Autumn Blessings

Everyone is busy with family and friends this time of year. So, I present to you Autumn Blessings by Sherry West Art. I flipped the image and added a sentiment then colored with my Copic markers. I used Stickles to make the rays. Then I placed a few jewels in each corner for a little bling/embellishment.

We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family, something we missed terribly last year.

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving Holiday!

Turkey Gobbler

Is it a Halloween costume or is he trying to hide until Thanksgiving is over?! In any event, he was told to get dressed for dinner, and not wanting to be a party pooper, here he is, ready for dinner!

Copic markers used:

Pumpkin YR04, E07, E09, E18; (stem) YG63, YG67, YG99

Turkey E33, E35, E37; R59, (comb) R08, R05, R02; (beak) E15, Y15, Y02; (eyes) Y11, E15, E18

White gel pen for highlights

This cute guy, Turkey Gobbler, is available from Sherry West Art. If he isn't on her Etsy page, you can PM her through her Facebook page or her Blog. I fussy cut the Turkey and used my Silhouette Cameo 4 to write the sentiment and cut it out in a speech bubble. Both the sentiment and Turkey Gobbler are popped up on foam squares. I added a few sequins and twine for embellishments. What other fun things could he be saying, I wonder? Let me know what you think!

Have a great Halloween - be on the lookout for the Turkey Gobbler!

Sunflowers are Messengers

 Do you ever Google something, write down what you found, but then cannot find it again??? Well, that's what I did for the sentiment of my card. I Googled "sunflower sentiments," wrote down this saying, and now I cannot find it again in order to give credit to the author (if there is one). So, I apologize if it has an author to whom I did not give credit, because it is a beautiful sentiment.

Sunflowers are messengers of friendship, love and hope.

It's perfect! Perfect to let someone know you are thinking of them fondly. The image is from Sherry West Art on Etsy, called Sunny Sunflowers. You can also purchase the image from Sherry directly, via her Facebook group, or her blog, Happy Art for a Happy Heart. I colored it with Copic markers, fussy cut around it and added a red bow with jewels on top of sequins for my embellishment. The background is a leaf diecut using my Silhouette Cameo 4 on a wood grain cardstock with green cardstock behind it. I wrote the sentiment on my Cameo also. I used foam dots behind the image and sentiment to add a little more dimension. Be sure to check out Kit and Clowder for some great coloring classes in both pencils and alcohol markers! There are several FREE classes available and the other coloring classes are very reasonably priced.

Flower petals Y21, Y15, Y38, E13, white gel pen, yellow glitter pen

Flower centers Y21, Y15, Y38, E71, E74, E77, white gel pen, yellow glitter pen

Leaves YG11, YG25, G07

Ribbon (behind ribbon) R22, R27, R59, white gel pen

Jar/Water BG000, B00, C0, C1, C3, colorless blender

Sunflowers are always cheery and make me smile. I hope I've given you a smile for today!

Harvest Home Wreath

 Sometimes I look at an image and I just know what I want to do with it. That was the case with this beautiful image from Sherry West Art, called Harvest Home Wreath. In my mind I saw this as a foiled image, no coloring. This is something new I've just started trying on my Silhouette Cameo 4 using the Foil Quill made by We R Memory Keepers. I purchased the Foil Quill and several colors of foil from 12x12 Cardstock. 12x12 Cardstock has a great sale on the Foil Quill products and, to be honest, the whole laminator/deco foil thing had not been working for me (too much $$ invested in that, too!). So, I emailed 12x12 Cardstock to ask a couple of questions about the Foil Quill product, they responded very quickly, and I ordered. I watched a couple of videos that I Googled about using the Foil Quill on the Cameo 4 and I am having So Much Fun with this!!! By the way, 12x12 Cardstock is GREAT for all of your cardstock needs, too!!

As soon as I saw the Harvest Home Wreath from Sherry West Art, I KNEW it would look great in foil!

I foiled the image on kraft-colored cardstock, using red foil. The mat behind my image is red and gold cardstock alternated in a diagonal pattern to add a little interest.

I am showing two pictures so you can see the card from the front and from the side to show how shiny it is in the light. I think this image would also look beautiful colored in fall colors on kraft cardstock. I would love to see your version if you try that!

Have a beautiful Fall day!

Dumb Questions

 Have you ever had one of those days (at work or at home) where the dumb questions just keep coming? Come on, admit it, lol! These cute, fluffy chickens from Sherry West Art just seemed to fit the bill for me. And they were LOTS of fun to color - outside the box - blue, pink, blue-green and purple! I used my copic markers to color them (Kit and Clowder coloring classes!), a fine-tip sharpie marker for their eyes and then a white gel pen for the dots on their eyes. The ground is also colored with copic markers, with a few sparse blades of grass here and there. Continuing with the "dumb questions" idea, I thought the ZOO and telephone (old school) diecuts (free from SVGcuts.com) went perfectly, too! And then, we can't do without our requisite cup of coffee! The background cardstock is purple with a honeycomb overlay diecut from colorful paper, Super-fun! Take a look at Sherry's Etsy page for some great images. If you can't find what you are looking for there, take a look on her blog shop, Happy Art For A Happy Heart, and/or PM her on her Facebook page, Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts.

