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!

Vintage Challenge at OMCF

The current challenge at Open-Minded Crafting Fun is "Vintage", and I chose an image by Lemon Shortbread called Winter Muff Shoujo. Lemon Shortbread is just one of the awesome sponsors for this challenge. The others are Fairy Tangles, The Art of Ronne P. Barton, and The Fantasy Art of Nikki Burnette. They are offering up some awesome prizes for this challenge as well, so go check out the blog and enter your own project for a chance to win!

Winter Muff Shoujo

I don't have any experience with vintage, so I'm not sure this is vintage, but I like how it turned out, nonetheless. I coloured the image with Copics. The papers are from Michele R Designs, the Vintage Frost collection. The embellishments are from Live & Love Crafts (as part of our swag bag at the Kit & Clowder retreat), the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Some sad news to report is that Open-Minded Crafting Fun is closing up shop. you can read Vicky's post about it HERE. It's become too difficult for the ladies to manage the admin side of the page after losing their main admin person a couple months ago. So there will only be two more challenges after the current challenge and then it will be no more. Sad to see it go as those are some fabulous ladies over there doing some awesome things.

Open-Minded Crafting Fun Wedding/Anniversary Challenge

Another new challenge is going on over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun. The theme this time is Wedding or Anniversary. The deadline for the challenge is midnight on May 22, 2015. Winners will be announced on May 30. The sponsors for this challenge and their prizes are: Beansie Doodles (5 images), Di's Digi Stamps ($12 gift certificate), Fairy Tangles (2 images), Illustrations by Jane (2 images), My Whimsical Little World ($8 gift certificate).

I used Froggy Prince by Beansie Doodles for my DT project. I think it makes a cute anniversary card! I actually had a lot of fun colouring the frog and trying to make him look realistic. I just had a play and I think it worked out. It helps that I was reading about frogs to my kids and I had so many different ideas. I ruled out colouring a poisonous dart frog though, because really, who wants to kiss one of those??

I coloured the frog with Copics and the paper is from the DCWV Latte stack.

Our sponsors for this challenge are offering up some great prizes for some randomly drawn winners, so make sure you head over to OMCF and show us what you were inspired to make. 

Shabby Chic at Open-Minded Crafting Fun

Another challenge is on at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges, and the theme is Shabby Chic. As usual, we have some awesome sponsors offering some awesome prizes for this challenge: Kith & Kin Digital Stamp Co. (5 images), All Dressed Up (2 images), Ppinkydolls Art (3 images), and The East Wind (3 images). The deadline for this challenge is midnight on Friday, May 8. The winners for the prizes from our sponsors are chosen by random generator, so everyone has an equal chance of winning. Don't be afraid to join in! Winners will be posted on Saturday, May 16.

I used an image from Ppinkydolls Art called "Mily." As luck would have it, after I chose to do a Ppinkydolls image for this challenge, Chrishanthi (the artist at Ppinkydolls) asked me to be on her DT! And she asked me to colour this image up for her to post in her Etsy shop. So if you click on my "Mily" link and see that the Mily in the shop is coloured the same as the Mily on my card, it's because it is one and the same. I didn't copy the shop one, I coloured the shop one! lol!

I used Michele R Design Shabby Chic digital papers and Elements, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Majestic Labels eight die set by Spellbinders, a butterfly punch by Martha Stewart Crafts, and the ruffled lace is from Live & Love Crafts. I coloured her with Copics. I inked up the edges of the image with Victorian Velvet distress ink by Tim Holtz.

I hope you like it! Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave some love below! <3

Winter Vacation Getaway

This month at Open-Minded Crafting Fun our challenge theme is "Winter Vacation Getaway". I already had my getaway for the year and made a trip down to Cuba in February for some much needed fun in the sun! It was a great time and the people there are so friendly and Havana is really a beautiful city that needs to be seen.

So, what does a Winter Vacation Getaway mean to you? Mine is always someplace warm and by the ocean. I live in Alberta and it is very cold in the winter, so I definitely need to escape the winter weather and go someplace where I can defrost for a week or so. Let your project reflect what it means to YOU! It can be a ski holiday or a beach getaway, or whatever you like to do. Our sponsors for this challenge are ColorInk Digital Stamps, Digital Delights, Doodle Pantry, Illustrations by Jane, and Polkadoodles.

Polkadoodles

Illustrations by Jane

Doodle Pantry

Digital Delights

ColorInk

Each of these companies is offering a prize to the randomly chosen winners, so there is more than one chance to win. The contest closes at midnight, on March 27, 2015, so get your projects in! Time is running out! 

I chose Seashore Shannon by Polkadoodles for my DT inspiration. 

I coloured her with Copics. I used YR04, YR07, Y38, Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11, Y00 for her dress.

Her hair is E40's and her Skin is E000, E00, E21, E11, E13

I found the shells in a bucket in my garage from our time living in Florida. It's definitely good to hold on to somethings. You never know when they are going to come in handy.

I hope you like her! 

Open-Minded Crafting Fun - LUCK

This month at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges our theme is "Luck", in whatever form you find it. I would say that I have bad luck in some ways. I have never bought any type of lottery ticket that paid anything, I have never won a random draw, or won one cent gambling. But, I have been very lucky in my personal life. I have always had great people as friends and been lucky enough to marry a wonderful person with a wonderful family. I decided to make a card for a friend who is quite far away and I rarely get to see. I am indeed lucky to have her as a friend, although I suspect we might actually be long lost sisters, that is how strong our bond is.

The sponsors for our challenge this month are Digistamps4Joy, Dilly Beans Stamps, Make It Crafty, and Paper Addictions.  I'm using an image called Mimi's Flowers from Dilly Beans.

