My Happy Place

I am a lover of books!  
Since I was a little girl, my happiest memories are of visiting our public library, choosing a pile of books, then curling up to read away the afternoon.  
As a second grade teacher, my greatest pleasure comes from sharing books with my students and watching them develop a love of reading.  So I guess that is what inspired this card.

   I combined stamps from two Paper Smooches sets, Smarty Pants and Get Outta Town.  I stamped a bunch of books, colored them with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut them out so that I could stack them up.  I also used alcohol markers in shades of gray to create a shadow to ground the stacks.  

It is a simple design, but it makes me happy!!

I'm entering this in the SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge for this week.  I really enjoy seeing what others create.  Be sure to check it out!

Have a great day!

SPARKS Thank You Card

Happy Saturday!!

First challenge entry in a long time!  Nothing like the last minute though.  This week it's a Picture Perfect Challenge on the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog.  

Here is the inspiration photo:

 

And here is my take on it:

 

First, I used the Squared Die from Paper Smooches on  plain white cardstock.  I trimmed here and there to create the box pattern.  Then, I watercolored the splotches using my Zig Clean Color Brush Tip pens.  Last, I used the Paper Smooches Thanks Word Die for the sentiment on black card stock.  Simple design, big impact!

Make sure you check out the other entries on the challenge blog!  Always great inspiration!!

Have a great day!

When In Doubt...CASE IT

I haven't posted since July.  
I really haven't been crafting this summer.  Lots of swimming, visiting, eating, reading, gardening, but no card-making.  
So I'm trying to get back in the swing of things.  

Whenever I am lacking motivation or mojo (or both...) I give myself a kickstart by case-ing something I fell in love with by another designer.  This time it was this card by Julia Altermann.
I absolutely love her work.  Her videos are always informative and she has a great sense of humor, too.  She's lots of fun to learn from! 
If you do not already follow her blog or subscribe to her youtube channel, hurry up and do it!!

Here is my version of her delightful card: 

 I really need to invest in better lighting.  I keep saying that....
Anyway, I followed her video tutorial, but colored with Prismacolors.  I used an old  Recollections stamp set for the monsters and two SU sets, Perfect Blend and Gorgeous Grunge for the coffee splatters.

This card is headed down to my daughter at college in Philadelphia along with a Starbucks gift card and a few other goodies.

Thank you, Julia, for your inspiration!!!  

Have a great day!