Wondrous

I've spent some time lately doing 2 things that I love : having coffee time @ Starbucks & coloring . There has been much buzz lately about the benefits of coloring..  The New York Times recently had a great article on the subject. I am sure that many of my creative friends, like me, knew this all along... Not new to us !! I spend many hours with my stamped images and something to color with.

Unity Stamp Company's Wondrous image was my latest project during coffee time... I used my Tim Holtz Distress Markers , Stampin' Up markers & my fun glittery  atyou Spica pens to color the image.. The image was popped up on the card with dimensionals. I made banners from Basic Grey Herbs & Honey paper and wrapped some Maya Road Saffron Yellow twine cording to finish it.. I stamped the image in my very favorite Strathmore Visual Journal. The 3.5 x 5 size fits in my purse and it always has stamped images in it ready to be colored !!  

Wondrous  by Unity Stamp Company

My favorite little sketch journal

I will be entering these cards on the Unity Stamp Company's Friends With Flair post. I hope you take a look at all of the creations posted on that page by everyone. Check out a few new blogs. I learn alot by doing that !! If you would like a cute little sketch journal of your own to use for some coloring, just comment on this post and I will randomly choose 1 luck winner... Tell me about what is your favorite tool for coloring -- watercolors, markers, pastels etc....

Coffee, my nook ..... And a book

I can spend a whole day at a local bookstore or coffee shop, reading and drinking coffee ( or tea sometimes ).. This stamp set by V's Sweet Ideas was perfect for ME !! At first, I wasn't sure I would like e-readers.. Holding a new book has always been an amazing feeling for me; turning the pages and always picking out a favorite bookmark ( usually hand-made ).. But I have grown to love my nook. I now have almost 1000 books/book samples on it as well as magazines .. I used an American Crafts "Lucky Charm " card base and some of their Glitter paper as a mat. I positioned 3 stamps on an acrylic block and stamped the image. The twine is by Martha Stewart and the sentiment was made with my awesome DYMO label maker.

I have had such fun creating cards for this Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.. I am so happy that you have visited my blog and I am grateful for all of your lovely comments ...

Nautical News

I'm excited to be hosting a Sketch Challenge along with my fellow Design Team members  at Mountain Plains Crafters, It is being sponsored by the amazing company Fancy Pants Designs and we all used supplies from their Nautical line. To participate, create a card using our sketch and link it on the Mountain Plains Crafters blog here.The challenge closes Friday,February 13 at 6 PM EST. One lucky participant will win the Nautical prize package.

dEb's Design

Supplies: Fancy Pants Designs "Nautical" paper,doily,sailboat; Stampin' Up  washi; 

Maya Road "Tomato Red" Twine Cording; DCWV  rhinestones;

 Martha Stewart pearls;

Colorbok-Cloud9 Design glitter paper

Sketch

Check out all of the cards from the Mountain Plains Crafters Design Team on their blog post and then link up one of your own for a chance at the Nautical Prize Pack...

Comment here for a chance at some nautical goodies from me !!

A Crafty Funk & Friends With Flair......

"I'm in a crafty funk" she said ...How many of you have felt this way ??  I know that challenging myself to create and/or share something creative every day of 2014 has given me many an opportunity to get into a crafty "funk".. And also how to get out of them.. My fellow Design Team member Paula was in a crafty funk... So I offered to challenge her.... I would give her 3 themes to choose from.. She would pick one and create something..The themes I decided on were 1. Pink Snowflakes  2. Retro Christmas or 3. Text Background. It started out between just the 2 of us but then some fellow DT members became interested, so I posted it for all of us to participate in. There is no deadline but 2 of us have completed it already so I wanted to share it with you here. I also am sharing my card on Unity Stamp Company's Friends With Flair , which is a Friday post on their blog.

My theme was Text Background.. I chose a new stamp "Tis the Season" by Unity Stamp Company . For my text background, I used American Crafts "Dear Lizzy" Christmas patterned paper.  The borders were by Paper Bouquet and the twine is from Whisker Graphics .I also used a bit of Snowflake Kraft washi..

Paula actually finished her card just a few hours after I challenged her. She used "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Unity Stamp Company .. Her theme was Pink Snowflakes.I think she did a fantastic job of getting out of her crafty funk.  And did you notice how similar our color schemes turned out to be ??

Hope you enjoyed our challenge results. When you get in a creative funk, choose a few themes or pick out a few supplies and work from there. It will help you start on a new project. It can be as simple as a color. Choose something out of your comfort zone. Ask a friend to join you. You will be creating something new in no time at all !! Comment and tell me what you do when you are in the midst of a crafty funk.. How do you get that creative spark back ??

You Belong in a Zoo !!

"Let's all make an animal card", she said ..... "Just for fun"..... And that's how it started.. One of my fellow Design Team members at Mountain Plains Crafters threw it out there and we ran with it... We got a squirrel, a wolf, some kitties, an owl and some hedgehogs. The MPC blog now has its own zoo of cuddly critters -  plus one wolf, thanks to DT member MariLynn !! I always love seeing the variety of cards we come up with. I feel blessed everyday to have met such an amazing group of women.. Check out all of our critters here.

I got out a new stamp, my colored pencils, some blender pens, ribbon and twine and my Critter creation was born.. You gotta love this stamp-- I had fun doing some paper-piecing and then even added some rhinestones to the polka-dots on the card as a finishing touch. What are some of your favorite critters to stamp ?? I hope this inspires you to pull those stamps out and get creative.. 

Supplies : Stampin' Up " A Little Smile" stamp , 2Berry Creative Baker's twine,

rhinestones, My Mind's Eye card base, Derwent Inktense watercolor  & Metallic colored pencils, Stampin' Up Blender pen, Offray Hedgehog ribbon  

Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic.....

On  the Mountain Plains Crafters blog this weekend, we were inspired to create projects with an End of Summer / Back to School theme. I thought about my all-time favorite teacher and created this card below. I am always reminded of Miss Igo at the start of each school year. The ABC's, the ruler, the stacks of books and the apple for a favorite teacher all bring back wonderful memories of my time in her class. The words on the tissue tape -- Journey, Artful, Imagination -- were by chance at the end of the tape when I tore it off. Perfect words as I reflected back to first grade and created a card to remind me of my adventures in Reading, Writing & 'Rithmetic.... Tell me about your favorite End of Summer / Back to School memory in the comment section . And be sure to check out all of the Design Team Members' cards in the MPC blog .

Supplies: Darice embossing folder, Graphic 45 ABC Primer stamps, 2 Berry Creative twine, Tim Holtz tissue tape, ruler washi tape, Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock . Cardstock was embossed then sanded to reveal the color underneath.