Laura and Henri

Happy Sunday to everyone!  I hope you've been able to find time to do things you love this weekend and aren't dreading the upcoming week too much.  The weather here is just perfect.  Mid 70s with lots of sun and no winder!!  So I'm heading outdoors in a few.

Is it bad that I already know how many weeks until the first day of school and school isn't even out for the summer yet?  Not that I don't like having the kids home for the summer, but oh how I miss the quietness after about two weeks of them being home.  And I have one who is going to middle school next year and that girl has entered the "I'm all that" phase combined with the hormonal changes (probably hand in hand), and there are days I want to knock her into next week.  I have to tell her there is room for only one beotch in this house and last I checked I'm the Queen!!  She does do her best to try and wrestle the throne from me:)

Anyhoo on to today's card.  I've had this card done for a bit of time now but just getting off my lazy keister to blog it.  Is anyone else having issues with blogger loading pictures?...it's taking forever.

 This sweet and adorable stamp is from Sarah Kay and called Henri and Laura.  I've paired them up with some Authentique papers and the gems and sentiment was from my stash.

 Of course they were colored up with copics and her dots on the dress were done with liquid pearls.

 Inside

Thanks for stopping by today.  Your visit is much appreciated!

Ladybug Birthday

Now that was one hell of a long hiatus from blogging:) My poor lil ol blog has just been sitting and sitting waiting for some action!  Between being busy (sometimes busy doing just nothing or playing Candy Crush Saga) and just not feeling like crafting much, blogging feel off the table.  But alas, I'm back and hopefully will be a bit more timely in getting cards and projects blogged.

Nothing overly exciting around here...the kids are out of school at the end of next week and start the forever long summer break.  I got a bit of snit on a couple of weeks ago and decided I was sick and tired of seeing that much dead grass in my back yard every spring (and mowing it over the summer) that I called the landscaper and told him to rip up the grass and put down rocks. Oh and since the town put us on water restrictions several years ago, and their plan worked perfectly and less water was being used by the community, they rewarded us with a substantial water rate increase (since they couldn't make budget because less water was being sold...typical government), our water rates are scheduled to double.  We pay about $300/month in the summer to keep grass alive (rendonkulous).  I was in such a foul mood that he had to convince me I really didn't want a sea of rocks and perhaps I should put in some trees with those rocks.  Once I got over my bad ass self, I decided perhaps some bushes and trees and paths might look okay in the sea of rocks.

They'll be finishing up hopefully tomorrow and once again, I can sit on my deck and enjoy the mountain views instead of seeing either dead grass or grass that needs to be mowed.

Anyhoo, on to today's card.  I colored up this cutie pie from Saturated Canary a month or so ago and just recently gave her a home on some paper.

The ladybug die from Elizabeth Craft designs and the border die cut is from MFT.  The sentiment is from MFT as well.

Oh my Blogger is have a bit of a fit as well and taking forever to upload pictures!  So I'll just leave this post at the one pic and if blogger plays nice later, I'll add the others.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope y'all have a great rest of your week.

Roses are Red

I hope everyone has had a great week and got a bit of their crafty on!  Seems like I've been spending more time developing classes and coordinating all of the odds and ends related to teaching that I haven't been able to post as much as I would like to.  And I definitely have been the craptastic blogger who hasn't done much visiting and commenting either:(  I'm going to try and carve out some time over the next few days...that is if the kids don't get on my nerves too bad as they are out of school the next two days and only go in for testing!

My next class that I'm teaching is related to Nature, and I've been pulling a lot of color palettes together that I think would work well and trying out a lot of stamps that would work for differing levels of copic skills.  I've always enjoyed coloring up Flourishes stamps, and as I pulled them out to see if any would work well for class, I found quite a few of them (too many actually:)) would be just perfect...not too many dark lines that takes away from shading but just enough lines from the artist to give an idea of the direction of the lighting.

This wonderful stamp is from Flourishes and is in the set called Roses are Red.  Mother's Day is just around the corner here in the US, and though, my mom has been gone for about 7 years now, I figure someone might be able to use a Mother's Day card!  The papers are from Authentique, the pearls were from my stash and the sentiment is from MFT.

Of course the image was colored up with copics.  The reds were done with R29, 24, 22, 20 and RV69.  The leavesw were done with YG0000, G46, 43, 40 and the background was done with B63 and B60.

Inside

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope y'all have a great ending to your week.

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

Crafting by Design:  Anything Goes

Penny's Paper-Crafty:  Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp:  Anything Goes

The Perfect Sentiment:  Mother's Day

Through the Craftroom Door:  Anything Goes

Artistic Inspiration:  Card for a Lady

Rugby Birthday

The taxman cometh today...ugggghhhh!  But on a happier note, it was Brucey's son's 10th birthday today, and he was just pleased as punch that he made it into double digits:)!!  So a big happy B-day to JG.

I must make a confession...I didn't make him a card for his birthday but had the kids buy him store bought cards that play the music stuff.  I thought Brucey was going to have a heart attack and I had to confess that I simply ran out of time to get a proper one made. Yes, I know, it's not like his birth date changes each year, but it was poor calendar watching on my part.

But he will be getting a bit of copic work for his birthday albeit a bit on the late side.  I didn't put in my schedule the proper amount of time for custom framing:(  But hopefully in the next week, it'll come back from the framers and he'll be pleased with it.

JG has been playing rugby for a couple of years now, and I admit that I know nothing about the sport though the youth program is beginning to grow, at least in the Colorado Springs area.  But I guess I don't really have to know anything about rugby to be able to color an image for him.  If there are rugby fans out there who find a mistake, give me a bit of leniency:)

I know what's more shocking than me not coloring people but not doing a card!!

This is the image I colored up for him and it measures about 10x10".  His team is black and yellow and his favorite colors are Laker's purple and silver.  Hopefully, he'll be able to enjoy some proper decoration in his 10 year old boy room.  I colored this image over several days and used oodles of different colors so I didn't write them down.

That's it for me today...no decorative papers, no embellishments, just plain ol copic work.

I hope everyone has a great rest of their week and didn't have to give their first born to pay the taxman!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Artistic Inspirations:  Anything but a card
Crafty Bloggers Network:  Anything goes
Love to Create:  For the Guys
Hotshot Craft:  Anything but a card

Birthday Baby

Wowzer another week flew by before I realized it.  I thought it was just Wednesday today, and then my kids pointed out it was really Friday!  I'm not sure were all of the days are going.  

Just a quick post today so I can play along in the Saturday Sketch Challenge before I run out of time.

This cutie patootie is from Mo Manning and called Birthday surprise.  He was just too cute to resist and just perfect for a baby's first birthday!  The papers are from Bo Bunny and the banner die cut is from memory Box.

Of course he was colored up with copics.  The dots on the hat were done with liquid pearls and the sentiment was from my stash.

Inside

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

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

Sketch Saturday:  Sketch

QKR Stampede:  For a Child

Bearly Mine:  Anything Goes
Digital Tuesday:  For a boy
Ladybug Crafts:  For a Child
Top Tip Tuesday:  Boys/Girls come out to play

Fairy Godmother

Happy Monday to everyone.  I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and with some Spring like weather.

I'm starting see some greenage peeking out amongst all of the dead leaves and grass.  Of course, just when the thought of Spring being here permanently crosses the mind, we have blizzard warning for tomorrow.  I wish it would just rain instead of snow, but I guess we can't be beggars when it comes to moisture.

I've been working on quite a few projects and pulling together materials for my upcoming classes, but I managed to get a card colored and put together a few weeks back.  The poor fairy Godmother has been sitting and waiting her turn.

This fabulous image is from Mo Manning and is called Fairy 2.  I've paired her up with papers from Little Yellow Bicycle called Just because.  The swirly pearls I picked up from Archivers.

Of course she's been all colored up with copics.  The blues were done with B39, 37, 34, 32  and the reds with R29, 24, 22, 20.

Inside

Thanks for swinging by today!

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

Robyn's Fetish:  Anything Goes

Crafty Catz:  Anything Goes

2 Sisters:  Anything Goes

My Heart Pieces:  Fairies or Angels

Crafty Creations:  Flowers or Fairies

Creative Moments:  Things with Wings

Skate dude

I think I could've just survived the longest spring break in the history of mankind, and I'm now just getting organized and back to some sort of schedule.

