Something New At Phindy's Place

The Phindy's Place DT has challenged us this week to created a card for something new.  Phindy has several images that would be great for a new baby including some new ones with a Guardian Angel over at the Phindy's Place Store. However, I have to say that when I first saw this image called Come On In, I fell in love. I thought at it would be perfect New Home card. I agree with Phindy though that there are several uses for this image including any kind of party(thanks to those balloons).

My image is colored with Copics. The papers were some I found in the stack of digitals I had printed out on my desk. Believe it or not, I actually know where they came from. They are from a free kit called Prego designed by Maya De Groot and found at Oscraps. Finally the word art is some I created in Photoshop(I've since added a flourish). Feel free to grab it. I figure it can be used for lots of different cards.

Give Me An Inch and I'll Take An Inch and a Half

This week the Tiddly Inks Challenge DT tried to stump me with an Inchie Challenge. I had never heard of Inchies, so I did a Google on it and found that they are (and I quote) "the thumbnails of paper crafting". In fact there is a company called Inchie Arts that is dedicated to Inchie crafting.  Basically you create a card using 1" squares, but they can also be just small squares. Since coloring with Copics on very small areas seems to be virtually impossible for me, I upped my size to 1 1/2".

I used this beautiful butterfly image from Tiddly Inks for my card, and then colored them with my Copics. I obviously reversed the color scheme on one just so they wouldn't all look alike(or too different from each other from my coloring skills). The purple paper is some I printed and that was in my scrap box. The orange DP is from a kit of Paper that I bought at Sam's more years ago than I care to remember. The sentiment was on a Rubber stamp I had, that was so small that you wouldn't have been able to read it, so once again Photoshop comes to the rescue(you can find it at the bottom of the post). I printed it directly on the DP(I'm beginning to really like doing this, as it doesn't add a layer that distracts from the image.

I have another card I made yesterday with a Tiddly Inks image called Orchid.  This card is for a note to parents whose 16 year old was in a diving accident a little over a week ago and is now paralyzed. I wanted to send them something that invoked beauty, simplicity and a feeling of serenity, as I'm sure they're feeling like they're on the worst ride of their life right now. I put the message on the inside of the card.  The song "His Eye is on the Sparrow" is one of the most uplifting songs to me, as it is a constant reminder that God is watching over all of us even the sparrow, and that He has a plan for us(whether we understand what's going on or not).

If you are a praying person, would you take a minute and say a prayer for Cole and his family. They have a long road ahead, but life is not over for any of them. I actually have a friend whose oldest son was paralyzed at 18 from the shoulders down from a diving accident. Clay is now in his mid 40's, is a CPA, married to a wonderful woman and the father(yes they are his) of 3 boys( one set of twin boys and then another boy).

Here are both Word Arts if you'd like them.

Show Me A Little Stitching Please

Surprise, here it is Saturday night and not Monday afternoon, and I have a challenge card to enter in the Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Blog. Pick yourselves up off the floor, and don't worry, I doubt seriously I've turned over a new leaf.

This card is serving a double purpose. It's going to a special young man who was recently paralyzed in a diving accident. It's certainly not a Get Well card, but I did want him to know that he was in my thoughts and prayers. I chose to use this image from the Sassy Cheryl Digi Store called Flower Bear. He just is the sweetest thing, and who doesn't love a bear. I've colored him with Copics.

Yes, you have seen this paper and very recently. It's from the Urban Kiwi kit by The Shabby Princess.  This is a free kit. I do love printing my paper, since it gives me the option to make the pattern the size I want it. My sentiment was something I quickly whipped up in Photoshop using the flag function in text. The stitching was done with my sewing machine, and the sketch was from a card I saw in this month's Paper  Creations.

A Show Me and OWH cards

Can you believe, it's only Friday and I'm doing my Show Me Thursday post for the week. Are you impressed? You should be. Just in case you're wondering what Show Me Thursday is let me explain. It's pretty simple. It's a chance for each of us do a nosey around in other peoples spaces. Just for showing your space, the delightful Miss Sassy Cheryl puts up a chance for a free image from the Sassy Cheryl Digi Store.  Just head over to the Sassy Cheryl Blog and post a picture of what you have going on in your life this week(it doesn't have to be your crafting place).

I've been really busy this week making Operation Write Home cards to be sent to our Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is what my desktop looked like after I finished the last set of cards before I cleaned up. This is the mess from just one set of cards.

Here are the cards that I've created.

Music Paper: Carol Anne's Boutique
Sentiment: Mine, so feel free to grab it
Embellishments: Letter Delights  Music SVGs; Paper Studio's Music Embossing Folder

Designer Papers: from my scrap box
Sentiment: Make A Wish from Hampton Arts
Embellishments: ribbons from my stash

Designer Papers:I'm still looking for my source LOL
Sentiment: Elegant Word Art
Embellishments: Ribbon from my  stash

Designer Papers: Baby Cakes Kit from Summer Driggs
Sentiment: Create with TLC
Embellishments:Ribbons with my stash.

Designer Papers: Victorian Sunflowers from I don't know where
Image: WinkWink Ink(closed)
Sentiment: Simple Doodles
Embellishments: Ribbons and buttons from my stash

Just so you know, before I left Tazmania, I cleaned up and got the cards ready for me to stamp with the OWH logo and stuff in envelopes. Now I'm off to watch some TV and read. I think I've earned a little relaxation.

Vintage? Retro? or Both?

This week the challenge on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog was to create a Vintage project. I am vintage, but didn't think a photo of me would work. I had several ideas of images to use, but when Phindy posted this image in the Phindy's Place store earlier in the week called Looking Good, I had to have it and use it. I'm not sure if this qualifies for vintage but I think it does. Black and lace are  so very vintage and yet at the same time timeless.

What part of her that's colored is done with Copics. The dress is paper pieced. I created the paper using a free lace pattern I found on the internet last night. Her stole is colored with Copics, and then I colored over the top with Crayola glitter. Her shoes and hand handbag were colored with my black Spica pen. She's finished off with some seed pearls for her necklace and earrings. She's definitely looking good and ready for a night on the town.

The papers are from a free digital kit called Urban Kiwi that I downloaded from The Shabby Princess. I loved this paper the first time I saw it. It just seems so Retro to me. I used my Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace Edge punch  to create the frame around the picture and the sentiment. The flowers were created by first taking my black ink pad and daubing it all over some white cardstock. I cut the flowers out with my Cricut, did a little embossing to give them shape, assembled and added a black baby button center. The word art is some I quickly whipped up in Photoshop. Feel free to grab it(it's in jpg format).

Now for the best part, I know exactly who is going to get this card. My neighbor across the road has lost 60 pounds over the past year. We ran into her in the store the other day(I'm used to only seeing her in her car and that's a head shot), and you could seriously tell she was looking good. The only problem is that her clothes are way too big. She says she's not through losing, so she doesn't want to invest too much money in clothes she's going to undergrow. I'm sending her this card as encouragement and as a pat on the back for the wonderful job she's doing.

Three For One

It's Sassy Cheryl's Challenges in the barrel today, and I got really industrious. I didn't make one card, but two. Along with that, it's also time for the Show Me Thursday Challenge. I decided I'd give my faithful followers a break and only make them drop in one time instead of three. You can see I'm a very accommodating blogger(we won't mention the fact that I only had to type up one blog instead of three).

Sassy Flip-Flop Jeni set the challenge this week on the Sassy Cheryl  Challenge Blog  to "What's Buggin You?" Too bad I didn't get this message last week when I made my card challenge using the Ladybug bear. This week, I couldn't make up my mind between two images, so I decided to make a card with each. Since these are going in my Operation Write Home box, it's all good. I used the same sketch using a ladybug paper that I think came from Cuddly Buddly, and solid papers that I made to match using Photoshop.  The first image I chose was the Thinking of You Boy image  and the second image is called Gentle Friends. Both are colored with Copics. Both images can be found at the Sassy Cheryl's Digi Store.

Thinking of You

Gentle Friends

The Thinking of You image was a freebie from MelJen's and the Am I Bugging You? sentiment is one I created for my sister to use on a card. Feel free to grab it if you like.

Needless to say that with making two cards at the same time and using different colored Copics, I had quite the mess going in Tazmania. I'm also using this blog post to enter the  Show Me Thursday, where just by showing your work space you can enter Sassy Cheryl's Blog Challenge for a free image. Well I want you all to see my workspace as I left it this afternoon after making the two cards above. Yep, I cleaned it all up. I know Cheryl is going to be so proud of me. Now I'm ready to go start working on another project. Thanks for stopping by.

My coloring and assembly area

Cutting end of the table, that's usually piled high with paper scraps

I even cleaned up the area around my computer

Are you all suitably impressed, that even my tall table top is clean

Music for the Soul

Recently Phindy O'Neill introduced a new set of images called Two Seven Oh int the Phindy's Place Store. These are simple things from everyday life and quick to color(or maybe not). At any rate, I absolutely loved this image called Skeins. It reminds me of one of my dearest friends, who is an avid knitter. Then when I found this Word Art over at Create with TLC, I knew I had to make a card for her. Her life is often chaotic, because she's the BEST Grandmother in the world and has 12, yes I said 12 grandchildren. I know that a day doesn't go by that she doesn't take a few minutes, usually at night to sit and knit. Knitting is truly music that feeds her soul.

The papers are digital and are from a kit called Sunday Gardens by Coreen Silke from Computer Scrapbook.Com. These soft greens and yellows are so tranquil to me and definitely put me in a happy place.

This is my second entry in the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog Anything Goes as long as it's a Phindy's image.