NEW RELEASE AND BLOG CANDY!

I have LOTS of great news for you! There is a NEW RELEASE at High Hopes Stamps starting TODAY!! Not only is High Hopes releasing 51 new stamps, but also launching for the first time, the brand spankin' new High Hopes Blog! where a lot of the Divas have uploaded cards showing off some of the new stamps in our very first Customer Challenge! The first challenge is to make a birthday card using your High Hopes Stamps (doesn't have to be from the new release of course) and use brads somewhere on your card. AND, GET THIS: if you join and put your comment and link on the HH blog, YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED FOR A RANDOM DRAW, AND ONE LUCKY PERSON WILL RECEIVE OVER A DOZEN OF THE NEW HH DRAGON STAMPS AND MATCHING SENTIMENTS!! How cool is that!
This is my first card made from the new release. Its for a boy who is turning eleven and loves anything dragon-y. Fearless Knight, Rock Wall Albert the dragon were colored using Copics. I stamped the sentiment with China Blue Distress ink. I stamped the wooden fence background on a light brown cardstock in Chestnut Brown by Memories, and then randomly sponged the ink all over. I wanted to use the brads as if they were fancy nails in a castle door or at least to have that feel. I sponged the grass and sky, and filled in some areas on the grass with a green Prismacolor pencil and blended with Gamsol.

This is another card I did with the new images, except this one is for a female. So I had to color Albert pink! lol. I guess that makes him "Alberta" now. tee-hee. I also used my Copics on this one, and I like how the warm wishes dragon turned out. The balloon and party hat are older stamps from before I joined the company. So is the sentiment. I drew the string from the balloon to Alberta's hand directly onto the card with a think black marker.
I had uber fun with these cards and hope you like them! Thanks for looking today, and don't forget to play with the first challenge on the High Hopes new blog!!

Love Letter To God 4

Hello Lord;
I love you. I just felt like writing to you today and telling you how much I love you and think about you. I can't stop thinking of how big your love is. It makes me feel overwhelmed. I love just thinking about it and trying to imagine how deep it is. I want to know you and your love more and more. There is nothing that makes me happier in life. Its just you.
I love how you reminded me the other day that you ARE love. You really are. That its not that you HAVE a love for me. You love me because you ARE love. Its not like with me; I can choose to love or not to love. With you, I wonder if its like you don't really have a choice because Love is who you are. You love because you are love. And you made me in your love. Wow. So nothing I do or do not do affects the love you have for me. It is not made greater or lessened by what I do or say or the choices I make. You love me unconditionally because love is who you are.
That is quite a concept. It is something I could think of all day. I wonder if that means then that the more I have of you in my heart, the more I will love you and others. I want to love others more Lord too. I want more of you in my heart. Please come and enter deeper into my heart today. I invite you to come in. I love you.
And thank you too, for helping me with my name. I struggled for years with that and you knew exactly why. Now I love my name because I heard you say it. And when you say it, it sounds like love. That healed my heart and now I love my name. Thank you so much for the continuing work you are doing to heal my heart God.
Signed with love,
Christine

This is a card I made for the sketch challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. I love that challenge, because I find the layout is the most challenging part of card making.
I used Copics to color the seaweed and coral and octopus. I wasn't happy with the shading I got on the critter, so I went over him with Prismacolor pencils. No Gamsol though. I used a Prismacolor pencil to make a light seafoam green around everything, and then distressed the edges with a green dye ink and a China Blue Distress ink. Further distressing with the edge of a metal ruler.
These stamps are from the July release at High Hopes Stamps that featured undersea creatures, pirates and the circus.
TFL!

Tag! You're It!

I used to LOVE this game when I was a kid. Played it til it got dark and I had to go in for my bath and bedtime. Brings back memories of running til I was out of breath, heart pounding in my chest, grass stained knees and giggling with my girlfriends. We're going to have to do with just the giggling for now! (unless you want to run around the block first before playing with me... I would but I don't think I'd make it past the corner!)
I got tagged by Heidi and here is what I copied from her blog. You can copy from me:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here are my 7 facts, some random, some weird.
1. I love horses. I love riding them, painting them and photographing them.
2. I hate parsnips, guacamole and smoked oysters. Oh and lobster, don't forget lobster. Bleah. But I would eat ANY of those things before I EVER ate Green Tea Ice Cream. SUPER Bleah.
3. I used to (when I was ten) want to marry Donny Osmond. Til I met Mike, my husband. And an interesting fact about him, when he was a teen, he used to get mistaken for Donny, a lot. People said he could have entered a look alike contest and win it.
4. I used to be a Dickie Dee Ice Cream bike driver. I loved that job; free ice cream all day!
5. It is my dream to one day illustrate for children's books, and perhaps to write them too.
6. I don't like to watch movies or tv.
7. I love blue. Its my current favorite color. Pink runs a close second, and periwinkle third.

