Baby Love - Meljen's Designs Challenge and New Release

 Hi ya everyone,
  I'm sick - 102 fever...blah...so this is going to be short.  This week at Meljen's Designs we have a 3,2,1 recipe.  Three colors, two patterned papers and one bow.  Here is the adorable new release:

I love all of these sweet images.  All of the new release can be found HERE at Whimsy Stamps.

I made my card for a friend that just had a baby boy.  I colored the image with my Copics.

The rest is pretty straightforward - I added the safety pin to match the one on his little paper pieced diaper.  All papers are from Echo Park!

Please join us for this fun challenge at Meljen's Designs!

Big Wheel Keep On Turning Layout - for a friend!

 Hi ya everyone,
  Many of you know I went to the Dallas crop in March.  I was very excited to meet so many wonderful people and one the wonderful ladies I met face to face was Elizabeth from 217 Creations.  Along with Sheila from She's A Sassy Lady and Pam from The Bug Bytes, Elizabeth and I all made layouts for each other using pictures that were sent before the crop.  I received some gorgeous photos of Elizabeth's son Nicolas riding his Big Wheel.  As soon as I saw the pictures I knew I wanted to focus on the primary colors of his Big Wheel and the wheel itself. 

 I used Accent essentials and welded the big wheel looking shape into a border.  I used the Hannah Montana cartridge for the title "Big Wheel Keep On Turning" and substituted the O with another wheel.  The background papers where from the School stack from DCWV along with the little blue journal sheet. 

 The yellow was from Echo Park and the black was a Bazill cardstock.  I hardly ever do layouts but I had a wonderful time putting this together.  Elizabeth will be posting her layout on her blog tomorrow.  You can find the layout Pam did for me HERE (which is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING - Thank you dear Pam!)

 and the FABULOUS layout Sheila did for Pam HERE. 

A Birthday Bot for my Nephew

Hi ya everyone!
  Did you know that I got the Hi ya from my nephews?  They live so far away and I think I wish everyday that I was closer to my sister, her husband and their two boys so that my two girls would be able to play with them.  They live all the way in Ohio and my little family is all the way out here in Oregon.  I miss my family often (my Mom, Aunt, Mamaw, Dad and my sisters family).  It's so difficult some days that - well - it just hurts.  I rarely see any of them either as it's just too expensive to fly back and forth.  Hubby and I did scrounge some money this year for plane tickets for all of us (with the help of family of course).  Usually we get a visit from Mom and this year Dad even made a trip out.  It's hard on holidays and Easter will be no exception.  Anyhow, sorry to ramble - this card was made with so much love for my youngest nephew.  He will be 3 and he loves fixing things.  I think the first thing he knew how to do after walking was putting batteries in things!  So I had to make him a card using a robot!  I used this adorable one from Tiddly Inks called Dr. Love Boto (LOL) and can be found HERE.

I colored him with my Copics - the ones you see below - I added E55 too - but did that later once I had picked out papers.  I'm strange in that I like to color my image first then pick out papers.  I've tried the other way and it just doesn't work for me!  I usually color with a paper in mind but I don't pull it out and compare to my Copic chart. 

Once I colored him I used a nestable to cut him out and used my Copic Multiliner to draw a line around using the nestable as a guide.  I then colored the edges of the frame with the E08 and used the E55 to color the inside.  I did this so my papers from Cosmo Crickets stack called Wanted would match. 

Then on the inside I stamped three little cupcakes since he will be three!  We will all sign it and send it off to him - hopefully in time!!!

I layered a few papers from the Wanted stack and used another set of nestables to make the Happy Birthday sentiment.  I used the Happy Birthday from a clear set of stamps I have. 

Please don't forget to hug your family close and remember to be thankful for them everyday! 

Stop by Tiddly Inks today to purchase your own digital stamps!  We have a refer a friend bunny hop going on right now in which you and a friend COULD win some free digis!  All the details can be found HERE.  Also, look at Minnie - another SWEET image by Christy Croll...

 I LOVE her - big glasses and all.  Christy just released this in the shop and you can find her HERE with a special little treat too! 

Spring Garden - Thinking of You

 Hi ya everyone,
  I wanted to enter the iCopic challenge this week and was excited to try the challenge!  The challenge is to make a beautiful background.  I really wanted to use this new cling stamp I got at my local stamping store.  I used Memento black ink and stamped this image.  I then used my Copics and colored it - this took awhile but it was worth it.  I colored in my lightest color first then added striations and shading with my darker colors.  Finishing again with the light color to blend.  I love this stamp and can see me using more often for a number of cards.  Here are the Copics I used for the background.

I also colored this sweet Mo Manning stamp called Baby Flora Fairy with the above Copics and cut her out.  I added some Stardust Stickles to her wings as well.  I took some Tea Dye from Tim Holtz and added a bit of water and tried to shade the edges of her a bit too - it didn't work all that great and I didn't want to go darker - so I left it this way.

