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

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

Tropical Snowman...

'Ello my freaky darlings!,

Lol, I couldn't resist. I only watched 'The League of Extraordinary Gentalmen' once, but that line has stayed with me and popped up at the most random times. How is everyone on this Friday evening? Big plans for the weekend? Me, I'm going to do my best to crank out some more cards and try and sew my quilt together. And somewhere in there I suppose that I'll have to go get my brother a birthday present.

Nothing too special to share today, I've been trying to make cards all week but people keep getting in the way. So today everyone was gone when I came home from work, I sat down and made a Christmas card based off of a sketch challenge. I'm all done making my card and taking a picture, then I'm looking for this challenge so I can link it up and... turns out the sketch I had was 2 weeks old! I just had to laugh! But any-who here it is...

So the paper is My Mind's Eye - Colorful Christmas, I used watercolor pencils, the Sakura 'Starbutst' (name?) pen, and some glossy accents on the image. The stamp is by Great Impressions, the snowflake border punch is Martha Stewart. I used the Elegant Scrollwork by Memory Box, and the 'Merry Christmas' (which I just thought was too cute) is by Impression Obsession.

Tip: I know that I've said it before but, all those snowflakes from the punch... SAVE THEM! I have no idea what I'll use them for but there so pretty. I'm going to make them into stickers and save them for another Christmas card or project. This is a great way to add to your backgrounds or even give them to the kids for there art projects! (and yes I love using '!' mark!)

So something new for me was using the layers upon layers of paper. I do love the effect when others do it, but for me I'm almost afraid to do that. This was one of the reason why I forced myself to do this sketch, trying to get past that fear and just create. My card was so 'top heavy' that even if I hadn't already planed on it, I just had to put paper on the inside so it wouldn't tip over.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll try to post again by Sunday at the latest!

XoX ~Sarah

Challenges entered:

ATC & Cards With Attitude - Challenge 18 Anything Goes
Annabelle Stamps Blog - Say it with... Christmas
Stamping with the Dragon - Christmas in July

Wishing you a Simply Marvelous Birthday!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Today I'm Sharing another Monochromatic card. I cant say that I meant for this post to be a monochromatic but a friend liked my previous card and asked for a card for her niece. I had originally thought to use the same image, but seeing at the birthday is in July I decided to use this cutie from Saturated Canary. I had asked Krista if I could remove the copic in this digi because I planed on using it for a friend who isn't really into crafts and what nots. But I thought that It would work for a teen as well, and to be honest I was just itching to use this one!

Wishing You a Simply Marvelous Birthday

Isn't she cute? Her name is Sketchie and she can be found Here in the SC digi shop. The sentiment is kinda hard to see in the pic but in person you can read it just fine. I love these stars that I used, they were left over from my freedom card. Everything else is pretty much the same as my Moody for Snow card that is posted below, so I wont re-list all of that. I have one more card coming this week so stay tuned!

** Oh- and on a special note Krista Smith is going to have a  FREE digi on her blog this coming Monday and Tuesday before it goes into her shop so be on the lookout for that. And now through Saturday (mid-day I think it was) you can grab a discount code from her blog and use it for 30% your purchase in her digi shop. **

XoX ~Sarah

Challenges entered:

Celebrate the Occasion - Challenge #70 Happy Birthday
Creative Card Crew - Challenge #14 Swirls and Pearls
Stamp N Plus - Challenge #2 Anything Goes
The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - Challenge #22 Glitter and Bling
Crafty Boots Challenges - BINGO  (Pearls, Stripes, Blue)
Stamp N Doodle - Monochrome
Saturated Canary - Challenge #21 Bling it

Monochromatic - GDT Card

Morning everyone!

So this morning I'm sharing a card that I made for Paper Makeup Stamps challenge #44 "monochromatic".

 Don't be afraid to Google it! I know I did.

I was really excited to have a chance to make this card, and just look at this cute Moody image! The Image in my card is Moody for Snow, She can be found HERE in the PMS store.

To color this Image I used my copics. For her Skin: E000, E00, E01. For her Hair: W4, W7, W10. and for her clothes B60, B63, B66, B69. The snow both in the digi and on the card were colored with B60, then in the image covered with glossy accents, and on the card colored with a Sakura Star Burst pen to give some extra glimmer! Oh- and the doily was given a once over with the B60 as well.

Here I also wanted to give you a close up of my Flowers. I ran in to a problem of only having blue rose buds. No other blue flowers, I was kicking my self for not buying them when I had seen them. I just didn't know what I would use them for, now I know. Solution: take your white Flowers (roses in this case) and apply Copis! I'm sure that other markers or sprays would work as well. Don't be afraid to get down in there and if the front of the petal isn't taking the color or you cant reach it, then work on the back and it will bleed through. I also took a marker to the leafs and stems to make them a dark blue or maybe more like black. If you want to add glitter then simply use a glue that has a fine tip, apply to the edges of your petals and then dip in glitter and tap off the excess! You can even make your flowers two-tone, just apply the light color first then add the darker on the edges!

I hope you enjoyed, I'll try and post another card later this week. Something with a lot of Glitz!

XoX, ~Sarah

Spelbinders - Floral Ovals
Flowers - wild orchid crafts

Click to head over to Paper Makeup Stamps challenge blog and join the fun!

