Anything Goes at Aurora Wings

My favourite challenge theme is live at the Aurora Wings challenge blog: Anything Goes!! I love the freedom of ATG challenges. I just follow wherever my creativity takes me. This is my take on Petals in the Wind. I had started colouring this image a long time ago, and only got as far as her butterfly ears, which I coloured with Prismacolor pencils. I picked up with Copics and finally finished her with a mix of purple, pink, blue, and yellow. 

The image takes up the majority of the card, which is a standard A2 size, so not too many embellies on this one, just a few flowers and pearls. The sentiment is from a Finnabair stamp set called "Don't Forget to Fly". Here are the direct links to the AW image in both the Etsy shop and the AW store:
https://www.aurorawings.com/store/p461/Petals-in-the-Wind-Digital-Stamp-Aurora-Wings
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/244703178/digital-stamp-petals-in-the-wind?ga_search_query=petals+in+the+wind&ref=shop_items_search_1

Our prizes this challenge will include:

1(one) Artist's Choice Winner to be chosen by Mitzi from all entries using an Aurora Wings image (Custom badge+3 single digital images)

1(one) Random Winner (3 single digital images)

Top 3 To be selected by the Design Teams from all entries (Custom badge+1 single digital image each)

You can find Aurora Wings here:

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog (with new releases)

The Home of Aurora Wings & digi shop

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Facebook Fan Group

Aurora Wings FB Group

Sunset Poppies

Today I have the watercolor stamp "Sunset Poppies" from Rubbernecker Stamps as the start to Rubbernecker Team 1's week to shine.

I successfully used the Ken Oliver Color Bursts in Brights in three different colours (crimson, yellow, and orange) to do this card. I am so proud of myself!! lol! I diluted a little of each colour in some water and used a water brush to apply the colour to the stamp. I started with my lightest colour first and worked my way to crimson. I coloured the entire stamp with the yellow, and for each subsequent colour, coloured a little less of the stamp so there was a gradient.

All of my paper is from the Cupcakes and Carousels collection from Stampin' Up. I also used the "Freehand Border Phrase Set" and the large "Freehand Border" from Rubbernecker on this card.

Tomorrow, May 23, is the start of a new challenge on the blog so make sure you drop by and join us. You can access it by clicking HERE! The prizes are a $25 GC first prize and a $15 GC second place prize to the Rubbernecker store.

'Frame It!' Challenge at Aurora Wings

It is time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings brought to you by the Stella Team. This challenge theme is "Frame It!".

I chose the image "Weeping Rose" for my card, and used a chipboard frame from Make It Crafty, which I covered in Shabby Pink Fran-tage.

I coloured the image with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils. I did her skin with Copics, and went back over the shading with pencils. The flowers are almost entirely pencil. I laid down a very light base colour on the flowers with Copics, then built up the colour from there with pencils. The die cut is from Spellbinders. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts; the ribbon and lace are from Live & Love Crafts. The paper is from Maja Design (Coffee in the Arbour collection).

I hope I have inspired you to create something for this challenge. Pop on over to the challenge blog to enter your creation(s). You can enter up to THREE times if you use an AW image on each entry! The prizes for this challenge are: 1 (one) Artist's Choice Award Winner to be selected from entries using Aurora Wings digis ($20 GC and Badge); 1 (one)  Random Winner ($20 GC); and a TOP 3 Winners to be chosen by the DT ($10 GC and Badge). This challenge runs until May 13.

You can find Aurora Wings here:

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog (with new releases)

The Home of Aurora Wings & digi shop

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Facebook Fan Group

Aurora Wings FB Group 

Build A Garden

For Team 1's Sweet Sunday post I used the new Build a Garden stamp and coordinating die sets.

The paper is from Stampin' Up. I love these new sets that you can stamp and build and layer. The dies are very high quality and they are a lot of fun. 

A new challenge is up and running on the BLOG so go and check it out. The theme is "Easter" so you have no excuse to not join in. I KNOW you have someone to make an Easter card for! 😉 The prizes are a $25 and a $15 gift certificate so don't pass up that opportunity! Head over to the STORE and see what you can find to make that card with!

