Okay, kids, this is it! The last post of Summmmmmer! I probably won't have time to post tomorrow and then Wednesday we're switching the old bloggy blog over to Fall. I made these cute cards last week and am finally getting around to posting them. it all started when dear, sweet Teadub gave me this uber cute surfer girl stamp from Elzybels! Then…three hours of coloring…then some FUN tropical paper…and here they are…surfer girl beauties!

Here is my coloring process. Remember I just took the colored pencils class with Dave B from Memory Box? Well, I was all excited to try out my new techniques! These are all colored with my Prismacolor pencils. I used a bit of gamsol and some q-tip thingees to slightly soften the color after application. I never would have imagined you could achieve this effect with pencils! They are so vivid in person. It just takes time and patience, and layering of color.

I made one with blond hair, one with brunette hair and one with black hair! I used basically the same color pallette for all three, just mixed the colors around.

In this picture you can see I was coloring the sand at the bottom of the image, after cutting it into a scallop oval. If you look at my mat…you'll see the outline of brown with the "bumps." This gave me the idea for the clouds!

I masked the surfer girls and then cut out another scallop oval. Then I carefully stenciled on the clouds with light blue ink and an small sponge! I think it adds a nice touch! These were my final paper choices for each girl. The patterned papers and the neat flower embellies are from an old paper pack I got at Target. Remember when Target used to have cool scrapbooking stuff?

The completed cards! I added some cool waves using my Fiskars edger punch, some pretty scallops,  and a cute saying from Amuse stamps:

Hope your Summer was a great one! Thank you for blogging with me this season… Please join me again on Wednesday night for some Fall fun, a new blog banner and a card for Taylored Expressions' Challenge!

Greetings and Salutations! I am already anticipating my favorite season…FALL! I got out the Halloween stamps this week and started the old wheels turning towards new color schemes and new ideas. But, I have a few cards left to post for Summer time!

This card for today is all about Summer gardening… I am really in love with these Pure Innocence images lately. They are so fun to color and you can change the entire feel of the project just be using different papers and embellies. (you may remember I recently posted this image in pinks and greens)This card has made it's way all the way to the Netherlands to my sweet pen pal Holly! So now I can post it!

I have no idea where I got this cute little watering can embellie! It's been in my stash for a long time and I thought it was perfect for this card! For the bow, to add a little thickness, I put an extra snippet of ribbon under the knot. Can you see the little faces on the veggies? ACK!

The image was colored with my Copics in colors to match the patterned paper (which is from Cosmo Cricket). I could not find a sentiment that fit on the front in the circle so I handwrote one! I don't usually do that but I think it adds a nice personal touch. I used my Nestabilities for the cut out.

My Copic color pallette:

Here is the inside of the card:

The message is true…I wish you all a day filled with good things!

Like a box filled with cat!

Am I in trouble?

Hey! How's it going for you this week? It's hotter than you-know-what in Sac-town and we're in the dark trying to stay cool tonight! As I was surfing around earlier in the week looking for some fun challenges I came across not one, but two…using the exact same color scheme! Must be something in the air! I love these colors together and will definitely use them again. 

I started with one card, and then I made another one…and then I made another one! Three cards in all today – with the same colors. Very different designs but I sure had fun.

The two challenges are from WPlus9 Design Studio and Stacey's Stamping Stage Curtain Call. Click on the links to check out their cool blogs! Better yet…enter your own card and play along!

I think this card was my favorite of the bunch! The stamp is just too cute. The saying is actually part of the stamp image but I cut it off the bottom of the paper and used it as a separate element. I made the red/yellow flowers from a tiny punch and some brads.Can you see that tiny pearl in her hair? That is a white pearl that I colored yellow with a Copic marker to make it match! Y19 to be exact! I put some glitter on the butterfly and the net and the brad centers.

After I finished the card…I started thinking…what if her shirt was gingham? So I paper pieced a cute little shirt for her!   Renee…if you're reading this…it reminds me of your cute red and white shirt!

