21st Century Pillow Book

Hello! Today is the last Wednesday of the month, so that means it;s time for the Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop. This month's theme is Water World. Bombshell has a lot of sets that include things pertaining to water, so I thought this would be a fun challenge. For my project, I used Koi Tattoo. This is a new set for me. I have been wanting to play with it for a while, so I was especially happy to finally break it out of it's packaging. I started off by stamping the focal image from the set on acetate with StazOn ink. Then, using watercolor paper and watercolor (to go even further with the Water World theme), I painted a very rough version of the image. I used the stamped image as a guide. Not trying to be too perfect, but attempting to get the colors in basically the right places. You can see the shine of the acetate in this photo. I adhered the watercolor paper with my ATG gun, and the acetate with eyelets. I like this technique. I think it would be fun to do a

Hello! I have a new Chromatic Craze challenge to share with you today. Have you played along with us yet? You should! I love color challenges, so it's always fun for me to play with these palettes. Here's this month's colors. For all the details on how to play and the (few) rules, be sure to check out the CC Blog . Do ya like my cupcake? It's from Strange Skin...my sister Pam drew it. I loved coloring it in. The colors are a little washed out here. I now want my sister to actually make me a cupcake that looks like this. Fortunately, she likes to bake. ;) I colored the cupcake with my watercolor markers. My teeny "happy birthday" is from Inkadinkado. Phoenix recommended that I make the corners up top. He thought it was a little too plain without them. What do you think? I think my boy has a good eye for design! Remember to visit the rest of the gals over at Chromatic Craze to see what they have come up with. Thanks for stopping by. Have an in

Greetings! Very quick post today, as I am going away for the weekend, and needed to leave like 5 minutes ago. ;) I am helping one of my Besties, Jenn, over at Wicked Wednesday this week with her Anything Goes challenge. I used an image from A Day for Daisies. If you know me at all, you will know that I LOVE flamingos. Obsessed a bit. I especially love when flamingos are fancy. Hence this little switch-a-roo ATC. She was colored with watercolor markers. It reads, "plain or fancy, I'm always fabulous." Yes. Yes, you are Ms. Flamingo. Check out the foiled kiss! Thanks so much for having me, Jenn!!! Be sure to say hello to the WW Team! Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Hello there! I have 2 projects to share with you today. The first is for the newest Desert Islands Crafters Challenge , and the second, since it's Friday is for the latest Dilly Beans challenge. Let's start with DICC Here's the itinerary: 1. Use Indian Corn colors of Rust, Gold, Deep Red, and Tan 2. Thank You or Thankful theme 3. Dry or Heat Embossing 4. 3 Layers 5. Metal 6. Die Cuts 7. Charms 8. Photo Corners 9. Ribbons  10. Lace We are sponsored by the fabulous Bombshell Stamps this time around, and most of the team is using the Indian Princess set. This set also happens to be the Muse Monday set of the month, so you can snag it on sale! I used #'s 1, 2, 3, and 9. I embossed the Large Feather with clear ink directly on the tag, then I inked over it using a few different chalk inks. The Dreamcatcher was stamped separately and cut out. I colored it with pencils and more of the chalk ink. The "Thank You" is from Bombshell's

Greetings, All! Today I have the November Bombshell Stamps Sketch Challenge to share with you.  I broke out a set that I had recently gotten, yet had not had a chance to use. I love using new stamps! It's Lotus Garden . I colored the images with watercolor paints. Now I am in the mood to keep painting! :) Now, I am sure you noticed that the piece of scrap that's been colored blue is cut crooked. And the blue isn't solid. Why didn't I just use a piece of blue cardstock? Some time ago, my boy Phoenix made me some little "embellishments" for me to use on my projects. Some had patterns, some were sketchy like this, etc. And from time to time, they are exactly what I need to finish off a project. Originally, I was going to cut the piece up to make the 3 strips to better mimic the sketch. But, I liked the piece solid. You can see how he colored around the edge to get every piece of the paper blue. So, I left it intact. I think he'll be happy to see

Hello again! It's Friday, so I have a new Dilly Beans project for you. This week's theme is "Thanks." I colored one of Megan's lovely flowers. Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with Kraft cardstock lately? Anyway, I colored this with my Spectrum Noir Markers, and a couple of Copics. I found ribbon that matched the colors I chose perfectly! I added a couple of corners and a torn edge to the bottom, to keep it nice and simple. And I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Terra and Tori from Smeared & Smudged . I won the 31 Days of Halloween!!! And I couldn't be more excited. Please visit the rest of the Dilly Beans gals over at the challenge blog to see their version of this week's "Thanks" theme. Thanks to YOU for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!!!

