Click Those Ruby Stilettos, Girlie - Dreaming Tree SVG

Dreaming Tree svg, red glitter paper, aqua patterned foil paper, silver glossy card stock, silver leafing pen, word generated sentiment, embossing folder, rhinestones

Hey there,

It's been a hectic tax season for our business this year but the thoughts of a trip to Spain this fall have kept my hubby and I "perky."  One thing that keeps me sane after a hard day's work is staring vacantly at craft videos on YouTube.  Amazingly, a lot seems to sink in, even when I'm in this vegetative state.  I perked up when I saw this adorable high heel card on a Dreaming Tree video and knew I had to have it.  When I visited the site to purchase the svg, I was amazed and thrilled to see it was a freebie.  I know...how is that possible?  Beware if you go there, though.  Now I want to buy everything on their incredible site.  Not an advertisement, just a friendly warning.

The next day I immediately downloaded the file into Cricut Design Space and it cut beautifully.  I resized it to 5 x 7 and had a delightful time making it my own. I added shimmer and shine with red glitter card stock, aqua foil paper and silver glossy card stock framing the sentiment. I dry embossed the back panel and edged it with a silver leafing pen. I used the same pen to edge my flowers and added fancy rhinestones to the centers. I think my ruby slipper ala Dorothy is perfect for a springy Easter card but the sentiment I chose to accompany my sparkling red stiletto can also send words of encouragement to any girlfriend who needs a little lift. Now if I could just click my heels and end up in Spain! 

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create something fabulous.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        Crafter's Castle Challenge # - ATG/Glitter

        The Corrosive Challenge - March ATG

        The Alphabet Challenge - Z is for Zesty

        Color My Heart Color Dare #333 - White Daisy/Candy Apple/Mint Plus Peach

        Creative Fingers Challenge #159 - ATG

        Cut It Up Challenge #169 - Hello, Spring

        A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #88 - ATG

        Creations in Pink Challenge #8

        Love to Craft Challenge #32 - ATG

Spring is in the Hair - Prima Princess in Copics

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.

When it comes to copic coloring, flowers and lovely ladies are definitely my faves.  Coloring the image is the fun part for me but turning it into a card with a frame and embellishments gets tricky. I  always want my hand colored image to be the star of the show. For this card I took a cue from my quilts and decided bright against white always looks clean and pretty.  This lacy white frame is fancy enough for my girly tastes, yet subtle enough to let my image shine  I chose my Spellbinders frame before I colored this Prima Princess stamp because the size couldn't be manipulated on the computer like a digi. Some of my lady had to be cut away to fit my 5 x 7 card but I think the frame suits her  well.

It's a little amusing that every time I start to color a face image with my copics, I feel like I've never colored one before. Even with all my practice, the skin and hair still intimidate me.  Things usually turn out okay, but I always feel like it's magic and a bit of luck.  I'll just keep practicing until it seems more natural to me.

I used a gold pen to line the image panel and the frame. I added some pearls to the corners and sat on my hands so I wouldn't add any more bling.  This enchanting princess steals the show on her own and she asked me to please let her shine. I told her she needed her lace shawl because she's sleeveless.  Yes, occasionally my art work speaks to me...and yes, I always answer back.  

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create something fabulous.

Nancy 

Playing along with:

        Addicted to Stamps Challenge #331

        Crafty Creations Challenge #385

        Scrapyland Challenge #109

        Lemon Shortbread Challenge #88

        Crafting From the Heart Challenge #238

        My Time to Craft Challenge #391

        QKR Stampede Challenge #337

        Jo's Scrap Shack Challenge #271

        

Molly Harrison Moonlight Solstice - Fairy, Polar Beat and Copics

"The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination.”

I admit, I'm a wimpy Californian who never sees snow unless I seek it out in some distant nether region,  but I still remember how mounds of soft white snow look and feel.  I spent many delightful wintry days growing up in Utah and I reminisce about how beautiful the mountains and fields around me looked with a fresh new layer of untouched, sparkling snow. I wouldn't want to go back to the icy roads, slippery sidewalks and freezing extremities now, but as I colored this image, I could imagine being this lovely fairy on a still winter night with the beautifully sparkling northern lights  around her and I drew a peaceful breath. 

