Robin's Artful Musings

Blog candy alert!!!

2010-04-09T06:46:00.000-04:00

Donalda has a fabulous blog candy going on right now!!

Be sure to stop by and enter for a chance to win these gorgeous flowers, lace and pins from

Wild Orchid Crafts!

Have a great weekend!

The Pink Elephant #61

2010-04-05T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday!

It's time for another fun challenge over at TPE!

This week, the challenge is all about nature. Anything from nature qualifies!

Our sponsor is the super wonderful:

All That Scraps

I love, love, love their stamps....I think anyone who comes here and reads my blog, knows that by now. lol

I bought the new Swiss Pixies Spring kit within minutes after it was released. I just LOVE these little kids!

Here is my card for this week:

It double dutied as my youngest daughter's bday card because she loves these stamps as much as I do! She turned 11 yesterday on Easter. She was born on Easter and it took 11 years to have her birthday fall on it again. She thought it was very cool to have her birthday and Easter on the same day. lol Sorry for rambling...on to the card details....

I used Basic Grey Blush paper and letters. I colored the Pixie with Copics and also colored the flowers to match. IRL they are much more pink and match the colors better. I hate that photos sometimes aren't as true to color :(

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to visit TPE to see what the other girls did this week!

The Pink Elephant #59

2010-03-22T00:01:00.003-04:00

Monday means....Pink Elephant challenge day!

This week, we are having a sketch challenge:

This sketch just screamed for me to use my new digis from Squigglefly.

I colored the bunny with Copics and covered the egg with stickles. Paper is DCWV. I embossed the tan circles and stamped the pink ones with Inque Boutique Easter stamps and Versamark

This one was also colored with Copics and I put punched flowers in place of the circles on the sketch. The ribbon was replaced with a punched flower border that I covered with Stickles. I added pearls to the centers of all of the flowers. Paper is DCWV.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other TPE girls did this week.

New Digi Images at Squigglefly!

2010-03-20T19:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday to everyone!!

The weather is gorgeous here and it makes me so happy! It was a beautiful sunshiny day!!

I am also excited to announce that I have new digis available at Squigglefly!

I had a few St. Patrick's Day images, but time got away from me and I never even got a chance to make any samples with them or announce them here.

But...I also have some Easter images!! WOOHOO!!

There is a bunny, a chickie, an egg birdhouse and an Easter basket.

There may be more before Easter...if my mojo kicks in!

I thought I would share a couple of samples with you using the new Easter images:

Bunny was colored with Copics and white gel pen details were added. I also added Rock Candy Stickles to the eggs in the border and the big egg. The papers I used are DCWV.

Here I used the Easter Basket digi. I colored with Copics. The background is a solid sheet of DCWV cardstock. I cut around the top of the flowers with a craft knife and then slipped the image behind them. It seemed flat, so I cut the flowers from a second sheet and layered them with foam tape for dimension...much better!! lol

Come back Monday for a couple more samples using my new digis!

Thanks for stopping by!

AO Release Day 4

2010-03-20T00:01:00.002-04:00

Here is my final sample for the new plate, A Lovely Day, from Artistic Outpost

I stamped the bike image in Memento black ink. Cut out with Nesties. While still in the die, I sponged blue Distress Ink around image. Colored the image loosely with Copics. The basket screamed for FlowerSoft, so I added posies to it! Simple card again, but I think sometimes less is more....

Thanks for stopping by to see my samples from the new release. I will have more coming your way soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

AO Release day 3

2010-03-19T00:01:00.005-04:00

Yay! It's Friday!! I love Fridays.....

Here is a sweet little ornament I made using the A Lovely Day plate from Artistic Outpost:

I covered a laminate sample with Ruche paper and sanded it to add interest to the raised areas. I stamped the little girl, colored her with Copics and cut out. Stamped the sentiment on the side of the ornament and attached the girl to the other side. I cut off the excess that hung over. Glued rick rack around the outside and along the top and bottom. Finally, I added FlowerSoft to the bouquet in her hand and some spilling out of the basket. I have had this stuff for well over a year and have done nothing with it. Isn't that awful?!?!?! I really need to start using more of what I already have rather than buying more stuff.

Here is a close-up of the flower soft:

Thanks for stopping by....come back tomorrow for one more A Lovely Day sample!

AO Release day two

2010-03-18T00:01:00.003-04:00

Here is another card made using the A Lovely Day plate from Artistic Outpost

I stamped the image and then inked the top with Broken China and the bottom with a green Distress Ink (I can't remember the name right now lol). I colored the windmill and added some more greens to the field with Copics. A few white accents were added with gel pen. Finally, I dotted the field with yellow Marvy Puffy Velvet pen to make it a field full of dandelions. The sentiment was stamped using a stamp positioner and I added some fine black lines around the outside. The base card was embossed with Swiss Dots and Distressed Lines. I added ribbon to finish it off and the image is on foam tape. It is a very simple card, but it was fun to make.

Here is a close up of the dandelions:

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to stop in tomorrow for another sample using this plate.

Artistic Outpost March Release!

2010-03-17T02:00:00.004-04:00

The March Artistic Outpost releases are now available!

To celebrate this release, Artistic Outpost is featuring 15% off just about everything in their store**. Just use coupon code: spring2010_15 at check out, but hurry, this Coupon Code is only valid through March 31, 2010. **Coupon code not valid on EZMount products**

Lovely Day:

Inspired by the lovely country side of Holland, this collection features a Dutch bicycle complete with basket, a windmill that looks almost like a photo, but lends itself to coloring nicely, and an adorable little girl who is cradling a bouquet of flowers in her hands. Entire collection includes 9 images including multi-use quotations and sentiments. You can see this new plate HERE

My card using images from A Lovely Day was colored with Copics and then aged with Antique Linen Distress Inks. The crown and her bracelet were colored with gold Spica pen. I stamped the flower part a second time and added it with foam tape for dimension. I stamped the base card with the floral image and Vintage Photo ink. Then, I embossed with the textile folder and inked with Vintage Photo.

SteamPunk:

Featuring 10 masculine, Victorian era images, Steampunk is a fun and diverse collection. These stamps will be perfect for an altered, grungey mixed-media piece or a simple "Father Day's" card. You can see this new plate HERE

This was a fun card to make using images from the Steampunk plate.

I embossed and inked the background panel with the script folder and Vintage Photo ink. Then, I stamped the two images (one in black and the other in VP). I love the way that they only stamp on the raised areas and give an interesting look. The man and sentiment were stamped and I inked with VP. I colored the man very loosely with Copics. I stamped the circle, inked and cut out. I used my tonic distress tool on the circle and the main image. Layered it all together added red grosgrain ribbon and rhinestones (I wish I had something a little more masculine, but all I had were rhinestones lol) Finally, I added Glossy Accents to the center of the circle, his hat band and his buttons.

Looking for more inspiration using these new releases stop by the other Design Team Members Blogs:

*Robyn

* Gerrie

* Lisa

* Cathy

* Judy

* Lynn

* Robin

* Shelly

* Toni

* Stephanie - March Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Be sure to come back over the next few days to see more samples from the new plates!

The Pink Elephant #58

2010-03-15T00:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Monday!

I am back to bloggin after a break because of a serious battle with bronchitis. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this sick. I am still not 100%, but am feeling much better (human again lol).

It's time for another fun challenge from The Pink Elephant!

This week, our sponsor is the fabulous....

All That Scraps!!

It is no secret that my favorite stamps are CC Designs. I have to buy every kit that comes out and I just love to stamp these little cuties!! I bought the Spring Kit when it was released (sight unseen because I knew I would love it!). There are gorgeous kids, accessories and sentiments....love it!!!

The challenge this week at TPE is

Spring

My card used Rainy Day Emma....isn't she sweet?!?!

I colored my image with Copics. I added white gel pen accents. It doesn't show in the picture, but I added Glossy Accents to her boots, buttons and pocket and Spica pen to the rest of her coat and umbrella. I cut out a large Labels One and embossed it with Swiss Dots, inked with Antique Linen. The sentiment was stamped and cut on the second smallest Labels One and inked. I used My Mind's Eye paper for the background.

Then I think I went overboard with embellishing. I am going to blame it on the bronchitis...

I added the flocked brads (that I colored with Copics because they were too pink), the ribbon and bow and the punched flower border (EK Success) from the stripey paper. I added Glossy Accents to the flower border and to random dots on the background to make it rainy. I think it may be too much...but I still love it.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out what the other TPE girls did this week!

Have a creatively wonderful week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #27

2010-03-06T00:01:00.002-05:00

YIPPEE...Its Saturday!!! I only have to work until noon and its also C4C day!!

This week, our new hostess, Barbara, has challenged us to use paper PIERCING (I wrote that big because I almost did piecing this week!! lol)

I don't do a lot of piercing, so this was something new for me. It isn't anything fancy, but it was fun!!

Our sponsor this week is:

I just love their stamps...so cute!!

They are generously offering a $15 gift certificate to some lucky participant this week!!!

Here's my card using the adorable image Vincent Van Bunny:

I colored him with Copics and added Stickles to the flower and his paint. I also added some white gel pen details. The tail got some Marvy Puffy Velvet penwork and the egg was stamped twice, colored and one was cut out and added with foam tape for dimension. I curved the egg a bit and the paint brush is glued down by his hand so it isn't just floating weirdly. I pierced around the entire main panel and did corners on the pp panels and then the corners of the card. The pp is DCWV.

Here is a closeup that shows the puffy tail and dimensional egg a bit better:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to head to C4C to see what the other crazies did!!

On a personal note:

My oldest daughter turned 14 yesterday. Where has the time went?!?! I swear that I just brought home my little 4 1/2 pound bundle of joy yesterday!! Happy Birthday Punk!!!

The Pink Elephant #57

2010-03-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday!!

This week, our challenge at TPE is to use GREEN on our card/project.

The sponsor this week is Claudia & Co. where the fabulous Lori Boyd has created a line of stamps called Puddlejumpers. They are so cute and available NOW!

Here is my card using Daisy and her kitty:

I colored the image with Copics. The pp is all DCWV Butterflies and Blossoms. I love this paper....makes me think of Spring and we so need the season to come SOON!! The sentiment is a super old clear stamp I have from Provo Craft. I colored bride's flowers with Copics and added Stickles and Dewdrops to make them pretty. I thought they looked cute since Daisy has a daisy on her shirt that I colored and glittered the same way. Not a ton of green, but I did use it! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other TPE designers did this week.

Have a creatively wonderful week!!!

Crazy 4 Challenges #26

2010-02-27T00:01:00.003-05:00

Its Saturday and that means it is a CRAZY day! A Crazy4Challenges day that is!

This is my final week to host the challenges at C4C. I hope you all enjoyed them!

This week, it is all about textures. I challenged the design team to create cards using at least 3 different textures. There are so many different things we use in our art that add texture, so this one should be easy :)

Our sponsor this week is Totally Stampalicous

Joycelyn was kind enough to offer us some digital images and I am so grateful!!

Thanks so much for letting me play with the Road Hawg images. They are perfect for cards/gifts for my brother.

Here is the card I made for my brother:

I have such a hard time making masculine looking cards, but I think this one turned out okay.

My textures are: textured paper, Cuttlebug embossed PP, Distress Stickles (headlight), Glossy Accents (fenders, gas tank, boots, sunglasses and the shield emblem) and finally the ribbon was a very textured white ribbon that I colored with my Copics.

I colored the images with Copics, antiqued them all with Distress Inks and cut out with Nesties and by hand. The sentiment was curled and adhered with glue to give a strong bond to hold up to the bending. It looks better in person because you can see that the sentiment strips actually alternate in their bending. In the picture, it just looks uneven. lol The 'brad' on the sentiment strips are actually punched circles from the textured cardstock. I curved them with a stylus and glued them to the card. I didn't have any appropriate brads, so I made faux ones.

Obviously, my brother is Randy and I added his name to the sheild before printing it out.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other Crazy gals did this week.

Have a GREAT weekend!

The Pink Elephant #56

2010-02-22T00:01:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday!

Its time for another fun challenge over at The Pink Elephant

This week, we are having a sketch challenge:

Our sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps...they have some of the CUTEST digis ever!

I just love their designs!

I had so much fun coloring this image!! I colored her with Copics and added Spica pen to her dress for shimmer. I covered her sunglass lenses and boots with Glossy Accents and added fine glitter to her boots to make them super chic. I also added Stickles to her earrings to bling them up a bit. This image comes with a sentiment, "how can I be overdrawn? I still have checks left". But, I saw her as a shopping diva, so I paired her with some shopping bag pp that I had and stamped the sentiment using Just Rite Stampers Brayton font. The border is a MS punch and the ribbon is American Crafts.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE to see what the other designers did.

