Pumpkin Blessings

I used the new Sherrod Studio Harvest Blessings set for the pumpkin image and sentiment. These pumpkins are great fun to color and I love all the different thankful sentiments that are in this set.

I have a couple of things to let you know, the first is Your Memories Here is having a Grand-Re-Opening which means a big sale and prizes too! Kristina is offering 10% off your purchase (this even includes items from the CLEARANCE category!) All you have to do is enter Big_Event in voucher code box at check out. I will also be posting give aways all this week on this blog. Sign up to follow and check back for your chance to enter the drawings.

The other fun thing is happening tomorrow and it's a new release blog hop for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. There are 2 adorable winter/ Christmas sets coming out each for under $6! I have the full line up on the top of my right side bar, so be sure to do some hopping tomorrow:)

Thanks so much for dropping by, your comments leave a big smile on my face!

Supplies:
Stamps: Harvest Blessings, Sherrod Studio
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento, Prussian Blue, Palette, Brown chalk ink
Paper: BG, The Paper Co., PTI Kraft, Gina K Pure Lux 120#
Tools: Textile embossing folder, Cuttlebug, Long Rectangle Nestibilites, EK Success border punch
Other: Copics, Prismacolor Pencils

Chalked Baby Carriage

I got some goodies from Your Memories Here and used them to make this baby card. I really like the Pebbles brand of chalk and used one of the baby stencils to make the carriage. The stencils are great as they are very thin and it's easy to chalk right over them. The ribbon is also from Pebbles and is super soft and easy to tie. The flowers are Prima and the sentiment was cut using my Cricut and New Arrival. You can find the Pebbles chalks, stencils and ribbon along with Prima flowers and Cricut products at Your Memories Here.com Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Wedding Card

Good Saturday to you! Today we have a wedding to attend so I of course needed to make a card. Well, with all the company I've had lately I never got around to it, so needed to come up with something rather quick and simple. So I turned on my Cricut and used the fabulous cartridge, Wild Card for the bride and groom cut. I added a vellum oval layered over white and embossed the vellum to give it more dimension. The bit of orange I pulled from the wedding invitation as it seems that will be one of the colors. Hope you like it! Have a wonderful weekend:)

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI, Everyday Classics
Tools: Wild Card, Cricut, Paper piercer, Long rectangle Nesties, Classic Oval Nesties, Divine Swirl embossing folder, Cuttlebug
Other: Pearls, Stickles, Ribbon

Your Next Stamp 1st Design Team Call

A new stamp company called Your Next Stamp is looking for their first design team and I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring. They have super adorable stamps and they need to be colored which I love! So I needed to choose 2 of my favorite cards, which wasn't an easy choice, but I went with these because they showcase my coloring and well, I like them:) Thanks for dropping by!

Sweet N' Sassy Blog HOP!

Welcome to the Sweet 'n Sassy blog hop! Sorry I'm a little late in posting, had some unexpected company come stay with us:) This month we are featuring the beautiful scripture sets that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps offers. For my card I chose one of my all time favorite verses.

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us... Ephesians 3:20"

This verse comes from the Encouragement Scripture set. For the butterflies I used one of my favorite sets, In His Time and for the grass behind the vellum I used Dream Silhouettes. I added some Stickles to the butterflies and some tiny pearls to their bodies.

No matter what we go through in life if you are living for Christ all things do work out for our best and they work out beyond what our imagination of best is. If you are going through a hard time keep your eyes turned toward Him and keep persevering on knowing that you will not be disappointed with what God has planned for you!

Now hop on over to Lisa Hjulberg blog and have a blessed day!

Simple Rose

The flower set, Friendship Blossoms from Sherrod Studio is really great for quick, pretty cards. The sentiments are so sweet to, like this one, "Thank you for always being there for me." I used the solid rose image and solid leaves for this one and the largest corner flourish. This card was done in under 10 min. The rose is a bit sparkly as I added some stickles to it. It is nice when you are short on time to make a quick, but pretty card that I'm sure anyone would be happy to receieve. I hope you are all having a great Wednesday! I am off to take my daughter to the Dr. for a check up and more immunizations :( Thanks so much for dropping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Friendship Blossoms, Sherrod Studio
Paper: K&Co.
Ink: Hibisucs, PTI, Versafine Onyx Black
Tools: MS border punch, EK Success corner rounder
Other: Stickles

Your Memories Here

I am happy to have found out that I was chosen to be on a new DT! It's for an online store called Your Memories Here. I am very honored to be designing for this shop and hope to inspire you with more projects and plan on using my poor neglected Cricut(s) a lot more! Be sure to stop by the other talented ladies that joined the team too:)

Brenda
Sandy

Lisa
Linda
Samantha
Karli
Kristina

Copics, Prismacolor Pencils and Paper

I wanted to share a comparison of paper that I have personally researched in my attempt to find what I feel is the best paper for using Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies, this is just my personal findings that I am sharing in hopes that it will help you too:)

I have tried the following brands of paper, using both Copics and Prismacolor pencils.

*Georgia Pacific (the cheap cardstock found at Walmart)

*PTI (Paper Trey Ink Stampers Select White)

*Neenah Solar White

*Flourishes

*Gina K Pure Luxury 120#

Of all of these I am most pleased with the Gina K. It is a wonderful weight, though not quite as heavy as PTI's, but it is incredibly smooth. This paper feels different to the touch and the way Copics and Prismacolor pencils take to it, it will be my permanent choice of paper.

The other papers all have a lot more "tooth" to them, or are rougher and not as tightly woven so the Copic ink gets pulled into the paper a lot more which means you are using more ink out of your pens. The Gina K 120# also has no bleed through on the back which all of the other papers do. The only thing one may not like about the Gina K paper that is different than the others listed is that the Copic colors are more muted with one layer colored in. Since the ink "floats" more on the top of the paper instead of sinking in you may need or want to add more to the parts of your image you wish to be brighter. That is the only negative I saw with this paper.

The Prismacolor pencils drag a lot more on the other papers and do not blend as seemlessly as on the Gina K. In most of my coloring now I am using a combination of Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I first color my entire image with my Copics and then for the areas I want deeper shadows or more depth I go back over the Copics with my pencils. Because the Gina K paper is so smooth the pencils have no issue being colored and blended over the Copics. If you have both mediums it is a great way to supplement your Copic colors for a lot less money.

The visual I did is a test of 3 things. The number 1 spot shows me holding Copic color R89 with the brush tip to the paper for a total of 3 seconds. This is to demonstrate how much ink is flowing out of the pen into the paper.

The second slot, (2) shows a small circle of Prismacolor pencil not blended with Gamsol or baby oil. I personally use baby oil.

The third slot, (3) shows the blended same size circle of Prismacolor pencil as in slot 2. I blended it with baby oil and a Ranger dry nib as far as I could get the pigment to go.

I also showed the backside of each sample and though the baby oil spot will disappear on all the papers after more time it is not there at all on the Gina K.





















I hope this is informative and helpful. I did a lot of online reading about paper and Copics and was delighted when I discovered that the Gina K. paper works so beautifully for the Prismacolor pencils as well. The only place you can order the Gina K. paper is through Gina K. Here. I have seen many other stampers get amazing and beautiful results with the other papers I tried, so it really comes down to a matter of personal preference. If you have any thoughts or questions please let me know and I'll do my best to answer you! Thanks so much for stopping by and please leave me a comment letting me know if this was helpful. Happy coloring!

Uninked Stamps

Well, I have been a bit remiss is posting as much as I usually do lately. I have been pretty busy, but life is soon to go back to it's normal pace. I have decided to start a little challenge for myself that makes me ink up those stamps that have never seen ink or haven't seen it in a long time. The card above uses one such stamp. It's called Peony Square by Stampendous. I colored it with a combination of Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I am working on a post that will share with you the differences between papers I've tried for sucess with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I am personally convinced that I have found the best paper for using both mediums either seperately or together and also giving some tips that I find useful in coloring. I hope you enjoy this card and will join me in inking up some stamps that haven't seen an ink pad in too long:) If you do let me know, I'd love to come take a peek!

