Hop Art Studio

Guest Designer & Contest

Oh I can finally tell you. I'm the guest designer for Gina K!

Is that not a wonderful way to end March. I tell ya, I've had the most exciting month ever!

When my Gina K stamps arrived I got busy creating. You can see my design at http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/ and http://stampingfreak.com/

I just had to share one of my cards, plus a tutorial.

(Scan all the way to the bottom for something really special, you won't want to miss out!!!)

Okay, I was loving these bunnies. I had seen some wonderful creations using them by Gina's wonderfully talented Design Team and I just couldn't wait to color them in. You can find them here  Stampinfreak

I stamped the bunnies on white card stock.

I then stamped the bunnies again on a post it note and created a mask. I covered the bunnies and stamped the background. (SU! set Polka Dots & Paisley)

I stamped them once again on a piece of white card stock then colored both sets with my Prismacolor pencils and Odorless Thinner. I just had to add some Liquid Applique to their cute lil' tails. I  then cut one bunny out and adhered it on top with Dimensional tape.

The cute frame is actually a Sizzix Die called Scallop Oval Frame. I cut 2 out. One from chipboard the other brown paper.

Background paper is Cosmopolitan Collection "Marquis Cut" by Making Memories

Gesso Dots

Supplies:

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Gesso (or any acrylic Gesso brand will work.)

Stampin' Up! Classic Stampin' Ink Refill ( I used Pixie Pink)

Stylus

Plastic tray (or any plastic type lid or tray)

Step 1. Squeeze a small amount of Gesso onto the lid. Gesso is fairly thick. Squeeze a small dot of ink next to it. (less is more, you can always go back and add more if you want a darker color.)

Step 2. Mix the colors together using you stylus. The Gesso will now be less thick.

Step 3. I feel silly saying this, but it's a really important step. You need to clean off the stylus. Leave no paint residue on the metal tip. You will get better dots if the tip is maintained clean between  marks.

Step 4. Dip the stylus into the paint. Making sure to hold it straight up and down. You want paint only on the tip.

Step 5. Tap the paint covered tip of the stylus onto the paper, making sure to keep the stylus straight.

Step 6. Repeat steps 3-5 for each dot. (If you don't wipe the tip after each dot your dots will get progressively larger as the paint builds up on the tip. This can be a good effect also, if that's what you want.)

Whew, you made it to the bottom of the page!!! Hope you liked the tutorial.

Now for the best part.

Gina's has graciously offered me a $20 gift certificate to her store http://stampingfreak.com/Home_Page.html  for one lucky person on my blog. Man she's the sweetest ever!

All you have to do is leave me a post by Monday April 2nd by 12 midnight (Pacific time) and I will announce the lucky winner on Tuesday April 3nd.

(Plus, I think I will also be picking out 2 more names and sending them a little something special!)

More Birthday RAKs!

Look at the lovely card that Dawn sent me. OMGosh, get out! I really love all the detail. Check out the glitter she added on the word Happy. That's so cool! Dawn, thank you for thinking of me. Dawn has a wonderful blog you just have to check out dawnsstampingthoughts

Okay now why don't I ever think about window cutouts in my cards?! Look at this beautiful card Simone sent me. I'm just loving the colors and the little extra details. Thanks Simone. You need to visit Simone's blog at http://spazzgirldaily.blogspot.com/

Marie's card is lovely! I just absolutely love her color combo here and her coloring is out of this world gorgeous! Marie thank you so much for sending me a card. You can visit her beautiful creations at   http://bootstostamps.blogspot.com/

Nancy ends this day of RAK with her lovely card she sent me all the way from Canada. I love how she first stamped a piece of paper then embossed it. It really turned out great! Her card is perfect. Thanks Nancy, I love your card. You need to take a peek at her blog at http://nancyscreativemess.blogspot.com/ 

 

Birthday RAKs!

I received so many wonderful cards for my birthday! I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of them all. I'm going to take the time to share each one of them with you in the next couple of days.

