.  Leann gives great demonstrations and tips on using the markers to blend and get lovely results. The DVD is packed with information.  I like that I can rewind. :o)
4. I then cut out all the pieces. Since I had stamped the image on my design paper, I only cut out the main pieces, i.e. I did not cut out all the confetti and Anthony's antennae. 
5. Adhered the layers, and all the pieces to design paper and added some Stickles star dust glitter glue to Anthony's wings.
   
6. I carried the theme forward on the inside of the card with a small piece of design paper.

Here are all the markers I used  >

Stamps: Antony & Burt
Paper: Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock for Alcohol Markers, Hot off the press design paper,  Stampin' Up!
Inks: Spectrum Noir Markers
Accessories: Copic black multiliner, craft knife and mat, Stickles star dust glitter glue

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

Hope you Feel Better and Better!

It's Tuesday, so that means that I get to share something I made this week on the Crafter's Companion Information Blog!  One of my favorite ways to be creative is to design scenes for greeting cards.  The new Anthony & Burt images are perfect for that!! In this little get well scene, I placed them in Burt's bedroom. I used design paper for the walls - it supposed to look like wall paper.  I hand drew a base board, an outlet and light switch. I then added color with the Spectrum Noir markers right on the design paper.  I hand drew the painting over his bed onto white card stock with a multiliner that works with alcohol ink markers and then color it in with the Spectrum Noir markers. I had so much fun  - it's almost like decorating a room...almost. :o). The completed card is 5.25" square.

Here's what I did to make this little scene:

1.  Stamped Anthony and Burt image onto white card stock. I recommend Memento with alcohol based markers.
2. I stamped the image again onto design paper and cut out the bedspread and pillow.
3. I colored Anthony and Burt on the white card stock using Spectrum Noir markers.  I used two or three markers in an area to color and blend. For tips on using Spectrum Noir markers, you can visit Youtube, or get Leann's DVD.  Leann gives great demonstrations and tips on using the markers to blend and get lovely results. I've been watching her this past week!
4. I cut out the layers to size. The pink layer is from the Pearescent Brights pack and has a nice sheen. On the wall paper layer I stamped the sentiment.
5. Adhered the layers, and all the pieces to the little scene and added some Stickles star dust glitter glue to Anthony's wings.
   
6. I carried the theme forward on the inside of the card with a small piece of design paper.

Here are the markers I used  >

Stamps: Antony & Burt
Paper:  Gina K, Pearescent Brights, Basic Grey design paper
Inks: Spectrum Noir Markers
Accessories: Copic black multiliner, craft knife and mat, Stickles star dust glitter glue

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

More Painting with Sheena!

I'm having such a ball with Sheena's images! I enjoy painting just as much as coloring (it's all coloring!). That is why I am having such a wonderful time with Paint Fusion. The images are versatile and Sheena's videos make it so easy to get lovely results.

To paint this lilac, all I can say is I followed the directions in Sheena's lilac video. I know! Not very creative on my part, huh?! :o) One of the things I appreciate about Sheena's videos, is that no matter what experience you've had with painting, she gives you the basics and you can go anywhere from there. Also, she's funny and makes me feel like no matter how I may mess up, my painting can still come out nice! If you are an experienced painter, you can use her images as a guide and spice them up with your own style. For this card, I did add my own spice by using dimensional paint to outline each flower pedal.

I have the same philosophy for art and cooking. I approach new art/craft techniques, like I approach a new recipe (my mother-in-law taught me this) - the first time I use a new recipe, I follow it closely. The next time I add more of the things my family likes and less of the things that don't appeal to us.

Here's what I did:

1. Stamped the large lilac image on card stock.
2. As Sheena did in her video, I stippled my background layer. I double loaded the scruffy paint brush with dark blue and white acrylic inks and then pounced to cover the image.
3. Allowed the paint to dry, then stamped the same image over the paint.
4. I used a smaller flat paint brush to double load in lavender and white paint, and painted the pedals.
5. I then used dimensional paint to outline each pedal. Set aside to dry.
6. Meanwhile, I found a shinny design paper in my stash for my background. I used a stencil, distress ink pads, and small stipple brushes to create the little butterfly.
7. I adhered all the layers then dipped a toothpick into white acrylic paint to add dots to the butterfly's wings.

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

Inspiration Monday: Too Much Birthday...

This is my first time sharing for Monday Inspiration at the Crafter's Companion Challenge Blog! I'm so excited to be part of this creative group of stamp artists!

In thinking about what to create for this month's theme Something Sweet, I went back and forth about whether to create something with food or something that captures sweetness. In the end I went with food. :o) This cute little kitten from is from the Birthday Kitten set.

I used Spectrum Noir Markers for all my coloring - the more I use them, the more I'm digging them!! Refills are now available too! To figure out what color I wanted my kitten to be, I used two things, 1) a homemade color chart (shown below) and google. Once I found a photo of a kitten I liked on google, I used my color chart to guide me for the color combinations of my markers. I searched through my paper stash and found this complimentary party paper. Sometimes I will choose my paper first and then match my color markers. Most of the time I get caught up in coloring and then search for matching paper. :o) If I can't find matching paper, I'll make my own. There are so many cool techniques you can do with alcohol inks - I'll share a background technique in a future Monday post.

After coloring, I used the BG1 and BGR1 to outline the kitten & cupcake. I then used the Blender to trace closely around the image. It pushed out the inside grey and made a subtle little line. I liked it! I actually found that by accident. I colored outside the cupcake when I was touching up color after I made the grey boarder. I was using the blender to push the pink color back into cupcake when I discovered the grey line. Isn't that how it happens sometimes? You make a boo boo and find a new technique! Some people call it a "happy accident." :o)

I then cut out the kitten & cupcake image and all the letters. I wanted the sentiment to pop against the background so I cut out each letter. I really liked the two colors I used for my letters, CR10 and DR5, so I'll add that combo to my chart! I adhered all the pieces together. I did place the cupcake outside the border on purpose - artist license. :o) Sometimes, I like to have my images hang outside the border. Lastly, I added a bit of bling to her bow and the flame with Stickles Star Dust glitter glue. Here are the colors I used on this project:

Here's the color chart I created. I colored this with my stampin' sister Marge. We were excited about our new markers and wanted to try different combinations to see how they work together. As you can see, I have more room for new combinations I find!

There's a giveaway each Monday. Please visit to see what they are giving away!!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

Painting with Paint Fusion

Hello CC Info Blog Buds!! Trena here to share what I'm doing with Sheena Douglas's New release of Paint Fusion flowers. When I first saw this fuchsia flower image, I have to admit, I did know what flower it was! :o) Kathy, my DT stampin' Sister told me. I googled it right away to see what colors it came in. I found some really pretty photos that gave me a guide for how they grow and colors.

I decided to do a fresh, clean look for a finished card so the focus is on the images. One of the things that attract me to Sheena's designs is her balance between creating an open image to paint or color and the detail she adds. Sheena has several video tutorials with tips on how to stamp and paint with her images. When you purchase her Paint Fusion images, they come with a practice guide. This finished card is 5/25" square. Here's how I made this card:

1. Stamped images on white card stock.
2. Used metallic and regular acrylic paints to paint vine and to fill in the color of flowers and leaves. For the leaves, I wanted to the detail of Sheena's design to show through, so I used a thin layer of paint.
3. After filling in with color, went back over the outline of the images with a thin line of black paint.
   
4. Allowed the paint to dry.
   
5. Cut image to size and adhered all layers.
   
6. Used Stickels Stardust glitter glue on the stamens.

Please note: the actual rubber stamp image may be smaller than appears here.

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena