21st Century Pillow Book

Hello! If you frequent my blog, then you know that I love scrapbooking. I don't often have a lot of time to do it, but it is one of my biggest passions. Well, when I saw that Sweet Pea Stamps was having a contest to incorporate their beautiful stamps into layouts. I quickly went through all of my Sweet Pea images (I have quite a number of them), and thought about which ones would work best in the photos I had. Here's what I came up with. I LOVE  ching-chou kuik's Aloha stamp. It's beautiful. But I wasn't sure if I could get a Mother/Daughter mermaid stamp to work....But, I think I did! I remembered that I had taken these photos of us a couple of month's ago during one of Rhiannon's Special Days at school (she goes to a co-op nursery school, so the parents get to participate on a rotation). I thought it would be fun to match the colors we were wearing. So, I colored the Aloha stamp to coordinate with us. I colored the image with watercolor markers

Greetings! Today  I have two projects to share with you, both featuring digis from A Day for Daisies . I LOVE their digis. I have said it before, and I'll say it again. They are by far, one of my most favorite stamp companies ever. I adore these images. And, since I was the very lucky winner of their last challenge (YAY!!!), I won a few images. The first project is a card that is for the newest ADFD challenge . The challenge is to "Use Newsprint." I used  the new Aloha Blooms image, and paired it with a sentiment from Ginger's House . Oh, I just love her. I had a fun time coloring her...I experimented with some new combinations of skin tones. I worked with alcohol markers and watercolor markers, plus, the background was done in watercolors. I also played with a brand new stencil that I got from Stencil Girl . It's called "Web" and I love it. I used 3 colors of ink (applied via stencil brush), ad then embossed it with clear powder. Sorry that

Hello hello! I have another layout to share with you today! 2 layouts in one week??? You have no idea how happy I am to be scrapping again! This week, the challenge over at Dilly Beans is to "Think Pink." And I immediately thought of some recent photos I had taken of Rhiannon while she was playing dress up. I used Amalia Princess #394 for my layout. She very much reminded me of what Rhiannon dressed herself in. Lots and lots of pink layers of tulle. I used watercolor markers and alcohol markers (plus a wee bit of Tiara Stickles) to color Amalia in. I used my Slice machine (while it felt like working) to cut out the same flower in different patterned papers and sizes. Here are tho photos of Rhiannon so you can see them a little better...and see how adorable she is! My girl loves to play dress up. And I love helping her get into all of those layers, and shoes, and jewelry! Please be sure to visit the Dilly Beans challenge blog to see what the rest of the

Hello friends! I am sad to say, that this is my last post as a Guest Designer for Dreamweaver Stencils . I have had such a wonderful time posting with this extremely talented Design Team. It has been a real pleasure, and I want to thank the entire team for being so welcoming. And an extra special thank you to Lynell and Pam. You ladies are so wonderful. Thank you for having me. So, if you have been following me throughout the month, you will know that the Dreamweaver challenge for the month is Rain/Showers/Drizzles/Mists, etc. My past 3 projects featured rain, but this time I wanted to go more along the line of "mists." I went to town with Memory Mists from Dreamweaver. And I got to make a layout! Yay!!! Look at how teeny my Phoenix is! This photo was taken in my old scrapbooking store. Phoenix was about a year old here. Gosh, that seems like forever ago! He's 6 now, by the way. So here's what I did. I took the Fleur de Lis and the Damask stencil and put them

Hello! It's the last Wednesday of the month (and my husband's birthday!), so it's time for the Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop. This month, I gave us a color challenge. I love doing those! Here's the palette, from Design Seeds . I challenged the participants to use at least 3 of these lovely colors...though more is always better. The only shade that I didn't use is the gray. I used Bombshell Angel and the Fun 'N Flirty digi clothes. I also used 2 stamps from the Cherry Bomb set, and the zebra print from Bombshell Patterns . I colored my images using a mix of watercolor markers and alcohol markers. I love this outfit. It's sassy. It's hard to tell, but the main card is cream. I thought white would have been too stark. But, I think it should have been a smaller card. Though, I do love that dotted paper. It's nice to see so much of it. Now it's time for you to keep hopping. And, if you have some Bombshells of your own to play with (