Let me know what some of the dumb questions you've received!

Have a FUN day!

A Flocker For Your Thoughts

 Sherry West Art has just outdone herself with these amazing Flockers! There are SO MANY things you could have them say, like 'Shake your tail feathers" or "A Flocker for your thoughts," LOL! I have even made up a little Ode to the Flicker Flockers.....I will keep you posted if I publish it, 😆

For this particular Flocker, I used the sentiment, "Save the drama for your mama!" I made it VERY colorful with my copic markers (you gotta take those lessons from Kit and Clowder!) and even added a bow around the tail feathers. I guess that makes her a "she?" Sherry's Etsy page is here, or you can contact her via PM on Facebook in order to purchase one of her great images! Here's a look at my card:

Let me know some of the sayings you might pair up with this image, I would LOVE to hear them!

Have a great day!

A Flocker and Gin

The Flockers are a fun, silly bunch of birds created by Sherry West. And, I gotta tell you, there are a limitless number of sayings you can pair with these birds! For my first Flocker, I used a saying one of my friends used in reference to rum (that's her husband's favorite liquor). But, the glass in this Flocker's hand is a martini glass, so I went with gin.....IF GIN CAN'T FIX IT, YOU'RE NOT USING ENOUGH! This particular image is not in Sherry's Etsy shop, but if you PM her through Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts FB page, she can sell it to you via that route.

I colored this image with my copic markers. I can't say enough good things about the coloring classes from Alyce Keegan at Kit and Clowder - you really need to check them out! I used a white gel pen to make a few highlights, fussy cut the image and then used foam squares to pop it on the card. I made a speech bubble for my saying and used foam squares for it, too. Using the background paper, I cut a couple of small martini glasses on my Silhouette Cameo 4 and placed those around the Flocker's feet (that means he's on his third drink!). I diecut large hexagons to place on top of the background paper - using paper that matched my coloring.

As I said, there are a bunch of other Flockers, so check them out in Sherry's Etsy shop here!

A super-fun and easy card to make that, hopefully, gives you a chuckle for the day! And, please, drink responsibly!

Tik Tok Flock Roadies

An age-old question -  Why did the chicken cross the road? Well, the Tik Tok Flock has an answer for you, lol! Sherry West has drawn some amazing chickens (Tik Tok Flock) and birds (The Flockers) that will have you coloring faster than you can say "To get to the other side"!!!! How many fun puns (intended, of course) can you come up with for all of these images?? And, even if you can't think of anything for them to say, just Google funny chicken sayings or funny bird sayings and I'm sure you will find SOMETHING! Take a look at the Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts Facebook page for some ideas, we are FULL of them, lol! If you are interested in purchasing any of these images, contact Sherry directly. I colored my image with my Copic markers, and made little chicken feed pellets with wet paper that I colored with my Copic markers. I diecut the frame (a road, of course) and Detour sign for the chickens on my Silhouette Cameo 4. Take a look at this fun card and let me know why you think the chicken crossed the road, lol!

You can also check out Sherry's Etsy page for The Flockers and other great images she has available. They are all fun to color! The Tik Tok Flock has several more images, too - another card coming soon to show you!

I hope you have a great day!

Back to School

I can't believe summer is almost over, and the tell-tale sign is that school has started. Sherry West Art has created the cutest Backpack Critters, 14 of them to be exact! She has a Bear, two Cats, Crocodile, two Dogs, Elephant, Fox, Monkey, Penguin, Pig, Platypus, Squirrel and Turtle, OH MY! I have colored four of the images with my copic markers, cut them out and placed them on bookmarks. Three of the bookmarks are made with digital paper from Sherry West Art (the colorful ones) and the fourth was digital paper made by our newest Sherry West Art DT member, Cara Malmrose (the white one with miniature Backpack Critters all over it)! I used two different colors of ribbon in the tops of each of the bookmarks. The Backpack Critters can be used for so many other occasions, too! If you're interested in any of these adorable Backpack Critters, just private message Sherry West Art, join her FB page and show us your creations!

My sisters, who love to read, have already snagged all of these bookmarks, lol! I can't wait to see what you create with these super-cute Backpack Critters!

Have a wonderful day!

Gnomies and Christmas in July

 A collaboration plus +++! Stamp Addicts and Sherry West plus even MORE Sherry West! A super-fun Win-Win for us all!