Cindy sent me this beautiful card. LOL Cindy, yep I'm just turning 29! You kill me. Man isn't her card gorgeous?! She has such a wonderful sense of style. Check out Cindy's wonderful blog  http://stampalicious.typepad.com/

Nicole's card is simply elegant. Thank you Nicole for sending me such a beauty. Nicole wanted me to share that she got the idea for this card from someone else, but can't recall who it was. So thank you to whomever originally designed it, it's lovely. Go to SCS to check out Nicole's wonderful gallery. Her user name is nKowalk.

Whoa, check out Michelle's card! Seriously how cool is that. I love how she placed the cut out flowers around the saying. Very cool! Michelle has a wonderful gallery on SCS. Her user name is mlehmer.

The last card I will share with you today is by Teresa. I'm loving her card! It's soooooooo pretty. The two backgrounds together are a wonderful combo. I don't own that stamp set and I think it's really a beauty. Thanks Teresa for your awesome card. You need to visit Teresa's blog http://love2bcreativewithrubbah.blogspot.com/

More RAK's to share tomorrow.

Just Chicken

Oh I just couldn't wait to share one of the cards I made with my new stamps.

This little chicken is part of a 3 chick set. Seriously adorable!

You can find her and the saying here at Hambo_Stamps.

I stamped the chicken with Versamark then embossed her with black powder. I just bought this at Michaels and I'm enjoying the heck out of it! It's made by Stampendous' Stamp-N Stuff  Opaque Midnight Black.

I then watercolored her in using my dye inks. The square is Marvy's Scallop punch. To add a bit of dimension to the card I added Dimensional tape to elevate the circle.

The saying is also stamped with versamark and then heat embossed using SU! yellow powder.

Wouldn't this be a fun card to send to a sick friend? I'm just loving that saying!

I'm off for the evening. The rest of the week you'll find some lovely RAK's I received for my birthday posted on my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hambo Stamps

It's really neat how one thing leads to another thing, that then leads somewhere else. That's what happened to me. Julie posted a link on her site back to my blog. Well, Monica the owner of Hambo Stamps left a message on my post, "My Thoughts". I clicked on her name which lead me back to her wonderful company. I then wrote to her and told her how much I loved her stamps and sayings. Well, that lead to an invitation to be on her new design team.

I was soooooooooooooo honored!!!! Yes, of course I'd love to work with her stamps. I called her and we talked. I have to tell you, she is a joy to work with.

I'd love to announce the most awesome team of designers for Hambo_Stamps.

Isabelle Mung. You need to hop on over to her new blog. Wow, I'm loving her style. And I know you will to.  http://inkerbelle.blogspot.com/

Kendra Giles. If you haven't already added Kendra to your list of blogs to visit you definitely are missing out on some amazing talent.  http://www.inkinitupwithkendra.blogspot.com/

Cindy Brockes. Oh Cindy was the first on my list of recommendations for this exciting new team. Cindy's creative talents are going to make our team rock! http://stampalicious.typepad.com/

And you have to, absolutely have to add Monica to your list of blogs. While you're there make sure to send her an email to add you to her newsletter list. You don't want to miss out on any announcement or specials.  http://hambostamps.blogspot.com/

I already have these great stamps in my hands and will be sharing my creations with you soon.

I hope you enjoy her stamps as much as I have been! Man they are awesome!!!!!

Extra! Extra!

Read all about it!

I have some really exciting news to share with you. Come back later this afternoon.

(And nooooooooooooo I'm not pregnant!)

You Make Me Smile

Who said monsters had to be for boys!

The minute I saw this stamp from the set by Green_Grass_Stamps I just knew it would be cute as a girl.

I used my Prismacolor pencils and Odorless thinner to color her in. Then I just added some more detailing with the pencil by itself.

The background is the Cuttlebug embossing folder "Tiny Mosaic".