Let us see what "luck" means to you over at Open -Minded Crafting Fun and enter your own creation for a chance to win some awesome free digis.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Up In The Air!

Today I have a DT creation for our "Up In The Air" themed challenge at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges. The theme is pretty open ended, as you can create anything that has to do with being "up in the air." Let your imagination take flight with this one! The deadline for this challenge is Friday, February 27 at midnight. Pop over there and let us see your creations! We have some fabulous sponsors offering FABULOUS prizes! The sponsors for this challenge are A Day For Daisies, Jessica Weible Illustrations, Sentimental Susan, and Milk Coffee. 

I chose a Milk Coffee image for my project called "Lisbeth and Balloon".

I coloured her up with Copics, and used paper from the DCWV Citrus mat stack. I free cut the clouds out from white cardstock and added some Copic B0000 to the edges. I adhered the clouds and the image to the base layer with 3D foam squares so they popped out and gave her the illusion of floating. 

I really hope you like it! Now head over to the blog and enter your own project for a chance to win!

Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenge - No Pink and No Red

Another challenge is going on at Open-Minded Crafting Fun. The current theme is "No Pink and No Red," which might be a little difficult for some with Valentine's Day lurking in the near future. The wonderful sponsors we have on board for this challenge are Faery Ink, The Art of Ronne P. Barton, Bugaboo Stamps, and Oak Pond Creations. They have offered some awesome prizes for the winners. Head over to OMC and check it out! The linkup closes at midnight, February 13, 2015, so make sure you get your creations in before then. They can be any theme you like as long as there is no red and no pink!

My DT make is made with an image from Faery Ink, "Bee-Youtiful Pixie Fae".

I coloured her with Copics, and the papers are from a DCWV Citrus Mat Stack.
The Copics I used for the orange are YR07, YR04, Y38, Y17, Y15, Y11. I also used W9, W7, W5, W3, and W0.

I hope you like it, and I hope you join in on the challenges on our blog!

Movie Inspiration

Over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges our current theme is Movie Inspiration. We have some wonderful sponsors providing us some wonderful images to work with too: Ike's Art, Sami Stamps, and Sassy Studio. I chose an image from Sami Stamps called "With You". At first, my inspiration was supposed to be The Notebook. I haven't met a woman yet who doesn't love The Notebook. The image I was working with wasn't exactly like the scene in The Notebook, but it was close enough. THEN I saw Little Women the other day. The one with Winona Ryder as Jo, and I forgot how much I loved that movie. At the end, Friedrich comes while Jo is gone and drops off her book that he's arranged to have published. She comes home, realizes he's been there, and runs after him. She brings him his umbrella that he's left behind, and it starts to rain; he opens his umbrella, asks her to marry him and there they are, under the umbrella, living happily ever after. So romantic! It doesn't hurt that I've always had a thing for Gabriel Byrne. So, in the end, that was my inspiration for this.

I used Copics to color the image. The background is watercolor. I used an Art Impressions cloud stamp at the top with water-based ink and dragged the ink out with a wet brush, the rest of it I did freehand.

Their feet are flat against the paper, but I used 3D foam circles under the umbrella, and I curved the umbrella so that it pops out from the paper. There's quite an exaggeration at the top where the umbrella pops out and curves over.

I used a watermark pen to go over the umbrella and then I embossed it with clear embossing powder. I wanted it to have that shiny vinyl finish some umbrellas have.

Make sure you check out Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges! We love to see a variety of projects, not just cards!

Well, that was my movie inspiration! Now I want to watch Little Women again. And The Notebook. :-)
I hope you liked it. Please feel free to leave a comment below; I love to hear what you have to say!

Myndi xx

New Years Resolutions with Open-Minded Crafting Fun

New Years Resolutions. Does anyone stick to them? I gave up a long time ago and resolved to make no more resolutions. So far, I'm doing great! 

I was so honored to be asked to join the design team over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun, and today I have my very first project for them. First, let me start off by saying that we have so many AWESOME sponsors lined up for this year, and you should really stop by and check them out. 2015 is going to be absolutely FABULOUS!!! And we can't wait to see what you all come up with for our challenges! So right after you read this, SHARE it with your crafty friends on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, whatever! And then GET TO CRAFTING!!

The sponsors for our "New Years Resolutions" Challenge are LiaStampz, Meljen's Designs, The Stamping Boutique, and Zuri Artsy Craftsy Digital Stamps. The stamp that I have used is by The Stamping Boutique, and it is called Pocket Patootie Sunshine. I think you have to live every day to it's fullest because you don't know what tomorrow will bring. Our parents are aging, our kids are sent off to school and out of our control and care almost every day, our loved ones are on the road, in the air, so many things can happen that can change our lives forever. You really have to "Live in the Moment". Be conscious of what you have right now and appreciate it. 

I coloured this with Copics. I used BG10-18 for the pocket and did some hand stitching along the edges. 

I got out my Cuttlebug and use my La-La Land Crafts dies for the butterfly and filigree corners.

I used By DIEzyne Stitched Brackets dies, and my Silhouette Cameo for the background.

I get my flowers from I Am Roses.

Thanks so much for visiting! Take time to check out the challenge this week at Open-Minded Crafting Fun and show us what your New Years Resolution is! The deadline for this challenge will be midnight on Friday, January 16th, 2015. 

And... Make sure you come back in a couple of weeks for our next challenge, which is Movie Inspiration!! I already have my movie picked out! It's "The Notebook". One of my faves! You'll have to come back here to see what I colour up! 

xx Myndi