No coloring...but please look anyway!

Hello! I want to show you a card without a colored image, though I did add copic marker to my leaves! My husbands covers County Legislature meetings for his news and one of the Legislators gives us some freshly made maple syrup every year. It's like liquid gold to us here in NY! Well, my tree isn't a maple tree, but I think he'll get the idea! Hope you can't see my glue boo too clearly-those leaves are tiny! Now, colors on the Tiny flower Pot in my previous post: G20, YG03, YG93 for leaves Y23, Y18, E997 and E19 for centers and for flower pot Blues around are B000o and touches of B41 Thanks for your interest! Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday! (I have a terrible cold that has sapped my energy and creativity by evening! Hoping for better things after I force myself to excercise after work!) Cheryl

Tiny (and simple) Flower Pot

Hello! A quick post with a number of pictures! Sometimes I just need to make a bunch of cards all the same to catch up with thank yous or thinking of you cards. Yesterday was the day for that! So here are some of what I produced~ I used a Whipper Snapper image called Tiny Flower Pot, I think it was probably drawn by the talented Anna Wight, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.( please) I colored the image with my copics. The flowers were easy and the flower pot a little more challenging, but I loved every minute of laying out 8 images to color up! My Dp is from a Basic Grey pad (marjolaine).

I've gotta run, but I can post the colors later if anyone is interested :)

Thanks so much!!

Hugs, Cheryl

Chef Charlotte

Hello and happy Saturday! The sun is shining beautifully here and it is a balmy 6 degrees!! Yep, I said SIX DEGREES!! This is Chef Charlotte, one of the Humorous Seniors from I Brake for Stamps! Check them out! I think this one works great for a male or female card!
I was going to put a sentiment on the front, but decided instead to use some of my large buttons.
Inside I'm going to use an older sentiment from All that Scraps (that goes with a snail most of the time)
It reads, "Sorry I'm late..... did I miss cake?!"
Yep, another late birthday card from me!!
My papers are from the My Mind's Eye pad named Gertie.

I thank you for coming by today! I really appreciate it!~ back tomorrow, I hope!
Have a wonderful day!
Cheryl

Tilda in Spring Rain

Hello, friends! It's Thursday already! Yeah! I have a card with a Magnolia mini to share with you today! Right now, we would love a little spring rain! We had 6" of snow yesterday! My poor daffodils! Anyway, this is #3014 TILDA IN SPRING RAIN from the Magnolia-licious store. I love her in full size and she is quick to color up and put on a card in the mini size! I used the Mojo Sketch for this week to design my card-sketches are so helpful when you have your image and papers, aren't they? Here's the link for the SKETCH

I'm sure you're not surprised to hear she's colored with copics! I used the usual skin colors. Lately I've been starting my hair with Y23 and then using my Es (31, 33,99, 25 and29) to finish.

I'm always looking for green combinations to match my papers and this might be an unusual one:

G20, YG03 and YG93, but it worked! Of course it's BG10 and BG72 for the 'rain' and puddle. The tan that I added around the oval is Distress Ink in Antique Linen.

The large plaid is an older paper from Piggy Tales called the Frog Prince, but the other two are from new Prima 6x6 pads called Botanical and Madeline.

Thank you so much for all the nice comments on my Screen Door card! I hear your requests and talked to Sharon the other day. She began by hand cutting her doors after getting inspiration from a crafting magazine. Since she wanted to teach it for a class, she had a company make her a die to cut the doors. AND she is willing to mail out her little door kits to customers! She would love to have you call her at the store for payment and mailing information (she does not have online ordering, but there is a Buffalo Stamps site)

Please contact her at 716-834-3540 and she will be happy to help you!

One commenter also asked about the dp inside-it's also My Mind's Eye and is in the 6" pack called Hattie (front papers from same pack)

Okay, that's it! Sorry for the long post! Have a great day!
Cheryl

A-Doorable Tilda BLOG HOP!

