Coloring...

One of my most favorite aspects of papercrafting is coloring! M-m-m... I admit that I LOVE to color! It's so relaxing and satisfying. I tend to stick to open stamps so I can color them.




Last Friday night I really wanted to sit down and stamp but instead I spent the time with my husband. We sat down together and put on a movie. Thankfully Andrew didn't mind when I moved to the table and pulled out my supplies to color while the movie was going. It was nice to listen to the movie with my husband on the couch filling me in on what I was missing with my eyes. By the time the DVD's were done I had these wonderful images all prettied up and ready to be made into cards later. When I play with coloring like this it's usually an experiment. This time around was no different. I recently acquired a small collection of Copic markers and thought I'd give try at blending Prismacolor pencils on top of them. This worked out beautifully and I have Marianne to thank for the coloring tips.



I don't know if you've visited Marianne's blog, I Like Markers, yet but if you are in love with coloring like I am her site is a must. Marianne is a Copic master and she graciously shares her marker techniques in a way that the average stamper like me can grasp. I've gone through a couple of her tutorials and in doing so I've been able to notice more about color and coloring techniques. Actually, I've perused through her entire blog and I can't wait for her to post more! Someday I hope to become Copic certified!

Oh, thank you for visiting me today. It is a blessing to be a part of your lives and to be able to have a place to share.

Smiles,

Sneak-a-PEAK

Have you been keeping up with all the Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peaks? All these wonderful sneak previews are leading to an awesome month of new stamps at CDS! Here's one of my samples made with "Cruisin' Classic". I came across the shiny silver chipboard in the packing material of a trinket or something of the like. I was about to throw it away when it caught my eye. I had no idea when I stuffed it in my scrap drawer that it would become a car bumper. ;-)

I thank God for giving me the inspiration to make my CDS samples. I'll have more share tomorrow.

Check out these wonderful creations from more of the CDS design team:
Jane's Creative Process
Jen Ofiana
Kate Hughes
Monique Hawrelluk



BIG SMILES,


CARD DETAILS:
Clear Dollar Stamps
Crusin' Classic
Basic Grey Cardstock
DCWV Metallic Silver Cardstock
Recycled Shiny Silver Chipboard
Palette Ink
Sakura Silver Pen
Copic Multiliner
Copic Marker
Cuttlebug Argyle Folder
Silver Eyelets

Recycle...

Am I the only one that recycles cards? I've rarely done it but sometimes the papers and design are too tempting to resist. I was in a real stamping loll when this happy card came about. An addition of mine here and there and wha-la... a new creation is born. I am so thankful to have had a great design to play with and to be able to spread the joy with regiving the gift of a handmade birthday card.



I hope you are having a splendid weekend.

Smiles,


CARD DETAILS:
Base card from Vicki
Stamp Attic Eskimo Girl
Sentiment from CTMH
Palette Ink
Copic Markers
Prismacolor Pencils w/ Gamsol
Stickles
Prima Flowers
Michael's Dollar Ribbon

Sneak-a-PEAK

There's some Fall in the air... yep, Clear Dollar Stamps is debuting a new leafy set this coming Monday! There is so much versatility with this set of images and sentiments that I can't wait for you all to be able to get your hands on it too. The entire collection has such a classic feel to it. Here's one of my samples that I designed especially for Clear Dollar Stamps and it's going to be perfect for the next wedding I go to.

Here are links to more Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Previews:

Katie Renz
Cards By America
Laurie Wilson
Monique Hawrelluk
Lori's Gallery

I hope your week is well and full of blessings.

Big SMILES,


CARD DETAILS:
Clear Dollar Stamps
Autumn Blessings
DCWV Silver Metallic Cardstock
SU! Vellum Cardstock
Palette Ink
Silver Pigment Ink & Silver Embossing Powder
SU! Pearls from the Pretties Kit
White Ribbon Dollar Bin
Corsage Pin from Michael's
Silver Wedding Charm
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

2 Sketches 4 You

Have you had a chance to play with Laura's Sketch 7 over at 2 Sketches 4 You yet? Once I saw it I knew that that it would work perfectly for my Wild West cowboy image that I had just colored.

I've been working hard to use up my scraps and this little ditty worked really well with quite of few scraps that were collecting dust on the shelf. I primarily used Copics for the coloring here. I was going to try mixing my Prisma's with them but I ended up just doing his skin with the pencils and the rest was done with the markers minus the white highlights. Those were done with a gelly pen. It's been a really blast to play with those markers. Someday I'd like to get Copic certified. I can dream can't I? :-) Anyhow, I was able to get my hands on a couple of Copic sets since Clear Dollar Stamps added them to their store. Speaking of CDS... tomorrow I can start previewing some sneak peaks of next month's new releases. I can't wait to show you what I've been up to. All the design team creations are incredible and you can start to see their sneak peaks tomorrow too.



Well, I better get going. Little Ellie is a calling and if that aroma is what I think it is we will be heading to the changing table to put on a fresh di-tee. Have a wonderfully blessed day and thanks for stopping by to see what I am up to.

