Some Birthday Cuddles for you...

Good day peeps! I am back again with another card for the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge.

Last week we had an amazing member turnout for our “Best Friends” twist, and I'll tell ya there were some great projects submitted. It’s funny how some challenges are more appealing than others, but it seems "girlfriends” took the cake on this one.

This week our Anything Goes with a Twist is “Teddy Bears”.

I’ll bet we will see a lot of projects for this one too, because everyone loves Teddy Bears, don’t we?

Here is mine...

This stamp is called “Popcorn the Bear” and it’s from Crafter’s companion. I must say that it was indeed a very labour intensive image to colour, and then to do the layering, well you can only imagine. So I don’t think I will be doing this one very often, and perhaps I will make it a much smaller image to work with next time. Either way, I love how it turned out. It’s so fun and bright, great for a child or young person’s birthday.  

I stamped the image onto Neenah card-stock and coloured it up with my Copic markers.

Teddy Bear: E30, 32, 33, W3

Blanket: YR21, 23, 24

Balloons: R000, 00, 02, 05, 08, W1

BG000, 01, 05, W3

YG21, 23, 25, W1

Y00, 02, 06, 08, YR 16, 18

R21, 24, 27, 29, W5

V02, 04, 08

  The papers are from my stash and the sentiment comes with the image, as well as a few others.

I used various accents such as, Smooch Illuminate & Glitz, Glossy Accents, various Atyou Spica pens, ribbon and some gems.

I hope you will join us this week over at the Outlawz challenge group, but before I let you go I want to provide you with a little bit of trivia. This way I will know if you read my blog from beginning to end, LOL.

Do any of you know the origins of the Teddy Bear?

 I didn't and was curious, so I went to Wikipedia, and boy was I surprised to learn what I did. 

The name Teddy Bear comes from former United States President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was "Teddy". The name originated from an incident on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino. There were several other hunters competing, and most of them had already killed an animal. A suite of Roosevelt's attendants, led by Holt Collier,[2] cornered, clubbed, and tied an American Black Bear to a willow tree after a long exhausting chase with hounds. They called Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he should shoot it. He refused to shoot the bear himself, deeming this unsportsmanlike, but instructed that the bear be killed to put it out of its misery,[3][4] and it became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post on November 16, 1902.[5] While the initial cartoon of an adult black bear lassoed by a handler and a disgusted Roosevelt had symbolic overtones, later issues of that and other Berryman cartoons made the bear smaller and cuter.

Cool eh? So there you have it, thanks for stopping by JS

Friendship Needs No Words...

Yikes, did that week fly by or what?  

Most Torontonian’s, including us residents in the GTA mark the end of summer when the Canadian National Exhibition (The CNE, The Ex) opens, and it did just that this past Friday. 

So it’s over folks, summer that is, and it makes me very sad because we all know what is lurking behind all this glorious warmth…Ugh, old man winter!

Let’s not dwell on that shall we….

I would like to thank all of you crafty peeps that stopped by my blog last week, and took the time to leave me some of the most amazing and inspiring compliments I’ve ever received.  Please know that you've all made me feel so wonderful. Thank you.

Now, getting down to business… this week over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge we have a brand new Anything Goes challenge and this week’s twist is 

“Best Friends”.

I have chosen a Kraftin’ Kimmie stamp called "Bench Friends".  It has been in my collection for some time now and I have never used it until now.

  I couldn’t think of anything cuter to illustrate a great friendship. Can you?

I stamped the image onto Neenah card-stock and coloured it up with my Copic markers.

Dress/Socks/Bow – R00, 02, 05, 08, W03

Teddy bear – E30, 31, 33, 35

Bench – W00, 03, 05, 08, E33

Shoes – W03, 05, 07

Grass – YG03, 05, 07

Hair – E50, 51, E44, 47, 49

Skin – E000, 00, 11

The papers are from s.e.i’s Promise Me Companion set. 

I am totally loving the 3D layering technique and I've also chosen deep colours as the papers in this collection are somewhat muted or distressed if you will. 

Combining the two I wanted the image to pop off the card. Take a closer look below, what do you think?

Again this week I have chosen a sketch from 

Tuesday Morning Sketches, #160 is up and running.

I really liked this particular sketch and they actually have four to pick from. You've probably noticed by now that I am drawn to the more simplistic designs. It takes me long enough to make a card as it is, and I don't need to be fussing with so many other details or I would be at my craft table forever!

Well that’s all I have for you today peeps, so get your creative juices flowing, and I hope to see you over at the challenge. Thanks for stopping by JS

Ye Ole Fisherman...

Good morning faithful followers, tis I back again with another Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge.

This week our Anything Goes with a twist is all about “Boating”.

I thought this a perfect opportunity to make a man card with this challenge.  I’m sure most of you’ll agree with the fact that man cards are really hard to do. I find them challenging because I look at them, and they look so empty because you can’t put on pretty flowers, bling, ribbons and the like. Heck, I didn’t even have anything in my stash remotely connected to a boat.  

But there is an upside to this because I got to go shopping at one of my favourite digi stores, Mo’s Digital Pencil.

I have seen this particular Mo’s image from time to time on various blogs, and I pretty much knew that one day I would have it too. Now I do, and so can you too, (enabler alert, sorry) here.

If you remember my post last week I talked about a new 3D technique that I'd learned. Well, I gave it another go round and this time I did a few more areas. I love this technique, albeit it’s a wee bit more labour intensive. I have issues with my fine motor skills, and it takes me a bit longer with scissors, but I look at it like its physiotherapy J

Have a closer look…

I printed out the image onto Neenah cardstock and coloured it with Copic markers.

