Last Minute Mother's Day Cards!

Not quite sure how May crept up on me and that tomorrow is Mother's Day!  YIKES!!  I got some last minute orders from work which calls for quick and easy Mother's Day cards.  I had to pull out my Lawn Fawn stash because they've been poorly neglected.

Let's start with card #1

Some pattern paper (no time to color!) and Lawn Fawn's Best Pun Ever is the star of this card.  Created a little window with a scalloped square and voila!

Card #2

I went cutesy with this one using Lawn Fawn's Gleeful Gardens and Stitched Oval Stackable dies.  Lawn Fawn inks and sequins were the finishing touch and copics were used to quickly color the shrooms and grass.

Card #3

Don't you love that scripty mom font?  When you are running out of time, Lawn Fawn inks save the day!  I used Lawn Fawn's Penelope's Blossoms inked in Lawn Fawn Yeti pigment.  To give the blooms color I went over the Yeti ink with Lawn Fawn inks in Wild Rose, Sunflower, Carrot, Jalapeno, Celery Stick, Merman and Fresh Lavender.  Popped up the craft cardstock on some pattern paper that matched the die cut mom and there ya have it!

Card #4

I used Lawn Fawn's Stitched Rectangle die to create a couple of windows.  Lawn Fawn's Mom +Me sets the perfect scene.  All inks are Lawn Fawn and the owls are copic colored.  Because I cherish my grandmothers, I took a little more time on this card and would like to enter it in the latest Lawnscaping Challenge: Calling All Critters

That's it for me!  I wish you all a Happy Mother's Day and are able to give big hugs to those moms around you.  Mahalo for stopping by!!

Critters and Cacti for A2Z Scrapbooking

TGIF!

Today I'm over at A2Z Scrapbooking with a combination of 

Hero Arts stamp sets that is sure to make you smile!

I would love it if you stopped by and left me some comment love!

Here's a little sneaky peek...

I used these fun Hero Arts sets...

Ok!  Hope to see you over at A2Z Scrapbooking!

There's also an awesome sale going on to help kickstart your holiday projects.

Remember that proceeds go towards helping the Behcets and Celiac autoimmune communities.

Use code "NICKI15" for 15% off your entire purchase!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

Lawnscaping Coffee Blog Hop

Aloha and welcome to 

I'm super ecstatic to be a part of this hop especially because

when you get LAWN FAWN and COFFEE together

you're bound to make some awesome things!

As a nurse I'm always needing encouragement cards

and little gifts for my patients and their families.

It's never easy being sick or taking care of someone that is,

so my hope is to bring just a tiny bit of sunshine and 

hopefully a smile or two.

Today's card...

I'm totally in love with Lawn Fawn's latest release

(I know I've said this before...but it's true!)

I used a bunch of Lawn Fawn sets and their matching dies:

Critters in the Jungle, Love You A Latte, Bake Me a Cake and Milo's ABCs.

I created the scene with the Stitched Oval Stackables die and

Puffy Cloud Borders to create the sky and ground.

The images were stamped, colored with copics and die cut.

Of course it wouldn't be a coffee themed card without a monkey carrying a mug

with a whipped topping (from the Bake Me A Cake set) and some 

coffee beans stamped in the background.

Sometimes I want to just give a little gift because occassionally 

words don't seem enough...

I thought of putting a simple coffee ice cream recipe inside.

The Lawn Fawn Milk Carton die is so fun to dress up and

the Treat Yourself stamp set I turned into coffee to match the theme.

I added the bow on top for some cuteness by punching two holes 

and threading the ribbon through to close the carton!

Here's the recipe I put inside in case you'd like to try it for yourself
It really is divine!

Easy Homemade Coffee Ice Cream
1 cup Cold Brewed Extra Strong Coffee
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Blend everything together using an electric mixer to get whipping cream nicely whipped.
Place in freezer safe storage container and freeze over night.
Super easy and simple.
I love my coffee ice cream strong and not too sweet
so it may need some tweeking depending on your taste.

OK so did I mention PRIZES?!?

We have a bunch of generous sponsors...

 Lawn Fawn, Ellen Hutson, The Ink Road, Crafters Companion, Spectrum Noir, The Alley Way Stamps, Newtons Nook, Faber Castell, and Right at Home! 

