Hey YOU!!!

  Hey You!!!   What's up in your world ?   Here in my world it's another sunny day with temps in the 40's and warmer weather coming in later in the week and to think that February is almost over and our winter has been so nice -- Loving it!!

   I have a busy week coming up, but it's all fun things, which is awesome.  Today I have another day to spend creating and then tomorrow I'll be up and out early to head to my LSS for this month's Card Club.   Card Club is pretty new for me, but I'm loving it and looking forward to seeing what we'll be working on tomorrow, plus all the new goodies that Kate has put in our class packets.   I'm also excited to be hitting the store this week as lots of new things have arrived.  My friend, (Kerry) was there this weekend and she picked up some awesome new goodies, including some of the brand new Distress Markers along with some of the new Dylusions stencils -- two things I have had on my wish list, since heard about them from CHA. 

   I'm also going to be shopping for a nice craft item that I want to buy and donate to The Outlawz Rodeo Weekend, that I will be attending in May.   One of the fun things we plan to do is work on putting together Goodie Bags, a Make and Take and also some Door Prizes for all those who attend.  I've been trying to help out Colleen (the group owner) work on the process of finding sponsors for the Event.  If you are a retailer, store or designer who would like to donate a gift or something from your store to our event, please let me know.  It will be greatly appreciated and I'll be happy to send you a sponsorship letter with more specifics.   We really want this to be a very fun and memorable event for all and any and ALL help and donations will go a long way.  If you would like to attend the event or take any of the classes being taught by Marti Wills and Suzanne Dean, you'll find ALL the info and sign up links over at The Outlawz Group!  

      And speaking of The Outlawz, my first card today was created for today's new Greeting Card Challenge.  The theme for this week's challenge is a Recipe and you can find ALL the details HERE!    I actually created two different cards, both based on the Recipe and both cards that I'll donate to Operation Write Home.

    Both card were crated with digi images and the second image is one that even comes in both black and white and pre-colored.  For this card I used the Pre-colored version, making it very quick and easy.  The cute Sentiment "Hey You" is form a super cute new set of Sentiment stamps that I recently bought from The Alley Way!   I fell in love with the stamps the first time I saw them and I love how you can use them together with other stamps in the collection to create your own little phrases. 

    Feeling a big lack of mojo today, I had no idea where to start, so I did a quick Google search for Sketch ideas and ended up over at Card Patterns.   I was browsing through some of the most recent sketches and really liked #152, (shared below), which was what I used as my inspiration.   If you find yourself lacking ideas, this is a great site to find new inspiration and they also have challenges you can enter!     Here is the sketch that I loved today -- it was created by Tracy Schultz. 

     I have one more card today and this one was inspired and created for the newest Copic Coloring Challenge over at Suzanne Dean's - Color Me Creative Classroom.   Our theme for Challenge # 37 is  Lots of Laughs and Bright Colors.    For my card I knew I wanted to color flowers, but was not sure which image or stamp to use, until I remember I had a new set of Hero Arts/Sizzix Die/Stamp Sets were all in a cute Flower Theme - this one is called 'Garden Flowers' and just happens to be the Stamp of the Week over at Hero Arts and you can buy it now for 25% off!  

    I started by stamping each flower in Black Memento ink and then used my Copics to color the flowers.  I stamped a couple extra leaves and flower tops and used the extra's to pop up part of my card.  I created a background using Distress Inks and then adhered the colored flowers directly to the background.  I completed the card by using my MS Fringe Scissors to cut some more inked paper for the look of grass.  Hope you like it!!

    And one more thing before I sign off!  I want to invite anyone who loves Mixed Media to hop on over the the Color Me Creative Classroom for the official kick-off of that new group.  Suzanne and Marti are  hosting a Live Chat from 7:30 - 8:15 PM tonight (Eastern Time),  to kick-off the new group!   This is the latest addition to the classroom and is also the newest FREE group -- open to ALL!!    Come on over and join the fun!!

How exciting!!!

    I am having another great day of crafting and am also looking forward to a week of fun.   Tuesday is Card Club and that's a wonderful monthly card-making class that I have been taking at my LSS.   It's a jam-packed class and well worth the time and money.  We start with a huge packet of new goodies, which vary by theme and season and then we have three hours to spend in the classroom using any and all of the store supplies, along with our new stash.  On top of that we'll have a print out that has several card sketches and inspiration and all the stamps and such to make each card will be available that day.

   And on top of that fun class, I'm also thirlled to have have enrolled in the next class being offered over the the Online Card Classroom (Jennifer McGuire & Kristina Werner's fabulous classroom). 

    The next workshop and starts next month and I think it's one that will be very popular.  For those of you who have not heard, it's going to be an awesome technique class taught by Tim Holtz!!!   The class starts on March 19th and runs until April 2nd and it's called - Tim Holtz - Creative Chemistry 101.  You can find all the details HERE and also sign up now if you want to get in on the early enrollment price of $33.00! 

      I am one of the very lucky crafters who has had the opportunity to take a live class and actually meet Tim in person.  That was in October of 2010, when he taught a weekend of classes as my LSS.  Ironically, he's coming back in May to teach for another weekend, but I will miss those classes, as it's the same weekend I'm off to Baltimore for The Outlawz Getaway.   But, since I'll be taking classes that weekend with Marti Wills and Suzanne Dean, I'll be quite happy, not to mention that fact that I'll finally be meeting some of my best online craft friends.    WOOHOO!!

      And speaking of The Outlawz, my first card today was inspired by their new CAS Challenge.   The theme for this week is "Animals".  You have the option of using animal prints on your project or an actual animal.  I decided to color up a cute little giraffe and this is digi I had in my stash from Bugaboo Stamps. 

   I think it's came out to be a cute little card and I could have also changed the sentiment and made it a new baby girl card or even a child's birthday card.    I really had fun making something totally different. 

   My next two cards were both inspired and created for Operation Write Home and were based on today's Sunday Sketch Challenge.   Even though both cards are much different, each one was based on this week's new sketch, which I have copied over to share below.

Sketch # 109

My Card

   

    My last card today is my dud card of the day and the one that made me decide to stop and take a little break.   I worked on this probably longer than both of the other two cards and in the end, despite a few changes, I just don't really like it.   As Sandy from OWH would say - it's a Sneeze card, which means it's not that great and needs help!!

 
    I do like this fun color combo, but I just feel like something is not quite right.  I actually also love this sweet new Fuchsia Sprig die (Memory Box), but still feel like the card is too plain?   HUM?  I'll be curious as to what you think?  I know something the cards I LOVE most and are always what you love and we ALL have different tastes!   I even read a post yesterday from a girl who hated the color PURPLE.....can you imagine such a thing...???  I was shocked!  

Dreaming of Spring...

...and it's very easy to do when you see the sun shining so bright and head outside and not be freezing in mid-February.  We are still having such a wonderful mild and snow-free winter and I could not be more happy about it.  I was up and out early to do some errands and just have feeling of Spring Fever.   I love the feeling and also am very much looking forward to Spring this year.

    As you can tell by my last few cards, I really do have Spring on my mind and today's first project, also falls right into that category.   My goal today was to create a paper-crafting project that was somethign new and different for me.   I was inspired by two new challenges, the first being an "Anything But a Card" Challenge over at Crafting by Designs and the second was today's new Paper a la Mode Challenge at "The Outlawz".  Typically, I find I am very much out of my comfort zone, when it comes to making much of anything other than a card.  I have recently been trying lots of new ideas, while working on my Smashbook and also trying more Mixed Media type projects.  Today, I decided to put my Silhouette Cameo to use and make one of my very first dimensional projects.

    You would think that having been an Expression owner for three years and having had my Cameo now for a few months, that this would be something very simple, but for me it's not.   I've most often used my electronic die cut machines to create card bases and/or shaped elements for my cards, but rarely have I tried something dimensional -- that is until today!   I started by hitting the Silhouette store and added a bunch of new things to my cart (I have a monthly subscription, which is awesome) and I love that they also offer a few shape each week.

