Who knew that lemon and pepper could be so sweet?

Well, the Lemon Pepper image from Elisabeth Bell for Whimsy Stamps is sweet. She's downright precious. I am having so much fun coloring my new Cottage Cuties! The latest card is for my Grandma, for her birthday next month. I'm going to visit her in two weeks, and wanted to have the card ready to go. I didn't want to wait til the last minute and then stress, or run the risk that Mr. Mojo would be his usual persnickety self and take off, you know? While he was still visiting, I colored up sweet little Lemon Pepper and decided to show her off on a card. Here she is:

I chose her for more reasons than her utter cuteness. One, her balloon makes me think of celebrations like birthdays. Two, I like the combination of purple with creams and yellows (and since lemons are yellow...well, you get it). Three, she seems to be saying hi to a little bird. My gram loves birds, but especially hummingbirds. So, I used my spica pens to color the feathers like a hummingbird, and used my multiliner to increase the length of the beak a tiny bit. The story of my gram's love for hummingbirds comes from a rather bittersweet place. My dad died in 2002. After his death, this one little hummingbird would come to my gram's window each morning. I can't remember how she could identify him as "hers", but he had some distinctive marking of some sort. Then my gram moved to another house. You guessed it; the same hummingbird found her there (or one with the same markings, but she prefers to believe it's the same little guy). She swears this hummingbird was sent by my dad to let her know that he's okay. Sweet, huh?

So, anyhow, Gram's favorite color is purple, so I figured Basic Grey's Kioshi line would be perfect for her card. The flowers are prima, tickets are Tim Holtz, lace is from my stash, and I used a Whimsy pennant die to cut the banners. I went around all of the papers with my piercing bug. I colored the image with copics. Here's the list, in case you're interested:

Hair: E31, E25, E50
Skin: E00, E0000, R20 (blush)
Grass: YG63, YG67
Balloon: YG06, YG05, YG03
Outfit: E53, E51, E50, V25, V22, V20, BV0000, Y15, Y13, purple spica pen

I'm entering her in the following challenges:
Whimsy Inspiration Blog: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp: Bingo - flowers, lace, and twine

Beary Big Koala Hugs!

I have to admit, I am having a hard time picking which stamps to use. I was blessed enough to get quite a few new stamps for my birthday. I stamped them all off on to Gina K or Cryogen paper and now I find myself sitting there for ages trying to pick which one to color. I wish I could color them all at once! I know, I know....I shouldn't complain, since many people would like to have my "dilemma". So, I'll shut up now before one of you reaches through my computer screen and smacks me.

In the back of my head, I had a list going of the cards I need to make. Then I started to browse blogs for some color inspiration. I lucked out at Bente's blog. I loved how she colored the Koala Hugs Tilda with primarily greys. I have wanted this image since it came out, and a wonderful friend got it for me for my birthday. Lucky me! My father-in-law loves koalas, so I decided to use it for his Father's Day card.

Here's what I came up with:

This is a pocket card. The tag lifts out to read: "You are not LIKE a father to me, You ARE a father to me." I made the tag narrow so that I can fit a gift card in the pocket, too.

So, let's see: I used black rain dots, grey mesh, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks paper, black and white twisted twine, and black bazzill. The MME papers are actually grey, but my camera wanted to reinterpret them today.

Copics are as follows:
Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20
Hair: E50, E31, E25
Shoes: R21, R20, R00, C3, C1
Dress: C5, C3, C1
Koala: N5, N3, N1, R00
Ground/Grass: YG67, YG63, E31, E25

I had to make her shoes pink, since it's my favorite color and he associates it with me.

I'm entering this card in the Charisma Cardz Challenge to make a pocket card.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend! I was wondering why my stomach was growling. I got lost in coloring and creating, and had no idea how much time had passed. I know I'm not the only one who does that, right?!?

What did I do to be so rewarded?

I don't know what in the heck I did to deserve the reward of Mr. Mojo's ongoing visit, but if I can figure it out, I'm going to do it again! Tonight, that Mojo dude didn't feel like coloring. He wanted to play with paper. I'm all about paper, so I yanked out an image that I colored a while ago and prepared to slap her down on a card. I had a lot of fun distressing, inking, rooting through my embellishments for just the perfect thing, and so on. Here's what I came up with:

Ain't she cute? She's from the Greeting Farm. As usual, I colored her with my handy-dandy copics. It was a while ago, so don't ask for colors, k? I gave her little scarf a striped pattern with different shades of pink, rouged up her little cheeks, added some highlights with a signo pen, and added some shine to her buttons with glossy accents. I think she goes really well with this Doodlebug paper called Sweet Cakes, don't you? After all, she's so cute and sweet!

I'm entering her in the challenge at:
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes!

The weekend is almost here. Does anybody have any fun plans? I've got my belly dancing class tomorrow night, then my brother and I plan to go see "The Hunger Games" afterwards. I've got to yank down my warm weather clothes from the attic, put away the winter ones, clean my house, and maybe craft a bit. My nephew's got a soccer game on Sunday, so I'll go cheer him on, too! I can't cheer too loud, though. He's 15. Apparently, cheering aunts are embarrassing. Who knew?

Chloe is definitely a cutie!

I first saw this Elisabeth Bell image on her blog a while ago. I asked her if she was going to sell her as a stamp, and she told me that a company would have to "pick her up". Not too much later, Whimsy Stamps did just that! Chloe and the other Cottage Cuties came out just in time for my birthday. Imagine my excitement when my mom gave me a gift card to Whimsy that allowed me to get the first four cuties. Yes, I admit it. I was dancing all around and clapping my hands like the overgrown child that I am. And yes, I treated myself to the other two today, so now I will have them all. Anyway, despite the total and utter cuteness that is every single one of the Cottage Cuties (they're so aptly named), Chloe remains my favorite. Needless to say, I had to color her up first.

I tried some rolled roses with paper this time. Well, let's just say that they are SO MUCH easier with felt. The paper was just heavy and stiff. Perhaps I should get it slightly damp next time? But then wouldn't it stick together? Yeah, I think I'll just go back to felt. I colored sweet little Chloe with my copics (of course. Let's face it. I'm addicted). Here's a closer look at her adorable self:

Dontcha wanna go grab some apples with her? She reminds me so much of my niece Gabby, who also has flyaway hair, adorable freckles, and big eyes that grab you.

Papers are My Mind's Eye Howdy Doody (Miss Caroline). Love them! Everything else is pretty much from my stash. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday: sketch (3/24)
Simon Says Stamp: bingo - lace, ribbon, flowers (3/28)
Stamptacular Sunday: use buttons. I used three (as flower centers) (3/24)
Elphine House: rain or shine. I chose sunshine! If you look closely, you can even see the little bit of yellow in the upper left corner of the image (sun rays peeking through the clouds; I used chalks to make the sky and rays).
Whimsy Stamps: Anything Goes (3/26)
Outlawz Monday Greeting Card: recipe challenge to use flowers, patterned paper, and ribbon (3/26)

As always, thanks for looking!

We're getting monochromatic over at Guylou's!

Yes, I said that bad word, "monochromatic." I admit, I have a really hard time with sticking to one main color and its various shades. I love the look of a monochromatic card. I just think they look so cool. However, I have the hardest time with them. Trina decided that's why it's called a "challenge" and that we need to be challenged to do monochromatic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good thing I love Trina. She's a great teamie and so much fun. Otherwise, I might have been throwing things and cursing while trying to make this card. LOL. Trina, girl, you know I kid. Maybe.

