And....

I was able to sit down and craft!  We returned from a long vacation to Florida and the trip was fantastic!  It was so good to get away....but it is always just as good to get back home and to what is familiar!  Like the crafting table.  After I cleared away the pre vacation mess I sat down and messed around with some images that I had colored previously.  Both cards feature Penny Black stamps.  The first one features Natures Day 4157K here .  I love this little image and don't use it nearly enough.  In fact, I find that I often get "hooked" on several stamps and leave my other stamps lying in lonely neglect for long periods of time.  Then when I do "rediscover" them it is like they are new and exciting all over again.

My second stamp uses Candid here and this actually is a stamp that I tend to gravitate to fairly often.  I think I have colored this flower just about every color imaginable!  And have liked it every which way I have colored it too.  I hope you like it too!

Take care and thank you so much for stopping by.  I am still trying to get caught up from being gone so long but do hope to post some vacation pics on here.  I always like it when other people do that on their blogs.....I feel as though they like their blog "friends" enough to share something personal with them and so, I also, would like to share with you!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                           

Untraditional....

Christmas cards are some of my favorite cards to make.  I love taking traditional Christmas images and kinda "tweaking" them.... Again, I am using the Christmas Star from Penny Black here and decided to go all "Blue Christmas" with it.  I hope you like it!

                                                                  

I am not sure about the placement of the 'bling" but the vellum, which I love using, was not cooperating and staying in place.  Thus, some awkwardly placed bling to hold it down.  ;-(

Thank for the visit!  I hope that you are having a good day!

Be well,

Sheila

Cheerful....

is the name of this image from Penny Black here  and "cheerful" is how I generally feel whenever I color this image in.  I love the gentle sway of the stem, the two sprightly leaves and the uneven assortment of petals.  All in all, just a happy, little image.  The papers used are from a several years old pack of Basic Grey paper that I came across when reorganizing my craft space.  I love "finds" like that.....it is just so "bonus"!  Here is my card.....

Thank you sooooo much for visiting my little crafting space today!  I appreciate your visit and will return the favor by stopping by your place!  Have the coffee hot please!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                           

I must apologise...

...I have beenon vacation for the last 8 days and although I had many posts "set" to go for whatever the reason they did not post as planned. In addtion, I brought my ipad thinking it would be easier and less bulky and there was internet but no wireless so I also wqs unable to comment on anyone elses blog. Oh well- i hope to catchup with all when we get home! Currently I am enjoying wireless in the airport! So on to my previously recorded post!

I must be feeling rather poetic this week as my last two cards contain a form of the word "poem" in the title!
For this particular card  I went back to Penny Black stamps and used the Garden Poems image here 3869K.  I love these sweet little, doodled flowers and today I used more jewel toned (in my view) holiday colors.  Then I brought down the holiday look a little bit by distressing the background....making it somewhat "cloudy" looking.  I think I like it.  I wasn't sure at first....but now that I have had a few hours to look at it I do believe I like the distressed appearance and feel it helps to make the stickled stems and flowers "pop" out more.   Sometimes, I feel when working with patterned paper that the paper begins to "take over" the image and with this card and its cloudy background, I feel that the image is able to stand on it's own!

The papers again are all Basic Grey....I am really loving their lines lately!  Thank you for popping in!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                             

Poppy Poem....

...isn't that a wonderful name for a stamp?  And, thankfully, the stamp image lives up to it's beautiful name!  I don't use this Penny Black stamp here 4036K enough.  I always am happy with the resulting card when ever I do use it...it just tends to get overwhelmed in  it's stamp drawer by the louder, pushier, bolder stamps!  There isn't much to color with this stamp and really, I love to color so I think that I overlook it because of that reason.  But, when ever I need a fast-go to card for almost any occasion this stamp fits the bill!  Today, it is just for someone "special".......Again, all the papers are Basic Grey.

                                                           

Thank you for dropping in today!  I appreciate you stopping by for a visit.

