Sheena's Shells are GORJE!

are you a Sheena Douglass fan yet?

her stamp sets are beautiful, crafty friends.  surrissly!  this set is called Sea Shells from the Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic line (they're all available HERE at Crafter's Companion), and it's stunning and versatile for SO many different themes.  encouragement, sympathy, retirement, vacation, relaxation, serenity, etc...  and i'll use it over and over and over when i'm looking for a bit of elegance and maturity in my projects.  check it out!

she's purdy, no?  the shell is colored with my pencils, and then, because i ordered this Die'sire 8x8 embossing folder (Regency Swirls) that won't fit through my C'bug, i inked the raised side with my Delicata Golden Glitz and put my paper in the folder and stepped on it a few times.  yep, that's my kick-arse technique for this one!  and i LOVE how mottled it came out with the textured paper!  shimmery and subtle without drawing away from the image. 

added a gold foil panel behind it and a strip across with some ribbon, plus some adhesive pearls and an OLD Heidi Swapp sentiment sticker.  voila!

here's the close-up detail of my shell:

and this will round out my 2013, folks.  with a new year upon us, i'm VERY MUCH looking forward to some changes and some fun.  see you on Wednesday if you're up for a game of TAG!  ;)

Shiny and New at Paper Issues!

we've got a new issue, folks!  but we ALL have issues, right?  well for this we're looking for anything that follows the theme "Shiny and New" (interpret however you'd like!), but we also have a sketch if you'd like an extra push.  NOT necessary to follow the sketch!

for this one, we're also giving away an awesome $20 gift certificate to spend at the Paper Issues store, and WHOA, there's so much new stuff i'm having a hard time keeping up!  every time i place my order, new stuff comes in and i have to place another!  :D

here's what i made for the occasion:

i used the yummalicious Sweet Cherry Color Shine from Heidi Swapp (Paper Issues has LOADS of colors!) and Double Yellow Mister Huey's from Studio Calico to pretty up their mistables, Carribean Baker's Twine from The Twinery.  some paper from Echo Park (an older collection - Happy Days, but there's lots of EP available HERE!), ball trim (swoooooon) and a cheapie felt key from somewhere.  lullz.  bling.  alphas.  done.

so yes.  LINK UP HERE.  win this:

shop with THIS:

**linked up 4/3/14 to the new Pocket Full of Sunshine issue at Paper Issues!**

LOVE Bamboo from Crafter's Companion!

how CUTE is this little fuzzpaw?  seriously!

he's a furry little dude from Crafter's Companion called Hugs from Bamboo from the Party Paws series, and he's perfect for ANY occasion...  i did some Christmas cards using him with different wrapping combinations (one was paper pieced - it was a breeze!), and i was having so much fun coloring him that i decided to keep the fun going with some birthday lurve.  :)

the sentiment is from the Imagine set in the Everyday Sentimentals series (there are SO many awesome sentiments in the Sentimentals line - whenever a new one comes out, it goes right into my shopping cart!), and i think the font is just super fun.  whatcha think? 

Hugs from Bamboo and my sentiment are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and i colored my image up with my pencils...  some spunky new papers and a few brads and enamel dots and i was content! 

i love this little dude.  i really do!  squeeeeeeezable!

CLICK HERE to check out all the awesome stuff at Crafter's Companion, including the YUMMY new line of Memento Luxe inks (they are WONDERFULLY juicy and i can't stop using them - they're especially awesome with all of the Sheena Douglass silhouette stamps!)

are you making any new year's resolutions?  mine is to look for more opportunities to color, because it's absolutely therapeutic for me, and i could use a little more therapy (tee hee) - at least to come down from some of the craziness that sometimes pops up.  in the meantime, i'm counting down the days until 2014 and i know it's going to be an EXCITING year!

majestically old and oaky at Crafter's Companion

okay, so i told you i was loving my new Majestic Oak stamp from Crafter's Companion - well it's not a new set, per se, but it's new to me, and i am getting LOADS of mileage from it!  here it is again, stamped in Memento Espresso Truffle ink onto a simple patterned background with minimal embellies:

the quote is a good one, no?  perfect for encouragement or retirement or even sympathy...  LOVE it, and I could easily spend a whole day just making cards with this stamp set and different patterned paper combinations.  it's classy and elegant and seriously, the cards practically make themselves!  you'll be seeing this one a LOT on my blog, and since i'm loving the Sheena stamps so much, THIS ONE will probably be next.  :)  it's on my wish list and will be falling into my shopping cart very soon!  

hope you're all having a most awesome weekend - i have a LOT of shopping to do, since i'll be heading up to Canada next Saturday (to surprise my Dad for his birthday on Sunday).  SO MUCH to cram in and i hope i have energy after work to get it all done!  happy holidays, chickens!  xo

December challenge at Crafter's Companion - Ribbon/Twine/Thread!

hey there chickens!  so there are only two weeks left before Christmas Day.  is that ridiculous or what?  WHERE did 2013 go? 

well it's been a busy year for me, but i'm looking forward to an exciting 2014 with lots of fun things on the horizon!  i know i mentioned that i will be staying on with Crafter's Companion as one of the members of their brand new Inspiration Team (!!!) and i can't wait for you all to see what we're up to!  lots of fun things going on with new products, new releases, new faces, and LOADS to check out on the blog!  you'll just have to trust me, because we still have a couple of weeks until it all happens!

in the meantime, if you're feeling up to a challenge, we're looking for Ribbon, Twine and/or Thread on your creations!  use your Crafter's Companion products (see the list of eligible items HERE) and play along with our December challenge, and you could win £30/$30 to spend at the Crafter's Companion store, and lemme tell ya...  it's EASY to spend!  :)

here's the card i made using the new Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Scenic "Seascapes"...  these are GORGEOUS for masculine and elegant creations!

i incorporated ribbon and twine into my project, and backed my image with a simple kraft panel embossed with a Die'sire Embossalicious 6x6 folder (Chevrons), coloured my image with my Spectrum Noir markers (Blender, IB1, GG1, GG2, EB2, DG2, DG3, BG2, BG3, BG5, DR3, DR5, DR6, TB1, TB2, TB3), distressed the edges of my image panel, added a bit of minimal and subtle bling, and VOILA.  i can totally see this for retirement cards, congratulations, destination weddings, and even sympathy.  and believe me, it's easy and FUN to colour!  :)

so.  care to play along?  there's still PLENTY of time left in the month to join us - just CLICK HERE to see what the awesome UK team did to inspire you and to link up!