I stamped some flowers on the purple with Hero Arts "Stitched Three Daisys". Adding some faux stitching with my Signo white Gel pen. I also stamped another Hero Flower, cutting it out and added stitching to it.

You Make Me smile saying is part of a Stampin' Up! stamps set.

Okay, seriously, she was just calling out for a ribbon! How could I resist. Look at that cute grin.

Well, the home is still on the market. Good news is that we don't need to move until June. Bad news is that some sellers in our neighborhood, for what ever reason, have sold their homes for ridiculously low prices. The largest model was just sold 60,000 below the last sale of that floorplan! Okay, I'm not gonna share what I think of these folks...lol...but really, what were they thinking!

I'm just praying that this will not affect our home selling at close to our listed price.

I do know that no matter what, things will work out. They always do.

 

Congrat!

And the winner is..... Leslie Springer.!!!

Congrats Leslie. Email me your address so I can get the prizes right out to you.

What a busy weekend! I'm pooped!

I went over all the post. You ladies are sure on top of the color combos out there. You can check out the color trends here http://www.fashiontrendsetter.com/

The number one choice from all of the post was PINK!!! Oh yea pink is still hot. (I was reading in Creating Keepsakes magazine that they predict a deeper pink to be the new in color.)

Orange seemed really popular from your post coming in 2nd place.

Brown and Greens (all shades) came in a close 3rd.

Lime green seemed really hot with you ladies followed just behind by Turquoise. (4th and 5th place)

And I was surprised to find Blue was in 6th place. Blues often considered a nuetral, go figure! With Yellow just behind it in 7th place on the list.

Looks like Purple is hot! at 8th place.

White came in 9th and Black came in 10th place.

Caribbean Blue was just below black.

Wow, I really think you ladies were right on the mark with these color choices.

The rest of the colors were- Cream, Vanilla,Teal,Magenta, Red, Fuchsia, Aqua, Lilac, Lavenders, Celery, Rose, Grays, Metallic, Khaki, Coral

Adorable

I came across this stamp while digging through the Michael's sale bin. I just thought he was darling! Seriously, how could I not give him a home.

I stamped him with my Versamark on watercolor paper and embossed him in brown. Then watercolored him using my dye inks and a sable brush.

The stamp is "Sleeping Witzy" by Rubber Stampede.

I used Stampin' Ups! Canvas background stamp on the green.

Okay, you know how you buy punches and figure you'll use them someday? Well, today was that someday....lol. I've never used that corner decorative punch and figured, "Oh what the heck!" I may as well use it now.

I think this little chick is starting to put me in that Easter mood. Hmmmmmm gonna have to go see what kind of egg stamps I can find.

"Are you sure he isn't a duck? :-)
Gramma Dar"

Thanks Darlene. LOL...omgosh he sure is a duck! Chicks don't have a bill like that...Okay I'm so glad I can laugh at myself, this gave me such a chuckle. Can I use Duckies for Easter? They're just as cute....hehehehe

Happy Anniversary

Today's my 44th birthday. Boy does time fly! But something else happened on my birthday 22 years ago. I married the love of my life.

Yep, I got married on my 22nd birthday! How cool is that. I didn't just get a wedding cake but I also got a birthday cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

It was my husband idea that we get married on my birthday, which so happened to land on a Sunday. (boy was that a challenge to work out with the church!) He had proposed to me the year before on my 21st b-day and he wanted my birthday to always be special.

I'm so happy to have found the man of my dreams and the love of my life. He is always there for me and has always stood by my side, through all the good and bad times. He's the best husband and the best father in the world. I am truly blessed to be married to him.

(Don't forget to enter the drawing on the post below! Good luck!!!)

PaperWorks and Candy!

Coming April 1st, my very first paid for publication design will appear in PaperWorks Magazine! (page 60)

How cool is that! (I'll post the card once the magazine is out in the stands.)

I was so excited to see one of my cards accepted to PaperWorks.  And in celebration I would love to give you a chance to win some blog candy.

