An Early Christmas!

My Sheri Crafts design team sister Sue challenges us to create a project featuring at least 3 dimensional elements. I made a card using paper from Kaisercraft. I added a snowflake that I made using a die from Spellbinders, some Prima and Recollections flowers and leaves, and shimmer trim and sequins from Close To My Heart.

Come join our biweekly challenge at My Sheri Crafts!

Back To School!

School started a little too early for my boy this month, but he was all smiles. Design team sister Raquel, challenges us to create a project with a "back- to-school" theme, and I had to make a layout capturing the moment. I used a paper packet and chipboard set from Close To My Heart's Chalk It Up and La Vie En Rose (retired) lines. I splattered some white gesso and distressed the paper edges. I had fun making this layout, that I did not even notice that it did not have any bling, lace or flowers. lol!

We'd love to see what you come up with, and please join us at My Sheri Crafts!

It's The Olympics!

The summer Olympics is just around the corner, so design team sister Sarah challenges us to make a sport-themed project. I could not decide on just any sport, so I included a whole bunch of them when I made a center step card. I had seen design team sister Glenda make some, and I always told myself to try it, one of these days. Using Copics, I colored a free image of Mickey from the internet and paired it with paper and embellishments from Close To My Heart's Magical collection-- the paper pack, Complements, and sequin pack. I added some Whisper twine and Blue Shimmer Trim to complete the look.

Come join our challenge at My Sheri Crafts!

Just Chillin!

It's so hot here in the desert right now, such that ice-cream had become a staple in our household. :-D Design Team sister Glenda challenged us to make a card or project featuring an ice-cream. I decided to try my hand on making another version of a box card using the Splitcoast Stampers Tutorial. I used the Zoe paper packet from Close To My Heart and a CTMH retired Stamp Of the Month, Ice Cream Dream. I colored the images with Copic markers and just added some gold sequins for a more festive look. I added a white "paper ;ace" border using a Martha Stewart Punch.

Come join our fun challenge at My Sheri Crafts! We'd love you to join us!

Down At The Beach

Design Team sister Sue from My Sheri Crafts is challenging us to make a project featuring the beach! I just got back a couple of weeks ago from a month-long vacation, most of which was spent on the beach, so I was more than inspired to make some handmade Project Life cards with a horizontal aspect. I used paper from Graphic 45, embellishments from Close To My Heart, K&Co and The Paper Studio, flowers from Prima, and washi tape from Recollections, mt and The Paper Studio.

Here are also some pics of the beach and surrounding water in Palawan. :-)

We would love to see your beach-inspired creations at My Sheri Crafts! Come join us!

Land Of The Free

Hi everyone! It's my turn to host our challenge at My Sheri Crafts! We are celebrating America's birthday, so our theme is red, white and blue! I wanted to make a banner with a positive image reminder. :-D I used paper from Close To My Heart and Julie Nutting's Paper Dolls and Summer Collections. I used my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to make the pennants. The top layer was cut at 8" and the base at 9". The accent piece at the top of the banner was cut at 8". I added some paper doll die cuts from Julie Nutting. They were so much fun to dress up! :-D To embellish the pennants, I added some stickers from the Reset Girl, Julie Nutting's Paper Dolls Collections, some Enamel Hearts from CTMH, Prima flowers and leaves and ribbon from Recollections. I wanted to keep on adding embellishments but decided I wanted a cleaner look. :-)

Come join our patriotic celebration at My Sheri Crafts!

Tags, Tags and More Tags!

It's design team sister Raquel's turn to host our challenge at My Sheri Crafts. We were being asked to make tags. It has been a while since I made a shadowbox tag, so I made one. I colored a Julie Nutting wooden doll with Copic markers. I used the chipboard packaging it came with to make my shadowbox. I covered the shadowbox with paper from Athentique, and added some K&Co embellishments. I also stamped the sentiment with a Julie Nutting stamp. The aqua-colored sequins are from CTMH and the mermaid's necklace is from Julie Nutting for Prima. I lined the sides on the shadowbox tag with washi tape from Recollections.

Tag...you're it! It's your turn to make tags and share them with us at My Sheri Crafts!

Accessorize!

Design team sister Sandy from My Sheri Crafts challenges us to accessorize our crafts! I made an endless flip book using Paper Sweetpea's You Tube tutorial. I used paper from Graphic 45 and accessorized the flip book with embellishments from K and Co, Prima, Gold Sequins from CTMH, Melissa Frances blue crepe paper ruffles and washi tape from Recollections. This was a lot of fun to make and I had to restrain myself from making a whole bunch of them. lol!

For more design inspiration and to join our challenge, please visit us at My Sheri Crafts!

3D Papercrafting

Sarah, our DT sister is challenging us to make a 3D project. A good friend and her fiance are having a baby, and their nursery theme is outdoors, so I made this teepee for Baby Adam's room. I used Close To My Heart's Jackson paper pack for the teepee and the file is from SVG Cuts. I inked the teepee with Saddle Exclusive Inks Pad to make it appear distressed.

We'd love to see your 3D projects at My Sheri Crafts, so come share them with us!

A Nautical Card For A Seafarer

Sheri, our fearless leader at My Sheri Crafts challenged us to make shaped cards. I love to play with my Cricut and since I'm looking forward to spending summer at the beach, I decided to herald summer early with this nautical card. The cut file is from SVG Cuts and I used the Regatta Paper Pack from Close To My Heart. I added some bling for the seahorse's eye and the compass pointer. The "N" is cut at 1 1/2" using the Art Philosophy Cartridge.

Here's to summer and I hope you'll get to join us at My Sheri Crafts for our design challenge and some inspiration!

My Julie Nutting Paper Dolls

Hi everyone! Julie Nutting is having a design team call until Wednesday, April the 20th, and I decided to try my luck. My projects are little pieces of my heart placed on paper. :-)

My first entry is a tag featuring one of her wooden dolls, Chloe. I took inspiration from her outfit and paired it with paper from Graphic 45's Songbird collection. I colored Chloe and her accessories with Copic markers and added Stickles to make her sparkle even more. I added a gold foil flower die cut from Recollections, Flower Soft for the flower centers and Martha Stewart gold fiber. Chloe makes me think of how my great-grandma from Hong Kong would have been, so she's special to me. :-)

My husband and I are celebrating our 10th year anniversary this year. I used Julie Nutting's Belle Vie paper collection for this layout. I added grey and black cardstock to frame the beautiful damask print paper. The black cardstock was smudged with white pigment ink for a faux chalkboard look. I used blue ink and stencilled some large damask designs on the paper to add a subtle hint of color. To create more interest, I applied Texture Paste on a smaller damask stencil. Tommy, colored with Copic markers, a peacock feather, some phrases fussy cut from the paper cut itself, and stamped damask letters forming my page title were used to embellish my masculine page. Here's my husband, Billy, as I remembered him from ten years ago.

I love light pink, black and white together, and that became my color palette for my third project. It did not look like this when I began. I altered an old license plate to make my wall hanging. I covered it with the blush polka dot paper from Belle Vie. I applied gesso on it, and sprayed some ink sprays on it after it dried. The third step was applying texture with Texture Paste using a damask stencil. I burnished some areas of the license plate with Inka Gold Paste. Audrey is the star of this design. I colored her with Copic markers. Her dress was embossed with a dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug. For the finishing touches, I added a Prima Flower, Say It In Crystals Flourishes, vintage lace and stickers from Belle Vie.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you'll be dropping by to see more paperdoll creations in my future projects.

Lost Ocean Colored With Prismacolor Premiers and Faber-Castell Polychromos

Here are a couple of pages from the Lost Ocean Coloring Book by Johanna Basford. :-) I still prefer Polychromos even though it appears muted. The ease of blending more than makes up for it.

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils vs Faber-Castell Polychromos, a Comparison and Review

I've had the 72-piece set of Prismacolors for years (eight to be exact), and I had most recently acquired the full set of Polychromos. I was wondering what the hype was all about, so I went ahead and got some. To test the two different type of colored pencils, I colored a couple of pages from Johanna Basford's Lost Ocean, using Prismacolor Premiers on the left, and Polychromos on the right. I also included on the pic the pencils that I used. The pics were taken prior to using Gamsol, or a blending stump.

Here's a closer look at the fish scales colored with Prismacolors. A lot of white areas were showing through.

The Polychromos took to the paper better. I'm skipping the tortillons and Gamsol on this one.

I noticed when filling out the chart that Prismacolor had brighter hues, while the Polychromos were more subdued. Here's a link if you want to have your own color chart.

I will be using my Polychromos more, since I love the ease of blending, but I will also be supplementing it with Prismacolors, which still has the best variety when it comes to skin tones. :-)

A Mother's Day Celebration

Design team sister Sandy is challenging us with a Mother's Day theme at My Sheri Crafts! The requirement is for the project to have flowers in it.

The coloring book craze is such a trend right now and I have been very much into it! My hubby was out shopping with my little guy and he saw a book that he thought I would like and he was right. It's called Inspirational Coloring for Mom by Christian Art Publishing. I would like to share one of the pages from the book that I colored with Copic markers.

I also colored these other pages with Copic markers, gel pens and chalk. I figured out that when framed, they would make nice inspirational presents to a couple of moms that I know. :-)

Come join us for our Mother's Day challenge at My Sheri Crafts!

Thinking Of You

Design Team sister Sue challenged us to make a card with the words "Thinking Of You". I have a 6"x6" paper pack from Pebbles with that sentiment in one of the pages, so I fussy cut and rounded the corners...and voila! I have an instant sentiment minus the stamping. :-D I kept my color palette in the teal and grey tones. I colored a Tilda mini and added a gold butterfly from Recollections. I layered some strips of paper for added interest, minus the bulk since I will be mailing the card. The sequins are from Close To My Heart.

Come join our fun challenge at My Sheri Crafts!

Spring Fever

Hello everyone! It's my turn to host our biweekly challenge at My Sheri Crafts! Spring comes early here in sunny AZ, and I was inspired to make a flipbook mini album using Lisa's You Tube Tutorial. I used the Gilded Lily paper pack from Graphic 45, a butterfly and crystals and pearls from Prima. I added some Martha Stewart stickers (they remind me of crown molding), and some dimensional stickers that my friend Lydia sent me. Here are pics of my mini album. :-)

Come join out spring challenge at My Sheri Crafts!

Lovely Lace!

Our theme for our biweekly challenge at My Sheri Crafts is "Lovely Lace". Design team sister Kristi challenges us with using lace in our project. I made a tag using Tilda paper, and added some embellishments from K&Co, a heart paper doily from Recollections, paper lace trim from K&Co and seam binding that I dyed purple. The word "happy: was cut using a Heidi Swapp die. I kept it simple for easy mailing. It was also amusing to note that the only pic that I had of the tag was the one that I uploaded to Instagram, hence the "nostalgic" look.

Come join this fun challenge at My Sheri Crafts and show us that lace!