Doodle Dragon Anouncement!

Guess what?  After being a long-time admirer of Dustin Pike and his amazing charismatic characters, I have been offered a position on the
Doodle Dragon Design Team
at Dustin Pike's blog! 

And what a perfect time to be joining this team!
Dustin is celebrating his 3rd Blogiversary and having a great sale at the Doodle Dragon Studios!

For those who don't know Dustin, he creates these adorable little characters
and has a somewhat "unusual" sense of humor!
The blog offers a bi-weekly challenge and you get a free image
JUST FOR PLAYING ALONG!
Who else does that?

I can't wait to play!

So, here is my first post on my blog as a member of this way wacky group!

The challenge theme this week is "Outdoor Activities". 

"Dudley" has gotten behind the wheel and is cruising down the road...

Slow down, Dudley!

I colored this with Copics and used Paper Studio Papers, "Boys Live to Rock".

Dudley's such a "gear-head"!

If you're not familiar with Dustin Pike's images,

you need to check them out!

This card has been entered in the challenges at:
Cards for Men (Texture)
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge (Stripes)
Here Come the Boys (Cards for little boys)
Totally Gorjuss (Toys for Boys)

Pastels for Spring!

The challenge at JustRite Inspirations this week is

"Perfect Pastels!"

How absolutely gorgeous to see all of the beautiful

design team posts!

On my card, I took inspiration from the colors and the black of the vintage typewriter in the inspiration photo!

I tried something new this time around and am not sure how I feel about it.

I heated the ribbon on the edges to allow it to curl slightly, hoping to give it more texture and not look so flat. 

In the photo, it appears to be just crooked ribbon or paper...

Perhaps not a technique I will use layered under another element again.

IRL, it really looks pretty.

I added a sparse amount of crushed glass to the butterfly wings, also.

Jury's still out on that one, too...

To break down my supplies, I used:

JustRite stamps; Fleur dis Lis Labels Twenty,
Greetings from Paris,
and

Victorian Nested Frames and Sentiments (No longer available)

Dies; Spellbinders, Nestibilities Labels Twenty and Fancy Tags Three

Papers;  DCWV, Prima, and Echo Park

Embossing Powders, Crushed Glass Glitters, and inks;  Stampendous

Hope you enjoyed, and remember to always TRY new things.

I may very well use that technique on another project and LOVE it!

This card has also been entered at
Victorine Stamps (Anything Goes)

Recycled, repurposed, or reused!

Rose Corset Project

This little "dresser" has been sitting on my armoire for 2 years, unpainted and unloved.

My husband pointed out that I should have taken a photo BEFORE I crackle-painted it, but if you're like me, you get an idea, and you run with it! Literally! I think I broke records sprinting out to the garage searching for my crackle paint with the

 image of what I wanted to do swirling around in my head!

I also knew that I HAD to place the Rose Corset in front of it!
I love this stamp! It heat embosses so beautifully and the swirls lend themselves perfectly to further embellishment!

I stamped and embossed the image, glued it to some thin chipboard, then fussy-cut it.
Next, I painted the "fabric" portions of the corset with sparkle waterpaints and lined the trim with silver pen, and the leaves with green. 
The roses are Copic, R35 and R59, with tiny black pearl pen buttons.
I carefully placed rhinestones following the swirls.
 I love the way it sets off the elegant detail.
I cut a slice into the top of an oval chipboard disk, inked it in black,
stuck the cut image into it,
and heat embossed it with lots of black embossing powder to hold it in place and to make it look as though it is one piece.



The dresser was painted black and then crackled in cream.
After allowing it to dry overnight, I stamped the design onto the sides and top using Momento ink. 
For the drawers, I painted them cream and thn crackeld them in dark red.
A little water-downed walnut ink wash over the whole thing
gave it a more vintage appearance.

Just to add a bit of punch, I added the rhinestone swirls to the front.
The little hat box was really fun!
I simply painted the bottom walnut and crackled the lid in cream.
Those tiny roses were the perfect size! And after I used my R35 and R59 Copics markers again, they were the perfect color!

The chandelier is that special something to make the scene complete.
I wish I had a real bedroom with these decorator items in it!
My favorite colors again, RED and Black! 
I think my earrings have just found a new home!

DYSU Challenge #68- Stripes!

We have three amazing sponsors this week:

£10 voucher

Winner's Choice of 5 Digis

A "Toodle Club Membership" and a free Toodle Birthday Calendar.

My

"Cozy Toddle"

card:

I loved coloring and paper piecing this image,

all the way down to her fluffy house slippers!

They're baaaack!

Well, they never really went away, but it's been a while since I have visited

Dustin Pike's "Doodle Dragon" blog.

Boy, things are really hopping over there! They still have the great challenges, but now you receive a "freebie" image just for entering!

What could be better?! 

Better, you ask? 

How about an entire HUGE COLLECTION of Dustin's images for a really small price? Dustin is celebrating his 3 Year Blogiversary!

Check it out at the website! 

Here's my entry for the "Make us laugh!" challenge:

Yes, a play on the words from the TV commercial, "What's in YOUR wallet?"

I couldn't resist...

And no, those are NOT real jelly beans...I painted little white beans for the card.

My grandson will LOVE this one.  Just twisted enough.

Art Philosophy Cameo

I really like the way the Cricut "Art Philosophy" cartridge works so well with the other die cuts out there!  I used several of my Spellbinders and this pretty silhouette cut from the cartridge to make a quick and easy layered card! 
And in order to enter it in the challenge at

Cricut Is Close To My Heart,

I chose to layer the cut silhouette under acetate.

(This blog has some really fantastic ideas for your cartridges. Even if you haven't any CTMH stamps, it's great for ideas!

After the fact, I had wished I had made the black frame more filigree. At the time I made the card, it seemed as if it would be too busy...now I regret not taking that chance!

I must keep asking myself, "What would Becca Feeken do"?  LOL!

She would have had three more luscious layers and a larger, prettier bow!

baby steps, Jan, baby steps....

This photo shows the reflection off the acetate.

If you have a Cricut, and have been debating buying the "Art Philosophy" cartidge,
get it!

I have only 20 or so Cricut cartridges, and find I use some only rarely. But this one has SO many elements that work well with vintage and fancy cards and layouts, I'm constantly pulling it out!

The other one I love is Heritage.

Have a great week!

Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge #123

Perfect for this number challenge (1...2...3...) at Skipping Stones Designs

is this sketch with 3 obvious image spots!

Of course, these could have been also been sentiments or elements, but this is MY interpretation!

I've been wanting to apply the bleaching technique to a clear embossed image for a long time now, and this image for a masculine card offered the perfect opportunity!

Love the way the embossed image just POPS through the lighten area! FUN!

The stamp set I used is Skipping Stones Design's, "Always Here".

I really gravitate to these butterflies and dragonflies this time of year!

"Lovely in Lace" at Flourish!

For the current noon-time Flourish challenge - to use lace on your project -

I chose to make a card that I can have ready for the next coming winter season.

When the temperatures start cooling off here in the desert, around October, we start coming out of our air-conditioned homes and enjoying the outdoors. I actually spend more time scrapping indoors when most of you are out during the summer,
enjoying the days in the sun! 115 degrees in August, early September sometimes,
is a bit too much sun for me!

I don't make a lot of Christmas/holiday cards, so more of mine are "season" related.

I embossed these tiny little birds and the pine needles with Stampendous embossing glitters! I love them because, not like regular glue-down glitter, it doesn't get all over you or your card! Stays exactly where you heat emboss it!

Just trying to keep a "cool" head here while the temperatures start creeping up...

DYSU Challenge #67- Glitter!

Check out the DYSU blog to see the terrific sponsors!

For my card, I chose the adorable "Download Diva"

from:

And to think that I would have NEVER considered using bling or glitter as recently as only a few years ago on a card or layout!

I loved adding the little hoop earring! (jump ring)

She was just crying out for some stylin' jewelry!

I love this little image, and her message is appropriate for any age.

Yes, even someone MY age! LOL!

Enjoy your day!

Flourishes - Timeless Tuesday #164

Mona, at Flourishes, has asked that the challenge this week be to "use a fruit theme"!

Absolutley nothing says Spring like fresh fruit, fruit trees, fruit everywhere!

