The Paper Crown's SPRING GLITTER MARKET!

The big day is almost here! I will be one of many unique artist's at the upcoming Glitter Market going on this Saturday, April 30th from 10 AM- 5 PM. If you live anywhere around the Oklahoma City Metro area, it would be worth your while to come and peruse the gorgeous work that will be available for purchase. The best part, there will be tons of pretty things just in time for Mother's Day and upcoming graduations. To read the full list of artists participating, please check out The Paper Crown's blog at http://papercrownokc.blogspot.com/. Cindy Winter, the owner of Paper Crown is enticing her viewers daily with a countdown to the upcoming show. Be sure to check out her countdown posts revealing some of the gorgeous goods that will be available. I hope to see some of you this Saturday!

Twisted Card #056 "YELLOW"

Today Anam, creator of http://www.twistedsketches.com/ has revealed her latest card sketch with "yellow" being the twist...any how any way. Let me just tell you, my Twisted Sisters did a fabulous job. Their cards are all so cheery, bright & beautiful! Be sure to stop by and check them out, you will be glad you did! :)

For me, I wouldn't say that yellow has ever been one of my top favorite colors; so I struggled with this for awhile. Digging through my mountains of paper yet to be touched, I found some fabulous papers in one of my K&Company pads. The line is called "Handmade" and it is filled with beautiful papers in yummy yellows, hot pinks, purples & greens. In addition, I used Cosmo Cricket Ready-Set-Chip Red Line Alphas, yellow glitter alpha stickers from my stash, a sweet yellow Jenni Bowlin butterfly, yellow seem binding, foam dots, & Colorbox Lipstick Red Chalk Ink. I decided to do some hand stitching with hot pink floss and created the pattern using my handy In-Stitchz Edgy Border template. Lastly, the bright pink cabochon in the center of the bow is made out of Sculpey Clay. I created the fab texture on it using bisque stamps I purchased from Charity Elise on Etsy. These are lots of fun to work with...if interested, you can check out her shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/chARiTyelise?ref=pr_shop.

Thanks for stopping by, and as always thanks for all the sweet supportive comments you leave me!
HAPPY EASTER to you and yours!

I am a Guest Designer @ For Your Inspiration!

Hello Dear Friends!  A fellow Twisted Sister and friend of mine, Stephanie Castro asked me awhile back to be a Guest Designer for her new Challenge Blog, "For Your Inspiration."  Every 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, Stephanie presents a fabulous photo for inspiration.  We invite you to come play along and see what all the talented design team members are creating!  To see the inspirtation photo and other gorgeous interpretations, please visit http://foryourinspirationchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/04/fyi-challenge-4.html.  They are definitely "out of this world!"  :)

Onto the details of my card...

When I initially saw the photo, I thought about a show I used to watch as a child..."Big Blue Marble In Space."  Do any of you remember that show?  It was like a science show for kids and I loved it...yeah, I am showing my age.  :)  Anyway, I opted to create a card for my niece that turns 13 next week.  She will be an official teenager...I can't believe how time flies.  Creating this card for her was perfect once I decided what the sentiment would be..."you R outta this world."  Of course, something any teenage girl loves to hear...basically that she is truly "fabulous" and she truly is.  She loves bling also, so it was the perfect fit!

The blue, graduated dot overlay is from Prima.  I decided to put black paper behind it to sort of mimic that it was bluer at the bottom like the earth and darker up in space.  The black/white baker's twine sort of represents the horizon...the divider between earth and space.  I used Bazzill self-adhesive jewels randomly to mimic stars.  I created the sentiment/title out of several different fonts to make it more playful...Making Memories Shimmer Jigsaw Alphas, Doodlebug Design Loopy Love Swimming Pool Stickers & American Crafts Sarah Script Letter Stickers.  To represent the earth, I tilted the "O" and put some fun argyle map paper behind it...the Danny O line from K & Company.  To give it a little more pop I also put a round die-cut from Cosmo Cricket's Tank Mix.  The bracket behind the title is LUXE 's Sprinkles  Bell Bottoms paper.  To achieve lots of dimension, I used lots of pop dots.  I am thinking Miss Jordyn will like it.  Don't you think this is a card a teenage girl would appreciate?  Yeah, yeah I am sure she would rather some cute, designer clothes instead.  Look out world, here she comes!  Happy Birthday Jordyn, I love you!

Easter ATC Swap & Moxie Fab World Challenge!

Hello Everyone! With Easter quickly approaching, we all have that feeling that Spring is in the air or hopefully arriving soon. (Sadly for some of you, I have been reading that you still have snow!) Well, today I would like to share with you my set of Artist Trading Cards I created for an Easter Swap sponsored by the Paper Crown in Oklahoma City. Not the average scrapbooking store, it is filled with luscious displays that make you drool with excitement every time you walk in the door. Seriously, it is ultra-fabulous and for me it is every bit worth the almost hour drive up there. Fortunately for those of you who live far away, they are currently in the works of an online store. In the meantime, you should check out their blog for lots of fun inspiration and over-the-top mixed media classes they offer. Check it out at http://papercrownokc.blogspot.com/