     I picked out a very cute little Bunny Treat Bag as my project for the day.   This is a copy of what the finished project looks like -- (Shared from the Silhouette Store) --  

     As you can see, it's really a cute project, but when you go to create it, it's not a matter of simply printing out the shapes, you need to plan and think about the sizes and colors and that's what's always been the challenge for me.   I ended up "un-grouping" all of the shapes, and started over by increased the size.  After that I decided I would initially print everything on white and then color the pinks shapes by hand.  I still am not that great at figured out how to set-up my mats, as you can guess.  I cut everything on a piece of white Shimmer Cardstock.  Next, I then put all my pieces together and determined which needed to be colored.  To make the coloring easy, I simply used a Blender Tool and my Distress Inks and colored the ears, nose and paws.  I cut some whiskers from Baker's Twine and used instead of drawing on eyes.  I used to little googly eyes and also have a white ribbon below her ears!   I used a combination of Tacky Glue and Pop Dots and was so excited when I finish up this cute little Bunny! 

    Yippee!   It's so nice when you finally do try something new and find it works out to be easier than expected.  That's exactly how I feel and for me, this tiny little bag is a big accomplishment.  Now, I think, I'll start to use my Cameo in this way, so much more and that's awesome!

     As for even more excitement, today I'm going to be taking part in my very first "90 Minute Scramble" over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group and I'm really looking forward to it.  I joined this fun group, last Spring,  shortly after falling in LOVE with the whole Hero Arts product line.  I am a huge fan of the wonderful work that this group does and I've also found some wonderful inspiration.   Many of the members also participate in the online classes that I've taken with Jennifer McGuire.    Between, Jennifer's awesome classes and this group, my love for Hero Arts has grown dramatically!  It's by far, one of my favorite products lines and I love pretty much everything they've come out with in the past year.  I'm also now a member of the Hero Arts Blog Club and really having a great time getting to know these amazing crafters. This is the first Scramble that has worked out to be hosted at times, that work out really well for me and this one is being Barb, who also was my Swap recipient in the Valentine Swap.   It's also been a joy to be part of another wonderful group who love to create and love Hero Arts, as much as I know do.

    The Scramble goes live at 4 PM, (my time)!  Barb will post the challenge/theme and instructions and we'll have 90 minutes complete our project to meet her challenge requirements and get it photographed and posted onto the group site.   I think it'll be fun and I can't wait!   I'll be back later to share my project and let you know how it goes!   In the meantime, I'm going to clean up my craft room and get everything very organized on my desk, that way I'll be already to SCRAMBLE!   Wish me luck!!

     Update:   I'm back to share my Scramble Card!   It was really fun to play along and I know will look forward to doing this again.  I can tell you that these gals are amazing and even though I finished my card with extra time, there were quite a few who made more the one card, some even made three of four!  WOW!   If you would like to see them go to the Flickr Group and search the photos for "quickcard33" which is the tag we used.  The cards are all wonderful, I think you'll Love them!!  
   
      Barb's theme for our Challenge was SPRING!!   The requirements were to use at least one die-cut, one or more flowers and any Hero Arts Stamp.  I started out by picking out my stamp and I chose to use the Tall Flower Stamp.  My first thought was to stamp it in black and color it with my Copics, but I was afraid that would take too long, so I decided I would use Distress Inks to color and then decided to stamp and emboss in white.  I actually stamped and embossed twice, and figured if one was bad, I could use the other, but in the end, I decided to pop up some of the flowers and have the second image all set, made that easy.   Once I had the stamping and embossing done, the coloring went pretty fast--that's the reason I chose to color with Distress Inks!  At first I thought about using a nestie die to cut out my colored flower and that would be my die cut, but then there was too much white space, so I quickly hand cut it...and don't look too close, as I rushed. 

      Once I was at that point I had to decide what to do about my die cut and at first I was simply going to die cut a little butterfly, but then decided to cut backgrounds for my flower instead and when with with different sized Scalloped ovals in two contrasting colors that matched with the coloring.  I didn't' like the lavender color and thought it looked to plain, so I quickly ran it through my Cuttlebug in an embossing folder for extra texture.  I then inked the edges with my favorite Distress color (Seedless Preserves).  I still needed a card base and picked another piece of shimmer cardstock that I cute to A2 size.  I then added the scalloped ovals and tied a small white bow around my flowers before I adhered them on top.  I decided to add a little sentiment, as the end, but wish I hadn't, as it came out crooked?  Don't ya just hate when you ruin a card at the very end?  That's how I felt, but luckily I think adding some bling around it...covered up my mistake?

