Who doesn't love litte girls....

especially this adorable little girl from artist Elisabeth Bell:

This sweetie is Standing Pretty. Absolutely adorable and easy and quick to color.
Now if only I could say the same thing about card design..... I used some old My Minds Eye paper and Basic Gray chipboard flower. The sentiment is a rub-on which continues on the inside of the card with "Happy Anniversary".

Be sure to check out the latest Elisabeth Bell stamps which are available for pre-order....NOW.... at Sweet Pea Stamps.

Halloween is this month...

and you know it will be here before you know it. I love all of the Halloween stamps that Sweet Pea Stamps carries but I have yet to color each and every one up. I really think Halloween needs to be a longer holiday, don't you think?

So for my card today, I used Terra Bidlespacher's Adellia:

I wanted to give her a sort of ghoulish, witchy skin color which I don't think I've achieved, lo but by using distress inks on all the papers and the edge of the image panel, I was able to really dull the more vibrant colors. That makes the green skin really stand out I think. Just don't look at her cheek make-up.... don't know what I was thinking!

The sentiment was cut from the background paper (old SandyLion - Jeepers Creepers I think) which I edged with Distress Ink. I had extra punched bats so I added two dots of red gel gloss for some eerie eyes.

Terra Bidlespacher's Adellia is also available as part of Plate #174

Definitely make sure to check out all the wonderful Halloween stamps available... perfect opportunity to use colors you wouldn't normally use. Hope you were inspired...... thanks for stopping by.

Some Metal and a Fairy

Hi Sweet Pea Nation,

For my card today, I decided to gather some metal washers and incorporate these into my card. Since it's been ages since I've used my copics, I was a little worried about coloring but Teresa Sherman's Steampunk Fairy is such an easy image to color because Teresa did all the hard parts..... the shading.
I used regular metal washers and colored these with my Bic Gold Poster Paint marker. I also took some wire and coiled it for her arm jewelry.

I used some Glossy Accent to fill the earing jewelry and glue down the "arm band". The sentiment is from Plate #98 which I cut apart and edged with Distress Ink.
Super fun and considering my lack of mojo, this Steampunk Fairy has put me on the right track to find that ever elusive craft mojo :-).
Thanks for stopping by and seriously, grab your coloring medium of choice, head over to Sweet Pea Stamps for some beautiful stamps and have fun! I promise you, you'll be glad you did!

Angel Wings

Hi Everyone,

I'm pretty sure everyone has days, weeks and sometimes months where life throws us a curve ball either in the form of stress, or the unexpected. Which leads me to the question: Do you believe in Angels? I do. Now with everything going on in my life this past week, I, not only had no time, but had not stepped foot into my craft room. Not to mention that it's been several weeks since picking up my Copics.

So I decided to surround myself with an Angel from Plate #17.

I suppose I could have colored her with Copics, but instead I used watercolor crayons and a bit of Twinkling H2O's on her wings. The sentiment is also from Plate #17 and couldn't be a more perfect sentiment ... so this card.... this one I created for me :-)..

Plate #17 was one of the first plates I had to have because .... well, because I believe in Angels and the stamps in this plate are beautiful. If you haven't checked out some of the early plates from Sweet Pea Stamps.... go check them out.... :-)

Batty Halloween

Can you believe it? Halloween is almost here - where did the summer go! Oh wait, I for one am so glad summer is almost over. Too hot and way too humid for this girl!

Halloween is one of my favorite crafting holidays which means I had to color up this hauntingly big eyed beauty from Plate #155 - ©Terra Bidlespacher's Halloween:

The only problem with this fun crafting holiday is that I have loads of papers from previous years left over but it's not the paper that makes the card. It's definitely this cute big eyed girl.

She is colored with Copics, then die cut with Spellbinders large oval die. I added the pom-pom ribbon around the edges using glue.

Adhered with 1/4" dimensional foam to compensate for the dimension of the pom-pom ribbon.

The little bats are punched with a Martha Stewart bat punch and the black embossed panel was embossed with the Haunted Halloween embossing folder. I used a Versamark pad and lightly rubbed it over the raised areas, then adding some Perfect Pearls with a brush - just to add a little shimmer. The sentiment is also from Plate #155 although I should have used the other sentiment that comes with this plate. But for now, I'll leave it as is.

Fun, fun card .... if you haven't played with the gorgeous halloween stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps..... you're missing out.

Dragonfly Fantasy Mermaid

Hi Everyone,

For my card today, I colored up chin-chou kuik's Dragonfly Fantasy. She is available as a single stamp or as part of Plate #21. I sort of consider her my 'good coloring' luck charm :-). It seems regardless of my lack of coloring mojo, she always turns out ok.

I coloring this beauty with my Copics including the background. Then I added small rhinestones through out this image. For her bracelet I added pearl rhinestones although I wish I would have had smaller pearls. Instead I'll just pretend that she is wearing one of those big bead bracelets.

The flowers are a mix of Prima as well as book page die cut flowers misted with Perfect Pearl Mists.

