The Outlawz Friday Coloring Anything Goes/Christmas Twist Challenge and Melanie/Sean's Wedding Card

Is it Friday again already? Good golly, Miss Molly. Hey, my post title is almost an entire post by itself, doncha think? This would have been another good time for an acronym: TOFCAGCTCAMSWC. I don't even dare you to say that three times fast. I dare you to say it at all. I certainly can't. Not without spitting anyway...

So, when we chatted last week, I was recovering from my hand surgery. This week I had my sutures out and that really helped with the pain. (And I was told I need no further treatment on my hand. YAY!) So it is just sore now, and will stay that way for awhile, I would imagine. No biggie deal. I am pretty much ready and raring to go. At least as fast as my size 8's will carry me. Size 8. That reminds me of what my dad told me years and years ago. I am a wee bit on the short side, 5'2" on a good day, and size 8 is rather a great understanding. Get it? Yes? No? Never mind, it wasn't important. However, my dad told me when I was a teenager that I had the skiis on my feet, now all I needed were the poles. Nice, huh? He was such a tease. I prefer this:

"I am a poet, but didn't know it, but my feet show it, they're Longfellows."

Get that? Yes? No? OK, moving right along...

Guess where Gary is today? You'll never guess. No, he is not shopping. At least not to my knowledge. He is having a spa day. Yup, treating himself to a day at a spa. Gag me. It's his birthday gift to himself. Guess I'd better figure out something good to give to myself for my birthday this year, huh? Maybe some new dies. Teehee. Or a few new digis, like from Sweet Pea Stamps. Which is my segue into our sponsor for March. Pretty clever, if I do say so myself. And, apparently, I do.

Sweet Pea Stamps is home to many, many fabulous images. I heart them so much. There are a bazillion different images to choose from. It takes an afternoon to go through them all, but what a fun afternoon! And the prize this month is four images of your choice, you lucky dog, you. So many talented artists...so little time...

This week I chose an image by Charity Dauenhauer, called Romantic Moment. I needed to make a wedding card for a wonderful young woman, Melanie, and her fiance, Sean. Mel is the daughter of dear friends of ours, Catherine and Jose. (Gary used to work with Jose, and they are members of our monthly dinner club.) Melanie is getting married on April 24th, and I am really looking forward to her wedding! I wanted to make sure that I finished her card in plenty of time. Shocking, don't you think? Careful how you answer that...

I printed the image on X-Press It BC and colored it with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E13, R21

Her Hair: T6, T8, T10

His Hair: E21, E25, E29

Dress: T0, T2, T4, T6

Boots/Jacket: T2, T4, T6, T8, T10

Pants: T2, T4, T6

Added some Frantage, lace and a string of pearls from my stash, and a stick pin and flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts to my Stampin' Up CS. I finished the card with a die cut made with Cheery Lynn's Lace Corner Deco E die. Voila! Fini! (I say both of those things because Melanie's parents are originally from France. Get it? Yes? No? Oh, I give up.)

Anyway, since it is an AG week, I do hope you will play along with us. There is some fabulous inspiration by my very talented teammates: Carla, Kathi, and Laine--so do check it out! And then color up an image for your project using any medium you wish! See you at The Outlawz!

And do have a mahvelous weekend! 

The Outlawz Friday Coloring Color/Photo Inspiration Challenge

Ye gods and little fishes! It is Friday again already. Holy smokes! (Oh, thank goodness I quit that habit years and years ago.) Where was I? Oh, yeah, it's time for another challenge, and I can hardly believe it. Seems like just yesterday that I was writing up the post for the last one. Time flies when you are having fun. Or recovering from surgery...

I had a small growth removed from my right hand on Monday morning. About 10 hours later the anesthetic wore off and my hand was screaming at me. Well, not literally, of course. I managed to do enough of that for the both of us. So I took 3 ibuprofen and went to bed. (I didn't sleep well the night before in anticipation of my "big" event. So I was quite exhausted that night.) And then I took 3 more when I awakened Tuesday. That's all it took. Oh, yeah, my hand is sore. But it quit the horrendous throbbing by Tuesday night, and now only really hurts if I twist it or bump it on something. Which I have done. And what comes out off my mouth then should not be heard by young children--or anyone else, for that matter.

Anyway, I had worried that I would be unable to post a card for this week. But lo and behold, tada, I was able to make my card after all. Especially since I used my eBosser for die-cutting. Holding a marker is one thing; cranking my Big Shot would have been another thing altogether...

I must say, being ambidextrous would have been a great advantage this week. Using my left hand for various and sundry things, like for anything heavy, or that needs twisting or wiping, has been an adventure. I don't recommend it. 'Nuf said.

