I think being by the ocean always turns out to be my perfect day. Something about it just always makes me feel good, even if the sun isn't shining. Yesterday was a gorgeous and I mean GORGEOUS day out. Hubby and I decided to drive to Galveston Island to have a dinner date. The island was all a buzz with surfers, swimmers, and couples walking down the beach hand in hand. We both love to people watch and it just made me smile to see so many people carefree and having fun.
Lately my hubby has been obsessed with Hawaiian shirts and all that he can find- the crazier the better. We found an amazingly cheap thrift store and he goes nuts each time we go and he can find the shirts. This thrift store is never more than $1.75 and goes down a quarter each day until Wednesday when it hits a quarter. Then it closes early and restocks for the $1.75 Thursday. You can't beat those prices.
Anyhow... I tell you all this to get to the point: Both of those things inspired this card. lol It is so funny to me where my inspiration comes from.
What is everyone up to today? I am sitting here trying to figure out what I want for lunch, browsing the net, and listening to the Big Brother Live Feeds that are playing on hubby's computer next to me. Does anyone else watch Big Brother? It is one of my all time favorite shows!
Anyway, I picked up this little cutie yesterday from Mo's Digital Pencil and had to color her up. She is adorable and different, and that is a combo I like..lol
I had fun with her. I am not super stoked about how her black hair came out but it was one of the last things I colored and I was not going to scrap the whole thing and start over. Hair really is my kryptonite. I just can not seem to get it down like some people seem to do so effortlessly. I guess the only thing to remedy that is lots of practice. I grabbed a few more Mo images yesterday so I think I may do a bit more coloring today in between eating lunch and laundry loads. I would love to see what you are up to. Leave a comment below and let me know... I will come over and check it out.
Toodles!
Tracy
*********************************** Card Details: Image: Baby Fairy Bee by Mo Manning
Sentiment stamp:
This is the day- Technique Tuesday
Paper:
Bobby and Betty-Hop by Adornit it, Wildflower - Wordplay by Adorn it, Morning Rain- Cloudy by The Paper Loft
Accessories:
Yellow Pearls by Kaisercraft, Twine by Maya Road
Copic: skin- E000, E00, E01, E02, E11, E13, R20 bee body- Y26, Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11 & N8, N6, N5, N3,N1, N0 flower and stem- B18, B21, B14, YG67, G17, G14, R46 wings- G0000, G00, BG01, BG000 dirt ground- E43, E40, E31, E27, E25, E21 & colorless blender Challenges that this card is entered in: Created with Love Challenges- For the Girls Loves Rubberstamps- Anything Goes
It has been soooo long since I picked up a Copic, patterned paper, my ATG gun... you get the idea. I started my vacation, errr.....staycation yesterday and wanted to create!
I went looking through a few galleries online and then through my digi stamp collection to get inspiration. I landed on this super fun girl named Starla from Saturated Canary.
I was a bit rusty after not coloring or anything for 6 months... I started this image 3 times before I went with it and got a result I was semi pleased with. I need to never go that long without creating again...seriously. lol
She was totally screaming out to me to have cool funky and fun colors. Do you own her? If so I would love to see what you created with her. Please leave me a link to your creation in the comment section if you have played with her.
I used the following on the card: Image & Sentiment- Starla by Saturated Canary Paper- Seen & Noted by Pebbles Die- Wonky Squares Copics: Y00, Y02, Y06, Y08, BG000, BG10, BG07, BG13, BG15, N1, N3, N5, N6, R20, R21, R22, R24, E00, E02, E11
I love to jot down ideas or thoughts on note pads or Post-it notes. I leave a trail of them all over the place..lol Well, I had one sitting on my desk forever telling me to make a Robot card with the sentiment" Domo Arigato" which is Thank you very much in Japanese. I am sure that most of you are familiar with the 80's song by the band Styx.
I finally got around to wanting to create it. I went searching high and low ( or at least scouring digi sites..lol) for the perfect robot for my card. I found one that I thought was perfect, but the site was closed until after the new year fro Christmas break. :( ... Heart broken, I moved on until I found this one from Pink Cat Studio. He is quite a cutie,yes?