The magical fairy image is this digi art featured in the January 2017 Kit and Clowder online coloring class.  I followed along with the video and I'm pretty happy with my results but, as usual, I made plenty of mistakes so I think I'll practice on this image a few more times.  I enjoyed learning how to do the Northern Lights sky and I'm excited to use this technique again on some other mystical night scenes.  It's really not difficult to accomplish, although it takes a little time and concentration.  This card is 5 x 7 but some parts of the image are small and I struggled to get the contrast I wanted on the fairy. However, I got some much needed practice using a light  touch with my copics.  Alyce Keegan is such a genius at this and I really enjoy learning from her. 

When I spend time and effort coloring an image, I always want it to be the focal point of my card, but I still couldn't resist framing it with something glitzy. That vivid sky just begged for it.  I used a Spellbinder frame die to cut this glossy gold frame and added some magenta rhinestones for a little bling.  It's my thing. 

I feel like I've paid my yearly homage to the joys of winter...now I'm going to dream of a sweet early  California spring.  

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and create something beautiful.

Nancy

Playing along with:

        

        Your Next Stamp Challenge 108

        CCEE Challenge #1909

        Krafty Chicks Challenge #444

        Little Red Wagon Challenge # 486 - Love It (Northern Lights Technique)

        Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #409

        Aurora Wings Challenge # 75

        Double Trouble Challenge #22 (diagonal tic tac toe and magic)

        Dream Valley Challenge #196

        Use Your Stuff Challenge #348

Sloth Birthday Card for Josie - Lori Whilock Flip Flap Card

As long as you don't stop, it doesn't matter how slow you go. 

A dear, sweet childhood friend of mine who loved my punny animal valentine cards asked if I would create a birthday card for her granddaughter, Josie, who is having a sloth-themed birthday party next month. I knew I had very limited time because our tax business is at full tilt right now so I was excited when I quickly found this cute sloth svg in Etsy.  Happily, I have always been able to find just the right image there for die cutting or embroidery. Those Etsy artists are amazing!. 

     

I used this Lori Whitlock Flip Flap card base on my Cricut to make my card. This is one of my favorite folds because there is tons of great real-estate to decorate and the inside looks just as fancy as the outside. The writing feature in Design Space made it simple to personalize my message to little Josie.  I also found the party hat and the tree in Design Space and sized them to fit my card perfectly. Normally a sloth wouldn't be my first choice for a cute animal image, but now I can think of several of ways to use it in the future..."let's hang out", "hang in there", "relax"...you get the picture.

I'm super pleased with the way this card turned out.  I sure hope Josie likes it. Sometimes the best ideas are born of  necessity, love and service.

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and create something fabulous.
Nancy

Playing along with:
        Scrapbook Stamps Society Challenge #158
        Unstampabelles Challenge #86
        613 Avenue Create Challenge #218
        2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #23
        As You Like It Challenge - Fave Shape or Fold
        Cute Card Thursday #568
        Crafting With Friends Challenge #79

My Punny Valentines - Lori Whitlock Pop Up Box Cards

I know I am in love with you because my reality is finally better than my dreams.

Dr. Seuss 

Do you remember how fun Valentine's Day was when you were a child in elementary school? In the "olden days" we used to decorate shoe boxes with stickers, crate paper and construction paper, and  on Valentine's Day everyone excitedly delivered a personalized card to each student's "mail" box. The small cards usually came in packages from the Drug Store and most of them had pictures with silly  puns on them. Some of them even had conversation hearts attached!  I remember spending the evening before our class Valentine party making sure to address each card with the recipient in mind. What fun it was opening the cards and  reading a message from each classmate...even the boys who at the time, I imagined,  had cooties.

I'm so happy Lori Whitlock has carried on the "punny" tradition with her Pop Up Box Card Valentine SVG's. I usually send several Valentines to friends and family because I love telling my favorite people how much I love them and this is the time to shamelessly lay it all out there.  The cute puns on these cards are just silly enough for me to get away with some seriously "mushy" declarations.

