21st Century Pillow Book

Today is one of those days where my projects are on opposite sides of the spectrum. My first project is for A Day for Daisies , and the second is for Left of Center . ***If you are looking for my latest Stampendous post, please click HERE . Isn't this the sweetest image? It's called Bird in Flight . The joy on this boy's face makes me smile. Our theme this week is "Add a Feather." I colored the image with my Tombow markers, and I added the polka dots with my white Sakura pen. My feather was created with my Feather stencil from Dreamweaver. I outlined it with a black PITT pen, and then I used some watercolors to color it in. I fussy cut the Bird in Flight image out and added it on top of my feather. I also added a sweet sentiment from Stampendous! and some drops of Platinum Liquid Pearls. Ink, more paper...layer, layer, voila! Now....opposite end of the spectrum. This week's theme for Left of Center is "Based on a Song." We are sponsore...

We are still playing with paste over on the Stampendous blog! Have you tried embossing paste yet? Hopefully you've been inspired to play after seeing so many great projects this week! ***If you are looking for my A Day for Daisies and Left of Center post, please click HERE . For today's card, I used the brand new Harvest Owl stamp, along with one of my all-time favorite stencils, the Houndstooth.  Instructions: Color the Harvest Owl using Chameleon Colors listed, or other colors of your choosing. Then, you can cut the image out. Using the largest Label One die from Spellbinders, die cut a purple piece of Bazzil cardstock.  Cut card base using cardstock- 6 1/2 x 9 3/4." The edges were then inked with embossing ink, and Aged Wine Embossing Powder was heated and melted (from the bottom of the cardstock). Blue cardstock was cut to fit inside the card base, and one side was ripped for added texture.  The Houndstooth stencil was placed on to the blue cardstock, and...

This week, the Stampendous team is "Playing with Paste." Embossing Paste that is! When working with stencils, embossing paste is a basic supply that is easy to work with, and you can do so many cool things with. Today, I am sharing a lovely holiday card that uses the Peace on Earth stencil, and lots of glitter.  Instructions: I started off with navy blue cardstock and taped the Peace on Earth stencil to it. I applied Pearlescent Embossing Paste using her paste spreader and immediately sprinkled the Multi Crystal Glitter Mix (from the White Encrusted Jewel Kit) to the paste. I then let that layer dry. Once dry, I cut the navy cardstock down and rounded the corners. I then cut out a mat of white cardstock and rounded those corners as well. Next, I used her Versamark Watermark ink pad to "wet" the edges of the white cardstock, and applied Crystal Embossing Powder around the perimeter. I next heat set the powder and adhered it to the top layer using foam dots...

Time for a new Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge! This week we are sponsored by Polkadoodles and the theme is "Make it Sparkle." Well, I certainly took that challenge seriously when I used Oddella Fairy. I cropped then colored the image using my Tombow markers. I added a bit of Pink Micro Glitter from Stampendous! to her crown. After I cut the image down to size, I stuck it to a piece of double sided sheet tape. Then, I sprinkled the entire sheet with Silver Halo Glitter Mix. And man, is it sparkly! It's so hard to photograph glitter! But you can see the different sizes of glitter on that background. I think it worked really well with the grey skin I gave the fairy. Please be sure to check out the rest of the Wicked Wednesday projects that the team created this week. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Hello! I am happy to share my 2nd post as a Design Team member for A Day for Daisies . Today, I am sharing the new and fantastic Flamingo Couple. I chose to work with this image because I am positively a flamingo fanatic. I have collected them for many, many years, and I just love them. So this was the perfect image for me. They are so sweet! I used watercolors on the image, and I touched up the outline a bit with my small Black PITT pen from Faber-Castell. Sometimes with watercolors, the original image gets washed out from the paint, so I like to go over it a bit to make it stand out again. I kept the background simple, and layered up some fun patterned paper scraps that I had laying around. I added a few fun pink gems that had a black mottling on them too. There are lots of other feathered friends being featured on the A Day for Daisies Blog . Please go and check them all out! Thanks fr stopping by. Have an inspiring day! 

Hello and welcome to a new Wicked Wednesday  ATC challenge. This week, we are sponsored by Digi My World , and the challenge is "Not in Kansas Anymore." I worked with their adorable version of the Tin Man. I totally fell in love with him, because he's adorable!He's from the Big Eye Oz collection. He's so cah-yute!!!!! I used my Chameleon Pens to color him. These markers were perfect to make him look metallic. I used an old Care Bears sentiment stamp that says "100% Heart," with my Silver Delicata ink, and a couple of scraps that I had. The silver scrap is actually metallic, and has bits of glitter. The pink scrap has glitter as well. I hope you'll play along with Wicked Wednesday this week! Please be sure to visit the WW Blog to see what everyone else has created. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

I have such an exciting announcement to share with you today! But first, if you are looking for my Stampendous! and Chameleon Pen collaboration post, please click HERE . Ok....drum roll please...... I am now officially on the A Day for Daisies Design Team!  I am so very honored and excited to be a part of this amazing team. They are one of my absolute favorite digi companies ever, and I have wanted to join their team for quite some time. I am so excited to share my first official project with you today. I also have a great new challenge for Left of Center. For my first A Day for Daisies project, we were asked to use a favorite image of ours, and use "Newsprint." I used Dragon Flight as my image of choice, and I decided to use my newsprint subtly. I colored this sweet dragon in with my Tombow markers. I used the Scales stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils around the image. I used a cosmetic sponge to lightly apply my ink color. I also used the Picasso Tool to mask off ...

