Little Shop of Sketches - Sketch #71 & New Danielle Young kit!

Forgive me - I forgot to tell you about our latest Little Shop of Sketches post ... only three days late :)

Since Tanya is still out of her house due to earthquakes in New Zealand. Keep her and her family in your prayers.

The wonderful Mieke drew Sketch #71 by hand:

Here is my layout ...These are my kids 'helping' me rake leaves last autumn. The change of weather here in the Northeast, USA, has brought out that Fall feeling ... I'm loving the colors of Danielle Young's new collab kit with Aja Abney, New Day:
It was just released today and is currently on sale! Woohoo!

I hope you like it!

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Oh! And be sure to check out the other girls' layouts at Little Shop of Sketches. They're marvelous!

Coffee House Paintings

Let's take a break from digital scrapbooking and talk about PAINTING!!!

That's right - I am now a painter! A true artiste! I have impressed even myself :)

Backstory: We were throwing a 'coffee house' themed bridal shower for our coffee loving friend. The location already had a relatively mod feel with pumpkin and eggplant colored walls and black trim. We were throwing around decoration ideas for how to create the coffee house ambiance ... and I very quickly thought of artwork. A local shop has very cheap canvasses and I had enough experience with using paint in various projects that I knew I could pull off some simple pieces. My original plan was to paint the background to match the accent wall and then do a coffee cup and other objects in black silhouette. Very simple. Very graphic. Very nice :)

Execution: As usual, the end result was not the same as the original vision. We couldn't find the left-over wall color paint, so I had to create my own by blending orange, peach, reddish, yellow and white paint (use what you have). Because I was blending, it created these awesome streaks and swirly patterns. I chose to go with it instead of trying to make it one uniform color.

I had a coffee cup image in my mind that was a very graphic black and white. That was one image.

I thought of the tall coffee mug (love those), but I needed three.

So, I did an online search for some inspiration and saw this colorblocked idea. That became my centerpiece.

By using the two colors in that center painting, I opened the door up to use purple and it became an accent for the graphics ... I just kind of winged it. The brushes were out, the paint was wet, and I just did what seemed right - adding color and flourishes here and there.

I really like the way it turned out. Sure, there are several things that I wish were better. I wish I had planned and thought out my highlights and shadow a bit more instead of just winging it. Some of them are completely wrong. The proportions, perspective and symmetry are off in several places. The cheap canvases still need frames. I could go on ... but I'm still happy.

You know what the biggest surprise of all is for me? Everybody loved them. They didn't just like them, they were impressed. I don't know whether to be happy or sad that people seem to be so surprised that I pulled it off. I'll choose to take it in a good way. The shower was a complete success (thanks to a HUGE collaborative effort and a brilliant florist :) ) and the church is very happy to have the new decorations.

I hope you like them too!

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Ice-Pop layout and FREE template

Remember that awesome Blog Train freebie kit from Sugar Hill Co? What a lot of goodies! And I created a layout using it ... my kids eating popsicles ... they call them 'ice-pops'. They love ice-pops and have one every time they're at Grandma's! Thank God for the sugar-free variety!


I used a template from the fabulous Katharyn Brine ... it is FREE over at Danielle Young Designs blog. SkrappyKathy is a fellow Creative Team member and is extroidinarily talented! I love her template and the layout she did with it. I hope you get a chance to download and use it too!

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Sugar Hill Co. Blog Train! FREEBIES!

I just thought I'd pass on the wonderful opportunity to hop on board the Sugar Hill Co. Blog Train!

14 talented designers are giving away freebies on their blogs in order to give you this:

You can start here at the the SHCO blog.

Enjoy!

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Party Princess

Danielle Young has a new kit, Party Princess, available at Oscraps!

When I saw it, I of course thought of my daughter ... she is my little princess :) Even though pink is her favorite color, the purple accents her ballerina dress perfectly. I have so many cute pictures of her dancing that I'm so glad to be able to do a layout:

Isn't she the cutest thing?! I just loved watching her prance around ... my little princess :)

And ... if you act now, all three coordinating Party Princess items are on sale individually and together! Woohoo!

I hope you like it!

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Little Shop of Sketches - Sketch #70

Hello everyone! I hope you were able to pick up some fabulous cards on Sue Cumming's Blog Train ... I know I did :)

Today it's time for a sketch from Little Shop of Sketches!
Tanya lives in New Zealand and has been hit hard by earthquakes and aftershocks. She and her boys are just fine, but please pray for them as they go through this hard time.

Here is Sketch #70:

And here is my take on it:

I used the new Oscrabs collab (so many talented designers got together to create this) RetrO ...

And, in honor of the 'retro' theme, I chose photos from before the kids and even before the wedding ... the summer my honey and I were engaged. Back then, we had a digital camera, but it wasn't that good, so these photos are super low resolution, but they work :)

I hope you like it!

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Blog Train!!! Free Card Download!

Did you know that the Oscraps Designer Spotlight this week (September 1-7th)
is featuring Designs by Sue Cummings!!!

She has a fabulous challenge to create a digital or hybrid greeting card!
If you enter the challenge...you could win a shoppings spree at her shop!
Click here to go to the challenge

And guess what!
I am so excited to share the greeting card I designed with you!
Credits: Sketchbook Artistry No. 1 by Sue Cummings

Download LINK for My Card

But wait!!!! My Friends and I created more cards to share with
you. Visit OUR BLOG PARTY today and you can download more FREE
cards that were all created using Sue's Products!

Here's the list of who is having a BLOG PARTY today!
http://mychalkboard.typepad.com/designsbysuecummings/
http://val-unepausecafe.blogspot.com/
http://creatiesbyveer.blogspot.com/
http://alookintonanasworld.blogspot.com/
http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.com/
http://craftiejessie.blogspot.com/
http://lifewith4cats.blogspot.com/
http://nadiasfotoblog.blogspot.com/
http://elina-designs.blogspot.com/
http://busybostyn.blogspot.com/
http://beszteri.blogspot.com/
http://zizazzi.fr/?p=3625
http://blog.through-my-eyes.org/
http://suddenlyartistic.blogspot.com/
http://lauriewe.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/sue-is-in-the-…he-party-begin/
http://traderfam.blogspot.com/

*TOU's: All card designs are copyrighted and cannot be redistributed without permission.
Note: Feel free to post the links to these greeting cards on your blog...but do not
share the actual downloads. Kindly send them to the blogs of my friends and please
leave comments along the way.

We would love to hear how you are going
to use these cards. Thanks for stopping by for the blog party!

*~*~*