Art Dolls and a Card

Our inchie swap group decided to switch to making art dolls this year. I am so very excited about this as I will be able to finally use my collection of Art doll part stamps!!!

I adore the lovely and elegant dolls that my three swap partners sent me this month! I'm afraid my January doll turned out to be more wacky and whimsical than lovely...

I originally planned to make a jester doll for this month's theme.. Then I saw a picture of a cute bulldog online and wanted an excuse to try and color my new bulldog stamp to match it. I then decided to make my jester doll a jester dog. However, once I got the googley eyes on the dog and the pearls on the hat, I had another change of plans... I realized that instead of looking like a jester, he looked like one of those over-dressed, crazy little old ladies you see at the all-you-can-eat buffets on Sunday afternoons after church lets out. (I know you know which little old ladies I'm talking about... The ones with the maniacal glint in their eyes who look like they wouldn't hesitate to smack you with their handbags if you got between them and the fried chicken ...) Anyway, I decided to go with this new look and accessorize my dog doll accordingly.

I've also finished my February art doll:

Week #1 Swap cardThe card this week had to have either a basket or a vase of flowers on it.

I had a difficult time with this theme as none of our flower vase/basket stamps seemed to inspire me. I finally ended up making a shabby chic type card but I still am not really sure if I liked the flowers I stamped in the vase.

It's a Christmas Miracle!

You'll never believe it! I have actually finished all my Christmas cards and ATCs BEFORE the holiday! Yes, you read that right!!! My envelopes are already addressed and my cards will go out first thing on Monday. They should make it to your mailboxes just in time for Christmas this year instead of the usual two months late! God bless us everyone!

This is the first time I have tried making these pull-out, pop up cards. They were lots of fun! I stamped one of my favorite Penny Black cat images and colored them with Copics to make four different color combinations of my cards. The above photo shows them "open."

I just had to get this Penny Black snowman image when I heard it was being retired! I made these thank you cards using leftover papers from my Christmas cards.

I also put together some quick fall ATCs and used the pull-out, pop-up card pattern to make some snowman ATCs.

Finally, I just couldn't resist showing off this photo of my sweet, furry stamping buddy!

I wish you all a safe and blessed holiday season!
I look forward to sharing more artwork with you in 2010!

Halloween Cards and Oodles of Inchies!

I am a little late posting this... Here is my Halloween card.

I love this Trick or Treat stamp by Penny Black!

Here are my inchies for the last three swaps of the year:

I am happy to report that I am over halfway through with my Christmas cards and ATCs! I hate to jinx myself by saying this, but I may actually get them mailed before Christmas this year!!!!

PS: Look for the new Hero Arts 2010 Catalog sneak peek blinkie off to the side of my blog. I can't wait to see the new catalog! I am so excited!!!

Even More Cards!

Swap card -week #7:

Last week's swap card had to use stamping items that were new to us. I used a new clear stamp set that I found at Michael's and I used the new Spellbinder's Fleur del Lis Medallion die set to cut the tropical leaves.

Swap card -week #8:
This is the last week of the card swap and the theme was "Friendship."

I had seen this card idea on the Hero Arts Flickr group several months back and had been dying to try it. I really enjoyed making this one! The inside reads "Where you are, JOY blossoms." The card is not blurry in real life - I promise!

The third card is a thank you I made for a friend.

I won a fabulous giveaway that she had on her blog.

Seriously, if you haven't been to Jan's blog lately and seen her AWESOME(!!!) owls and other artwork, you really need to go look: http://www.artfriendzy.blogspot.com/

More Cards!

Since they are finally in the mail, I can show you the thank you cards that I made for all the awesome birthday mail that I received this year. I LOVE this Magenta tree stamp!!!!!!!

The theme for this week's swap card was coffee or tea:

I couldn't let this swap go by without using my swap partner's favorite Ink Bottle Girl stamp! I wish my scanner had picked up all the shimmer from the Spica pens and the Glimmer Mists...

Another Swap Card & Inchies

The theme for Week #4 of our swap was Dogs or Cats.

I got my inspiration from a card by Faith (snap_scrap_stamp) on Split Coast Stampers. I just love her artwork!

Our inchies theme for September was Dogs, Cats or Pigs.

More Star Book

Continued from my last post...

Page 2:

Page 3:
Page 4:

Page 5:

Page 6:

Thanks for looking!

Mini Star Album

Every year I make a Butterfly theme mini album for a friend on her birthday. This year I used Graphic 45 papers to make a Star Album. This is the first time I have ever made a star album and I think there are a few things I would like to do differently next time, but I am still pretty happy with the final product. The pictures are a tiny bit blurry, but hopefully you will still find them viewable. I choose to blame the camera and not the photographer as I have tried everything I can think of to take clear photos with this camera and it just doesn't want to cooperate...

Cover (closed):

Open:
Cover (front and back):
I used Grunge Paper for the spine.


Page 1:


To be continued in my next post.

Swap Cards #1-3

The theme for week # 1 was bling:

The theme for week #2 was animals:
The theme for week #3 was anything that flies:

Another Catch Up Post!

This is the first of four posts I will be making tonight. I have lots of artwork to upload since it has been so long since I have updated my blog!

First, I have to show off my new Copic marker holder! I am so happy to have it! It is going to make my life even easier!!!!

I have to show off this picture of my very happy Cricket. This picture was just too adorable not to share!

These are my August Inchies:

(The theme was chickens or owls.)
I added way too many pearls to the owl and now it kind of resembles a Cher wig, LOL!

I've also been busy making bunch of birthday cards for the rest of the year and into next year, but I can't post them as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Stay tuned for more...