Plaid and Stocking Mouse

Got some free time...finally...and decided to play with my watercolors and create

that fun plaid pattern that Kristina Werner did in her Holiday Card Series.

Talk about completely inspired and totally fun to do!

This is how it started out...

I was not too happy with it in the beginning but was inspired by the latest

Curtain Call Challenge

so I pushed forward!  I knew my lines were a bit uneven and of course not straight, so 

I used some vellum to mute it a bit (wink, wink).  I used the Tim Holtz Holiday Words Script

to die cut DCWV Gold Foiled Cardstock.  

I felt like it needed some cuteness and there's nothing cuter than 

the Lawn Fawn Merry Christmouse set from Simon Says Stamptember colored in copics.

and a closeup...

I wanted the stocking to look like it was hanging from the "g"

so I snipped the letter to insert the Lawn Fawn image.

So that's my card today.  I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Now to go create more holiday cards!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Warm Wishes with a2z Scrapbooking

Happy Sunday friends!

Aloha and welcome to the latest
a2z Scrapbooking
 challenge:

ONE LAYER HOLIDAY!

One layer cards are a big challenge for me, but I've found that using
a bunch of different colored inks can help create a little more dimension.
What's even better?  Hero Arts Ombre inks!
These are my absolute favorite ink pads to get shading without much effort!!

Here's what I'm talkin' about...

I used only 4 inks pads and got all those different shades!
Pretty right?!

For me one layered cards also involves masking so I did some quick and easy snipping.

Can you see my little masks?  I inked up the hats, right owl, and pot on typing paper and
partially fussy cut them since I only needed certain edges to be masked.

I began with inking up the pot in Hero Arts Lime to Forever Green.
The pot is from the Hero Arts set Merry Cactus to You.

I love the owls from the Hero Arts Friends by Lia and wanted them nestled together in the pot.
I also wanted to create a more Christmas theme so I inked up the Santa hat from the
Merry Cactus to You set, masked it, then stamped the owl using Hero Arts Light to Dark Brown ink.
Then masking the right owl, I inked up the other owl with the darker brown and stamped.
Lastly I stamped the top hat in Hero Arts Gray to Black ink as well as the sentiment.

Aren't they just so cute together in the little pot?!
Now normally I would mount the card panel on to some colored cardstock,
but since this is a one layered card I decided to use the stripes from
Hero Arts Kelly's Outline Letters.  I first drew a pencil mark to create margins on each side
to use as a guide for where I would stamp.  Then took that stripe patter and inked
in each ombre shade of the Hero Arts Light Ruby to Red Royal ink and the Lime to Forever Green.
This took a bit of time, but I thought tied in nicely with my little cozy scene.

Hope you enjoyed my one layer card!
Can't wait to see what you create!!
Come join us HERE for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the store!

Need some retail therapy?  Stop by a2z Scrapbooking  and use code
NICKI15 for a 15% discount on your entire order!
The best part is a portion of the proceeds goes towards
helping the Behcet's and Celiac Disease Communities.

Mahalo for stopping by!

CASEing Kelly Blog Hop

Aloha and welcome to my little section of the blog hop!

I'm so excited for this fun hop to say a big

MAHALO/Thank You to the the AMAZING 

Kelly Latevola!

I love that the tables have turned, and we now get the opportunity

to CASE Kelly!  Talk about some big shoes to fill, but I'm gonna try my best!!

I love Kelly's watercolor work so here are 3 of the cards I chose...

In this card I loved the black outline with the watercolor scribbled in.

I LOVE Kelly's color combination in this card and her added white dots for details.

Kelly's designs are always so well balanced with the bold black stripe matching her

die cut black sentiment...just gorgeous!

So here's my take on her cards...

I attempted three times to capture Kelly's design.

I know you're suppose to CASE 3 cards in 1, but was indecisive in

which one I felt captured Kelly's work...oh the pressure!

I took her design from the first card and used Hero Arts Color Layering Hibiscus.

Instead of using the solid stamp that comes in the set, 

I used the wash of watercolor (from Tim Holtz Distress Markers)

and stamped the next layer with Hero Arts India Ink Black 

and the sentiment is from Hero Arts Hello Flowers.  I loved how Kelly used the black strip

of cardstock to tie in the bold sentiment and in this CASE my hibiscus as well!

I wasn't happy with my washed out colors, because I truly loved Kelly's bold autumn colors in the second card.  So I attempted a second time to get richer colors...

This time I did use the solid layering stamp in Hero Arts Wet Cement and tried

not to water down my distress ink.  I added white dots for detail and actually die cut the sentiment

from Penny Black's Words of Gratitude die set.

And just for fun (because I had some ink left over) I did one more card...

I hope I've made Kelly proud!  A big thank you for all those involved 

in creating such a special blog hop for one special gal!

The blog hop list is below in case you get lost.

