February Freebie in The East Wind newsletter

Hi everyone, I am so excited to show you the February Newsletter Freebie from The East Wind.  She is called Aurora "Hart Flower".

If you have signed up for The East Wind monthly newsletter, you will get her automatically on February 1st :)  If you haven't signed up, you really should!!!!  Unky's images are so much fun to colour, I just can't stop.  I am now on her InstaDT!  So exciting!  Not only that, Unky has been giving me pointers and ideas to help me with my blogging and colouring.  She is so talented!

Aurora "Hart Flower" by The East Wind

I have coloured her up using my Prismacolour pencils, and used many dies from Joycrafts, Cheery Lynn, Lala Land Crafts, CC Designs and Wild Rose Studio.

Aurora "Hart Flower" by The East Wind

Unky also has challenges on her blog, as well as contests on her Facebook page :)  You really should check out these gorgeous images :)  Until next time...I'm off to color and craft!

One more thing before I forget, lol...I am on Instagram! (Hence the InstaDT...lol)  My username is ode_to_paper, hope to see you there!

New Release Day at The East Wind!

Hello everyone, it's new release day at The East Wind!  This is a new Unkytoon image called All Bundled Up and you can find her here at the Etsy shop :)

I colored this super-cute witchy girl with my Prismacolor pencils in the following colors:

Hat - PC935
Skin - PC927, 939, 1029
Hair - PC1001, 925, 935
Clothes - PC989, 1097, 935
Broom - PC1084, 1082, 1099
Cat - PC918, 944, 1051

All Bundled Up by The East Wind

I distressed the edges of the image with Black Soot Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, as well as all the edges of the patterned paper.  The Paper is a Halloween 12 x 12 pad from recollections (Michael's brand) called Midnight magic Halloween, and I used ribbon from my stash.

I added black adhesive rhinestones, and hand lettered the sentiments on small black tags (clearly I  need to work on that :))

If you are looking for some awesome images...some a little quirky, some a little dark, but all are gorgeous, visit The East Wind Etsy shop which you can find here.

There are challenges on The East Wind Facebook page as well as on the challenge blog, come and join us for some fun and prizes!

Write down those crafty ideas with Inky Impressions!

Wow, another inspirational piece for Inky Impressions today, and I am really excited about this one :)
I have done a couple of altered composition books before, but this one really speaks right to me :P

I used the Angelica Crafting digital image to create a Crafty Ideas Book.  I know, whowouldathunkit right?

Here she is:

Angelica Crafting by Inky Impressions

I colored this super fun image with my Prismacolor Premiere pencils, then added her to a 5 x 7 notebook.  I covered the notebook covers with patterned paper and added pockets to the inside for design templates and receipts!  On the covers I added the computer generated title (and had to color it of course), paper flowers, a bow, some ribbons, sequins and twine and lastly some crafty charms :)

Angelica Crafting by Inky Impressions

If you would like to purchase this image or any other of the sweet images from Inky Impressions, please visit their online store.  And don't forget to join in on the bi-weekly challenges, and use an Inky Impressions image to be eligible to win a prize pack from Nicole!

Let your hair down!

I love these new fairytale images from The Paper Nest Dolls!  I decided to use "Let Your Hair Down" this week, and I also used some new color!  Not my usual combination, but I'm really happy with it :)

Let Your Hair Down by The Paper Nest Dolls

This is the first time I use yellow as a major part of the color combination in my project, and I am so loving it!  This turned out so bright and cheery :)  Also new for me, is this step-easel card.  They are fun to make, but make sure you have your measurements right, I goofed and had to do some fancy re-working to make it work :P

Let Your Hair Down by The Paper Nest Dolls

 I colored this fun image with my Prismacolor Premiere Pencils in the following colors:

Skin - PC927, 939, 1029
Hair - PC414, 1012, 1034, 947
Dress - PC992, 905, 901, 938
Flowers - PC992, 901, 916

I learned a lesson this week...take a chance...step out of your comfort zone...you might be surprised!  I know I was.

Don't forget to join usover at The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge blog, to see loads of inspiration and also to maybe win some prizes?  Come on...you know you want to!

Sweet Wonderful You with Inky Impressions

Hi everyone, I have a sweet sentiment card for you today, using a sentiment from Inky Impressions that says it all :)  Sweet Wonderful You!

"Sweet Wonderful You" by Inky Impressions

 I created this card by printing the sentiment on vellum paper.  I colored the background with alcohol inks and doodled on top with a white gel pen.  I added paper flowers, white flat-back pearls and a paper butterfly.  This was a really fun card to make, and allowed my creativity to flow!

"Sweet Wonderful You" by Inky Impressions

Don't forget to visit the challenge blog, where you can win 4 digital images from Inky Impressions if you use an Inky image!

