Into you…

Posted by Micki on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Hi everyone,

Today I wanted share another card created with chin-chou kuik's My Buddy.

 
 
This image has such a woodsy feeling that I tend to use earthy-woodsy type colors every time I color this image.  If you stopped by the Sweet Pea Stamps DT blog on Monday, fellow DT member Randi  featured ATC's created with chingchou kuiks Fantasy Art Collection.  She pointed out that the stamps are the perfect size for ATC's.  I had one of those "duh" moments.  Since coloring doesn't take me long – the design of a card does, I may have to venture into the world of ATC's and play a litte more with this gorgeous stamp.    Which reminds me,  Sweet Pea Stamps' February Customer Challenge is ATC's.  Definitely worth your while to check out the Sweet Pea Stamps DT blog  for all the details.
 
chin-chou kuik's My Buddy  is one of my favorite images, perhaps because it evokes memories of my childhood roaming the forests in Germany or perhaps because of the frog. I'm not a big fan of real frogs, but love love love frogs in my paper crafting world. Weird – I know…. :-)

Since my desk is covered with bit of scraps, embellishments and ribbon pieces, I tried to lessen the pile by using some of the embellishments from my scrap pile on this card.  I love it when I can use up my scraps.

I put the sentiment which comes on Plate 22 on the inside of the card:

 
A quick card which any nature lover would enjoy, don't you think?
Make sure to head over to Sweet Pea Stamps to check out that latest sale.   And while you're there, you should check out the Fantasy Art Collection sentiments grab bag special…. what a great deal and a great way to get 6 unmounted sentiments from the Fantasy Art Collection.   Can't ever have too many sentiments :-) .

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So thinking Spring….

Posted by Micki on Monday, February 8th, 2010

 
Yes, my mind is stuck on Spring. I am so ready for spring and am wishing to start seeing some green, can you tell?

And although I'm not a big fan of the bugs and insects that come along with warmer weather, this little insect from Sweet Pea Stamps  Plate 10, with those adorable eyes fluttered into my heart.

To color him (or her) I used copics. I knew immediately that the card stock I used was not Neenah Classic Crest Smooth. I think it was Georgia Pacific. Not to say that GP card stock is wrong, but I should have changed the technique I used to colored the image. The ink bled quite a bit outside of the lines, which would not have happened with Neenah. But no worries, I left the image along for a couple of days, then pushed the ink back inside the lines using C01 – which is a real light cool gray. I actually use the C01 marker to outline around 90% of my colored images, which adds some depth (and doesn't hurt since I color outside of the lines a lot – by accident, lo).

I did not add a sentiment yet. On images that are so universal and can be used for almost any occassion, I always leave the sentiment off. What I do, is stamp out several different sentiments onto a sheet of card stock and then when I need a certain sentiment, I can trim or punch out one I need.

I hope my card has generated some visions of spring for you, lol…. I know it did for me. If you haven't checked out Plate 10 at the Sweet Pea Stamps shop, you really should head over there. It's a great plate, includes several sentiments as well as a Sweet Pea Pals image.

 
I've got my cake decorating class tonight.  Had to bake a cake and frost it for tonight….. oh Rhonda…… you are SO paying for roping me into that class, lol!!!!
 
Since I scheduled this post Sunday morning, I stayed home today…..sick  and having a pulled muscle in the lower back isn't helping being sick.  Ughhhhh!
 
Have a great Monday everyone….

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Love Letter Blog Hop

Posted by Micki on Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Welcome to Michelle Perkett's Love Letter Blog Hop.   :)
 
I am ashamed to say that I almost backed out after signing up at Michelle's group over at Paper Craft Planet.   But, I was bound and determined to participate, especially since I have not had much time to visit and chat with everyone at the PCP group.
 
