Saturday, March 27, 2010

Brown BEAR, BROWN BeAR...


what do you see?"


I see a lot of Brown Bears looking at ME!


So here it is spring...the snow has melted (if you're lucky),

the bears are waking up,

the wind is blowing, flowers are finally in bloom...


a.k.a. ALLERGY season is upon us!

(a case of: life imitates art!?--I sneezed a gazillion times tonight!)


just in case...

Remember I mentioned Bears and Flowers!?

I have designed 2 new Pixie Cottage Stamps that combine them perfectly!


Available to adopt now...Waking UP to SPRING BEAR

Practice makes perfect; coloring does not escape that rule.

This creation requires 4 images.
My Copics got a workout!

My days as a Stampin' Up demonstrator were revisited.

Hadn't seen that sponge in a while,

or the trusty old stamp pads for that matter.

Couldn't have a plain white sky!

Impromptu clouds were in order!



...And good green ground cover...



Voila, my quadruplet cubs in their fields of vibrant flowers!
with inked edges of the art and card stock mats,
accented with extreme zig-zag stitches in red.



OH Good Golly...The flowers are a bit fragrant,

perhaps the pollen is too much...

....a...

....ah....

....ahh...

CHOO!

title made with Reminisce -Boys Gone Wild stickers

the "..." dots were made from my well inked cloud mask.



Remember that cardboard box of tissues at the beginning of this post?

It's definitely functional, and slightly more exciting to look at

than plain cardboard, but when I saw this...






Now there's a blank canvas!

An acrylic tissue box cover

by the Paper Studio ala Hobby Lobby

(I'm starting to think I should design for them)


Before I inserted my bears I added sparkly highlights to the flowers and grass with Atyou Spica glitter markers, and white highlights to the buds and the noses with a glaze Sakura pen.

Oh, here comes another SnEeZe!!!!




(now it's an ARTishue box)









:)






Think of all the teachers in the world--they need a tissue box holder like this!!

You could PERSONALIZE-IT with their favorite color flowers!

You would win the favorite end of school year best gift award! :)










"Bless you"




Come visit us at The Pixie Cottage to see today's Saturday Showcase

featuring the hottest new Pixie Cottage Stamps!



Feeling creative?? Join in our
CIRCLE Challenge
for a chance to win

your very own
Pixie Cottage Stamps.





Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Inspired by CIRCLES...

not just for the latest Pixie Cottage challenge, but on a daily basis!

188 circles adorn two of the walls in ARTish Studios

...very S.E.I.~Sweetie line



When I learned we were to create with CIRCLES
the proverbial wheels started spinning!
It didn't take long and I had an idea for
a fabulous GIFT SET:

using an illustration I created as a Birthday present
for Miss Michelle, owner of The Pixie Cottage.
In a recent email we were chatting about "brainstorming".
..she wrote that she does some of her best thinking
in the tranquility of a wonderful BuBble BaTh.
I thought...what a cute stamp that would make!!

Not much later I sent her "BUBBLICIOUS"


When making my circular card I chose the 'wettest' paper
I could find...
Holographic -Rain Turquoise and Glitter Iridescent (the added Bubbles)
by the Paper Studio ala Hobby Lobby.


Underneath all the beads from Bead Treasures there are
oodles of drawn bubbles (or 20,000 circles if you will!)
as in much of my work something is bound to be Artishtically shiny
by Glossy Accents from Ranger
...her nose, the spilling bubbles and her pink friend.
Copics were my tools for coloring.


The Gift BUCKET is the smallest of 3
in a set of clear nesting cans also from the Paper Studio ala Hobby Lobby.

How can you not think of Ernie when you see a Rubber Duckie?
Are you singing yet? :)
This PINK friend came from Wal-mart.
(they currently have designer ones for Easter)


She sits atop a multitude of CIRCLES...
also known as Bath beads from the American Soap Company
(color coordinated of course!)

I love creative blend titles:
This one features the Paper Studio, ki memories,



and Stampin Up... "and enjoy" was stamped, punched out,
and strategically placed under the implied bubbles.

Best friends can always use a pick me up,
sisters love spa days,teachers need soothing rewards, Mother's day is fast approaching
and every female has a birthday...think of how many
smiles you could bring with a BUBBLICIOUS card and a Rubber Duckie!!
Get your DIGITAL BUBBLICIOUS IMAGE today!!


Then go take a relaxing bath and dream up
what you can create involving circles to enter in this week's
Pixie Cottage Challenge by midnight on 4/4.
Be sure to link back to your blog
for a chance to win 2 Pixie Cottage stamps!


**even the "not-TRASH" fits the challenge! :)**



Have an AWESOME DAY!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

this is the extent of my...

GREEN THUMB...

on most days!
My tending to plant skills have improved over the years.
(I now have a whopping 2 flower pots under my care!)
The one in the kitchen is a hodge podge of greenery.
It contains the relics of 2 orange flowers from a Ladies tea,
2 lima bean plants, 2 corn kernels, and a mystery grouping of
GREEN foliage!
What it was lacking was a Splash of COLOR...
til now! With the help of my UMBRELLA Girl Digi STAMP
(the FIRST EVER Digital image offered at
The PIXIE COTTAGE
and free for a limited time!!)
several Copic markers,
AND the BIG Xyron (I FINALLY used~
just new it would be good for something!
making her waterproof!


My vision for her did not go the normal card route

or even my typical bent on scrapbooking... She is going to frolic in the flower pot!

The stamp image comes with Rain drops...

I eliminated the drawn drops and made mine much more dimensional...

It rained at night...



...and more today..Even When the Sun comes out ... she is Happy as a lark splashing in the puddles,
and singing in the Rain!

Come see my 3 NEW EASTER Stamps !!!
Leave a comment on the latest Pixie Cottage
link for some EGGcellent BLOG CANDY!

For all your creative needs & ARTish stamps... visit Pixie Cottage STAMPS

p.s. Happy GREEN day! Oh, and the Leprechaun LOVED the cookies!

Speaking of GREEN...it's not too late to enter in the current
PIXIE COTTAGE –GREEN challenge

Thank you for visiting!!


Wednesday, March 10, 2010

GREEN...it's not just a COLOR,




It's a WAY of LIFE!

in our house we even have a little song,

"RECYCLE, Recycle, RECYCLE"

(trust me it's catchy!)




Along with our song we have a lot of "NOT-TRASH"


but a lot of Potential to help save our Earth!



Look around at all the Potential near you...


just about everything comes in a cup, a box, a bag, a carton, a jar etc...


our "NOT-TRASH" lives in our pantry...

(this photo is of their home ready to be filled up again!
-in a house of 5 it doesn't take long!

We haven't even mentioned PAPER...
junk mail, worksheets, magazines...

crafting scraps OH MY!



It adds up fast!

It takes very little effort and time

to have a bin or a bag set up to put it all in -

INSTEAD of the trash; because it is "NOT-TRASH"

and then to take it to a local RECYCLE Center.

It's even quite a riot to look in the bin and see your graded homework! :)






In the effort to tie my passion for recycling,


the latest The Pixie Cottage Challenge


based on the color GREEN,


my LOVE of scrapbooking,


AND Q-pid the Fairy STAMP I designed


... I present you this layout...


"RECYCLE Queen"
A great display of how a "red and pink" Valentines image
can be used for so much more~ truly ANYTHING you LOVE!
Hearts are in style all year round!
You know me well...
her WHOLE WORLD is SHINY!



And HOW PERFECT are these pins!?
They look exactly like her arrows!
*and I recycled pattern paper scraps
from my Dinosaur layout to journal on !!

To incorporate the title into her outfit
I used Green wire and alphabet beads~
couldn't have designed better if I had intended
Q-pid to have a twin sister that fancies herself a RECYCLE QUEEN!


So break into your Green Collection and let us see what you can create...
Post your creation on your blog and link back to the
The Pixie Cottage Challenge Green Challenge for your chance to win!
In addition to seeing all of the Pixie Cottage Design Team's Green creations
you can be one of the first to grab the first ever Pixie Cottage Digi-Stamp
designed by yours truly...me :)
Here is your direct flight to Q-pid the Fairy
Thank you!!!!


I have entered my RECYCLE QUEEN layout in challenges at…
opus-gluei

a sppon full of sugar

treasured scrapbooking



****for all of you scrapbook fans***
The following creative double page spread
featuring the cutest Bear & a Frog ends tonight (3/10/10)...
Have a HOPPY day!

So SWEET!
Thank you for looking!