A Basket of Flowers

Today I have a card that I made with some new photopolymer stamps and coordinating dies from Rubbernecker Stamps. They are brand spankin' new and this is a sneak peek for all of you who love Rubbernecker; these new clear stamps and dies are not even available in store yet. Sorry to tease you, but I couldn't wait to make something with them! They don't have a name yet. They are simply numbered #3008 and the coordinating dies are 3008D. 

I used all the individual flowers that are in this stamp set instead of making a bouquet of just one type of flower. It will give you a better idea of what you get in the collection, and how it looks stamped out. I used foam dots to make the blooms rise off the page a bit.

Even the basket is a die cut. It's a really fabulous set of stamps and the dies are a great quality.

I hope you like these as much as I do. Hopefully they have them in store very soon. I am itching to get my hands on some more, but there were just a few of them released to each of the DT so we could start playing and spreading the word about them. Make sure you are signed up for the newsletter so you are getting all the latest news (like when these hit the store!!). You can sign up at the bottom of the homepage screen.

We are starting a new Rubbernecker challenge this week on the blog, so make sure you pop over there and see what the theme is this week. It starts tomorrow, Tuesday, March 14. The prizes are pretty awesome: a $25 GC for the 1st prize and a $15 GC for the 2nd prize.

Star Flower

Happy Monday! Today I'm using a background stamp called "Star Flower" from Rubbernecker Stamps, along with a sentiment stamp from the "Freehand Border Phrase Set".  

Star Flower

I used the Star Flower stamp with Versa Mark ink and clear embossing powder to heat emboss the stamp. The butterfly die cut is from CC Designs. I layered it together with some pink lacy ribbon from May Arts. I used a butterfly embossing folder from Stampin Up on the back mat.

We are starting a new Rubbernecker challenge this week on the blog, so make sure you pop over there and see what the theme is this week. It starts tomorrow (Tuesday, February 28). The prizes are pretty awesome: a $25 GC for the 1st prize and a $15 GC for the 2nd prize.

Below are the stamps I used for my card today:

Star Flower - http://www.rubbernecker.com/product-p/682.htm

Freehand Border Phrase Set - http://www.rubbernecker.com/product-p/900.htm

Rubbernecker Showcase - Star Flower

I am back today with another Rubbernecker Stamps card using two stamps: Star Flower background stamp and Weeds Be Wildflowers sentiment stamp. I like the idea of using backgrounds stamps to make ordinary cardstock extraordinary. Designer Paper can be so expensive sometimes and taking a plain piece of cardstock, a large background stamp, and some embossing powder is the perfect way to give it some zing. I used Stampendous Kaleidoscope embossing powder to make this card, but the shimmer would not photograph no matter what angle I snapped it from.

Below you can see a close up picture of my embossed Pink Pirouette Stampin' Up paper with the Kaleidoscope embossing powder. My other DP is from Bo Bunny. 

Star Flower

Make sure you check out the Rubbernecker blog for almost daily inspiration from our amazing Design Team. They are killing it!!

Make Mine Girly Girl

Hello out there!! It's time for a new challenge in The East Wind's Facebook group. The theme this month is "Make Mine Girly Girl". I used 'Aurora Maple' for my card and cropped the image. 

I coloured the image with Copics. All of my flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The DP is from DCWV mat Citrus Stack. The butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart.

If this image looks familiar to you, and you know Kit and Clowder, then you will see this image in the Skin and Hair class. I coloured it along with Alyce in the "Close up facial features and eyes" video. It is such an amazing class; I really encourage you to buy this image from TEW and then go enroll in the class. You won't be sorry. ;-)

This contest runs from June 21 - July 17. The first place winner wins three images of their choice from the Etsy store, and the second place winner receives a 25% off coupon to the store. Stop by and join us!!

There are also twice monthly challenges on the blog, so drop by there too and see what's going on and sign up for the newsletter. A freebie goes out on the 1st of every month!

Aurora Wings Guest Designer

Big News!! I was asked to be a guest designer at Aurora Wings this month for the Anything Goes Challenge, and as you can guess, I was beyond flattered (and excited)!! Mitzi Sato-Wiuff, the artist behind Aurora Wings, is celebrating the two year anniversary of the Aurora Wings Challenge Blog this month, so things are going to run a little differently for this challenge. The ATG challenge that starts today is going to have TWICE as many winners as usual. That means that there will be 2 ACA winners, 2 random winners, and 6 DT's picks!! How awesome is that?

Before I get to my project, I want to tell you about some "crafting for a cause" going on in the Aurora Wings Facebook group HERE. Mitzi is sponsoring a fundraiser until April 3, 2016, on YouCaring to help with conservation of the Slow Loris. As a thank you for donating any amount to her YouCaring fundraiser she is offering a gift of a digital stamp drawn specifically for this event, "Slow Loris Sprite". If you donate a minimum of $10 you also receive a "Slow Loris in Leaves" digital stamp. Both of these images are Special Edition and will not be offered in her store at a later date.

With these Special Edition stamps you can enter the Slow Loris colouring contest in the Facebook group until April 10, 2016. The prizes are as follows: One Artist's Choice Winner ($30 USD in digis + blog badge), one random winner ($30 USD in digis), top 5 (2 digis per person + blog badge), honorable mention (blog badge). All participates in this contest will also receive a 'special mention' blog badge for supporting the cause. All of the details about the fundraising and some awesome Design Team inspiration pieces can be found on the Showcase blog HERE.

And now to my project!! I created a little canvas with Orchid Fairy with detailed Butterfly Wings - Shades of Blue. I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils.

To create the canvas I put down a layer of black gesso on a 5"x7" canvas. After the gesso dried, I used Faber Castell Gel Medium and a Tim Holtz Doily stencil to create some texture. Before the gel dried, I added little metal beads hoping they would adhere and dry in the gel (which they did!). After the gel was dry, I used Lindy Stamp Gang sprays in Hydrangea Blue and Lucky Shamrock Green, to add some shimmer and subtle colour to the canvas. I tried to stay in the same colour families that I used on my image so as not to distract from that.

Texture from stencil and the metal beads

I added two small silver metal filigree corner embellishments before affixing the image on the canvas. I almost always like to go a little crooked and off center when placing my image on a project. Maybe because I'm a little off center. haha!! I can hardly help myself. It just looks too neat and tidy to me otherwise.

Texture from stencil using gel medium

As a final touch, I added some mulberry paper flowers to the corners of the image, again staying in the same colour family as my image.

Paper flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts

So that's my turn as a Guest Designer at Aurora Wings. It was a fun little project to do. I hope you like it and I hope you'll leave a little love below in the comments! xoxoxo

New Release at The East Wind

Hello Tuesday!! It`s New Release day over at The East Wind, and today is a fantastic one! (Well, every new release is fantastic, but this one is extra fantastic!) It`s called Marvelous Spatuletail and it is beautiful!

I coloured this with Copic markers, and did a watercolour background. The background didn't come out quite like I hoped, but I wasn't fussy cutting the image out to put it on a different background, so next time I will do the background FIRST. ;-) I printed it out at 5"x5.5" because I wanted to have a lot of space to get in and do her wings. I usually print out at 3.5" (no bigger than 4") for images I'm going to put on a card, but I knew I was going to need a bigger image with this one. 

Pop on over to the Facebook group and join us for contests, and also on the BLOG because they have twice monthly challenges over there! And if you sign up for the newsletter, Unky will send you a sweet freebie on the 1st of every month! On top of that, The East Wind just became a sponsor of Kit and Clowder, so you can see some collaboration between us and Alyce in the near future! See you around crafty land!

Thanks for stopping by!! 

Flower Ballerina

There is an ATG challenge at Aurora Wings and I have been working on this ballerina digi for a couple of weeks now with my Prismacolor pencils. It has been a slow and arduous process, as I'm not usually one to use pencils, so there is a learning curve, plus there is a lot of work with pencils. It's not quite as easy as markers, I'm finding. It is a lot of fun and relaxing for my mind, although I think I am going to end up with carpal tunnel syndrome soon. I am being a bad student and skipping around the Kit & Clowder Perfecting Pencils class, and not doing the actual projects in the class, but watching the videos for "how to" advice. I think Alyce will just be glad I'm using the classes to learn, however I'm choosing to do it. 

The image I used for this is Flower Ballerina. It is very intricate, which is why I wanted to use pencils versus Copics. I thought it would give me a better chance of shading without the ink moving into places I didn't want it to. I printed it at 3.75" tall, so that is really not very big. I had to have very sharp pencils.

The colours I used for her tutu are: Black Cherry, Pomegranate, Pink, and Deco Pink.
I kept the layout simple. I feel like Mitzi's images are so beautiful and detailed, it can be a real disservice to add too much bling to the card itself.

I am entering this into the ATG challenge on the Aurora Wings blog. If you love Aurora Wings, you should head over there and check it out!

Well I hope you like how it turned out! It was a labor of love. Thanks for stopping by!! 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!

New Release at The East Wind

It's another new release over at The East Wind, and today's image is a new Aurora called "Bloom".

Aurora "Bloom"

All of the papers are from Kaisercraft. I got that lovely pearl lace from the Kit & Clowder retreat, so I'm not sure what company it's from. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I coloured the image with Copics using my new Hex Chart, so I used some different colour combos based on that. It's going to be an awesome resource I can tell. 

The Hex Chart is something I discovered while at the retreat, and I shared it recently on Kit & Clowder's Facebook page. It seemed to be a big hit, while others weren't keen on spending the $6 on it. I think a lot of time and effort went into the creation of the chart, and you can't get everything for free. It's worth the money to me to see the different combos you can make. It's a different perspective, for sure. Here's mine all coloured up. Obviously, I need to do some more shopping to connect some of the dots. Lol!!

Hex Chart at Sandy Allnock

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new release. Hopefully you are a member of the Facebook group and are following the blog. Between the two, there are THREE challenges a month with the chance to earn some free digis. And make sure you are signed up for the newsletter to get your freebie on the 1st of every month!

Flowers Challenge at Tiddly Inks

Today is the start of a new challenge at Tiddly Inks and the theme is "May Flowers." You can use flower themed papers, images or stamps with flowers, flowers as embellishments, or even make your own flowers. I used the new image Scooting By w/Kitty for my DT inspiration make this week. Head over there and show us what you got! 

Scooting By w/Kitty

The papers I used are from Michele R Designs (the Coral Chic paper has flowers on it), and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I Am Roses. I coloured the image with Copics.

I went on a shopping excursion to Michaels (a really big craft store here, for those of you who don't have them), and with a list of two items, left with about 20, including my new little easel and a tan linen canvas board I found for staging my cards. I really like the way the photos are turning out now that I have dressed up my staging area. I also invested in some multimedia supplies, so I will have to have a go at that in the near future instead of just making cards all the time. Wish me luck with that endeavor. 

A reminder about the Tiddly Inks Challenge: 

Only cards with Tiddly Inks images or Stamping Bella rubber stamps please.

Challenges must be entered by 10 PM on the following Monday.

We choose One winner per challenge and a top 3. The winner will receive $6 of Tiddly Inks images.

The winners are posted on Friday following the end of the challenge.

Now go get crafty!!

I'm entering this in the following challenges: 
Crafting From the Heart - ATG
Craft Your Passion - ATG
Eureka Stamps - Flowers
Not Just Cards - ATG
Mema's Challenge - ATG
Incy Wincy Designs - Great Outdoors
Stamp and Create - May Flowers
Marker Pop - ATG (colour with Copics)
Come and Get It - Got Flowers?

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! I hope you get to take it easy today and let the men in your life take care of you, or your children, or whoever your significant others are. I decided to do a post for Mother's Day because I went to mail my mom's card and they wanted almost $20 to mail it. Well, I'm pretty cheap when it comes to things like that. If I weren't seeing her in a few weeks I would have went ahead and mailed it, but we will be going to my oldest daughter's high school graduation at the beginning of June, so I think she'll understand if I just bring it to her then. I don't think she would mail a card for $20 either. Anyway, I decided to write a blog post for her as a little present and so she can see the card I made for her.

My mom and I don't live close to one another. She lives in Kentucky and I'm in Alberta, so we only see each other a couple times a year. That is hard for someone like myself who is a self-proclaimed mama's girl. I cried, and I mean cried, when I left home. It was very hard for me. Since then, we've rarely been in the same state, or the same country, or even on the same continent for that matter. We had a few years that we both lived in Florida, so that was awesome, but now here we are again in different countries. My mom worked really hard as a single parent to raise my sister and I. It wasn't easy and I admire her and love her for it more than I can ever tell her.

So Happy Mother's Day Mom!! I love you more than it is possible to tell you!!

On my card, the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I Am Roses. The lace and the pearl string are from Live & Love Crafts. The dove is from Wild Orchid. I used Vintage Flowers digital papers from Michele R Designs.

This sentiment is from Verve Stamps. I stamped it with Color Box Espresso pigment ink and heat embossed it with Recollections clear detail embossing powder.

The butterfly is from Live & Love Crafts. I glued glass beads on for the body. I got that idea from tofa. She has some fantastic projects on her blog. Check her out HERE!

My mom, pregnant with me. We won't talk about what year it was. ;-)

At the lake last summer during her visit. (My oldest daughter isn't in the picture)

Thanks for visiting! I hope you all have a great Mother's Day, or a just a great Sunday if you're not a mom. xx

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Crafting From the Heart - ATG

613 Avenue Create - ATG/ Let's Celebrate 

Amusing - Happy Mother's Day/feminine

Aurora 'Spring Lady" by The East Wind

It's Friday, and you know what that means! It's a new release day at The East Wind! Today is a new Aurora image called "Spring Lady". I really enjoyed colouring this one up with all the folds in her clothes. I thought it would be a good challenge since I am still trying to finish my Clothing technique class over at Kit & Clowder. (I will get it finished one of these days!)

Aurora 'Spring Lady'

I coloured her with Copics, using the following colours:

Skin - E50, E51, E53, R20

Hair - R30, R32, R35

Clothes - BV000, BV00, BV01, BV02, BV04, BV08 and Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11

Shoes - W00, W01, W03, W05, W07

I used coordinating papers from a DCWV Far East mat stack, and Spellbinders Majestic Labels Eight Die Set.  

Make sure you join us on our Facebook page for our current challenge "It Started With a Song," and check out the BLOG for the new "Mother's Day - Add Flowers" challenge starting today! Make sure you are signed up for the newsletter (look for the bright pink box at the top of the page) so you are getting the FREE IMAGE on the 1st of each month. May's freebie is a real cutie!

Thanks for stopping by!! Feel free to leave some love below! I love to read your comments! xx

Flowers

My mother-in-law recently had a birthday and one of my favourite things to colour for her are flowers. In the summer, she has more flowers planted than anyone I know. She has flowers all over her farm, and flowers planted everywhere she can manage at her lakeside cabin. The Aurora Wings image Rose Corner 2 is what I chose to colour for her birthday this year.

I coloured this with Copics using R59, R56, RV34, RV32, RV11, and RV10 for the roses. I used the BG90's for the leaves. I kept it clean and simple and just adhered the flowers on a green mat and stamped "Birthday Blessings".

I'm entering this in the Aurora Wings Flowers challenge.

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

Hybiscus

Happy Monday! It's another new release day at The East Wind. Starting next week, new releases will be Tuesdays and Fridays. Today's new release is "Hybiscus".

I coloured her with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I kept the layout simple because, to be honest, I have been quite sick and having a hard time getting any crafting done.  I'm sure in a week, I'll be thinking, "I should have done this or that," but right now, I'm just glad I finished her.

Make sure you join us on the Facebook page, where we are having a Alice in Wonderland themed challenge from January 21 - February 17. There are also two challenges on the blog every month. And if you haven't signed up for the newsletter, then go do so NOW! There was a freebie in it this month that is absolutely beautiful. And there will be another freebie in it next month as well.