I used the following on the card:
Image- Boy Robot by Pink Cat Studio ( digi) + a sentiment I created in PS Elements
Stampin up Very Vanilla for card base Stampin up Classic Stampin' Pad - Taken with Teal for graphic paper piece Stampin up Jumbo wheel- *not sure of the name* for the bigger background piece Pixie Stix Glitter Tube - Lemonade Spellbinders Nestabilities- Wonky squares Sizzix embossing folder - RETRO CIRCLES BY TIM HOLTZ Paper - MME breeze, Adornit Carolee's creations- Seasons ( August cut apart),& Adornit Bobby and Betty- run gear stickers I had in my stash and I do not remember what brand they are. Twine- Maya Road - saffron yellow
Copics used were C0, C1, C3, BG10, R20
I hope you enjoyed the card, and you can now enjoy this song to get it out of your head like I had too..lol
Here is a super quick post about a card I made the other day while I was still on my Christmas vacation.
I found this woman that does You tube video's of cards she makes and I have been obsessed with her style since. I can watch her videos all day... I did one day and drove my hubby crazy! lol
This card was actually a case of one of hers. Her name is Kristina Werner, and you can find her at her blog Kwernerdesign blog. You should totally check her out..really.
Here is the card that I made from inspiration I got from watching her....
Card Deets: Stamps- Amuse studio woodgrain background & Studio G Kolette Hall sentiment Stickles- Christmas Red Paper- Pebbles- seen & noted & Cardstock by Stampin Up Twine- Maya Road in Saffron Yellow Have a great rest of your weekend, Tracy S
It seems the only posts I do lately are the Sassy Cheryl SMT ones. Hmmmmm I love participating in the challenge, but I need to get to blogging more often. lol
While all the crazy people were out braving the chaos to get the Black Friday deals.. I was home relaxing and crafting. I am going to milk my four day weekend for all it's worth..lol It does not happen often.
Anyway, I wanted to bust out some of my Stampin' Up stamps that a friend gave to me a year or so ago.. She gave me ALL of her stamps, papers, inks and crafty supplies. I was thoroughly blessed by it, I just have not really used the stamps much. As you all know I LOVE to color with my Copics, so I rarely ...ok almost NEVER just stamp. Today I was in a mood to do so. I then thought as I was finishing up.. Hey, now I have something for this week's SMT post, hehhehehehe. So I asked hubby to snap the pic and a few more...because for some reason I feel I have to have more than one photo to show what I am doing in my SMT posts, I am not sure why..lol Anyone else encounter that as well?
Here is the card I made:
I made it using the following stamps and punch:
And the following inks:
I had fun stepping out of my little box for a few..how about you? What did you do this lovely Friday?
Make a post about it and come over and share it with the rest of us... -------> HERE
I love to participate in the SMT= Show Me Thursday challenge over at Sassy Cheryl's. Mainly because there is no pressure... all you have to do is show them what you are up to for the week. I love that it does not have to be crafty. I mean some of you may be constantly crafty...but I am not always full of mojo.
I had a busy, busy weekend. We got together Friday night after work and went bowling with some couple friends of ours. We played Girls Vs. Guys... The guys stomped us.. well my hubby did. lol The other guys not so much. I did win a game against the other females though :) Woot!
Saturday we woke up and took a ride down to Galveston Island to the Lone Star Rally.. in a car. As cool as motorcycles are.. they scare the poo outta me now. I have had too many people I know either killed or seriously injured for life in motorcycle accidents. So while I am pretty sure we will never own one.. They were fun to go watch. Here are a few pics that hubby got of the event.
Click pics to make them bigger
So what are you up to this week? We would love to have a peek into your world. Come over to the blog and show us what you are up to. You get entered into a drawing for a free Sassy image.. You can not beat that! Who would not want a darlin' Sassy image... and for FREE!
I will apologize in advance for this being a pic heavy post. Not like the last one wasn't either..lol I should have warned you then too. I just figure if it is a Show Me challenge that I am posting about... I should show you! lol
Fist off I am WAY beyond stoked that I won last weeks SMT challenge!!!!! WOOOO HOOOO. I had been eyeballing Noah is all ears for a bit so i pounced on him with my store credit. He just makes me smile. How can you not smile at an adorable little boy dressed up as Mickey, I mean really???
