It's a BIG day and a GREAT sketch!

For my JUGS post, click here!
For my Want2Scrap™ & Scrapmart.com blog hop post, click here!
~Thanks!~

Well, friends.... IT'S TODAY! My REALLY big day! - It's OFFICIAL!

Baby's GOT a new BADGE! Owwwwwwwwch! { I FEEL good, na-na-na-na-na-na-NA!}

Woot! Woot! - SWORN to secrecy over here - for QUITE some time....
But today - it's OFFICIAL! THIS card.... is.. to INSPIRE.... YOU!

And get YOUR creative process busy and READY to play with THIS:

'Cause I'm a BRAND NEW designer for.... you GUESSED it.....!

CARD PATTERNS, babies! {I'm a HAPPY girl - and HONORED, beyond description!}

Here's my FIRST official card as a Card Patterns DESIGNERRRRRRRR!

So, YEAH! I say, g'head - FIND your joy... in the little things.....!

{Really little! I had SUCH fun stitching these little beads on to an ANCIENT
piece of some mesh material I've had in my stash for NEARLY a decade! Ack!}

This was SUCH an infinitely possible sketch - for SO much creativity......! What
will YOU do with it? LINK up, babies! Play with me! ..... Uh... and several
hundred OTHER crafty folks, from ALL parts of this amazing world we live in!
I am soooooo looking forward to getting to know LOTS of new friends from all
over, via this TRULY inspirational and fun challenge destination.... I hope you'll
join, too! Let me share just some of the OTHER {*swoon!*} delightful new designers
from Card Patterns, they are incredible talents, I can see that ALREADY,
and OF COURSE, the superstars of CP - YOU'LL know 'em!

Carla Suto
Kristii Lockhart
Terese Broman
Tracy Schultz
Nina Bracket
&
Michelle Bertuzzi

Even with ALL my words.... that I love to use... I can't really describe HOW MUCH IT MEANS
to me, to be invited to partake in THIS kind of fun! {I'm still just a little pheclempt...'Scuse me.}

But NOW, it's my time to be a big girl.... {Stand UP straight, Elise!} SO PLAY WITH US!

{Hee Hee!}

I cannot WAIT! Thanks for visiting my happy lil' creative spot!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Cosmo Cricket AND October Afternoon {!}
Stamps - Wplus9 Design Studio
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Gelly Roll Pen - Sakura
Die cut shape - Spellbinders™
Die cut machine - Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur™
Beads - Darice
Shell Charms - QVC pack from WAY BACK in the day!
Mesh - ?
Sandals Charm - Michael's
Thread - Gutterman

AWESOME color and sketch fun!

I CAN'T believe it's time for ANOTHER wonderful Wplus9 Design Studio Color Cue!
Time flies when you're having FUN! {And BOY, have I! *wink!*}



Now, it's YOUR turn! I truly DO hope, your day is AWESOME!
Check out the latest juicy color swatch offered up by our lovely, Dawn...



Yeowza! A palate just TEEMING with playfulness!





So, I obliged! In fact, the colors were SUCH fun, I decided to
show them off with THIS sketch from my LOVELY, oh, so fun and fabulous
friends at Card Patterns! THIS is a combo that is beckoning crafty fun:





And since I know a LOT of OTHER crafty girls who don't deny
color fun... CHECK out my fine, fine sistas of Wplus9....

Dawn

Lea
Hannah
Jinny
Kerrianne
Savitri

&

our DARLING guest designer for April....

Paulina!!!



I hope you are TOTALLY having an AWESOME day, dudes...
{Sorry, I'm just lettin' it all out, since y'all know how old I am now! Lol!}
But SERIOUSLY! I have to grab this moment to THANK all of the wonderful
blog friends {and BEYOND!} who made my very L A R G E
birthday, a little more palatable. {Okay, a LOT more palatable!}
A girl... clinging to that title, "girl" who has friends as WONDERFUL
as you all, will NEVER feel old! Thanks, AGAIN!

Hope to see you WORKIN' these colors, soon!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Basic Grey
Stamps - Wplus9Design Studio
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Die Cut Shape - {All Occasion Tag} Wplus9
Die Cut Border - PTI
Die Cut Scallop Circle - Spellbinders
Die Cut Circle - Sizzix
Stickles - Tim Holtz/Ranger
Perfect Pearls Glimmer Mist - Tim Holtz Recipe
Gelly Roll Pearl Pen - Sakura
Ribbon - Recollections

Wild and WONDERFUL challenges!

