Monday, January 30, 2017

Heart shaker and baskets

Today is a quick and easy card using the Digi Follow Your Heart, and my new little basket die. I found at the local craft store these pre-set little shaker circles and bought a few. What fun and so super easy! The designer paper is from the local store also. The kraft papers and colored I really liked so why not.  :-) 


 The inside of the shaker part has a bunch of sequins in brown, pink and hot pink colors. I thought, after the fact I should of added some sparkle in there as well but it was too late. I can always do that on the next one.  Added a few enamel dots and voila card is done. My new little basket die from ODBD came and was the perfect little gift to go with the card.  

A few ideas are running around in my head with this basket die and here is one of them. I turned it into a little treasure basket with a lid. The top is created by tracing the accent piece around the outer edge. Then I scored about an 1/8 inch above the tabbed portion and used that to adhere to the back of the basket. Wrapped the handle over the top to help glue the two pieces together. 

The inside has some dark chocolate covered almonds that I know will be gone in no time. Added matching designer paper to the lid inside to cover the seams. Voila!

Now these are some quick and easy Valentines. Hope you have a wonderful day! 


Friday, January 27, 2017

Birthday Petals

Happy Friday! You still have time to enter our Power and Spark challenge this month called Winter Blooms. We have some beautiful entries for this month that you don't want to miss either. So check it out on the PP blog
How about some peachy roses today. They are sorta peach and pink all in one I think. This is Everything's Even Rosier stamped on white cardstock. If you have the Everything's Rosy Digi that would work too. Various Copic markers were used to color the blooms and cups. 


My sentiment in the corner is from the set Party Time. Wrapped some soft pink ribbon using an old silver slider that I thought would work perfect with these roses. Scattered some pearls around and a hint or sparkle. Voila! 

Be sure to check out the Bloom Brigades creations today: 

Tosha Leyendekker



Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Ruffled Orchids


Gasp!  Ruffled Wild Orchids!! Oh my... this is the newest digi from Marcy's Instant Garden release and its a beauty isn't it. Some insight from Marcy regarding these beauties:

Known as the Queen of Orchids, Cattleyas put on quite a display with their showy ruffles and gorgeous rainbow hues. With an almost unlimited array of color combinations at your fingertips, you will have a great time being your own Orchid hybridizer, mixing and matching to your heart’s content!


So easy to color and lots of options if you google Orchids. They come in just about every color including black. Wow! Mine is more springy colored today with some designer paper for the base. My sentiment panel I flicked against the ink pad around the edge for a bit of color. A few random brads and some sparkle to finish it off. Voila

Check out the Bloomies who played along today:
  Barb Walker
  Nancy Sheads
Jessie Banks
  Christine Okken
Broni Holcombe




Monday, January 23, 2017

Vroomm.... Happy 50th Paul

Happy 50th Paul! Oh what fun this was to color using my new metallic watercolor pencils. I think I am doing okay with my other colors so why not dive into these metallic ones now. This cool ride is from Move the Soul. I stamped him on kraft colored cardstock and colored with the metallic pencils. 



My watercoloring spread a bit on the seat but I think it looks okay? The jacket is actually a dark purple, but after it dried it because a light purple. EEK! I hope he won't mind.  Some faux stitching along the blue panel and tied off a piece of ribbon on some old hardware sitting around. My designer paper is from ages ago too. See I am using it slowly.  :-)  Super fun and I know he will love it.
Have a great day! 


Friday, January 20, 2017

Sweet Pea Grateful

Did you see? The new Power Poppy Instant Garden digi was released the other day called Sweet Pea Show. Oooohhhaaahhhh... This is one of my favorites from way back and Marcy just keeps on drawing all my favorites even BETTER! Marcy has some wonderful insight and details on the Power Poppy Blog. This is one you must have in your digi collection



Now for my card....