I stamped a sentiment "Thinking of You" on paper and drew a frame around and used Copics to color the outer edge of the frame.  I also colored a thin white ribbon with the darkest red Copic I used in the image to match.

 Last, I went around the background with my Stardust Stickles and added it to the dots and center of the background flowers.  I also want to enter this in the Digital Pencil 2 Challenge found HERE.  You have to check out the inspiration at DP2 - their design team is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and join the challenge "How Does Your Garden Grow?"

iCopic DT Call - Some Odd Girl Challenge

 Hi ya everyone!
  Well you all know how much I LOVE my Copics.  Once I picked them up in May I haven't been able to put them down.  About a week ago I found this lovely little site called iCopic Lover.  The best part is they were having a DT call and though it's a long shot with all the amazingly talented colorers out there I had to try!  Please check out the iCopic Love blog and see all they have to offer.  In addition they have a wonderful shop found HERE and everyone raves about their quick shipping and great prices!  You find their Facebook page HERE.

For the entry you have to use the color pink.  I chose the R20-R22 Copic colors to make a blush color on the sweet image from Some Odd Girl called Flyin High Mae.  I cut her out with my nestables and inked the edges with another blush color from Tim Holtz called Tattered Rose.

I colored her with the following colors and then topped her off with my white gel pen to highlight cheeks, feet and kite!

I also wanted to enter this weeks challenge at Some Odd Girl - Clean and Simple challenge.  I like this sort of challenge because I can make the image the main focus and let's face it - she's too cute not to be the focus!  There is nothing to explain here because the layout is very easy.

I will say however that I didn't have a matching ribbon - so GUESS what I did - yup USED MY COPICS to color the ribbon the color I wanted - did you know you could do that?  I love it - it also makes the ribbon a bit stiff and a tiny bit sticky which makes the bow so beautiful.

 Check out the iCopic DT call at iCopic Lover - and if you are just starting out and are interested in Copics stop by the blog to learn about them and ask questions! 

Tweet Easter - Fabulous Inky Friday

Hi ya everyone!
  I love this new image at Tiddly Inks - Minnie's Egg digital stamp by Christy Croll at Tiddkly Inks is just too sweet holding that big old Easter egg.  If you love her but if you don't need to make an Easter card there is another Minnie in the shop HERE.  I saw a really beautiful mini album in one of my craft magazines that had an advertisement for Spellbinders and they used this above nestable for the album.  I loved the look and decided to modify it for a card.
I colored Minnie's Egg in Copics - I also included the colors I used.

and here are the Copics I used:

I cut her out with a different nestable I used and inked the edges in a Tim Holtz ink called Faded Denim.  I also used my colorless blender and placed some polka-dots on the large egg.  I then added white gel pen to her egg and also put a little squiggle on her glasses.  Then I glossy accented her glasses and added Stardust Stickles to her egg's dots.  I set her to the side to dry.

Last, I made this adorable frame from my nestables and used foam squares to pop it off the Echo Park paper with hearts.  I cut out some adorable little chicks and chick eggs from the cartridge Simply Charmed on my Cricut and adhered those to the frame.  I then stamped the sentiment Have a Tweet Easter on white paper and backed it with the same blue in the eggs.  I then placed Minnie in the frame and added the sentiment!  Head over to Tiddly Inks and check out their cute images today!

Easter Flowery Surprise - Meljen's Challenge

 Hi ya everyone!
  This week at the Meljen's Designs Challenge Blog we want your best Easter project!  I made a little flower stick to put in these gorgeous African violet's some friends gave us.  I love these and wanted to add something Eastery so I could put it on our dining table.  It was very simple to make.
  I colored the cutest bunny from Meljen's Designs called Hop Along Bunny with my Copics. 

Don't you think he's the cutest well check out the rest of the release - you are sure to find a wonderful Easter image and all can be found HERE at Whimsy Stamps!

 I cut him with my circle nestables and simple layered him on some more nestable cuts.  I placed this on a straw to place in the middle of the flowers! 

 Easy and looks really cute! Come over to the Meljen's Designs Challenge blog and join us for this week's challenge!!

Hello Rain - Crafty Creations Challenge

Hi ya everyone!
  This week at Crafty Creations we are sponsored by the lovely Kristy of Some Odd Girl!!!!!!!!  Love her adorable stamps.


I set the challenge this week and since I'm in Portland and the rain never stops I get a lot of inspiration for this challenge - Rain Cards!!!  Either through an image or a scene show us the rain!  I chose this ADORABLE little image from Some Odd Girl called Puddle Hopping Tia.  Oh my gosh - isn't she cute!! I colored her in pinks, blacks and grays to match some AWESOME Echo Park paper I got recently!

