3000 Member Celebration Showcase for Aurora Wings

It's an exciting day at the Stamps by AuroraWings Facebook Group as we're celebrating 3000 members with a party and Special Showcase Extravaganza. The Showcase, Aurora and Stella teams have come together with an amazing assortment of new images you're sure to fall in love with.  What better way to get this party STARTED!

I'm thrilled to be showcasing Rococco Cinderella Full Version available exclusively at AW.com HERE.  This gorgeous image prints beautifully as a full coloring page or can be resized for smaller projects.  I printed mine half size and matted with several design paper patterns from K&Co, making it suitable for framing.

Here's  Rococco Cinderella Full Version uncolored.  What a great scene for practicing your backgrounds and light source.

Here's a closeup.  I know such large expanses of background can seem daunting, but by breaking it down, and working a section at a time, it's not only manageable, but a fun way to relax and get lost in the magic you're making.

I've colored entirely with Copics, including some of the fluorescent to capture the glow of her enchanted carriage.  It would be lovely cropped for a card or done in the Spotlight technique too, don't you think?

I'm entering this in the World Wide Open Design Team 15th May Challenge #22 and the Classic Design Team Open June #16.

And what would a celebration be without some new little Sprites?  I've made a CAS card with the png version of Lupine Sprite, available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com by cropping, resizing, flipping and layering bits of the original image to resemble a lovely natural cluster, perfect for a thank you card.  Before printing, I recolored just the cropped lupine flower head digi lines to a soft gray in my Printmaster Platinum program and colored them lightly with Copic V20 and BV01 to keep Lupine Sprite the star.  It was serendipity that the cluster (with sentiment, no less!) fit perfectly in the center of the Grace's Frame Cuttlebug embossing folder and all I had to do was add a mat and pop it all on a 5x6 1/2" card, et voila!  Don't you love it?

I'm entering this in the Outlawz CAS Fave Technique challenge, the DL.Art Thankful Thursday Patriotic (or thank you) and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #59 AG.

Are you excited yet?  Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Click HERE to check out the fabulous inspiration of all SIX of the new images by participating members of ALL the AW teams and a sneaky peek silhouette of the freebie that will be available on the Showcase Blog (for 24 hours) in a separate post after the FB party on Saturday at 6:00pm EDT.

In the meantime, here's the coupon for partygoers, good throughout the weekend at both AW.com and AW Etsy.

Now, shall we all head back to the AW FB Group Celebration to play?  Best of luck and have fun!

New Release from Sandra Caldwell

It's Friday, and that means new release day for Sandra Caldwell.  You can check out the fabulous new digis and inspiration by the team in the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans FB Group.  I'm showcasing the adorable #1596 Dancing Rose Hippo.  Isn't she the sweetest?  She just called for PINK and the fabulous rose Die cut by Joy Crafts that I layered and inked with Distress.  I've also added a die cut doily from Cheery Lynn and triple picot edge bow to further the delicate feminine theme.

Here's a closeup of this cutie prior to fussy cutting.  She's colored with Copics and I love her to bits.

I'd also like to invite you to the Kat Paws Challenge, hosted by me, in the Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans FB Group.  6 adorable cat digis are on sale for only $1.50 through June 22.  You can view them all (including the 2 new ones) HERE.  Hope to see you there.

I'm adding this to the DL.Art June Linky AG challenge, Crafty Friends Make it Pink, June 2 Crafty Critter Crazies and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #59 AG.

Kat Paws Challenge

I'm hosting the monthly challenge, Kat Paws June 8-22, in the Sandra Caldwell Stamps Fans FB Group and I've chosen 4 stamps + two bonus new release stamps Sandra made just for the challenge. They are on sale for only $1.50, now through the duration of the challenge.  You can find them all HERE.  My first inspiration is #770 Beach Ball Kat I'm posting to make the Outlawz Festive Fridays Playful Kittens theme.  I colored him with Copics to match the bright DP I used from the Boardwalk Collection from BoBunny and added sand pail and shovel brads for more fun.  OOPS!  I don't think he'll be playing with that beach ball for very long.  LOL

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art June Linky Challenge, the SUYP (cats only) June Furrything Goes, and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends. #59 AG.

Let's Celebrate at Aurora Wings

Our new challenge begins today at Aurora Wings with the theme of Celebration.

There are so many occasions to choose, but I went ahead with a Christmas card because that's one of the biggest celebrations at our house.  I chose the adorable Holiday Wreath Sprite, exclusive to the Christmas Sprites half size coloring book, available HERE on Etsy and made a fairly CAS card using several embossing folders and metallic red card stock.  

