Pretty pears

      My sweet friend, Kim Lackenbach, a LONG time bloggie friend, asked me if I would like to join in the 50th challenge celebration for Inspired By All the Little Things.  Of course I said yes.  LOL  Here's the lovely inspiration photo for the celebration challenge.

     The pears grabbed my eye and I knew just what stamp set I was going to use.  Unfortunately, it is no longer available, although thankfully Marcella Hawley is still designing beautiful stamp sets for her own company, Power Poppy.

     I colored the image and frame with my Copics and added sparkle to the frame with a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen.

 

Copics Used:

pears E31, E53, E55, YR31, YG11

stems E74

leaves YG21, YG23, YG25, YG17, YG67

flowers  RV10, R20, R14, Y17

     Hope you'll find some time to play along with this great challenge.  Thanks so much to Kim for asking me to join in the fun.
Tracy

Supplies:
Paper--Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Flourishes "Pears" (retired), sentiment from Sweet 'n Sassy "Be encouraged"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Black Onyx, Worn Lipstick Distress ink
Tools--Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles dies, Memory Box Tender leaves dies,  EK Success Retro Flower punch
Miscellaneous--Martha Stewart gold micro beads, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle pen

Pears in pencils

     I decided to challenge my self a bit and play along with the current Flourishes challenge.  Now I know most of you are used to seeing the more cutesie images on my cards, but you know every once in a while you just might need something a little different.

     I've used the beautiful "Pears" set and broke out my Prismacolor pencils.  I know less about using pencils than I do about Copics and that doesn't amount to a hill of beans.  LOL  It was fun to work with a different medium though.  I used Bristol paper to stamp the image on.  I think I need to expand my greens a bit.  I would have liked to have achieved a bit softer shade of green for the pears.  The color fits more for apples, but I had to work with what's at hand.

     The actual challenge at Flourishes is to use washi tape and I have to tell you it almost didn't make it on this card.  I was so concentrated on the coloring and trying to figure out a layout that the card was almost completed when I remembered I needed to use the tape.  Thank goodness that little corner was bare so I added a couple of strips and a button.  The butterflies are punched from vellum and colored with a Copic marker.

     Hope you're having a wonderful Saturday.  Be blessed!

Supplies:
Paper--Crate Paper "On Trend", Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, The Paper Studio vellum, Strathmore 100 lb. Bristol
Stamps--Flourishes "Pears"
Ink-- Memento Tuxedo Black, Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits
Tools--Marvy Uchida butterfly punch
Miscellaneous--Recollections washi tape and brads, The Paper Studio pearlsWal-mart button, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String, lace from my stash

Birthday wishes for Mom

     This card is a bit of a departure for me.  First of all it's one of the trendy "skinny" cards that are hot now, and secondly I stamped in something other than black.  LOL  That sounds really silly since I have a whole drawer full of ink pads, but it's true.  Very seldom have I stamped something on a card in anything but black and I really like how it turned out.

     I was inspired by the Mojo Monday sketch for this week and my sweet friend Katie Sims who posted the most amazing card this week for the challenge at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge.  They wanted cards with a stamped image, but no coloring.  GASP!  No Copics????  Could I do it??  Well I gave it a shot and the result is this little card which will be going to my mother on Sunday for her birthday.  That means I can enter this in the "Anything Goes" challenge at Seize the Birthday too.

     Here's a close up of the images which are stamps from the "Blossoms and Butterflies" set.

     Here are a few more challenges I found to enter:

Simon Says Stamp--pearls
Incy Wincy--birthdays
Catered Crop--good birthdays ( HI LINDA!!!!)
  
Make It Monday--anything goes

     Enjoy your weekend!

Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "In Bloom", Bazzill, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Flourishes "Blossoms and Butterflies", sentiment from Inkadinkado
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black and London Fog
Tools--Nestabilities Standard Circles and Lacey Circles, Memory Box Fabulous Phlox, Cuttlebug Houndstooth embossing folder
Miscellaneous--The Paper Studio pearls

Thanks a bunch

     Unfortunately that nice spring weather we were enjoying has slid back into a cold snap which has proved good for one thing, getting ahead on my card making.  LOL

     This week at Mo's Digital Pencil our lovely Nela has asked us to use our "Favorite Color Combinations".  LOVE me some yellow and blue together.  I've used the beautiful "Spring for Sale" image from Mo's Store.

     Here's a closer view.

Copics Used:

skin--E000, E00, E11, E13, R20, R30

hair--E21, E23, E25, E27

clothing--Y00, Y11, YR20, YR21, YR23, YR24, BG10, BG11, BG23, BG53, BG72, BG78

boots--E41, E42, E43

tulips--Y11, Y13, Y17, R35, R37, R39, R43, R11, R22, R24, YG03, YG17, YG67

pots--W1, W3, W5

grounding--E41, E42, E43

     We'd love to have you come play along for your chance at a $5.00 gift voucher from Mo.  She awards one for every 25 entries we get.
     I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon--spring
Simon Says Stamp--pearls
Party Time Tuesday--anything goes
Sweet Stamps--favorite colors
Top Tip Tuesday--stitching
Tuesday Throwdown--anything goes
Card Mania--use a sentiment
Make It Monday--anything goes

     Have a fabulous Thursday!

Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "The Sweetest Thing--Bluebell",Bazzill, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Mo's Digital Pencil "Spring for Sale", Flourishes "Zinnias"
Ink--Iced Spruce Distress ink
Tools--Memory Box Puffy Clouds die, sewing machine
Miscellaneous--Recollections pearls, seam binding from my sweet friend Kirsty Vittetoe, paper doily

Purple Zinnias

     Oh boy was this card a challenge.  I find beautiful floral element cards to be so difficult cause you don't want to ruin the pretty image with a ugly background.  I have admired Flourishes Stamps for a long time, but have been a bit intimidated by them.  I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a few of the sets Beate Johns was selling (still totally depressed that she's giving up stamping).  This image and sentiment are from the Zinnias set.
     I wish I had the design know how of my buddy Katie Sims who is on the Flourishes team.  She and a couple of my other bloggie friends are so talented at putting the elaborate decorative Spellbinder dies to use on their cards.
     I told Katie I was going to try to sneak in the time to make a card for the current Pantone color challenge at Flourishes and since I've been stuck inside for a couple of days with crazy Winter Storm Leon I managed to put this together.  I wish it were a little more fancy, but I'm pretty happy with it.
     Speaking of Leon, here's what my yard looked like this morning.

     Now remember, I live on the Gulf Coast, like twenty miles inland from the beach so this is something we just don't see here.  In fact I think it's been 17 years since we had enough snow to actually stick and accumulate.  This is not snow.  We never got the fluffy stuff.  It's all sleet.  Pretty much everything has shut down for the past two days and will probably remain that way tomorrow since temps aren't going to get high enough to really get rid of the sleet.  It's most probably going to refreeze on the roads and we coastians just do not know how to drive in those conditions.
     And how about these ice daggers!  I hope no little birdies land on my air conditioning unit.  They might get speared when these let go.

     Besides the Flourishes challenge, Id like to enter my card in the following challenges also:

Vintage Stamping Challenge--lavender and lace
Addicted to Stamps--flowers
Amusing Challenge--anything goes

     Hope you're all staying safe and warm.  I see some of my Canadian friends are about to get hit again.  Sending big warm hugs!

Supplies:
Paper--My Mind's Eye "So Sophie", Georgia Pacific, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Flourishes "Zinnias"
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Tools:  Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles, MFT Die-namics Mini Tab, Martha Stewart and Marvy Uchida butterfly punches, Cuttlebug, The Paper Studio A2 Stripes embossing folder
Miscellaneous:  The Paper Studio and Recollections pearls, Martha Stewart ribbon, Crafter's Square trim, Yellow Stickles