After the week of card kit cutting and re-organizing my room and cleaning the rest of the house, my right thumb just was NOT up to coloring an image (at least, not doing a very good job of it)

I think the simplicity of using this stamp with brown embossing powder was enough to set off the beautiful details of the designers artwork.

The sentiment was stamped and decorated with three little golden marquis shaped rhinestones to resemble seeds!

The butterfly was graced with a gold bling head himself!

Loveliness in it's simplicity.

Somethimes the best way to see the beautiful detail in these stamps is to stamp them and leave them alone...no coloring.

I think this card is a good example.

Thanks, Flourish, for this challenge!

Doesn't everyone love chocolate?

With the past weekend being Easter,

I have had my share of the tradional candy and sweets.

But, I thought it would be nice to be able to present a special friend with more than just a simple card , or just a little package of chocolate.

I have a dear acquaintance that has been so wonderfully thoughtful over the last few years, and never askes anyone to do for her. She is so very SWEET!

A nice box of chololates or a gift card for her favorite

coffee latte drink at Starbuck's would make her very happy!

So, for the Waltzing Mouse challenge this week ,

I made this SWEET set that I know I would love to receive, "just because".

The "Sweet" label stamp from Waltzing Mouse's "Rescue Remedies"

was perfect for such a wonderful confection!

And, wanting to use something besides the basic folded card base, I decided to make a tri-fold but place the sketch horizontally! I have to humor myself sometimes... lol!

Inside...  truer words were never spoken!

I had better deliver this before there are no more truffles left to share!

The sketch challenge at Waltzing Mouse!

Happy Spring!

This card was made for the sketch challenge over at

Craft's Meow

I used the sentiment from Craft's Meow's, "Fly Free".

The DP is My Mind's Eye, "Lost and Found, Madison Avenue" collection

The flower is Prima and the little brads are brown felt ones from my stash.

I love using ribbon as a border, especially ruffled a bit!

It seems strange making a Spring card when the temperature is in the low 90's today!

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Stampendous and Dreamweaver hook up!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!

I know it was a quiet one for us.

Get ready because the next few days holds some great inspiration!

Check out the great projects and a chance to win some wonderful products! I know I am very impressed with these great stencils and stamps! And together? WOW!

Have fun!

JustRite is so totally "just right"...

My card for this week's JustRite Inspirations challenge...

     Use JustRite stamps to make your own designer paper!

The background was made by stamping rows of the fleur de lis border from the

"Greetings from Paris" stamp set, heat embossing each row in black as I went.

The "postcarte" from the same set was stamped in Momento, Rich Cocoa.

(Notice that adorable little postmark that is also included in that set!)

I inked up the postcard really well so that it has a seriously vintage look,

and added the crocheted trim for a color POP!

Note, also, that the g.c.d. paper I used was heavily textured. This makes for a very interesting look when you stamp and emboss, not allowing the image to stamp solidly.

Fantastic when you're going for that old, vintage effect!

I love the cameo craze, so I couldn't resist including a soft bow and a sweet

black and cream cameo and homemade bow pin!

Still needed something...hmm...

some subtle black Zva swirls topped it off perfectly!

What I have is yet another card with my FAVORITE colors..red and black!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sending "Good Fortune"...

My card for MFT this week is for my DIL's birthday!

It was so much fun choosing this little gal's outfit and those papers!

I used KaiserCraft's "Le Chateau" paper pack, cutting out the little bird cages and framing one in a color block.  The second littler one needed some love,

so I had the little Pure Innocence girl hold onto it.

The background is embossed with Cuttlebug's "Mary Ann" folder,

and has the look of a Japanese screen.

The sentiment is done in a "cookie fortune" style. Yes, I know, fortune cookies are Chinese...but then, why do they give them to us at our local Sushi restaurant?  hmmm... confusion setting in...

 I placed a little bauble from my stash in her hair. A girl has to look pretty, you know!

To finish off the inside, I stamped a bird cage image, and continued the paper patterns, leaving plenty of room for our birthday wishes!

Please leave a comment and let me know you were here!

It makes my day to read your kind words!

Entered into the MFT WSC Getting Sketchy Challenge #66

Have a great day!