Happy Leap Day - Just Jump

Ever have a block?  Run up against a deadline without a clue how or the motivation to meet it?   It wears on your soul.  My advice, just jump!!!

This month's adorable digi from Gerda Steiner Designs is doing just that.  He's jumping rope.  The images below are a work in progress but my point is it's a start.  I got my head so tangled up with work & piles of unfinished projects that I forgot to stop, breath & color.

So I tried something new (for me).  I blended a few distress inks - crushed olive, tea dye & spun sugar - on nina card stock before printing my digi images.  The intent is to eventually have a few small tags for Easter goodies.

Here's a close up of the two I colored using my prismacolor pencils.  He's so stinking cute.  Look at the joy on that little guy.  Of course he'll make his debut over at Gerda Steiner Designs February Challenge

So join me this leap day & just jump!
I leave you with my favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the FIRST STEP."

Won't You Be Mine?

Oh my goodness, where has the first month of 2016 gone... Can you believe Valentine's Day is only 2 weeks away?

January just flew by & of course the stores threw up that Valentine's Day decor before we'd finished our Christmas dinner!   I've never been a fan of pink & my daughter has long outgrown valentines, yet I find myself drawn to that aisle.  Perhaps it's the fond memories of carefully decorated cup cakes & placing hand chosen cards into the paper bags taped to each classmate's desk. 

Gerda's January image Love You Kitten reminded me of those little valentine cards we punched out & 'delivered' to our friends at school back in the day.  So I shrunk the image down, colored my kitten with prisma color pencils, then wrote in the BE MINE with an old school white Sakura Gelly Roll pen, fussy cut out the image & popped it up on some foam tape.  The card is roughly 2x4 top folded.

Don't you just love this sweet little kitten?   I'll be entering my Little Valentine Card in Gerda Steiner's Monthly Challenge   Gerda is also having a Guest Design Team Call so do take time to see the lovely projects the ladies have entered by clicking this link Guest Designer Call.

Kicking of the New Year: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Happy 2016 Friends

If you're like me you're still trying to figure out where 2015 went...
I can think of no better way to start off the New Year than by stretching one's creative muscles!  

What an honor to be a guest designer this month for Words2CraftBy (formly Words2ScrapBy).  I truly had to pinch myself when Sybrina emailed the news in November.  

January's quote is  "The Secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings" by Dave Weinbaum.   Sybrina went on to explain  their desire to include all kinds of crafts beginning January 2016, well my wheels have been spinning ever since.  I've had these sweet little 6x6 canvases sitting in my craft room for months trying to get up the nerve to venture into mixed media.  This is my first attempt since College so do be kind...

I took an impromptu refresher course, ie watching YouTube videos  by  some of my favorite crafty ladies: Shari Carroll,  Vicky Papaioannou, and Limor Webber.  

So armed with my Quote, I dove in with brush & ModPodge in hand!  I had a blast collaging torn scraps from a My Minds Eye 6x6 pad, then adding tissue paper for some texture.  Anyone else find they create best after midnight when the house & mind have settled down for the night?

My supportive Hubby (did I mention he's an Art Major?  Man I'd love to see him painting & drawing again) literally stands in my doorway shaking his head at the mess & watches in amazement whenever I venture out of my card making & paper crafting comfort zone.  There were flowers, stamps, stencils and ribbon all over my floor before I even began to dabble with the paints & modeling paste.  

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Day2 with a different vision...

I put away the shabby chic, just not my style, and began adding some distress inks & texture paste.  Ooh now we're getting some where.   It's very subtle but I love it so far.  My daughter hates the font and is insisting that I hand letter it.   I agree that it covers up way too much of the design so I'll post an updated photo when the project is truly complete.

Before I go, I'd like to share why this quote struck home.  
At 56 I feel as though life has occasionally passed me by.  I'm so focused on getting through my day & hitting all the deadlines that I have forgotten how to let go & enjoy life, live in the moment.   

I don't know about you, but I definitely will go out and create a few more beginnings this year!

Thanks  for stopping by.  I'm excited to see what direction you take in 2016.

Celebrating the Holidays In Gerda Style

Happy Holidays!!  I'm taking a break from year end tax planning to squeeze in a post of few cards I made using Gerda Steiner digis.

When it comes to cards, I'm a big fan of digital stamps.  I have a large collection of cling stamps but often turn to digis for the focal image.  

As I've mentioned before, Gerda Steiner designs has a Monthly Challenge - December 2015. And Gerda is a generous designer who provides a new free image each month to all who play along.  And as a bonus, she has gifted a couple of extra holiday digis

So without further ado I took Sandy Allnock's advice to 'go bold' & grabbed my brighter spectrum noir markers to color these holiday greeting cards.

May your Holidays be filled with love & blessings.  Wishing you all the best in 2016!

Santa Rock - Thanksgiving Freebie

Santa Peace - December Challenge

Have a Mice 2016  - Christmas Freebie

Brrr...Baby it's Cold Outside

Today's card was inspired by yet another night of freezing temps in the Central Valley.  Friends actually went skiing over Thanksgiving!!  My azaleas are blanketed but the poor crepe myrtle has withered & dropped all remaining leaves.  Hopeful that these traditional Winter temps are just another sign we're in for that promised wet winter.

So here's Gerda's little digi bear enjoying his hot cocoa.  He's colored with prisma color pencils & nestled on his snowy bank amid a few lawn fawn die cut trees. The clear embossed lawn fawn snow flakes resist the peacock feathers distress ink background.  I created the sentiment to match his scarf using Word.  

I'll be entering this card in Gerda's November progressive challenge.  Now I'm off to get my cocoa.  Stay warm my friends!

Get Moving!!

MOVEMBER is November's challenge at Words to Scrap By: Changing the Face of Men's Health.  I know that after 30+ years at a desk job my health is suffering.  As my husband & I  age we struggle to stay active outdoors.  He  always had very physical jobs & was extremely active.  His tendency, like many men I know, is to  ignore his declining  health rather than be proactive.

I'm inspired by Jim the Gentlemen Crafter's new exercise regimen.  Jim's posts of his daily walk on social media are encouraging. So even though I'm late to the party my goal is to get in 2-3 walks during this week and build back up to that minimum 20 minutes a day before the Holidays.   No need to wait for 2016 to make a resolution!

Now back to Words to Scrap By challenge.  Pleased to see Kristie Marcotte The Best Things in Life are Pink as a guest designer at W2SB this month!  All my fellow OWH alumni will recognize her from those awesome 6x6 tutorials.  She made a gorgeous card using a brusho background.

I created a clean & simple card by combining a few scraps of Graphic 45 Come Away With Me with a vintage Tim Holz image for the W2SB challenge.  Thanks for stopping by.  Time to get moving!!

A Tiddly Halloween

So one last visit to Halloween 2015 before moving on to the Holiday Season.  

Last weekend I broke out the Prisma Color pencils one more time and I colored this Nightmare Before Christmas inspired card for a dear friend.  She loves all things Disney, so Jack & friends visit her home from Halloween through Christmas.  

I'm really pleased with how the balloons turned out.  It was fun adding a few extra squiggles & stitches to make her  more like Sally.   

I'll be entering "Sally" in the current Tiddly Inks Spooky Dooky Challenge