It's all about High Hopes

That's what this week is about for me, High Hopes!! With the new stamps being released tomorrow, I've been having fun revisiting the cards I made with the last release, the wildly popular jungle stamps. Here are a couple more that I made with that bunch...

I colored the little hula girl with my Copic markers, cut her out & popped her on dimensionals onto some beautiful Bazzill Bling paper. I've been working with Copics for a while now, but it's an ongoing learning process. There are so many little tricks, so many things to learn & so many things you can do. I used a coated paper for this one, so I was able to use my blender pen as an actual blender. When you use non-coated paper, the blender pen acts almost like a bleach pen, taking color away. I do like how this turned out, although this wasn't the original card. On the other one I messed up the coloring behind the girl so that's why she's cut out, dancing on some blue Bazzill :)

Here's another card I did with the jungle stamps, have you ever seen a cuter hippo?? He's colored with Prisma pencils & Gamsol, my go-to way of coloring. I'm trying to branch out, using both my Copic & SU markers more often for a variety of looks. But I've been using pencils & Gamsol since the day I started coloring images, & it will probably always be my favorite.

Someone asked me yesterday how I line my envelopes. I take either a piece of cardstock or a piece of pattern paper ~~ all depends on what I have handy ~ & simply cut it big enough to insert it into the envelope. When I started doing it I was also making sure the flap was covered, but I decided the insert was good ~~ I think it looks nicer, & it adds the security & thickness I was looking for. Someday I would like to make my own envelopes. I'm always searching for just the right size & sometimes when there are too many layers or ribbon knots on my card, the envelope I had originally intended to use no longer fits. I would love to be able to completely customize my envelope to the card, makes it that much more special . Here's a picture of a couple of envelopes I lined ~ one with plain cardstock & one with designer paper to match the card.

Well, I've got a busy day ahead ~ we are going to go see my aunt & uncle's brand new house they just built, then we are stopping at the Humane Society to check out a cat for my mom. She volunteers there, & I knew the day would come when she would want to bring one home!! For now, one last sneak peek at the new stamps from High Hopes being released tomorrow.......

Have a great day!!!!