21st Century Pillow Book

I wanted to play along with an Embellish Magazine challenge. My very first. Kathi brought it to the Bombshell’s attention, and I really wanted to play along. The challenge is to make a masculine card using a specific color combo. And what do you know…I actually had the paper they showed! I just received Bombshell Stamps’ Hula Girl in the mail yesterday. I was really hoping I’d get her before I missed the deadline for this challenge. She came just at the nick of time! I colored Hula Girl and the hibiscus using pencils and watercolor markers. The Explore and world image are from Technique Tuesday. This was a fun challenge! I loved the color combination. And what guy wouldn’t want to do some exploring with her??? Well, hopefully my husband… but I know he likes the card! Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling edgy? Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Having a new puppy is wonderful, but I really feel like I have a newborn running around my house with no diapers on. So, I am a wee (get it?) bit stressed out. But I digress…this week’s StampInsanity challenge is called Feeling Edgy, and you are to u se some creative edging techniques, or punches, to create a cool and GROOVY look!   I used Roder for this card. I love him. He’s just so darn cool! I can see Phoenix looking like this when he’s a teen. I used a bunch of borders and edges for this card. I broke out the cracked edge Martha Stewart punch (all the way on the left), kept one piece of paper with a simple straight edge, folded a piece and stapled it down and then used a Glimmer Screen from Tattered Angels with some Black Gold Glimmer Mist and chalk.  I am just realizing now that I didn’t tear or distress any of my edges! How could I forget to do that? It’s one of my favorite techniques! Oh well…I think it looks cool anyway

Today I bring you a very exciting Blog Hop! Not only is Smeared Ink releasing several new digi sets today (plus a few singles), but it is also the end of this term for the Design Team. We will be saying goodbye to some of our friends, but hello to some new ones. Our very special Guest Designers have also joined us for the hop! So let’s get this party started! I was given an image from this set to work with. Can you guess which one??? I was given the phoenix to work with! Hmmm…wonder why??? wink! My Phoenix was super excited when I showed him the image. He wants to color one in for himself. But, here’s my version! Now, in addition to working with a brand new image…Kelli and I challenged the DT to use at least 2 other Smeared Ink sets in their creations. We love to show off the versatility of these stamps…and how well the sets all work together. I was able to use 3 other sets for my card. The “Fire God” (originally Goddess) is from the Elementals collection, the grid is from Quoth the

Happy Friday! I have a short-n-not-so-sweet Smeared Ink post for you today. Why the short? Because we are the proud new owners of a puppy! After all that happened to us in the last few months, we thought that a pup would be something to really help us get through it all. Now if only she’d stop peeing in the house! ;) Why the not-so-sweet? Because I am using Ann Marie, one of the Smeared Ink Glam Vamps. I colored her using my markers and pencils. Then I took some kraft card stock and stamped the “Bite Me” from Smeared Ink’s Teen Style Sayings set. Clear embossed it. Then I took my Martha Stewart drippy stencil (originally made for decorating cupcakes), and used some Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist to make the background pop. The mist doesn’t stick to where the embossing is, which I think looks really cool. You can see the shine and glimmer from both the mist and the embossing powder here. You can click on any of the pictures to get a closer look. I am entering this card into this week’

I have been commissioned to create a scrapbook for a tween using the colors Tiffany Blue and Yellow. I thought I would share some of those pages with you today. I was not given any photographs, they will be entered by the girl who receives the book later. I used a variety of paper companies, including My Mind’s Eye, Basic Grey, K & Co, DCWV, and Prism. It wasn’t easy finding papers with only those 2 colors, so I needed to improvise a lot and use bits of white, black and grey here and there. I stamped the butterflies on using a Martha Stewart clear set. This is one of my favorite pages. I like the tilted squares and the punch of black. I was very happy to find these glitter swirls from Making Memories. I used them throughout the album. I also repeated the use of yellow and turquoise gems and pearls. It added a touch of elegance without making it all too stuffy. I also made sure to repeat the papers. No sheet was used only once. It helps keep consistenc

Miss me? I needed a few days away from Blogland. Yesterday was the 10 Year Anniversary for my Dad’s passing…and I thought I was going to blog about him…but I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t. But today is a new day…and I am sharing this card with you because this is the time that I conceived both of my babies. I thought it was appropriate to show it to you now. This is my second version of Sweet Pea Stamps’ Growing Love. I colored her in completely with Distress Inks. I love how it turned out. I used a wee bit of Platinum Liquid Pearls, just for some dimension. You can click on either of the pictures to see them bigger. I am very happy with this card. I love the color palette, I am going to be remaking it a few times, as I know a number of lucky ladies that are expecting! But, I do have some other versions in my head too. I just love this image. It is definitely one of my favorite Sweet Pea images! Short post today… But I think the pictures say enough for themselves! Hav

