Birthday Hugs!

Happy Monday all! It's a very wet and gloomy Monday here in New England...hence the dark and fuzzy photograph! So sorry! I'll have to try again when the sun returns. I've made this one for my Daddy's 69th birthday today! I started off with Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and I combined it with the High Hopes Stamps Little Gem Challenge. My main image is Huggable Hank and I colored him up with Copic markers (C1, C3, Y11, Y21, YG13, and YG17). There are a few A Muse Twinkling Gems in the corners of my cream panel that I layered onto some retired Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi. The polka dot paper is from the Farm Fresh collection by October Afternoon. I found this matching ribbon in my stash from Martha Stewart and then I added a matching button to go along with my computer generated sentiment.

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. I hope that it is dry in your neck of the woods...Toodles! :D

Keeping It Simple!

Happy Friday everyone! It's Blogger's Challenge day...the best day of the week! Our challenge this week is a sketch from our wonderful "Challenge Mom" Lisa Somerville. I decided to use one of Pink Cat Studio's darling, digital owl images for this one. It's colored up with Copic markers (B0000, B00, B02, C0, E29, E33, E37, R81, R83, R85, YG13, YG17, and YR15) and I used my Nesties for the circles. My card base is Papertrey Ink's Kraft and I added some of my beloved, retired Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean. A touch of Stampin' Up's Regal Rose was added here and there (grosgrain ribbon and layered under the Hero Arts sentiment) along with some Kaiser Craft pearls to finish this simple creation off.

If you'd like to see some more inspiration with this sketch, then click here to see what the other Ladies in the Blogger's Challenge group have come up with. Thank you so much for stopping by today...Toodles! :D

Blogger's Challenge...Finally!

I should have titled this post, "Less is More" because this is one, simple card, but I've had a sinus infection all week (hence the reason I'm doing Blogger's Challenge on Sunday instead of Friday) and this was about the best that I could come up with. Our challenge for this week is called, "Think Spring!" and Spring has certainly hit the New England area this past weekend! The weather was gorgeous here!

My Heather Ellis image is colored with Copic markers and layered onto Stampin' Up's Bashful Blue. The patterned paper is an older line from Imaginisce called For Peep's Sake. I added a strip of So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, some faux stitching, and a few Kaiser Craft Pearls to finish this one off. Like I said, less is more...lol! I'm going to go snuggle up with my laptop and check out what the other Ladies in the Blogger's Challenge group have come up with. You can see all of their creations here. Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit. Hope you have a lovely evening...Toodles! :D

Happy Birthday!

It's Friday...I'm so happy! It has been one long week, and I'm really looking forward to the weekend! This week's Blogger's Challenge is a Birthday theme. It could not have come at a better time for me because I have a bazillion birthdays to celebrate in March! This creation is for my little one who would love to have a dog, but at this point in our busy lives, this is as close as we are getting to having a furry pet...lol!

I colored up this Stampavie image with my Copic markers (B0000, B02, B12, C0, C3, E33, E35, E37, R27, R29, Y11, Y21, YG13, and YG17) and I used my Nesties for the rectangles. The sentiment is a Free digital one from Pink Cat Studio and I added a few buttons to dress it up. The card base is Stampin' Up's Real Red with a layer of retired, Stampin' Up designer paper.

If you are looking for more birthday ideas, then check out what the other Ladies in the Blogger's Challenge group have come up with HERE. It's our challenge Mom's birthday so I'm sure that they came up with something spectacular! Happy Birthday Lisa! Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today...Toodles! :D

Two Blogger's Challenges!

We have been having BIG computer troubles here at our house, so I have not been able to post last week's Blogger's Challenge (Box or Bag) or anything else, for that matter...until now!! We just purchased a new computer and hopefully everything will be up and running for quite a long time now.

I picked up this little chipboard/wooden box at Michaels and covered it with some retired, Stampin' Up Pacific Point DSP. I added one of those sweet, digital Heather Ellis images that I colored up with my Copic markers (B0000, B00, B12, B14, E000, E01, E53, E55, E57, R20, R29, Y21, YR15, YG93, and YG95). My Nesties were used for the ovals and then a strip of Pacific Point ribbon helps tie the whole thing together. Here's a picture of the side of the box.

Now onto this week's challenge...green, white, and neutrals. This Heather Ellis image is actually part of the Pure Innocence line from My Favorite Things.


I used Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select White Cardstock and Memento Ink for my image and then colored her skin, hair, and rain slicker with Copic Markers (E000, E01, R20, C0, E17, E25, E29, G40, and G82). I'm getting all of the practice that I can with these markers...lol! I did a little paper piecing with some retired Certainly Celery prints from Stampin' Up for the umbrella and boots and then I added a sentiment from A Muse Artstamps.