Yes I went with a very easy peasy style card because I wanted you to really see these beautiful petals for what they are. The sentiments with this digi are super cute and I do plan to use them later. However I really needed a thank you card and she likes sweet peas and roses. Very cool we now have this new digi to say thank you with.  :-)

I truly like the delicate feel these blooms have. For my simple card I have these colored with various shades of purple Copics markers. Layered on some lavendar paper. A Spellbinders die cut edge at the bottom with matching lavendar paper for the edge. A purple button with twine to tie off my sentiment panel. A single brad and some sparkle, Voila!

Be sure to check out the Bloom Brigades creations today:
  Allison Cope
Christine Okken
  Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
  Kathy Jones
  Katie Sims
Tosha Leyendekker



Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Joyful Poinsettia

The joy of learning watercolor techniques. ha ha  Good morning. I have yet again a creation trying to figure out this water coloring using pencils. Also wanted to create another card for the Dirty Dozen January challenge, so I was able to use my new little Joy die from TE for the corner.


This card is combining two ways of water coloring. After the Poinsettia was stamped onto the cardstock I colored all of the bloom with the colored pencils. I then used the water and brush to blend all the colors. After it was dry, I saw on a few videos to use the pencils directly onto the brush and then paint it onto the flower. You can see some of the darker places that I tried this effect.

The green leaves are suppose to look like an actual flowering poinsettia. Yea I know... not so much but I tried.Here is the deal, I like how this turned out. Maybe it is the darker color with the added brush to penciled parts but over all not to bad I would say. Maybe getting better? There is sparkle on a few parts to help cover some of the messy part.  :-)  Voila. Have a fabulous day!


Monday, January 16, 2017

January Calendar


Morning. I know January has already started however, I did just get this months complete. This is a yearly calendar from TE that I am making for a friend. It will be pretty simple each month since it needs to be mailed. This month I used Jingle Bell Time stamped and colored with Copic markers. Each month will have an added scripture to the side. I am debating if I want to circle or stamp on certain dates for holidays etc. Maybe just let her do that? Anyways this is the first month. Now to get ahead and work on the others.  :-)  Have a wonderful day. 


Friday, January 13, 2017

You are so kind

Happy Friday! Today is another attempt I made with these new watercolor pencils I got as a gift. The picture is a little blurry for some reason no matter how many I took, please excuse that. This is Chickadee in Barberry printed on TE watercolor paper. I think the pencils look a little more blended on this card, how a watercolor card should look. :-)


I have two challenges for this card one is the Power and Spark challenge this month Winter Blooms. The other is the Dirty Dozen January challenge using my faux stitching. My designer paper is from ODBD Holly Jolly paper pack, with a snowfall textured green panel for the back. Added a few enamel dots and sparkle to the snow. Voila   I am enjoying these watercolored pencils I will admit. A few of you have given me some great tips and I appreciate the help. 

Be sure to check out the Bloom Brigades creations: 
  Allison Cope
  Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
  Julie Koerber




Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Watercolored pencil Hellebore


Good morning. As you know Monday was a snow day and so was Tuesday, so I was able to play around in the stamp room quite a bit. Yea! These new watercoloring pencils were calling my name. There is several videos out there to watch and learn on how these work. I think I watched about 20 videos and got a feel for the idea on how to use them. It is not as straight forward when it comes to actually using them, at least for me it wasn't. I did what they demonstrated and yet I still feel that I need a LOT more practice. 


Some of my thoughts on this watercoloring really needs to change because I like bold color. Well.... that is not the look you get with watercolor, it is more washed around look. Now I am still learning, so be gentle with helpful hints. But please do give any helpful tips you might have. 
My card today is using Hellebores printed on watercolor cardstock from TE. You can see where I had too much water around the stem of the flower in the jar.  :-(  My leaves were a brighter color than the pencil was which is another learning curve. It will show up brighter than planned. Still need to learn how to blend the color a little more. You can see under the glass where I still have pencil markers that didn't blend. Is it the paper or I didn't use enough water??? There is sparkle on the water in the jar to hide some of my mistakes also. I do like this but again, need to get used to the watercolor look and feel still. More to come with my trial and errors and these pencils. I did get these metallic ones also, but figure I better get used to these first. hee hee   Hope you have a wonderful day! 


