Tiny (and Timely!!) :)

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Hi, all!  About to head off to work, so thought I'd pop in for a quick (and I mean QUICK!) share!

I created this card for the current Ten Minute Craft Dash -- I find these so fun…  I'm kinda a little hooked  ;)  The colors this go-round were a buttery yellow, red, and light blue…  Gotta admit that this one was a bit of a challenge for me….

So, I thought of the sage advice of my crafty friend, Melissa Shea, and channeled the words I've seen from her so many times: when stumped, go small!

So, here it is, my little 4" square 10-minute card!  :)

     

Anyway, hope you like it!  Have a great Friday!  :)

Pretty in Purple!

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Good mornin'!  And happy Friday!  I mentioned a couple of posts back that I have really just been in the mood to color recently… and it's true.  I have found myself in each of my last several projects intentionally looking for stamp sets that would allow me to pull out my Copics -- and today's post is no exception…

This one took me awhile (like, a couple of nights), which at the time was just what I needed -- pure distraction! :)

I have mentioned here before (like on this card) that some of my favorite images to color are actually pieces of art by the fabulously talented Hannah Lynn (I first heard of her from a lady I sat next to in one of my Copics certification classes).  Hannah sells digi stamps (like I used here) and other coloring goodies in her etsy store.

Anyway, she does a lot of things I'm not normally into (like fairies and dragons and things like that), but I can't resist her faces and eyes and hair -- crazy fun to color!!!

I based this card on the sketch over at RetroSketches this week (or, at least, an inverted version of it!).

Hope you like it -- I think she's kinda purty…  I wish I had hair like that -- can you say "straight as a board?!?!"  ;)

Have a fabulous Friday -- I know I plan to!  :)

A Sunny Hello :)

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Hello!  Happy Monday!  There is a DT search going on over at Case Study right now and I thought I would {gulp!} throw my hat in the ring!  This is among my very favorite challenges because each month, one of the best among us is invited to serve as "muse" and provides a different card each week for inspiration.  I love that there are no limits and that all styles are welcome and embraced!

The challenge was to select my own personal "Muse" and draw inspiration from their work -- someone whose style is different from my own, so that you'll be able to see where I drew my inspiration, but still be able to see me in it…

I chose as my "muse" Melissa Phillips of Lilybean's Paperie.  I love her vintage, often shabby chic, style.  Here embellishments are usually handmade and always fabulous.  She usually includes way more detail than I am ever comfortable with, but she always makes it work!  (hello, Tim Gunn  :)

The card I selected of hers is one of my all-time favorites.  It's amazing.  Seriously.  Check it here.

Here's my take:

Here's Melissa's masterpiece:

Melissa Phillips, Lilybean's Paperie

I was inspired by a number of things with Melissa's card -- I loved her color palette (she went with cool tones, so I went with warm! :) and her circle background, and her handmade flower embellishment…  Lots of good stuff!  :)

I'm super-pleased with the results and hope you like it too….  It's just a happy card, no?  :)

Have a great Tuesday…  be back soon with a card I made when I just had the urge to color something!

Hitch Yer Wagon!

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So, tonight I hosted the Hero Arts 90-Minute Scramble over on flickr...  It was my first time hosting and, it has to be said, I was so flippin' nervous!  I kept thinking -- Was my challenge challenging enough?  Was it too challenging?  Were my "inspiration" cards inspiring?  Would anybody show up to play?  --  Geez, it was just like junior high again!  The angst!  The insecurities!  Ackh!

In the end, it was a lot of fun!  I challenged the scramblers to create a card using the "filler" stamps that come in just about every stamp set as their focal point.  They were also to incorporate stitching (faux or actual, their choice...) and to create their own sentiment by selectively stamping sentiments they already had or via a "mash-up" of different stamps.

I created my "inspiration" card following these cues, but used the color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge as my jumping-off point.  The heart banner (as well as sentiment tag) was made using the "filler" stamps from one of my favorite Hero Arts sets (see pic), the wagon is from Simple Stories, and the grass is selectively trimmed from a giant Martha Stewart punch.

Here it is, for your viewing pleasure!  :)

See the heart?  The flower I've circled will find it's way onto a card near you in the next day or two!  :)

I am also linking this card up to the Stamp It! Cards Love Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World this week.  The card has to use stamping as the primary technique...  check!  And have a "Love" theme... check!  And be cute!  (I think... check!)  Haha!  Good to go!  :)


Thanks for stopping by -- hope you're having a great weekend -- and avoiding the heat!  (We broke a daily heat record here today...  hottest day since 1939 at 106 degrees... whew!  and ick!!!)

The Card is in the Mail! :)

Pin It Good morning!  I wanted to pop in this morning to share a card I made last week to send to The Netherlands as part of the Spring Card Exchange hosted on the Hero Arts Flickr site!  I'm thrilled that my card is traveling overseas -- boldly going where no card of mine has ever gone before!!  Ha!  :)

Making the card?  No problem....  Getting it to the post office and in the mail??  Now, that's a different story!  I am the world's worst about making a card with an intended recipient in mind and then never getting it in the mail!!!  How does that even happen?!?  (in my defense, this week I came down with a wicked case of strep throat -- and no way was I making it out of bed to the post office during those couple of days!! :) 

But I have (for the most part) recovered now, the card is in the mail, and I believe I am of sound (enough) mind to post the pics!  So, here it is:

Because this was for someone in the Hero Arts Flickr Group, I wanted to make sure I used some of my fave HA stamps, so I used the Envelope Pattern background stamp and the Newspaper Background stamp.  The flowers are called Dogwood Bloom and are from Memory Box.

I hope this card isn't crushed to pieces when it arrives at its destination!  Thank you for stopping by -- hope you have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

 And, because I can't help myself -- 

the Western Conference Finals start tonight (finally!), so: 

Go Spurs Go!  :)

Supplies:

• Stamps:  Hero Arts "Envelope Pattern," "Newspaper Background," "Everyday Sayings,"  and Memory Box "Dogwood Bloom"
• Dies:  Spellbinders Nestabilities "Labels 8," Hero Arts/Sizzix "Playful Flowers and Butterflies," and Memory Box "Classic Tags"
• Inks:  Distress Inks "Dusty Concord," "Milled Lavender,"and "Tumbled Glass," Stampin' Up "Certainly Celery" and "Basic Gray," and Copic Markers BV000, BV02, B000, YG11, YG13, and YG17 and black multiliner .03mm
• Papers:  Copic X-Press It Blending Cardstock, Hero Arts Layering Papers - Celadon
• Diamond Stickles, gems, adhesives