Friday, July 29, 2011

Christmas in July

And how 'bout I get a good start on my xmas cards this year and start posting a xmas card a week to get our creative juices flowing! What do ya think? Are you ready yet? I know I'm not, I'm still hoping for SEVERAL more weekends of pina colada float time in the pool! But that holiday season will be on us before you know it so why not at least just start thinking about it now.

It is usually the first weekend in September when I begin thinking about my cards but this year I know I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands so I really gotta get going earlier. With that in mind I thought if I start posting a card a week starting now I JUST MIGHT know by September what I'm gonna make. I need about 50 of them and all the ones I post between now and the beginning of December get mailed and the ones that are easier I might make several of. Not to mention I make about 35 for my mom. So I'm a busy girl come September! I need to mentally prepare myself now for less journaling and canvas time! {sniff}!

Now I give you my first xmas card of the season, a 'new to me' stamp that I just got last weekend named King of the Candy Canes and I KNOW exactly who this one is going to. One down, 49 to go!


You might think the colours are a little 'off' and that is because they ARE 'off'!. I started with a selection of paper and knew I wanted a soft blue and red with a hint of green. Everything was going well for me until I pulled out my Versamagic inks to shade around the edge. DO YOU BELIEVE I DO NOT HAVE A SOFT BLUE! Well, I can believe it because I'm not really fond of blue. So I used an aqua colour and softened it off with wheat hoping it would turn blue. Well, it did lighten it, but it still remained an aqua tone! So I had to then start rummaging thru my paper stash to find something to match and this was the closest I could get. Not bad, but NOT what I envisioned! I'm just glad I salvaged my hour of colouring because I was NOT prepared to start over.

Our challenge next week is all about heavy metal...not in the musical way, thank goodness! I'm NOT into heavy metal...just in the embellie type of way, use something metal on your card...do you know brads are made of metal? It's as simple as that so get going! And while you are at it, why not get out that journal that you have been thinking about and play along in Em's Monday journal post  or if that isn't enough, head on over to the forum if that is your thing and see what is going on there...SO MUCH TO DO there is no excuse for boredom.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Little Moments

I'm home from my bella visit and OMG, my head is JUST SWIMMING with creative ideas. Emily's love of art and product is totally infectious and her knowledge on how to use those products is amazing. It's not enough that I came home with some good laughs, I also came home with a head that is overflowing with things I'd never known and dreams of how to put those things to use.

Saturday night was a free for all in Em's studio (aka basement) with Em, myself, Isabelle (ya, THAT Isabelle who designs those Eclectic wonders), Paula, Laura Evans, Lori 'Pinky' Brown, 2 kidlets (Tyler and Jayden), 2 cats and a dog (that is IF you can call Frankie a dog...that thing is SO adorable I could have stuffed it in my pocket on more than one occassion). While some worked on canvas, others painted in their journal (that would be me), others got lessons on pan pastels from Paula while Paula was getting lessons on how to use bleeding art tissue from Jayden. Creativity was just OOZING out of that room!

Before I get to showing you any of my art journal creations I thought I'd throw out a canvas I started when Paula was here a couple weeks ago.


I began with a blank 6x6 canvas and glued on a piece of patterned paper for no other reason except that I would be no longer looking at a blank canvas. I slapped some blue and green paint on there and added some leaves with a stencil. The sun, flower petals, leaves, stems and flower centers were all cut free hand out of patterned paper and glued on. Then I added some texture with a stencil and heavy body acrylic paint for the flowers in the upper left corner and when dry, added MORE texture with some light weight molding paste and another stencil.

Now for some detail! I stamped one of Isabelle's birds on the wrong side of a small piece of patterened paper and cut it out, then stamped a smaller bird on the right side of another piece of paper and after cutting it out I got two birds facing in different directions. The little moments quote was stamped onto a piece of tissue with stazon ink and I cut out just the 'little moments' portion and glued it down with PPA. The tissue dissapears and the sentiment remains!

Another canvas to hang at my desk at work! And another something that makes me happy!

I hope you create something that makes you happy today!

Linda.

Friday, July 22, 2011

circle? or square?...maybe a little tutorial!

What did you do? I played it safe and went for the square card, and I did the sketch from memory and that is why my sentiment is hanging off the wrong side. Clearly, my memory is not so good anymore.


I pulled out one of Stamping Bella's pixies because I've had some questions on how I do that hair so I thought I'd show you! Grab a coffee, pull out those copics and give it a try.