Supplies:
Stamps: Peony Square, Stampendous, PTI sentiment
Paper: BG Sultry, BoBunny green polka dots, The Paper Co.
Tools: EK Success scallop border punch
Other: PTI ribbon, Copics, Prismacolor pencils

Autumn Berries

I love this berry branch...I suppose it could be interrupted as olives too, but I am going with autumn berries:) The background paper was stamped and colored in with my Prismacolor pencils. I just love the look of those pencils on Kraft paper. All the stamps are from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set, Autumn Blessings. Do you have a fun weekend planned? My family and I are going down to a creek to spend the day, the kids just love the water! I am really looking forward to it. Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: SSS Autumn Blessings
Paper: Gina K pure lux 120#, PTI Kraft
Tools: MS punch, Embossing folder, Cuttlebug
Other: Copics, Prismacolor pencils

Autumn Thanks

I have needed several thank you cards, so this is the first of a few you will see ;) I used the newly released Friendship Blossoms from Sherrod Studio for my flowers, leaves and corner embellishment. The Sentiment is from Sweet'n Sassy's set, Autumn Blessings. I used two colors of ink at the same time to get the variegated look on the flowers. When you do this remember to ink with your lightest color first, then darkest. I have forgotten this before and it's not a pretty sight on your ink pad! The polka dots were stamped with a new borders set I picked up at Mikes for $6 :) Gotta love those 40% off coupons! I hope you have having a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Friendship Blossoms, Sherrod Studio, Sentiment, SSS Autumn Blessings
Ink: PTI, Melon Berry, Summer Sunrise, Adirondak, Rust
Tools: EK Success corner rounder
Other: Gold gel pen

SSS17- Back to School or Fall

This week the Sweet Stop sketch blog has a spin, make a card with a back to school or fall theme. I used one of Deedee's adorable digi bears, Leave Me Smiling. I colored him with Copics and added a partially stamped branch from the Sweet Dreams set. A lot of people seem to like the fall season and though there are things I like about it the ensuing cold weather is not one of them! It is fun to be using a different color scheme and you'll be seeing quite a few fall inspired creations:) Thanks so much for dropping by and as always your comments really do leave a smile on my face!

Supplies:
Stamps: Leave Me Smiling, digi set, Sweet Dreams, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Paper: Gina K pure lux 120#, DP?
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
Tools: Embossing folder, Swiss Dots, Cuttlebug, MS lattich punch, Nestibilites classic circle, paper piercer
Other: Twine, Copics

Sweet Dreams

Well, my weekend was so busy (but fun!) that I didn't have time to create at all! So I am sharing another baby card I did recently. This uses a Flourishes set that is just so sweet. The image is colored with Copics and I stamped the background stars on the Aqua Mist panel. I hope you have a great Monday:)

Supplies:
Stamps: Flourishes, Rock A Bye, Star stamp (forget from where:)
Paper: PTI, Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Gina K pure lux 120#
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Aqua Mist, Palette
Tools: Embossing folder, Cuttlebug, Nestiblilites, EK Success corner rounder
Other: Faux dew drops, ribbon, Stickles, Copics

Baby Hippo

I am constantly making baby cards, so be happy I don't show them all to you! *lol* I do like to share my favorite ones and this is one of them. I used the super cute set, Baby Blessings from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and decided to paper piece this sweet hippo. I carefully positioned her so that the flowers on the paper would end up where I wanted and gave her a bit of sparkle with some Stickles dots. I used some more of those tiny brads that I have, love them! They add a lot without being bulky for sending through the mail. Mike's has them on sale so I think I'm going to go pick up a few more packs ;) I hope you have a fun weekend planned. Mine is busy as a dear friend is coming in to town tomorrow and then it's her and my mom's birthday on Sunday! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Baby Blessings, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Ink: Versa fine Onyx Black
Tools: Embossing folder, Swiss Dots, Cuttlebug, MS border punch, EK Success photo corner punch, paper piercer
Other: Ribbon, Stickles

