Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happiest of....

....New Year's to you all!  I hope that 2011 finishes out in a flourish for you and that 2012 brings all that you wish for!  I want to thank you all for your kind comments that you have made through out the year on my blog.  I have really appreciated each and every comment and love that you have taken the time to stop and look over my creations.  I had time to color and play for a bit yesterday and this is what I came up with!  The first card uses another snowman stamp by Whippersnapper Designs here called Snowman Wishes to You .  I like Whippersnapper Design snowman because they actually have a tab that is just for snowmen.....and there are over 200 hundred to choose from...so cute!


And my second card uses a Northwoods Rubber Stamp co stamp p1886 .  This is actually the first time that I colored this particular stamp and I always like the Northwoods stamps because they are so darn "satisfying" to color!



Other than coloring with copics, the cards were glittered with glue and glamour dust and the holly has a bit of red stickle also.  And one of my holly berries exploded.  Oh well, once again HANDMADE!

Have a wonderful New Years and be safe!

Be well,
Sheila

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Third Day with....

.....Jill Foster Inspired by.....blog.  Honestly, I have had such a gas being part of this week with Jill.  It really is like Christmas morning each day when I wake up!  Christmas for an (almost) 50 year old hehehe!  The first thing I do when I wake up this week is to turn over and grab my ipad to see if Jill has posted yet and to see what card she might have picked out!  I love that she picked out the one she did today.....it is a FAVE stamp of mine from LaBlanche and a really fun one to color....I did it with copics.  And how fun is Jill's interpretation?  Right?  Using fun, mod little Mimi!  Anyways, if you have time pop over to Jill's blog to check out the two cards.

Then, I have  a card for today.....I had a little time yesterday to craft and was able to color two images.  The first one I was able to finish into a card.  It's Nippy..... Nippy the Snowman by Whippersnapper Designs to be precise.  How could I not buy a stamp called Nippy the Snowman?  Thank goodness the image is as cute as the name!  Anyways, just a fun little "man" to make a fun little card with.  I always like snowman images as they can be totally "decked" out in holiday colors and therefore used for Christmas cards or, in this card's case, my little frigid friend can be outfitted in more "stylin' colors and used for an all purpose winter greeting!  The sentiment is from Heartfelt Creations...and, now that I look more closely at it I believe I stamped it crookedly.....oh well, handmade right!?!  And, heeeere's Nippy!



I also wanted to give the link out for the stamp on the card that Jill Foster highlighted on her blog yesterday.  It was a stamp by Outlines Rubber Stamp Co and I was asked about it so here is the link.
http://www.outlinesrubberstamp.com/ecom/prodDetail.cfm?prod=2440&catID=322&mcatID=321&pageNum=1

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Another card at Jill's....

....Inspired by....blog, here .  And, I don't have a card to post on my own blog...yet.  One of my kids is having a sleepover and the kids are still not up yet.  Guess that is what happens when the college kids come back home - they don't get up till nearly the afternoon.  Anyways, I am not able to get my craft area as I would have to turn on lights and walk through the "sleepover" to get to my place.  UGH!  But, you can see an old card of mine over at Jill's blog....and I am so happy that she picked this particular card!  I personally love it and had alot of fun coloring it when I was making it.  You know how that is?  You are just sitting there at your table, coloring, crafting and thinking....wow-I am having a good time with this card!  Anyways, please stop over at Jill's place and see her take on my card....her take is, of course, STUNNING! And, lovely, and just a really pretty card.  And maybe, hopefully, I will get into my crafting room today and make another one of my own!  Thank you sooo much for all the kind comments from yesterday both over at Jill's and on my blog.....you all are really nice peeps!

Be well,
Sheila

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Sharing time!!!!

Today I get to share my big news.....I am being featured over on Jill Foster's Inspired by....blog here and I am over the moon happy/excited/tickled by this turn of events.  I use the phrase "turn of events" because for me, this type of recognition really and truly is a "turn" for me.  Usually I just do my crafting because it is fun, comforting and it really gives me a way to relieve stress and have an enjoyable, peaceful time.  I craft because it gives me joy and I like to "make" things.  I like to color.  But I pretty much do it by myself and share it, when I can, here on my blog.  But to have someone like the very sweet Jill contact me and ask if she can show some of my cards on her blog....well, that is an email that made me glow to my toes.  I have followed Jill for sometime now and have always been "inspired" by her work....she just has a way about her art that makes even the most simple image grab your attention.  Her cards are always so compelling and I honestly feel that by following her blog I have learned so much....so, to now be on her blog-well, I feel very wonderful inside and am absolutely smiling as I am typing.  I am sooooo curious (as I am typing this entry without having a clue as to what cards she might have chosen) to see what cards Jill has picked and I am even more curious to see her takes on them! Please share in my excitement and go check out Jill's takes on my cards here . So, thank you Jill......you and your Inspired by.....recognition helped to make my year, my 2011 go out with style!