Boat: W00, 01, 03, 05, 07 and E31

Shirt: BG70, 72

Hat, Pants and Rods: E30, 31, 34, 35

Tackle Box: E02, 04, 07

Bucket & Bait: W00, 03, 05, BG10

Water: BG70, 72, 10

The DP is from My Mind’s Eye, Miss Caroline collection.

I added a bit of ribbon, but my husband told me to nix the bow. Instead after hours of trying to think of and/or find something else to use as embellies, I came up with the idea of nautical knots, hence the three figure eight knots I made with a scrap piece of string.

The sentiment is computer generated and it’s a quote I had saved by someone I can’t remember. I thought it fitting for this particular image.

For a change I followed a legitimate sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches and will be entering my card over there. 

So that's it for me, I hope to see you over at the Outlawz and once again thank you for taking the time to stop by. Again, thank you so much for all of your very kind comments, I do so enjoy reading them . Cheers :)S 

Yippy!! It's Your Birthday...

Well hello there crafty peeps! I hope you’re all well and enjoying this wonderful summer weather that we’ve been having here in Southern Ontario. I love it hot, not so much humid, but definitely hot. In fact it actually helps with my medical condition. The damp, cold, low pressure weather just seems to make my symptoms worsen and brings on more pain than normal.

Anyway, enough about that, it is yet again another “Anything Goes” with a twist challenge over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursdays, and this week our twist is, “Ribbon or Lace and a Birthday Sentiment”.   Easy Peasey!!!

Now before I show you my card, I just want to mention that I’ve tried a new method to giving my images more definition. Up until now I used pop dots to prop things up, but I found this awesome blog that does it way cooler! You probably know about her blog already; A Scrapjourney.

Debby Yates aka Debby 4000 has the most amazing cards, they are alive and pretty much jumping off the paper. When I saw one of her cards for the first time I was like, “oh my gosh, I have to find out who this is and how this is done!” So, I did and I have, and this is the very first card that I’ve made using her technique, albeit I have treaded lightly until I have it mastered.

Debby has a 3D tutorial on her blog which I simply followed; she was also kind enough to banter back and forth with me via email to answer a few questions that I had. Basically, you cut various areas of your image that you want to define more, and instead of using pop dots you use a silicone glue/adhesive. Now Debby obviously is a pro at this, so please keep that in mind. I started with just a few areas such as her pinafore, boots, bunny and funny face until I feel more confident. The nice thing about the silicone is you control the size and depth of the blob...sorry couldn't think of another word.

I hope you can see in the above photo what I am talking about; if not pop over to Debby's blog to see the magic for yourself.

This cute little image is a Mo Manning digi which I’ve coloured using my Copic markers. 

DP's are from Recollection's Elegance collection, some scraps, and the sentiment is my own (computer). I used my memory box corner die, and than added flowers using my Martha Stewart punch. I used a Viva Decor black pearl pen for the centers.

I am entering my card over at Through the Classroom Door challenge... Anything goes with a twist...white with two other colors - natural hair and skin colors are OK.

I hope to see you over at the Outlawz TT challenge this week, thanks for stopping by :)S

Scrappy Dues Blog Candy...

Hi there crafty peeps, I have a quick little post for you today just to give you the heads up on something you just might want to know.

If you are not already a follower of my really good friend Darlene Lyons' blog Scrappy Dues, then you just might want to be as soon as you finish reading my post.

Darlene and I have been crafting in some shape or form together now for several years. We both started colouring with Copics around the same time, and we also stepped out of our comfort zones together to create our own blogs as well.

Darlene has really taken off, and she is celebrating her 200 member mark. She is so proud of that achievement and rightfully so. To say thank you to all of you that help keep her motivated and inspired she is offering some amazing blog candy.  


Click on the link below or at the top of my sidebar to take a peek at the video a mutual friend of ours created to help her announce and celebrate this occasion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGMdz-Zpzc&feature=player_embedded

So hop on over to Scrappy Dues and say hello to Darlene, wish her well and join in on the fantastic blog candy!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend JS

Angelic Harp...

 Good day crafty peeps and happy Twisted Thursday to you!

Wow, does time fly or what? I can’t believe that it’s August already. Why is it that the summer just seems to fly by so fast?

I hope you all enjoyed our last Outlawz TT challenge, “A Day at the Beach” because I know that I did. 

For those of you that participated I must say you certainly know how to capture the beach theme. Great show of creativity and thanks for sharing with us!

This week our anything goes twist is “things that fly”, and I thought I would create another card for my Christmas stash, because I just needed an opportunity to use my new

LOTV “Angelic Harp” stamp.

I stamped her on Neenah card-stock with Memento Black Ink, then I coloured her with my Copic markers.

Gown: BG01 000 0000

Wreath Crown: G85 82

Clouds & Wings: C00 01 02, BG10 000

Hair: E53 59 25

Harp & Stars: YR24, Y15 11 00

Skin: Eoo 000

Extras: Stickles (Wings), Atyou Red Spica Pen (Berries), Glossy Accents (Harp) and Smooch Illuminate (Gown)

 To finish things off I used my Memory Box Frosty Border die and then added some glitter. The DP paper is from My Mine's Eye Holiday Glitter Collection. I made the flowers with my Martha Steward punch and lastly just added some ribbon and a star stick pin.

The sentiment is a line from the classic Christmas carol

 "What child is this" and inside the card I used the first verse  of the actual carol. For extra dimension I coloured and then cut out an extra pair of clouds. 

So there you have it, another Christmas card for my stash. I think I will enter a challenge myself over at Christmas Card Challenges, this week their theme is use something new, well this Lilli of the Valley Stamp is new to me. 


I hope you will join us again this week so I can see your creations. Thanks for stopping by :)S