Sugar and Spice Release at Tiddly Inks!

Hey, all!  I hope your weekend was GRAND!  Mine was pretty great ;D  I spent Saturday afternoon with a group of delightful and talented paper artists and we made the Dia de los Muertos cards I featured on my blog.  I had a wonderful time and I'm hoping they did, too :)  A big "thank you" to everyone who attended my class.  You gals really know how to have a good time and I love that about you!

Today I come bearing news!  Tiddly Inks is releasing images from the Sugar and Spice collection and they are exquisite.  Christy has really outdone herself.  Just when I think she can't possibly top her latest release, she does it again.  This time she has created images that represent the two sides of her personality...let's just say these characters are a little bit sweet and a whole lot spicy!  I guess that pretty much describes all of us ;D

I'm using Angel Spice and I just love her!  That crazy big hair, those sweet wings, and those fab boots really make this image rock.  I've included my Copic colors at the bottom of this post if you care to scroll down to take a look.

Head over to Christy's blog to see some amazing samples created by the Tiddly Inkers, then head to the shop to pick yours up so you can start coloring up these fantastic images.

While you're out, don't forget to stop by the Tiddly Inks Challenge blog to find out details regarding this week's challenge and to see gorgeous artwork by the DT.  You better scoot!  You have a lot of stops :)

Copics used:
skin - E11, E00, E000, R20
hair - E15, E13, Y21, Y00
dress - G05. G02, G00
boots and wings - BG01, BG10
halo around image - B93, B91, BG10, BG0000 
ground - E57, E31, E50    

Card #2 for Saturday's Class

Hey, all!  Did you make it past Hump Day?  Awesome, cuz that means we're steadily cruising closer to the weekend.  It's so close, I can almost touch it...lol!  I'm really looking forward to Saturday afternoon, because I will be spending it with 12 of my crafting buddies, making a  couple of creepy cool Dia de los Muertos cards.

I shared one of the cards with you yesterday and I'm back today with the second one.  I went with more traditional Halloween colors this time and added a line from a haunting poem called Death by Emily Dickinson.  The first verse reads...

Because I could not stop for Death, 

he kindly stopped for me; 

the carriage held but just ourselves 

and Immortality.

Isn't that wonderful.  Read the full poem here.  I became aware of this lovely bit of prose because of a fabulous painting created by my favorite artist, Brandon Maldonado.  The painting is called The Carriage and features the first verse of the poem written by hand at the bottom of the piece.  I'm really quite smitten by the imagery combined with these words.  Guess I'll have to add this print to my Brandon Maldonado collection.  

Ok, so those are the 2 cards I'll be teaching on Saturday.  I love this time of year because you have the One-Two Punch of Halloween followed immediately by Dia de los Muertos.  In fact, I LOVE this time of year SO MUCH, I'm thinking about having a giveaway.  I haven't got all the fine details worked out yet, but keep checking back and I should have it posted in a few days.  

Catch ya' later!  Until then, stay crafty!  

A Dia de los Muertos class at CP2 this Saturday!

Hey, everybody!  I want to thank each of you for your very kind comments and support regarding my first video tutorial.  My video making skills need to be honed, but it was fun to make, so you'll see me back here, same time next month, with a new one ;)

Today I am sharing one of 2 cards I'll be teaching this Saturday afternoon at China Phoenix 2.  Halloween and Dia de los Muertos seem to be pretty popular holidays in this part of the country and the folks who frequent CP2 really get into the festivities, myself included.  So, you can imagine my excitement when Third Coast released their new Halloween images complete with 2 exquisite designs featuring La Catrina.  I literally flipped!  Nancy ordered them as quickly as possible and then we waited for them to arrive.  Last Thursday I got the call...they were finally here!

