Not Another Birthday!

As you might have noticed, I've been playing along with the challenges on the Outlawz Forum quite regularly because every day there's a new challenge of some sort starting and the themes are always fun and exciting.   One of the more challenging ones for me is the Wednesday Sketch challenge but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it and feeling less anxious when I tweak the sketch a bit instead of following it exactly. (Yea, I'm sort of a "follow the rules" kind of gal.  What can I say?)  sometimes it takes me awhile to get there, so this one just made it into yesterday's challenge.  (There's a new one today)

Anyway, I used the adorable #591 Hear, Speak, See Princesses by Sandra Caldwell.  They're colored with Copics and I rounded the corners to fit in the Spellbinders Labels Four die cut. Obviously I turned the sketch a quarter turn and added paper lace topped with ribbon.  The ends looked kind of plain so I cut little satin hearts from some trim and glued them on with Fabric Tack.  Much better! 

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art January Linky challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #50 ATG, Crafting-With-Friends ATG, and Crafty Creations #333 ATG.

Guest Designing for TTRCD with Miss Daisy Stamps

I'm thrilled to be joining the team at TTRCD as Guest designer this week.  The theme is always Anything Goes and our fabulous sponsor is Miss Daisy Stamps and I've made a little easel card with the adorable Owl-Ways Winter, just one of the fabulous collection of owls Miss Daisy offers for every occasion.  I've used a number of my new dies as well as digital background paper from the Winter Sunshine Collection by We Are 3, also available at Miss Daisy Stamps.

Miss Daisy Stamps

Jennifer Nilsson Art ♥︎ Mari Digis ♥︎ Miss Daisy’s Collection ♥︎ We Are 3

Join us at Miss Daisy Stamps Create & Share Facebook Group to meet the artists,

share fun & inspiration, receive freebies and special deals. See you there!

Here's a closeup of Owl-Ways Winter.  He's colored with Copics and I've paper pieced his hat and scarf using digital paper from the Toasty Warm Collection (hat and scarf), and the Toasty Warm Neutral Collection (cuff of hat and pom pom), also from We Are 3 at Miss Daisy.  I'm not sure you can see it in the pic, but the solids have a knit texture and the print is knit texture with snowflakes.  Too cute and perfect for his winter accessories, don'tcha think?  Instead of Glossy Accents I've used small adhesive acrylic disks on his eyes because they just happened to be a perfect fit, no waiting to dry and no chance of cracking. The holly berries are flat backed pearls and I've used a Snow Writer sprinkled with glitter on the patches of snow.  He's fussy cut and glued to the die cut Arched Fir Branch is by Tutti, and popped on the Pierced Fancy Nested Label die by Gina Marie. The Icicle Border up top is by Precious Marieke.

The cute sentiment is one of the 5 bonus sentiments that comes with Owl-Ways Winter.  Sometimes I find the sentiments to be the hardest part when crafting. They are all just perfect for the image but I went with this one 'cause I was feeling all lovey dovey.  LOL

So here's the side version where you can see the little bit of dimension.  I really love how a simple easel cards packs a punch yet are so simple to make.  Thanks to the team at TTRCD for allowing me to join them this week and to their fabulous sponsor, Miss Daisy.  Be sure to visit the TTRCD to see their gorgeous creations and come play along for a chance to win.

I'm entering this in the DL.Art January Linky challenge, the Cutie Pie Winter Warmers Challenge, 613 Avenue Create Totally Technical (paper piecing and fussy cutting) Challenge, Come and Get it Good Ol' Winter, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #50 ATG, Allsorts Wings on Things, the Sisterhood of Crafters Celebrating January the Fairytale Challenge Colorful Snowflakes, Let's Craft and Create Things wth Wings and the Outlawz Monday Greetings Must Have an Animal in it Challenge. 

Asian Inspired for Aurora Wings

Our first challenge of the new year begins today at Aurora Wings and since the Chinese New Year is coming up on January 28th, we are celebrating with the theme of 'Asian Inspired'. 

There are so many gorgeous Asian images in the Aurora Wings Shop, both Japanese and Chinese, that I'm not totally surprised that my teamies each chose a different image.  I've chosen Metonoia, scanned from the Midnight Gardens coloring book and printed out as a 5x7" image.

I've always adored Mitzi's print of Metonoia. I was obviously inspired by Mitzi's own coloring of the image. in fact I gotta say, without her print to help me out I would not have even known where to start.  I was also intrigued by her own inspiration and the psychology behind it the image.  You can read about it HERE in the description.

