CASE of Sirpaliinan

I just found a blog that really blew me away. I felt so inspired after looking at Sirpaliinan's cards, I just felt like CASE'ing one from this post. I love her watercoloring so much, and the gorgeous primas she used.
I used a combination of Tombow pens (spread with water) and Twinkling H20's. Edges of the main image are distressed with a metal ruler and then swiped with blue dye ink. I swiped the Cuttlebug'd page with the same blue ink, both on the surface and the edges. Lots of glitter on the snowlady's cuffs and collar.
Thanks so much for looking and don't neglect to visit Sirpaliinan's gallery on her blog, it will amaze you!

Love Letter to God 5

Dear Jesus;
I love you Lord. I know you love me, and I'm getting to know that love more and more as time goes by. I used to think so much less of you, but now I know you are so much more than I could ever possibly imagine or think; with You there is more love, more kindness, more sweetness, You are more giving, more ready to listen, wanting to be involved with every detail of my life. You are showing me this unconditional love and it is blowing my mind. I just cannot fathom it... I ponder on it often during the day and I want to think on it more. Because when I do, I am at peace.
It is so great for me to know that I don't have to take care of everything, that you are there to watch over me, to provide for me like a good Father would, to keep me from harm and evil, to help me to love and remain free.
Ah, freedom. I know I'm not there yet, and I so long to be. I get tired of the fears I carry. Insecurities, fear of what people think, putting on faces. I don't like doing that, but yet you tell me to be patient with myself. Lord, there is none as patient as you. Your kindness is so gracious. I take great comfort in knowing that.
Today Lord, I want to soak up your Love for me. I don't want to get too busy to listen to you. I want to hear you, my Friend, my Best Friend. Your words to me are life to me. Life and health and peace. I love your words to me Lord.
Thank you for reminding me that I am not responsible for cleaning up my own soul. That you just ask that I be willing, and you join your hand to mine and we do it together, yet it is all in your power.
I must say that I feel so romanced by You lately. I listened the other night as you told me how You are everything I have ever wanted in a Husband. And I heard you ask me to marry You. I know this is for Your whole church Lord, but it was oh so special for me to hear your personal question to me, "Will you marry Me?". It just makes my head spin and I don't even know what to say after something like that, but of course, I answer unequivocally, YES! Who would not love someone back who loves them like this. I so wish everyone in the whole world knew that they were made for YOU and that YOU desire them like a groom longs for His betrothed.
Are you weeping Lord? I hear You weep. And yet you are laughing too. What is it, Lord?
"I am weeping and laughing at the same time, knowing you are getting so close to loving Me and trusting Me unconditionally the way I love and trust you, my Dear One. Your victory is just around the corner. Keep holding My hand, and do not fear as you get near the finish line. It will all become very clear to you very soon. Just keep trusting Me. I will draw closer and closer to you as you draw closer to Me. It just makes me so excited to see you come to Me like this, and to finally receive My love for you in those deep places that were closed to Me for so many years. Thank you for opening up your heart to me and letting Me in. It is fulfilling a deep longing within Me too, Christine. I have longed for you to know My love here. Thank you so much for listening, My Bride. Your love for Me thrills my heart. "

Song of Solomon 4:9 "You have made my heart beat faster, my sister,my bride; you have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes, with a single strand of your necklace."
Hosea 3: 16 and 19
16: "And it will come about in that day, declares the Lord, That you will call me Ishi (Husband) and will no longer call me Baali (Master)."
19: "And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord."
New American Standard version, parenthesis mine.

Oops, sorry, ... hugs?

