Anniversary - Lemonade Challenge

I was going to make an anniversary card for my Uncle and Aunt and wanted to use blue and yellow because those were the colors for their wedding. When the TGF Lemonade Challenge came up, it was a match made in heaven! I like to try and match my stamp personas to the people or person the card is going to so I made the girl's hair blond with darker highlights and the boy's hair slightly light grey (sorry Uncle!). I think he looks distinguished don't you?! I just used Copic Sketch C1 and the Colorless Blender on his hair and I think it turned out pretty well.

I used an older TGF digi stamp (50s Sweetheart) on my Copic Blending Card X-Press It paper. The other paper is just standard cardstock I  bought at Joanns and have accumulated over the years. I really love how a simple embossing folder can make plain cardstock just POP!

Here are my other crafty supplies:

I *heart* my CTMH stamps and am really digging this set!

And here is the finished card - A Festive Pink and Yellow Lemonade! Hope you enjoy!

As stated above, I would like to enter this card into TGF's Farm Fresh Friday Challenge - Pink Lemonade

Since it's also full of bright colors - Oozak.com challenge too!

Well, I finally got my X-Press It Paper. It is very smooth to the touch but, honestly, I'm not too sure I like how it blends. I created a card for a family member's birthday and while I was happy with the blending in the hair and face, the dress did not blend as nicely. I did have a great time coloring her though as I think Saturated Canary images are amazing! They are very fun to color! I'm still getting the hang of copics but I think I am improving. As stated, I used a brand new saturated canary image - isn't she beautiful! Her hair is fab!

I tried coloring her in all blues (BG70, BG72, BG75). I also used Martha Stewart Wintergreen glitter glue for some sparkle to her hair.

I blinged out the card with some rhinestones and glitter cardstock. Here is the finished card. The stamped phrase is from Close to My Heart C1458 Paper Lantern. I also used an embossing folder from Lifestyle Crafts.

I kept the inside very simple and clean using CTMH S1206 Life is Tweet stamps and a few heart punches using my recollections punch from the glitter cardstock.

I would like to add this card into the following:

Mad for Markers - Winter Blues

Saturated Canary - Bling it Out!

Copic fun and The Greeting Farm

After the kids finally went to bed I had some time to finally catch up on my cards. I decided to use digital stamps I just ordered from The Greeting Farm. So far I absolutely love coloring them. Even a copic novice like me can make them look good.

This first one is an anniversary card for a friend. Her wedding colors were black and red. I used the digital image 50s Sweetheart from TGF. Copic colors for the dress and bow were R20, R22 and R24. I really need to get a deeper red. I wasn't able to get it as dark as I would have liked. I used C1 on the boy's jacket and C1, C5 on the pants. I'm still waiting for C3 to come in the mail. The background is an embossed image from Cuttlebug.

My second card is for the loss of a pet. When I saw the Navajo Anya digi from The Greeting Farm, I could imagine all the possibilities for her. She would be great for harvest, Thanksgiving, or any solemn occasion. I went online and found a bunch of Native American inspirational quotes to use with her. She is really beautiful and I had a great time coloring her.

Copics:
Outfit/feather: YR00, YR04, YR07, YG03, YG63, YG67
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Dog stamp set from Michaels

Challenge - The Pink Elephant (Orange)
Challenge - Perfect Sentiments (Anything Goes)

The Princesses

Introducing....my pair of princesses

These girls make everything worthwhile. I'm a working mom with a husband, two princesses, (and you guessed it - a poodle). There's also the cat but that's another story. :)

My dreams are for the girls to love arts and crafts as much as me. I'll settle for coloring with the oldest princess for now. She with her crayons and coloring book and I with my copics and stamps. Yes, she does try to steal my markers all the time. I love to share with her but not my precious markers! Besides, she is in that stage where sometimes she likes to color and sometimes she likes to taste her coloring instruments (yuck). This too shall pass.

Just Beginning with Copics

I've just started copics and now I'm completely obsessed! I was afraid to try them because I don't consider myself to be terribly artistic and I love stamping. I always steered away from the stamps that required coloring. Well, now I am going in the complete opposite direction. Copics are fun! Thank you eBay for making copics more affordable. Here is my first stash from eBay. I had to get some Memento Dew Drops too since they are the best for quick drying and stamping.

With my now slim collection of copics I tried coloring that very night with some Disney Princess Clear Stamps I had. I think I like coloring the less realistic hair. Don't you think Ariel looks amazing with purple hair! I can't wait to buy some pink and bright blue copics to do funky hair! I'm also watching YouTube videos on how to color skin so I tried some different versions of skin tones on Snow White. I think I actually like her with a more Latina vibe. I gave Ariel a suntan in the third stamp from the left but the effect was a bit blotchy. I'm using Georgia Pacific Paper from Walmart. It's cheap for sure but the paper soaks up the ink so quickly that you have to move fast to blend. I've ordered some Copic X-Press It Paper and will be experimenting soon when that finally arrives in my mail box.

I truly hope this blog will show a progression of my copic technique. My thoughts so far on it is that it's actually super easy and very relaxing. I can do it before bed while watching TV with the kiddos. Now if only I could bring my whole craft area into the living room too!

Dante - The Poodle

Introducing...the poodle. This is Dante - a 3.5 year old standard poodle and my first child. He loves snuggles and whines when any four-legged creature appears on the television - whether real or cartoon. He wants to play with everyone and has the most amazing spirit. Now that the two princesses are around, he is definitely moved down in the rank in the house but not in our hearts. Of the three, he is the only one who lets me paper craft in peace. This blog will be hopefully the story of my princesses, my start at crafting, and poodle pranks.