Okay, onto the cards. Since the theme was Easter and I love anything vintage, I started searching through my vintage card stash/inspiration and came across this super sweet card of a fluffy bird nestled in the basket of an egg-shaped, hot-air balloon. Being that the standard ATC is only 2.5" X 3.5", I copied/reduced the image down to fit the card. After printing on photo paper, I pierced all the ropes of the balloon and hand stitched a light brown embroidery floss on each one. To keep the stitching securely in place and to not reveal on the other side of the ATC, I then ran it through my Xyron machine and adhered it to the playing card. To accentuate the clouds, I drew/cut out clouds from some Making Memories Slice glitter dot paper. Isn't that sweet robin egg blue color so dreamy? I pop dotted several of the clouds to add more dimension. Then I rubbed some light blue chalk ink around the edges.  Lastly, I created the whimsical banner by printing "Happy Easter" directly onto kraft paper, cutting out my ribbon banner shape and topped it off with some silver Stickles around the edges. I curled the banner in the center and edges, and that's about it! I covered the entire back with the same glitter dots paper and put my personal/website information on it. This is my first time to create Artist Trading Cards and it was super fun. How cool is it to share a little slice of your art/creativity with someone else and receive some of theirs in return!

These ATC cards not only were to share with others, but they are playing double duty! :) Moxie Fab World is hosting a challenge/contest through tomorrow titled, "In My Beautiful Balloon Challenge in the Moxie Fab World." Have you heard of Moxie Fab World? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? They host tons of fun contests, challenges and inspiration...be sure to check out this challenge and many others at http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2011/03/next-moxie-fab-world-challenge-in-my.htmliefabworld.com/2011/03/next-moxie-fab-world-challenge-in-my.html. If you have any fun, hot-air balloon creations, make sure to hurry and enter as this challenge closes at midnight, EST Monday, April 18.

Here are the lovelies I received from the other ladies in the swap...aren't they so fun! I just love all the sweet colors of Spring incorporated in each one...all handmade with love. They are all so beautiful...check out the "Faberge" black/hot pink egg card that actually opens up to reveal a vintage photo inside...talk about an amazing amount of detail...and the one with the 3-dimensional robin blue egg...that has to be the most adorable thing ever!

Twisted Card #054 "BRIGHT" & The Girls' Paperie

Hello Everyone! How are you? I hope all is well! Today I would like to share with you my most recent card creation for Twisted Card Sketch #054. This week's twist is "bright." I am sure you can tell right away I decided to use a "shining" star to signify my take on the twist. As for my scrapping yummies, I decided to go totally Girls' Paperie. I don't know if you have heard yet, but Margie (the creator of the Girl's Paperie) has decided to close the Girls' Paperie Company and move on to other adventures. I was devastated to find this out, as the Girls' Paperie is so fun and fresh, definitely one of my favorite companies in the scrapping industry. After hearing the news last week, I went to my LSS and bought every possible GP product they had available!

Onto the details...I started with a bright pink 5X7 cardstock card by American Crafts. I covered the front with Making Memories Slice specialty paper, Shimmer Aqua Dot. Next I used my Cindy Loo Cricut Cartridge to create my diecut flourish out of the Girls' Paperie Jubilee Paper. One side is floral, and the other side is pink with text. Both sides of the paper are so fabulous, I decided I would incorporate both! After cutting the diecut, I adhered the floral negative space onto the card. I then flipped the flourish onto the pink text side and adhered it with foam squares to give extra dimension and also expose some more of the yummy aqua dot paper underneath. Next, I used Webster's Aqua Trim to give the color some extra pop. I glued the crepe paper star in the center, also by GP. I then took some satin robin egg blue ribbon from Michael's and created the word "shining' on top of it using Cheeky Shimmer Stickers from Making Memories. Lastly, I added the text stickers at the top left...from GP's Vintage Whimsy Sticker Market. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I think I will give it to my niece Allison for her upcoming 10th birthday. It would look very cute in her room on a bulletin board or something.

I hope I have inspired you to create today! As for the actual card sketch and other fantastically "bright" cards, please be sure to stop over at http://www.twistedsketches.com/!

PS, be sure to go buy some Girls' Paperie before it is all gone! :)

Que Sera Sera Calendar

Happy Friday Friends! I hope everyone has had a pretty decent week, despite the occasional ups and downs! :) Today for your inspiration, I would like to share with you my most recent calendar that I made last week. It was a custom order with very limited direction. I love when my customers give me full artistic realm as to what to create. The calendar was to be sold at a sorority auction. The main colors of the sorority were blue, silver & gold/yellow. Feeling the need to include red into practically everything I do, I chose to do the calendar with lots of red...highlighting it with bursts of blues and golds. As you can see, the majority of the calendar was created using lots of vintage ephemera and lots of fun doodads.

For all you scrappers out there, here are the products I used...patterned papers: K & Company's "Que Sera Sera" & Amy Butler, Glitz Designs Scarlett for the handmade rolled flower; borders: GCD Studios Artsy Urban, vintage yellow tickets; flocked blue sticker: Anna Griffin. Tools I used: Imaginisce's Roly Rosies as a template as well as the big Fancy Pants swirls stamp I use all the time. :) As for the actual magnets, I used a Jillibean Soup journaling jot for the #7, a Maya Road bingo marker for the #14, a crown rub-on from the infamous Jenni Bowlin for the #21 and lastly a sweet felt cupcake to commemorate birthdays from Martha Stewart.

I hope you enjoyed this little burst of color this afternoon! Let's all do our best to have the best weekend EVER! :) As always thank you dearly for stopping by and all of the fabulous comments you leave me, I truly feel the love. :)