I needed a "missed your birthday" type of card, so I thought of this huggie dragon, who's so ugly he's cute (in a bull dog sort of a way!)
I wanted it to look like he was too late for the party, and all the balloons had lost their lift and were just lying on the floor.
I hand wrote the saying at the top.
Colored entirely with Tombow pens and spread with water.
There is glitter on his pink wings (photo doesn't show).
I did the holes in the green card front using different sized bits in my paper drill. Then dotted around them with a pink gel pen. Fun to do and I love the effect! The pink showing through the holes is a folded pink sheet of paper that I used as a sleeve for the writing on the inside of the card. I love how it made it kind of sort of look like flowers!
I gave the balloons some dimension using glue dots.
I did this card for the color challenge on Splitcoast today. It was fun to do!
TFL!

Hugest card ever!

This is the HUGEST card I have ever made, and hope ever will! It is an entire sheet of watercolor paper folded in half; the same size, or slightly larger, than a bristol board the kids use for school projects. You can see the relative size next to the banana in the bottom left corner. I needed to make a card big enough to hold around 300 signatures! I think this will do the trick. I made an envelope using a huge sheet of paper that draftsmen use for maps and architects use for floor plans. It was almost as hard to make as the card itself!
I drew the design of the critters in pencil on a large sheet of paper, and then traced it onto this watercolor paper with my light box. I used my thickest Staedler pigment liner, #7, and even then had to go over the lines a few times to thicken them up.
Using my artist quality paints, I watercolored the critters and flags as best I could (the flag on the left is the Ontario flag). I had forgotten how challenging large watercolor paintings are!! I had gotten quite accustomed to tiny three inch paintings!
There are no embellishments as you can see, I had to keep it simple, as this card is going to pass through hundreds of hands, and I didn't want to risk anything falling off!

On another note...
Jeanne is spotlighting High Hopes tonight on her blog and offering blog candy.
The new High Hopes Challenge is on now, to make "Anything But a Card".
The High Hopes Hop is also still on, and another Diva will be posting a new HH candy offering tomorrow sometime. Go blog hopping on all the Diva's blogs (linked on the right hand side of my blog) to find out who it is!

More Blog Candy offered on the High Hopes Hop!

There's another round going on of the High Hopes Hop and it started today! Click on the Diva's links on the right side bar to find out who it is this time!
I've been away from home so I'm unable to post cards. I hope to get back to it soon after I return.

New release, and H.H. Hop is on again!

There's another blog candy offering in the High Hopes Hop today! Another Diva is offering some new stamps, so take a look at the Diva's blogs that are linked to the right side bar to find out who it is!
Also, High Hopes Challenge #3 is on, and the theme is to add sewing to your card. Check out the Divas samples on our HH blog!
Also, I just finished another set of new release stamps to complement the one from September. There are scenery elements, more Santa's, cute and funny birds, and even more dragons. Find the new releases on the HH website under HOTP (for "hot off the press"). Just click on this link, which will put you on page ten of the new releases, and work your way backwards to page one to view them all.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian followers!

Blog Candy Winner! The Hop continues!

And the winner is... Tracey of "Tracey's Spot"! She was the 19th to comment, and that was the number Mike pulled out of a plastic container. Congratulations Tracey! Be sure to contact me with your mailing address!
The High Hopes Hop continues on! Another Diva is offering blog candy, starting today! Go to my side bar on the right and go hopping on the Diva's blogs to find out who it is!! Have fun!!

EXCITING EDIT - READ ON!! High Hopes Hop stops HERE!!

I"M ADDING ACE TO THE BLOG CANDY!! Tina Russell, of High Hopes Stamps, sent me an extra Ace dragon yesterday, so I am adding him to the pot!! To see the rest of the blog candy, see the post below this one. Also, the comments on this Ace card are appreciated of course, but do not count as an entry into the contest; I will only count the comments on the Albert dragon card below as entries.
If you want to see all the new and latest releases, just click here and browse through all six pages of brand new stamps!
I made this card by case'ing Anna's gorgeous card here. It is a MUST SEE!! I also used the CC today on SCS to give me the color combo. I would not normally put orange and green together, but it actually works!
Also, I colored this dragon entirely with Copics (except for the white highlights, which I did with a white gel pen). Not my usual M.O. I usually layer lots of different mediums, but this time I liked it with just the one.
TFL today and God bless you!!

