A Lovely Award

I received this lovely award from Julie at Kewl Stamps n More...check out her wonderful blog! Thanks so much for thinking of me Julie! I can't promise to follow the rules...but I wanted to post the award and say thanks!!

Here are the rules anyway...

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered.

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

What do you get when...

ETA: I did not take this picture...I found it on the internet. While I do have a few bug photos I don't have any Praying Mantis' and the babies in my kitchen were tiny! Thank God they didn't look like this-because if I came home to 200 of these in my kitchen I might have had a heart attack!

You rescue two Praying Mantis eggs (each which contains approximately 200 babies) from the dried fountain grass you are cutting back in the spring, bring them inside and keep them on your kitchen windowsill until you find a nice safe place for them outside when the weather gets warmer, BUT you forget about putting them outside...YES! They hatch and cover every square inch of your kitchen window, sink, valance, canisters...okay, some went down the drain I'm afraid...

Now those of you who don't like any kind of bugs are probably freaking out. I on the other hand just found it a nuisance-what if they fell into the ground beef while I was making hamburgers? I opened the kitchen window and screen and was able to "push" most of them out. I don't expect that many of them survived, but even if they hatched outside I suspect the survival rate isn't much better than in my kitchen. Even so, there are at least 2 dozen still inhabiting the window and surrounding area. I had the eggs inside a jar (with no lid) and it appeared that there were more coming out still so I placed those outside in a plant on my porch. I hope lots of them do make it...they are the coolest insects! I wish I had had my wits to grab my camera, but I just knew I had to act fast!

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On another note...

Cheryl - My Cardmaking Haven and Carolyn - Stamping, Scrapbooking, and Card Hobbyist both presented me with this lovely award.

Thank you so much ladies, very thoughtful! I will try to make time to pass it on!

An Award and a Thank You

Poppy gave me this wonderful award yesterday. How sweet! Thank you so much!

I also want to say thank you for all the wonderful comments I have been getting lately, especially on yesterday's CTD post. I am blushing over all the flattering comments about my coloring. I have to give credit to all the wonderful artists out there who post tutorials and give endless tips and advice on how to color...this includes watercoloring, Copic markers, and colored pencils with odorless mineral spirits (gamsol technique on SCS). There are many, many artists that I get inspiration and coloring advise from which I have learned so much. Here are just a few-please visit these fabulous artists below for coloring tips!

Ila - Artfully Ila

Debbie - Thinking Inking

Leslie - Running with Scissors

Amy - Stampin' Stuff

Inge - Patterned Paper

Of course...I soaked up every bit of Copic information that I could get my hands on from Marianne at I Like Markers. Everything you can glean from the beginning of that blog, from how to choose color families, what the numbers on the markers mean, to how apply the correct amount of ink, is what you learn at a Copic Certification class. Now we can't all attend that, but we can learn just as much by applying the principals and techniques she teaches on her blog...it is an invaluable resource when it comes to Copics. Read it now!!!

And one last thing...don't forget to check out YouTube for video tutorials. There is an endless supply on all kinds of techniques and this is a great way to learn by watching the coloring in action!

I follow more than 60 blogs these days and while I would love to visit and comment on every post, every day, it's just not possible. But I do visit and comment when I can and I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate their support and humor and friendship! This blogging business is Good! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

A tag and some awards

Broni tagged me to pull my 6th picture. Goes like this: The tag is to open the My Pictures folder on your computer, open the 6th folder and then post the 6th photo. I was tagged once before so this time I counted the 6th folder from the bottom so I wouldn't get the same photo.

I joked with Anna about her picture being so gorgeous and mine was probably an overexposed photo of my cat...and voila! I was able to adjust the exposure but sure enough...it's my cat, Afton. She really has the most gorgeous green eyes. Doesn't she look scary here? And this was when she still had all her teeth! Ha, she weighs all of 7 pounds and is really the sweetest mushiest kitty ever. This was when we first moved into our old house and the walls nor that cast iron radiator were painted yet. She's obviously lounging in her very stylish leopard bed.

I have received a few awards and I want to acknowledge the givers! Without further ado...

I received this award today from Jenn-how sweet!

And this one from Shirley!