Six of the images is this sweet little book are available as digis, but there are also six images you'll only find in the book.  What I've done is scanned those exclusive images and saved them to my computer to use on projects.  Even if you already own some of the Christmas Sprites, the little book is a deal at only $7.00 for 12 images and you can either keep it for yourself, or give it as a gift. Everyone loves coloring Mitzi's Sprites, don'tcha think? (And wouldn't you be the clever one starting your Christmas Shopping early?)

So here's a closeup of Holiday Wreath Sprite.  After scanning, I sized her to fit in the Cuttlebug Wreath embossing folder and printed her several times so I could layer for dimension.  She's colored with Copics, and the fur on her outfit and boots is flocked with Sparkly Fluff.

First I just colored over the entire wreath with a dark green Copic and then I used the Martha Stewart pine branch punch in two shades of green (the darker one I colored myself) and glued them on.  The holly, poinsettia and candy canes were colored and fussy cut from the original image, and I added gold metallic stars and a few more epoxy berries where they belonged on the wreath, but were too small for my eyes and hands to manage cutting.  The silver bell was actually the end of a ball chain pull that hubby asked if I had any use for (I've trained him well) and turned out to be exactly the right size.

Finally, here's the dimensional view. Only the bloomers and boots are flat to the card stock because I embossed over the first printed image.  The coat and sleeves were fussy cut and glued directly over the first image (to disguise the embossing) and additional layers were colored, cut and popped accordingly. Gotta say I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

Be sure to stop by the Aurora Wings Challenge Blog to see the fabulous inspiration from my Stella teamies and come play along.

And speaking of Celebrations, look what's coming this weekend!  See ya there!

Here's how to keep up with what's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop (newly revamped!)

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering thhis in the DL.Art June Linky challenge, Simons Says Wednesday AG, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #59 AG, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday Add Stars, the Outlawz Festive Fridays Christmas Theme, Incy Wincy June AG, Weekly Christmas Card Challenge #14 AG, 613 Avenue Create AG/optional Stamping with and Embossing folder, Allsorts Christmas in June, CHNC #336, CHNC June Christmas Extra, Crafting with Dragonflies #82 AG, Come and Get It AG, A Perfect Time to Craft June Open challenge AG, Crafts Galore Encore June AG, Happy Little Stampers June Christmas, 12 Months of Christmas June Link Up, Merry Christmas Challenge June AG, TTRCD Week of May 30 AG, Classic DT Open Challenge June AG#15 (1/3),  World Wide Open DT Challenge #22 May (3/3) and Kerst /Christmas June FB Challenge.

A Quickie for a Couple of Challenges

I have been crafting but they're for later in the week.  Here's a quickie I did just now for the Tuesday Color challenge and the Festive Friday theme of A Card with String on the Outlawz Forum.  Digital Papers are from the Burlap Beach collection from We Are 3.  the Crab pic is from Gecko Galz and I've used some of my new nautical/beach/sea dies from Spellbinders and Kat Scrappiness that I've inked with Distress.  (And of course there's the string from my stash.  Here's the inspiration pic from the Color challenge with the Twist At the Seaside.

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art June AG Linky challenge, the DL.Art Thankful Thursday Boys/and or Men Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #59 AG, Simon Says Wednesday AG  and Dies R Us #74 Masculine.

Cute Sock Monkey Baby Card

Made this cute baby card thinking I still had time for the Miss Daisy Stamps part of the Spring Fling Challenges at Markers! Papers! Digis! FB Group but NOPE. That ended May 27th but I still had time to enter the May AG Challenge in the Miss Daisy Stamps FB Group.  WooHoo!  The cute little monkey is from the Bloomin' Monkey set and comes with a brother too.  I decided to try to make her a sock monkey by paper piecing digi paper from the We Are 3 Toasty Warm Collection and the rest of her was colored with Copics.  The patchwork  DP is from an old Designer Mat Pad from K&Co.  Added a button to the center of the flower and called it done.  Kind of a rush job, but I still think it's cute.

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, the Outlawz Paper Ala Mode Paper Piecing Challenge, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday AG challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends AG and Simon Says Wednesday Furry Friends.

Magic Tea Garden Event at Markers! Papers! Digis

There's a Spring Fling Event going on in the Markers! Papers! Digis! FB Group through the end of the month.  Several of the sponsors have challenges and this is the first I'm entering for Sandra Caldwell's Magic Tea Garden.  You know I love me ANYTHING that has to do with Alice in Wonderland, so I had a ball with Sandra's digi, that you can find HERE.  I've colored with Copics and used digital paper from the Gecko Galz Ask Alice pack.  I was surprised today with a birthday card and goodies from my friend Diana Larson, of DL.Art, including some flowers in the perfect colors for my project.  Thanks, Diana!  I used Nuvo Drops for the centers of the small and a resin teapot for the larger and spelled out the sentiment in square Alpha Beads.