Sweet Birthday

I have been wanting to use this adorable digi image called, A Gift For You from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and finally got a chance to. I just love how sweet that squirrel is holding the present. Have you tried digital stamps? If you haven't you should! They are very inexpensive and easy to re-size and you can print them over and over and maybe the best part is they don't take up any storage space in your craft space! (Think, more paper or other goodies;) This image is only $2.25! Click HERE to directly to it:) You should also check out all the other stamps in the store as they are ALL on sale for 25% off! Makes your stamping budget stretch a lot farther:) I hope you are having a great Friday and have a fun weekend ahead! Thanks so much for dropping by and especially when you leave me a comment, really brightens my day:)

Supplies:
Stamps: A Gift For You digital stamp, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, PTI, Beautiful Blooms
Paper: PTI, Pink Patterns, The Paper Company
Ink: Versa fine Onyx Black
Tools: EK Success corner rounder, MS border punch, MS branch punch, MS butterfly punch
Other: buttons, Prima flower, white gel pen

Release Day For Sherrod Studio!

Today is release day for Sherrod Studio! Fun, huh? I hope you've enjoyed the peeks this week, this is my last card to show you...for now ;) It uses the set Harvest Blessings. Aren't these the cutest little pilgrims? I have a little boy and girl and it would be so cute to dress them up like this for Thanksgiving:) The pumpkins and sentiment are also in this set and the pumpkin image is actually almost twice as long as what I used. I just cut out the section I wanted and popped them up for added interest. The images were colored with Copics and Prismacolor pencils and I added some embossed panels below the focal image. The flower is from Paper Blooms and is a new style:)

Don't forget to hop on over to the Sherrod Studio Blog and leave a comment for your chance to win some free stamps! And if you'd like to see some more inspiration today go check out what the rest of the DT has to show you. Thanks so much for joining me!

Kim Sherrod - Owner

Mary Vogel
Kathi Carlson
Sparkle Smith
Ceal Pritchett
Joseline Capre
Mary Griffiths
Dawn Barrett
Kelly Becker

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday- Scoring

This is my first time to play along with the weekly challenge over at the Flourishes Newsletter blog. I have long wanted to play with some Flourishes images and finally got to make an order with them and am loving their stamps! This week's challenge is to use scoring on your card. Mine uses a couple of very specifically placed scored lines that highlight some piercing and 3 tiny brads. They have these new brads in at my Mikes and I am so in love with them! The image I chose is called Strawberries and I just love it! I colored it with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils. I hope you like it:) And don't forget to scroll down if you haven't seen today's sneak peek for Sherrod Studio! Thank you for dropping by today!


Supplies:
Stamps: Flourishes, Strawberries
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Creamy Brown Chalk Ink
Paper: K& Co. PTI, Aqua Mist, Gina K 120# Pure Lux
Tools: Classic circle Nesite, Friskars scallop punch, embossing folder, Swiss Dots
Coloring: Copics and Prismacolor pencils, baby oil
Other: Ribbon, brads, Recollections

Sherrod Studio Peek 3- Friendship

Another sneak peek for you today! I am again using the Friendship Blossoms set. There are several sizes of flowers in this set and this is one of the largest. I just love the look of white craft ink on kraft paper, so that what's I did to showcase these flowers for you today. I used CTMH white daisy ink and random stamped this large, solid floral image all over. Then went back with CTMH Chocolate ink and added the centers, which is a separate stamp! I cut a Labels 1 Nestie and stamped the sentiment also in this set and with a Copic marker highlighted the main words. The lacey border was made using a MS punch and I added some PTI ribbon to finish it off. I hope you have been enjoying these sneak peeks! I have one more for you tomorrow, so be sure to come back and see me! And don't forget to check out the Sherrod Studio blog and leave a comment! You might win some free stamps:) Take a look at what the rest of the DT came up with today!

