Cancer….. a six letter word.  Six tiny letters that have such a big impact on lives.   Cancer doesn’t judge or discriminate, doesn’t care if you are white or black, rich or poor.  It doesn’t care if you are Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or Muslim.  Cancer is not choosy,  it strikes young, old and any age in between.  Cancer just flat out doesn’t care.

It really makes my heart ache when it strikes children.  Toddlers, babies who have yet to live their lives.  Who are so resilient that we adults can learn from their bravery in dealing with this disease.   Last week I received an email from Korin  announcing that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is reaching out to a little girl with cancer. 

Kate Thornton diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in August of 2008 at the age of 3.   You can read more about Kate here at Kisses for Kate and be sure to watch the slideshow to learn more about Kate and her journey.  She is a princess at heart!

Korin designed this sweet digital stamp in Kate's honor.

100% of the proceeds of this stamp will go to the Thornton family.

Sadly, Kate’s journey ended on Saturday.   Her pain and suffering are over. 

Please pray for the Thornton family as they mourn the passing of their precious little girl.

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps  will still be collecting funds for her family through the sale of the Princess Kate digital stamp.  Please consider using it so others might know of brave little Princess Kate and help the family in this way. 

It’s the least I can do….. and so can you.  Help spread the word.  Regardless if you are a crafter or not,  consider getting this adorable digital stamp for your kids or grandkids.  What little girl wouldn’t love to color her?  

Even after jumping out of a tree, company visiting us over the weekend, I made time this morning before work to quickly create this precious princess card:

Korin,  she is precious.   Kate is smiling

Please consider sending your condolences to Kate's family….

The Thornton Family
c/o Kisses4Kate
PO Box  2266
Jamestown NC 27282

I’m playing along in the following challenges:

• Scrappekammeret: Anything Goes
• Polka Doodles #35: Shaped Card
• My Time To Craft #106:  Jewelled
• Little Paper Shop Blog:  Clean & Simple
• Dare U 2 Digi Stamp #45:  Shaped Card
• Stamp and Create# 5:  Pearls and Gems
• Creative Craft Challenges:  Going Round in Circles
• Crafty Creations Challenges #83:  White Plus One
• Crafty Cardmakers #29:  Clean & Simple
• Alphabet Challenge Blog: S for Scallops
• A Lota Rubber Stamps #42:  It’s a Fairytale

Until next time….. hug your loved ones a little tighter.

Talking about paper crafting,  check out the awesome sale over at MyGrafico:

TGIF…. gotta love it.    Go check it out!

Surprise Tamara!  Today is the day…… the day fellow DT Tamara and her family welcome another little one to the world .

And everyone on Lindsay’s DT family were excited when Lindsay secretly organized a cyber card shower for Tamara.   So today for Thursday with Lindsay will be a shower of gorgeous baby cards.  

For my card I chose the bassinette from the Babies n Bows digi set available at  Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. 

After coloring the bassinette, I decided (due to necessity) to add the trim.  Why?  You ask?  Guess….  my copic marker leaked.   Of course it leaked while I was finishing the image, not like at the start of me coloring it.  Noooooooo, lol. 

So, I found the smallest ruffled trim I had, which was still to long.  Now anybody else probably would have trashed the image and started over, sizing the bassinette to porportion with the ruffled trim.  Not I….. oh no, I decide to cut a slit and pull the trim through.

After pulling the trim through the cut, adjusting it to the bassinette trim, I used regular tape (on the back) to hold the trim in place.   Both the top and bottom ruffle are the same decorative trim.

I remembered that I had picked up the Special Delivery charm from Hobby Lobby’s clearance aisle for 50 cents – so glad that I grabbed it .    It certainly helped to hide the ink spot.

Decided to keep the card clean and simple with lots of white space.  For some visual interest I added some dry embossing. 

I can’t wait to check out what the rest of the DT created!   We were all pretty excited to surprise Tamara and I have to say Lindsay would make a great event organizer (I should know since I was one).