The papers are from my scrap basket and I also added small rhinestones randomly along the right edge of the blue layer.

Sometimes it's hard for me to start coloring but Sweet Pea Stamps stamps weave their own enchantment over me by the time I'm finished coloring the image.

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to check out Sweet Pea Stamps for some awesome sales!

Mermaid Nostalgia

Hi Everyone,

I decided to get a bit nostalgic and pulled out Plate #1 to color up one of the very first Sweet Pea Stamps mermaids. I know some might consider the mermaid a bit risque.

I certainly don't, however, I had some distress inked seam binding left over and decided add it.

All coloring was done with Copics, after I die cut the image, I used Distress Inks to darken the edges. The paper is Pool Water from Paper Pizazz and the gemstones are from Martha Stewart.

I left the card simple because I thought too many embellishments would take away from the image... ok, actually I was running behind and I was pleased with the way this oldie but goodie mermaid turned out :-).

Lots of new releases are at the Sweet Pea Stamps store, but don't forget to check out some of the older plates..... they are just as gorgeous, sassy and fun to color as all the other awesome stamps.

One more look at the finished card:

Interrupted Texture

For my card today I used Meredith Dillman's Interrupted from Plate #98. I've been loving the green/blue color combo which spilled over into my coloring of this gorgeous image:

She is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The background around the image was done with Twinkling H2O's which I've been neglecting. I just gave it basic color wash of blue and green.

For my background, I decided to play with my color washes, mists and perfect pearls to compliment the colors of the image. The blue stickles were applied with a QTip. I squeezed out a small amount of Stickles onto a craftsheet and just dipped the QTip then randomly applied it to the card stock.
The butterflies were cut from the excess color washed card stock, and since I still had Stickles left over on the craft sheet (don't like to waste anything, lo) I just smooshed the butterflies into the left over stickles. I found some rub-on foliage and randomly applied those.

Here's another look.

It was much needed 'Ink Therapy' for me! I really needed it :-).

Urban Friend

Hi Everyone,

For my card today, I finished coloring a very handsome, sporty and hip young guy from Plate #140:

I know you guys are probably getting tired of hearing me say: “….. messed up on coloring” but once again, I did. I used a white gel pen to add highlights and got carried away (on the hair and the eyes).
Figuring I can save it with some brown pencils, which it kind of did if you don’t look too close, lo.

I also decided to use my skyline die-cut which I thought goes perfectly with this urban, hip image. And, since this is a masculine card, I was able to use some old paper scraps.
Fun, fun image! And definitely fun to color. If you haven’t had a chance to check out this or any of other wonderful stamps, you are missing out . Be sure to head over to Sweet Pea Stamps for the latest.

Holly Fairy

Hi Everyone,

I think the heat is generating wishful dreams of Christmas, snow and cool temperatures which meant I finished coloring ching-chou kuik's Holly Fairy, part of Plate #60. The sentiment is from Plate #36.

This fairy had been in my 'unfinished' drawer for a while but I thought I'd give it a shot to see if I could get something going. The card itself isn't anything fancy BUT I think I saved this gorgeous fairy. And I wanted a silver background - something shimmery. So I used my silver metalic Sharpie pen.

I also used Viva Decor Gel Gloss on the berries and added some shimmer and glimmer to her wings with an orange Atyou Spica pen. Since I used copics to color the image, I made sure to do the background with the sharpie last.

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to check out the store for the latest new releases!

Butterfly Fairy Framed Art

Hi everyone,

I colored Karen Middleton's Butterfly Fairy from Plate #138 last weekend and decided to use some of my many self made background papers. I also decided to use a wooden frame and add a little Distress Stain, Glimmer Mist and butterflies.

This project actually came together quite nicely. Since I always have so much fun experimenting when I use mists, inks or certain techniques, I always have lots of 'scraps' which I keep. And this time around, it was a good thing :-).

I also got out my butterfly stencil and spritzed some Perfect Pearl Mist:

She is colored with Copics. Used Distress Ink to add some definition to the edges unfortunately I also got some stray ink smudges from my inky fingers onto the colored image.

But I'm just going to pretend it's part of the glitter :-). Make sure to head over to the Sweet Pea Stamps store and check out the sales....!

Airship Dreams

Hi Everyone,

Today I'm sharing my card featuring Meredith Dillman's Airship from Plate #98. I love the steampunk/victorian look and feel of this image. The sentiment is from Simply Verticals - Plate #4.

I knew that all the little details on her clothing would be perfect for using small rhinestones:

Although the picture doesn't show it very well, I used Viva Decor's Glass Effect gloss:

I used Millwood Classic Crest card stock which is a tan/beige color with specks....that's why her skin has that freckled look.

This is my 3rd attempt - yes, sadly my previous attempts to do this gorgeous image justice as far as my coloring was concerned, failed miserably, lol. However, I am really really pleased how this card turned out.

Funny, isn't it...how it kinda happens when you don't expect it to. I was coloring this image in my sun room on the lounge chair using my lapdesk while watching TV.

Thanks for stopping by.....