Hello!! I'm so glad you've stopped by the Cottage today! We are having an awesome BLOG HOP to inspire (we hope!) everyone to get their cards and projects entered into Diana's Easter/Spring Extravaganza contest! We don't want you to miss out on your chance to be chosen for BIG prizes! Diana's design teams have joined forces to show you lots of springtime cards and projects! So, if you've come along from ANGELA'S CRAFTING CORNER you are in the right place!
There's nothing like being able to open doors and windows to air out a house that's been closed up all winter! I can't wait!
Please see the Magnolia-licious Highlites blog linked above for all the contest details, but, in a nutshell you can will up to 150.00 from the Magnolia-licious Store! You may enter 3 separate projects (one for each category); using a mini image, using a regular sized image and make a 3D project using Magnolia images of your choice. Winners are being chosen by voting and there are a number of prizes being awarded, not just one! You have until 11:00 pm April 19 to enter!

I used #366 WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE from the You Are So Special Collection. Of course, she does not need to be for Valentines Day at all! Diana has many, many images in stock including most of this collection and preorders for the newest Butterfly Dreams collection. New stamps and the new Magnolia magazine are expected SOON!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, my friends and I went to our local stamp store, Buffalo Stamps N stuff! Sharon (the owner) is wonderfully friendly and talented! She stocks all the best products out there! She, herself designed this screen door concept for cards and teaches it in a class. I was able to buy some "extra" doors with the screen cut by her husband, Mark. I'm sooooo in love with this concept and want to do many of them!

And, Tilda, colored with my copics, of course! I used the usual colors for her skin. Her boots are E34, 55, 25 and 29

Her flowers are BG10 and BG72 with leaves of YG03 and 25

Her dress is Y23, YR24 and Y21 for some of the blending
Her hair is E50, Y23, E35, E25 and E29. I kept going over it and blending with Y23.

The flowers on the screen are from an MFT die as is the small felt flower by the door.

The inside needs a bit more work, but I thought I'd show it to you anyway!

Am also entering in the Magnolia Stamp Lovers challenge-use dies this week.
And, now I'd like to send you on your way to the blog of the most-talented MARIA to see what she's been up to in her studio!

thanks so much for visiting today, now feel free to hop along!

Hugs to all, Cheryl

Relax to the Max II

Hi! Well another weekend is on its way out. Hope you had a great one! I met up with friends, Lisa and Tracy for some stampin' retail therapy and enabling! Fun! This is a card I had to get finished for my nephew, Aaron-another late birthday card from us! I just love this Whipper Snapper designs dog! This time I paper pieced the chair. Of course, I shaded it afterwards with some darker greens to give more depth. All my papers are from MME Stella and Rose collections. The die is my new Lacy edge ovals :) and I did some messy stitching. I even made a stitched panel for the inside on another dp pattern!

Well, that's what I wanted to show you for today! Please, please return tomorrow for something very special from TWO design teams!!
Have a great night/day depending on where you are!
Cheryl

Flowers in Jar

Good morning, friends! I hope you've had a great week! I know I'm glad it's Friday and the weekend is here!
We have had some warmer weather-in the 50s! Last evening my husband was out trying to chip away with a shovel at the snow mound in our front yard in HIS SHORTS! Too funny!

I think this card is a little bit of spring, too! The soft yellow just makes me happy! I think some of the best presents are when Dave comes home with one of those bouquets of mini carnations from the grocery store! That's what this reminds me of and next time I think I'll put them in a mason jar!
The stamp is from I Brake for Stamps and is called Flower in a Jar.
I did make the card 4" x 6" to accommodate the image and still have space for the embossed border on the card.
You can use my code anytime on any order for 10% off~! It's SAVE10CHERYL

And now for the colors on the TILDA AND HER BUNNY CARD yesterday.
I used:
E000, R30, E11
BG10, BG11, BG72, BG18
E50, E33, E25, E29. E99
YR12. YR14. YR15, YR18
E42, E43, W3 for the bunny

