now that my volunteer commitments have eased up a bit, i can get my fingers inky again, which i’ve really missed! i created this project for two challenges: the ribbon reel challenge – a back to school inspiration photo and the scor-pal challenge to make a box. i followed the instructions to make one like steph ackerman’s; this is a money gift for my daughter in university, but i think i’ll be making more for christmas treats.
Trick Or Mice Treats
i’ve been so busy with volunteer activities that i think this will be my only card for this week; i so admire those who can create more quickly. it took some time for me to create this scene for the penny black saturday challenge this week, but it was fun.
four of the images are penny black clear stamps, but the tree is a stamp design by my daughter and bought by a stamp company (they added the moon, unfortunately; wouldn’t a row of spooky trees look awesome?). everything is watercoloured with distress inks and some glossy accents were added. thanks for popping by.
Every Leaf Is A Flower
i was inspired by the maple and acorn pattern to make this card for the 300th inspiration challenge, which is my favourite at splitcoaststampers. stef is the hostess with the mostest; she always visits participants and leaves comments, which makes everyone feel welcome to play. i don’t always have the time or mojo, so i was happy i got to have fun today, watercolouring with distress inks and sanding the base. thanks for popping by.
Bunnies and Back To School
for the past couple of weeks, my daughter and her two furry babies were visiting from out of town. both bunnies were rescued from shelters, a year apart, and it took about ten months for them to bond, but here they are cuddling together.
now that she’s back in university, i made this for my daughter; you can never be too old for cute, can you? i was lucky enough to win some pink cat studio digi stamps at the paper sundaes challenge last week, so i couldn’t resist this cutie. she’s watercoloured with distress inks, and i’m submitting her to the back to school allsorts challenge. thanks for popping by.
Setting Sunflower
this was a happy accident that occurred while i was designing cards for my next watercolouring class at papercraft cafe. i stamped the image, enhanced the colour of the paper with distress inks and added black stickles to some of the dots. i’m submitting this to the really reasonable ribbon keep it clean challenge. thanks for popping by.
Rudolph Day In August
i made this card for sandra’s rudolph day challenge to make christmas cards on the 25th of every month; it’s a great way to build up my stash. i stamped the snowflakes in white, pierced some of the dots and two rows, added black mats and sponged the edge of the card with white. thanks for popping by.
Betsy Is Framed
i’m finally starting to feel up to making cards again. this week’s allsorts challenge is you’ve been framed, so betsy is inlaid inside the window cutout and surrounded by a polka dot frame on the outside. she is watercoloured with distress inks and the edges are sponged with same. i’m also submitting this to the open theme at flutterby wednesday. thanks for popping by.
Glittered Tulips
i haven’t been up to much while recovering from my tooth extraction, but i managed to participate in the the august flourishes bring back beautiful challenge to make a clean and simple (CAS) card. i watercoloured the image with distress inks, covered the flowers with stickles and the bucket with glossy accents – a very quick card. thanks for popping by.
Happy Mail From Penny Black At Allsorts
this gorgeous penny black stamp that i won at penny black at allsorts‘ july challenge and the cute card from brenda arrived in today’s mail – thank you! since it’s a monthly challenge (more my speed), you have until the 28th to enter your penny black images for a chance to win – check it out!
Daisy Chain Mice
this is my second post today; i’m trying to focus on creating so the pain from my tooth extraction is less noticeable. i made this for the flower soft challenge to create a rectangle card and for the touchy feely theme at the penny black saturday challenge. i watercoloured the image and sky with distress inks, used flower soft on the flowers and grass, yellow stickles in the flower centres and popped the matted image on foam tape. thanks for popping by.
Note Holder
i found the tutorial for this cute memo box back in june and decided it was the perfect project to distract me from my latest tooth extraction, so i finally created one. the image is watercoloured with distress inks and i added some stickles to the dots and the dragonfly. i’m submitting this to the anything but a card theme at the allsorts challenge and the new marianne’s design divas challenge. thanks for popping by.
Hello!
thank you to my new subscribers; i appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog! the penny black at allsorts challenge this month is free and easy, so i chose this image to watercolour with distress inks; i covered a chipboard button to match and matted the image on a die cut label 1. i’m also submitting this to the paper sundaes challenge – just saying hi. thanks for popping by.
