Beauty in the Unexpected

This was an interesting lesson in artistic creation.

Sometimes when I’m coloring images, I outline the image with a faint blue marker, just to enhance it a bit. On rare occasions, I have also used a soft yellow or pink. Claire has picked up on this technique and often repeats it in her own work.

So one day, she picked up my image and asked if she could have it. And, she added a bright orange border. What am I going to do with this!!! Skies aren’t orange! It’s not a soft accent!

But, she gave it back to me and told me I should use it in a future project. And so, I put on my extra creative hat and decided to see what I could come up with. And here we are.

The papers were left over from some kits and I thought those leaves looked like they were blowing in the wind, just like our little mice. The orange border is a perfect pairing with the orange paper, and the quick add of copper specialty paper (almost a foil) gave it this little shine that added a little “oomph” to it. I love the Taylored Expressions Simple Strips and this one seemed to be appropriate, because if you’re going to be caught at the end of a dragonfly, you might as well have a friend along for the ride!

And that’s all for today!

Cozy Cabin in the Woods

There are two things I find fun about kits. One, getting to play with new images that I would never otherwise purchase. Today’s card is one of those. The coloring required for this image is…overwhelming. But, it’s such a BEAUTIFUL image and I really wanted to find a way to do it justice.

The second nice thing about kit is the suggestions that sometimes come along with them. Sometimes the kit creators include these sample cards, ideas or layouts using the image, so that you can play along, if you desire.

This image will be in a few of my projects this year and I had fun coloring it in several ways (including just using it as a black and white uncolored image). But this particular card was directly from a sample idea in my kit and I really love how it turned out, this cozy cabin in the woods.

Have a great day, crafters!

Kit Crafting

The dreaded kits!! I know, I know. If you’re a faithful reader you don’t believe a word of what I say when I tell you this is the year.

But, I’m making progress.

You know, the kits got to a point where they just overwhelmed me. It didn’t bring me joy to see them sitting there, waiting to be created into something. But after going through all of them and coloring images up, I have a renewed excitement to play with them.

There are a few that didn’t make the cut. Those have been disassembled and the parts I like kept. The number of kits in this category is few and far between, but sometimes something just doesn’t move you. Or theme….I just DON’T use get well cards, so I’d rather use the paper and embellishments that will head out my door to a recipient.

Today’s cards come from three of those kits and all have the same theme – birthday.

I think I may have created and posted a card from this first kit before. I love this adorable image! One of the challenge sometime with kits is that I love the papers and the image…but do I really need two similar cards?? Sometimes I like to change it up, color it differently, add it to other papers and see what I get. And this is the result.

This image has been sitting in my stash for quite awhile. I’m not ever sure if it was a kit image or just a swap image. And, when I discovered it, it was sitting there with these three cut pieces of DSP, just waiting to be turned into something. I love the sparkles on the ladybug straps. The perfect card for a little girl with a big birthday in my life.

And finally, you will probably see a lot of this image soon. The kit came with a very generous supply of images and since I like this vendor and this image, I just had to color them all! There weren’t enough papers in the kit to create with them all, so I headed to my craft stash with my already colored image to look for things it would work with. These two papers are not a pattern mix, but they had enough of the green to coordinate and they matched her beautiful dress. Done!

That’s it for today’s projects. But, I’ll be back in a few days with more for you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch Saturday #692

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the first Sketch Saturday challenge of 2022. This year, we’ve moved to a bi-weekly sketch challenge, which means you have more time to create using the sketch…or, more time to create MULTIPLE entries.

Here is sketch #692:

For the sketch this week, I used this old Bugaboo image. I love these ninjas! The sentiment comes from a CC Designs set and pairs nicely with the image. The paper comes from Graphic 45 (Bird Song) and also works with the great theme.

If you’re looking for ideas for additional entries, try rotating the sketch or changing the shape of the square pieces.

I can’t wait to see what you create!

Crafty Camping

We’ve been making good use of our trailer this year (and the fact that there isn’t much else to do during this pandemic), so have had regular trips to the campground booked starting in late May.

Early on, I decided to try to haul a selection of craft supplies. If I don’t have work, laundry, or electronic distractions, surely I can use the time to create, right? But, early on I found myself packing everything and then not pulling it out! I decided that I either had to find a way to use everything, or stop dragging in along!!

While the mosquitos sometimes present a challenge, the last couple of trips have been MUCH better. Two trips ago, I took the time to clean all my copics (much easier to color this way) and then last weekend Claire and I spent a couple hours at the picnic table working on things.

While I tend to go for the cards, Claire likes to bring out the watercoloring. And, she made me some backgrounds. She does beautiful work and I love how this one turned out!

All three of these were created with old card kits that have been collecting. Slowly I am going through, coloring the images and then working to create with them. I hope that this new “crafty camping” will help me reduce the overload of kits I have stockpiled.

This last one doesn’t use a Claire background, but it’s still a pretty card!