First the card: 
 
The card size is a standard business envelope size – A10 I think.  I printed the image once on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colored with copics.  I then resized the fairy just a tad larger and printed her out onto the colored card stock and filled the image in with a medium gray marker.  I trimmed the colored image with a craft knife and adhered her on top of the red card stock with foam dots.  Ok that isn't reading right, but you know what I mean right?  (It is midnight and I'm sitting on a heating pad as I pulled a muscle in my lower back.    "How?" you ask…. groaning….. cleaning the house, of all things…sigh).  Now to my letter.
 
Originally I was going to write my Love Letter to my granddaughters, Emma and Gracy but changed my mind at the last minute.  Instead my letter is to my uncle.  Actually he was my grandfather's cousin's son (have no clue what relation that would be to me) but growing up he was  is my Uncle.  I found out last summer that he had passed away.  While I was not able to make the trip home to Bad Hersfeld, Germany,  for the funeral, I was there in thoughts and in prayer.
 
(The actual letter is written in German, so if this sounds a little dumb…. I'm blaming the translation)
 
Lieber Uncle Erich,
 
I can't remember if I ever thanked you for all the years of unconditional love you gave me.   I know you knew I loved you but wished I could have told you just how much!
 
I love you for the memories of peaceful Sunday afternoons.  Remember?  You, me and Asta, your poodle would go for walks on the trails in the forest surrounding Bad Hersfeld.  I still remember one of those walks seeing the wild boar family through your binoculars. 
 
I love you for your endless understanding.  When no one else would comprehend what I meant, you always did. 
 
I love you for being my pillar of strength and walking arm in arm with me while following behind my grandfather's casket.  When people confused me with my mother, you quickly pointed out that I was not and what in the world would make them think that.
 
I love you for still calling me by the nickname you gave me when I was little.  You still called me that the last time I came home to visit three years ago.  You had asked me then if I would still come to visit you even when Grandma was gone.  Telling me that your house was my house and that I always had a place to stay.  
 
When Aunt Waltraud called to tell me you passed away, I couldn't believe it… didn't want to believe it.   I think I was more upset than when Grandpa passed away.  And you know how much I loved him..I just thought I'd get one more visit with you.
 
I know when I said my good-bye the last time I saw you, I told you I loved you but wish I would have thanked you for all the love you and Aunt Anneliese gave me throughout my life.
 
Thank you….. I love you….. 'til we meet again!
 
Deine Misch
 
 

I'm a little nervous, I am seriously lacking in the smooth writing department.   If I were to write a 'professional – business' type letter…. not a problem.  But conveying personal thoughts and feelings and making it sound good…..so not happening here.  Anyway I hope I'm did this correctly.  

Your next stop on the blog hop is:

Barbara S.

 
 
 
Just in case you want to start at the beginning of the Love Letter Blog Hop
listed below are all the participants:
 
Michelle's Blog:
 
 Tammy
 
Ellen
 
Rhonda
 
Jennifer B.
 
Jenn Dove
 
Pattie
 
 Maria
 
Gini
 
Melissa
 
Anjou
 
Lee
 
Cabio
 
Jana
 
Pauline
 
Nancy
 
Kerri
 
Micki
 
Barbara S.
 
Mary D.
 
Sheng
 
Crystal M. Smith
 
Lynne
 
Marilyn Webb
 
 Seongsook
 
Adele
 
Mez
 
 Christy Dillman
 
Sarah
 
Christine
 
 Ileana
 
Sammi
 
Gina
 
Alison
 
Tami
 
 Tricia
 
Michelle Perkett Studio challenge blog
 
Thanks so much for stopping by.    Have a wonderful Sunday!

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Early Bird

Posted by Micki on Friday, February 5th, 2010

With all the excitement of SNS Digi Day at SNR yesterday, seeing ALL of the February digis at the store, I was super excited to play with Deedee's "Early Bird" digi stamp.
 

Digital Stamp:  "Early Bird" illustrated by Deedee Anderson – Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

 

You know, it dawned on me that I really had no clue exactly what color baby birds are! It's not like I have never seen baby birds, trust me….. we have soooo many birds around our house but for some reason the moment I picked up my Copics, my brain went blank. Does that ever happen to you?

I tried something a little different as far as copic color combinations for the big bird. I laid down a base of R17, used R59 for the shadows and areas that I wanted darker, went over those same areas with E09 and then took E13 all over, pushing the darker reds towards the lines. Never be afraid to experiement, especially with markers.
I also used this weeks sketch from The Sweet Stop for my card design and it worked out wonderfully!!!

If you stopped by yesterday, you know about the exciting news that Sweet 'n Sassy has gone 100% digital.    That means if you go to the store, you get to see ALL …. that's right, like a whole bunch of new cute, adorable and beautiful digi stamps.   What are you waiting for….. head over to Sweet 'n Sassy and check it out!

Here are the 2 cards I made for SNS Digi Day at SNR yesterday. 

Digital Stamp:  "Flower Bouquet" – Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

 

il
Digital Stamp:  "Fluttering Byt"  illustrated by Deedee Anderson – Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

There is still time to play along!  You have until Monday to upload/link your challenge projects.  Come on…. play along. :) 

I hope you guys have a wonderful Friday and have wonderful weather.  It's snowing and there is snow in the forecast for the next 5 days….:(  Come on Spring!   Thanks for stopping by… until next time.

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Carousel Elegance…..

Posted by Micki on Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Digital Stamp:  Carousel Horse – Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

What can I say?  When Lindsay showed the DT this new digital stamp, I was all over it :).   And then when I saw Lindsay's card using this digi stamp, well…. it was love!!!! lol.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure about the horse, the coloring I mean.  Growing up in Germany, I used to ride …. a lot.  I don't know what the english name of the horse breed is but translated it would be "Fox"… is there such a breed?  Anyway, they have more of a reddish brown coat.   Didn't quite work out as well as I had envisioned…but then again, it's my world, right?  (I'm wayyyy past my bedtime which is making me, hm shall we say 'giddy').   I couldn't get the highlights right and in the end I even colored outside the lines.  And that always happens when I'm almost finished coloring the image.  With those type of errors, I used my craft knife and trimmed the image…. that took a while but wow, am I glad I did.

I printed the montage (horse, background & flourish all in one digi stamp) onto the DP actually making it a bit larger than the colored horse.   I used a dark gray to color the horse (on the DP) and then used pop up foam to adhere the colored horse right on top.   I found a couple of left over die cut swirls which I thought fit perfectly with the flourish border and I am pretty happy with the end result.   Here's a close up:

 

You know me, I love Designer Paper, but tend to shy away from it (clean & simple – that's me) .  Boy I'm so glad I printed the montage directly onto that….. really makes the carousel horse pop, don't you think? 

Here is a preview of the actual digi set:


Make sure to check out Lindsay's Blog:  The Frugal Crafter  Lindsay has the neatest tips & tricks and oh the projects…. and make sure to check out what the rest of the DT created this week. (♥ Janet ♥ Shannon ♥ Margie ♥ Lisa ♥ Erin ♥ Tracey ♥ Diana ♥ Melissa ♥ Leanne ♥ Tamara ♥ Cindi ♥) 

To see more of Lindsay's digital stamps, card kits, SVG files and more, visit her at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff HERE, or at her MyGrafico shop HERE .   Stamp sets are available instantly at MyGrafico   or get free ($1) stamp for every $5 you spend at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff   .     

Thanks so much for stopping by….. I'm off to bed.  

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Red Hearts….

Posted by Micki on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Before I share my card with you today, I just wanted to do a huge SHOUT- OUT of thanks for all the wonderful comments everyone has left me.   The Sweet Pea Stamps blog hop was a huge success and so much fun.  Thank YOU!