Here is a close up of my coloring and shading. I wanted her pants to look faded on the knees so I used a lighter color. The hair is three/four different shades and the top is R27 with a little R22.

Here is my color pallette of Copics:

This was my first card for the challenges…Lots of red and just a bit of turquoise. Don't you love that birdie paper? There is no stamping on this card…all paper, stickers and rub-ons!

Did you notice the pretty paper lanterns in the Curtain Call inspiration image? That is what inspired this version of the challenge! This card also has no stamping! The lanterns are from K & Company. The rub-ons with an Asian flair are from Basic Grey.

So very pretty!

Last night on the way home from work I stopped at Michael's…and there it was…the Martha Stewart 2010 Halloween collection! ACK! EEK! So dang fun! Gotta love Martha at Halloween. Girlfriend goes all out for this fun day! There are red, shiny, glittery blood stickers…and cool stamp sets and fun glitter colors. TOO much!  I AM READY for Fall!

Hi gang! Today's card is the last of my challenge cards that I've made in the past week! It has been really fun to create based on some great inspiration images. This last one is supah cute! The challenge is from Embellishmagazine.com and combines a color challenge (cream, peach, seafoam and kraft) with a style challenge (quirky, cutesy, and clean). Dang!

I tried and tried to think of an idea first…but nothing came to me. So, I went into my paper stash and pulled out a sheet of paper in each of those four colors and let them speak to me… Know what they said? OCEAN! Then you know what they said? AMUSE OCEAN! Yay! An idea was born…

Here is my quirky-cutesy-clean-kraft-cream-peach-seafoam creation! FUN!

The supply list…

The inspiration image:

This one is just cuz I like to take pictures of stuff…

Continuing in my quest to complete TONS of challenges this week…today's card is for the fab-you-lus Shabby Tea Room Blog! This blog really brings out the shabby chic girl in me. My card for this challenge is also a custom card order for a gal at work. The super cute picture is of her and her sister when they were little. I scanned it into the computer and then printed it out on PTI cardstock. This is a fun way to personalize your cards.

Click here for the Shabby Tea Room Blog! This week's image is beatiful roses. I knew just exactly what paper to use. I had recently gotten some new My Mind's Eye paper that is super old fashioned and extra glittery. The glitter is the old fashioned kind, too. YUUUMMMMYYY.

Here is my card:

Here is the pretty inspiration image. I could have done 10 cards based on this image! I was thinking chandeliers, dresses, white Melissa Frances doo dads, egads. LOVE IT.

I'm not sure why it isn't photographing correctly…the pink paper is a very pretty shade of salmon/pink/rose. It's coming out darker that it is in person. The rose is from Prima flowers. It's so beautiful and the perfect match to the paper.

The sentiment was printed on the computer. I do that a lot. I am sort of a font junkie too. I think I have over 500 fonts on my laptop. That way I can always find the right one!

Stop and smell the roses!

Whew…there are so many great challenges out there this week! I have been trying to make a card every night and staying up way too late in the process. I am a tired stamper. One more day and then it's the weekend. I think I'll make it. I just couldn't resist any of the challenges! Tonight's card is for Stacey's Stamping Stage – Curtain Call #43.Check out her blog here!

Isn't this color combination gorgeous??? I love love love Kiwi Kiss! Especially the textured cardstock…I cannot believe they did away with that color! Okay, I digressed. This is so lovely…

Here is my finished card!

Colored the sweet coffee cup image with my Copics! Shaded around the edge with some light blue ink. The pretty flower is just a doo dad I had hanging around and it matched perfectly.

My supplies: Stampin Up coffee set, Copic Markers, sentiment from Hero Arts, Nestabilities and cardstock from Stampin' Up and Bazzill.

Hi friends in blog land! Cherry-o! Yes, I know it's supposed to be Cheerio…but my card today has cherries! It's my latest entry into Taylored Expression Blog. As you are well aware…I LOVE her challenges! I hope you are all having a good week. I'm really busy at work and trying to steal some crafty time too. 

