Artwork for Anna...

I thought I'd share the artwork I made for my niece, Anna, for her 2nd birthday a while back. Little Anna is really into ballet (pronounced "bah-way" LOL) right now, so her mommy and I decided on some of the cute digital images by Mo's Digital Pencil.

First, we have Anna's name frame for over her bed:

Anna loves giving kisses, so the adorable "Kissy" was perfect for her name frame.

The image was colored with copic markers, and then carefully cut out to layer onto the background. I added a bit of star dust Stickles to her tutu and a gold Spica pen to her crown for a bit of sparkle. The background itself was made by cutting pieces of Nitwit's Buds n Blossoms digi paper into little squares and layering them quilt-like onto my base paper. I printed "Anna"onto PTI Sweet Blush paper, carefully cut out each letter and ran them through my Cuttlebug for some added texture.

My apologies on the horrid photos of the other 3 pieces in this set. I forgot to take photos of them before giving them to Anna, and so was stuck taking the photos in her not-so-well lit room after they were hung on the wall.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Woo. This is the last Christmas card I needed to make to finish off my holiday card list this year! I'm so excited to finish with my cards... because that means it is time to start baking Christmas cookies! Mmmm...

For my card today, I decided to play along with the Mo's Digital Pencil challenge for this week- using only white on your card (other than on the image, of course).  I chose Door with Wreath for my image, and colored it in with copic markers. The family this card is going to has a blue house, so the blue around the door is supposed to be their siding. The wreath was covered with Flower Soft in Christmas Green and Shamrock Green, and has "berries" made from pearls that I colored with a R29 copic.

 

For the "snow," I made a custom blend of Twinklets and SU Dazzlin' Diamonds in a spare container for an extra sparkly effect, and attached it to the card with a bit of Zig 2 Way Glue. I know the photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me, if you saw this card in person, the snow sparkles like crazy!

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

4 little angels...

I rarely make more than one of any given card, but I liked this one so much, that I made several, changing the color of the outfit and the angel's skin and hair based upon who the recipient was going to be. So, here's 1 card, four ways.

The first card was sent to my mother, who's favorite color is red. I colored the angel to look like my little neice, Anna. 

For the version I sent to my brother, the angel was colored to look like my nephew, Ryan, and so got a green outfit with lighter colored hair.

This version of the card was given to a co-worker (who has asked to remain nameless), and was colored to look like her daughter. I love the pink outfit on this one!

And the final version was also given to a co-worker, and was colored to look like her son. Her favorite color is red, so that determined the outfit color.

The adorable little angel is Michael by Mo's Digital Pencil. I love how he can be either a girl or a boy depending on how you color the image. So versatile! Each image was colored with Copic markers, and had Frosted Lace stickles added to the wings.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday, Brandan!

My nephew's birthday was last week, and we are having the family over to celebrate this friday. When I saw Video Boy by Mo's Digital Pencil, I knew it would be perfect to use on Brandan's card as he is constantly playing the Wii or his gameboy.

Video Boy was colored with copic markers, and then I went over the metallic areas (watch, soda can, chip bag, candy wrapper) with a Sakura Stardust pen for a bit of a metallic sheen. I kept the layout very simple as an 11 year old boy isn't going to want any bling on his birthday card. LOL.

Copic markers used:

Wishing you joy...with 5 challenges!!!

Have you mailed out your holiday cards yet? I am hoping to do so this week, but still need to make a few for the special people in my life. My husband's parents are heading to Texas to spend the holiday with his brother next week, so their card was first on my list.

My in-laws are very much the traditional Christmas card kind of people, so Door w/ Wreath by Mo's Digital Pencil was perfect for their card. After coloring the image with copic markers, I added Twinklets to the door frame and snow for a realistic icy snow effect, and then painted the wreath and sled with Angel Wings Shimmerz for some added sparkle. The "berries" on the wreath are dew drops and mini pearls colored with a R29 copic marker. The holly leaves are a Martha Stewart punch, and were also painted with Shimmerz (in the retired Sagebrush color), and then finished off with a bit of Twinklets. For a final bit of sparkle, I colored the door handle with a silver Spica pen.

If anyone has some tips for photographing Shimmerz, please leave me a comment. This card sparkles like crazy in real life, but I just couldn't get it to show up very well in the photograph. Probably why I usually stick to my Stickles. LOL.

I did some holiday multi-tasking, and played along with 5 challenges with this card!!! The sketch is by Sketch Saturday, I have lots of "glitz" for Stamp Something, my colors (olive, red, brown/cream) are for Color Throwdown, I've got lots of sparkle for Digital Tuesday Challenges, and finally, I used traditional Christmas colors to make a card for someone special (my in-laws) for Mo's Digital Pencil. Woo! That's a lot of challenges!

Copics used:

Happy Birthday Carly!

My niece, Carly, is celebrating her birthday next week. Carly is a high-energy child, so Abby Celebrating by Mo's Digital Pencil was the perfect image for her card.

Isn't she a cutie? Abby was colored with copic markers (colors below), and highlighted with a white gel pen.

 

When I printed Abby, I printed 2 additional copies of the balloons so I could pop them up off of the card to make them look like they are floating. I normally would add some crystal effects to the balloons for a nice glossy finish, but I've found that this makes my copic ink run. Waa! So instead, I added a touch of sparkle with a clear spica pen (which, of course, doesn't photograph well).

My card today does double duty as it uses the Charisma Cardz #46 sketch, and follows the rules for Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #7.

Markers used:

Fairy Christmas...a color challenge

 

With only 35 days left until Christmas, I've really got to get cracking on my holiday cards. I get tired of using red and green on all my cards, so when I saw this weeks Digital Tuesday Challenge was to make a card using white, purple and silver (or gold), I thought it would be perfect for a non-traditional card.

My sister-in-law loves snowglobes, so I knew Christmas Fairy Holly by Mo's Digital Pencil would be perfect for a card for her family this year. Isn't she sweet?

Holly was colored with copic markers, and then I went over her wings and the bells on her sash with a Sakura Stardust pen for a bit of sparkle and silvery sheen. I dotted a bit more on the ruffle of her skirt for a little more oompfh.

For my snowflake accent, I punch 2 snowflakes out of vellum. I used my V95 copic to color the largest snowflake to make it stand out against the white background, and then covered both snowflakes with Twinklets (are you sick of hearing about them yet? LOL!). I just love how they sparkle!

Copics used:

Holiday Wall Art

This weeks challenge on Mo's Challenge blog is to make anything but a card. I've had an idea kicking around for some framed holiday art since I made a card with the oh, so sweet Singin So Beautiful last week, so I decided to participate.

Once again, I colored the kitties to look like my two Siamese, Octavian and Emmalee. The image was colored with copic markers (you are going to gasp if I ever use anything else, right?) and then I added Twinklets to the ground for some snow. I thought the sky needed a little something more, so I drew in some snowflakes with a white gel pen and added more Twinklets for some snowy sparkle. To finish off the piece, I used glue dots to attach real miniature bells to Octavian's collar, and then added 3 larger bells and a ribbon to the mat.

I had one heck of a time getting a decent photo of the entire frame, so below is a close-up of the image so you can see it better.


I forgot to take a photo of the copics I used, so sorry! They basically are the same colors I used in this post, with the addition of G85, G82, G40, and G24 for Octavian's collar and hat.

Sweet birthday wishes...

This week's challenge on Copic Buzz is to make a card without any patterned paper. I've been using patterned paper on just about all of my cards lately so this was quite the challenge!



I used the oh, so adorable Bronte and Louis by Mo's Digital Pencil for my image. Bronte and Louis were colored with copic markers, and then had white gel pen accents added.


I added more white gel pen to the eyes to make them more expressive. (click image for a larger version)

Markers used:

Meowy Christmas!

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I adore my furbabies, Emmalee and Octavian. (Emmalee is the lilac point Siamese, and Octavian is the flame point Siamese, shown above.)


When I saw the adorable Singin So Beautiful at Mo's Digital Pencil, I knew I had found the purr-fect image to use on a holiday card for Octavian's foster mommy from Siamese Rescue.

Think she'll like it? The image was colored with copic markers, and I used Spica pens in gold, buttermilk, and clear to accent the bells and red ribbon. The sentiment is computer-generated. I kept the layout clean and simple to make it easier to mail.

This card is also my entry for the Copic Creations challenge #14, coloring with black. (Emmalee was colored with W5, W3, W1, W0, and W00.)

Copics used:

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Boss's Day!

Happy Boss's Day! Did you remember? I have to admit that my co-workers and I completely dropped the ball on this one. Ok, not completely. I did hear a commercial about it on the radio on the way home from work last night, so I at least had time to make a card for my supervisor.

At my office, we have a cabinet that is kept well-stocked with hot chocolate and several varieties of teas and coffees. Pretty much the first thing everyone does each morning is make something hot to drink (preferably accompanied by something to munch on), so I thought that AM Sweet Tooth by Mo's Digital Pencil would be perfect for the card for my supervisor.

I colored the image with copic markers, and then used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen (I think it is stardust) on the spoon and the trim on the mug and plate. I used white Foam Paint by DecoArt (in the fabric paint isle at your local Michael's/AC Moore) for the whipped cream. Once it dries, it has this wonderful "wet" sheen to it. The image needed a little "sweetening", so I added Twinklets onto the cookie and the foam to add a little "sugar".

Copics used:

Mommy's little angel...

Today I made a card for the first ever challenge on Mo's Challenge Blog. The challenge is really simple, you just need to use purple on your card, along with an image from Mo's Digital Pencil. I actually really like purple, but for some reason, I almost never use it on my cards. So this was a fun challenge for me, as it gave me an excuse to pull out my purple copics and give them a whirl.

Isn't this just the sweetest image ever? I'm normally not into angels, but as soon as I saw Michael, I had to add him to my shopping cart. Before I started coloring the image, I actually had the prettiest purple designer paper picked out to use on the card, but once I was finished coloring, I decided that the image was too sweet on it's own to need any fancy paper or layout. I matted the image on black card stock, and then layered that onto a white card base for a simple but elegant card.


For my finishing touch, I added Frosted Lace stickles to his wings, and went over the halo with a Buttermilk Spica pen.

Copics used:

As you can see from the photo, I used two custom YR21 copics for the halo. The palest, YR21p, is made from 5cc's blender fluid plus 30 drops of YR21 ink refill. The darker one, YR21pd, is made from 5cc's blender fluid plus 80 drops of YR21 ink refill. These 2 custom markers are by far my favorite yellows.

let it snow...

Yes, I know, it's only October, but it's never too early to get to work on your holiday cards. I've been seeing Twinklets Diamond Dust Crystals used on a lot of holiday cards, and being a glitter addict, I had to get some. (Michael's and AC Moore both carry the HUGE jar of it. $8.99 for 14 oz. Plan on splitting it with someone, because seriously, you would have to use it on 1000's of cards before you'd even make a dent in that jar! LOL!)


Doesn't is make the prettiest snowflakes? It's really easy to use too. Just dab a bit of craft glue (I used Elmer's glue and applied it with a sponge) onto your paper, sprinkle with Twinklets, and shake off the excess. Keep in mind that Twinklets are real ground glass, so make sure to put some scrap paper under your project to catch any that escape. You don't really want teeny pieces of glass left on your work surface.


For my card, I used the adorable Kai in the snow digital image by Mo's Digital Pencil. Isn't he a cutie? I sponged the background with SU Soft Sky ink, and then colored Kai with copic markers. I added some white Fun Flock to the pom pom's, and more of the Twinklets to the snow. The pretty designer paper is "Snowflake Stripes" by My Mind's Eye.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Yesterday was my nephew Ryan's first birthday, and the whole family got together to throw him a party. My mother made the yummy cake (shown above) for the party, along with a cute little "smash" cake for the birthday boy.

As you can see, he didn't really do much "smashing" (despite lots and lots of encouragement from his daddy), but he certainly seemed to enjoy the icing!

For Ryan's birthday card, I used this adorable freebie from Mo's Digital Pencil. Ryan has a little pool just like this one at Grandma's house. He had a lot of fun in it over the summer, so I knew this would be the perfect image for his card the moment I saw it.

The image was colored with copic markers, and then the water was gone over with a clear Spica pen for some sparkle. Once the card was together, I added Alleene's Paper Glaze to the water for a wet look. Sorry it doesn't show up better in the photo. The little ducky is one of the add-on's that comes with the image. I printed it twice and attached it with glue dots for a bit more dimension.