Fun and Mental Changes

Ok, as promised!  Here's the Spectrum Noir project I promised you in yesterday's post.  I've got a few more in the works... those will be posted throughout the rest of this week and into next week.  This project features Tiddly Inks' Precious digi along with Create With TLC sentiment.  The paper is from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante line and OF COURSE the markers I used to color this cutie is Spectrum Noir.  List of colors is: Skin TN1, TN2 Dress BT5, BT4, BT6, GB4, GB8, GB10  Hair EB3, EB2 and TN1.  Alright, that does it for today.  I JUST finished the project for tomorrow's post, so stay tuned for that one.  It's quite bewitching.....

Alright, so I've been sitting on this FOREVER!!!  Well, truth be told, this was another item that was buried in the mess that was my craft room that came to light a few weeks back with my big Feng Shui push to get my space and my life organized.  I'm JUST NOW getting around to posting this and it is LONG overdue because this digi stamp artist ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!  Above is Framed Zombie Girl With Bow digi from Dilly Beans Stamps .  These images are BEYOND cute and I'm so glad to finally be sharing them with all of you!  This card was actually completed a while back so be sure to click on the link to check out all of Megan's newest gems!!!  Her artwork reminds me of one of my favorite artists.... Jasmine Becket Griffith !!!  And to be able to get them in digis for such reasonable prices, well, you can see why it was important to share these digis with the world!  LOL!  Check her out!

  So here it is.... my SECOND digital coloring project.  Don't ask to see my first!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!  I just recently got the Wacom Bamboo Craft tablet and pen that came with Photoshop Elements 8 and DOVE into the world of digital coloring.  The box arrived with EVERYTHING I needed to get started... well, except I don't have a color printer! :/  Not too big of a deal since I CLEARLY need more practice, but I'm getting there and predict that my next purchase will, in fact, be a color printer! :) Now for the product review.  So the Bamboo craft tablet is WONDERFUL!!!  It came with a little tutorial to learn how to use it.  It was interactive and pretty simple.  The tablet ALSO came with Photoshop Elements 8 which is NOT so easy to use.  Reading some reviews on Photoshop I know why.  Actually, the Photoshop Elements has MANY of the components of Photoshop (the full professional version) so just a little word of advice.... prepare ...

Ever since Graphic 45 came out with their Steampunk Debutante Line last year, I've been CRAZY for the whole Steampunk theme, and STOCKED up on everything steampunk I could get my hands on.... that includes the AWESOME Victorian Steampunk Lilith from Tickled Pink Stamps you see here! AND NOW I see that there is a DT Call over at Tickled Pink Stamps, so isn't this just the perfect time to pull out all my new favies (and old favies) and give it a go!!! Seen here are a couple of merged stamps and some word art.  The scroll is one of my favorite stamps from Make It Crafty .  I actually used this scroll for a candle that I personalized with my sister and her husband's wedding date.  To see that project, click HERE .  I popped Lilith on top and added some word art.  I thought about just making it say "REWARD", but adding the "Wanted Dead or Alive" kind of gave me a chuckle so I went with that.... especially since I added the "Missing You" sentimen...

 Graphic 45's Magic of Oz arrived at Paper Vineyard last week and this week the design team had a BLAST playing with all the goodies!!!  I took a cue from my new blog friend Barb and used a scrapbook layout she completed as inspiration for my project.  The simplicity of using up those mini-scraps is just BEYOND brilliant.  She is the newest of the MANY talented blog friends I have, so don't be surprised if you see me saying her name A LOT!!!  Her talent is out of this world and TOTALLY up my alley [thanx for the card Barb, it is WONDERFUL]!!! So, of course, I used Copics for this project.  LOTS of E40's and R20's and finished up with YG20's... with a little Y18 and Y00 thrown in to make the cat tails and the shiny doorknob.  For some reason, my shadowing lightened A LOT on this pic, so I'm going to try and take another pic in better lighting and re-post.  Hopefully I can show this a little better.  For some reason, I've been sucking with m...