I also have a very simple card to share today that I made with some leftover scraps from yesterday's cards.  I was putting away these bits of paper when I remembered that I had an older Hero Arts stamp of a dove....much like the doves on the patterned paper.  So a couple of minutes later I came up with this card and for such a quick little card I am pretty pleased with how it came out!


Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you too are having a great day!

Be well,
Sheila

Monday, December 26, 2011

I have news to share....

....and I can't WAIT until I am able to share it! Hi Everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful time over this past weekend and were able to relax and enjoy the holiday.  My family had a really nice day. And, on top of having a really, really wonderful day with my family I also received some pretty special news that I hope to be able to share with you tomorrow! Onto what I CAN share with you right now though. Today is the first day in quite a while that I have been able to sit down and craft and really, it was wonderful.  I have crafted over the last week or so but it was always items that were for the holidays and so I began to feel the press of Christmas day bearing down upon me!  I also am fairly lax (call it sloppy) when it comes to cleaning up my space after each project so by the time Christmas day arrived I was nearly buried in paper, ribbons, glitter and glue.  I have actually enjoyed reclaiming my crafting area by tidying it up. I made some new winter cards today using some fun pp and an old Hero Arts stamp.  Here they are!





Thank you so much for stopping by.....I can't wait to share my super-duper exciting news with you!

Be well,
Sheila

Monday, December 19, 2011

Hero Art Christmas Card....

....exchange.  I have totally forgotten to mail off a card to my HA Flickr holiday card exchange.  Can't believe I forgot this but I did.  I am hoping that she is as crazy busy right now as the rest of the world with regards to the holidays and that she hasn't realized how very late this card is.  So, that being said, I am just going to go ahead and post the card. I am also going to enter it in the HA monthly sketch challenge.  It follows the first sketch pictured.



 Again used the Hero Arts Christmas Reindeer Cl540 here.  These reindeer crack me up as they really aren't the type of image I would gravitate to but I really have had more fun playing with them this season.  I haven't posted all the different cards that I have used them for but, really, I have used them ALOT!  So here is my card...


Thank you so much for stopping by and all your kind comments regarding our daughter graduating.  I hope you are almost finished with your holiday preps....we are all headed down the straightaway now!

Be well,
Sheila
                                         

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Amazing....

....but I am now the mother of a college graduate!  My lovely daughter, Bessie, graduated this past week from the Univ of Minn and did it in only 3 1/2 years!  We are so proud of her.  We traveled to Minn to see her graduate, celebrate with an amazing meal afterwards and then, meet up with lots of her friends at their favorite college "club".  Fun time! Here is a picture of our beautiful graduate....




And here is a pic of the graduation card I made for her.  First of all, Bess loves the pairing of pink and orange together.  She also loves silvery sparkle and bling.  And she loves black....loves to wear it and loves to accent with it.  Her favorite flowers as a child were sunflowers, hence the colored Impression Obsession sunflower stamp in the background.  And she loves polka dots therefore the card needed lots of dots.   Her name means The Rose and so when I saw this Penny Black stamp I knew it would be perfect for Bess. Also, this particular stamp reminded me of Bess as she loves dressing up and loves to wear high heels.....




It has been a whirlwind the last few days but a good whirlwind!  Thank you for stopping by ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Two posts in one day....

just who am I?  I never have time to double post!  Actually, these are card sets that were  finished a day or so ago but I totally forgot to take pics of them.  I am a chemo angel and I thought that some sets of cards that are Christmas themed might be a nice thing to have around for  someone who is not feeling well.  This way, a simple card, check , thank you etc...can be inserted into the card last minute.  I had picked up some festive paper on sale awhile back....it is really not my style but you know us crafters....who can throw something away when it is perfectly good etc....and then I remember the Hero Arts card set challenge for this month.  These are very simple layered paper cards with just a highlighted sentiment.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Joy to All CL460 here  which really has some very nice sentiments and fonts.  Sorry for the poor photo quality....I had no idea how to photograph these....no matter what I did they looked goofy!


