Mermaid ATC

I have been a member over at ATCsForAll for several years and love trading cards there.  I've got a link to the site on my menu bar that bypasses their home page (need to change that I think).  When I accidentally clicked on the home page last month I noticed the monthly contest.  What?  The theme was 'mermaids' (yes!) so I decided to go for it.

I love the way she turned out.  I guess other people did too - I won 2nd place in the contest.  Sweet!

Polka Dots - SDC 255

What's not to love about polka dots?  I think they add a touch of fun and whimsy to projects.  There's still another week to join in and create something that has polka dots on it for the Stampotique Designers Challenge. 

Need some inspiration? I've created a fun holiday card using Holly Wally and Happy Holidays (from the 3 Greetings set) both from the July release.  Never too soon to start creating for the holidays!

Now, go get busy with some polka dots and link your project up for a chance to win $30 worth of goodies from the Stampotique online store.

VLVS August Challenge - Bette Davis Eyes

My weird, funky side absolutely loves the "I'm a Weirdo" plate (that's what I call it) from VLVS.  When I saw the August challenge at their blog the hardest decision was to figure out which one of the whimsical beings I wanted to use.  This little lovely and her little pet delight me.  :)

I had a gesso'd playing card sitting on my desk from another project and decided to use it for my base.  I brushed some Absorbent Ground over the top so I could use Dylusions spray inks and have them still be bright.  I think gesso just kind of soaks up the color and mutes it too much.  

Once the ground was dry I sprayed, splattered and swirled some Dylusions over the top.  Next, I stamped and stencilled some more bits on the background and then stamped the main image on a separate piece of paper.  She and her little pet were colored with Copics and fussy cut; I added a bit of Glossy Accents on their eyes to make them stand out a bit, too.

Finito!

I'm Ba-a-a-ck...

Hello, Friends!  I was AWOL for a couple of weeks.  The fam and I roadtripped down to California to meet up with my side of the family.  AWESOME trip!  The main impetus was to spread my mom's ashes where we spread my dad's ashes. It was emotional and beautiful and wonderful to all be together.  It's been a busy summer too - too busy to get away - so I thoroughly enjoyed the time with my kiddos (who are growing up TOO fast!).  Here we are in Yosemite (photo-phobes each one of them so I was so excited to get a pic with them all).

Half Dome was supposed to be in the background but none of our arms were long enough to get the peeps AND the dome so c'est la vie - ha ha!  Just trust me...it's there.  ;)

While I was gone The Muse took off too so I've been trying to lure her back.  ATCs are good for that!  Here are a couple of my new Stampotique goodies on an ATC:

I keep using the Spiral stamp on EVERYTHING.  Love, love, love it.

That's it for now as I was struck by inspiration this morning and better get busy before I forget what I was going to do.  :)

Have a spectacular day!

Black & White + 1

The challenge for this month over at the Rubber Dance blog is to use black and white and one other color on a project.  I love that kind of prompt as it leaves it wide open for different themes, media and projects.

I used to be really into playing along with Tim Holtz's monthly tag challenges but then I started gathering all of these tags that I didn't quite know what to do with.  Tags are really a great base to work with though so I pulled some out and went to work for the challenge.

I embossed Rubber Dance's hotel receipt stamp on the background of black tags and then layered on paper scraps, die-cut dictionary pages and some lace border that had been in my drawer for a long time.  The butterflies were cut from inked up cardstock and then I reached into my ol' drawer full of ribbon again for the ties.

As luck would have it, one of my art trading groups has this exact same challenge so I know what to do with these tags.  :)

SDC 254 - Text Background

Here's a little secret confession...I hoard old books - phone books, text books, childrens' books, romance novels, dictionaries.  The reason I can't let them go is that they make excellent backgrounds and embellishments for papery projects.  That said, the challenge over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog is right up my alley this time:

"Use a book, stamp, journal, dictionary, newspaper, letter or anything with text.  Let's see text in your background."

Did you enjoy the new release blog hop?  Awesome new designs, yes?  I inked up another one of my faves from the new release to create a card.

I love the whimsical, nostalgic feel of these little beach huts.  It almost makes you hear waves crashing on the shore, doesn't it?  You can find the Beach Huts stamps HERE on the Stampotique website.

Come join us in the challenges this month for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate to the Stampotique online store!

SDC 253 - Beach or Sea

I am sneaking this in under the wire for the challenge hoping to inspire other procrastinators.  :)  The theme over the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog for the last couple of weeks has been Beach or Sea.  I've been participating in ICAD 2016 and my very last card (did all 61 - woot woot!) is this one:

I love this quote...reminds me of my friend, Janet.  We've known each other since we were 11.  :)

A new challenge will be posted on Wednesday - stay tuned!