See Ya Later, Alligator

When your daughter asks if you can make a card for her bestie featuring an alligator, you say, "OF course!"  Aaaaand then you create one for her with LOTS of alligators!

This was super fun to make...even with the monotony of the masking.  I stamped to gator on a separate piece of CS and cut him out carefully along his outline.  Then I started by stamping the very front gator.  The rest were stamped after carefully masking the over lapping image with this cut-out.  You have to work your way carefully from front to back--and I could have done more layering of the crowd by cutting out more alligators to mask, but I honestly did it at the last minute so had to manage my time.

I only planned on coloring in the little guy next to the word bubble, so I knew it wouldn't take long after that...

The cute little reptile image is found on a retired set from CTMH, and the sentiment is found in the current Short and Sweet My Acrylix.  I stamped him in Memento Ink, colored him in with my Tender Pink, Vivid Green, and Leaf Green ShinHan Alcohol Ink Markers, and matted it on a piece of Willow CS.  Simple, and fun!

September Stamp of the Month

From the Heart Card Kit

Fundamental Friday Is SO PAWsome!

A while ago I shared a quick little sneak peek of these adorable thank you cards in progress over on my Facebook page...and I finally got them done and delivered!  These were TONS of fun to make for my kiddos at school...

I used the super-sweet Animal Greetings My Acrylix stamp set, which happens to be the current Operation Smile stamps available from Close to My Heart.

I cut up a variety of colors from the Whimsy Paper Fundamentals and made some colorful combinations.  It was SO easy to use the ShinHan Markers and Watercolor Pencils to add just the right matching colors to the image...

It was really easy to add this little flag detail with my Mini Stapler!

I adore how they turned out, and the kiddos sure loved them, too!!!

Close to My Heart Animal Greetings Thank You Card

It DEFINITELY feels like Hump-Day today!  No matter how draining it can be at times, I simply love my job working as a paraprofessional in a gen-ed classroom.  One of the BEST parts of my job is making thank you cards for the kiddos when they give me something special.  Here is my latest that I made with the Close to My Heart Animal Greetings My Acrylix Stamp using a pattern from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 (pattern 28.)

I used the zip strip from the Kaleidoscope Paper Pack, Purple Glitter Paper, and the Limeade Washi Pack.  The CS is embossed with the Dot Folder in my Big Shot to match the strip of dots in the pattern.

That little strip of grass is leftover from THIS project!

The sentiment that goes with this adorable puppy is my favorite one in the set...but there are SO many sweet punnies that you just have to see them all HERE.

I couldn't resist adding a bit of bling to her bow with the Bitty Sparkles!  I used ShinHan Markers and Watercolor Pencils to add color to the stamped image.

It is tons of fun to color in these images in any way you like to match your paper projects!  If only I knew when I was 5 just how long my love for coloring would last!  :)

Animal Greetings is not only a great little sentiment collection with pics to color, it's also the Operation Smile Fundraiser Stamp set!  $7 of every set sold will go to providing surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates in children that could otherwise not have the surgery.  Now that's what I call a winning combination!  :)

Just a few days left to grab this super Stamp of the Month!

My Journey Through Bible Journaling

Not too long ago...OK so like a year or more ago, lol, I ran across some blog posts about Bible journaling.  I fell in love with the idea of getting to the heart of God's word with art.  After all, art is one of the ways I speak my life...so it seems totally natural for God to speak more clearly to ME through it.

I started researching the how-tos and what supplies I might need to add to my collection to get started, ahem.  (I need supplies.  Right.)  I picked out the bible I wanted to use...and waited what seemed like eons for it to be back in stock SOMEWHERE, lol.  I guess LOTS of people discovered Bible journaling about the same time as me!  ;)

So, that brings me to today when I can finally say I completed a page!  I went so long not knowing where to begin...well, that is until I remembered to start at the very beginning--a VERY good place to start...

If you want the quick low-down on my supplies for this page, here you go:

Animal Greetings
Great Job
Close to My Heart Mini Pigment Inks
Hello, Life 
Faber Castel Gelatos
Watercolor Paints
Brushes
Wink of Stella Glitter Brush
leftover Cricut cut (flower from Art Philosophy)

I probably could have planned the animal arrangement out a bit better, but I was a teeeeeny bit excited.  ;)

I think I need some more animals to fill in the gaps...

My bunny was trapped by the fold of the spine...it hit my stamping block.  Ooops!

I stamped the leaf, sun, and planet with my Watercolor Paints.

Now, remember--I am NOT in any way a good sketch/drawing/painting artist.  Shoot, I hardly even like my own handwriting most of the time.  I stamp.  I color.  I cut paper.  I did the things I DO, not the things I don't.  And it was good.  :)

I will share lots more about my Bible Journaling Journey, so stay tuned!

This is the set I used from Hello, Life!