Happy Birthday Paul!

When I saw this delectable image, Western Heat, by Victoria Case Art Designs, I knew it would be perfect for a birthday card for my friend, Paul.


I colored Western Heat with copic markers, and then used a silver spica pen and a sakura stardust gelly roll pen on the belt buckle for a little metallic sparkle. Paul is a simple and clean kind of guy, so I kept my embellishments to a minimum with just a few brads and an embossed layer for a little "oomph". On the inside, I used the computer to print "May all your birthday wishes come true." I know mine would if this guy showed up on my door step! LOL!

Copics used:

We've moved, and you get the house warming gifts!

InStyle Stamps has moved to blogger, and to celebrate our move, we have presents for you! The first 150 people to subscribe to the new InStyle Stamps blog by 6 pm, Monday, November 9th will be given a free digital image or free digital paper of their choice. You must subscribe by the time frame given and leave a comment on this post on the InStyle Stamps blog with your email address. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

Spread the Love blog hop for Jaimie

Welcome to the “Stamp Something…for Jaimie, Spreading the Love & Hope” blog hop. If you came here from Jaime Schlangen’s blog, then you are right on track. If not, then please start at the beginning of the hop at Katharina Frei’s blog.

Jaimie and her mother were the victims of a senseless crime that resulted in the death of Jaimie’s mother, Kimberly, and left Jaimie seriously injured. (See details below.) We want to flood Jaimie with love and well-wishes, and are asking everyone who reads this to take the time to join our special Card Drive Challenge and send Jaimie a card. We have generous sponsors who have kindly offered up some prizes to anyone who makes a card, posts it on their blogs, and lets us know they mailed it out.

A little about the cause of our hop:

On October 4, 4 teenagers armed with knives broke into a home in a small town in New Hampshire. Alone and sleeping inside were a mother and her 11 year old daughter. These 4 boys broke into this home with the intent to rob and kill anyone inside. They stabbed the mom, Kimberly Cates, to death and left her daughter, Jaimie, for dead in their driveway. It was a completely random act, their home was chosen only due to its secluded surroundings.

Our hope is that everyone hopping around today will stop for a moment and think about Jaimie and her father and what life must be like for them now. One moment in time has changed their lives forever. We are asking that everyone reading this message please take a moment to make a card and send it off to Jaimie. You can make something very simple or much more involved, but please share some words of hope and love and let her know that people do care and want the best for her. Please send your card to the address below:

Jaimie Cates
c/o Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon, NH 03057

The hop will run until Monday, November 9th, so you have a full week to participate and make a card for Jaimie. Once you’ve sent your card, pop on over to the Stamp Something…for Jaimie blog and leave us a comment for a chance to win some fabulous prizes generously donated by our sponsors.


For my card, I decided to use Vanessa, one of the adorable anime images by InStyle Stamps. I had pj's just like this when I was a teen (mine were blue and red), so this image always brings back memories of slumber parties with my friends. You know, the ones where you pigged out on Mountain Dew and Doritos, and stayed up all night giggling over boys. Those were the days! LOL.

Jaimie's favorite colors are hot pink and black, so that determined the colors I used for my card. I colored Vanessa with copic markers (see bottom of the post for the colors) and then went over the LOVE on her pj's with a silver Spica pen for a little sparkle. (There is a close up below so you can see the sparkle better. It is really pretty IRL.)

My card layout is from the Club Anime sketch challenge for this week. Jaimie is not a girly-girl, so this layout was perfect for a non-fussy card. I just added a prima flower and some flat-backed gems for a little bling. I'm not sure of the brand of the patterned paper. It was in a stack of loose sheets a friend gave me a while back and the name slips my mind.


Now what are you waiting for? Head over to Erin Bailey's Blog to see what she has made especially for Jaimie.

Markers used:


**I noticed after I uploaded the photo that my RV02 marker was turned the wrong way, so that is the mystery pink ciao.

ISS Blog Hop - Set the Table

It's the last Friday of the month, and you know what that means - it's time to go blog hopping with InStyle Stamps! If you didn't come here from Lysa's blog, then you might want to go to the InStyle Stamps blog to start the hop so you don't miss any of the great projects the dt has in store for you!

Since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, this month our theme is "Set the Table". And as usual, we will have some great prizes to give away, so make sure to read all the way down to the bottom of the post to see how you can get entered into a drawing for some great goodies!

For my project, I decided to use the adorable new Anime images, Virginia and William. Aren't they just the cutest little pilgrims?

Around here, "Setting the table" during the holidays always includes a pretty container of seasonal flowers. I decided that my pot of mums needed a little dressing up, so after coloring Virginia and William with my copic markers, I cut them out and used glue dots to attach them to a pair of chop sticks I had laying around (unused, honest!).

The mums came in one of those plain jane green plastic pots, so I rummaged through my collection of decorative pots and found this great tin basket. I added some green ribbon around it, and then used my nestabilities to make a cute flower for the sentiment.

The flower is very simple to make. Just use a scalloped circle nestie in a size to coordinate with your center circle, and snip in each scallop toward the center to make your "petals". The sentiment is computer-generated using one of my favorite fonts, Kayleigh. (Download it for free here.)

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On to the Blog Hop details...

We will be giving away a Grand Prize to one lucky Blog Hop participant and also have a prize for one lucky design team member. To enter, hop through the design team’s blogs, (leaving a comment at each stop, of course!) and then go to the InStyle Stamps blog and vote for the designer who's project inspired you the most. (You're going to vote for me, right? LOL!) Then, in order to be entered into the drawing to win the grand prize, leave us a comment on that post.

I'm the last stop on your hop today, so now you'll want to go back to the InStyle Stamps blog to vote and enter the hop contest.

Thanks for playing along with us today!

Holiday Wall Art

This weeks challenge on Mo's Challenge blog is to make anything but a card. I've had an idea kicking around for some framed holiday art since I made a card with the oh, so sweet Singin So Beautiful last week, so I decided to participate.

Once again, I colored the kitties to look like my two Siamese, Octavian and Emmalee. The image was colored with copic markers (you are going to gasp if I ever use anything else, right?) and then I added Twinklets to the ground for some snow. I thought the sky needed a little something more, so I drew in some snowflakes with a white gel pen and added more Twinklets for some snowy sparkle. To finish off the piece, I used glue dots to attach real miniature bells to Octavian's collar, and then added 3 larger bells and a ribbon to the mat.

I had one heck of a time getting a decent photo of the entire frame, so below is a close-up of the image so you can see it better.


I forgot to take a photo of the copics I used, so sorry! They basically are the same colors I used in this post, with the addition of G85, G82, G40, and G24 for Octavian's collar and hat.

Sweet birthday wishes...

This week's challenge on Copic Buzz is to make a card without any patterned paper. I've been using patterned paper on just about all of my cards lately so this was quite the challenge!



I used the oh, so adorable Bronte and Louis by Mo's Digital Pencil for my image. Bronte and Louis were colored with copic markers, and then had white gel pen accents added.


I added more white gel pen to the eyes to make them more expressive. (click image for a larger version)

Markers used:

Meowy Christmas!

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I adore my furbabies, Emmalee and Octavian. (Emmalee is the lilac point Siamese, and Octavian is the flame point Siamese, shown above.)


When I saw the adorable Singin So Beautiful at Mo's Digital Pencil, I knew I had found the purr-fect image to use on a holiday card for Octavian's foster mommy from Siamese Rescue.

Think she'll like it? The image was colored with copic markers, and I used Spica pens in gold, buttermilk, and clear to accent the bells and red ribbon. The sentiment is computer-generated. I kept the layout clean and simple to make it easier to mail.

This card is also my entry for the Copic Creations challenge #14, coloring with black. (Emmalee was colored with W5, W3, W1, W0, and W00.)

Copics used:

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Boss's Day!

