Ppinkydolls Challenge time and a new technique!

I decided to try the Ppinkydolls challenge, as I love the little art dolls they design.  They are a little bit dark, but still adorable.  So here is my card, using Miracle:

Miracle - Ppinkydolls

I also tried a new technique with this piece.  I ordered two of the 5 sets of Spectrum Noir Blendable colored pencils and bought some odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps.  Of course, like always, there are lessons learned when trying new techniques and you can find those in a near future blog post.  Don't worry I will come back and link them up ;)

I enjoyed this technique, and although I would never replace my Prismacolors, I do think this is a technique I would like to be able to do now and then :)  So what do I do next?  Well, I order the other 3 sets of course!

Miracle - Ppinkydolls

Stay tuned for more fun and coloring!

Gorjuss Spotlight with Quick Creations!

Hi everyone!  Noelle Martin, of Quick Creations has agreed to let me spotlight some of the rubber stamps she sells in her online store, and my first choice is Santoro's Gorjuss.  These designs are so .....hhhmmm....what's the word?  Artsy?  Definitely 'urban'.  I have started to collect them all :)

My first project to spotlight these awesome stamps, is "I Love You Little Rabbit", a friendship card I created using old book paper.  This was my first venture into stamping and coloring on old book paper, and it turns out, I absolutely love this technique.

Rubber stamp by Santoro's Gorjuss - I Love You Little Rabbit

Of course, there were some lessons learned during this trial, and you can read about them here :)

My second project is one I showed you a few days ago, using "The Collector".

Rubber stamp by Santoro's Gorjuss - The Collector

There are so many wonderful image companies, out there, I would be hard pressed to chose only one favourite!

Thank you Noelle, for allowing me the opportunity to spotlight these wonderful companies on my blog and yours, I hope I can do them all justice :)

Oh!  Stayed tuned on September 1st, for my first official CC Designs DDT project!

Keep Calm and Eat Cake, A Copic Marker Norge Challenge Piece

I decided to try this out for a change, a boy!  This is so way OUT of my comfort zone, but here he is:

Birthday Cake Owen, from the Paper Nest Dolls.  This is a really cute stamp, that you can get here, and even has a matching Birthday Cake Ellie!

"Birthday Cake Owen" by The Paper Nest Dolls

 Another out-of-the-comfort-zone for me:  I am submitting this piece as a challenge entry to the Copic Marker Norge!  Phew, that's a mouthful!

Christine over at The Paper Nest Dolls is sponsoring this challenge this month, so join in!

Been a super busy week, but I am so glad I got this piece finished!

See you soon!

Rockstars Among Us...The first of many

There are so many fabulous famous people out there, even in the paper crafting world.  However, that being said, I would like to use this opportunity to give a shout-out to some of those fabulous lesser-known rockstars.

The first and foremost and one of my most favouritest (it is a word in my dictionary :P) is Shelley Graham Turner of Tori Sophia Designs.  A mixed media wonder, who loves to learn new things and turns them into her wonderful masterpieces.  Shelley is a great friend, and a talented artist who deserves to be much better known for her artistic talents.  You can find Shelley's masterpieces here.

This is one of my favourites:

Another one of our rockstars is Judy Olson McCourt of Annoyed Artists, although she is not from the papercrafting world, but from the land of rock hounds.  Judy is a new lapidary artist and she makes beautiful cabachons from semi-precious stones and minerals.  I just love her work, and have purchased quite a few of her shiney wonders.

These two people have made an impact on what I do, whether it be on the quality of my work, the desire to keep trying new things, or the following of my dreams in spite of what others may think.   Shelley and Judy are rockstars in my book, and deserve to get all the attention I can drum up for them!

Thanks for visiting, and keep your eyes open for a regular feature on my blog, called from here on out:  Rockstars among us.

Just some things done for fun :P

Aaahhhh, I know, you're going to get tired of hearing how much I enjoy coloring.   LOL...so, I won't say it in this blog post...ooops...maybe I already did?   Ha!  Too bad, deal with it.....lol

This post is only to show you some of the 'just for fun' (mind you - it's ALL fun!!! Hehe), projects I've been making lately.

The first one is a birthday card for girl, using a Sanotoro - Gorjuss rubber stamp, called "The Collector".  If you would like to purchase some of the beautiful stamps, try contacting Noelle martin at Quick Creations, she has fabulous customer service and a plethora (wow, did I really just use that word?) of awesome stuff in her store.  I found a vellum quote in my stash about girls not necessarily always acting like girls, and I had to 'muddy' her up to fit the quote, but I love how she turned out!

