Nature's Beauty

I bought some water color paper last week and have been itching to use it.  I haven't use watercolor pencils since I became addicted to Copics.  I use to water color all the time but just on plane card stock.  The fawn was a little difficult to color. But I am my biggest critic.

This stamp is from Stampabilities and the sentiment is Paper Trey Ink.  I misplaced the package that the gorgeous die came in @#$%.  The white leave is a Martha Stewart punch.  I cut the oval and label with Spellbinders dies.  The paper is a company I've never heard of before, Me and My Big Ideas. 

A Perfect Day

I had the most amazing day...  I took a vacation day with no plans in mind.  I just have to start using or loosing. I took Hubby (he's retired) to breakfast, did my grocery shopping and baked some brownies.  The smells of  the brownies baking and coffee brewing along with sun streaming into my craft room made me more relaxed than I've been in months.  It just couldn't have been sweeter. It's true, that the simplest things in life are to be cherished.  Today was all about me.  I could get used to this.  Hmm!

This is a digi from A Day For Daisies that I colored with Copics.  I cut it out and placed it on  layers of DP from K&Company.  If you know me, you know I've made a boo boo, by the embellishments.  My gorgeous cover-up-flowers are from Jolee's Boutique. "Smiles" is a favorite from Stampabilities. And of course I had to use a little Martha Stewart glitter on the leaf and the stem.

Missed it!

I saw this  Clean and Simple Challenge  layout a few days and just knew I  had to make something.  The problem is that the challenge is over. Pay attention Gail!  Read and take notes, because I can no longer rely on my memory to keep things is order.  Oh well, I can't waste a good card.

The flower and the sentiment are from Stampabilities.  The backdrop is a Stampin Up that I've had for years. The only color to the one flower was done with Copic R30 and RV04. I used Paper Trey Ink's rick rack die at the bottom of the sentiment and used a Cuddle Bug damask embossing folder for the bottom portion of the card. Jewels were added to give the card a little more balance.

You can find the original challenge design here .

Penny Black Christmas in July Challenge

I could make Christmas cards all year long, and some do.  I just kind of like wait, because it puts me in that "Happy Place" when it's 15 Deg. with a wind chill of -15 Deg and the sun hasn't shown for days. Can you tell, I really like Winter?
Well, I ran across this challenge at Buttons for Brains (cute name). So I am entering this Penny Black's Christmas in July Challenge.

This is poinsettia is "Winter Glow" and I think I've used this every year since I purchased it. I'ts a large stamp, so there not a lot of layout variations, but there are many ways to display the flower. The sentiment is Stampabilities. I used Copics and Stickles for the center of the flower.  Both punches are from Martha Stewart and the DP is K&Company.

Now that I've got the itch, I won't want to stop making Christmas cards. And of course, that means more shopping.

Annie

The extended weekend over the 4th allowed Sherri and I to get together and make cards Saturday and Monday. Great fun. We have our own little DT consisting of Sherri, her cat and me.  Sherri made 3 and I made one. The woman is fast and talented. Here is what I made.

This is Annie. She is one of the front and back series from Art Impressions.  She was colored with Copics. Since her clothes were suggested sailing, I thought I would have her looking from a port hole.  One I had her colored, I traced a Spellbinders die to make the port hole and colored it with grays. I also used a Spellbinders die to cut her out and mount her on DP from My Mind's Eye.  Sherri had given me those fabulous die cut corners a long time ago, so I can't tell you which Company. I did have to scold her, because I could only find 3, so this was my solution. The sentiments are as follows:  "Miss You" and "sending you smiles across the miles" are Paper Trey Ink and "Happy Birthday" is Stampabilities. The flowers on the inside are Penny Black.  


Check out Sherri's blog here to see what the other half of our two person DT made.