 We spent a long weekend in Quebec and then back to CO for a bit of skiing.  And oh is Canada soooooo cold.  And yes, I know all of you Canadians think it's just balmy at -17C, but I feel like my bones are going to snap it's so cold to me.  And hasn't anyone heard of indoor soccer?  Why must everything be done in the great outdoors?!!  However, I love visiting Quebec as the food is divine and the desserts are to die for (hence why I had to exercise in the form of skiing after that visit). Most everyone in my family can speak French, and I'm the only idiot who is not bilingual.  But it does come in handy when I don't really want to be involved in a conversation and would rather be people watching.

I'm sure I've missed all kinds of wonderful creations from everyone, and I'll be around in the next couple of days to take a gander.

Fortunately, I had some cards completed that I had not yet blogged and I pulled up one of the Kenny K skateboard cards. This guy is called Extreme.  The papers are from Farm House Paper Company.  The gears and the metal sentiment are from Tim Holtz.

I didn't write down the colors for this guy, but of course I used copics.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope everyone has an enjoyable upcoming weekend.

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

Kenny K:  Square

Inky Impressions:  For a child

Top Tip Tuesday:  Boy or Girl Come out to play

Magnolias

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and doing something they love.  

We had another snow storm yesterday (yea for the moisture) and the sun is out this morning and the kids are out shoveling the driveway...so a few minutes of peace and quiet:)

First I just want to share a fun video/song from Darius Rucker and the awesome cast of Duck Dynasty.  I loooove Duck Dynasty.  Finally a reality show that is a hoot without all of the whorishness of most of the trashy reality TV shows.  I admit to watching the other reality TV shows (especially the Housewives series), but that is usually to see how fast their lives become train wrecks once they go on TV.

Well onto my card today.  I know shock of all shocks, it's not a people card.  I needed to dust off some of my Flourishes stamp sets and get busy with them.  I color florals a lot, but it's rare that I blog them primarily due to time constraints.

This stamp set is from Flourishes called Magnolias.  The sentiment is from MFT as is the die cut fence.  The chipboard flourishes were found tucked away in my stash and painted up with some of the Tim Holtz distressed paints.  The paper is from Carta Bella.

Of course these beautiful flowers were colored up with Copics.  The pinks were done with RV55, 52, 000 and the leaves with G40, 43, 46 and some YGs (I forgot to write down which ones:().

Inside

Thanks for stopping by today and just admit your toe was kind of tapping of you listened to Darius:)

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

613 Avenue:  Anything Goes

Catered Crop:  Florals

Red Carpet Studios:  Flowers

Flourishes:  Spring

In the Pink:  Spring/Easter

Softball

Wowzer another week has flown by, and I'm behind again!!  Seems to be my persistent story lately.

On a positive note, I'm finishing up my first series of teaching Copic classes this weekend and it's been a blast. A big thank you to the artists who allowed me to use their images during class.  The participants were introduced to 2 new stamp companies and seemed to enjoy working with something new.  It was definitely worth all of the prep work to watch how far all of the participants have come in just 3 short weeks.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of copic lovers.  I hope they've gotten as much out of the class as I've gotten out of spending time with them and showing them the wonders of copics.

My next teaching series starts in June, and all of the slots are almost filled..yippeee!! It'd be awesome if there was overflow and I got to add another class:)

In between teaching and getting a new website up and running, I did manage to get an image colored up and actually put on a card:)

This awesome softball playin chica is from Little Darlings/Saturated Canary and called Pitcher.  LDRS was one of the new companies the LSS brought in for the Copic series and of course it was the perfect excuse to stock up on some rubber.  A big thank you to Angie for her amazing customer services and the stamps arrived just in time!!  She was paired up with some Authentique papers, the softball die cut and sentiments are from MFT.

Of course she got ready for game day using copics.  I forgot to write down all of the different colors I used with her.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to get around to see everyone within the next day or two!!

This little cutie is for sale as well and you can buy her HERE 
You can also check out my website HERE

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

Sentimental Sundays:  Anything Goes

ABC challenges:  J Just as you like it

One Stop Craft:  Anything Goes

Send a Smile 4 Kids:  Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday:  Anything Goes

Saturated Canary: Read All about it (Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball:))