Elisabeth Bell, Rachel, Little Angel

Hi all and glad you stopped by on this Monday.  Of course another weekend has flown by and the work week is again starting over.  I don't mind going to work most of the time but it does mean less time to play in my craft room!  I'm telling you, there just needs to be more time in the day.


Today I am going to share with you a card I made using a digi image from Elisabeth Bell.  If you've never seen her work you would should stop by her site and see all of her great images.  They are so wonderful and adorable it is hard to not want them all!  My image that I used is called Rachel, Little Angel and wait until you see her because an angel is just what she looks like.

I colored my image using copic markers and used the colors RV14, RV13, RV10, RV000 and RV0000.  I added crystal stickles to the outside of her wings to make them sparkle but appear sheer also.  I cut my layered hearts using my SCAL program  and embellished my card using Reflections self-adhesive flourish rhinestones and prima flowers.  The heart background paper is K&Company.  I shaded around my hearts and patterned paper using my Melon Mambo stamp pad from Stampin Up.

My card is also posted at the Digi-Bell blog as I am a guest DT for the months of January and February and enjoying it!  I love having an excuse to color and create using these wonderful images!  

Below is a close up of my colored image.

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Fred She Said Valentine's Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!  I'm glad you could join me for today's Fred She Said Valentine's Blog hop.  It is so hard to believe that Valentine's Day is just a few short weeks away and time is growing short to complete all of those Valentine's projects.  Well, today's hop is a great way to get some inspiration using some really great images from Tracey at Fred She Said.  If you've come here from Anne's blog you are heading in the right direction.  If you just happened to stop by my blog today and would like to go back and start at the beginning then click here to get back to the Fred She Said blog.


Of course there is a prize at the end of this hop and the way to win the prize is to collect all of the words at each of the stops in the hop.  My word is WITH and you can collect the next word when you click here to get to Nancy's blog.


So, what are the prizes you ask!  Well, there are two, a $25 gift certificate to Fred She Said and a $25 gift certificate to Crop Stop.  You have until February 4 to collect all of the words and travel throughout this hop.


Now onto my project for today.  I used Tracey's image, chocolate box.  Who wouldn't love a great box of chocolate for Valentine's Day?!

I colored my image using copic markers and added crystal stickles to the white part of the heart box.  I added Glossy Effects to the chocolate to give it that smooth look.  I also used a sharpie poster pen to add white decoration to the chocolate.  The flowers and the crystal swirls are all from Michael's.  I used my air brush on the edges of the large pink flower and to make the clear crystals red.  The paper is K&Company Valentine paper.

Here's a close up of the colored image.

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

You are Beautiful!

You are Beautiful, yes I AM talking to you!  At Tiddly Inks this week the challenge is to your favorite or most admired quote on your card!  Well, this summer I found this blog called Operation Beautiful and I think it is wonderful.  The creator of this blog, Caitlin, struggling with self image like so many of us do, finally decided to change her thinking about of herself and help others do the same.  She does this by placing post it notes in public places, often bathrooms, that say "You are Beautiful!"  Well, this has been so inspirational that others have begun doing the same and photographing themselves and sending her the pictures.  It's amazing and has helped so many people with their self-image.  She even has written a book with many of these stories, which are just amazing to read!


Well, I want to pass this message on, to let all of you know how beautiful and amazing you are! How special, unique and talented you are and how grateful I am that you have taken the time to just stop by to see what I am up to!

 I made my card using Christy's Gothic Girl image.  I colored her using copic markers  and used Glossy effects on the mirror so it would give us that shiny look.  My image is attached with a hinge because I wanted this girl's look to change on the inside.

 For the inside I changed the face slightly to give the Gothic Girl a happy look.  I wanted her to look like reading this sentiment has made a difference to her.  Not your typical card but I enjoyed making it all the same.

Here are a few close ups of the colored images.

I hope you can take the time to stop by the challenge blog to see all the amazing DT projects for this week.  Click here to get to the rest of Christy's great images at the Tiddly Inks store!

I am so glad you decided to stop by today!

Hope you can stop back tomorrow for the Fred She Said Blog hop!

