This is a very short post today.   The Outlawz newest challenge is up and it is "Anything goes....and the twist is Anything Goes"!  Our sponsor is Oak Pond Creations!

I colored this adorable image with Prismacolor pencils, this time!   I really like working with them.  I think the witch hung up her clothes and went to bed, after a long night of Haunting on Halloween!

The spider webs and "Spooky" sentiment are Dazzle stickers!

Inside , is another Dazzle sticker and a layer of white cut from a SB die.   The yellow layer is also a SB die, of lattice, and finally the orange layer is a piece of glitter foam.

Be sure to visit Oak Pond Creations, and thanks for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Janet

Its another Twisted Thursday at the Outlawz!  And because Autumn is about to begin, our Challenge this week is..."Anything Goes...with the Twist being...First Day Of Fall"!   So, Happy Fall Y'All!

I chose this pumpkin image from our sponsor, Oak Pond Creations.  For me, Pumpkins have always meant Fall is here!  I love the vibrant Fall colors!  I colored this one with Prismacolor Pencils!  I added a Distress Ink background that I learned at Marie Gamber's Background Class at CMC!  This is an awesome class, and I guarantee that you will never look at an image in the same way again!  Check it out!

I added some Stickles to the leaves of the pumpkin  to add some sparkle and then layered the image on a piece of embossed foil!  I added a strip of ribbon to the bottom, because my embossing folder was not quite big enough and left a plain area at the bottom.  I added a piece of plain green background paper and adhered it to my card base.  I then stamped (or tried to) my sentiment at the bottom.   I learned that stamping on top of water resistant pencils is a challenge!   Because of the waxy coating that makes them water resistant, the ink doesn't stamp well at all.  So, after it was all done I just traced over the stamped sentiment with a fine tipped Sharpie.   That worked!

Inside, I added some punched out pumpkins and vines, added some Wink of Stella, some Dazzle leaves, and a white cut out on which to write, with some orange background paper.

That's it for this week...be sure to visit Oak Pond Creations for some great designs!

Thanks for stopping by this week and visiting....come back soon!

Have a great week!

Janet

Happy Thursday, everyone!   A new Twisted Thursday challenge is up at the Outlawz!  The challenge is as always "Anything Goes...with the twist being...Add a Ladybug"!  Who doesn't like ladybugs!

I used this beautiful sunflower image from Oak Pond Creations, who is our sponsor this month!

I colored it with my Copic Pens, added some Stickles for sparkle and then I added Martha Stewart's tiny seed beads to the center to look like the sunflower seeds.  I then cut the image out.   The background paper is watercolor paper that I added Gelatos to and made a watercolor wash background.   I cut some vines and leaves out of green pattern paper to add to the background.   The cut image is raised on Pop Dots.  I added the Hello sentiment by stamping in the same green as the greenery.   And lastly, I added some Ladybugs!   They are ladybugs that are 3D stickers that a very good friend gave to me!  I love these stickers! 

Inside, I made smaller flowers that look like sunflowers and added one more Ladybug sticker! 

I really enjoyed trying the watercolor paper background!   I will be doing this again!

Be sure to visit Oak Pond Creations for some amazing images!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Janet

Good Morning,

I was nominated by my very dear friend Darcy, of Crafting With Darcy to do The Creative Blog Hop!  I have never done this before, so here goes!  Darcy and I met when we both became DT members at The Outlwaz Challenges about a year ago!  We started talking to kind of help each other learn the ropes, although she was a much bigger help to me, than I was to her, because she understands all of this stuff!   You know how sometimes you meet someone and you just hit it off....well, that is how it was with Darcy!   We now talk daily, and I so look forward to hearing from her!   We have so many common interests and experiences!   

The Creative Blog Hop happens every Monday and hops from crafter to crafter.  We all answer the same questions.

1.  What am I working on?

     I always have a couple of cards in progress...sometimes just  in my mind, but still in progress!  I am on the DT for Twisted Thursday at the Outlawz, so I am always trying to create new cards for the challenges.   I love learning new techniques and trying them out!

2.  How does my work differ from others of my genre? 

     I think everyone develops their own style that is constantly evolving.  My style has changed as I have learned new things and gotten better at some techniques.  Over all, I think I like making cards that have some Copic Pen coloring on them, or colored pencil, or some sort of art medium.   

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

   I have always enjoyed creating something, and I like the feeling of creating something that is totally yours.  As a kid, I was constantly doodling, and my Mom taught me to crochet when I was 5, so I started making outfits for  my stuffed animals.  Over the years I have tried just about every craft out there, and have enjoyed them all.   I find it very relaxing, so I guess thats why I do it!