Do You Have A Wish?
my wish is that my mojo would stop taking a break. in between medical appointments and my out of town daughter visiting with her two very cute bunnies, i haven’t had time to create much lately. anyway, i watercoloured this image with distress inks and aquamarkers, used plenty of stickles on the wings and created this fan flower by hand scoring the paper strip; the hardest part was actually forming the flower and getting it to stick to the base. with my hands, i don’t think i’ll be making many of these, although i love how they look. thanks for popping by. i’m submitting this to the following challenges:
sir stampalot – whatever you fancy
flutterby wednesday – open theme
my time to craft – fairy tales
moving along with the times – fantasy
papertake weekly – grow your own
Hello Sunshine
the second paperlane challenge, using molly blooms stamps, has a theme of shades of sunshine, so i went with yellow, orange, pink and red. i masked molly to stamp her on the toadstool, watercoloured her with distress inks and aquamarkers and added glossy accents to her shoes. the sentiment is a punch out from the echo park summer days collection kit. thanks for popping by.
Vellum Flower
i loved the inspiration photo at the ribbon reel challenge, but this card didn’t come together until i loosely followed splitcoaststampers’ sketch challenge. i sponged pink distress ink onto the patterned paper and attached a strip of scalloped shimmer card stock to one side and the lace to the other. to make the flower, i embossed some vellum, punched two flowers from it and one from blue paper, then attached the single pearl and finally, all the smaller ones. i’m also submitting this to the allsorts challenge of free and easy. thanks for popping by.
Serene Scene
i missed being creative this past week, but we were out of town enjoying a change of scenery and visiting family. it was relaxing to be unplugged, but it’s always good to be home. i had a couple of nice surprises waiting for me – i found out i was a top pick for two challenges and this magenta stamp that i won a couple of weeks ago arrived. this photo inspired me to ink up my new stamp and make this CAS card for the splitcoaststampers inspiration challenge because i think my mojo is still on vacation. :) thanks for popping by.
A Green Christmas
this is part of a set of cards i made for my daughter; she loves green. i tied the bow on the card, which took longer than the entire card because i have three fused fingers on my left hand. i should’ve known better and next time i’ll just use my bow-easy. (my emphasis). the card is 4.25″ square and the tiny ornaments are peel offs. i’m submitting this to the less is more challenge to use a ribbon or button. thanks for popping by.
Molly Blooms Love Birds
the paperlane challenge is holding its first challenge – Anything BUT square with Molly Blooms Stamps as your main image. i watercoloured the house and birds with distress inks, gave them a really shiny roof with glossy accents and added yellow stickles to the dots. the heart is a chip board button i covered with some basic grey DP and coated with glossy accents. i’ll set this aside for my husband since our anniversary is next month. when i taught my watercolouring class last week, we had an interesting discussion about just what kinds of cards are acceptable to men – i’m lucky that my DH likes everything i make. thanks for popping by.
Rudolph Day In July
i joined sandra’s challenge to make christmas cards on rudolph day – the 25th of each month; it’s a great way to build up the card stash for the holidays. i watercoloured santa teddy with distress inks, although i don’t think the photo reflects the real colour and red is just one of those tricky colours to edit. i’m also entering this into The Stamp Man challenge to use anything by tim and Winter Wonderland challenge to use holly. thanks for popping by.
Blue Butterfly
this is the second card i made from this one inspiration photo for splitcoaststampers‘ inspiration challenge. i started it yesterday, but it just wasn’t working; when i looked at it again today, everything came together quickly. i’m also submitting this to the allsorts challenge which is ‘free and easy’ for all of july, and the open theme at flutterby wednesday. thanks for popping by.
Sock Monkey Smiles
i haven’t played along with the inspiration challenge at splitcoaststampers for a really long time, but this weekend i was inspired by one inspiration photo to make two cards. this was a quick and easy card that i started when the butterfly wasn’t working; it’s just printed paper matted and attached. i’m also submitting this to the allsorts challenge which is ‘free and easy’ for all of july. thanks for popping by.
Two Cozy
today’s free for all challenge at splitcoaststampers was easy enough, that i had time to play. you have to use at least two of something, so i watercoloured the peas, used two die cuts, two rows of twine, and a double bow. thanks for popping by.
Are You A Silly Heart?
i followed the ribbon reel sketch challenge to create this card, which is going to someone very close to me; she thinks i’m a silly heart and i always encourage her to be one, so maybe this little monkey will help. the sentiment is a punch out, layered onto a die cut doily and popped with foam squares. i attached the yellow button to a heart chipboard button with a double bow. i’m also participating in the allsorts free and easy july theme and the animal antics theme at die cut dreams. thanks for popping by.
Made With Magenta
i followed magenta sketch challenge #22 to create this card, using magenta papers and one of their sentiment stamps. i cut out the die shape, lightly sponged the edges with distress ink, punched the flowers and attached them to the die cut branches. thanks for popping by.
Get Sketchy With Flourishes
there are some challenges during their release week, so i had time to create this for the flourishes sketch challenge, literally following this clean and simple layout. the image is watercoloured with distress inks and markers, die cut and attached to the DP layer and mat. the sentiment is from the same set. thanks for popping by.