Marlena

Meljen's Designs - New Release Thursday

Well, another Thursday is here which means some more great new release image from Melissa at Meljen's Designs!  With Valentines Day right around the corner she has come up with some super cute images for you to use on your valentines.  Here are the new release images.

So, all of these are just so adorable but I really fell in love with the "Lovin' Turtle" when I saw it!  My son is two and I thought this would be just perfect to make valentines for him and his day care class!  I made my card fairly simple and didn't use too many embellishments.  I wanted to be able to produce multiple cards fairly quickly.  I also made a little treat box to go with his valentine.  Meljen's challenge for this week is to use hearts on your project. For my hearts I used a multi-size heart punch that I had gotten from Stampin' Up.  I shadowed my hearts using Riding Hood Red ink, also from Stampin Up.  My turtle is colored using copic markers and the hearts have Glossy Effects on them.

The box is one full piece and the top opens and closes to get the treat out.  I cut a hole in the top using a spellbinder die and added clear acetate so you can see the treat that is inside.[Image]
If your interested in owning any of these great images they can be found here at Whimsy Stamps.  Of course you should hop on over to the challenge blog to check out the challenge for this week and see all the other amazing projects the DT has made!

What's Happening 

Tomorrow is going to be a Fred She Said Blog Hop.  Hope you can stop by to see all the wonderful projects and win the chance at two great prizes!  Hope to see you then!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Elisabeth Bell's World

Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday morning.  Today is a new challenge at the Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge Blog.  The challenge for this week is to create an altered project!  There are so many wonderful things out there that can be reused, altered and made into something beautiful.  To be honest with you I about drive my husband crazy with having him save materials that I intend to use for a project at some point.


I altered a tomato sauce jar that I of course had my husband save for me, he is the one who recycles all of our household materials by the way.  Anyway, I thought it would be great used as a gift jar or maybe candy or cookie jar.  Here it is!

So, the stamp I used on this jar is called "Willow with Cookies".  This is one of Elisabeth Bell's rubber stamps from her Whiff of Joy collection.    I colored my image using copic markers.  The blues I used were B97, B45, B95 and B41.  The reds are R05, R02, R00, R0000 and the apron had warm grays used on it, W3, W1, W00.

I was able to us my airbrush to color my ribbon and my rhinestones and boy did I have fun doing this!   My ribbon started out white and I used my R05 marker with my airbrush to color it!  I did the same with my rhinestones but using B28 instead.  I also used R05 and my airbrush to shade the outsides of my oval. 

I hope you have the time to hop on over to the challenge blog, check out all the other great DT projects and take some time to enter the challenge!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Color Me Creative Copic Challenge

Hi all, it's Monday night and I'm so excited to tell you that I am hosting my first challenge. YEAH!  It's a copic challenge at the Color Me Creative Website run by Suzanne Dean.  She offers members the chance to host a challenge so I'd thought I'd take a try at it!  You  don't have to take one of her classes to join this site or the copic challenge group!  So, why not just stop on over to see what it is all about!


The challenge is a color challenge, red and pink.  I thought this would be a nice combination with Valentine's Day right around the corner.  So, here is the sample card I made for the challenge.

The Magnolia images I used are Fairy Dust Tilda and Love Muffin.  You can find them here at 7 Kids college Fund!  They have so many wonderful Magnolia stamps, including the new "So Special" pre-order going on right now!

The reds I used are R27, R24, R22 and R20.  This is a red combination I really like and use often.  The pinks I used are RV13, RV23 and RV10.  To get a more blended look I put some RV23 down on acetate and then picked it up with my RV10 marker.  This gave me a more even shading as it was a color in between these two markers.  This is a technique I picked up when I took Suzanne's Class 2 copic class.

I used Diamond Stickles on my ribbon and the fairy dust that Tilda is blowing.  I used Glossy Accents on the heart sprinkles on the muffin.  The jewel hearts are actually nail jewels that I "borrowed" from my daughter's collection.  The pink stones are Bellas Baubles.  Those I purchased at SCACD.