So, as you can see, these are absolutely easy peasy to make!  In fact, they are so simple that I am a touch embarrassed to even be blogging them but, still wanted to share ;-D


So, main differences here are the sentiment is different and sometimes I changed up the ribbon placement!  Take care!

Be well,
Sheila

Just a quick...

...show and go.   I made this card with some scrap paper left over from another Christmas card I made another day.  I know that this paper isn't really Christmas themed but it works for me!  The main stamp is Hero Arts Winter Pine K5256 here .  I am  not sure if this is a newer stamp or not but it is one of my favorite winter ones....it is just a classic image of a  pine tree.  The sentiment is Papertrey....also an older set I believe.  I am going to enter this into the Hero Arts monthly sketch challenge also.

and my card.....


Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope that everyone is healthy at your house and getting excited for the holidays!

Be well,
Sheila

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Hello ....

...and a short explanation.  I have been absent.  That's all.  I don't always do "well" with holidays and so, my blog has suffered.  Also, like everyone else, it has been incredibly busy and so crafting time has been put on the back burner lately.  I miss it.  So, today, I felt the need, after several doctor appts, to just quit running around doing the Christmas prep thing and instead head back to my home to craft.  Amazing how soothing that can be.

I made three cards all using Hero Arts stamps.  Why all Hero Arts you ask??? Well, they were the stamps that were left on my extremely messy table and since my crafty time was at a premium well...you can see where this is going ;-)  Also, I really like the stamps that I used.  They are simple and fun and worked really well, in my opinion, with the lovely, subtle holiday paper I used.  I also am entering them into the Hero Arts monthly chllenge.  The first and third card are for the sketch challenge.


The first stamp I used was the Enjoy the Seasons CG210 here  .  Pretty simple....I assembled the card and then stamped out the flakes and fussy cut them.  Blinged them up with some stickle.


The second stamp that I used was the Season's Greetings CG223 here .  I love these trees....I think that they are funky looking for some reason.  I also stayed with sections of the same paper which I used to make snow hills.  I like it.  I am not so enamored with the stickle I used.  I thought it was Diamond but it was icicle....should have put my reading glasses on. ;-D


 The last stamp I used was the Classic Holly CG229 here .  This particular card used all the left over scraps from the other two cards.  I simply cut them into strips and adhered them to some scrap cardstock.  I then ran this through the cuttle bug in a snowflake printed folder.


I hope that everyone is enjoying the days leading into Christmas...I hope you all are further along than me in your holiday preparations!  Sheesh....I need to get cracking!  And finally, please excuse my negligence in getting to other blogs...I will be back on track soon!

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, December 2, 2011

Virginia's Birthday....

!!!!  Finally I have been able to find time to  make a birthday card and take part in Virgina's virtual birthday party.




Although Virginia doesn't know it she is very important to me as she taught me something with the very first card I ever uploaded.  I was sooooo nervous to join flickr.  But back on June 25, 2010 I decided to take the plunge and, with a tremendous amount of technical help from my kids, I up loaded this card:           

                                                 

And I received comments...and it was exciting to have people other than my family say nice things about my cards.  I immeadiately felt welcomed by the Hero Arts Flickr group.  And then, I received this comment from Virginia...."Congrat on being featured in Hero Arts Twitter! You started in this group with a bang! This card is super lovely with the acetate!" and I was thrilled with her compliments and completely baffled with her comment about "twitter"!  I had never heard of the term twitter and had no clue as to what she was talking about....so, I waited.  And waited.  And WAITED until one of my "teens" came home and filled me in on what twitter was....where it was located and how to find it in the Hero Arts group.   And, then I scrolled thru the twitters and Virginia was right!  I WAS MENTIONED O WOW O WOW O WOW!  It was just all so new, and so exciting.  And, now, here I am (still without a twitter account) but I upload cards, have made friends online (like Virginia) and have a blog!  And just the other day I received this comment on some posted ATC's from Virginia...."PERFECT design for Chris mas ATC!! Way to go, Sheila! Congrats on the Hero Arts Tweet!".  So, it just goes to show you.....when it comes to Virginia she is always "there" for all of us in the flickr group.  She consistently has an upbeat attitude and a kind comment to make.  So, thank you Virginia, for all the nice comments that you have made on my work in the 17 months that I have been in the the flickr group.  You have NO IDEA how much your kindness means to all of us who have had the pleasure to have "met" you online.  I wish you a very Happy Birthday and hope your birth day is the start of another wonderful year for you!  Take care and thank you for inviting me to your party!