Unfortunately, other commitments prevented me from getting them inky until yesterday.  Even though I had a late start preparing for this class, I finally finished my samples.  A quick check of the clock reveals that it is 3:00am here...*sigh*.  Well, no time for witty repartee, I'll just slap these photos up of the first card and tomorrow I'll share the second card.  Time to get some shut eye.  I have an early start tomorrow...I mean "today" ;D  

My Very First Video Tutorial

Hello!  I have some big news today.  I created my very first video tutorial.  "Why for?", you might be asking.  Well, I'll tell you...I'm the new designer at the Color Me Copic Club and that means that I will be making a new Copic technique video each month to share with the CCC members.  Carlene Pinkscrapper runs the show over there, plus she has a fabulous boutique filled to the brim with cool crafty supplies.  Visit her store's blog and take a look around!

You'll have to forgive the technical glitches in my video.  I actually shot a version of it yesterday, but the tripod we have is on the large side and even when it is completely collapsed to sit on a table, it sits up really high.  I started to film my video using the tripod in that manner and it made everything appear as if I were doing a Copic demo from outer space!  Not so good.  We also have a tiny Gorilla tripod that only sits about 8 or 10 inches tall, but has these flexible legs that can be wrapped around stuff to achieve those impossible camera angles.  Also, not so good.  I considered hanging it around my neck for the ultimate "Cheryl Coloring Cam", but thought that might be awkward (and stupid).  We considered hanging the larger tripod upside down from a hook screwed into the ceiling.  Thank goodness we opted to go a different direction.  Finally, Kirk said that he remembered seeing a tripod that was 10 or 12 inches high and only cost $15.  I asked him where and he said (the dreaded) WalMart.  Why is it, no matter what you need, no matter how obscure, WalMart always has it?  It's as if, they have a basement filled with elves held captive and forced to make mountains of weird items that consumers don't even know they need...yet.  Yes, I just compared WalMart to Santa.  Sorry Santa.  I asked Kirk where he bought the big tripod, guess what he said...right, you guessed it...WalMart.  What?  Do they have a whole department devoted just to tripods?

Anyway, being the doll he is, he ran out and picked it up for me.  At least now, the camera and my demo appear to have been filmed on the same planet.  In my video, I demo how to create the illusion of drapes and folds in fabric on images using Copic Markers.  It's a really nice detail to add to different designs and once you start, you won't be able to stop.  As I mentioned earlier, my video shooting skills need some work, but hey, Scorsese and Tarantino had to start somewhere, too ;)  Anyway, take a look-see.

Hello again!  What fun things have you been up to this weekend?  Well, yesterday I had the good fortune to spend an evening with some crafting buddies and I also made some new friends in the process.  My friend, Denise, had a card making party at her house and asked me to teach a couple of card projects, which I was more than happy to do.  

We decided on two cards...one a Halloween card, the other a non-traditional Christmas card.  For the Halloween card, I decided to pull out my box of Penny Black "cute" images and see what popped out at me.  Yes, I really do have a whole box devoted to these sweet, quirky Penny Black characters.  I don't get to use them often enough, but they are wonderful and some of my favorites animal themed stamps.  The roly poly tabby is a reoccurring character and I love him because he reminds me of my big, fat fluffy black and white female kitty, Charlie.  She's a tiny young lady clocking in at a youthful 14 years of age and a svelte 18 lbs.  I kid you not, she really looks like this floofy kitty on my card.  She actually waddles when she walks and guess what...her brother is even bigger...LOL!  He is appropriately named Max ;D  

I colored the images with Copics, but tried to keep the colors to a minimum.  I believe I only used 9 or 10 colors on this.  I sponged a little Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and Faded Jeans on the die cut panel and grounded everything with some fun orange and black DP.  Pretty simple card.  That yummy twine is by a company called Divine Twine and my mom actually sent me whole spools of this in black, red, and gray.  Yes, that's right.  WHOLE spools!  Am a spoiled brat, or what?  LOL! 

Okay, that's it for card number one.  Pop back in tomorrow and I'll share card number two.  

Until then, stay crafty!   

A New Challenge at The Octopode and an Announcement

Hey, everybody!  Now for something a little different!  The new challenge at The Octopode is Locks and Keys.  These amazing images are from the imaginative mind of Lily Chilvers, a young and talented artist, with her own idea of what would happen if Whimsy and Edgy decided to hang out together.  If you're not familiar with this company, I urge you to head to Lily's Etsy shop and take a look around.  You will be astounded at the variety of designs available.  Are you looking for hard to find images of Edgar Allen Poe or David Bowie?  Look no further, The Octopode has them!  AND new designs are constantly being added!  