Welcome! I have 2 blog posts to share with you today. This post is for Stampendous!. If you are looking for my Left of Center/A Day for Daisies post, please click HERE . The Stampendous! Design Team has been so fortunate to have been able to play and use the entire set of Chameleon Pens for our July catalog. These fun markers work differently from other types of markers, so although there is a bit of a learning curve, once you get the hang of it, you can make some really incredible pieces. And there are lots of videos and tutorials that you can find on YouTube. I saved my favorite card for last this week. I used the fantastic Quilted Santa stamp. This image really lends itself beautifully to the Chameleon Color Tones Markers.  Instructions: I colored the stamped image of the Quilted Santa with the Chameleon Pens listed in the supplies, and then she fussy cut the image out. I cut out my card base using Kraft colored cardstock to a 5 1/2" x 8." Then, using the Cryst...

I am really excited to share my Stampendous! and Dreamweaver creations with you this week! We are doing a collaboration with Chameleon Pens , and we are showing off some of the wonderful techniques you can do with these unique pens. Did you know that we feature Chameleon Pens throughout our July catalog? Almost all of the samples in it feature these markers! Chameleon™ Art Products is a company determined to change the way you think about marker pens. They pride themselves on having developed real innovation that enhances your ability to maximize your creativity. Their markers bring color control and simplicity to your art, and you can create stunning 3D effects, smooth transitions, highlights, and shading gradations all with one pen. When y ou combine this simple coloring versatility with Stampendous® and House-Mouse Designs® images, you can create fantastic projects quickly. Stampendous stamps are beautifully enhanced by the simple blending made possible with this range of i...

Hello! It's time for a new Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge. This week, we are sponsored by That Craft place, however, the images the team was provided with are no longer available as digis. Similar images are however, available as rubber stamps through Creative Expressions. The theme is is "Stitching: Real or Faux." I opted for some faux stitching, using a rub on from a company that has sadly gone out of business. I colored this image using a combination of Chameleon Pens (be sure to visit my blog again this week for the collaboration between Chameleon Pens and Stampendous! ), and Tombow markers. I used a cute heart patterned paper, button and some pretty pink micro glitter from Stampendous. See the cool ombre effect I got on her shirt by using the Chameleon Pens ? Please be sure to visit the rest of the WW team . They have great work to share with you, as always. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Hello! The Stampendous team has been inspiring you all week to go out and climb trees...or at least to craft with trees as the subject. I have a really fun card to share with you today. I started off with the inside of the card for this piece...but I'll share the outside with you first. I made the sentiment using 3 different stamps from the Discover Today Perfectly Clear set. Then I added the little icons from the Charmed Art set. I inked the edges and added it to some leftover scraps I had distressed and added to my card base. Now for the inside..... How fun is this?! I used the super cool Pop Up Die set along with the Cling Pop Up Forest Stamp set and the coordinating Dies . I also used a grass stamp from the brand new Cling Create Fall set on the bottom half of the card. I stamped out all of my images on watercolor paper and started to watercolor them in. After I was done, I used the die set to quickly and (really!) easily cut out all of the pieces. I was grate...

This week, the Stampendous Design Team is climbing trees! Ok, not really...but we are encouraging YOU to climb a tree! Ok...not really that either, so why don't we just share projects with trees, and maybe give one or two a hug? Yeah, that's more like it. Though I do like to climb this one in Salem, Mass. But I digress. Since it's Dreamweaver Thursday, today's project is focusing on one of their fantastic dies. Take a look. I used the Tree Line die for this card. I LOVE this die. It's so pretty and serene. I'd like to tell you how I made the Tree Line Background. It's pretty easy to do! I started off by cutting the die in black cardstock. I then adhered it to a sheet of Double Stick Mounting Tape , which I trimmed to fit the die cut. Then, I took my Yellow Micro Glitter and sprinkled it on the lowest portion, rubbed it in, and shook off the excess. I am working from the bottom up so that my colors don't run into each other, though that would be a...

Hello! It's time for a new Wicked Wednesday  ATC challenge. This week, we are sponsored by Sassy Studios Designs , and the theme is Zodiac Signs. For my ATC, I used " Aquarius ." I started off by coloring Aquarius with my Tombow watercolor markers. I fussy cut her out and worked on my background. I used a teal and purple spray to get my base color. I used the pretty scroll from the Stampendous Charmed Art Perfectly Clear set for a little extra sumpin' sumpin'. Then I sprayed Iridescent Memory Mist on top. It now has a beautiful glimmer which you can see in the second photo. Ooh, shiny! I used Faber-Castell Texture Gems to draw a thin line around the edge of my ATC, and then I sprinkled Teal glitter from the Spring Micro Glitter Kit .  The finished ATC is super sparkly, and what's better than that? I hope you'll join us this week. Please be sure to visit the rest of the Wicked Wednesday team to see what they've created. Thanks for stopping b...

Today we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Alice in Wonderland, and what better way to do that, than to share lots of creative projects inspired by this wonderful story. Not only will you see lots of amazing artwork today, but you can also win prizes from the following amazing companies; The Stamping Boutique Rick St Dennis MFA Faery Ink That Craft Place Ike's Art Delicious Doodles Sweet Pea Stamps Sassy Studio Designs Vera Lane Studio Digital Stamps Prize winners will be selected from Random blogs throughout the hop using Random.org to select each winner.  In order to be  eligible  for a prize you must  visit  all stops on the hop and leave a comment. The prize draws will be open until July 18th, with winners announced on July 20th. Here's my Alice in Wonderland inspired project: I made an ATC using The Octopode Factory's Alice in Wonderland . I colored her using my Tombow watercolor markers. That ...