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    July 02, 2009

    Are you kidding me?

    Nope...I thought instead of watching the minutes, and seconds tick down on the clock till I could place my first order out of the new Stampin' Up! catalog I would upload a video to YouTube and show you how I did the Sansodor with Watercolor Pencils Technique.  A few of you have asked me to show you how it was done, and since you live far far away and can't come to class, I thought hey why not. I have taken videos before, but never uploaded them anywhere, I don't think I can upload them directly to Typepad (nope I tried) so I am using YouTube, so here goes nothing.

    Now let me apologize before you even watch it.  I literally had the camera on a tripod right in front of me.  A little tip from my friend Linda Hansen.  I wanted it to be close enough so you could see what I was doing, and for ME to see what I was doing, and that I was in the camera view thing.  Plus you had to be able to hear me. So I am sure it is not the best quality, but I hope to get better. Also who woulda thunk it...you can hear my dang computer fan in the background, and it is like 8 feet away.  I will have to turn that off from now on.

    So anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope to do more in the future. It was way easier then taking the pictures using the timer on the tripod and then uploading them, and then adding them here, and typing what was going on, but now you have to listen to my voice..sorry! And it took some time to load up in YouTube and all that stuff, oh and then I realized my user name made no sense at all to anyone but me, so I deleted the video and my account, and added a new account and re-added the video...ha!  So it might not be faster in that regards...this time... but it was fun. Here is the original post with the completed card.

    Here goes, fingers crossed:

    Let me know what you think! Hugs, Di

    June 17, 2009

    Trash to...

    ...Smash-ing!

    When I went to the dentist a while ago, I was complaining about tooth pain but they could not find anything, so they gave me some mouthwash that would help.  It came in a nice hard-ish kind of box, and a nice small-ish size.  I thought it would be perfect to use as a pattern for a gift bag-box.

    DSCN8340 Here is the box.

    What I did was I took some Designer Series paper, and I wrapped the box like I would a present, but I left the top open. When you adhere your DSP together around the box, obviously you do it so you can not see the adhesive, I used sticky strip.  Then when you get it done, you just slide out the box, and then you have your finished project, ready to decorate.  I first learned how to do this from Debbie Grayson (Hi Debbie!), and then Linda Hansen (Hi Linda!) showed us at Convention one time too.

    Tip: When you are wrapping your box, don't do it super tight, you want to be able to pull the box out of the DSP.

    You can use anything, gosh you could use a hunk of wood if you wanted.  You are only limited to the size of the paper you are using to cover the box.


    This is what it looks like after I decorated it, I was going to put a handle on it, but I wanted to leave it as more of like a table side gift, or you could put some cookies in it, in a cello bag, tie it with ribbon and give as a gift.  (Hey Ruth, wanna borrow my box?)

    DSCN8343 copy Paper: Sweet Slumber Textured DSP ( I am gonna miss this paper), Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red

    Misc: Button Bouquet, Black gingham, Daisies #2 die (I can not get enough of this die), 5 petal punch, oval punch, movers and shapers, modern lable punch, a Perfect Day Rub-ons

    So I am in charge of the Tuesday 3-D challenge over at Paper Craft Planet, so this is my challenge.  Get a box, any size, and make your own gift bag/box.

    Make sure to head over to Paper Craft Planet and upload your finished project, and tag it 3d16 and I will snag it and add it to the gallery.  Show me what you got!

    Have a great Wednesday, and thanks so much for stopping in!

    A digibbs siggy

    June 06, 2009

    MAMMa Me Ahhhh...

    ...we love our MAMMa.  She makes my heart swell with love for this woman, and how blessed I am to have her in my life.  She loves us unconditionally, and we can be rascals. That is all I will say...ha!

    This morning my BFF Tracy and I headed over to Marlene's (MAMMa's for short), with our Dunkin' Donuts in hand.  She even had a few things planned for us to stamp, and I love love love going to Marlene's classes, and doing the class with my BFF and visiting with MAMMa at the same time, it don't get any better then that.  Jen, Enya and Isabella came over to visit with us as we stamped.  I will blog the projects later, as usual I didn't finish.

    Mamma and the girls Here we be...us gals...Jen was being our photographer.

    Remind me to throw this shirt away, I swear I am wearing it in every dang picture I take.  If you see me wearing it at convention, just smack me...hard!