So, anyway. Here's my card:

My card has lots and lots and lots of blue. I had to add a pop of red and yellow to the image. I just couldn't take all of the blue! This little guy is Chuck. He usually has a flag in his left hand, but I removed it this time around to make the image fit the space better. He has lots of blinginess, although it's hard to tell in the pic. The sentiment and doodling are done in a navy blue stardust pen. The sparkler has silver stardust on it. The star stickers have glitter embedded in them. All of the stars are very happy, wouldn't you say? I sure hope so, because I sent this card to a young boy who is in the hospital and awaiting a heart transplant.

Challenge details: Make a monochromatic project and post it to Guylou's Inimitability by March 29th. That's it! Easy peasy, right? If you use one of G's images, your entry counts twice.

To top it off, I'm giving away an additional $10 gift certificate to G's store to one lucky winner! I'll draw a winner at the end of the challenge. What are you waiting for? Pick a color and GO!

You say it's your birthday...

Well, it's mine, not hers, but TRINA gets a gift! Trina, girl, I'm about to hook you up with my birthday RAK. (Why does that make me want to spout the line from Hits 1 on Sirius? It's a prize pack, full of goodies, just for YOU!).

Sorry to those of you who didn't win, but I post candy periodically throughout the year, so I'm sure you'll get another chance. Trina, I'm off to your blog to give you the good news. See, you don't feel slighted anymore now, do you?

After that, I'm going to historic Savage Mill to treat myself to a leisurely day of looking at antiques and fun little shops. Have a great day, everyone!

Last day for candy!

Today is the last day to enter the drawing for my birthday candy. I'm going to draw a name when I finally haul my butt out of bed tomorrow morning (I took the day off of work so I could have a total "me" fest in honor of my birthday). If you'd like to enter, the details are HERE. You can enter until midnight EST tonight. Go ahead, give it a shot!

Butterflies and things

It's time for a new challenge at Belles n' Whistles. I am lucky enough to be their guest DT member for this month and next month. How exciting! This month, Audhild is challenging us to use butterflies. Not hard, since I love them. It was harder to stop adding them as I was making the card. After all, it is all about showing off this adorable image called "Ice cream butterfly".

Isn't she cute? I colored her with copics and used chalks to add a light sky behind her (it shows up better in real life). If you want this image for your very own (of course you do!), you can find her HERE.

Flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts. The shape around the image and sentiment are both from Spellbinders dies. The little cameo is actually an old earring; I just cut off the hook. Papers are Graphic 45 Little Darlings collection. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I got the lace corner from my friend, Tracy. I'm almost out of them, darnit! I want more! I got the square doily behind the papers from a bulk sale on ebay. I think that about covers it!

Thanks for looking. Now go on over to the Belles n Whistles challenge blog to see what the awesome DT has created. And while you're at it, why not give this fun challenge a shot?

It's finally here - a RAK of epic proportions!!!

Ladies and gentlemen in blog land, you may actually end up thanking me that my original RAK post was so late. I went shopping today and added more to the RAK. Those of you who know me and my RAKs know that this is not the end of it. Chances are, I'll keep adding to it until I actually ship the darned thing.

Here's a picture to give you an idea of what you'll be getting. You'll get everything in the picture (minus the table and placemat, LOL). Plus, I figure I'll add stuff from my stash, like maybe some flowersoft, more ribbon or twine, more papers, etc.

Just in case your eyes (and the lighting of the pic) aren't good enough for you to see it all, here's a list:
5 packs of Basic Grey chipboard stickers
Tim Holtz word tickets
Stamps by: ching chou kiuk, elisabeth bell, and house mouse
a Tim Holtz movers and shapers die (mini birdhouse and bird)
Spellbinders Nestabilities lacey squares
a navy blue copic multiliner
two copic sketch markers
a 6x6 paper pad from Crate Paper
ribbon and twine
square paper doilies
soap and body spray from Grumpy Girl, scent: fruit orgy

not pictured: Gina K paper, a gift certificate to Guylou's Inimitability (I'll purchase it and have G send it to you once the winner is picked), and whatever else I decide to toss in at the last minute.

added on 3/7/2012: clear epoxy "window" stickers from CTMH, enamel accents, 4 cuttlebug embossing folders, flower shaped buttons, butterfly/ladybug/bee shaped buttons. The box is now FULL. I don't think I can fit anything else in it!

I'm going to throw it all into a cute princess themed photo box for shipping, too. The box makes for adorable storage, or a good project to alter if you don't have the need for a cute pink box.

This RAK is in celebration of my 40th birthday on March 14th. Consequently, that's the day I'll draw the winner. All you have to do to be eligible to win is the following:
1. leave a comment on THIS post
2. post a picture of my RAK in your blog's sidebar

If you are not currently a follower of my blog, no worries. You do not have to be a follower to win.

Happy Birthday to me and happy RAK day to you!

Love, hearts, and Elisabeth Bell

This will just be a quick post. I am beat after a long day of visiting and shopping. I need to crash on my couch before another tiring day tomorrow. However, I wanted to pop in and post my card for this month's challenge over at Belles n' Whistles. This time around, they want a card to celebrate love and hearts. A friend has been on my mind a lot lately. I love her dearly and she's dealing with a lot of stress right now. I wanted to brighten her day, at least for the few minutes it will take her to open and read this card. Check it out:

As always, thanks for looking! Have a wonderful weekend (what's left of it). I'm going to see the Lorax tomorrow with my friend and her adorable little son. Should be a blast!

Oops, I'm sorry - look for RAK post tonight!

Hey, all of my friends out in blogland. I am so sorry. I know I said I'd post a RAK on March 1st. Well, work and home life got super busy for a few days there. I forgot all about it. That is, until the pile of stuff for it caught my eye this morning. I'm headed to the scrapbook store this afternoon, after my friend's son's birthday party. I'll be adding more to the RAK at that time, and posting a picture. For now, here's what I've got:
a spellbinders nesties set - lacy squares
Tim Holtz movers and shakers, mini bird and birdcage
two copic markers
a navy blue copic multiliner
5 packs of chipboard stickers from Basic Grey
ribbon, ribbon, and more ribbon
a Ching Chou Kiuk stamp
a house mouse stamp
square white lacy paper doilies
a 6x6 paper pack
a bar of soap and a body spray in fruit orgy scent from Grumpy Girl

I'm going to hit the LSS and add more, then I'll take a picture or two and put up my RAK post tonight! Sorry for the delay!

Grab your wings and fly!

It's time for another challenge at Guylou's Inimitability. This time, it was my friend Sara's turn to play host. Unfortunately, Sara recently had to step down from the DT. We sure do miss her, and in honor or her, we're going forward with her challenge idea. All you have to do is make a project that features something with wings. That's it! Things with wings!!

For my project, I used this adorable fairy. She makes me smile.

 It's hard to tell in the pic, but I added some bling to all of the flowers. The image was colored with copics. I wanted her to be bright and happy, and really capture the eye, so I went for some really saturated color. I also tried to keep the card mostly flat, as it will be sent to Operation Write Home so a soldier can wish his/her mom a wonderful Mother's Day.

You have until 10 pm EST on Thursday, March 15th to enter your project featuring things with wings. You could win a $10 gift card to Guylou's store, as well as the opportunity to appear as a guest designer on a future challenge!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to welcome Roxann to our team. She's been an active participant in our challenges and has guest DT'ed a time or two. We're happy to have her on our team permanently! You can check out her blog to see just how lucky we are to get such a great talent and a great personality. The link is in my left sidebar. Welcome to G's DT family, Roxann!

Happy crafting!

Oh, my goodness! I almost forgot. I know I've told you in the past about G's generosity. Well, she's decided to help out all of you wonderful people in blogland. She's giving away a freebie, for 24 hours only on March 2nd. Just go to www.guylou.com on March 2nd, add the fairy bear to your cart, and enter the code 201203-FAIRY-BEAR to get her for FREE. She's perfect for this challenge, too!