I really do hope you can take some time and see what this challenge is all about.  My contribution to the winner is 2 copic markers of their choosing from Icopic.  A second prize for the winner is also a gift certificate to 7 Kids College Fund.  Sounds great to me, too bad I am hosting it!LOL!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Fred She Said

Hi everyone and Happy Saturday evening!  This week just flew by and I'm sure the weekend is going to be the same way!  Today I am showing you a card I made using an image from Fred She Said.  It is called Tulip Bouquet and it is an absolutely beautiful image. 


With Valentines Day just around the corner I colored my tulips red so this card could be used for this occasion.  I also didn't put any sentiment with my card so that if it needed to be used for a different occasion, it could.

I colored my image using copic markers.  For the reds I used R27, R24, R22 and R20.  The greens are G28, G24, G21, and G20.  The grays are C6, C4, C2, C00.  My jewels are I-Rock jewels I just bought.  BUT, here's the coolest part.  First, I colored the jewels with my R27 marker and my air brush!  That was so much fun!  Then, I didn't set my I-Rock rhinestones with their tool.  Nope, I used a 25W soldering iron AND it didn't melt the plastic and it DID melt the glue!

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Marlena

Meljen's New Release

OK, all this snow has gotten me all mixed up and I missed the ball on Meljen's Designs new release Thursday.  So, here are her new images for this week just one day behind!  Of course these are just fabulous and worth the wait.  Melissa always does a wonderful job with her images!

Here's a few mini-cards I made using Lacy Panties, Little Brazier and V-Day Boxers.

I colored all of my images using copic markers and added a little bling to each one.  The hearts on the brazier and panties have glitter stickles and the heart on the boxers has glossy effects.  I added a little shading to the sides of each hearts using my new air brush for my copic markers.  I'm still learning how to use the air brush but it is a super fabulous new toy!

Here's a close-up of each mini-card.

So, if you'd like to see more of these stamps then click here to get to Whimsy Stamps.  This is where Meljen's sells her images.  Also, at the challenge blog this week the challenge is to use pink and red on your project.  Click here to go on over to the blog and check out the wonderful DT projects and enter the challenge.

Other Craft Happenings

7 Kids College Fund is holding their annual fundraiser for Singleton Moms.  So click here to get to the blog and find out what this fundraiser is all about and what great prizes are being given away in honor of this fundraiser.

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Phindy's Place - Guest DT

Hi everyone and Happy Friday!  I am so excited to be sharing a card with you that I made as a Guest DT for the Phindy's Place Challenge this week!  Phindy's images are just fabulous and so much fun to color!  If you've never visited Phindy's store you really should take the time to go have a look around!


Phindy's challenge this week is to use pearls and lace on your project!  Well, I love embellishing my project so this project was just perfect for me.  The image I used is called "Mommy's Purse".  The name alone seemed fitting for this challenge, what girl wouldn't want to walk around wearing mommy's pearls and pretty things?!

I colored my image using copic markers and added Glossy Effects to the compact mirror, hair band and nail polish.  The background is shaded using Stampin Up stamp pads.  The colors I used are Bashful Blue and Soft Suede.  I added self-adhesive pearls around the little girls neck to make it look like she was wearing one of mommies necklaces.  The sentiment is from the Stampin Up set, Heard from the Heart.  The lace border is paper and cut using a Fiskars Border Punch.  The pearls are all self-adhesive and the background paper is K&C Company.

I hope you take the time to visit Phindy's Challenge Blog to see all the wonderful creations her DT have come up with and maybe even take a chance at entering her challenge.  She has opened her challenge to non-Phindy images but her's are so great why would you want to use anything else?!

Spellbinders Pre-Order

7 Kids College Fund is now going to have Spellbinders for sale starting as a pre-order.  Click here to check it out and see what it is all about!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Challenge Yourself!

Hi everyone and happy Wednesday morning! I am writing this post on Tuesday night after a day of very nasty weather here in the northeast. Thankfully everyone is home safe and I'm hoping this post finds us having a much clearer and better day!

This week at the 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog your challenge is to do simply that, challenge yourself. Pick something you have never tried before, or have a hard time with, and make a card or project using that technique. It could be anything, such as heat embossing, using a new medium or material or anything that you just find difficult! I have decided to use Ranger alcohol ink for my challenge. I've had these inks for awhile but have had such a difficult time figuring out the best way to use them on my projects. This became very apparent when I went to shake the ink and ended up with two purple fingers. Lol, I had forgotten to close the top tight! Thankfully this wasn't a surprise because I am simply prone to these "messy" mishaps!

Sooo, here is the card I created using this technique. The image is a Sarah Kay image called Best Friends Forever. The little girl reminds me of a Holly Hobbie shirt I had when I was a little girl. Holly Hobbie looked just like this image! Boy was that a long time ago!

I used Sail Boat Blue, Eggplant and Silver alcohol ink to color the large flower, the swirled rhinestones and the heart border paper. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out what would be the best way for each one. For example, for the paper I used the Ranger medium to spread the colors, for the flower I used Tsukineko's spray Ink Potion No. 9 and for the rhinestones I didn't use any medium, just the ink. I am happy with the way each item came out and actually can't wait to play around some more!

My little girl is colored using copic markers. The main blues I used are B24, B21, B41 and B26. The purples I used for the doll's dress are V99, V95, V93, V91.

The large Hearts border is a Martha Stewart border punch I just picked up at Michael's. I didn't use a lot of glitter for this project but I did use a little glossy accents for the dolls shoes.

Here's a close-up of the image.

Isn't she just adorable, I simply love her. You can find her at the 7 Kids College Fund store. I hope you have the time to jump on over the 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog to enter into the fun or just to see all the other wonderful creations made by the DT's.

Challenges:

Friday Sketchers

So glad you decided to stop by today and hope you can find some time to challenge yourself!

Marlena

Tiddly Inks Tuesday

Well, it's Tuesday and time for a new challenge at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog! This week the challenge is Just Be me! Make a card that showcases you! What a wonderful challenge to have, I mean, how often to we get to show our true selves!

I have always had a passion for reading and books. As a child you could always find me wrapped up with a book and as an adult I LOVE to read to my kindergarteners and my own children! Both of my children love books and we have a house filled with an abundance of books!

For my project I made a card that can hold a small book or gift on the inside. Here is an inside view into the card.

I made a mini notebook to go inside but this little box can hold a small book or other gift! I colored my image with my copic markers. For the pinks I used RV29, RV25, RV23, and RV21. For the blue book I used B97, B95, B93 and B91. It is hard to see in my picture but I added diamond stickles to her wings and to the flourishes around her hearts. The corner flourishes were cut on my Cricut Expression and the flowers are Primas. The sentiment is my first try and creating a sentiment in Photoshop and is an old English Proverb.

I hope you get the chance to pop on over to the challenge BLOG and check out all the other wonderful DT creations and take a chance at the challenge for this week! The prize is a $10.00 Tiddly Inks gift voucher and a badge for your blog. If you enter in EVERY challenge for the month you will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 Tiddly Inks gift voucher. If you've never seen Christy's images you really should take the time to look. They are just amazing and so much fun to color!

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Marlena

Elisabeth Bell - Lil' Princess Tutu

Hi everyone, glad you stopped by my blog today. It's Sunday evening and I am looking forward to an extra day off from work tomorrow! Hope to get some crafting done in between all my family activities for the day. Just some running around, as usual, always somewhere for us to go!

Today I am posting a card using a digital stamp fromElisabeth Bell. The stamp is called Lil' Princess Tutu and is super cute! I played around with some copic colors when coloring her and had fun coming out with some new shades I hadn't tried yet.

I used a feathering technique for the horses mane and added some pink to the bottom of the mane. Stickles was added to her bow and shirt and I used a glitter gel pen for her crown. The sentiment is from a Verve Stamp set called Beautiful You. The flourished jewels are Reflections self-adhesive. The edges of the paper were distressed using my Zutter Distrezz-it-All tool. I love this tool, it is so much fun and so easy to use!

Today is my turn to post to the Digi Bell blog so I hop you hop on over there to check it out. Scroll today to this weekend's post and take some time to follow along the new release blog hop. All you have to do is leave a comment on each blog and you will be entered into a drawing to win this cute image. You have until January 21 to enter.

So glad you decided to drop by today!

Come by tomorrow to see the new Tiddly Inks Challenge for this week!

Marlena

Digi Bell New Release Blog Hop

Hi Everyone and happy FRIDAY! I'm so glad to have you stop by for today's Digi Bell new release blog hop. Wait until you the the beautiful image that Elisabeth Bell has come up with! It is absolutely beautiful and something you'll just want to have in your collection of digi's. The image is called "My Prince" and if you follow through with the entire hop then you will find 2 ways you can win this fabulous image. But before I tell you what they are, here is the new image.

See, I told you, just wonderful isn't it. Well, here are your two ways to win this image. First, follow through the entire hop and leave a comment on everyone's blog. Two blogs will be chosen at random and then the winners will be chosen from those two blogs! Easy, right! The second way to win is to leave comments on every one's blog AND then make a card and post it on the Digi Bell blog! A little harder but a lot more fun! The theme is hearts and chocolate and you can interpret chocolate in many different ways. It could be color, food item, or whatever chocolate makes you think of, it's all up to you! If you haven't started at the beginning of the hop and want to go back then just click here to get to the beginning at the Digi Bell blog.

So, now that we have all the ways to win out of the way, onto the project I made using this absolutely adorable image! I interpreted chocolate to be food and made a box of chocolate for my project. This box fits four rows of Hershey kisses with six kisses in each row! Mmmm, sounds so yummy, doesn't it?!

I colored my image using copic markers and used a glitter gel pen to make her crown and over skirt have just a little sparkle. The colors I used for her dress were R22, R20, R00, R0000 and for her over dress I used R12, R01, R00, R0000. The flowers are Reflections from Michaels and the jewels are self-adhesive. I colored my jewels with my R22 marker to give it a little color. I am waiting for all the parts of my air brush to come and can't wait to see what new colors I can make on old embellishments with that!

The box is my own template that I created specifically for Hershey kiss candies. I wanted my picture to sit in the front so I made it tall enough to sit two rows of candy two rows deep. Here's what it look like with the box open.

Here's a side view, I put some of the flowers on the side.

And finally, here's a close-up of the colored image.

Now it's time to hop on over to Patricia's blog so you can see the great project she has made. Don't forget to leave a comment so you can be entered in the drawing for the "My Prince" image. If you loose your place along the way here is the order of the entire hop!

Digi Bell Blog

Lilian
Lynda
Vicki
Lisa
Marlena You Are Here!
Patrica
Janneke
Jodi
Erin
Kiki
Denise
Janiel
Linda
Digi Bell Blog

I hope you're enjoying today's hop and hop you stop by again soon!

Marlena

Fred She Said - A Chrysanthemum

Hi and Happy Weekend to all of you! SO glad the weekend is finally here and that we have an extra day off! More time to play and hang out in my craft room! Today's projects is a chrysanthemum from the Fred She Said store. Fred's flowers are just beautiful and you really should stop on over to check them out!

I colored my image using copic markers and highlighted the outside with my bashful blue stamp pad. The purples I used are V17, V15, V12, Vooo and the greens are G29, YG67, YG63 and G20. The pearls are Reflections self-adhesive and the flowers are primas. The decorative scalloped circle I cut with my Cricut Expression.

Pre-Order at 7 Kids College Fund

7 Kids College Fund is now pre-ordering the new colors of copics that are coming out in March. That's right, copic sketch markers are coming out with new colors and you can pre-order them now! They are also pre-ordering the new magnolia So Special collection. I love these new Magnolia's, they are just too cute!

Digi-Bell New Release Blog Hop

Be sure to stop by later, 12am eastern time, for the Digi-Bell new release blog hop! The new digi image by Elisabeth Bell is so adorable, just wait until you see it!

So glad you stopped by today,

Marlena

New Release Thursday

Well, it's Thursday again and time for a new set of images to be released at Meljen's Designs! I love Thursday's and getting a look and all the new idea's Melissa has thought up! Here's the new releases for today, which you can find here at Whimsy Stamps.

The challenge for this week is to make a round or square shaped card. For my card I made a round card and used Bird's Spring Trinkets as my image.

