Whirlpool of Imagination

Softpencil Studio Blog Hopping!

Good morning! In order to celebrate some of the most adorable digi characters around, Softpencil Studios is doing itup in style with some blog hopping. If you want to see all the wonderful creations along the way, START HERE.

If you are coming from the Latina Crafter blog, you are in the right place in the blog hop line.

And now on to my creations.......

I decided to go with a cute little ladybug and flower image for my stop in the hop. And what's so wonderful about digi images is that you can play with their size and shape and come up with more than one look for the price of just one stamp.

Here's my first creation:

I kept this one around and average size for images. I knew I wanted to cut it out into some shape so that helped when I went to print the image out.

I used a mixtures of copic and prismacolor markers for all these images. I wanted to play around with different colros and shades of colors along with the different sizes. And I decided to have a bit of fun with my laybug and change up her colors along the way too. (I almost decided to go for something crazy like an electric blue ladybug but didn't for this hop but I haven't given up the idea yet!)

Here I decided to make the image longer so I could make the image the highlight of the card.

This size image would also work nicely on a longer, taller card as well.

And then finally, I shrunk the image down....

I love having note cards ready to go and how cute is this image for just about any type of note you need to send.

Have some fun with your digi's and play with their sizes. It's like getting multiple stamps for the price of one!

And now enough talk from me, head on over to Kerry is chilling..... to continue your hopping.

Have a fantastic day!

A Late Halloween

After a crazy winter storm in the end of October, losing power for 7 days and having the kids out of school for a total of 7 lost weekdays, this month has started with quite a bang.

I am finally getting myself out of the mental fog that enforced "vacation" created and getting back on track. But before I say goodbye to Halloween, I wanted to share just two more cards.

Both Meg and Conor had Halloween parties this year and, as usual, I wanted to create something fun for their invitations. I will admit though that this year was busier than most so I kept them much simpler than in the past.

Conor's invite featured a mummy digi stamp from Spyder's Corner. This is a new digi company that I tried and I have to give kudos for fantastic customer service. I had a problem with the download and Lyn was very responsive and helpful. I will definitely buy from her again.

He was colored with copic markers and I used a red spica pen for just a touch of sparkle to those bloodshot eyes.

For Meg, we went the witch route from a fantastic digi stamp from Mo Manning, digi stamps that are always fabulous.

My witch is colored with copic markers. For her hair, I used prismacolor markers and baby oil to smooth the pencil lines out.

The parties were a bug success (and exhausting for the adults - LOL) and I'm very glad to be moving on from this crazy year of no Halloween. Finally I can look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Have a fantastic day!

Love Birds

Shamrock is loving the basement lately as it's the coolest place in the house. He has his spot on the couch in direct line of the blowing cool air so he's as happy as a clam. I'm happy too because I can then get some stamping done without worrying about him getting into anything.

I was in the mood to use a digi stamp so I printed off these cute birds in a tree from Pink Cat Studio.

Tree and birds are colored with copic markers.

Given the cute "love bird" look, I decided to go with a anniversary sentiment.

I couldn't decide which of the colors to pair together so I picked all three from the coloring and made those into the card stock layers.

And now I'm off to book club. Have a great night!

Quick Thank You's

I've come to realize that making thank you notes for Meg and Conor to send should be a quick and easy process and to keep things simple. For Conor's recent birthday party, I drew upon a digi stamp to make the process very quick and easy.

The digi stamp is from Bugaboo. I worked out the layer size in Word and was able to add the stamp right where I wanted it placed. Print and do some paper cutter magic with a quick black layer and I was good to go.

I decided to print these on a light colored cardstock so I wouldn't have to color the image, thus saving oodles of time.

They are all written and sent so now I can close the books on yet another party. Of course he's already trying to decide what to do for next year!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Magical Birthday

It's time for Conor's birthday and I've finally got his birthday invitations made and sent out. He likes magic (probably due to his sister's obsession with Harry Potter these last few years) so I drew heavily on that for his invites.

This fun image is a digi stamp from Bugaboo. My wizard is colored with copic and prismacolor markers and sponged with a little distress ink.

The sentiment is from Verve and the little stars behind the sentiment are from Papertrey. The dies for the sentiment layer are also from Papertrey.

Can you believe it's May already? I've got another couple of crazy weeks and then I might be able to breathe again. I think most of my crafting projects are done because I HAVE to make it rather than just getting around to puttering around in my studio. Ah well, what I should be doing is cleaning my studio. After several weeks of last minute projects, it looks like a hurricane blew through (and you all know how much I "love" to re-organize my stuff!)

Have a great night!

Oval Scallop with Flowers

This month I challenged my card makers guild to create a card that was not a square or rectangle and contained flowers somewhere on the card.

I was super impressed with the creativity the card makers showed. My month was wacky crazy and my mojo stalled a bit, so I went with a basic oval.

The card shape was made using a nestibility die. The flowers are a digi stamp but I'm not sure what company this is.

I used copic markers to color it in and added some stickles to the flower centers for some sparkle.

I am not mulling over the challenge for May - if I remember I'll post it here if you would like to play along too.

Have a great night!

Flowered Cross

Happy Friday! Since today is Good Friday, I decided it would be a good day for a card with a cross.

I just found a new digital stamp company (well, at least new to me) and my ordering finger had to try out a few. The image is a digi stamp from Just Inklined.

The image was colored with various copic markers.

The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions ~ I thought it went nicely with the image.

Quiet day here after a crazy busy April vacation. I think the kids needed a day of nothing ~ I know I did.

Have a great day!

Red Tulip and Ladybug

I am determined to see flowers, even if it's just on my own blog! I went bright with this tulip so I could get a springy feel and combined that with the red and white combo to make it simple and crisp.

The image is a digi stamp from Bugaboo. It's colored with copic and prismacolor markers.

I just got a new lens to play with so here's a close up.

So, we're supposed to get snow tonight. I'm going with the theory that it's all an April Fool's joke.  I figure even Mother Nature needs to play tricks too.

Hope you are having a lovely day!

Fun Birthday Girl

It's always fun to be the friend of a paper crafter. They can surprise you in fun ways.

Christy, the talented owner of Tiddly Inks put a request out to the paper craft world. She would provide the digi stamp if we would make a birthday card for a friend of hers turning 40. I love her stamnps and thought it would be fun so I took the challenge on.

Fun image, right?

The image is colored with copic and prismacolor markers along with pc pencils and baby oil for the hair. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

With the exclamation point solid, I thought the black, white and red made a great combo. I'm happy with the card. I'm hoping Christy and her friend are too!

Have a great day!

New Baby Girl

After a crazy week, today is a me day. Well, a clean the house and then enjoy myself me day.

There's a new baby card on tap for today.

I went completely traditional with the pink for a baby girl.

The card started with this cute digital image from Tiddly Inks. She's colored with copic markers.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

This polka dot ribbon is so pretty in person and it comes in a bunch of colors. I hear them calling my name........

I'm off to get a bit crafty, after I vacuum that is. Have a great day!