4. How does my creation process work?  I'm not sure!   Sometimes ideas come to me easily, and other times I struggle for days to complete one card!  I usually start out with:

   Whats the challenge?

    What image do I want to use?

    What is the occasion for the card?

    I color the image

    Then I sit surrounded by papers and dies trying many options before I get the glue out!

    Last, I like to add embellishments like gems, Stickles, flowers, whatever!

    Then I try to always finish the inside of my card so that it matches the outside in some way.  Sometimes the inside takes 

    longer than the outside!

Now it is time to nominate 3 people for the blog hop.  This is going to be hard!   I think everyone should be nominated!

Here's my list, which is in no way complete...I want to nominate my whole DT team at the Outlawz!   But since I can't, I will nominate the people I have worked with the longest!

3. Pia Skarning

http://piaspapirogperler.blogspot.no

Pia is another team mate that joined the Twisted Thursday DT shortly after I did!  Pia lives in Norway and makes beautiful cards for our challenges!   She is another extremely talented DT member!  

And I just want to say that Olga Moore at

http://creativevisualpoetry.blogspot.com

is another team mate and should be nominated also, along with 

Andrea Beecroft at

http://www.andneil.blogspot.co.nz

Now, please join in the fun and visit these awesome blogs!

OMGoodness, it is September, already!  I hope everyone enjoyed the Labor Day holiday, and had some end of the season picnics and fun!
This week at the Outlawz, the Twisted Thursday Challenge is, "Anything Goes...with the twist being....Make Something Sparkle"!  I used this underwater scene created by Oak Pond Creations, who just happens to be our sponsor for this month!

I colored the image with Copic Pens, then wanted to make it "sparkly" for the challenge!  So, I added some silver charms, some Perfect Pearls for the bubbles and some Dazzles for seaweed!   But, I wanted more "Sparkle", so I decided to experiment!   In the sandy area at the bottom there is some pink glitter that looks like sand.   The experiment was...I did this with glitter nail polish!   It went on so easy with the little brush and does not react with the Copic ink or the printer ink!   And once it is dry, it does not flake off like glitter, and it lays flatter and more smooth!   It is hard to see in the picture, but I really like how it came out!  I used the glitter nail polish that has glitter suspended in clear nail polish.  When it dries, you don't even see the clear polish, just the glitter, at least the colors I used worked this way!  I hope you will experiment with this, also!  I think it will work great for Christmas and snow scenes!  

Inside I just used more of the same elements found on the front of the card to tie it all together!

I hope you find time to join us at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge and that you visit Oak Pond Creations for some great digis!

Thanks for stopping in and have a great week!

Janet

Another Thursday and we find ourselves at the end of August already!  At the Outlawz, Twisted Thursday Challenge we have a great challenge up and running!  We have the usual "Anything Goes...with the twist being...."A Lighthouse"!   These are such unique structures, and have such interesting histories!    I chose this wonderful digi stamp from Sweet and Sassy!  I live in Maine and we have a lighthouse very similar to this one, so it was perfect for me!

I used my Copic Pens to color the image. The birds were cut with a tiny die. I added Wink Of Stella to the lighthouse and the birds.  I then added some yellow Stickles to the "lighted" part of the lighthouse!  I used SB dies to cut the background layers in red, white and blue.   I also added some twine that was red and white striped to go with the lighthouse!  A simple Hello sentiment is all I used.

Inside I used the same papers, and some fancy dies!

Our sponsor for this week is:

http://www.markerpop.com/

Thanks for stopping by this week!

Have a great week, everyone!

Janet

I have a new card to share today with the monthly image from Deedee's Digis!  The challenge this month is a bit different to celebrate Deedee's first anniversary!   There are all kinds of twists!   I'm really late getting mine in, but you still have time to hop over to Deedee's and get in on the fun!  You have until the end of the month to join the challenge!
This digi is called Monkey Business!   It is just so darn cute and the sentiments that are included are so versatile!

I liked this little guy hanging by his tail and holding a cupcake, saying "Hang In There"!  I colored him with my Copic Pens, added some Stickles to the leaves and the heart on the cupcake, cut him out and mounted him on a wobbler so it would look like he was swinging from the branch!   The background paper is just some paper I had in my stash that I thought looked like a good jungle background.   The sign is cut out using a SB die and then I added some twine and a brad to make it look like an old hanging sign.

 Inside I used the other monkey image for twice the fun!  I colored it, cut it out, and mounted it on pop dots after adding the papers for writing a message!  These little guys are just adorable!

Be sure to check out Deedee's Digis for all these cute sets and come join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day!

Janet