Saturday, March 31, 2012

An All Purpose...

...card is what I was striving for today.  I wanted a card to replenish my stash that had an all occasion type of sentiment and image.  I have had this particular stamp, Large Flower Background cg403 from Hero Arts for some time now and really liked it immediately although now is the first time I have had to ink it up.  I have seen some amazing cards out there in blog land using this stamp and was anxious to try using it myself.  I love the colors of pink, rose and red with kraft paper.  I decided to "tone" down the pink patterned paper by overlaying some vellum onto it.  This is a somewhat "go to" style of mine.....I feel like I am able to use patterned paper and then also stamp a sentiment with out having to add a sentiment tag or banner.  I also usually like how it looks with a colored image.....sometimes the colors don't always go together as well as I like and vellum is my method of "crafty concealer" for when I need to blend imperfections.  Anyways, I hope you like!


On another note, life has been goooood and super busy lately.  Busy in a really positive way.  Wisconsin has, until today and yesterday, had really lovely weather.  It has inspired me to to be out and about and neglecting my crafting.  Which is okay as I have felt the void of crafting filled instead with springtime breezes and warm sunshine ;-D  My husband and I also took last weekend to go visit our oldest in Minn.  She has take a new job an so we went and saw her new office, the new condo she will be living in soon and to just generally treat her like an "only child" which she hasn't been since her sister and brother were born!  And it was fun.....we shopped, had coffees outside, drinks on downtown Minneapolis rooftops and just generally a wonderful time together.  It is so different when your child becomes a "grown up" and you begin to relate to them as both your child and as this very interesting young adult.  I like this stage so far ;-)  I hope to get a few more cards up.....I have lots of images colored (love the coloring part!!!!) but not too many of these images have made their way into assembled cards.  That is surely my downfall.....the card assembling part!

Take care and be well,
Sheila

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Long time - No Blog Post....

...and,  that's life I guess!  Well, actually, the no blogging can be completely attributed to some widely FREAK weather here in Wisconsin.  We have had day after day of temps in the high 60's to high 70's.  It has been beyond lovely.  A true gift to a life long Wisconsinite who has endured Easter blizzards in the past.  So, one day was spent washing windows.  Another was spent raking.  Another was spent on a terrifically long walk.  Another sitting out in the sun and reading.  It has been marvelous.....today, my husband and son went to go get the boat out of storage.  Funny, we all know that this strange weather streak will end but still, it is so wonderful to get the late May outdoor work and yard prep done 2 1/2 months early.  So, here is my birthday card for my husband.  His birthday was March 1 but he was in India and China on a business trip and today is the first time we have been able to sit down and give him his presents.  And, it turns out it was a perfect day to give him this card as it ends up being the day he gets his boat out!  I had found this wonderful stamp put out by Mo Manning for Penny Black and scooped it up the minute I could get my hands on it. I thought it would be perfect for Joe.  The stamp comes with a sentiment that says "Just dropping you a line"  which is cute in and of itself but then I found at WhipperSnapper Stamp Designs this absolutely perfect  sentiment that also works for a birthday card....esp for a a very belated birthday card!  I then used Kathy Racoosin's "Moon" technique but changed it up to a sunrise that would greet a fisherman on his early morning outing!  I hope you like!  Joe really did and that was so important to me ;-D


I definetely will make my rounds to all the blogs I love to visit...and I see in our forecast that rain is coming but until then will make the most of this fabulous springtime gift of warm days!  I hope you are enjoying your life right now too!

Be well,
Sheila

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Night School!

Last night I took a copic card coloring class at my lss.  I happened to have the two stamps that the cards were being made with and so I thought it would be fun to go and color with other ladies and get some ideas other than my own on coloring these stamps.  I have never really done one of these classes before as the store is a drive into another town and usually the classes are at night when my family is home. But, this was a lot of fun to try.  The woman who ran the class, Tracy, is super nice and friendly and just one of those people who makes me feel welcome whenever I see her.  So, the two cards you see are completely Tracy's design and  color choices. She had the two cards all pre cut and and stamped and all we had to do was follow the coloring instructions from her pre - made samples.....so, I just went and "followed" directions!  And had a complimentary cookie.  How much better does life get than that?  Free cookies and a night of coloring!  Both stamps are Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co.  I think I will try changing up these color schemes somewhat when I do them on my own.  I would like to make the eggs all one color and the basket with a bit of color in it and I would like to do the tulips in several colors and the bunnies brown.  Save it for another day!  Here are the cards:



Thanks for the visit!  I hope that spring is coming to your area....it certainly is to southeastern Wisconsin and for that I am thankful!  

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Happy Birthday....

....well, to really no one in particular.  I just am trying to build up my stash of birthday cards.  I am low on every imaginable type of card lately...except, for some reason, Christmas cards.  Obviously, missed some people this year!  Anyways, I used a Whipper Snapper Design image that I cut and popped up the balloon, the cake and the party hat.  Then a bit of glossy accents on the balloon, the flames and then stickles on bits of the images here and there.  I decided to mount the image on color but then emboss a large expanse of white to really highlight the image.  I am super pleased with how this came out and am thinking I will do several more!  It is a smallish image thus making it easy to color quick. Another plus with it being small is that it is also a way to get rid of scraps for the mount layers!  Love to clean out the scrap pile!