Step 1:
Start with E21 on the left side and add loose dots as pictured in the right side all over the hair. Then go back again starting at the left side and add a second layer of dots. You want to create some texture and it is okay, even desireable to leave some white.


Step 2:
Now take your E33 and add more dots. You don’t want your dots too big, actually as you add darker colours to the hair you want to decrease the size of your dots. Keep some open space to let the E21 show through

Step 3:
Still with your E33, and still using dots, darken up some of the areas to begin creating shadows  and darken around the outside edges. Use the squiggles in the stamped image that come ‘into’ the hair as a guide and darken above those lines. If her hair is just an outline with no obvious shaded areas, then just darken around the edges, keeping  it lighter in the middle

Step 4:
Now Take your E35 and darken up those shadows a bit as well as the outside edges

Step 5:
Add some E37 in small amounts and using VERY TINY DOTS deepen up those shadows and edges again.


Step 6:
Now soften off the dark E37 dots with the E21 and/or E33. You can repeat steps 3 thru 6 again to get a softer look.

As a final step take your dark umber pencil and add a SMALL amount in those shaded areas and blend it out with your stump and gamsol. It will soften the dots and add more depth. And don't be stingy with those dots! The more layers you add the better it will look.

Our challenge for the final Friday in July will be that old tradition (or maybe new?)...CHRISTMAS IN JULY! Pull out those holiday stamps that have been collecting dust and get a head start on the busiest holiday season of the year!

I'm off to Toronto this weekend to bond with my sistah's....chic time! Inky chic time! Ya, I'm excited!

Linda.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Art Journal Hearts

Did you all read Emily's intro to Art Journaling post? Well, after a year, I am finally getting my feet wet. Last summer I was in Toronto and made a stop at the boo-tique and only Dena was there with her art journal. If you think it looked yummy on Em's blog, you should see the inside! Like OMG! On the way home I said to Mark, I wanna do this. So I went out and bought some stuff (NOT like I needed anything) and pulled out some magazines and tried to get started. I loved Dena's, it was very collagey (if that's a word) and she used a lot of magazine clippings and wrote a lot of words.

I plopped myself on the floor with my stuff and got looking thru magazines, but you know what, I am NOT good at collage. I really need a paintbrush or marker or stamps in hand so I put the stuff away UNTIL recently when I took Christy Tomlinson's 3 Hearts Workshop. She uses the STUFF I love, fun stuff....paints, markers, inks, stencils, stamps....the kind of stuff that makes me happy and so I began this journey. A friend of mine mentioned the other day that she wants to journal because all the cards, or scrapbook pages she does are given away to someone, and this would be for her. And you know what...I think THAT is what I love about it the most, I never have to give it away. It's MINE!

So after reading Emily's post the other day I thought I'd show a couple pages I did last weekend. This page is how I thought (maybe still think!) about the whole process. I spend too much time thinking, planning and wondering and then I decide to jump right in fearing the unknown outcome and start to play! I've learned that it's REALLY all about playing. These words are all stamped from Julie's words to live by.


The background was done with pan pastels and stencils. The hearts were cut free form out of an old book. Shading on the hearts was done with PITT pens.

This second page was a double experiment. I applied gesso to the page, painted loosely with fluid acrylics then attempted image transfer with Mod Podge. Apply Mod Podge to the printed side of a piece of patterned paper and glue it down. When it's good and dry spritz it with water and rub off the paper and you are magically left with the image! AMAZING....there are several ways to do this and just google 'image transfer' to find a wealth of info on it. Then I stenciled some scrolls, stamped some of Isabelle's crackle in the corners (GORJUS!) and applied a few hearts that were all glossed up with clear UTEE.


Done and DONE! I don't have any words on this page yet, but I will as soon as I come across something that inspires me.

Back to Emily...her journal challenge is for us to use crayons! OMG....my boys are 21 years old so there was not a single crayon to be found in the house so I went out and bought a small pack. Now I'm off to get waxy!

For those who came to see a card, not to worry....I'll have one of those on Friday!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Something masculine today

I taught a class at Pickle on Saturday and we used Stamping Bella's Isa's Eclectic Stamps and oh what fun we had! Now I will say that our second card did give us some grief, and I still do not know what went wrong but I will remind you to NOT tap off UTEE or you'll tap it all off. Let the excess just roll off your paper, then heat from underneath and you should have success. I was also pretty excited because I had Paulabella and Paulineabella in my class so you can imagine my horrified state in front of these two talents when no one could get their UTEE to stick. Oh well...get over it and move on!

