Nautical Tilda

Outfit:  B21, B24, B26
             R21, R24
             Y17

Hair:  YR20, YR21, YR23

Anchor:  N1, N4

A Rose By Any Other Name

With my extra long weekend I decided to get some coloring done with  my Copics.  I created this thank you card to keep in my stash when I need a card and don't have time to make one.

Copics Used:

YR20, YR23, YR24

G40, G94, G99

For the sentiment I used Gina K All Occasion Tags with the coordinating Spellbinders Grommet Tags dies.  I then layered it over an embellishment cut from the Spellbinders Fancy Tags Two set.

Side By Side.....Year By Year.....

In celebration of my hubby's parents' annivesary I broke out my new stamp set from JustRite.  The set is called Always & Forever Medallion Labels and I'm completely twitterpated with it.  It coordinates with the JustRite Nested Medallion Label for perfect borders every time.  I've used purple (her favorite color) and green (his favorite color) to put together a card that is neither too feminine nor too masculine.

The doily on the background layer is cut from the Heartfelt Creations Layered Elegant Swirl Die. I cut one side and then ran it through again with the die the other way to form a complete circle.

Each of the corners is embellished with fancy brackets that were cut using a die from the Spellbinders Fanciful Holiday set.  Gems were then added for a little bling.

I'm really hoping this card will get to them before their anniversary in MARCH!  Yep----I said it, March.  I'm not exactly sure why, but even when I get cards done way in advance they seem to arrive late.  I suppose it's because I'm always waiting to find that perfect gift to go with it.

Breathe In The Freshness Of The Sea

Today I have for you a card that exudes warmth and tranquility.  I worked on this card over the weekend, but didn't get a chance to color up an image to go with it until last night.  Copics were used in the BG and YG families to capture the salty freshness of a spring day near the ocean.

Trees: YG25, YG07, E47

Grass: YG07, YG67

Sky:  BG000, BG70

Clouds:  BG70, C1

Tower:  N1, N4, N8

The lighthouse and sentiment stamps are both by Stampendous.
The bow was made with a Bow Easy.

Under The Weather

Today my goal was to create a card for the weekly challenge over at the Cricut Circle blog. But when reading the challenge back, I missed basically every part of what the requirements were. Ha! I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. I had fun creating the card none-the-less.

The main shape for the Get Well stamp was

cut from Ashlyn's Alphabet.

White Solid Background - 4"

The solid green and pattern green frames were cut by

layering two of the same shape.

Solid Green - 2.25" inside of a 3.4"

Pattern Green - 2.5" inside of a 3.25"

The stamp is by PSX and was colored with the following Copics:

Y28

YG17, YG25

Y15, Y11



Green Flourishes were also cut from Ashlyn's Alphabet

at 3" tall and 2.5" tall.

The Magical Bubble

My son is going to be turning three in just a couple of weeks.  It seems like only yesterday he was a little jelly bean unable to tell me which toy he wanted or whether his snack would be a banana or grapes.  These days there's not much I can do to keep the noise level below a dull roar.  But every once in a while Logan discovers something that enamours him and makes him pause even if just for a minute.  A couple of days ago he discovered a Christmas decoration that had been missed when everything else was put away.  He stared at the magical little world where a happy village lay beneath whirling and dancing snow.  And in one instant I got this idea for a card using a snow globe like the one he held in his hand.  So here I have my creation showing my version of the magic bubble where all dreams are possible.

The dome itself is a Stamps In Motion wood mounted stamp from 1997.  I found it on Ebay not too long ago and knew it would be an amazing backdrop for many different scenes.  But when I tried to decide what to put inside the globe for my card, I just couldn't get past the mental image of a ballerina.  So off I went to scour the internet for digital stamps of a dancer.  I then happened to fall smack dab in the middle of a stamper's heaven (also known as The Paper Shelter).  They have sooo many cute stamps that will be a blast to color.

This image is called The Lovely Ballerina and was printed at 3" tall.  I colored her with the following Copics:
Hair:  E55, E53, E50
Skin/Lips/Eyes:  E00/R22/B91
Outfit:  B45, B34, B32, B91
Tutu:  C3, C1

I used a dauber and Brilliance Ink in Pearlescent Sky Blue to color the background of the dome.  The base was then paper pieced and popped up with foam dots.

Talk about perfect timing---I will be using this card as an entry into the DT Call over at TPS.  I'll also be using it for the Tic Tac Toe challenge over at The Crazy Challenge blog.

Just A Card Makin

Tonight I've created a card for a design team call at the Just A Scrappin' blog.  I've used one of my new fairy images to create an all purpose card to have for my next "emergency" situation.  It never hurts to have a few cards on hand for the birthdays/anniversaries/etc that pop up (seemingly) out of nowhere.  I use an awesome website (http://www.bigdates.com/) to keep track of all important dates.  But sadly there are many times I don't remember an important date until I get the email from them to remind me.  And of course by then it's too late to make a card and get it in the mail in time.