Monday, January 9, 2017

Bundle of Joy

Happy Monday and snow day for school again. Whohoo!! The boys are making good money shoveling all the neighbors drive ways. I have to say that I shoveled our drive way twice yesterday and it will need it again today. We have freezing rain later today so I guess we will have to wait. In the meantime I will just spend sometime in the stamp room.  :-)  


How about a sweet baby card for starters? This is Bundle of Joy from Crafter's Companion that I ordered months ago and I finally inked it up. I colored using various Copic markers and then die cut using Lil inkers Stitched rectangles die. A simple panel embossed with swiss dots on top of the designer paper from my pile that needs to be used up. A few buttons with twine and some sparkle added to the blanket. Voila!
One of the Christmas gifts I received this year was some water colored pencils and water color paper. After several videos on water coloring with pencils I am going to give it a try today. Wish me luck.  :-)  Have a wonderful day. 



Friday, January 6, 2017

Winter Blooms



It is Friday and the first Power and Spark challenge of 2017. I am your host this month with Winter Blooms! Woot woot... break out the flowers girls, this month is about winter blossoms. Did you know there are lots of blooms that sprout at the end of winter? How about Crocus, Camellias, Paperwhites, Snowdrops, Holly, Poinsettias and Succulents to name a few. I would say not to stop there, how about those early spring bloomers. Check out the Power Poppy Blog as Marcy has a list of blooms you will enjoy playing with. To make it even easier she has a link in the store with all the options for Winter Blooms. Let's see how you can bring these pretty little petals to life and enjoy this last bit of winter as well. I can't wait to see what blooms you play with this month! 



Why not start the year off with some Camellias! Oh what a beautiful flower don't you think. This wonderful flower is in a stamp form called Simply Camellias and a digi format called Camillas if you need a quick print. These are stamped on white cardstock and colored with various Copic markers. I added some Y00 to the ends of the petals for a softer look and I like how it turned out. A textured flower for the green panel that I have used maybe a few times. Need to start using this stuff more I tell you. My sentiment is from Party Time stamped to the left of the flowers. A few scattered pearls and sparkle to finish it off, voila! 

Check out the Bloom Brigades first 2017 creations: 
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber 
Kathy Jones 
Katie Sims
 Tosha Leyendekker


Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Joyful 2017

 The Dirty Dozen Christmas challenge is taking on a little spin for the 2017 season and I hope you can play along with us. You can find the challenge HERE! This is a Joy Fold Card creation using one of my new stamps from Santa called Jingle Bell Time. Oh I adore these bells... I have them stamped on white cardstock and colored with various Copic markers. I added stickles and a few sequins for accents is all for this card.


 This fun paper is from ODBD Snowflake Season Collection paper pack, oh yea! Santa was super good to me this year. hee hee  I added stickles and a few sequins for accents is all for this card. The sentiment on the inside is stamped on the right so I can write what I wish on the written panel. Voila! Hope you can play along.


So let's get started on our 2017 cards, what do you say? I know some of you are laughing, but hey I am just trying to help you all out.  :-)  Have a great day! 


Sunday, January 1, 2017

Welcome 2017

Happy New Year! Hopefully you had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year's Eve. The last week has been wonderful hanging out with the boys and hubby. I didn't have much time to play in the stamp room. The plan is to get some time today to play, especially since Santa brought me some new goodies to play with this year. hee hee  


 This card was created with a different picture in mind, however I do like how it turned out. This is a retired set of numbers that I just can't part with. They are stamped on white cardstock and colored with various Copic markers.
My sentiment is punch with a standard oval shape and added to the ODBD  Lavish Layers die that was a present. A few die cut matching stars for the panel with some textured stars on the red panel. Hard to see since I didn't measure ahead of time that they weren't that visible with the black panel, oh well. Added some jewels and stickles, voila! I hope you enjoy today!