While you're out and about in Blogland, you'll want to head to The Octopode's Challenge blog and see what crazy cool creations the design team has crafted.  These folks are ridiculously talented and clever!  AND I am fortunate to be hanging out them on a fairly regular basis now ;D  I'll be joining The Octopode folks for a couple of challenges each month.  I cannot adequately express how excited I am about this, so I am just going to add a bunch of exclamation points at the end of this sentence for emphasis!!!!!!!!!!  LOL!  Sometimes I crack myself up ;D

Seriously, though, this is an honor and I would be tremendously grateful if you left a comment on the challenge blog, or better yet, played along this week.  If you use an Octopode image, your name will be tossed into the hat for the random drawing that takes place each month.  The winner receives a gift certificate to Lily's shop!  How cool is that?!

Okay, I have actually been crafting up a storm.  I know that's hard to believe since I was MIA last week, but it's true.  I have two more cards to share with you over the weekend and then next week I will have a couple of Dia de los Muertos cards to show you and hopefully a collaborative shrine project that my friend Anne and I will be teaching at our local stamp store, China Phoenix 2.  Also, I'll have one more announcement and my first video tutorial.  Yowza!  I've got a lot do!  I better fly!

Stay crafty ;D 

A New Challenge at Copic Creations

Hello!  Welcome back!  Today we have a new challenge at Copic Creations and I know you'll want to play along.  This time we're working with techniques for coloring fur, but there's one tiny catch...we've chosen to use non-traditional colors.  Remember the popular Care Bears from the 80's?  Of course, if you want to stick with the browns and grays, then feel free to do so, but we thought this was much more fun ;D

There are 2 exciting sponsors this week...Stamp Fairy and My Creative Classroom.  Visit the Copic Creations Challenge blog to see the details.  While you're there, take a look at what the design team came up with for this challenge.  I think you'll agree, we had a good time, LOL!  

For my card, I used an image by the Stamp Fairy called Barry Spooky Bats.  I think he is so adorable and goes right along with my crazy need to make Halloween cards right now.  To create Barry's fur I used BV04, BV02, BV01, BV00, and V000 to color the image and then went back in with layers of the same colors creating little dots to add texture.  I really like the way the image turned out.  He looks like a stuffed teddy bear with fur a bit on the fuzzy side.  Among the DT members, everybody's fur techniques turned out completely different, which is very cool.

This is such an easy and fun challenge, won't you join us?  Come back tomorrow, I've got something different up my sleeve and an announcement.  Until then, stay crafty!     

A new challenge at Tiddly Inks: Art journal Challenge

Hola, mis amigos!  I took a little blogging break.  Did you miss me?  HA!  I didn't think so ;D  Actually, it was completely unintentional.  The week was on full-tilt on the "busy" scale and before I knew it, the weekend was here.  And speaking of the weekend, I want to say a big "thank you" to the wonderful group of folks who joined me in my Tim Holtz inspired Halloween card class on Saturday.  I had a great time and I'm hoping you did, too ;D  You rock!

It's Tuesday and that means that we have a new Tiddly Inks challenge up at bat.   This time we're asking you to share your Art Jounal inspired projects.  Mixed media is the name of the game and there are no rules.  Be sure to check out the cool projects created by my teammates over on the TI challenge blog.  While you're out and about in Blogland, stop by Christy's blog and see what she is up to, as well.

