Sandra Caldwell New Release

Back with a new release image from Sandra Caldwell.  This one is called #1213 Pork Elf. Don't you love the look on its face?!?  You can find it later today with all of the other new digis in the Babycakes Digis and Designs Etsy shop.

I hobbled together sentiments from a variety of sources to create my custom sentiment.  The word Christmas is from PTI's Rustic Wreath set and the "hogs and kisses" is altered from Sugar Pea Design's Happy Mail set.  It was originally "hugs and kisses," and with the magic of a brown marker and some white gel pen hugs became hogs!!  Puny - right?!?!

I think I have discovered a combination of colors I like for coloring Sandra's pigs.  Just the right amount of pink with a little brown.  I color the pig with R000, shade with R01 and then go over everything with an E50.  For the ears and nose, I start with R02, shade with E11 and then a light coat of E41.  My hooves are E41 with R01 and shaded with E31.

Challenges Entered:
Aud Sentiments #169/ - AG + Sentiment
4 Crafty Chicks #376 /- Winter Wonderland
CraftRocket #29 /- Winter Time
Come And Get It 11/27/- Baby It's Cold Outside
House of Cards 11/25/ - Lots of Layers/Colors
Pile It On #122/ - Two Patterns

A Day for Daisies - Snowball Sam

This little guy, Snowball Sam, is one of three super-adorable snowmen you can find in the ADFD store under the "winter" tab.  I used Sandy Allnock's idea of coloring the night sky with BV25 and adding white ink to look like snow accumulating on his hat and the branches.  The Sugar Pea Designs sentiment from Frosty Friends was just perfect to finish off the card!

Copic color combinations are always interesting to me. I moved away from using the sequential color schemes and played with a different third color.  The turquoise part of the scarf is BG70, 72 & 18.  I started using 75, but it grayed down the color too much - 18 provided a good contrast, but kept the colors vibrant.  The same thing happened with the other color in the scarf.  It's E07, 09  (love that barn-red look) and E18 is the contrast.  The reddish-brown was perfect and made the other colors pop!  C01, 00 and BG70 were used to shade Snowball Sam.

Challenges Entered:
Tuesday Morning Sketches/- #379

Shopping Our Stash #270/ - Warm and Fuzzy
Crafting By Designs 11/23 /- Get Ready for Christmas
Little Red Wagon 11/23/ - Sparkle and Shine
Aud Sentiments #169/ - AG + sentiment
Craft Rocket #29/ - Winter Time
The Pencil Case #33/ - AG

A Day for Daisies - Holding Fireflies

I remember catching fireflies as a child just like this little girl, so this image, Holding Fireflies with Wings from ADFD took me back in memory lane.  On top of that, the little girl's body position is just like the way one of my granddaughter's when she is examining something closely!  The image is a freebie in the ADFD Shop right now.













I really wanted to push myself to work on creating a night sky.  I wish I had masking fluid for the stars and in its absence, settled on the old technique of using Glossy Accents over the stars and fireflies after I colored them yellow.  It was a semi successful try.  Ranger's Distress Inks are the easiest to use when trying to blend inks.  My SU! inks dry too quickly.  I've used Sketch Saturday's sketch to design the card and finished it off with sequins and some Stickles.

It's definitely not summer in MN, but up until this past week the weather has been so mild I've worn sandals to work!!  Now it's shoes, socks and mittens!

Distress Inks:  Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot
Copics:  Hair:  E50, 51, 53, 25
Skin:  E00, R20
Wings:  Y00, Y21, BV00, BV02, V12
Dress:  Y000, Y00
Stars:  Y00, Y11

Challenges Entered:
Aud Sentiments #168/ - AG + Sentiment
Creative Knockouts #168/ - Lots of Layers
Just Keep on Creating - November Challenge

CAS Sympathy

Playing around with some shades of blue in a sympathy card for the 200th Birthday Challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge.