My talented crafty girlfriends love to exchange handmade cards for holidays and I always end up with a panoply of gorgeous creations.  When I saw Lori's darling designs, my first thought was to make each one of my friends a different card, but when I realized how many cards I would be making for both friends and family,  I decided to make multiples of three different ones, with a special, more clean and simple one for my sweetie. The others I'll save for next year. I had a blast adding some special personality to them with embellishments and patterned paper. I used the writing feature in Cricut Design Studio to write some personalized messages.  I think Valentines are fast becoming my faves.

I chose this little s'more guy for my hubby because he reminds me of romantic nights around the campfire on our many camping trips.  I left off some of the schmancy embellies to  make it less blingy.   I admit, the pink is a little girly, but it IS Valentine's Day, after all.  Hope you have a happy one!

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and create something fabulous.
Nancy

Playing along with:
     
           Double D Challenge - Hearts
           Ellibelles Crafty Wednesday - February Challenge
           Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Interactive card
           Water Cooler Challenge #207
           Unstampabelles Challenge #86
           Avenue 613 Challenge #218
           Sunday Stamps Challenge #197
           Dragonfly Journeys Challenge #133
         

Blingy Mo Manning - Use Your Stash

“Create. Not for the money. Not for the fame. Not for the recognition. But for the pure joy of creating something and sharing it.”

Ernest Barbaric

Mo Manning digi, Bo Bunny Card Kit

While organizing my craft room recently, I found several card kits with some fun supplies in them.  I decided to take an image that I had previously colored and combine it with some of my new found goodies and see what kind of a quick card I could come up with.  Not too bad for a half hour project.  Gotta do this more often. It gets me out of my box and energizes my creative process.

One of the things I did during my purge was gather all my bling together and separate it into colors.  Now I just pull out a drawer of embellishments to match my project and I can choose from a whole variety of fun stuff.  Works for me!

Thanks for visiting.
Go forth and create something fabulous.Southern Girls Challenge
Nancy

Playing along with:
        Creative Knockouts Challenge #281
        Cute Card Thursday Challenge #565
        Fab N Funky Challenge #423
        The Paper Players Challenge #424
        Southern Girls Challenge
        The Crafters Cafe Challenge #211
        Crafting From the Heart Challenge #234
        Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #183

Tidying Up my Craft Room - Sparking Some Joy in My Happy Place

 The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living in that environment.  

Marie Kondo

Does everything surrounding you in your craft room "spark joy"?  According to the KonMari method of "Tidying Up" that's the question we should be asking ourselves.  I got on this bandwagon recently and the results have been epic. In my modified craft room version, I gathered like items together and looked at each one to determine if I really loved (or needed) it.  The result was a car load of items carted off to Good Will.  It's so liberating to know what I have and be able to easily find it.

Now that my happy place is purged, I decided to take some pictures of my mini makeover. I haven't changed the layout much, but I have made things more efficient. This is the view of my room from outside the hallway shutters.  I love being able to open the shutters and hear what everyone (my hubby) is up to. But they are closed most of the time because I like the solitude and no one is allowed in my magic space without an invitation.  😁

I try to keep my main work area open and clear of clutter, but when I'm actually working I end up with a tiny work space about the size of a postage stamp.  I love the Tim Holtz mat because it is raised and actually helps to define my working space.  The glass surface is also good for working with different mediums.  My lap top is to the left and I can slide my chair around to use it and still have room for my gangly legs.

Copic coloring is my passion and I keep my markers close at all times. It's very convenient to roll this cart back and forth to my work area.  My colored pencils are in the cart also  because I often use them with my copics. Die cuts come in as a close second to my copic obsession, so my Gemini is on my table at the ready.   

Quilting is my other addiction and I spend a lot of time on this side of my room in my sewing area.  All my sewing supplies are in the drawers below my machine and my cherished embroidery machine is to the left. My fabric is stored in another room...or two. Those are ribbon embellishments on the shelf above.  I'll post some of my storage ideas in a future blog.

This sign says it all.    I feel so blessed to have my little creative retreat.

Most of the images I color are beautiful women.  Even when I was very young, my favorite thing to do was draw pretty ladies and color them.  When I was arranging the things that bring me joy in my craft room, I remembered these gorgeous Gene dolls I had tucked away in a chest.  I brought them out so I could admire them and dress them for every season.  They really do make me happy.  And I love my sign that tells everyone who enters my space how lovely they look.  I think it's because my happy place  makes them smile. 

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and create something fabulous.

Nancy