So I was pretty lost when I first looked at the image.  Eiyiyi!  Where to start? Her skin, of course, and then to be honest, I was too intimidated to continue for a whole week.  Then I decided I would at least sort of map out what was what, 'cause with all the hair and the various parts of her kimono and all, I was kind of confused.  She's colored with Copics and I used the lightest N2 to pick out all the pieces of hair.  Then I took the image section by section.

I hate to say I don't really keep track of my colors and about half of them are still all over my desk. I can tell ya the reds range from R20 to R29, though. Here I'm starting to try  to get some patterns going in her kimono.  In many cases I began with E50 and then layered colors over that.  I'm darkening the strands of her hair here, as well, all N's and about every other one up to N8, I think.

Still layering colors.  In my purple areas I also laid down some of my lighter reds in the top right and much darker ones at the bottom left.  I used BV02, BV20, and BV23 for shading and V05,06,15,22 and 25 over and over until I got what I wanted.  Colorless blender was definitely my friend.  I also decided that the hair needed more definition so I actually outlined the strands with a black Copic multiliner (.3) and filled in some with that too.  At this stage of the game I didn't trust my black marker.

The thing I feared most was trying to put the final details on the kimono.  My Sakura Gelly Roll metallic pen scared the crap out of me because it's pretty juicy and not as fine a tip as I'd like but I tried gold pencil and  it didn't show up.  I considered just leaving it unpatterned but it looked unbalanced to me so I held my breath and started to try to draw in some of the details Mitzi had in her original.

Here's a closeup of the finished coloring.  I continued to shade and intensify the colors until it was to my liking.  I also finally decided to go over all of the original lines with my Copic multiliner to define the areas better.  The point of all this step by step is to show you that no image is too difficult if you break it into sections and take your time.  I double matted the image in textured matte gold and black cardstock and then added decorative paper with metallic threads from Black Ink Creative International Papers.  I ordered the little fans from the Frantic Stamper.  Aren't they cute?  This was a long road but I'm really glad I stuck it out.  The only thing I'd do differently is start sooner, but that probably isn't ever gonna happen, so I gotta say, I'm thrilled.  This baby's going in a frame.

Be sure to stop by the Challenge Blog and see the glorious inspiration by our Guest Designer and team and don't forget our January FB contest runs through the end of the month.  Hope to see you there.

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

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art January Linky challenge, TTRCD Week of January 10th, 613 Avenue Create January ATG, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends ATG, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday ATG, Crafting from the Heart ATG, Crafting-With-Friends ATG, the Corrosive Challenge ATG, Your Scrapbook Place January ATG and the January Classic Design Team Open Challenge.

Two more for Festive Fridays at the Outlawz

Still having fun at the Outlawz this week with 2 more just under the wire for the themes at Festive Fridays.  The first is Snowcat from Knitty Kitty Digis for the Animals in the Snow theme.  They're colored with Copics and fussy cut and popped with one of my new stitched frame dies from Gina Marie.  The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Sticker and I've been hoarding that background DP from s.e.i. for YEARS. 

I'll also be adding this to the DL.Art January Linky Challenge and the SUYP (cats only) Furrything Goes challenge.  

The next is a real quickie for the Christmas Snowflake theme.  Very old Cuttlebug embossing folder with one of my new Stitched Snowflake dies, also from Lawn Fawn.  (I seem to have a thing for stitched dies these days.)  Added a mirror snowflake center and called it done.  This is extremely CAS so I could also enter it in the Outlawz Sunday CAS Snow Challenge.

I'm also entering this in the Cuttlebug Mania Winter Wonderland Challenge and Happy Little Stampers January Christmas challenge/optional word Joy.

That's all for now.  It's half past wine o'clock!

Snow BRRR...dz

Another day of rain here in CA and it looks like our drought is finally subsiding as we're already over 200% of our average rainfall YTD.  WooHoo!  This has left me all kinds of opportunities for guilt free crafting with all my new goodies so I'm a happy little camper.  I really enjoy playing at the Outlawz Forum, not only because it has a nice group of members, but also because each day there's a new challenge to inspire me, 7 per week, plus an additional Progressive freebie challenge that runs monthly.  All this activity has sort of yanked me out of my state of ADD and indecision that's been plaguing me since the holidays so here's another card, this time for the Outlawz Twisted Thursday.  