Now here are seven people I want to play Tag with!

1. Janette
2. Lori
3. Lacey
4. Beate
5. Cindy
6. Colleen
7. Michele

Heidi's gift to me!

This came as a complete surprise to me today from my friend Heidi Fleetwood. This was her first project as a Diva for High Hopes and she wanted me to have it. I honestly felt floored. I barely know what to say. What a thoughtful, kind gift. Heidi I will treasure this and use this for cards I have received. It is such a sweet and kind gesture on your part.
This book was made with the finest quality papers and with such precision in every way. I love how you colored the image you put on the front, Heidi. The layout is great too, and the Primas look fantastic. Even the little touch of ribbon matches perfectly with the cowboy's shirt. Inside each page is dedicated to a month and there is a pocket for cards to go, with room to write details too, like who sent it and when it was received. The papers inside are gorgeous too!
I'm so honored to have received such a gift!
Thank you Heidi!!

Cowboy Snowman

I had fun making this card with my Cowboy Snowman from High Hopes Stamps. I wanted to show off that pretty designer paper from Basic Grey so I made this card a bit bigger, 6 x 5 1/2 inches. Because of the size, I had to use tabs to join the front of the card with the back. I learned that from Carolyn King, aka Cammie.
I tried to give the tabs a leather look. I first cut them out, trimmed the corners with my small corner rounder, then rolled and crunched the paper in my hands. After a lot of bending and twisting (of the paper, not me! lol) I sponged it with brown dye ink and lightly dabbed them onto the surface of the inkpad.
I have a paper drill that puts holes anywhere I want them (from Lee Valley, its a must have tool!) but I had to press ultra hard to get it through all these layers so I could apply the blue button brads (another dollar store find!). I used mini brads on the back of the card to adhere the back piece to the front.
The finishing touches were a bit of glitter glue on his star badge and the jewels on his hat, and a few highlights with a white gel pen on his cheeks and carrot nose.

I thought I would show you a closeup of the coloring. Cowboy Snowman was stamped onto watercolor paper using Versafine Onyx black ink. I added color using my Tombow pens and spread the ink with water and a watercolor brush, various sizes.
There are a lot of different reds used on the hat. I start with one shade, usually the lightest one, let it dry and then add another. I keep adding more and more color to deepen the shadows. I happen to like strong contrasts, so I usually go from as dark as I can to no color at all, for highlights. You can see where I left the paper show through in places at the top of the hat and on the brim in the center. I even used a brown color for this hat, because I wanted it to look less red and more maroon. Plus it made him look dirtier, like this guy had been riding the range and was dusty from a day of rustling cattle! lol
The scarf started off as a blue scarf. I didn't like it, so I removed as much of the color as I could by wetting it with a clean brush and dabbing with a kleenex, over and over. This got rid of most of it, but not all. When I added the green, I actually liked how the remnants of blue changed the shade of green. See a lot of the time, my mistakes work out for the best!
The snow on the snowman and on the ground is a combination of a lot of different colors. I used a yellow shade, purple, blue, and brown. It is interesting, the things we think are white actually have a lot of color in them, if you really study them. Next snowy day (no, I'm not wishing for that!) check out the colors you can see in the snow where the sun hits it, and then in the shadows. And I don't mean the snowbank snow, but the pristine fresh fallen stuff. It really is quite remarkable how much color is actually there, and yet our brains tell us its white, colorless. Just not true! I have a pastel artist's magazine and it depicts a carton of white eggs. The artist admits that white was never used in the entire painting, and yet the eggs look white! I love interesting facts like that!

Here is a closeup of the technique I learned from Cammie on her blog. She is one of my favorites, and if you haven't seen her blog, you oughtta check it out. She is amazing, that woman!
This was easy, although I didn't do it quite the same way Carolyn did. She had planned hers in advance, so she was able to fold the whole main piece. Me, I didn't plan it. It was a last minute fix, when I realized that the raffia would prevent me from adhering the main panel flat to the card. But I couldn't pop up the whole piece, because I had planned to have the two tabs at the top join my main panel to the card base. So,... I remembered seeing this on Cammie's blog, and thought it was a great solution. I cut an extra piece of brown cs and folded it in two places, and taped it onto the main panel and then onto the card base as you can see here. I love having it 3D like this! It is a technique I will use again I'm sure. Thanks, Cammie!
Thanks for looking today!

Snowlady Surprise Warm Heart

Well, I decided I liked the result the first time I layered Copics over the Tombow watercolor, so I thought I'd do it again. This time I was careful not to let the marker touch the stamped image so the black ink would not bleed into the color. Lesson learned!
The sketch is borrowed from SC194 on SplitcoastStampers.
Papers are from Basic Grey and Cosmo Cricket.
I love those tiny jingle bells! There's one on this card too, in the cotton twine.
All the stamps are from High Hopes Stamps.
I have been using Christmas images from last year and the two years prior. I can hardly wait for the next new release to be ready, cuz there are a lot of new Christmas designs to choose from. I am not telling just yet though... don't worry, it is coming soon!
TFL!

