Crazy busy week--crafting keeping me sane!  Mostly.  Kind of.  Shut up.  :)

Not much to tell with this one.  I mixed up two fab stamp sets and love the play of the bold and the delicate.

I'm entering this in Tuesday Throwdown #309 CAS, Addicted to Stamps and More #209 CAS


The Details:  Waffle Flower In Every Way, Concord and 9th Wildflower, Ranger watercolor paper, Versafine Onyx Black, Eyelet Outlet black enamel dots, Zigs, Versamark, Stampendous detail fine while embossing powder

I had great fun working up this card.  And as usual it started out as something totally different in my noggin.  I first lightly spritzed watercolor card front and back then sprinkled on some Brushos followed by another light spritzing.  Once that dried, I spattered water to create "bubbles."  Next I stamped a variety of underwater plants and creatures to give the octopus some company.

I inked the base octopus in HA Neon Red to Purple and the next layer in Ombre Mermaid.  It's like we're watching the octopus transition in color right this very minute.  Neat!  I had the Cutplorations die lying around and loved how it looked with the scene.  Perfect funky stitches!

The sentiment is embossed and offset to cover up an ink blob.  The octopus is raised on foam tape with a googly eye for added cuteness.

I'm entering this in Crafty Cardmakers #171 Under or By the Sea   

The Details:  Hero Arts Color Layering Octopus, Neon Red to Purple and Mermaid Ombre ink, Aquamarine Brushos, Avery Elle The Reef and Swim Team, Ranger watercolor paper and white embossing powder, VersaFine Onyx Black, The Robin's Nest Teardrops and Dots, Cutplorations Crazy Double Stitching rectangle die, Distress Ink Candied Apple, Forest Moss, Wilted Violet and Pine Needles, Versamark

I've been seeing lots of soft citrus ombre backgrounds in bloggy land lately so thought I would give it a go.  I ended up using Copics and my airbrush to get that perfect gradation of color.  Swoon-worthy! I used gold for the coverplate so pull in the metallic element of the challenge pic.  Love how that looks against the citrus.

I had a harder time settling on the bear.  So many cute cute cute images to choose from but this little guy was calling to me.  Adorable in his soft palette.  And do you see what I see?  A heart in the balloon?  Total happenstance but ever so cute.

You only have a couple more days to join Challenge #3 so hop to it.  Lots to love in the inspiration pic!


Since I've not used the Hexastar Cover Plate before, I'm entering Darnell's NBUS #7 Anything Goes. It's such a great incentive to use forgotten or neglected  stuff in the stash.  I'm also entering Mod Squad Pet or Animal and Seize the Birthday without optional Tags topping



The Details:  Neat and Tangled Hexastar Cover Plate, Mark Richards gold dots, Ranger Multi Medium Matte, My Favorite Things Beary Special Birthday, Versamark, Stampendous Detail Fine White Embossing Powder, Recollections 110lb black and gold cardstock, Copics, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Memento Tuxedo Black

Super busy this week so my crafting time has been especially precious to me these last few evenings.  I finished up the fairy card--not sure it's quite done but good enough for public viewing.  :)

I used alcohol inks on acetate and diecut the frame from that.  I wanted dreamy translucence and shine.  Check.  Next I used Distress Inks on the background and spattered with water AND Peerless gold.  Love how that turned out.  The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine before the Peerless and I had to go back and use a Copic Multiliner to fix the ampersand which had gotten a bit covered up by gold.  I used the Scan n Cut to cut out the fairies.  Was really excited to find it had no problems cutting out something embossed in gold.  Cool.  Isn't my little fairy so sweet?  Damn Disney and Tinker Bell for making all fairies be blonde in my head! 


