21st Century Pillow Book

Greetings, Friends. This post today is part of a very special blog hop. We are celebrating the life of an amazingly talented artist and friend. The crafting community lost Aletha Jane Williams on May 5, 2019. Those of us that worked with her on Design Teams or on Challenge Blogs all agree that she was one of the sweetest and most talented women we knew. We are not here to mourn her loss though. This hop is happening in conjunction with a very special celebration of her life and her art that her husband Bob is holding in her home city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Please join us in honoring our incredibly creative friend Aletha . My card features the "Remembering Aletha" Sprite, which Mitzi (owner and artist of Aurora Wings ) created specifically for this hop. She is generously giving the digi away to all, over on her blog. This sweet Sprite looks so much like Aletha, and I know she would have been honored. If you download this digi for yourself, please be sure to give a huge "...

Hello! Today I have a 6" x 6" mini page that I am sharing for the latest Aurora Wings challenge, which is "Over the Rainbow." I was very inspired by the beautiful Unicorn Sprite . I colored her with Zig Clean Color Markers, and I really took my time with her. I love how she turned out. I knew I didn't want to put her on a card, so I decided to make a page for a 6" x 6"  album that I am making that is dedicated to the Sprites from Aurora Wings. I decided to create an altered rainbow using Distress Oxides in Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, and Dusty Concord. I splattered the inked background with Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Sparkle from Imagine. I chose a Laurel Burch (" Celebrate Dreams ") sentiment from Stampendous and stamped it with VersaFine Clair ink in Fantasia . I also used a star die from Rubbernecker Stampers with a silver vellum on the background, as well as another vellum with the Cloud Die from St...

Hello! Today I am sharing a project for the 2nd half of the Aurora Wings Challenge #74 , which is Anything Goes. I decided to not create a card, but rather continue with my 6" x 6" mini album of Sprites. I have created quite a number of these pages before, but it's been a while, so this was the perfect opportunity.  I chose to work with the lovely Linnea Sprite . I used my Koi watercolors by Sakura on Canson Mixed Media Paper. I went for a very watery look on her, and I think it worked out well. I am still new to working with this palette, but I'll get better with it as I get to use it more often.  After I finished painting her, I looked through my stash of 6" x 6" papers, and came across Lemoncraft's Fresh Summer paper pack. The colors were just what I wanted. I inked the edges of my torn-edged sentiment, and I also added a few sequins from the "Pretty in Pink" Sparkle Bend. Because the paper is so lovely, I didn't really need to...

Seasons Greetings! Today I have a project for the latest Aurora Wings Challenge which is "Holiday Spirit." I decided to take the theme as a two-fer. Not only is this a holiday card, but the "spirits" are flowing too. I used the Wine Sprite for my card, and gave her a Merlot look. I colored her with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. Here's a closeup. I found a lovely paper in my stash from Wild Rose Studio from their Holly Lane collection. For my sentiment, I had some pretty red glitter cardstock from DCWV that I die cut with an old alphabet set from QuicKutz. I also added some sequins from a few different Sparkle Blends from Doodles Paper Playground. The sequins and the sentiment were all glued on with On Point Glue from Imagine. On my card base, I inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and then Peeled Paint Distress Ink. After I adhered my background to my base, I added Rock Candy Stickles to the edges. This gave just a touch of sp...

Hello! Today I have a project for the Aurora Wings Challenge #72, "Once Upon a Dream or Nightmare." Of course, I had to go the nightmare route and I chose to work with the haunting A Dark Undercurrent (Full Version) . Coloring this image was such a blast. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I went with an unusual color palette for her, and I love the end result. Here's a close up. To add white highlights to the pearls in her hair and on one of the skulls, I used a Posca Pen. Of all the white pens I have used, I think that one is my favorite. I used cream Lace Paper from White Rose Crafts behind my colored image to add some texture and the idea of movement. Then, to add more texture and to add additional "treasure" to the mermaid's stash, I glued down some of the Ocean Legend Sparkle Blend from Doodles Paper Playground (no longer available). You can see a teeny gold anchor and ship's wheel tucked into the mix. I adhered them down wi...

Hello! I'm here today with a card for the latest Aurora Wings Challenge (#71) which is, " Inspired by Music ." This was a tough challenge for me. I had a bunch of ideas, but I wasn't quite sure how to translate them to a card. So I decided to go with O Christmas Tree. But with a bit of a twist... Here are the lyrics to the first verse: O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree How lovely are thy branches O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree How lovely are thy branches The image that I used was Christmas Kittens . I could imagine in my head these little kitties singing this song (a-la Alvin & The Chipmunks), and then almost becoming so mesmerized by it (as cats often do) that they just had to attack it. My mom's cats are notorious for climbing the tree and wrecking it. She has had to change out her ornaments for non-breakables. I colored the scene with Tombow Dual Brush Markers. I need to admit, fur is not easy for me to color. I really need to get ...

