Stamps R Us-Sparkle and Scallops

OWH Blog Hop Post HERE- Blog candy to be drawn 11/15 at 6PM

My Blogging group Stamps R Us has issued a challenge: Sparkle(s) and Scallops.  The challenge is sponsored by The Stamping Boutique. We were allowed to pick any image from the store- and what better for a sparkly challenge but a Fairy image. 

Here is another view of the card:

 The image is a digi and I watercolored it with Soft Sky. I dabbed a tiny bit of R22 on the flowers to mimic the flowers in the bacground Basic Grey DSP.  I touched up the edges of the fairy with B00.  I painted over the top part of the skirt and the inside of the wings with Creative Inspirations Paint.  I also added a touch of that sparkly paint around the image. 
 I painted the flowers with Soft Sky for the larger flowers and used Copic V02 for the smaller punched flowers.  I painted over all of them with Creative Inspirations Paint. I added a Dew Drop to the center of the flower in a color that mimics the DSP. The bottom flower was embossed in the Cuttlebug. I decided to take creative liberties with the scallops and used my notch punch.
  The layer under the main image is from the Technique Junkies called 'Crystal Ice' with a touch of Soft Sky by Stampin Up.
Stamps: Digi by The Stamping Boutique, sentiment RainDropEcho.

TIP: I learned a little tip from Chris Dickenson- if you have a piece of special paper or a technique- cut out a portion from behind the image and you will have that for another project- I did that for the Crystal Ice layer.

Challenges for this card:
Stamps R Us- Sparkles and Scallops
Crazy Challenge- Things with Wings
Cute Card Thursday-Anything Goes
Fairy Fun Fridays-Make your own flowers
Fariy Tale-anything goes
Stamp Something-use a digital image
Basic Grey-Wings and Basic Grey DSP
Secret Crafter-Sparkle and Shine
I (heart)2stamp-Sketch
Paper Sundae's- Blue and punches, flowers are embossed
Sentimental Sunday-Childhood and Sentiment

Thanks for stopping by today- we'd love to have you join in the challenge at Stamps R Us- stop by and see my blogging sisters samples!
Shelly

Operation Write Home Valentines Blog Hop

Operation Write Home is a group of card makers that make cards for soldiers AND for the soldiers to send home to their families- wives, kids, parents, brothers and sisters....you get the picture. 

There are deadlines for sending cards in- as it takes some time to get the cards to the soldiers- so we are celebrating VALENTINES DAY with the  OWH crew.  The deadline to send Valentines is Jan. 7th.  Of course, you can send in Valentine cards after this date- they will be saved for next year.  (You can also always send in Thank You cards, Happy Birthday cards- you get the picture.....!).
******The deadline to send in Christmas cards has passed already- no worries- the soldiers love cards all year long!******

You more than likely came to my blog from SHARON's BLOG.  If you go from link to link, you will go around in a big circle- there are freebies and blog candy along the way.  (There is a list of blogs on the OWH Stars and Stripes Home page if you find a broken link so you can keep hopping.......).

I decided not to add a sentiment on the card front, so the soldier could choose a Howdy or a love themed sentiment.  I am hoping a female soldier will send this card home to her man!  The image is by Bonibleaux designs and it is currently available at Firecracker Designs by Pamela (until 12/15).

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Before you 'hop' off, here is a chance for some blog candy:

  This is a set of unmounted stamps (5 1/2 x's 8) from Firecracker Designs by Pamela- no longer available as Pamela is going out of business and this set is SOLD OUT.  It is perfect for any horse lover! 
  Please leave a comment along with your e-mail address.  You will have one week to come back and claim your prize- drawing will be Monday 11/15 at 7PM CST (after I get home from work) and the winner will have until 11/20 to claim the stamps. 
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 Craft for a Cause: PLEASE VOTE DAILY at Joanns - http://www.joann.com/CraftForaCause

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Now, onto the next stop on the OWH Valentines Hop- Megan.

Thanks for stopping by! Shelly

Bloggers Challenge-Sketch Challenge

This week for my Bloggers challenge we have a Sketch Challenge:

  I thought I'd make a fall card and found an image at D2D that fit the bill.  I colored the image with Copic Markers.