"Sweet Wonderful You" by Inky Impressions

To purchase this digital sentiment or any of the other gorgeous character images or rubber stamps, please visit the Inky Impressions website.  These images are so realistic and fun.  And just wait till you see what Nicole has in store for this year :)  You will fall totally in love with them!

Dollie Daydream - Rainy Day, Polkadoodles

Hi!  I am having a fabulous week, and I hope you all are too!  I have chosen to Case Anita's sweet card from the Tic Tac Toe challenge for this weeks CASE It inspiration.  I love the effect of the black and white back ground and the pop of color in the finished image :)

Dollie Daydream - Rainy Day by Polkadoodles

I used the Dollie Daydream - Rainy Day digital image, along with a computer generated sentiment and digital paper from the Dollie Daydream - Girl Talk digital collection.  These collections are so chalk full of gorgeous images, element, and papers.  It's really hard to choose between them all!

Dollie Daydream - Rainy Day by Polkadoodles

I colored this image with my Prismacolor Premiere colored pencils in the following colors:

Umbrella - PC1030, 937, 935
Hair - PC935
Skin - PC927, 939, 1029
T-shirt - PC1030, 937, 1060, 935
Jeans - PC1022, 1027, 901
Shoes - PC1060, 935

Dollie Daydream - Rainy Day by Polkadoodles

I had a blast turning this image into a fun twisted easel card.  If you would like to purchase this image or any other of the absolutely humungous collections of digital images by Polkadoodles, you can visit their online store :)  Don't forget to join in on their bi-weekly challenges!

Recently I have been learning a few new things, like Kanzashi - the art of making ribbon flowers, and using watercolors to color images...but I would like to venture even further out of my comfort zone and attempt some darker skin tones with my pencils. Stay tuned for that!

New Releases from Inky Impressions

Hi gang!  Inky Impressions has some gorgeous  new releases out!  All of the DT were given a new release image to make something with.  I got this sweet image called Angelica's Snowman, available in rubber stamp.

I made it into an easel card, and had a blast adding embellishments and dies :)

Angelica's Snowman by Inky Impressions

I colored this image using my Prismacolor Premiere pencils in the following colors:

Hair - PC914, 1032, 1003
Mitts, earmuffs, scarf - PC1005, 1090, 908
Jacket - PC993, 930, 996
Pants - PC1102, 1101, 901
Boots - PC1085, 946
Skin - PC927, 939, 1018, 1029
Snowman's hat - PC1008, 932, 996
Nose - PC918, 921, 944
Scarf - PC1102, 1101, 901
Mouth, arm - PC1085, 946
Buttons - PC994, 1095
Snow - PC1063, 1052

Angelica's Snowman by Inky Impressions

I also used paper from the BoBunny Woodland Winter 6 x 6 Collection, and the Stitched Snowflake dies from Lawn Fawn.  The sentiment is computer generated and and stuck with dimensional adhesives to provide the stopper for the easel :)

Angelica's Snowman by Inky Impressions

There are a total of  4 new release images and 2 new sentiments to choose from over on the Inky Impressions website.  They are so much fun!

Don't forget to join in the Inky Impressions bi-weekly challenges to be eligible to win a prize!

Quick Creations with Magnolia

OOhhh I just love coloring Magnolia images!  And Noelle martin over at Quick Creations has many Magnolia rubber stamps in stock.

For this DT project, I got to color Tilda in a Cozy Coat.   She was so much fun, and I colored her with a friend in mind, a lady with beautiful red hair, and her favorite color is green :)

Tilda in a Cozy Coat by Magnolia Rubber Stamps

Tilda in a Cozy Coat by Magnolia Rubber Stamps

I colored this image using my favorite medium, Prismacolor Premiere pencils, in the following colors:

Hair - PC1001, 925, 935
Skin - PC927, 939, 1029
Clothes - PC989, 912, 908, 1059, 1056, 1061
Mittens - PC1059, 1056, 1061
Boots - PC945, 946, 935, 1051, 938

I also used paper from Noelle's store, Quick Creations :  Anna Griffin's Yuletide Greetings :)

You can Noelle's blog here, and her online store here.  Noelle also has a monthly challenge on her blog, where you can enter following the theme, using something found in her store, to be eligible to win a prize!  Hope to see you there!

Saturated Canary Guest DT call and a little May :)

I am entering the Guest Design Team Call over at Saturated Canary with this project using May.  I fell in love with Saturated Canary almost a year ago, but was so intimated to color them.  Now, I'm not intimidated anymore, but I am still in LOVE with them!

