Thank You With A Cherry Chibi

Bonjour!

Well I'll just get right into it, the card I have to share with you today has been a bit of a pain to make. I started trying to make it on the 16th I think... and It just was not coming together. I kind of had this plan in my head before I started and It was just not coming together like I had hoped. I could have gone out and spent $20 or so and I'm sure that It would have worked, but lets get real that is not something that anyone wants to do for just one card. So instead I finally threw out my original Idea and pulled it all together in about an hour last night. I'm happy with the way that it turned out, I made this card for a challenge DT call and so I could have something to send my grandmother. So here it is, let me know what you think!

Close up!



Inside view!

So that's, that. I really like the simple, clean layout that I ended up with. There might be one or two thing that I would change If I did this card again, like just using a black card base instead of white! Including the card I ended up with 5 layers of paper on the front!

So the Image used is another Manga Chibi by Sureya, Her name is Velvet and she is based off of another image titled 'The SOLDIER or The Cook?' by Kokoroyomi. Also note that while Sureya has free images that you can use for cards or coloring projects, these images can not be used on something that you sell. However if you like her style you can head on over to Make it Crafty's store and buy some of her stamps that she has for sale!

The embossing pattern is a folder from Cuttle Bug, the ribbon is just something that I have had in my stash for a while, the cherries are a die cut from Hero Arts, and the punch with red and white is from Martha Stewart. The image and cherries were colored with Copic and a white gel pen. And finally the sentiment was made by me! And let me tell you that was not easy to do, I'll post it below for you to use if you like.

I hope that everyone is having a good weekend so far, and if you have time Sassy Studio Designs is having a blog hop today with a new release of Disney Villains! Also Whimsy Stamps is on day 4 of there August release blog hop, and they have some really cute stamps and dies for you to see!





You will have to let me know if there is trouble with downloading this. I haven't done a downloadable image before so I'm in the dark.

XoX ~Sarah

 

Challenges entered:

Crafty Ribbons Challenge - #26 Feeling Fruity (DT Call)

Stamp N Doodle - Loaded with Layers

Pixie Dust Studio Challenge Blog - Food Theme

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Challenge #147 Ribbons and Bows

Splendiferous Creations - Black and White with a splash of color

Wishcraft - Waist Not Wednesdays wk28

 

Retro Jules

Good afternoon everyone! Well it's still morning for me, but I just know that I will get interrupted and it will be well after 12 when this gets posted! Today I have a cute retro-ish, very red card to share with you. I'm actually not sure if I can call this retro but the paper was EP - Happy Days I just love the rose print and those poke-a-dots.

The card layout is based off of the current 'A Die for a Sketch' Challenge (#3). This is only the third sketch challenge that they have posted but I like how they keep it simple. The sketch that you get just shows the paper layout and you are free to use and place embellishment's as you like.

Close up on the image that I used. There are a lot of challenges right now that want you to make your own background. I used distressed ink for a sunset cloud background and then for a field of flowers. I'm not so sure if I love it but it's kinda cute. I really like how I colored her dress but I'm thinking that I should have colored the poke-a-dot part on her dress blue instead of red.

I tried to follow the sketch through on the inside with a few small changes and a little less embellishment. When I went to cut out the red circle I couldn't find my extra red paper, so I ended up cutting it out of the middle of the background red. Once I had everything together and started to put stuff away I then ended up finding the extra red paper that I had had out. Isn't that just how it works?

Final picture and big question. How do you attach your flowers to your cards? I had asked one person and she said that she just used glue dots. When I started using flowers on cards I would cut off the stems and then place them using glue dots, though I did try to use glue a few times and figured out fast that it wasn't going to work. Now I tend to twist the stems of my flowers together before using glue dots to place them on my cards. So my question is, short of stapling, is there any other way besides glue dots to adhere the flowers to a card?

~ A small tip from this card, when using ribbons that have a loose weave they tend to fray very quickly. There is a product called Fray Check that you can use on the ends of the ribbon, you only need to use a small amount and it drys fairly fast and clear. I really like it because I don't have to worry about my bows falling apart thread by thread.

So the Image was colored with Copic's and distressed inks, the roses are from wild orchid crafts, Spellbinders Tear Drop Circles and the Standard Circles were used as for my die cuts, the butterfly is from a Close to my Heart package from about a year ago, the bow is just a piece of scrap ribbon that I had and a corsage pin is stuck through the middle, and the image is Saturated Canary - Jules.

Thank you for stopping by!
XoX ~Sarah

Challenges entered:
A Die for a Sketch - Challenge #3
Saturated Canary - Challenge #23 The Great Outdoors
StampARTic - Dies
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Week 167 Going Around in Circles
Just Some Lines - Layer it Up Challenge
Totally Papercrafts - Challenge #120 Frame It
Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Challenge #25 Seeing Spots and Dots
Simon Says Stamp - Lets Play BINGO  (Ribbon-Free-Blooms and/or Die cut-Free-Glitter)

Manga Chibi

Hello everyone, have we enjoyed our week so far? Any big plans for the weekend? I myself don't have any big plans, though after today I have the rest of the weekend off. We have been having some nice weather lately so I'm hoping that it will hold out and I can catch some rays! Well enough about that, today I'm sharing a card that I made up last night. I was really hoping that the Gorjuss Girl stamps I had ordered would have shown up in the mail yesterday, but sadly they didn't. So Instead I went ahead and made a card with a cute Chibi image by *Sureya.