I free issue of PaperWorks, a cute as can be Studio G Clear Stamp and a wonderful alphabet set by Image Tree!

Just leave me a post of what you think will be (or are) the hot colors for spring and summer.

Please post no later than Sunday March 25 by 12 midnight (Pacific Time). I'll announce the winner Monday March 26 by 1 pm.

Good luck!

I Won!

I won the Cornish Heritage Farms illustrator search contest! How totally cool is that!

http://www.cornishheritagefarms.com/

I have to tell everyone that reads my blog and shares their comments that it was because of you all that I submitted my drawings. I wasn't going to.

Oh you know the typical excuse, there's a million illustrators out there, "Me win?" LOL...but I figured all it was gonna take was me sending them in and taking a chance.

And I won!!!!

From the bottom of my heart I want to say I really appreciate all of you. I'm soooooooooooo excited!!!!!

We'll Evolve

Here's the first card I created using my new Green Grass Stamps. Isn't he a hoot?!

I colored him in using my Prismacolor pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits. I punched out 2 Marvy scallop squares and placed them behind him.

Oh, I like that Cuttlebug Swirl in black! I'll definitely be using it in black again!

For the tag I used Gina K's cute "Maybe We'll Evolve stamp." I thought it was absolutely perfect for this lil' Monster.

You can see in the closeup of the monster that I carefully layered and blended different colors to give him depth.

In case you are wondering where that tag came from I made it by using my Marvy Scallop punch.

You will need an Exacto knife, cutting mat, metal ruler and a Marvy punch.

Here in step 2 I have drawn some pencil lines in where you will be making the cuts to create your tag. I wouldn't normally draw them in, but wanted to make it clear to everyone where to place the cuts.

In step 3 you place your metal ruler where you want to make the cuts. Have fun with this. (Move the cuts higher up the scallops for a different look.)

Using your blade you carefully make the two cuts.

In step 4 you can see the finished tag. And look at the extra pieces! Seriously how cute! I can see using them elsewhere on cards.

 

Green Grass Stamps

Oh look what I got in the mail! These fun stamps can be found at Green_Grass_Stamps

Aren't these the coolest? My boys flipped out over them. Seriously, when you do get fun monster stamps to play with? I love finding stamps that I can use in a variety of ways.

As you can only imagine I've been having fun with them the last couple of days.

I'll be posting the cards I created soon.

RAKS!

I received two beautiful RAK's last week. My gosh I feel so lucky. These ladies are very talented!

I received this lovely Rak from Anouk. Look at the scrumptious paper she used! Isn't it wonderful?!.

I loved your coloring Anouk. I really need to get better at markers. I'm seriously going to have to practice. You did a great job!

The second card I received was from Rachel Baird. You may have seen this lovely card posted on her site Hope_Stamps_Eternal . I have to tell ya it looks more lovely in real life! Her watercoloring is simply gorgeous!

Ladies thank you so much for making my week.

Big hugs to the both of you!

Stampin' Up!

Of course I have always know about rubberstamps. As a matter of fact, back in Florida there was this small rubber stamping shop that I occasionally went into. Rows and rows of shelves, all full of stamps. The sweet lady that worked there would always ask me if I wanted to take a class. She had samples behind her desk, on the wall. Mostly arts and crafts type. A few cards. She was really into techniques that you could use stamp with. I would say, "No thank you" and walk out empty handed. OMGosh I'm praying that shop is still there when I get back!

I had no idea what to do with all of those lovely stamps until my sons 2nd grade teacher shared a SU! catalog with me. I went to one of her shows, I was hooked. I had no idea you could do all of that with stamps.

There were a lot of things that attracted me to SU! at first. The stamps set are a wonderful deal, the quality of their papers, their punches. I really didn't feel the need to look elsewhere. I signed up as a demonstrator.

That was almost 3 years ago. Within those 3 years my knowledge of the stamping industry has really grown and with that knowledge so has my desire to not continue as a demonstrator. But for some reason I've found it difficult to leave.