Wow, funny challenge over at The Burtonesque Dolls this week... MARS ATTACKS! Create an original project inspired by the Tim Burton film Mars Attacks featuring the color green.  I have to be honest here; as much as I love Tim Burton films, I haven't ever seen this one.  I based my project SOLELY on the name.  I think that's what I'll do this weekend... rent a movie.  I know there's a free rental coupon for Blockbuster floating around this house somewhere.  LOL! So anyway, the image I used is "Soho" from Kenny K and I thought it was cute and PERFECT for this challenge.  What I DIDN'T figure on is that the 3 inch size was going to be a challenge to color all by itself!  SHEESH!!!  If it wasn't for the fact that I had this card in mind to send off to someone, I would have enlarged it a bit to make it easier to color, but I wanted it to be an A2 size to stick in the mail.  This one was TOUGH!!!  I don't think I've ever used my p...

Ok... quick backstory here:  I was in a discussion with a few wonderful ladies the other day regarding my memories of childhood, one of which was my LOVE for the color purple because the object of my affection at the ripe old age of 5 years old was Donny Osmond (well, until he got married...hahahahahha).  So thanks ladies... this one is for you!  Copics used to color this one:  BV000, B41, C0, C1, C2, C4, E41, E42, R20, V01, V04, V09 and YG05.  I also went in at the end and added some glitter highlights using the purple Spica pen.... LOVE THAT!!!  Both stamps used for this one are digi stamps.  The gorgeous fairy princess is Tiddly Inks, Cast Your Spell  and the sentiment is from Create With TLC . *** Sorry about the lighting on this one folks!  I was trying to get a good angle on this so that the sparkle of the Spica pen showed in the pic.  Unfortunately, I lost some of the brightness on the page that I usually look for...

WOO HOO!!!  Another blog hop!  I love these blog hops... filled with prizes, fun projects to see and a TON to learn.  This one is NO exception!  By now you should be arriving from Holly's AWESOME creation.  If you are just joining us, you will want to start our hop from the beginning ( HERE ) so you don't miss any of the blog hop goodness.  The blog candy up for grabs on this blog is TWO of the Skull Flower suckers like the one's pictured in Nicole's arrangement.  Just leave a comment on this post between now and the 7th for your chance to win.  I will pick the winner the evening of the 7th when the hop is over and post it on my blog.  Good luck everyone. So my holiday themed birthday project is... you guessed it... Valentines.  And I made this for our birthday girl/co-blog organizer Nicole, The Canadian Nickel.  Happy Birthday Nicole!!!  And thank you to my friend Barb for inspiring this blog hop project.  I used lots of...

FUN CHALLENGE ALERT... this week's challenge over at Make It Colourful is to color on something OTHER than white cardstock, so I chose to stamp a candle!!! I used the Ornate Floral Scroll over at Make It Crafty and American Art Stamps' Zen 10 stamp to stamp this beautifully smelling vanilla candle! This was definitely an AWESOME challenge and I can't wait to see what everyone does with this. Click HERE to head over to the challenge and get some more inspiration from the rest of the Colour Addicts.... I know for a fact that they turned out some AMAZING stuff for this one!!! Copics used for this project: E00, E33, E35, E39, E40, E49, R20, R22, R29, Y18, YG03, YG63. Thanx for joining in on the fun!

Well, here I am! Back after a hard couple of weeks, but I'm thrilled to have such an AWESOME crafty diversion (I REALLY needed it too)! So Make It Colourful is running a pretty cool challenge this week to create a monochromatic/vintage/photo project, click HERE to check out the details for the challenge and to see what the rest of the design team turned out (the projects are AMAZING!!!). My project has that dreamy, Victorian feel to it featuring The Greeting Farm's Freaky Flutter digi as well as Make It Crafty's Open Window digi . For those who do not know, Make It Crafty's blog has THE BEST tutorials! To see how to layer two digis (like the two I'm featuring here), check out Make It Crafty's How To Use Your Make it Crafty Digital Stamps in MS Word video tutorial. For this project I also mixed the neutral, warm and cool grey Copic Markers... I've never done THAT before! I thought it ended up being a pretty neat effect. Everywhere I envisioned there would...