   And here is a close up that shows a bit more of the detail.   Other than my crooked Sentiment, I really liek the card and was happy in the end.

      I'm now beat and off to make something for dinner!    I had a really nice day of crafting and I can't wait to get up and start all over again tomorrow! 

Color my world....

.....today is one of those days that I did not feel like doing much.  I was behind on paperwork and ended up spending my morning paying bills, balancing the checkbooks and catching up on phone calls...all that boring business like stuff that is never fun.

   I'm also kind of tired again, but had two great days, so I'm not about to complain.  I decided that this afternoon I would take it easy and one of my favorite ways to relax is to color.  I have loved colored ever since I was a child and it's another reason that I LOVE card-making, because of the all the wonderful stamps and images that you can color.  I started by printing out a few cute little digi images and these all happen to from By Lori Designs.   These are the type that always make me smile and I wanted to make some fun -- happy cards.

   My first card was inspired by a new challenge today at Crafting by Designs and it's a BLUE challenge.  You can use blue in anyway, as long as your project has some blue in it.   This is the card that I created for the BLUE challenge and instead of simply coloring everything blue, I paper-pieced on some cute blue digi papers for her little dress and hair bow. 

      Once I had started coloring, I actually colored three different cuties, not knowing exactly which one I would use.  I also ended up putting together two more cards.  This first one is going to be submitted to the new Challenge # 24  at By Lori Designs and they theme is "Hearts".  I think the sentiment makes it perfect and it's a sentiment I LOVE.

    
      And this is the third card I put together and it's a kind of Fun in the Sun card!  I can't wait for Warm Summer Days to come. 

    I also have one card to share that I created for two new challenge.   The first was the new Twisted Thursday Challenge over at The Outlawz.     As it turns out, I also thought it would be a nice CAS style card and have also submitted it to the new challenge over at Through The Craftroom Door.  Their challenge is currently a CAS theme, with a Sentiment.    

       As you can see, I'm very much into the fun colors of Spring and was really getting burnt out of all the Red and Pink cards I had made for Valentine's.  It's nice to be onto a new season soon and since Spring and Summer are my favorite seasons, I love the change.  

        Oh and I also made my very first two ATC's, which were inspired by a brand new challenge and new group that just opened up over the Suzanne Dean's Color Me Creative Classroom.   The newest group is a Mixed Media/Altered Art Group and Marti (Wills), has challenged us all to create an ATC (Artist Trading Card), using paint, in any way.   I am really excited about the new group and learning a lot more about this fun technique.    It's gong to be awesome to take a class from Marti, when head down to Baltimore for The Outlawz Rodeo (Getaway Weekend).   If you have not already read about it, both Marti and Suzanne will be offering classes that weekend and I'm so excited to be signed up to take one form each of these awesome designers.
 
     If you want to come along for the weekend, then hope on over to The Outlawz Group for all the details.   If you would like to take a class with Marti, you can find the sign-up HERE on here blog.   And, if you are like me and want to also take a Copic Class with Suzanne, you'll find her sign-ups on her 'On the Road' website, which is HERE!!    This is going to be such a great weekend and I'm beyond thrilled to not only be taking these classes, but to also be meeting some of my very best craft friends.   YIPPEE!!!

      Ooops...!!  Okay....I went a little off track there, but that's simply my excitement about this fun-filled trip that I can't wait to go on!  .....

     Now back to my ATC's, you'll quickly see that I have a LOT to learn, but it was FUN trying something totally new.   I found that I had a couple ATC's in my Stash and I did my first one on a White Glossy base and the second was done on a Black Mat-board.  Both are the standard ATC Size, which I learned is 2 1/2" X 3 1/2", which is also the same size as a stand card from a deck of cards or a baseball card.  Many crafters create amazing ATC's and the idea is to actually trade them, hence the name -Artist Trading Cards!   I learned a lot from watching some videos on YouTube and simply by doing a Google search, there is a lot more to learn, but I think it's very interesting and I always LOVE to try and learn new things. 