After class we came back to my place and all took to something different, Paula messing in her journal, Pauline colouring some Bella's and me on canvas. Still feeling creative on Sunday I pulled out those Isa stamps again and created this.


No patterned paper here. Starting with a piece of bella's bestest cardstock in cream I sponged various distress inks for the background piece using some stencils to get more interest. Then I stamped eclectic #8 ticket and some mesh. Then I stamped the ticket background again on a separate piece and rubbed distress inks over it. MAKING SURE IT WAS GOOD AND DRY I stamped the eclectic elements grid with burlap distress ink and embossed it with black distress embossing powder. LOVE the texture of that stuff.

Then I inked up sections of the grid again with distress ink and pressed an inchie into it. I did it that way so I knew where I was placing the inchie. Embossed with the distress powder, and rubbed some distress inks over it. I think I even stamped a bit of crackle on there too.

Finally, I melted some gold UTEE in my melting pot and dipped the edges of the inchies into it to give it a soldered look. We did this YEARS ago at Pickle and I had completely forgotten about it until I saw it again on one of the 3 Hearts videos. Very cool! Must do this more often. Here is a side shot...I glued the inchie squares down with Helmar Scrap dots to accomodate the uneven surface on the back.


Whew! That's it! Seems like a lot of typing for a card that really didn't take me all that long to make! Now off to read Emily's blog...a little birdie told me she has posted something about art journaling on there that has got my curiosity heightened.

Don't forget about our sketch challenge this week, it's a winner and mine is already done! YAY!!!!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

She Art and Three Hearts

I think I mentioned a while ago that I was taking the second running of the She Art Workshop by Christy Tomlinson. I think I have also mentioned how much I LOVE it. I am currently taking the 3 Hearts workshop and that is where the inspiration for my recent art journaling posts have come from.

I've ALWAYS loved mixed media art, ALWAYS, even before I knew what mixed media was! I remember when I was young kid going to my godparent's house in Toronto and they had this really funky very large abstract work of art on the wall that just mesmerized me, I was drawn to it. If I recall I think it had pieces of random gears or machinery imbedded into plaster then it was painted with an abstract wash of color and I loved it. My godmother has sadly been gone for about 20 years now and I wonder if my godfather still has that piece of art, but I doubt it. And I don't even know if I'd still like it now, but it sure caught my eye many MANY years ago.

My journal is a place where I can relax and experiment and just play in whatever type of creative mood I am in. I can share if I want, but I don't have to. However I find my she art canvases to be a way to express who I am and what I want people to know about me...I WANT to display them and I WANT to express who I am. I have completed 4 girls, two are hanging at my desk at work, one is in my kitchen and one I ended up giving one to Kim at Pickle because she gushed over it so much I just knew in my heart I HAD to give it to her, maybe it was meant for her. So, just sayin'....if you want to see one up close and personal it may still be at the store unless she has whisked it away somewhere.

Enough deepness...this is my first she art girl and I used one of the phrases that Christy gave us in the class. I thought it was 'fitting' for my inaugural girl.


This is my second 'gal', the one that found her way into Kim's arms. Another Christy supplied phrase that expresses my love of working with colour. Note the Picasso quote that is partially stamped on there: Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. (stamp is Inkadinkado) Doesn't that just say it all!


There you have it, my first she art girls. You may like them, love them, or neither...but I LOVE them...the process, the outcome, the phrase, EVERYTHING.

I still have a couple more, and if I find time, I'll blog them this week, shorter post I promise! No deep thoughts...hmmmm...I thought I've said I don't have deep thoughts but maybe I do.

Linda

Friday, July 15, 2011

Where it all began

Back in January of 2008 I placed an order with Stamping Bella that got lost in the mail. I rec'd my shipping notice, but after 3 weeks still no rubber. So I emailed emily and happened to attach a pic of one of the bella's I had coloured...Cosmobella to be exact, because I was on a Cosmo kick back then.

Well, not only did I get my rubber, but I got an invite down to the bella headquarters, which weren't even 'official' headquarters yet, to show her how I colour with my markers. Maybe it was more than an invite, I think she begged a bit...LOL!!!! And I didn't even colour all that well back then, I only had my copics for a short time and was still getting my feet wet.