I've always been only a hobby demo. No real customers but myself. And once I started searching online for other companies, Hero Arts being the second catty I fell in love with, my love of all kinds of rubberstamps grew.

There are some things that I love about SU! I do like some of the illustrators that they use, and will definitely order stamps in the future. But not in the quantity that I have in the past. Maybe just a show or two. But there are other things about the company that I personally don't agree with.

Whoa, I'm going on and on. I guess it's hard to say goodbye to something that's been instrumental in your growth as a stamper. Especially in the beginning. But, I feel it's really time to say good bye.

I will be placing my last order next week, mostly paper and storage boxes. I'll contact my upline and let her know, so she can send me the flyer's and new catty when they come out.

Oh this really feels good to make this decision public. It makes me realize I'm making the right choice.

(Thank you everyone for your sweet comments and support. Big, big hugs to each of you!)

New Sizes!

Whewwwwwww Whooooooooo! My CafePress shop now has  Plus sizes. I'm so excited!!!

You can find lots of other gifts in my shop -mugs, t-shirts, buttons, sweatshirts, journal, stickers, hats. etc.

http://www.cafepress.com/hopartstudio

Merci in Brown

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Sorry I didn't create a green card. Would you accept a brown one instead?

I haven't done a SCS challenge in a while. I had a bit of time and did the Wednesday Card Sketch. I swear I thought I had posted it on SCS, but when I went back to look yesterday it wasn't there. Man all the typing for not!

I used Hero Arts "Doodle Leaf Flower". Don't you just love that flower! It's the coolest.

I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder "Script" for the background. Then I crumbled up a strip of paper bag and smeared Jim Holtz Distress Ink, "tea dye" on it.

The bottom is a piece of scrapbooking paper by Daisydspaper "Gypsy Paisley-Hazelnut". Above it I layered watercolor paper that I stamped Hero Art's "Manuscript Background" (I knew I'd get a lot of use out of this stamp!) Naturally I had to stain the paper.

Oh the flower! I watercolored it in with my brown dye ink then cut it out using my postage stamp decorative edged scissors.

I think I'll have to do another card using this layout. Very fun!

Submission List

Thank you everyone for your comments. I was really touched to read everyones perspective on this issue. I know it's a sensitive one. We all want acknowledgment for doing something that we perceive worthy. Rejection is hard, we just have to be able to overcome our emotions and look at things logically from time to time.

I would like to share some links for those of you who would like to be published. Give it a try. You never know.

I personally love Stampington. They publish such a large volume of cards and they have a large number of publications. I'm sure your style will fit with one of their publications.

Here's a list of publications and sites to submit your art work. (You may have to write the editor and request their editorial calendar and artist guidelines.)

Here goes:

http://www.heroarts.com/ They have a contest (it's not up yet on their new site)

http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/

http://www.expressionartmagazine.com/

http://www.inkadinkado.com/   They have contest

http://www.papercraftsmag.com/  Look down the right hand column, Published

http://www.paperworksmagazine.com/

http://www.stampington.com/index.html  Look down the left hand column and find all the publications and challenges

http://www.rsmadness.com/

http://scrapbooktrendsmag.com/submissions.html  Look for Cards

http://www.rubberstamper.com/index.cfm

http://www.paperartmagazine.net/

http://scottpublications.com/catalog/  Scrap & Stamp Arts and Just Cards!

http://www.pubcalls.blogspot.com/  A lot more scrapping than stamping calls but it does have design team stuff now and then

http://www.simplysentiments.com/submissions.html

I'm sure there may be more. If you know of any. Would you please leave me a post, then I will include them to the list above. Once I have a complete list I'll add it to the sidebar on my blog.

Do submit your beautiful cards and creations. Honestly, you have nothing to lose but the cost of postage.

Again, big hugs to everyone.

My Thoughts

Life gives us many challenges. It's not often fair. I know I've had my share of ups and downs. I'm sure all of us have.

