Colour Challenge Christmas

My youngest daughter was looking through my cards the other day and mentioned that she doesn't like traditional dark red and green Christmas cards. I thought that was interesting, but typical of her as a young teen. More interesting to me was her next comment that she was glad I don't make many traditional Christmas cards. I thought, that just couldn't be until she asked to look at my Splitcoast Gallery and, much to my wandering eyes did appear, Christmas cards done mostly in non-traditional colours combined with traditional image and sentiments.

I saw the colour challenge on Splitcoast this week and immediately thought, 'Christmas card'. *Note to self: my daughter's observation is right and here's another non-traditional coloured Christmas card and I may need to really work on my traditional colour scheme!!

I just got the 'Hello Winter' Collection and 6x6 pad from Echo Park. Love them both! I used the collection plaid for the background and the 6x6 snowflake print for the small panel. I hate to choose between 12x12 and 6x6 print papers, so if I really love the line, I will get both because large scale prints work as well (sometimes better) for cards as the small scale prints. 

I salvaged some sequins from a bottle that one of my foster dogs chewed almost beyond recognition. The bottle was higher up and on a shelf, and he climbed up and got it and my my bottle of black sequins too. I still can't find my white sequins, and for all I know, he's in his new foster home pooping sequins! He was moved, not because of the sequins, but because I am a medical foster home and he had recovered from his major surgery and was ready to be treated like a normal dog and go to his forever home. What a lovely and challenging adventure my foster dogs are!! But that's another story for another day!

I used this Pure Innocence digital image from Etsy. I took a quick peek and didn't find this specific image listed (PI 011), but the shop owner (the original artist) might be able to list it if it is requested...  This sentiment is a lovely image from Lily of the Valley, Christmas Circular Sentiments. I just love round sentiments, and this whole set is a favourite! After I stamped it, I obviously didn't wait long enough for it to dry before colouring it with copic markers. *ugh*

stamps; PI 011 (pure innocence), christmas circular sentiments (lily of the valley)
ink; onyx black versafine (tsukineko)
paper; hello winter (echo park), horizon, front porch, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; lg classic circles, sm classic rectangles (spellbinders), swimming pool sequins (doodlebug), copic markers

Life is Wonderful

On Splitcoast Stampers this week, the Try a Technique Challenge was to do some Dangle Doodles. I was so excited to take part in this challenge.

It was so much fun! I will be showing more of my doodles in the future. I wanted this project to be more non-seasonal than I've been doing lately so I decided to go with a botanical theme.

I used Copic Multiliner pens to draw my dangling doodles so I could color them with Copic markers without the black ink bleeding.

This sentiment is from from Words of Wisdom by Verve stamps. I doodled and hand wrote the partial frame around the bottom of the main panel, repeating words from the stamped sentiment.

I wanted to add a little special touch, so I used Clear Wink of Stella on the dangling doodle. It is lovely and so subtle. It is so hard to photograph, so you'll just have to trust me.

stamps; words of wisdom (verve)
ink; onyx black versafine (tsukineko)
paper; coconut swirl, horizon, kraft (bazzill)
accessories; E43, YG93, 99, BG72, 78, multiliner pens 0.7, 0.5, 0.2 (copic), clear wink of stella (zig)

CCEE - something down under
craft your passion - anything goes
crafty girls creations - anything goes
penny's paper crafty blog - anything goes

Love Ya!

I haven't coloured in almost a month and I was starting to suffer a little withdrawal, so I set aside the books to do something a little more creative today.

I took my main inspiration from this week's Deconstructed Sketch and the colour challenge from Splitcoast. The rest of my challenge inspiration is listed at the end of this post. There is a long list of inspiration which I'm thankful for, since my creativity needed a little jump start after being abandoned by the side of the road for the last month.

I have had this 'Love Ya' image by Mo Manning printed since last June. It has been sitting in my printed and stamped image file along with some images that were printed more than a year ago. Time sure can get away from me when I'm not looking!!! I used Stardust stickles on the background and I do love that darling, magical sparkle.

I have seen paper buttons on various cards, and it was a technique challenge on SCS awhile ago, and I'm thrilled I had a chance to give it a try today! I die cut 6 identical hearts using the Hearts Nestabilities die from Spellbinders and glued them together. I punched 2 holes with my crop-a-dile and gave it a good coating of Glossy Accents by Ranger. Note to self, grab a little patience and wait until the glossy accents is completely dry before touching;

That is such a clear fingerprint that it could be used by the police for identification purposes!!! I tied a bit of Brown Sugar Divine Twine and stuck a little floral embellishment on it.