Challenges entered:
The Crafty Blogger Network: Challenge Blog - Monday Challenge #1 Anything Goes
The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - Challenge #22 Glitter and Bling

Freedom... and Captain America's Shield

So yesterday I was busy, busy! I finished 2 card's and then I was inspired to start another before I lost my idea. So this card is a red, white and blue card for the Saturated Canary Challenge Blog and I also took some creative liberties with a sketch from Graphic Cat, I think that it still works but it's really up to them to say if it does or not. So hear it is...

My first time coloring with Copics, I just happened to have enough to use these colors. I think It looks pretty good for my first time and only watching online videos, but I'm sure that Taking a class is next up as soon as there is one in the area! I really like the embossed stars and hearts that I did behinde her! It was also my first time making a bundle with the flowers (using floural tape and what not) thought that turned out good to but I had to play with it for about 10 min or more to figure out how to put it together.

This last pic was just to show off the Captain Amewrica shields, I made my own temp-let's and really like how they turned out. I had bought a pack of Thresa Collins stars and they were all shiny/sparkly on the side that sticks out except one. I ended up using that one on CA's older shield, thought It turned out good for the over all effect!

Hope you all enjoyed!

XoX ~Sarah

For this card I used Plain red, white and blue card stock, Silver glitter(sparkly! lol) card stock, and a sheet of blue poke-a-dot Bo Bunny card stock. Red, blue and sliver embossing powder,  red and white striped and blue poke-a-dot  crafter's tape. Flowers from Wild Orchid. The stamps are a Forth of July set(pg 80-81) by Close to my Heart. and the image is a digi from Saturated Canary. Oh- and glossy accents was used on her sweat drop.

 Challenges entered:
Graphic Cat - Sketch #10
Saturated Canary - Challenge #20 Red, White and Blue
Paper Makeup Stamps - Challenge #42 Anything Goes
Totally Stampalicious - Red and White and?

much happiness

     Wow, what a week! Even though spring has "started" we still had snow this last week in the Portland (Oregon) area. I haven't watched the news but I'm sure that this is the latest in the year that we have had snow, for the last twenty years at least. Over this last weekend I was able to go to the 'Heritage Rubber Stamp Show' at the Expo Center, it was pretty awesome.

    About 2 weeks ago we had the 'CKC Scrapbooking' Show in the Convention Center, but for as great as I thought it was last year, this year not so much. Maybe its more of the same product every year, but there were a some venders that did not attend this year and some vendors who just didn't bring the product that I had hoped to buy.

    I was really overwhelmed at the 'Heritage' show though, there were a lot of vendors that I had not heard about (ok so I have only been scrapbooking for 2 years now, so thats not hard but... still!). I was able to buy a handfull or so or rubber stamps, which made me happy since the ones I bought are not availible in stores near me.

    My mother fell in love with the last both we went to which had Eggimal's. I'll make some soon and show you what they are all about if you don't know already! So after a long day spent walking on concreat, spending too much money and a few hours longer than we thought, I came home and finished this card that I had been working on, off and on for the last few days. So Here it is!

     This card is a Sketch challenge for 'Graphic Cat' and product/image challenge for 'Saturated Canary'. I alredy had the image colored from a while ago when I bought my first batch (yes, batch) of Saturated Canary Digi, the image is 'Tressa the Princess'. Lucky for me It matched perfectly with the 'Konichiwa' paper by Basic Grey that I had just bought! I used the 'Kanji Phrases' stamp set from Close to my Heart for the sentiment and Spellbinders 'Fanciful Flight' (butterfly), 'Scalloped Circles' and 'Fleur De Lis Motifs' for my shapes. I have caught myself using the 'Clear Star' and 'Souffle' Sakura pens a lot, you can see this on her dress and a little in her eyes.

XoX ~Sarah

Challenges Entered:
Saturated Canary - Challenge #13 Twine
Graphic Cat - Sketch #4
Make It Monday - #82
Always Crafting - Creative Mondays CH#4

Anything BUT square or rectangle - SC challenge 11

So my second post and once again this card is for a Saturated Canary Challenge. The challenge being anything but a square or rectangle card. I really didn't know what I was going to do for this challenge until I started working on the card. It was a bit strange not having a plan since I tend to lay it all out in my head before I even start on a card (or anything else for that matter).

The image I used for this card was 'Pricilla Pie, A Ragamuffin', she is another image that you can find in Kirsta's Etsy shop. To color her I used mostly chalks and some colored pencils, for a bit of 'pop' I used some gel souffle pens on her hair, dress, necklace, flower and eyes. The background paper is Teresa Collins new line 'Everyday Moments', it was yellow flowers on white but I used the chalks over the white background. both the butterfly and flower punches were from martha stewart. The Digital Image was cut with spellbinders and the rose was cut from a roll of ribbon roses. The card was more rectangular than I would have liked my card to be, I had planed to cut a triangle but I just happened to have a 'Tag' card in my stash and it just kind-a clicked.

That seems to be all for now, I'm hoping to post more cards soon and maybe some other projects! Before I sign off I'll share my favorite song at the moment. Jason Marz - I Won't Give Up. I love the end when you hear all the guys singing in the background!

Well that's all I hope you enjoyed my card (and song) comments are welcome!
Sarah