The sketchy sketch:

I love those cute cherries!!!

Yesterday at lunch I went for a walk around town and bought a magazine and took some pictures. I loved these brightly colored pretty flags hanging outside blowing in the breeze. This photo was my color inspiration for today's card!

Wow! What a fantabulous day today was! Teadub came to visit and we took a colored pencil techniques class from Dave Brethauer – the owner of Memory Box stamps! The class was at Paper Garden and it was a really good time. Saw lots of friends and generally had a perfect time. After class Teadub and I went for Thai food and coconut ice cream….yeah baby! I have lots and lots to share today so hang in there with me…

 
These are some of Dave's samples from all of his classes. He is a master of colored pencils and watercoloring. He has published card and coloring technique books that I have loved for years. His style is clean and crisp and vivid – really great! He is a very patient teacher. When he comes back to Sac-town next time I really recommend his classes!

These are my finished projects from class today!

If you can believe it this little red birdie is actually colored with ochre, brown, cream, light brown…and then red! We learned how to layer color upon color to give it depth and pop!

I wanted to make Dave, Teadub and Steph some Memory Box cards to hand out today at class. I got out ALL my Memory Box stash to be inspired…Do you think I like birds?? Heehee. Aren't the images great?

Here are my finished cards for today:

 
I first started by stamping the alphabet image over and over again on cream cardstock to make my own background paper. Haven't used the old stamp-a-majig in a LONG time! It's perfect…don't know why I don't use it more often.

I stamped the bird image using my tiny ink spots right onto the alphabet background. Then I cute the oval out with my nestabilities…

And, of course, the inside!

I hope you have enjoyed my post and I hope you're inspired. I haven't used my colored pencils in a long time and I was re-energized to get them out! Get out some old supplies and see what happens…

Hi peeps! Dang, just got in under the deadline this week forTaylored Expressions #123 Challenge! Again, I love the sketch Taylor dreamed up. I had colored this image earlier in the week and voila! It came together tonight. Please send some blog love my way and let me know what you think!

The sketch image:

Layers of Pink, blue and green to match the image:

My Copic color palette for the card:

For denim I always use B21 and B23 and then crosshatch with my colorless blender to make it look faded. For metal I used cool greys. For the face I used E00 and then some pink for the cheeks. The t-shirt and wellies are R21 and R20 together. Two shades of green for the grass blades. The image is a Pure Innocence Girl from My Favorite Things stamps…and the sentiment is from Denami stamps!

Some pretty ribbon and a Martha Stewart flower…

And here is my trusty stamp room sidekick. Now I ask you…is this a stamping table…or a cat massage table? I think Buddy has the right idea…stretch out…relax…it's almost Friday! Have a great weekend everybody!

Seriously, I can't stand it… I am IN LOVE with the Papertrey Ink cloud dies and cream felt. ACK. I am posting two cards today made with the little beauties, and I could probably have made ten more cards without even thinking about it. The felt is unbelievably high quality and I cut the dies with my Cuttlebug machine and they come out perfect every time. Click here to go to the PTI website to see the dies. The clouds match the little stamps in the Up Up and Away stamp set. Seriously…no seriously…I cannot stand it.

Card #1 was made with a pretty rainbow bling I had tucked away in the bling drawer. It came like that…no I did not put alllll those blings into a rainbow! I used my Nestabilities to cut a white circle and then a royal blue scallop circle. Keeping it simple and bright.

Some of the clouds are mounted onto foam tape to pop them off the page. The yellow paper is by Bazzill for Doodlebug Designs. Has a nice texture.

The sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink…isn't it perfect?

Card #2 was made with this cute little mouse stamp from Stampin' Up. A-DORABLE. I used shades of blue and blue violet and again kept the layout simple. A pretty border at the bottom and my favorite checked paper keep it cheery.

This sentiment is from the same Papertrey Ink stamp set…