Have a Little Wine with your Dinner

Closing of the August Challenge at Die Cut Divas with a card from Art Impressions and I sent this card for the Card Chain Challenge (CCC) at Deborah's Society of Stampaholics to Joy.  I stamped this a long time ago, colored and then never used it.... yes, what a waste because I love it.  I've always loved this, maybe I didn't want to give it away.  sniff sniff

I really like the way the card turned out as it so reminds me of growing up in the Italian neighborhood of a town in Pennsylvania.  My grandparents would walk a couple blocks down to the local Italian restaurant for Friday night spaghetti dinners.  I can hear laughter and singing and shouting, even now. 

Have a Happy end of August to you all.

Glitzy and Blue

I colored this gal in my Copics group on Tuesday this week and I really like this.  No paper piecing, all Copic coloring and a swirl of glittery gems too.  When I think Hot August Nights, I think Reno Nevada and when I think of Reno, I think lots of glitz in the hotels, clubs, gambling and dresses.  So here's a bit of glitz for you.

I think she's cute and fits so wonderfully on this tag.

I guess you really don't have to wonder that a Julie Nutting doll would fit

 on a Julie Nutting tag, now would you?  

Copics and Tim Holtz - What a Grand Idea!

Cogs and wheels, oh my!  An inspector comes to haunt Hot August Nights.  A TIM HOLTZ inspector...  I have to tell you I had my social Copic coloring class today.  This kind of class you have to love.  You bring what you want to color and if you are bringing something that you're having trouble with, you have the teacher there to assist you.  AND she makes lunch for us.  There were 15 people and Susan always makes a salad when it's a warm/hot day.  Salad just does not convey the meal.  This woman makes the most unusual and DELICIOUS salads I have ever had.  Today we also had sandwiches, the bread I need to write the name down because I've never had it before.  YUM!... oh, we colored too!  Since I wanted to make a card for today, I colored my man and put him together tonight.

 Doesn't he just remind you of a Sherlock Holmes?  I think this turned out quite good.  I really like coloring this on watercolor paper with Tim Holtz' Distress markers and a wet brush, but I do like the way this turned out.  Be sure to visit Die Cut Divas.

A little close up - some gears from large gears from a Die-namics set (clock with hands and these gears)

Hope you like this dude, I'm liking him quite well for a neat guy card.

Flower Blowing in the Wind

I kind of had a flash of "stream of consciousness" going here.  I was thinking flowers, desert and warmth, so this is what I came up with.  I like it, but, then, I made it.  Not an ombre, but monochromatic color scheme.  I almost blended these, but wanted separation of colors.  Just an interpretation for the Die Cut Divas' challenge.

Distress Paints, (Distress Fluid Acrylic Paints) Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen - Ranger distress line starts here.  Lots of ink pads and stains, as well as paints to look at and have fun with.

Die-Cut Kylie Stem

Have a great week.

Retro is Fine

Here's a sample I posted on Die Cut Divas for our challenge this month of "Hot August Nights".

I was thinking this was pretty modern... no, my granddaughter told me it looks like the decade of the 80s.  Upon further thought, I quite agree - an 80s card - retro.  I've gone retro and I didn't even plan it.  Now if I could plan and execute, I'd be doing well.

Retro or not, I rather liked the striped panel (from a box that held black and white note cards) as a major panel on this card.  I used dies from A Dienamics set which I am sure I purchased at Oozak, but can't find it now. There's always something new.  I really like the Fired Brick Distress Paint - how hot can you get with a name like that?

No stamping at all - yes I'm quite surprised at the number of cards I've made with no stamping this month. 

His name is Aidan

I've been playing with all kinds of stamps this month.  Now for a Julie Nutting "guy", yes she has designed a guy and he's rather cool.  I found some papers that I thought were just right.  I die-cut a rectangle and then cut the top inward to create a tag from a Tim Holtz package.  I used a Tim Holtz Honlycomb stencil and a couple stamps from an old set to create this tag.  I'm loving this Hero Arts Unicorn ink too.

I used acrylic paint to paint over the honeycomb to make a design and add texture.  Paper piecing the shirt and pants was sheer fun!  An old Hero Arts stamp across the face gave the image some life.

I'm really quite pleased with this.  It looks just as good in real life.  And it was SO MUCH FUN!  

Prima Gal

Be sure to visit Die Cut Divas for our challenge.   thought this Prima doll might convey some spirit to our challenge this month.  I like to use leftover pieces in my cards, tags and projects.  The black and white panel is from a box of black and white note cards which I fell in love with.  The circles are left over from a card using a Memory Box Die.  The stamped background is from an old (and I still LOVE it) 2001 Hero Arts stamp Manuscript Background (H2141).  The buildings are left over from one of my cards, Cityscape Silhouette.

You are actually supposed to paper piece these dolls, but the first thing I did was go for my Copic markers to color her and I do like the way she turned out.  I fussy-cut the doll out and arranged everything to my liking.  The close-up here has a dark blue ribbon now.  I liked the shot of the tag without the tag because the ribbon is scrunchy and doesn't photograph well on the card.

I didn't like these dolls at first, but they definitely grow on you.  When I first saw them, my first thought was "THEY HAVE NO FACES" and who would want to buy one... Well, I think they're rather cute now and I like some of the longer lengths of stamps.  The wonderful tags they have are perfect for the over-sized dolls. Hancock Park is a great pack of tags too.  The tags are heavy duty, like chipboard and the patterns and colors are marvelous.

Let's all have some FUN!

Here we have some ladies enjoying the excitement of friends and a bit of bubbly during Hot August Nights. Seeing these gals makes me think of friends and laughter and sharing fun times with my girlfriends  How about you?  This is the first time I've colored these ladies and I'm loving them!  

A little fun never hurt anyone!

Art Impressions - Girlfriends, In the Tub

Now this lady was fun to color and I felt the tag was justified.  Fun! 

I purchased this Art Impressions stamp on Oozak, but don't see it on the site now.  I couldn't help but color her in.  She is too, too much fun!

I hope you like these examples of fun ways to spend an evening, no matter where you live.  I hope you enjoyed these ladies as much as I do.  Be sure to check out the Die Cut Divas blog and join the current challenge.  

Arlene's Hot August Nights

Those on the US western coast know another definition to Hot August Nights than the one you usually think of - right, it's hot in August and sometimes even the nights stay hot.  In Reno, Nevada, it's an entirely different outlook.  As they advertise in Reno, "Celebrating America's Love Affair with Cars and Rock and Roll".   July 29th through August 3rd, 2014, there will be nightly cruising and drag racing in Sparks (city right beside Reno), entertainment, an Auction and of course gambling for those who want to leave their money in Nevada.

You'll have to read the entire blog post over at Die Cut Divas for the lo-down on August's challenge.

I'm sharing my sample of Hot August Nights.  So easy to make with some distress inks, a nice mountain range and dies.  I flicked some water to add some texture to the background.  I told my teammates a secret I'll share with you.  I'm a sci-fi aficionado from way back and this makes me think of the Martian landscape and heroic adventures of John Carter (I read the John Carter Series a long time ago).  Shhhhhh

Easel card with sun-drenched Reno and desert mountains behind

 Front of the easel card

Close-up of Distress Inked background

Recipe:

Hero Arts OWH What a Guy (CL753)

Distress Inks Fired Brick, Warm Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed

Memory Box Cityscape Nightline

Memory Box Hello Script 

Colored gems