LOTV Thursday Challenge "James the Bear"

It's Thursday and that means it's time for a challenge over at the LOTV blog. Hop on over to take a look at this week's sketch. 

I chose this adorable James the Bear 'In the Snow' image to work with. I love these sweet animal designs, so precious!

He was fairly simple to color, seeing he's mostly a couple of shades of brown, and I gave him a matching scarf and hat. That furry cap was made for Polar White Flower Soft and gently falling snowflakes! It's my favorite texture for all things wintry.

All the patterned papers are digital designs from Tracy Ann Digital Art, printed from my computer. I love her collections of papers, they are soooo elegant!

Don't forget to join in on our challenge, there's always a few stamps to give away if you win! Check the LOTV challenge blog for all the deets. From there you can also check out some more eye candy from the other DT ladies.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Lilli of the Valley

Paper: Heavenly White, Core'dinations, Epson matte photo paper, SU

Accessories: SU edge & corner punch, striped ribbon, Flower Soft, colored pencils, OMS, Martha Stewart Lg. and Sm. snowflake punches, Liquid Glass, glass glitter, Glimmer Mist, silver brad

Sneak Peak...New LOTV stamps!

Lili of the Valley will be releasing a new collection of Christmas animals stamps either today or tomorrow, and they are just to die for! The sweetest little penguins, bears and little critters! Here's a peek at one of the images to give you an idea of what's in store. 

This one's called Igloo for Two. I colored it with my colored pencils. I used lots of sparkle with Copic Spica's and Stickles. The background paper was stamped too, with a PTI snowflakes set. I embossed a little snowflake border with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and tied a ribbon around it.

Hope you like it, thanks for looking!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley

Ink: Perfect Match, SU

Paper: Heavenly White, PTI, SU

Accessories: Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, SU ribbon, colored pencils, OMS, Copic Spica pens, Stickles, Cuttlebug border embossing folder

Colorful Petals

So while digging through my stash of stamps, I happened to find this cutie-pie from Stamping Bella. I went through a phase a while ago using a bunch of the Ketto's and Bittyblooms, then kind of forgot about them. Well, I know a stamp is a keeper if I use it more than once, especially after a long time has passed! This one is just adorable and I had to ink her up again.

Instead of doing a lot of coloring, I decided to paper piece all the pretty layers of her dress and floral hat. I did add some light shading with a couple of Copics though. 

Isn't she bloomin' beauuuuutiful?!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Stampin Bella, PTI sentiment
Ink: Memento, SU
Paper: SU, PTI
Accessories: Spellbinders flower dies, pearl, colored pencils, Copics, Stickles, McGill Label punch, Tonic corner rounder, Sakura glaze pen, polka dot ribbon

Some news...and a card!

Well here I am finally. I know it's been very sporadic posting for me, but I think I may have a very good reason! In case you haven't noticed my new badge in the left sidebar, I've been invited to join the Splitcoast Stampers Dirty Dozen design team. I'm just now starting to come out of the fog I've been in ever since Lydia first asked me a couple of months ago! I was so nervous I really had a lot of trouble concentrating on anything else. I mean, what an honor, a privilege to be a part of the Dirty Girls! So there I was for the past month, frantically working on what had to be my BEST cards ever! All of this in addition to my existing obligations to IO and LOTV DT's. Let me tell you I was feeling the pressure, lol! But, now that the anxiety is starting to subside a bit, the secret is out, I can resume my regular blogging schedule. 

Here is a card I thought I would add to the DD gallery, but changed my mind. 

Very masculine, with the earthy colors and woodgrain background. I embossed Core'dinations paper with the PTI impression plate and sanded away to reveal the core color. That paper and the impression plate were made for each other let me tell you, I love the wood effect!

Lots of intricate leaf cutting so I could layer them onto some of that brown polka dot paper. I decorated the inside of the card too, just a couple of light colored leaf prints to tie in with the front.

I'm thinking I may change the bow into a more simple knot, not sure if any guys I know like bows!

Hopefully I haven't lost too many readers and you all will understand my absence, and thanks to all of you who are still here! I have lots to share in the coming weeks. And if you don't see anything posted here on my blog, pop on over to Splitcoast to see what I've cooked up for the Dirty Dozen gallery!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Perfect Match
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Core'dinations
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels die, SU edge punch, PTI ribbon/button/twine

Impression Obsession and Flower Soft Blog Hop!

There's something different going on today, instead of my usual blog post we're going on a hop!

A blog hop that is....

The Impression Obsession and Flower Soft Design Teams are playing together!

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 4 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:

Two $25 gift certificates from Flower Soft and two $25 gift certificates from Impression Obsession!!!

The prize winners will be announced on the Flower Soft Blog and The Impression Obsession blog on Wednesday August 18^th. Good luck!

If you didn't start at the beginning of the hop please go to the beginning at the Flower Soft Blog.

Now onto my card:

I chose one of Impression Obsession's gorgeous house stamps, because it's perfect with a bit of Flower Soft texture. This one is called House With Porch (H1747). I colored it in with colored pencils, and it's so easy to color because there are already 'pre-shaded' areas. Usually I have to spend a lot of time getting the shading just right, but with this stamp, no problem!

Here's a closer look at the Flower Soft texture:

I used the multi colored Sweet Pea Flower Soft for the flower boxes and some Ultra Fine Sage for the foliage. Doesn't it just add the perfect finishing touch?! Some pretty papers from Memory Box, a fancy Martha Stewart border and a big silk bow, and I call it done!

Want even more inspiration? Do you like video tutorials? How about Challenges? Make sure and check out both Flower Soft TV and the Impression Obsession blog!

 ****Next on the hop is Deborah March. Get hopping and have fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Impression Obsession Home Sweet Home Challenge

Time for another Impression Obsession challenge! This week's theme is Home Sweet Home. I decided to use this Arbor  (G1759) stamp for my card. I wish this was my home sweet home, lol!

I colored the image with some Copics and broke out my Flower Soft to embellish all the beautiful little flowers. I also made a lush green carpet of grass with the Flower Soft, lots of texture on this card! 

Here's a closer look:

The paper is from the Memory Box Rhubarb collection. Love that red!

Now head on over to all the other DT ladies' blogs for more Home-y inspiration--

Daniela
Dina
Deborah
Julie
Jeanne
Laura

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Impression Obsession

Ink: Memento

Paper: Heavenly White, Memory Box

Accessories: Copics, Flower Soft, silk ribbon, Martha Stewart edge & corner punches, button

Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge #59

It's sketch challenge time over at the Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge blog, with an awesome sketch from Bev. I love creating cards from sketches, it makes it so much easier to do something different. I find that sometimes my cards get 'stuck in a rut' so-to-speak. ;-) So here's this week's sketch:

And here's my card, using 'Carol Singing'. 

I used the colors from the Basic Grey Wassail papers to color in the image with colored pencils. I wanted the lamp post to look like wrought iron, so I outlined it with a black Sakura Glaze pen. I must say I have a very hard time getting a metallic look with colored pencils, I may have to spend some time studying some tutorials on how to do this more effectively. 

I used some white Fun Flock for the furry Santa hats and cuffs on the little girls, I really like that stuff. I also flocked the larger snowflake on the embellishment, and some glass glitter for the smaller one. I love the chunky sparkle of glass glitter, resembles ice crystals.

Now head on over to the LOTV blog and check out the other DT's cards for more inspiration. Then create your own card to enter and win some LOTV stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley
Ink: Memento, Distress
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest, PTI, Heavenly White, Stardream, Basic Grey
Accessories: EK Success edge punch, Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, gold ribbon, Sakura Glaze pens, Copic sketch/Spica markers, SU scallop oval and oval punches, Martha Stewart Lg. and Sm. snowflake punches, glass glitter, Stickles, Fun Flock, Viva pearl pen