Give Peace a Chance

I was inspired today to  create a Christmas card for  my 2019 stash, which was depleted last month. I absolutely adore this digi image from A Day for Daisies. It's called Placing the Stars
http://adayfordaisies.com/stamps/fairies-nymphs/placing-the-stars and I've used it before.
Today I colored my image with Copics, adding some shading with colored pencil. I've been doing this often now, using both markers and pencils to get a deeper depth tp my images. I used 2 patterned papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles for my background from these Paper Sets:

I printed out my image (with its blue background) twice, cutting out the image and the patterned paper bow and adhering them to the first layer with dimensional tape.

Then I popped it  all on a piece of cardstock with stitched edges. To finish off my card, I gave the ribbon, angel wings and edges of the blue frame some shine with Stickles. I had some extra tiny stars die-cut from a border die. My sentiment goes (I think) perfectly with the image: Star light, Star bright, A wish for Peace on Earth tonight. If only...

Challenges I am Entering

ABC Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Cute & Crafty Christmas - Anything Christmas

the Sisterhood of Crafters - Make It Sparkle (gold & Stickles)

City Crafters - Give Peace a Chance (paper-pieced bow)

Let's Eat Cake at Ike's World Challenge Blog

It's time to get your sweet tooth on at Ike's World Challenge Blog. The optional theme is "Let's Eat Cake" and I found a fairy tale cake to inspire my card. The cake is real, made by CandyCakeWedding.com and found on Pinterest. It makes the perfect background for the Ike's Art image, Tinky,  to fly by with magical birthday wishes for a little girl I know. 

My card is 100% digital, using the following:

Image: Ike’s Art: Tinky digi image, photo credit CandyCakeWedding.com

Paper: Pixel Scrapper Brooke Gazarek’s Enchanted Papers Purple

Digital Elements: Pixel Scrapper Elif Sahin’s Design piece #5 Heart, It’s the Magic Fairy Tales Edition Crown& Magic Wand;  Melo Vrijhof’s Jane Elements Lace Border & Family Day Elements Pink Flower; Mandy’s Lovable Designs’Shabby Wedding Scatter.

Font: Chancera

Whether you create with the Cake theme or choose to create without it, don't forget to link your art up at Ike's world Challenge Blog for your chance to win some awesome digis from her store!!

P.S. 

IKE'S ART DESIGN TEAM CALL - NOVEMBER 2017

Click on the link and strut your stuff if you fancy a place on Ike's Design Team.

Hurry, tho', you only have until the end of the month!!

Prosperity Fairy Promises a Good Year

Today I created a wall hanging for my house. It's a mixed media on wood that I call The Prosperity Fairy. She is my reminder to keep hope alive and believe in good things to come this year.
We ended 2015 very poorly, and yet we had a wonderful Christmas with family, my sister got married, my grandson started talking babbling to me online (he's only 4 months), and my boss made an offer which, while dropping hours, allowed me to keep the family insurance. On the down side, my husband came home and let me know that he had been let go!
So 2015 went out with a balance of good and bad, stress and the power of love. My artwork will be a constant reminder that life is a balancing act of good times and bad, pain and peace, sadness and joy. Without that bit of adversity in our lives, we could not appreciate the prosperity headed our way.
So I will hang my Prosperity Fairy in my bedroom, so that I can go to sleep under her watchful eye, as well as waken to her promise to come.
How do you balance your life between the good times and the bad? The Path of Positivity challenge blog offers the theme of Prosperity this month to all crafters. Carve out some time to create and then link up at the challenge blog for your chances to win prizes from the guest sponsors, The Stamping Boutique and Limited Runs. My artwork uses a digi image from the Stamping Boutique called I Love you This Much Cynthia Fairy.

Challenges I Am Entering:

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Sparkle n Sprinkle - Anything Goes w/loose glitter (around the edge of my wooden frame)

That Craft Place - Anything Goes

Crafty Time challenges - Make It Sparkly

Rhedd's Creative SPirit - Anything Goes

Creaine challenges - Bingo grid

Anything Goes with SLS Lines and the Outlawz Greetings Challenge

It's my favorite theme time at the Outlawz Monday Greetings challenges--Anything Goes!! One of our sponsors is SLS Lines, and their Etsy Store is full of gorgeous images to color and create with.
My card features an image called Air Fairy. After I colored and fussy cut her out, I discovered a Tim Holtz Idealogy Cabinet card that I covered with shimmer paper (in teal, my fave color). I found a leftover piece of beach scene paper and embossed my sentiment onto the front, where my fairy is hovering in the clouds. To create the look of soft movement, I added  few pearl leftover flourishes around her. All that was left to do was add a shimmery border to the bottom of my card, and a soft dove for good measure.
What will your project be? The sky's the limit with just a few guidelines: make sure to use a sentiment or quote on the front of your project, and link up your project post (not your whole blog), making sure that you didn't post it before the start of the Outlawz Monday Greetings challenge.
Other than that, the world is your oyster, and the DT look forward to seeing what you create!

