Ahh Sheeptol

Years ago there was a commercial for a sleeping pill called Nytol. Somewhere in the commercial I think they said, "Ah Nytol" which I thought of as I created this card using a free image from Squigglefly. If you haven't visited Squigglefly lately you are missing out on their fabulus new images- they are doing weekly releases now and their new "nab it" deal of the day. Every day they offer one of their fabulous images for a very low price. I nabbed one a few days ago- you'll see a card made with it soon.

SheetLoad December- Sneak Peeks

Here are a few sneak peeks of some cards I made for the SheetLoad December issue. It is going to be an awesome issue (I know- I got to see a preview copy).

We are settling into our new home. Monday the movers arrive with our furniture and dishes! My parents have been incredible letting us live with them until we have beds in our new house!

Snowmen fall from Heaven

Love, love these new Winter images from Sunshine Stamps. This week Christina challenged the DT to choose one of the new sentiments and then she would send us the accompanying image. It was hard to choose but I picked this one! The snowflake paper is a scrap from a pack I bought ages ago (and I just can't finish it!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'm especially grateful this year for my family's health, happiness and our new home that we closed on this morning! Since we moved back to our hometown we have lots of family and friends to help us unpack and settle this weekend. I'm thankful for them too!

OK off to make cranberry sauce!

I'm back online

The long and the short of it was the tech from Staples was at my parents' house today twice (one visit was over 3 hours) to fix their network connectivity problem. That is fancy speak for "we had Internet problems so I couldn't post."

So new art tomorrow ;)

Simple, Special, Stunning on SheetLoad

It is time for the November edition of Simple Special Stunning at the SheetLoad of Cards blog, featuring samples by Ann Seleshanko.

Each month one of our artists will share three different cards that use the current layout. Each card is a "step up" from the previous one, but they are all fabulous. It is a good way to show how SheetLoad is geared toward papercrafters of all levels.



Here are some sneak peeks to whet your appetite...

Attitude

Today is Wednesday- Sunshine Stamps day! This week our fearless leader (and company owner) Christina challenged the team to create a card using only a sentiment. I opted for this one and in an ironic twist my positive attitude paid big dividends for me and my family today!

After printing the sentiment I created a plaid background using 00 versions of pink, gray and blue with my Copic markers. It is very subtle but definitely something I'll try again!

Thank You Notebook

This is a covered composition book that I created for the November issue of SheetLoad. I cheerfully used my coveted Daisy D paper not realizing that Daisy D has gone out of business. It was one of my fave paper companies. This was also one of the last projects I created before I moved. I'll miss taking photos on my sunny deck. My new house has a 3 season sun room with lots of windows so I am hoping to photograph my work in there.

Holly-day Wishes

The card above features the Waving Snowman from Sunshine Stamps and part of Arrangement, another image from the Sunshine Stamps holiday collection. I printed Arrangement (full image to the left) on cardstock, colored with Copics and carefully trimmed that part I wanted for this card.

The sentiment is from a FREE printable quotes sheet from SheetLoad of Cards. If you haven't checked out the the latest free issue of SheetLoad what are you waiting for?

In the Cottage Studio

Today is my turn to post In the Cottage Studio blog for Clear Artistic Stamps. I had so much fun creating backgrounds earlier this week that I made some more using stamps from A Sparkles Bright and Happy Holiday stamp set. The background above is very basic but I love how the snowman image pops against the kraft colored background.

Want to see my other sample? Go visit the Cottage HERE.

Waving for Presents- SSHP06

This card fits the Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential challenge for this week- SSHP06- Repeatedly Useful- used a stamp repeatedly.

Blogging is a continuous learning process. Right now I am trying to adjust my digital camera for the less sunny climate of our hometown.

Remember the waving snowman from yesterday? Well here he is again. I really like this image from Sunshine Stamps. I didn't have background paper to match my coloring (story of my life- my supposed perfect match was a miss!) Today he is colored with Copics and I added a tocuh of green Stickles to his hat and mittens.

For the background I decided to use this gift image from Studio G and stamp it with lime green chalk ink. Then I added some trios of dots with a marker and then I drew in some lines and traced the outline of each gift with a copper colored mechanical pencil. I like how it dressed up the card. It took me a bit of time butI do enjoy creating my own unique backgrounds.

Sunshine Stamps Christmas

Happy Wednesday! Today is Wednesday and that means it is Sunshine Stamps day on my blog. Today I am featuring 2 new stamps from the holiday collection- Waving Snowman and Arrangement. My Mom had a candle thing like that when I was a kid and who can't enjoy a friendly snowman. As soon as I saw these stamps I couldn't wait to play with them.



