Friendship Tilda...

Magnolia-licious Highlites blog has a wonderful sketch to follow this month. It was designed by DT member Jacque, who is very talented. I thought I would give it a try using this fun paper I found in my stash.

Here is my entry, using Lilac Picking Tilda...



I had received my copic order on Friday, so now I have the right grey's to make black hair.

I took a few liberties with this sketch. My focal image is round instead of rectanglular, and the layer beneath her is a litte larger than the original sketch, (which, unfortunately, covered up most of my pretty dsp) but everything else is done as per sketch. I added doodles around my focal image and polk-a-dots to my Real Red cardstock layers just to add a little interest. The sentiment is from SU Curvy Verses.

Here is a closer view of the coloring of my Tilda...



These challenges are so fun to do and I hope you will give it a try for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my latest creation...

Tilda's Mouth...

For those of you who might think I'm pressing too hard when I stamp, or that I'm not stamping a clean image, here is a picture of my Tilda image. The mouth is clearly visible as a dot, like the other dots pressed into the rubber. I'm not kidding. I will be taking the knife to Tilda tonight and performing necessary surgery so that she is just like all her sisters! Only eyes and cheek dots!!!

Death is not dying - Rachel Barkey

This is a very hard post for me to do. After 5 years of battling cancer, the sweet 37 year old daughter of friends of mine has gone home to be with the Lord. I know she is dancing, because that is what I prayed for the other day. I wanted her incredible suffering to end, that she could be free from her body of death and be in the eternal presence of her King! He answered my (and many others) prayer. Her journey was an incredible one, her life and dying have reached millions of people via audio (www.churchonthewestside.com) and video (www.deathisnotdying.com). She struggled valiantly to leave her very young children a legacy. She faced death with the most incredible joy, peace, acceptance and great courage.

I started out just doing the Friday Sketcher'Challenge sketch for this week, but as it was coming together I learned of her passing and decided to use this card for a sympathy card. Much of my heart has gone into this, and many prayers for the family. Here is my card:




The image of the girl sitting is a free download from Ruth's blog. I colored it with Prisma Pencils because the green Copics I have were too bright. I don't know why it came out so grainy, I used SU Whisper White, which I use extensively.

The dsp is from Anna Griffin scrapbook package, I just fell in love with the roses. The green ribbon is also from that set. The charm is one that I bought in packages of 10 for only $1 on a recent shopping trip to Salado.

I decorated the inside also, as the Rose Red cardstock was too dark to write on.



Thank you for stopping by to view this post. If you have the time, please take 1 hour of your time to sit and listen to or watch the video of Rachel. Your life will be deeply impacted...

And hug your family frequently, we never know when it will be our last opportunity to do so...

With Love,

Friday Blogger's Challenge - Patriotic!

As you all know I'm totally smitten with Magnolia images! So when I saw that this week's challenge was to make a Patriotic card I began to scramble. Not an American by birth, I became a citizen about 7 years ago. I'm proud to be an American!

I wasn't at all sure that I was going to have the time to do a challenge card this week, since the children are back, and the babies are pretty demanding of my time. I started this card before their return and finished it in time for the challenge.

I decided to use Birthday Cake Tilda, since this is the birthday celebration of the USA. I purchased all of my Americana paper from Michaels and pulled the card together - even paper piecing Tilda's dress. My cardstock is SU Whisper White and Real Red. The buttons were bought eons ago from Hobby Lobby.



I love these Shutter Cards. They are so easy and so effective. I colored my Tilda with Copic markers, used Smooch on the leaves of the flower and Spica Gel pen on the flower itself.

If your interested in seeing what inspired the other gals in this challenge, please click on the Blogger button in my side bar, then click on any name. It will take you directly to that person's blog.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing how I used Tilda this week!!

Lilac Tilda is Charming...

Remember my last post, when I showed you a Tilda that wasn't the right color for my DSP? Well, she is finished now, having had 30 minutes here and there and last evening to work on her. Here is the finished product...



This is also my submission for the Just Magnolias challenge this week which is to use charms somewhere on your card. A perfect fit!

I used Taken With Teal and More Mustard cardstock and found some old SU dsp in my stash that had similar colors. The flowers are layered and held together with a rhinestone brad, also SU. I used some opalescent thread to make a few loops behind one flower and a bee charm to some silver chain and attached it beneath the other flower. The layout is an older Friday Sketcher's Challenge sketch.

Here is a closer view of my completed Tilda...




Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your interest...

Picking Lilacs Tilda...Goodbye Mommy and Daddy, again!

Well, they were supposed to be lilacs, but I don't have the right colors of Flower Soft.

I began working on this card last evening and actually ended up doing it twice. My first was done with Copics, but the colors just weren't right, so I thought I would stamp it again on water color paper and use Distress Ink and Dye Ink refills. It was much tougher than I anticipated. Since we were waiting for Lisa and Earl and the children to arrive after a gruelling journey from Florida, I had hours to work on this one. I still didn't get it finished until tonight.

Here is a view of my Copic attempt (image only, no card made - yet):



Here's my second attempt (Card Completed) and a much better match for my DSP:



Working with Copics is becoming second nature for me. They move around your cs so easily and blend so well. But after coloring the first image, I realized that the colors I'd used weren't a true match for my DSP. I was following an older Friday Sketcher's Challenge sketch and I had everything in place, but somehow the colors were just off to me. So I started thinking about using a water color technique and I dug out my little used SU reinkers. Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana and a little Chocolate Chip were used for all parts of my image except the face, where I used Distress Inks.