High Hopes Blog Hop Stops HERE!

You found me! If you are playing the HH Blog Hop, you need look no farther! This card displays the blog candy I will be offering for this round! It includes Albert, dragon prints, the ribbon/rose 2 piece set as well as the saying "Bewareth...".
I will close this contest on Thursday Oc 9/08 at one o'clock EST. Everyone who comments on this card will get a chance to win the blog candy! I will use the numbers for your comment, and let my DH Mike pick a number from a hat. I will announce the winner in the afternoon on Thursday!
I colored Albert with three mediums; Prismacolor pencils, Twinkling H2O's, and Copics. I never combined all three before, but I do like how it turned out! What is great about starting with the Prismas, is the waxy binder in the pencils form a coating on the paper that the Twinkling H2O's can sit on. This protects the paper from warping and pilling as the water does not soak in, but stays on top of the surface. The Copics on top of that provide deeper and more vibrant colors. It is fun to layer colors and mediums!
I must add that I case'd this card off of Michelle (a bit!) because I loved her idea of fitting Albert into an oval. Look at her beauty of a card here.
TFL, and have fun playing today!

HH Challenge #2

Jeanne hosted this challenge on the High Hopes Blog, which was a color challenge; we had to use brown, blue, and green plus a neutral. I got ambitious and did two cards for the challenge; the first one uses stamps from the brand new release, and the second one is from the jungle release earlier this year.
First of all, I want to say that I borrowed a lot of ideas from other stampers for this card. Anna gave me the idea to stamp on colored cardstock and color with Prismas! You must check out her Santa card here! Lacey showed me new cool way to use twine and this lovely card of hers inspired me to use it the same way. Ila's card here showed me how to use a framing layer in a new way, with sewing and with placing it askew.
I stamped the sitting princess onto beige cs in Tsukeneko Memento Tuxedo Black ink (that's a mouthful!) and also onto a piece of white printer paper to make a mask. I masked her, then stamped the rock wall. The lilly pads were stamped twice and then cut out. The frog prince was stamped once and cut out.
I colored all the images with Prismacolor Pencils and used Gamsol to blend. For the white areas, I used a Signo gel pen. What a great pen! Very high quality.
Some of the colors needed to be punched up a bit, so I added a tiny bit of Copics here and there.
I was really proud to use some stamps from the Rubbernecker line because Jeanne herself designed them! Those beautiful flourishes that I stamped in Memories Chestnut Brown came from her creative mind (and believe me, it is one creative mind!!). Look for them and other beautiful florals and flourishes in the Jeanne Streiff Collection. I was really impressed with the high quality of the stamps. They are so deeply etched in beautiful red rubber (just like High Hopes Stamps!) =)
Thanks a Ton was done using an image I had colored awhile ago and never made into a card until today. Elmer Elephant was colored with Twinkling H2O's initially. When I looked at him today, I realized I wanted to give the colors more pizzaz and so I got out my Copics and went over the whole thing. It really brightened him up and deepened the shadows. I love the effect!
I sewed on this card too, only this time I didn't sew through layers of glue (gummed up my needle when I did that last time, and I highly recommend against it!). I felt like going a little crazy with the white gel pen so I did random dots all over the blue panel. Also added some white highlights on Elmer where I felt it needed some.
Don't forget that Monday will be another High Hopes Blog Hop with more BLOG CANDY to give away!
God bless you, my friend! Thanks for stopping by!

BLOG CANDY ALERT!!!

Its a game! Its called the High Hopes Hop! One of the HH Divas is offering some yummy blog candy, but I'm not telling who! Just click on the Divas blogs listed on the right hand side of my blog until you find who is offering it!
There is also still time to get in on the fun and be eligible to win over a dozen of the new release stamps from High Hopes. Check that out on their new blog (see post below for links and details!)