May by Saturated Canary

I colored this wonderful image with my Prismacolor Premiere colored pencils in the following colors:

Hair - PC1001, 935, 925

Skin - PC927, 939, 1029

Dress - PC989, 911, 935, 938

Butterfly - PC916, 1008

Eyes - PC1059, 1063, 989, 911, 935

Lips - PC1019, 1017, 1029

May by Saturated Canary

I made her into a twisted easel card, and this was a fun card to make...way easier than I thought!

I am currently on four weekly and bi-weekly teams, and I love every one of them.  The Paper Nest Dolls, Polkadoodles, Quick Creations and Inky Impressions.  This is definitely a labor of love, and I have a hard time calling it a job :)

I can be found on Facebook - Ode to Paper, Instagram - Ode to Paper, and Pinterest - Leah Tees.

Thank you for reviewing my submission, and I know you have a tough job choosing your new GDTs, so good luck to everyone!

Picture Perfect Tiddly Inks DT Call

Hi everyone, I am here to show you a new project using Picture Perfect Wryn, from Tiddly Inks.

Picture Perfect by Tiddly Inks

I love this image, she is just so sweet and cheery:)  I colored her with my favorite medium, Prismacolor Premiere colored pencils in the following colors:

Hair - PC940, 1034, 945, 946
Skin - PC929, 939, 1029
Clothes - PC929, 1030, 937, 1022, 1027, 901
Shoes - PC929, 1030, 937
Frame - PC1070, 1072, 1076

Picture Perfect by Tiddly Inks

I made this into a swing card, so that when you open the card, the image shows still :)  Super easy card to make, and fun to decorate.  I used papers from DCVW, and flowers from Michaels, and I used a Cheery Lynn die to make the flourishes.

Picture Perfect by Tiddly Inks

I fussy-cut around the image and inside the frame, then backed the image with the designed card stock from DCVW.  Then I die-cut a few of the Fanciful Flourishes (Cheery Lynn) out of the blue and the yellow card stock and cut them so I could piece them exactly how and where I wanted them.  I glued them to the back of the image, and then backed it again with black card stock to hide the ends of the die cuts.  The image is raised by dimensional adhesives and then added to the folded front of the card base.

Picture Perfect by Tiddly Inks

I have included some other Tiddly Inks images that I have designed with also.  I used the Chi digital image to make a mini album for the last DT call, and the Willow the Greeting Fairy clear stamp image for a DT project for Quick Creations.

Chi by Tiddly Inks

I am currently on four design teams, where you can find me weekly and bi-weekly!  The Paper Nest Dolls, Quick Creations, Inky Impressions, and Polkadoodles :)  I have so much fun with this "job", I have trouble calling it a job :)  How can you not have fun with this?  Coloring and paper crafting has been my saving grace this year, and I hope to continue doing this for as long as I can!  Tiddly Inks was one of the first companies that I ever applied to DT for, and is still a team I would love to be on!

Tiddly Inks has some wonderful digital and rubber stamp images in their online store, and also have a challenge blog!  Their challenges run bi-weekly, and I happen to know that this weeks challenge theme is New Beginnings.  What an appropriate theme for the start of a new year.

They like to keep things moving over there at Tiddly inks, so keep your eyes on the Tiddly Inks blog for the latest news and information :)

Willow the Greeting Fairy by Tiddly Inks

Dancin' in the Rain with Inky Impressions

Hi!  I hope you are having a great day!  I know I am :)

I have a sweet card to show you for Inky Impressions today, using the Umbrella Lili digital image and sentiment.

Umbrella Lili by Inky Impressions

I love this sentiment, it really speaks to me lately :P  The colors are some of my favourite to work with, and I introduced a new medium (to me) in this project:  I used a blue Staedtler Aquarell pencil to shadow her in watercolor :)

Umbrella Lili by Inky Impressions

 I used my favourite Prismacolor Premiere pencils to color her in the following colors:

Umbrella - PC992, 905, 907
Hair - PC997, 945, 946
Raincoat, Boots - PC992, 905, 907, 1063, 935
Shirt, Pants, Headband - PC1017, 1031, 1019
Skin - PC927, 939, 1029
Raindrops - PC936, 901, 938
Shadows - Staedtler Aquarell 156-3

I made the raindrops by using a raindrop stencil, and filling it in lightly with my lightest color.  Then I removed the stencil and used my darkest color to shade, and then added highlights with white.  There are many wonderful tutorials on Youtube for drawing and coloring rain and water drops.  This is where I learned.  Unfortunately given the size of the image, I couldn't make them any bigger to get more detail...they would have been mutant raindrops :)

If you would like to purchase this image, or any other of their awesome images in digital form, you can visit their online store.  Inky Impressions also have bi-weekly challenges over on their challenge blog!  You really should join in :)

I'll see you soon with a project using a new Inky Impression image!

Swooning over The Paper Nest Dolls...hehe

New release alert!!!!!

