Out of This World

This is the last blog post for Slinky Tart until October 1. We're going on a little break to enjoy the rest of the summer and give everyone a little time off.

I am using Astronaughty for my make this week. I coloured her with Copics, and used some glitter gel pens for the dots around her. The paper is bits and pieces from my stash, except for the back mat which is from the Rock Star mat stack by DCWV.

Astronaughty

Check out the shop HERE for lots of other great images; also there is Spunky Tart HERE, and Illustrations by T, which is Tamara's new brain child of mandalas for you to colour. Here are a couple examples of her work:

They are so awesome! I can't wait to sit down and start colouring one. Thanks for stopping by! I'll see again with some more Slinkies in October, but we're still crafting away elsewhere, so you'll hear from me again soon enough! xx

Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks

Hello lovely crafters!! It's another Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks, and I had so much fun colouring this one up. I killed two birds with one stone, making a project for Fab Friday and a birthday card for my twin girls, who will be three in September. They are growing up so fast.

Wryn & Emmy - BFF

I coloured the image with Copics. The paper is from Kaiserkraft. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the lace is from Live & Love Crafts, and the little pearl string is also from Kaiserkraft. Make sure you check back into the challenge blog to find out who won the last challenge, and to participate in the new challenge starting on August 4. It's going to be a cute one!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you check out the other DT members makes too. They are a talented group of ladies! I'm so lucky to be in the same group with them!

New Aurora Release at The East Wind

It's new release Tuesday at The East Wind. Today's new image is Aurora "Swim with Betty," and she's provided me with another opportunity to practice my underwater colouring technique. I know, I know!! All I seem to be doing is water scenes the last few projects. I love this technique I learned at Kit & Clowder, and you know what they say: Practice makes perfect! Check out Unky's post about her inspiration for this and her fish Betty HERE!

Aurora "Swim with Betty"

I didn't want to make her into a card, so I took a small laser cut frame that I got at Michaels, put a base layer of gesso on it and found a few embellishments in my stash, painted them with gesso too, and applied them to the frame with Beacons 3-in-1 glue. After all that dried, I sprayed the frame with Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays in Mermaid Shells. I hope you like how it turned out. You can't see the sheen on the frame from the sprays, but they look really nice in person.

Make sure you check out the current Facebook challenge in our Facebook group HERE. The theme is "Once Upon a Time". Use an image from TEW to create a project based on a fairy tale or story book, and try to think outside the box and not just use the Alice in Wonderland images that Unky has. There are also twice monthly challenges on the BLOG: one using the freebie on the first of the month, and another in the middle of the month. The freebie comes with the newsletter that is sent out on the 1st of the month, so make sure you are signed up for that. Look for the pink box near the top of the home page on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my project with you!! xx

Once Upon A Time

It is time for a new challenge in The East Wind Facebook group. The theme is Once Upon A Time. We are challenging you to find an image from The East Wind's Etsy shop and make it fit a fairytale or story book theme. Think outside the box. Think of villains and not just the protagonists of the story. Think of the original stories, and not the Disney versions we all know so well. I took the easy way out, I will admit. I chose Lucy Loo "Mermaid", but I researched a bit and found a quote from the original story by Hans Christian Andersen. His story is a bit darker than the animated movie we are more familiar with, and I think the darker story goes with Unky's images. 

Lucy Loo "Mermaid"

I coloured this with Copics. I added some scales to her using a technique I learned in the Skin & Hair Class at Kit & Clowder. It had been a while since I did them so I was crossing my fingers they turned out. They didn't blob together, which is good, but they are hard to see in the picture. I had some Canson watercolor paper that I used to watercolor a background. None of my papers really gave it that sea feel I was looking for, but this turned out pretty well, I think.

After reading some excerpts from the original story, I think I might have to give it a read. The Sea Witch cuts out the little mermaid's tongue, which is pretty hardcore. I wonder if it would give my kids nightmares. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my DT inspiration for the new challenge. Make sure you head over there and pop your own make into the challenge folder. Check out the blog too! There are two challenges a month there, including the 1st of the month challenge which involves the freebie you get in your newsletter. You're not getting the newsletter? Sign Up!! There's a bright pink box near the top of the page for you to enter your email address.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Freshly Brewed Designs - Let's Go Swimming
Crafty Sentiments - ATG
Digi Choosday - All About the Girl
Through the Craft Room Door - ATG
Artistic Inspirations - ATG
Craft Your Passion Challenges - ATG

xx

Summer Song Challenge at Tiddly Inks

This next challenge theme at Tiddly Inks is "Summer Song" and it goes LIVE today. I picked "Under the Sea" because I have a couple of little girls that are CRAZY for mermaids these days, so of course "The Little Mermaid" is a big hit in our house at the moment. When they saw me colouring a mermaid they went bananas!! And for me, the ocean makes me think of hot summer days, but I spent several years living in Florida, so that's to be expected. 