Have a creatively wonderful week!

Blog Candy Winner!

2010-02-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

Bet ya all thought I forgot about announcing a winner for my TPE birthday blog candy, didn't you?

Well, I really didn't. I was sick for alot of the week and just didn't feel much like being on my computer.

I am on one all day at work and when I come home, it is the last place I want to be....scary!!!

Anyways, I got together a little pack of goodies:

a set of clear stamps from Cosmo Cricket

flat back pearls in red, pink and white along with some large heart shaped pearls

a couple of small 2010 calendars

Maya Road chipboard birdies

Maya Road crocheted butterflies

a free digi from my collection at Squigglefly (your choice)

The winner of my TPE birthday blog candy is....

drum roll please.....

Jacki Randolph

Jacki, please contact me with your mailing details so I can get your goodies out to you!!

Thank you all for stopping by and saying such sweet things in the comments. They are truly appreciated!!

The Pink Elephant #54

2010-02-15T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday!

It's time again for a super fun challenge at The Pink Elephant!

This week, the challenge is to use RIBBON somewhere on your creation.

Our sponsor this week is CC Designs

I just adore their stamps! I can't seem to stop buying them...they call to me when I see their sweet little faces.

This little Sweet Kiki La Rue is no exception!

One of my good friends at work fell last week during a bad snow storm and broke her foot. She is coming back to work tomorrow, but only because she has promised to ask for help and not leave her office unless absolutely necessary. I wanted to put a few little things on her desk when I go in Tuesday morning. I got her some lotion and then made these two things for her:

The one with Kiki is a box I made that holds two Reese cups. And the other is a water bottle tag holding a White Tea To Go. I actually completely forgot about the actual challenge as I was making these. I knew that I needed to use the CC Designs stamp, but forgot about ribbon. Luckily, I did use ribbon around the box and made the little loops out of ribbon. I sure hope it is enough to make it 'count'!!! Normally, I go overboard with ribbon and this time...used very little. UGH

I colored my image with Copics, used Just Rite Stampers for the circle sentiments and the paper is from Target's dollar spot (I got a TON of it for a buck! lol). The flowers were made by punching 3 daisies and layering them together with a dot of glue in the center. Then, when dry, I added a pearl and fanned up the petals to make them puffy. I apologize for the photo....my camera sucks!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a creatively wonderful week!

P.S.....I didn't forget about my blog candy. Still gathering stuff and will annouce the winner on Wednesday.

Happy Valentine's Day Cutie Pie!

2010-02-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

This card uses the Cutie Pie plate from Artistic Outpost

I love the vintage Valentine feel of these images. They remind me of the Valentines I used to give out at school. We didn't do Spongebob, Hannah Montana, etc. We gave away sweet little cards with sweet little pictures on them! I miss that.....

I loosely colored the image Copics. I wanted to keep that vintage feel to it, so I tried not to overdo. I inked and stamped kraft cardstock for the base and also aged the white cardstocks with Distress Inks. To finish it off, I added some red pearls from Kaisercraft.Very simple card.

Crazy 4 Challenges #24

2010-02-13T00:01:00.002-05:00

Woohoo!! It's Saturday, I have the whole weekend off AND it is C4C day!

Who could ask for more?!?!

This month, yours truly is hosting the challenges. I thought it would be fun to do cards/projects with lots of RED since tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

Our sponsor this week is

The dt got to play with Stephanie's images. Thank you so much!
I had soooooo much fun working with them!

This one is a super simple card. I just printed the words, circle, heart and arrow on white cards. I printed a second circle and heart. Cut them out. Slathered them with Stickles and layered them over the original circle with foam tape. The edges were embossed with a Sizzix folder. Easy peasy!

This one was so fun to make. I printed the 'flat' image and then printed a second heart, circle hearts and one of the sentiment on seperate paper. I went over the red circle and the sentiment with Marvy Puffy Velvet marker and heated it. Added stickles to the hearts on the cirlce and the dots on the heart. I attached the circle and heart to the card with foam tape. The sentiment is curved using layers of foam tape and glue to hold the ends. The border is a MS punch that I bought last week. Love it!

Be sure to stop by C4C to see what the other 'Crazies' did!!

Have a great weekend and Happy Valentine's Day!!

The Greeting Farm's CHA Relay day #4...a little late.....

2010-02-10T15:58:00.000-05:00

Just was doing some post scheduling and realized that I never posted my final card for the CHA relay that The Greeting Farm hosted. OOPS!!! I guess it isn't a huge deal since the relay was cut short. But, I DID complete something and I needed to recognize that. lol

Here is the ATC I made using the image we received for the relay:

Isn't this Prince Ian the cutest?!?! I just love him!! I was instantly drawn to my old DCWV Once Upon a Time stack. I also had a set of chipboard embellishments to match the stack that I completely forgot about! I have too much stuff!! The Prince Charming tile was a perfect fit. I colored the clear Dew Drops with Copics to bring a bit more of the blue into the ATC.

I still really stink at hair. I am never going to get the blending right, I don't think! Maybe I should just quit coloring their hair? lol

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to The Greeting Farm for the adorable digis!

Happy Birthday TPE!!!!!

2010-02-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

Welcome to The Pink Elephant's first birthday blog hop!!

One year ago, Lori and I had the idea to start a fun, no pressure challenge blog. One that would bring fun, easy to follow challenges in a friendly, family atmosphere. We all held our breath with the first challenge. Hoping, praying....scared to death that nobody would play along with us. Imagine our surprise as week after week, more and more people came and played in our challenges. You all made it so worthwhile. Seeing your amazing interpretations of our challenges each week fills all of our creative hearts with joy! So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making TPE what it is today!! We owe it all to you.

The dt is like one big happy family. We have sadly had to say goodbye to a few of the designers over the past year, but we have made such wonderful lasting friendships with everyone. We truly have a happy atmosphere behind the scenes as well and that's what makes us all work so well together. I personally want to thank all of the TPE designers for being such a wonderful group of girls!!! You make such awesome creations week after week and I thank you for being so inspiring to the participants!

A few weeks, ago, I made a very difficult decision to step down as co-owner of the blog. Not because there were any issues. Absolutely not. I just don't have the time to dedicate to the blog like an owner should. I went back to work last spring for the first time in 12 years. I have never had an outside job and juggled a family at the same time. I stopped working when my oldest was young (and I was much younger too! lol) and was always super mom. Now, I just don't have the extra time. I won't let my daughters suffer because I had to return to work. I want to make sure that they get the same mom they have always had. So, some things had to give. I am going to remain on the design team, though. You all can't get rid of me that easy!

Okay, enough of my rambling. You all came here for a blog hop, right???

If you didn't arrive here from Betty's blog, head back to TPE and start from the beginning.

After you are done here, hop over to Kellie's blog to see one of our newest designer's creation!

I am not going to share a recreation of my favorite challenge....remember that time thing? lol Well, things have been worse than usual here, so I asked if I could share my all time favorite TPE challenge card:

This was for our 5th challenge. It was brown, pink and green. LOVE that color combo. This elephant still makes me smile everytime I look at it. I spent many an hour searching for this die because I fell in love with this elephant the second I saw it. It is a Sizzix die.

While browsing through my challenges, I decided that I wanted to make a small collage of my 9 runner up choices. It showcases some of my favs and some of the sponsors from the past year:

If you have any questions about products used on any of these, please don't hesitate to ask away!

Now, I also want to offer a blog candy of some sort. I don't honestly know what goodies I am going to send the winner, but I promise they will be something nice. I wouldn't send anything out that I wouldn't want to receive. I have boxes and boxes of things that are brand new and need new homes. If you are interested in a surprise, secret blog candy, please leave a comment on this post. I will draw a winner on Thursday evening using random.org. Make sure I have a way to contact you if your number is chosen!!! Spread the word about The Pink Elephant, the blog hop and my blog candy!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy hopping!!

Crazy 4 Challenges #23

2010-02-06T00:01:00.002-05:00

It's Saturday and that means it is time for another super fun C4C challenge!!

This month, the hostess is ME!! I hope you like the challenges that I came up with!!

This week's challenge is to make a Valentine themed card or project.

I just love Valentine's Day and wish it would come more than once a year!!

Here is my card:

I used one of my digis that is availabe at Squigglefly now. I had a request for owls and I thought this guy came out pretty cute!! Doesn't he look so faithful and loyal??

I colored him with Copics and added some accents with a white gel pen. Cut out with Nesties. I sandwiched the ribbon between the circles for something different. The punched border is MS and I added the pearls (white originally and colored with Copics to match) to each scallop. The sentiment is part of a rub on definition.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to head over to C4C to see what the other crazy gals did this week!

The Pink Elephant #52

2010-02-03T12:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday!!

This week, I am so very excited about The Pink Elephant Challenge!

The sponsor is Squigglefly and the girls are using my digis!!

The random winner of the challenge will receive two digis from my collection at Squigglefly!!

The theme this week is

All about PINK...in honor of Ella!

One year ago, we started this fun challenge blog hoping a few people would play along and look where we are now! Woah baby!!! Thank you to all of you who have participated at The Pink Elephant over the past year. We couldn't, and we wouldn't want to, do it without all of you!!!

Here are my projects for this challenge:

Super simple card. I have decided to do a week of Valentines for a suprise for my dh. This is one of the cards I am going to slip into his lunch box each day. I colored the image with Copics and added it to the card with foam tape. The band was done with a Threading Water punch and the red strip is embossed with a dot border folder...sadly it doesn't show in the picture. This the 'pinkest' card in my series this week. lol

Here is a treat that I am going to give him on the Friday before Valentine's day. I cut out the bug, sans the word border. I colored him with Copics and added Stickles to the wings and antennae. The words are glittery foam stickers that I got at Joanns for 10 cents. I embossed the base with tiny bubbles. There IS pink here, so I hope it counts. lol

Finally, this card was a pain in the booty to photograph. It just didn't want to cooperate. I think it is because I did a tiny card on a flat base and couldn't get the light to work with it. The red base is as bright as the ribbon...it just looks alot duller in the pic. I colored the image with Copics. Added it to a small embossed pink card. Added ribbons and a bow. Attached the card to a red base. The white stitching (that looked like bird prints to me) is a rub on. I stamped 'a lifetime of love' (a Studio G stamp) across the bottom. Finally, I added a tiny border of scallops under the pink card to bring more of the blue into it. Not alot of pink at all, but I think it qualifies.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to stop by TPE to see what the other girls did this week!

If you like my digis, they are available at Squigglefly now....click on the button on my sidebar to go to my page of digis.

Have a great week!!!

Crazy 4 Challenges #22

2010-01-30T00:01:00.003-05:00

Its Saturday and you all know what that means, right?

Another fun challenge at C4C

This is Lori's last week as hostess and she challenged us to use Lollipops in our designs.

She said we could use anything that had to do with lollipops, but what better time than to use her Lollipop stamps from Stamping Bella?!?!?

Here is the card I made using her super sweet stamp:

I fell in love with this sweet little girl and sentiment the second I saw them. Her little bunny slippers make me smile! This is a SUPER simple card, but I love it. I rarely do a white card and I decided it was time to do just that. I colored the image with Copics.In real life, the pinks that I used and the ribbon match perfectly....dratted overcast weather means bad photos!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to drop by C4C for some more lollipop goodness!

The Greeting Farm's CHA Relay day #3

2010-01-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I was actually following through with a challenge and just got day 3 done and uploaded. I went to the TGF blog to add my link and see that they have cancelled the relay. They had HUNDREDS of players each day which caused the gallery to crash multiple times. On top of that, people weren't posting their links in the proper blog post and were then sending complaints to the girls who volunteered to email the next digi. The poor girls were overwhelmed with emails and it just got to be too much for everyone. Makes me sad because I was actually keeping up! lol I was so excited to see what the next digi would be and I actually was standing a chance at getting the bonus digi for playing along everyday. Oh well, can't win em all, right?

Here is my card using the super sweet Toby Cub image:

Okay, so I can't win with photos. Yesterday's had too little light and today, the sun is so bright, I couldn't get a 'not washed out' picture. But, I think you get the idea!! The top banner says "I Love You", but the I was eliminated by the sun. I originally didn't have the 'beary' on there and my youngest daughter said I should put it on there since he IS a bear. lol So, I just used some tiny alpha stamps to add it. I like it! The image is colored with Copics. The PP, chipboard letters (I added dots to the S and Stickles to the O) and the glittered heart brad are all scores from Target's dollar spot. Fun card to make and a super cute image!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

The Greeting Farm's CHA Relay day #2

2010-01-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

So much fun!!!