Come Softly

It's been quite a while since I devoted some solid time to my Copic coloring.  And I'll be honest---I've really missed it!  There's something very soothing about coloring an image; no reason to rush and no one to tell you it's wrong.  And just when I needed a push to get back to my calm place, I discovered a brilliant artist by the name of Ching Chou Kuik.  Her designs are available through Sweet Pea Stamps and could not be more amazing or fun to color.  This image is titled Come Softly and I felt inclined to color it as such.  Lately my favorite go-to color combo has been aqua, teal and brown and I adore how it looks on this card.

Skin:  E11, E00, 0 (cheeks R11)

Hair:  E13, YR20, Y21, Y11

Lips:  RV11, RV10

Eyes:  B16, B14, B000, W1, W0

Moth:  E44, E42, B26, B16, B14, B12, G02, G00 (w/a little spica pen for sparkle)

Dress:  B16, B14

This cute little rosette was made by hand sewing a strip of fabric (1.5"x6") along the long edge and pulling it tightly. I then used hot glue to adhere it to the card and keep the two ends held together. It was topped off with a small gem glued to the middle.

Well Wishes for a Special Little Girl

Not too long ago a member of my family discovered that they have leukemia.  Sadly this family member is only 3 years old.  Samantha has been quite the trooper dealing with the chemo, pain, sickness, poking, and prodding.  I made this cute card and medal/ribbon in the hopes that it would make her crack a smile.  Feel free to drop by her Caring Bridge website and leave some words of encouragement.  Her mom has been amazing at keeping all of the family and friends updated with a daily journal entry.  I'd love to let her know how much it's appreciated and how many people are touched by the strength of one little girl.

SEPTEMBER 2011
A pic of Samantha before the meds had kicked in and made her a cutie with adorable little chipmunk cheeks.

OCTOBER 2011
Here's a pic after the meds made her face swell up.  As you can tell, she's wearing the cute little ribbon I made for her.

 http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/samanthanechanicky

No Christmas Blues For This Gal

This time of year is by far my favorite.  The stores are complete chaos, work is crazy trying to fit everything into the short weeks, and kids are antsy as can be for the big day.  But there's just something about all of that excitement buzzing around the cold winter air.  And by no means will I let all of the stress of things bring me down into the Christmas blues.  But I DID let it play a role in my card today.  Most of my cards for the season are full of vivid greens and reds for a traditional Christmas feel.  But today I was inspired to use a lovely bluish green monochromatic color scheme.  I feel like it really adds a cheerful frosty feeling to this adorable Lily Snowflake Fairy by Pink Cat Studio.  She was colored with about 20 Copics in the BG family and topped off with a little glitter stickles.

Wishing you all enough time to accomplish everything on your list and still have extra time for loved ones.

Please stop back tomorrow for our super fantastic Winter Decor Blog Hop!

A "Fairy" Beautiful Triple Layered Easel Card

I don't know that I've ever actually stated that one of my cards is my "favorite", but I will go out on a limb and claim that this one is!!!!  It's my first attempt at a triple layered easel card (or any type of easel card for that matter), and it turned out fantastic!

We'll work back to front for this card.

For the back layer I used some Grand Nestabilities Scallop Circles.  I didn't want to have too much empty space at the top of the card, so I made sure to use the larger circles and trim the bottoms to fit.  It's not necessarily pretty this way, but it isn't seen when the card is standing up.  The leaves and branch are cut using my Cricut and then shading was done with Copic markers.  I also paper pieced three of the flowers and popped them up with dimensional foam.

The middle layer has a lot more detail to it.  The strawberry was cut using my Cricut, blinged up with Stickles, and layered on top of a pinwheel I made out of fabric.  Then to the right is my sweet little sitting fairy.  I'll have to do some googling to find who makes the stamp because I can't for the life of me remember.  Maybe someday I'll be one of those über organized individuals that stores everything by vendor, but for right now I'm lucky if I can even remember how to get to my scrapping room.  Finally I added a little more pizazz with some beads I found in the floral department.  A little TIP:  I bought these beads in white and use my Copics to color them to match the project I'm working on.

Finally we get to the smallest bottom layer.  The ribbon was sewn onto the base to act as a stopper/prop.  The cute label on this layer was also cut with my Cricut and then stamped with a Stampin Up verse.

I still find it very difficult to mail out many of the cards I make.  As I'm branching out into different embellisments, the cards just keep getting bigger and bulkier.  Luckily this type of card folds down quite nicely in order to fit in an envelope.

TGIF People!!!!!!!!