This week the "twist" is "For the Birds".  I knew immediately I wanted to use the adorable #112 Snow Birds of a Feather by Sandra Caldwell.  They're colored with Copics with a white gel pen for the snow.  The cool new die behind them is by Gina Marie.  I cut the trees out of kraft paper and then added a kraft border to the image which help integrate it into the design.  The icicles along the top are actually a "Grass" punch by MS but I use them way more often as icicles. The teeny snowflakes were also punched.  Actually they are the discarded parts from another border punch that proved to be the perfect scale. The sentiment is computer generated and just sort of came to me.  I think it's kind of "tweet" don't you?

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art January Linky challenge, Tuesday Throwdown TT325 Snowflakes, TTRCD week of Jan 10th ATG, Cards in Envy Snow Birds, the Cutie Pie January Winter Warmers Challenge, the Crazy Challenge #239 Three of a Kind, and Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #49 ATG.

I've Fallen for You

I love this adorable image, #1148 Fallen Kitty Skater by Sandra Caldwell, especially because it was my suggestion for a digi.  Sandra loves to take suggestions and often there are games in her FB Group to do just that or to help name ones she's already drawn. Anyway, I suggested this digi because I was a figure skater as a child and of course I'm sure you already know, I LOVE kitties, so there ya go!  He's colored with Copics with some additional fur detail from Prismacolor pencils.  The frozen pond was cut with my new Pierced Fancy Nested Label die by Gina Marie, colored lightly with Copics and Stickled for frostiness.  The new Snowflake flourish in the corner is by Amy Design.  there are several themes this would fit for this week's Outlawz Festive Fridays challenge but I think I'm going with "Winter Fun" because I might be back with another one for "Animals in the Snow".

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art January Linky Challenge, SUYP (cats only) Furrything Goes Challenge, and Simon Says Wednesday New Something (dies).

New Baby

I have a gobs of new dies that I've been itching to play with so when the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge came up with this inspiration photo,

I pulled out one of the Stitched Quilt dies from Gina Marie and went to town.  I used all of the colors and both words (in the fine print "New" or "Baby") using Alpha Beads with a vertical hole so I could string them on the gingham ribbon. The center square is one of the little emboss and die sets that came with my Cuttlebug many moons ago.  The white alone didn't show up in the pic so I embossed again with the mint, fussy cut the buggy to glue on top and added tiny buttons to the wheels.

Look Ma, no coloring!  You know the first probably 3 or 4 years I did papercrafting ALL my cards were die cut or embossed only with not even a printed sentiment.  How times have changed.

I'm also entering this in the Outlawz Monday Greetings Use a Circle AND a Square challenge (which is why I chose this specific quilt die), Dies R Us ATG using Dies, Simon Says Monday Be Square, Dream Valley Challenges Something New (quilt die, new baby), Simon Says Wednesday New Something (quilt die and new baby) and the DL.Art January Linky Challenge. 

A Real Quickie for the Outlawz

Slowly recovering from our last "Christmas" dinner of the season last and realized that I hadn't done a project with the cute Sweet Wishes image from Torytale for the Monday Greetings Challenge on the Outlawz Forum.  Nabbed the sketch from the Wednesday sketch challenge and this is what I came up with. Papers are digital. The "Sweet" paper is from Bugaboo Stamps and the bean paper is from the Java Love pack which unfortunately is unnamed in my files. 

I'm also entering this in the DL.Art January Linky  Challenge, and the SUYP Furrything Goes challenge. 

A Beautiful Sight

I'm finally getting back into the swing of crafting and what better way to do that than to work with a brand new digi from The East Wind called Lucy Loo 'Winter Birch Forest'.  I just realized that the last 3 East wind cards I made were in blues, but at last this time I added some kraft after finding the DP from the Winter in the Woods stack from DCWV.  I love the subtle snowflake pattern and it reinforced the rustic feel I was going for (and helped me choose a color for Lucy's jacket).  Yea!

Here's a closeup of Lucy Loo 'Winter Birch Forest'.  Unky's images come in several formats, all for one price on Etsy and I most often choose to work with the nb png so I can print and color them on a digi paper background.  One of these days I'll get to actually doing the background classes I've signed up for, but today was not the day.  The light blue and white digi paper background is from the Gecko Galz.  Lucy is colored with Copics with some shading with Prismacolor pencils.  I've done the texture on her jacket and jeans by dipping a terry cloth washcloth in some 91% isopropyl alcohol and quickly dabbing the surface after coloring.