Here is my day #2 card for the relay:

I can't wait to see what the next digi will be. I LOVE this little beauty!

Her name is Charlotte. Isn't she sweet? Or, I like to think she is a little SASSY!!!

Colored with Copics and I added Spica pen to the letters, her hair band, scarf and a bit to her hair.

The pp is DCWV Pocket Full of Posies.

Sorry about the photo. I am running on borrowed time so I can play along. I leave for work in the dark and I come home from work in the dark

So, I am doing my best to get decent pics. This has a yellow cast to it since it was taken in artificial light. The card is much prettier IRL.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow to see my next entry in the relay!

The Pink Elephant #51

2010-01-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Ugh...it is Monday and the only good thing about Monday is that it is time for another

super fun challenge at TPE!!!

This week we are asking you to create something using polka dots, a bow and pink!

FUN, FUN, FUN!!

The sponsor this week is Sassy Studio Designs

They have the most adorable digis evah! I really am in love with them!

The design team got the privilege to work with a couple of them. Thank you so much SSD!

Here is the card I made for this challenge:

The image is colored with Copics and I Stickled the icing on the cupcake. The PP and the sentiment stamp are both from Target's dollar spot. I hit the motherload there for Valentine's goodies this year! lol The ribbon was a very pale purple, so I carefully colored around all of the dots with my Copics to make it match. Love those Copics!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to drop by TPE to see what the other girls created this week!

The Greeting Farm's CHA Relay day #1

2010-01-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

Oh what fun!! The Greeting Farm is hosting a super fun CHA Relay over the next 5 days!

You can read about it HERE

Basically, Marie is giving everyone a free digi today. You create a card using that digi and upload it to their Galleria. Post a link and your email address in the comment section and Mercy will email you the next day's digi. If you don't play, you don't get the next digi. Each day a new digi will be emailed if you upload a card using the previous digi by 6:00 PM CST.

I decided I need to make time for playing more often, so what better way to do that?!?!

Here is my first entry in the CHA relay:

It is a VERY simple card, but I have to be realistic and try to keep them simple since I do have to go to work everyday. I colored Mer Ian with Copics and added glitter to his tail and hair with Spica pens. I love these pens...they are soooooooo cool!!

Stop by the TGF blog to get your own Mer Ian and play along!!

Have a great week everyone!!! Hopefully I will see you back here tomorrow with the next card for the relay!

Birds of a Feather

2010-01-24T00:01:00.005-05:00

Here's another card made using the new Birds of a Feather plate from Artistic Outpost

When I saw these girls, they instantly reminded me of my two daughters. Actually, how I 'wish' they would be. lol They are like night and day....definitely NOT birds of a feather...but my hope is that when they are older, they will be close as sisters should be!

Image is colored with Copics. I embossed the purple panel with the Textile folder. Did a lot of stamping using the flourish stamps from this set to create my own PP.

Don't forget:

Use coupon code Spring2010 to receive 20% off each of the two new plates from Artistic Outpost.

Coupon expires 1/26 so hurry and get yours today!

Crazy 4 Challenges #21

2010-01-23T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday everyone!!

Its time for another super fun challenge at C4C!

This week, Lori is challenging us to make a card that is mainly pink.

I used one of her Lollipop stamps to make this super sweet Valentine card:

The background was cut on my Silhouette and then I embellished it with a white gel pen. The "love" is also covered with Glossy Accents to make it pop a bit more. I colored this little sweetie with Copics. She looked like she could be holding something, so I added a chipboard heart balloon. To make the balloon: I punched a heart from a scrap of pink paper, sprayed a chipboard heart with spray adhesive and attached the punched card. Sprinkled glitter in the heart opening that was left. Trimmed excess card and put a layer of Glossy Accents over entire piece. I added a string with embroidery floss.

This card definitely fits the challenge as a VERY pink card! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to drop by C4C to see what other pink goodness the dt created!

Birds of a Feather revisited...

2010-01-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

Here is another card I made using the girls image from the Birds of a Feather

plate now available from Artistic Outpost

I stamped and embossed the image on a polished stone background. Added some white gel pen accents here and there to help brighten it up a bit. Stamped sentiment and tore it from the cardstock. Added some dots with gel pen.I embossed the main card with a Sizzix texture plate (not sure I love these as much as folders btw). Added polka dotted ribbon, bow and a punched strip across the top.

Spring is Here...

2010-01-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

oh how I wish that were true!!!

Here are two more cards made using the new Birds of a Feather plate from Artistic Outpost

This one is one of my favorites! I decided to do a very simple Cuttlebugged card (swiss dots and distressed stripes) so the nest became the focus. I colored the nest with Copics.

Another simple one. I actually started out just making an ATC. I stamped the text image with resist ink and then rubbed dye inks over it to reveal the image. Stamped and embossed the bird image in black. Added the sentiment and then decided it was too blah. So, I embossed a cream card and layered the ATC on it and was MUCH happier with it.

BTW...all of the white, cream and glossy cardstock I used is available at Artistic Outpost. I so love that Robyn is now carrying my favorite cardstocks for stamping and inking!!!

Just playing

2010-01-20T14:15:00.001-05:00

*this is my second post of the day...be sure to scroll down to see the Artistic Outpost new release info*

Man! It sure feels good to create for the sake of creating! No reason, no obligation, just pure fun!!

Today was a flurry of art activity in my studio and two of the things I made are just because!

The first one is a Valentine ATC using a Lollipop image from my friend, Lori Boyd.

Isn't this little girl adorable?? It is available at Stamping Bella along with lots of other Lollipops!!

She is colored with Copics. I layered her onto a Cuttlebugged background and then onto a red ATC sized piece of cardstock. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp I picked up last week. I added a couple of punched hearts. I finally Stickled the heck of it! lol I covered the exposed red cardstock, an edge around the sentiment and the hearts with red Stickles. The center of the one heart was covered with cotton candy Stickles. Just a fun little ATC that I will probably slip in John's lunchbox on Valentine's Day!
This ATC is also for the challenge at Cuttlebug Challenge. I love it when I make something 'just because' and it works for a challenge too. What fun!

Then, I played around with this awesome Sassy Studio Designs image:

Isn't she beautiful?!?! I think I am in love with this images! This was a very simple card because the base of it was premade (gasp!). I picked up a set of these pink scalloped cards at Target in the dollar spot. I thought they would make quick cards with some embellishing. I just added the blue cardstock to the bottom edge and then a strip across the middle. The image was colored with Copics. I used puffy velvet marker on her hat brim and ball and Glossy Accents to the mug. I layed ribbon across the top and bottom edges of the blue strip and made a half bow (I have no clue what to call it) and brad (from dollar spot also) under the image. Finally, I stamped the sentiment with charcoal ink. I wanted to put "Thinking of You" there, but I didn't have one large enough...*note to self: need larger sentiment stamps*.

It sure was fun to PLAY!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great rest of your week!!

Artistic Outpost New Releases!!!!

2010-01-19T23:01:00.005-05:00

The wait is finally over!!! Paris Exposition and Birds of a Feather are here.

Use coupon code Spring2010 at checkout to receive 20% off each of these two new collections purchased together or individually. Note - coupon expires January 26th.

Paris Exposition: Inspired by the Paris Exposition of 1889, for which the famed Eiffel Tower was built, this stamp collection features bold vintage style images including a French version of "What's up?". In French, we translated it to be "Quoi de nuef?" There are several collage elements to this collection which will provide you the flexibility to add multiple layers to your creations.

http://www.artisticoutpost.com/paex1.html

Birds of a Feather: Edwardian romanticism inspires this collection of bird images. Included is a perfect ATC background of German text. You will also love the engraving realism to the main bird images. This collection is timeless and seasonless, though we did give you a special sentiment for your springtime projects.

http://www.artisticoutpost.com/birdsoffeather1.html

Both collections are available unmounted or pre-cut and mounted on EZMount cling foam.

I worked with the Birds of a Feather plate. I just adore this plate. The bonus for me is the beautiful robin stamp. I, of course, HAD to do something using that image right away. I decided to make a post it note cover for work. I thought it would make a cute addition to my station. It was very simple to make. I just cute a strip of cardstock slightly longer than twice the length of the pad of paper, plus the thickness of the spine. I then scored the cardstock where it would bend around the post-it notes and folded it. Super siimple. I adhered the post-it notes to the back cover so it would easy to change out when I needed a new pad. I wrapped some beautiful checked ribbon around the cover. Stamped the image on Neenah paper (also available at Artistic Outpost) with Chestnut Memories ink and sponged the same ink around the edges to antique it. I stamped it one more time and cut out "ROBIN" and layered that onto the robin egg blue cardstock that I made the base out of and added it to the image. Layered the image onto brown cardstock and then onto the cover wtih foam tape. Finally, I tied a piece of ribbon in a knot, wrapped a felt brad over the knot and glued it to the cover. Very easy to make, but I love the way it turned out!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Be sure to stop by the other Design Team Members Blogs to see what they've created with these new plates

· Gerrie Johnnic

· Lisa Somerville

· Cathy Edgar

· Judy Hayes

· Lynn Stevens

· Robin Willis (you are here)

· Toni Tessler

· Robyn Phelan Sharp

The Pink Elephant #50

2010-01-18T00:01:00.002-05:00

Holy Cow! I can't believe what I just typed for a title! The FIFTIETH challenge at The Pink Elephant?!?!

That means we have been bringing you super fun challenges for almost a year! That's so cool!!

Thanks to all of those who come and play along with us each week! It truly is so fun to go and see all the entries and the talent is just amazing!

Our sponsor this week for TPE is

Stampotique

They generously graced the dt with some fun stamps!! Thank you so much!

And this week is a sketch challenge:

My interpretation of my own sketch really is bad....so proceed at your own risk:

Okay, so I started with good intentions, really I did. But, this looks nothing like the sketch. Let's pretend that I zoomed in on the center of the sketch shall we? Seriously, I started with a full oval in red. I had Versamarked an embossing folder, ran the oval through in the Textile folder and sprinkled glitter ep on it. I heated it and layered the finished oval on a black scalloped oval.....only to find that the oval was way too big to go on a landscape card...sigh. I so didn't want to redo the oval cuz I loved it and it was really the size I needed for this super cute image from Stampotique. Isn't she sassy?? I just think she is so cute!! So, I layed the oval down on the side of a portrait card and cut off the edge. I thought it looked pretty cool, but definitely not like the original sketch. If I had it to do all over again, I would have embossed the white card base to add more "oomph"....but I don't have time to do that....sigh.

It was fun to color the image and I do think that the card is way different from my usual style....hence the idea to use the word "original" (Art Declassified stamp).

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the rest of the fabulous TPE designers did this week.

Crazy 4 Challenges #20

2010-01-16T00:01:00.004-05:00

Hey all you crazy stampers! Its time for another super fun challenge at C4C!

This week, our hostess with the mostest, Lori Boyd has challenged us with a sketch:

I, of course, never seem to end up with a card that really looks like the sketch. This one comes pretty close though!! lol

I saw that The Greeting Farm was sponsoring the next two weeks and it has been ages since I have used a TGF stamp, so I just had to pull them out and use some!! In this dreary old winter weather, it was nice to create something bright and cheery and share some sunshine!!

I colored Hope and the sun with copics and added some details with a white gel pen. I used Floral Fantasy for embossing and cut my sentiment out a Spellbinders Tag Trio die. I used some felt borders for accents along with buttons.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go to C4C to see what the other crazy gals did with this sketch!

Artistic Outpost New Release Sneak Peek!!

2010-01-13T20:23:00.001-05:00

Starting January 20th, I will be sharing some projects using brand new stamps from AO! How fun!!!!

The following is a message from Robyn Sharp, owner of Artistic Outpost:

Happy New Year from Artistic Outpost!

We hope you are all enjoying a day of reflection and re-energizing at the beginning of 2010. We are thankful for a safe and happy holiday season, and we are excited about heading into our third year of bringing a brand of art rubber stamps to you, our talented and valued customers.

As the paper crafting world gears up for the annual extravaganza that is the CHA Show in January, we too will be releasing two BRAND new collections of stamps on January 20th. We will have the same exciting new release specials, and we hope that you are as excited as we are about these two new releases. The stamps are in our hot hands, and we are feverishly getting them packaged and ready to ship in the next couple of weeks. Our designers are also busy at work creating wonderfully inspiring projects to share with you. So, stay tuned, you will be the first to know when they are available for purchase.

