Sweet November August Release Preview - Day Four

Can you say, "Too Cute!"?  For today's preview I featured three of four adorable cats that will be sold as a set.  The set is titled, Midnight's Mischief.  These little cats are adorable!  And so much fun to color!  These little guys are fabulous on their own, or paired with another image.  All of the patterned papers used in these three cards are from the Doodlebug Haunted Manor pad.  

 
The Midnight's Mischief set and the other stamps will be available at C.C. Designs on Thursday, August 1st at 9 pm.  And do not forget to visit Amy's blog, A Thousand Sheets of Paper, and Nancy's blog, Creative Palette to see what mischief Midnight is up to!  Amy has candy, and if you leave a comment with all three of us, you increase your chances of winning!  Thank you for visiting and enjoy your day!

Sweet November August Release Preview - Day Three

Day Three of the Sweet November August Release Preview finds us meeting Frannie.  Frannie has an attitude and is a bit of a diva...just look at that hand on hip pose!  She also loves Halloween and the opportunity to meet up with her ghostly and batty friends.

For the background, I inverted a black and white image to create the glowing house and gave it a slight blur.  The sentiment was added before printing.  The Ghost and Frannie were fussy cut and raised up with foam dots.

Frannie and the other stamps will be available at C.C. Designs on Thursday, August 1st at 9 pm.  And do not forget to visit Amy's blog, A Thousand Sheets of Paper, and Nancy's blog, Creative Palette to see what they've created with our ghoulie diva Frannie!  Amy has candy, and if you leave a comment with all three of us, you increase your chances of winning.  See you tomorrow for our final day of previews!

Delightful Inspiration From the Heart July Free Stamp of the Month Challenge

Goodness!  Wasn't today's blog post title a mouthful?!  Faith, the illustrator of From the Heart Digital Stamps, created another cute stamp for us to play with this month in the Delightful Inspiration Free Stamp Monthly Challenge.  Looking at this ladybug painting the flowers makes me happy!  And the image can be used on cards for any number of occasions.  I'll certainly be using this ladybug and her flowers again!

Welcome to my new followers and thank you to those of you who continue to stick with me!  Wishing you all a colorful day!

Sweet November August Release Preview - Day Two

Good morning all!  Hope no one had any nightmares last night!  Our day two of the Sweet November August Release Preview features Little Frankie, and he's ready to join in all the Trick or Treating fun.

The papers are We R Memory Keepers Spookville pad, the tree was cut with my Silhouette, and the treat bag and candy corn are odds and ends from my miscellaneous Halloween embellishment stash.

Frankie and the other stamps will be available at C.C. Designs on Thursday, August 1st at 9 pm.  And do not forget to visit Amy's blog, A Thousand Sheets of Paper, and Nancy's blog, Creative Palette to see their creative cards with Frankie as the star!  Amy has candy, and if you leave a comment with all three of us, you increase your chances of winning!  Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet November August Release Preview - Day One!

Are you ready for Halloween?  What?  "Um...it's still summer," you say?  Well, dear Amy, artist extraordinaire of Sweet November Stamps, is giving you plenty of time to make your Fright Night cards by releasing seven, yes 7, new Halloween stamps!  Today's little ghoul is Tish.  Tish is a girlie ghoul who loves pink!  While the outside of her cape is traditional black, she sports her favorite color on the inside and doesn't mind showing it off.  With her batty friend by her side, she cannot wait to begin making the rounds on All Hallows Eve.  So many houses to visit!

Tish and the other stamps will be available at C.C. Designs on Thursday, August 1st at 9 pm.  And do not forget to visit Amy's blog, A Thousand Sheets of Paper, and Nancy's blog, Creative Palette to see their ghoulish creations!  Amy has candy, and if you leave a comment with all three of us, you increase your chances of winning!  Thanks for stopping by!  

  

Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge - Warm Winter Wishes 2

Happy Friday!  Can you believe it's already the last Friday in July?!  Summer is flying by so quickly!  As it is the last Friday in July, our theme today at the Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge is Anything Goes with an optional Christmas twist.  Do you remember that adorable mitten paper I used last month?  Well, here it is again!  This time I used a Lili of the Valley stamp, Twinkling Star.  Her striped mittens made her the perfect choice to use with the mitten paper.

Please join Carla, Dawn, Jen, Linda and me over at the Outlawz for this week's challenge!  Enjoy your weekend!

Sweet November July Review

It's Sweet November July Review day at C.C. Designs blog!  My card features all three little mermaids (Hanalei, Nalu, and Nami) that were released as a set.  I used a digital scene "Under the Sea" (sorry I do not recall the artist or company), and digitally layered the mermaids over the top.  To add a bit of dimension, I re-printed portions of the two large seaweed plants, colored them, fussy cut them, and glued them on top of the image.  Prior to printing, the under water scene, I digitally added base color to the seafloor and the water.  The shading was done with Copics.  All the other items in the scene were colored with Copics.  Crystal Stickles gives the mermaid tails some glitz.  (Note:  do not waste time dotting on your color if you use glitter over the top.  Your hard work will not show through!!!  Lesson learned the hard way.)  The bubbles shine with a layer of Paper Glaze.