Comment along the way for a chance to win some awesome prizes!!

a2z Scrapbooking
Amy Tsuruta 
Brandi Hall
Char Kochensparger
Cindy Chiu
Darnell Knauss
Dawn Turley
Debra James
Deepti Malik
Donna Idlet
Elizabeth Campau
Ellen Haxelmans
Heather Ruwe
Jennifer Loftfield
Joan Bardee
Kara Vrabel
Kara-Lynne
Katie Gehring
Kristie Goulet
Kristina Beagle
Kymona Tracey
Laura Jane
Leigh Penner
Lin Brandyberry
Linda Trace
Lindsay Amrhein
Maria Sabina Raita
Marika Rahtu
Martha Lucia Gomez
Michele Cunningham
Michele Ferguson
Michelle Lupton
Michelle Williams
Monica Maier
that's me------->Niki G.
Nina-Marie Trapani
Rubeena Naz
Shelly Kurth
Taunya Butler
Thordis Dogg
Vera Yates

What is a blog hop without some fun prizes?! Leave a comment by 11:59 pm EDT on Thursday, October 29th along each stop in the hop to increase your chances of winning a prize from one of our sponsors: a2z Scrapbooking, Altenew, Create a Smile Stamps, Dee's Art Impressions, DJ Kard Kreations, Hero Arts, Ink Road, Lia Stampz and Simon Says Stamp,! Winners will be notified by email after October 29th.

As always MAHALO for stopping by!

Critters and Cacti for A2Z Scrapbooking

TGIF!

Today I'm over at A2Z Scrapbooking with a combination of 

Hero Arts stamp sets that is sure to make you smile!

I would love it if you stopped by and left me some comment love!

Here's a little sneaky peek...

I used these fun Hero Arts sets...

Ok!  Hope to see you over at A2Z Scrapbooking!

There's also an awesome sale going on to help kickstart your holiday projects.

Remember that proceeds go towards helping the Behcets and Celiac autoimmune communities.

Use code "NICKI15" for 15% off your entire purchase!

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

A Kid Christmas Card for A Blog Named Hero

I LOVE everything bright and cheery and if I can put a rainbow on it...

even better!

Today's card is for the latest A Blog Named Hero Challenge:

I decided to make a Christmas card filled with color
perfect for any kid!

I used one of my FAVORITE stamp sets from the Hero Arts Holiday catalog
Merry Cactus To You inked up in Lawn Fawn inks.
(Lawn Fawn inks work PERFECTLY with solid stamps)
I created a scene to make the penguin from Lawn Fawn's Toboggan Together set look like
he was placing the star on the top of the cactus!

I first inked up the pots and stamped them upside down to create a pile of pots
for the penguin to stand on.
Then I stamped the cactus and colored in copics.
I die cut the scene with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die and
then adhered to a panel die cut with Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Rectangle Stackables using
Lawn Fawn's Let's Bokeh in the Snow pattern paper.
The cream colored bokeh pattern paper is also from the same paper pad.
Lastly the sentiment was stamped up from Lawn Fawn's Let's Bokeh set.

Here's a close up...

That's my card for today!
I hope you'll join our challenge for your chance to win a

A big shoutout to Simon Says Stamps for being our generous sponsor and
of course Lawn Fawn  for letting us play with their amazing products this month!

Can't wait to see what you all create!

Mahalo!!

InLinkz.com

Quick and Easy Coloring of Christmas Lights!

Aloha and happy Sunday friends!

I'm over at A Blog Named Hero sharing a fun and colorful card featuring

Hero Arts and Lawn Fawn!!

I combined both of these sets...

Hero Arts Sparkle Border and Lawn Fawn Baaah Humbug.

Here's a little sneaky peek of how the card began.

Using a sponge dauber and Lawn Fawn ink allows for fast coloring of the sweet light bulbs!

It would be so awesome if you hopped on over to see the completed card!

It was a really fun collaboration!!

Mahalo for stopping by!

Warm and Cozy for A2Z Scrapbooking Blog and WINNER

It's almost that time of the year friends!

Today I'm over at the A2Z Scrapbooking Blog.

I've got a sweet Christmas card using this fun stamp set

Hero Arts Home Baked by Lia

You definitely don't have to be a baker to use this set for all kind of things!

I imagine I'll be using this a lot on tags, cards and goodie bags.

I would love it if you would hop on over to A2Z Scrapbooking

to check out the card and leave me some comment love!

And now for the WINNER of my coffee lover's blog hop post...

Seleise Barrett

I've sent you an email!

to receive a $20 gift code to A2Z Scrapbooking!!

Thanks so much to everyone who leaves comments on my posts.

It truly means so much!

Don't forget the A2Z Scrapbooking Store has tons of Hero Arts supplies

 perfect for all your projects!

Use code Nicki15 for 15% off your entire purchase.  You can even make special requests if you don't see something you want!  

Mahalo for stopping by!!