Laurel Burch Mermaid Side Step Card - Have a Magical Day.

I can't help being a little obsessed with coloring these fabulous Stampendous Laurel Burch stamps with my copics. They're so coloricious!  I couldn't wait to work on this beautiful mermaid stamp set and I decided it would be perfect for my daughter's birthday next month. Aren't we all a little fascinated with magical creatures like mermaids and unicorns?  I think my 30-something daughter will love it!

I used the bright Stampendous Laurel Burch copic pallet and added some gold glitter paper and Starform glitter stickers for accents to make my sea lady sparkle.  To my amazement, I created the side step file by myself in Cricut Design Studio.  My brain almost exploded but I finally got it right and now I can use the file to make other side step cards in a snap.  I even figured out how to size the insert pieces (with a lot of trial and error). It's not hard...it just takes a little perseverance.   The finished card measures 5" x 7".  The sun, cloud and waves are from the Cricut image library. I love that I can just type in "sun" or "waves" in the search bar and I get to choose from tons of images.  Since I have been a Cricut geek for many years I already have many purchased cartridges loaded in the library and with my added monthly subscription, I rarely have to buy an image.  The stamped greeting is one I found in my stash.  

I had the best time creating this ocean scene on my Cricut for my sparkly mermaid.  And as for having a magical day, as my sentiment suggests, I'd say most of the days I spend in my craft room are magical...even if it's just enjoying the miracle of a card turning out the way I would like it to. We crafters are blessed that way!

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy.

Playing along with:

        Cupcake Inspirations

        The Fairy and the Unicorn

        Crafty Gals Corner
        Dare 2 B Artsy

        

        Creative with Stamps

Stampendous Laurel Burch Doggies - So Glad We're Friends!

  

What could be more fun than coloring these beautiful Laurel Burch images from Stampendous!  I think these doggies are absolutely adorable. There are several in the set and I had the best time auditioning the ones I wanted to stack for my focal image.  It was hard to pick just two but that's all I could fit.

Stampendous has published this helpful copic chart to help with the bright Laurel Burch pallet.  I must say,  the colors aren't the ones I would have picked right away, but they really work for the Laurel Burch look.   For the base of this card I used the Lori Whitlock center step SVG file and sized it as large as I could in Cricut Design Studio.   It measures about 5 1/2" by 5 1/2".  The layering panels are included in the file so it was very easy to cut the card stock pieces to fit  my background.. The sun is from the Cricut image library, sized to fit my center panel.   Gotta love Cricut Design Studio!!!  The grass is a die cut I had in my stash and the sparkly embellies are Starform Stickers.  I love using these stickers because they look like gems but they don't add bulk to my card for mailing. The cute butterfly is from the Laurel Burch cat set.

I'm going to make a few of these for my equally adorable and  colorful besties.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:
        Through the Craft Room Door
        The Sisterhood of Crafters (I'm from sunny California)
        Time Out Challenges
        Addicted to Stamps
        The Crafty Addicts
        Color Throwdown

Sunny Rubber Ducky Rag Quilt - Baby Gift Set

I went treasure hunting in my fabric stash and discovered some super cute rubber ducky print flannel that I just knew would make the perfect snugly rag quilt for my friend's new baby boy.  I also unearthed some bright sunshine prints in coordinating colors.  Don't you love shopping in your own fabric hoard?

It only takes a couple of yards of designer fabric to sew up a rag quilt, especially if you back it with some solid flannel.

I already had some cute ducky peel off stickers from Elizabeth Craft in my stash, so I put them on some double stick tape, sprinkled on some microfine glitter and painted the adorable ducky with my copic markers.  You can see how I did it here.  I attached my image to an embellished flip card cut from a Sizzix die.  

Here's my fun gift all ready to wrap in a pretty bag. I think my duckies will make my new darling baby friend giggle. And I found almost all my materials in my own craft room. I'm going to have to shop there more often.

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Penny Black Poetic Portraits Stamps - Copic Coloring

Coloring these beautiful Penny Black Poetic Portrait images with my copic markers takes me back to the days when I spent hours with my sweet friend, Pamela, drawing paper dolls and coloring them with crayons. We made dresses for them with tabs that bent over their shoulders to hold them in place and played with them for hours. Anybody else remember this?  I also loved drawing and coloring pretty faces. I still do it sometimes.  Maybe that's why I love make up so much.  

I'm absolutely in love with these gorgeous Penny Black images because they are already beautifully drawn for me and all I have to do is make them come alive.  I stamp them in Memento London Fog ink which softens the edges when I color them. They are simpler to color than they look, although the shading takes a little practice. On this image, to my great dismay, my copic marker dropped a big drop of blue ink onto my pretty lady's neck after I had almost finished coloring her. I know...disastrous! But it turned out to be a happy accident, as is often the case.  I was able to cover it up with some pretty flowers and a beautiful butterfly.  I die cut a Spellbinders frame in white to showcase my image and let my lady peak through from the back to show her flowing hair.  

I love these Penny Black images so much.  There are several and I have them all!  They have become my favorite thing to color. 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and be fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Penny Black Saturday Challenge       

        Aurora Wings Challenge

        Scrapy Land Challenge

        Word Art Wednesday 

        Always Fun Challenges

        Brown Sugar Challenge        

        Craft Rocket Challenges

        Stamping Sensations