I was thinking about rejection today. I have seen the word used often on forums and on peoples blogs. I understand rejection. I understand how it applies to my artwork, to my life and to me.

I read a letter to an editor from a woman who was mad that none of her cards had ever  been published.  She was so mad that she canceled her subscription and told all of her friends to do the same. Instead of trying to find out why her art work was not published she decided to get angry and try to "hurt" the publication.  Instead she should have found out what the editors were looking for. She needed to know if the execution of the cards were poor, if the color combinations were'nt working, or maybe her layouts needed to be better. I just couldn't believe what I read.

I know that I sometimes find myself feeling down if I post a card somewhere and very few people view it. But then I have to really stop and think about it. Why was it not viewed much? Was it because the card lacked something? Was is posted at the wrong time of day? Maybe it's just that not a lot of people know me? Naw, it's not a popularity contest, or is it?  Was I using a stamp set that not many were familiar with? Was my photo poor? I have to remember that I am not creating a card or a design for recognition (although, I admit it, recognition is nice) but I'm creating something to become a better designer.

I tend to not take rejection very hard. (I guess it's because I have been through so much in my life.) I understand that if I submit something to a magazine it's purely subjective as to what they are looking for at that particular time. Now, I understand that they obviously are also looking for good design and great execution, but I do try not to take anything personal.

I've had cards rejected from one magazine by an editor and then picked up by another editor. So don't get upset if something isn't accepted. Try sending it on to another publisher. You never know.

When you submit to a publication, contest, or just are posting on line. Remember that if the outcome is not as you expected, and it will be more often than not, don't let it get you down. Get better at what you love to do. Work harder. Don't give up. Keep trying new things. And always look ahead.

I've learned from my past experiences that there are very few things that we can't overcome. That we must persevere no matter the circumstance. That we need to be stronger, if not for ourselves but for the people that we love.

(Now if you guys ever read about me being down, I want you to email me right away...so I can eat these words...LOL)

Oh Michaels!

Well, they did it to me again. I was just over there wasting some time while a realtor was showing the house. And low and be hold. There they were. The new acrylic dollar stamps! I had told myself, "Self, you don't need anymore dollar stamps." But noooooooooooo did I listen to myself. Of course not! LOL

I must admit they are a wee bit smaller than I had thought. But honestly really cute. I also have to say that I'm still not use to acrylic stamps. I'm really trying to learn how to use them best. What inks do you all recommend?

I do have to say that because of the tininess of them I will most likely be incorporating them into other stamp creation. Or maybe not! LOL

It's Hot!

The weather has turned really warm here. Things are really starting to bloom like crazy.

Now around here there is something blooming year round. But once the days start getting longer you can tell the difference. Unfortunately we have had one of the dryest years on record. I believe we've only had a little over 4 inches since July! That's dry. OMGosh, what,  we'd get that in one day back in Florida...lol.

It's obviously causing a lot of problems. I'm sure you know about the wild fires. We have one right now. South of us. Luckily not to close. But I'm sure as the winds blow we will be smelling the smoke. Not pleasant.

I hope that all of you ladies that live in Orange County are okay and safe. I'll be thinking of you.

I took these pictures around the neighborhood. Isn't that tree lovely? Omgoshhhhhh I just couldn't help but stop and take a pic. The lavender is in my back yard. I planted it 4 years ago and it always looks so pretty. The yellow flower is the ground covering near the mailboxes. The azaleas are also blooming and my bougainvillea is getting it's leaves back. (We had a mild freeze. No real damage to the plant, just the leaves fell off.)

Hope you will enjoy my little pics of spring from Southern California.

Sweet Stuff

For some reason lately I've been drawn to pink. Maybe it's because I'm always surrounded by so much boy stuff. Oh you know, Sponge Bob, Halo 2, loud bang-em-up noises, t-shirts and jeans, so on and so on. That I guess I want something girly- girly in my life.

I love this new kitty by Hero Arts. Isn't it the cutest?!

