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