Be well,
Sheila

Lately....

I have been fixating on the "oranges".  Burnt orange, peach, bright orange, rust.....and mixing those colors with sea blue, turquoise blues and greens.  It doesn't sound like it would work but, to my eyes, it does!  Think I am loving these combo!  This is Penny Black Christmas Star here # 4104K.  The paper is all Basic Grey and the bling is clearance bin recolored with my copics!

                                                         
The sentiment is also Penny Black and the die cuts are Spellbinders.

Thank you for stopping by.....I appreciate your visit!

Be well,
Sheila

Hello ....

sparkles!  I actually purchased the sparkles that are on this card at a deep discount....if fact they were in the clearance bin at Michael's awhile back.  I scooped them up thinking that I could peel off and use the diamonds one by one but then I read that you can change the color of clear sparkles with your copic markers and voila!  I decided to give it a try and am pretty happy with the result!  I am going to enter this into the simon-says-stamp-texture -challenge over at Lily Pad as well as the Hero Arts flickr monthly challenge.  I will also add it to the Basic Grey flickr group since I used all BG Indie Bloom papers here . The stamp I used is HA Enjoy here .  I hope you like it...I really do!

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed your visit and really, everyone's comments lately have been so very, very nice!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                                       

This...

is a card that I made for a friend of mine who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.  Fortunately she has caught it extremely early and so her prognosis is excellent.  Still, it is scary.  I have know this woman for many years and feel that she is truly one of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met.  And classy.  She is soooo stylish and fashionable!  I really wanted to make her a card that reflected her personal classy self and this is what I came up with.  I will be entering this into the CR84FN42 Color Challenge....which I think is a pretty stylin' and classy trio of colors.

I will also put this in the Hero Arts November challenge.  The main stamp is HA Large Flower and the leaves are HA Blossums.  The paper is Basic Grey Little Black Dress...absolutely gorgeous patterns.  I hope she likes it!  

                                                                       

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a great night!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                                 

A whiff of...

Christmas!  I decided to sit down and make a pure, out and out Christmas card.  I used a Northwoods Rubber Stamp here #P7712 Milkcan and Poinsettias and Basic Grey Jovial Paper here . It was fun....but now back to laundry!  Here is my card:

                                                                 
I colored the image in with pencils and then stickled over.  Die cut is Spellbinders which I then traced around to form a mat.  Take care and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Be well,
Sheila

Butterflies...

are an element that I love but often forget to put on my cards.  I always enjoy seeing either stamped butterflies or punched butterflies on other people's cards, and actually used to put them on my own cards  before but then, for whatever the reason, I forgot about my little winged friends.  And, I forgot about how much they can add to a card.  Today's image is a very simple one from Penny Black called Garden Poems here and one of the reason's why I like it is for it's "just doodled" look.  And, when I finished my card, and looked at it all assembled it just seemed "lacking" to me.  And then I thought, butterflies.  And, there you go.

The paper I used is from the Basic Grey Indie Bloom collection, here, . Yep, I am using paper from this line AGAIN!  I am seriously grooving on that paper pack!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                             

Candy...

...specifically the round, pastel colored balls that are mint flavored.  Certain restaurants that we go to have them in a little dish with a small silver scoop and when you are leaving you scoop yourself some. They usually are mint green, pink, white and sometimes, a pale blue.  And they are delicious.  And when my husband, daughter, her boyfriend and I went out for dinner a few weeks ago I saw those little mints and thought what a wonderful pairing of colors.  So soft, delicate and "sweet" looking.  So, I tried to recreate that dish of sugar in a card....soft, sweet and definitely "sugar-y" looking.  I used Hero Arts Tall Flower Stamp here and Basic Grey Indie Bloom paper here .  And here is what I came up with:

I colored this image with copics and also colored in the "background" around the flower with copics too.  I stickled with Diamond, distressed another doily from Maureen Morton here, colored the "candies" with copics and then stickled those also.  Tied a bow and that's that!  Thank you for stopping by again.  I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                                   

Not.....