I was itching to color him up right away, and we are heading out tomorrow to drive up and see my Father in law for his 70th birthday. His wife is throwing a huge celebration party and everyone is making the trip from all over. I am excited and so is hubby... My Father in law has survived lung cancer ...not once but twice. So every year we have him here to celebrate is awesome and cherished. Anyway, I wanted to make a fun and young feeling card for him. I though little Noah fit the bill perfectly. Hubby and I think he will get a kick out of it.
I first paired him with a digi sentiment from TLC in Photo Shop elements. Is it not totally fitting with this image? I thought so. I did not get a pick of me doing that in Photo Shop but i did get a pic of it part way through coloring:
I had to stop and refill my E00 Copic before I could get the skin done... Notice the super inky fingers? I always get all inked up when I am coloring.. The funny thing is... I am right handed and my left hand is the one that gets so messy usually..lol I think that is a good indication that it is time to clean my Copics up.
I kept the card itself pretty simple since he is a male. I really try and refrain from ribbons, flowers and bling on masculine cards.. call me crazy. lol
Here is the front of the card:
I actually got a pic of the inside of the card this time because I did something more than just put a white piece of paper to write on in it, which is not normal for me. I struggle with ornate designs inside of the cards. I think it is because I write so big that I am always worried about having enough space to write what I need to say. I LOVE seeing people making the insides of cards as decorated as the outside though. I would love to get better at that for sure.
The Mickey was made with Mickey Font Cricut Cartridge. Isn't he fun? I also love these kid saying sentiment stamps. I have had a set of them that I got on clearance awhile back at Hobby Lobby and this is the first time the pack has been opened. I need to find ways to use them more.
If you made it all the way through my post I thank you for stopping by to visit. I hope you will join us this week over at The Sassy Cheryl Show Me Thursday Challenge. You have until The 24th to enter.. so hop over and show us what you are up to.
I will leave you with one more thing, because it was stuck in my head and I wanna share..lol .....
I wanted to play along this week again in the SMT over at Sassy Cheryl. I did not get any cards or scrap pages done... but I would say I still got to be creative. Hubby is a photographer..trying to make it his career. For now he does it on the side and I help with props and poses. Although with 1 year old kiddos there is no posing, really..lol You just put them in a scenario and let them do their thing.
I work at a local Pregnancy Center as the Client Service Manager. Every service we offer to the client is free of charge to them. My hubby, along with a few other photographers, volunteer their time and talent to do free photo shoots for the clients. I got to help plan this one and execute. I did not take any of the pics but I helped with posing ideas and keeping the babies looking a certain direction by making goofy faces and noises..lol It was so much fun!
I wanted to share a few of my favorite pics of the session. I really wanted to take some behind the scenes pics to show you the set up and stuff... but I was too occupied by VERY active 1 year olds.
This first one is my little friend, Linda. She is one of my favs... Her and I have a blast when she comes to visit. I adore this kid.
Doesn't she look like a little Supah Star!
Here she is about to lick the balloon..lol She was looking up at me while I was talking to her actually, but in the pic she just look fascinated.
How cute is she??? I do not have anymore to post of her by herself. I had a few of her and her mom but Linda is a walker already and boy was she putting it into practice..lol She did not like the sitting still thing at all.
Next is baby Mia.. she was a rock star on this photo shoot. We got lots of super cute shots of her. She is a doll and was cracking us up with her antics.
Mia decided her glasses were not for wearing...but for snacking on..lol
Guess who is turning 1 :)
Okay one more , I promise... It is just so hard to pic a fave!
Photo shoots with kiddos are hard work, but so much fun. You always get unexpected shots because you can not get them to pose.. You just have to let them go and keep snapping.
I hope you will join us over at Sassy Cheryl's Blog and show us what you have been up to.
I know that it was yesterday that was World Card making day and not today. I was so happy to not be sick this weekend that I kept rabbit trailing and running around all over the place with DH, yesterday. We did end up with a cute pic of him at the Farmer's Market with some pumpkins and hay and some stuff to start our Fall garden, but......it took until almost 11pm to get my card done and photographed. So, I was way too tired to try and mess with getting it posted on the blog last night. I did make this card to celebrate the day though... so I had to give a nod to it, at least.