But I DID have to wait. I'm in the midst of moving and most of my stamp supplies are in storage for a few weeks. Since I am an old hand at moving, I thought this would be easy because I packed myself a goody box of necessities. I forgot my favorite cardstock, ribbon (I didn't bring ANY ribbon but I did remember my special ribbon scissors!), corner rounder, stickers and red cardstock. While I packed I decided to pack ALL of my punches- I'm regretting that now! Many of my embellishments are packed away as well so I am using this as an OPPORTUNITY. Sometimes we end to over embellish and over decorate our cards so much we can hardly see the image! So for the next few weeks (until Thanksgiving) I'll be going clean and simple, with my focus on layout.

Today's cards were inspired by Sunshine Stamps new images and sketches from Splitcoast. I stuck to simpler sketches with bolder elements and I like how the images- the focal point of my cards- are highlighted. You'll be seeing more holiday cards over the next few days- I think I colored the arrangement in every known color combination.

Is this a good example of stamp kissing?

I have had the day, you know how that goes?

So my question to you is:

I used kissing technique for the flowers? Is it working or is it too subtle? I am trying to write a newbie tutorial and I'm not sure this is a good example for a newbie.

So be honest (Most of my embellishments, 99.5% of my rubber stamps and all of my ribbon is in storage- I know this card isn't embellished very much.)

Three's a Charm Christmas blog hop

Sponsored by
Sunshine's Stamps
Ildico
The Stamping Boutique
Mark your calendars for this FABULOUS BLOG HOP!!!!!!
November 7th
Win: Images and Prizes!!! Tracey From The Stamping Boutique has generously provided a set of 12 COPIC MARKERS as a prize to one of the lucky winners!!

DON'T MISS IT!!!!! IT'S GONNA ROCK!!!

Sunshine's Stamps
Ildico
The Stamping Boutique

*I won't be playing in the blog hop because I had too much on my plate with my move. I have seen Sunshine's Stamps newest images and you need to check out the hop!*

Inching toward Rumble 18 in the Cottage Studio

Today is Rumble #18 in the Cottage Studio. Clear Artistic Stamps are perfect for creating mini artwork: inchies (1x1) and twinchies (2x2).

For my twinchies above I kept it very simple using images from Stationery Time set and the butterfly from Butterfly Joy.

Lower Left- As simple as it gets- a simple background with designer paper.
Upper Left- I lightly scribbled some stripes with Inktense pencils and then blended the colors with a sponge. After it dried I stamped the images.
Upper Right- Zentangles are one of my new favorite artforms. I created a Zentangle with a pale pink sharpie marker then stamped on top.
Lower Right- I used another Zentangle and stamped the large butterfly image with waterproof ink. Then I used very light colors of Copic markers to color the image, using colors sheer enough that the Zentangle shows through!

Thanks for visiting!

Show us your SheetLoad (The prize rocks!)

Head on over to the SheetLoad of Cards blog to find out how you can enter to win the clear stamp set, shown below, in the November '09 Show Us Your SheetLoad contest!

Studio G - Series 37 - Bohemian - Clear Stamp Sets

Extreme Makeover for Cards

Several months ago Clear Artistic Stamps hosted its first blog hop. I created a project using these large flowers. I wasn't crazy about my project but loved the flowers so I used them as a basis for this card.

Update

My family and I have arrived in chilly and damp NY. We are home ;) Thank you so much for all of your well wishes for our move.

Dustin Pike Cards

That owl image is my favorite Dustin Pike image. He collected cards for Children's Hospital and anyone who sent him 5 or more cards received a holiday collection of 30 images. I didn't do it for the stamps but rather to help others. I love that owl- he is just a hoot!

This is a pre-scheduled post. As you read this my family and I are driving to our new hometown.

Kitty

Happy Monday! The movers are almost done loading their truck and we'll soon be on our way!

The kitty is from Squigglefly

I love the November SheetLoad sketch

Don't you just love long cards? The SheetLoad sketch for November was perfect for my style. I had a ball creating cards with the printable sentiments sheet that Alicia, publisher of sheet/load created. You can get a copy for free so check out the new issue of SheetLoad and get the free printable sheet with quotes for all occasions.

Click on my card above to download your free issue of SheetLoad!

We are almost through packing our house. The movers arrive early tomorrow morning!

SheetLoad November Issue- with free printable

Once again it is time for another fabulous issue of SheetLoad of Cards - November '09!!!



This issue features an elongated sketch, sized to fit in a business envelope, by Barbara DeBose.

FREE for SheetLoad readers...





Included for our readers this month is a FREE Printable Quotes file!! The team shared some of their favorite quotes, sayings, sentiments, scriptures, etc. and they have been put together into a printable PDF file. Sized just right to fit the November sketch!


Make sure to check back later this month for links to the monthly challenges, an episode of Meet the Artists, Simple Special Stunning and much more!!!