Click!

A happy mid-week greeting to all of you!  The card I'm sharing today is kicking off the new challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. We're so lucky to have the sweet images from Elisabeth Bell to create with this week and inspire you. Let's take a look at the sketch first...

This is a terrific sketch for larger images. Not too many layers this time so the image really stands out I think and it goes together pretty quickly.

Elisabeth Bell Designs is our wonderful sponsor this week. Elisabeth Bell's digital collection features enchanting, whimsical digital stamps all of your paper-crafting projects. Elisabeth offer a multitude of themes such as holidays, special occasions, children's adorable characters and just the everyday cuteness that Elisabeth is famous for producing.

The Grand Prize winner of the Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge this week will receive their choice of two of the images shown above - what fun you'll have creating with these!  Thanks Elisabeth for your generous sponsorship!

I picked this darling Elisabeth Bell image called "Click" and colored this cutie with Copic markers. A little bit of sparkle with some stickles and a glitter gel pen make it extra special. I adore the sweet butterfly designer paper from Doodlebug Designs.

I hope this inspires you to join us this week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  Take a look over at the SSW blog - the design team has some amazing creations to share there.  And a reminder that we're having a Design Team Call at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. If you love Arlana's sketches as much as I do, we'd love to have you join us. Just follow the DT Call link to find out how to apply.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Homework

I've been busy as ever getting ready for a couple days of vacation at Lake Michigan with the kids and my parents.  Before I go, I thought I'd show off another one of the new release images at Doodle Pantry.  This one is for the kids whose homework over vacation includes reading several books! Can you believe they give homework over summer vacation?! What is the world coming to they ask!

These adorable Doodle Pantry ants are at it again - this time ready to read their books. This is from the collection called Book Ants and it includes black outline images that I used here and colored with Copic markers. The set has another image and now pre-colored versions for those who need to whip up a card really quick. And for a limited time, this collection is on sale! The papers used here are from Basic Grey's Konnichiwa line.

For the layout of my card I used the sketch from the current challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches and rotated it 90 degrees. I'm entering this in their challenge this week.

You can find the new releases over at the Doodle Pantry store.  There's a freebie offered with any purchase and there's a freebie for use in our challenge over at the Doodle Pantry Blog. Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Doodle Pantry Releases

Yay! It's new release day at Doodle Pantry and we have such fabulous collections to share with you.  Lots of holiday digis too - perfect for those that like to work ahead on their holiday cards.  This is one of those new images called Holly Stag and it's just lovely.

The Holly Stag collection comes with black outline images, as I used here, as well as two pre-colored versions. There are four digital papers that coordinate beautifully with the image and three pretty sentiments in the set.  And there's a bonus with this collection - a PDF sheet with pre-made card fronts and tags which are great for those times when you need something quick.  Lots of possibilities with this terrific collection.

To create the look on my card I used Copic markers and blended them a lot to get the shading just right.  The holly and berries were colored separately, cut out and glued on the reindeer with a little dimension. A bit of red stickles make the berries stand out and sparkle.

I was inspired by this sketch from Sketches by Carly. I love Carly's sketches and the creativity of the design team in showing them off.  I'm playing in the challenge there with this card.

Now head on over to Doodle Pantry and see the other collections released today.  There's a fun set that's free with your purchase and you'll find several sets that are perfect for back to school cards as well.  And a reminder that our new challenge for the month starts today.  You'll find details on that over at the Doodle Pantry Blog later today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Apple Girl

I just love Wednesdays with the start of new challenges at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. We had some terrific cards from all the players in last week's challenge and I hope the sketch this week inspires you to join in the fun.

The sketch this week is another blast from the past and a favorite of mine. I love the look of the oval inside the circle. It's unusual as the circle frames the image panel and really draws your eye there.

We're gratefully sponsored this week by A Day For Daisies - I love Tammy's wonderful digi stamps. So many of them work well in vintage style and I really like that look. Our lucky Grand Prize Winner of the sketch challenge this week will receive a $12 gift certificate to A Day For Daisies. It's a really terrific prize!  Thanks Tammy for your generous sponsorship!

Isn't this a stunning image? It's called Apple Girl from A Day For Daisies and I love the details of her flowing gown and the interest of the apples in her hair.  She was colored with Copics and the image was cropped to fit the oval panel.  It's quite a tall image and I wanted to enlarge it enough so you could see the details in her hair and face. I like how the image looks this way.  The papers are from We R Memory Keepers and I love the colors together.

Today, we're also happy to announce a Design Team Call at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. We're looking for two new members to join us. So if you love playing with sketches (and Arlana's are the best around) we'd love to have you apply.  Details on the DT call are on today's post at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  While you're there, take a look at the wonderful inspiration my team-mates created today with A Day For Daisies images.  It's like candy for the eyes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Michigan Lighthouses

Happy Wednesday friends! We have a new challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday today with Digi Doodle Shop sponsoring us. I chose this Lighthouse image because it reminds me of summers on Lake Michigan. Every year we walk the beach to the Little Sable Point lighthouse on the lake.