I saw this sentiment and promptly typed it out and enlarged it for this image. It pixellated when I printed it, making it look a little fuzzy, because I am really not a digital designer. Looks pretty good in the photo though. And it is so perfect with this image.

Copics used today; W00/0/1/2, E000/01/11/43/44/71, YR000/20/21/24, R000, RV00/21/23, colorless blender

stamps; love ya (mo manning)
paper; bittersweet (basic grey), brown, canvas white, pirouette dotted swiss (bazzill), x-press it blending card stock (copic from ihp)
accessories; lg & sm classic circle, lg scallop circle, heart nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), brown sugar twine (divine twine by ihp), stardust stickles, glossy accents (ranger from ihp), floral embellishment (recollections), crop-a-dile (memory keepers)

colour challenge scs - pretty pink rose with dessert option button & heart (cc358)
technique challenge - paper buttons (tlc325)
technique challenge - twine it up (tlc360)
deconstructed sketch - #35 
pile it on - fuzzy friends
stampin for the weekend - out with the old
anything goes - anything goes
poodles parlous - valentines/love
memories of time - be mine bingo (glitter, heart, glossy accents)

Another card of many challenges...

I've been running around for 2 weeks now. It's a really long story and the bottom line is I'm going back to University to upgrade my teaching certification. I've been substitute teaching for 2 years and I need more hours so rather than waiting by the phone (figuratively speaking), I'm taking charge. I know this has all been prepared ahead for me because when I started pursuing this new direction, everything has fallen into place quite easily in a very short time and I've not had any push back from any administration I've dealt with. I'm intimidated about returning to post secondary education after 16 years, especially since I've been told I need to take graduate courses and by the time I'm done my teaching practicum, I'll be 1/4 of the way through a Master's degree. My pre-menopausal brain may just fall out my left ear!!! The final pieces on my new path will be in place in the next couple of weeks since I can't register for my classes as an Open Studies student until December 9th. Yoish!

And since all of this new stuff is running around inside my head, I couldn't fall back asleep very early this morning. Instead, I took a peek at a bunch of challenges and they all inspired this card;

It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, but it's close. I'm trying to reassure myself that the mojo has NOT left the building, but I am quite distracted right now...

Most of the supplies for this card are from i {heart} papers and there are direct links in the recipe list below. Kate has a fabulous Black Friday sale going on her website this weekend, and you would do well to take advantage of it!!

stamps; good cheer by ali edwards (technique tuesday from ihp)
paper; bonjour (kaiser kraft from ihp), walnut creme, coconut creme (bazzill)
ink; tea dye distress ink (ranger from ihp), rich cocoa memento ink (tsukineko from ihp)
accessories; sm classic circle nestabilities (spellbinders from ihp), white pleated ribbon, sage/brown ribbon (may arts from ihp), pink basic lines rhinestones (zva from ihp), dotted scallop border punch (ek success), resin rose (recollections)


scs sketch challenge - SC360 - going to call this inspired by...
scs colour challenge - CC350
scs ways to use it - WT350 - again, inspired by - I used a bow AND a straight line...
scs inspiration challenge IC312- glenna jean Riley nursery

By Lori Designs - Wagon of Gifts

Happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here and I, for one, am so thankful. Today, the By Lori Designs Challenge Team invites you to play along with Challenge 12 (BLDC12) and this colour combinations;

Isn't it a classic combination?!

My image is Wagon of Gifts by Mercy (Mercy is brilliant with the digital image editing and has merged images that Lori illustrated. Mercy is my hero!) and used this week's sketch challenge from Paper Craft Planet (sk040211) for my 5" square layout. You could win a subscription to CardMaker Magazine for playing along with the Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge this week! There are TWO ways to win –

• Way ONE: link up your take on this week’s sketch.
• Way TWO: leave a comment on our Planet Blog and let us know what technique you’d like to see demonstrated in an upcoming issue.

I coloured this darling image using copic markers which are listed below. Check out that little bit of shine on the hair bow, shoes and gift bow! Stardust Stickles are DIVINE! I never put them away because I keep them upside down ready to go on my stamping desk. {insert contented sigh}. Look more at the sparkle than the yellow background glow. I'm not so happy with they way the glow became more like a neon beacon flashing continuously all night long like a cheap hotel sign. Gee, ya think I'm not thrilled with it?!!! Oy! And I just couldn't figure out what to do to make it better short of cutting out the main image and mounting it on a new piece of paper which I really didn't have time for. However, this glow has worked on other cards I have done using this exact same yellow combination, and I really think it is the yellow pink combination which isn't working here. Shoulda gone with blue!

