Discovering the Forgotten Fleur Lady - Julia Spiri Digi

 Expect the unexpected.  Life is full of wonderful things just waiting to surprise you.

                                                         

Hey there,

If you have an urge to organize your craft area on a lazy hot summer day, I say go for it!  I've been sorting my stash for a few weeks now, waiting for my eye surgery to heal, and my new HD eyes are spying some surprising abandoned treasures.  While sifting through some long forgotten unfinished projects, I found this Julia Spiri gem called Fleur.  I'm guessing I probably wasn't happy with something about my coloring...the flashy hair maybe?  But you know how that goes...put your unworthy project aside for a while and when you return to it,  the flaws don't look quite so glaring.   

I thoroughly enjoyed putting together this fun quick card with all my time consuming coloring already accomplished.  I created the frame in Cricut Design Space, cut it out on my Maker  and attached it to a  5 1/2 inch square z-fold card base.  I lined the front panel with a gold leafing pen and attached it to my frame with mounting tape.  I found the beautiful pearl studded fabric flower in my stash and added coordinating pearls to the frame  I'll attach a sentiment when I choose my recipient.  I get so excited when I find unexpected surprises in my happy hub!

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and find a treasure in an unexpected place.

Nancy

Playing along with:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #409

Unicorn Challenge #67

CD Sunday Plus Challenge #64

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #161

Stamping Sensations July Challenge - For a Lady

The Corrosive Challenge #7

Beyond the Blue Challenge #23

Color Crazy Challenge #27

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #7

Classic Design Challenge #7

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Unusual Hair Color

Stamplistic Caprice Stamp and Layering Dies - Lacy Paper Butterfly Perfection

Live your life like a butterfly....take a rest sometimes but never forget to fly.  

Hey there,

Look what I've been up to while letting my eyes rest from cataract surgery.  I had my second eye done a couple of days ago so I chose to work on this terrific project that doesn't take as much precision as Copic coloring, but the results are just as rewarding. Apparently, I'm a superstar patient,  with 20/20 vision in both eyes one day after surgery. My doctor referred to me as "awesome" more than once, but the sweet lady next to me in surgery was 90 years old, so I'm thinking my relative "youth" might be a factor.  I'll still need readers, but I'll see much better for my coloring, so I'm really stoked about that.

During my eye-healing downtime, I've been doing tons of organizing in my craft room.  I was elated when I came across a fabulous Stamplistic butterfly stamp and matching dies that I purchased a couple of years ago at Stamp Expo.  I felt so ambitious and productive while stamping, die cutting and assembling these gorgeous lacy embellishments for future cards. I stamped and embossed the large butterfly in gold several times on a variety of papers.  I used the smaller dies to cut wings in graduated layers (including vellum) to create beautiful detail on my butterflies.  I spent a very blissful and therapeutic day after surgery gluing bling to my creations.         

The result is a big bowl of delicious color and texture to pop onto my art when it needs a  jolt of pizzazz...and happy, healing HD peepers.   

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and lose yourself in your favorite healing pastime. 

Nancy

Floral Style Succulent Centerpiece _ Handmade By My Resident Florist

Home is where love resides, memories are created,
friends always belong, and laughter never ends. 

Hey there,

I'm happily, though impatiently, in the middle of cataract surgery...one eye done and the other one coming up next week.  It's a challenge having my new lens performing at 20/20 and my old lens still creating a blurry haze.  But when all the fuss is over, my sight will be much improved and I'm looking forward to needing only reading glasses for close work. Hallelujah!!! In the meantime, all creativity hasn't halted in our household.  My brilliant hubby, who was a talented florist when I met him, accepted my honey-do challenge to create this gorgeous centerpiece for our dining room table.

I'm not a lover of silk flowers, so when I saw these synthetic succulents artistically arranged in my favorite designer furniture store, I thought they offered a more modern and elegant version of an old favorite.  I have managed to keep several real plants alive in my home, some of them quite humungous, so I think I deserve some greenery that blooms beautifully with only an occasional dusting. And these luscious succulents look right at home in my new Southern Utah dining room. I still crack up over the old Red Green quote, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.”  I lucked out on both counts. 