Please remember there is a HUGE Easter Spring Extravaganza contest going on right now at Magnolia-licious! Diana is awarding some GREAT prizes and there's still time to enter!!
Thanks for the visit!
Have a super day! Cheryl

Tilda, her bunny and Just Magnolia challenge

Hi! It's really crunch time, but I love the Just Magnolia sketch for the week so I'm risking being late for work! Here's Tilda and her bunny which is up for preorder and expected VERY SOON inm the Magnolia-lcious store!
Also present are those wonderful 'tropical colors' that I told Nancy Parker would be appearing in cards. They are helped along by the awesome MME Mable papers!
I hope you have this paper because then you can get a better idea of the colors! They photographed so differently! The paper is SU Apricot Appeal, not orange! It is sponged with pumpkin to give it depth.

#363 TILDA AND HER BUNNY!

A close up of my rose, which I am quite happy with. I used the flower die from ZMy Favorite Things and PTI felt. But then I sponged it with pumpkin too to give it a peachy color! I heart it! The leaves are also cut from felt using a Magnolia-licious doo hickey die.

I know I can dress this card up a bit more with a ribbon and/or sentiment int he top left corner, but I hope you like it as it is!

I WILL post colors, but I really have to link to the sketch site and get to work! Thanks for coming by!

Cheryl

For you...

Well, I guess Monday has to come sometime! The weekend went very quickly! I keep pulling out flower stamps to color for my samples with I Brake for Stamps images! This one is called POPPY. Actually I posted an orange flower just last week! A tulip. Our poppies come out here in June and are orange so I colored this orange, too! Then I wanted to make the rest of the card different so I built this black frame and began working from there.
Remember, you can use my code SAVE10CHERYL for 10% off your order!
My My Mind's Eye Mabel paper is close by on my table so I turned to it for a pattern to use. I kind of like the finished card and hope you do too!
(I'll try to do better at keeping track of copics for you!)

And this is the simple inside of the wedding card I posted yesterday.

Wishing you a great Monday!
Cheryl

With this ring...

Hello, wonderful friends! Dave and I had a wedding to go to yesterday! We {{heart} weddings because it makes us think of our own day and vows!
The bride is a coworker of Dave's so we don't know the couple extremely well. The occasion called for a nice card and a gift of $! Sooo, I spent Saturday morning making this card for them. I have had this stamp (Wedding Couple)for awhile since my friend Michele introduced me to Lili of the Valley stamps last fall. My nephew is getting married in June so I ordered the stamp in case I wanted it for their card. So happy I got to use it sooner!

Our invitation had dark blue on it so I went with blue as a focus color on the card. Then I wanted some kind of elegant paper and went looking through the many places that I have paper stashed in my studio! I found this older pattern by MME and went from there. Even though the card had white I decided the cream paper and linen colored ribbon added a nice touch.

I photographed the inside, but forgot to post it. I used the same PTI lace edge die inside and made a pocket for their gift.

I'll add a photo into my next post to show you.

Off to do some more crafting today! Maybe I'll get ahead which would be a pleasant change before the busy week starts!

Thanks for dropping by!
Have a great one! Cheryl

Contest Kick -Off!!

Have you seen the new out there? Diana is having an Easter-Spring Extravaganza Contest with REALLY BIG prizes!! You have lots of time to create up to THREE projects for entry to win! Please visit the link above on our Design Team blog for all the details!Despite the fact that we could get up to 6 inches of snow today I am SO into spring papercrafting projects! ETA: I don't mean to whine about a little snow. I'm so sorry for the people in Japan and am hoping and praying for those in Hawaii and in the Pacific. I've used an image from the few images that were released in the Butterfly Dreams collection. This is #252 TILDA WITH HANGING RABBIT. I do love bunnies and have for many, many years! I have a stuffed one that I got for Easter as a child. The more realistic looking ones are my favorites! I like the white ones but am more partial to the brown or multicolored ones so I had to color Tilda's bunny!