If you are following the Sweet Pea Stamps DT blog, you may have seen this card on Sunday:

 

Today's card features ©ching chou kuik's Red Hearts from Sheet 6, Plate 28. Isn't she absolutely beautiful?


I colored her using my copics. I also used Ranger's Distress Inks and a foam pad to blend the stark white down a bit- blend it in a little more. I must confess, that as much as I love love love reds, sometimes I get it right when coloring and sometimes I don't. (lol, copic certified or not, I have off days). However, with these gorgeous stamps, one can't go wrong.

I generally do the light type of cards, as in white with touches of color – 'clean & simple' but do try to step outside my comfort zone and used dark gray as the card base. The DP is from my scrap basket.

I did not add a sentiment (from Plate 28) yet because these images really can go with any occasion. I generally add the sentiment when I know what occasion the card will be used for.

You will want to make sure and check out the other images that come on Plate 28. Absolutely gorgeous!

Don't forget to swing by the Sweet Pea Stamps shop to check out ALL of the wonderful stamps available.

 

Thanks for stopping by…until next time…

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Lots of Love Sweet ‘n Sassy Style

Posted by Micki on Monday, February 1st, 2010

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I did not get much crafting time since I had to drive back to Leavenworth on Saturday to have my blood taken.  Boy did they ever….. 6 vials.  And imagine the fun 1 hour drive on a Saturday morning without any coffee.  Looooonnnng drive, lol.

Before I share my card with you, I want to share some exciting news :).

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is going 100% digital!  How exciting is that?   And to celebrate, we are having a Lots of Love blog hop and scavenger hunt.   One person will win the entire January Digi release!   Be sure to start at the SNS Digi Blog HERE for all the details. 


For my card, I used  the cake from Wedding Day.

Digital Stamp:  Wedding Day – Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

The wedding cake is colored with copics and adhered to the panels with 3D pop up foam.  I used Swiss Dots embossing folder on the red panel.  The white card stock piece is embossed with the Swirls folder and was necessary because I tried something that just didn't work out like I had envisioned it.  Yes, it's hiding 2 mistakes, lol.  I almost ruined the image too.  I used Diamond Glaze on the flowers, set it aside to dry and completely forgot about it.  Meaning that as I was attempting to come up with something creative for the card, it got shuffled underneath stuff.  (I did say that the creative mojo was missing, right?)  In the end I also added the leaves ( I couldn't find the right size/color flowers).

I'm really almost embarrassed to show the card. The sentiment on the inside:

I actually used a sentiment from Love Sentiments 1.  My reasoning being that I can use this card as an obvious wedding card or as an anniversary card – like for a silver or golden anniversary.   Or maybe not, lol… at the time it seemed like a great idea.

If you haven't stopped by the SNS Digi Blog make sure you head there to get all the details about the scavenger hunt :). Enjoy all the fabulous projects the DT created for this very exciting blog hop:

Sandy ♥ Deedee♥ Melanie ♥ Nicole ♥ Lynne ♥ Korin ♥ Leah ♥ Ceal 

Darsie ♥ Janette ♥ Kim ♥ Lorie ♥ Nancy

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Tonight I have a cake decorating class….. my friend, Rhonda, talked me into it.  I told her she owes me…next paper crafting class ….she's so signing up for it :).

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Lots of Love Blog Hop….

Posted by Micki on Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Lots of Love Blog Hop

Join the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Digi Divas for our Lots of Love Blog Hop, Monday, February 1st. This isn't just any old blog hop. We've been keeping a big secret and we'll finally be letting the cat out of the bag :) .

To celebrate our exciting news, we're sending you on a scavenger hunt and we're giving away our entire January Digi release to one lucky blog hop participant!

PLUS, we have an adorable freebie for EVERYONE who participates in our Spread the Love blinkie campaign!

The hop will start on the Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Blog. From there hop to each of the following blogs (in no particular order):

Sandy ♥ Deedee♥ Melanie ♥ Nicole ♥ Lynne ♥ Korin ♥ Leah ♥ Ceal ♥ Darsie ♥ Janette ♥ Kim ♥ Lorie ♥ Nancy ♥ Me

Wowsers, the entire January Digi release…… I'll see you tomorrow, right? :)

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SSDS #25 Open Challenge

Posted by Micki on Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Open Challenge!  That's right, this week at Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays, the challenge is open meaning you can create anything your heart desires!!!   How fun and no excuse not to join us this week.

Our sponsor this week is Kim van der Sanden, owner of My Favorite Things !  Kim is offering a $15 MFT gift certificate to one lucky winner!   Can you say 'shopping' :).   We all know and love MFT stamps.  You really need to check out her store.  Kim was also so generous to offer the DT their choice of a digital stamp, yes, she is offering digital stamps too!

I've been feeling pretty lonely as pretty much all my friends live several hours drive (at the minimum) away and I am so ready for a 'girls night out'.  No surprise that I chose this stamp to make my card:

 

 

Digital Stamp: "Meet me at the Cafe" – My Favorite Things

The sentiment is a rub-on from Stampin' Up! and the flower is from K&Co.  The paper is from the Wild Asparagus collection from My Minds Eye.    (or maybe Magnolia Collection- I purchased a combo pack a year or so ago.)

I'm thinking of making up a couple more and sending them to my "Girls Night Out" friends.  It's been a while and it would be nice to meet everyone for dinner and a drink.

Come join the fun this week and be sure to hop over to Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays  to find out who the lucky winner of challenge #24 is.  It could be you!   While you are there, check out the rest of the DT's creations, it's sure to get those creative juices flowing.   Thanks for stopping by.  I unfortunately have another doctor's appointment and this time they are taking blood.

Until next time…

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I’m on a Sketch Challenge Roll

Posted by Micki on Friday, January 29th, 2010

Today is Friday which means it's my turn to post a project on the Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Blog.  Yesterday Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps released new digital stamps and I so wished I had more time to color all of the new digital stamps up to share with you today. However, for today I was able to finish two cards – yeah me :-) .
 

Digital Stamp:  Kate & Lizzy-Sisters illustrated by Korin Sutherland

When I first saw Kate & Lizzy I knew immediately that I had to add them to my digi stamp collection. They remind me of Emma and Gracy. I'm sure that it's no surprise that I would pick these Sisters to feature here today :-) .

For once I actually picked the DP, cardstock, flowers first and then colored the image. I even put the card together first which was (for once) super easy since I followed Korin's sketch. Korin is the guest host at SCS Sketch Challenge, filling in for Cindy Coutts.

I used papers from the Magnolia line from My Minds Eye and colored Kate & Lizzy with Copics. The flower petals are left over and came from my scrap bin as did the ribbon. (I'm so excited that I'm actually using up these left overs.) I kind of had to use the flower petals to hide a die-cutting mistake which left me wondering where to put the sentiment. I know I could have put it on the inside, but thought it added a nice touch right on top of the petals. Something a little different than your button or brad, don't you think?

My next card features the cutest, sweetest little mouse. It's Cupcake Cocoa.

 

Cupcake Cocoa – illustrated by Korin Sutherland

And guess what, for this card I followed the sketch from The Sweet Stop! I'm on a roll, lol!!!
Nothing fancy, just copics for coloring Cocoa and the cupcake, left over striped DP from my previous project and some red polka dot paper from DCWV. The flowers are from Prisma.

If you haven't visited Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps to see all the new releases, make sure you stop by….. you'll be glad you did.  

How would you like to win the WHOLE JANUARY DIGI BUNDLE!  Yup, that's right….all 14 sets!  Be sure to check the Sweet 'n Sassy Digis blog more information about Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps "Lots of Love" Blog Hop on February 1st!

 

Before I leave, here's a quick little video of Gracy and her Poppa doing what they do best….. lol

 

 

 

Until next time…

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