Take Time To Smell The Roses

If it's nearly June in Ohio, it's time for my climbing roses to bloom. They're called The Seven Sisters and I bought two little shrubs on sale at the end of the summer one year for just $5 each. This was when I was a mom to one (22or 23 years ago) and my mom and I would take my daughter and visit the area garden centers. We usually went at the beginning of the growing season to get flowers for each other for Mother's Day and then at the end of the season to get deals.

My husband and I must've chosen the perfect area because these little roses seem to love this spot and grow vigorously each year. Some years are better for blooms than others, but this year is a good one.

I based my coloring of the Beautiful Roses Slimline digi from Alex Syberia on the color of my roses. I picked pinks and added a little coral and a little red for them and chose grays for the leaves.

I like to color one rose at a time, so here's a little peek into how I layered the color on the last two roses.

At the end of the process, I add in black shadows and white highlights if needed.

For the final card, I fussy cut the flowers and leaves and added it to cream/black patterned paper on a slimline card (3.5"x8"). I think graphic shapes really set off florals, so I gave it a shot with this one. The sentiment strip is a stamp/die set from Taylored Expressions. 

So, go out there and smell those roses—or maybe just color some!

Happy Friday!

Chark

If It's Free, I'll Take It

So, I don't know why we humans are wired to take advantage of freebies, but I know I'm not the only one. Food samples, digi stamps, a free trial of Prime, free entree with entree purchase, $10 free for signing up...I've taken advantage of all these. While I can't exactly share my Kroger food samples with you, I can share where I've found some free digi stamps.

If you feel like they're too complicated, I'll be the first to disagree. I don't do anything fancy...I just download the image and pick a size...then I print it and color it up. Every once in a while I combine digi sentiments with a digi image like in this card, but not always. 

You can see what I used here on IG...I can't figure out how to share just the image since I already deleted the photo from my phone, so you get the whole screen shot :)

On this card, the Power Poppy images (not freebies, but you can find them sometimes on the Kit and Clowder facebook page) came with the sentiments and I just put them together in Corel Draw and printed on kraft paper. I used white Prismacolor pencil first and then colored on top of the white. I added in some gel pen white highlights at the end too.

PaperCrafter magazine has a ton of free images and sentiments on their site, as does Simply Cards & Papercraft, which I just discovered. They have All Dressed Up and 2 Cute Ink stamps, Uniko and others. I have some already printed out to color up tonight.

You can also find some freebies here from Whimsy Stamps and a cute bear from Heffy Doodle.

Okay, hope you can find something free you like on one of these sites! Oh, and I signed up with Rakuten (aka ebates) to get the free $10 check. I use it with my Kohl's and Amazon purchases and earn money back...if you're interested in just the free $10 or want to continue to use it, check it out here and we'll both earn some cash...Free!

And my Kroger is doing free grocery pick up til the end of the year. It's usually $5, but I still like using it. I'm definitely using it for the next few weeks!


Happy Friday!
Chark

Hydrangeas and Bees

I'm joining in again with A Blog Named Hero's Challenge—Stretch Your Stamps. I decided to stretch my Daisy and Bugs Stamp and Cut set by using one of the little bees as a background for my purple Large Hydrangea Hero Arts stamp. 

I don't think I've used this bee before, I was always kind of focused on the daisy and the ladybug stamps in the set. They have matching dies, but since I used him as background paper, I didn't need to die cut him.

I looove Hydrangeas in real life and have two shrubs that pretty much just take care of themselves and give huge blooms each year. I colored this one purple, but mine are more pink, though they can get a little purple. It depends on the lime in your soil, but since I'm a lazy gardener who does more dreaming than pruning, I haven't really done anything to the soil.

I used Prismacolor pencils on the flower, with Stickles in the flower centers and on the bee wings, but it's hard to see at this angle. I also added Moonstone bling from Honeybee Stamps, which is totally appropriate for this post, doncha think? They have some great Nuvo products on sale btw. The inking on the panel and the card are Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade and Salty Ocean.

Hope you'll stretch your stamps and join me in this challenge, you have until September 10th.

Happy Friday!

Chark

It's a Jane Davenport Kind of Day

I encounter Jane Davenport's art just through social media and then found out she has books and classes and art media with her name. So I bought some paints and books and have been coloring and doodling along in my Whimsical Girls Art Journal ever since. I haven't yet opened my paints, but it's on the list of fun art stuff to do. She sells some of these images as acrylic stamps too, so check out this page if you're interested.

Here are some of my latest pages from the journal. I don't think I'm finished with the background, but I purposely faded the dresses just to do something different.

