Sunday, October 26, 2014

Dia De Los Muertos

My niece is enthralled with everything day of the dead, so when I saw this digital image from Aurora Wings a couple of months ago: Las Calaveras Digital Stamp I knew right away it would be perfect for her.  Being a complicated drawing, it took a while to finally get brave enough to try and color it for her birthday.   This one was a long time in the making, it took me several weeks of coloring with copic markers and another week just to figure out the design of the card.

Despite the "creepiness" surrounding the imagery of the holiday, it is actually about celebrating loved ones that have passed so I wanted to go more toward reverent than dark, but without making it look too light and frilly either.  With the help of the Ranger distressed inks and stains, this is what I ended up with:








Thursday, October 23, 2014

Been Awhile....Yeah, Understatement!


It's been months since I last posted anything.  The summer was a busy one, I finally put together my craft room!!  When I bought this house >7 years ago, it's what I wanted with that 3rd room but, without any real storage or garage, the room quickly became filled with everything from a bicycle to painting supplies (the house kind), unpacked books, Christmas decoration,  gift wrap even a chainsaw!  Essentially, it was the catch all room, with all my crafting supplies packed and lost underneath.

Well,  I finally got the steam (and ankylosing spondylitis back under control) to be able to do something about it.  It took several weeks just to get the room emptied to as close to empty as I could get it.  Things I thought I really wanted to keep became really easy to toss and give away once I finally got tired of looking at it AND realized that it was all seriously in the way of my crafting haha.

Following the purge, I had to pull the 70's harvest gold carpet...at least I think it was gold at one time.
As icky as that carpet was and as hard as it was to pull it, I'm really grateful for it. The hardwoods underneath were preserved, beautifully.  Next came painting and getting all the electrical updated.

Posting just a few photos of what I've finished so far, Mom wanted to see the hardwoods :)
I haven't got much on the walls yet.  I'm pretty set on decorating with things I make and not going out and purchasing a lot of stuff.  Plus, after taking the mixed media class with Wendy Vecchi at Betty's I really want to have a reason to do more of it...like I need a reason!



Camera Corner with Cleo.  My hubby gave me the lightbox and lights for my birthday.I have to keep it zipped up because Cleo discovered that it makes an awesome hideaway.



Stitching storage.  This is the other side of a credenza I got from a consignment store.  I didn't know how much I liked mid-century modern until I saw this.  It's now housing all my cross-stitch, hardanger and crochet supplies.  I had totally forgotten just how many beautiful patterns, threads, beads and linen pieces I have.  I'm looking forward to getting familiar with it all again.




Coloring corner with Faith.  The desk is another mid-century piece, it looks much nicer in person.  It's small but a really nice size for coloring.  The hubby is working on building me a larger table for the middle of room to do all the crafty stuff.



Nifty baskets from IKEA.  I really like them but I have to admit I was a little disappointed when they arrived, I had no idea that IKEA had started off-shoring everything to China...yes, I'm one of those...I prefer to support local when I can.
The item hanging on the left  is the journal I made in Wendi's class.


Paper cupboard.  I found this little piece in the same consignment store as the blue credenza.   It has several shelves in it and the 6x6 pads of paper fit inside perfectly.
I'm not fond of the 80's style paint job so it's on the to do list for a make-over.  


And finally, a close up of the Art Journal hanging from the baskets:

Front Cover of Art Journal

Back Cover of Art Journal



Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Keep Calm....

Quick post of card I made for the Outlawz Alcohol Markers Challenge.  The theme was "Keep calm and....".  Thought I'd go for something serene and happily, this image fit what I was looking for.  Will fill in with more detail soon as I have the time.





Thursday, April 10, 2014

Spring - Herb Garden

The hubby and I have been potting this years herbs lately and when I saw this digital stamp from The Paper Shelter I just had to get it for a Spring Challenge over at the Outlawz Copic Challenge.

 

Card Details

Copics:  I used my current favorite reds R20, R22 and R27, YR12, YR13, E21, E25, E79, E00, E21, G20, G21, G28, YG01 and B0000.
The bow is from my very first order from Really Reasonable Ribbon that arrived in the mail today  (yayayay!), Paper is from AC's Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Paper Pad, Peach Cardstock is from Ranger and the Green is Bazzill Parakeet.  Sentiment is one I created and printed out.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Fairy in Green

Was inspired to do this little lady, Kawaii Fairy by  AuroraWings.  The Facebook challenge was to color in greens which just happens to be one of my favorite colors.  Will post more details in the morning


Painting with Kitty


I'd originally planned for this to go into some challenges but, in the middle of coloring I ran out of my first copic ink and of course it was the colorless blender.  I may be way too dependent on it, as my coloring almost came to a stand still until my refill arrived.  I'm not sure I'm happy with the card design, I had bought the paper specifically for this digital stamp and can't redo it until I get more of the teal.  But it's on the to do list.



The digital stamp is Elisabeth Bell's Creative Genius and is printed on Copic Xpress paper.  Copic markers used for coloring were R20, R22, R24, R27, BG13, BG15, BG18, G20, G14 and I think the cat and hair are E11, E13 and E15...forgot to write those down.  Paper is from Michael's open stock and stamp is from TPC Studio.





Saturday, March 8, 2014

Sweet Kitty

Decided to take a shot at coloring white fur on this adorable kitty from AuroraWings called cupcake kitten.
Sweet Kitty



I actually got smart on this one and picked a paper I wanted to use and then colored the image to match rather than the other way around of coloring and then struggling to find papers/card-stock to match...a bit of a duh moment for me.  Sure made life easier!
Card Info:
Printed on Hammermill
Colors (copics):  B000, B21, B24, R20, R22, R24, Y32, YR23, G20, G24, C00, C1, C3, C5
Card Stock: Paper Temptress, Classic Linen, Chocolate Truffle
Paper from Dot Stack DCWV


And this is the first photograph, messed up by one of my cats trying to get at the bow, made me think that next time I try white fur, I'm going to add in some cream colors...
Brat Kitty

Challenges:






Friday, February 14, 2014

Triple Stamp_Roses


While home avoiding icy roads and nursing arthritis (yay cold damp weather!), was inspired (thanks Outlawz!) to try the triple stamp technique with a free stamp I got in the Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine, issue 24.  I think it's called fleur botanique.  Copic colors used are R20, R24, R89, BG90, BG93 and BG96.  The button is from Tim Holt'z Ideology Classic with a red brad in the center.  Was thrilled with how this card just came together on it's own, very fun to make.



Posting to Outlawz Alcohol Markers challenge.




Thursday, January 30, 2014

My Second Card





Made this for the Outlawz Friday Marker challenge but used the Wednesday sketch for putting the card together.

The cute digital stamp, Travel Bug from ARandomFan, is on Hammermill Color Copy Digital Cover.
Copic Colors on:  C1, C3, G12, G17, 100, Y28, YR23, Y32, BG53, BG000, B0000, R20, R81, R83, E00, E11, Hair - R27, YR07, YR21
Card Stock: Tim Holtz Ranger - Distress
Papers from lily bee designs "We Are Family"
Decorative Button from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic collection.
   
Worked up the courage to enter it at A Random Fan as well.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

First Card

20Jan13 First Card (that wasn't from a class!)



Created for challenge over at the outlawz, Outlawz Friday Marker Challenge
Card Information
Graphic Used: lovegirl Free download for personal use at My Grafico
Copics:  C1, C3, B0000, BG53, G12, G16, B93, B97, E00, E11, E74, Y28,

Note to self...NEED TO BUY MORE BLING!