Brrrrrrr.....Baby It is Cold Outside

WOW it has been wicked weather lately,especially the last couple of days, and I sure hope that all of you are staying warm and healthy.  I think most everyone is "over" this weather and wanting Spring to hurry up and come.

I promised last time that I had a very special announcement to make and I am here today to do it.  I am so excited and honored to have been asked to join the Aussie Bestie Design Team.  If you have never heard of or seen the Besties  designed by Sherri Ann Baldy, I'm sure you will fall in love with them the first time you see them....just like I did.  I have been a great customer ever since I saw my first digital image.  Yes these images come in digis along with rubber stamps, and much much more.  These "big eyed" Besties  will just sneak into your heart and if you are like me, you have to have them all.  LOL  Check out Sherri's FB page.  There are some beautiful card examples there and Sherri has some great sales from time to time.

So the other day Sherri shared a new image with her Design Teams and asked us to color the image and I wanted to share the card  I just finished.  I don't think she has a name yet, but I call her Ms. BunnyLuv.  :-)  Most of you know that I absolutely love to watercolor and love the watercolor look.  So yeppers, I pulled out my trusty markers and went to work.  For this image I used mostly the Distressed Markers, but I also used a couple of Stamping Up and Close To My Heart markers.  They work really well together.  I also use Canson W/C paper and print the digis on my ink-jet printer.  One hint....I was having problems with the ink running and put a question out on one of the FB groups I belong to on how to watercolor using digi images without the ink running.  Thank goodness some kind soul responded to use a hair dryer, set on high, and heat set the ink.  Guess what....IT WORKED!!!!   This made me a happy happy gal.

Here is my card.  Hope you like it.  I certainly enjoyed coloring the image and designing the card.  I am entering this in the first ever Fantasy Stampers Challenge.

http://fantasystampers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/our-first-challenge-ever.html

This image is one of my favorites from Sherri Baldy, My Besties IMG 2062.  Here is link for image 
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SherriBaldy

I am also entering this in Summer Fun with a Bestie Stamp at www.bestieschallenge.blogspot.com

Keep warm my friends.....I will have my first DT challenge card coming up soon.
Hugs and blessings.
Pat

A New Card

Good day my friends and fellow bloggers.  Well I keep saying that I am going to do better about posting and life just seems to get in the way.  :-)  But I am trying to get myself organized and one of the things that I have always been very bad about is writing down what colors I used where on my images.  Sooooo I now have a dedicated notebook that is beside me when I color and I am doing my best to keep it up to date.  I will have some cards that I finished before I got "smart" LOL.   I did not keep a list but at least I can tell you the markers I used.  :-)

First, can you believe how "wicked" this weather has been this year.  We have been cold here in the south, but some of you have just had so much snow, ice, etc.  Dang it, I'm looking forward to Spring soon.  :-)

OK the card I am sharing today  was for a friend's birthday and I think she liked it a lot.  I have parrots and she loves to come see and talk to my African Grey, Jabber.  Now this is not a parrot, but a cute bird and it made me think of her when I was coloring it. 

My image is a Penny Black stamp called Good Friends and I used Tim Holtz Distressed Markers for coloring.  I have loved the Distressed Inks and used them for several years but found that the Distressed Markers work very nicely and are easy to travel with.  I also blend with a "waterbrush".

Colors used: 
Umbrella - Mustard Seed and I shaded with Spice Marmalade.
Hearts on umbrella, scarf and flowers - Spun Sugar shaded with Barn Red.  I also touched up the black between the hearts with Black Soot.
Dress and Bird - Tumbled Glass shaded with Salty Ocean
Checks on bird - Worn Lipstick
Grass and Leaves - Mowed Lawn
Shoes - Pumice Stone and Black Soot
Strawhat - Squeezed Lemonade and shaded with Mustard Seed
Apron - Barn Red
Sunflower on Sleeve - Squeezed Lemonade, Spie Marmalade and Barn Red
Skin - Tattored Rose shaded with Vintage Photo
Cheeks - Worn Lipstick.

Whew.....Lots of colors.  One of the things that I love about the watercolor effect is that you can blend so nicely. If you cannot find a color that matches to shade, then let the area you just colored dry and then go back with the same color and darken where you want shading.  I hope that Tim adds the entire line of Distressed Inks to his Distressed Markers.   And hoping that he adds more new colors.  :-)

Another thing that I am bad about doing, is coloring my image first and then going on a hunt in my craft room to find papes that match.  I am paper "poor" as I imagine a lot of us crafters are.  So I can definitely "shop" in my room and never have to leave the building.  LOL  So I used a little of this and a little of that but I think it turned out nicely.  Hope you think so too.