Cheryl Gorka DT Coordinator

Shannon Neparko

Margie Visnick

Lisa Jurecek

Tracey Allen

Melissa Craig

Leanne Garner

Cindi Hooks

Karin Martin

Jennifer Bliss

Rhonda Walker

Diane Bove

Laurel Seabrook

You want to make sure and stop by Lindsay’s blog.  I love her tutorials.  Check out her post from yesterday….. she explains all about kerning.

Before I leave, just one two more things….. 

Tamara, congratulations!   Babies are such a joy.   Sending hugs and kisses (and the card, lo)

And this card fits the following challenges:

The ABC Challenge:  Charms

Bee Crafty:  Anything Goes with a Digi

Crafty Creations #83:  White plus One

A Crafty Little Place #54:  Anything Goes

Cupcake Craft Challeng #106:  Let’s Get Digital

Daisy Doodles Creative Challenges #16:  Anything Goes

Just Add Ink #32: Just Add Material

My Sheri Crafts #20:  Babies

Lexi's Creations #21:  Emboss It

Pink Elephant – TPE82:  Mostly White

Thanks for stopping by.  I am gearing up (code for working my rear off) for the bi-annual city flea market/garage sale…. for once I’m actually glad that I have to go to work, hehehehe cuz that means hubby will be handling the garage sale Friday all by his lonesome! 

Until next time….

Happy 1st of September!  And welcome to a brand challenge at the Sisterhood of Crafters!

Before I get into the challenge details and show your my project, I want to announce the winner of my blog candy in celebration of fellow sister, Teri’s Delicious Doodles digi shops first anniversary celebration.   

And the winner via Random.org is…..  comment #15

Sandi DeFalco permalink

August 24, 2010

At the moment, my favorite is Polar Bears.  All of her digis are superb, but the ones that are done in a pencil sketch style are extraordinary!!
Sandi

Congratulations Sandi, you get to choose not one, not two but three digis of your choice from Teri’s Delicious Doodles  digi store.    Email me at artfulxpressions@ymail.com with your three digi choices .

Alright, on to the challenge this week.   This week’s hostess over at the Sisterhood of Crafters is Lisa and her challenge is to create Anything But A Card!

So I blew the dust off some stretched canvas, Making Memories paints and Glimmer Mists.   Throw into the mix some Grunge Paper, Grungeboard Elements and my stash of buttons from my sewing days and I went to town.  Did I mention Distress Inks? 

I didn’t keep track of what color paints or mists…. I just played and let me tell you it is a very good thing I wore an apron.   The sentiment stamp is from Unity Stamps stamped onto plain scrap paper which was then given the ‘mist’ treatment.   I didn’t paint the edges of the canvas because this will got into a black wooden frame.   Good stuff!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what fun projects the rest of my sisters came up with!  Head over to the Sisterhood of Crafters and get inspired.   Then come join us!  What fabulous Anything But A Card project are YOU going to be making?

This project qualifies for the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge: Park Inspiration

Bunny Zoe's Crafts:  Vintage  (the buttons for sure)

Cowgirls Sunday Stamp Challenge:  Handmade Flowers

Crafty Cardmakers: Glitter and Sparkle

My Time To Craft:  In the Garden

Creatilicious Challenges:  Vintage

A Crafty Little Place:  Anything Goes

Paper Cutz Challenge:  Metal

Thanks for stopping by -  until next time…..

Have you seen the new Chin Chou Kuik stamps at Sweet Pea Stamps?    They are somewhat different from her gorgeous fantasy art series.  They are totally, 100% adorable….. I love ‘em.  Ok, so I love all stamps, images, etc….  what can I say….. I try to spread the love .  But seriously you have got to check these out.

Is she not the cutest?  She is part of chin chou kuik’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ sheet 23, plate 65 from Sweet Pea Stamps.

