An Amazing Feat

Over the last couple of weeks I've fallen into a routine of checking out challenges midweek and deciding which I plan to tackle on my crafting day, that will ultimately be set up to post the following week. First up on my list this week is the Hambo Hoedown. I had this fun image in my 'to be colored' box so I decided to check out the current challenge. Short of having to hunt them down adding eyelets would be easy enough. I will confess I had no intention of adding yellow into the design but I had few choices in terms of eyelet colors and ultimately I'm glad I didn't have black or white because I like the accent the bit of yellow adds.

What a fun image! I suspect there are now a couple generations who might look at this and be a little puzzled but I'm old enough to have seen plate spinners and many other old-time acts as a kid. They might not consider it all that entertaining but I suspect that even a youngster witnessing an act like this today would find it pretty amazing.

Not only does Hambo have a lot of fun image and sentiment combos, joining in on the Hambo Hoedown is a great way to get some free digis to add to your collection.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Plate Spinner Digi Set (Hambo Stamps)
DIES: Labels Eighteen (Spellbinders), Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)
PAPERS: Recollections - Elegance/Prints & Solids (Michael's)
OTHER: Yellow Ribbon (Michael's), Brads (Oriental Trading)
SPECTRUM NOIR MARKERS:

TN7, IG1, IG6, IG8, IG10, DR1. EB1, EB2, BGR1, CR8, CR11, Blender & True Black

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

It's Top Secret

I've been going through my digis lately and coloring up a storm. I've had a lot of these for quite a long time and I have to sheepishly admit that I'm realizing I have quite a few that I never once used. But I'm making up for it now and it's been so much fun to have new images to color without having to buy a thing. :)

This cute Spy is another cute digi set from Hambo Stamps. My current method for working with digis is to print out 2 of each image (just in case I start in on one and have a big opps I can't easily correct) and I print out several (maybe 10-15 images)  in one sitting. Doing this means that the digis will typically sit for at least a couple of days before I go anywhere near coloring them. While it's not necessary to allow that much drying time it seems to work well and I figure it can't hurt to be sure they are really totally dry to avoid bleeding or smudges.

In this card I also colored directly over the sentiment (which I had printed on white card stock right along side the image) with my marker and then inked the edges with some chalk ink. I don't like being tied down to always using a sentiment on white and while you can of course position and print the sentiment directly on to your background paper, I like this alternative because it allows me to decide on colors on the fly and without having to get to the computer and printer while in the midst of card making.

Happy Crafting!



SUPPLIES USED: 
STAMPS: Spy Digi (Hambo Stamps)
PAPER: Accent Opaque Smooth 80# White, Boy Scouts Pad (K&Co.), Classic Prints (KI Memories)
DIES: Rounded Banner Stax (My Favorite Things)
OTHER: Fancy Label Punch (Stampin Up), Gardener's Twine
COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir Markers - BG4, BG8,IG6, BG10, EB2, GB8, GB10, EB8, EB7, TN2, TB3
BASICS: BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Is there a Doctor in the House?

I've got a another quick card share today. I made this card with one of the Hambo Stamps Digital sets that I've had in my collection for a while now.  Hambo is a great source for humorous images and these sets each have a couple fun coordinating sentiments too. I thought this one would make some great, gender neutral cards which would be perfect for OWH.

I usually add some shadowing at the base of my colored images to ground them, but when I decided I wanted to fussy cut this guy it meant cutting that grounding shadow off so I used a very simple alternative, by placing a simple grey oval under his feet I was able to prevent him from feeling like he was floating.

Happy Crafting!



SUPPLIES USED: 
STAMPS: Dr. Needle Digi (Hambo Stamps)
PAPER: Accent Opaque Smooth 80# White, Childish Things (Fancy Pants)
DIES: Petite Ovals (Spellbinders)
OTHER: Gold Snaps
MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir & Prismacolor Art Markers
BASICS: BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Keepin' Cool

We've been having a bit of a heat wave here in the Northeast this long holiday weekend and keeping cool has been a bit of a challenge. I think this Cool Cat from Hambo Stamps has the right idea don't you?

I've got the July Bootcamp ready to post (we're going to be talking about color again, one of my favorite subjects) so I'm hoping to unpack my crafting supplies and get some card making in during what's left of the weekend.

Happy Crafting!



SUPPLIES USED: 
STAMPS: Cool Cat Digi (Hambo Stamps), Sentiment (Unknown)
PAPER: Accent Opaque Smooth 80# White, Recollections Solids (Michael's)
INKS: Razzle Berry (My Favorite Things)
DIES: Catch A Wave Border (My Favorite Things)
OTHER: Big Dits Embossing Folder (Sizzix), Paper String (Tim Holtz), Large Blue Brad
COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir Markers - BT1, BT2, BT4, BT5, TB1, CT2, CT4, PP5, DR5, GB5, GB8, GB10, EB2, BG10
BASICS: BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Hambo Birthday Bird

I haven't been able to spend much time crafting or coloring this weekend but I do have a quick card share for today. I'd colored this a few weeks back and thought it would make a good card for a teen boy so I tried to stick with a simple, graphic paper. This is actually one of those 12x12 scrapbook pages carefully cut so that the bottom border of grey and blue stripes became a road surface for this guy to walk on. I'll be able to use some of the leftover but often times I find it almost impossible to use the entire sheet in a case like this paper.

The colors in the patterned paper didn't coordinate particularly well with the image so I added the little red flag as an embellishment and the blue framing layer. Repeating the colors in his hat and balloon help to tie the two together and create a more cohesive design.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Bird Pants - Digi (Hambo Stamps), Sentiment Stamp (Unknown)

INK: Onyx Black (Versafine)

PAPER:  Generation Tech Stack (DCWV), Recollections - Solid Colors (Michael's)

OTHER: Prismacolor Art Markers, Silver Brad

Hambo Hoedown Sketch Challenge

I first learned of Hambo Stamps through OWH. They have a fun weekly challenge blog called the Hambo Hoedown.  They sell traditional rubber stamps but also have a nice selection of digital stamps including many 'punny' sets like the one I've used for this card. Digital Stamps can be a great alternative if you like to color your images. I have a large collection of rubber stamps that I use often but I also like the flexibility of sizing an image for a particular layout that digi stamps provide.

Amish You Digital Stamp Set by Hambo • Script Stamp by Hero Arts
Prismacolor Art Markers • Papers from my Stash & Scrap box

I should also mention that if you join in at the Hambo Hoedown and use a Hambo image you'll receive a free digi for us in the following week's challenge. 

After visting the Hoedown many times I'm glad I finally got a chance to dance! :)

Happy Crafting!