I used a sketch from Card Patterns this week so I will also be entering their challenge.  Here is the sketch:

 I cut the scallop portion on my Cricut as I don't have a scallop border punch...I'm starting to think I need one - because this was sort of a pain on the Cricut!  It worked just fine and I was able to get it the exact size I wanted but a border punch would have been easy! LOL

After laying the design out I used some Teresa Collins bling and also the Hello is from Clear and Simple stamps.  I hope you join our rainy challenge at Crafty Creations this week - you could win free digis from Some Odd Girl!
 

You Make Me Happy - Tiddly Inks Challenge

 Hi ya everyone!
  This week at the Tiddly Inks challenge blog we are asking everyone to use a bunny on their card!  There are a ton of bunny images at Tiddly Inks too - Bunny Boo Adventures, Somebunny, Hoppy Easter, BunnyQ, and Minnie's Egg to name a few!  Remember you have to use a Tiddly image so hop on over and pick up an image or two - there are a few that are in the retiring soon section that are $1!!!  I used Somebunny and she will be retiring soon much to my chagrin!  I love this image!!!  So get her while you can!

I really enjoyed making this card!  The colors just sort of came together.  I initially had pictured the image a bit more cool in color - blues and grays...but I decided to venture out of my norm and go with a rich warm yellow color.  I used my Copics to color her and used my oval nestable set to cut her out.

I also used some gorgeous Basic Grey Paper called Perhaps and some Kraft paper.   I used an EK Success punch for the little line of flowers that I adhered to the Kraft paper.  I colored a sheer white ribbon with my Copic I used to color and shade her dress.  I also added some chip board hearts two of which I colored with Copics.  The sentiment is from a stamp company I've just learned about through a Copic course I took at the CKC convention called Clear and Simple Stamps.  I also added an embellishment from a $1 pack I got at the convention.

Head over to Tiddly Inks and join our fun this week!  Also, there is a wonderful Refer A Friend Program at the Tiddly Inks challenge blog.

 If you enter and refer someone to join us you will get two free digis!!!  Your friend will also get a free digi!  Lots of information at the challenge blog for this program!  

Japan Fundraiser - Thinking of You

Hi ya everyone!
  I have a special post today.  The Whimsy stamp shop has gotten together with some awesome designers to create a group of stamps in which all proceeds go to The American Red Cross relief fund for those affected by the devastating events in Japan.  Here is this adorable release - ONLY $9 and your receive each image from artists such as Kenny K, Meljen's Designs, Raindrop Echo Designs and Chrissy Armstrong.

I used the ever so adorable Kimono Bear from Meljen's Designs for my card today!  All of Meljen's stamps can be purchased HERE at Whimsy Stamps.  I HAD so much fun coloring this little bear with my Copics.

I used a number of Basic Grey papers from the Urban Couture stack.  I used a chocolate brown to layer everything on.

I used a square nestability turned to a diamond shape for the bear.  I also cut felt using my nestabilites and sewed a little button in the middle and added some pearls.  The sentiment was from a small set of clear polymer stamps.  I inked the edges in Tim Holtz Antique Linen.

Please head over to Whimsy Stamps and purchase this adorable set and donate to relief efforts in Japan.  There is so much to do there and I often hear people say I wish I could help.  Here is a perfect opportunity - I'm headed there now to purchase my set!
Hugs

A Card Swap and fun from the Dallas Stampede

Hi everyone!
  This post is a short and sweet one.  I had such a fabulous time in Dallas due in large part to some fabulous friends that I met!  Sheila of She's A Sassy Lady, Pam of The Bug Bytes and Elizabeth of 217 Creations are wonderfully creative people - who know how to laugh and have a good time!  We had a few table games and one was to create card kits for each other.  So we put together a card without fully assembling it and then the kits are put into a pile and each person picks one!  All of the cards were so fun and gorgeous! 

Sheila created a fabulous spinner card with a sweet little twirling monkey.  She will have an awesome video tutorial on this card - so keep checking her blog for that...Elizabeth  received Sheila's kit:

 (The spunky Elizabeth who knows how to pose for a fabulous picture!!)

Pam made a wonderful black and white card with a gorgeous sentiment that she created and Sheila received that card kit! 

 (Sheila pictured here: isn't she gorgeous - I love this lady!!! She was my roommate for the weekend and I miss her terribly!)

Elizabeth made a card on her Imagine using some yummy papers which I received. 

 (That's me - wow I look tired - I couldn't hang with my pals - they ran circles around me!!!)

I chose to color a Meljen's Designs image to pass on in my kit that was perfect for a Birthday card that Pam received! 

(I loved meeting Pam - what a wonderfully beautiful and sweet person and with such a great sense of humor!)