Penny Black goodness

Hello, friends! Happy September! Honestly, where did the month of August go? This month will be super busy for me. Our kitchen renovation will begin and I'm trying to imagine what the demolition process will be like and wondering how much crafting time I'll have with construction going on. Wish me luck!

For the recent Penny Black ATC swap, I was partnered with Jie Ying in Singapore. Here are her ATCs that she sent me using her Penny Black stamps. Aren't they adorable? Little works of art. I just love that hedgie!

And she even included a birthday card for me--I love the little peephole! Thank you so much, Jie Ying!

Lastly, here's a card that I made with Penny Black's Magical Mimi. I used pastels for a different look and colored the image with Copics. Her dress and the mushrooms were popped up with dimensional adhesive.

Reverse Wonky Rectangles were used for the card base, and I embossed the frame with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I applied some Glossy Accents to the bee, butterfly, and ladybug, and some Diamond Stickles to Mimi's wings. The sentiment is from Nina Brackett's Heartily Yours Additions.


Thanks, always, for stopping by! See you soon!

Penny Black ATC swap

I joined Penny Black's recent ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap and my partner was Jie Ying who lives in Singapore. We decided to create three ATCs using whatever Penny Black stamps we owned.

Here's what I sent to Jie Ying.

The first uses some houses from Air Mail, a fun, whimsical set that I won on the Penny Black blog. I ink distressed the sky and ground with distress inks and colored all the images with Copics. The sentiment is by Hero Arts, and I finished it off with a bit of twine and some gemstones.

The second ATC uses an older stamp called Brush Tulips. I ink distressed the ATC with Victorian Velvet and Scattered Straw distress inks, and stamped the image with Vintage Photo.

I water splotched the surface and stamped the manuscript from Hero Arts. I inked the word "Dream" from a Hero Arts stamp, and added a few pearls to complete the ATC.

The last ATC is my fave. I used the dog from Mimi in Paris, colored him with Copics and drew in some grass to ground him. I stamped the sentiment and added some punched butterflies for dimension. See the one on his nose?

I love creating ATCs and the challenge to fit a design on a small space. I'll be sharing Jie Ying's ATCs later this week, along with a Penny Black card.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're off to a great week!

Hero Arts ATC swap

A few months ago, Heather Maria hosted a Hero Arts ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap and I thought it would be fun to join in. I was paired up with Janet (swanlady21) and we decided to both use Starburst Lace and any bird image.

Here's the ATC that I sent Janet. I stamped Starburst Lace in the corner and used Peeled Paint and Broken China to ink distress the background. I used the dove from Swirl Christmas because I wanted a bird in flight.

I added a few drops of Liquid Pearls and the sentiment is by Hero Arts, too.


It took FOREVER for my ATC to reach Janet! Did I mention that she lives in Mauritius? We were probably the "furthest apart ATC partners living on an island" in the swap! When I mailed the ATC, the postal clerk did a double take at the address and asked, "Where?" I said, "Mauritius. It's near Madagascar." And he said, "Ohhhhh......" and I'm sure he still didn't know!

Long story short, I received Janet's beautiful ATCs and she FINALLY received mine, a good 5 weeks later! Here they are:

ATCs created by Janet Ribet (swanlady21)

Aren't they gorgeous? I love how one depicts a sun, and the other, a moon. She also included some beautiful papers and die cuts. Thank you, Janet, and thanks for being so patient, too!

Despite the stress of wondering if my parcel got lost, it was a fun swap and I hope to participate in future swaps again. I just won't send them by surfboard anymore...

Hope you're having a safe and Happy Fourth of July holiday!

Hello Friend

The latest challenge at Hero Arts is Fabulous Flowers and ATCs, with a technique using colored pencils.

For my ATC, I stamped the bicycle and clear embossed it then ink distressed with some distress inks, then water splotched the sky. I punched out some mini flowers and added them to the basket, and stamped the sentiment after cutting it apart to fit.

The ATC looked a little lonely by itself, so I mounted it on a kraft card and then layered it on to some dark brown cardstock, both of which were stamped with Large Canvas Stripes. I used more of Kiara's pink seam binding for a scrunched bow. Now my ATC has a home.

Stamps: All Hero Arts
Cardstock: Paper Accents, Stampin Up
Ink: Versamark, Ranger distress inks
Other: Clear embossing powder, flower punch, seam binding from Kiara, pop dots

A "no tricks" giveaway!

Note: Giveaways are closed; winners have been chosen. Thanks for playing, and good luck next time!

Hi all! When I helped the fabulous Amy Young preview her Sweet November Halloween babies a few months ago, she generously gave me a set of the cuties and I'd like to share a couple of them with you.

I put together a little trick or treat giveaway which includes:

• a 6x6" paper pad of Basic Grey's Ambrosia papers (because I think they look Halloweenish) 
• 1 Sweet November Hero stamp 
• 1 Sweet November Kitty stamp
• 1 pack of Doodlebug Designs Halloween brads

And I'll even add some sweet treats, too! Simply leave me a comment and I will choose a random winner on Friday, October 22nd. I realize it's not enough time to make this year's Halloween cards, but you'll be early for next year! 

Sneaking in one more ATC using Tiddly Inks' Batty image. Since I printed out six of the same digis on one sheet, I made 6 ATCs. 


I added Christy's decorative crescent moon which makes this a little bigger than your typical ATC and I'm entering it in Tiddly Inks' Challenge #25--Anything Halloween.


Thanks for visiting today! Hope you're all off to a good weekend!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks, Hero Arts (bats), Lawn Fawn (alphabet)
Ink: Memento; Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot distress ink
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Other: Copics, Sharpie white poster paint pen

Tiddly Inks Challenge #24 -- ATCs

The latest challenge at Tiddly Inks is to create an ATC, or Artist Trading Card. I couldn't resist joining the challenge--I love making ATCs! I wanted to use one of Christy's cute Halloween digis and decided on Batty with her pet bat on a leash.

I used two different distress inks for the background--Pumice Stone and Black Soot--and did some water splotching and added some white dots. I colored one of the images and left the other "as is" for a different look. The finished size for each is 2.5 by 3.5".

You have a few more days to join the challenge over at Tiddly Inks. ATCs are fun and making them can be quite addictive. Plus, it's a good way to use your scraps!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks digital stamp, Hero Arts (bats), Studio g alphabet stamps
Ink: Pumice Stone, Black Soot distress inks; Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Other: Copics, Sharpie white poster paint pen