let's finish off that Studio Calico Elementary

After adding some of the Studio Calico Elementary collection to the Love, Elsie I thought I might as well finish off the collection pack with these cards.

And I didn't quite get rid of the collection pack...I still have 1 full sheet of atmosphere and a partial sheet of the apples left.  I did give it a good go though.  And now the back to school cards are done. Yay!

And just when you have decided that you can't make one more thing with your scraps

you go and make 3 cards!

Here is what was left of my Love, Elsie stash

I thought I would just toss it in the recycling bin, but then I started moving the little bits of paper around and came up with these 3 back to school cards...

And then it really was stash busting at it's finest...there were only 3 tiny scraps left :)

Love, Elsie stash busting cards

As I continue on my back to school card making journey, I am determined to use up the Love, Elsie that remains in my stash.  This makes it harder to make cards because I can't make them all the same.  Each card has to be made to fit the scrap that is being used to make it.  But alas, I worked it out and made the following cards...

to my stamped shapes I have added the approved tab from a Studio Calico stamp set and an owl from Sassafras Lass...the later being stamped with brown color theory ink and the shapes colored with copics.

here I added the light bulb stamped shape from the same Studio Calico set as the approved stamp above and once again these were colored with copics.

here I added some stars on sparkly DMC floss.

here I added some sequins.

theses shapes were colored with copics.

here I just stamped directly on the paper with color theory ink.

these shapes were colored with Studio Calico Mr. Huey's.

and these with diluted Mr. Huey's.

Again, the painting takes so much more time than coloring with the markers.  I love the effect, but unless I invest in some good paint brushes, I won't be doing it very often.

Thanks for stopping by and I should have some more cards for you tomorrow.

back to school time...

and that means back to school cards.  I have made a card welcoming back everyone on the campus where I teach for 3 years.  Last year I made 27 and so when I had 27 made, I looked at the new contact list and there were 40! YIKES! So I made 40 as of this morning and then looked at the list in my new teacher folder that I received on Friday and there are 43 names on the list...minus 1 for me and I am still short 2 cards. That should be easy enough to fix, but I also washed all my stamps and put them all away...that'll teach me;)

So I would love to share some cards.  First up are some cards I made with the Sandlot card kit from Studio Calico.  I also used the Studio Calico teachers pet stamp set for all of these cards.

The first card was a lift of Maggie Holmes's card in the CT gallery.  I used Studio Calico color theory inks to color the shapes and added some color theory stars.

I also made this card using the scrap 2" from the card above and another sheet of paper from the kit.  The shapes were colored with colored water color pencils dipped in water and used directly on the shapes.

I used the other half of the paper above used above and some numbers cut from the scraps of the paper used in the first card, and added in some Love, Elsie paper that I have been hoarding. I also added in a Stampin' Up library card. These shapes were colored with the water color pencils and then brushed with water.  

So now, I am into using pieces of the kit with the Love, Elsie paper. These shapes were colored with color pencils.

 and this one colored with Heidi Swapp color shine...

and this one using up the remaining numbers, some sewed on paper clips and these shapes colored with the water color pencils and then brushed with water.

I really loved how the color shine and color theory inks looked when painted on, but if I was going to do this frequently, I would invest in a good paint brush.  I used the paint brush from one of my daughter's paint sets (she is 12 and probably used these when she was 4) and it was a little difficult to control where the color was going.  I also loved the boldness of the water color pencils dipped in water and used directly on the shapes.  The other methods are good if you are looking for lighter colors. 

I'll share some more cards and coloring methods tomorrow.