Let Me Count The Ways

     The wonderful people @ Copics Creations have a great challenge #42 going on. It's to use something new, a technique, tool or product, that's it. I REALLY am trying to get more skillful @ using my copics but it's hard because I have a limited number of them.     I stamped my image with tuxedo black Momento inks and then embossed the key with detail gold embossing powders. The image was a stamp by Inkadinkado and colored with the following copic markers: E50, E53, YR00 and E04. Since I don't have a black and coordinating shades I just used my spica copics to add highlights for the hair. I also used the gold spica pen for some of the dots around "Love". The dots around the girl are done with Creative Inspiration paints in burgundy. The background card stock is dry embossed with the cuttlebug folder. My "new" thing was using this paper from DCVW and new gradient gems from creative charms. More importantly was the chance to use my copics. I guess practice makes perfect! This is only the 3rd project I've tried with them. I really hope to get better.

Return To Bermuda

     Another challenge, yeah! The Cricut Circle Blog has both weekly and monthly challenges. The monthly challenge is the one where I submitted the "I Love Candy" shirt. The weekly challenge required you to use Baby ( Brads, Aqua, Butterfly and You). They were right with this challenge to require you to use a picture of yourself. We are the ones who take the pics but rarely do a layout of our self. I chose a picture of our trip to Bermuda back in 1999. We had gone there for our honeymoon so returned 25yrs. later with our youngest who was 11 years old at the time.
     I started with this beautiful paper by K&Company, Que Sera fera stack. This is such a beautiful aqua color and goes well with my pic.I also love this paper from Recollections I got @ M's. It's a colored core and is sand able! All my flowers were cut from Tim Holtz floral die but embossed with various cuttlebug folders and inked with distressed inks by Ranger. The centers have either rhinestone brads or mini picture type brads. If you look close the bottom center flower has a butterfly on it!
     You also needed to use cuts from your cricut so I went back to my library and pulled out one of my favorite carts Base Camp. I cut all the letters @ 1" and used the blackout, shadow and regular features. The frame was cut using Lacy Labels @ 4". I used some natural raffia so I could hang the words Bermuda on it.
     My journal ling tag is cut from Spellbinders Labels but the journal ling tag was stamped with Donna Salazar" new tag. Can I just say how awesome her stamps are? They are lightweight and stamp beautifully.

     I finished this off by adding glossy accents on the red flower for dimension and painted some petal areas with Creative Inspirations Garnet paint. The butterfly is also K&Company. I was going to make my own but the colors in this were perfect. The above picture is shot at an angle to give you an idea of the details on this LO. I really have to start doing more layouts.