I used the image  "Mermaid Miranda" for my card. I also used some techniques from a Create & Learn class over at Kit & Clowder to create an underwater scene.

I coloured this with Copics, using the Hex Chart to find colours that were similar, though not necessarily all in the same blending family. Her tail is a mix of Y and YR. I worked some of the same yellow that I used on her tail into her hair.

Make sure you check out this challenge and share your makes on the Tiddly Inks Facebook page too! We love to see what you come up with! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my project.

xx

Equality

We are preparing to take a summer break at Slinky Tart, from August 1 – October 1. This is one of my last two projects before the break starts. My last one will be on July 31, and then it will be vacation time. Today I used an image called “Equality”. Tamara drew this up for when the Supreme Court of the United States made it legal for same sex couples to marry.

I coloured the image with Copics, and kept the design simple. I printed it out A4 size, so it is pretty big on its own. Make sure you check out the Slinky Tart blog and visit all the other DT ladies. They have some really fabulous creations for you this week. Also, go check out the Facebook group. Tamara had an awesome sale a couple weeks ago and if you weren’t part of the group, you probably didn’t see it.

Thanks for stopping by! xx

Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks

Thanks for taking the time to visit today! It is Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks and I have coloured up "Wryn - Building Queen" this week. My husband is a civil engineer, and while he spends more time in the office than in the field these days, I think this little Wryn is just the cutest with her little hard hat and tool belt. I think this could be a great card for a little girl to give her dad for his birthday or Father's Day.

Wryn - Building Queen

I am currently out at our cabin for the next several days while one of my daughters attends an overnight summer camp about a half hour away. I had to bring my crafting stuff with me, without going overboard, so my makes are going to be clean and simple (CAS) for a little while. I couldn’t realistically bring my entire craft closet with me, now could I?

We have an Anything Goes challenge happening right now over at the challenge blog. Make sure you head over there and submit your Tiddly Ink make, and share it on the Facebook pagetoo! Christy regularly offers up free images and discounted images, which you will be the first to know about IF you are signed up for the Newsletter, so make sure that you are getting that!

I appreciate you stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment below! I love to read what you have to say! xx

New Release Friday at TEW

It's another new release Friday at The East Wind. Today's new release is "Scarf Lover", and I can relate because I love scarves. It's the only thing I don't like about summer - too hot for scarves.

I colored this with Copics, and since I'm still on vacation at our cabin and have limited supplies, I kept it CAS. The filigree butterflies from Wild Orchid Crafts was as blinged out as I got with this card. I also used the no lines version of this image, which you get when you buy it, along with JPG and PNG file versions. Lots of versatility!!

In case you didn't know, there is a DT call going on at TEW. It closes on the 19th, so you are running out of time to put your application in. You need to be able to take clear high resolution photos of your projects to best represent the images when they are released. And you don't have to have a fancy DSLR camera, you just need to know how to take clear, in focus and well lit photos. Make sure you check out The East Wind Facebook page HERE for more info. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my take today's new release. xx

Mixed Media Attempt

I really love mixed media. I don't know all the ins and outs of it yet, but I'm learning, and that's half the fun. The other half is frustration and uncertainty. "How do I do this? Is that enough? Should I do more?" The questions are endless in the beginning, or so it seems. I have a lot more questions than answers, and not a lot of time to watch tutorials on YouTube. Apparently, I'm going to need a few more hours in my day, and a much bigger jug of gesso. 

So here goes, a little mixed media piece I did for my niece's birthday. 

I picked up an initial at Michaels, a couple of wooden embellishments ("love", the dolphin, and a butterfly), used a metal butterfly from my stash, along with some flowers, buttons, and a polka dot stencil. I made some texture paste from talc powder (have a good collection of that from my twins, now that they're out of diapers), white glue, and gesso. Did I mention I need a bigger jug of that? I will need some more glue too, from the looks of it. My husband will be so happy I need to go buy MORE stuff for my crafting addiction. 