Finally three months later I dragged Paulineabella along with me for company on the three hour drive and we spent the day with Emily. Pauline didn't even have being a bella in her radar back then, nor did I for that matter! We spent hours just chatting, colouring, trying out ALL kinds of different papers with markers, talking about stamps we like, ones we don't, instructing classes (pauline and I both teach) and munching on food. I'm not shy, I told her before I even met her that I would eat anything as long as it was cooked...aka, no raw fish sushi for me! We talked about blogging, being on DT's, why I didn't have a blog, why she didn't have a DT. We were both happy in our skin.

Then I came home and got thinking "maybe I should start a blog"...so about a month later I did and 11 months later Emily started up a DT and I have been there since the beginning along with Paula and Dana. I've made great friends along the way, spent more money that I probably needed to, and have enjoyed EVERY minute of it.

Now that I'm done gushing and reminiscing I couldn't resist colouring up Cosmobella again and one thing I will say is that my colouring skills have GREATLY improved over the last couple years.


As always, she was stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following markers

E000, 00, 11, YG0000, 01, Y00
YR30, E30, 33, 95, 97, 99
R30, 32, 46, BG10, 11, 72, W00

Shading was done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

Finally, I hope you can join us next week because we have one of your FAV challenges...A SKETCH, and an Ebruabella sketch, AND you get to choose whether you want to do a circle or a square!

Hmmmm....what to choose, what to choose? I guess you'll have to wait till next week to find out! Either way, it's a great sketch.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Later, Linda.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Going to the Chapel

...but I'm not the one who is getting married.

You know that bridal shower card I made the other day, well I had a wedding card that needed making too so I thought what better time than now. For ONCE I am not making a card the night before I need it!

I have used Stamping Bella's wedding gown circle several times in the past and it remains one of my fav's. You can make it really simple, or fuss it up like I did here. I'll admit though...this layout was TOTALLY inspired by this card on Yvonne's blog. Her cards are ALWAYS so pretty....even when they are fussy they still look clean and classic.


I stamped the image twice on bella's BESTEST paper. Once in black, and again in a soft grey. That is because I wanted the little squiggles to fade into the background. On the grey piece I outlined the circle in black, and on the black piece, after colouring it, I cut it out and mounted it on the grey piece. Pretty clever eh? The patterned paper is Basic Grey, from Wisteria I think.

I used very few copic markers, some greys and BG70. The background colour over the squiggles was done with pencil. Then of course LOTS of glitter! I should have maybe used this for the shower, and a stamp with a couple in it for the wedding, but heck...we all know that weddings are all about the bride!

Don't forget about our challenge this week a Bella or a Stella and I'll be back on Friday with a Bella!

Monday, July 11, 2011

I got a little CA-RA-ZZZY with bella's

No life update today, just a card!

This week being our bella or stella challenge I pulled out my Bella/Stella binder yesterday...yes, they share a binder and it's busting! WELL, I got a little crazy and coloured up 5 of them over the last two days. Only two of them made it onto a card front, but the other three are patiently waiting with their paper sitting on the counter until they get all prettied up onto a card.

Since I have a bridal shower to go to in a couple weeks, the first of the bella's for me to pull out was  stamping bella's bridalpartybella's. I've coloured this one before, but heck...a) i gotta get my money's worth out of the stamp, and b) I LOVE it! It is hands down one of my fav bella stamps.


I decided to use the Basic Grey Kokeshi paper and go with a funky colour combo of orange with a splash of purple! It is kind of unconventional, but fresh and fun and I liked the way it turned out. I even think that plaid ribbon is a quirky twist combined with the densely patterned paper. It is like texture, without texture and I love the challenge of combining totally different patterns.

Don't worry, I have another Bella for friday, and a non bella to sneak in before then! See ya later.

Linda.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Exciting News!

Bellarific Fridays are always exciting just because it's fun, BUT I have other news too! You may notice I changed my blog picture...YES, I'm about 3 years older, and I have a bit of a tan thanks to my new floating pool lounger. But why did I change that picture? Not because I really wanted to post an older looking me (I like the other pic MUCH better), but I needed a recent photo because I will be one of the Creative Experts at the Minneapolis Scrapfest at the Mall of America in September. I still won't believe it is real until I actually get there. Paula, Emily and I will be there and while Emily manages the Bella booth, Paula and I will be instructing classes. When we aren't in class, we will likely be at the bella booth, but only if Emily chains us there to keep us out of the stores! Just a warning Emily, I have already plotted out the stores I want to go to. And my gosh...do you know there is an Aquarium there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhooooooo....if you live in the area, don't be shy....stop by and say hi! I'd LOVE to meet you!