Isn't it funny how Oogie Boogie and Christmas just works... well, in that creepy sort of way anyway!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! So over at The Burtonesque Dolls this week, the challenge is to create a Christmas project featuring the beloved Burton villain, the Oogie Boogie Man! Wow, this one was SOOOOOO fun!!! I just wish I would have had the extra time to photograph this with the gummy worms in it. That would have been the added touch to make this one even "Oogie Boogieier" *** My project is featuring an Oogie Boogie cut file I created along with the OH-SO-AWESOME Dollz Bonez Skull Flower digi stamp (click on pic to enlarge)! Using the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cricut cartridge made this project a snap... it's a quick one for anyone thinking of turning out a few for office pals! Adding the gummy worms will make it rock!!! LOL! Either your office pals will LOVE receiving this and you'll be the office superstar, or they will shun you and you will eat lunch alone because you...

Ok... I lovingly call this, "The Neighbor's Tree"! HA! I love this image. This card is an entry for the design team spot over at The Burtonesque Dolls (there's still time to enter gang) and it features Simply Betty's Tristan from the Punky Teens Christmas line. I actually had a few people watching me create this with cackles of laughter.... I knew I was gonna have to post this one. So I used my sewing machine to do a ROUGH sew-job (I've been doing that A LOT as of late) and added some photo corners just to break up the black and white. I used some puffy paint to make the snow dimensional and my Cricut to cut the snowflake. I then added some Sakura metallic pen accents and this one was ready to go! I'm also working on a shaker Christmas ornament featuring this little guy... stay tuned for that one!!! Please keep your fingers crossed for me... the design team will be announced a week from Tue sday!!! Alright folks.... pictured is the EVIL Martha Stewart c...

** The following blog post is the insane rantings of an Alice In Wonderland freak. This post may not be suitable for all audiences.... * I can usually get inspired by a trip to my local craft store, but today I've got a story of being overtaken and molested by it. I was going through the clearance aisle of my local Joann's craft store when I spied the mother of all punches. In fact, this is BY FAR THE COOLEST punch I've ever seen!!! Now WHY was this punch being given away at the mere price tag of $3.00 (ok, and there were TWO THERE...that's NUTS)? HOW did I manage to be in the right place at the right time to snag this hidden gem? And WHY had I never seen this punch before? I gotta be honest, I not only would have paid full price for this beauty, I would have probably paid double on steal-bay... that's how great this punch is. There HAD to be a catch here.... did this punch not work? At $3, who cares! I took it and RAN to the checkout. Well, you can tell by the abov...

Ok... this little guy ROCKS MY SOCKS!!! I discovered him while hopping in the Little Hop of Horrors put on by Canadian Nickel Scrap'n when Gloria of Creepy Glowbugg showcased this little guy for her project. OF COURSE I had to have him and OF COURSE I had to scrap-jack her idea. When coloring with Copic markers.... don't be afraid to copy someone else's coloring. It is a great way to discover how highlights and lowlights get created on a project. And THIS particular image was expertly drawn by the artist to include all the shadows.... so the hard work was done! All I had to do was color the dark areas dark and the light areas light. I LOVE IT WHEN IT'S EASY!!! :) To get your hands on this little gem, Marvin The Bat, CLICK HERE . He arrived to me in a digi file (three different images).... and you all know how much I'm diggin the digis!!! Have a great one gang..... 11 days till Halloween!!! YEEEE!

Just a quick one today folks! I finally got around to coloring the new Simply Betty Spooky Hallow digis and all I can say is.... "MEGA HIGH FIVE"!!! I'm tellin you... you GOTTA check these out!!! Click on the link above! :) Colors I used: Dress - R14, R27, R29, R59 and C9 Hair - C2, C4 and C9 Skin - E50, C2 and R29 Gravestone and Misc. - C2, C4, C5 and C9 Have a great one gang... HALLOWEEN IS ALMOST HERE.... CAN YOU FEEL IT?