Getting Edgy Over at Squigglefly

What a fantastic month Squigglelfy has for you!  First, there are three new artists making their debut in July.   They are Tam Hess, Norma Burnell, and Angela Charles. Each of them have their own unique style. I got to play with a digi image called Forest Fairy from Norma Burnell.

Second, the Squigglelfy challenge this week is "Over the Edge," which means to let your image extend past the edges of your project. I made a "potted flower" from a wooden block. It started life as one of those photo holders, but I didn't like the photos I had already printed up, so I glued a beautiful cream-colored rose to the post.

I colored Forest Fairy with my trusty Copics, and popped her onto my block after painting it with acrylics. I adhered washi tape to the bottom, all around the block, so to speak. I added a few sequins for sparkle and my front was complete.

Here's another view of the block, this one from the side. I decided it needed a sentiment, and I had the perfect one in my stickers stash.  It reads: "Hold a true friend in both hands."

For more inspiration with Squigglefly's July releases, check out the challenge blog. If you really need to get your mojo on, go have a look-see at what our new DT member, Jen Leeflang, has created. Jen's blog is http://jencraftsa.blogspot.com. 

Make Your QKD Image POP!

Do you know why I love Queen Kat Designs silhouette images?  Because when I have some absolutely gorgeous patterned paper that is way too busy to showcase a stamped image, you can still use one to make a card.  All you need is a stamped silhouette image in a coordinating color to make it pop on the card front.

Because I'm piling up a few cards for Operation Write Home, I'm leaving this one CAS (Clean And Simple), but if I weren't, I could still use some inking and jewels and ribbon without my image getting lost in the scene.

I did use the same image and stamped the inside again, in red this time.  Just to bring the fantasy theme inside the card as well.

I have three cards finished for the Troops, but will probably make a few more before sending out to my contact.  If you're interested in joining this worthwhile cause, check out www.operationwritehome.org for specifics.

Enabling Alert!!  The QKD Store has been revamped and to celebrate its makeover, there are loads of sales going on--no coupon or discount code needed!!  Choose your favorites that you've been craving to buy, or pick a new image the just now catches your eye.  Either way, it's the perfect time to add on to your QKD collection!

And remember, have fun in your crafting!!

A Little Fairy Love

My card today features "Forest Night" by Terra Bidlespacher.  After coloring my image, I tore it and inked the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink.  After framing it with patterned paper, I found a distressed tag in my stash of leftover supplies and used it to open up the frame, also using some torn pink card stock and coordinating striped patterned paper.

The stripes looked too intense, so I toned it down with some webbing, and then I "had my way" with embellishments.  I finished off my card by inking one edge with gold pigment ink, then rubbing in some Aztec Gold Pearl Ex pigments.

I love the fairies that Terra creates, like this one, don't you?  Check them all out at the QKD Shop!!
And for inspiration, check out QKD on Facebook:

Recipe for a Squigglefly Card

This week the Squigglefly Challenge Blog is asking for players to use a recipe.  In crafting terms, a recipe gives you the ingredients that must be used on your project.  Their recipe calls for a circle, a button, a flower and a Squigglefly image.

I used the digi image Forget-Me-Not Fairy by artist Fawn Palmer, a February new release (woohoo!).  The card is a patterned card base left over from a previous project, which inspired the Copic coloring of my fairy.

I CIRCLE-cut my image to frame it before adhering it to the card base after using a brown marker to color the rim of the circle.

I covered the flower on the digi image with a flower-shaped BUTTON.  I added a bow out of the same ribbon I used under the FLOWERs on the bottom half of the card.

And there you have it, my recipe for a Squigglefly card and a cute birthday card to boot!  Now it's your turn to go to Squigglefly Challenge Blog for more inspiration.  Check out all the new releases for February and play in the CHALLENGE for a chance to win free digi's!!