Designed to Color and Doodle Dragon Studios BLOG HOP!

WELCOME!  i'm so glad you're here!  

HAPPY 4th BLOGAVERSARY, DUSTIN PIKE!  :)

you've reached the Designed to Color and Doodle Dragon Studios collaborative blog hop!  prepare to see lots of cute little froggie critters along the hop, leave comments along the way, and grab some of these totes adorbs digis while you're at it!  the talented Dustin Pike has generously provided the Color Crew with these fun little Fairy Frogmother digis - they're super fun to color, and they've arrived just in time for SPRING!  :)  (yeah, it's been spring here for a few weeks, but it sure doesn't feel like it in South Jersey!)

we're hoppin' with the very talented Doodle Dragon Crew and i'm about 2/3 of the way down the hop list, so if you've arrived here from the brilliant Charlotte, then you're in good shape!  :)  if not, then you'll want to head on back to THE BEGINNING so you don't miss a thing!  be sure to comment at each stop along the way because there will be TWO prize packages given away to our lucky winners!  you must follow the rules (and pay attention - some of us want you to answer a specific question, rather than just leaving a comment).

so!  i saw this little fairy froggy girl chillin' on this mushroom,
and knew i had to color her up!  here's a close-up of my image:

but since i seem to have a thing with wings, i wanted to zoom in

a little closer to show you the deets (click to enlarge!):

and hey, my pleats don't suck!  *a little pat on the back*

here's the full creation:

i've been yanking out some of my older supplies (like, a year or more), and incorporating bits and pieces into my recent projects.  yep, that's part of the de-stashing process.  ;)  i'm not very consistent with it, but i'm making a concerted effort these days.  here's my supply list!

Medium:  Prismacolor Pencils
Skin:  1005, 1097
Eyes:  1103
Shirt:  993, 1030
Skirt, trim:  1070, 1052, 1054
Wings:  1026, 993, 1100
Mushroom:  1085, 1072, 1021, 1089
Grass:  1005, 908

Image:  Fairy Frogmother (Dustin Pike - Doodle Dragon Studios)
Paper:  Georgia Pacific
Cardstock:  Canvas Corp
Patterned Paper:  Sketchbook (American Crafts - Amy Tangerine)
Elements:  die - Large Deckled Rectangles (Spellbinders - Nestabilities); ribbon - Amy Tangerine (American Crafts); stickers:  fuschia Glitter Alphabet (Recollections), epoxy stickers (s.e.i. - Jocelyn); buttons - Button Bling (Forever in Time)
Other:  black marker (Sharpie), 3-d Pop Dots (EK Success), mini Glue Dots



and that's all she wrote!  :)  so here's my question for you... if you could ask this Fairy Frogmother for ONE CRAFTY WISH, what would it be?  leave a comment with your answer below, then mosey on over to visit Ginny with her rockin' creation!  :)  we wrap everyting up on Thursday, April 25th at midnight CST (that's 1 am EST), so you have plenty of time to have fun hoppin' ('cuz that's what froggies do!), and  winners will be announced on or before April 29th.  GO GO GO!  have fun!

here's our full hop list, just in case...

Designed to Color   http://www.designedtocolor.com

JennD   http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com/2013/04/spring-time-hop-time.html

Lori   http://byloridesigns.blogspot.com/ 

Veronica  http://kreativelicense.blogspot.com

Kerri  http://bigsmilesfromkbear.blogspot.com

Gramma  http://grammascards.blogspot.com

Lisa  http://lisabeesponderings.blogspot.com

Lelia  http://greengoddescreations.blogspot.com

Lizzie  http://www.ohsnaplizzie.com

Jan  http://scrapnsurprise.blogspot.com/2013/04/blog-hoppin.html

Rhea  http://passionatepapercreations.blogspot.com

Charlotte  http://designsfromwithin.blogspot.com

Leah  http://thechroniclesoforange.blogspot.com  ****you're here!****

Ginny  http://my5bratzcreations.blogspot.com

Taylor  http://taylorusry.blogspot.com

CraftyGirl  http://craftygirlcardsandcrafts.blogspot.com

Dustin Pike  http://dustinpike.blogspot.com  

it's a HEX at Designed to Color! April Challenge!

heya chickens!  