Image Designed by Santoro's Gorjuss

My second project is a "Thinking of You" card, using a digital image from Hannah Lynn Art and Design.  Wow...did I say WOW?!  Hannah Lynn's images are gorgeous.  So I chose "Cali Girl" from her collection and I really enjoyed coloring her.

And lastly, is my "Dream Big" card, using an image from Yampuff, on DeviantArt.  This image is perfect for practicing your folds and clothing, and hair.  She is so beautiful, even without the color!

I love Yampuff's designes, unfortunately, her images are way above my budget to purchase a license to be able to sell my creations, so that means, sadly, that this may be the only image of hers that you might see from me :(

Stay tuned for a spotlight, coming soon, see you then!

It's Official! (And doing the Happy Dance!)

I am so excited to be able to share my news with everyone!  I have been accepted as a member of the C.C. Designs Digital Design team!!!!!!!!

Wahoo!  This is like a dream come true for me.  I love to color and craft and this is so special for me to be asked to do this.  So, what do I do when I'm excited about something?  I COLOR!   LOL!  So, in celebration of this accomplishment, I did three things.......

#1.  I went online and ordered some new CC Designs digital images to color.

#2.  I went back to their website and ordered two of the 5 sets of Spectrum Noir Blendable colored pencils (of course, right?)

and....
#3.  I proceeded to color and color and color!  I colored 5 C.C. Design images in 2 days, and then have started to create with them.  :)  My first official CC Designs post will be on September 1st to introduce their new challenge blog.  But, in the meantime, here are two of the projects I created with my happy-ness :)

"August Honey" by C.C. Designs

This is my try at a diamond-fold card, a video tutorial I found on Youtube.  I really enjoyed making this project, and especially coloring the "August Honey" image.  More of the "Honey" designs can be found on the C.C. Designs store page, right here.

And here is where you can find all of C.C. Designs Digital images.  Have fun with them, I know I do!

Inside of card

Back of card :)

When using images to create your projects, please remember to give credit to the image designers, it is so important!

Swiss Pixie image from C.C. Designs

She is so adorable, I couldn't help myself!

So, that's 2 of the 5 ;)  Stay tuned for the other 3, coming soon to a blog post near you :)

The Paper Nest Dolls, Anything Goes, Challenge #17

Wow, what a busy summer!  But, of course I have managed to find the time to still color and create!  I love to color and I want to shout it from the rooftops!  After retiring my paintbrushes of many years, I have picked up Prismacolors colored pencils and fallen in love with them.  It feels so good to be able to put color to paper once again, let me tell ya!

So, without further adeiu.....here is my entry for The Paper Nest Dolls Anything Goes, challenge #17.

Seniorita Ellie on a little girl's birthday card.

Image Designed by The Paper Nest Dolls

I had a blast coloring her hair and all the different patterns and parts of her dress.  The Paper Nest Dolls Rubber Stamps can be found here.  These rubber stamps are so sweet and fit a huge variety of personalities, hobbies and careers, have fun with them!

And, if you're interested in joining their challenges, you can find them here.

OK, that's it for this one, plenty more to come, see you soon!

Tiddly Inks Design Team Call and Teacher Helper Wryn and Chi - DT Call

Hello everyone! Good morning, good evening and good afternoon, to all those around the world! Tiddly Inks is having a Design Team Call and this is my entry:

 Tiddly Inks has some gorgeous new releases! From Teacher Helper Wryn and Fairy Exceptional Teacher to Willow fairy and her friends, these new designs are sure to delight the crafter and stamp-lover of all ages. 

If you would like to see these new releases, and all of their wonderful stamping images and papers, you can see them here:  Tiddly Inks.  I really enjoy these images from Tiddly Inks, they speak to me as a mother, and as an educator, where I see so many great little personalities just waiting to be nurtured into all that they can be.

Today I have two pieces to show you. The first is a card, using Teacher Helper Wryn. I am an Educational Assistant at a small Catholic Elementary school, so this stamp and the teacher one both spoke to me :)

The card is 4.5 x 5.5, and is made from old book paper :)  Yes, that's right, you heard me...old book paper.  I taped a page from an old dictionary to a piece of cardstock and printed the Teacher Helper Wryn Digi stamp onto it.  But first, I layered her on top of a digital stamp of an old book using the png files.  This was new for me, but it's a technique I have been wanting to try for a while.

