Life is Better...

 Hello friends, 

It has been almost a month since I've posted. YIKES!   I know I've said some of this before... but here is what I've been upto:  I've definitely been busy spending as much time as possible outside.  I was going a little stir crazy in the house during quarantine.  Once summer arrived, I took every advantage of going outside.  We still have been quarantining, but we moved our family to the lake.  It has slowed my card making process down considerably, but it is a small price to pay for some sanity.   I hope you are soaking up the sun and finding ways to keep your mind and body healthy.  I will do my best to not let another month creep by without stopping in and sharing something crafty. 

I made this card about a year ago, but it was another one that slipped through the cracks.  I love summer cards. This fox has looks about as comfortable as you can get.    I used one of my favorite stamp sets to create the water in the background.  This set makes creating water scenes a breeze.

Stamps used:

Ocean and sentiment

Animals stamps

Copics used:

Fox: E99, E97, E95, E93

Coconut: E71, E74, E77, 

Towel: BV04, BV02, BV00, BV000

Red: R29, R24

Orange: YR07, YR04, YR02

Yellow: Y15, Y13, Y11

Green: YG09, YG06, YG03

Blue: B02, B01, B00

Purple: BV04, BV02, BV00

You are Made to Soar

Hello friends,

Aren't these elephant adorable?  You can't see their mouths, but you can just tell they are smiling.  Hopefully they make you smile a little today. 

Hugs to you all,
Chris

Copics used:

Grey: C5, C3, C1, C0
Pink: R00
Purple: BV04, BV02, BV01, BV00
Pink: R30, R32, R35, R37
Blue: B02, B01, B00, B000
glitter
white gel pen

Let them Eat Cake-- House Mouse

Hello all,

Well our world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus.  As we all adjust to this new "normal",  I thought we could all use a smile.  I reached for a my favorite group of stamps.   House Mouse is hosting a birthday challenge.  I hope you will check in here to see what all the talented ladies are making. 

 Since,  I'll be sitting home for the next weeks. I thought this guy had the right idea.  I hope you all are staying healthy. 

Copics used:

Mouse: E30, E31, E33,  E000, E00, E93
Cake: C0, C1, C3
Chocolate: E21, E23, E25, E27
Plate: YR20, YR21, YR23
Ground: W3, W1, W0
Pink: R00, R21, R22, R83

Dancing on Tables

Hello Party People!

I have a fun card to share with you today.  I LOVE the sentiment.  This is a birthday card, but I think you could use it for a lot of different types of celebrations.  What do you think?

Copics used:

Skin: E000, E00, E11, N13
Black: 100, N9, N7, N5, N3
Grey: N3, N1
Towel: E50, E53
Hair: E40, E41, E42, E43, E44
Ground: W3, W1, 0
Champagne: YR23, Y2, glitter pen
white gel pen


Inside:

Life is a Party

Hello all,

I'm on a House Mouse kick!  I love these little guys.  This stamp is from the original collection....meaning it is about 20 years old.  Yikes!!!  That makes me feel old!

I wanted to switch it up a little and make an off center card.  I trimmed off a few inches of card stock on the edge so you can see right into the center of the card.  It isn't fancy, but make the card more playful.

I'm most proud of the dimension on this card.  I wanted to pop up the umbrella.  My first thought was to stamp the image again and color it, cut it out, and use a dimensional adhesive.  However, I spent a ton of time shading the umbrella to get it to look real.  The thought of covering up all that hard work made my head hurt (a few months ago...I wouldn't have thought anything of it.  It is amazing how a baby changes you).    What to do??? What to do???   It was a little risky, but I pulled out my scalpel (aka exacto knife) and cut along the bottom edge of the umbrella.  Then I stuck a pop-dot underneath.  I tried to capture this in the photos.  It looks really cool.  I like it even better than my original idea.

Copics used:
Mouse: E30, E31, E33, E000, E00, E11, E93
Umbrella: BG10, BG11, BG13, BG15, BG18-- E71, E74, E77
Confetti-- random colors
Ground: W3, W1

Birthday Celebrations

Hey Friends,

Thanks for going me today.  I needed a break from Christmas and thinking about snow.  I've been making so many quick and easy cards to get ready for the holiday... I was ready to sit down an really push myself to do something more challenging.  I just took my time and really enjoyed coloring her.

Skin: E000, E00, E11, E13
Eyes: E21, E23, E27
Red: R14, R24, R29, R39, R59 ( I left areas white to emphasize the highlights)
Blue: B00, B02, B05
Gold: Y00, Y17, Y26
Hair: E50, E31, E33, YR31
Grey: C1, C3
Confetti:  Pick the colors you love!

If you are tired of red...try coloring her in pink or purple.  I think she would look great in either!

Balloon and Stars

Hello friends,

I have a fun masculine birthday card to share today.  I love this technique.  I layered inks to get an ombre effect.  I think I'd like to try this again in some other colors.  I think there is some cool possibilities with this technique.