...much to write today.  It is snowing.  And blowing. And just generally rather nasty.  And, I left 7 errands for today because yesterday it poured, torrentially, non-stop, for the better part of the day.  So, I have gotten my errands done, am getting ready to make dinner for Corm and myself and thought that I would sit down and pop off a quick post.  This is a card I made from a LaBlanche stamp that I have used over and over and over.  I have colored this flower blue, pink, orange, red and even in the traditional sunflower colors.  Needless to say, one of my favorite stamps ever!  The papers are some Basic Grey from their "Mellow" collection and their Manila paper collection.....which I discovered anew when I took the time to clean up behind my crafting desk.  The paper pack must have fallen behind it about a year ago 'cuz I stopped searching for it a looooong time ago!

                                                 
I hope you enjoy your day/evening!  And, thank you for the visit!

Be well,
Sheila

I started out...

...with an entirely different card in mind.  And,  I ended up with the one that I am posting.  And, this sort of thing actually happens to me all the time...really, truly all the time.  I start out with the intention of this or that sketch challenge or this or that color challenge.  And, in my mind, the card is plotted out and I will meet the requirements of the challenge.  Then, I sit down, pull out my chosen stamp, inks, etc....and then the cardmaking process becomes quite organic and thoroughly out of my control.  I start doodling with colors on the scratch sheet, then realize that I really, at the moment, like this pairing of colors rather than the ones I previously decided on.  Then the same thing tends to happen to the sketch I chose, the papers I was going to go with etcetcetc until, at the card's finish I am left holding something pretty durn different than what I originally intended to make.  And, this is key here....I usually am quite pleased with my card.  Lots of times, when I do finish a card for a strict-ish type of challenge I don't like my finished product.  It is like I tried "too hard" to make it work....and when I just sit back, color-cut-and paste I usually have more enjoyment as the card takes shape under my hands.  Now, I am thinking that perhaps this is because I have not been doing card making as long as many other folks that I know.  And, it makes me wonder if the way to keep the personal enjoyment alive and well is to, at least in the beginning...is to make LOTS of cards and to make them any old way one wants to.  And, challenges are great when they are something one enjoys to do but the minute one is working hard to meet the challenges' requirements then card making or, really any craft or hobby, becomes more like work then play.  I really would like to enter more contests and challenges....I do have a competitive spark inside me but for the time being they are going to be "easy-peasy" ones....like I will be entering this into the Hero Arts Monthly contest...it follows their colors this month (wow-totally happy coincidence there!) and bling.  And, I can always be counted on to meet the bling requirements.  Maybe, we just need more bling challenges!  Anyways, I used the Hero Arts Little Black Dress here that I used the other day (scroll down if you please) and the Basic Grey Indie Blooms here paper.  And, a doily that Maureen Morton blog here sent me awhile back.  And I love these doilies....and when they are gone they are gone 'cuz I haven't been able to find them in a store anywhere!  So here is my card!

I did a close up of the stamp to show how really cool it is!  I like that flowers are also made up of little tiny hearts....then it can also be used for anniversaries, weddings and valentines  too!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  If you happen to stop by tomorrow to visit bring an umbrella...we have had oodles of rain with more on to come!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                                             

Not too...

...sure it I like this card.  It is really "out of the box" for me and perhaps that is why I am unsure.  I had an idea in my head the minute I saw the Mojo Monday sketch 

                                                               


and also knew that I wanted to take part in the colors for CR84FN C hallenge.

 I had recently picked up the Basic Grey/Hero Arts Little Black Dress paper and stamps here ( fairly delicious) and so I pretty much had the card all made in my head...it just didn't translate into reality quite the way I pictured it.  Oh well, we all have days like that! Actually, when I finished it and just pretty much went "ehh" I thought "of course!  I am trying to enter a challenge and that is where my execution and mojo always tank!". hehehe- well, anyways,hey-here is my card.

