"Let It Snow....."

I had fun making this card with stamps by artist Tara Reed from Janlynn, Stamps Happen.
The trees are called "Whimsical Trees" and can be found here, and our cute little snowman is called "Snowman Santa" and can be found here. I stamped the set of 3 trees twice and colored them to match the fun paper I picked out from Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients. The kit included all the papers you see here, the rick-rack, "snow" and ribbon. I thought it would be fun to do this in not-so-traditional holiday colors, and I did end up liking it a lot. I then cut out both sets of trees, stamped our jolly snowman, colored him and cut him out. I used my new Polar White Flower Soft for snow. The sentiment and Snowflake are from my new Just Rite "Merry Little Christmas" set. Janlynn has some awesome Holiday stamps, so do check them out if you have a bit of time to browse. You won't be disappointed. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back with more Fall/Holiday cards for you. Have a wonderful day.

Could it be......Elvis?

Good Monday morning to you. It's time for another wonderful TMITA image and this week I'd like to introduce you to ELVIS......the adorable duck. The DT was given a color scheme to incorporate into their work-up of Elvis, and this is what I came up with. I paper-pieced his hat to match the background paper, which matches the colors in the challenge. I used a frame from a Nestie die-cut to go around Elvis, who is playing in a puddle on a somewhat cloudy day, but that doesn't bother him a bit. He's making the most of the rainy weather. I used my Crystal Effects for raindrops, if you can make them out. The sentiment is computer-generated. Be sure to get in on your FREE image from Nina at "There's Magic in the Air", and then check out what the rest of the DT did. Thanks for stopping by. I should have several more posts this week, hopefully, so stay tuned and have a wonderful week.

Tea Party Cards and Pics

This is going to be a lengthy post, or at least a lot of pics, so please bear with me. I volunteered to make "Name Tags" for the tea party given for my sister's birthday by her granddaughters. I made 22 cards and there were 20 of us there for the party. It was so much fun - we got to take our granddaughter Shelby along and her eyes grew so wide when she walked in and saw all the American Girl Doll tables and settings. She also got to run around in a Disney princess dress for most of the day, so what little girl wouldn't have a ball doing that. I got my idea from Debbie Olsen's post here, except I modified it and did several different versions of it. I also purchased two Sara Kay stamps with dolls from 7 Kids College Fund and colored each one to match the DP's. All of this happened in two weeks, and believe me, it took up much of the two weeks. Everyone loved them and I was so glad I did it. I made computer-generated name tags, cut them with my Nesties Labels and Tags and sponged them all. The two names bear the person's name and their doll. At the time of the pictures I had not adhered all the names, pending the advice of my nieces. The first picture shows the 8 different designs with DP. I did one of the papers for 8 cards and then two of each of the rest. I loved using my Cosmo Cricket papers and Basic Grey from two different sets. The teapot was from PTI, the bows were all made with my Bow Easy, and I used my Nesties for mounting my images on. I colored each of the images of the girl and doll to match the DP's. Hope you like them. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Lazy Days

Happy Monday - I hope you all had a wonderful week-end. Today is another "magical" Monday with another fabulous image by Nina called "Beached Boat". The DT was asked to make a Gate Fold card with this image, so here is my card. I colored it with my Copics and I happened to have some cute beach-related brads from Taylored Expressions and added them to my finished card. I stamped the "sea oats" on the two panels behind the image from Flourishes "Beauty in Nature." Hope you like it. I know you can't help but like this image by Nina. Be sure to get your FREE digital image this week at the TMITA site here, and while you're there check out what the rest of the DT came up with. They're a talented group.
The tea party was a great success and I'll try to get pics up from that soon. Thanks so much for dropping by.

Copic Creations Challenge #10

Happy Saturday to you and WOW!, we're already on our 10th challenge with Copic Creations. I have loved being on a team with such talented ladies and I've learned that I REALLY love to color with Copics!
This challenge was sponsored by Susanna's Custom Art & Card Design, and the theme was Reds, Pinks, and Hearts. It is also Susanna's birthday, so in honor of that I made this a birthday card. Happy Birthday, Susanna! It also happens to be my sister's birthday but I'll have more to share about that next week. The Copic Colors I used for the reds/pinks are posted with my card at the CC site, here. I used a DP I ordered from Taylored Expressions and my bow is once again simply made with my Bow Easy. Love that little gadget! This is the first time I've not had time to comment on the challenge participant's cards and I'm sorry, but I really ran out of time. I hope you have a wonderful week-end and I'll be back with another post for a Magical Monday and then hopefully some tea party pics.