So today is Gary's birthday--67 years young. Happy Birthday, you old coot. Haha, I can say that here, because he never reads my blog. He has been busy this week, what with bowling lessons, bowling league, bowling practice, exercising, and his favorite pastime, SHOPPING, (oh, did I shout that out loud? Sorry.) Why I expected him to remain home at my beck and call while my hand heals is beyond me. I will say that when he is here, he is quite compassionate. But he has escaped my clutches for hours on end. I wonder why...

We are going out to dinner with our dinner club tomorrow night, so we will celebrate his birthday then. Although I am going to give him his card at some point today. No need to buy a gift. He has managed to take care of that all by himself, for the past 45 years month. After all, how many people do you know that go to Maui to shop at outlet stores? Of course, there was all that rain and lousy weather we had on our trip. So shopping was something to occupy him, you know, like entertaining a little kid when they can't play outside. (Oh, did I say that out loud, too? Mercy me.) But it didn't seem to matter to him that we are now back home, jiggity jig, and he no longer needs to shop for entertainment. Oh, hell, I may as well admit it. Shopping is his favorite form of entertainment...

OK, back to business. This month we are sponsored by the fabulous Sweet Pea Stamps! Color me happy that Lynette and friends are offering our randomly-selected participant a choice of four digis! Color me green with envy that I cannot enter, too, since there are eleventy-billion beautiful images done by wonderful artists! You will have such fun picking out your winnings, whomever you are.

I am so glad I could color another Sweet Pea image this week! I didn't realize it until yesterday, but this is the same image that my teammate, Laine, used last month. I apologize for requesting the same one. Of course, great minds run in the same channel, and this is a really cool image, which is great fun to color. (More so, if you aren't being super careful of your hand, I am sure.) So the image is Sweet Pea Magical Steam Girl by Enys Guerrero. She was printed on X-Press It BC and colored with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E13, E15, R21

Hair: E33, E35, E37, E59

Watch/Gears/Dress Trim: E30, E31, E34, E74

Eyes. BG90, BG93, BG96

Bow/Wall: BG90, BG93, BG96, V91, V93, V95, V99

Dress: V91, V93, V95, V99

I chose those Copic colors based upon our current color/photo inspiration:

And the colors also dictated my DP, which came from the Basic Grey What's Up collection. It was paired with Stampin' Up CS. I finished my card with a doily and some die cuts, using Cheery Lynn Gears and MFT Chevron Stripes dies.

Do stop by our challenge to see the wonderful creations by my talented teammates: Carla, Kathi, and Laine. And then color up an image for your project, with any medium you wish. Play along with us--try it, you'll like it...

Hope you have wonderful weekend! 

Path of Positivity Challenge #24 Midway: Serendipity

So today is your mid-month reminder for our Serendipity Challenge here at PoP. Hope you have had at least one moment of serendipity in the past couple of weeks. Have you found something wonderful that you didn't realize you were looking for? That makes life so much more fun! Or funner. (I am sure that isn't a word, but what the hey? Hey?)

We found something when we got home that we were not expecting. But it wasn't something wonderful, so we didn't label it serendipitous. (I still sound somewhat intelligent when that word comes tripping off my tongue.) Anyway, our discovery was a bird's nest--almost completely built. Above our patio. On the top of the rolling shade we had installed to reduce heat on the west side of the house. Not. Good. Gary climbed on a ladder to peek in and make sure that there were no eggs inside of the nest. There weren't, so he plucked it off the shade and put it in the garbage. I felt so badly for those two birdies, who were patiently building the thing during the two weeks we were gone. But it was a totally inappropriate place for a bird's nest, as it would have come crashing down the moment we unrolled our shade for use. At least one of the birds came back and found it had disappeared. Sigh...all that work for nothing...poor birdies.

I really cannot imagine what a disruption that was in their courtship. Honestly, how would we deal with that as human beings? Well, in the first place, I think it would have been really difficult for Gary and I to fit into a nest that small, much less to fly up there with rocks and twigs to build it, don't you? Wah waaaah. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

I have certainly been enjoying the Arizona sunshine the last couple of days. Such beautiful weather! I have spent a couple of hours each day, sitting on the glider reading a book. On my nest-less patio. Without the busy little birdies. Sigh...(I think it is going to take me a bit to get over the guilt of removing that nest.)

Of course, I have been busy making blog comments, laundering, (clothes, not money--we don't have enough money to launder), and coloring. However, today's card required no coloring. Just some cardstock, a bit of printing, and some die cuts. Quite a change of pace for me, that's for sure!

My images were taken from the Lunagirl Wind Roses Compasses Turquoise digital collage sheet. And my die cuts were made with Stampin' Up CS by using the following dies: Memory Box Victorian Frame, Cheery Lynn Ship's Compass, and Whimsy Corner. I did do some Zutterizing, too, as you can see. (I hope.) Love the quotation by Shakespeare. But then, I was a Shakespearean nut for a while as a college student. Oh, lordy, was that ever a lonnnnng time ago...