Greetings! I have a project that features a new Rick St. Dennis image that was specifically made for this month's Movie Magic Monthly challenge. The challenge is Lord of the Rings vs. Harry Potter. And, as I mentioned in my first post for this challenge, I am definitely a Lord of the Rings girl, so I wanted to do another project to feature that saga. This is Galadriel. She's a beauty, isn't she? I colored her entirely with Distress Inks...something I haven't done in a while. I enjoy coloring with them. You can really create some nice effects. To color with the inks, I use Ranger's Cut 'N Dry Nibs. If you take a look at my background, that was also done with Distress Inks. I used the Fleur de Lis stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils . To apply the ink, I used a stencil brush . My little die cut was done on my Making Memories Slice machine. It's a very simple card, but the image has so much impact, along with the background, that I didn't want t

Hello! Welcome back! It's Friday so I have a new Dilly Beans challenge to share with you. This week, the challenge is "Flowers." Super simple, right? Would you like to see what I've made? For this card, I used " Poppy Circle Framed #538 ." I have had her colored for a while..but wasn't sure which project to use her on. When I saw this week was "Flowers," I knew she was perfect for it. I colored her with watercolor markers and alcohol markers. I was pretty excited about the blue piece of corrugated cardboard. I had originally used it as a texture stamp on my " You Shall Not Pass " sign. When I saw how perfectly it matched the blue of Poppy's shirt, I knew I had to use it actually on the card. I sanded it down a bit, and i think it was just the right embellishment. It's a cheery card, which is good because it's pretty dreary here in NY today. I hope you like it! How about some more floral fabulousness? Then hop

Greetings! Today I am sharing my third post as a Guest Designer with Dreamweaver Stencils. I've got to say, I am going to be very sad when my little stint with them is over. I am having so much fun! But at least I will be able to play along with their challenges anytime. So, as a refresher...the challenge for the month is "Rain/Drizzles/Showers/Mists." So I broke out the versatile Rain Stencil again. I started by applying White Embossing Paste over the entire Rain stencil. While it was still wet, I applied some  Sapphire Metallic F/X Powder ...but I did it gingerly. I wanted some blue, but not too much...and I didn't want even coverage. I also inked the edges in a dark blue. I was fortunate to have won a challenge over at The Altered Alice some time ago, and I won a gift certificate to Nature's Blessings . The sweet little girl is one of the stamps I chose...specifically to go along with the Dreamweaver challenge. She kind of reminds me of the Morton S

Hello! Today I have two projects to share with you, and they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. First, I'd like to share an art journal page that I have made with 2 of Rick St. Dennis ' newest images. Then, I have a card for the latest A Day for Daisies challenge. I had gotten the the Crow and Nosferatu images, and immediately thought that the crow needed to be on top of Nosferatu's head. Odd perhaps...but, as you probably know already...I like odd. I added a bit of color to Nosferatu, but I really didn't need to do much, as he is just so cool on his own. Both of these images, by the way can be purchased directly from Rick's Blog . And the Crow, actually comes in a very versatile set. Now please take a look at the beautiful black, textured swirls on my page. That was done with Dreamweaver Stencils ' Art Nouveau Background  and their black embossing paste . In addition, I used 2 colors of acrylic paint, Memento ink, cardboard, Diet Cola Memory Mis

Hello Friends! Today is April 15th, so it's time for a brand new Desert Islands Crafter's Challenge . We are sponsored by Digi Darla , and our Itinerary was created by my bestie, Kelli.  As always, you need to use at least 3 items from the Itinerary. 1. No Flowers 2. Use Black, Red or Teal, or a Combo of the Three 3. No Markers 4. Use a Sketch 5. Use a Birthday Sentiment 6. Use Glitter/Stickles 7. Bling It Up 8. Go Dimensional 9. Make it Square, not a Rectangle 10. Use Stripes and Dots I used the lovely Irish Beauty for my card. The sentiment is from Create with TLC . From the Itinerary, I used #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 10. I colored her with colored pencils. And the sketch I used was from Deconstructing Jen, #97 .  It was so nice to work with my pencils again! Thankfully, my connective tissue disorder wasn't really acting up, so I was able to use them. That's a whole 'nuther story...but suffice it to say, that when it does act