Cute right? I like to think that I'm getting better at this shading and coloring with Copic thing. I had seen a tutorial where it was mentioned that a BV color would help you image look more realistic. I went ahead and tried it for this image but I thing that I used a little to much on her forehead, though I think that I did pretty well for her arms and neck area. The legs again maybe a little too much, but hey I'm still learning. My biggest problem doesn't come from using the Copic's them selves but rather waiting long enough for the ink to dry. Sadly I don't get the opportunity to wake up in the morning and know that I will have the time to make a card that uses 'X' paper and 'X' image. I usually get home and find that I have the time and inclination so I find a sketch or Idea for what to do and find an image, then I just want to go straight into coloring...

So angled view and a view of the inside, I tried to keep with the sketch and follow it through to the inside. The paper that I used is 'Hello Summer' by Echo Park. The 3 heart buttons in the upper right corner are Button Farm (make your own) Buttons also using the 'Hello Summer' paper. The white flourish on the corners of the image are a Memory Box Die, Quinn Flourish, cut in half. and the Motif with 'Faith, Hope, Love' stamped on it is from Spellbinders 'Persian Motifs'.

*I'm not sure if they still make the Button farm thing. I bought it 2 years ago at a CKC show but I didn't see it this last year and I can't seem to find it on the web. If any one knows if and or where you can get these though I would love to know where to get more.*

Be sure to check out *Sureya 's open coloring book if you like this image, while I can't find this exact one in her coloring book at the moment. She has a bunch of other really neat manga type images!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
XoX ~Sarah

Challenges Entered:
CMC Copic Challenge Group - Anything goes w/ a Girly Twist
Card Crafters Circle - Challenge #33 CAS Clean and Simple!
Pile It On - #31 Cute as Can Be
Graphicat Sketches - Challenge #13
Stamp N Doodle - Use Your Favorite Color (pink and blue)
DYSU Challenge Blog - #83 Polka Dots
Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #228 Clean & Simple
My Heart Pieces Digital Stamp Challenges - Use Designer Paper

Gresham's Art Walk and Farmers Market

Wow... well so I finally got all of my computer technology and internet stuff to finally work at the same time. So no cards in this post just sharing a little bit about what I found at the art walk here in Gresham. Also have a cookie recipe at the end of this post!

Anyone ever been to an art walk? Well for those of you who haven't basically it's what it sounds like. A bunch of artist (Traditional and Non) come together to show and sell what they make. You can find anything from Watercolor paintings, and hand made traditional jewelry to jewelry made from bits of old silverware and wacky metal animal lawn ornaments. Everything is so diverse it would be impossible to list it all.  

This first picture is a little hard to make out, but its a hand blown wine glass with a cool sand blasted moon and sun design. The woman who made these had a ton of different designs including light houses and mermaids. The glasses too came in all different types including color tinted shot glasses.

This second picture shows an awesome picture frame that I bought for my mother. This was my second favorite booth to go to at the art walk. The booth was run by two sisters one who lives here in Oregon and another who lives in Hawaii. They only had a few picture frames (one of those you can see that I bought) but they had a lot of jewelry most of it sea inspired. My favorite item in the booth (that sadly I didn't get) was a pair of hair combs that had small shells attached to them. The web page isn't the best but you can see some of there stuff HERE.

These cuties can be found at the farmers market but I bought them during the art walk. I just couldn't resist them. The guy who made these also makes other glass products... bowl's, glasses, plates, and other things. But these cute kitties I decided had to come home to be a gift for my mother... poor woman, I keep getting her all of these small nick-knack's, but as much as she likes them she has no place to put them.

So re-occurring theme... This hat I bought for my Friend. She loves the color purple and hats (I did end up buying myself a green one as well). I remember inviting her to youth camp when we were kids and she showed up with 2 suit cases. One suite case was for her clothes and the other (that was just as big as the first) was full of hats! To me this was normal, just knowing her and her love of hats, but all of the other girls in our cabin were in complete shock, I still get those 'Oh yeah, and you remember that time...' type comments from some of those girls. The hat is made from a Acrylic blend so it's soft and not scratchy like it would be with wool. You can find her and her other designs HERE.

Last Photos. Isn't it beautiful! This is a acrylic painting titled 'Redeeming Wave' by artist Magda Moor. I fell in love with this painting almost the moment I saw it, and ended up going back to the booth to buy it after deciding that 'Yes' it was worth it and I liked it enough. Magda does a lot of Sea inspired paintings, each different and unique. One of the things that I love most about her paintings is all the texture that she adds in, you can almost see the wave jumping off of the canvas. You find her on Etsy, her website, or find and like her on facebook. Really check out her art its just beautiful what she does!

One last thing to share with you, a chocolate-peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolat chip-cookie... or a cowgirl cookie recipe if you will. There is a booth that sells cookies like these at our farmers market and I love the flavor! But the texture that they have going is... well bread-y (is that a word) it almost takes away from the wonderful flavors. So here is my improved recipe for these cookies!

Cowgirl Cookie

Oven: 350  Bake: 9-11min  Makes: 4-5 dozen

1 1/2 - Cup Unsalted Butter

1  - Cup Sugar

1  - Cup Brown Sugar

2  - Eggs

1/2 - Cup Peanut Butter

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2  - Cups Flour

1/3 - Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

2  - Cups Rolled Oats

2  - Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1) Cream Butter and Sugars until smooth. Scrape bowl then add eggs one at a time. Mix until incorporated again then add in Peanut Butter and Vanilla and mix until smooth again.

2) Stir together dry ingredients then add slowly to butter mixture scrapping the bowl as needed. Add in oats then chocolate chips mix until incorporated again.

3) Spoon onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake at 350, for 9-11 minutes. and let cool for at least 10 min before eating.

*note* if you want a stronger peanut butter taste then you can substitute a 1/2 cup of Butter for the Peanut Butter. This would change your amounts to 1 Cup Butter and 1 Cup Peanut Butter.

DONE! finally. I hope that everyone found something that sparked there intrest in this post and that you try out this recipe if you get a chance. It's very good!

XoX ~Sarah