Thank you so much for stopping by!  I always appreciate the stop by ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

And I would like to thank the Academy....

because I have just received an award!  Specifically the Liebster Award.  And who I really, really need to thank is Joy, Paula and Sasha for giving me this award.  Thank you ladies...it means so much coming from you all.  I am editing this post to include Sasha as she was simultaneously awarding me as I was awarding her!


This award is pretty exciting to me as I don't tend to enter challenges and so, well, obviously, winning of ANYTHING doesn't really happen for me in cardmaking.  But this is different as "Liebster"  is German for "dearest".  The award is a type of "share the love" gesture or arrangement that is given to inspirational bloggers with fewer than 200 followers (based on google followers). And I love that in any sort of way I have "inspired" someone!  What a treat that is to hear.  And, for me I heard it from three lovely ladies whose blogs I love to follow!  Joy of Morning Glory Studios and Paula of Scrappy Me and Sasha of Sasha's Inspirations.  Each of these ladies create just the most wonderful cards...please stop by their blogs and check them out! You will not be disappointed!


Here is the to do list of any Liebster recipient:


1: Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.


2: Reveal your five blog picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog!


3: Copy and paste the award (see above) on your blog.


4: Hope that those that you award forward it on to their favorite bloggers.


And it is really hard to pick just 5 people.....I can't tell you how difficult that is!  


The first person that I want to acknowledge is Maureen Morton.  Her blog is Watermarks and if you haven't been to Maureen's blog you are in for quite a treat!  She combines humor, real life moments and AMAZING cards all into postings that make you leave her blog with a smile!


The second person that I would like to highlight is Sasha of Sasha's Inspirations.  I will start off with a capitalized WOW.  Check out her work.  I love it because in a million years I could NEVER make cards like the pristine lovelies that Sasha creates.


The third award I would like to give to Joan of Paperlicious.  I LOVE this blog and probs have NEVER left a comment.  But I follow Joan after seeing her highlighted by Jill on Inspired by....and fell in love with her coloring.  Since I, too, am such a big colorer I love to see how others use their favorite medium to fill in images.  Joan uses colored pencils...which, until very recently, were the only thing I colored with!


The fourth person that I am awarding the Liebster to is Dawn of Dawn's World.  Dawn is one of the nicest bloggers that I have had the pleasure of "meeting" and her cards always delight.  She has a wide range of style and also mixes in fun pictures from her life in her blog.


The next person I would like to award is Debbie of Debbie Does Craft's.  Debbie makes the most beautiful and intricate cards....they are gorgeous.  I like to follow her blog as her style is totally different from mine and I always get ideas from her layouts!


And, while I know that I am to only highlight or award 5 bloggers I am going to add another two as I was given the award by three people at once.  The first blogger is Tanya of Scattered Stamper.  Tanya uses colors just beautifully and I love the design of her cards.  Please go check her out!


 Linda of R2Scrap makes cards of unusual beauty. I first came across Linda in the Hero Arts flickr pool and was struck by the "art" of her cards.  Linda makes cards that are little "gems" of creativity and artistry.  I hope you  visit her blog!


Please go check out all of the bloggers that I have highlighted.  They are all so unique and their blogs so interesting....I know that I always find a bit of inspiration on each and every visit I make!


Be well,
Sheila



Sunday, March 4, 2012

Birds of a feather......

are popping up in my blog lately.  Probably the second most fun image for me to try coloring (with flowers being the first!) are birds.  And I like the images to be sort of "fantastical" and whimsical.  Soooo, I have another Whipper Snapper Design bird and I loved coloring it.  For this first time I, again, stuck fairly close to the colored picture on the stamp.  That just  really seems to work for me and help me get my confidence flowing that I can color the image.  So, here is my card, and I held off on a sentiment so I can put one inside for whatever occasion I will use this card for.  I like these ole' birds as they can be used for so many different types of cards.  Here it is.....I "enhanced" the photo as it is a super overcast day and the lighting just made the card look a bit "dark".  The first pic is the natural light and the second pic is "enhanced".  Which do you like better?



I am thinking that the enhanced version looks sort of neon or florescent.  Hmmmmm.

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, March 2, 2012

It's a quickie....!

Hi all!  I have just a super quick post....hopefully more coming later.  We are set to receive anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of snow later today and tonight and so I want to get a MASSIVE amount of errands done before the weather begins.  I have several amazing bird images from WhipperSnapper and I finally had time to sit down and color one.  The other night my son wanted company to watch a few episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and how could I resist such an offer from such cutie right?


So, I trucked my copic's and images over to family room and sat and colored while I watched.  I love these images.....so fun to color!  WhipperSnapper publishes their stamp images in color and I followed the picture of this stamp pretty closely.  They do not tell you what colors they use but I followed the general "gist" of what I thought their colors were.  I find this helps ALOT the first time I color an image.  After that I generally choose to go off on my own and use colors of my own choice.  I could see this peacock being done in shades of pinks and oranges too.  I don't care that "real" peacocks aren't really pink and orange...I just care about what colors make me happy when I am coloring! This particular card I am sending to  my oldest daughter.  And, yes, I am proud as a peacock of her!  So, not much to say about the card....it is pretty straightforward.  I colored the image and then mounted it on several pieces of card stock, added a ribbon, a bit of bling and voila!


Thank you so much for stopping by today ;-)  I hope you aren't getting hit with the kind of crazy weather that the Midwest is currently experiencing.  Take care!

Be well,
Sheila