 

   The first ATC was colored primarily with Alcohol inks and Distress inks and then I added on a little bling, a little heart, flowers and some ric-rac.   On the second one, I started by using White Ranger Dabber Paint and a background stamp, I then added in some distress inks for more color, but they are not showing so well in this picture.  I then cut heart out of a fabric scrap and glued that on with Glossy Accents.  I finished that one off with some sequin trim and a little flower.   Like is said, I still have a LOT of learn!   LOL!!  
 
   Well....that's going to be it for today!   I hope you are having a super day and that everyone has a nice long weekend.   I'm looking forward to more time in my craft room and also maybe a little shopping !! 

Woohoo!!!! Happiness is.....

........remember that old saying?   For some reason, whenever I think of it I think of and old book I had when I was little and it was called - Happiness is a Warm Puppy - A sweet little book by Charles Schulz. And guess what you can still buy it today, as a Collector's edition on Amazon.   Do any of you remember that book or  am I simply showing my age???  I can't remember exactly why I thought it it today, but I do remember it and today Happiness is lots of things and I'm here to tell you a bit about what made me Happy today!!

   My first exciting event was making the final hotel arrangements for The Outlawz Rodeo - Girlz Getaway weekend that I'm going to in May.  I have now booked my room, booked my flights and I'm thrilled to be a fun-filled weekend with lots of my awesome craft friends.   I'm excited to be heading down to Baltimore in May and cant wait to get away for a few days!

    On top of that I had a nice surprise visit from Brian and Meghan today and they brought me a sweet pink Cyclamen plant, as a Valentine's Gift.   They both worked a double yesterday, so I did not get to see them, but it sure was a nice surprise to see them today!   I also received a very nice card from Hubby along with a gift certificate for a Spa Pedicure!   I'm very lucky that all my guys treat me so well and that also makes me HAPPY!!   

  My next happiness moment was receive a package in the mail that was from Tim Holtz.  Yup, it's true I was one of the VERY lucky blog followers who had a chance to buy on of the adorable little Journey Kits he put up for sale last week in his Etsy Store.   I never imaged I would get in on time, but I did -- the kits sold out in 3 minutes...imagine that!   And it's absolutely adorable -- the little suitcase is what I wanted most and I LOVE it.  Here are some pictures of my kit -- I'm sure this will be really fun to create!!

   

   This is so darn cute and I'm especially excited to get it, because I'm going to miss out on taking one of Tim's Classes when he comes to my LSS in May.   As it turns out, he'll be coming here to Massachusetts, the exact same weekend that I am going down to Baltimore.    But, I'm not too disappointed, because I have had the chance to take a class with Tim before and will also look forward to taking one the next time he comes back.   Dyan Reaveley, is also coming to teach for a weekend in July, and that will be an awesome class, that I'll plan to take then.

   In the meantime, I'm super excited about the Getaway Weekend and will also plan to sign up with take a least two of the classes being offered by Marti Wills or Suzanne Dean!  I will be taking Marti's two part Mixed Media Class on Saturday and then on Sunday, I have now signed up to take Suzanne's Advanced Copic Class.   I'm so happy that I am going to be making this trip and taking classes from both these very talented designers!    I can't believe that I'm finally going to meet some of the gals I've been creating with online for the past couple of years.   We have talked about trying to put together some type of weekend like this for over a year now, and it's awesome that it's all falling into place and that so many of us and going to be together for a fun-filled weekend.   WOOHOO!!

    On top of that fun and excitement, I even found time to create two new cards today for Operation Write Home and both were based on today's new Midweek Throwdown Challenge, being hosted today at the Stars and Stamps Blog.   Our theme today was to create cards using the colors - Blue, Green and Kraft.   Here are the two that I have finished, so far!!

  And now I'm off to think about all the FUN I'm going to have on my trip and and what kind of project I want to make as part of the fun event that Marti has planned for Friday night!   Heading over to Pinterest for inspiration!!