Hello! Today I am sharing a card for the latest Aurora Wings Challenge which is to use the sketch provided by Mitzi (see below). I opted to once again use an adorable Sprite for my project, and this time it is the Cherry Sprite. You can find her HERE on the Aurora Wings site, and HERE on Etsy. Here is the sketch... And here is my take on the sketch. I started off by coloring my Sprite, as I always do. The colors I use then help me choose my papers. I decided to use my new dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs to create my circles.  I simply cut the same circle twice, out of two papers, and inlaid the polka dot paper into the green, so it's flat. The hardest part for me on this card was arranging my sequins, which was a combination of Sparkle Blends from  Doodles Paper Playground , and a few (the glittery gold ones) that I had gotten from Ink Road Stamps. For my sentiment, I used a lovely " smile " from  Honey Bee Stamps . It's been a while since I've d...

Hello! It's time for a brand-spankin' new challenge with Aurora Wings . The theme this time around is "Anything Goes," so there's no excuse to not play along! I decided to work with the delightful Lilac Sprite . I wanted to do something different when I colored the Lilac Sprite. So I opted to give her black hair and a black dress. I think she looks striking. I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens for this. Here's a close up. I loosely fussy cut her out then created my background. I have a nice big lilac bloom stamp from Stampendous , which I stamped on to lavender colored cardstock using Grape Jelly Memento Ink . I wanted to add a little something to the large blooms, so I took out my Fine Tec watercolors and added some shimmery purple watercolor to a few of the blooms. The shine it gave the background was fabulous, but not quite enough, so I also used a green sparkle marker from Spectrum Noir around the edge and for a few of the stems of the lilacs...

Hello! This month, Doodles Paper Playground came out with FIVE brand new Sparkle Blends! Today I am sharing a card with one of the newest Blends, as well as an older (but gorgeous!) Blend. For this double shaker card, I worked with the new Limonade Sparkle Blend and the lovely Mermaid Scales . Limonade has a citrus color palette of soft yellow, lime and deep green, gold, and opalescent. The combinations of these colors, plus those from Mermaid Scales is what inspired me to color the Seahorse from Aurora Wings as I did. To color it in, I used Zig Clean Color Markers. Here's a closer look.  I die cut the colored seahorse with a Fitted Frame from Stampendous. I used one size smaller Fitted Frame to use as a mask, which I placed over the colored image that allowed me to cleanly ink up a border with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. My background was made with Tahiti Kalediacolor Ink from Imagine. I swiped the inks across a large acrylic block, and sprayed it with Ink Potion No. ...

Greetings! Today marks the beginning of a new challenge with Aurora Wings ! For this go-round, we challenge you to make a project for a "Joyous Occasion." It can be anything....graduation, a birthday, Christmas, etc. I chose to make a Christmas card, because why not get a jump on things? ;) My card features Little Christmas Tree, from the Sprite collection. You can find him on the Aurora Wings site HERE , and in the Etsy Shop HERE . Now, let's take a look at this cutie. I colored the Little Christmas Tree Sprite with Zig Clean Color Markers. I liked how this tree looks like it is made out of fabric, as if the Sprite is wearing a costume. So I colored the tree itself kind of flat, and not with a lot of definition so that I could mimic fabric a bit. The ornaments were colored with a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen. It's hard to see in the above photo, but you'll be able to see it better in the 3rd picture.  The large circle (done with the same Neenah Desert St...

Hello! It's time for a new challenge with Aurora Wings. This month, we challenge you to create a black and white project, with or without a splash of color. I happen to love coloring in images in grayscale, so this was really inspiring for me. I decided to work with Mitzi's Jasmine Sprite. You can shop for here using these links: PNG File on Main Website JPEG on Main Website Etsy Shop Here's a look at my card.

Hello! I am excited to be sharing my second official project on the Aurora Wings Challenge DT. Challenge #65 is " Sprite Delight. " The Sprites are the reason why I fell in love with Aurora Wings in the first place. They are all so adorable, detailed, and expressive. Well, I recently got a Silhouette Cameo, and as I went through my Sprite collection for this challenge and saw the Pineapple Sprite , I knew I just had to use my Cameo to cut out a pineapple card. I colored this sweet Sprite with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, and then found cardstock in my stash to coordinate with the colors I used. Then I did a search online and found this PERFECT free Pineapple Mini Book SVG file  by Kim Watson to cut the card out. It was exactly what I was looking for! The "Greetings" I created myself with a font I had. I'd like to note, that I cut a second piece of the solid background, so that I could create my card back with it. I just scored it about 1/4" fr...

Hello! I have some news to share that I am so thrilled about. I am now apart of the  Aurora Wings  Design Team! I have loved Aurora Wings for many, many years, and I am truly honored to be working with such a talented group of people. Now on to the challenge! Challenge #64 is a Bingo challenge.  To play along, you may choose 3 colors or 3 embellishments (or BOTH!), in a row. You can go across, down, or diagonal. I chose to use the top row, for both colors and embellies. I chose to work with the pretty  Primrose Sprite , as the colors of primroses lend themselves well to the purple, red, and yellow of that Bingo row. I colored her with Zig Clean Color Markers. Here's a closer look. I found some coordinating papers, and a fun die from Echo Park called the Heart Doily Die. I die cut red glitter paper from DCWV and used the same die with an embossing pad for the yellow layer. Then I nested to 3 together. The lace is from my mom's stash, and my sentiment is f...