Without further ado, here is my card using adorable Jeni's perfect costume by Sassy Cheryl.
Does she not put a smile on your face? She sure does mine. She for some reason reminds me of little kid dressed up for a school play. I was my share of things as a kid for school plays. The one that stands out to me the most is when I had to dress up as a huge flower,...lol
So, did you get a chance to create a card for World Card Making Day? If so I would love to come see it... be sure to leave a comment below so I can hop over and have a look see.
For now.. I am off to enjoy this gorgeous day of amazing weather ( it got down in the 50's over night..woot!) with my hubby. We are thinking about a trip to the zoo.
I have been hearing about the SMT over at Sassy Cheryl's on PCP and never knew what everyone was talking about. Now I know that it means Show Me Thursday. From my understanding you show what you have been doing during the week. Well since I have been sick... You do not want pics of any of what I have been doing all week... until today. LOL I actually feel tons better and decided since I had taken the day off.. I might as well get something done, but nothing too major. I have a bad habit of going gung ho after feeling badly and always end up regretting it. So... I piddled around and cleaned my craft desk off.
I apologize for the pic quality.. I took them with my Droid.
BEFORE
DURING
The sad part is that a lot got moved and put away from the first to the second and you can barely tell..lol
AFTER It still looks like a lot of stuff crammed in the corner.. Believe it or not everything has a place in a container in the corner. I really need to go through it all at some point though and get rid of what I really do not need/ use. I am just glad I cleared a space to be able to create something, and I will be able to participate in this week's SMT :) Soo...What are you working on? Come on over to the Sassy Cheryl Blog and show us what you are up to.
I wanted to thank you all for entering my little Fall giveaway. How perfect that it ended the day before Fall begins. :) I hope you all enjoy your first day of Fall ... and I hope that this Fall is all that you love about the season.
Without further ado
The winner of this giveaway is................................... Cathie AKA
****Please e-mail me to claim your prize :)
I need your e-mail info to get you your prize.
I will re draw on the 29th if the prize is not claimed by then.
I love so much about Fall. The colors, the cool air, the turning of the leaves, and pumpkin. I love just about pumpkin anything. I have a good variety of pumpkin delicacies pinned to a board on Pinterest.. and it is my goal to try them all one by one..lol I also happen to love pumpkins as a design element. They are just cute!
I found this cute little girl over at Sassy Cheryl's and knew I had to have her. My friend Cole has been doing a lot with the newer Sassy Cheryl images and made me have to go get some myself... She is such an enabler. lol That is my story...and I am sticking to it!
I tried a new hair color combo on her and I really love it. I LOVE red hair and this is a great shade in my opinion. I would not mind having it on my own hair. I have it pinned on my Copic board.. but I will share it with you here in the card details below.
I am going to keep this post short and sweet because I plan to go make another card. I posted a Facebook status to all my friends and family and offered to send a card out randomly throughout the year if they sent me their mailing address. I got a pretty good response, and from people I least expected, which is cool. So Now that I made a promise to send some out... I have some accountability to go get creating. I am hoping it will give me the push I need.
Anyway.. I will leave you with this question:
What is your favorite thing about Fall?
One lucky person who leaves me a comment, answering that question, is going to win a gift certificate to Sassy Cheryl's. You can go get this image if you would like, or whatever your heart desires.
I do not have a lot to say today. I just made a card and wanted to get it posted. I did notice that I have made very few cards this year compared to previous years. That is just sad. I think I will have to try and remedy that. Today I have laundry and a bit of house cleaning to get done... and my plan is to try to create in between tasks. That way I will feel accomplished and get to play at the same time. :)
Sounds like a great plan to me! I really should be starting Christmas cards..but I just can't go there in my head yet with it being so dang hot outside. I am hoping as it starts to cool off a bit I will get the bug.
Anyway....I digress....