    So after we were at Marlene's we wanted to go get pedicures. We had not eaten lunch, and Tracy had never been to Sonic, so we went to the drive-in and sat in the truck and ate...yum! I took no pictures, cause well eating in the car, and onion rings at that, is not a neat and tidy thing...yummy yes, tidy no.  Anyway Trina's on Ellsworth and Guadalupe give the BEST peds around.  You have to go there.  Ask for Tony and/or Selena, tell them Marlene, Tracy and Diana sent ya.  They are husband and wife and they work there together, you will feel like a princess when you are done.

    DSCN8288 Here's Tracy, gettin' her rub-down.  With her warm neck do-hickey on.

    I swear when you are done, you just want to say "do it again".

    We did a little bit of shopping on the way home, we are headed to the mall tomorrow.

    The first day Tracy got here when we got home from the airport I had a box from SU! on my doorstep, it would be my first order of sneak peek stuff, with the brand new catalog.

    Jeff took our picture looking at it, and tried to crop out the catalog with his hands, I cropped it more, we can't show it till July 1.

    Oh my gosh But don't we look amazed? You can't see all the post it notes sticking out of it! Ha!

    I wanted to show you a quick card from my birthday card class, as well as a quickie tutorial on doing the fish tail (I guess you call it that) on the cardstock tag things.


    DSCN8272 copy Stamp Set: Branch Out, Always

    Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Parisian Breeze DSP

    Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White Craft

    Misc: Top Note, My Way punch, Sponge

    Wanna see a quick way to get the perfect little "Fish Tail" on the end of the cardstock? I did it on my card posted yesterday too.



    Fish tail supplies You will need, a thin piece of cardstock that your greeting will go on (you can stamp it first if you like), and the My Way punch







    Fish tail 2 Turn the punch so you are looking at it underneath, and stick the cardstock in the punch like this, so that you can see how you are going to punch the end of the cardstock strip.

    Then squeeze the punch, and remove your cardstock, and you got...




    Fish tail ...this. Cool eh? It is so much easier then doing it with scissors, cause I could never get them even, and it would make me nuts.

    Ok, that's all folks!

    Have a super Saturday, and thanks for stopping in!

    A digibbs siggy

    May 14, 2009

    All Stampin' Up! All the Time...

    ...well most of the time.

    I will not be on any Design Teams, except Paper Craft Planet starting July 1.  I need to concentrate on my Stampin' Up! business more this year.  Not that I haven't been this past year, but I have also been busy doing "other things" and although I have been having a blast working on the DT's, and I have met the most awesomest people, there is time and requirements involved that I feel I don't have the time to do it anymore.

    Now that being said...don't think I won't post an odd contraband, or do a Blog Hop now and then, cause that stuff is fun, and I love Russ, Kristi and Cami, and I do enjoy just stamping for myself now and then, and I will show that stuff, I mean I have lots more Sophie and Timber stories to tell, I mean I did not tell you about their year long courtship, someone who shall remain nameless (waving HI! to Jessica) thought maybe Sophie was in the family way so they had to get married quickly since they just had their first date, I just blamed Kristi for bringing back the wedding RIley before I got the chance...so don't worry Timber and Sophie fans,there will be more.

    So when Sharon and I were going to Micheals a couple weeks ago we came across these cute little notebooks...

    DSCN8019 copy ...so I picked up a bunch cause I knew I could totally use them in a class...and I am...







    DSCN8020 copy ...this is one of the make n takes the ladies will be making on Friday...don't tell them though.

    I left it with no greeting, I was thinking well I should put some sort of greeting, but I don't know what the book will be used for, so I left it plain, but so cute.  I just used DSP colors that went with the little pen.

    Paper: Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Pink Flamingo DSP

    Misc: White gel pen, Daisies #2, Little Leaves Sizzlet, Summer Sun Corduroy Button

    I had a couple questions about my comment on using solvent with the SU! watercolor pencils, as well as the prismacolors.  I hope to some day color as awesome as Nikki does, and she is the one that has been giving me tips on coloring this way...thanks Nikki.

    Anyway, the Solvent I have been using is this, Winsor & Newton Oil Colour Sansodor (Low Odour Solvent)...

    DSCN8026 copy ...and the applicators I use are Ranger Cut & Dry Nibs, that is the little things in front of the jar, they almost look like tiny candles here, but they are something like the blender pen ends, but they are dry and you dip it in the solvent to blend your color. I purchased both at Micheals.