Leave comments along the way for your chance to win!!
You'll have until the end of the day (11:59 Eastern Standard Time)
on June 28th to get your comments in.
 Winners will be announced on the Lawnscaping Blog that week

Below is the blog hop order starting from

Lawnscaping Challenges
that's me --->Niki G. 
Gray Whiskers Crafts
Melissa
Kristina B.
Lysa
Dianchik
Yolanda G. 
Jennie M. 
Julie C. 
Ellen 
Nina-Marie
Michele S. 
Anni
Michelle L.
Lydia
Oreet
Tammy H.
Shannon M. 
Kim
Kelly S. 
Trish K. 
Tanja
Amy
Kim H. 
Monica M. 
Beau Monde Designs
Valerie W. 
Maria
Wiebke
Maia Ink
http://melissabowden.com/
Vicki
Chitra
Tracy
Curl E. Cue's
Coralynn
Carisa
Dawn E.
Kate 
Kristina P. 

If you encounter any errors along the hop, please email Laurel directly at 

laurelbeard at me dot com. 

Please do not leave them in the comments.

Happy hopping!  Next up on the list is
Gray Whiskers Crafts

MAHALO for stopping by!

Aloha Friday Challenge: Girly Card

Happy Aloha Friday!

Have you made a girly card recently?

For this challenge we are sponsored by the lovely

Here's your chance to enter it over at 

The Kitty Bee Design

Aloha Friday Challenge

Need some inspiration check out my card

and my teammates!

This sweet girl called 

Lady Bug Fairy

was colored with copics and

die cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Squares.

Added some twine and sequins for even more girliness!

I hope you'll join us!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Oh Monday...

Monday...again...

Today's card was made for Amy Tsuruta's friend who 

was newly diagnosed with lung cancer.

I believe she is still collecting encouragement cards if you feel

inclined to make one and send it her way.

I am a strong believer in "support medicine"

as I've seen patients with strong support get through just about anything.

If you follow me on instagram you'll see a lot of my
"work in progress" pics of coloring and layouts, and may have seen
my practice coloring of these beautiful daffodils drawn by thee
talented Sandy Allnock.
She has a EduDigi series that has really improved my coloring!

I created my own window of sorts with a left over piece
from the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die.
At the last minute I decided to use a stencil to create a background
so I taped/masked the edges and used a Hero Arts Medallion Stencil.
Lastly the sentiment was stamped from Hero Arts Bits and Pieces.

I saw a sweet mood board over at
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
of daffodils so I thought I'd link up.

MAHALO for stopping by!

Designer Spotlight for Kitty Bee Designs

Happy Saturday friends!

Today I'm sharing this sweet image by

Kitty Bee Designs

I can't get enough of that sweet froggy's face!

Just about the same face I make 

every time I forget someone's birthday!!

I kept the card simple for mass production

because I ALWAYS need a 

Belated Birthday card.

The bottom was stamped with Lawn Fawn's 

Gingham backgrounds using their ink in Cranberry (so pretty).

I took various fonts of questions marks to do

a tone on tone background and popped

up that sweet copic-colored froggy.

I hand drew the speech bubble and there you have it!

Hope you have a great weekend and

MAHALO for stopping by!!

Aloha Friday Challenge for Kitty Bee Designs

Happy Aloha Friday!

Love is in the air and there's still time to enter 

Kitty Bee Designs

Aloha Friday Challenge: Valentine's/Love

Today we're using a digi from 

Love her drawings...they totally live up to their  name!

2 Cute Ink Owl Love digi, Hero Arts CL 585, Doodlebug Designs Polka Vellum paper,

Simon Says Stamp Stitched circles amd rectamgle die,

Lawn Fawn Hearts die, Lawn Fawn Louie's ABCs die,

 heart confetti from Japan, copics

I did a tone on tone background stamping on the kraft cardstock,

then layered the vellum and die cuts on top.

I got these cool confetti hearts from a good friend that

 brought them back from Japan.

That's it for me today!  I hope you'll join us!!

Mahalo for stopping by!

#10 Gift Card Holders

Oh Monday,

why do you come so quickly!?

We are 3 days away from my 

GIVEAWAY!

Click HERE for details

Do you know what's the best last minute gift?

GIFT CARDS!

What's the best way to give a gift card?

In a handmade gift card holder of course!

I actually give these away as gifts too.

I loved the simplicity and functionality of this

Silhouette GC holder cut

I used heavy card stock for it to really hold its shape

and a strong adhesive...

Please excuse the poor photos, but I quickly took them

before giving them away!

I love that you can put anything on the front and even emboss the flap

for a fun, but subtle background.

(Left: Uses Dandelion Designs and Lawn Fawn Hats Off to You

Middle: Uses Sizzlit Poinsettia die with washi tape and sequins

Right: Uses Lawn Fawn Love You a Latte)

And purple ones for my coworker...

using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Snowflakes die and a rhinestone embellishment.

The polar bear is from Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Snow

I'm going to quickly add these to 

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Winter!

Much MAHALO for following me daily for a dose of 

Holiday inspiration!!

I LOVE to color!!!

I've learned so much from the Online Card Class: Copic Coloring for Card Makers and wanted to share some pics of my practice sheets.

Before I get into that....have you heard that 9/29 is National Coffee Day?  As a coffee lover myself I was excited to hear that Chaitali and Amy (the queen of coffee) are putting a blog hop together and you can join the fun!!  There are a ton of sponsors and prizes to be won!!  Just click below to get more details...

Ok so on to my coloring!  

I love that copic markers blend so well together when using the right kind of paper.  I've found some places can be pretty pricey for just a pack of 10, but found that Target carried Neenah Solar White 65lb cardstock for a good deal for a pack of 75 for under $8!  I know it's not the heavy weight cardstock, but I'm liking the results!  Check it out...

There were so many tips and tricks that I tried to feel out which ones I felt comfortable with.  I reeeeeeally love the idea of using grays as my shadowing because I don't have a ton of copics in varying shades.  This totally expanded my copic coloring!

Next I loved the idea of adding texture with feathering so I attempted that on the left.  Again using grays as my shadowing I practiced on the flowers on the right.

I'm quite proud of this ballerina!  Up until this point I had no idea you could shade in a face to show curves and more depth.  I was SUPER happy with the results and just want to color everything in site...haha

Lastly I liked coloring the face on the top right with teal highlights...just like my profile pic!

That's it for me today!  Mahalo for stopping by!!

I'll be back with more on Monday for the Coffee Blog Hop as well as the Creative Blog Hop.

Copic Play Round 2

Oh it's one of those weeks that work seems like it will never end...

Thank goodness for crafting stress relief!!
Just got through Day 2 of the 

Online Card Class: Copic Coloring for Card Makers

and I've been learning lots!

I decided to use some 

Kitty Bee Design images to practice coloring...

I used the tip to tip blending trick and I think it works like a charm!

I did a little feathering as well and that created my lighter

centers for a bit more dimension.

Off to play some more!

By the way if you're wondering about the background that was made using

Faber Castell Gelatos!  So fun to play with!!

I just swiped some on the card to create ground (using gold and a bit of black for shadowing)

 and smoothed and blended colors

with my finger!

MAHALO for stopping by.

More Practice with Copics

I cannot tell you how excited I am about the 

Online Card Class: Copic Markers for Card Makers!

Until this point I've just watched a ton of YouTube videos

picking up little tips here and there.

Here is another attempt at playing with copics...

Bugaboo digi Bubbles Birthday Balloons, Hero Arts Hey Day sentiment, copics

Fancy Pants Be Different pattern paper, Lawn Fawn Stitched Party Banners

I love using digis to practice coloring!

This digi is called Bubbles Birthday Balloons from 

Bugaboo 

Isn't this image just thee cutest?

I don't have many masculine cards so I decided to go with 

boyish colors.

 There's still time to enter the Kitty Bee Design Aloha Friday Challenge

Midinspiration Week with the theme of "in the sky."

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Dude Birthday

Did everyone survive their Monday?  After a 3 day weekend off I was getting spoiled with all my crafting time.  I made a few cards and practiced a little more with my copics.  I looooove watching Kristina Werner color.  I've been trying to study how to shade and blend and learn a little something everytime I watch her videos.

Anywho her last video was a masculine card which inspired me to make this Dude card...

Hero Arts OWH Dude, Lawn Fawn Year Three, Copics, 

Doodlebug Design Take Note Pattern Paper, 

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

I did a little masking to create a hamburger cake of sorts to make a one layer card.  I added a few candles on top to complete the cake look.  Yup...it took everything in my power not to add something dimensional, but I used the gray copic to create shadowing and a little more depth.  I'm gonna enter this into the Hero Arts: One Layer Challenge and A Blog Named Hero: Color It In.

Off to practice more coloring.  I really wish there was a copic coloring class here in Hawaii.  Until then I'll continue to watch more videos, and if anyone has suggestions on coloring videos send them my way please!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!