Told ya, didn’t I.  Still gorgeous but a little different.  And so easy to color.  I know that a lot of crafters are intimidated by the intricate detail on her fantasy art stamps – I know I was – though you have to just play with those….. they are perfect to let your imagination totally roam.  Ok, I’m sidetracking here….. oh, yeah…these stamps are very easy to color and although these images are different, they still bear the trademark chin chou kuik signature…….the eyes.  

And with the kiddos back to school,  now is a perfect time to treat yourself to one (or two) of these awesome Sweet Pea Stamps  stamps.  Head over to the store now, because there is always a special going on.  Talking about specials…… check out the SPS DT blog and check out the challenge going on now…..  run…… .

Found a couple of challenges this card is suited for:

• Your Next Stamp Challenge #23:   Bold, Bright Cherry Colors
• CES Challenge #1:  Anything Goes
• Charisma Cardz Challenge #34:  Hot Hot Hot  …I’d say the red is Hot
• Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #93:  Annie Inspired (Red)
• Daisy Doodles Creative Challenges #16:  Anything Goes
• Just Add Ink #32:  Just Add Material
• Mami Doodles #8:  Creative Card Shape
• Alice In Wonderland Challenge #28:  Little Girl Theme

Until next time……

PS:  Did you guys catch the hint???  Go HERE…..

 Supplies Used:  

Plate 65 from Sweet Pea Stamps; image on Neenah Classic Crest 80lb Super Smooth Solar White, card base – GP, pink polka dot paper from DCWV Doodlin’ Around;   Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Copics ,  Faber-Castell India Ink markers; Spellbinders Nestabilities Label 8, Large Labels, Petite Oval Small and Long Rectangles Large; gemstone stickers from Martha Stewart; decorative trim from Hobby Lobby.

Good Sunday morning,

I know…. I rarely post on a weekend, thought I’d surprise everyone with a quickie post and a card. 

Remember when I talked about using a paint brush to apply Stickles?  (If you missed the post, you can find it HERE)   Since I had some left over, I went ahead and brushed the remaining Stickles that was left on the brush onto the wings and hair. 

This pretty ballerina is a digital stamp created by my friend, Stitchy of Stitchy Stamps.   I think Stitch has retired this digi stamp since I couldn’t find it in her store.   This stamp was released early last year (I think) when Digital-Ink Co shop was still open.  Stitchy has created her own forum and store and also has her own challenge blog:   One Stitch At A Time.    You go girl! 

The digi stamp is colored with Copics -  nothing special there.    Added the metal sentiment, which now looks lopsided – ok, just tilt your head to the right, lol.

I used  Spellbinders Label Ten to cut the card and background.  The image panel is cut with Spellbinders Mega Ovals and that’s it.  I actually created this card during my lunch break on Friday.    Geez, this mojo stuff really needs to get on a better timeline, lol….. always hits during work hours.

I do believe that this week’s challenge over at One Stitch At A Time is Girly or Color Scheme (or both) and I’d have to say this card definitely fits into either category!

This card also fits the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew Challenge – Sparkle & Shine

Flutter By Wednesdays #119 -  Butterfly, Fairy or Angels

Stamp with Fun – Card for Girls

Wild Orchid Challenges – Make It Sparkle

I think that about covers it…..  it’s 2:30 AM and I really need to get to bed.   Another 9 hours of PS and PC frustrations today…..  sigh!

Until next time….

I have to tell you about some adorable…. and I mean adorable  little cuties.   Sshhhhhhh, I'll give you a hint.  Look at the bottom of the post)

You thought I’d be sharing  a picture of  Abby,  right?  I am such a tease…. sorry!

I want you to check out the adorable babies HERE at the SPS DT blog.   Sweet Pea Stamps is having a Back To School contest.  The BEST is that the winner wins a sheet of Sweet Pea Stamps  and OH my gosh….. did you see the sheets that are newly released?  Or the ones that are coming out soon???? 

Before you head over there to check these cute babies out,  I am throwing out a challenge…. enter Sweet Pea Stamps Back To School Challenge and come back here to tell me you entered it.  Your name will go into a drawing and one randomly chosen winner will receive one Sweet Pea Stamps sheet of their choice from me!!!  You can enter as many times as you like… meaning that for every entry to SPS Back To School Challenge you can come back here and enter your name in Mr. Linky.    BUT wait…….

For every entry that correctly matches me to my baby picture, your name will go into a separate drawing and one randomly chosen winner will win their choice of Sweet Pea Stamps full unmounted rubber sheet.

So there you have it….. I’m giving away 2 chances to win a choice of Sweet Pea Stamps full unmounted sheets.   Ok, to recap on how to enter my Sweet Pea Stamps candy give-away:

Chance #1:      Must enter the Back To School Challenge at the SPS DT blog then come back here and enter your name into Mr. Linky.  I will get with Jennifer, SPS DT Coordinator after the contest ends to verify my contest entries with the Back To School Challenge entries.

Chance #2:      I will get the entries that correctly matched my baby picture to me.  The names will go into a bucket and (after much whining to convince me)  Miss Emma will draw the winner.   And because Miss Gracy also wants to be part of the action,  I will have a 2nd prize winner, who will receive 10 sheets of Neenah Classic Crest 80lb Solar White card stock and a package of embellishments.      

You have until August 31st to enter.  My two winners will be announced here Sunday, September 5th.   Come on…help SPREAD THE WORD!!!!!      NOTE:  Mister Linky is at the bottom of this post…….THIS CANDY IS NOW CLOSED!!

While you are at the SPS DT blog,  you might want to go and head over to the Sweet Pea Stamps shop.  Ohh,  (droolin’ here)….. all those gorgeous, magical new releases.  And now’s the time to grab ‘em,  Sweet Pea Stamps is offering FREE shipping on orders over $25.

International customers only pay a flat rate of $4.95 if paying via PayPal.  How awesome is that?  Cuz we all know how expensive that shipping can get and I don’t know about you, but I would rather spend that money on stamps.

PLUS…. save $5 on orders totalling over $30.  Just use coupon code:  Coupon1  in the coupon section at checkout – limit one time use per person.      Wowsers, that’s a lot of information to process, lol.  Be sure to head to Sweet Pea Stamps shop for all the details.

And to add some more info….. be sure to check out the rest of the DT.  A little birdie tells me that more Sweet Pea Stamps candy is waiting…… just sayin’ .     

So, anybody still around to check out my card?  LOL….. I had a heck of a time finalizing my card.  Why?  Because I was bound and determined to follow a sketch for one of the sketch challenges.  Did I?   Ha, in the end I got so frustrated that I said to hell with it.  I finally finished up Samantha Rawling’s ‘Lil Witch’ from Sweet Pea Stamps  Plate #62. 

Finished it up at around midnight last night….. ugh…. and it’s nothing special, just a plain card!   I do like the background though.  I used colored pencils, purple around the edges of the image panel, gray pencil closer to the stamped and colored (with copics) image.  Then I used a Dove Blender Pen and blended all the pencil marks/area.  Lastly I took my Ranger Blending Tool and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and went over the background right on top of the blended pencil area.  I also used a Ranger Inkssentials White Pen to add some more highlights.  (You know me and the battle of the highlights….).

I tell ya this card battled with me….. the ribbon, the twine and button….. they were out to get me and almost won, lo……

Several challenges out there which this card qualifies for:

Truly Scrumptious  Challenge #39:  Buttons n Bows

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge #56:  Buttons n Bows

Annabelle Stamps:  Say it with Bows

Oh and I won third place at Polka Doodles.  How exciting….. woohoo what a way to end the week.  Although I was unery yesterday and actually had a great, fun day at work, lol.  Oh you don't wanna know

I better get going….. wish I had a magic wand to magically clean my craft room….. .    But before I go, here's a little hint which of those cute babies is me:

A little birdie tells me that my fellow Sweet Pea Stamps DTs are also hiding hints on their blogs!

Don't forget to come back here and sign up via Mr. Linky (below)….. until next time…..

Yup, there are days when the best thing you can do is just hang on and enjoy or endure the ride  .   I used to ride, not like that mind you.  Growing up in Germany, I used to take lessons.  My friend and I would go riding every chance we could get.   That’s been ages ago…. now the only thing I ride besides life’s rollercoaster is a two wheeled one, lo.

I picked up this stamp at the  Heartfelt Creations booth last year at the CK show.   Sigh, lot’s of gorgeous cards and scrapbook pages and of course a whole lot of stamps to drool over.  I did pick up this stamp called Ride Em’ Cowboy.    I received a gorgeous card from my friend, Debbi featuring this stamp,  so it was a no brainer when I saw this stamp sitting on the shelf.  I bought it .

I have these retired Delta Purecolor pigment ink bottles which I got at a close out store and used the bronze color to blend in the background.   The sentiment is computer generated.   I really like how this card turned out, except maybe next time I’ll make the sentiment darker.

There are a couple of challenges this card fits into:

 Ellephantastic Challenge Blog #8:  Male Project

and my friend Stitchy’s One Stitch At A Time Challenge Blog #27:  Say It With Shapes 

Thanks for stopping by.  I don’t know about you but I am so glad it’s Friday.  I am hoping to get my craft room cleaned – it needs it badly, really badly!!!!   Wanna come help me?

And I promise, cross my heart, I will have pictures of Abby to share. 

Until next time…..

I’ve got lots to cover today so I’ll jump right in .

With the kids heading back to school, now is a great time to do a little shopping in anticipation of the extra crafting time you’ll have (sigh, I wish).  Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is having her End of Summer Sale which started at midnight and runs until midnight Saturday.   Every thing is 30% off…. woohoo!

Speaking of kids heading back to school, Emma starts school next Wednesday, September 1st.  I know she is very excited and Gracy is going to be very sad.  Gracy is lost without her big sis.  I think the transition of Emma going back to school will be harder for Gracy than for their mom or their nana .

I decided to create a quick card for Emma using Lindsay's Stamp Stuff  digital stamp from the School Rules digital set:

Ok, to be totally honest, I had no mojo – no coloring mojo or layout mojo.   But it’s very colorful which is how Emma likes her cards.

I sized the stack of books relatively large to create a standard business size card.  Colored with copics then added some chalk lightly around the image.  The Learn Bingo card I printed first onto regular paper,  found some DSP from my scraps and using temporary adhesive applied the piece of DSP directly over the printed bingo image, then reprinted using the same piece of paper.   Added some colorful paperclips and called it good.     The School Rules digital set has so many great digi stamps and with Lindsay's End of Summer Sale going on, now is the perfect time to pick up this great set (ahem, and check out all the other awesome digi stamps and SVG files ).

Before I send you over to Lindsay's blog, where you can pick up an awesome freebie, I want to welcome the newest addition to the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff design team.   We are all so happy to have Laurel Seabrook as part of our LSS family.   Be sure to stop by Laurel’s blog, Want 2 Scrap and check out her  awe inspiring projects .   Talking about awe inspiring projects, check out the rest of the design teams projects. 

Cheryl - Shannon - Margie - Lisa – Tracey – Melissa - Leanne

 Tamara – Cindi – Me – Karin - Jennifer - Rhonda 

Diane - Tracy - Laurel

Don’t forget to check out Lindsay's My Grafico shop to take advantage of this great sale …… it ends Saturday at midnight! 

I'm submitting this card to the Back To School challenge over at ABC Design Blog .

Thanks so much for stopping by, I’m going to see if I can find some of that mojo after work tonight…. wish me luck

right?   Only excuses to embellish or in this case, finding new techniques.   It’s my day to post on the  Sweet Pea Stamps DT blog today.   And by now you’ve got to know that pretty much every project involves a mistake.  Be it glue or ink smudges, stray ink marks, etc….. you get the drift.  And you also know that I’ll share those, uhmmm, creative opportunities with you!  (oohh creative opportunities….. yeah, that’s what they are!)

So before I tell you today’s ‘Creative Opportunity’, I thought I’d show you the card:

I used Elaine Coxs' Flower Tail Mermaid from Plate #48.   I stamped her onto Neenah Classic Crest Millstone 80lb card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.   The base coloring is with Copics, then I went back with my Pitt Artist Pens and added some detail.   Most of the detail is so subtle you can't see it in the picture, except for her tail.   I also used the gray Pitt Artist pen to outline the stamped image.    I tend to always do this after the image is completely colored in. Why? Lo, if you know me at all, it's to hide any little stray colors that may have escaped the lines and to give the stamped image a bit of dimension.

I LOVE red, seriously love it, but coloring red hair scares me, lol.   I have such a hard time capturing the true highlights, not just with red hair, but any hair color.  And just like any other time when I first colored the hair, this image almost went into the trash.   I've learned though to walk away, let the ink dry and then come back and 'play' with it which I did.   Not perfect by any means – I often wonder if I'll ever get that highlight thing down – but she was definitely a keeper .

(oh in case you wonder why I don't give specific copic colors used – because I use so many different colors that in the end I stop keeping track).
Because the red, orange and yellow copic ink bled into the flowers, I used my Pitt Artist pens to color these in and then 'hid' any bleeds by adding the rhinestone stickers.  To fill in the background, I used a watercolor pencil in a dark yellow and then blended it with a blender pen. Now to my mistake creative opportunity, lol.

I've learned from experience to always squirt out the first dollop of Stickles onto scratch paper because it never fails that a whole big glob of stickles will explode out of the nozzle. Well, I wasn't going to waste this glittery blob so I grabbed a paint brush and painted it on.

Honestly, I love it. At first I didn't think the glitter would be visible, but it really does show up nicely. And using a paint brush allowed me a little more control. Especially since I used a sturdy bristle brush.
I used some scrap wired ribbon. Curled the ends with my metal 'curlers' from Boye (from my quilting/doll sewing days) and tucked the ends underneath the image panel. The green fiber tissue was from a gift package, can you believe that? I'm so glad I kept it because that color green is perfect and adds a nice texture. Added a couple more rhinestone stickers and then decided to use the the square Edgar Allen Poe sentiment from Sweet Pea Stamps  Plate #1 .   Because I didn't pre-plan my card, the full sentiment was too large, so I just cut the word Dream out and framed it on the brown oval card stock. Oh and I just had to give that cute bunny a fluffy little tail

I’m actually pretty happy with the way this card turned out and am thinking I will be using a paint brush to apply Stickles more often .

I hope this inspired you to just experiment. With copics, with watercolors, pencils, glues, you name it. Sometimes the best results come from mistakes.  Before I sign off, I have to gush about the new stamp releases at Sweet Pea Stamps.   I’m not kidding when I say I’m drooling.  You really need to check it out…. seriously, head over to Sweet Pea Stamps .    Just sayin’ . 

With all the glitter, colors and theme of this card, it qualifies for several challenges:

Alota Rubber Stamps:  Fall Color Challenge

Bee Crafty Challenge 36:  Ribbon & Bows

Clearly I Stamp:  Cute & Fuzzy

Creative Card Crew:  Sparkle & Shine

ECP Challenges:  Girly

Oh,  if I haven’t said it before, which I know I have…… you – yes, you – rock.  Your comments truly mean a lot to me and is what keeps me motivated to continue blogging especially when my work week is ahem, less than desirable.   Luv you guys LOTS!

PS:  Anyone know if there is a plug-in for Windows Live Writer to create a template as in table for products used?  I just don’t want to have to create a table, format it, etc every time, kwim?