Helllllooooo and welcome to Friday! So glad the weekend is just about upon us, though it will be a busy weekend in the Heikkila House…but that’s a ‘nuther story. Since it’s Friday, that means it’s my turn to share a Smeared Ink creation with you. I tied this one into this week’s Macabre Monday (Alas…Poor Yorick). I chose to use one of the Glam Vamps (Christine) along with the skull from the Quoth the Raven set. I promise you my card isn’t cut crooked…it’s just the photographer. ;) I colored this hot little chica up with my watercolor markers and a touch o’ colored pencils. Can I just say that I want her boots?! My sentiment is from Stampers Anonymous. I thought it was pretty snarky! Alas…poor Yorick! The sun washed out the color a bit here…but I wanted you to see that I embossed the skulls in clear. Sooooo….? What do you think? I like it, personally…but I would rather you toot my horn for me! ;) Hey! Didja know that not only does the Smeared Ink Design Team have a new blog, but we

It’s time for another StampInsanity Challenge! This one is all about the gold! We challenge you to f ind that pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow! Use some gold accents, or shades of golden in your color selection! Spring is coming! I used Maddie from the Zeke and Maddie set. I love this set, because the focal images rock and the sentiments can be used for so many things! Check it out… Fab right? How cool is Zeke? So I went waaaay over the top with my gold. Maddie’s hair has gold highlights, and her dress is golden, with lotsa glitter to boot! The background paper has gold foil, And I Glimmer Misted the heck out of my sentiment (which is from the Birthday Maddie set) in Patina and Gold. I used dark teal as an accent color, which I thought looked striking. The warmth of the gold paired with the cool of the teal…ya feel me? Ooh! Look at all the sparkle and sheen! Me likey shiny! If you click on this (or any other) pic, you can see it bigger. Time to show off your

I have a number of Sweet Pea Stamps on my wish list. I decided that since I had 2 custom scrapbook orders, I could treat myself to a little present. I purchased Aloha and Growing Love. I am currently working on 3 versions of Growing Love, but I wanted to share the 1st completed one with you. This is truly the most beautiful pregnancy stamp I have ever seen. I have to be honest, I don’t usually like pregnancy images because I find them to be a bit cheesy. This one is pure elegance. She has that dreamy, blissful look on her pretty face, and her swelling belly gives me thoughts of my own pregnancies, which were pure joy. She is only available as a single image. I made this card using a Sweet Pea sketch for a challenge they are currently running…I didn’t make the top 10 like i had hoped, but that’s ok because I love the way this card turned out. I used my watercolor markers and pencils for her, and I cropped the image into an oval, which I think really works for this image.

It’s time for a new Itinerary from the Desert Islands Crafters Challenge ! We DICC girls are so thrilled that we have had so many participants with such a new challenge blog! A whopping 91 people played along with our last challenge! Thank you so much for joining in on the fun! Let’s get to this round’s itinerary, shall we? It comes from Sharon . Sharon's Itinerary 1. Not a Card! 2. Black & White 3. Celestial 4. Buttons 5. Unusual Sentiment ie. not “Happy Birthday” or “Best Wishes” etc. 6. Charms 7. Wire 8. Fancy Fold 9. Fibers 10. No images I made a tag using one of my newest Sweet Pea Stamps acquisitions. I told you it was going to be a very Sweet Pea week! ;) From Sharon’s Itinerary, I used #1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9. I used the image In the Wind from ching chou kuik’s Sheet 25 Plate 70. Isn’t she beautiful? I love the dreamy look on her face. I colored her with my pencils and watercolor markers. And of course I had to use S

Greetings! It’s gonna be a very Sweet Pea Stamps week in my Pillow Book world! Not only will I be sharing several new Sweet Pea creations with you, but this is also Customer Submission week over at their blog, and I will be one of the customers that is featured this week! Not sure what day that will be yet, but I will be sure to let you know! On to today’s project! I am sharing with you a new image by Terra Bidlespacher. It’s called Flutters, and I adore it. This little fairy is so sweet looking. Take a peek for yourself! I had the image all colored up (using my watercolor markers and pencils) and then I saw the latest challenges from Sweet Pea Stampers (Scallops) and In a Sweet Pea Dream (Pink). I was immediately inspired! I made her winds sparkly with Cotton Candy Stickles, and I thought that she needed a bit of a background, so I added a plethora of dots. I think it filled in the space nicely. I layered a scallop-y kind of flower for a little dimension. I’m not