                                                               
I am aslo going to enter this into the Basic Grey Eye Spy and the Hero Arts Flickr group.  Ta-ta for now...I really shouldn't even be crafting today...I have tons of housework, errands and my son's jazz concert to attend tonight soooo I should have been up and about instead of glued to my chair.  But you understand...I NEEDED to craft ;-D  Thank you for stopping by!  Enjoy your evening.

Be well,
Sheila

Yes!!!!

...I love this cardmaking!  Early today, and I mean early because I often get insomnia, I was scrolling through blog stuff and I saw the Less is More Challenge for using red and orange together in a card.  Well, those colors always make me happy anyways so I was completely considering playing along. Then my blogging friend Sasha (here) explained to me why the 5th of November is a holiday and that people set off fireworks, almost continuously by her in celebration of the day.  So, I learned something new which is always a good thing.  Then I got to thinking about fireworks and how they light up the sky.  The biggest and most beautiful fireworks that I have seen around here on  the 4th of July are the "Chrysanthemum" fireworks.  I don't know if that is really what these super huge blooms of color are called but that is what we have always called them. Then I thought of this particular stamp from Hero Arts Indie Bloom set here and went with the largest "bloom" in the Bold Bloom set. Then I stamped, masked and stamped that stamp repeatedly, colored with copics and after mounting on white, black and white cardstock I stickled over the shaded areas of the blooms with orange and red stickles.  The stickles make it seem more "firework-y" to me!  So this card will be entered into the Less is More Week 40 Challenge, as well as the HA (bling...yes I know).

Thank you so much for stopping by...and I really appreciate your comments.  They make me feel good-there-'nuff said!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                       

Yule...

tidings.  Yep-I know I am a bit early with this but hey...one can never be too organized when it comes to holiday prep.  I needed to make two holiday cards and thought that I would go with Hero Arts in order to enter them  in both the 2Peas Contest as well as the monthly HA contest.  I have never done anything in 2Peas before and I really am not sure that I have uploaded my cards correctly.  I actually have been on a break from challenges as I found that I was not enjoying myself and just generally getting stressed out when cardmaking.  Like, I never uploaded in time, I goofed on challenge requirements or, in this current 2Peas case I cannot seem to navigate the site.  And really, while I understand that it must be "easy" and user friendly I also understand that I am actually a fairly intelligent person.....hence, my incredibly high degree of frustration when the uploading/navigation/posting and editing doesn't go smoothly.  Oh well, I hope that I will eventually learn my way around the 2Peas site and in the meantime I am also entering this into the monthly HA challenge with my cards' qualifying for the "bling" category.  Seriously, did you even doubt that when they announced "bling" as being a contest category that I would even hesitate to join in?  So, my personal challenge was to bling up both cards without any added gems, pearls etc....I wanted to bling-ify the cards with out my usual add - on embellies so, I tried to bling by using color, layers, and stickles and I am actually really pretty happy with the results.  So, here they be:

This particular stamp uses the HA Classic Holly stamp here which I then stamped numerous times on the card. Then, I colored with copics, stickled with Diamond stickles and done!

This card is from the HA clear set called Christmas Reindeer found here and the background is also HA called Tiny Flakes found here .  Again, colored with copics and stickled.  I believe I will probably be "stickling" from now till at least post Valentine's Day......Thanks so much for stopping by.....I am glad that I was able to share these!

Be well,

Sheila

                                                     

My daughter.....

Bessie started a blog.  It is called Love, Life and Pretty Things.  I love that she started a blog because she is one of these people who are just fun to be around.  She has tons of energy and loves ....well, loves just about everything.    She is graduating from college in December and ready to take on the world.  If you are interested in what she has to share here is her blogspot:

http://allthingsbessie.blogspot.com/

Please stop by....she would love to have visitors!

Be well,
Sheila