Season of Friendship

Just a quick post today because I'm still not done with the big project - but I'm getting close. I had to make some generic cards for a friend and I pulled out this set from SU that I hadn't even inked up yet. It's simple - no coloring, but I like how it turned out. I'm sure I could do more to it, but I think this is how she will like it, so I left it pretty simple. The fence border punch at the bottom is from SU. I used my usual favorite Kaiser Half-Pearls and DP's from two different SU Autumn sets. I'll be back with the Copic Challenge on Saturday and the next TMITA card on Monday and I'll share pics with you of the big project. Phew! I usually get around to all that participate in the Copic Challenge and leave a comment, but I've had no time, so if you're one of those, I apologize. Hope you're having a lovely week. Hugs,

More Monday Magic

Welcome to another "magical" Monday. I hope you took the opportunity to get your own free download of Orson with Cake at the TMITA site. Today there is a new download, and it's Kacey. She's a delightful fairy waving to all of you, and we on the DT had a sketch to work around. I made mine with a "Fall" flavor. I used SU papers and made a computer-generated sentiment. The bow was once again made with my Bow Easy. Hope you like her. Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT did and don't forget to get your own FREE download this week. I'm working on a huge project for this week-end for a birthday tea party for my sister, so I'm not sure how many posts I'll be able to get up this week. I'll try to get pics of the project as so far it's looking pretty good but lots and lots of coloring. Have a wonderful week.

A Child's World

Hi there! It's been a busy week for me since my son and his wife came back on Wednesday from 5 years in England. It's so good to have them home but they're only here for a few days and then they're off to Med school (in the states at least.) Anywhoo, not much time in the craft room, but I did manage to color two more of Mo's images (Maurie Manning from Mo's Digital Pencil Too.) The first she calls "Sumpin's Wrong", and I decided to title it that way because it works with "Haven't heard from you for awhile", "Haven't seen you for awhile" - "Miss seeing you"......you get the picture. I'm sure there are other such situations, but that's what came to mind. It was pretty simple and quick to color and I just love this image. The second one is my first attempt at
a non-caucasian skin-color. She just looks like an adorable African-American to me, so that's the way I colored her. She's reading the classic "Funny Bunny" to her little friend, and I also adore this image. I'm not going to go into all the ingredients for these cards, but if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I'm off to have a wonderful Chile dinner that my son made. He loves to cook and he's sure good at it. Hope you like these renditions of Mo's images. I have several more printed out and waiting to be colored. Hope you're having a wonderful week. Hugs,

Who Can Resist......?

Who CAN resist chocolate cake with pink icing and chocolate sprinkles, especially when it's being served by an adorable little monkey by the name of Orson. Isn't this the cutest image, and the first one to be featured by the talented artist Nina May from "There's Magic in the Air." I have the great honor of being a Guest Designer for the month of August, so I get to be part of the very beginning of this new and exciting venture which is sure to be a huge success. To share the details of this card, I'll start with the image itself which I colored with Copics and then sponged with Adirondack Cloudy Blue, SU's Pretty in Pink, and Adirondack Sandal. I then sponged the edges lightly with Creamy Caramel. I cut it out with a rectangle Nestie and adhered it to a piece of CS from "The Sweet Stack" by DCWV. I chose this piece because there was a cake on the DP that I thought enhanced the theme. I adhered blue silk ribbon from Sharon Johnson's Ribbon Shop behind the image and attached a bow made with my Bow Easy, also from SJ. I sponged the same colors onto white CS and stamped the sentiment from PTI's "Mailbox Greetings" along with the hearts from the same set. I cut it out with a Curved Rectangle Nestie and adhered it with dimensionals. This is all on top of Blush Blossom, which is on top of a piece of blue CS from the June Kit from Taylored Expressions. Please refer to this post for the details on the blog challenges and the FREE downloads. I hope you like what Nina and the DT and other Guest Designer have come up with to make you smile. Have a wonderful Monday and a wonderful week. Thanks for dropping by.

Copic Creations Challenge #9

Today is August 1 and that means another Copic Creations challenge, - our 9th challenge! Our sponsor for this challenge is In-Style Stamps, and the theme for this challenge is "Eyes." Our DT has an array of Anime images from In-Style stamps and they've done a fabulous job with their images. My image is Mieko and I made her to be a blue-eyed blonde. I cut her out with a scalloped Nestie and backed that one with another Nestie out of Close to Cocoa. Both of these were placed on top of SU's "Medallion". This is my first experience with this type of image and it was fun, and challenging to do the eyes. I hope you'll check out the rest of the images done by the DT.
Don't forget the brand new blog and challenge starting Monday, featuring the images by Nina May at There's Magic in the Air. I think you're going to love the fun images she will be sharing, and the best part is that each week there will be a FREE digi-download of one of her images. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week-end and try to stay cool in this hot month of August.