Stamp Addicts has the cling mounted rubber stamps for the Gnome and Gnome House. See the video and how to order them here.

Sherry has the digital images of the Gnome, his wife, two children (boy and girl, of course), and the Gnome House here. This link is for Sherry's Etsy shop. If some of the images are not there, you can contact her directly through her Facebook page to order any or all of these images.

Using my Silhouette Cameo 4, I cut out all of the images. I then colored them with my Copic markers. I made little easels for the back of each image, so I could make a little scene with them. I also cut out a little Christmas tree (also from Sherry West) just to make my scene more like Christmas, and added tiny stringed lights around the house and up the path to the door. Although I used blue (for the sky) and green (for the ground) cardstock for my background scene, you could also use polyester fiber-fill for your snowy ground. Here is my little scene:

You could use these cute Gnomies for any occasion, together or individually. There are so many possibilities! Let me know what you think of my Gnomies.

Gnome is where the heart is - Gnome Sweet Gnome!

Easy and Cute Father's Day Cards

 Here we are halfway through the year almost and Father's Day is this month! Sometimes you need a cute, easy image for the kids to color for Father's Day, or you want a card something from your furbaby to your husband. Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts (look for her on Facebook) has so many options for you because she has super-cute images, and all you have to add is your imagination! For my first card, I colored her funny socks image and added a sentiment, "Dad, you're toe-dally awesome!" HAHAHAHAHAAAAA! Wouldn't that be cute from the kids? And I'm sure they could come up with some of their own funny sentiments that socks would say! I placed the image and my sentiment inside a digital frame also from Sherry West Art and colored everything with my Copic markers. I did add a little bit of text to each sock. If you look closely, you can see "I" on the first sock, "LOVE" on the second sock, and "DAD" on the third sock. I used a glitter gel pen for the "leaf" stems and dotted lines to the hearts and that's it!

My second card is a dog from Sherry West Art that I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo 4 and then colored with Copic markers. I wrote and cut the sentiment on my Cameo, too, "Happy Father's Day to the best Dogfather!" The sentiment is a little take on the "Godfather" movies, so I used a font called Corleone and it is free from dafont.com. I made it look like a big blue ribbon for a first prize Dogfather! I placed the image on foam dots to give it a bit of dimension.

So, there you have it, a couple of quick and easy Father's Day cards that either you or the kids can color! If you're interested in these and many other great images, contact Sherry West Art - you can PM her any time!

Have some fun today, whatever you do!

Those Silly Monkeys!

 Do you remember the song/rhyme, "No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed"? (Now, you won't be able to get it out of your head for the rest of the day, lol!) Well, Sherry West has some really cute monkeys for you to use in all sorts of fun ways! For my first card, I went with that rhyme about no more jumping on the bed and just duplicated one monkey several times, all over the front of the card. Some are jumping and flipping on the bed, and one is running to join in the fun. And the sign/picture on the wall says NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED! I think that would put a smile on anyone's face!

For my second card, I used some images of the same monkey, plus another on, and then the monkeys hanging from a tree branch, with bananas all over the place. And my sentiment? SMILE LIKE A MONKEY WITH A NEW BANANA! That, too, should put a smile on someone's face, lol! After coloring them will my copic markers, I placed it on a card and added some twine down one side with tiny paper flowers on the tree branch and twine. I put some yellow Stickles in the middle of each flower, too. An easy card for a birthday or thinking of you sentiment.

So, have some fun today, make a little card to make someone smile and guaranteed you will smile too!

He Is Risen!

 A glorious sun beckons,

Revealing a wondrous vision -

As we all praise Him in adoration

And hold a magnificent celebration

for He Is Risen!

This is the verse that I made up for an Easter card using Sherry West's image. It is a very touching, heartfelt image. Come and join her Facebook page, Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts, and you might be able to nab the image free! I used copic markers to color the image, Icicles Stickles for some of the sun rays, a white gel pen for some highlights, and a gold gel pen on the flower. I used a Fish Embossing Folder from Divinity Designs on the background cardstock and sanded it slightly so you could see the fish better.

Take a close look at the image, there are so many wonderful things in it - a sun, cross, snail, lady bug, singing bird, butterfly, duck, bunny, and egg - all coming together to praise Him!

I hope you have a Happy Blessed Easter!

Butterfly Baby

 My nephew, his wife and their 4 year old son are getting ready for the arrival of a baby girl! Everyone is very excited to have a baby in our family again. I used an image by Krista Leigh Smith called Butterfly Baby. Unfortunately, this image is no longer available. It is a very sweet image that can be used for either a boy or girl.