I used last week's Friday Sketchers challenge sketch.

I just wish I'd finished my card in time to enter! This week looks like another great sketch!

My paper is from Stampin' Up-Springtime from the current mini catalog. I love that it has a 'kraft' color to it, called Crumb cake by SU. My die cut pieces are from some February releases by Papertrey Ink.

I'm pretty happy with this card except for her hair. I just could not get it the way I wanted! Anybody else have trouble with get the hair consistently right? I think I need to go back to my basic colors and retrain myself!

Anyway, thanks for visiting! I'm so glad you did and don't forget to check out Diana's contest!! You'll be glad you did!

Have a wonderful day!!

Cheryl

Simple tulip

Hello! Still getting back into the groove, but here's a card I made with one of my I Brake for Stamps images. I do love the flowers of spring; tulips, hyacinth, crocus and daffodil! Can't wait for the real ones! This one is called simply, TULIP, and I guess that describes it! I used white, apricot appeal and apricot appeal dp from Stampin' Up to keep the card clean and crisp. I didn't shadow or 'ground' the image which is really strange for me. I may still need to go back and add a ground color! I started out CASeing a card for the SU Featured stamper (last week, I think) and went with what the artist had done on her card . You can use my code SAVE10CHERYL to get 10% of your order!
I used copics on the image, as I'm sure you know. The colors are as follows:
YGo1, YG01, YG25
Y21, 31, 35 and 38
YR16, E19 and E08
(A sweet follower, Nancy Parker, asked if I would be influenced by the colors I saw in the Caribbean for awhile. Nancy, I think so!!)

thanks for coming by today! Have a great day! See you soon!
Cheryl

Finally Framed!

Hello and happy, happy Saturday! I have my Monthly Magnolia-licious card done! The excellent Janiel has given us the challenge for March! It is to include a frame somehow in your project and use the rest of the recipe she gives us as well. (bling or pearls, ribbon or trim, flowers, and, of course a Maggie image! You can read complete details on the blog HERE! For my card I used #275 TILDA WITH LACE JEANS from the new Butterfly Dreams collection. I think she looks like she's leaning over to look at the flowers coming out of the ground or at some small creature on the ground. My flowers are #427 LAZY SUMMER FLOWERS and a small ladybug which is probably from one of the kits from Sweden. I looked and looked for my snail and had all kinds of images out to try in my scene before settling on these two. The possibilities are nearly endless!

My paper is from My Mind's Eye (I've mentioned how much I love the new Stella and Rose patterns!). I made a frame with directions from Linda Duke when she previewed some of the new Spellbinder's dies we are all waiting for! The link is on my laptop which my 'computer guy' (my nephew A.J.) has right now. I'll link the directions when I can get to them again. I believe I linked them before on my blog when I used this idea on a card. One of my favorite parts is the little scrap strips I found on my table and added! They are the reverse side of the flowered paper! My card is 5.5" square.

Tilda is again raised with gel glue so there is quite a bit of dimension to the card.

Okay, please consider playing along with us! You have all month to do so!

Thanks so much for looking!

Cheryl

I'm Here!

Hi friends! Thank you to all who did not desert me in my long absence! Dave and I had the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise for our mid winter break! We had a wonderful time, but it's good to be home! There has been so much catching up to do and, of course, back to work! Now I've got problems with my laptop overheating so it freezes when I'm in midpost! I'm working on our desktop now but I don't have any photos of cards on this computer so I'm unable to post a new card until I get one made!

In the meantime I wanted you to know I'll be back to crafting as soon as I can ! Here is a picture taken from our tour bus on Tortola in the eastern Caribbean sea. We are high up overlooking the island of Virgin Gorda. I have never seen water so blue! I think the picture looks fake and I was there!

Anyway, this is all I have to leave you with today, but I am working on my Magnolia-licious frame card between catching up on laundry and bills! I hope to post it tomorrow (Friday) morning! Then I can come around and see what all of you have been creating with this great challenge!

Until then, thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheryl