My crazy life ... and a look at my Heart Journal

Hi there.

Just another busy week in the Pickle household! I started 3 new Zumba classes and a salsa dancing class with Hubby. SO MUCH FUN. However, tweaking my schedule and adding that to everything else on my plate - well, let's just say I am forever running. :) Always living La Vida Loca LOL!

I am working on some FUN stuff for the week. I will have more crafty pickleiciousness posted in the next few days! Stay tuned...

Now onto my artsy fartsy journal! Art journals are all the rage right now and The Greeting Farm offered a free He-Art Journal class.

Since I don't have enough to do - I signed up! :) Every week for 23 weeks, we have an assignment based on our artistic interpretation of a theme. Last week, the theme was "Spread Your Wings". We were also encouraged to step outside of our creative box - if we are neat crafters (yep, that's me), we should do something messy. So I decided to fingerpaint. Like a kid in kindergarten. :) What's messier than fingerpaint? Not much, I say. What's more fun than fingerpaint? Cleaning up, I say LOL! Here is what I created.

Week #1 - Spread Your Wings:

I started out with the 'Beautiful Fairy' digi from Karber Stamps. She looked dreamy and thoughtful. Perfect for what I wanted to do with these journal pages. I wanted to color her with darker colors to remind me of night. I used my Copics and added some fairy bling to her wings, wand and eyeshadow. I embossed my sentiments and dreamy swirls with white embossing powder so they would show in the midst of the kaleidoscope of color. I used Gelatos (paint in a chapstick tube - FABULOUS!) to scribble color onto my paper and then dipped my finger in water and smeared it. Serious fun! When I was done, I kept thinking of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat LOL! For the finishing touch, I covered the pages with Iridescent Medium to give them pearly shine (so hard to see in the pictures, darn it).

A close up view of the fairy  - and I LOVE that sentiment.

Stuff I Used:
Stamps- Karber Stamps - 'Beautiful Fairy' Digi, Layers of Color - 'Joyful Noise' Stamps (large swirls & large butterfly), AMuse Studio Stamps - 'Ornate Elements' (smaller swirls), Marvelous Marigolds (small butterfly), Inkadinkado Stamps - Chelsea Alphabet (fly), Friendship (believe), The Rubber Cafe Stamps -'Vintage Treasures' (Do you ever sit and dream?), Stampin' Up Stamps - 'Bliss' (bird, small butterfly w/text)
Cardstock - AMuse Studio Sugar CS
Copics - Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20 / Hair: C1, C3, C5, C7 / Dress: BG01 bridged w/ BG05, BG07
              Wings: RV10, R85, BG000, BG02 / Wand: 100, BG10
Faber Castell Gelatos - Every color in the rainbow and white
Nesties - Scalloped Ovals
Other Stuff - Versamark Ink, SU White Embossing Powder, Stardust Stickles, Iridescent Medium

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek!  You make my day! :)

Busy as a bee and a bee card too!

Hi there!

Wowzers, I have been busy as a bee lately! I am trying to get my crafting time organized so I spent yesterday setting up my crafty calendar in Google. Then I can remember what in the world I wanna do. So many things to do, so little time, so darn tired LOL! 

I created this card for a sketch challenge, but I didn't get it posted by the deadline. :( It's OK - I found some other challenges it will fit right into! I am working hard to use my stash, especially my 6x6 paper pads with all of that yummy coordinated paper. It can still be difficult to get the right combo. With this card, I think I got it! I think it turned out SO cute and of course, I wanted to share. :)

My 'Bee Happy' Card:

This card has multiple layers going on - polka dot squares, striped triangles & a floral backdrop for the bees. The solid rectangle helps the bees stand out in the middle of all the "busy"stuff. The sentiment is punched out and layered under the rectangle. See the matching bubbles on the corners? Those were made with scraps of paper, the Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio tool & round 14 bubble caps! It makes matching epoxy embellies in a jiffy. 

Here is a close up so you can see the bling and the Copic Spica pen used for 
the girl bee's eyeshadow and lipstick. I do LOVE bee-utiful bling! :) 

 

Stuff I Used: 

Karber 'Bee Love' Digis, Paper Smooches 'Bee Happy' Digi Sentiment 

Echo Park 'Springtime' 6x6 Paper, AMuse Studio Sugar CS, SU Melon Mambo CS

Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles, SU Decorative Label Punch

Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Stickles - Star Dust & Cotton Candy

Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Tool (Round 14) & Button Caps

Copics Used - Girl Bee: RV21, RV23, RV25, Copic Spica Pen - Blossom 

Boy Bee: Y21, Y23, Y26  Heart: RV29

Challenges Entered:   

Karber Challenge 36 - Anything Goes Using Karber Stamps & Digis 

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes 

Thanks for stopping by! Now I am off to relax with Hubby!

A Week of Firsts!

Hi there! Happy Monday!

Last week was such a whirlwind of activity for me that I am still catching my breath! :)
Lots of creative energy being used in the craft room and I think I need a quick recharge!

First of all, I won my first challenge - yay for me! I am still floored and humbled by the whole thing! :)
Here's the winning cutie - for coloring brunette hair with Copics on my "Leslie Vacations" card:

And this Friday, I will be part of my very first blog hop! I took the plunge and signed up for this:

What an honor to be part of this - there is so much talent that will be showcased here! So the craft room is a crazy mess of paper, ink, buttons and markers as I put the finishing touches on my creations! I hope all of you will join in on the fun and hop along - there will be prizes for those of us participating in the blog hop as well as for some lucky hoppers! Pretty fabulous stuff!

One more bit of adorableness I wanted to share that I found on the blog of talented Denice Bartucci:

I think I am just beginning to shine...! A HUGE thank you for all of your support, sweet encouraging comments and for simply stopping by to look around! I am truly blessed by ALL OF YOU.

Sending You Some Sunshine

Hi there. So we are in the dog days of summer here in Arizona. Hot, hotter and I think I'm on fire LOL!
In honor of our forecast of 108° this week, I am sending you some sunshine because we have far too much of it at this point!

When I discovered Karber Digis recently, I immediately fell in LOVE with their adorable images! So fun and whimsical and right up my creative alley! Leslie is one of my new favorite cuties! I printed the image a bit large, so my card is oversized (6 x 5 1/2) to accommodate that error in judgement. I think she is just perfect for sharing my overload of summer sunshine!

My 'Leslie Vacations' Card:

I like to say that I am a Copic beginner with LOTS of training! :)
This was very challenging for me to color with all of the circular images.
Practice will make perfect...this is my Copics mantra!
I LOVE the cute yellow polka dots stamped on the middle paper strip.

 

 Sparkly Stickles were added to her sunglasses & sandals. 
Diamond Glaze was used to create glossy lenses. FUN. :)
 And don't you just LOVE her little toes?!

Stuff I Used:
Karber Digital Images-'Leslie Vacations'
Pink Cat Studios Digital Image-'Sending You Some Sunshine' Sentiment
AMuse Studio 'Polka Dot Patterns' Stamps
Copic Markers-Hair: E25, E31, E50 / Skin: E00, E01, E11 / Clothes, Sandals, Glasses, Pail, Shovel:
Y13, Y15, Y17, 100 / Floaties & Inner Tube: YR04 bridged w/YR07, YR09
AMuse Studio Sugar CS & Orange Polka Dot Paper
Penny Black Friends Forever Yellow Paper (some old stash used for the sun)
AMuse Studio Buttercup Pigment Ink
Spellbinders Dies - Standard Circles & Classic Ovals, Lotus Blossom Pendants
Lemon Divine Twine, Handmade Heart Button - Jane Beljo (janeb74 on Etsy)
Star Dust Stickles (glasses & sandals), Diamond Glaze (glasses)


To boldly go where I haven't gone yet, I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Karber Challenge 34: Anything goes using a Karber digi or rubber stamp
Color Me Creative Copic Challenge 20: Coloring Brunettes  

Thank you for stopping by today for a little extra sunshine!