I'm also entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #58 AG. 

Another for Sandra Caldwell and the Outlawz

Right now Sandra Caldwell has 25 of her Patriot and Americana stamps at a 50% discount through May 25th  (see them all HERE) and launched a challenge on her FB Group page to use any of the stamps in a project but no red, white or blue.  This time I've colored #26 Big Drummer Hippo with Copics and a gold metallic gel pen.  Come on over and join the fun.  Contest runs through May 25th.  I'm again doing "double duty" by using the fab sketch from the Outlawz Wednesday Sketch Challenge.  Old glitter DP from DCWV. Trim, music notes and metallic buttons from my stash.

  
I'm also entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #58 AG and Simon Says Wednesday A Bit of Sparkle.

Outlawz Tuesday Color +

It's getting harder and harder for me to keep up with all of the events and challenges out there on FB, Blogs and other forums so I find myself trying hard to do "double duty" so I can fit them all in.  Right now Sandra Caldwell has 25 of her Patriot and Americana stamps at a 50% discount through May 25th  (see them all HERE) and launched a challenge on her FB Group page to use any of the stamps in a project but no red, white or blue.  Eiyiyi!  I started out with #1095 Raggedy Cats Americana and realized that today was the last day for the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge with this lovely inspiration pic.

That helped a lot, since choosing colors often takes me days and I also remembered this weathered wood background DP and color coordinating striped glitter paper that reminded me of the ties.  The kitties are colored with Copics and cut and matted with Spellbinders Labels 12.  I added the musical notes (from Jolee's) because they look like they're singing "Happy Birthday" to join in the May SUYP Furrything Goes/Birthday Challenge.

I'm also entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, Simon Says Wednesday A Bit of Sparkle (the striped DP is glittered, you just can't see it in the pic), Pile it On #130 Animals, Simon Says Monday Little Critters and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #58 AG.

Millie Mermaid

It's a new release day for Sandra Caldwell and I'm showcasing about the cutest little mermaid you ever did see.  Meet #1570 Millie Mermaid and I gotta say I fell in love with her the minute I saw that precious face.  I wanted her to have special treatment so I actually used the background technique from the May Kit and Clowder Monthly Markers Class and I'm absolutely thrilled with how she came out.  This is the first time EVER I've used a class on one of my projects (yeah, my BAD) but it won't be the last, for sure.

Here's a closeup of #1570 Millie Mermaid.  She's colored entirely with Copics with a bit of white gel pen on the bubbles.  Isn't she just the cutest ever?

The actual project is a center step using my Spellbinders Grand Labels One which was a bit of an afterthought. I'd played around with this design and this base was sitting on my table.  That's why you can't really tell from the front because the front mat is so large it obscures the steps but I still love the way it turned out.  The bubble paper is digital from La Isla Bonita from Gecko Galz. The sentiment and shell borders are from Graphic 45.  I've also added a Magnolia die cut, fishy stickers from Little B, a starfish and crab from JoLee's and some netting recycled from a produce bag.  Can you tell I really had a ball with this one?  Every Friday is new release day for Sandra Caldwell so be sure to check out all of the new designs.  Inspiration can be found by my teamies in the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans FB Group.

P.S.  Sandra is having a fabulous 50% off Memorial Day Sale through May 31 that you must check out HERE.  Patriotic and Americana stamps included are already discounted. Not only that, but if you buy 6 or more (at ANY price) you get 2 FREE (at ANY price!). WooHoo!  Message Sandra Caldwell on FB with # and Name of digis you choose.  Join the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans FB Group  to keep up with all that's happening.  Steampunk Silly Contest ends TODAY!

I'm entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday AG/By the Sea, the Outlawz Festive Fridays Card with Gold Fish,  TTRCD May 16th AG, the May Classic Design Team Open challenge #14 (3/3), Inspiration Destination AG, May World Wide Design Team Open Challenge AG (2/3), Aud Sentiments AG/w Sentiment, Craft Rocket #37 Fantasy, TTPH #125 AG, Crafts Galore Encore AG, Fab 'n' Funky Create a Background, the Corrosive Challenge May AG and Creative Moments #118 AG. 