Thank you!!!!

Best Blog Award

My friend and fellow Color Throwdown teammate Broni from Splashes of Watercolor gave me this lovely award! This is an original drawing/award given to her from Marianne from I Like Markers...how awesome is that! I am honored to post this on my blog! Thanks so much Broni!!

I have decided that I wanted to pass this award to some new followers of my blog...those who have been leaving comments regularly. Although I may not visit the blog of every person who comments on my blog as often as I would like...I want you to know that I appreciate each and every one of you! My blog is only as successful as the people who make comments and appreciate my work and encourage me to continue! So, while there are really dozens that I would love to pass this to, here are my choices today!

Kelly Schelske -Crafting Creatively

Cheryl Joshua - My Card Making Heaven

Lisa Kind - Kind Creations

Shirley - Card Art, Etc.

Tonya - Tuesday's at Tonya's

Thanks to everyone who is supportive of my blog!!!

Have a happy Thursday!

I've been a bag blogger...

I received two awards recently that I did not post on my blog...I'm a baaaad girl! It's not that I don't appreciate them, because I do, really! And I am really sorry! So with further ado, thank you very much to Poppy at Poppy's Place for this award:

And thank you very much to Cheri at The Paper Freak for this award:

I am not going to pass these on to anyone specific...but to all the wonderful bloggers who I find friendship and inspiration with on a daily basis! Thank you and goodnight. Arizona just lost and I'm a bit bummed :(

Kreativ Blogger Award

I received another lovely award! Linsey from Outside the Lines was so kind to send this to me! She is so talented and creative it really was an honor!




I am not passing it on today though...my heart is not in it today. It was hard to even open my blog and see Basil's face. I cry everyday. I knew I loved her and would miss her I just never realized how hard it was going to be.

I still remember the day I brought her home from the breeder. She was 6 1/2 weeks old. She was a house rabbit and learned to use a litterbox by 11 weeks of age. She had free run of the main floor of my house while I was home. My cat even liked her sometimes! And did she love dry catfood! Totally wreaked havoc on her digestive system, but she used to hop into the back foyer and chow down at the cats dish! I had to move it downstairs so she couldn't get to it anymore. I miss her little grunts and snoring when she slept too. She was the sweetest, friendliest little bunny ever. She had a good life though, 7 1/2 years was good long time for her.

Sorry to be so gloomy. I will try to get some pictures of the parade posted soon. We had a really great time! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I received a lovely award

from Lisa over at Poppy's Place. It was so very thoughtful! Check out her blog! Thanks so much Poppy!!

This award states that:This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships These blogs are exceedingly charming These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated Please give more attention to these writers.

This award is for all of the wonderful people who visit my blog regularly! Please have a wonderful day!

ATS Design Team sketch challenge and an inaugural award!

Good afternoon! I was about to say morning, but boy, that one got away! I have a very simple card that I made for the All That Scraps design team challenge you can read about here. I'm afraid I am not very happy with this sample...I mean, it's cute, but I have to try again. Can I blame the kids? Oh, no, here they come...I can't even get through one post before they are fighting again, sigh. I can't wait until school starts!!!!



So I used one of the new C.C. Designs sets, Bear Hugs...I mean, those bees are irresistable! I guess I was thinking honey, which made me choose yellow and gold, so I just went with it and coordinated the flowers too. I colored the images with Prisma's and oms. The wings are covered with Diamond Glaze after I added sparkle with my Sakura stardust pen. Both bee's are cut out and popped up over the main image. The cs is all from PTI and the dp is Fancy Pants. The flowers are primas with a dot of liquid pearls and the ribbon is from Target. I found it in the bridal section on clearance and it's a perfect match to the PTI cs. I find that I use it a lot...it's a really nice quality too. I drew in the grass with a Sharpie so the flowers weren't just floating. There is some really light stippling too of yellow around the main panel and some green around the bears bottom and the grass.

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I also received an award that I want to share with everyone. Curt from Curt's World awarded me with this wonderful and humbling blog award that he created and launched himself! What a gorgeous photograph!! I am so flattered! Check out his blog-he has wonderful creations and photographs! I love his dogs too-just want to give them big hugs!!