Hope everyone is doing well!

2019 Card Kit Swap – Kit 5/9

Still trying to get through my 2019 Card Kits from my Card Kit Shower Swap. Today’s kit came from Maggie and she sent me gorgeous Lili of the Valley images and some beautiful papers.

Here’s the two cards I made with her kit:

This image is so adorable! I had fun coloring it up in two different color themes.

Maggie, thanks so much for your delightful kit!

2019 Card Kit Swap – Kit 4/9

I am once again in the Card Kit Shower Swap over at Splitcoast Stampers. It’s a year long swap where we send kits, and once a year get “showered” with kits from the other participants.

We have 11 participants this year, so let’s see if I can get them all posted in November. I aim to make two cards (minimum) with every kit, but sometimes there is an image or paper or selection of stuff that I like to play with and a get a few more made.

I’m pretty sure Terry sent me a “knock it out of the park” kit last year. Her taste in papers and images is impeccable and so much fun to play with. This year, it was a coffee themed kit and I created, and created and created. FIVE cards with this great kit. Terry, I’m speechless and so thankful.

First, this cutie. He’s a hedgehog from Gerda Steiner. He’s super cute and his coffee cup has been popped right off his hands. This creation did use a sketch. Unfortunately, the source came from a pinterest pin with no acknowledgement.

Next up,this fun image from DRS Designs called Coffee Cup Trio. I colored this to match the paper (isn’t that paper yummy!).

And, an image from American Art Stamps, Emerson Caffeine. This image was fun to play with a few of the bolder patterns in the kit.

Then I started to get into a black and white vibe. First with this image from See D’s Grande Cup.

And then with this Love You to Bits Java Nice Day. The bold green on this was perfect for that black and white palate.

Terry, I’m very thankful for your kit and your participation in my swap. Thank you!

2019 Card Kit Swap – Kit 3/9

I am once again in the Card Kit Shower Swap over at Splitcoast Stampers. It’s a year long swap where we send kits, and once a year get “showered” with kits from the other participants.

We have 11 participants this year, so let’s see if I can get them all posted in November. I aim to make two cards (minimum) with every kit, but sometimes there is an image or paper or selection of stuff that I like to play with and a get a few more made.

Barb’s a long time swapper in my kits and she always send delightful and carefully though out kits. This kit was no exception.

The image is from Taylored Expressions, Big Butterfly. Now, I’m not usually a fan of large images…but this butterfly??? It’s fantastic!! Great opportunity to play with color in your creations. This is exactly why these swaps exist, to step out of your comfort zone and find great new images you would have otherwise passed over. This one may have to join my craft room in the future!

I started out with a bold, bright version. A perfect match for the party papers.

And then I tried a softer version and played up the fun papers.

Thanks for the great kit, Barb!

2019 Card Kit Swap – Kit 2/9

I am once again in the Card Kit Shower Swap over at Splitcoast Stampers. It’s a year long swap where we send kits, and once a year get “showered” with kits from the other participants.

We have 11 participants this year, so let’s see if I can get them all posted in November. I aim to make two cards (minimum) with every kit, but sometimes there is an image or paper or selection of stuff that I like to play with and a get a few more made.

Today’s kit came from Arlene and she sent along images from CC Designs, Mushroom Friends. She also sent great paper! I love bright colors and this paper hits the mark!

This poor bunny got colored in pink initially and looked like a long-eared pig….thank goodness for extra images! I think he looks spectacular in grey (and like a proper bunny).

Thanks for the great kit, Arlene!

2019 Card Kit Swap – Kit 1/9

I am once again in the Card Kit Shower Swap over at Splitcoast Stampers. It’s a year long swap where we send kits, and once a year get “showered” with kits from the other participants.

This year, everyone has done such a great job of getting their kits out on time and there’s been quite a bit of sharing in the swap thread too! I love that. So, it’s only fair that I show my creations as well. We have 11 participants this year, so let’s see if I can get them all posted in November.

I aim to make two cards (minimum) with every kit, but sometimes there is an image or paper or selection of stuff that I like to play with and a get a few more made.

My month was October. The first kit that arrived was from Sue. Sue had to leave our swap, so she sent out her final kits a bit early to make sure the finished. I really appreciate that! Sue, I also hope you’re doing alright out there, wherever you are.

Sue sent a great selection of images, so I ended up making three cards. Plus, she sent paper from one of my favorite Stampin’ Up collection packs…the colors, texture and shine of this DSP is fantastic.

I loved this beach image and  had fun coloring it up. The shells where included as a separate image, so I made them into an embellishment.

Unity stamps are so fantastic and I love these “lady” stamps.I carefully chose her outfit colors to pair with the background paper (have I mentioned I LOVE this paper???)

Dreamcatchers aren’t usually my thing and I was afraid this would be difficult to color. But, Claire has been really into dreamcatchers lately so I wanted to make this card for her. I love how it turned out and hope she’ll love it.

Thanks for the great kit, Sue!