Smiles,


CARD DETAILS:
The Angel Company Wild West
My Mind's Eye Paper Scraps
Paper Corner Punch-out from TAC
Sydney Circle Album Kit
Pewter Metal Hardware Kit
Scrapper's Floss
Cuttlebug Embossing Flolders
Palette Ink
Copic Markers
Prisma Colored Pencils
Sakura Gelly Pen

Love'em...

I've had these two lovely cards in my stash for too long and I never shared them before because I was hoping to get them published. Well, the time has come for me quit waiting and to make my own bliss and publish them here for you all. :-) The stamps are all from Queen Kat Designs. I love the combination of fonts with the sentiments and the papers are so fresh. Sorry to keep this short... Ellie is waking from her nap. Gotta run...



CARD DETAILS:
Stamps from Queen Kat Designs
Between Friends
Fancy Doodles
Scallops and Silhouettes
Tinkering Ink Designer Papers
Palette Ink
Sakura Gelly Pen
MS Ribbon
MM Felt Flower
Dew Drops

Beautiful Saturday...

It was a rare weather day in Barrow yesterday and time stood still long enough for us to enjoy our day together. What an awesome blessing to be home and to spend the day as a family. We started out with a quick stop at a rummage sale. We scored a few wonderful toys for Ellie and some household items. From there we came home and did some reorganizing of our arctic entry and connex. What's a connex? It's a large shipping container. We are using ours like a carless garage. It's wonderful! Anyhow, when Ellie went down for a nap I was able to completing my guest designer work for Clear Dollar Stamps. It feels so good to have met my deadline and then to have some of the house organized and spiffy. For an extra special treat we ordered out for pizza!!!



You'd think that's all we could squeeze into one day but it wasn't! The weather was to nice to stay indoors so we went for an evening walk along the beach and drive out to Clear Water Lake. It's a dangerous time right now in Barrow as there has been polar bear spottings in and out of town. My bestfriend's husband was hunting this week for caribou and came across polar bears on two different outings. Scary!!! Although they are cute and cuddly looking polar bears have been known to eat what they can catch including humans. To sum it up it was a wonderful day and it's days like that that you cherish for a long while during the long winter months.



Have a blessed Sunday and enjoy your family.

Smiles,


PHOTOS:
The first photo is of the tundra. Notice that it's already turn to the Fall time colors. So beautiful! The second snapshot is of me with Ellie at the beach. The third shot is of a jelly fish! Yep, that's a jelly fish living in the frigid arctic ocean.

Sweet Treats!

It's been tough to get my inky time in not to mention my dose of blurfing (blog surfing). I miss you all!!! Although I been away too much this last month you all have been so supportive. I've been so blessed with your kind words of encouragement and comments and over the last month I've also had the honor of being included in several of the blogging awards that go around. THANK YOU LADIES for the fun awards and honor of being amongst your favorites!!!! It's a joy to be a part of your lives.



Fiona of Fe-Fe's World!
Award



Eve of This is Bliss
&
Laurie Wilson of Clearly Delightful
I {HEART} Your Blog Award

Elena of The Red Haired Girl
Brillante Award

Lindsay's Online {Party}

Hey there! Guess what? I'm Lindsay of Lindsay's Creations Angel and you are invited to her online TAC party! Check it out over on her blog. It's the first thing you'll see right under her banner. Come on over and bring a friend! :-)

A big THANKS to Lindsay for being my first online hostess!

My TAC Secure Online Store
Lindsay's Creations



Here's some of Lindsay's favorite The Angel Company stamp sets:

*CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW*

More Digi Fun...

I came across more awesome digital freebies and thought I'd try my hand at digital scrapping again. I never thought I'd receive so much pleasure from making a scrap page without any actual paper & scissors not to mention ink & rubber. WOW!!! This is fabulous fun!!!

Meet my niece Carina. She sure is a cutie-pie!

Smiles,


DIGI ELEMENTS:
Shabby Princess Designs
The Promise Collection
Dinner Party Ornate Yellow Paper
Harvest Spice Alphabet

Blessings...

It is a blessing to be alive! God has given and I am happy to receive! I hope you are more blessed than me... your cup would be overflowing indeed! We had incredible Sunday services today and I am so thankful to have been a part of it all. If you don't already know Jesus as your personal Savior I highly encourage you to get to know Him. He's better than rubber stamping! :-)

On that note, here's a card that I made for one of my friends. It's hard to tell from the card what I am congratulating her for isn't it? Miss Kim and her family has just moved into their new home over the summer. From the sounds of it Kim will have her own stamping area too. Congrats again KIM! :-)

As for me, I share an office with my husband. He's been kind to allow me most of the room for all my paper crafting needs. I don't know how I managed to get so much stuff! Especially since I live half a state away from any crafting/art/rubber stamping stores. My best friend doesn't have the luxury of a space like mine. Instead she stamps in the laundry room. Maybe I should move into the laundry room too because her stamping is amazing!

On a completely different subject... we all have the sniffles. Ellie has had something going on with her over the last three weeks out of four. Thankfully she not too grumpy this time around. We will be heading to the clinic tomorrow and I probably won't have a chance to create until after her bedtime.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!
Smiles,


CARD DETAILS:
The Angel Company Stamps
More Elegant Sentiments
Butterfly Bits
Palette Ink
Versa Magic Chalk Ink
Miss Elizabeth Papers
Prima Flowers
Copper Wire
Mini Jewels

Digi FUN!

I don't know what brought this on but one night I was on the computer and I threw together this digital scrap page. Someday I am going to learn how to use Photoshop. For now I've been using Pages to put the watermarks on my photos. It's worked so far form my watermarks so I thought maybe I could use it to more and now I have this fun scrap page. It was exciting to finish this project and to share it with my Mom. I hope you like it as much as my Mom liked it.

DIGITAL ELEMENTS:
All the digi elements used to make this
page was from the Shabby Princess
The font is called "Crushed Out Girl".

Meet Woodrowe!

One of The Angel Company's newest paper crafting kits is Woodrowe. This awesome time saving kit has enough punch-outs to make at least two memory books plus lots of extras. I first met Woodrowe at Seminar this past June in a class taught by Miss Mischelle herself! I've been so tied up with other things since then that I am just now getting it finally finish what I started way back when. Miss Mischelle laid out the basic foundation and I embellished it from there. All the pictures are from a trip we took last December to Grandma & Grandpa's in Oregon. Eventually this little memory book is going to make it's way to Grandma & Grandpa as a gift. I'll have to make a second one for me and Andrew to keep. Every time Ellie sees it she wants to thumb through it and show me all the pictures of the baby. Sometimes I wonder if she knows that she's the baby. ??? Anyhow, the Woodrowe kit certainly made us look good! "Wink-Wink"!



Would you like a chance to win a Woodrowe kit of your very own? Check out The Angel Company's website to enter your name into the Woodrowe Prize Package drawing! CLICK HERE for the complete details.

CLICK HERE to view all this month's TAC specials!







MEMORY BOOK DETAILS:
The Angel Company Woodrowe Keepsake Album Kit
The Angel Company Stamps
Marvy Flower Punch
The Angel Company Eyelets & Brads
Palette Ink
The Angel Company Ribbons

Tundra Trample

So, where have I been lately??? I returned back to work and I've been so busy. Between Ellie getting sick and all the new arrivals to Barrow it's been tough to get some inking time in. It's a balance isn't it? I thank God for giving me a family and friends that are such a help and full of understanding. Not only that but His strength to get me through it all.



Instead of stamping lately I have been trying to spend more time with my family. We actually had time to get in a few walks while the weather has been cooperating. Here's a couple of snap shots of our last outing. We started out on the road and then decided to trump over the tundra to the beach. We never made it to the beach because it took too long to get through the marshy areas. What an adventure!!! We spotted a couple of lemmings here and there and I actually captured one with my digital camera. As soon as the little guy spied us he tried to play like he was a big fat blade of glass. It was cute.

I better get going as my day is ready to start without me.
Big SMILES,


UPDATE:
One of the questions that I received after I posted our tundra adventure was on the weather. Right now our weather is running in the 30's and 40's. We've had rain, snow, and fog lately. The snow that has fallen hasn't stuck. From late May to mid October we have our better weather where the snow melts. The ice in the ocean tends to stick around most the summer. It just recently went out and now we are expecting our yearly barge visit. The night we went on our walk it was in the 30's. It wasn't too cold but we did cut our walk short because little Ellie's face was getting cold and she didn't like having her head completely covered. I don't blame her... there was lots to see!

Dutch Dare

They are wrapping up a sketch challenge over at Dutch Dare. This week the challenge was from Sweet n' Sassy. It's been tough to get a card done with the schedule that I've been keeping lately. I thank God for His mercies and grace that's for sure! I love sketch challenges and this one was fun-fun! Thanks Korin and the ladies of Dutch Dare for the challenge!



CARD DETAILS:
Sweet n' Sassy Owl Occasions
Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste
Palette Ink
Copic Markers
Versa Magic Chalk Ink
Scrapper's Floss
Prima Flowers
Ribbon
Mini Bling Jewels
MS Punches

Clear Dollar Stamps

Have you seen the new releases for this month over at Clear Dollar Stamps? Too many favorites for me. Here's a card I managed to squeeze in over the last week using a new single stamp from last month called Gigi Giraffe. I think she is too cute not to own. Anyhow, I paired her up with Accessory Fun and the Flannel background stamp.

I wish I could stay and chat more but I have to run off to work. It's been a crazy month since I went back but we are all managing by God's mercy.



Have a blessed week!

Smiles,


p.s.
Please keep Clear Dollar Stamp designer Laurie Wilson in your prayers. A hurricane is heading towards her area. THANK YOU!!!

Happy Birthday to our SON!

On a personal note... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!!!

My handsome, creative, totally cool, bubba boy!!!
We love you and wish you many birthday blessings!!!

~Mom

PHOTO DETAILS:
I snagged this picture of my son off the internet. I think it's a unique self portrait.