Oops, forgot to post that winner......

[drumroll please] And the winner is........












Leigh Anne (aka LeiBetty)!!!! Hooray! I have your addy Leigh Anne so I'll get this on the way to you!! Thanks for playing everyone!

This is my 2nd post today so be sure to scroll down!

Michelle B.

A message for you & a winner:

I think my message to you today is clear….

I colored Olivia and the branch my usual way with Copics and Prismacolor pencils and cut them out. Yep, I cut all those leaves on that branch! I left a little piece of white paper to keep the leaves attached to the branch and colored the white in with my blender pen and Bashful Blue ink.

The sky is Bashful Blue paper with Whisper White clouds made like this. Baja Breeze is sponged around all the edges and more heavily in the top corners. The grass was stamped with the grass stamp and cut out. Then I put a few random springs of grass here and there. Finally, I sponged all the edges of the grass area, going more heavily on the lower corners and under Olivia. I used a blender pen and Old Olive ink to add some color to the grass sprigs. The vote sign and Olivia's smile were hand drawn. All that was left was assembly (oops, wished I would have put that branch up a little higher!).

Stamps: CC Designs Olivia’s Birdies, Sugarplums Scenery
Paper: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Bazzill Leapfrog
Ink: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Old Olive, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, fine black marker, blender pen

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
“Queen of the Scene”

BIL's Bday

How come if birthday's come every year and I make cards all the time, I can't get the two things in synch?!?! Here I find myself in a rush to make a card that absolutely must go in the mail tomorrow.

I made this in about 30 minutes which is SUPER fast for me. And I'm working on only 4 hours of sleep after DD's slumber party last night (Thanks Chat Chicks for helping me stay awake last night!). I love to use regular images and turn them into silhouettes. This deer image is a PIF from Mawood. Thanks!

I colored the deer image in with a black Copic marker and added a few white hightlights. I cut the deer out and set it aside.

Next I took my Whisper White cardstock and used the Easy Sunset Technique to brayer on Baja Breeze and Pacific Point at an angle. I next sponged Night of Navy in the upper right corner (I would have liked to brayer this but I only have a spot - not a full sized ink pad). Finally, I sponged Basic Black in the very top right corner, along all the edges, and heavily across the bottom. I also "smeared" the Basic Black upward along the bottom to give the illusion of grass. Finally I stamped the pine tree from Lovely as a Tree a couple of times in Basic Black. I would have liked to have worked on the transitions between colors a bit more but I have to get this done!

I glued the deer onto my main panel and attached it to a Pacific Point card back and hurried that baby into the mail!

Don't forget, there is still time to enter for my blog candy here.

PS: I found Glideabella's missing ponytail from the other day....stuck to a pair of scissors! Ha!

Stamps: Noble Deer, Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Basic Black
Accessories: Black Copic, White Prismacolor pencil

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
"Queen of the Scene"

It's a great day and BLOG CANDY!!!

Whoo hoo! I was contacted out of the clear blue sky by Ashley at Treehouse Stamps and offered a Guest Designer spot! I said yes of course! I've had difficulty maintaining my composure all day today (I really just want to break out in a happy dance...maybe after everyone goes to bed here!). I can't wait to get started.

AND

My blog passed the 5000 views mark today. When I started my blog a few months ago, I planned to offer blog candy at 500 views. By my best calculations that should have taken about a year. HA!


To say thanks to everyone, I am offering this clipboard that I hand painted. What's it for? I have one similar to this that I carry around in a bag with some stamped images and coloring tools so I can color while I sit at dance and wait for my DD, etc. Why isn't it stamped? You could do that yourself! I thought you might like this because it was different. I chose this particular design as its something I often taught in a first or second One Stroke painting lesson. I did stamp the word "Create" (from my See D's A Word or Two set) with paint as painting words is just not my best skill. To enter just leave a comment on this post by Monday, November 3rd at midnight CST and I'll use Random.org to select a winner Tuesday morning. And for my friends in Canada and Australia (or other places too), I will ship internationally!

ETA: I have opened this up so you could post anonymously (if you don't have any logins to the different systems). Sorry that wasn't there before! Please be sure to leave some kind of indicator as to who you were so I can find the winner! K?

