"Wine Diva" Easel Card

I bought this super cute stamp set by Art Impressions a while ago, and I've been DYING to use it, but just haven't found the time.  Well, yesterday was my friend Kaley's 29th birthday, so I decided it was a great opportunity to ink up this sassy diva and see what I could come up with.

All the papers and washi tape used are from Close to My Heart, and I coloured the image with Copics and Spectrum Noir pens.  I'm not the most expert at colouring, but I'm quite pleased with how the image ended up.  She looks bright and bold, which is exactly what I was going for.

I also found a new challenge to take part in!  I used the skech from Fusion Card Challenge as my inspiration, although I did end up changing the orientation and leaving out the doily.

And that's it for now, but stay tuned to this blog for more of the Wine Diva - I've already coloured up two more of this same image and just need to find a way to incorporate them into some cards!

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Card #23 - Graphicat November Sketch

Quick post here today because I'm not sure what time Cheri's shutting down her linky at Graphicat Sketch Challenges. I managed to get some crafty time with a friend this morning (how lovely is that?) and put this cute little card together using this sketch (flipped on its side):

and one of Cheri's new stamp sets. I love all the sentiments that came with this set, can't wait to use more of them!

Supplies: Graphicat stamp set, Memento ink, Copic markers, Creative Memories orange marker, Adirondack marker (for the arms), BoBunny patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Ink, Maya Road doily, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

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Card #21 - Saturated Canary, CPS, and Paper Sundaes

Holy cow, have you SEEN these images from Krista Smith at Saturated Canary?! Aren't they the cutest??? I'd been drooling over them for a while, so when I opened my Dashboard one night and noticed a post for a sale on this image for a limited time (it's actually a Christmas image, comes with a present/nutcracker that I trimmed out) I snapped it up right away! And good thing I did, too, lots of people missed out! Anyway, I tried colouring with new paper for this one, I think it was the Copic X-press stuff. It's super smooth, but I think there's a learning curve to it because I definitely overdid it in a couple of places. Plus I went out of the lines a whole bunch, so I had to trim her out (seems I do that with all my images anyway!) and I had a heck of a time with her ringlets! Overall, though, I'm pleased with the results. The challenge this week at Saturated Canary is a recipe: use 1 image, 2 papers, and 3 embellishments (I used twine, flowers, and pearls). Don't you love this sketch from CPS?:

I flipped it to fit the image, of course. I'm also entering this card at Paper Sundaes, who are asking for "rectangles" this week.

Supplies: CTMH and Copic X-press cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and unknown patterned paper, Twinery twine, Prima flowers, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Copic markers, and CTMH pearls

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World Card Making Day Blog Hop

Welcome to my little ol' blog, and thanks for visiting on this momentous day, World Card Making Day! If you came here from Tina's blog, then you're good to go, but if you're lost or want to start from the beginning, head on back to Tara's blog, she has the whole line-up there.

I'm so excited to be a part of this blog hop, one reason being that it's my first EVER, and second because it's ALL-CANADIAN!!! So, I made up a new CANUCK ROCK play list for ya (warning: there IS some profanity, so don't let your kids listen in, unless they're like mine and know all the swears and use 'em like commas) PLUS I figured it's about time I gave out some CANDY, ding ding ding! Now, it's not a huge candy, but it's easy to win: simply become a follower if you aren't already (feel free to scroll down, look around, see if maybe you might want to hang here once in a while - I promise I'm [mostly] normal!) Then leave me a comment telling me about your biggest card-making faux pas. Come on, you know you wanna! Just to break the ice, here's mine:

Bwahahaha! Isn't that something that your primary school kid would make? I made this for my husband before I had any cool tools or mad skillz, (actually, still pretty limited in those areas) and I can't believe he KEPT it!? Must be love. So what's the CANDY, you ask? My cool new friend Cheri from Graphicat Designs is adding on to help me offer a $25 gift certificate to her BRAND NEW ONLINE STORE!!!

Thanks, Cheri, you rock! I'll do a draw from the comments next Saturday for the lucky winner.

Anywhoo, here's my real card:

Since I'm mainly a scrapbooker and I know there are some uber-talented card makers in this hop, I wanted to make something that stood out a bit, so I did the easel-card thing and added that retro red button from my mom's 70's jumpsuit. That bottom layer? It's a mesh bag from a trio of garlic. Awesome thing is, you don't even need to cut it, it just stretches and wraps right around the 4" panel! Hope you like!