Happy Boss's Day! Did you remember? I have to admit that my co-workers and I completely dropped the ball on this one. Ok, not completely. I did hear a commercial about it on the radio on the way home from work last night, so I at least had time to make a card for my supervisor.

At my office, we have a cabinet that is kept well-stocked with hot chocolate and several varieties of teas and coffees. Pretty much the first thing everyone does each morning is make something hot to drink (preferably accompanied by something to munch on), so I thought that AM Sweet Tooth by Mo's Digital Pencil would be perfect for the card for my supervisor.

I colored the image with copic markers, and then used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen (I think it is stardust) on the spoon and the trim on the mug and plate. I used white Foam Paint by DecoArt (in the fabric paint isle at your local Michael's/AC Moore) for the whipped cream. Once it dries, it has this wonderful "wet" sheen to it. The image needed a little "sweetening", so I added Twinklets onto the cookie and the foam to add a little "sugar".

Copics used:

InStyle Stamps DT Call

InStyle Stamps is currently searching for new designers for our anime images for October 20th, 2009 – January 20th, 2009.

We are interested in fresh, funky, out of the box designs. We are looking for artists with great coloring techniques and photography skills, who have the ability to have fun and post regularly on their blogs. If you fit that mold, please apply for one of our special team positions.

How to apply:

Send InStyle Stamps an email at instylestampsdt@aol.com with Anime Designer in the subject field no later than October 13th. Please include 1 card and 1 non-card project that showcase your best coloring abilities. Within 24 hours you will receive a free digital anime image to create a project for consideration... Your entry must be returned to us no later than October 18th, 2009. An eye coloring tutorial will also be provided.

Along with your email please include the following information:

1. Name

2. Mailing Address

3. Phone number

4. Email Address

5. A List of your present/past design team positions. Note: You will be considered even if you do not have design team experience.

6. A link to your blog and gallery on SCS, PCP, or anyplace else you like to hang out.

7. A brief “about me” summary to include; interests, crafting history, etc. Whatever you would like us to know about you and your experience.

Because you will need to share your InStyle Stamps creations, you are required to have a well-maintained blog for posting your artwork and any information concerning InStyle Stamps. Ability to photograph and post your creations is a must.

As a part of the InStyle Stamps team, you will receive a selection of images to work with each month. You are required to post a minimum of 4 projects per month to your blog using the images provided. We require one non-card project a month. Please note that all images are provided digitally, so the ability to print the images is a must. Please do not apply if you are not comfortable working with digital stamps.

We have a yahoo group dedicated to the Design Team. You would be expected to join this group & participate in discussions with others as well as giving suggestions or ideas when asked.

As a DT member, we would like to see you posting your creations in online stamping community galleries, such as Splitcoast Stampers and Paper Craft Planet. This will help to increase exposure to our stamps and images.

The perks:

You get a badge to display on your blog to show that you are a part of the InStyle Stamps Anime DT!!

Every month you will get 6 digital stamps to design with. They are yours to keep. Remember we require at least 4 projects per month. The projects you create as part of your design team requirements are also yours to keep.

You will receive one free kit per month.

You get a 35% discount on website purchases for as long as you are on the design team.

You will receive a welcome package with a free stamp and other goodies to get you started.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail Melissa at: InStyleStampsDT@aol.com

We look forward to seeing your submissions! Best of luck!

ISS Sneak Peek + Sketch Saturday #72

This weeks sketch on Sketch Saturday is a cute one, so I decided to play along. I flipped the sketch for my card as it worked better with my image, the adorable new anime from InStyle Stamps, Christmas Tree Chic.


I've always loved decorating our Christmas tree. Ok, I hate the grumbly "why won't these blasted lights work?!?" part, but putting on the ornaments is just so relaxing. I put on my favorite Christmas cd's and spend several happy hours putting each ornament in just the right spot.

Christmas Tree Chic was colored with copic markers as usual. The pretty designer paper is more of the My Mind's Eye Colorful Christmas line. The ornament embellishments were drawn by hand as I couldn't find a stamp the right size. The yummy crocheted ribbon is a Big Lot's find.

Copics used: