Have you been to Le Petite Market?

Just wanted to pop in real quick and let you know about

Le Petite Market.

 I have been collecting digital images from their etsy shop for months,

and finally got around to coloring and creating with some of them.

These are two of the four images from the

Magical Crowned Creatures set.

I am in love with this style of artwork!

So fun and kitschy!!

I went with my usual favorites as far as color palettes, using Copics and

keeping with Violets, Blue Greens, Red Violets and Yellow Greens.

I am finding that one can never have too many unicorn images,

and this gorgeous creature is no exception.

I printed these images on a shiny, pearlized, paper making it kind

of hard to see when coloring. And blending is a whole different show, too.

I thought the fancy paper lent a nice whimsical feel to the simple cards.

Too bad it doesn't photograph at all. I also used some rock candy dry glitter

on the horn, but it doesn't show well. Looks more flocked than sugared.

Okay, thanks for hanging in there for the full post.

As a reward for your patronage, I'll let you in on a little secret.

The entire Le Petite Market site is 40% off!!

That's over 800 items on sale!!!

You're welcome.

Quirky Skeletons

Just popping in real quick to share a new company

(new to me, anyway) and their adorable stamps.

The company is called AALL & CREATE.
They're a European company, and I had to find a US retailer to get their

stamps. A simple Google search led me to Simon Says Stamp, who delivered 

these stamps super fast.

The stamps sets are called, Quirks #73 and Quirks mini #104.

The fun part about these images is how versatile and cute they are to play with.

Like sweet skeleton paper dolls. 

I honestly thought the devil horns were vampire fangs at first.

Still a good accessory to have on hand, though.

I have a box of pre printed cards and can never figure out how to use them.

Well, I figured it out. I added Distress Oxided ink to the card base and then

added washi tapes and splatter to ground the skellie focal point. 

I think she's my favorite, so far.

Just keeping it simple to let the stamps shine.

  

The bowler hat and the cat are some of the best accessory stamps that come 

with these sets. 

I popped on some coveted MS Halloween paper and some washi tapes

to ground the skellie and his kitteh. Trying to keep it as simple as

possible, which is quite difficult for me.

I am loving this new rubber and I'm sure these guys will surface

frequently around here. 

  

SDC: Human with an Animal Head

Sometimes a brilliant, yet simple prompt is all one needs to wake their

hibernating mojo.

The current theme at Stampotique Designer's Challenge is just such a prompt.

C'mon, it's 'Human with an Animal Head'.

What's better than that?

This idea popped into my head just out of nowhere and I knew it

was perfect for this challenge. It was the actual execution of it I was

worried about.

I stamped Moth Fab #6048, Newt with Lunchbox #6045, Karin #6108,

and all of the dog heads from the Dog Cube #6192.

I actually only stamped the necks and partial bodies of the girls, and only

the heads of the dogs, but you get where I'm going here, right?

After fussy cutting out the dog heads, I dry fitted them to see which head

looked best with which body. I think they worked rather well.   

Lastly, I stamped Poochas Gracias #8978  as the finishing touch.

Stampotique has an awesome selection of words and phrases 

for any reason or occasion.

I added some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink behind these gorgeous bitches

and some splatter for an artsy touch.

Don't forget to pop over to SDC to see some inspirational samples from

the ridiculously talented and diverse design team.   

Aurora Wings CAS

Today is the start of a new challenge at Aurora Wings.

The new theme is Clean And Simple (CAS).

Honestly, this is my preferred way of creating with the gorgeous

images of Aurora Wings. Once I finish coloring an image, I am usually at

 a loss as to how to assemble a card around it's detailed beauty without

detracting from it.

I had a bit of an epiphany, and edited some of the more involved images

using Gimp. I chose the focal point I wanted to highlight and cropped the image.

Sometimes I am intimidated by the images with so much detail that coloring

seems like a never ending process. It usually takes me at least an hour (usually longer)

to color an image. So, the thought of coloring one image for hours seems a bit daunting.  

I love the Santa Muerte image, but I have always been too scared to try and do it

justice with my coloring. I found the face to be the most beautiful part, so I cropped her

face to give me the impact I needed for a perfect CAS card.  

I still toiled over which colors to use and how to use them, but it

took me less than two hours to create this entire card, which is pretty good for me. 

 I am actually quite pleased with how this worked out and am eager to 

make more CAS cards using cropped Aurora Wings images.

I want to use the dragon from the 'Dragon Lore' image next.

Keep an eye out for that one. 

Be sure to stop by the Aurora Wings challenge blog to see all of the 

inspiring CAS samples the design team has created for this theme. 

They're stunning!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes   
Our Crafty Corner - Anything Goes 
Creatalicious Challenges - Anything Goes + no dp papers
Dark'n'Daring - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Don't touch my Twinchies!

One of the current challenge themes at Stampotique Designer's Challenge

is 'TWINCHIES'.

Now, I have heard of inchies, so it is a simple concept to grasp that if inchies

are 1" square, then a twinchie will be 2" square. Simple enough, right?

I have a stupid number of new Stampotique stamps that I have yet to

ink up. Rudy and Reggie, the seahorses were screaming for ink, so

they are the chosen focal points of my card today. 

I stamped and embossed them before coloring with Copics.

I really like the look of water colored messy shadows behind the images.

I wasn't having much luck achieving that effect with my water color pencils, 

so I went over it all with my trusty Copics and got the desired effect.  

I used my Posca paint pen to add the white bubble dots and highlights. 

I love those pens! 

I am a huge fan of the Riley and Co. Funny Bones sentiments.

This one reminds me of my friend, Deanna. We think we are quite

the funny biotches. We cackle when we're together, and we don't

really care if anyone else finds us funny. It's just an added perk. 

This it for me today.

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Stampotique Designer's Challenge - Twinchies

Inkspirational Challenge - ATG with Kraft

QKR Stampede - swimming

Simply Papercraft - ATG

Sister Act Card Challenge - ATG 

I didn't think it was possible...

Today I have a very CAS card design for your viewing pleasure.

These sweeties are a new image from Aurora Wings called,

'Primrose Elf'. 

I love color, so it was kind of hard for me to choose just one, 

or even a couple of favorites for this elf and her kitty. 

I didn't think it was possible, but I found that after I had chosen

to use most of my favorite colors, I was unable to find any papers

to go along with the colored image. 

I had colored myself into a corner with this one. 

After pushing papers around for more hours than I care to admit to,

I just went with a very CAS layout with a simple sentiment stamped

directly onto the card.

I'm sure it may have been easier had I just went with a normal flesh tone

for the elf, but the fantasy in me always wants to color fae in fantastical

tones. I mean, why not? How often do you get to color someone with blue green

or purple skin? I love how she turned out, and probably would choose

all the same shades if I colored her over again. 

And I did consider it for a moment...

This card is for the new challenge at Aurora Wings challenge blog

where the theme is Lucky Color(s).  

CAS Halloween Day 22

Only NINE more days!!!

Gotta get my money's worth out of this thing.

I am loving this image from Kraftin' Kimmie.

He's called, Kreepy Kitty.

It was nothing short of kismet for me to have this stamp.   

I chose to make a clean and simple card.

I always admire it when other crafters make this kind of

super white and minimal card. I'm not so sure I can pull

it off. I've always had a hard time with the "less is more" concept. 

I had to make this a super quick make today as I am home nursing

a parvo puppy. My husband rescued an abandoned puppy last week,

and we found out Sunday that she has the parvovirus. Since we don't have 

much money in our rainy day fund, we opted to nurse her back to health

at home. Man, that's a lot of work! Not to mention what it does to your

heartstrings. She already seems to have perked up a bit, but we still

have a long road ahead of us.

Thanks for stopping by again today.

I really enjoy your wonderful comments and just

knowing that you took a moment out of your busy day

to stop by and check out my schtuffs.

31 Days of Halloween month long blog hop 

Countdown to Halloween month long blog hop

CAS and a triple ATC challenge

I am trying desperately to get caught up on challenges,

tie up some loose ends, and make something cool in the process.

First up, is my submission for the Clean And Simple (CAS) challenge at

Stampotique Designers Challenge.

I have always been a tried and true Daniel Torrente fan when it comes to 

Stampotique stamps, but Kira Nichols is now in 'da house as well.

I love her quirky style, mixed with monsters and cute

critters. Win, win!

I colored these fellas with Copics, fussy cut them out,

and added them to the base along with a cute sentiment

from Ginger's House. If you are ever in need of a great 

sentiment, check out Ginger and her free word art. She ROCKS!

I'd  like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Stampotique Designers Challenge - CAS 

Brown Sugar challenge - LOVE

Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - Animals

And I have a set of three ATCs featuring some new images

from Rick St. Dennis. 

These little scarecrow cuties are available in Rick's Etsy shop.

This is "It's All About Balance".

This one is called, I Lovs You Dis Much".

This is "You Make Me Blush".

  Just a close up of the straw (raffia) I added to make him

look a little "undone" and to give him some interest.

I'd like to enter these ATCs in the current challenge at 

Fun With ATCs - Set of Three 

I am currently working on a couple of coloring tutorials, and 

a Chunky ATC for the current HDH challenge. I should have

some good posts coming up in the very near future, so keep

stopping by.

Bat Boy and Cupcake Inspirations

I have a CAS card to share with you today.

I have been trying to play along with the Stampotique challenges 

each month. I'm cutting it pretty close this month, but I wanted 

to wait and see what all of the themes were before committing to one.

While waiting, I noticed that Stampotique are sponsoring over at

Cupcake Inspirations, and decided to play along over there, as well.

I went with the Birthday theme at Stampotique Designer's Challenge,

and used the colors from the yummy challenge photo at 

Cupcake Inspirations. 

I decided to use Bat Boy from Stampotique, since he was already

dressed for a Birthday party. I colored him and the background, with 

TH Distress Inks and an aqua painter. 

I added some highlights using colored pencils and a white gel pen.

I used this funny sentiment stamp that I received from a friend.

Seemed fitting for a birthday party. Especially a kid's party. 

And lastly, I water colored the inside of the card, and stamped it with

a Happy Bday stamp.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my make.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Stampotique Designer's Challenge: Birthday

Cupcake Inspirations: photo inspiration 

   

Macabre Monday Bare Bones/CAS

Well, it's been a while since I've posted on my blog.

Life ripped my heart out a couple of weeks ago, when my Mother

passed away rather unexpectedly. I'm still reeling, but I have to get

back to some semblance of normalcy. So I must create art!!

Here are my submissions for the Clean and Simple challenge at HDH.

CAS is quite hard for me, as I have a very loose understanding of the 

"less is more" concept. I decided to start with some cute jar dies

from Memory Box.

  

I cut the jars from vellum and then stamped the weird critters on the back.

I embossed them and colored them on the reverse side so they appear to 

be in the jar. Then I had to back them with white, so they'd show up better. 

I added various dots using my Copics, so it looked like the contents of the

jar were spilling, or floating out.

I couldn't stop myself from adding Stickles. It looked so much more

magical than just the dots.

CAS simple doesn't have to be just one layer, but the simpler, the better.

Like I said, I haven't quite grasped the concept.

Be sure to drop by HDH to play along, or at least peruse the Minion's work.

Since I've been rather down lately, my husband tried to cheer me up with some "gate art". 

He drilled holes in the top of the gate, and then inserted and glued colored marbles into the holes.

When the sun begins to set, the marbles look beautiful!

I'm a sucker for colored glass, so we're on the hunt for red and purple 

marbles to add to the gate.

Next stop: The back fence!!!!

Dilly Bean Brights

This week's challenge at Dilly Beans is bright colors.

I am actually a fan of bright, vibrant colors. I can do this.

I chose to use #395 Whimsy Trees.

I love these sweet little striped trunk trees. 

They remind me of cotton candy.

I decided to go with a clean and simple layout to keep the bright trees

and the ribbon as the main focus.

I added a bit of Stickles to the little hearts for some sparkle.

I couldn't help myself! 

I also just realized that I never posted last week's Dilly Beans "Distressed"

challenge ATC card that I made, using Zombie Girl w/Bow.

I really dig this color scheme. I may have over done the whole

distressed thing though. She looks a bit worked over.  

There is a fabulous Birthday sale going on right now over at the

Dilly Beans digi store. Buy 3 get 1 free, or buy 10 and get 10 free!! 

Sale ends August 20th.