Tadpoles & Dirty Toes (+New LPS Digis)

"i BLisS LiKe THiS"

-Ani Difranco

What's your idea of bliss?
Mine is catching pollywogs in my shoes
(well it used to be, and now it's a blissful memory.) :O)

Click to see new Little Paper Shop Digitals


This new digital image from LPS {Little Friend} reminded me of amphibian adventurers in my youth so much that I couldn't resist doodling on some toes & tadpoles:

Tadpoles & dirty feet make me grin. Hehehe.

Can you tell I grew up on a farm? (Well, we moved a lot, but my grandparent's had a farm, just north of Newmarket Ontario, and my Mom and my brothers & I lived there sometimes.) We spent so much of our childhood playing & working outdoors.

Let's just say I know how to catch frogs (and release 'em of course.) I used to catch heck for capturing tadpoles in my shoes (good way to wreck your shoes, but they were the only tadpole catching vessel at hand & I wanted some pets to call my own! LOL.)

This card was inspired by this sweet sketch:

Play along with this LPS sketch on the LPS blog. Little Paper Shop turns one in April & there's gonna be all kinds of fun there this month! :O)

The Card Details:



Mely Mely quite migrainey.
How does your garden grow?
With Paper posies coloured in Copics
and embroidery grass in a row.



It was so fun to colour in the stitched leaves...like a sewn colouring book.
me thinks I need to do a whole card like that.

To make the flowers:

Step 1) Colour paper flowers with a black Copic. (tip: keeping flowers stacked on each other & using alcohol based markers seems to retain the flowers' shape better.)

Step 2) Pierce the flower centers & stick brads through them.

Step 3) Put flowers on your card.

Step 4) Draw stems & pierce along the lines to sew on stems and leaves.

To make the Grass:



More of that embroidery fringe. It's a bit finicky to make but the softness is snifty.

Supplies: Embroidery thread, sharp scissors, good stick tape.

Step 1) Adhere really sticky double-sided tape on one edge of a piece of cardstock.

Step 2) Stick the end of embroidery thread down on the sticky tape.

Step 3) Trim the ends with a very sharp pair of scissors. Repeat sticking thread down & cutting. You can use the previous frindge to line up your cuts.

Step 4) Flip over occasionally to check if it is straight. You can give mow the grass with really sharp scissors, so it's nice & even-if you like.

Step 5) To finish it, add a second strip of sticky tape & press well. Then stick your cardstock onto your project and the fringe will hold quite nicely. :O)

There's a photo tutorial on embroidery fringe here (bottom of post) & another example of it here

The Ribbon:

This is my favourite way to use ribbon: wrapped around cardstock & stuck onto the card. It allows you to fuss with it until you like the look without roughing up your card & you can get neato layers or faux ribbon looks.

Step 1) Take two pieces of ribbon & tie them together (creates a simple bow) You can adjust it by tugging the ends until you like how it sits, or retie it, if you don't like it.

Step 2) Place your tied ribbon temporarily onto a strip of cardstock.

Step 3) Trim ribbon to fit. You can sear edges gently with a lighter to prevent fraying. (Works on most ribbon, but not 100% cotton)

Step 4) Stick bits of double-side tape on either end of your cardstock (on the back)

Step 5) Adhere the ribbon to the sticky back. I find it takes some fiddling, but you can pull most ribbon up to get the right tension.

Step 6) Affix your new ribbon-paper-layer-thinger to your card.

Schtuff i did with the image...



I got some of that snookum Neenah paper for Copic colouring from Paper Garden Projects, but I wanted to see how it would hold up to water... since I use Copic markers in a weird way: (Copic markering over sections of watercolour pencil or faux watercolour.) With a light saturation of water in my Niji brush, it buckled a little but then flattened out like a dream.



Step 1) Print the Digital image on Neenah paper
Step 2) Heat set your printer ink with a heat gun
Step 3) Colour it with watercolour pencil crayons
Step 4) Go over colouring with damp water brush
Step 5) Add Copic shadows with a Warm Gray #1
Step 6) Add sparkle to the water with clear Spica



Step 7) Draw in toes & tadpoles

I just got a new very fine Copic Multiliner. (0.1) I am in LUV, let me tell you! I think I've been under a rock until now. They're amazing. No bleeding when you write or when you go over with water. How did I ever survive without a multiliner? LOL

Embossed Vellum sentiments:




You know I am sooooh lazy when it comes to sentiments. I'm layout-challenged so I'd rather stick teensy letters on painstakingly one by one than fit a sentiment into a layout. Here's how I did this one, in case you wanna try it...
Supplies: Vellum/other embossable paper; Computer & Printer; embossing powder & heat gun; scissors, double-sided tape, strip of cardstock.

Step 1) Type out your phrase in a word document. (Have embossing powder & heat gun ready)

Step 2) Print it on vellum (or another embossable paper.)
Step 2) Emboss it (Sprinkle on embossing powder asap)
Step 4) Cut between letters (as in the photo up there) :O)
Step 5) Trim letters along the top or bottom (whichever you want to show)
Step 6) Adhere them to a strip of cardstock or under the mat of your image.

Supply List: Image: digital image from LPS {Little Friend} Paper: Neenah Cardstock, Black, Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 Pack, Basic Grey Mellow Deciduous Mel-891, Vellum for letters. Colour: watercolour pencil & Niji brush; clear Spica, Copic Multiliner. (0.1), Black Copic, Warm Gray #1 Accessories: Basic Grey Urban Prairie brads, Embroidery thread in green, red, & turquoise. Black thread. Tools: Nestabilities Circle Scallop, making memories paper piercer, & a needle; Oh so sticky tape & foam tape.

Dry embossing on the white cardstock done with
A homemade Grungeboard Embossing Plate:

Hope there was something useful to you in here, :O)

Want some inspiration?
Check out the gorgeousness my LPS Peeps are creating:

ALLISON- Stampin' When I Can
BONNIE- The Lucky Clucker
CINDY-Cindy Haffner's Corner
ELYSSA- Confessions of a Teenage Scrapper
JESSICA- The Whimsical Butterfly
JULIA-Addicted To Paper
JULIE-Stamps and Taxes!
LORI-Inkingly Yours...
SARAH- my scrapbook table
SILVIA- Mabie Stampin'
TAYLOR-Musings of an Addict

P.S. More bunny Easterness is on it's way soon. ;O)

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