I Brake for Monday Morning Coffee!

Hi everyone! Well it is Monday morning, and I know that at the beginning of the week some of us feel this way. It's Monica from Taylormadecards4u and I am here this morning to share one of the humorous senior stamps sets called Half sheet #046.   

The sentiment is from Half Sheet #052 and has some great sentiments to go with these silly seniors!

This is a CAS card, and I colored the image with some of my copic colors. Be sure to check out some of the other humorous senior sets over at the I Brake for stamps shop, I am sure they will give you a great laugh to help you through your Monday morning!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I Brake For...Cats

Happy Sunday!

I've got a super cute card for you! I needed a birthday card for my aunt who loves cats. Sometimes I just search random words in the I Brake For Stamps search engine to see what it gives me, I'm always surprised by the extensive library. I was searching cats one day when I found the perfect stamp for my Aunt's card! 

There is a rubber sheet (maybe it is a half sheet) that contains three stamps. You can't buy the stamps individually, but all 3 stamps are REALLY great and worth having. I'm talking about the Cats and Buildings sheet. There are two stamps of BEAUTIFUL buildings lined up and one of a bunch of cats. I super loved these cats at first sight and I HAD to acquire them! Today's card is using those cats, I can't wait to use the two building stamps!

For this card, I stamped the image using StazOn and colored it using Zig Real Clean Color Brush Markers. I then found a speech bubble die in my stash and cut it through the painted panel AND through a layer of fun foam at the same time. Doing this ensured that the decorative edge of the speech bubble aligned perfectly with the foam that I used to give this card a touch of dimension. I then colored the paper with my Zigs.

I found a FABULOUS sentiment in my stash, even though it doesn't reference a birthday I can still either stamp a "Happy Birthday" or just write it in my message on the inside. I stamped this message in black ink and then again in Versamark to emboss it in clear embossing powder. Then I colored the inside of the letters with one of the colors I'd used in the cats.

At this point, I glued the speech bubble to the fun foam using Tombow glue. The fun foam was still much larger than the painted panel, only the decorative edge had been cut down. I fussy cut the other three sides and also fussy cut any extra hanging out amongst the scallops.

Using my tape runner I taped the cat part to my card base and using my Tombow glue I glued the sentiment part to my card base. And then I was done!

I just love how clean and beautiful this card looks!

This was a really fun and easy card to work on, I got such a giggle painting the cats because their expressions are all so different! I really suggest searching random terms in the I Brake For Stamps search engine, it is such a fun thing to do. You'll find really inspiring stamps to add to your card, and to your stash!

I Brake for Sea Critters!!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing two cards made with my brand new set of stamps available over at I Brake for Stamps!

We've been sneak previewing them on Facebook all week but in case you missed it...they're here!!

These are my first attempt at stamp design and I hope you like them!!

SEA CRITTERS COMPLETE SET

There are 4 images (Sea Turtle, Otter, Whale and Crab) and 10 sentiments.

I just love animals and cute little verses and puns to go along with them.

Hope you do to!

TURTLE SET

I have two new sets.  This one and another called ANIMALS.

A lot of the verses can work together for an inside/outside deal on a card.

My second card features the little crab and two more verses from the set.

CRAB SET

The Beachy Keen sentiment will work with any of the images.

I Brake For Large Tea Cups!

 Hello Everyone!!

Today I'm sharing a large gable box project with you .  I used Large Tea Cup  from the I Brake for Stamps Store and it was relaxing to color the image. I hope you guys are finding time  to create and don't forget to check out I Brake for Stamps Shop.

I also used: 

Richard Garay Party box die 

hemp 

DCWV Mariposa collection

until next time..
Shanta

I Brake for a Gnome Hello !!!

Hello IBFS fans !!!

It's Crystal here and today I am making a card with those oh so cute Gnome set called MS123 Gnome sheet , that right you get a whole sheet of different sizes and poses , they are so cute. So today I made a quick scene , I stamped my gnome and then masked him off and then stamped the mushroom on both side of him, now when I remove my mask it will look like he is standing in front of his prize mushroom patch .. I know you moral mushroom hunters can relate lol......

