Tired Eyes and the Three Bears for Christmas

Oh my goodness my eyes are tired... I can't believe that I'm writing this at 3am... this seems to be a theme, and not one that I'm thrilled about but since I'm doing it to myself at least partially I can't complain too horribly. So, been up for about 18 hours maybe more(idk), but so far I've been to work, gone shopping for last minute Christmas gifts, Made a Birthday dinner for my father, Done the laundry and dishes, found time to make a blog post, finished a few last minute cards and once again I'm making a post. I have to be up in just a few hours to get the Turkey ready to go into the oven and then go back to work... :( Boo, I'm tired just thinking about it.

Any who I've been practicing with my copics and I stamped out some Lili of the Valley images that I bought last year.

I liked how the layout turned out, I think it's cute enough for a woman but also plain enough for a man. The Sentiment is part of the Grunge Sentiment set by Lili of the Valley, I was so happy to receive them for my birthday this year! The main image is James Bear - Christmas Tree.

This was the first image that I colored, it was my tester but I though that it was still nice enough for a card. I learned that it takes 4 reds in the copics to get this 'Christmas' color that I have on his hat. I'll have to double check but I think they were R69, R39, R36 and R26.

Second image, I liked this one a bit better, out of the three my mother liked this one the best.

Third image, I like this one the best (the tree at least) but it took a LOT of flicking!

Thats all for now, I'll add any relevant products later. for now I'm off to sleep! Products used for these cards: Glitter paper, Kraft paper, Doily, Lili of the Valley "James - Christmas Tree" and "Christmas Grungy Messages", Ranger Liquid pearls, Color Box 'white' ink, Copics and Art Institute Glitter 'Gold'.

Challenges entered:
Lolli Lulu Crafts - Christmas Challenge Launch (naughty or nice)
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog - Challenge #93 "Christmas is all around"
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps - A Christmas-Eve Wonderful Wednesday! - Alexis
Kit and Clowder - December Challenge :: Animals

Shh... It's a secret!

I'm being a bit naughty in posting this card, but honestly I can't help myself it's almost Christmas and I've been dying to post this for about 3 weeks! This card was made for the Kit and Clowder card exchange that I took part in this year. I hadn't touched my copics in quite some time when I started on this image so I was thrilled with how it turned out! I was in a bit of a rush trying to get this card done (not that it made it go any faster... ) and ended staying up until something like 3am in the morning finishing it.

Isn't it so pretty! :) I tried so hard to make it just a red and white card but I ended up adding the green onto the holly flourish.

And close up!
I love how that gold spec ended up on her eye, the big snowflake is covering a spot where my heat gun burnt the paper. Oops! 

Embellishments!

I used several items on this card for the first time that have just been sitting in my stash doing nothing but collecting dust. The Post Card stamp is from a Close to my Heart set that I "just had to have" several years ago. The round flourish is actually a buckle die by Memory Box, again something purchased several years ago at a show. The deer die cut and the large snowflake were purchased last year.

Products used on this card: Simply Sassy stamp 'Seasons Greetings', Ranger - liquid pearls, Stampendous - shabby white embossing enamel, Memory Box - Ringed Buckle, Impression Obsession - Deer Trio, Martha Stewart - boarder punch, Spellbinders - Label (#???) Dies, Wild Rose Studio - Holly Flourish die, Close to my heart - Stamp(?), red Glitter paper, red rhinestones, Tim Holtz - Mowed Lawn, and Copics.
(^I'll try and fill in some of the missing names tomorrow)

So that's about it for now, I'm off to finish a few more last minute cards!


Challenges Entered:
Lolli Lulu Crafts - Christmas Challenge Launch (naughty or nice, <hope that my card works...?)
Crafty Little Fairies - December Holly and/or Ivy
Shopping our Stash - SOS #181: Red Alert

... So... it's been a while

     Umm... yeah. Title kinda says it all, it's been a while. < a hugely under exaggerated statement! So yeah, life kinda happened (or maybe it's that it didn't happen?). I wont drag on making tons of excuses but the highlights are that my craft area was over run, I kinda lost my mojo for a while and then last year literally on the day that I was planning on starting up and making Christmas cards I fell and sprained my wrist! My doctor was said that it was the worst sprained that he had ever seen with out someone breaking their wrist. So about 7 months latter my wrist finally healed up and I started to retake my crafting area!

So I'm getting back into the swing of things and recently discovered Kit and Clowder! I bought up the Skin and Hair class and I'm slowly making my way though it! I'm looking forward to the before and after pictures.

Today I'm sharing 2 cards. The first is a card for my friends birthday.

The image in the card is 'Take Me Away' by Tiddly Inks!

 
So you can see that I kinda fudged up on the legs of the tub. Next time I want to use gold I know not to use the pen's and instead just get out my paint and brush!

Next card is a Christmas card for the woman that sell me my MK moisturizer. No kidding that stuff really works, I was at the theater the other day and they gave me the student price! (ok maybe that was because I didn't have any make up on... I'm going with the moisturizer theory though!)

This stamp is 'Season's Greetings', one of my favorite's from Krista Smiths 'Simply Sassy' line. Also used on this card is Memory Box die - Snowflake Corner and a sentiment stamp by Dear Lizzy.

I made a little mistake on her eye that was covered up by some Shabby embossing powder. I also used a white gel pen, Ranger Liquid pearls and a clear Zig Wink glitter pen on her eye's and the holly.

Over all I'm pretty darn happy with how this card came together. I also used this image in a card exchange for Kit and Clowder, I'll post images of that card when the lady that I was partnered with receives it!

So that's all for today, I'm off to make more card's for Christmas!

~Sarah L

Challenges Entered:
Aurora Wings Challenge Blog - Challenge #9 Anything Goes
The Sugar Bowl - Challenge #119 Anything Goes

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