Kelly Becker
Dawn Barrett
Mary Griffiths
Joseline Capre
Ceal Pritchett
Sparkle Smith
Kathi Carlson
Mary Vogel

Sherrod Studio Sneak Peek Day 2- Blessings

Hi! Today I am sharing an image with you from another one of 3 sets that will be released on Thursday from Sherrod Studio! This one comes from Harvest Blessings, a wonderful Thanksgiving themed set. I have always loved the cornucopia image and this one is just perfect! I colored it with Copics and stamped the sentiment on the same panel as the image which is also in the set. There are several more sentiments, a cute pilgrim couple and a turkey in this set as well. If you want to start early on your Thanksgiving cards and gifts this set would be perfect! Be sure to visit the Sherrod Studio Blog and leave a comment on the 13th to be elegible to win some free stamps! Now hop on over to see what the rest of the DT is showing off today and be sure to visit me tomorrow as I have another creation to share featuring Friendship Blossoms:)

• Kim Sherrod - Owner
• Mary Vogel
• Kathi Carlson
• Sparkle Smith
• Ceal Pritchett
• Joseline Capre
• Mary Griffiths
• Dawn Barrett
• Kelly Becker

Sherrod Studio Sneak Peeks Day 1!

Today begins the sneak peeks for the 3 new stamp sets being released from Sherrod Studio on Thursday the 13th. I'll have something to share with you every day until then, and be sure to stop by and comment on the Sherrod Studio blog each day as there will be a drawing to win free stamps on the release day!

My card features a very versatile flower set called Friendship Blossoms. For the large rose image I stamped it twice and colored it with Copics and on the second flower cut out the middle portion and popped it up. The daisies were also colored with Copics and popped up for added demension. The leaves are yet another stamp in the set which are a breeze to cut out and place wherever you'd like. The pretty swirlly coners and sentiment are also in this set.

The quote reads:
"To the soul there is hardly anything more healing than friendship."-Thomas Moore

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT's creations to see more peeks! And come back tomorrow when I'll show you glimpse of another new set:)

Kim Sherrod - Owner

Mary Vogel

Kathi Carlson

Sparkle Smith

Ceal Pritchett

Joseline Capre

Mary Griffiths

Dawn Barrett

Kelly Becker

Cherish

I have many things to cherish. Yesterday was my husband and I's 10th anniversary:) Today we are going to go out alone for awhile as my parents are watching the kids for us. Yea! I have been so blessed to be married for this long to my very best friend. And he totally "gets" my crafting obsession and even indulges me in it. So I cherish him.

I cherish the friends I have. In person and online. Some I've never met in person, some live far away and some are close by, but they are all very special to me. I was blessed to receive this blog award by 2 such people, Sandy and Kaye. Be sure to visit them:)
I'm going to pass this award on to a few of my cherished friends today...

Christi
Cassie
PeggySue
BethieJ
Rose
Shelly
Ann
Holly

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to enjoy a wonderful day with my husband:) Hugs to you!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, In His Time, PTI Sweet Love
Paper: PTI, Pink Patterns, The Paper Co.
Other: Embossing folder, Swiss Dots, 1" circle punch, PTI ribbon, Copics and Prismacolor pencils

Playing with Die Cuts

I have a Cricut machine. In fact I have 2 Cricut machines, a Create and and Expression. I know, a little over kill but I do love them and they each have their place. In general I use them mostly for LO's I do (I despise stamping individual letters) but in most of my crafting they are sadly neglected. I feel intimidated by die cuts, not sure what to do with them...so I challenged myself to make a card using a die cut as my focal image and only stamping the sentiment. This was my result. The pretty floral branch was cut from the StoryBook cartridge and the little swirl is a Quick Kuts die. The other detail I added that I haven't used before was micro-beads for the center of the flowers. Gave it nice texture. I can't say I'm overly thrilled with this card, but I am die cut challenged. For now. What do you think? :)

Supplies:
Tools: Cricut Story Book cartridge, Friskars border punch, EK Success photo corner punch, sewing machine
Other: micro beads, Copics
Stamps: PTI sentiment