No copics today.
Optional: I added a little glitter to the balloons.  It doesn't show up well in the photos

Music is Food for the Soul

Hello friends,

I never thought today would come!  This card has been in the works for weeks and weeks.  I colored up this adorable House Mouse image...and then got stuck.  I really wanted to get finished into a card. I had some ideas, but each one fizzed out.   In the end, I kept it simple.  What do you think?   What song do you think they are playing?

Brown Mice: E30, E31, E33, E35
Grey Mice: W3, W1, W0
Mice Skin: E000, E00, E93
Piano: YR20, YR21, YR23, YR24  and E23, E25, E27
Harp: E21, E23, E25, E27
Drum: E51, E53, G21, G24, G28
Horn and Guitar: Y23, Y26, Y28
Black: N5, N7, N9, 100
Stool: C3, C5, C7
Shadows: C1, BV23, BV25

Celebrate with Cake

Hello friends,

Today is Throwback Thursday.  I've been slowly cleaning out my crafting desk.  I keep finding all sorts of goodies.   I made this card about two years ago... I don't know how, but I forgot about it and it was lost in a pile of stuff.  I was so glad when I found it.  This mouse is so cute!  

Copics used:

Mouse: E000, E00, E30, E31, E33 (If I were to redo this card I would add E93)
Cake: Y11, Y13
Icing: E44, E47 (If I were to redo this I think I would add E49)
Plate: C3, C1
Pink: RV11, RV13, RV14
Ground: W3, W1, W0

Never Have Too Much Happy

Happy Monday!

You Can Never Have Too Much Happy was the theme of this weekend.  Connor and I embarked on a 3 day, 750 mile road trip to visit friends and to attend two weddings.   It was a whirlwind of weekend, but it was filled with HAPPY.  It was really nice to see our friends from Delaware.  We miss and think about them often.  I'm so glad we were able to share in their happiness as they start their marriage together.  Then the next day we attended Connor's cousin's wedding.  It was exhausting and really neat to attend two wedding ceremonies back to back.  They were both so different and special in their own way.

I've already posted the wedding cards I made for each of them...so I thought I'd share this cutie today.

Copics used:
Pink: R000, R00, R01, R21
Hair: Y00, Y11, Y21,
Skin: E000, E00, E11
pan: C3, C1, C0
Bubbles: B63, B60, B000
Ground: W3, W1, W0, 0

Party Animal

Happy Saturday!!

We made it through another work week.  Time to CELEBRATE!!!!

 No copics today!!

One of a Minion

Hello again,

Have you heard?  The Minion are getting their own movie.  It comes out next month!  I watched the movie preview and a smile was plastered on my face .  These guys are just silly.

Connor helped me design this card.  It was so adorable I wanted to share.  It is really easy and fairly fast to put together.  If you want a card kit click here.

I made a move to show you easy it is to assemble.  If you are watching this in your email. It won't play.  You have to go to the webpage or youtube to see it.

No copics today!!

Rainbows and Butterflies

Happy Memorial Day,

For my family this is the official start of summer and lake season has begun.    This weekend is also packed with chores trying to remove any traces that winter has left.   I know many people today are attending parades and cook-outs.   Hopefully whatever your plans today, you are spending it with loved ones.

Butterflies are a favorite of mine.  I also LOVE the color!  This card is a match made in heaven. The contrast with the black butterfly is perfect.  Surprisingly, it doesn't use copics.  I did it all with sponging.   Then I added some sparkle (can't really see this in the photos).

Stay posted... I have two more butterfly card to share this week!

Close up of the detail.  The card has great texture and sparkles.  I wish the camera could pick this up. 

No copics today!

Great, Big Puppy Birthday

Hello friends, 

If you have been following the blog or know me at all than you know I'm not a fan of the cold.  If I had my way, I would live on the equator.  This weekend, Connor and I decided to drive to the lake  to check on cottage and docks.   We had heard the lake was frozen (very unusual) and wanted to see it for ourselves.   It was beautiful and quiet.  We had a great time playing on the ice.  In my next post, I'll share a video of the dogs playing.  It makes me laugh.  They were so happy! 

Some of the ladies had been asking me for some masculine birthday cards.  Manly cards can be a challenge to make.  I dug through my stamps looking for an image that is suitable for a man and I stumbled across this stamp.    I love the way he is looking at that grasshopper.  The grasshopper looks worried too.  "Is he going to be friends with me or eat me?"

First thing I did here was use a multi-liner to draw the markings on the dog.  It isn't as hard as you think, the markings on a dog are random so it won't matter if you it is perfect.  If this is too stressful, you don't have to do this at all.  You can color him all one color.  He looks good all brown.  I wouldn't recommend black. I just thought the markings would add some personality to the puppy. 

Grey: N3, N1, 0

Black: 100, N9, N7, N5

Brown: E30, E31, E33, E35

Light Green: YG00, YG01, YG03

Dark Green: YG03, YG06, YG09

Grass: G40, G43 G46

Keeping Our Eyes on Noel

Merry Christmas Eve,

Rudolph is helping me keep a look out for Santa.  Originally I wasn't planning on putting Googly eyes on this card, but it wouldn't be the same without them.  I hope Santa arrives at your house soon!

No Copics today!