This page is on watercolor paper, so I think I'd better use some paint on this one or at least more marker and water. I added the quote and I'm sure I'll be adding more doodles.

I love this fun quote, though I wish I'd lettered in pencil first, because I'm not too keen on the lettering. I might fussy cut her and adhere to another page.

Happy Friday and have a whimsical weekend!

Chark

Which Season Is It, Exactly?

While it's still hot as ever here in SW Ohio, the school buses have started popping up in the neighborhood. So I guess we can officially start talking fall on the blog. 

I bought some leaf stamps and dies from Taylored Expressions months ago and finally decided to try them out. I never thought I'd be one of those people who have stamp sets they didn't ink up immediately, but I am. I think that means I have too many stamps, but let's not dwell on that part.

Here's the pile of leaves I have after stamping with Distress Oxides and die cutting. I have no idea what will become of these but there they are!

In keeping with the title of the post, I also have to show you a graduation card I made in the spring because I knew my great-niece was graduating from 8th grade, but I literally am just now sending it. I am the absolute worst at being on time with birthdays and other cards and gifts. I like to tell myself it helps the celebration last longer, so let me have my delusions, lol.

I used a 2 Cute Ink digi image, Prismacolor pencils and a die from Avery Elle. I like how the die cuts lines like rays into the paper. They have an oval one too.

And that's it for this fall/summer/spring post!

Happy Friday!

Chark

Foxy Friday

While we no longer call good-looking people foxy (yeah, my older sister graduated in the 70s, so I know the lingo, man), we can call this stamp foxy. He's adorable and I knew I had to have him when I first saw him. It's a stamp set called Warm Wishes over at Honey Bee Stamps and you get lots of little stamps to change his sweater, though I could see them being great for making a background if you're good at that.

And because I got in the coloring mood with The Daily Marker 30-Day Coloring Challenge, I kept coloring :) I used Prismacolor pencils on some, watercolor on some and both on some.

Hope you have a great weekend, you Foxy Thing! And come back next Friday when I'll be having a giveaway!

Happy Friday!

Chark

Books, Bears and Birds...and Bunnies

I got the cutest little stamp set featuring books and critters in order to make some cards my librarian daughter could give out. And the set comes with tea and coffee sentiments for those who like our books with a cuppa. It's called Books and Coffee and it's from Waffle Flower. 

For this first card, I just picked some favorites and started stamping. I added sun and cloud die cuts from Lawn Fawn.

I decided to try a white bear for this one. I added steam to the cup and glossy accents to his glasses.

Same stamping, different coloring. I used Prismacolor pencils on all of these.

I removed some of the stamps and added the sentiment. I feel like he needs some background, but my daughter snagged it before I could add anything.

This card features more books and added bunnies.

And this one is the peeking bunnies only. I just wrote thank you on the book, though I'm guessing I have a little sentiment stamp somewhere that would fit.

And my last card featuring this set is just the birdie and a bunch of books.

Sometimes when you get a new stamp set, you just gotta stamp!

Happy Friday!

Chark

With Cherries on Top

When I was a kid about a hundred years ago...okay, 40 years, we used to say "Pretty please with cherries on top?" It meant we reeeally needed a favor, like super needed it, and if you were me, your sister was balking at helping you out....so you needed to make it a really important please. And of course, the ultimate request was, "Pretty please with cherries and whipped cream on top?" And sometimes, it worked and my sister would actually turn the tv (no remotes at my house) or bring me a glass of kool-aid. Maybe.

Today I'm sharing a cherry card with a digi stamp from Power Poppy, the ultimate place for nature stamps imo. You can get the acrylic stamps too (and I have some) but the digitals are super nice when you need something to color right now. I colored this cherry stamp with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut it and put it on a matching red background.

The checkerboard paper is Graphic 45 and I inked the edges with Candied Apple Distress Ink. I added teal and red sequins and a sentiment from My Favorite Things. I'm entering this in the Think Spring Challenge at Power Poppy and you can enter here too! The blossoms are coming on the flowering trees and it's a pretty sight. No cherries for awhile, but they are budding! I looovve seeing the plants green up and the buds on the trees. Winter can be long but the Spring is definitely all the more welcome because of it.

Happy Easter Weekend!

Chark

Sending Octopi Hugs

My last entry for the Lawn Fawnatics Fun with Food Challenge is this Octopus card.

