Creative Canvas

I met a new friend, Kim Purcell, who is opening an art studio in my adorable home town of Senoia, Georgia.  Creative Canvas allows you to have an art party, girls night out, or workshop (and bring your choice of favorite beverage!) for all levels of artists!  She even has classes for children during the summer.  Kim does amazing work and is a true artist.  You will love her sweet disposition.

I will be teaching how to use Copic Markers and various card classes.  Kim will be teaching paintings on canvas and my friend Heidi Meyer will be teaching mixed media.  The schedule will change to offer other classes, so check back often!   Check it out and give Kim a call to schedule your outing with your friends!

21 Day Challenge

I am taking the 21 Day Challenge.  Thanks to my sweet friend Heidi for sending me this link.   I think we all could be a little kinder to ourselves and I love this idea!  I'll be posting my progress which starts today.  Wish me luck!

I know Halloween has passed, but I wanted to show you a card I made that I thought was so darn cute!  This little Tilda was dressed up like a bat.  I colored her with Copic markers and used Glossy Accents on her bat wings to give them a shiny effect.  You can find the stamp at Magnolicious Store.  The bat is just a ribbon with a simple knot, then you cut the "wings" on each side.  The "Boo to You" stamp I got at a local stamp store that I love, love, love.   If you give Gary a call to order the stamp, tell him Tracy in Fayetteville is sending him love from my blog.  The "moon" and the purple background was created by using my Memento ink pads.  I masked off the moon prior to creating the purple background.  It was so fun.  The background paper I got in various place, but I really want to point out the "sparkly" paper.  I'm not sure if you can see it well, but it was purchased from Wal-Mart and I LOVE it!  It's perfect for this type of background.  It came in a package of black and white sparkly papers.  It's so fun!

 

I hope you love this card.  Give me your thoughts...

Check out the 21 day challenge.  It only takes 21 days to start a new habit.  I hope you start a new habit that takes care of YOU!

Crisp Air

I'm sure it is getting cooler up north but it is still warm here, ranging about 88 for the highs. In Georgia, we have what we call Indian Summers. It is after the first cold snap when the days get warm again. So warm that you consider turning your air conditioning back on! We have not had Indian Summer yet this Fall. It should happen sometime around the first or second week of October . However, you can tell it is turning to Autumn. The humidity is very low, the skies are blue and every once in awhile, I see a leaf fall off of a tree. I love taking my dog out in the morning from my front door. I look out into an island of (mostly) pine trees. The sun rays are shining through and it's quite a lovely sight. I have a Japanese Maple out there as well and it's leaves will turn a bright red this Fall. It is my favorite time of year.

I created this card with that in mind. The background paper is encaustic waxing. If you follow my blog, you know it is one of my favorite techniques. It is a napkin that I waxed onto a glossy piece of cardstock. I then shaded it with gold wax. I love it. The pumpkins stamp is from Gina K Designs and it is the "Signs of Autumn" set. I colored it with my Copics (Y12, Y16, Y18 and Colorless Blender). I then added my Gelly Roll pen to add some shine. I cut the image using my oval Nestibilities and my scallop oval Nestibilities. I shaded using Tangelo and Cantelope Memento Inks while the shapes were still in the die cut. The ribbon I purchased at Hobby Lobby and the back ground papers were nothing special, except I always use Gina K Designs heavy weight Pure Luxury paper when coloring with Copics. I hope you enjoy it and enjoy the season!

Guess What Time It Is?

It's my FAVORITE time of year!!!    Fall!  I know, I know... some folks say "Wait a minute!  It is still Summer and it is still hot outside!" But, it is August 30th!  And to add to my argument, the Fall decorations are out at Hobby Lobby!  Doesn't that mean I can start celebrating?   Candy Corn, here I come!!!

I went to DC this weekend. It was a VERY quick trip. I flew in on Saturday at 12:15, went to my favorite cousin's house for the day in Frederick, Maryland. (Sidebar: I SO want to live there. It's so quaint and just a beautiful place. It is feasible that we could live there because my hubby could transfer, but the cost of living is so high that I'm really worried about that.... anyone live in the area that could give me advice?)   Back to my story...

I flew up because I was buying my cousin's daughter's (my second cousin's) car for my daughter who just left for college. (Whew, were you able to follow that?) So, because we were buying a car, we had to drive it home to Georgia!  It took me 12 1/2 hours to get back yesterday!  That was with very little stopping and even eating in the car!  Yikes.  My tailbone is sore! But the car is adorable and Allison was so surprised and shocked.  She had gone up to D.C. for Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally with her college roommate.  She knew I was flying up, but she didn't realize the "surprise" I was bringing her was a "new" car.  She kept saying "You bought me a car????"

This card I created was mostly about showcasing the ribbon.  I just loved it.   So I added just a few

embellishments, and then I was not crazy about the card.  So I worked and worked and I think it turned out "okay".    It's not one of my best..  You know, we are our own worst enemies!!!  I love the Tilda.  She was supposed to be colored with the "Scandanavian" technique, but I think I might have gotten a little heavy handed on the tones.   I colored her with my Copic markers.   I will continue to practice.  I just used a regular doily, the ribbon was from Hobby Loggy.  A nestibility for the die cut, and paper flowers that I colored with my inks and then used some stickles to give it a little shine.  The leaves are the Martha Stewart "fern" punch.  Let me know what you think and thank you for reading my blog!

I'm Certified!

Today, I got certified!  In what, you ask?  I'm a Copic Certified Designer!!!  How cool is that?  Pretty soon you will see my "blinkie" over on the right of my page... I had a really good time, talked to craft enthusiasts like myself, networked, and learned lots of techniques.  It was a fun day and I'm hoping on getting better and better with my coloring...

