Winter Forest

Here's a card I sent out for a "swap". The theme of the swap was Winter Forest and this is what came into mind for me.  Two separate stamp sets, both from Stampin' Up.  I love embossing folders/texture plates, it seems like I always use the snowflake one like this.  It went over well and ended up being a really, really fun swap!

Image was colored with very limited Copics.  In order to acquire most of the shading I used the same color and just went over the shadow areas again, later, when the ink had dried! 

Girls, girls, girls!

Awhile back I joined a "kit club".  Basically, how it worked was, you would make a "kit" for every person in that group.  Each kit would include a stamped image, designer paper, some embellishments and whatever else you wanted to include.  Upon recieving the kit, you would then assemble them and send them out to each member.  In return you would receive "their" cards that they had made.  It was so fun to see how different everyone made their cards using the same supplies you had received.

In this case I had received a few extras images/DS paper (very thoughtful incase of an oops!)

I used all the odds and ends and came up with these "misfits"

So fun to see how you can play with your Copics and change it up a bit!

Which is your favorite?

"Ready to Ride"

I love this stamp.

I found it on Ebay and manage to wrangle it for under $20.  Of course, for cowgirl reasons I love it, but I aslo love it because it challenges me so much everytime I color it.  There's the sky and the ground and that pesky fence.  The biggest challenge for me is not to keep reaching for the brown markers!  I used the "0" blender with the cotten pad again, just because. I also used the Nestibilites and an embossing plate from sizzix.  The plate was a recent gift to myself. :)

Do you like his Silver Belly Stetson?  Should he be riding a Palamino?  How about a "white oak" fence?

Don't you just love coloring?

"Ahoy!"

Another stamp set that's been in my mind......as I look out the window watching the snow fall and dream of summer.  Experimenting with backgrounds yet!  I used the "0" blender on this one again along with the cotton pad. I used it on the grass as well and really like how it turned out!  I think I might promote myself to another Nestibilites.....this is my one and only and there so fun and simple to use. Do you have any favorites?

"Oh for a horse with wings!"

Don't you just love Shakespeare?

I love this set from Stampin' Up and it's the first time I used it with Copics!

I had a vision and it's safe to say it came close.  Next time I want to play with the horses coat and add some texture to it.  I recently purchased lots of the warm grey Copics.....that's why your seeing a lot of grey horses. 

I pulled out the "0" colorless blender bottle as well again.  Tackling those backgrounds and decided on this technique.  I grabbed a faithful cotten circle pad (face cleaning type) and added a couple drops of the blender to it and daped it on the sky/sunset for a cloudy effect.  I also kept going right on into the dust/ground for some texture as well.

Then just built a simple card with Nestibilites and an embossing plate.

......and the color choices.  Sorry for the blur.  It's not easy for my vintage digital to focus in on the color codes.  It's one of my excuses for wanting a Canon Rebel!

CMIT Blog Monthly Challenge!

I'm so excited!  This is my very first "Challenge" I signed up for after procrastinating for years!  I found this great blog one night when I was shopping on Ebay.  They have an awesome store with some great buys and finds!  As an added perk, I found they had a blog as well that offered some fabulous prizes.......so why not?!

The rules were simply, become a follower of the blog and create an "Easter" design.  Gotta like that!  The best part?  A quiet sunny Sunday morning spent with my daughter working on our projects together!

There are some things you just don't share....like Copics....therefore my daughter used good o'l crayolas on her entry for Papa Murphy's and I hogged all the Copics to myself for my card.

On my Easter card, I used a stamp from Stamin' Up and many, many copics.  For some finer details I used a pattern tracer and then fauxed stiched it in pink and added a flower/brad for a spring time look....since it just snowed out here yesterday in Mn....we added the flower for some reassurance that Spring, one day, will come.

Giddy Up!

It's been a quiet day here today and I managed to find a few minutes to color and even go from there and build the entire card!  Naptime is a beautiful thing....
I found this stamp on Ebay and thought he'd like to join me and the other western stamps around here!  It's the first time I've used it and I had fun with it.  Struggled again with a shadow and thought about adding some background details, but maybe next time.....naptime didn't last long!

I used a nestibility and embossed it using the same gadget with my Big Shot.

Then a pattern tracer that was gifted to me from the Forester Ranger on SCS.

Then trimmed up the designer paper with a SU deckle scissor that had some dust on it!

.....and my color choices this time around.

Snow day in MN!

The kids were all home from school today thanks to Mother Nature, so we pulled out the crayons and markers....... including me!

This is the little guy I've been dreamin about, except he was a lot smaller than I'd remembered.

A lot smaller.

choice of markers

This is "0" blender refill.  Buy some. It is a MUST have with Copic

creations.  The dirty swatch it's laying on is use for texture in some of my cards.  If you take a close look at the boys blue jeans, you'll see they have a textured look to them just like ours do! 

It's real simple and o' so cool! 

 It would be ideal to color the textured area first, then sqirt a small amount of blender refill on your swatch and press onto the color area that you want some texture to.  Wala!  Done.

Just think of ALL the textures you have laying around your home that are just waiting for you!

Simply adding texture to that purse, sweater or critter on your image would look amazing.

Give it a try and send us a sneak peak!

As a treat, the first person to leave a comment to this posting and subscribe to the blog will receive this card as a gift!

The Grey Mare

Here's a stamp I received for a gift from a friend on SCS.  This was my first color with it and I really struggled with the ground.....as you can probably tell!  Glad I have the stamp for endless images to practice with.  Next time I'll add some clouds to the background as well.

For the horses I used the "cool" greys.  I also used a  #0 "blender" pen to pull some of the grey color out of the areas I wanted to highlight on the horses.

If your new to the blender pen, make note to self.  This pen does not blend, it pulls/draws the color out of the paper.  Good news is, if you screw up...just add your color back in and try again!

Enjoy the Journey!

I received this image in an "image swap".  Thought he was pretty cute and really enjoyed coloring him.  My favorite part is the crystal effects on his goggles! 

Here's the Copics I worked with......

I've been busy!

I've put down the Copics to cuddle for awhile!  "Brogan Hollis" arrived on December 19th and has me wrapped around his lil' finger already.  I never stood a chance! :)