I've enjoyed working through their challenges to develop my CAS eye - which is a whole different kind of card-making than the Copic coloring I typically do!

I've used a Ranger stencil with Stormy Sky Distress Ink in the background; butterfly die cuts with SU's Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Island Indigo; a sentiment from Paper Smooches and some clear sequins.

Challenges Entered:
CAS Colours and Sketches #200/ - monochromatic blues
Addicted to CAS/ #101 - Ombre
Aud Sentiments #168 /- AG + Sentiment
Just Keep On Creating/ - November Challenge

CAS Baby Card

Babies, babies, and more babies!  Between relatives and siblings for children at the school I teach at - it's been a fall of new births!  Here's a CAS card for a little boy.  I've flipped this week's sketch from CAS Colours and Sketches to design the card and pulled out at old die from PTI, some papers from my stash, and a Darice embossing folder provided the details.

The gold patterned paper is a scrap from a package of SU! Patterned paper - and more than 7 years old.  The other papers are from this year's Crate Paper's Oh, Boy! 6x6 paper stack.  Not that we paper hoarders need a reason, but just sayin' - major satisfaction when I open that paper draw and find an old scrap that is a PERFECT match for some new paper.  Can I get an AMEN from any of my people?!?!


Challenges Entered:
CAS Colours & Sketches/ - #199
Tuesday Throwdown #319/ - All About the Words

Sandra Caldwell New Release

 My card features one of the many  images Sandra is releasing today in her Etsy Shop Babycakes Digis and Designs.  This one is called #1144 Snowballed Kitty.  Be sure to check out the rest of the DT's work on the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans Facebook Page.

I used a snowflake embossing folder for the background and my new SU! alphabet to make the sentiment.  There was lots of white to work with in the image, so I used some B000 and B41 for shading for the snow and colored lots of layers for my sky background to provide contrast for the snow and snowballs.

Looks like kitty is on the losing side of the snowball fight!!

Challenges Entered:
Crafty Catz #345/ - AG w option of snowflake
Creative Fingers #119- AG
Simply Create Too #121/ - Christmas Colors
The Pencil Case #32/ - AG
613 Avenue Create #191/ - AG
House of Cards November Challenge - Lots of layers

A Day for Daisies - November Challenge

The November Challenge on the ADFD blog is to Use Some Burlap.  Originally I was planning to use a strip of burlap, but in the card construction process, I decided to create a frame from burlap which ended up becoming the card's background!  There's a whole lot of strong double-sided tape on this card!

I've never colored a cooked turkey before, so this was a challenge for me.  Google images helped me figure out what to do (in addition to quite a few years of turkey cooking experience!!)  I masked the image and stamped over it with SU's French Script background stamp and distressed the edges.  MFT's stitched frame dies created the frame and the "with gratitude" is a Lil' Inkers sentiment die.

Copics used:
Turkey:  E30, 31, 33, 35, 53, 37
Cranberries:  R11, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 39
Daisies:  Y11, 13, 15, 19
Small flowers:  BV13, 04, V15, 09
Leaves:  YG 03, 45, 67, G43

I hope you will play along with us this month.  A guest DT spot is one of the prizes!  Take a peek at the rest of the DT's work here.

Challenges Entered:
Crafting By Designs - November AG Challenge
Just Keep on Creating - November AG Challenge
Creative Inspirations #261/ - AG
Little Red Wagon #366/ - Happy Fall Y'All
Crafty Girls #29 /- AG
Time Out for Challenges #69 /- Give thanks with a Grateful Heart
World Wide Open DT Challenge/ - Oct. 15-Nov. 15
Tic-Tac-Toe Challenges/ -  #21

A Day for Daisies - My Big Brother

Lots of need for baby cards for me right now.  This is called My Baby Brother, from A Day for Daisies.  You can find it in the shop along with many other fabulous images for just about every occasion!

Stop back at the end of the week for another posting from ADFD.  We are working on Thanksgiving images for our November Challenge!