I also made this card for my Design Team over at Creative Accents - incredible store and great team members!!! The challenge this month is:

I hope everyone will join in, 'cause you could win a sweet prize, and really, it doesn't get much easier than this.

Have fun with the rest of the hop, your next destination is: Freya's blog. And, if you're so inclined, there is a 2nd hop going on right now, too, starting over at: Nicole's blog! And I think there may be candy throughout that hop, too, wink wink!

Supplies: Close to My Heart, Bazzill, and Prism cardstock, My Mind's Eye patterned paper, C.C. Designs and Kraftin' Kimmie stamps, Memento and Ranger inks, Creative Memories and Copic markers (E00, E11, R20 for skin, E35, YR23, Y23, Y38 for hair, YG0000, YG25 for wings), Close to My Heart gems, unknown ribbon and fiber, vintage button, mesh bag

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Card #11 - Happy Birthday Tara!

It was Tara's birthday yesterday, and I went to Williams Lake for a special birthday crop in her honor. It was great to meet most of the members of the Seriously Creative Design Team, and I was able to see their creative mojo in progress. Let me tell you, "Seriously Creative" is really an understatement! They are FREAKIN' AMAZING!!! Especially with the Copic action! Anyhoo, it's a little humbling to give a card to an accomplished cardmaker like Tara, but I couldn't go empty handed, so this is what I came up with:

It features a Kraftin' Kimmie stamp called... "Roxy"!!! Can you believe it? And since she's a roller derby queen, she MUST be Roxy Rolla! I just had to have this stamp, even though she looks nothing like me, although I dig the hair and the leg warmers - I might be able to pull those two off, but the hot pants are a definite no-go at the mo'! Okay, enough ramblin' about me, more about the card. I used this sketch from Paper Sundaes, but missed the deadline due to our little croppin' party:

I also got to use the new Copics that Jenn sent me, some beautiful YG's! Plus I watched a couple of YouTube videos by Suzanne Dean to tweak my technique. This time I tried to get some highlights in the center of her body, and I think it's looking pretty good. I think this might be my best coloring job yet! I was also inspired by my friend Carole to get out my ol' sewing machine and add some stitching, just to make it a wee bit more special. This will also allow me to enter Some Odd Girl's challenge this week.

Well, weekend's pretty much over. Apparently our new puppy will be arriving next weekend (yikes!) and Jason's going to be in Kamloops most of the week, so let's see if mama can keep the stress level under control! Wish me luck!

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park patterned paper, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Memento ink, Copic markers, Close to My Heart pearl, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, unknown die cut flowers

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Little Boy B-day Card

I had to take a quick break from my December Daily album to do up a card for my friend's little boy. He doesn't know me from a hole in the ground, but we share the same birthday (December 27, mark your calendars, kids!) so I feel connected to him that way. He's going to be three, so I thought the bright colours from PPC and this image from Some Odd Girl would be perfect for him. I also used a sketch from Lord Have Mercy and adapted it a bit to fit the image. Some Odd Girl's challenge is to use 2 different types of bling, which I thought would be hard on a boy card, but I used some sparkly mist, silver embossing powder, and even some Perfect Pearls. Anyway, I really like how it turned out - I just may have to make another to keep in my stash!

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, patterned paper, and watercolor pencils, Copic markers, Some Odd Girl image, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Ink, and Perfect Pearls, Tsukineko mist, silver ink and silver embossing powder

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A Hallowe'en Kaylee card!

So I'm gonna let everyone in on a little secret here, so SHHHH! I am not a Hallowe'en lover! I know, bah humbug! It's not so much the dress-up part, that part is kind of fun (although I just finished reading a book where the main character dressed her baby up and went trick-or-treating with her so the parents could get free candy, which I think is totally ridiculous!) I think part of my attitude comes from my parents, who are Australian, and I don't think they ever heard of Hallowe'en until they moved to Canada. And then they were so religious, I had to listen to my dad go on about it being a Pagan tradition, devil worship, and so on, then my mom would have to talk him into letting us kids go out and have fun. So I guess my Hallowe'en experience was always tainted with parental arguments. However, I think my real issue with Hallowe'en is the amount of CARAP that gets handed out!!! I mean, seriously, have you ever read the list of ingredients on some of that candy? I try to feed my kids healthily and teach them good habits all year long, and then Hallowe'en comes along and it's like, "Hey, let's pump our kids up full of chemicals and dyes and see how crazy they go!" What we've done the last few years is keep the candy out of reach and give them a piece or two a day, but the problem with that is Jason and I eat it! (We're total hypocrites, I know, but I only eat the chocolate at least, Jason will eat any of it!) So that's my rant for the day. Hope ya liked it, tee hee! If anyone has any ideas of what to do with the mountains of candy that nobody (especially my hips) really needs, I'd LOVE to hear it!!!

Anyhoo, that said, here is a card I made, and I think I'll give it to Ailis because she just loves this Some Odd Girl image called 50's Kaylee. I coloured most of her with Copics, and then paper pieced her dress and shoes. I used some patterned paper I won as blog candy a while back and the September Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart called Thriller for the sentiment and swirls. I used a sketch from Mercy Kerrin, which unfortunately I missed the deadline for, and I used the colours for the Some Odd Girl challenge and Dutch Dare challenge. Thanks for looking!

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Early Christmas Card

Here's a card I whipped up for Papercraft Star #16 challenge, which is a sketch (I rotated it) and for Design Dollies elements challenge, which is a Christmas theme. I used a freebie image from Bugaboo stamps (I love her, she is SUCH a lush!!!), coloured her hair, skin, star, drink, and baggy panty hose with Copics, and the rest of the image with CTMH markers. Oh, shoot, I just realized I forgot to put gems on her earrings! Darn it, I'm going to do that right now... okay, so picture her with red gems for earrings, and red lips. Now she looks HOT, right? Inside, I wrote, "Blah, blah, blah!" because this is a card for a friend who doesn't really do Christmas, and she's a lush, too, heehee! Alrighty, the in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving, and I should be mopping the floor or something equally entertaining instead of blogging a half-finished card. Sigh. To all my lovelies out there in blog land have a great weekend, and hopefully I'll manage to get some crafty time to myself over the next few days, or I'll go maaaaaaad!

Suppies (all CTMH): White Daisy and Tulip cardstock, Jingle patterned paper, Exclusive Inks markers in Tulip, Juniper, and Black, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Tulip, Petite Perks stamp set (sentiment), White Daisy organdy ribbon

Other: Bugaboo stamps image, Copic markers

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Easel Card!

This is my first easel card EVER, and I'm sooooo excited!!! I got to use a BRAND NEW image from Some Odd Girl, she's called 50's Kaylee, and I chose her especially because it's my mother-in-law's birthday on the 9th. It's totally her, she's always reminiscing about her childhood in the 50's. I didn't know what to put for a sentiment besides Happy Birthday, so I googled "popular sayings from the 50's" and "neat-o" was one that suited this card the best. When I showed Jason, he said, "Oh, she actually says that!" (Inside it says "It's Your Birthday!") I played with my Copics some more, and I think I managed to get her hair and skin to look pretty good. The dress and shoes are done with a watercolor pencil and blending pen. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Some Odd Girl digi stamp, Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, CTMH and Bazzill cardstock, TLC stickers, CTMH watercolour pencil, unknown ribbon

Copics: skin - E000, E00, and R20
hair - Y23, YR23, and E35
dress - E21

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Double Whammy!

Yesterday, the Purolator guy showed up with my Close to My Heart order, then when I picked up my mail, my Copics were in my box!!! (Insert happy dance here!) So of course, I had to play right away, and this is what I came up with - my very first Copic creation! I used a coloring tutorial from Suzanne Dean to figure out how to do the skin and hair, and then I colored the puppy and Tobie's pants and shoes with my E35 marker. Then I just paper pieced his shirt and pants cuffs, trimmed him out and assembled the card. I used a Some Odd Girl image, and this card will go in for their monochromatic challenge this week (works out perfectly for me seeing I only have one real color of Copic!) I don't know, I'm pretty stoked with how he turned out! I know I need some work with these markers, but I'm really pleased with how he turned out! However, I am open to constructive criticism, if anybody has tips on how to make him better next time.

Supplies: Cardstock, (back of) patterned paper, hemp, Chocolate ink, and Say it in Style stamp set from Close to My Heart, Eooo, E00, E11, E21, E35, R20, Y23, and YR23 Copics, buttons from my stash, and My Mind's Eye patterned paper

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