Best Birthday Ever

Hello everyone, happy Monday! Did you have a great weekend?

I was able to get a little crafting done, and this cute card was the result.

I used the Mulberry Woods "Birthday Wishes" stamp set from

Crafter's Companion and colored it in with my new

Spectrum Noir Blendable Colored Pencils and blended it with gamsol.

I used shades 113, 43, 44, 59, 62, 72, 103, 90, 21, 95, 9, 119, and 120.

I filmed a video showing my process and also some tips for coloring

with the Spectrum Noir Blendable Colored Pencils.

I hope you enjoy!

Click the YouTube icon on the bottom right to watch in HD

and don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

Missing You More Than A Little

Hey everyone!

Stopping by on this lovely Sunday morning to share my latest video.

I just couldn't resist inking up this sweet little girl from my new favorite

Mama Elephant  stamp set In My Heart and the Starburst Cover Plate.

You all know I've been on this crazy watercoloring kick

for quite awhile now. Just can't seem to get enough of it!

This video is no exception.

I watercolored it with my Distress Inks and markers,

creating a night scene for my little girl and her falling star.

I hope you enjoy the video!

Click the YouTube icon on the bottom right to watch in HD.

And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

Have a great day!

I am also linking this up to the current
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.
Have you entered yet?

Holding On To You

Hi there! Happy Saturday!

Hope you're enjoying the great outdoors and maybe even

making a little time for some crafting.

This time of year I just love to be outside in the yard

and my card today reflects that.

I stamped that cute image from the Barkley Everyday "No. 1"

stamp set from Crafter's Companion and colored it in with

Spectrum Noirs: BG1, BG2, BG6, BG8, DG2, and DG3 --

really trying to embrace a "less is more" simplified look

and mounted the panel on an angle with foam tape.

I added my sentiment from Angelica & Adam "Ben".

Love that one! Works for all kinds of images.

I hope you enjoyed my card!

Have an awesome day!

Live In The Moment - Watercolor Poppies (plus a giveaway)

Happy Friday, everyone!

I'm super excited to share today's card with you 

because it was truly a labor of love.

Right now it is just about 4AM and I am typing this with

inky stained fingers after staying up late (LATE) painting.

The mood just struck around midnight, just as I was getting ready for bed,

and the next thing I know, here I am, drafting this post,

exhausted, but happy.

I have been obsessively watching videos of the incredible

Swarup Murthy AKA Sanketi and here extreme watercolor skills

but felt too intimidated to try a floral image like this myself -- until tonight.

I stamped my design with the Sheena Paint Fusion "Poppies"

from Crafter's Companion and since I found my actual watercolors

(brand new - still in the box) too scary to crack open, I brought out

a whole bunch of my Distress Inks instead.

It took a lot of layers (several hours worth) using the Distress Inks,

and I definitely see things I would fix next time around,

but I'm really pleased with how it turned out in the end.

I used the Sheena A Little Bit Scenic "Silhouette Grasses" to add my sentiment.

Maybe after this I'll get brave and break out my watercolors after all. ;)

****** GIVEAWAY ALERT ******

I have two extra Memento Luxe ink pads to give away.

I was sent an Angel Pink by mistake in a previous order, and

Crafter's Companion was generous enough to let me offer it up as blog candy.

I also ordered Love Letter by mistake this month,

 so I decided to give that one away as well.

If you'd like a chance to win these two ink pads and give them a try,

just leave me a comment here and make sure I have a way 

to contact you for a shipping address. :)

I'll draw a winner on Monday.

Have a great day!

Doxie Duo

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday!

It has been a LONG time since I played along with any challenges

and I've been missing that sense of community that comes with creating

toward a common inspiration and purpose,

so I decided to jump back in the fray, so to speak, with the 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Friendship.

Friendship cards are my personal favorite kinds of cards to make

because there are just so many options!

Loads of adorable images and punny sentiments or messages of 

support and love -- who doesn't need a card like that every so often,

am I right?

So today's card is using the adorable doxies from

Lawn Fawn's Critters At The Dog Park,

colored with my Spectrum Noirs. 

I hope you like my card! 

Please check out the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! 

And tell me, what kinds of cards are YOUR favorites to make?

You Brighten My Life - Lawnscaping Challenge #84

Hey there! Welcome to Lawnscaping Challenge #84

We are being sponsored by the lovely folks at Lawn Fawn

with a FREE stamp set of our winner's choice.

We LOVE Lawn Fawn!

Here's my card:

I used the Life Is Good stamp set along with the stars from

Love You S'more and a whole bunch of Distress Inks!

I went ahead and filmed a video to show you how to make it.

I hope you enjoy!

Click the YouTube icon on the bottom right to watch it there in HD.

And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

Please stop by the Lawnscaping Challenge blog

to check out the other amazing design team samples

and don't forget to play along.

Have an awesome day!

Live Life Watercolor Wildflowers

Hello everyone!

Popping in on this first Saturday of Summer Break

to share another version of the watercolored wildflowers

done with Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic "Silhouette Garden"

by Crafter's Companion and a whole lot of Distress Inks! 

I used shades Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Bundled Sage, 

Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, and Faded Jeans and added the whole thing

to a card base made from CC's Kraft Cardstock.

I hope you like it!

Swinging Birthday

Hi there!

Today I'm sharing a card I made for one of my son's friends.

I'm always needing boy birthday cards and this Angelica & Adam "Ben"

stamp has been a great one to have on hand for that purpose.

I colored him in with my Spectrum Noirs in shades:

GB8, GB10, EB8, GT1, GT2, GT3, FS1, FS3, FS8, TN1, 

DR2, DR3, DR5, IB1, IB2, GB4, GB6, and CT4.

I hope you enjoy it!

Has summer break started for you guys yet?

My boys get out next Tuesday.

Miss You - Lawnscaping Challenge #83

Welcome to Lawnscaping Challenge #83: Embossing!

We are being sponsored by the lovely folks at Simon Says Stamp,

who have generously offered up a $25 gift certificate to their store.

I wasn't feeling that well when I made my card,
so I decided to just take it easy and paint --
I'm still on this watercolor kick -- and see what happened.

This was the result!

It's certainly not perfect, but I had fun creating it

and I'm pretty happy with the result.

I hope you like it too!

Please head on over to the Lawnscaping Challenge blog

to check out the other amazing design team samples

and link up your projects to play along!

Be Awesome Every Day

Hey there!

So due to design team requirements and such,

the scheduling dates for my blog and my YouTube channel don't always

mesh well, and I often end up with videos that don't get posted to my blog

until after they've been up on my YouTube channel for a bit --

that is, if I remember to blog them at all! ;)

Here is one such card that I made last month using 

 the Mama Elephant Spendid stamp set and Distress Inks.

Enjoy the video!

Click the YouTube icon at the bottom right to watch in HD

and don't forget to like, comment and subscribe!

Be awesome!