Here are the Copic Markers I used and where;

wagon & gift; R11, R12, R32, R35, R37, N2, N4, N6
bear; N0, N2, N4, N6, N7
shirt, shoes, hair bows; R81, R83, R85
overalls; W1, W3, W5, W7
hair; E11, E25, E27, E29
skin; E00, E01, E11
nasty glow; Y0000, Y11, Y21, Y23, Colourless blender

Now about that sentiment;

It's not a By Lori Designs sentiment and maybe I shouldn't have used it here, but it was too perfect for this image to be passed over! It's actually 2 stamps that I stamped one over the other. The lower sentence is the itty bittiest little font I think I've ever seen in an acrylic stamp (less than 1/8" high) and I gasped when I saw it. Remember I have a thing for miniature 'things' and this teeny sentiment totally fit that bill. It was a bit of a bugaboo getting it straight on the acrylic stamp block, but it was totally worth the fussing! Links for the supplies I used for this card are in the recipe listed below.

Check out the By Lori Designs challenge blog for the creations by the rest of the design team! And enjoy your weekend!

stamps; wagon of gifts by Mercy (by lori designs), simply you sentiments (technique tuesday)
paper; hazel by stella and rose (MME), elephant, canvas white (bazzill), x-press it (copic)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; sm square nestabilities (spellbinders), screw brads (karen foster), white brads (paper studio), button (basic grey), pink ribbon (SU!), mini scallop border punch (ek success), stardust stickles (ranger)


paper craft planet sk040211 - sketch
by lori designs BLDC12 - colour combination
HSS #62 - in the pink
papertake weekly - anything goes
scrap-creations - ribbon, glitter, button
craft your passion - anything goes
daisy doodle #30 - digi challenge spring
bring back beauty - spring
really reasonable ribbon - die cuts/punches & ribbon

BLD - Boys R Us!

If you are able to, we would invite you to play along with our By Lori Designs colour challenge!!! Please use code BLDC11 when you upload so we can find your creations and leave you a comment. Here is this week's colour combination;

It is challenge team A's turn at the challenge this week, so head over to the By Lori Designs challenge blog for their gorgeous creations!

Since I have this week off, I decided to use the colours from this week's Splitcoaststampers and the Mojo Monday sketch for my project.

I coloured my Boys R Us image using my favourite copic markers. Such a sweet image, I think!!! Here's the colours I used;

older boy t-shirt and pants; W00, W1, W3
skin; E00, E01, E11, E13, R02
hair and shoes; E42, E44, E47
jeans and blue shirt; B41, B45, B97
green shirt and wheels; G20, G21, G85
skateboard; R24, R29, R59
background; B0000, B000, B00, B01
ground; T1, T3, T5

stamps; boys R us & sentiment (by lori designs)
paper; skate shop (basic grey), x-press it (copic), coconut swirl, blackberry swirl, green tea (bazzill)
accessories; bracket border punch (ek success), lg deckle rectangle (spellbinders), celery twill ribbon (SU!), buttons (basic grey)

mojo monday #184
SCS colour challenge CC316 - misty celery breeze
gingerloft #14 - dies and punches
Wee Memories #49 - anything goes
Happy Monday Challenge - kids need love too!

Viva La Verve! I love a good sketch.

I'm still on a Christmas Paper kick.  I found this Viva La Verve sketch and I wanted to use it with Christmas Paper in a non Christmas way.  AND my Christmas paper is perfect for this week's Curtain Call Act 64 colour challenge.

I pulled out some older Just Rite stamps, Joyful Hearts, for this card.  Really old Just Rite stamps, but totally classic!

I edged all the papers with my silver zig painty pen to give the appearance of layers without adding layers.  Simple elegance is the word of the day today.

stamps; joyful hearts set (just rite)
paper; midnight frost (bo bunny), canvas white, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; black soot, stormy sky distress ink (ranger)
accessories; lg classic oval nestabilities (spellbinders), white satin ribbon (may arts), silver brads (memory makers), tombow marker #491, bow easy

IHP - Thank Heavens for Colour and Sketch Challenges

Well, my wrist isn't getting better yet.  It hurts and the anti inflammatory topical goop doesn't seem to be helping.  On the bright side, my family is wonderful and has been helping so much with the foster puppies so that my wrist has had a break.  Today though, everyone is back in their assigned places at work and at school and I'm fending for myself.  Good thing the puppies don't really care about how long it takes me to mop their space or that it really isn't as clean as it normally is.  They just like me picking them up, talking to them and scratching their tummies.  Not all litters like to be flipped on their backs (dominance issues), but the little guys we have now are very high on the awesome scale.

Since my wrist sucks and it takes so much longer to do puppies, I kept it simple on this card.  I used the Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 63 for my colours.  I saw them and the first thing I thought was that I really didn't think I could do a thing with them - just not my style.  Then I decided to bite the bullet and stretch my self and stop wimping out when I see a colour challenge combo I don't like.  i guess I cheated a little though because I used ink to make my white card stock not quite so white.


 I also used the sketch challenge from Paper Craft Planet this week by Jessica Fick.  It's a gooder people!  If you are able to play along, use code sk010111 so we can find it and leave a comment for you!

Finally, I saw the technique challenge on Splitcoaststampers for this week to paint with stickles.  Be still my beating heart!  Why didn't I think of that?!!!  I think it's a brilliant technique and I don't think I did it quite the way Joan intended, but the challenge inspired me to work with stickles in a way different than I have used them before.  I just didn't crack my coloured stickles for this image.  I used clear-ish stickles over copic marker colouring which dives more depth than I could have achieved with stickles alone.  The stickles adhere well to the copics because they are alcohol ink based rather than water based which would bleed into the stickles.  I used crystal stickles on the leaves and rock candy stickles on the tree trunk.

For this project, I used one of my favourite Unity stamp sets, Moments in Bloom/Naturally You available from i {heart} papers.  I have used this set in so many ways, and it's one that I find I reach for out of habit.  The ledger lines and the sentiment are from one half of the set, and the tree is from the other half.  The halves used to be sold separately, but I just can't split the set.  One part whimsy + one part artistic = absolutely divine!

The copics and where I used them;

Tree glow; B0000, B000, B00, B41
Tree trunk; E71, E74, E77, E79
Leaves; YG91, YG93, YG97

I have additional links for products used in the recipe below.  I hope the rest of your week is wonderfully creative!

stamps; moments in bloom/naturally you (unity from i heart papers)
paper; pyrus (basic grey from i heart papers), haley, maltball (bazzill)
ink; espresso adirondack, pumice stone distress ink (ranger)
accessories; crystal, rock candy stickles (ranger), always artichoke ribbon (SU!), taupe pearls (zva from i heart papers), edger punch combo rings (martha stewart)

Oh, Mercy! An Inspired Colour Throwdown!

Just laugh at me, people!  In this title are the 3 challenges I used for my card.  I started my card Friday by colouring the lamb, and didn't get the full card done until this morning.  It's been one LONG weekend.  CBC Radio came and interviewed my daughter for Rock the River Calgary Friday afternoon.  Just after they left, The Billy Graham Association came to film and interview her.  The filming is still happening as I write, because they are at our church getting shots of her at church in worship.  She is one of 3 kids that are the Rock the River Calgary poster kids.  She is very bright and very well spoken, so I've been told by all the adults involved that it has been a joy to work with her.  I blame our youth pastor for her notoriety.  She's the one he's referred agencies to when they asked for a youth perspective of the event.  It's all your fault, Robin!!!  She's loved the experience.  Both my older girls received training to be counsellors for the alter calls at Rock the River.

Then, Saturday morning, all the kids we were taking piled into my house so we could take them to the event.  We bought 12 tickets and offered up transportation so these kids could come to Rock the River and it not be a burden of any sort to the families for them to come with us.  We had 12 tickets, and there were none left over!  My 2nd DD's best friend accepted Christ as her Saviour yesterday.  I weep with joy as I write this because we have been praying for her for almost a year and we've watched God change her heart over the school year, preparing her for yesterday.  Now, we walk with her and help her grow because her family isn't supportive of her decision - yet.

The puppies had to go to the vet yesterday because they have explosive diarrhea and Bashful's eye is infected.  They are on antibiotics and we have changed their formula.  A friend came over to help me with them while the rest of my family was at Rock the River.

And here is my triple challenge creation;

I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch for this week (MTSC87) as well as the Colour Throwdown combo, AND when I saw this bedding from Pink Taffy Designs for the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers, I knew it was perfect with my lambie image.

I had some old Melissa Francis paper which has the first line from several nursery rhymes on the paper and I thought, 'how perfect!' for this nursery set.  I coloured the Dreaming of You image with copics and paper toled the image.  I do find that the Chicken Girl Design images lend themselves very well to paper tole with gorgeous results.  Here's the close up;

The rest of my product links are in my recipe, listed below.  Have a marvelous Sunday!!!

stamps; dreaming of you (chicken girl designs by i {heart} papers)
paper; Kayla (melissa francis), linen closet (DCWV), pear crush, brown, champagne, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; circle lg & sm, big scallop circle lg nestabilities (spellbinders), white crochet trim ( may arts), green ribbon (may arts), soft sky ribbon (SU!), rhinestones (Zva), lg clear dew drops (the robin's nest), diamond stickles (ranger), copic markers

Multi Challenge Waltzingmouse Card

I received my Waltzingmouse stamps around my holidays.  Claire was awesome about holding an order for me until close to my arrival home date.  I've been home for almost 3 weeks, and I finally inked them up!  Yay, me!  I combined 3 splitcoast challenges here, and I don't think it turned out badly at all!

I used the colour combination always artichoke, cherry cobbler and pretty in pink, but I forgot to use the dessert option pf using pinking scissors  My layout is sketch challenge 294 and I decided to pull out my versamark ink when I saw today's Ways To Use It challenge.  I really appreciate the challenges right now, because I'm not coming up with much if I have to think it up on my own right now, but this should go away in about a week... about the same time night feeds are done.

I used Infuse by Basic Grey, an older pattern line that I need to use up, because the colours were terrific for the colour challenge.  I think I may have too much pattern going on but it works, I hope.  I stamped the long stamp from Victorian Frippery along the lower edge of the sentiment panel with Versamark ink and I heat embossed using Zing! chocolate brown powder.  It's been ages since I used Versamark ink, and since I love the stuff and the effects I can get with it, I don't know what I was waiting for!!! 

It's a pretty basic card since I can't dedicate too much time crafting for the next week.  Thanks for popping by - you just made my day!

stamps; victorian frippery, words of wisdom (waltzingmouse stamps)
paper; infuse (basic grey), mariposa (DCWV), brown (bazzill)
ink; versamark (tsukineko)
accessories; pink scallop ribbon (making memories), riding hood red ribbon (SU!),  brown emboss powder (Zing!), brown ribbon (offray), rhinestones (heidi swapp), cross charm (blue moon beads)

Colour Throwdown Challenge

CT Throwdown is celebrating their 100th post on TODAY!!!!  Woohoo!!  Without further ado, here's today's CT Throwdown challenge colour combination;

My DH saw my card for today's challenge and said, 'Wow!  That's a little bright for you, isn't it?'   Yes siree, it is!  So, grab your sunglasses and feast your eyes on this;

I took this picture in the full on sunshine...  Jeepers!  Remind me not to do that again, and just get myself a photography light tent already!!!  My picture turned out a tad washed out.  Turned my deep blood red card stock a tad orange.  *Blech!*

I used  Sending Some Love by Chicken Girl Designs.  In honour of this challenge, I coloured a little baja breeze bird of happiness {giggle}.  The mailbox has some glossy accents on it and IRL looks like a fancy schmancy spiffy new country mailbox.  Love it!  I coloured my image with copic markers and that's about it.  I used Happy Day designer paper from SEI which had all the colours from today's challenge and gave me a basis for choosing co-ordinating copics. 

Enjoy your day!!!

stamps; sending some love (chicken girl designs by IHP)
paper; happy day (SEI), celery, baja breeze (SU!), phoenix dotted swiss (bazzill), copic cardstock
accessories; big scallop rectangle, ribbon tag trio, rectangle nesties (spellbinders), celery, rose ribbon (SU!), white ribbon (offray), gothic arch border punch (martha stewart), rhinestones (heidi swapp), bow easy, copic markers

Double Challenge Inspriation Celebration

Yesterday was so gorgeous in my part of the world.  I spent all afternoon in my garden, and by late afternoon I had weeded and cultivated enough that I could get some bedding plants in.  I still have a ways to go because my gardens are quite large!  I'm hoping from the bottom of my tippy toe nails we don't get frost this coming weekend.  I chose hardy bedding out plants, but there is no telling what will or won't survive.

To reward myself, I decided to make a card combining yesterday's colour challenge and today's sketch challenge from splitcoast.  I already had the papers sitting out that I wanted to use from the colour challenge and the sketch I was going to use originally just wasn't working for me.  Fortunately, Roxie chose the perfect sketch for my image.  How very handy!!!

I had this Chicken Girl Designs image called Monkey Around printed and ready to go and I knew I wanted to build my card around it.  I coloured my image with Copic markers and cut the sentiment off the bottom.  The ribbon camouflages the cut line (I feel like I'm telling you about my undies right now by sharing intimate little secrets, but it's all good, right?!) and creates the illusion of a longer line to my image.  And really, who doesn't want to look longer and leaner?!  Using the challenges is paint by number inspiration which I'm perfectly happy with.

Tomorrow people, we will have pictures of our new mama foster dog.  She is getting huge, and I think she will whelp this coming weekend.  I can see the puppies moving just under her skin, and she is getting pooped more, poor dumplin'!  Yes, we still have our small cow foster dog we affectionately call Bunny as well.  More on that tomorrow!

stamps; monkey around (chicken girl designs by i {heart} papers)
paper; indian summer (basic grey), brown, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; dusty durango ribbon (SU!), stickles (ranger), parisian dew drops (the robin's nest), copic markers

Mercy! It's a Challenge Combo!!!

The sniffles are about done with, except that I've got that, 'I know I'm sick 'cause of the kind of headache I have,' headache. *blech* However, the flip side is that I can stamp without a waterfall, so it's all okay because that's what Advil's for!

Since Advil is such a marvelous thing, I played along with the cool colour challenge Betty has today on SCS; so saffron, bermuda bay and going gray. Okay, I admit I struggled with the bbay portion of today's challenge! I'm really not a brights kinda girl. However, I'm coming to realize with these challenges that I don't have to feature the colour I'm struggling with because a teeny tiny bit will do. I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch for my card.

I still adore Everafter paper by Cosmo Cricket, and it's been ages since this line was released, and, to be honest, ages since I worked with it last. It is perfect paper for this challenge!!! OH YEAH, BABY!!!! I just love it when a card comes together easily like this one did for me.

My kids are on Spring Break, and it's felt like Saturday everyday. I hope your week is like a bunch of carefree Saturdays in a row, too!

stamps; scripture collection 1 (ODBD)
paper; everafter (cosmo cricket), coconut swirl, elephant (bazzill)
ink; black soot distress ink (ranger)
accessories; ribbon (SU!), labels 11 (spellbinders), pinked eyelet border punch, butterfly, butterfly trio punches (martha stewart), adhesive pearls (K&Co)

CC263 - Surprise! I love a great Priate Story!

Today's colour challenge on splitcoast is creamy dusty pinks! And Betty Wright graciously asked me to supply a sample for her. Am I over the moon tickled or what?!!!!

I got it done between going to the lab for more blood tests, grabbing a couple of groceries, sick kiddo again, laundry (it never ends, does it?!), gifts and birthday cake, and piano lessons. It's really hard to bow out when it's your gifts and cake, KWIM?! *LOL* Since I ended up a little more pressed for time than I thought I would be, I went a little simpler on the embellies and put my time into colouring this cutie patootie pirate dude, officially called Sailing By by Chicken Girl Designs.

I coloured him with copic markers, but this time I used prismacolours for my shading and highlighting. I was talking to a darling friend of mine from Florida, and she mentioned Asela Hopkins work with copics and prismacolours. I figure if it involves colouring, I can do it (*snort*) and I had used them together in the past, so I decided today was a good day to reacquaint myself with the technique. Love it!

Yup, on the whole, it's a good day for a colour challenge!!! Enjoy yourself!

stamps; sailing by (chicken girl designs)
paper; joy ride (cosmo cricket), yam, romance, coconut swirl, brown (bazzill), creamy caramel (SU!)
ink; tea dye, vintage photo distress ink (ranger)
accessories; labels 8, oval & scallop oval nesties (spellbinders), faux suede ribbon (may arts), copic markers, prismacolour pencils, bow easy

SCS Colour Challenge i {heart} paper style

Kate just got Stampavie images in her store. *squeal* I think she did it as a personal favour for me...but then I could be full up of myself too! *LOL*. Anyhoo, the bottom line is I'm over the moon happy that she has started to carry these images, thrilled that she sent me a few of them, and totally tickled that I opted for watercolouring for the first time in AGES!!!

I used rabbit in a watering can by artist, Tina Wenke. Love it. The cute factor is just out of this world. I decided to use it for the colour challenge on SCS this week, because those purples and olive speak of spring flowers to me ( and I suspect everyone else who did the challenge!!!).

I stamped my image with black soot ink, and set it with clear embossing powder. This ink MUST be sealed or you end up with a smeary, black-ish mess. Experience is speaking to you here... I have got to get some of Kate's memento ink pads so I don't have to worry about the smear factor anymore! Oy vey! The wish list just never seems to shrink, KWIM?

I used reinkers from the following companies to colour the image; distress ink, SU!, and adirondack. In addition, I used both SU! and tombow markers and watercoloured with them as well. Basically, if there is a water based ink anywhere within my reach and it is the right colour, I'll use it!

The dp I used here is from basic grey Origins and has the dessert option of swirls that Betty included in the challenge. The coloured cardstock used here is core'dinations.

Enjoy your day and thank-you so much for stopping by!!!

stamps; rabbit in a watering can (stampavie)
paper; origins (basic grey), coconut swirl (bazzill), core'diantions cardstock, 140lb watercolour paper
ink; black soot distress ink, reinkers and adirondack re inkers (ranger), SU! reinkers
accessories; SU! and Tombow markers, double loop border punch (martha stewart), clear ep (ranger), button (basic grey)

Sugar Creek Hollow Colour Challenge

Well, it's Friday! Yahoo-hooie!!! Today, the design team for Sugar Creek Hollow is doing a design team challenge using the following colours;

This is my card for the challenge;


I used the Berry Frame image from Sugar Creek Hollow. I am finding digital images very appealing for a few reasons;

- The relatively low cost.
- The image can be sized in Microsoft Word to whatever size I want for my project.
- Images can be bought singly rather than in sets, so I only buy what I know I will use.
- I can manipulate the image.

My DD helped me merge the Berry Frame image and a scripture verse I typed out. After I've done it aided a few times, I'll be able to tell you how to do it, so stay tuned. This flexibility with digital stamps will allow me to make up any sentiment I want and print it right in the frame (and Sugar Creek Hollow has several beautiful frames!!!). I love how crisp and dark my printer prints the images every time.

Freebie Friday is a wonderful way to give digital images a try without risk! At Sugar Creek Hollow, there is a link on the homepage for to Freebie Friday and there is a new cute FREE image available for you to download every Friday. How fabulous is that?!!!

I encourage you to motor about checking out what the rest of the design team has come up with using these colours!!!

• *Tracy - Owner*
• Cassandra
• Cassie
• Cheri
• Dani
• Donna
• Joan
• Joseline
• Kelly
• Kristina
• Linda
• Marsha
• Nancy
• Sarah
• Stephanie

stamps; berry frame (sugar creek hollow), sentiment is computer generated
paper; hey sugar (cosmo cricket), brown, coconut swirl (bazzill)
ink; antique linen, tea dye, vintage photo, tattered rose, fired brick, aged mahogany distress inks (ranger)
accessories; pearl flourish (zva), ribbon (SU!), heart charm (blue moon beads), flowers (making memories)

CC258 Any Day is a Perfect Day for Lulu!

Okay, so I'm at day 3 of doing a challenge a day - I did the colour challenge on SCS. I just can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me! And it feels GOOD!!! Slowly but surely things on the home front are getting back to a steady, acceptable chaos rather than totally outta control like it has been. {happy place}


I knew before bed last night that I wanted to use this Lulu image from Stamping Bella no matter what the colours were for the challenge. I got this image before Christmas and didn't have time to use it until today, so I think today is a banner day. Since the challenge colours today involved so much purple, I'm going to give this card to the Jr High youth director at our church, because she really does an amazing job of loving these kids and ministering to them and her favourite colour is purple.

I coloured this image using my prismacolours - luv 'em! - and that's about it for the tough stuff for this baby! The card is 6"x6"and it looks like I went pretty low key with the embellies this time around.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to do a little watercolouring, so we'll see what the muse serves up tomorrow to facilitate this! Ta for now!

Stamps: leslie and lorie lulu (stamping bella)
Paper: wisteria (basic grey), pale plum, soft suede (SU!), coconut swirl (bazzill)
Ink: black soot, milled lavender distress ink (ranger)
Accessories: soft suede ribbon (SU!), button (basic grey), crystal flourish (zva), purple rhinestones (kaiser), silk flower (unknown), border punch (ek success), tag nestie

CC256 Greetings!

The colour challenge on splitcoast this week is to use crushed curry, bravo burgundy, and basic gray. Betty, hunny bunny, friend, if you read this in the midst of your busy-ness, you totally stretched me!! I've enjoyed watching the colour challenge you host week by week, and I truly marvel at the colours you put together. You have a gift for it. I think my colour choices are usually safe, and quite frankly, verge on boring.


This week, I jumped in with both feet and completely embraced the colour challenge. Good golly!! In the SCS gallery for this colour challenge, CC256, I saw a bunch of lovely, light coloured cards that used the burgundy and grey to give the cards some weight. They are wonderful!!! I figured, if I'm doing this challenge, I might as well go all they way, baby!! If the light cards use the darker colours for weight (JMHO), I have a big old ball of lead here! *snort* I really don't take myself that seriously!

The designer paper I used here is from Basic Grey, Indian Summer. I felt it was perfect for this challenge since it had the curry and grey in the design. I layered the same dp, framing each layer with burgundy and grey.



I love this little accessory cluster. I used my Home Accents Cricut cartridge to cut the leaves, except for the pine branches, which were cut out using a Martha Stewart punch. My DH was right - getting me Design Studio for Christmas has made me use my Cricut more. I really like that I can make smaller size adjustments to the shapes using the program than with the dial on the Cricut.

The butterfly from K&Co Lotus Floral Stamps was stamped with aged mahogany distress ink and embossed it with silver embossing pearl (both by ranger). I used a blender pen to colour in the butterfly, using aged mahogany distress ink. I coloured over the butterfly with a Sakura glitter pen for a bit more sparkle.

It did take me a day to make this card. I guess this is the last obstacle I have to overcome after not stamping for nearly 2 months. I need to try to get my speed back up so it doesn't take me so long to do this stuff! I love it, really I do - it's like a nice long, warm, bubble bath - but most days I only have time for a shower.

Thank-you so much for stopping by!

stamps; lotus greeting stamps, lotus floral stamps (K&Co)
paper; indian summer (basic grey), elephant, burgundy (bazzill), ivory cryogen poison (unknown)
ink; aged mahogany, black soot distress inks (ranger), summer sun (SU!)
accessories; border punch, gray taffeta ribbon (SU!), buttons (basic grey), adhesive pearls (kaiser), burgundy ribbon (sei), silver pearl ep (ranger), stardust glitter pen (sakura), home accents cartridge (provocraft), branch punch (martha stewart)

CC252

Well, all the antiques were assessed this morning. If we sell all the antiques at the price we are asking, we will break even with the cost of the assessment! Oy Vey!!! It needed to be done though for transparency sake in probate. AND we are closing in on 10 000lbs to the dump! I'm sure we'll surpass it tomorrow when the discards from this morning's assessment are taken away.

THe colour challenge in Splitcoast this week is Bermuda Celery Hunters. Betty is coming up with some amazing colour combos, and this one really grabbed me. I really love Karen Stolper's images for American Art Stamps and the image I used here is Bouquet. I coloured the image with prismacolors and gamsol. The shading around the edge is done with copic markers. The golden glow (cute, eh?!) around the image was done with shimmers paintz - I used Sunny here.

The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs, Grow in Grace. I stamped it with black ink and used a fancy tag nestability die to cut it out. The chrysanthemum looking white layer behind the image was made using the large scallop octagonal nestability die, cut twice and layered. It's a very cool effect that I will have to use a smaller image later to show the effect better.

Have a marvellous day!

CC242 Hanging Ornaments

Today's colour challenge on SCS is Krafty Black Melons! Good golly Miss Molly!!!

I'm still on the sick side of life, but I'm not drippy yet today, so I decided to get another Christmas card out of the way and the colour challenge gave me an opportunity to do a more non-traditional Christmas card. I have some non- traditional people on my list, so this will be going to one of them.

This image is an American Art stamp called Hanging Ornaments. I love these stamps, and they are 30% off the website right now! If you are from Canada (EH!) and want to order, you need to call or email your order because their shipping thingie isn't working and so Canada isn't on the list of countries they ship to. Then, a very nice, young sounding lady will call for your payment. Easy peasy!

I coloured this image with markers and my trusty tombow blender pen. I used copics to create that pink glow around the ornaments. The ornaments were made glossy and dimensional with a little diamond glaze squeezed on them.

Enjoy your week, and thanks for popping by!

stamps; hanging ornaments (american art stamps), christmas expressions (CHF)
paper; communique (graphic 45), raven (bazzill), taupe cardstock (core'dinations), melon mambo, very vanilla (SU!)
ink; black soot, tea dye, brushed corduroy distress inks (ranger)
accessories; diamond glaze 9judikins), beetle black brads (bazzill), black ribbon (offray), button (basic grey), markers and blender pen (tombow), copic markers