I am a little worried about my blog...it's...going-uh- soft . Have you seen all the pretty things here lately? I need to break out one of my creep-tastic Smeared Ink sets to break up all the pretty . But...truth be told, I do like doing pretty things. Just don't tell my goth side! This week at Dilly Beans , the challenge is Pastel Colors. I used one of Meagan's newer images to create this, yes, pretty card. I colored the image with my alcohol and watercolor markers. Check out the pretty butterflies on my blue background paper! I made them with a Dreamweaver Stencil . Really simply too....I just used a shimmery blue ink and a stencil brush to ad the color. I really like how the wings of the butterflies work with the edge punch I used. So, will you play along with us this week? I hope so! To see what the rest of the Design Team created, please visit the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog . Thanks for stopping by! Have an inspiring day.

Hello! I am excited to share my second project as a Guest Designer with Dreamweaver Stencils. The challenge for the month is Clouds, Showers, and Mists. I made a card that's very different from the art journal page I made last week. But I used the same Rain stencil . I love showing how different the same stencil can look depending on what you pair it with. To see last week's post, please click HERE . I colored the rain with my Crayola airbrush, as I did last week. But this time, I used a cream colored cardstock, to keep it cheery and light. Then, I used White Embossing Paste with my Plum Blossom stencil right on top of the rain drops. After the paste dried,  I applied some Metallic F/X in Pixie Blush, and a bit of Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I love that you can see some hints of the rain coming through the flowers. See how sparkly the Pixie Blush is? Love this stuff! I cut out a few ovals and layered them, added some ribbon, a chipboard sentiment, and some pretty

Greetings! It's the 10th, so it's time for a brand new  Movie Magic Monthly  challenge. This month, the challenge is Lord of the Rings vs. Harry Potter. You can make anything you want as long as it has something to do with at least one of the movies in these 2 series. I decided to make something for LOTR...as that's more my type of magic. Not dissing HP...but I am for sure a LOTR girl. I decided to go with an iconic moment. When Gandalf has a standoff on a bridge and shouts "You shall not pass!!!!!!!" Loved that scene. So, I made a door hanger using a brand spankin' new  Rick St. Dennis  image. Isn't he amazing? Here's a closer look. Click on any of my images to see it bigger. I really think Rick did an amazing job at capturing the emotion and severity of the moment. You can purchase this fantastic image for yourself HERE .  I painted a piece of cardboard with acrylic paints, and used assorted textured cardboard scraps to add details. I

Greetings! Have you visited any of the 3 Rick St. Dennis blogs this weekend? If you haven't, then you must go! Each of the 3 blogs has a freebie image for you...and they are all rad. I seriously love them. Today, I am sharing an Art Journal page. It features Artist Denise, who can be found on the Sparkle and Glitter Blog . I really just played with this page...like the sentiment says. I used a variety of stamps, stencils and inks for my background. I used my regular assortment of markers...watercolor, and 2 brands of alcohol. Yes, we are still talking about markers. So be sure to visit Rick's Blog , the Sparkle and Glitter Blog , and the Airless Chambers Blog for the 3 freebies. Get there today, before they go over to Rick's Etsy shop.  Plus, you will get to see some really fantastic work from the DT. Thanks for stopping by Have an inspiring day!

Hello! I have the latest Bombshell Stamps Sketch Challenge to share with you today. It's a simple, yet cool layout. If you've  never done a sketch challenge with us before, this would be a great one to try. Here it is. And this is what I made from it. I used Mermaid Anchor and Banner Sayings for my card. I have to say, if you don't have the Banner Sayings set, you really must get it. I use it all the time, even on non-Bombshell projects. And it's fun to color the banners in lots of fun colors! I am also really enjoying coloring the mermaid's fins. I like experimenting with assorted colors, rather than sticking to a variety of only one color. My images were colored with Spectrum Noirs and Copics. I loved this ribbon with the anchor. It's really cool because the silver is actually reflective. So it looks rad when the light hits it right. Please check out what some of the other Bombshell girls made for this sketch. Just head over to the Bombshell