Here is my card:
See I am venturing out still with mixing of patterned papers. The paper behind her was the backside of the owl paper. I have really been into cute owls lately. I know, I know... only a few years late with that trend..lol Oh well, what can I say. I march to the beat of my own drum... even if that drum is not trendy! lol
Who doesn't love chocolate? Well, actually I have met a few crazies that don't..lol Just messin' , I won't judge you for being vanilla.... or will I? muahahahahahah
Okay I am in quite the goofy mood today...as if you could not tell. Anyway, I was coloring up this little guy and had so much fun making his face all messy with chocolate. Coloring really is so relaxing, isn't it? They were really on to something with crayons and coloring books for kids. I used to lay on my belly on the floor and color for hours as a child. Although I sit at a desk and do it now.... I still love it just the same.
This little guy makes me smile. Well, I saw him as a boy... Hubby says it looks like a girl. I guess it can be what you want it to be, really.
I was so excited when I got done coloring him and went searching through my Stampin Up stamp stash ( wow that was a mouthful..lol) and saw a set with this sentiment! How perfect, eh? I love when the stars seem to align just right when you are creating..lol I also got to use a paper pad that I received quite a while back as a gift. I am a very cautious paper mixer... but I am trying to step out of my comfort zone more and more, and just throw caution to the wind. This was a step out for me but still a little cautious since it came from the same paper pack..lol I will get there one day....baby steps.
I also love to do the out of bounds type effect with the die cuts. It is just so cool looking to me.
So tell me....what is one thing ( craft wise) that you are a little cautious with. Or is outside your comfort zone?
Copics: Hair - E30,E34,E35 Skin- E000,E00,E11,R20 Overalls-BG78,BG75,BG72 Shirt- Y11, Y15 Chocolate- E29,E25,E57 and E000 ( used the tip to tip method to apply the chocolate to the mouth) Socks- W1
I know, you could hardly believe it either, right? LOL
It feels like FOREVER since I have even stepped foot in to my craft space. So odd for me. I used to look forward all week to my days off because I knew I would be crafting. Now it seems like it is an after thought. Life has a way of getting super busy and consuming sometimes. Crazy life getting in the way of my crafting...what is it thinking..lol Any who....
I wanted to make hubby a "just because" card. His birthday was last Friday and I totally did not make him a card this year. He expressed afterward that he kept waiting for me to give him one, and nothing. :( I felt terrible. I totally thought he was tired of getting cards from me by now...but I am glad to hear that is not the case. He is so supportive and encouraging to me with my crafty endeavors. I thought he totally deserved a thank you..just because!
I was sneaky and after I colored her hair purple... or in Copic terms, blue violet, I asked him to look at the image and pick a color combo for her clothes. When he said to do the shirt red and yellow I was a bit mortified..lol I decided to do it anyway and I actually like how it turned out. I did have to nix the suggestion that I make her bow, pink. That was a little too much on the crazy, clashy side for me..lol
Here is what we ended up with as the final result:
Hubby decided to go shoot the sunrise tonight, so..... I got a chance to make this card while he was gone. I even had time to create the "Talk Nerdy to me" sentiment in Photo Shop. If any of you would like a copy of it, I would be happy to e-mail it to ya.
I am going to get the card details listed and go cuddle up with my honey and watch some of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
It is so funny to me how creativity works and what things inspire me. It is always different. I guess it depends on mood and things like that. I was wanting to make a friend a card to tell her how I appreciate her being my sounding board and always talking me through tough situations. I had an idea in my head of what stamp I was going to use and colors and everything... then I was browsing blogs and saw this little guy on the Mo's site! It is PERFECT! So my ideas starting forming and went in the total opposite direction..lol I love when that happens, sometimes. I have to tell you that this little guy was probably the most fun to color out of any stamp I've ever had. I had a BLAST adding all the messy busketti splatter. Another cool thing about this card is that it is made with all scraps, except the card base! Woot! I am trying to force myself to make my way through all the scraps I have... it is ridiculousness the amount I hoard, really. I am sure some of you, if not most of you, can relate to that. lol
Anyway, here is the card:
Doesn't he just make you want to pinch those chubby little cheeks!
Card Deets ********************************* Image: Buskettie by Mo Manning
Copics:
skin- E000,E00, E11, R20
hair- Y02,Y06,E50,E53,Y28
eyes-B05
sketti noodles-Y21
sketti sauce- R08,YR04,YR07,YR09
bowl- Y02,Y06,Y08,Y17
bib-B02,YG01,YG05,YG06
spoon & diaper- N0,N1
shadow-B0000
I hope you are all enjoying your Summer and staying cool. It is hotter than Hades here in Houston , so I am already dreaming of the Fall :)
Thank you for dropping by my little piece of Blog land. It always makes my day to have visitors!
lifted this amazingly adorable card from KatarinaM on Splits
I have had the card making bug the last few days. I can't show the first card I made because it is for my Secret Pal over on Paper Craft Planet ;) She may or may not frequent my blog, so I am not taking any chances.