I've had the Paisley stamps (Hero Arts) for some time and have been wanting to use them on a background. I stamped them with versamark then sprinkled green and pink embossing powder on top. Tapped it, then heat set the design. The oval was cut out using my Marvy punch. Then I cut out another oval and used my Postage stamp decorative edge scissors on it.

The lil' kitty is colored in with my Prismacolor pencils and then cut out.

The saying is from a Stampin' Up! set Very Punny.

As you can see sometimes I get the decorative edge perfect and well, other times it's not! I'm okay with that.

It's mostly a trial and error thing with the scissors. You fiddle with the cut until everything lines up just right. After doing it for so long, you just get a knack for it.

I really loved using this color combo. It seemed so cheerful. 

Thanks everyone for your emails about the sale of the home. We have had 3 offers so far and a lot of interest. There are a lot of homes on the market right now (unlike when we bought back in '03) so it will take a bit longer to sell. We aren't in a rush. So it's all good.

(Well, except for all the people that are always walking in my space! LOL.)

Birthday RAKs!

It's so much fun to receive beautiful cards in the mail.

The first one I got was from Kimberly. Omgosh her card is lovely.  You can't see it in the picture but her flowers are all glistening. You will have to email me on how you got them to look like this. It's wonderful!

Visit Kimberly's blog at www.mojo-creations.blogspot.com/

The next card I received this week came from Julie. Julie featured this pretty card on her blog and said she was sending it out to someone for their birthday. That someone was me!!!

I love how she colored her bella. OMGoshhhhhhhh so cute!

Visit Julies blog here www.myrubberroom.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much ladies for making my week a little bit brighter. Big stamping hugs!

Joy is Not in Things

One Stampin' Up image that has always been my favorite is from the set "Summer by the Sea". I just love watercoloring in the images, especially the little girl. I suppose it's because I have two boys that makes drawn to little girls images. (Ben you were suppose to be a girl sweetie!)

I was in such a watercoloring mood that I had to stop by Aaron Brothers and pick up some watercolor paper, Arches Hot Press Natural white 140 lb. (large sheet, which I cut up card size.)

I knew exactly which image I wanted. I used my sable brushes and ink that I smudged on the lids to color her in. I then masked her off and used Hero Arts "Manuscript Background". I then dipped a wet brush into the lids of SU! Close to Cocoa pad and splattered it all over the image. (Mask still covering the gal.) Then I splattered some Chocolate Chip ink. I sponged around the edges to soften it up.

The background leaves are a SU! wheel "Leaves a la Carte". That's a Cuttlebug die, "Sliders" for the saying.

Sometimes you just have to go with how you're feeling. Fun!

Happy Birthday James

Today, fifteen years ago, I gave birth to my first born son. Prior I had had 2 miscarriages. Those were sad moments in our lives, but the joy of your birth made all those memories disappear.

Being a mother has had it's ups and downs. A lot of laughter and a lot of tears. Remember the times when Daddy was away? Deployed overseas. You were such a little trooper then.

Then later on you became a big brother and you were and are the best brother a little brother could ever have. I remember when Ben was born and you held him in you arms at the hospital. Oh, you were so proud!

Now you're 15. It's so hard to believe. My little baby has grown up.

If only all those people that told us, "Oh just wait until he's...this age!" could see you now!

You are a blessing in our lives and we cherish each and every moment that God has given you to us.

Happy birthday sweetheart, you are the best son a mother could ever want.

My First Bella!

Oh it's like getting my first Barbie doll! These are darling images. The illustrator has hit pay dirt with these cuties.

This is one of the images that Cindy sent me. She's stamped on scrumptous watercolor paper. Oh so wonderful!

I watercolored her in using a small sable brush and ink from my SU! ink pad lids. When you are watercoloring remember to stamp your image in Stazon ink. That way the black will not smear.

First wet the area that you want to color with clean water. Then pick up some of the ink onto your brush and apply it to the area that you want to color. Remember go lightly with your color. You can always go back and make it darker. But you can't go back and make it lighter.

