Happy Halloween - I've got a spell for you!

Ok, so my card for you today is totally not halloween themed.... though i had originally planned for it to be! Oh well! I'm very happy with how it turned out. But then what in the world does my blog post title mean? Well, over at Paper Makeup Stamps, it's week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas sale. In honor of this spooky day, ALL spellbinders are 31% off. They'll probably go fast, so if you are looking to pick any up, get over there now!

Here is my card using the always fabulous Mojo Monday sketch. I've decided that i love the mojo monday sketches so much, it's going to be my goal to do it every week! :)

Here is the sketch... and if you want to play too, go to THIS POST to check it out and upload your card!

Here is what i did with the sketch...





After my friend Tina made THIS card i've been aching to get that cutie patootie snail inked up.

So this was a lot of fun... now here's



Stamps
Ashlie's Solo Snail and Snail Mail Sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps

Coloring: with Copics
Snail Shell E30, E21, E33
Snail Body E33, E35, E37

Paper:
All from the scrap bin, gotta love that! But i'm pretty sure the blue is the new In Color teal blue color (forgive me, the actual name is totally escaping me!), the darker teal and dark brown are from hobby lobby and the lighter brown is definitely walnut from Bazzill)

Tools and Accessories
Nestabilities Standard Circle and Rectangle, Scalloped Rectangle, Petite Scallop Circle
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Brands from Recollections BUT they werent the teal color i wanted, a lighter brown and lime green so i colored over it with a BG09 copic marker
Ribbon from American Crafts

Inspiration
Mojo Monday 110 and Tina Hale

Read more...

Word Art Wednesday!

Hey there everyone! Dont forget today is Wordart Wednesday from Paper Makeup Stamps! You can download this digital wordart for FREE! Just go to The PMS Blog!

Here is what i made with it...



I love this quote! It has long since been a favorite of mine. It truly is something i want to teach my children. We are all equal. We are all different. But together, we are all one world. I love that. I think i'll make something for the boys room. For now, this card is going to go to Jack's teacher. I think she'll love it!

Ok, that is all for now! I have a laundry list (literally!) of things to do today! :) Wish me luck that i get them all done!

Read more...

Contour Video Tutorial

No card creation today, but here is an additional part to the makeup base tutorial i posted the other day. :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Read more...

With Deepest Sympathy... a PMS card

I have some sympathy cards to make. I hate making sympathy cards (unless they are just ones to have in stock, to give to the church, etc). I hate having to make sympathy cards for people i know! I know a card can make something smile. And a handmade card lets them really know you care. I know when i received cards after my grandpa passed away, i really really treasured them. Still, when i go to make a handmade sympathy card, i just feel like there is no possible way my card would ever be good enough to relieve their pain. Is that odd of me?

Well, one of the friends I have to make a card for is my mom's best friend. Growing up I called her Aunt Jackie, but essentially, she was just as much an aunt to me as any of my blood relative aunts. And even more, I saw her more often. Jackie's mom passed away last week. And i know it is incredibly difficult for her. She was living with Jackie. And since Jackie is not married and does not have children, I'm sure the house is now a very eerily quite place. So any extra prayers of comfort you may have, I know she could really use.

Here is my card for my "Aunt Jackie"



I was actually very pleased with how it came out. At first i wasnt sure if i liked the blue with the black, but in the end i really did. I used my copic airbrush with a 7/8 inch circle to mask out what ended up being my moon i think. it was originally supposed to be a sun! haha! It didnt look very "sun-like" in my opinion. I made it even MORE moon-like by adding shimmerz in angel wings to the moon. I went a little outside of my white circle with the shimmerz to make it have that moon glow look.
Here's a better look at my glowing moon! haha!


And here are




Stamps:
Nature's Song by Paper Makeup Stamps

Coloring
Copic Airbrush used with B12, B14

Ink:
Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: ALL FROM THE SCRAP BIN! :)

Tools and Accessories
Copic Airbrush
Black Satin Ribbon
Black Brads (American Crafts)
Shimmerz in Angel Wings

Cuddlebug Embossing Folder in branches

Read more...