Steampunk Silly

I'm a bit behind in playing in some challenges due to some (semi) surprise house guests and am trying to catch up by doing a bit of combining.  First of all, the Steampunk Silly contest runs through May 19th on the Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans FB Group with 6 Steampunk images currently discounted in Sandra's Etsy Shop HERE.  Although I hope to do more, my first entry is with #1541 Steampunk Kitty Max , not only because I love kitties, but also because I had a kitty named Max who has crossed over the rainbow bridge.  He's colored with Copics with some gold and silver gel pen.  The fab hardware is Tim Holtz. Thought maybe a 12 year old boy might think this was a cool birthday card and the numbers worked well for the sketch detail.

I've used the sketch from this past week's Outlawz Sketch challenge (which ends today) and also made it masculine (sort of goes without saying in this case, eh?) for the Outlawz Saturday Paper Ala Mode and a birthday card for the MAY SUYP (cat's only) Furrything Goes/Birthday challenge.

I'm also entering this in the DL.Art May Linky Challenge, 2 Crafty Critter Crazies May AG/with animals, Crafty Hazelnut's May Patterned Paper Challenge, Pile it On #130 Animals, Crafty Animals AG, and My Time to Craft Masculine.

My Secret Garden for Aurora Wings

I can hardly believe it's our 50th challenge at Aurora Wings and I've been there since the beginning.  Well, time certainly flies when you're having fun and I have enjoyed every minute.  Our new theme is My Secret Garden and I've made a (rather large) wall hanging using the gorgeous new(ish) Lady Blossom available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  Believe it or not, I actually chose my Copic colors prior to choosing my DP.  Gotta love that K&Company.  The gorgeous hand dyed crinkle ribbon is from DL.Art.

I was particularly thrilled with the theme of My Secret Garden.  It brought me back to my childhood where I lived across the street from my grade school and part of the playground was an incline wooded area left to nature.  I loved to play there, especially during school breaks, imagining fairies, elves and trolls living among the plants and in tree hollows.  I was particularly fond of the wild Jack in The Pulpit plants, thinking they were great places for magical creatures to live and hide and even dug some up to replant in my own Secret Garden behind my playhouse.  I still remember a little song about them, suggesting that they were actually little men themselves.  OMG, I can't believe I found it.  You can actually listen to it HERE, but I digress...

  
What I'm really getting at here is my Secret Garden lived (and still lives) in my imagination.  In the closeup of my project you can get a better peek at some of the magical creatures who live among the gorgeous flowers of the mind.  All are colored with Copics.

The garden gates are die cuts by Heartfelt Creations that I've used over and over.  The lock is a resin embellie from Melissa Frances.  Of course the garden is enchanted.  How sad if it were not.

Tucked among the flowers is Hydrangea Fairy 2, available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  I printed a portion of Lady Blossom's floral crown to color and fussy cut to make a pocket for her.  She's also colored with Copics, but in slightly less vibrant shades so she could blend into her surroundings.

Finally, whispering in Lady Blossom's ear is a Pixie, available HERE on Etsy and HERE on AW.com.  She's fussy cut and popped because at only 1 1/2 inches tall, she really got lost in her surroundings.  She holds the key to the Secret Garden and reminds Lady Blossom she can unlock the gate wherever and whenever she wants to.  The more often the better, I'd say.

Well, I sort of got a bit carried away here, but it's easy when entering the magical fantasy world of Aurora Wings.  Be sure to scoot off to the Challenge Blog to see the lovely inspiration from my Aurora Teamies.  Hope to see you join us in My Secret Garden and also on the FB Group page where the May Contest is in full swing.  If you're not already a member of the Group, please ask to join.  (I happen to know there might be a party coming up very soon... shhh!!)

Here's how to keep up with what's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop (newly revamped!)

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art May Linky challenge, Crafts Galore Encore May AG, Classic Design Team Open May #14, TTRCD May 9-15 AG, Craft-Dee BowZ May AG w/Handmade Bow, Create and Inspire #62 AG/optional Flowers, Crafty Calendar May Flowers, World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #22 AG, the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge(choose 3 of the 5, blue, purple and pink), the Corrosive Challenge May AG, Allsorts Week 415 Ring a ring O'Roses, Crafting-With-Friends #43 AG, Morgan's Art World#9 AG, A Perfect Time to Craft May AG, Crafts and Me May AG, Your Scrapbook Place May AG, Crafty Purple Frog May Fabulously Floral, Creatalicious AG, Crafting With Dragonflies #80 Lots of Flowers and/or Mother's Day, the Corrosive Challenge 5 May AG and Fussy and Fancy Friday #187 Pink Pearls and Posies.