      Nikki uses paper stumps (Jenn Balcer if you are reading this...I am smiling...I said stump) but I felt like I had more control with the Nibs, so Nikki is gonna try them too, I can just imagine the beautiful stuff she will come up with. 




    So stamp your image, use Stazon, Palette Hybrid or the Memento ink. Let dry. Then color around the edges with your watercolor pencil or your prismacolor pencil, then dip your little nib in the solvent (if you use the stumps you have to let it soak in well, if you use the nibs it soaks up so fast, you just basically dip it quickly and that's it) and then blend in circles toward the center of the image to color it all in, just like a blender pen.  You will learn if you need more or less pencil.  What I liked is that the solvent is easier on the paper and does not wash out the color like the blender pen can do sometimes, and it doesn't tear the paper.  I think I am liking this technique better then the Copics, because I am able to get that soft watercolor look that I love, where as the copics I am having trouble getting that. You just use regular paper, not watercolor paper.  I tried Whisper White, Neenah and Gina K Luxury and they all worked pretty well.  I am not a big fan of the smell but it is faint and when I am done I just use the alcohol gel sanitizer stuff on my hands and all is good. I just soak the little nibs in water for a bit when I am done and then dry with paper towel.  I just use a different one for each color as I am actually coloring.

    DSCN8018 copy Here is a quick little image I colored but have not done anything with it, I just wanted to show you the SU! watercolor pencils and the solvent and nibs...not too shabby eh?


    While I was cutting paper waiting for American Idol to come on Toby wanted to go outside, so as I was standing on the back patio, I thought there was a spider on the ground, so I went to step on it, and it moved different then a spider would so I got down and looked really close, and guess what it was?

    Well here it is...

    DSCN7992 copy ...I had it climb on my finger and I brought it in the house, walking very carefully, to take some pictures. Why? Well for you my friends I wanted you to see the smallest praying mantis in the world..step right up folks it won't cost ya a dime...ok well the smallest I have ever seen anyway. I'm sure they don't come out of the Mama this big, so I guess there would be smaller ones.

    DSCN8003 copy Here he is right before I let him hop onto the potato bush. While he was on my hand, he was such a gentlemen, but he whispered..."you could really use some hand cream lady", so I apologize for my dry old hands. It's amazing how the camera adds 10 years of wrinkles.







    DSCN8005 copy Here he is on the plant, all happy and content, probably wondering how he got in the front yard cause I found him in the backyard, can you just imagine if the story is he started in the front yard, and it took him 2 days to make it to the back yard...ha!

    So American Idol fans, were you as shocked as me? Were you crying that Danny made it that far to go home in third place? Holy Moly.  I still think that Adam will win, but then I thought it would come down to Danny and Adam the final 2...so this season sure has ya guessing.

    Also can anyone remember, Jeff and I were trying to figure it out.  Wasn't Kris one of the Wild Card people they brought back? It seems to me I think he was.

    Well I think this might be my longest post yet, sorry about that...I get to gabbing...you should be glad, I was gonna tell my airport cookie story but that will have to wait for another day.

    Have a great Thursday...Greys Anatomy season finale is on...I think George is gonna get killed and maybe Izzie will hang on just till the first of next season, or not. Cause they are both leaving right? Aren't I miss positive thinker?

    All right I am done blabbin!

    Thanks for stopping in and putting up with me!

    A digibbs siggy

    February 27, 2009

    Pucker Up!

    Well my Friday challenge for the Hanna Stamps! Forum over at Splitcoaststampers, was to do something feminine and with ribbon, so that is easy enough, I mean ribbon means feminine right?

    But how be we do something different with the ribbon, not just tieing, weaving or braiding, how be we pucker it.

    So that is what I did for this card. This shows off one of the brand new Hanna Stamps! sets available March 2.

    DSCN7148 copy Stamp Set: Dress Up Hanna, Things Hanna Would Say

    Paper: Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Bella Birds DSP, Watercolor paper

    Ink: Jetblack Stazon, So Saffron, Bordering Blue, Going Gray

    Misc: Sewing Machine, half back pretties, vanilla taffeta ribbon, nestabilities, liquid pearls



    So back to the pucker.

    DSCN7149 copy See this ribbon? This is just vanilla taffeta ribbon, and I just puckered it.

    Wanna see how?




    I used a piece of riding hood red taffeta to show you how to do it, cause it is a little easier to see.



     

    DSCN7146 copy Take your taffeta ribbon, and in the center find one of the threads and start to pull it out, sometimes it takes a bit to find the right thread, a lot of times I use tweezers to get it started.

    As you pull the thread, the ribbon will start to pucker, just work with it slowly.






    DSCN7144 copy Keep pulling, and then pull back the ribbon that is puckering, keep doing it till you get the look you want.

    Just take your time, it is easy to tear that thread, so slow is best.

    Practice makes perfect.





    DSCN7147 copy Then you got a puckered ribbon...fun eh?

    I just pulled mine out flatter for the card till I got the look I wanted.  Tone on tone like the vanilla is less obvious as it twists and turns like the riding hood red piece.

    Then I just glue dotted each end to the back of the front of the card before I assembled the rest of the card. (make sure to flatten the edges you are glueing)

    Try it, and tell me where you posted your card so I can check it out.


    OK, so American Idol, I have picked 5 out of 6 so that is pretty good.  I picked Adam and the red head girl but I did not pick the middle guy, so bad I am not even sure of their names.  It was nice to see Brooke White again, she is a local AZ girl and I saw her a couple years ago or so when she opened up for Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand.

    Well I have to run the computer in to the shop in the morning, and have them fix what they forgot, so cross your fingers they do it while I wait.

    Have a great Friday and thanks for stopping in!

    Hugs, Di

    February 22, 2009

    Curious Button Card

    So the other day at my workshop I told you we did the quilt card, that is what the girls did as their make n take, and I so want to do more of those, so much fun, and they can be any color.  In fact...shhh.....I brought back a bunch of catalogs from CHA, (they hand them out - I didn't steal them) but they have like designer papers in them, just photos of them, not the real thing...what is stopping me from punching those out and using them? Of course there wont be any repeats and the colors will have to match or coordinate, but I am going to try it. I mean that would certainly be being "green" right and not just tossing the books out after looking at them.  What might stop me is "time" right now, but some day, I am gonna do it.

    So I also demoed a couple cards for the girls, one was a card from the Just Buzzin' class, I showed them the trick on how not to have to cut out the tiny little bee legs when you are using that set - you can read that here . The other card was this one, and it was inspired by this card by geobeck.  I changed it just a tad and here it is:

    DSCN7079 copy Stamp Set: Branch Out 

    Paper: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Rockabilly DSP

    Ink: Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Jetblack Stazon

    Misc: Corduroy buttons, 3/4 inch circle punch








     




     

    DSCN7080 copy Pardon? Hmm...?  My bottom, well yes it has gotten a little wider of late so nice of you to notice, but....oh...what's that?  You said bUttoN... Sorry I couldn't hear you over the fan motor running on my new power supply in the computer...ha!

    Is that a button? Yep!

    It looks kinda like a fancy button off a pillow, or a chesterfield...remember that word? Did anyone remember a couch being called a chesterfield? Or was that something us Canadians said? Like Freshie instead of Kool-aid, or Serviette instead of Napkin, Hydro instead of Electricity...I could go on and on...in fact feel free to add any to the comment section I may have forgotten...

    Back to the button, let me show you how I did it.


    DSCN7114 copy You need these two pieces, the button that looks like a button, and the button that is really a brad.

    Now you are gonna open up the legs prongs in the back of the brad (note to my Demonstrator readers: decide what kinda crowd you have so you know what word to use). Nothing takes the excitement out of a Demonstration as the guests watch the Hostess remove the Demonstrator out of her house by her pants button I mean bottom...ha!!! Never happened to me, but my lips flap before my brains catch up sometimes and you never know...




    DSCN7110 copy Then insert the prongs into the holes of the button - push it all the way in and make sure it is even in the front and then close the prongs in the back.

    Then you have...





    DSCN7111 copy ---this! Cute eh?

    TIP: Mix and match the button colors and that is so cute too. It didnt work with the colors I had ordered for this particular card, so I did the same color.


    OK my friends, I am getting off here and get back to work, I had my Just Buzzin' class today and it was fun to see everyone, a few faces I had not seen in quite a while too!

    Have a blessed Sunday and thanks for stopping in!

    Hugs, Di

    February 19, 2009

    Quilt Card Tutorial

    Well you asked for it, you got it...Toyota!  OK, not really a Toyota, but how about how to do the quilt card that I showed yesterday.

    I had a workshop today, and it was so much fun, and the girls were so sweet, and I got to see some familiar faces, and some brand new faces too. They got to make this quilt card, and they really enjoyed it. I also wanted to say hi to all of them, I was surprised that many of them read my blog too. How fun is that?

    So when I came home to check the old blog - should I call it blah-g, sometimes I sure do blah!blah!blah!....ok, so anyway a few of you wanted to know how I did it, so here goes.

    Now remember I did not invent this, I learned how to do this from my friend Cindy, and she may have seen it somewhere else. I am not sure, I will totally give credit if someone tells me. So I looked on Cindy's blog and she said she seen it here on Bev's blog - so till someone says different, I am leaving it as so... 

    DSCN7082 copy These are the supplies you will need: Bordering Blue Ink, Basic Black Ink, brads, flower fusion, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White cardstock, Cute and Curly stamp, black journaler, sponge, snail, 1 1/4" square punch, curly label punch, top note die, cuttlebug folder, big shot






    DSCN7083 copy Step 1: You will need a piece of cardstock, I used Whisper White cut at 3 3/4" x 5", and you will need 12 squares punched out with the 1 1/4" punch.

    Some of you wondered why I didn't use my paper cutter, and I was like doh! But the more I thought of it I was like no way would my squares all be the same, you miss the 1 1/4" mark on your cutter and the squares would not match, so by using the punch....the punch is what it is (MAMMa always says that - it is what it is...I love her), and they will all be the same.


    DSCN7085 copy Step 2: Lay your "quilt" squares out in the pattern to your liking.

    You want three rows of 4 squares.






    DSCN7087 copy Step 3: Apply snail or whatever adhesive you prefer on your white card base, make sure to use enough so the squares do not lift off as you cut it out later. 






    DSCN7088 copy Step 4: Lay your squares down on top of your adhesive, making sure to butt them up together and not leave any white spaces.







    DSCN7089 copy Step 5: FInish covering the whole piece of cardstock, and you will have this.







    DSCN7090 copy Step 6: Lay your "quilted" cardstock FACE DOWN on the top note die, make sure to catch the Top Note points of the die with your paper. 

    TIP: I took a white gel pen and made a little circle mark by each tip of the top note die, it makes it a little easier to see...of course you can't see it very well in the picture.




    DSCN7091 copy Step 7:  Put it in your Big Shot and run it through.







    DSCN7092 copy Step 8: Presto Chango - look what you got.

    Is that not the fastest quilt thing you have ever done? I don't quilt, but I think that is pretty fast.






    DSCN7093 copy Step 9: Using a sponge, I sponged bordering blue along the edges, this just makes it stand out a bit once you adhere it to the Pink Pirouette cardstock.






    DSCN7094 copy Step 10: Using a black journaler, add some stitch marks, I used good old x marks but you could do whatever you like. If you are really energetic, I wonder if you could really stitch it? Hmmm...I dont' know maybe the stitches would break in the next step...I guess you could try it, its only paper right? and a lot of snail...

    Ok, so this pictures looks like I totally am missing a digit....it was that freak cuttlebug accident of 1982! Tragic, it made headlines...awww not really...I may not have all my brain cells, but I do have all me digits!



    DSCN7096 copy Step 11:  There all stitched and adhered to the pink pirouette cardstock







    DSCN7097 copy Step 12:  Put it inside your cuttlebug folder and run it through the Big Shot - I used the Paisley folder, but it is totally up to you which one you use.






    DSCN7098 copy Step 13: Ummm I couldn't end on step 13, so here is a picture of the cuttlebug folder sandwiched in between the plates laying on tab 1 of the multi-purpose platform ready to go through the Big Shot.






    DSCN7100 copy Step 14: Here is what it looks like close-up when you are done, neat eh?


    Assemble and decorate the rest of the card, and here is the finished product...





    DSCN7076 copy I just love this card, and I do believe the ladies from my workshop will be making many more of them...how about you?



    OK so you know I can't finish off my blog without mentioning American Idol. So the 3 people that I voted on sailed on through, I was so very happy.  Jeff was like I voted for this one too, and I said did you call and he said no, and I said well then you really didn't vote did you?  Ha!

    But at the end when they had Danny (my man!!!) and Tatiana up there, I was like if they pick Tatianna a.k.a. Sanjina over Danny, my Tuesdays and Wednesdays would open up, cause I would not watch it anymore...boy oh boy aren't they glad they choose right...and me too cause I love this commercial and they showed it tonight, Jeff had not seen it before.

     I would love to also work at a place that did commercials, some are hilarious and you wonder what they are thinking...or perhaps drinking when they are coming up with them.

    Well I am hitting the hay, thanks so much for stopping in, I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial, and have a great Thursday!

    Hugs, Di

    February 12, 2009

    Updating, Tutorial and a Fun BFF Challenge

    I was playing around with my blog, I mean heck it's a year old...ha!  I still don't know a whole lot how to do things...I mean I had Twitter on here, I took it off and added Facebook only to realize that I can't use my phone to text to Facebook like I could Twitter, and then I thought who the heck wants to know what I am doing when I ain't at home anyway...unless I need to text..."Help the M&M's have me tied up in the backroom at the grocery store", then maybe I will wish I left Twitter on here...I think more people Facebook then Twitter and eventually I am sure my phone will do it, or I can always use the web access with my phone, but really is it necessary right now? Nope! It aint like I'm a world traveller!

    I also changed the Books I Recommend, just in case anyone took my advice and read one or two, I thought you might like to see new ones.

    I also wanted to let you know that my friend Dawn Griffith has done an awesome video tutorial on making a Diorama like the bowling one I showed the other day. Check the video out here.  Thanks Dawn for doing such a great job, you are the video tutorial queen!!

    So a while back I sent my BFF Tracy a little care package, and in it I surprised her with a couple stamped House Mouse images and told her it was a friendly little BFF Challenge, and if she choose to accept it, we would each do a card and then I would put them on my blog, I did mine the other day and Tracy emailed me hers last night. What do you think?  I can't get over the similarities that we have in our cards...We are so much the same person it is freaky teaky. We did not talk or anything about the card, and look how they turned out...

    House_Mouse_with_Sprinkles Tracy copy This is Tracy's House Mouse - front view, look how cute she did it with the sprinkles laying around.

    In fact she actually put real sprinkles on the card. Too fun, too brilliant, too Tracy.


     




     

    House_Mouse_side_view_Better Tracy copy Here is the closeup of the card.

    She cut and popped some of the donut, and then she even crystal effected the donut's frosting so the sprinkles would stick.

    Then she even wet the back side of the mouse, rubbed it with her stylus on her foam pad so his belly stuck out, and then she put a dimensional back behind it so happy fingers don't go touchy feely and poking him back down.

    Click on the pictures and they will go bigger, Tracy sent them and all cameras are different, so I hope they blow up good, I usually let my blog go live before I go to bed so I can check things, but I don't want to jump the gun on Dawn's tutorial so I have set it to go live at midnite.

    This was so much fun, we will definitely be doing it again.

    Here is my card, it does not have all the bells and whistles or sprinkles that Tracy's does, and it is another attempt at the Cindy Haffner look, but you can see the similarities in our embellishments, and our mouses are even both gray!!! Love it!

    House mouse donut diana gibbs Stamp Set: Donut Bliss (House Mouse), A True Friend (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)

    Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Watercolor paper, Candylane DSP

    Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Going Gray, Regal Rose

    Misc: Martha Stewart punches, oval punch, flower daisies #2, riding hood red striped ribbon, nestabilities, cuttlebug




    House mouse close-up spica and glaze pen I added some glaze pen to the tail and some spica glitter pen to the edges of the frosting, here you can see it a bit, sorry the picture is yellow.

    I have been so enjoying reading your comments to win the blog candy, you are making me feel so good, and I laugh too at some of your comments.  Plus it looks like more tutorials is winning so far in what you want to see more of. Some of you have requested I do a watercoloring tutorial and there is actually one on here already, check here, this should help, but I can certainly do some more tips about it.  I love your suggestions and keep them up. Make sure you comment on the actual blog candy post ok? That is where I will be picking the person (or random.org will), I had a couple post under the the little question box on the side and those won't count, I see that Krista (hey honey) re-did hers, and I have not noticed if Lenny redid theirs too.