Up next, my Bellarific Friday card using ribbon. I was still in a Ketto kinda mood so decided to colour up Ivy Ketto, she is one of my fav's of the Ketto bunch.


As always, I stamped her with memento black ink on bella's BESTEST paper, paired her up with Basic Grey Sweet threads and coloured her with the following copic markers. No pencil on this card! SHOCKING!

E000, 00, 21, 23, 17, 97, 99
G05, 07, 28, B0000, 000
R20, RV13, 14, 25, BV23, Y15, YR04

TIP! Because I coloured the blue background with markers, I started there first then coloured the main image.

Next week our challenge will be Bella's or Stella's! Just use one of them, maybe pick a sketch from many of the great sketch challenges out there and see your card up in lights on Emily's blog!

 Later! Linda.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A quickie post today

...and some news! BUT no news till tomorrow....hee hee! gotta keep suspense somewhere!

I thought before I throw my she art girls on here I'd show you another journal page I did. As I said in my last journal post, I am NOT into writing anything...NOT gonna happen...EVER...I have no need to put my thoughts on paper....heck, I don't think I have any deep thoughts.

So I mentioned I am taking Christy Tomlinson's 3 Hearts Workshop. I've only gotten thru the end of week 2 (if I even got that far) and as much as I'd like to watch a video, and make a sample of what she did and the product used, I just don't have time to do it. So I watch a few, pick out some of my fav things and get messy.

This one has no particular meaning, except that I LOVE the Donna Downey verse stamp on here. Maybe it explains why I don't actually write anything down.


This page was created using image transfer, paints, some color wash, scraps of patterned paper and rub ons. I really like how it turned out and wish I had made note of what I did so I could do it again!

That's it....told you it would be short!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Did I say I was gonna get crafty?

Yup, I think I did say that on Sunday and I kept to my word and immersed myself in mixed media on canvas ALL DAY...like the ENTIRE DAY! I made two canvases, the first which I have had in my head ever since doing the Stamping Bella make and take at the Kitchener Scrapfest back in April. That was the kicker that sucked me in, I was soooooo happy that day!

This little gem was done on a 4x6 canvas using Stamping Bella's julie's SPRING BUTTERFLIES, a little bit of imagination and a tip from da Bella herself.


How'd I do it? Well I started with a blank canvas and applied a coat of gesso. Then I knew I wanted a green and yellow background so just applied some golden paint randomly (any type of folk art paint would work, come on, I know you have some stashed away!). To add some interest to the background I pulled out my crafters workshop stencils and added some subtle shades of colour, again, with the golden paints and a sponge. I thought I might add some texture so stenciled some flowers with a lightweight modelling paste (like liquitex, or Dreamweavers). But then I didn't like them so sponged on some colour to cover them up. The beauty of mixed media...don't like it....just cover it up...and the texture still remained. You can barely see it in the lower right corner.

Then came the butterflies, I stamped them with stazon black ink on tissue paper, cut them out and glued them on with mod podge...THAT IS THE BELLA TIP that I learned at Scrapfest. Once dry, I painted them up with Claudine Hellmuth paint and added some detail with a black pen and white paint. I've got to say, LOVE that paint...it is soooo yummy and creamy! Finally (well i thought it was final) I added some rub on's here and there, stamped the 'take flight' with a cheapie $1 bin alphabet that I bought somewhere and covered everything up with a coat of matte medium. After I thought I was done I had a final thought to add some liquitex glass beads that I bought at Blick's while in Chicago. I thought I really needed that stuff...but you know what...you could do the same thing with glossy accents and loose glass beads. I'll admit, a total waste of money there! Plus it took FOREVER to dry.

And that's it! I lovinly placed it in a 5x7 shadow box frame, hence the not-so-great pic because of the glare and hung it at my day job desk along with my other canvas stuff! I must say, the day job is becoming a happier place when I'm surrounded with things like this! Speaking of my other canvases, YES I have a few and will blog them here in the next week or so. They make me sooooo happy!

see ya all on Friday for our Ribbon Challenge over at Emily's blog.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Sunday Morning Post

Before I immerse myself into something really crafty this morning (think mixed media!) I thought I'd sit down and say hi. We had quite the thunderstorm roll thru last night and it is still really wet and steamy outside so no sitting on the deck for me yet.

The other day I said I had a couple cards that were going to family members this weekend, well this is the second of them. My parents both celebrate their b'day in March and we usually take them out for dinner somewhere. But this year with my dad having bypass surgery late February that b'day dinner kinda got squashed so we decided to surprise them yesterday with a Tassimo and a truckload of different coffees and teas and I was in charge of the card.