  

This card was fun to color and create!  Amy's images have such a joy to them, and these little mermaids are no exception!

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge - Bon Voyage

TGIF!  And welcome to my first time as hostess for the Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge!  This week's theme is Travel.  There are soooo many possibilities with this theme!  Choosing just one image and one direction for my card took some time, but this cute image from Bugaboo Digi Stamps,  Boat Duckie, pulled my scattered ideas into a cohesive card.  Around the blogs, I'm seeing a trend of "window" or shadowbox cards.  I wanted to try my hand at this technique, and today's card is the result!  The waves and clouds behind Duckie are die cut and placed behind the window.  Duckie is fussy cut and popped up with foam.  I really enjoyed making this card, and plan to try this style of card again!

 

Please don't forget our sponsor this month, Bombshell Stamps, will be randomly-selecting one participant in this month's challenges to win a fabulous prize, so please come join Carla, Dawn, Jen, Linda, and me at the Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge.  I would really love to see some of my followers participate (especially since it is my first week as hostess...nudge,nudge).  Have a fun weekend!  

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mother's birthday, and this card is for her!  The adorable image is A Day For Daisies Strawberries and Milk Fairy.  The strawberry background paper is from the Jillibean Soup Key Lime pad and the red dotted paper is from Echo Park Happy Days.  At first, I thought I'd use strawberries for embellishments, but then I remembered I had these fabulous crocheted flowers from Amy, and I had to put them on this special card!  Happy Birthday Mom!

Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge - "WANTED"

Friday, again, so quickly!?!  Where does the time escape to?  Quick post today as company arrives today.

My card for the Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge truly was a challenge for me.  I'm a "burb" gal.  No country, ranch, or rural life for me...ever...in 50+ years.  The closest I've come to horses or livestock is when the county fair would come to town, and then I headed for the bunny hutches, not the temporary stables.  Anyway, our theme this week is Wild West/Rodeo/Cowboy/Girl.  I fretted over this theme for awhile before putting this card together.  After finishing the card, I love it!  I used the "Wanted" poster from our sponsor this month, Bombshell Stamps, and a past freebie image of a cowgirl from Anne Fenton of Anne's Cards 4 U.  I digitally layered the "Wanted" poster over a Giddy Up Girl digi paper from Carta Bella.  Then I layered in the cowgirl, and added the line "for being too cute", before printing on Canson Mi-Teintes textured paper.  The cowgirl image is colored with Copics.  I added some color pencil and chalks to give her hat a more felt like appearance.  Chalks were also used to give the poster a more weathered feel.  I used a Spica glitter pen to color in the nail heads, and the cowgirl's belt buckle and hat emblem (which says Outlawz!).

Please join me and the rest of the design team over at the Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge.  I'd love to see your take on this week's challenge!

Have a great weekend!  And thank you for stopping by!

Birthday Card

Hi everyone!  Got my chores finished!  Whoo Hoo!  So I can play for a few minutes before settling in for the evening with hubby.  Wanted to show you a card that my mom commissioned for a friend's birthday.  Mom looked through a number of images I had printed up, but not yet colored, and picked this one from A Day For Daisies entitled Fairy Flower Delivery.  The image is so lovely, but I really had no clue what direction I was going to take in creating the card.  While cleaning my craft space, I came across this paper from the Paper Studio...okay...inspiration hit!  The little flowers on the paper went so well with the little flowers in the image.  And I found the purple rose outline paper in the mess, (I mean creative disarray, lol) on the bed waiting to be put away.  In keeping with the fantasy feel of this image, I created a "doorway" into which this fairy is carrying her gathered flowers.  I added the black pearls to give the "doorway" some weight.  I debated about adding a sentiment to the front of the card, but opted not to, and instead kept the focus on the fairy and her door.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you tomorrow with another Outlawz Fridays Alcohol Markers Challenge card!

Don't Be a Blue Beary

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend, and for those celebrating the 4th, I hope it was an extra special holiday weekend!  Well, now it's Monday and the start of a busy week for us.  We have company arriving Friday and my craft room, AKA guestroom, looks like a tornado hit it.  Yikes!  The bed is covered in paper, images, boxes, etc., etc., etc.  And my desktop...well...let's just say very few Copics are at present tucked away in their drawer, lol.  Let the cleaning commence!  Lol, yeah right.  Per usual, I'll be scrambling on Thursday night to shove stuff in baskets and cubbies, and begging dear hubby to vacuum for me since I ran out of time.  Anyone else out there find crafting so much more enjoyable than cleaning, and procrastinating until the last second? (Yes, rhetorical question, lol)

So that's enough about my character flaws for one post.  On to today's card!  As you know if you've been reading my blog, my stepfather passed away recently.  Mom is doing her best to cope with her loss, and naturally some days are better than others.  When I came across this image from Scrap Happy Paper Crafter entitled Don't Be a Blue Beary, it made me giggle, and I knew I had to make a "Have a Happy Day!" card for my mother.