Wow---what a week!  I am so thankful that it's Friday today and that I only need to stay at work for five hours in order to get my full 40 for the week.  Hopefully I'll find time to go home and craft or nap instead of doing dishes or laundry.

Today I'm posting a card for the challenge over at TGF Farm Fresh Challenge Blog.  The challenge is to use a scallop somewhere on your card.  I decided to turn the whole thing into a big scallop.  I used my Gypsy to weld two scallop circles together and create the card base.

This little guy was colored with the following Copic markers:

Shirt:  YG63, YG67

Pants:  B21, B23, B26

Hair:  E13, E15, E17, E18

This is by far one of my favorite lines of stamps.  All of the characters are so cute and fun to color up.  This image is Oh Boy! Ian and is perfect for my birthday card to a little boy.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

For more than 20 years, the observance of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October has provided a time to reflect on loved ones who have won and lost the battle against breast cancer. It's also an opportunity to raise awareness toward finding a cure, including encouraging women to get a regular mammography screening.

A very good friend of mine (and probably the funniest woman I know) found out on the 13th of September that she has breast cancer.  She is scheduled for a double mastectomy on Thursday.  Instead of being sad and dwelling on the negative----she has decided to be optimistic and celebrate her strength to fight this battle.  I made this card for her and hope she knows I keep her in my thoughts constantly.

Image is by Kenny K
Flourish is Sizzix Swirl
Copics Used:
BG11, 34, 45, 49, 09
V12, 17, 09
E00, 31, 34

I will be entering this card into the following challenge:
Paper Makeup Stamps Blog - Digi Makeover Challenge 5 (A Color Challenge)

Be It Ever So Humble, There's No Place Like Home

What an amazing feeling to have a place to call home.

Home can be different things to different people.  Regardless of the actual "address", home means feeling safe, secure, and accepted as you are.  A scrapping friend of mine just closed on her first house with her fiance and is finally feeling those comforts.  In the midst of planning a wedding, finding and buying a house seemed quite luminous to her and I'm certain she's breathing a huge sigh of relief.  But even more important than that----she has a place to start building the family and memories she's wanted her whole life.

I wanted to send her a card of congratulations to make her reflect even more on her cozy new home.  I chose to create my project with the foresight of the Cricut Circle challenge specifying a window theme.

Cricut Cartridges Used:
Cindy Loo:  Bird
French Manor:  Window
Jubilee:  Bush

One Sexy Little Number

Welcome to the delightful world of KennyK!  If you're looking for the sexiest digital stamps out there, you have to check this site out.  I purchased the digital stamp on this card because a close friend of mine is getting married in less than a month.  I wanted to make a special card for her bridal shower.  Granted------an image this sexy should have waited for the bachelorette, but I just couldn't help myself.  I colored my naughty bride with colors that match that of my girlfriend's wedding and matched her hair and eyes to the bride as well.  It was such a fun card that I decided to throw it up in my online store (click on the link at the top right to shop).  What better way to congratulate someone on their upcoming wedding than to have a handmade card that is customized to their wedding!

The Rainbows In Life

These days it's easy to get caught up in the "rain and clouds" of life.  Every day we each try to fit 40 hours worth of stuff into our 24 hour day.  Needless to say, the leftover 16 hours just get tacked onto tomorrow.....and so on......and so forth......  I don't know about you, but this easily comprises 90% of the stress in my life!  But one thing I've noticed is that if you take time in life to really see what makes up your world----you'll always find a rainbow behind those clouds.  Many times these rainbows are cute phrases uttered from the mouth of a three year old child or the thoughtfulness of a friend that knows you too well.  Other times these rainbows show themselves as a delicious piping hot bowl of chili on a cool autumn (yes I said autum people!) day.  One of my rainbows in life is a wonderful friend/mother/wife/scrapbooker/general organizer of life that I don't get to see nearly as often as I'd like.  This woman (you know who you are) seems to have everything all figured out and has a solid grip on juggling all of life's responsibilities.  But every once in a while she shares with me that it's not ever as easy as it looks.  Though I feel that she just says this to make me feel better----it's nice hearing that it's not always sunshine!  So I created this card to send to a "rainbow" in my life.

We may not get to see rainbows very often in life, but I sure do appreciate its beauty when I do see one!

Why Did The Chicken And Cow Cross The Road?

...because they were both egg-cited to go to the mooooooovies.

Ok, that may have been a tacky joke, but there's nothing tacky about this cute card.  I colored it up with my Copics a few weeks ago and excited to throw it up on my blog today.  This was actually one of my first attempts at doing more with my Copic markers than just coloring like I did in grade school.  It's amazing how a little practice can take you such a long way.  I haven't been using these markers for very long, but I already feel like I've jumped leaps and bounds ahead of where I started.


Thanks for looking everyone---and have an AWESOME day!