Christine at The Paper Nest Dolls has released the start of a new collection of fairy tales dolls.  They are so sweet, I kinda got a sneaky peak :)  For this week's project, I chose to do the Princess and the Pea rubber stamp image.  These rubber stamp images are just so much fun to play with :)

Princess Pea by The paper Nest Dolls

Of course, I colored her with my Prismacolor Pencils (I know, you're tired of hearing about my favorite pencils...lol...no worries, new mediums coming soon )  in the following colors:

Hair - PC997, 948, 941, 946
Skin - PC928, 939, 927
Pillow - PC1060, 1063, 935
PJs - PC956, 1008, 932
Slippers - PC1060, 1063, 935, 928, 994
Tiara - PC928, 994, 1030
Pea - PC989, 911

To see more of The Paper Nest Dolls, or to order their stamps, please visit their online store.  You can join in the challenge fun at The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge blog for a chance to win some PND goodies!  And don't forget to check out the PND Facebook group and page!

Thanks for visiting, see you again soon!

More fun with Wee Stamps and Quick Creations!

Noelle asked me if I would like an extra project this month, and what do you think I said?  LOL!  Of course I said yes, I have far too much fun doing this, and besides, I can't say "no" to Noelle :)

So, she sent me this Wee Stamp:  Winter Friends.  OMG.  They are just too cute, even without color.

Winter Friends by Sylvia Zet, for Whimsy Stamps

Winter Friends by Sylvia Zet, for Whimsy Stamps

 I colored this image with my Prismacolor Premiere colored pencils in the following colors:

Hair - PC943, 944, 947, 935
Skin - PC927, 939, 1081, 928
Leaves - PC1097, 908, 935
Berries - PC923, 925, 937
Clothes - PC936, 1027, 901, 1070, 1072, 1076
Boots - PC1070, 1072, 1076
Penguin - PC1034,947, 935, 938
Bunny - PC997,945, 947
Snow - PC1060, 1063

I also used the Cottage Cutz Winter Frost Border Die, which you can also get in Noelle's shop Quick Creations.  Noelle has a monthly Challenge over at the Quick Creations Challenge Blog.  Follow the theme (this month its Snowflakes!) and use something that can be found in Noelle's online shop, and you have a chance to win a prize handpicked by Noelle herself!  I sure hope to see you there!

A Warm Hello CAS for Inky Impressions

Hello everyone, I am here with another project for Inky Impressions, using their digital stamp "Warm Hello".  If you are looking for some new digis to color and have fun with, check out Inky Impressions, they have a great variety of cute, realistic looking digital and rubber stamps!

If you are looking for a challenge, try the Inky Impressions challenge!  They are held every week starting on Wednesdays.  And even though you can use any image, you get 2 entries for the prize if you use an Inky Impressions digital or rubber stamp image :)

Warm Hello Circle by Inky Impressions

I have wanted to get into some CAS cards, and hopefully I pulled it off, heehee.  I also tried some new techniques on this one.  I have been learning how to blend my pencils with OMS.  I think I have the technique down, but of course, practice makes perfect.  I definitely need more practice :)

I have also learned how to make ribbon flowers, this technique is called Kanzashi, and I found an abundance of tutorials on Youtube.  The channel I found most helpful was The Flower Art.  And what I really like about this technique, is that once you have learned how to make the different petals, you can make any kind of flower :)  You don't even have to make a whole flower...you can add just a few petals to give great results as I have done here.

I will adding a new feature to my blog soon, so keep your eyes open!

Wee Stamps with Quick Creations

Its a yucky winter here in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, and what better way to wile the time away than to color a beautiful summer image :)

Sylvia Zet is an amazing stamp designer, her talent is just so beautiful and awe-inspiring.  I have chosen Rosetta for this post.  She just makes me smile.

Rosetta stamp designed by Sylvia Zet of Wee Stamps

I have colored her on vellum, I just love the soft quality the vellum lends to an image.  Of course not all images are better served by vellum, lol, but Sylvia's definitely fit well with it.

Rosetta stamp designed by Sylvia Zet of Wee Stamps

I have colored Rosetta with my Prismacolor Premiere pencils in the following colors:

Hair - PC1060, 935
Skin - PC927, 939, 1081
Roses - PC1017, 1029, 937, 935, 942, 935, 938
Leaves - PC989, 988, 935
Clothes - PC1022, 936, 1027, 901, 935, 938
Wings - PC1068, 1072, 1076

This is a Design Team project for Noelle Martin over at Quick Creations, and if you're looking for something in particular to do with stamping, coloring or scrap booking, chances are Noelle has it for you in her online store.  If she doesn't she is very good for special ordering items.  Noelle is a wonderful person and her customer service is second to none!  Noelle also hosts monthly challenges on her Quick Creations blog, please join in the fun!  You have a chance to win!