Sketch and Color me in!

Sketch and colors... oooh, oh my, nice and simple, sweet and fun. As soon as I saw this sketch, I knew I had to try it. This should be so much fun! Scoot on over to The Daily Marker to see the challenge. I really did have such fun with a Hero Arts Art of Style Digital Design Kit and a sentiment from a Hero Arts clear set Friends, # CL351. I had printed this particular print wider than normal and had it lying in my printed stash, just waiting its turn. I didn't have the exact Copic colors listed for the challenge, but I thought I could improvise and so I chose Powder Blue, B41, Buttercup Yellow, Y21, Chines Orange, YR09, and Dim Green, G40 as alternative colors. I hope you like it. Lighter and darker areas are still the same color, just not as saturated.

My mother has passed away

My mother passed away February 13, 2011. She had Alzheimer's for many many years and it is a good thing that she has let go. Her body just ran out. It was a sad day for me and after we buried her today, it was a feeling of being able to let go myself.

I can now move on myself. I thought I would share this. My mother hasn't been here for years, no one behind the eyes, so hard to see your mother this way. It has been an emotional burden, knowing your mother isn't here, but her body still works. How very sad. I think the burden is lifting and I'm so glad we, her family and her friends could talk about her life at the Eulogy today. We talked about her love of dancing and her love of camping. A good ending to a life.

Cut it Out!

CUT IT OUT at Our Creative Corner. You know how to cut, so cut it out... love this challenge title. I guess you can tell. But isn't that a fantastic challenge? I made an Artist Trading Card (ATC) where everything is cut out - I'll include the base because I hand cut it to the ATC size of 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" size... ok, I'll cut it out. This ATC is entitled "Just Me" as I made it for the Monthly Themed ATC contest on Flickr this month. There's me at the desk and me out enjoying the countryside.

I used two Hero Arts clear set stamps and a marvelous download from Digital Two for Tuesday.

Hero Arts Antique Engravings CL383
Hero Arts Artistic Borders CL322 - printed on patterned paper
Digital Two for Tuesday - (woman at desk)

Have a great day!

Gaal Creative - Why NOT black and white?

You ask why? I made a guest post on the illustrious Gaal Creative February 16, 2011. Visit for the post and stay for the full spectrum of color, style and fun. A post on a wonderfully creative artist's site means a lot to me and Anne has so much to share. Her photography is amazing and she has a challenge each month. February's challenge is GET PUBLISHED! So many reasons to visit Anne, so DO!

Great little sketch at Card Patterns

See how easy this sketch at Card Patterns is? I wanted to use the kiss technique (part of the Hero Arts Blog contest this month) and turned my panel 90 degrees from the sketch at Card Patterns because my image looked like it was just dropping off a ledge and someone threw it a striped line to save it.

I got a cute package of 12" X 12"paper from "Big Lots", a discount store and had to use the striped pattern first. New punch went to work too. I like the sketch and will probably use it this week again, but I never know when I will get time to enter a contest, so I'm going with this first card. There are little hearts stamped on the background in Distress ink Worn Lipstick - you have to love distress inks... well I DO!

Challenge on "Our Creative Corner"

THIS WEEK the host for "Our Creative Corner is Lori Rider and her challenge is to create a card or project using a tree image and a clean and simple (CAS) style. I'm so glad the they described what "CAS" meant - ta da! What qualifies as CAS? Well, that's mostly up to you - generally it will be a quicker/less cluttered/clean line style. If you're still not sure, then just aim for something simpler than you might usually make!

So my CAS card is really easy - I love distressing and I love how it turned out. I love my Nestabilities 8 die-cuts too. Don't you just love Rangers Distress Inks? Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint were used on the tree panel. Hero Arts Cling Dots and Friends sentiment complete the stamping on this card. Some gems, a little ribbon... voila.