Before I go, I will leave you with all the sponsorship details for this month. Please check out the wonderful creations by my teammates. And our GDT this month is Stephanie, from Steph's Scrap Happenings. She has been a Voter's Choice, Top Pick, and DT Delight. We'd love for you to join us this month; we look forward to your entries. Be sure to let us know how your project fits into our Serendipity theme.

The sponsors and prizes for this challenge are:

• A $12 gift certificate from Sami Stamps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $15 gift certificate from Lunagirl, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight. 

There will also be:

• One digital designer paper (made to order in a couple different ways) from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

The Outlawz Friday Coloring "St. Patrick's Day" Challenge

Hey, there! Another Friday-another Friday Coloring challenge at The Outlawz. Although it says St. Patrick's Day Challenge, you can also just use mostly green in your coloring. With any medium of your choice. On your image for your creation. Is that as clear as mud?

Anyway, I am back. Bet you didn't even know I was gone. Or could you tell by the lack of comments I was making on your blogs for a couple of weeks? My posts are set up to go live even if I am not here, so that may not have been a clue. And just where was Waldo I? Well, I was on vacation in the rain AGAIN, in Maui this time. OK, the last three vacations for us have been rainy. And I am soooo tired of it. We go to beautiful, tropical areas for the sunshine, dear Universe, not for the clouds, cold, and rain. We could get that on a much cheaper trip to, let's say, Seattle. Or Portland. Or maybe even Houston. Suffice it to say, we were very happy to get back to our desert sunshine on Monday. (Until Wednesday when the clouds moved in here, too. They followed us home. But at least there is no rain yet.)

I am beginning to feel a bit like Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame. Is there a cloud hanging over my head? If so, would one of you please blow it away? I am in a much better mood with sunshine and blue skies. Some people can actually tolerate me then...

I'd love to tell you that we snorkeled a lot, saw many beautiful fish and lots of turtles, and enjoyed lazing around on the beach. I'd love to tell you that. But, sadly, I cannot. Too cold, too rainy, and the water was too cloudy for good snorkeling. We tried one day, but found it very unsatisfying.

However, I will tell you that the whales were rockin' and rollin' no matter what the weather was like. So Gary bought me a set of binoculars, (or it is a binocular, inquiring minds would like to know), and we did lots of shore whale-watching. Saw many spy hops, a good deal of breaching, (though Gary was the only one to see a full breach, and the turd got to see TWO of them, not that I am bitter or anything), and even saw one whale that lobtailed--or fluke-slapped--like crazy. I don't know if it was a mommy whale, warning others away from her baby, or maybe a female that just wasn't in the mood for breeding. Imagine that...

We didn't go for a boat tour this year, because it makes Gary so seasick. He encouraged me to go alone, but I really didn't want to go without him. However, we got to see lots of whales from the shore--Maui was inundated with them this year, apparently. So that was a wonderful part of our vacation.

Oh, and we did get to Mama's Fish House to eat again--and it was scrumptious as always! Wonderful opakepake and lobster guacamole and lobster soup. Ahhhhh. Oh, and we ate at Star Noodle twice--again yum. And found a new place for us up at Makawao--called Market Fresh Bistro, for lunch one day. Ended going back up the mountain to eat there for a 7-course tasting dinner, which I loved more than Gary did. Yeah, it was raining that night, too, big shock...

Didn't have much wine while we were there. But made up for it in Mai Tais and drinks of the day. Oh, Gary figured out that it was much, much cheaper to make our own drinks in our rooms than it was to buy them at $12 per. Egads. I should say so. Drinks of the day were usually watered down more than I remember, so they must be making money on them, too, lol! But I only gained two pounds in two weeks, so I didn't do too badly over there.

OK, guess it is back to reality. And the business of the day. My card. But first, a word from our sponsor...

We are sponsored by the fabulous Sweet Pea Stamps! I am still tickled that Lynette and friends are offering our randomly-selected participant a choice of four digis! That's a wonderful prize because there are scads of beautiful images done by wonderful artists! You will have such fun picking out your winnings, whomever you are.

I chose Irish Chic, by Joanne Schempp, for my image this week. I wish my photo had turned out better, but had terrible lighting yesterday for photos, (remember, I said it was cloudy all day). I do love the image, though, so young and sexy. I remember those days...

Where was I? Reminiscing about my youth? Or rewriting history? Whatever. I printed my image on X-Press It BC and colored her with my Copics:

Skin:  E000, E00, E21, E11, E15, YR02

Hair: YR14, YR18, E08, E18

Clothing: Y15, Y18, BG53, BG57, YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99

I added a bit of Wink of Stella Brush Clear and some Ice White Pearl Pen. Then I finished my card with MFT Fishtail Flags Stax die cuts from the paper collection, PB&J, by Basic Grey. My CS is from Stampin' Up.