I applied gesso on everything. After it was dry on the letter I used the stencil and the texture paste to create the raised dots. Then I glued everything on with Beacon's 3-in-1 glue. Then I started spraying. And that was the hard part. I used Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays in Victorian Bouquet. Mostly I used the Purple Teal and the Hydrangea Blue, along with some Rambling Rose Pink. I used the other two colours in the set also, but didn't like the way they were coming together, so I went over them. After it dried overnight, I added some Pretty in Pink Pink from the Totally 80's set. This was the hard part because I had a hard time deciding when to stop, what to spray where, and what colours. I was really overthinking it. 

After the sprays dried I randomly applied some Viva Decor Inka Gold in Silver. Then I went over the raised bits with Viva Decor Precious Metal Colors in Silver Red. And that was it. Done! I'm not putting anything else on there. I could keep adding and adding, but I really need to step away from it. 

I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by!!

Anything Goes Challenge at Tiddly Inks

It's time for another challenge over at Tiddly Inks and this time the theme is Anything Goes Challenge. I used a new release stamp called Wryn Floating Along, which is actually pretty representative of my family's life right now. We are spending as much time this summer at our cabin as we can, and floating along in the lake is a daily must. 

I coloured this with Copics, the paper is from my stash, and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.
The Copics I used are:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04
Hair: E35, Y26, Y21, YR30
Hat: E30's
Dress: YR07, YR16, Y38, Y17, Y13
Flip Flops: G29, G28, G05, YG06
Tube: B39, B26, B24, B32
Water: BG09, BG07, BG49, BG45, BG53

Grab your favourite Tiddly Ink stamp HERE and join in on the challenge over at the challenge blog. Make sure you are sharing your TI makes with us over on the Facebook page too! We love to see what you come up!

Photo Inspiration Challenge at OMCF

One of only two more challenges left at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges starts today with the theme "Photo Inspiration". Our sponsors for this challenge are:

Bugaboo Stamps - prize 7 stamps

Faery Ink - prize 3 stamps

Kenny K - prize 3 stamps

Oakpond Creations - prize 3 images

The photo inspiration for this challenge is this: 

I was immediately drawn to the blue of the wall and so that was my inspiration. I chose an image by Faery Ink called Granmargaret Fairy. I decided to make a tag, which I've never done before. I really had no idea what I was doing. I went on Pinterest and tried to come up with some ideas. I used a Tim Holtz dot stencil, a small Cricut flower embossing folder, a vintage white butterfly stamp with some white pigment ink, gelatos, flowers, buttons, and ribbon.  I just started adding things on and this is what I ended up with. I tried to not overthink it too much. That usually leaves me stuck. To be honest, I'm not sure what the point of tags are, except to maybe look pretty. My seven year old likes it so she's going to put it in her room as a decoration of some sort. lol!

Granmargaret Fairy by Faery Ink

Make sure you head over to OMCF and submit a project for the photo inspiration challenge. Our next challenge is our LAST challenge!! Get in on the fun while you can!

You Can't Beat Me!

A new smexy from Slinky Tart called "You Can't Beat Me" just had to be coloured up this week! And to make things even better, Tamara made some more digital papers called Retro Hipster that go along perfectly with the colours I wanted to use. The colours of the papers are so rich! 

The DT is going to be going on a little summer break from August 1 to October 1 so we can spend some summer time with our families. I'll still be colouring up some Slinkies, but on a less regular basis. Make sure you are checking in on the Facebook page because if there are any new images, you'll see them there first!

Fab Friday & Magical Friendship

It's another Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks and this week I have coloured up "Magical Friendship" for my make.

I made this with a special friend in mind, who is going through a rough patch. I want to send her a little "hello" so she knows I'm thinking of her and keeping her in my prayers.

I coloured this with Copics, using Shabby Vintage Rose digital paper from Michele R Designs and lace from Live & Love Crafts.

Our Let's Go Gothic challenge is still happening for a couple more days over at the challenge blog so head on over there and show us what you can do! Make sure you join us in the Facebook group and share with us whatever makes you come up, regardless of the challenge theme. We love to see them!

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to leave a little love below! It really makes my day to read your comments!