I cut the sentiment from a page in 6x6 Ice Crystals paper pack by Recollections and attached it with a cute stag's head closepin.  That gave me the idea of adding my new sweet deer dies from Joy Crafts at the bottom.  Thought they fit with the sentiment, too.  Wouldn't they be a beautiful sight while walking through the woods?

Finally here's the dimensional view.  Gotta say this one would be a bite to mail with that closepin, eh?   I've also used a snowflake border die from Joy Crafts and the swirl at the bottom is from Taylored Expressions.

There's also an exciting new "package deal" for January  in the shop where you can get all for of the coming January releases  for $12.00.  That's a 25% savings and you will received ALL of the January stamps before the rest are released individually.  WooHoo!  Here's a peek at what you'll receive.

Our Non-traditional Christmas Colors contest is still going strong in the East Wind FB Group so we'd love to have you join us.

Here are of all the important links you need.

Challenge Blog

Unky's Coloring Therapy

FB Group

FB Fan Page

Etsy Shop

I'm entering this in the DL.Art January Linky Challenge, the Outlawz Saturday Paper ala Mode Ring in the New (brand new digi stamp and new to me deer dies), Simon Says Monday Start Afresh (new dies), the Simon Says Wednesday New Something (digi and dies), 613 Avenue Create ATG, TTRCD ATG week of Jan 3rd, Crafting by Designs January ATG, Inspiration Destination ATG, Dies R Us ATG w/Dies, CHNC #314 ATG (as long as it's Christmas), Your Scrapbook Place January ATG, the January Classic Design Team Open challenge and CHNC January Christmas Extra. 

Fa La La La La!

No, I'm not done with Christmas, not by a long shot, especially since I had barely finished decorating on Christmas Eve.  I think that call for an extended celebration, at least until Valentine's day, don'tcha think?.  The thought of taking all that stuff down now gives me a panic attack.  Besides, the Winter Wonderland Challenge at Aurora Wings is still going strong so consider this a little reminder.  I was dying to try my brand new stitched hillside pop up die by Lawn Fawn and created  cute little winter scene using the adorable little Caroling Elves by Aurora Wings.

I added some Magnolia Doohickey die cut trees and a blanket of snow, actually a stitched rectangle (another new die) on the base for a little more weight and a place to write a greeting.  I've had the blingy "fa la la la la la" in my craft drawer FOREVER and thought it was just the ticket here.

Here's a closeup of the sweet little elf trio.  They're colored with Copics in traditional Christmas colors and fussy cut but not popped so the card could close more easily.  Where's the front?  Ummm... would you believe not done yet? I've been a little ADD in all aspects of my life since Christmas and I just couldn't make a decision yet.  Will probably be just traditional DP with a Merry Christmas sentiment since all the fun action is inside.

Again, the Winter wonderland Blog Challenge runs through Saturday January 14th so there's still time to enter (up to 3 times if using an Aurora Wings image, but only once if you're using another stamp).  The winners of the December FB contest will be announced shortly and the new January contest will be starting soon.

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

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art January Linky challenge, the Outlawz Twisted Thursday ATG challenge, Simon Says Wednesday ATG, Open Minded Crafting Stitching Faux or Real (stitched dies), 613 Avenue Create ATG/Optional Technical (pop-up card), CHNC #314 ATG (as long as it's Christmas), CHNC January Christmas Extra, Dies R Us ATG using Dies and TTRCD ATG week of January 3rd.

Happy New Year for the Outlawz

My first actual creation for 2017 for the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge.  They have a fun Bingo Board with both colors and twists.  I chose to take it literally with BOTH the colors and the twists in each color block and came up with this. Brand new #1290 New Years Cheers digi by Sandra Caldwell and also new scalloped stitched rectangle die by Gina Marie (out of ancient royal blue metallic card stock).

I've chosen the diagonal row from top right.  Used silver metallic gel pen and sentiment stickers (also old) and diamond "champagne bubbles", and plenty of Stickles on the bottle, glass and center star for the sparkle.  Obviously the digi covers the "one minute to midnight requirement".

This also fits the bill for the Outlawz Sunday CAS Add Some Sparkle Challenge and the Outlawz Festive Friday New Years Eve Day challenge.

I'm also adding this to the DL.Art January Linky Challenge, Creatalicious ATG/optional New Years challenge, Winter Wonderland For Someone Special/Happy New Year and Simon Says Wednesday ATG. 

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a healthy, happy, creative and prosperous 2017.  xxD