    So are you all watching American Idol?  Are you scratching your head on some of the decisions? I am! I can't believe that they did not bring Danny's friend along... I think that they realize that he is already star material, and perhaps he will get a contract now.  I have picked Danny from his audition but I totally missed that he was a widow.  I think I just heard him sing and not the back story part. As for Tatiana, welcome to another season of Sanjina...can you spell abnoxious, ears bleeding screaming? Cause really if she would just act human and sing, she does not sound half bad, but I don't like her.  Remember the old gong show? I was banging and clanging my gong but obviously no one was hearing it...except poor Jeff!!!! 

    Well I have a busy day today and some fun things to show you tomorrow, a little something for your "sweet tooth", that's all I'm gonna say...my lip is zipped...

    Have a great Thursday and thanks for stopping in!

    Hugs, Di

    February 10, 2009

    Big Shot Video & Quick Tip about Texture Plates!!!

    Hi,

    Just a quick post, while my dinner is cooking. I had a couple questions the other night about the Big Shot, and there is a great video that teaches you a lot about it.

    Check it out Here!

    TIP!!!!!!  Another thing....have you got the new texture plates for your Big Shot and they aren't imprinting as deep as you would like?  Well my friend and neighbor Cindy said she heard to spray the cardstock with alcohol first.  I never tried it...so my BFF Tracy called me today and said she did not like the look of the textured plates cause it was not deep enough, so I told her about spraying the cardstock with the alcohol, and she did it and she said it is like night and day, she LOVED it!!!.(I have heard that it is important to NOT breath in the alcohol mist....so be careful).  Please note she used rubbing alcohol and not vodka.  The alcohol dries quickly on the paper where water would not.  Cool eh?  Thanks Cindy for telling me and thanks Tracy for trying it out and saying it works....

    Thanks for stopping in!

    Hugs, Di 

    February 06, 2009

    Diorama - Hanna Style

    A couple years ago I sent Stampin' Up! a few samples of cards etc. to have a chance to demonstrate at Leadership.   At the last minute I added a Diorama amongst the cards, and I will be darned if that is not what they wanted me to demo. They changed the name to Peek-a-Boo cards, I have the sign that was on my booth hanging in my studio.  I also did up an easy to follow tutorial here at Splitcoast Stampers.  Added since original post: My friend Dawn Griffith has done an awesome video tutorial here - so go check that out, she did an amazing job teaching this technique, you the video tute queen Dawn. 

    So one of the Hanna Stamps! challenges is to make anything but a card and well that was easy enough. Sharon came over today and visited, and after she left..for the second time...hee!hee!  I whipped this up...fun! fun!  Some sets just lend themselves to a diorama...and I knew I wanted to do a bowling one! 

    Front view Hanna Diorama Di Gibbs Front View:

    Stamp Set: Hanna Bowling (Hanna Stamps!)

    Paper: Blush Blossom, Real Red (you can't see it, it is what I backed the DSP with to make it heaftier) Gina K Luxury paper, Gutterball paper

    Ink: Memento Tuxedo, Copics, art pen

    Misc: white gel pen, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

    Side view Hanna Diorama Di Gibbs Side View: This kinda helps you see the thickness and the side view a bit.

    These cards are so much fun and they lay flat so you can mail them.

    Neat eh?







     

    Looking in Hanna Diorama Di Gibbs Here is the view looking inside so you can see the bowling lane. 

    I just drew it in with an art pen and a ruler and colored with copics...Voila'







    Top view Hanna Diorama Di Gibbs To understand the way the diorama is made up here is a top view of it.

    That's the other team yelling "Gutter Ball!!" but it looks like a strike to me!


    Now go and look at your stamps in a whole other way, and make one...or two...or three.

    If you make one up make sure you come back and tell me and link to your blog so I can go check it out.  If you don't have a blog then upload it to Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet (if you upload to PCP make sure to tag your card     dioramacards    - just like that small letters and no spaces and I will snag it and add it to the album)

    Well I hope you have enjoyed looking at my diorama as much as I liked making it...I have a few more I gotta make for a special project...I'll show you those at a later time!

    Have a fantastic Friday and thanks for stopping in!

    Hugs, Di

    Tip Jar

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    Tip Jar

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    Copyright


    • All content (including text, photos, and design work) is © Diana Gibbs. My original artwork is shared for personal inspiration only and may not be used for personal gain or copied for any publications or contest submissions...Thanks!

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    • Just so you know...
      This is a personal website of Diana Gibbs, an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and I am responsible for its content. Stampin' Up! does not endorse the use of or contents of the classes, services, or non-Stampin' Up! products I offer here.

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