Greeting, friends! I am so excited to share today's post with you. I have the privilege of being a Guest for the newest Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge ! The challenge is to "Add a Feather," and we are being sponsored by A Day for Daisies (swoon!!!). I used Baby Doll Dreams for my ATC. Gosh. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this stamp company? The sweet simplicity of their images always tug at my heart strings.Please click on the pictures to see them bigger, if you are so inclined. I colored the image with alcohol markers. The background was done with a Crafter's Workshop stencil, inked with Creamy White Ink and then embossed with seafoam white powder. I also added that fantastic black feather. I am getting more and more into making these teeny pieces of art, and I want to thank Jenn for being one of the 2 gals that has really inspired me to push forward with them. Thank you so much for having me as a Guest for this challenge! Please visit the Wick

Hello! I don't know about you, but I need some recuperating time from the 31 Days of Halloween! I had a lot of things that needed to be done for November 1st, and I just. Couldn't. Do. It All. So, I am playing a bit of catch up today. I have the latest Desert Islands Crafters Challenge to share with you, as well as the November Newsletter freebie from Rick St. Dennis . For DICC, here is the Itinerary. 1. Fireworks 2. On a Dark Night- create a nighttime scene on your project 3. Twit Two- there's an owl watching you 4. Trees 5. Stars 6. Don't be Square- make a shaped project 7. Sparkle Please 8. Texture Please 9. Friends 10. Use a Quote We are sponsored by Jelly Park this time around, and I used Wish Upon a Star for my card. From the itinerary, I used #'s 2, 5, 7, and 8.  I colored this sweet image with watercolor paints and alcohol markers. My best friend's sister is expecting her first child, so I gave her this card for her

It's the first Monday of the month, so it's time for me to share with you this month's Bombshell Stamps Muse Monday set! This month, I chose to feature Indian Princess. I thought it was appropriate. I was really digging the paper I used for Shannon's Birthday card the other day, so I decided to use it again. And I also colored my image with Distress Inks, as I did the other day. Her face is a little too blotchy. Not sure why, but it's not as smooth as I can usually get it. I sprayed my huge Leafless Tree from Dreamweaver Stencils for my background. A couple of spritzes if a color wash ink, and that's it. Remember, the Indian Princess set is on sale for the entire month of November, so be sure to get yours! Please visit the Bombshell Blog today and every Monday to see what some of the other gals have created with this cool set. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Greetings! Today's post is about the Day of the Dead, which is a celebration that has become a tradition in my home. Today, some of the Bombshell girls have gotten together to show off some fun projects made for this special day. Here's some information from  Wikipedia  about this holiday. Day of the Dead  ( Spanish :  Día de Muertos ) is a  Mexican  holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where the day is a  bank holiday . The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the  Catholic  holidays of  All Saints' Day  and  All Souls' Day .    A common  symbol  of the holiday is the skull (in Spanish  calavera ), which celebrants represent in  masks , called  calacas  (colloquial term for skeleton), and foods such as sugar or chocolate skulls, which are

Hello! Welcome to Shannon's surprise birthday hop! Shannon is the Queen Bombshells and owns http://www. bombshellstamps.com/ "> Bombshell Stamps . Today is her birthday, so some past and present Bombshell Girls and Pin-Ups got together to hold a huge Blog Hop in her honor. I decided to try something a little different, and use very little color. I used the focal image from Rose's Portrait , the large rose from Love and Luck , and the Happy Birthday Banner inside the card from Banner Sayings . The bit of red on Rose was done with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and a Cut-N-Dry nib. Simple, but pretty. Shannon, I hope you have an amazing birthday! We love ya! Below is the entire Birthday Hop List. Enjoy!!! Bombshell's Blog Alaine   Alison    Katie  Kelli   Kim   Marnie   Stempelientje    Susie  Sharon  Kas  Holley Leslie   Alyssa   Nicole   Cheryl Milo  Alex Teresa   Jenn   Kathi ***I should have a new DICC projec