And here they are:

Paris Exposition: Inspired by the Paris Exposition of 1889, and the unveiling of the Eiffel Tower, this collection features 12 images including French phrases and lovely collage elements, such as hot air balloons.

Birds of a Feather: Nothing says romantic and springtime, like the Edwardian inspired images in this collection. A special background stamp is included that is perfectly sized for ATCs.

Happy New Year to you and your familes.

Thank you again for making us a part of your creative trek!

-Robyn, Shelley, and Steven

The Pink Elephant #49

2010-01-11T00:01:00.001-05:00

Did ya think I disappeared off The Pink Elephant bandwagon or what?!?!

I took a very long hiatus because the holidays had me so overwhelmed, I wanted to cry. But I am back!

This week, our sponsor is Kraftin' Kimmie. She has the cutest stamps evah!

Our challenge is to create a birthday card:

Pretty simple card. I colored the image with Copics and added stickles to make it sparkly. I used some DCWV Whimsy paper....love em!! Buttons and ribbon finish it off.

Be sure to stop by TPE to see what the other girls did this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #19

2010-01-09T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday!!

It's time for another fun challenge from C4C

This week, our hostess Lori has challenged us to make a birthday card.

Psssssssst...her birthday is Tuesday, so be sure to give her some love!

Our sponsor is Innovative Stamp Creations.

I used this beautiful sunflower image from ISC and sculpted it to give it lots of dimension:

I colored the flower with Copics. I carefully cut it out, cutting the petals almost to the center. Then, I used a paintbrush handle to curl and form the petals. Finally, I filled the center with Walnut Stain Distress Stickles and sprinkled some brown flocking lightly over it. When it was almost dry, I used a stylus to press divets into the glue to give it that sunflower center appearance. It was so fun! I hope that it makes up for the fact that my card is so simple. I wanted to make a card that I could use for anyone's birthday, whether it a man or a woman, so I kept it simple.

Be sure to drop by C4C to see what the other fabulous designers did this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges....

2010-01-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, you probably all think I am crazy since our C4C challenges go live on Saturday, but let me explain...

We have had some nasty winter weather for the past week and I have satellite internet. Snow and satellites don't always play nice together. I HATE that. I have had email and could surf the net, but couldn't upload or download anything. My internet just wasn't strong enough.

One of the C4C ladies was kind enough to add my card to the challenge site, but I couldn't put it on my blog until the weather cleared a bit. Very frustrating!!

Lori is our host this month and she challenged us to create a project using polka dots. My card looks like a polka dot fairy threw up on it! rotfl!!!!!

Our sponsor is Innovative Stamp Creations and Betsy was kind enough to send us stamps to use in our creations.

The Eiffel Tower stamp comes from the ATC Elements sheet. It is a beautiful stamp with so much detail!!

I used random polka dotted papers and ribbons along with the Swiss Dots embossing folder for the background.

Be sure to drop by C4C and see what the other designers created this week!

Today, I am off of work and I am attempting to declutter my life. I have to simplify my studio so I have the ability to meet deadlines. I have had such a hard time over the past 2 months and something has to change. I haven't been able to participate in many of the challenges at TPE or C4C because I just haven't had the time and because my area lacks organization. This will be shocking to some because I am slightly OCD. lol But, this room has been horribly neglected and things just seem to pile up to the point where I simply can not work. That is all about to change. I have spent hours in here already and it looks like I have a long way to go. But, hopefully, after I am done reorganizing and decluttering, I will be able to get back to my passion for art!!!

Wish me luck!

Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week and thanks so much for stopping by!

Ho Ho Ho...Happy Christmas!

2009-12-23T06:00:00.002-05:00

I want to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

I hope that your holiday is filled with love and laughter!

Here is another card I made using the Snowy Woods plate from Artistic Outpost:

I stamped Santa and then colored with Copics. Distressed the edges and layered onto black cardstock. Wrapped 'ho ho ho' ribbon around and attached to a white card. I stamped the sentiment using my stamp position...isn't it a gorgeous font? Finally I added a bow using the same ribbon to the top corner. Very simple card, but I really wanted the beautiful Santa image to be the focus.

May your Christmas...

2009-12-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season.

I am always running around like a chicken with my head cut off this time of year...but now that I work full time, I am really behind. I have given it to the fact that I just can't do all that I normally did. I cut my baking WAY down and also can't make everyone I know a handmade card. I don't even have time this year to make handmade gifts like I normally do. Makes me sad, but I just don't have enough hours in the day.

I did get this new plate, Snowy Woods, from Artistic Outpost yesterday in the mail and just HAD to make something with it. I actually made two cards and will share the other one later.

This one isn't one of my favorite cards. It didn't turn out like I envisioned. I will try this again later when I have more time, I guess.

I stamped the snowflakes randomly on glossy cardstock (available at Artistic Outpost) with resist ink. Then I rubbed Adirondack Denim ink over the entire thing to make the snowflakes appear. Then I stamped over them with silver ink to add some dimension. Tied a bow along the one side with pretty snowflake ribbon.

Finally I stamped the sentiment with Denim ink and added it with dimensional tape. I have to say that the sentiments on this sheet are STUNNING. They stamp so crisp and clean.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and remember....only 9 more days til Christmas!! YIKES!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #45

2009-12-14T00:01:00.008-05:00

It's Monday and time for another fun challenge at The Pink Elephant!

This week, we are challenging you to make something Christmassy.

I pulled out my new CCDesigns stamps AGAIN. I just love these little kids.

I decided to make a card and another ornament for my tree.

Here's the card:

Colored with Copics and I added some glitter berries to the wreath. Pretty simple card, but it seems that the only thing I have time for anymore is simple. lol

Here's the ornament:

Again, really simple. Colored with Copics and added to a wooden domino.

I had to make one more to go with the one I made a couple of weeks ago. My tree is filled with a variety of ornaments from my childhood and things my kids make. But, I can't have just one of a certain handmade ornament, I have to have a pair. Must come from the fact that I have two girls and they always each make me one. I like things in twos! lol

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week! Be sure to drop by TPE to see what the other designers made.

Crazy 4 Challenges #15

2009-12-12T06:31:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I am running late this week!! I need more hours in a day and maybe a couple more days in a week!

This week on C4C, we are challenging you to use snowmen and snowflakes in your creations.

I used one of my images that is available at Squigglefly. I just love this little guy!

Pretty self explanatory. Colored with Copics and Stickled to death! lol

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by C4C to see what the other girls created this week.

An Award!!

2009-11-30T22:41:00.003-05:00

From a dear, sweet friend of mine Betty! Be sure to check out her blog...she has some amazing art on there!

Thank you so much for this award Betty!!

I absolutely agree on your #2 fact!

I thought I was the only one who drooled over Gordon Ramsey! lol

So here are the deets for this awesome award:

Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

Copy the logo and place in on your blog.

Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

Nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers.

Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

O.K. 7 random things about me are:

I can't go buy groceries if my kitchen isn't spotless. The thought of putting away food when there is clutter in my kitchen is frightening to me.

I am a gadget junkie. If I were rich, I would probably buy infomercial doodad that existed. But then...I wouldn't be rich anymore, would I? lol

I hate mornings.

I have mini panic attacks when anything in my house or surroundings is out of place.

My ideal day is one where I can stay in my PJs and do nothing but read.

I am so anal about my art that it can take me hours (even been known to take days) to make a card that any other person would be able to whip out in 20 minutes.. I will change it a gazillion times before I am happy.

This blog award has taught me something....I think I am probably OCD! lol

I am supposed to now nominate 7 other bloggers, but I am so exhausted and need to go to bed. I will come back and edit this post later with my choices. I just wanted to make sure that I properly thanked Betty for being so thoughtful!!

Have a great week & thanks for stopping by!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #43

2009-11-30T00:01:00.002-05:00

Happy Monday and Pink Elephant Day!!

This week, we have a super fun challenge over at The Pink Elephant!

We are challenging you to use your Favorite Coloring Medium!

Super easy, huh?!?! I love my Prisma pencils, but I chose to use Copics on all of my pieces this week. I am starting to get better with them and do really love using them.

Our sponsor this week is Christine Wooden from All That Scraps

I am so in love with the CC Designs images! They are the sweetest little things ever!

I was lucky enough to buy the whole Christmas release (dh bought it for me for my birthday!) when Christine had it available for a limited time. Don't fret though....it will be available again on Dec. 1st, I believe.

This is one of the sweet stamps from that set along with the sentiment. Sadly, the camera doesn't pick up the sparkle...but this is a really sparkly card!

I used Stickles on his antlers, sweater and the green brads. I also added dots of Stickles along his 'seat'. I cut out the circles with Nestabilities and embossed the white one with the CB Season's Greetings embossing folder. The background was embossed with the Candy Cane Stripe folder.

Next I had to use the Santa Birgitta Swiss Pixie. She is so sweet!

I colored her with Copics and then added Stickles to her wings, cuffs and bottom band of her dress. I used Marvy Velvet Puffy marker on her hat brim and ball. I embossed the background with the Candy Cane Stripe folder even though it is hard to see in the picture. The sentiment is from that Christmas set I bought from Christine.

Finally....my favorite project this week:

This ornament uses Swiss Pixie Nora. Isn't she the cuuuuuuuuuuutest???

I used Copics again and added polka dots to her boots and scarf with a white gel pen. I added Stickles to her wings and to the snowflake buttons. This is all layered onto a child's wooden domino that has been covered with Eskimo Kisses paper. I then wrapped ribbon around the edges, brought it through the button and tied it at the top for a hanger.I left Nora's scarf unattached and curled it up to add even more dimension.

Here is the ornament from another angle:

You can see the curled scarf and the ribbon that goes around the edges better in this shot.

I had so much fun with this week's challenge. A HUGE thank you goes out to Christine for sponsoring us this week. Please do stop by All That Scraps and check out all of the fabulous stamps that she has to offer. You won't be disappointed! Also don't forget to stop by TPE and see what all the other designers did this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #13

2009-11-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

Did you all make it through Thanksgiving and Black Friday????

I hope your turkey was yummy and the sales were plentiful!!

Today is Saturday and that means it is time for another fun challenge at

Crazy 4 Challenges!!

This week our hostess, Frances, challenged us to use punches in our artwork. Well....I did, but not like I wanted to. Do you ever have a plan that totally blows up in your face?? Well, my plan backfired big time. lol

I colored this adorable girl from Kraftin Kimmie with Copics and a great plan in my head. Since she had paint splattered on her, I was going to pull out my very dusty splatter punch. I haven't used it in YEARS and it was going to be so happy to feel loved again. This is where my plan went bad. I can't find that darn punch!! I know I had it, but apparently it ran away because it felt so neglected. But, I couldn't come up with a different plan. I so wanted to see this card in my head come to life. So, I used various flower punches and just cut little bits away to make them look like splatters of paint. It kinda goes with the challenge, right? I DID use punches, they just don't look like the original punchies anymore. lol I had very little extra time last week, so I had to make this work. After placing the splatters down on the card, I went over each one with Matte Accents. I also went over the various spots of paint on the girl with it.I stamped the word, colored the T with Copics and then went over each letter with Matte Accents as well. It is a pretty simple looking card, but I really love it.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Be sure to check out what great punchy art the other C4C girls did this week!!! Have a great weekend!

Be Merry

2009-11-25T14:48:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I thought I would share a quick little ornament I made using the Polaroid Cutie stamp from Artistic Outpost.

I don't own any of AO's gorgeous Christmas stamps (note to self...buy them!), but I thought that I could Christmas this little sweetie up!!

I stamped the image on a child's wooden domino. I picked up a TON of these last year in the Target dollar spot. I love them for ornaments!! So lightweight and easy to work with. I colored her with Copics. It was a little trickier to color on this type of surface, but I think it worked out okay. I added the whites of her eyes and polka dots to her dress with white gel pen. I used gold peel off borders along the top and bottom. I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts) with Versamark and embossed in white. I attached the lights ribbon trim to the back of the domino and glued rattail cording around the edge, stringing both ends through a gold bed and tying it off with a knot for hanging. I then covered the back with a piece of sturdy cardstock to finish it off. Finally, I added a snowflake to the bottom corner. I thought it came out cute and Christmassy looking!!

Also, I wanted to be sure to let you know all know that there is a sale at Artistic Outpost!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20% off all stamps thru November 30th!!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! We hope you are fortunate enough to be with friends and family this Thanksgiving. We will be enjoying the traditional green bean casserole, corn bread dressing (that's what we eat in the South), pecan pie....and lots of shopping!!

We hope Artistic Outpost becomes one of your stops this weekend.

20% off all rubber stamp collections, mounted, and unmounted, as well as individuals.

Just use the coupon code holiday2009 when you check out. Remember, free shipping on orders over $50 in the US and $150 for international. Our free shipping "kicks" in prior to calculating discounts, so you could end up with free shipping and only spend $40!!! Awesome, huh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. I will be shopping first thing in the morning and then coming home to cook. Friday...black friday shopping is not in the cards for me :( I have to work. But, I may sneak in a quick trip to Walmart before work!! lol

The Pink Elephant Challenge #42

2009-11-23T00:01:00.003-05:00

The only good thing about Mondays is that it is the day we have a new challenge at The Pink Elephant!

This week, we have a recipe challenge:

Something Plaid, NO ribbon and any number of brads

This week, our sponsor is Wildflower Kids. They have the cutest stamps!

I used Lily Elf for my card.

First off...no laughter allowed. I just got a sewing machine and I so cannot sew!! lol I had an awful lot of fun, but my stitching is VERY random. Since I am so bad at it, I just covered the card with stitching and random strips of cardstock to make a crazy quilt look!! lol I thought that pink checked sections of the pp could pass for plaid (I know it is actually gingham, but I am calling it plaid!). I used no ribbon....that was TOUGH for me. And the snowflake on top of the punched snowflake is a brad covered with chunky glitter. I chose to just use one... Lily is colored with Copics and I added Marvy Puffy paint pen to the furry parts of her outfit. I finished her off with white gel pen accents. The paper is K&Co Brenda Walton paper that i recently got. I love it!

That was actually the second card I made for this challenge. My life is hectic right now and I am having a really hard time keeping all of my challenges straight. I thought WildFlower Kids was sponsoring next week's challenge, so I made my first card with one of my digi images that is available from Squigglefly....

I colored my turkey with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. I printed two and cut the body from one and layered it with foam tape to make my turkey have more dimension. I added brads to the asterisks that seperate the words and then one to the hole in the acrylic word. The background paper on this is plaid, so I covered all the bases...NO ribbon too! lol The paper is from last year's fall matstack from DCWV.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE to see what the other designers created this week!

More of my digis coming to life....

2009-11-22T17:02:00.000-05:00

I really hope I am not boring you all to tears with all the cards using my digis from Squigglefly!

I am just having so much fun creating with them. I just spent so much time drawing them and making them to come to life is just a blast!! lol

I just did a couple of quick cards today. I hope I am showing you the versatility of the images.

This little reindeer makes me smile everytime I look at him for some reason. I colored him with Copics and added Glossy Accents to the ornament, lights, his nose and his eyes. I added details to the trees on the background paper with a glue pen and sprinkled with glitter. I tried something I got last year when my scrapbook store went out of business. They are by Around the Block and are glue designs. They are in sheets like rubons but are sticky and you can add glitter, flock, etc to them. They aren't the greatest product because the glue seems to want to stay stuck to the release paper and it doesn't give you the crispest design. I remember trying them as soon as I got them last year and hated them. I gave them another chance today. The string of lights came out 'okay' I guess. I just added a white fine glitter to add a bit of sparkle.

This one is so simple!! I just colored the image with Copics and then used red and white puffy pens to do the stocking. I LOVE fluffy, soft stockings!! I added Stickles to the patches and the snowflakes on the sentiment. Used the new Season's Greetings embossing folder (love it!) and just added the image as an accent. Quick and easy card!!

I also took some time today to draw a few more digis. Any requests for the themes?? I am always listening and would love to know what YOU want!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a creatively wonderful week!!!

It's release day!!!!

2009-11-21T19:16:00.000-05:00

I have 13 new images released today on Squigglefly!

There are shoes and a princess along with tons of holiday and winter themed images.

Here are a couple of quick cards I made today using my images:

This was just a super fast one. I know that the little elf is a boy, but I am loving pink and green right now....so he is on pink. I like a man in pink....lol Colored with Prismas and OMS. Paper is DCWV.

No laughing at the sewing skills (or lack of them!). I am just learning and have never sewed a day in my life. I do think I am getting "little" better though! Colored with Prismas and OMS. I added Matte Accents to the clock face and Santa's boots. Stickles galore....garland, stockings, trees!!! Paper is DCWV again.

It is DIGIDAY at SNR cardiverse and Squigglefly is the host of this week!!! If you want to come hang out with the Squigglefly fans head over HERE at 8 PM est. That is about 45 minutes from now. I will be there and would love to see you there too!!!!

I have another card almost done and will hopefully share it with you all tomorrow.

Today, we went and saw Planet 51 with Shanyn. Was a cute movie, but not nearly as funny as the previews make it out to be. Shelby was in the next room watching New Moon. I could cry! I wanted to go see New Moon, not Planet 51 darn it!! But, Shelby went with friends (she said I could go in with her, but I didn't want to cramp her style lol) and Shanyn didn't want to see New Moon. I guess I will just have to go on a day off by myself and watch it, right?!?!?!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Crazy 4 Challenges #12

2009-11-21T00:01:00.003-05:00

Woohoo!! Saturday is here and that means another fun challenge at Crazy4Challenges!

This week, our hostess with the mostest, Frances, has given us a sketch challenge.

I just LOVE sketches!!

Our sponsor for the month of November is Kraftin Kimmie!

I used the adorable Bernadette image from her line. Isn't she the sweetest?!?!

I colored her with Copics and added Marvy Puffy paint pen to her muff and tuft of hair. After they dried, I added Stickles to the muff just to make it more interesting. I added some gel pen accents and cut her out. I just LOVE her! I used Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper. The sentiment is a preinked stamp from JustRite Stampers and it is stamped on a labels trio Nestability. I stamped snowflakes with Versamark on the mauve background. Punched snowflakes with button centers finish off the card.

I am also entering this in the Kraftin Kimmie challenge this week. The theme is Christmas/Winter, so I think this little sweetie qualifies!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend! Be sure to drop by C4C to see what the other fabulous girls did this week!

New Releases coming soon!!

2009-11-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

I'm excited to announce that I will have a new release of digis available at Squigglefly

on November 21st!! I created lots of holiday/winter and a few girly ones. I also had a request for some square sentiments and images, so there are a couple of those too!

Here is a peek at a couple of the digis that will be available for sale this Saturday:

This sweet snowman was printed twice. I colored the snowman with Copics and did his earmuff and dots on the scarf with a Marvy Puffy paint pen. Added Stickles to the edges of his face to give him that shimmery snow look. I cut out the uncolored one with my nesties, cut the snowman out and attached him the circle with foam tape. This was a quick way to get a perfect circle, but keep the scarf intact. The sentiment is pre-inked stamps from JustRite Stampers. I added glitter glue to the snowflake border. The pp is from K&Co and I used a Martha Stewart Border punch.

Here is one of the square images I have coming out. I just love this little girl bearing a gift!! In real life, the card is so much cuter. The colors of the pp (K&CO) don't show well in this photo. The Copic colors I used really are all in the paper. I used those wonderful Marvy Puffy paint pens on the brim and ball on her hat. Stickles on the dots on her hat and glove, the present and the snowflakes in the corners. The border punch is from Fiskars.

I hope you like this sneak peek and will drop in at Squigglefly on the 21st to see what other digis are available!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #41

2009-11-16T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hey Pink Elephant fans! It's Monday and you all know what that means!

Another super fun challenge!

This week is a sketch challenge by our own Lori Boyd!!

Here is my interpretation:

I started with a round card like the sketch, but it drifted! lol You can still see the sketch though. I didn't like my little round card because it felt too heavy. I shouldn't have used such a large image...totally my fault. But, by adding it to a regular shaped card, I felt it balanced a whole lot more. I like having the white background and I felt that it still kept the integrity of the sketch.

I colored this sweet CCDesigns iimage with Copics and added white gel pen polka dots and accents. It is hard to see in the photo (bad light and had to take a straight on shot), but her bangs are popped up. I just stamped them a second time and cut them out and used foam tape to attach them. I used the Autumn Type embossing folder for the circle and the white background. I stamped the words using two different alpha stamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Be sure to stop by TPE to see what the other designers created this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #11

2009-11-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

It's Saturday....Crazy4Challenges day!!

This week, we are challenging you to use acetate on your card. You can use it as the base of your card, part of your card of as an embellishment. What fun!! I don't have any card quality acetate (note to self: get some!), so I had to get creative!!!!

I had some Zsiage acetate letters and one sheet of printer transparency. I colored the letters with a sharpie marker (didn't have the right color in Copics) and then used Stickles over that. The "N" was the perfect seat for my sweet little CC Designs Christmas image. I LOVE these little kids!

I punched out snowflakes from transparency and patterned paper. Glued them together, offsetting the transparency and added glitter glue to the transparency snowflakes. Finally, I added pearls colored with Copics to the centers of each. When dry, I bent the transparency snowflake spokes up to add dimension. My image is colored with Prismas and Gamsol and the paper is yummy Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. I added Marvy Puffy Marker to the hat brim and ball for some dimension. It is hard to see in the photo, but the green layer is embossed with Quickutz snowflakes embossing folder. Here is sideview picture that shows the transparency snowflakes a bit better:

You can also see the embossed a bit from this angle.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by C4C to see what my fellow design teammates made this week!!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #39

2009-11-02T00:01:00.002-05:00

It's Monday, which means another fun challenge from The Pink Elephant!

This week we are having a color challenge!

Use brown, yellow, neutral and a color of your choice. What fun! These colors definitely aren't in my comfort zone color wheel!!! lol

This is what I came up with:

This card was super fun to make. I colored one of my newly released digis with Copics. Then, I used a Marvy Puffy marker to color the marshmallows and then heated it to puff it. It is hard to see in the picture, but irl, it is super cute!!

I also hope that this yellow counts. It is yellow-like, right? I went through my patterned papers and couldn't find any that had brown, yellow and just one other color...so I figured this tan-yellow tone would be okay!

Obviously my 'other' color is pink.

Other big news...we have another new dt member at TPE! My bud, Vicki Garrett, is now on our team! You will love her work....she rocks!!!! So, please stop by TPE, check out the other designers' samples, join in on the challenge and don't forget to welcome Vicki to the crew. Also, welcome Hannah and Betty who joined the crew 2 weeks ago!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful week!

Squigglefly debut....

2009-11-01T18:01:00.000-05:00

The day has come. My new digis are available for sale HERE at Squigglefly!

I am still in shock that I am finally selling something I have created. Everything has happened so fast. I had a few days to create some images to sell and didn't even have time to make samples to show! So, I spent the afternoon making a few things to spark your creativity and maybe make you want these digis to use in your own creations!!

First, I used the snowman digi:

I colored him with Copics, cut out with Nestabilities and layered it on card with foam tape. The background is Cuttlebugged and inked with white ink. Pretty simple card.

Then, I used the Indian girl Thanksgiving image:

She is colored with Prismacolor pencils/Gamsol. I wanted to show that even though these images are round, you don't have to cut them in circle shapes. I think she looks very cute on a rectangle with the corners punched. I embossed the orange panel and white strip. Added buttons from Rusty Pickle and I have a quick and easy card.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful week!

PS...stop by tomorrow to see my TPE challenge card, it uses another one of my newly released digis!

Halloween Pics

2009-11-01T17:49:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my girls all dressed up last night.

Shanyn is such a goofy girl. She found a nose that squeaked at the Halloween store and just HAD to be a clown this year. Funny part of the evening:

(driving in the car, halfway through the evening)

Me: Shanyn, what shoes did you wear tonight?

Shanyn: My clown shoes, what else?

Me: Those are shoe covers honey. What are you wearing under them?

Shanyn: um.....nothing, I thought they were regular shoes. No wonder it is so hard to walk!

I love her guts!

Here's a closeup that is quite boring. We had face paint, but it kept raining and she decided it would make a mess if she got it wet. Silly girl went to 90% of the houses forgetting to put her nose on too. It hung around her neck most of the night!

Then there is Shelby. She is entirely too cool to hang our with us on Halloween now. Makes me a bit sad....

She went to a friend's party last night and she totally made up her costume from mostly stuff on hand and bought a few accessories (eyelashes, tattoo).