A Symbol Of Beauty
this month’s flourishes bring back beautiful challenge is the beauty of summer and/or vacation; i chose the orchid, watercoloured it with distress inks and letraset aquamarkers and popped it with foam dots. thanks for popping by.
Snow In July
it’s so hot and humid, i almost wish it were snowing today. i made this for the penny black saturday challenge – christmas in july and the stampalot challenge – anything goes this month. the image is watercoloured, his nose is covered in glossy accents and stickles were added for the snow and the stars on the gift. thanks for popping by.
Bright Lanterns
the flower soft challenge to use bright colours was a real challenge for me, since i tend to use pastels a lot. i cut the lanterns out of DP and added the ultrafine citrus flower soft to the two lanterns on the left and the peony pink to the one on the right. i may have created a new use for flower soft – the garland. the white base is covered in a bright pink foil paper. i’m also submitting this to flutterby wednesday – open theme and wee memories – summertime theme. thanks for popping by.
a fruitful thanks
i needed a thank you card so i opened a cute fruit set from my friend sue for my birthday. this is also the first time i used the letraset aquamarkers i won from the penny black at allsorts challenge in march; very fun to play with – i’ll keep practicing. the ribbon reel challenge is summer fruit and and use two ribbons/lace or twine, at least one brad and to include a summer fruit element. i used two brads; first i coloured a green brad red and inserted it into the white flower brad. i’m also submitting this to the free and easy challenge at allsorts and the summer theme at the secret crafter. thanks for popping by.
Wheelbarrow Bouquet
the penny black at allsorts challenge is celebrating its first birthday with extra prizes, a quiz for penny black fans, and a flower power theme. i’m also submitting this to the stampin’ for the weekend challenge to use my favourite things: watercolouring, stickles, distressing, keeping things fairly simple. thanks for popping by.
Blogiversary and Butterfly Card For Class
wow, it’s been a year since i started this blog. my goal was to motivate myself to continue to be creative and participate in challenges while i traveled along on my grief journey after the loss of my son in june 2009; i needed something to focus on so i didn’t lose myself in the sadness.
thank goodness there are no challenge rules to blogging; i post when i can, share when i want and try my best to maintain a positive tone, even if i’m not feeling up to it.
throughout this past year, i’ve met some wonderful and caring friends along the way and i appreciate the comments, support and encouragement. i love visiting blogs and finding cute images that make me smile, posts that make me laugh and cards that are just so inspiring – all i could ever do is wish to be so talented.
my goal for the upcoming year remains unchanged, although i might push myself to try new techniques. for now, i’m enjoying my comfort zone and monthly challenges that allow me to move at my own pace. i’m also having fun teaching watercolouring with distress inks classes at the papercraft cafe and this is one of the cards for my July 16 class. i’m submitting this to the flutterby wednesday’s open challenge this week. thanks so much for popping by.
Rudolph Day In June
it feels strange to say in june, but i’m behind in my monthly splitcoaststampers’ christmas card challenge, so i thought sandra’s post about rudolph day was a great way to remind me to get some cards done by the 25th of every month. (this is for february; lol). also, after seeing this gorgeous card made with splitcoaststampers‘ sketch challenge, i had to use it. thanks for popping by.
Penny Black Saturday Celebrates
happy third birthday to the penny black saturday challenge team, which is celebrating with extra prizes and a blog hop; the theme is pesky critters. i raced to get this card done today because i’ll be too busy to finish it by the deadline otherwise. i watercoloured with distress inks, added glossy accents to the balloons and, of course, stickles to the flower centres and gift box. i sponged the die cut stars, covered them in stickles and added some paper streamers. thanks for popping by.
Strawberry Special
this month’s bring back beautiful challenge at flourishes is to use the spotlighting technique, which i’ve never done before – probably because i want to watercolour more than just a small portion of an image. i popped the spotlighted image on foam tape for the bottom layer and stamped around the top circle; everything is watercoloured with distress inks and the red is actually christmas paper with cream dots on it. this is going to my dad; he loves strawberries, plus he’s an artist so he’ll appreciate the easel. i’m also submitting this to the paper sundaes easel card challenge. thanks for popping by.
In Loving Memory
i made this card for my son, who passed away two years ago today and it just feels natural to me to continue to make cards to honour him, especially because he always encouraged me along my creative pursuits. besides, so much has changed since that horrific day that my card making is probably the only thing that feels natural; everything else just feels out of whack – maybe it always will. i miss him and think of him daily, but with my birthday last saturday and father’s day tomorrow, it’s been an overwhelming week. teddy is watercoloured and i added flower soft to the flower centres and for the grass. i’m submitting this card to the flower soft floral challenge.
thanks for popping by. i always appreciate everyone’s comments, but depending on what kind of day i’m having, i sometimes don’t get around to commenting as often as i should.
snailzpace.com 
