Starving Artistamps is sponsoring 2S4Y this Week!

I play along with the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge whenever I can because I just love a good sketch challenge. Whenever Starving Artistamps is sponsoring, I make sure to get a card done...you know...being on the SA design team and all, lol. The 2S4Y design team always has some amazing cards for inspiration so be sure to check them out. And, here's mine to (I hope) add a bit more inspiration. And if you need a bit more incentive, the stamps I used are part of the awesome prize you could win!

Star of Light

Stamps:  Starving Artistamps - The Nativity
Specialty Papers: Strathmore cold press watercolor
Inks: Versamark; Fluid Chalk Blue Iris
Other Supplies: White Embossing Powder, Inktense Pencils, Copic marker, scalloped border punch, ribbon, Nestabilities die, Cuttlebug, Waterbrush
Special Techniques:  Watercoloring - Stamp image with Versamark onto watercolor paper. Wet an area of the image with water until it is quite wet.  Use the brush to pick up color from the tip of an Inktense pencil, and the lightly touch the tip of the brush into the wet area.  The color should start to spread immediately.  If the color doesn't spread, rewet the area with more water.  Continue wetting and adding color.

One more Autumn Card

It's still November, and it's in the mid 50's here today, so I thought I'd post one last Autumn card.  Besides, I really like the way this one came out!

The image is from smARTworks, and I stamped it onto brown Kraft paper and colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  The background is called Herringbone from the current Technique Junkies Newsletter, but I've been doing a similar background for years, which I learned from fellow smARTworks design team member Dina Kowal.  

The Holidays are Upon Us

I am so not ready...haven't even started my Christmas cards.  I've made a few, but so far they've all been design team stuff so I can't keep them.  I wonder if I could get away with sending photos of Christmas cards? 

The card I'm sharing today is one I made for Starving Artistamps using the new Nativity set.  I also used the weave background for my card base.  The images are colored with Prismacolor pencils, and I highlighted my Cuttlebug embossing with brown chalk ink. 

That's it for now.  I have to get back to my stamping...there are only 28 days until Christmas.  Ack!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

The card I'm sharing with you today is one that I made using the ABC-Bountiful stamp and a sentiment from the Square Say set, both from smARTworks.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Stazon Black ink and colored it with Derwent Inktense pencils.  And because I just can't seem to resist glitter lately, I added just a bit of Crystal Stickles here and there.

Holy Family

Hi everyone, and thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday.  I had a very nice day off work, and my DH gifted me with a gorgeous bracelet...what more could I wish for?

I only have time for a quick post, but here's another card I made using the Nativity set from Starving Artistamps.  I colored the images with Copic markers, then I masked them and airbrushed the background.  I used my colorless blender to remove some of the color around the halo, and then added gold Stickles to highlight.  The rest is pretty self-explanatory I think, but as always, feel free to email me if you have any questions or need more info about this or any of my cards.

Bye for now!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday, and I just have to share this pretty card that from Susan T. from smARTworks sent me.

Thank you, Susan...you made me smile!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #16

Our inspiration piece for this round of the challenge was the room from Pottery Barn.  I love this room.  It reminds me of my family room, or more accurately, it reminds me of what my family room could look like if I had any talent for decorating!

Anyway, I love red, and I especially like the way it pops against the neutrals in this room, so I kept the colors for my card.  The rooster pillow on the sofa also caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  First, I have roosters in my kitchen, which is next to the family room, so that pillow would be a perfect accent on my own sofa.  Second, I actually had a rooster stamp that would work!

The stamps I used on my card are from smARTworks.  I stamped the rooster with Adirondack Pitch Black ink onto white cardstock and colored it with Copic markers.  The white was really stark white, so I went over that part with a very pale warm grey, which toned it down just enough.  That pretty paper is a digital download available from The Angel Company.  It's meant to be black and white, but I printed it on kraft cardstock instead.  The flowers are Hero Arts, and the layout is from CPS142 over at Card Positioning Systems.

Everyone is invited to play along in the Divine Diva challenges, and if you do, please link your creation here. If you upload to PCP or SC, use the keyword DDIC16. For even more inspiration, please visit the other Divine Divas: Anne, Chris, Lori, Julie, Keri, and Kerri.

Hope you can join us!

Silent Night

I have another card to share using the new Nativity set from Starving Artistamps.  This was such an easy card to make, and I really like the way the star shines brightly against the soft neutral color palette.  The images and sentiment are stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on Ivory Pearl cardstock, which is so shimmery in real life.  I did my coloring with Copic markers in muted shades and added a single crystal to the star.

If you're liking this set as much as I do, don't forget that you can get 10% off my using my discount code:  SAVETENDD

My Mojo Returns!

You may have noticed that it's been a little quiet around my blog lately.  It's true that I've been busy lately, but the biggest reason is that I've had NO MOJO!

I'm happy to say that I found at least a little of my mojo this week and was able to make this card, which I'm quite pleased with.

The image I used is from the Starving Artistamps The Nativity collection.  I used the Technique Junkies Penciled Twinks technique to color the image.  Basically, you shade the image with colored pencils, and then instead of plain water, use Twinkling H2O's or any other shimmery watercolors to blend the pencil. 

For my layout, I used the sketch from SC254 on Splitcoast.  The background paper is Basic Grey Marrakech, and the square panels are red cardstock embossed with my Cuttlebug.  I sprayed the background panels with Gold Smooch Spritz for some extra glitz, and I have to say that I just love the effect!  To finish the card, I added a gold bow and a Prima crystal embellishment.

That's all for now.  My friend and I are off to the mall for some lunch and a bit of retail therapy.  Hope you have an enjoyable Saturday planned as well!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #15

It's been awhile since we've had a Divine Diva challenge, but it's time for another one today.  Our inspiration this time was this perfume gift set from Pacifica.

First of all, let me just say that I really wish I had a set of Nestabilities that cut fancy medallion shapes like the ones in this design.  Do you hear me Spellbinders? 

Ok, back to the  challenge.  There are so many elements that I like in the design for this packaging, but the gift box immediately struck me as a cool layout for a card.  Since I don't have any Nesties that cut fancy frames, I used a rub-on frame instead and cut it out with my oval nesties.  My printed papers are from Basic Grey, the image and sentiment are from Starving Artistamps (DoodleFactory Home Decor collection), and I used Copic markers for my coloring.

Everyone is invited to play along in the Divine Diva challenges, and if you do, please link your creation here. If you upload to PCP or SC, use the keyword DDIC15. For even more inspiration, please visit the other Divine Divas: Anne, Chris, Lori, Julie, Keri, and Kerri


Have a great day, and join us if you can!

The smART-Word for November is Gratitude

Well, it's November 1st and time for a new smart-Word challenge.  Susan chose our word this month and came up with one that is very fitting for November:  gratitude.  If you'd like to play along in our challenge, just make a card that says "gratitude" to you and post a link on our smART-Word challenge blog.  Every one who enters is eligible to win the monthly prize drawing, so what are you waiting for?

Here's the card I make to kick off the challenge.  This image (ABC-Bountiful) just said Thanksgiving to me, and I thought it would be perfect on a thank you card to use this time of year.  I colored the image with Copic markers, and since I didn't want any embellishments to complete with the image, I just did a bit a piercing in the corners and some simple layers to finish off the card.

Hope you can join us this month!