Now, I need to catch up on washing, housecleaning, (shudder), and blog comments. Plus start another card. You, know, the normal stuff. Please check out the fabulous creations by my talented teammates, Carla, Kathi, and Laine! And then be sure to play along with us this week.

And have a wonderful weekend! (Please let there be no rain!)

The Outlawz Friday Coloring "Flowers/Garden" Challenge/Barbara's Birthday Card

Oh, gosh, I have another really long title today, don't I? Too bad I couldn't just use acronyms for my post titles--it would be sooo much shorter, but you probably would not know what they meant. For instance, today's title would be TOFCFGCBBC. And that would be too hard to pronounce as one word, so never mind...

For our new theme this week, we are celebrating Plant a Flower Day on March 12, which is actually the last day of this challenge. But that's OK. We want you to celebrate all week with your beautiful flower creations. Please use an image that you hand-color on your entries. You have free rein on the medium/media you use for your coloring.

Again this month we are sponsored by the fabulous Sweet Pea Stamps! So tickled that Lynette and friends are offering our randomly-selected participant a choice of four digis! That's a marvelous prize because there are scads of beautiful images done by wonderful artists! You will have a blast picking out your winnings, whomever you are. (Either that, or you will tear your hair out trying to narrow down your choices to four.) Love, love, love the images in this store!

I am attempting to use images from several different artists during these months of sponsorship. So far, it is working. I haven't repeated an artist yet, but have used wonderful images each week. This week I am using a gorgeous image, Sweet Pea Ching Chou Kuik's Dark Lilies. I printed her on X-Press It BC and colored her with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E17, R21

Hair: E53, E31, E23, E37

Eyes: B00, B01

Flowers: R30, R32, R35, R37, R39, YG00, YG01, YG93, YG95, YG97

Hummingbird: BG11, BG32, BG34, B34, B37

And the rest of the story: my DP is from the Basic Grey Sweet Threads collection. It was Zutterized and paired with Stampin' Up CS. I added a die cut using the Memory Box Woodland Branch die, which then got almost completely covered with Wild Orchid Craft flowers, Stampin' Up ribbon, and a hummingbird from the SU Spring Song set. I also added a couple of corner die cuts using a Whimsy Corner die. 

I made this card for my sister, Barbara, as her birthday is later this month. She has already received the card, though, as she leaves to go back to Wisconsin before her birthday. I will say that she was happy with this. Barbara is an inveterate gardener. She loves her flowers, so I thought this week's theme was quite perfect for her. I haven't seen it in person yet, but her entire yard is full of flowers during the summer. I have seen photos, and believe me, this girl must spend all her time gardening when she is at home! (Too much work for me. Of course, just about everything but crafting is too much work for me. I thought I would say that before my family members did. Snicker/snort!) 

OK, it's your turn to create a floral fantasy! For inspiration, check out the fab creations by my talented teammates: Carla, Kathi, and Laine! And we look forward to you playing along with us this week.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Path of Positivity Challenge #24: Serendipity

It's the first Monday of the month, so we have a new challenge for you at PoP. Number 24 is "Serendipity". I love that word. It sounds so magical and playful. Serendipitous is even more fun to say--try it. I even sound halfway-intelligent when that comes rolling off my tongue...

Defining serendipity is a little tricky for me, so I will just give you the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition: "the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for". (Hey, that even ends in a preposition. I love it. Isn't it fun to break the rules of grammar?) For me, finding Gary was definitely an act of serendipity. Though I honestly didn't know it at the time. Long story...

I chose a quotation for my card that fully reflects the definition above. And my gorgeous image is from Sami Stamps. Her name is Wild Flower Beauty, from the Spring and Easter release. I just love her! She was printed on X-Press It BC and colored with my Copics:

Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E17, R21

Hair: E53, E31, E23, E37

Flowers: E02, E08, E09

I chose DP from Momenta Patty Young Designs, (thank you Teresa!), and paired it with Stampin' Up CS. My die cuts were made with Memory Box Caserta Bloom; pearl stickers and Pearl Pen were used for accents. 

The sponsors and prizes for this challenge are:

• A $12 gift certificate from Sami Stamps, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• A $15 gift certificate from Lunagirl, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

There will also be:

• One digital designer paper (made to order in a couple different ways) from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky voter who leaves a comment.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Please check out the wonderful creations by my teammates. And our GDT this month is Stephanie, from Steph's Scrap Happenings. She has been a Voter's Choice, Top Pick, and DT Delight. I hope you find enough inspiration to enter our challenge this month. We look forward to your entries! 

Have a wonderful week!