I  used a Martha Steward Lattice punch that is one of my all time favorites.  I cut a strip a little larger than I wanted, punched down one length and then turned it around and punched the other length to make it look like lattice work on both sides.  I love that look.  My flowers are from Wild Orchid.  Love Love Love their flowers.  :-)  The scallop mat was with a Spellbinders Die.  Dang it, gotta start writing down the names of those things too.  LOL  The sentiment was from Stampin Up.

Got some exciting news to share and I'll try to get that information out to you all this week. 

Hope that you all are staying safe and warm and enjoying good health during this special time of the year. 

Thank you so much for stopping in to visit with me for a bit.  I promise you will be seeing a lot more of me soon.  That is part of my exciting news.  Don't you just hate when someone gives you just a little tease of what's to come.  :-)  I will tell you SOON.

God bless you all my friends. 
Many Hugs,
Pat

A Very Special Post

Hi Everybody.  Well today's post is a very special one.  Why???  Well I am going to post a very special card that I received for my birthday.  Many of you know and probably follow Suzanne J. Dean's blog (ScrapBitz) and know what an awesome artist she is.  Well I am very blessed that she is one of my best and dearest friends.  I met Suzanne on line a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with her Copic coloring.  At that time she was giving a few classes in her home and then thank the good Lord, she decided to develop an On the Road Copic Class and I was very blessed to be able to take one of the first ones in Greensboro, NC about 3 - 4 years ago.  Suzanne and I had been chatting back and forth for a while on FB and via emails.  When I saw she was gonna be in Greensboro, I said, hey you don't need a roomie do you and guess what.....she said yes. So I met her in NC for the very first time in person and that was the beginning of an awesome friendship. We talked way into the night and laughed until we almost peed our pants.   If you have seen her blog, you have seen some of the funny things that we get into with another one of our BFF's (Dana Shaw) when we get together.  We could write a book for sure.  Now why am I telling you all this, well I received a belated birthday card and a gift that I will tell you about in a minute.  Now this birthday card is one of the most beautiful ones she has ever done....ok that is my opinion, but I'm sticking to it.  LOL  When Dana, Suzanne and I were in Naples this past March, Suzanne gave Dana and I a private kick in the butt....get your Copics out....mini refresher class.  LOL  We were coloring a lot of digis and Suzanne of course knocked one out before Dana and I had barely colored the skin and hair.  LOL  I was drooling over the one that Suzanne did. Well guess what......she made that one into a card and sent it to me.  I was texting to her the other day and she said she knew when she colored that one it was gonna be for me.  That was so sweet and it means all the world to me. I have this sitting on my kitchen counter so I see it many many times a day.  :-)  Sooooooo here is my beautiful birthday card.  I know that you will love it as much as I do. .....well maybe not 'cause I don't think anyone could love it as much as me.  :-)  Sorry my photograph of the card is not as good as Suzanne's.  Not only is she an beautiful artist, she is an awesome photographer too.  Guess that will have to be my next class Suzanne.  LOL  The diamond glaze on her eyes make it look like there are stickles on the eye but there is not.  Of course she did use bling on the headband, dress and bows around her ankles.  We BFF's are all about bling don'tcha know??  Ummmm we are kinda all about Coach purses too. 

 

 

Now for my very, very special gift.  Never in a million years could I have guessed what was in the package she sent me.  All I can say is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and she knows me very very well.  :-)  Ok I'll fess up, I was and STILL am a devoted ELVIS fan.  I like to kid and say that I spent my anniversary with him one week-end.  LOL  Well my hubby was with me and I had gotten tickets in Atlanta, Ga. for a friday night, a saturday night and a sunday afternoon concerts.  So see I did spend my week-end with him.  As far as I was concerned, he didn't even have to open his mouth to sing.....just so I could sit and look at him would have been good, but his voice and music was the cherry on top of my cake.  I was lucky that I got to see him in many concerts in Macon, Georgia and in Atlanta at various times.  One of the last concerts I attended, was near the end of his life and I know he didn't look as good as he did in the past, but I still loved him.  After the concert, I made the after the concert trip to the potti (cause we can't get up during the concert LOL)  and while I was in there a group of young girls (probably around the age of 13) came in and they were sooooo excited.  One of the girls looked at the others and said and I quote..."you know, he may be fat......but he's the sexiest fat man I have ever seen".  I had to smile and say YOU GO GIRL!!!!  'Cause that was exactly the way I felt.  LOL  So here is what Suzanne sent me.  One of the limited edition collections of a Precious Moments Elvis - in the Jailhouse Rock suit and stance.  He is standing on a black record.  Don'tcha just love it?  I do, and it has a special place with my collectibles in my bookcase.  I just smile everytime I walk past it. 

 

Hope you have enjoyed my special post today and see a little into my personal life.  I am so truly blessed in so many ways.  Thank you for stopping by and letting me visit your home for a little while.

 

A Quick Post Today

Hey Everybody, ok so don't faint......I told you I was going to try and be more active on my Blog, so today I am going to share one of two birthday cards I made a while back.  I will share the other at another time.  :-) 

This is one of my favorite images by Lili of the Valley and she is called Faries on Tiptoe.  Don'tcha just love this image??  I colored her using Tim Holtz Distressed Ink Markers and cut the images with Spellbinders dies.  I added glitter to her wings, 'cause I'm belong to the "Glitter Queen" club.  Well don't you???  :-)  Gosh as I'm looking at this card, I have to admit that my poor ole brain is checking out on me right now, 'cause I can't remember if I used the Cheery Lynn or Marianne Dies for the scrolls.  That's one of the things I have to get much better at, writing down what I am using at the time so I'll be able to share with you all.  I just get so involved in my coloring, designing, etc,,and get so excited to see it coming together, that I forget.  Sorry I will try to do better.  My flowers were from Wild Orchard flowers.  Papers are from a paper pack that I have had for a while and since purple is my favorite color, I decided to go the purple route with this card. 

This was for a special gal's birthday and it was hard to keep from posting it earlier.    She seemed to love it and that made me feel good. 

So here is the card and I do hope you enjoy viewing it.  Remember I'm trying to do better here and if you have any questions on anything I post, please leave me a comment and I will try to find the answer for you.  Like which dies I used, etc.  LOL

I hope you are having a great day wherever you are and we here in the south are so happy to see a few days without the rain.  Sunshine never looked so good.  :-) 

 

Does Anyone Else Have This Problem? LOL

Is it just me or does anyone else ever have the problem of forgetting how to get into your blog so that you can post?   Well this is either the second or third time as you can tell from the last time I posted.  If it wasn't for by BFF Suzanne J. Dean, I would still be out in the cold. So thank you my dear friend for figuring out how to get me back in my Blog and yes mam I did write it down.  LOL

So I have been playing around with some cards and finished another one today that is absolutely not what I would usually do.  Why you ask?  Well because it does NOT have any coloring on it.  Gasp!!! I know, I know, hard to believe isn't it?  As you will notice the focal point of the card is the beautiful Butterfly.  I have had this die for several years and it just was calling to me to do something with it.   So here is my card.  Hope you enjoy it.  I have several other cards that I have done recently and will be posting those in a day or two. 

 

 

 

My Butterfly die is one from Magnolia.  Don't you just love the lacey look to it??  I also used a Martha Steward punch for the border on the right.   It is hard to see, but the white paper with the border also was embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder. White paper is CMTH and the colored CS is Bazzill.  Most of the flowers are from Wild Orchard, except the white one. I didn't have any rose buds in the aqua color, so I took my trust Copic marker and colored them.  So I guess technically there is some coloring on this card.  LOL   The flourishes were cut with my trusty Silhouette Cameo.  Again hard to tell, but I added some prisma glitter on  the outside edge of the butterfly wings.  Yeppers I love me some bling and had to add a little here. 

 

Hope you like my NON colored card.  See ya next time!!!!

 

 

It's Been a Long Long Time

Yep it's been a long, long time, but I hope to start posting to my blog more often.  Lot's of thinks have happened over the last year.  Been taking lots of classes, making some great cards and i will try to get some of those pictures on here soon.  Been on lots of trips and the most memorable are those that included my two BFF's (Suzanne Dean and Dana Shaw).  We have had some "great times" together and are planning some more in the very near future.  Watch out Naples/Bonita Springs area and Port St. Lucie area.  Suzanne is coming to FL to teach her CMC Copic classes and of course me being the 'class mascot" I plan to be right there.  Dana and I will keep the fun times going during the classes.  Ooops, we might need to watch it or Suzanne will make us "dance" in front of the class.  Oh yeah, that has happened for me and another good friend (Melanie) once in class before.  Why you ask, well I think we made a slightly negative comment about our coloring and that is a BIG NO NO.  LOL  

Off now to try and recover some pictures to post.  It took me hours and hours to finally figure out how to get back as admin on my blog.  LOL

Hugs,
Pat or JPat as Suzanne calls me.

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