Enjoy!
Michelle B.
"Queen of the Scene"

# 2 Today - If it doesn’t…..

…kill you, it makes you grow stronger. Right? I heard that in a song this morning. Oh, I struggle with color challenges and have been pretty successful at avoiding them. But, it’s time to recognize that if I don’t practice, I will never get better. So this is for color challenge CC190 and also sketch challenge Mojo58 (although I prolly should have framed out Glideabella to really follow the sketch). This image was a PIF from Blessingsx3 eons ago (Thanks Janette!)

I was just getting ready to upload my photo when I noticed that poor Glideabella only had one pony! Ha! I couldn’t find the other one so I had to remove the only one she had left. Sorry Glideabella!

OK, now how did I make this card....Oh, I don't know, I tried this and that. Actually started with Pirouette Pink as the background and realized I had the wrong shade of pink. So, let's see......I masked the "lake" and sponged Kiwi Kiss for the ground. Then I masked the ground and stamped the evergreens many times at different heights. I didn't like the white showing in the sky so I watercolored some Tangerine Tango into the sky area. Wasn't sure I liked the colors so I stamped snow and snowflakes in Whisper White. If all else fails, add glitter!

The large pink snowflake was cut with my Snowblossom punch and then snow was stamped on, the edges were sponged in Whisper White and then the glitter. I used a similar technique for the flower from the Boho Blossoms punch that is in the center of the snowflake. Then I added a pretty brad. As I'm looking at this now, I'm thinking I should have added some stamped small pink snowflakes throughout to pull it together a bit more.

Stamps: Stamping Bella Glideabella, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Merry & Bright, Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Pixie Pink
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, glitter pen, Boho Blossoms punch, Snow Blossom punch

Enjoy!
Michelle B. aka “Queen of the Scene”

I Love Fall

I could stand in the pumpkin patch and look around all day. Some of what I saw is replicated in this card. These images were a PIF from SBS81 (Thanks Stephanie!)

I colored the images my usual way with Copics and Prismacolor pencils.

I did my usual Cut then Ink Technique to get my layers to line up. I brayered the sky. I sponged the entire ground area with Creamy Caramel ink. I used a torn piece of paper as a mask and sponged Close to Cocoa to create the little mounds of earth in the field.

Another little cloud experiment here….I drew the shape of a cloud, cut it out and used it as a mask. I sponged Whisper White ink very close to the mask (even used a trimmed makeup sponge to get a finer line of white ink) and then used the sponge to “smear” it down and to the right so that the cloud just faded off into the sky. (You can click on the picture to enlarge)






I cut the lower layers of corn stalks in half so I could angle them more and to get a thinner middle to “wrap” the twine around.

Stamps: Sweet N Sassy Happy Harvest
Paper: Tangerine Tango
Ink: Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, twine, Cricut

Enjoy!
Michelle B. aka “Queen of the Scene”

Outdoor Tree

Did you think I had vanished? Life is just hectic right now but Hooray! my husband is finally done traveling. Soccer and volleyball are almost over for the kids so things should slow down soon. I did get 3 cards done this weekend so I'll have some posts for you over the next couple of days.

On to today's card.....I completed this card the other night but thought it still needed something. When I woke up the next morning I had one of those AH HA! Moments. What it needed was the pieces of ribbon in the bird’s beaks. NOW its really done.

I colored the main images my usual way with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I added glitter pen to the tree and ornaments.

I did a couple of little experiments on this card. I did my usual Cut then Ink Technique to get my layers to line up. I reversed my usual style: Instead of starting with white cardstock and adding color, I started with Soft Sky cardstock and added white. I also did a little experiment with the clouds – using a stamp to create a mask for the clouds (more below). I like the look of both.

To create the clouds, I first stamped a cloud and cut it apart (you can click on the pics to make them bigger).







Then I put the mask into position and stamped Whisper White ink trying to stay close to the mask. To blend, I used my sponge to pull the ink down and to the right. This makes the cloud fade away. Pretty cool I think!







Stamps: CC Designs Sugarplums Christmas Scene, CC Designs Olivia’s Birdies, CC Designs Sugarplums Scenery
Paper: Soft Sky, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Copics, Prismacolor pencils & baby oil, glitter pen, Stickles, Cricut

Enjoy!
Michelle B. aka “Queen of the Scene”