I used my pinking scissors on the edges and then sponged them in with pink and blue.

The tag is created using a Sizzix tag die and SU! word window punch.  I had to add some "bling" with an itty bitty rhinestone.

Extra touches were added to the bags using gold metallic pen, gel pens and white pen.

This little gal so reminds me of my wild hair days.  Curls gone crazy!

Bellas!

Look at the beautiful card I received from Cindy !  Isn't she incredibly talented. Wowzer this card rocks!

We did an image swap and Cindy was so sweet to send me beautiful Bellas stamped on a variety of papers. OMGoshhhhh the papers are delish!! Serious drooling here.

I don't own any Bellas and am so excited to actually have these images to color.

Thanks Cindy, you're the sweetest thing ever!

Hoard

Hello, my name is Asela, and I'm a Hoarder. I admit it. I have a problem!

When I see a pretty sheet of scrapbooking paper on sale I just have to buy it. Do I have a need for it? Nope. Do I have anymore room for it? Nope. Do I need it? Yes!!

Steps to recovery:

1. Stop going to your local Scrapbooking store. (reality-Ain't gonna happen!)

2. Wear 3-D glasses when you go through the Michaels isle so you can't tell how really cute the papers look (reality - OMGoshhhhhhh I don't think so!)

3. Cut up your credit card (reality - But I can use cash!)

4. Abstain from anything crafty (reality - Hello, I think I would rather stop breathing!)

5. Realize that you have a problem and accept it!

So, to help me feel better about all those pretties sitting there year upon year I decided it was time to cut them up. I took the papers out of their container and cut them up to card appropriate sizes. I clipped all together neatly and now I have no excuse not to use them.

Oh now if I can just control my need to hoard ribbons, brads, embellishments, markers, paints, stamps, magazines,........

Nicole's Card

I just joined the SCS Bloggers RAK Club and I recieved my first card!

OMGosh look at the beautiful card that Nicole sent me. I love it!

I really like the way she attached her ribbon and the colors she used are really cool! You can't see it really well, but the center of the flowers sparkle. Nice detail!

The fun part was what I found inside the card. There was a little card with this message on it:

I didn't sign this card before I sent it off to you. Instead it holds my warmest thoughts, invisible but true. And if you find a time you need to brighten someone's day, then take this card and sign it and send it on its way.

You can visit Nicole's blog at http://stampinlibrarygirl.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much Nicole for the RAK!

If you want to join the SCS Bloggers RAK Club you can sign up here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223185

Doodle My Heart Out

While I was waiting for my hubby at medical I got a bit bored. So I pulled out a napkin and started to doodle. I kind of liked some of the images that I was creating. So I kept it.

I figured, "ya never know when this will come in handy!"...LOL

Well, I had already had, sitting on my desk, the heart gal. She was already colored in. Ahhhhhhhhh Haaaaaa! It's time to doodle.

So I punched out 2 Marvy scallop squares. Adhered them together to form a rectangle. Cut the gal out and ticket punched the corners. I then adhered her to the top of the scalloped rectangle with foam adhesive squares.

She's colored in using my Gioconda Soft Pastel Pencils (by Chartpak). Once you apply the color on the paper you can smear it using your paper stump.

Time to doodle!

I freehanded the shapes and words in pencil first, then went over them with my 05 Pigment Pro Black pen. I used my Kneaded eraser to delete the pencil marks. I then colored in the shapes with my Pastel pencils.

The edge of the white panel is cut with my scallop scissors. Man I'm getting a lot of use out of them lately....gotta love rediscovering old tools!

The cute gal is from a Stampin' Up! set, Living Large.

Thanks!

I want to share with you the cutest card and most wonderful assortment of ribbons that I received from Elaine.

I had a blast sorting them all out, winding them up and putting them in my ribbon containers.

Thank you again Elaine, really you did too much!

Hugs

http://hopartstudios.typepad.com/hop_art_studios/storage/index.html