Are you ready to get made up?

Yep, it's time for another makeup video. At the request of many, i'm going to try to do more of these and I will post them on here as well as my makeup blog. Now i do post some other things (like photos of projects i'm working on, some product reviews, etc) and I wont double post everything, but I will double post a lot of the YouTube videos so those that are really only interested in those dont have to subscribe to both blogs. :) Another tip, on the left hand side of THIS blog, i have a running list of the latest posts to the makeup blog. So when you are checking out a post here, you can always peek and see if there is a new post you missed (if you are interested that is!)

OK - onto the VIDEO! This is a very very basic video. It's all about getting your face prepped and primed for the colors of makeup. So it takes you from a fresh faced no makeup at all me (SCARY) thru primer, foundation, concealer, powder, etc. I tell you my favorite products that I use regularly so it's worth a lookie. :)

Have a wonderful sunday!

Read more...

A card for my Mama!

Yesterday was my Mama's borthday! I love my mama! She is the most influencial person of my life! She's a wonderful grandma too! All around, she is one awesome woman!

Here is the card i made for her...



I used Verve Stamps for my card. Everytime i use Verve i'm in awe of how beautiful they are! The quality is great as well. Just an FYI if you didn't know... there is a release party tonight in the Verve Forum on splitcoast.

The set i used here is called Because of You. It's a really fantab set because it can be used for mother, sister, grandma, friend, etc.

Here are...

Stamps: Because of You by Verve Stamps

Copics: R32, R35, R37

Inks: Rich Cocoa by Memento

Papers: Perfect Day by Close to My Heart

Tools and Accessories:
Pearls by Kaisercraft
Rivermist Ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
Nestabilies

Read more...

Color with Me! Using Melody from Paper Makeup Stamps

So i did a color with me video last week and finally got around to editing it a bit. When i sped up the video, the marker caps flew past the screen so i was afraid it would be tricky to know what colors i was using. So i got all that info edited in there. I also put some music to it because it's so much nicer with sound. Got it all uploaded to YouTube and what happens? They disabled the audio. Sony wouldnt let me use the songs. Irgh.

So here it is... silent. I'm working on doing an Audio Swap with a free permission song, but it's taking it's sweet time!

I still have to make a card with my colored image so thats coming soon too!

I hope you all enjoy!

Stamp used... Melody from Paper Makeup Stamps



OH - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! ;) I'll post her card after i know she's gotten it! :)

Read more...

Word Art Wednesday! It's free!

So the previously Freebie Friday from Paper Makeup Stamps is moving to wednesdays. So now it'll be called Word Art Wednesday, but the idea is the same... free digi word art for you! So go check out the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to download your freebie! :)

Here's what i decided to do with it...

For starters, i really love the look of airbrushing a quote when it's still in the nestabilties die. I mean, it's that white edge that actually sold me on getting all of the nesties. I like the idea of embossing them, but this i loooove! Granted you would think a white mat would do the same, but this looks so much cooler to me! Anyhoo, thats where i started. I also knew i wanted to do a scrapbook layout of this picture of my hubby and I. Its my favorite picture of the 2 of us together. Maybe it's because i'm skinny. hahaha. Actually, it's from my birthday party at our favorite bar in Burbank. So there are some fun memories behind it.

The quote I also knew i wanted to use with a picture of my hubby and I because he truly is my best friend. We may spat as all couples do from time to time, but he truly does make me want to be a better person. I know i have my flaws, we all do. But he looks past them. Ok, he gets annoyed with them, but he tells me he's annoyed! I like that about him. So then i can go about trying to better myself. Not just to please him, but to be a better person. So, yeah, now that i'm all mushy... haha... the layout is pretty simple. I knew i wanted to frame it and too many layers would make it not fit into the frame. I stuck with all brown tones to match the sepia of the photograph.

Thats all i have for today... or at least the moment. I'm still working on gathering up stuff to put on the sell list! With any luck that will go up a little later today! :)

Read more...

I am alive!

Hiya everyone! Sorry for my lack of posting this week! I've gotten a few emails to make sure i was ok! You all are so sweet! It's just been one of those weeks. I had one of my copic club meetings last week (which i had to deal with printer issues... grr), plus a double wedding over the weekend, so yeah, i've been around, just not posting. I do have some videos to edit as well as some creations to get pictures taken of and posted so i'll be back to my normal posting status soon!

OH and i've been working on a massive stamp room clean out (yes again) so those will all be posting shortly as well!

Read more...

It has NOT been a good weekend!Shirley's

How was your weekend? Mine was AWFUL! It all stemmed from 1 event. Well, 2 actually. While trying to edit the Color With Me video, i was desperately running out of space on my computer. I only realizedthe space was an issue after about 5 hours of frustration editting. SO there was problem 1. So i moved every extra file i had over to my backup hard drive until we got the space issue resolved. I never delete any programs or files on my computer that i KNOW i didnt put there myself. So all of my pictures (like every single one since Jack was born 3.5 years ago!) was moved over, every music file, every single digi stamp file, every PMS file, every video, etc. Space issue for editting fixed. Then my hubby helped get rid of the files i didnt need on my computer (turned out i had a backup of all my programs on my computer, probably from the info transfer when i got this computer) so that made almost 10 GB of space. Thats a LOT of space. Phew. So now i got to move all my beloved pictures and other things back. But uh oh... wait a minute... the back up drive is UNREADABLE?!?!? It has decided to corrupt itself and i cant get to anything inside of it! Now there are things that are frustrating as all get out to lose, those digi stamps that i bought that there is no way i'll even remember them all to go back to the order page, those music files, the package inserts for the stamps, thats all crazy annoying. But what kills me are all those family memories... just POOF! I have some pictures printed, but not many. I have some uploaded to places like facebook, myspace, but just a handful. There are thousands of pictures. There is probably a hundred videos, baby's first steps first words, first tastes of food, just poof. gone. It makes me want to vomit. And my whole weekend has just been a wreck because of it. Yes there are data recovery specialists. I've spoken with one. The cost starts at $700 and tops at $2700. Of course i do have the option of having them recover jpg files only and it will top off at $950, but that means all those videos are gone. I'm telling you, it just makes me sick.

SO, first i'm sending the hard drive off to my dad who is pretty good with these sorts of things. I'm praying he's able to resolve the issue when he takes it apart. Until then, i just pray that is all works out. :(

Ok, here's a quick card because I know most of you dont care about personal things on blogs, but i had to let that out.

This card uses a Shirley's 2 Girls stamp. Copic Colors used on the pooch are E30, E33, E35.

Sorry for the shortness in the description, it's about all the energy i have.

Hope everyone else is having a better monday than me!

Read more...

Color With Me!

Hiya everyone! Well i've decided to do a little something new... not with every card by any means, but i want to have a video series called "Color With Me" (thank you rachel for coming up with the name!)

In this video series, i'll basically just be turning on the video camera and letting it film while i'm coloring. Why would i do this? Well, i'm a firm believer that you can learn quite a bit just from watching. I LOVE to watch other artists! Whether it's watching someone else apply makeup, or color and image, paint a portrait, sculpt a pot, the list goes on and on. I just love to watch and take it all in! You can never know it all! There is always more out there! I think by watching others you can pick up little tips and tricks, learn a new product, color combo, technique, etc. Then go and practice it yourself! Make it your own! Thats what makes art so much fun!

Ok, climbing down from my little soapbox now. :) The first video in the series is using the image i used on my blog hop card (Moody for Apples, now available at www.papermakeup.com). I actually did end up putting in quite a bit of the directions in editting mode. When i have time i will do this, but editting is a lengthy process! I know i'll get faster, but still, some of the videos may end up being strictly watch only videos! haha.

Also to note... many of the areas have been sped up. It gets quite boring watching an image being colored in real time. Trust me! Plus YouTube videos for the lowly like myself must be less than 10 minutes. So i have to make sure they fit in the time frame. Besides, less time watching gives you more time DO'ing! :)

So sit back, and I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to rate it, comment there or here, and leave feedback of what else you'd like to see in the Color With Me series! :)

ONTO THE VIDEO! Special note... click on the name of the video in the top left corner and it will take you to the YouTube page it's on. You only need to do this if you want to enlarge the picture so it fills your screen a little more. Once on the YouTube page, click the red HQ button on the lower left side.

Read more...

Paper Makeup Stamps Blog Hop!

Well, i have seen better days let me tell you! I'm so sorry i didnt have my sneak peek card for you posted yesterday. In fact, i never even finished it. I was laid up in bed all do. Boo on that!

But i did finally finish my card and can show it to you today! It uses 2 new stamps being released tonight at 8pm CST!

Now before i give you all the details... I cant forget to too you your letter! You'll need this letter as part of your code to get 15% off all the new releases! If you dont know what in the world i'm talking about, you should go back to the beginning! Go to http://papermakeupstamps.blogspot.com to read up on this super fun offer!

Your letter is B!

And when you're done here, hop along to the newest design team member's blog... the wonderfully talented Randee Elsing!

and now...

Stamps:
Moody for Apples
Sentiment from Grateful Thanks

Coloring with Copics:
Skin: E00, E21, R20, E000
Hair: Y21, YR23, E99, "Y20"
Apples: R89, R46, Colorless Blender
Shirt: R81, R83, R85, R89, G21, G24, G99
Pie: E31, E55, E57

Paper:
Stampin' Up Summer Picnic, and some other scrapie dos given to me
Regal Rose, Real Red

Tools and Accessories
white buttons from hobby lobby
red DMC floss
Red stitched ribbon from Wal-Mart

Read more...

Before Christmas comes Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a special time of year for me. It's when my hubby and I got married! We decided since our wedding would be one that all of our family would have to travel to, that at least we'd make it around a holiday they like to travel on anyway! SO we got married the weekend after Thanksgiving. It never occured to me at the time that some years our anniversary would actually fall ON thanksgiving. This is the case this year. Nothing like a romantic dinner for 2 surrounded by grandparents and aunts and uncles, cousins, and children running amuck. Ok, so I love it when our families get together for big family fun on thanksgiving. Actually, this year, my high school reunion falls on the weekend after, so we'll be traveling, having a wonderful anniversary turkey in Indiana and then my hubby's anniversary gift to me if to go with me to my reunion without complaining! hahahahahaha.

Ok... enough with the babbling! Today is day 4 of the sneak peeks for Paper Makeup Stamps. There is a new set called Grateful Thanks that just have some nice thankful sentiments including this Thanksgiving Prayer. The other sentiments in the set are not so fall and thanksgiving-esque (however there are some other fall themed singles being released!)

Here is my card...

I actually am not in love with this card. I just feel like it needs something else and i cant figure out what it is. maybe another layer of paper? Another embellishment? Oh well... maybe i'll rework it later! :)

Dont forget to stop by the PMS blog to check out some fabu creations from the design team!

Read more...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Typically this is the time of the year that I begin yelling at stores. "Really?! Can i get halloween in order before i see all the christmas lights?" I'm not a forward thinker. I wish i was. I'm trying to be better! I also cant buy christmas gifts ahead of time because i'll just end up giving them to the person because i'm too excited!

However... every year i plan to make christmas cards. And every year i suddenly go, "Oh shoot, is it really December 21st already?

Well this year will be different. Ok, i say that every year, but at least this year I can combo my card making with work! :)

All of these cards are simple and super easy to make mass production style!!!! You gotta like that when it comes to christmas cards!

The first card i used a new technique for me! I colored the snowflake stamps with copic markers and then spritzed the stamp with colorless blender solution (in a mini mister bottle) and stamped away. I actually wanted some color variance so i colored in the snowflakes a little haphazardly with 2 different copic colors. And then i coated them with stickles... not sure that was the most brilliant move, but oh well. :)

This next card is my fav of the bunch. Maybe it's the button. I've been hoarding that button! haha. But the sentiment was so simple. I stamped it out and colored in the ornament and bingo, it looked so sharp! This was actually my first card and it made me think... huh, i can make these look good and keep them simple. Brilliant! hahaha.

Last i did another simple card with the scraps of the above cards (paper is double sided!). but still, i wanted a panel to stand out a bit. So i used the snowflakes from the Snow Happy set to make it stand apart from the other background. Super easy, and actually, my 3 year old is the one who stamped them because he wanted to help mommy! :)

Stamps:
Snow Happy from Paper Makeup Stamps
Season's Greetings from Paper Makeup Stamps
both to be released on October 7th at 8pm CST at the release party!

Paper:
All patterned paper from SEI Holly Lane Collection
Blue cardstock is Pacific Blue by Stampin' Up with matching Pacific Blue Ink

Tools and Accessories
corduroy brads on third card are Pacific Blue Corduroy "Buttons" by Stampin' Up (not sure why they call them buttons, they are definitely brads)
Super cool button on the 2nd card is one i picked up from the button bin at Funkie Munkie Scraps
Stickles in Waterfall


Dont forget to check out the Paper Makeup Stamps blog to see some pretty amazing creations by the design team! They are far more complex and pretty than my cards are today! hahaha.

Read more...

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peeks day 2

yes it's time for another sneakie peekie but first I gotta make sure i plug the COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS sale goin' on over at Paper Makeup Stamps. Each week from now until christmas (there are only 12 weeks to go! ack!) there will be a new sale for you! No sale will be repeated! In honor of halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, all monsters are on sale this week. So you can get those spooky guys and sentiments to make some cards, decorations and treats, or you could just stock up on some of those previous monsters you've have your eyeballs on. The sale is for 10% off and the voucher code is MONSTER103

Ok, phew, got that out of the way. ;) I didnt want to forget. Now it's onto my peek card! I used this weeks Mojo Monday sketch because quote frankly... i always love my cards using Julee's sketches! I mean ALWAYS! :) I used a stamp from the soon to be released set, The Purpose of Friends. :)

I also got to dive into my new Indian Summer paper from Basic Grey. I just love these rich fall colors. I love the warmth you get as well as the fall feel. Perfect! The buttons were some yummies my friend Tangii sent me. :)

Well, i guess i just gave out all the deets, huh? haha. I'll save my fun deets picture then for another time.

Dont forget to check out the PMS blog for more cards and also to enter yourself to win the ENTIRE release!

Read more...

Paper Makeup Stamps Sneak Peeks day 1

Well all i have to say is when in the world did it get to be october?! This past month just flew by!!!! Perhaps its because i've had so much going on in my life this past month, but MAN! It's enough to keep my head spining that's for sure!

Well, since it's October 2nd, that means the sneak peeks for the October Release on the 7th are about to begin! WOOHOO!

Here is my fairy card for you today...

I just think the whole notion of this fairy with true PMS is hilarious! Granted she's still a Beautiful Day Fairy so only one of the BD fairy's would look cute while PMSing! hahahaha!

She does come with this fun little sentiment. Did you notice the letters PMS are in the same font as the logo?! Ok, so maybe i'm the only one who will get a big kick out of that. :)

Here is a close up view...

And now...

Stamps:

PMS Fairy plus sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps, available Oct 7th at 8 EST

Coloring with Copics

Skin: E00, E21

Hair: "E23", E25, CB

Shirt: R11, R12, R14

Shorts: Y32, Y35, N4 (trim)

Socks: BV01, BV000

IceCream: "E23", E25

IceCream Bowl: B00, B02

Wings: B0000, B000, "E23", CB

Paper:

Patterned Paper from Paper Trey Ink (i think from the sorbet paper pack? the samples were gifted to me

Cardstock: Sorbet by Paper Trey Ink, So Saffron by Stampin Up, Solar White by Neenah

Tools and Accessories

Pearls by Martha Stewart Crafts

Saddle Stitched Ribbon in Sorbet by Paper Trey Ink

Dont forget to check out the PMS blog to see all the other new fairies being releases this month!

Read more...

back in town...

but not back in the swing of things just yet! So much catching up to do! :) So stay tuned for some fun craftiness in the future... but not yet! Gotta get all my ducks in a row first!

Read more...