Best and Warmest of Wishes

Hi friends!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. For those of us on the West Coast, we're enjoying much warmer than normal temperatures. But I know most of the East Coast is gearing up for quite the snow storm. Stay warm and safe!

I'm sharing a card today that I'm quite excited about! I asked my husband to buy me the Copic Online Card Class for Christmas. I've been watching videos ever since. My Copic collection isn't large and I've been so frustrated trying to learn the techniques. But the classes are really very helpful. As is true for everything else in life, the more you practice, the easier it will become. And I'm enjoying coloring more and more. So, although I'm no expert, I'm thrilled to share a card using my Copics!

Here's my card:

I stamped the image using Memento Black ink and the stamp is from Penny Black. I colored in the image using Copic markers. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp! (Apothecary Labels). I trimmed down the image panel and added some black strips just to add some interest to the card. The card was then adhered to red cardstock (Hero Arts) and the card was done. I contemplated adding gems and Wink of Stella...but I decided to just leave it alone and let the coloring take center stage. Sometimes, less is more.

If you want to learn how to use your Copics, I highly recommend taking the Online Card Class offered. I've watched the videos many times now and even my 10 year old son is learning how to blend and shade because of the videos.

Here are the websites I'll be entering the card in:
Word Art Wednesday--"Anything Goes" challenge
Cute Card Thursday--"Colourful" challenge
Runway Inspired Challenge--Carven (see image below for the inspiration. I used the bright colors with black as the inspiration.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
Pat

Celebrate...a baby!

Hi friends!

I'm not sure if you all heard me squeal when I realized I could slip away for an hour and work on a card in the middle of the week! :) Today, I'm sharing a special card for a special baby. One of the moments I love most in life is when you realize someone has sneaked into your heart and you didn't even realize it. The little baby boy that this card is going to is just a little over 2 weeks old. He's a preemie and he's been working hard to gain weight and come home to his loving parents. He's named just like my oldest. Although I don't know him--or even his parents--he's become special to me. And he's perfectly cute, too! You are all welcome to join me in praying for baby Sammy, too.
Here's my card:

The design of the card is based on a sketch (see below) from Freshly Made Sketches. I changed the design just a bit and added the twine to mimic the space between the papers. I knew that I wanted to use hearts and I remembered a small stamp set that I got for $1 at a local craft store. Those three hearts come as a little border and it was perfect for the card! I chose blue and red and just stamped the border over and over. I then stamped the sentiment (Hampton Arts) and wrapped the baker's twine. The onesie die cut, although hard to see in the picture, is from WPlus9 and I stamped the large heart from that same $1 set. Because every baby should be celebrated, I did add some shine to the inside of the hearts with some Wink of Stella. Super easy card...but I really like how it turned out!

Here are the sites where I'll be entering the card:
Simon Says Stamp! Wednesday challenge--use hearts
Word Art Wednesday--anything goes!
Freshly Made Sketches--see picture below for the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!
Pat

You're an 11!

Hi all!

After quite the break from crafting, I'm here to finally share a card. Although I haven't been making many cards, I have been taking the Copic marker class from Online Card Classes and having tons of fun coloring. Here's my card:

Today's card has tons of color and a couple techniques, too. First off, the background. I used several different distress inks to make the background. I used the ink pads to smear some color on my nonstick mat and then sprayed the ink so that I could use the colors as a watercolor wash. The colors, though, weren't as deep as I wanted them to be. I'd pounce the paper back into the color but I wasn't getting the deep blue I had hoped for. So, once I did several watercolor layers, I added some dark blue distress ink with the blending tool on the corners. I also wanted to tie in some red since the bird has some red so that was done with the blending tool, too. I then cut out a circle using a die cut and positioned the sentiment where I wanted it. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp!'s Apothecary Labels.

The bird was colored in using Copic markers. Like I mentioned, I have been taking the online class and I've loved it. There were some images provided so I fussy cut the bird and used the image. I used dimensional tape to adhere him and added some navy blue strips along the background paper, too.

Such a fun, inky, colorful card to make!

Here's the sites I'll be entering the card in:
Word Art Wednesday--"anything goes"
Send A Smile 4 Kids--a great site that provides handmade cards to kids--"anything goes" challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
Pat