Thank you so much Curt-your comments and this inaugural award mean so much to me!

And last but not least, the mail carrier was just here with my new Whipper Snapper stamps...and you know I got the two new Anna Wight Halloween sets! Between these and the PTI Halloween set I got on Saturday I will be buried under ink and paper all week! I am so excited!

Wishing everyone a fabulous day!!

I received an award!

I received this wonderful award yesterday from Lauri-check out her blog Paperville! Thanks so much Lauri that was really nice of you! So the rules are that I have to select 7 bloggers to receive this award from me. It's really hard to only choose 7 - but here it goes:

Broni-Splashes of Watercolor

Catherine-Inksomnia

Linsey-Outside the Lines

Julia-Create with Me

Leslie-Running with Scissors

Cindy-Cindy Haffner's Corner

Denise-The Paper Landscaper

Thanks ladies for all of your inspiration, support, and encouragement!

Rubbernecker Challenge and an award! And a mini vacation...

Rubbernecker Challenge number 4

This card I created for this weeks Rubbernecker Challenge posted on Jeanne's blog here. The challenge is to use dark blue, light blue, and a neutral. I used dark and light blue cardstock from Bazzill and the parchment as my neutral...but I don't know where I got it! This stamp is from Stamp Oasis, which I bought from Rubbernecker, and this is the first time I have used it. It's stamped in Palette Noir and painted with Art Quest Pearlescent watercolors. Her face is colored with a Copic marker. It really has a beautiful shimmer to it which I also carried to the sentiment.

You can't really see it in the picture but I stamped flourishes from Autumn Leaves on the parchment in Versa Magic Aegean Blue . Lightly sponged that panel and the white cardstock from PTI with both Aegean Blue and Night Sky. The sentiment is also stamped in Night Sky and sponged.

Lastly I added some details with a stardust pen, gems in the flower centers, and a ribbon. Oh, there is also some Stickles in Waterfall on the tiny stars in her hair...again difficult to photograph! I have a close up version also so you can see some of the sparkle.



You know, I really had a hard time deciding how to color this...there is tons of detail in her hair. This is okay, but I will have to try a different technique next time.



You Make My Day Award!

I was so pleasantly surprised to find that Joan from AJCreations gave me this award!



Here are the rules: In order to display this 'You Make My Day Award' proudly on your blog you must re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware, you may get the award several times yourself, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved.

Joan, this was soooo nice of you, thank you!!! Ok so now I have to pick 10...only 10?! Everyday I find more great blogs...so hard to choose! I will have to work on this one and come back to it, unfortunately it's time to get to work!

Mini Vacation!

But lastly before I go, my DH and I are taking a well deserved weekend getaway to Washington DC. I wanted to go the the Smithsonian to see the Nature's Best Photography exhibit that is only there until the end of the month. Of course this isn't exactly what he had in mind, but it's almost four whole days without children! And now the Cherry Blossom Festival is going on too so I'm sure we can find lots of fun things to do. Besides, we won't have any kids fighting, food flying, or 2 years olds poking us in eye at 4 am to see if we're awake...now that's exciting! I hope that this exhibit renews my inspiration to get my photography website up! I got my domain and host and now I just have to create it. I bought a book to help me out but I just need time to actually read it! This is probably my last post until next week. I will be back on Tuesday! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Me? An Award?!!

I just received this award from Shelly aka Stampwithshelly! I am suprised and delighted and honored!! Shelly is a wonderful artist and I am positively thrilled that she sent this so to me! Thank you so much Shelly!!!! Ok, now I think I'm supposed to pass the torch. I am supposed to choose 10 but I could probably choose 50! Anyway, if you already got this award then you are even more fabulous!! Here are my picks:

Rose Ann/Paper Delightz
Anna/SweetandSassy
Bonnie/The Lucky Clucker
Pam/Indigo Studio
Leigh/Sunflower Studio
Gina/A Day in the Life
Michelle/Twisted Chick Creations
Debbie/Thinking Inking
Krystie Lee/Cupcake Martini
Sherry/Walkin on the Bad Side

Wow, that was really hard to narrow down to 10! There are so many bloggers/artists that I admire and get inspiration from! Have a great day!