Simple Thinking of you

This is an image that I've had in my stash for quite sometime that has never seen ink. I'm sure none of you have images like that ;) So I finally inked it up and colored it with Copics and made a little card out of it. It's an Anna Griffith image, I believe that I got at Mike's on clearance. I hope you are having a good day...it's almost Friday! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Anna Griffith basket, PTI sentiment
Paper: Gina K Lux 120#, CTMH, Paper Co.
Other: Copics, Classic Oval Nestie, Paper Piercer, PTI ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Big Dreams- SNSS15

This card is based on this weeks The Sweet Stop sketch. Come join in! This is a different look for me using that pattern paper, but I like to try new things here and there ;) The stamp set is from SNSS, Dream Silhouettes, one of my favorites! I hope you enjoy it and are having a great Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it so much:)

Supplies:
Stamps, SNSS, Dream Silhouettes
Tools: Classic oval Nestibilites, Friskars border punch
Other: $ ribbon, faux dew drops

Beautiful-Pink Elehpant Challenge

The challenge over at The Pink Elephant is to use 3 brads, one flower and designer paper. I used a CHF stamp for my focal image from the ATC line. The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, In His Time. The paper is from K&Co. Cut 'n Paste. I hope you like it:) Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: ATC, CHF, SNSS, In His Time
Tools: Labels 1 Nestibilities, Quick Kuts swirl die, Paper piercer, MM
Other: Prima Flower, MM paper flower, brads, Copics, PIT ribbon

Seashore Thoughts

A very clean and simple card today using the Sherrod Studio, By The Seashore set. I just love these two little ones playing in the sand. They are colored with my Copics on some new Gina K Pure Luxury 120# paper. I love how this paper is ultra smooth and there is no bleed through with the Copics which is amazing. From all the reading I did about it you are suppose to be using less ink when using this paper, so I am really hoping that's true! The little seashell image was stamped in white craft ink and clear embossed and then I went around the outside of the image and highlighted it with a white gel pen. I finally got some super fine detail clear embossing powder and wow, does it make a difference! If you don't have any you should get some:) Sneak peeks for the new releases at Sherrod Studio are going to begin on the 10th, so be watching. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:
Stamps: By The Seashore, Sherrod Studio
Paper: Gina K pure Lux 120#, The Paper Co. kraft
Other: Copics, detail clear embossing powder, Ranger, 1" circle punch

More Birthday gifts

I had so much fun making this little birthday set for a dear friend. I used the adorable image, Charlie Daisy because my friend loves horses, so this image was perfect! The little bag was made using my Expression and the Bags, Tags and Boxes cartridge. The paper base is PTI's Hibiscus Burst and I stamped the pattern on it with white CTMH ink using 4 little individual stamps from the Charlie Daisy set.

*Tip: when wanting to get a background pattern with small, individual stamps, arrange them all on your block and stamp them together, like they are one stamp. Makes a cohesive background and saves time!*

My friend really loved it, I hope you do to! Have a wonderful Monday:)

Supplies:
Stamps: Charlie Daisy, Clear Dollar stamps
Paper: PTI Hibiscus Burst, Gina K pure luxurey 120#
Tools: Cricut Expression, Tags, Bags, Boxes cart, MS punch, Cuttlebug, Swiss dot embossing folder
Other: Copic markers, Ribbon, PTI, Sweet Blush, buttons, silk flowers

In the Garden...

Another birthday card for you today, though this one won't stay in my stash. A lady at church put in an order with me for a few birthday cards and requested the one for her sister be something about gardening, so I thought my new Thomas Kinkade image from Cornish Heritage Farms would be perfect. I enjoyed coloring in the image so much! I know I've said it before, but the clean look you can get with the Copics verses the Prismacolor pencils is just wonderful. Granted, I still love my pencils for certian looks, but the extrememly detailed Thomas Kinkade images are not one of them! I hope you like it:) And thank you for all your kind comments.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Rose Garden, Thomas Kinkade, Cornish Heritage Farms,PTI, Mixed Messages
Tools: Cuttlebug tiny tags die, sewing machine, white thread
Other: Copics