For my project, I covered a small flat canvas with papers I cut from a book, then I taped off geometric shapes using some Eclipse Tape I had picked up at a craft show many moons ago.  Next, I sponged on various Distress Inks to give it some pizzazz.  At this point, I wasn't feeling it yet, so I opted to swipe some Faded Jeans DI directly onto the canvas.  I still wasn't quite there, so I added drops of Fired Brick and Peeled Paint DI Refill to my craft sheet, spritzed it with water and laid the canvas in this soupy, colorful mess.  Finally, it was starting to take shape.  Next, I randomly stamped bold dots in Memento Tuxedo Back Ink, then I swiped a bit of gold acrylic paint on the edges and in various spots on the canvas.  Lastly, I added some dimensional lacquer to the corners and sprinkled them with glitter.  The finishing touches are the myriad of Tiddly Inks images I used to put the scene together.  I acquired the house, tree, and moon a while back, and now, for the life of me, I can't find them on the site, even though I know they're still there.  I did, however, find a link to the lovely Tainted image.  My goal was to NOT spend hours coloring the images, so I gave myself only 15 minutes to color everything.

I have to apologize for the crummy photo.  I suppose I have been working my Ott Lite to death as of late, because it finally gave up on life and took it's last breath over the weekend.  Actually, I think the bulb just burned out, but that's not nearly as dramatic as thinking that it might have willingly thrown in the proverbial towel.  Oh well, time to make a trip to JoAnn's for a new one to get me through until new bulbs arrive via the Internet.

Lots of stuff going on this week, so be sure to check back often.  Until then, stay crafty!

A new challenge at Tiddly Inks: Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!

Hello, friends!  How was your long weekend?  I hope it was relaxing and you were able to bask in the lazy days of Summer.  Well, this week's challenge is about just that...sort of.  Actually, this week's theme is to say goodbye to Summer and say hello to Fall.

I love Fall.  The leaves turn to brilliant warm hues before they begin their downward descent to the ground, the weather becomes cool and crisp requiring cozy knits and sweaters to stay comfortable, and the Autumn holidays celebrate the gifts of the season with joyous gatherings for family and friends.  My favorite, in particular?  Halloween!

Halloween not only gives the kids a chance to mill about the neighborhood pandering for treats while dressed as their favorite super hero, it also gives the grown ups permission to embrace their inner witch or goblin and have a ghoulish good time as well!  Plus there's candy!  LOL!

So, in order to usher out Summer and welcome Fall, I made a card dedicated to my favorite creature celebration, Halloween.  I used an image called Forever, one of Tiddly Inks fabulous new images that pays homage to our favorite fanged night stalkers.  I've been playing with the technique of adding drapes and folds to clothing as demonstrated by some of my talented teammies.  Christy's images are perfect for this technique, as she has been so kind as to incorporate the delicate draping of fabric into her designs, without  actually adding the draped details.  This leaves a lovely little guide showing where the fabric should drape making placement super easy and natural.  Try it, you'll like it!

I am going to try to include my Copic colors regarding each new card I post going forward.  If I forget to once in a while, don't riot and pelt me with ink pads ;D  Head over to the Tiddly Ink Challenge Blog to check out all of the fab creations by my teammates.  They are sure to take your breadth away!  Also, be sure to drop by Christy's blog as well.  She always has a few surprises up her sleeve ;D

Before I go, I'm announcing August's randomly selected prize winner on the Bombshell Stamps blog, check it out!  Stay crafty!

Copic colors used:
(woman)
skin:  E11, E00, E000, R20
hair:  E15, E13, Y21, Y11
dress:  R39, R37, R35, R32
(vampire)
skin:  C3, C1, C00
hair:  C7, C5, C3, C1
jacket:  E43, E42, E41, E40, 
tie:  R35, R32
vest: G28, G24, G21
shoes:  C5, C3, C1        

A Big Giveaway on Kirk's Blog!!!

Hi, everybody!  As most of you know, my husband is something of a barbecue guru ;D  He has even started a line of his own BBQ products, namely a spice rub and a BBQ sauce, with more products scheduled for later in the year.  He is having a big giveaway on his blog where we'll select a random winner to receive a limited edition AlbuKirky Seasonings tee-shirt, a bottle of AlbuKirky Seasonings BBQ Rub, a bottle of AlbuKirky Seasonings BBQ Sauce, a copy of Bobby Flay's Grill It cookbook, and a bar of Grime Soap.  

Everybody can participate no matter where you reside.  This package would make a great gift for the griller in your life or it would be an awesome addition to your own barbecue arsenal if you are the primary griller in your family.  It's also a great way to try the AlbuKirky line of products.