Pretty Christmas Bird

Hey, y'all! Awhile ago I fell in love with the adorable images by Victoria at Victoria Case Art Designs, and today I have the honor of being the Guest Designer for the VC Stamp Challenge. The challenge is a color challenge - dark blue, light blue, and white or ivory, and it's also a Christmas in July theme. I decided that "Pretty Bird" would work out nicely for a Christmas motif and also for the blues and white/ivory. I made my poinsettia ivory instead of red and painted it with Buttercream Shimmerz. The snowflakes are stenciled in Brocade Blue from punching out the snowflake with my MS punch. The bow was done with my Bow Easy from Sharon Johnson's Ribbon Store. He was so much fun to color and I think he makes a darling Holiday card. Hope you like him. Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT did for this week's challenge and then I hope you'll join us. Happy Thursday to you!

More of "Mo"

Today's post is a "twofer." I usually don't post two cards together but these are both by the same talented artist (see link below) and they're both so very different. The first features our wonderful ol' gal Mummo again, and this time she's off on a joyous bike ride. Ya gotta love the spunk this gal has. I again paper-pieced her skirt and tried to make it something that looked like what she would wear.








The second card is Harvest Dance, and this was quite a contrast from Mummo but fun to color. My light box only has one light that is operational so I'm sorry that my pics don't capture all the color that I can see in person. Maurie Manning, "Mo" of "digital pencil too", has some great artwork to offer as many of you have already found and commented on. I hope you like my rendition of these two great works and be sure to check out her store for more great images. Also, don't forget the first FREE digital image and challenge coming Monday to "There's Magic in the Air." Thanks, as always, for dropping by and have a wonderful day.

Exciting Announcement!!

I am very excited to tell you about a new blog starting up with brand new artwork being offered by artist Nina May ("Having an Art Attack."). All images are original designs by Nina and they will be offered at first in digital stamp format with FREE weekly, limited original digital stamps. They can be found at There's Magic in the Air (link also included in sidebar). Each Monday a new challenge and FREE digital stamp will be released for that week along with inspiration by a wonderful DT and Guest Designers. I am very excited an honored to be a Guest Designer for the first month of this exciting venture. Nina is offering a small giveaway to the winner of a random drawing of the participants of each weekly challenge. The future holds more digital stamps by Nina for sale as well as photo polymer stamps. I know you're going to love the wonderful images she has come up with, and our first official post and challenge begins next Monday, August 3 so be watching!! Also, there is free blog candy giveaway being drawn on July 27 and August 27, so be sure to get in on your chance to win this super package that Nina put together. I hope you had a wonderful and restful week-end. I'll be back soon with my week-end's endeavors that I hope you'll like.

Kick up Your Heels

A few days ago I learned through my co-DT member Jane Wetzel of a new digi-stamp artist by the name of Maurie J. Manning, who's link is also in the side bar, and I took a look at her artwork and immediately loved it. She has children's books out, which you can read about on her blog, and I'm loving her designs. I made my initial purchase and this is one of her designs called "Mummo Dancing." I explained to her in an e-mail that one of the drawbacks I find to digi-stamps (one of the few) is that you can't efficiently make use of part of the image for paper piecing because you don't have the stamp to just stamp off a small section. Thus, you end up wasting more DP than you would like. However, with not too much waste I managed to print out Mummo's skirt on this fun paper that I recently got from Taylored Expressions. Mummo is definitely a senior that's having a good time and I decided that a computer-generated sentiment should go with this saying "Kick Up You Heels." It could go with birthday or any kind of celebration. The yellow dot paper in the background is from my Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird" paper kit that I just received and there are some awesome papers in this kit. I'm really liking her artwork and I'm sure you'll be seeing more of it, not only from me but from lots of fans who can't resist her work. The artwork available to us stampers is amazing and so varied and I love so very much of it. What a wonderful community to be part of. Thanks for dropping by and have a delightful week-end.

HM Happy Summer White on White Challenge

This week's HM challenge is brought to us by Carolyn (who BTW is celebrating her blogiversary with blog candy) and is the reverse of last week - remember how we couldn't color our images last week, but we could use color in any other element? Well, this week we can only color our images and have only white for the rest of the project. Arrgghh! This was tougher for me than last week's, but that's what a challenge is for, right?! I came up with this happy little Mudpie in a Citrus Bath and since he looks so cool and refreshed, it had to say something about summer. I used my Label One Nestie to cut him out and yes, it is slightly askew. I though about making the Nestie upright and suggesting that Mudpie might be a bit tipsy, but I decided that perhaps it's just lemonade and left the image upright. I used my Tiny Bubbles embossing folder for the background, a MS border punch for the bottom and colored three extra lemons for accent. The flower is punched with a MS punch and I put my new SU jumbo brad in the center. Hope you like it - I'm pleased with how it came out. Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT did for the challenge, and don't forget to stop by Carolyn's blog and check out her Blogiversary post. I hope you're having a wonderful week. Thanks for stopping by.