P.S.  Yes, the card did make my mother smile!

Outlawz Friday's Alcohol Markers Challenge - The Ants' Picnic Parade

Did those of you who celebrate on July 4th have a fantastic day?!?  And are you ready for another Challenge at the Outlawz?!  Today's theme is Picnic/BBQ.  I went with the Picnic so that I could once again use some of the fabulous ants from Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrations.  As I mentioned in a previous post, these little guys were freebies on Nikki's blog last summer.  They are still available for purchase as a set called Ants on Parade in her Etsy shop here.  I didn't get the chance to color them up last year, so I'm pleased to use them now.

I kept the card simple (seem to be creating CAS cards more frequently...might be developing a style, lol).

Since the card is CAS, in addition to this being a DT card for the Outlawz Friday's Alcohol Markers Challenge, I am entering it into the Without Words Challenge, July - Summer Picnic with the colors of strawberries, cream, and cucumbers.  And if you are confused about the Challenge, as I first was, because my card has "words" on it, here is their definition of acceptable cards:

CLEAN AND SIMPLE - OUR DEFINITION: A very simple layout with the absolute minimum of embellishments (or none at all), allowing the focus of the card to be a well coloured image. Sentiments are fine. 

Now back to the Outlawz Challenge!  Please join Carla, Dawn, Jen, Linda, and me in this week's Challenge!  This month's Challenge Sponsor is Bombshell Stamps. 

Thank you for visiting my blog, and have a marvelous weekend everyone!

Sweet November July Release Preview - Day Three

Today is the final day of the Sweet November July Release Preview.  Little mermaid Hanalei has come upon a school of fish, and is using her discovery to tell you how much she cares about you.

I recolored and split apart the sentiment from Create with TLC, "If wishes were FISHES, I'd send you the whole OCEAN", using the first part for the front of the card and the second part for the inside.  Crystal Stickles were added to Hanalei's tail.  I added a few colored pearls for bubbles, and called the card complete.

To see more of Hanalei, please visit Amy's blog and Nancy's blog.  It is always a treat to see their gorgeous cards!  If you leave a comment on my blog, you'll be entered to win Amy's generous candy.  If you leave a comment on all three blogs, you'll have three chances to win!

The stamp set of Hanalei and her sisters is available for purchase today at the all new C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps and Dies shop (formerly All That Scraps).  Thank you for joining me for the July Sweet November Release Preview!   

Sweet November July Release Preview - Day Two

Welcome to day two of the Sweet November July Release Preview!  Today we find Nalu playing in the surf with her dolphin friend.  The two of them haven't a care in the world, and are enjoying the exhilaration of jumping the waves!

I used my Silhouette to cut the card background using three shades of blue cardstock and one white.  While it is difficult to see in the photo, I glossed Nalu's tail with Paper Glaze.

To see more of Nalu, please visit Amy's blog and Nancy's blog.  They both have fun and creative cards!  If you leave a comment on my blog, you'll be entered to win Amy's generous candy.  If you leave a comment on all three blogs, you'll have three chances to win!

The stamp set of Nalu and her sisters will be available for purchase July 3rd at the all new C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps and Dies shop (formerly All That Scraps).

Addition:  As a few people have commented about this card looking like it could be a logo, I'll show you my inspiration for this creation.  One of my favorite theme parks is Sea World in Orlando.  I absolutely adore the Dolphin show, Blue Horizons!  Below is a picture of the tank and backdrop for the show and my inspiration for this card.

Sweet November July Release Preview - Day One

Whoo Hoo!  It is once again time for new Sweet November stamps!  This release is a set of three adorable little mermaids.  Amy, Nancy, and I will be featuring each mermaid separately over the next three days.  Let the cuteness begin!

Nami is the name of today's little mermaid.  She appears to be the more laid back of the girls, choosing to spend her time on shore daydreaming, and watching the activities of the creatures that wash up on the beach.

For this card, I paired Nami with an image from the Wax Fruit Company entitled Starfish. The Starfish scene and sentiment were printed on Canson Mi-Teintes textured paper.  I digitially added a touch of color to the sand and water before printing.  Shading was added to the Starfish scene with Copics and Prisma Color Pencils.  The two starfish were colored with Copics.  I also colored Nami with Copics, fussy cut her out, and popped her up with foam dots.

To see more of Nami, please visit Amy's blog and Nancy's blog.  Their cards are sure to delight!  If you leave a comment on my blog, you'll be entered to win Amy's generous candy.  If you leave a comment on all three blogs, you'll have three chances to win!

The stamp set of Nami and her sisters will be available for purchase July 3rd at the all new C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps and Dies shop (formerly All That Scraps).