I got this stamp from LOTV over a month or so ago and this is the first time it has been used. That is just a shame.
I really loved the look of the different patterned papers in the original and wanted to mimic that. As much as I LOVE bold and bright colors. I usually shy away from using to many bold prints on papers. I am not sure why. I love the look and have several friends that pull it off to perfection. Soooo, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and get a little funky with my paper choices. I still did play it a bit safer that the original. I still like the outcome. Small baby steps, I guess..lol
I am hoping to get another of my newer stamps colored and a card made. I will keep you posted if that happens. Hubby and I were debating going to the beach. Hmmmmm, card making at home...or the beach? It is a tough choice. I guess only time will tell on which one actually wins out.
I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your Summer!
- Tracy S
*************************************************** Card Deets
Stamp: Lili of the Valley (Cake Glorious Cake)
Copics: skin- E00, E11 wings-YG11 and Stardust Stickles hair- E27,E25,E21 shoes-E77,E15,E11 shirt- RV17,RV06,RV02,RV00 tights-YG17,YG03,RV06,RV00 cake- Y32,Y28,Y23,Y21 and brown liquid applique for the icing (not heated) cake platter- N6,N5,N1,NO shirt-BG09,BG05,BG01,BG000 flame-YR23,Y38,Y11,Y00 glow of flame- Y000 and Stardust Stickles
Today we have a challenge AND a blog hop brought to you by Guylou's Inimitability.
First off we have the challenge that I am hosting, YAY! I love working with my Grand Caliber, my punches and who doesn't love some bling??? I used Leah at the cocktail party. I have always loved her and had yet to use her. I thought this challenge was the perfect time to bring her out to play. I also am sad to announce that this will be my last challenge on the DT. :( I just have so much going on.. I had to step away from several things in my life to be able to stay sane. I will miss the team terribly. They are a great bunch of girls and G is amazing to work for. I will still be around lurking the challenges and blogs.. You all are not getting rid of me that easily..lol
Anyway...on to the card and then the blog hop details!
She is really not that pale IRL. I could not get it to photograph quite right.
I hope you will also join us for this awesome hop, you do not want to miss out on these awesome prizes and not to mention the amazing inspiration from the DT...
The Blog Hop The hop starts at 9am (EST) on May 4th and will end at 9pm (EST) on May 5th. The participants must leave a comment on each of the participating blogs in order to qualify to win one of the grand prizes:
First prize
A Guylou's Inimitability $25 gift certificate
Second prize
A Color Me Creative Classroom: one Copic class (winners choice)
Kraftin' Kimmie did a new release recently and I totally fell in love with this cute stamp. I know that a dandelion is considered a weed to most but I love them. They are fun! My husband always tells me that "a weed is just a flower in the wrong place." So we do not have many weeds here..lol He often takes pics of the "weeds" or wildflowers as we like to call them. My mom's friend and a lady I love dearly, posted about loving dandelions the other day on her Facebook status. I knew right away I wanted to make her a card with this stamp as soon as I got it in the mail, so I did. I had a tougher time with her than I thought I would. She looked easy to color, since there is not much to color... but I trashed two before this one. I like to shade, so it is hard to do so in smaller spaces I guess. Anyway... I had fun with it, eventually..lol I love that I can add Sparkly Fluff to the dandelion parts and give it some cool texture. I went a little nuts with the embellies, which is not usual for me... but it was fun I must admit, it was cool stepping out of the norm. The funny thing is, I love flowers on peoples cards, especially this kind...but it never looks right when I try to use them. This time I just went with it and had to commit because I was using liquid glue..lol That is one way to do it I guess.
Card Deets
Stamp- Dandy Lion by Kraftin' Kimmie
Sparkly Fluff in the color of sugar for the dandelion parts
polka dot tulle from Hobby Lobby