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and create beauty to match your surroundings.

Nancy

Jeremiah Ketner Sunflower Girl

 Be like a sunflower...stand strong, tall and follow the sun. 

Jeremiah Ketner digi, Spellbinders frame, copic markers,
  Cricut Design Space writing feature, white gel pen, assorted gems

Hey there,

I've been missing my sweet cat-loving Cali girlfriend a lot lately, so I I'm sending her some love from my sunlit hub today. This darling Jeremiah Ketner cutie with her adorable bright-eyed kitty and  cheery sunflowers was a joy to color with my Copics and embellish with some glitz.  Initially, I added a sparkly necklace to my pretty girl's graceful neck, but then I decided she was elegant enough  and the cat could use a chic, fancy collar instead.  Yep, the cat and I think it was a good call. 

 I always love complimentary colors for striking contrast, so I used shades of orange and purple to make my images pop.  I added a white Spellbinders frame to back my bright summer scene and a blue card base to mimic the sky.  The  sentiment was created with the writing feature in Cricut Design Space.  

The sun is fiercely beating down on  both my friend and I from our separate western state abodes. Nice to know we can experience the same "warmth" from the sun, even though we're miles apart.    

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and spread some sunshine.

Nancy 

Playing along with:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #689  

Daisy Chain Challenge #53

Creative Moments Challenge #217

Little Red Wagon Challenge #607

The Sisterhood of Crafters Anything Goes

Color Throwdown Challenge #648

Try it on Tuesday - Here Comes Summer

A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #142

Classic Design Challenge #6

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #6

Fathers Day Beach Scene - Lori Whitlock Pop Up Box Card

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, 
story-tellers and singers of song.    Pam Brown

Lori Whitlock svg, Cricut cutting and writing features, Copic markers,
swirl embossing folder, silver gems 

 Hey there,  

Initially, this adorable beach scene svg from Lori Whitlock seemed a little too ambitious for me to finish in a week for Father's Day.  A Guest Design Team project, birthday and quilting projects, along with pending cataract surgery were looming large and taking up my energy and mojo.   But  I decided to go for it, and I'm so glad I did.  

I like to cut out small pieces for a project like this in white card stock on my Cricut Maker, and then color them with Copics.  It's so much easier and I can shade them to give them a little more pizazz.  The card base, mats and  the two blue van layers were the only pieces I cut with colored card stock and it turned out to be a huge time  saver.  The  fish, sun, palm tree, coconuts and shell were all simple and fun to shade with my markers.  I used solid flat coloring on the small van pieces, which turned out even and streak less. I'm surprised at how much I like the end result.  Sometimes things just come together magically!

I've done so many of these Lori Whitlock pop up box cards, I can practically assemble them blindfolded.  Everyone loves a card that does tricks, so they're worth a little extra creative effort.  

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and honor the wonderful men in your life.

Nancy

Playing along with:

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #220

Double "D" Challenge - Signs of Summer

Try it on Tuesday - For the Man in Your Life

Pearly Sparkles Challenge #63

Always Fun Challenge #218

Dream Valley Challenge #250

Make My Monday Challeng150

UnstampaBelles Challenge #112

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - June - For the Boys

 

Studio Light Missees Fashion Show

If your soul is good and your mind is positive, then you will start to see the beauty in yourself. 

Studio Light Misses dies and stamps, designer paper, metallic copper card stock,
 assorted gems, slimline card base and frame, Hero Arts  "hello" die and stamp set

Hey there,

If someone had told me when I was an artsy little schoolgirl that I would still be coloring fairies and unicorns and playing with paper dolls as a "mature" adult, I would have thought they had bats in their belfry. But here I am, living the dream. My Copic makers are as thrilling to me now as my crayons were way back then, and cards using Julie Nutting dolls are some of my faves.  The minute I saw THIS YouTube video demonstrating these darling Studio Lite Missees dies and stamps,  I knew I  had to have all three sets pronto.  My hopes were dashed when I saw that these popular dies were mostly on backorder.  But after a frantic search, I managed to get my hands on THIS  base die and stamp set called Betty which  is the one that all the other sets build on.