Here's a closer view of my Tilda...



I really need several lessons on watercoloring with reinkers. I have a long way to go on that. I only have two colors of Flower Soft, Baby Blue and Summer, so I chose the Summer for my final card.

The ribbon is May Art, the brass clip is generic and the buttons are SU. My cs is SU also, More Mustard and Really Rust and Whisper White.

Goodbye again...

Now, here is a picture of Earl and Lisa just before they said goodbye to Jordan, Josslyn and Brielle. It was so hard, for them and for us! It will be another 6 months before they can see the children again, and the babies will be 18 months old! How I ache for them, but know that they trust us with the love and care of their precious littlest ones. The other little girl in the picture is Shayla, Earls' daughter who is 6.



They dropped off Lisa's other daughter in Alabama, so it's been a rather long farewell to the 5 children.

Thanks for dropping by, for taking the time to read this rather lenghty post, and for your wonderful supportive encourangement...

Baking Pie Tilda...

This card was made for the Just Magnolia Challenge #11.

I spent entirely too much time on this card, and wasted/cut too much paper, not being satisfied with anything I was putting together. I have lengths of ribbon cut which I decided not to use, scalloped circles which I also didn't use and all different sizes and shapes of dsp, now a part of my scrap bin. Sigh:(

So here's what I've ended up with, and in the end I'm quite happy with the results...




After I colored my Tilda with Copic markers, I had changed my mind about the cardstock I was going to use, which meant that some of my colors were a little off. I went with retired SU In colors Bayou Blue and Wild Wasabi as they ended up being very close to my dsp, which is from My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus collection. Since Tilda no longer matched I pulled out my Bayou Blue and Wild Wasabi ink pads and colored the shadowed areas. It worked pretty well! Surprised me, as I was just experimenting and was prepared to recolor the entire image!!

Here is a closer look at Tilda with her pie (yum)...



My final struggle was to find something to embellish the card with. The sketch actually calls for two embellishments on the side, but I hunted out this large button from my meager stash and thought it might work, being the size of two flowers. I tried my SU matching ribbons, but it just wasn't working. Then I spied this ribbon, which I had bought on sale but never opened. It was the right color so I threaded it through the ribbon and tied it in a knot. I placed a paper doily behind my focal image to kind of match the lace punch I used on the bottom of the dsp. The gold color behind Tilda was done with Adirondack Lights Ink - Sandal.

Next was the sentiment/text for the bottom of the card. I didn't have much room left and I needed something rather small. The first stamp set I pulled out was Summer By the Sea, a retired SU set. The sentiment is actually in a block, but I used my Big Ugly SAMG and lined up the words on the bottom. Here's a close up view...



So that's it! At last, my card is complete! WHEW!

My Second FSC Card...

I was experimenting the other day trying to find a coloring medium for these darling hAnglar images sent to my by Regina who lives in Brazil! She was so generous in sending me images on different papers with different inks so that I could play.

I think today's sketch over at Friday Sketchers Blog is terrific.

I do readily admit that Ican never follow instructions to the letter, and I didn't put an embellishment in the upper right hand corner on either of my cards. There just didn't seem like there was enough room.



This card was a little difficult to both color and photograph. The ink is a reflective copper color, which is just beautiful, but it does reflect the light from the camera.

Here is a close up view of the sweet image...



As you can see the surface of the paper was a little slick and the Prisma's didn't quite cling to it. It was a little hard to blend the colors well.

Here is a close up of my "Cheers" banner. The sentiment is from a retired SU Christmas set called The Snowflake Spot.



Since the ink was a copper color I chose to use Copper Thread and a copper charm with a brown button to repeat the brown/caramel/blue color scheme.

Thank you for dropping in and feel free to leave your comment. I love to hear what you have to say - it really makes my day!

Friday Sketcher Challenge - Tilda's Yellow Rain Boots

I had colored most of this Spring Rain Tilda last night, waiting to see what the Friday Sketcher Challenge for the week would be. I had so much fun doing this card using my sewing machine again, using some new Tulle I bought and a new charm. This Tilda is so fun for me to color, I love all the stripes. Here, have a look:



After I finished coloring her, I added Crystal Effects to her boots to make them like real rubber boots. Here is a close up of them:




The little charm says "Made With Love" on both sides, but you can barely see it beneath the Tulle bow. I found a bead shop that sold tons of these little charms and hundreds of others. Needless to say I bought quite a few for my cards and they were only $1 for 10 charms! Now that's a deal!!

My paper is Whisper White, Groovy Guava (love it) and Taken With Teal. The dsp is just some I had in my stash from somewhere.

Thanks for stopping for a visit. Tilda in the Rain enjoyed it too!

Firday's Blogger Challenge - Alter It!

I don't even remember anymore what number this challenge is! My 10 days without the kiddo's is fast coming to an end, and I've been cramming my days full of all kinds of stuff. I did manage to alter this clear clip board though. I'm not very talented when it comes to altering something, and I realized after it was done that my Tilda hardly showed up since I had used the same paper as the background. This is going to my Secret Swap Sister at Magnolia-licious along with a bunch of other goodies. I hope she will like it.



The paper is from My Mind's Eye. I added some inside the barrel of the pen to match.
Tilda's dress is paper pieced and she is colored with Copics. The ribbon is some SU and some generic.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.