She is wearing black boots too, but I didn't get a full body shot, I guess!! Oh and it is hard to see, but she DOES have shorts on under the shirt and on the pantyhose. lol They are black bicycle shorts, but they are there....she didn't go pantless as it appears. The shirt is actually a long shirt, almost like a short dress, but in this pic, you can't tell that. I didn't want you thinking I let my 13 1/2 yr old go out half naked!

Here's a shot of her face....

So, that's it for our Halloween. Nothing exciting....

But a couple of cute girls.

Crazy 4 Challenges #9

2009-10-31T00:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween!!!

It's time for another super fun challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges!

This week, our October hostess Vicki asked us to share Halloween creations of course!!

Well, I don't think it is any secret that I LOVE Halloween so I jump at any excuse to make something in that theme!

I decided to use this super cute Pink Cat Studios image. I think the frogs hanging on for dear life is hilarious!

I colored the image with Prismas and added highlights and polka dots with a fine paint pen. It is a pretty straightforward card. I obviously went with a polka dot theme throughout. lol

I made the sentiment using Teen font. Pink Cat Studios has tons of free digi sentiments to go with their digi images, but sadly, there were no Halloween ones.

Be sure to stop by C4C to see what the other super talented designers did this week. You won't be disappointed!!

Hope you all have a FABULOUSLY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!

Lots of News!!!

2009-10-30T21:46:00.000-04:00

First off, I must let you all know that my dear friend, Lori Boyd, has some INCREDIBLE new stamps out. I have been begging for ages to try to get some of her adorable drawings made into stamps. Actually, I think I asked her in one of our first email conversations! I fell in love with her sweet people and FINALLY it is a reality! Today, they were released. I spent all morning checking to see if they were out yet, then got too busy at work to check...but when I came home.....YAY!! They were available for me to start shopping. I am so excited for her. If you want to check our her SUPER sweet Lollipops----> click here

Now for my big news!!

A few weeks ago, I decided to share some Halloween digis for all of you. I thought maybe a few people would like them and maybe use them in their creations. I have been truly overwhelmed by the response they have gotten. I never imagined so many people leaving wonderful comments, following my blog and sharing creations using them. I thought they were cute, but never imagined they would be so well received. I had decided that I would maybe make some more in the future. Then, about a week ago, I was contacted by a lady asking me to contact her daughter who owned Squigglefly

I was so busy, I didn't have a chance to do so. Then, Ashley (the owner) contacted me a few days ago and asked if I would be interested in creating digis to sell at Squigglefly!!! I was shocked, stunned, amazed....well, you get the picture!! lol I am so honored that I was asked to do this. I first worried that I wouldn't have the time to dedicate to this. Lately, I find I have VERY little time for creating. But I asked for details and really had a good long think about it. I decided on Wednesday that I would love to give this a try and see if people would really like my drawings. I have some digis coming out on November 1st and I am very excited.

I still can't believe this is happening. I never thought that playing around on the computer for a couple of hours would end up being so rewarding!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Using my digis for what they were intended!

2009-10-26T15:38:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I finally got around to doing the project that I made my round Halloween digis for!

I came across a site where someone had made small treat holders out of cardstock that looked like coffins.

Of course, I can't find them now to give credit, but I am sure if you did a search, you would come up with instructions. I just winged mine. I think that the tut I saw had an small holder inside that held the candy bar, but I just put a glue dot on the back of each one and stuck the candy to it. lol!! I am all about easy.

I also think that they used a small velcro dot to hold theirs closed, I preferred tying it shut with a small ribbon. I thought it added more interest. To make the coffins, I just cut 8.5" x 2.75" strips of gray cardstock and used my kewl tool (a textured sponge on stick type tool) to add speckles of black ink. I scored them at 4", 4.25" and 4.5" and and folded. While flat, I cut the top corners off and then cut from the bottom fold up to the corners created on each side. I hope that makes sense. I really just eyeballed the shape and cut. Once cut, I inked the edges with black ink to add dimension. Added a Kit Kat bar to each one. Punched holes at the top and tied bows on each one to close.

I then resized my digis to 1.5" on the largest side. Notice that bat's circle is much smaller because his wings extend beyond it. I cut them out with the #2 (#1 is smallest) Petite Circle Nestie and cut out black scallops with the coordinating size of scalloped Nestie. I colored random parts of the digis with Copics and then added Stickles for interest (floor under cat, lines on bat wings, spider's eyelids, bubbles in cauldron, facial features of pumpkin, band on witch's hat).

I thought they came out quite cute and will be a nice little gift for me to hand out to my co-workers!

On a personal note: I am not sick today. It was wonderful to wake up feeling normal again. But, sadly, Shanyn is VERY sick. I stayed home with her today because I was not comfortable leaving her. She is feeling much better now though, so I think she will be well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

Have a great week!! Thanks for stopping by!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #38

2009-10-26T00:01:00.002-04:00

WooHoo!! It is Monday morning and the ONLY good thing about Mondays is another challenge at The Pink Elephant! We have another fun challenge for you this week.
It's a recipe challenge and we are asking you to use
black, hardware and distressing

So much fun!! Wish my card looked better though :(

It was a very overcast day and I ran out of time to get a decent photo. I promise I will take another one asap and put it up here and over at TPE. This picture makes this card look horrible!!

So, I will just apologize in advance. lol

**this is a better photo I took while the sun was shining...now it doesn't look like a dark and dreary card**

The bottom band of purple is run through my corrugator so it is textured. My metal hardware was some stuff I pulled out that hasn't seen the light of day in AGES. I got out a dogtag, ballchain and a clipiola. Talk about blasts from the past! I also used brads, but I use brads all the time, so I wanted to use something different...

On a personal note...

We are sick here in the Willis household. I just hope I can muster up the strength to go to work today.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE and see what the other fabulous designers did this week!

Have a creatively wonderful day!

Crazy 4 Challenges #8

2009-10-24T00:01:00.002-04:00

It's time again for another fun challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges and I LOVED this one!!

Our hostess, with the mostest, Vicki challenged us to use 3 different geometric shapes for our creation this week. I decided to go with a triangle, circle and rectangle. The circle is only half a circle, but I hope it counts! lol I had two rectangles too...the card and the image.

I made this card for my nephew who will be 2 on the the 30th. Inside, I put "YOU" cut out of the plaid paper and another little Changito monkey, but my camera battery died, so you have to take my word for it! lol

Be sure to stop by C4C and see what my fabulous fellow dt created!

Have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a little ATC I just made from some scraps that were sitting on my desk and the outer border of one of the free Halloween digis I offered last week. Scroll down if you would like to see (snag?) them!

I used images from one of my favorite Artistic Outpost plates. I just adore this little witch from Vintage Halloween! She is just so sweet and sometimes, I don't want scary Halloween cards....this is when I reach for this plate of stamps. I made the distressed/crackly background by stamping the tree from the set randomly around the witch multiple times between inkings. I thought it looked kind of cool. I then inked the edges and stamped "hello punkin" in the same ink. I loosely colored the girl with Prismas to just add a hint of color. Finally, I cut out the border from one of my digis and just added it on the corner. The bats are just confetti.

Materials: PAPER-Colormates cardstock (WorldWin Papers) STAMPS-Vintage Halloween (Artistic Outpost), Halloween Digi (Robin's Artful Musings) INK-Spiced Marmalade & Milled Lavendar Distress Inks (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko) OTHER-Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Confetti Bats

The Pink Elephant Challenge #37

2009-10-19T06:33:00.000-04:00

Yay!! I am back and able to play along with The Pink Elephant!

This week we have an awesome sketch by Lori!!

I really loved the sketch and couldn't wait to try it!

I just turned the sketch because it seemed to work better with this image from Stamping Bella.

I used a glitter matstack from DCWV. I added Stickles to her jewelry, sash, scarf and brads. I also used Glossy Accents on her purse, shoes and glasses. Image is colored with Prismas and Gamsol.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE and check out what the other fabulous designers created this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #7

2009-10-17T00:01:00.004-04:00

I'm baaaaaaack....with a brand new challenge from Crazy4Challenges.

I had to miss doing the last two because of my lack of internet, but I am happy to back among my fellow crazies. lol

This month, our hostess with the mostest is Vicki and it is a sketch challenge.
I just loooooooove sketches!!!

My interpretation is very literal this time...

see I CAN follow a sketch. lol I know it is a simple card, but I think it would be a great card to use as an invitation or any card you need to make a lot of.

I used one of my digis that I shared on Wednesday. I simply printed it on a pale lavender cardstock and colored the hat band with Copics. Super simple, but I love it!

We hope you visit us at C4C, check out the other designers' fabulous creations and maybe join in on the fun!!

Have a great weekend and be sure to stop in on Monday to see my TPE card!

Halloween Digis

2009-10-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is the last post today, I promise.

I just had to share one last thing with you before I end my day....

One day, I was playing around with PSP while I was on the phone with my friend Lori. I needed some round Halloween stamps for an upcoming project I need to do. I found some from a couple of places, but couldn't justify the cost just for one little project. So, I tried my hand at making my own. These were just going to be for me, but Lori insisted that I share them and possibly start doing some digis in the future as well.

Please keep in mind that I have never drawn on the computer and I did these with a mouse, not a tablet (mine is old and not compatible with XP). But, they are free, so you can't complain. lol!!

You should be able to click on these and get the larger file, but if you have any problems, just leave me a comment with a way to contact you and I will send them to you.

The only rules I have for using these images are:

1. please don't share with others, direct them here to get them for themselves

2. these images are 100% mine...I didn't use clipart, I drew them, so give me credit for the image if you use them in anything

3. if you do take them, please leave me a comment and let me know

4. please share anything you make with them, I would LOVE to see!

Finally...

this isn't a rule, but would be appreciated...

5. spread the word about these free digis...if I get a good response, I may be encouraged to make more for you all to use!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Come back Saturday for my Crazy4Challenges card...it may use one of these digis!

Pumpkin Carving 2009

2009-10-14T18:27:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is another thing I did during my internetless fun....

At work, we are trying to do different fundraisers to try to build up our scholarship fund. The CEO thought it would be really fun if all of us decorated a pumpkin and then have the members vote on their favorite by placing money in the dish next to it. This week is credit union week, so there are lots of other fun things going on too. But, this pumpkin thing wasn't high on my list of fun! lol

First, I will tell you that I HATE carving pumpkins. John does them with the girls while I watch. The thought of touching pumpkin guts turns my stomach. So, my sweet dh did the gutting for me and got it all prepped. lol I drew the house and just carved the doors, windows and moon. I sprayed it with glossy sealer, so it was really hard to get a good picture of it. I added a foam ghost to the door, bats flying on wires and a witch flying past the moon in the distance. I glued the pumpkin to a piece of cardboard and then glued spanish moss down. Added some homemade and premade gravestones and a stone walkway. I thought it came out really cute!

Here it is lit up. It is a TERRIBLE picture, but you can see the witch better and see that it does look nice all lit up.

There are 12 really amazing pumpkins at work for members to vote on. I was amazed at the creativity and I think we will raise tons of money this week!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Sarah Kay

2009-10-14T18:19:00.000-04:00

Miss me?!?! Well, I wasn't goine because I wanted to be. I had the lovely honor of being internetless for almost 2 weeks. Hughesnet just decided I didn't deserve to get my emails and shortly after, decided that I didn't need internet either. I was sooooooo lost and frustrated!

I couldn't participate in challenges and I couldn't do dt work because I had no way of uploading it. I did make a couple of fun cards though. I am so in love with Sarah Kay images, but don't really have the extra money to be buying any right now. Then, my SIL mentioned that she loved Sarah Kay and wondered if I ever used those images to make cards. I decided I had to use one to make a birthday card for her. I went searching for Sarah Kay stamps and was thrilled to discover a site that has 11 coloring pages that you can print! I just resized the image and used it on a card. If you do a search, I am sure you will be able to find these images yourself.

So, first, is my SIL Natalie's bday card. She received it today so I am safe to share it now.

I scanned this one because it was overcast here and I had to get it into the mail for her. I colored her with Prismacolor Pencils and gamsol. I added some glitter to the flowers and to Raggedy Ann's apron.

The next one was just a fun card because I was having a blast coloring these images!

I punched flowers and placed them along the vines on the fence for some dimension. I thought this was such a sweet image and it looks like the girl is thinking about someone special, so I added the sentiment. Again colored with Prismas and Gamsol.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have a couple more posts to share with you, so stay tuned!

Happy 2nd Birthday Artistic Outpost!

2009-10-01T01:00:00.005-04:00

WooHoo!! My beloved Artistic Outpost is celebrating their 2nd birthday this month!