Birthday Packages

Who doesn't like packages, especially when they are wrapped all pretty and filled with gifts, right?

Cupcakes and Presents, Plate #31 is one of my favorite sets because it's so versatile and can be colored very quickly. And that, my friends, is always a good thing because I am always doing things at the last minute :-).
I again went to my favorite standby for the sentiment, Simply Verticals, Plate #4 and just cut the letters apart to create the sentiment horizontally.


Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out all the sales over at the Sweet Pea Stamps shop.....

It's a Pink Thing.....

Hi Everyone,

All three of my granddaughters will be celebrating birthdays within the next couple of months. Gracy, the ornery middle one, is the first one. She will be turning 4 and like I mentioned, she is the ornery, tom-boy. So it was a no brainer to use this sassy little girl from Karen Middleton's Plate #140.

Now, this image has sassy written all over it, lol! Obviously, the hot pink was mandatory as was the hot pink Stickles. I remembered that I've had these star eyelets and that these would make perfect spots to hold Stickles.

The sentiment is from Simply Verticals - Plate #4 which was stamped with pink dye ink and then embossed with some old pink embossing powder.

Fun stamp to color. And I'm pretty sure the onery 4 year old will love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Embossed Steampunk Bee

Hi everyone! I took the month of May off and am now trying to get back into the swing of things.
So today, I thought I'd share another card created with Brigid Ashwood's Steampunk Bee from Plate #105:

I stamped the bee onto beige card stock (Neenah Millstone Super Smooth 80lb), colored her with Copics and used a yellow Pitt Artist pen to outline the bee. I used a sponge and soft yello Pan Pastels pigment chalk to cover the background. To seal the chalk, I followed Katarina's example and embossed the whole image panel. I wasn't sure how it would work out, but it actually gives the impression of leather which works well with the brown embossed card stock. (The picture really doesn't show it too well)

When I think "Steampunk", I think metal. Well actually I was thinking washers, nuts and other miscellaneous metal objects that are on my husbands workbench but settled for using regular eyelets. The sentiment is from Plate #98. I like the straight, bold lines of the font which is perfect for this card since it is intended for a male friend.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm off to check out all the latest new releases at Sweet Pea Stamps!

Butterfly Magical Day

Hi Folks,

I decided to play with an older ching-chou kuik fantasy image for my card. It's so hard to choose a Sweet Pea Stamp image and I find that at times I tend to forget to spread the love :-).

This is Fly Butterfly, part of Plate #21 and she is colored with copics. This time I chose the papers first - woohoo....it did help when it came to assembling my card.

The sentiment is from Plate #21. The flower is a mish-mash of scrap pieces. Leaves are grunge paper, the flower is chipboard and the rose bud is satin....

I'm not sure if you can see the shimmer on the chipboard flower, but I sprayed it with Smooch. I used some glitter pens to add some sparkle to the image.

I hope you enjoyed her. She was so very therapeutic to color, and I didn't even mention any mistakes!

Don't forget to check out the Sweet Pea Stamps store..... always great specials and don't forget about sending us your Sweet Pea Stamps creations.

Glittery Stars....

Hi Everyone,

Last week I had showcased Joanne Schempp's Peaches, stamping and coloring her on Millstone Classic Crest card stock (a beige color). This time Istamped and colored her on Solar White Classic Crest. My original intent was to color both card stock versions the exact same way....... well, you know me. I love to experiment with the different copic colors. And when I say experiment, you'll know what I mean when you see her skin colors:

Joanne Schempp's Peaches, Plate #142

She's colored with Copics and the background was done with chalk pencils then blended with a sponge. Once again, I colored first not picking papers (why do I do that to myself????) so it took forever to try to find something that matched the colors I used. The stars were left blank and filled with Stickles which gave it a nice glitter:

The orange panel underneath the image was from a Martha Stewart card pack and (thankfully) matched the color of her hair.

I really really must contain myself and start choosing papers first before I start to color. But, and I'm sure you'll agree with me, it is so much fun to color these wonderful Sweet Pea Stamps that all my good intentions go out the window as I escape the hustle and bustle coloring these wonderful, magical stamps.

Dream of Iris

Hi Everyone,

I decided to create something other than a card. I used some Maya Road chipboard, ribbon and colored chin-chou kuik's Dream of Iris:

Dream of Iris is stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolors. Wanting something a little different, I used Spellbinders Peony die to diecut the image.

I used Wild Plum Paint Dabber followed by Dusty Concord Distress Stain on the chipboard piece and set that aside to dry. The large flower diecut from deep purple card stock was from my stash. I curled the petals and then used Perfect Pearl Mist to add some shimmer. I also added some to the now dried chipboard.

Then I found a piece of white crepe paper and randomly spritzed it with Wild Plum and Sailboat Blue Adirondack Color Wash.

The crepe paper is attached to the back of the image panel which I then adhered to the large flower. The scalloped chipboard is the bottom layer. I added some rhinestones and purple ribbon and voila, I now will have some beautiful enchantment while driving to work - I'll be hanging this beauty from my rear view mirror :-).