I paper-pieced the baby's jammies and used copic markers to color the rest of the image. I used a gold gel pen to color the dots on the baby's wings. I had some Precious Moments stickers that I added to the card front and a small butterfly from another artist, all on foam dots. I kept my card really simple, not much on the embellishments, as I wanted the image to be the star of the show. The image is also popped up on foam dots.

Skin E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, R02, RV21

Lips RV55, RV52

Eyes B66, B63, B60, V12

Hair E40, E41, E43

Wings R81, RV32, RV34, R56, R59, white gel pen, gold gel pen

Ground W00, W1, W3, W5, V04, V12, B60

I hope you enjoy my card! Have a wonderful day!

Easter Special Delivery

Do you send Easter cards? I always do to my nieces, nephews and grandchildren. Sherry West has some wonderful Easter images that you can use for cards. And there are MORE images in addition to the ones I used! If you prefer rubber stamps, Stamp Addicts has those available for some of these images!

I actually used two images and merged them to create a funny scene on my first card. The main image is the Easter Basket and the other image is of four not-quite-hatched eggs. I isolated each of those eggs and spread them around the Easter Basket. I colored the scene with copic markers. I used a white gel pen for highlights on all of my cards. The egg paper around the basket image is digital paper that I had on my computer. I also added my sentiment before printing so all I had to do after coloring was mat it, add the little extras and I was done! The next eight images were diecut and placed on a diecut egg card - FUN! That dancing chickie just cracks me up! Well, actually all of the chickens crack me up! And the Easter Bunnies are so adorable, very furry! I made the first bunny egg card using gold foil cardstock. The same copic colors were used throughout each image, just refer to the color choice in a previous image if you are curious.

Chicken E43, E44, E07, E47

Beak E99, E97, E95, E93, Y23

Comb R59, R56, RV34, RV32, R81

Eggs E41, E43, E44, Y02

Basket B69, B66, B63, B60

Bow V99, V28, V04, V12

Ground E44, E43, E41, E07, E15, Y02, Colorless Blender

Fur E29, E27, E25, E23, E21; W7, W5, W3, W1

Ears RV21, R20, E00

Egg E43, Y19, Y15, Y11

Ribbon V28, V04, V12

Ready to work on some Easter cards? Get goin'!

I hope you have a blessed Easter!

Some Bunny Loves You

 With plenty of time to make something for Valentine's Day, Sherry West Art has released some really cute, endearing images for you! This one is called Some Bunny Loves You and you can contact Sherry West through her Facebook page, Sherry West Art Coloring and Crafts, to purchase it or any of her other wonderful images.  I colored the image with copic markers, used a white gel pen for some highlights and a blue glitter gel pen for a few highlights. I  used a beaded ribbon trim for my main embellishment along with some different printed cardstock for interest. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Skin E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, RV21

Hair E21, E23, E25, E27, E29

Wings Y11, RV21, B00, YG03, RV14, blue glitter gel pen

Gown RV19, RV17, RV14, RV21

Bunny BV000, BV02

Butterflies B26, B24, B00, white gel pen, blue glitter gel pen

Flowers E08, RV14, RV21

Grass G28, G05, YG03, white gel pen

She really looks so sweet cuddling that bunny! Take a few minutes and check out the other images Sherry has, not only for Valentine's Day but ALL of her images!

Have a wonderful day!

Molly's Basket

Well, Happy New Year! I haven't really been in the mood to color or craft. This sheltering-in-place is getting old and kind of takes the wind out of your sails, if you know what I mean. But, I needed to get a birthday card finished for one of my nieces and I haven't made her a shaker card before, and I wanted to enter the Outlawz Challenges Crash Your Stash Challenge, so I got to work! I used a really cute image from Conie Fong called Molly's Basket of Love. It is really cute and can be used for many different occasions. The Outlawz Crash Your Stash Challenge is to use microbeads, so a shaker card was a perfect idea for my niece! I colored the image with copic markers and used a white gel pen for some of the highlights, and glitter gel pens for the flower centers. I kind of threw a little bit of everything into the shaker - sequins (round and heart shaped) in gold, blue and purple, small blue and purple hexagon-shaped large glitter, and blue and purple microbeads. The background behind the shaker is a blue/purple watercolor image I downloaded free from online and printed a Happy Birthday message in the center. I diecut the front on my Silhouette Cameo and put it all together. Unfortunately, I made the image a little large, so it covers part of the Happy Birthday message, so I popped up the image on foam circles. Here is my card.

Skin E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, RV21, R20

Hair YR14, E15, E07, E18, E19

Basket E25, E23, E21, Y15

Dress B28, B26, B23, B00

Purple V09, V06, V04, V00

Pink RV19, RV14, RV21

Leaves G28, G05, YG03

Leg warmers BV02, BV000, colorless blender

Thank you for stopping by!

I hope your New Year started off great!