Thanks so much for visiting today, and thanks for hanging in there with me through all of these technical difficulties. As soon as I finish my dinner, I'll be off to check out what the other Ladies from the Blogger's Challenge group have been up to. Just click on the link in my right side bar if you want to join me. Have a lovely evening...Toodles! :D

More Copic Practice!

I am loving my new markers! This is my second attempt using the Copics. I need to find myself a class so I can get some better results with them, but I'm still loving them. Today was definitely a day for some coloring. When I color, it relaxes me, and it has certainly been one of those days. Short version of the story...my little one, who is afraid of the dentist, needed to have a tooth pulled!!! Wonderful news though...bravest day of both of our lives...lol! Everything went beautifully, but we were both so nervous and stressed about the whole situation that it was just nice to spend some time coloring this evening and let the stress go away.

I started with this delightful Pure Innocence image from Heather Ellis. Isn't she just darling! She is colored up with quite a few Copic markers. I used B0000, BG11, BG15, E000, E01, E53, E55, E57, G24, G82, R20, R22, R24, R29, Y21, YG95, and YG97. Then I was fortunate to find this retired Stampin' Up paper in my stash. Note to self...find paper first, color second! One would think that by now, I would know that...ugh! I was also fortunate enough to find Mercy's Sketch Challenge today. This was my first time joining in, and I hope that I get to again very soon. Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit this evening...Toodles! :D

Guess What I Bought?

I know that it's getting late, but technically, it is still Friday...lol! We've had major computer troubles over here at the Gajewski house today, so I am just now posting my Blogger's Challenge for this week. Lisa gave us a fantastic sketch challenge and I always LOVE those. Thanks Lisa!

My card base is Stampin' Up's So Saffron with Real Red accents and a layer of retired DSP. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and I used a Helz Cuppleditch image from Stampavie called Surprise. Have you guessed what I bought yet...? I have finally invested in Copic Markers and I must say...I'm loving them! I definitely need to take a class to learn how to work with them more, but I am very pleased with my first attempt.

What I have learned about Copic markers has come mostly from three wonderful ladies...Debbie Olson, Kerry Donovan-Casey, and Suzanne Dean. You see, I've been stalking (in a good way...lol), reading, and studying their blogs constantly over the last few days to learn everything that I could about Copics before I made my big purchase. Their blogs are just a wealth of information and Suzanne even has You-Tube videos to watch. So Ladies, to you I must say THANK YOU! I truly appreciate all of your help. I also need to thank my friend Clara because she has been a huge help to me as well.

If you'd like to see some more creations with Lisa's sketch, just click on the Blogger's Challenge logo in my right side bar. Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit...Toodles! :D

Happy Heart Day!

It's Friday! What a weird kind of week...Monday just sort of happened, I missed school on Tuesday because I had to attend a conference and then on Wednesday...we had a SNOW DAY, Thursday flew by, and here we are Friday again! Now, I have the upcoming week off, and I am looking forward to it very much! I'm hoping to get some much needed stamping accomplished.

As you can see, this week's Blogger's Challenge is Valentines. I was inspired by Nancy Riley's use of this set (SU's Season of Friendship). I loved the idea of adding hearts to the tree. My card is a little bit different because I used heart buttons from Mike's instead of hearts from a punch. I made a couple hills with the Old Olive DSP from Stampin' Up! I added some May Arts ribbon to the top and I used the sentiment from the Happy Heart Day set. You can see Nancy's beautiful card here. Thanks for the inspiration Nancy!

If you are looking for a few more Valentine ideas before the big day on Sunday, just head on over to the other Ladies' blogs in the challenge group here. I hope that you have a lovely day, and thanks so much for stopping by...Toodles! :D

Just Under the Wire!

Well, I just made it! I have wanted to participate in the High Hopes Stamps Valentines challenge all week, but then I realized that I didn't have any of their "Valentine" stamps. With a little improvising and some help from a computer generated sentiment...this is what I came up with.

Again, I was inspired by an older sketch that I found over on the Card Positioning Systems blog. I started with a Kraft base. Then I used my little HH sleuth and added some hearts from Hero Arts for him to discover. He's colored up with Prismas and blended with baby oil. When I stopped in at AC Moore this week, I was lucky enough to score one of those Fiskars Apron Lace punches that everyone seems to be using. I used it here on the bottom of a piece of retired Stampin' Up DSP. The wonderful, little heart buttons are from Mikes.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I've been up to. Stay warm, and enjoy the rest of your weekend...Toodles! :D