I chose the DSP first- it is from Joann and is by Ancestry.com  It is brighter IRL- the Bg is Mellow Moss and the yellow is Apricot Appeal. I sponged a tiny bit of Real Rust around the edges of the DSP and over the textured Cuttlebug Highlights. 

Challenges for my card:

Crafty Emma-Autumn

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle-Fall Cards

Scrappy Frogs-Give Thanks

Freshly Brewed-2 or more patterned Papers

Shirley2Girls-give Thanks/pumpkins

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the Operation Write Home Valentine's Blog Hop!
Shelly

Spicing up some hanging flowers

I have been playing with Distress inks and making backgrounds- this one is from Splitcoaststampers Water Stamping tutorial (Try that Technique).  It screamed flowers to me- and the Flower soft was sitting there on my desk......  I added Creative Inspiration Paints to the roping and the leaves- a perfect and subtle look to make the card look more elegant.

Here is a close up of the glimmer:

 I added some sponging to the edge of the Spellbinders die cut  (Technique Junkies Wisped Frame). 

 The background I made was inspired by the Try that Technique from Splitcoaststampers- water stamping. Here are pictures of the background on Whisper White and Georgia Pacific- the cardstock makes a huge difference.

On the left is Georgia Pacific and on the right is Whisper White.

Here are the backgrounds with waterstamping and the image stamped on the backgrounds.
 Stamp is from I Brake for Stamps- Embossing Arts line.
The Distress Inks used: Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Stormy Sky

Here is another card I made with the 'other' background:

Thanks for stopping by today!

Shelly

Creative Belli Challenge #104 Something Borrowed, Something Old........

  For the Belli Challenge #104 Something Borrowed, Something Old, Something New and/or Something Blue (not necessarily a wedding card).

  So, I went for the not necessarily part….LOL I borrowed this cute Embossing Arts (from I Brake for Stamps) stamp from my friend Nancy, it is old….. we used to be really into Embossing Arts stamps ‘in the day’……. Something new- the embossing folder from SU and I made one Blue and one Pink…..from ‘old’ retired SU cardstock Pixie Pink and Ballet Blue.

and in Pink:

Here is a close-up of the shimmer:

I colored the image with Copic Markers and highlighted the blue and pink ribbons on the image with Copic Spica pen. I wanted to avoid ribbons and bulky embellishments, so used the sentiment swirl for an accent and sponges the edges with ink.
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With every challenge we encourage you to use your OLD and FORGOTTEN embellishments, so dust off all of your ‘gems’ in your closet.

If you upload your card/project to a public gallery (SCS, PCP, Flickr), please use keyword CBC10

HERE is the link to the Belli Blog and the rest of the DT samples- we would love to have you stop by!

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Would you like to be a Belli Girl??? We have a current DT call through 12/15. HERE is the information for the DT call.

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Thanks for stopping by today!

Shelly

Dude Time Doodles Blog Hop Winners

Were you able to stop by for the Dude Time Doodles Blog Hop?  If you did, and you left a comment on ANY of the Blogs, stop over to the DTD Blog- the winners have been posted- and I know one commenter on my post won an image and one regular follower on my blog won one of the bigger prizes- YEAH!!! 
HERE is the link to the Blog to check to see if you were a winner.

Congrats- and Thanks to everyone that dropped by for the Hop.
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Dude Time Doodles is on Crafters Digital Art Center (CDAC)

 Boni will be giving one lucky winner the complete set of special release images on November 15 when we reach 100 members on CDAC and she'll give one lucky winner the complete set of special release images on November 15 HERE when we reach 100 members by the 15th! If we hit 100 before the 15th you could be the lucky owner of the images before they are released! How can you pass up a deal like that?  Here is the Link to the CDAC and you will want to JOIN the group Bonibleaux Designs Digis

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Shelly

Bloggers Challenge-Patriotic

For this week’s challenge, our Blogger ‘Mom’ Lisa challenged us to a Patriotic theme.  I have quite a few digital images printed out and waiting for me to ink them up, so I took this opportunity to use them. 