Is it really any wonder why I LOVE Halloween so much!?! The Halloween color palette is one of the most vibrant and energetic color palettes there is! Everything from purple to green, orange and red, the visual sense comes to life with the Halloween splendor! Wow, that was almost "Christmas Poetic"... hahahahahaha! But you know what I mean. Unlike some holidays where the color palette is muted and sombre, Halloween is SO the opposite! And OH-HOW-GREAT that color palette is to color with the Copics I love so much!!! Copics I used for this project (and there were A LOT) were: Skin and face: E50, E51, E53, R14 and R29 Hair: E09, E33, E44 and E49 Outfit: B69, N1, N9, R14, R24, R29, R59, Y13, Y18, YR12, YR15, Misc: E11 The image is a Simply Betty Emo Halloween digi called Rio Devil. To check out all the awesome Halloween goodness over at Simply Betty, click HERE . I hope you all like this project. I think it turned out super cute and I can't wait to find this card a home! :)

I spent this morning playing with my markers. I pulled out an old digital stamp that I had colored a while back using my Stampin Up markers. Wow... it seems like FOREVER ago that I was coloring with those markers when really it was just a matter of months. And then I got my Copic markers and suddenly my $120 set of Stampin Up markers went forgotten! I pictured, for a second, what my life would have been like in third grade if I discovered Copic markers back then. Considering the entire third grade class shared communal markers, I imagine I would have learned how to fight! hahahahahahaha! Anyway, I got to work this morning coloring the same digi using my Copics and every stroke confirmed to me that my Copic markers were worth the continuing and ever growing investment. The gradient coloring options and the blendability of the Copic markers makes whatever project you are working on come to life in such a magical way! I'm going to be holding a Copic class on September 25 and I'...

A Little RAK For A Great Cause! I read a blog post the other day over at Paper Blessings about a free digi stamp that was created by one of my favorite artists. Not only is this digi stamp AMAZING, but it was also created for a very special cause. You all ready for a little RAK (random act of kindness)? The name of this stamp is called "Beach Baby Jayme". Jayme was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and her sister Lisa is holding a special event to help brighten the remainder of the time she has left. You can read the details HERE . In honor of Jayme, artist Crissy Armstrong created this adorable digi for Whimsy Stamps and it's free so EVERYONE can send Jayme a frog to brighten her day (she loves frogs). Please click on the link above to see how you can participate; and click HERE for the free digi download. Lisa's basically looking for funny cards to make her sister smile, so please, NO 'GET WELL' cards. Kudos to Crissy for being so freakin cool with her ...

Well, yesterday's project was for a Mother's Day card for my mother... today's project is for a Mother's Day card for my mother-in-law! As you can see, I used the EXACT same materials for this card as I did for yesterdays card. It's nice to use up those scraps. Although I REALLY need to buy new ribbon. What I've got left is lookin very shabby!!! Anyhow, I used the same stuff from yesterday and a new digi stamp (also known as a digital stamp) from Squigglefly.com . What an AWESOME digi stamp site!!! I must have bought half a dozen stamps today; I'm so loving the digi! There's nothing like the immediate gratification of buying then using the stamp right away. And being able to size it to whatever project I'm working on... IT'S GOLD!!! Whether I need a 3" x 3" image, or a 6" x 6" image, I can size to fit with ANY digi stamp. You just can't get that with the beloved rubber or clear stamps. That kind of versatility can't b...

Ok, so I just won this AMAZING digi stamp from The Greeting Farm !!!! Not only do I adore their stamps because the images ROCK, but also because they are the perfect practice with my copic markers! And this particular stamp already has a home! I'm making it part of my garden page. This little Anya (check out club Anya for all the Anya characters HERE ) is going to be transformed into "Farmer Danielle" and posted on my garden layout. Perfect... she looks just like me! hahahahaha! Anyway, I just love winning! Remember folks, you can't win if you don't play, so run over to The Greeting Farm's Blog for all of the upcoming releases, activities, and opportunities to win free goodies! And I'll be sure to post "Farmer Danielle" as soon as she's finished! :) UPDATE: hahahahahaha... I didn't win THIS digi stamp! hahahahaha! I won a different one from last week. Be SURE to click on the blog link above to participate in THIS WEEKS give away! She su...