I used prisma colored pencils on my Gnome , die cut my hello from glitter CS and added some of my DIY enamel dots .

inside my card I added some mushrooms and left plenty of room to write a short note when I am ready to use this card .

Thanks for stopping by for the MS123 Gnome sheet and many other great stamps go visit the I Brake for Stamps on-line store !!!!!

I Brake For...Joe Surfer!!!!

Hello stamping friends! Nancy here today and  I have a real hunky card for you!!!  Take a look at this guy!

This hunky guy is called Joe Surfer and can be found on the I Brake For Stamps store here.

  He is also one of the many Humorous Seniors stamps available at IBFS.  You can see the entire senior collection here. 

Don't you just want to see him on your local beach!!   I stamped him in Memento ink and colored with copics.  I built a little scene behind him with a pierced circle sponged with some distress inks and added the sand with a curved border die.  Since I live in Florida I tend to have a lot of beachy type paper packs which sometimes will include a few stickers - I've added those along the left side.


I hope you will hop on over to the IBFS site to take a look at all the stamps available.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I (often) Brake for Steampunk Owls!

Another Tuesday, another Steampunky card featuring Steampunk Owl from the New Steampunk set by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

Steampunk Owl was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) and colored with Copic markers. The image panel was die-cut with a Stitched Rectangles. The background was added with Copic markers, which were also used to color the Steampunk Owl. Yellow and orange glitter pens were used to add a glittery touch to Steampunk Owl's umbrella lightbulb. Turquoise glitter pen added bluish glitter to the center of his gears. Clear glaze pen was used to add shine and dimension to the Steampunk Owl's beak, talons, gears, lightbulb, and the Steampunk piece on his belly.

A piece of gold metallic cardstock was cut to 5.75" square. Being a thrifty me, the interior of the gold cardstock was die-cut once with a compass corner die and three times with a stitched flag label die . Words from a sticker book were added to the label dies, which were then adhered to the card front. The Steampunk Owl image panel was adhered to the card front, which was then mounted on a 6" x 6" card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for All Women!

Hi everyone it's Monica from Taylormadecards4u. I am here using one of my newest stamps, which is quickly becoming a favorite. When I first saw this image, it reminded me of a Vintage Class photograph. One you would find in a year book.

It is a great image and one that brings so many creative ideas to mind.  I am sharing this one with you today along with a shadowing technique using Jet Black Archival ink and Iced Spruce Distress Oxides ink. If you want to see how i created this shadow affect, you can check out the video on You tube. 

This technique works great when working with silhouette stamps. By stamping the image with the Distress Oxide ink first, then moving the paper over a bit and re stamping the image with the Jet Black Archival ink, you create a shadow affect.

I did this technique with the All Women stamp above, but also did it with a sentiment stamp as well to show you the different effects. 

After both inks were dry, I used a background stamp to create some interest.  I then framed the image with the rectangular stitched die, frayed the edges and matted it onto some black card stock.

I added film strip ribbon and lace ribbon around the black card stock and matted it on to two more designer pieces of paper. As a finishing touch, I added two vintage buttons.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I Brake for...Fly Fishing!

Happy Sunday, readers!

I went out of my comfort zone a little to bring you this incredibly detailed scene! I was searching around the I Brake For Stamps website, exploring the WIDE variety of stamps they have when I found THIS stamp set. I was SO excited about it! Both my father and my brother fish, more my brother, but I thought it would make a lovely birthday card for my father's upcoming birthday!

For highly detailed images, like this one, when you first stamp it onto paper it can seem quite a bit daunting, to figure out what all is going on in the image. One thing that I learned when I was a scenic artist for theater, was to start painting what you know. As you fill the image in with color you'll start to understand other elements that are happening in the image. For me, I started with the trees in the background, the sky, and the fisherman. The midground, in this image, is really busy and fairly confusing, however that shouldn't prevent anyone from giving it a go! Just keep working the images you understand, and before long you'll have painted the entire picture!

I loved painting the incredible detail in this image, it made for a really fun time exploring how the different greens, browns, and blues, reacted towards each other.

In various stamping Facebook groups I often see people struggle with masculine cards, there are QUITE a few options in the I Brake For Stamps selections, this Fly Fisherman stamp is just one example of the wide variety they offer. I am sure my father, like most outdoorsman, will love this card!

I Brake for Beautiful Blue Hydrangeas!

 Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing such a beautiful flower that I got at I Brake For Stamps.

It can be found as a single or on a half sheet...

LOVELY FLORALS SHEET

or as a single...

LOVELY HYDRANGEA.

On the inside I used one of the sentiments from this set.

Baubles, Doily and Words Half Sheet

Isn't this flower gorgeous?!

 I have 3 Hydrangeas in my yard,
one blue and two white and I love them all!

I Brake For Cocoa Cammy!

 Hello Everyone!!

Today I'm sharing a holiday project with you.  I used Cocoa Cammy and I love the way these both turn out. I hope you guys are enjoying your day and don't forget to check out stamps from the I Brake for Stamps Shop!!

I also used: 

Gina K. Winter Cheer Paper Pad

                 Simon Says Stamps Talk Bubbles Stamp and Die Set

                  Hero Arts CL722
Pink and Main Stitched Rounded Rectangles
Enamel Dots
Red / White Twine

                                                              Sizzix Canning Jars 3-D
                                                      My Favorite Things Oval Stax 1& 2

I Brake For....Monster Mash!!!

Hello stampers - Nancy here today with a bright and cheery card!

This adorable image and sentiment is called Monster Mash set and can be found here by itself or part of the Curiosities Set #1 here.

I love the smile of pure joy on this monster and feel that we all should dance like no one is watching!!!

I colored the image with copics and used a curved border die on the side to mimic the curves of the tutu.  Small flower dies and a swiss dot embossing folder finishes everything off.  I used bright colors of yellow, orange and pink - this is one of those images where you can go bright and bold with color.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Hop on over to the IBFS store to check out all the Curiosity stamps, as well as thousands of other stamps. 

I Brake for Steampunk Budgies!

I guess I'm still in a Steampunky mood because today's card features the budgie from the Special Delivery set from the Mech-Animals Set 1 by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

The Special Delivery Budgie was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts). I fussy-cut around the tail, then slid one of the dies from a Stitched Postage Rectangles die set under the tail, and die-cut the image. The background was added with Copic markers, which were also used to color the Special Delivery Budgie. A black pen was used to edge Special Delivery Budgie's tail. Clear Glaze penwas used to add shine and dimension to the Special Delivery Budgie's eye, talons, rivets, and collar spikes.

Map patterned paper was trimmed, edged with Hickory Smoke Distress ink, then matted onto silver metallic cardstock. A scrap of the silver cardstock was die-cut with a stitched fishtail labels from and a Key Corner die. The sentiment sticker sheet was added to the silver fishtail label, which was then adhered to the card front. The Special Delivery Budgie image panel was adhered to the card front, which was then mounted on a white card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

Thanks for visiting today!

I Brake for Fish!

Hi everyone! It's Monica from Taylormadecards4u. I am here today to share with you a fun card using the stamp Luncheon Meat and a background technique using Distress inks.

To create this background, I smeared some distress inks and oxides onto a craft sheet and spritzed it with some water.  Using a small acetate sheet, I dabbed up the water and dabbed the sheet onto some white card stock.  Once I was happy with the look, I used my blending tool and faded jeans distress ink to add blue tones to the background where white was showing through.

I stamped the image onto the distress inked card stock then again onto some white card stock.  I used copic colors to color up the fish images and fussy cut them using my tonic scissors.

I popped up the fish using some foam dots and added some clear nuvo drops where the bubbles were stamped.

This is a really easy technique and makes for a great background.  

Thanks for stopping by.