Copics on Watercolor

Thought I'd experiment. Maybe it has been done before, but I never did it! I used my Tombow pens to first watercolor this image. Then, to deepen the colors, I went over the whole thing with my Copic markers. It caused some unwanted bleeding in some areas, of the original inked image. I tried to cover those mistakes. Flubs aside, I do really like the effect and will probably use this combination of mediums again sometime.
I found these teeny tiny Christmas bells in the dollar store yesterday, and got a bag of silver and a bag of gold ones. I thought, PERFECT for Christmas cards! So this card actually makes music when you pick it up. I thought it also really appropriate because of what Choppers is holding!
The bottom panel was done with the gingerbread border stamp on brown cs and colored with gel pens. I love how it actually looks cookie-ish. New word.
The other panels are designer paper by Sandy Lion.
The sketch for this card and for the Sweet Saviour card came from the Wednesday's Sketch Challenge on SCS.
All stamps are from High Hopes Stamps.
TFL, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

Peace, Sweet Saviour

I made this card using scraps of background paper I created over the year. The top right is embossing resist, with a snowflake stamp from PSX. The top right panel is alcohol inks. Bottom panel is a piece of glossy cardstock that I tortured, really. I sponged sage green chalk ink onto glossy white cardstock, scribbled with Versamark clear pen then heat embossed with clear embossing powder, scratched and scraped with an exacto knife, then sponged lightly with chestnut brown dye ink. I really went to town on distressing it. It is my favorite panel! The middle left panel was made by dabbing dye ink pads directly onto glossy cs in random swishes! Not hard at all.
I colored the image with Twinkling H2O's. I love the gloss of that paint.
I lightly swished a green Tombow pen along the ground to show a bit of grass here and there.
White highlight dots on the cheeks were made with white acrylic paint.
The star has glitter glue on it.
I stamped "Peace" using Jet Black Stazon ink. It was hard to get it to take to the clear embossing on that panel.
The main stamp is called, "Sweet Savior" and can be found at High Hopes Stamps, as well as the "Peace" greeting stamp.
The sketch for this card and the above entry is from the Wednesday Sketch Challenge on SCS.
TFL, and thanks for visiting my blog!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

And here he is with the winner!! I know you, Jane!! ha ha! I was so pleased to see who he picked and really amazed too, that it was someone I know, and someone who really loves HH images!! These stamps are going to a well deserved home where they'll be loved and cared for :-). Jane I already have your addy, so no need to contact me with that. I'll put them in the mail as soon as I can!! Congratulations!!!
PS Doesn't my guy have the sweetest eyes!! xo love ya babe!

ANNOUNCING THE WINNER!!

This is my DH Mike putting his hand in the bowl to pull out a name!

Love Letter to God 3

Hello again Lord. Thank you for the reminder today that I am forgiven for all my sins. You brought to mind the time Jesus answered the question, "how often must I forgive my brother?". The answer, basically, was an infinite number of times. This morning you asked me, if you commanded us to forgive that much, would you forgive less? The answer is clear to me; there is no way we could be more forgiving than you. Then you graciously expanded on that thought and told me that there is nothing you would ask me to do, that you hadn't done before me. You are the one and only original, Lord.
The enemy has such a way of making me feel not forgiven. But I lean and totally rely on your word to me, that yes, I am forgiven and yes, I remain yours, forever.
Once again, my heart is renewed in your holy, all encompassing love.
I love you.

Micah 7: 18, 19 Amp. "Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in mercy and loving-kindness.
He will again have compassion on us; He will subdue and tread underfoot our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. "

BLOG CANDY CONTEST CLOSES TONIGHT!!

See below for details.
Slight change in timing; I'll be out and about this evening (shopping chores) so I will not be here at 8:30 to post the winner. I will extend the deadline to 10:00pm EST, and as soon as I am able, I will post the winner!

Love Letter to God 2

Father, I keep thinking of your amazing love for me. I am overwhelmed. You are all for me, never against me. You love me as if I was the only person you ever made. Your attention is on me, 100% of the time. I have your complete focus and all of your heart, not just a part of it. Those thoughts boggle my mind. I feel so comforted in that revealed truth.
Today, again, I feel your Presence. I cannot help but feel you and know you. I am hearing your little whispers in my heart. The way you talk to me and guide me is also a really awesome thing that is hard to describe in words. My spirit just revels in your love today. You bring me such abundance of peace. Thank you. I love you.
I was laying on my deck in the sun, looking up at the clouds. I saw various shapes that looked like animals. I saw what looked just like my dog and I also saw a lamb. Then I heard you whisper, "See my eagle?". I didn't see it at first, and then suddenly, there it was; the shape of the cloud was a perfect eagle, with its wings outstretched. But as I kept looking, I did not just see one eagle, but a second, smaller one, just underneath the first one, as if nestled close to the larger one's chest. Immediately I felt you showing me that you are like the larger first eagle I saw and that I am like the second smaller one, just under you, but completely covered by your outstretched wings. My heart swelled with your love right then, Lord. And I breathed you in closer to me.
How I love you.