In celebration of this happy event, they are issuing a super fun challenge for everyone. To enter, you simply need to use Artistic Outpost stamps to make a birthday or fall themed card following this sketch:

You have until October 23rd to create something and add a link to the Artistic Outpost Blog

to be eligible for the prize. The winner will be randomly drawn from all participants and be announced on the AO blog on October 31st. What is the prize, you ask? It is a $25 gift certificate to Artistic Outpost!!! How cool is that?!? Remember, you MUST use Artistic Outpost stamps ONLY to be eligible.

*note-AO designers are not eligible for the prize*

The Pink Elephant Challenge #34

2009-09-28T00:01:00.002-04:00

Its time again for another fun challenge at The Pink Elephant!

This week, we are asking you to create a project using something with dots, punches and a tag.

Our sponsor this week is Your Next Stamp. They generously gave each of the dt members a stamp set to play with. These stamps are a very nice quality and come pre-trimmed and ready to stamp with. I really liked how crisp the stamped image was! I just LOVE the Shopper Fhiona set. Can she be ANY cuter?? When I saw this, I just had to use some pp that I have been hoarding for a few months now. It has adorable little shopping bags all over it.

At first, I was trying to decide how on earth I was going to add dots to this. But, then I realized that I had A LOT of dots! The Swiss Dots folder, dots in the scallops, the ribbon, her headband and the background stamp on the sentiment. So, I am good, I think. lol The punch I used was Treading Water border punch and the tag is a Spellbinders die that I added a brad and ribbon to and made it tag-like (hope that counts!). Image is colored with Prismas and Gamsol.I added Stickles to her shopping bag, purse and headband dots.

Materials: PAPER-Colormates (WorldWin Papers), shopping bag pp STAMPS-Shopper Fhiona (Your Next Stamp) INK-Versafine Onyx Black, Versamagic Purple (Tsukineko) OTHER-Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Nestabilities-circle, scalloped circle, labels trio (Spellbinders), Stickles, Swiss Dots embossing folder, Threading Water border punch (Fiskars), ribbon, brad

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other fabulous designers did over at TPE!

A special thanks to Your Next Stamp for their generosity!!

Homecoming 2009

2009-09-27T13:39:00.002-04:00

Shelby went to the big game on Friday (our team won! YAY) and then the homecoming dance on Saturday. I can't believe my little girl is slowly becoming a woman!! She looked so pretty when she got all ready for the dance last night. Here is a picture of her and her 'date', Mitch.

They really weren't into me taking a ton of pictures...but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do, right? lol

Shelby's dress was a little 'wild' for me, but she loved it and their homecoming WAS a jungle theme, so I guess it fit well! lol They were absolutely adorable trying to give each other their flowers! They didn't have a clue what to do. Finally, John put Mitch's rose on him and Shelby just grabbed her corsage and slipped it on her wrist. The corsage he got for her was soooooo pretty.

It is just so hard for me to believe that this beauty was once a 4 1/2 pound baby!!! Sigh....

Crazy 4 Challenges #4

2009-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

We are on week 4 at Crazy4Challenges and we are all having a blast!

Thank you so much to all of our participants. We are so happy to see that you are enjoying the challenges!
This week, we have another awesome sketch from Cindy Haffner. She can create a sketch like no other!!My card doesn't look nearly as nice in the picture as it does in real life. I hate not being able to capture the glitter on camera!! This card uses one of my favorite techs with embossing folders. I absolutely LOVE to ink the side of the folder that does the background or indented part for the embossing (does that make any sense??) with Versamark and emboss with glitter ep. When done, you have the background all sparkly and the raised areas are plain and it looks so cool. It can be elegant or whimsical depending on how you use it. For this card, I embossed both the white and black panels with the Textile folder and glitter embossing powder...it looks so elegant irl. Sadly, in the picture, it looks quite blah :( I also love the look of a black and white card. It sometimes, we just don't need alot of color! lol
Materials: PAPER-Colormates (WorldWin Papers), STAMPS-Heidi Grace (Fiskars), INK-Versamark (Tsukineko), OTHER-Textile embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Glitter embossing powder, Black detail embossing powder, White satin ribbon
Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other C4C designers did with Cindy's sketch this week!!

Playing today

2009-09-23T14:15:00.003-04:00

and I needed to make a couple of cards. One is for an upcoming challenge, so you won't be able to see that one until Saturday. But, the other one is for my nephew whose birthday is this Saturday. I have such a hard time coming up with ideas for teen boys' cards!! Why are they so difficult?

I am absolutely NOT going to claim that this was my original idea. I wish I could tell you whose idea it was though! I saw it on someone's blog a few weeks ago and stored it in my mind as a great idea for my nephew's card. I honestly would have never thought of using the tiny bubbles (I don't know if that is what the OP used or not...but it looked like it would work for a football!) for the texture of a football and adding the laces. It looked so cool and I just had to do it for this card. It is a VERY simple card since it is for a teen boy. I didn't think he would like all the fru-fru.
Materials: PAPER-Bazzill cardstock, STAMPS-Melissa Frances, INK-Memories Chestnut Brown (Stewart Superior), OTHER-Tiny Bubbles embossing folder (ProvoCraft), cream satin ribbon, awl, brass brads

Oh wait....I just remembered where I saw the idea for a football. It was on this post on the Club Anya blog. Airforcemommy created a card with the football as a background. But, I see now that she used the Swiss Dots folder which looks super cool too!! Told ya I was working from memory on the card!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a creatively wonderful rest of the week!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #33

2009-09-21T00:01:00.004-04:00

Hey Pink Elephant fans!

Did ya miss me? I took a small hiatus from the challenges (not intentionally...life just got in the way!) but I am back and ready to play along again!

This week at The Pink Elephant we have a sketch challenge for you:

And here's my interpretation:

I recently bought my first Stamping Bella stamps (I know...shocking that I didn't own any...where have I been? Living under a rock?!?! lol) and just adored this sentiment when I saw it. So, I hunted down a knitting Bella image so I could buy the sentiment. It just makes me laugh! I colored knitting Bella with Copics. I have discovered that 40+ colors is NOT enough and that is why I get frustrated. I need MORE! lol Its a pretty straightforward card that doesn't need much explanation.
Materials: STAMPS-Knitting Bella, Knit Happens sentiment (Stamping Bella), INK-Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), PAPER-Cascasta & Colormates (WorldWin Papers), Fun In The Sun glitter cardstock (DCWV) OTHER-Copic Markers, Nestabilities Labels (Spellbinders), Rain Drops (Cloud9), Red grosgrain ribbon, foam tape

Thanks so much for stopping by. Don't forget to head over to TPE and see what the other fabulous designers did with this sketch!
Have a creatively wonderful week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #3

2009-09-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

Wow!! We are all amazed by the amount of participants we are getting on Crazy4Challenges!

So happy to see that you are enjoying them and want to play along.
This week, we have another fabulous sketch from Cindy Haffner. I just love sketches and she makes really fun ones to work with!
My challenge card is quite simple this week. I wanted the focus to be on these super sweet BFFbugs from Stamping Bella. Aren't they the sweetest?? I colored them with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol and then added Stickles to their wings and hearts. Cut the two panels out with Nestabilities. I added a bow in place of the three dots on the sketch, but at least this week my card LOOKS like the sketch!! lol
Materials: STAMPS-BFFBugs (Stamping Bella) INK-Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) PAPER: Cardstock (WorldWin Papers), Fun In The Sun Glitter cardstock (DCWV) OTHER: Nestabilities-Labels One (Spellbinders), Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Yellow satin ribbon, Stickles Crystal glitter glue

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the other incredible C4C designers did with the sketch this week!

Live....

2009-09-16T17:32:00.004-04:00

It's Wednesday and that means its time to share another Artistic Outpost creation!
This is another ATC I made using stamps from The Old Grist Mill plate. These stamps are so versatile! I just simply stamped the leaf on textured cardstock with Brilliance ink (sadly, you can't see the shimmer) and then I stamped the text repeatedly at an angle across the entire panel. The green leaves were stamped and cut out. I wrinkled them up a bit and attached them to the ATC with foam tape for dimension. The 'Live' is part of one of the sentiment stamps. I just put tape on the parts I didn't want to use, inked, removed tape and stamped using my stamp positioner. Super simple, but I thought it came out really nice.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Robin-ology

2009-09-12T14:57:00.003-04:00

***second post for today...scroll down to see my C4C challenge***

I Saw this on Tina's blog and decided to play along!

***********FOODOLOGY***************

What is your salad dressing of choice?
French

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Don't really have a favorite....maybe Alfie's since I LOVE their chicken parmesan!

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
I don't think I could eat anything for 2 weeks and not get sick of it...

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
buffalo chicken and cheese...unless you mean a normal pizza and then it would just be cheese and pepperoni

What do you like to put on your toast?
butter

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many televisions are in your house?
3

What color is your cellphone?
pink...can't wait for the new contract to get a red one, I am allllllllll about red gadgets right now!

Do you have an iPod?
yep, we all have them...we love our music!

***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
nope

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
a stove that we had to buy a couple weeks ago

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No.
************BULLOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
absolutely NOT

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
never thought about it, but I do love unique names, so it wouldn't be a common one if I did

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
I think I would and I can't tolerate hot sauce, but it would only hurt for a little while, right?
**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season?
Fall & Spring.

Holiday?
Halloween

Day of the week?
Sunday (now that I am working, it is my only guaranteed day off! lol)

Month?
October
***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Missing someone?
everyday....

Mood?
happy

What are you listening to?
silence

Current worry?
am not really worried about anything at the moment...
***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning
bathroom

What’s the last movie you saw?
been a while since I watched a movie....
***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
9 I think. I LOVE flip flops!

Last time you had a run-in with the cops
never

Last person you talked to?
Shelby

Last person you hugged?
John

Do you always answer your phone?
yep

It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
I would think a family member with an emergency and it wouldn't be good news :(

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I love my brown eyes, but green would be fun sometimes

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic
never been to Sonic

Do you own a digital camera?
Yes.

Have you ever had a pet fish?
yes, many times over the years

Favorite Christmas song(s)
don't know....not really a Christmas song kind of girl

What’s on your wish list for your birthday
supper made, house clean, laundry done...

Can you do push ups?
um...nope

Can you do a split?
not anymore

Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
I guess excited....not nervous at all

Do you have any saved texts?
no, I don't text, I would rather talk

Have you ever been in a car accident?
no

Do you have an accent?
only to people who don't live in NW Pennsylvania!

What is the last movie to make you cry?
I don't know....but I cry pretty easily during movies

Plans tonight?
watching movies with John all evening

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Sure have, but have come back up to the surface with some hard work

Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
groceries, can of ice tea, gas

Have you ever been given roses?
yes, but I am with Tina and prefer wildflowers picked by the girls or John

Met someone who changed your life?
yes, quite a few different people have touched my life in a special way

How will you bring in the New Year?
probably at home with the girls and John like I always do....nothing exciting

What song represents you?
I don't know...there are soooooooooo many songs that I relate to

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
absolutely...would love to go back and do alot of things differently in my teen years. And I would give anything to go back and spend some more quality time with my mom since I lost her so early

Do you have any tattoos/piercings?
yep....one tattoo and my ears are pierced multiple times. I really regret the tattoo though! No body piercings. There is a reason they are called EARrings! lol

Does anyone love you?
YES!

Would you be a pirate?
No.

What songs do you sing in the shower?’
usually the most recent songs on the radio. I get them in my head and can't get them out! lol

Ever had someone sing to you?
Yes, my mom used to always sing me lullabies at naptime and I loved it!

Do you like to cuddle?
Yes, yes, yes.

Have you held hands with anyone today?
yep...John and I hold hands most of the time

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
my girls on their first day of school

Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
I would have to say new.

Do you like pulpy orange juice?
Yes.

What is something your friends make fun of you for?
would definitely be my height. I am the butt of all jokes for being such a shortie. But I don't mind at all. I can't get taller!!! lol

Crazy 4 Challenges #2

2009-09-12T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's time for another super fun challenge at Crazy4Challenges!
A very special thanks to those that played along with us on our very first challenge. The response was overwhelming! We are all so happy to see that you enjoy playing along with us!

This week, we are all honored to work with another of Cindy Haffner's awesome sketches.
No...really, I DID work with the sketch, it just strayed off at some point in the middle of creating!

Normally, I am such a stickler for following a sketch as closely as possible. I may turn the sketch of flip it, but my cards usually look like the sketch when done. This time, not so much! I originally was only going to change the squares to rectangles....see the 4 panels in the background? They're there...I promise! And then, I was going to make the main panel a rectangle. I did all of that, but then I didn't like the girl (who by the way is another byLoriDesigns fab drawing that will hopefully be a digi image soon!) in the center. So, I shifted her to the side, added a ribbon, sentiment and bride's flowers colored with Copics and it ended up not looking much like the sketch. I am really happy with the card...I just hate that it doesn't look much like the sketch.

Materials: STAMPS- Teen Girl digi (byLoriDesigns), sentiment (PSX) INK-Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko), Copic Markers PAPER-Colormates & Cascata (WorldWin Papers) OTHER-Bloom Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Ribbon, Bride's Flowers, Rhinestones (colored black with Copic Markers), Foam Tape

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to drop in at C4C to see what my fellow designers did with Cindy's sketch! You won't be disappointed!

Artistic Outpost - The Outpost

2009-09-09T18:47:00.003-04:00

***be sure to scroll down to the next post to see the card I made using soon to be released digi images!!***

Here's another card made using stamps from the new releases at Artistic Outpost. I am truly loving these stamps and I hope you are too!! This card was made using The Outpost stamps. They are the coolest images ever! You just have to get yourself this set!

I wanted to be sure to keep the image the focal again, so I just placed it on a Cuttlebugged white card. I think it showcases the image nicely. I painted the main image with Twinkling H2Os and left a white border around it to be like a photograph. I just love doing that with the AO images of homes and barns! I mounted it using photo corners and then added the sentiment. Very simple, but I think it is a very pretty card.
Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Introducing Little Witch

2009-09-09T15:43:00.004-04:00

I am so excited to say that my friend Lori is FINALLY seriously considering the idea of creating her own line of digi stamps. I am HUGE fan of her images. I think they are soooooo cute and I have wanted her to make them digital FOREVER!! I am hoping that this little witch image will be released so everyone can enjoy her. I am having so much fun playing around with her people and once they are available, I am sure you will too!!

The background is fabric that I adhered to chipboard to create a Halloween background. The little witch is colored with Copics. I am starting to like these a little better each time I use them! I added Stickles to her hat, belt, shoes and broom. The sentiment is done with JustRite Stamps and I added Stickles to the border. This was fun to make...thanks to Lori drawing such super cute images!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! Be sure to head over to Lori's blog and snag a super cute freebie that she has available for a limited time....

AO Release day ???

2009-09-06T16:18:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I totally dropped the ball on sharing a sample for the new Artistic Outpost plate release. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to get to everything I need to. I had a CRAZY end of the week at work and then didn't want to even look at a computer when I came home. Then, yesterday, we went to the coolest Native American festival evah! We had so much fun and it was nice to have a family day learning about nature, wildlife and tradition.

Okay enough excuses...I need to show you some samples that I made using the new plates. I just LOVE these stamps!!! I am going to share another sample (actually two today) made using the Old Grist Mill plate. This plate is so gorgeous!! Here are a couple of ATCs I made using the smaller stamps from the plate:

This first one is super simple. Just stamped the leaf in 3 colors of Adirondack ink, inked the edges and then put the sentiment on a Spellbinders label. I pulled out my neglected (outdated??I think not!) fibers to add a warm, fall feel to the ATC.

I think this flower is super pretty and I wanted to make an ATC with brighter colors to show that, although the stamps all have a vintage feel, they CAN be used in brighter art. I did the background with 3 shades of purple Ranger inks for a monochromatic feel. I wrapped the green ribbon around the ATC (I love green and purple together!) and finished off the back by mounting onto another ATC sized piece of cardstock. Then, I stamped the flower again twice, cut out and curled the petals. I mounted them together, offset of each other on foam tape to add dimension over the ribbon. Again, a super simple project, but I thought it came out very pretty!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Crazy 4 Challenges!!!

2009-09-05T07:34:00.002-04:00

Silly me...I got up this morning and saw that my post didn't post...I had it set to go TONIGHT at midnight. Sorry for the delay!! Here is the post in its entirety:

Hi everyone! I am so excited to announce that there is a new challenge blog! Crazy 4 Challenges is a fabulous blog filled with SUPER talent. I am so amazed that I was asked to be a part of this team...I am so not worthy!! We will have a new challenge every Saturday. This month, our challenges are hosted by Cindy Haffner and she is sharing an amazing sketch with us.

Here is my interpretation of it:
I really love these new little monster stamps I recently bought and finally got a chance to ink one up. I colored him with Copics. I cut out his head and layered it with foam tape for dimension. The pp is from the same company (Daisy Bucket) and is meant to coordinate with the monsters. I thought it would be cute to have this "mean" monster busting through the paper to frighten the recipient. lol I am so giving this to my oldest daughter when she is having a teenager day and needs to snap out of it!!

Thanks so much for stopping! Be sure to drop by C4C and see what the other fabulous designers did this week.

AO Release day 4

2009-09-02T17:32:00.004-04:00

Hi guys! I'm back with another sample using stamps from The Outpost plate from Artistic Outpost.

I am such a lover of pop art and grabbing one stamp and 4 bright colors is such a fun thing for me to do sometimes. I saw this small square stamp with the Outpost on it and just HAD to Warhol it!I stamped and embossed the image 4 times and put them all on a black square of card. This panel is popped up from the background. Pretty simple and doesn't need explanation. lol
The 'home' is done with my traditional label maker and black label tape. Just a super fun
way to use these stamps..
Thanks so much for stopping by. I will have another AO sample for you tomorrow!

Artistic Outpost Blog Hop!!

2009-09-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

I just love participating in blog hops!! And this one that is being held to celebrate the release of 3 new plates at Artistic Outpost is no exception!

This is one of my favorite samples from The Old Grist Mill plate: I painted the scene with Twinkling H2Os and added details with a white gel pen. The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory. I just love the rugged feel of this card and the image is so pretty!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Be sure to visit all of the other AO designers to see what they did with these fabulous stamps!

AO Release day 2

2009-08-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

I am back with another sample using a new plate from Artistic Outpost.
This card uses a stamp from The Outpost plate. I absolutely LOVE this plate. This image is a large version of an image on the Serenity plate and I am so happy to see it in a larger scale.
I love this sentiment from the plate and just had to create a home that was nestled right in the center of the sunshine. I used my Prismacolor pencils to create the sunset. I just colored yellow right around the house and then colored outward from that with the various oranges, finally blending it all with Gamsol. I thought it worked out pretty well. I also brushed yellow Stickles in an outward motion around the house to add some sparkle. I stamped the house again and aged it a little with Distress inks and added it with foam tape for dimension. The frame was cut with a Nestabilities and is mounted on foam tape also. Finally, I added the sentiment in a wavy banner across the top.
Thanks for stopping by!! Check back tomorrow for an Artistic Outpost blog hop!!

*Scroll down to see my Pink Elephant challenge card that was posted earlier today*

The Pink Elephant Challenge #30

2009-08-31T00:01:00.000-04:00

WOW! I can't believe that The Pink Elephant has hit challenge #30!! What started out as a fun little challenge blog certainly has come a LONG way!! I am so happy to see how many participants we get each week and that people seem to enjoy our challenges! That's what it is all about...having fun and creating!

This week, our challenge is a recipe: 2 squares, a ribbon and some BLING!
I have sadly misplace my mojo and really bombed on this challenge. It all started with a funky perfume box and it snowballed from there! lol I thought the pattern and colors of this box would be so cool on a card, so I cut two squares and a small rectangle from it. I like the colors and the patterns, but the rest of the card is leaving me a little unhappy. I don't know what it is, but I have been looking at this card for almost a week and just can't fall in love with it. I guess we all have times when we wonder what the heck we were thinking, right?!?!?! Well, this is definitely mine.
But, since I did the challenge, I am sharing it....hope you all don't mind!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what the rest of the TPE designers created this week!

New stamps from Artistic Outpost!

2009-08-30T20:20:00.006-04:00

I am so excited to finally be able to share the news!
Artistic Outpost has released 3 new stamp plates and they are gorgeous!
I am so in love with these new plates! They are gorgeous!! I got the priviledge of working with two of the new plates...Old Grist Mill and The Outpost. This notebook is made using The Old Grist Mill. I thought this stamp seemed so serene and would be perfect on a memory journal. I kept it very simple so I could make the image the focus. I covered the notebook with Ruche paper because I love the rugged texture of it against this covered bridge image. I tried to make the image appear to be a very old photograph. I don't know if I succeeded or not! I just colored it with Distress Inks and then added some details with a white pen to make the bridge pop a bit more. Like I said, simple, but I like it!

Here are the details on the new plates from Artistic Outpost:

The newest three collections from Artistic Outpost have a very natural vintage style, an ode to simpler times. We were inspired by some of our favorite quotes of Henry David Thoreau. His simple advice to "simplify, simplify" are words we should use in our daily life - the hustle and bustle of work, home, and community - as well as in our art. How often do we just need to stamp! Just the act of simply putting ink to rubber is calming and rewarding. We hope you find simple inspiration to create something that makes you happy.

And, we know you will love and want all three. So for a limited time, we are offering 20% when you purchase all three stamp collections. Simply use coupon code: September2009 at check out.

The Outpost: This collection is inspired by our Serenity signature set and continues this theme with a much larger image of our "outpost". You will love the versatility of this collection including the ATC sized farm house, and the nostalgic pocket watch.

Old Grist Mill: We live in the South where covered bridges are not quite as common as they are in other parts of the US and Europe. However, we absolutely long to be driving through the countryside in the fall, stopping at each covered bridge, and just listening to the "clippety, clap" of the tires going over each floor board. Again, we are reminded to enjoy simple beauty.

Generation Redux: These vintage images are grunged up a bit in a unique collage style. They are designed to go with not only The Outpost and Old Grist Mill, but think of using them with Home as well. We love this generation and find that this style of photo stamp is a perfect versatile style to add that "human"

element to your creations.

The Pink Elephant Challenge #29

2009-08-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hey Pink Elephant lovers!!

Its Monday and you know what that means....another super fun challenge at TPE!

This week, we have a sketch challenge:And it is sponsored by the fabulous people over at Little Paper Shop. Be sure to drop in and check out their fun selection of stamps-unmounted and digital!! The design team got the priviledge of working with LPS digi images for this challenge and I had so much fun!
I made a pretty simple card for this challenge. I turned the sketch on its side and I put a sentiment in place of the two ribbons. I colored my image with Copics (I am starting to get the hang of them finally) and iced the cupcakes with lime green Stickles. I also added Stickles (crystal) to the ruffle at the bottom of her dress. The tag and pp came from a HOTP cardmaker design pack (thanks Wendy!). I hadn't planned it and was so happy to see how perfectly the colors matched with my colored image. LOVE when that happens. lol The sentiment is stamped with a JustRite stamper and stamp positioner.

Materials: STAMPS- Jenna Baking digi (Little Paper Shop), Curlz Font & Rectiangle stamper (Just Rite Stamps) INK-Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) PAPER-Colormates (WorldWin Paper), Solar Classic White (Neenah), PP & tag (Hot off the Press) OTHER-Stickles Lime Green & Crystal (Ranger), Spots and Dots embossing folder (ProvoCraft), Ribbon (American Crafts), Foam tape

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be sure to check out what the other TPE designers created this week!!!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #28

2009-08-17T00:01:00.001-04:00

Welcome back TPE fans!!
It's time for another fun challenge!
This week, we are challenging you to make something that shows some Summer Fun!

Our summer has been so pathetic that I can't even get into the summer mood! lol But, I did pull out an OLD stamp set and come up with something that I hope you like. It certainly FEELS like summer when I look at it.

I decided to pull out my Copics again and give them another chance. They are growing on me, I'll admit that, but they still give me a headache. lol I colored the girl and then towel and then Stickled the heck out of the towel to tie it in with the glittery paper. Isn't that paper yummy? All of the patterned paper is DCWV Fun in the Sun...some glitter, some not. I just love the colors!! It is hard to see, but the dark panel behind the ribbon is actually a very glittery navy cardstock.
I cut the main image out with a Nestie, masked the stamped image and left the circle in the Nestie to sponge on the sand color. The sun was made with Nesties and a Just Rite stamp and the Curlz font.
Materials: Stamps-Summer set (ProvoCraft), Stamper, border, Curlz font (Just Rite Stampers)
Ink-Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Paper-Colormates (WorldWin Papers), Fun in the Sun PP (DCWV)
Other-Copics, Circle/Pinked Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ribbon

Be sure to stop by and see what the other TPE designers did for this challenge!! And maybe enter it yourself! We would love to see what you create. Have a creatively wonderful week!