  This is one of my favorite cards.  I think she's so cute!  I loved, loved, loved the background paper and I had already colored the image and noticed that they went perfectly together.  The paper is Citrus from... heck, I seem to have lost the front of the paper packet.  Sorry!! 

I had to add a little bit of sky, so I took my Memento Ink and sponged a white piece of paper with the three shades of blue.  The "SplishSplash" came from Hobby Lobby on one of their sticker sheets.  And it matched the blues perfectly as well.   I trimmed it out roughly because I didn't want the card to be too formal.  I'm not sure if I like that look, but I "stuck it down" pretty good on the card and didn't want to ruin it.  It's one of those  "live and learn" moments....I had hoped that I could add the sticker without having to use a white background, but it got lost in the background.  Tilda is popped up on pop dots. 

The water is glossy accents and I totally love the effect it created. 

It's a Zoo Around Here!

Hi friends!  Well, I'm winding down this week with my 5th and 6th classes at the Univ of Phoenix.  Whew!  I only have three more to go and I will be finished with my Associates!  Then I will start my Bachelor's.  It is a good feeling to be making progress.  Right now, I should be finalizing my finals, but I've been creating cards instead.  I know, I know!  But I needed some creative time for me.  And I'm having so much fun.  My 2nd Cousin is getting married and she's very special to me, so I've been creating some "Thank You" cards for her to give to her special friends that are on this journey with her.  I'll be showcasing those cards over the next few posts.  I hope you enjoy them!  But first...

This particular card was created for my sweet niece Emily.  She turned 17 this month and we all went to see the Phantom of the Opera on her birthday.  It was so much fun!  Emily is planning on being a Zoologist when she grows up and she volunteers at the Atlanta Zoo.  She's a fabulous child and I'm so thankful God gave her to us.  I used my Magnolia "Animal Keeper" and "Jungle Sign" stamps and created her a card that represented her.  I used My Minds Eye - Laundry Line paper.  I used Copics to color her with a little help from Glossy Accents to give her belt and bucket some shine.  The Happy Birthday is from Stamping Up, I believe.  I used my Deckle Nestibilities to cut it out and while it was still in the die, I used my ink to give it some color.  I used my Gelly Roll Gold Sparkle pen to add some shine to it.  I hope she liked it and I hope you do as well.  Leave me a comment with any suggestions!  I'd love to hear from you.

Graduate

As you may have read, I have an 18 year old that will be graduating this year. She's my last child and it's a melancholy time for me. Remember those early morning soccer games in the cold? Or running three children around to their different activities each day? Family dinners on the run? I'm glad to be through with homework and school calendars, but I'm sad that my duties as a mom are starting to wain because my last child is almost grown. It's bittersweet, isn't it? Of course, this just opens up a whole new time for me. I'm going back to college right now (a goal that I've always wanted to complete!) and I'm learning to love books again. And of course, I have time to work on my crafts. So, when one door closes, another opens, right?

I colored this Tilda for my daughter. I'm going to put her on Allison's scrapbook pages for her Senior year. I think she turned out ADORABLE! I colored her in Allison's school colors, or as close as I could get. The stamp is from http://www.magnolia-licious.com/ . I used Copics to color her. To give the diploma and tassle bling, I used my Gelly Roll Glitter pen. CS was purchased at Hobby Lobby and it's just a matching burgundy and slate gray. I love her!

Eventful Week!

Hello! Well, it's been an eventful week. Last Wednesday, my stepdad had a heart attack. He's fine, he's fine... now! But it was a little scary, I can assure you. He had 100% blockage in his carotid artery and needed 3 stints. He looked the picture of health when I arrived 10 short hours after it happened! My mom handled it well but I wanted to be with her. I flew out to Panama City Beach, Florida on Wednesday and stayed with them until Saturday. He came home on Friday. We are very thankful it was caught and he was smart enough to let my mom call the ambulance! Glad you are feeling better G'Daddy!

With flying down there unexpectedly and my workload at college, I was glad that I had some new cards that I had created the weekend before to post. Today's post is a cute little gal... You stamp her face on one side of the card and then you have an entirely different stamp for the back side of the card. Isn't she adorable? The stamps are from Art Impressions. I used my Copics to color her. I know I used B91, 95 and 97 for the blue jeans. But I'm unsure about the rest. I'd have to look it up if you are interested. Then I used my CTMH stamp pads to ink the sky with my daubers. Always start with the light ink first and then gently add the darker blue around the edges for dimension. I used a CTMH branch set inked on the sides to add some branches. And I used my Gold Gelly Roll pen to add some sparkle to her tools! She's so cute, huh? Drop me a comment and let me know what you think! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! "I'm just sayin'..."

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today, my youngest child turned 18. I feel so melancholy! I'm so excited for her, but it's really hard when they grow up. I know that life isn't over, but it sure seems that way, doesn't it? As Reba McIntyre once sang, "Is there life out there?" If your children have flown the coop, can you give me some ideas of what I can expect? How do we go from being a mom who is constantly running to piano lessons and soccer practice to a mom whose children have their own lives? Happy Birthday Allison!

I haven't made this into a card yet, but wanted to show you my pears. I really thought they came out pretty. Once I colored the pears, I stamped the image on a post-it, cut it out and then masked off the pears to prevent them from getting ink on my newly colored image. I then used my Memento Inks to sponge around my image. I hope you like it! Let me know and I'll show you how it looks when I finish my card.