Little Sable Point Lighthouse on Lake Michigan

Did you know that the state of Michigan has 124 lighthouses total?  Most of them, 115 to be exact, are on the Great Lakes. And many of them were built in the late 1800s and still operating today.  In fact, I read somewhere that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state.  I nice little stroll through Michigan history and my memories to get us started today!

Here's the fab sketch this week by our own Arlana.  I say this every week, but I love this one!  It's perfect for larger images or can be scaled down for smaller ones too and I love the layers!  I hope you'll give this one a try and join us this week at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

Digi Doodle Shop is our sponsor this week and we love the fabulous selection of images there. We're so lucky to have their sponsorship.  Joy and her daughter Judy have created more than 500 digi stamps in their shop so pop on over and take a look at the wonderful images they offer.  The Grand Prize winner of the sketch challenge this week will receive a $10 gift certificate to Digi Doodle Shop.  Thanks Joy and Judy!

I love this Lighthouse image from Digi Doodle Shop.  It was colored with Copic markers and I sponged in the clouds after coloring it. I thought the papers from American Crafts "Chap" collection looked nautical and I think they work perfectly with the lighthouse image.  The embellishment was made with the same paper, about a half inch wide and scored every quarter inch before folding accordian style and then flattening with the button to hold it in place.

So this was such a fun card to create today. Stop on by Sweet Sketch Wednesday and see all the design team cards using a variety of Digi Doodle Shop images.  You'll love what you see there and the inspiration the DT creates!

Thanks for stopping by!

London Olympics

Greetings everyone! It's Wednesday and time for another wonderful sketch challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. My card this week is not only inspired by the sketch but also by the Olympics that are gearing up to start in nine days in London. I'm ready to cheer on the 10 Michigan athletes with the most noteworthy being Jordyn Weiber in gymnastics. Go Team USA!

Here's the sketch for this week's challenge - another one of my favorites. I love how it turns out with the overlapping layers and the space for fun embellishments.  I hope you'll give it a try and join us in the fun!

Digi Stamp Boutique sponsors our challenges each month and is the sponsor for this week's challenge. We love the fun and whimsical digi stamps that Sally Anne offers and her generous support of Sweet Sketch Wednesday month after month.  The Grand Prize winner of the challenge will receive six free digi images of their choice from Digi Stamp Boutique.  Thanks Sally Anne!

For my card this week, I chose several images from the DSB London Collection which is a special offer this month. You get both black outline as well as color images with this collection and they're all so fun to create with.  I chose three of the black outline images and grouped them together with my photoshop software. Al were colored with Copic markers.  The London Guard and the Double Decker Bus were cut out and popped up.  I used crystal lacquer for the bus windows and headlights as well as the clock face on Big Ben.

The papers are from Cosmo Cricket and Jillibean Soup.  And I've used my favorite MS cornflower punch again with make your own brad centers from Stampin Up.

Now, take a stroll over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday and get a shot of inspiration from the design team Divas' cards created to entice you to join us in the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Barry at the Beach

Happy Friday friends! Today we have a fun new release at StampFairy just perfect for these warm beachy days of summer.  The collection is called Barry Beach and he's such a cutie.  Take a look below at all the new images.

http://www.stampfairy.com/digistamps_summer_barrybeach.htm

Aren't these so cute?  The Beach Time sentiment is today's freebie. Just follow the link above to get it from the StampFairy Shop.

My Barry Beach was out in the sun too long - can you see his tummy fur and cheeks are getting a little pink from the sun?!  He was colored with Copics and the beach ball was paper pieced with the Jillibean Soup papers I used here.

I was inspired by this week's sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches and am entering the challenge with Barry!

Now for some more fun news.... Gerda has a Christmas in July sale going on throughout the entire StampFairy Shop of digis.  Everything, including today's new release, is 50% off through the end of the month.  That's such a great deal for all the adorable StampFairy images.

For more incredible inspiration from the StampFairies, stop on over to StampFairy World and see what the team created for you today.

Thanks for stopping by!

On Safari

Happy Wednesday friends! It's time for another Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge and we have a wonderful sketch this week and a new sponsor we know you'll love. So let's get started....

Our sketch this week is another blast from the past - one of our favorites and yours from week 34.  I love all the circles and how they play together.

We welcome Pattie's Creations this week - a new sponsor for us with such fun whimsical images to create with.  The Grand Prize Winner of the challenge this week will receive 3 free digi images of their choice from Pattie's Creations.  Pattie Gomez is the creator and owner and we thank her for her generous sponsorship this week.

I just adore this fun image from Pattie's Creations called Pattieboop and Allie on Safari. It was colored up with Copics and paired with the perfect safari papers from Bo Bunny's Zoology Collection.

Come take a look at all the fun cards the design team created with images from Pattie's Creations over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. I sure hope you'll give the sketch a try this week and join us in the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!