This card was TOTALLY INSPIRED by THIS JOURNAL PAGE from our one and only Bella designer Isabelle Norris using Stamping Bella's FLUFFY FLOWER HEAD. When I saw that page I really almost had to pick my jaw up from the floor I was sooooo IN LOVE with it. She used distress inks on hers and I chose to use my Caran d'Ache neocolor II crayons. Now she did say she put the two page spread together quickly, but me...quick? not so much! Probably cause I putz and play, and add colour, then add more...get my drift. I don't do anything quickly. When I finished it I gave it a good spray of krylon matte finish but it still didn't have the finish I was after so gave it a couple light coats of US ARTQUEST PPA matte. LOVE THAT STUFF and who says it is just for mixed media. I kept it all simple and mounted it on a white card and with that ppa finish it almost has museum quality look to it. Very cool look if I do say so myself!

Still LOTS of time to play in our challenge this week, and it's a simple one....use some ribbon and send that card over to Emily by Thursday at 5pm. And if you are looking for inspiration, check out the gallery over at the Bella Forum...LOTS of yummy stuff to get your creative juices flowing.

till next time, Linda!

Friday, July 1, 2011

A no challenge Bellarific Friday

But I'd thought I'd stop in anyhow! We just got back from a busy few days in Chicago...this was the first time in the last few years that we have been there and not had a concert to go to so we were totally adventurous. It was all about shopping, dining, and entertainment...and we did it all!

I think I'll be skipping WW again because I'm afraid to step on the scale. That means we ate WELL...and when we weren't eating we hit a really awesome blues club called Kingston Mines recommended to us by a co-worker who is a dedicated blues fan...the next night was a martini at the Signature lounge on the 96th floor lounge of the Hancock building with a gorjus view of the city and the last night was great entertainment at a place called Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar with 4 members who play various instruments and sing requests from the audience. I'll admit, they did not have the best voices, although the girl was good, and their musical skills were okay but not great. But they were sure good at getting the audience to dance and sing along. A GREAT people watching night and a lot of fun in a cheesy sort of way.

Other than shopping for mixed media stuff at Blicks, and a new silver bracelet from Tiffany's we also took an Architectural boat cruise and visited the Shedd Aquarium...I LOVE fish! If I had the time (and knowledge) to dedicate to it, I would SO have a salt water aquarium in my house built into an entire wall and I would sit and watch it for hours on end. Okay, so I might need a new house for that too! ...and hubby says I would need enough money for someone to keep it maintained for me. ya, whatever...so his point is that I will likely NEVER have a salt water aquarium and for that reason he always appeases me and takes me to places like this if I want to go. They even had a jellyfish exhibit which was sooooooo cool! Those things just amaze me. I LOVED the aquarium.

Now that I'm done blabbering about Chicago (did I mention I LOVE that city) I'll move on to cards. Before we left I coloured up a couple that are both going to family this weekend and I had to decide who is the LEAST likely to read the blog. Well, obviously it would be my nephew Ethan who celebrates a b'day in a couple weeks.

For this card I chose to pair up Spotty Ketto with the boneflower from Ketto's Dog accessories and I LOVED how it came together. I first stamped Spotty, then masked just below his feet and stamped the boneflower at different heights. I did add some curly lines with one of my copic multiliners to the left flower just to balance off the two sides.


I stamped him with memento on bella's BESTEST paper, shaded with copics and used the following copic markers:

E40, 41, 42, 443, 44, 11, 13, 15
W0, 1, 3, E95, 97, YR15
BG93, G94

Now remember, lots of time to still get in on next weeks USE RIBBON challenge over at bloggabella. I'll be there, and shock of SHOCKS, I already have my card done!

Before I go, I have to leave you with a couple of pics from the Shedd Aquarium....I think I was a fish in my last life because I could have watched these guys for hours.

Seahorse....when I wasn't asking for a pet monkey, I ALWAYS wanted one of these when I was a kid. They still fascinate me.


Jellyfish! This was a special exhibit and honestly, these creatures are totally fascinating.


Mark may divorce me, but this whole experience makes me want to set up an aquarium again! Oh gosh...I'd better immerse myself into some mixed media this weekend so I don't go do something crazy that will take up more time than I have to spare!

While you are reading this, I'll be sleeping and dreaming of swimming with dolphins!

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