It was pure delight experimenting with this first set and figuring out how to make the faces a little more detailed with my Copics.  I used the hair die to create a short red  hairdo like my own but I had to wait for the Carol set to create my glasses.   I'm planning to make cards that look like selfies of my friends and me, with customized facial expressions and sentiments to add a personal touch.  I know....life altering.

The endless looks that can be created with the simple dies and stamps in these three sets is mind boggling.  I couldn't stop die cutting tons of different hair styles and outfits in a variety of colors and prints and then just going crazy designing my sisterhood of paper beauties.   

When my bestie went all out for my birthday last week, I wanted to give her a special thank you card. I realized that one of my cards came close to her adorably prissy likeness. She was thrilled when I presented it to her and plead with me to invite her into my craft room to make some cards for her teenage granddaughters  She's a brilliant artist and I can't wait to see what she comes up with. Can you think of anything more delightful than going nuts making trendy teen beauties!  They'll be over-the-top post-worthy, so stay tuned for  the chic teen fashion show we conjure up.

Thanks for visiting,

Go forth and spend time doing something you were nuts about as a kid.

Nancy

Playing along with:

Creative Knockouts Challenge #405

Always Fun Challenge #217

Dream Valley Challenge #249

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2123

QKR Stampede Challenge #421

SheepSki Designs Challenge #51

613 Avenue Create Challenge #6

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #6

Classic Design Challenge #6

You are Unique - Janna Prosvirina Flip Card

Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.   Dorothy Parker

Janna Prosvirina digi, Copic markers, green and clear gems, white gel pen, silver leafing pen,
green glitter card stock, silver foil card stock, magenta card stock, Cricut Design Space cutting
and design features, iridescent peel off stickers, Jane Davenport sentiment and star dies  

Hey there,

I was beyond thrilled to get a brand new shiny computer for my birthday last week, but HOLY MOLY...downloading a humungous amount of data from a prehistoric computer (apparently the "flip phone" of the breed) has been a monumental task, even when done by a competent professional.  It's been almost a week and I still don't have everything running smoothly, but ultimately I know I will be ecstatic with my updated, state of the art technology.

In the meantime,  I managed to figure out how to edit my card in my newfangled Photo Shop Elements program and upload it to my blog. It's like finding some favorite "old friends" on a twisted path in the dark.  Now I can't wait to find some time to relax and create in my happy place.

This glamorous grayscale Janna Prosvirina digital stamp is colored with Copic markers with a few Prismacolor details.  I used pastel colors for her hair which is uncharacteristic for me and was a little challenging. But it's always good to try something new, right?  I lined my card panels with a silver leafing pen and added a few gems to the necklace, the panel corners and the stars.  The silver foil card stock sentiment and stars were created with Jane Davenport dies.   I added further decoration to the  necklace and the back panel with iridescent peel off stickers. 

I loved creating the flip card base for this card in Cricut Design Space.  I chose a layered frame from the Cricut library, did some simple math, and manipulated the square shape with some added score lines and, hallelujah, a fabulous flip card was born.  Once I got the knack,  I made several in different shapes and sizes.  I'm obsessed with all the incredible features in Design Space.  It's worth taking time to conquer the learning curve because the sky's the limit for what you can accomplish. 

It's good to be back in the game.  I feel so happening!

Thanks for visiting.

Go forth and challenge yourself to learn a new crafty skill.

Nancy

Playing along with:

Fab'n'Funky Challenge 526

Through the Craft Room Door Challenge May 25

Classic Design Challenge #6

Crafter's Cafe Challenge #267

LeAnn's World 101 Challenge #39

Love to Craft Challenge #59

Morgan's ArtWorld Challenge #6

Dream Valley Challenge #249