Those of you who know me, know I have a hard time with copics because I shake..a lot.  So after years of painting with a paint brush, I re-discovered colored pencils and have fallen in love all over again.  I bought myself a nice set of Prismacolor Premiere, and now I can color to my heart's content.

I have colored right on top of the book page, but there are a few tips & tricks I would advise you to take heed of if you want to give this technique a try.  I have posted about these tips and tricks, and you can find them here.

I used my Tim Holtz flower die to make the flower out of the same dictionary page and added a globe charm to the "book mark".  I love the effect of the coloring on the book page.  It is very unique.

My second piece is a mini album I created, using the "Chi" digi stamp.  She is so adorable, and I downloaded her a while ago, but hadn't found a place to use her, until now.

First, let's talk about the image itself.  I colored her with my Prismacolor Pencils (yes, I do love them), and then I printed her a second time on top of some of the design paper.  Then I shaded and highlighted the scarf pieces on the design paper and fussy-cut them out.  I also cut certain pieces of the main colored image, such as her hand, where it sits on top of the scarf, and her hair that hangs in front of the scarf.  I glued the pieces together, having some of the designed scarf in front, around and behind, and used adhesive and pop up dots to make it very three dimensional.  I love how this turned out.  This was my first time paper-piecing and you can find some of the lessons I learned here.

The mini album is one I have designed on my own, although somewhere, someone has probably designed a very similar one :P  But, for now, I'll call it mine.  It is made with black cardstock, has 9 pages and has room for 25 photos, as well as 30 or so smaller journalling spots.  I really enjoyed making this album, and I based the measurements around the "Chi" digi stamp from Tiddly Inks.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope to see you again!  Remember, if you enjoy coloring, crafting and/or stamping and would love to play with these cuties and give them wonderful personalities, please visit Tiddly Inks and check them out!

Some Tips & Tricks: Paper Piecing and Old Book Paper

So you want to try some of these techniques, but don't know the ins and outs?  Well, let me tell you, there's only one way to do it, and that is to jump right in and give it a try!

One of the things I love about being a creative person, is that even if it doesn't turn out the way it was supposed to, or you don't know how to make it the way you want it...if you try, you learn.  So, here are a few of the things I discovered while trying paper piecing and coloring on old book paper :)

Paper Piecing:

Wow, fussy cutting is hard work!  LOL!  The main thing I learned from this technique is that you have to make sure and remember to color the edges of your cuts.  In my "Happiness" mini album, using the "Chi" Tiddly Inks digital stamp, I used my Black Soot Distress Ink and gave it a light brush down the edges with the distress tool.  In the small places where the tool wouldn't fit, I used a paint brush.  Simple, but sometimes over looked.  As this was a piece I created for a Design Team Application, I wanted to make sure nothing was overlooked.

Coloring on book paper:

I have tried this technique a couple times, and have been thrilled with the outcome every time.  That being said, there are still lessons learned in every piece.  With this technique, I learned that it is very hard to color an image stamped in black, on top of black print on an old book page.  Sometimes it's difficult to see the difference between the image lines and the print.  My hint?  Print or stamp a second image on plain white card stock to use as a guide.  This really helps.  The second lesson I learned was this:  sometimes, the print on the paper works against you.  In regards to shading and highlight, sometimes you have to darken your shading or lighten your highlighting in just that one area, in order to make everything seem even on top of the book paper.

Teacher Helper Wryn, Tiddly Inks

Another of my book paper ventures (and my first):

I love you Little Rabbit by Gorjuss

A good general rule of thumb: always apply the ten-foot rule.  Everything looks different when you are 12 inches away from your piece, no matter what medium you are using.  And also consider the context of the piece your are working on.  If it is a big piece, meant to be viewed from a distance, take the time before every major step and step back and view it as it is meant to be viewed as a finished piece.  This ensures your perspective is correct.

I hope you enjoy this first installment of "Reams of Remedies", the new feature on my blog.  I will add lessons learned, tips & tricks, the Dos and the Don'ts and the PLEASE GOD NOOOO's as I learn them myself.  And remember, mistakes are not mistakes to remember, they are lessons learned.

Thank you visiting, I hope to see you again soon!