Psalm 36: 7 Amplified: "How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge and put their trust under the shadow of Your wings."
Psalm 57:1 Amp.: "Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You: yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed."

I did these two lastnight, using the sketch challenge on SCS. I stamped the images on wc paper and used my Tombow markers to color, spreading them with water. I love their vibrancy! TFL!

BLOG CANDY CONTEST!!

I had fun making this card today, that features the Project Of The Month stamps from High Hopes. You can purchase this set from the website for the whole month of September, at 25% off the regular price!
I am also going to give away some BLOG CANDY this week! I have an extra stamp of Max the Magnificent, my little circus trainer holding the hoop beside the platform, and an extra "You're a class act". For your chance to win this pair of stamps, all you have to do is leave a comment on this card! On Friday at 8:30 pm EST, I will put all the names in a hat and get my DH Mike to draw one out. I'll post the winners name then, and hopefully you will contact me with your mailing address so I can send it off to you!
Here are the details on this card:
I stamped Max twice on regular cs, and colored one of the images with Prismacolor Pencils and used Gamsol and blending stomps to blend. I stamped Sammy Seal separately and colored him with Prismas too. Then I went over all my coloring with Twinkling H2O's. For someone like me who likes strong contrasts and vibrant colors, this is ideal. I find Prismas on their own have a very soft pastel like quality. So when I add the H2O's, that is when the colors really pop. I like how the paint sits on top of the waxy surface of the pencil crayons. I added white highlights with a white gel pen.
I colored just the hoop and hand portion of my second stamping, and cut this out. I also cut out Sammy Seal. He is technically a sea lion, but that's besides the point!
I used double sided tape and stuck Sammy to the platform, leaving his back flippers without tape, so that they would curl out a bit. I like that effect. I cut out the second hoop and hand and put sticky tape on the back of the hand only, so that the hoop would also lift slightly.
For the top layer of cs and dp, I used my small corner rounder to do scallops. When I pasted it down onto the card, I only ran a strip of tape along the top portion, so that only that part was flat to the card. I used some foam tape along the bottom edge (closer to the scalloped edge) so that it sloped outward like an awning. It looks cool in real life, but it's hard to tell in the photo.
The last step was the glitter on Sammy's collar and the stars. That goes on fast, as it is just glitter glue.
The card base is a really nice piece of paper I got at an art store. It has a really cool texture to it. The dp is from a huge pad that I got at Costco.
Thanks so much for looking, and don't forget to comment if you want to enter my blog candy contest!

ANOTHER BLOG CANDY CONTEST AT BUNNY-ZOE's BLOG!! You should see the gorgeous paper and stamps she is giving away! not to mention her top notch cards to gawk at and drool over. What an artist!!

Love Letter to God 1

Lord, I love you. I feel your arms around me. I love how anytime I want to, I can just think about you, and I know you are right here with me, right close. Its so mysterious to me, and yet so wonderful. I wish I could kiss your cheek. But I know that this love letter is like a kiss to you.
Yesterday you showed me how I had been believing some lies from the enemy. He had me wondering if you really met with me. He brought doubt to me, and I fell for it. But now you have come and shown me the truth; you are here, and you always have been. And I never need to fear that you will leave me. I couldn't pry you away from me if I tried! And who would want to, for you are love, and everything I have ever desired, I find in you. I love you.
Your Crissy

Isaiah 66:12, 13 Amplified: For thus says the Lord; Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; then you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and trotted (lovingly bounced up and down) on her (God's maternal) knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."
Wow, God, thanks!

new at this

I am just trying to figure this blogging thing out. I'll get the bugs ironed out soon!

I did this little mini painting on watercolor paper using three stamps from the Jungle release at High Hopes.  I used the lion and two of the leafy trios.  Ok, if you don't know which ones are stamps, that would be understandable! Basically, the leafy stuff closest to the ground on either side of him are stamps! The rest I filled in by drawing them with black ink pen.  I used Tombow's to color and water to spread the ink around.  I am a bit disappointed with the colors on here, they look faded, and are much more vibrant in real life.  Ah well.  This painting is a gift for a special lady I know. I did it just for her.  And she doesn't know it yet, but soon it's going to come to her in the mail as a surprise!