join us for our April challenge!  Designed to Color is looking for your projects featuring HEXAGONS (uber-trendy, and uber-fun!)...  remember that you need to COLOR an image, in the medium of your choice, and share your project (link back to us so we can spread the word!), and you could be entered to win this month's goodies.  "what are those goodies?", you ask...  well i'll tell you!

you could win $25 from There She Goes Clear Stamps!  LOVE their stuff...  so many fun themes and sentiments that will rock your world.  so, yeah, $25 to spend at their shop...  it won't be difficult to spend, but it might be tough to choose!

wanna play?  well CLICK HERE to see what the Color Crew Challenge Team have done to inspire you - not only have they showcased some seriously FABBY projects using There She Goes products, but their hexagons are enough to make you wish you had 6 sides!

here's a little something i whipped up (you'll have seen it in a past issue of the mag if you're a subscriber!):

not only are there some hexie accents on the sides, but check out the snowflakes!  OOOHHH!  yep.  i noticed that.  all colored up with my trusty Prismacolor Pencils, and brought to you by the letters M and Q, and by the number 23.  :)

play along by April 14th - it's the right thing to do, and a crafty way to do it!

oh, and for those of you who have been following my little journey into homeownership (current house is in hubbin's name only - this is a new chapter for me/us!), the bank ordered the appraisal on the house, and i, personally, have a feeling we'll know by the end of this week whether they'll accept our offer.  if they do, and i'm feeling pretty optimistic about it, we'll be applying for a mortgage soon, and getting our condo ready to list!  WOO HOO!  wish me luck, folks!

and i'll see you tomorrow with some more fun stuff - hope the week's off to a nifty start for you!

Monochromatic coloring at Designed to Color - CONTEST #5!

so you caught wind of the fact that there's a MAJOR celebration going on at Designed to Color, right? we are throwing confetti and cutting the cake because we have more than 1000 likes on Facebook, and for a new outfit, that's kind of unheard of! the response has been phenomenal, and we couldn't be more pleased. Carisa, you have come a LONG way in a very short time, and your Color Crew is very proud of you! :) i am totally honored (and always humbled) to be a part of this amazing team.

we have a few FANTASTIC giveaways that are going on right now, so you're going to want to PAY ATTENTION! :)

first of all, there's THIS ONE... follow a few simple steps to get in on the action, and you could win a $20 gift certificate to spend at Paper Makeup Stamps!

next, we have THIS ONE... create something for a celebration, and you'll be eligible to win one of three new and utterly adorbs CLING STAMPS from Stampendous!

then, we have a THIRD CONTEST... lots of ways to enter this one, and you could win a MYSTERY PRIZE from Lil' Inker Designs! they have loads of cute clear stamps and matching dies!

FOURTH CONTEST... a super mysterious MYSTERY BOX, courtesy of Designed to Color! follow the steps to enter, and we promise you will LOVE the goodies that arrive at your doorstep if you're our lucky winner!

and now, we are bringing a FIFTH CONTEST! this time, i'm challenging you to try a technique i've absolutely fallen in love with, and i think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results when you try it, too! up for grabs is yet ANOTHER mystery prize package (i call it a pack of happy!), and here's what you have to do...

pick an image, any detailed image, and grab all of your markers, colored pencils or paints that are from the SAME color family. use those, and nothing BUT those, to color your image, but you cannot use the greys or browns ('cuz, well, those have been done before, and most of us have rocked that style plenty of times already). choose your greens, purples, reds, pinks, blues, yellows, whatever, and color your image all nice-nice. you might come up with something like this:

(clear stamp is Gifty Gwen from Some Odd Girl)

or maybe this:

(digi is Unicorn Mae from Some Odd Girl)

i've busted out my Prismacolor pencils and used only the pinks for Gwen and the blues for Mae - nothing else! SO much fun to limit yourself and not much thinking involved - just varying shades that are SO easy to blend and layer!

if you choose to finish a project using your monochrome colored image, great! show us what you've got! but it's not necessary for this contest - this one's all about the coloring. share 'em with us HERE, and be sure to submit before the deadline (September 26th), and you might win a pack of happy! :)

so there are PLENTY of reasons to celebrate with us, folks! play along, good luck, and happy coloring! (and if you're not a subscriber, you'll want to check out our FREE PREVIEW of our current issue - there's some GREAT stuff in there... check out Page 9!)

we also have our September sketch challenge going on, and our December/January call for submissions, so stop reading my blog, and off you go! ;)