Head to his blog and check out how you can enter to win!  

Thank you!

My Next Class at CP2: Halloween ala Tim Holtz

Hey, everyone!  Big plans for the weekend?  It's a long one for some of us.  We've got some grilling and cooking planned for Sunday (big surprise!) and maybe some light entertaining with family and friends.  Perhaps try to squeeze in a little R & R, too ;D  We'll see ;D  Whatever's on your agenda, I hope it rawks! 

Even though the details of this weekend are still up in the air, next weekend I know exactly what I'll be doing.  I'm teaching a class at China Phoenix 2.  Fresh off my Tim Holtz high, I walked away from his workshops truly inspired.  These two Halloween themed cards are out the norm for me and if you look closely, you'll see why.  Did you catch it?   That's right.  These cards are devoid of all stamping AND no Copics were harmed in their creation.  Crazy, right?

I sat down to make these samples yesterday afternoon and my head was swimming with all of the techniques I had learned just a few days before.  So much so, I was overwhelmed and didn't know where to begin.  Usually, if I'm stuck, I'll just start with a stamped or digi image, grab a few Copics and start coloring.  I know that the rest of the card will fill itself in once I get moving.  These were different, because as we've already determined, there is no stamping or Copic coloring on them...DOH!  What to do, what to do!  I literally had to go back to some things that Tim said in class...the first one was "get over yourself" and the second one was "it just doesn't matter".  In other words, don't over-think it and don't get so lost in the details that you become paralyzed.  BINGO!  After that, things clicked...I was able to let go and just let it happen.  If they turned out awful, I would just tuck them away and revisit them some rainy day for a re-do.  No big deal.

You have no idea how freeing that realization was.  No wonder this guy is a crafting god!  Anyway, once that whole epiphany occurred, I was able to move forward and bang out these two cards that I'm pretty pleased with.  I had fun putting them together and I'm hoping that the folks who take the class with me will feel the same way.  

A couple of words about the embellishments.  I literally ripped the rosettes and the red flower off of a canvas I had made earlier in the year and was not happy with.  You ever do that?  Cannibalize one project for another?  The plastic skull came from a craft show.  I bought a whole slew of these, but now I'm running a bit short.  A friend told me that one of the local craft stores is carrying them now, so I better get my tookus over there and stock up, if I'm not already too late.  Stuff like that never gathers any dust in this town.  It just flies off the shelves.  That crazy cool twill Halloween trim is courtesy of my friend Kathy who spied it on one of her shopping excursions last year.  I just love it!

Speaking of my talented crafting buddies, I've added a few blogs to my sidebar.  These are local blogs by some of the most inspiring folks I know and I would love it if you paid them a visit and took a look at their wonderful art.  It's amazing stuff and you'll want to visit them again and again, so you might as well sign up to follow them while you're there.  Just sayin' ;D 

I don't say it enough, but please know that I always appreciate everyone who pops in to visit me here.  I love you guys!  

Stay crafty and have a wonderful holiday weekend ;D                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

A New Challenge at Copic Creations: The Color Pink!

Hello, again!  It's time for a new challenge at Copic Creations and I'm sure you're going to love this one ;D We're asking that you create something wonderful using the color pink as your focal point.  I've settled on a hot pink Copic combo for the tub and a bit of soft pink to accent the bubbles.

The sponsor for this challenge is Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.  I'm using Bubble Bath Peeker, isn't she a cutie?  I've added a few pearl accents on some of the bubbles to give them some dimension.

After you're finished here, be sure to head over to the Copic Creations Challenge blog to see what my talented teammates put together for you.  Their designs are astounding!  After that, find your way to your craft room and makes something fabulous featuring the color pink!  We can't wait to see what you create!

Until next time, stay crafty ;D   

Copic List

skin - E11, E01, E00, E00, R20

hait - E15, E13, Y21, Y00

tub - RV29, RV25, RV23, RV21

tub feet and rim - Y28, Y26, Y21, Y00

floor - E43, E42, E41, E40