I used the small Octopi My Heart set with the coffee and mug from the Love 'n Breakfast set to make some buddies having a snack together. The hugs die is from Lawn Fawn too, as is the blue watercolor paper behind them. I used my Prismacolor pencils to color and then fussy cut them out. I should've stamp everything separately and die cut them and then attached the cup and muffin to their tentacles, but hindsight is 20/20! 

Speaking of 20/20, just had some cataract surgery even though I'm just 50, but it wasn't bad as far as surgery (15 minutes) and recovery (you can read and watch TV soon after) and OMG, I have 20/20 vision now! I got glasses when I was 7 for nearsightedness and have used them and contacts ever since. Until now. Through the magic of science, I can read all the road signs you want me to! I've been driving my hubby a little crazy with that, but even with my contacts, I never had such clear vision. So, some things turn out better than you expected. Just sharing a little happiness in this house right now :) I hope something you are worried over turns out better than you expected too!

Happy Sunday!

Chark

Women's History Month

Although it's odd that we have to have a month to highlight women in history (just as we have a month to honor black people in history), I think it's awesome. When I saw Hidden Figures, the movie, I was astounded that I was fifty years old and had never heard of these women and their contribution to the NASA program. It is an amazing story and a great movie. One day, the history books will be more inclusive, but until then...

Have a Happy 

To celebrate, I've decided to share some coloring I've done of a woman in my Whimsical Girl art journal from a talented woman named Jane Davenport. Here's the drawing.

And here's my colored version, using Prismacolor Pencils. I love those pencils...I have Polychromos and like those too and find them less waxy but Prismas have beautiful colors and I just like how I can get dark coverage, even though I wear those babies down! I used blue marker on her dress and White Uniball for hair highlights.

And here's the close-up.

Okay, here's a little story of how I stopped tearing down other women. One day when I was being jealous of something another woman had achieved, I realized she didn't take it from me, she didn't stop me from having my own success, and that it was stupid to envy her. That was kind of an eye-opener. It doesn't mean I won't snark about someone's Oscar dress that's hideous, lol, but it's said in fun. 

We need to lift each other up, celebrate success of others and be happy when someone is happy. We succeed when we all achieve. We benefit from the success of women in our society. And so I love this fabulous quote, from a fabulous young woman, Malala Yousafzai, who was thrust into the spotlight and is now working for other women. You can see her story here.

Here's a link to some very cool Women's History books as well, with books I have read and books I want to read...maybe you'll find something good too.

Happy Friday!

Chark

Brrrr...Time for a Cuppa

It's time for the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. All you gotta do is create a fall or winter themed coffee/tea/cocoa project and then link it to the hop and you're entered to win tons of prizes! I love the hop, it's a great way to get inspiration, learn about new crafty companies and visit some caffeinated friends!

This digi is from Craftin Desert Divas and I got it free in the Kit and Clowder FB group. They have great coloring classes and you can even find a free one. They have 24 days of giveaways right now, but you have to join the Facebook group to comment. They aren't pushy at all and I love the free digis you get occasionally just for being in the group.

I used Prismacolor pencils on this and trimmed it to fit my card, then I wrote out the sentiment because I love the idea of Santa drinking a tea while he sorts his mail. I added dots with a white gel pen and a black Faber-Castell pen.

Hope you'll join in the Coffee Hop with me! And if you wanna win some free crafty stuff, check out the four posts before this one and comment/follow me or head to my IG account (in the sidebar) and enter there! Commenting open until Dec. 6 at 11:59 pm Eastern time...better hurry!

Happy Tuesday!

Chark

Oh, Bother!

One of my favorite things in the world is the story of Winnie-the-Pooh. I looovved the cartoon when I was a kid and when I had kids, I bought them each the story books. I loved reading it to them and then hearing them read it to me later. It's such a sweet and lovely story and I've watched both of the live-action movies.

I love the Christopher Robin movie with the little animated/CGI animals. It's going on my Christmas list! I highly recommend it if you're a fan of Pooh. All of this to say, when Kindred Stamps came out with their Childhood Friends stamps, I had to buy them. So cute!

I haven't made them into cards yet, but I have stamped and colored them. I drew in the background scene for both. In this first version, I just used Prismacolor pencils and went for traditional coloring.

For the second one, I did the black edge coloring that I do sometimes with my Prismacolor pencils. I think it makes the images pop. I also outlined the tree and grass to match. 

There are at least 5-6 Kindred Stamp sets I want at any given time, including some cute Oz ones that sell out pretty frequently. And they have a new release coming up! Their Pop Culture stamps are the best, you can click here to take a look.

I'll have a little Pooh giveaway for you on here and Instagram coming up this week...it's crafty stuff, so stay tuned!

Happy Monday!

Chark