I used the Sketch from Operation Write Home to make my first card combined with the OWH midweek Stars and Stripes Challenge of Paper Piecing.  It took me a while to figure out how to get a 6 x 6 piece of SU DSP thru my printer, but as you can see I got it figured out.  The image is by Stamping Boutique and the sentiment Create with TLC.
This next card is another Stamping Boutique image paired with a SU sentiment. The Sketch for this card is from Cards and Things.

Finally, I used an image by Create with TLC and lightly colored with Copic markers. I embossed the background white cardstock and the main image- it needed a little ‘pop’, so I added the red scalloped circle.  I used Wisped Frames from the Technique Junkies for the sentiment part of the image and finished the card off with a nice organdy bow.

Bloggers Challenge players can be found here- lots of great Patriotic inspiration.
Challenges for my cards:
Operation Write Home- Sketch #1
Stars and Stripes- Paper Piecing #1
Paper Sundaes- for a man or boy- sending these to soldiers!
Cards for Men-anything goes
Pink Elephant-Red, Blue, Yellow- card #1
Cards and Things-Sketch #2
Creative Card Crew-Let’s Punch it
My time to Craft- quick and cute
Papertake Weekly-for men/boys
Delightful Challenges-Stitching
Paper Play-circles
Sassy Studio Design-Get Stitchy
Stamp Insanity-Punches
Stampin B’s- a bird in a die cut- #3
Alphabet Challenge-B is for Birds
Raise the Bar- Let’s see those curves
So, my three cards fit into quite a few challenges.  I want to give you the links for some places to find challenges:
Feline Playful lists WHAT the challenges are for the day (gotta love that!)
The Daily Dare-lists challenge blogs
Sketch Challenges can be linked here: Stampin When I Can
I hope you have a great weekend!  Our Cross Country State meet is tomorrow in Peoria- Go Tigers!!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Shelly

Blog candy winner for TJ CD ##8

#9 is Niki who commented:

Shelly,

Great card, the colors are beautiful. I'd love a chance to win the CD.

Thanks,

Niki

I hope you will enjoy trying some of the TJ techniques as much as I do!

Thanks to all who stopped by and joined in.

Shelly

Happy Election Day and Blog Candy

 Dude Time Doodles Blog Hop  is HERE

 I am not going to stay up for the final tally, but I have a feeling there will be a shift in the political climate in Illinois this election.  (We'll see in the morning.....!)

 



















  I love the colors I used on this card- Barely Banana, Cameo Coral and Rose Red. The background is called Pencil Highlights and I used an older SU background.  The main image is from I Brake For Stamps. I added some stitching to the outside edge of the card to mimic the inside stamp edge. 

  Everyone that knows me knows how much I love the Technique Junkies newsletter- I would love for you to have a copy of the latest TJ CD- it is all of the newsletter techniques from the past year ( 10/9 through 8/10)  PLUS it has10 bonus techniques.

Here is a sample of what the techniques look like:
http://techniquejunkies.com/Washed_Colors_Tutorial.pdf

For a chance to win, leave a comment WITH your e-mail address so I can find you.  Winner will be posted Friday at noon.

Challenges:
 365- Loud and Clear; sentiment takes up half of the front
Incy Wincy-Anything Goes
Secret Crafter-Anything that flies
Crafty Pad-Stitching


Thanks for stopping by! Shelly

Stamps R Us Buttons and Bows

* Dude Time Doodles Blog Hop is HERE *
  Stamps R Us is having a challenge for Buttons and Bows for the next two weeks sponsored by KLM digi stamps. 
  My little niece is very prissy and I thought I’d make her a card with the Free Digital image ‘Pocket’.

  It is so hard to get a good picture of this card…. the background is called Marbled Smooch by the Technique Junkies- it has a subtle sparkle to it.  The pocket is colored with B21 Copic marker and I used Creative Inspirations Paint in Pink on the white cording.  I gathered a piece of pink lace under the now pink cording.
  The LOVE rhinestones have been in my stash for ever…… The buttons are painted with the Pink CI paint.  I think my prissy niece will enjoy this card- mostly because it is from her favorite Aunt…..!
Challenges:
Stamps R Us- Buttons and Bows
My Time to Craft-Pockets
2 Sisters- No Designer Paper
Cowgirl Sunday-Bling
The Crafty Pad-stitching
Gingerloft-Buttons

Thanks for stopping by!
Shelly