I am enjoying participation in some of the fabulous challenges here in BLOGLAND so very much! I'm so addicted, that sometimes I feel almost naughty for posting WITHOUT one! Either way, it's always a rush: something about seeing artwork on the computer that makes it look extra special... And then there is the WONDER of blog visitors! Who might pop by? Who might leave a comment? What might they SAY!?!? My goodness, I've been doing art my WHOLE life, but not in my wildest dreams did I imagine how this computer dealy could make the sharing of work, knowledge and joy so exquisitely WONDEROUS! In just six months, I've met SOOOO many lovely, talented and AMAZING friends across the country and the world: it's astounding! I still feel like a newbie in so many ways, and yet I can't count my blessings fast enough. I've MET some of you from places I'll never visit, faces I'll never see in real life, yet I KNOW that if we ever did meet up, it would be BEYOND fantastic.... So not only are there the benefits of friends from far away, but I'll take it a step farther and say that local friendships have blossomed and sprouted flowers and branches as well... Blogging connects us in a way that real life can sometimes get in the way of.. So I feel like the luckiest gal on the blog! But even better than that: most of you feel the same way and WOW! I'm just REALLY happy to be a part of all of this! Recently, a "stranger" to me posted a comment on one of my cards. It was LeAnne from "Color Throwdown"... {That name makes me giggle!} She basically threatened me to join the fun! It was the most delightful "threat" I've had in a while, and I'm thrilled to say that I'm JOINING in for this round so GIT READY! LeAnne, you might be sorry you asked! {tee hee}

I got RIGHT on board for this challenge: the colors are such fun! Have you heard? I LOVE BLOGLAND!!! {Sorry!} In fact, these colors were so easy and joyful to work with, I decided to get REALLY SASSY and combine a second challenge! OMG! The composition design is from this week's CPS sketch, #27:

Tami Mayberry, from CPS, never disappoints with her sketchy ideas! Some of my favorite cards I've made since starting my blog have come from her inspiration! Such a great collection of talented, MOTIVATED and knowledgeable crafty ladies reside here in the blog-o-sphere, I kind of feel sorry for the gals who haven't heard about all of this yet! If you're reading this and you haven't participated in one of these challenges or you're not ready to dive in "publically", do it ANYWAY! I won't tell!


The final icing on today's "cake" for me was throwing in this adorable stamp from My Cute Stamps! I've been enjoying a couple of sets that I treated myself too a few months back, thanks to the fine suggestion by the "Goddess of Glitter", the lovely and talented, DANA from PaperDaydream! She's not only AMAZING with the paper and glitter, but she knows her way around blogland and has REALLY treated me to some fabulous tips along my journey. Introducing me to "My Cute Stamps" has definitely been a great boon to my card making! {Thanks, Sweet little Dana!} Anyway, it's still unseasonably chilly here in Sonoma County C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A, so I had that "cold day" craftiness upon me today... I hope you enjoyed my greatful, excitable and ooowey, goowey "I love ya ALL, man!" kind of post.

Take care!



Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Making Memories
Stamps - My Cute Stamps (Giraffe); S/U! (Paisley Background); Wordsworth (Sentiment)
Scallop Edge Punch - Stampin' Up!
Glitter Gelly Roll Pen - Sakura

You are FABULOUS!

This card goes out to all my crafty friends: you are ALL fabulous! Is there nothing you can't do!?! It's pretty special to be crafting "shoulder to shoulder" with y'all! In the blog-o-sphere and in the real world: crafty friends rock!




I started this card as an entry for the KWerner color challenge... But after my wild scrappin' weekend and MUCH SLEEP DEPRIVATION, I thought Wednesday was Tuesday, and the next thing I knew, I wasn't making it across the finish line before Mr. Linky headed out... boo hoo... The good news is that I was able to tweak my ideas to fit for the CPS challenge, so YEAH!


I saw "stars" the minute I noticed the bar at the bottom of the sketch with all those circles!



Then there is this (now expired - Wah!) sentiment from Stampin' Up!'s "Fabulous Flower" set that expired a catty or two back... How I have waited to make that thing shine: oooww, baby!

Finally! I sprung for some stamp sets from "My Cute Stamps" recently and picked up the darling "Circus Animal's" set to inspire me to make more "children's birthday cards" HA! So here I am making a card that I want to send to every crafty friend I have, but what the heck... It's ALLLLLLLL good! KWIM!

Here's the picture from Kristina Werner's color challenge (WHICH IS NOW OVER!!!) but it is still significant to me because my darling friend, Traci, submitted the photo for the inspiration! Wheeeehew! She rocks my world with her (and her husband's {wink* wink}) photography! Not to mention, super fabulous scrapbook L/O's and recently CARDS! But anywhoo, I couldn't ignore THIS inspiration, so for those of you who haven't seen it and even those of you who have (it's worthy of one more drool...)



Aren't those colors smashing! Not exactly colors you'd collect on a regular basis, but with this delightful inspiration: what fun!

I thought little Elephant looked pretty confident and that "she" could handle a LOT! So, she's juggling peanuts! I used that glittery Gelly Roll pen again to doodle some swirlies to imply movement for the peanuts... Do you like my juggling peanut routine? I also used an aqua painter to color the missy elephant and emphasize her lovely figure. It doesn't take much, but I'm telling you, look out Copics! For those of your afraid of the "$$$" commitment to Copics... think about practicing this technique... Just a dot or two of a re-inker, or squeeze your S/U! pad gently, BUT firmly, to get a small layer of ink on the lid and then that becomes your palette! Start by putting down the deepest color where the darkest part of the shadow would be and then clean your brush on your table-top paper blotter and work back. with less color and more water... It's easier than it may sound! I stamped the elephant several times to do a "study" with the watercolor application and it was too easy! (Please, don't be offended Copic lovers: if someone wanted to DONATE them to me, I'd be all over it! But for those of us who've already invested in SOOOOOOO many other color materials, it's nice you don't always have to RE-BUY everything! ) And that's all I have to say about that. Heh, heh!

One last little shot to say "be FABULOUS!" Why not!?!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up (sentiment); My Cute Stamps (elephant & peanuts); pencil eraser (white polka dots)
Scallop Edge and Corner Rounder - Stampin' Up!
Tiny Star Punch - Marvy
Sakura Gelly Roll Pen

Some More Time Travel Lovin'!

Here's ANOTHER scrapbook layout to share from my recent retreat! Pretty simple, but man WHAT FUN to scrap simple! Dumped a lot of old "tackle" and enjoyed playing with the new! Tim Holtz's DISTRESS Stickles, to be specific in COTTON CANDY! Hello! Do you want to know how much I LOVES me cotton candy! Now there's a "Stickle" with that name! Goodness! This sport just gets more fun every time I play! Tee Hee




Yep! Those are my BABIES, again! I can smell that little tot's hair and I'm literally dizzy! Ain't life grand! Her first birthday was such fun and great photo opportunity, except for this tiny fact... Her light blue eyes were having no part of flash photography so I'm working with a lot of closed eye shots: but NEVER MIND THAT! We're talking about the opportunity to play with PINK! Everything PINK! No wonder I love cotton candy so much! Speaking of pink.. ever pondered how difficult it is to find the right pink? Do you have reams of pink that looked more "salmon" or hospital pink when you got it home! Stampin' Up!'s current "In-Color" assortment has the MOST outrageously perfect pink ever! For cards, you can buy it by the 8.5 X 11" pack, but for 12 X 12 you have to buy the assortment pack. Anywhoo, the year of the current "In Colors" ends June 30th, so if your hankering for some of the most delicious pink (Pink Pirouette) you ever scrapped with, YOU CAN E-MAIL ME if you have an order (I do not have a website with S/U! at this time, but I'm always happy to inspire and serve S/U! customer needs on a personal basis!) or contact your local, beloved S/U! demo! It's just the greatest!


The detail shot that makes my toes curl! Just look at all the pinky goodness! SEEEE the "Stickles".... Lord how they shine... (Can you hear George Strait!?!) The blush on YOUR page looks nothin' like mine..... hee hee


More fun detail, since my camera is doing much better with that than it used to... I accented the letters in the "LOVED" portion of the circle stamp by Autumn Leaves with with a sparkly "Gelly Roll" pen from Sakura that my lovely friend, Dana, the queen of all things glitter, turned me on to a few years back! It just gives the right accent for that delicious stamp! Have I mentioned how much I love SCRAPBOOKING! Wahoooooo! I hope you do too!

Supplies:

C/S - S/U!
D/P - Basic Grey & S/U!
Stamps - Autumn Leaves & S/U!
Chipboard - S/U! & Technique Tuesday
Stickles! - Ranger/TimHoltz
Flower and Polka Dot ribbon - MM
Birthday Cake Charm - ?
Birthday Quote Sticker - O' Scrap!