Thank you all for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Be well,
Sheila

Stamp used is Hero Arts Outline Magnolia CG193 and Essential Messages CL371 

A quick...

...post before I need to go down and switch some laundry!  I started working with this stamp yesterday. First I stamped it in white ink and then embossed it with a glittered powder.  Then, I distressed it in that new iced spruce color.  I didn't like that color so much....actually, I didn't like it at all.  So then I went over the spruce with the darker evergreen color.  And it was better but by only a bit.  Then I added the deep purply sapphire color and bammo!  I liked the color that was built up but I also felt like the glitter had faded or been  rubbed off by all my distressing.  So, trying to think ahead, I pulled out my heat gun and heated the paper a bit to make sure the distress ink was totally dry!  Then I ran a versa mark pen over the raised, embossed image and added more glittered embossing powder.  And, I ended up with embossing powder all over my paper.  I mean, it was stuck EVERYWHERE!  Like what the hey???? I heated the page and all so I figured nothing would stick. Whoa-was I wrong! Sooooo, I decided that the work I had put in thus far was worthless now and so I decided to go ahead and heat the image/paper one more time.....basically just to see if the second embossing would take.  And, lo and behold, the glitter embossing powder that had clung to the distressed paper melted and became this really cool, cyrstallized back drop for the image.  And man o man-I was doing the super happy dance for stumbling upon a really cool look.  I mean, other people might already do this but I hadn't ever before and since I thought that the card was totally toast and destined for the trash can....well, you can imagine how tickled I was by the way this card turned out!  So, then I mounted it on some patterend papers, stamped a sentiment in white ink (which I can never get to look "white" enough for me) and then added a row of pearls that I put a little bit of stickle on to glitter them up.  I think my lines are a little crooked but if I straighten them now the card will really be destined for the trash can.  So, anyways, I used a Hero Arts Stamp called Winter Scene K5524 here.  And it is funny, cuz just before I had my big "breakthrough" on this card I decided to take a break, have a yoghurt and see what was new on blogger dashboard.  And, then I saw Judy (who I adore) had posted her amazing card here and it "inspired" me to get my b*** in gear and go back and try to make something of my image.  So, thanks Judy!  Here is my card.



Thank you for stopping by!  I hope to have one more card today...it's kinda drying after an unfortunate accident with a bottle of glue and then the subsequent emergency procedure performed ....if the card pulls through I will be sure to post it!

Be well,
Sheila

Thursday, December 1, 2011

2 Cards...

...for no other reason than I like to color!  I had these two images colored already, and with today morphing into a super busy day that I hadn't foreseen I only had time to assemble the images into cards.  But, the time I had planned to create card for  Virginia from scratch will be done either later tonight or tomorrow and I am really looking forward to making a birthday card!  It feels like I haven't made one for so long.  But back to today's cards.  The first is a Penny Black Stamp called Two's Company 4165K here and, actually, this might be the first time that I have inked it up.  I feel like I could have done more with it...I am not unhappy with this card just have a nagging sense of there is more to be gotten out of this stamp than I achieved...I think it has lots of possibilities and know I will have fun playing around with it!  I would LOVE to have all the Fashion Girl stamps and make "sets" out of them....I think they are so fun and contemporary looking.



My second stamp uses a Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co image here that I really like but have found it a little awkward as far as finding a way to "place" it on a card.  So again, I need to find some "mess around" time with this image to get it so I really love it.  The paper is Basic Grey from their Jingle collection and the sentiment is a rub on from the clearance bin.  The areas that I left white on the flowers I very lightly stickled with Diamond stickles and in person it has a really cool sheen that kinda POPS out.  It doesn't photograph that way so you will have to take my word on it.....or, stop on by to my house.  I have peppermint white chocolate covered pretzels that I will share with you ;-D



Thank you for stopping by.  I appreciate the visit and any comments you might have about these two stamps!

Be well,
Sheila