I'm entering this in SIP #62 Sketch, Little Miss Muffet #145 Anything Goes, Colour Q #356


The Details:  Ranger Watercolor Paper, Multi Medium Matte, and Gold Embossing Powder, Waffle Flower Lacy Layers die, Zig Detail Water Brush, Hero Arts August 2016 Fairies Kit, Peerless Transparent Metallic Gold, Copics, Adirondack alcohol inks, acetate, Distress Ink Evergreen Bough, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Versamark

I've had this Kaisercraft set for a while (love the way the flamingo is done up!) but it took the Curtain Call Flamingo challenge to make me pull it out.  I wanted bright and tropical yet mod.


Since I had the set out, I went ahead and did a whole background of ombre leaves.  Love the effect, don't you?


I'm entering this in LIM 290 Something Exotic, Color Throwdown #407, and Moving Along With the Times #27 CAS



The Details:  Kaisercraft Say Aloha, Doodlebug B/W Stripe Washi, Hero Arts Neon Chartreuse to Blue Ombre and Neon Pink, VersaFine Onyx Black, Mark Richards Gold Dots, Waltzing Mouse stitched scalloped rectangle die

Ain't that the truth?  I swear I've been a mermaid all my life!  LOL.

I started out stenciling the background using Distress Inks followed by transparent glossy texture paste.  Once that dried, I added gold just using a brush and Peerless.  I wanted to evoke the feel of a tail so selectively left the bottom white.  Next I colored up the cute Penny Black mermaid.  Her tail is completely coated in Wink of Stella but incredibly hard to see the extreme sparkle.


I'm entering this in SIP #62 Sketch, Tuesday Throwdown #308 Make It Sparkle, Crafty Cardmakers #171 By or Under the Sea, Penny Black Saturday Your Favorite Technique (coloring!!!)



The Details:  Penny Black Mermaids, Carta Bella Deco Dots, Copics, Peerless Transparent Metallic Gold, VersaFine Onyx Black, Distress Inks Evergreen Bough and Tumbled Glass, Wink of Stella, Impression Obsession sentiment, Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores cardstock, Simon Says stitched rectangle die

I finished up the fishy goodbye card just in time.  My coworker's last day is Friday but really Wednesday.  You know how that goes.  LOL.

I first stamped the scene then brushed on some Distress Ink water using my Clarity brush.  Then I colored in the bits using Copics but decided the water was a bit too light so went back and brushed on more.  This softened the colors just like it was underwater!  Who knew?!  The scene lacked a bit of oomph so I colored the fish again and popped it up.  I added bubbles too.  Darn simple but oh so cute!

I'm entering this in Crafty Cardmakers #171 By or Under the Sea

The Details:  Your Next Stamp Fishy Fun, The Robin's Nest Teardrops and Clear Dots, Ranger Glossy Accents, VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon, Waltzing Mouse stitched scalloped die, Memory Box white cardstock base, Clarity brush

I am loving the plaid paper and cute animals I'm seeing everywhere, aren't you?  I used the plaids from two different pads.  Lawn Fawn plaid as sky--heck, yes! Jen Hadfield farmer red plaid for the diecut--had to, there's a pig!  Punny dream big--again, it's a pig!  For the JH plaid, I used Copic RV04 to spark up the solid sections of the paper design.  Gotta have that pop.  I also created a gray shadow for the sentiment die and covered it in a bit of Wink.  Okay, a lot of Wink.  Same goes for little piggy's wings.  See all that sparkly goodness?

Do stop by The Heart Desires Store for these products and much more.  TTYL!

I'm entering this in Shopping Our Stash #265 What's the Good Word, Simon Says Wednesday Make for the Border, Cardz 4 Guys #133 Words

The Details:  Neat and Tangled You Can Do Anything die, Pebbles Jen Hadfield Everyday paper, Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid paper, VersaFine Onyx Black, Clear Wink of Stella, Ranger Round Ink Applicator, Mama Elephant Landscape Trio, Clearly Besotted Trouble in a Tutu, Recollections 110lb white cardstock base, Copic R000, R00, R01, R02, RV04, T0, Scotch foam tape, Distress Tumbled Glass