I used my copics for this card and Y08, Y04, Y00, Y0000 for the bird and for the red boots I used R29, R24, R22 and R20. I added glossy accents to the boots to give them a shiny look. I used my Cricut Expression to make my easel card and my Spellbinders for my circle and scalloped circle that my image is on. The sentiment is from Stampin Up's A Kind Word set.

Please take the time to stop by the challenge blog and see all the wonderful cards the DT have made and consider entering this week's challenge.

I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the Digi Bell Blog hop and a chance to win the new release digi image from Elisabeth Bell! Hope to see you then!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

A New Year and New Challenges for Tiddly Inks!

Well, I'm back again posting a card using a Tiddly Inks image. This week at the Tiddly Inks Challenge blog they started a whole new set of challenges for the year. Each month the challenges will have an overall theme with a different challenge associated with that theme occurring every week. The theme for this month is celebrating new beginnings with this weeks challenge being Refresh Me White. Make an all white card with only the image being colored. I really hope you can take some time to click the link above and travel on over to the blog. The design team has come up with some absolutely fabulous cards!

Also, the prizes for the challenges are changing with this new year. Each week the top 5 for the challenge will be chosen and then a random winner will get a $10 gift voucher to the Tiddly Inks store. If you're excited about that then you will love the next prize. Participants who enter into all four challenges for the month will be entered in a drawing for a $25 gift voucher!

The other changes to the blog are a new coordinator and co-coordinator. Meredith is now the coordinator and Melissa is going to be helping out with the blog as well. If you'd like to know more about them you can head on over to the challenge blog and meet them here.

So, for this week I followed the challenge and made an "almost" all white card. I couldn't help but add just a tad of black behind my image. I tried really hard to make it all white but I'm not really a white person and this was a tough one for me! Well, enough from me, here is my card!

So, the image I used for my card is called Happy Couple. I've had this image for awhile but haven't had the opportunity to use it, until now! I used mostly C's of my copic markers. For the black I used C9, C7, C5, C3, C1 and C00. For the gray I used C5, C3, C1, C00. And, for her white dress I used C3, C1 and C00. The jewels are self adhesive swirls and are Reflections. The flowers are a combination of Primas and Reflection flowers. Of course the glitter on her dress is diamond stickles!

Hope you can drop by tomorrow to see the new release images from Meljen's Designs and the new challenge for the week. Friday is a blog hop for a new release image from Elisabeth Bell and her Digi Bells. Hope to see you then!

So glad you decided to stop by,

Marlena

Phindy's Place - A Distress Challenge

Hi everyone, I am enjoying the end of a snowed in day at home. The northeast has been hammered by another storm and this time we got a snow day out of it. Well, of course I had to spend my day in my craft room working on my coloring and projects! It's the most time I've spent down here in a long time and it felt great!

I made my card using my new Zutter distressing tool! Boy do I love it! It's so much fun and easy to use! Unfortunately, my son didn't agree. He did NOT like the noise it made, especially since it was drowning out Elmo! Elmo is a HUGE star in my house!

I am entering this card in the Phindy's Place Challenge as distressing a project is the challenge for this week!

I colored my image using copic markers. For the reds I used R29, R24, R22, R20. The pinks I used were R14, R12, R11, R000. The sentiment is a from the Stampin Up set, On a Pedestal. I cut the large dark red flowers on my Cricut Expression and the others are primas, which can be found at 7 Kids College Fund. The three pearl baubles are Bella's Baubles and can be found at SCACD.

Thanks so much for stopping by today,

Marlena

Lady Tilda

Well, it's Sunday evening and I am winding down the weekend and gearing up for another week of work! It's cold here in the northeast which makes leaving the house in the morning to head out to work all the more difficult. I'd rather be home playing with my copic markers and crafts any day!

Today I am going to post a set of drawers that I have been wanting to try for a while now. I saw some wonderful projects using these drawers and I wanted to see what I could do with them! First, let me say that they were much easier to put together than I thought, which made making this project a lot of fun. For the top of my project I used Lady Tilda from the Magnolia Fairy Tale collection. I purchased this stamp at 7 Kids College Fund, who have a very large selection of Magnolia Stamps. I love Magnolias and throw one or two or three into my cart every time I order from there!

Lady Tilda is colored using my copic markers and diamond stickles are added to the sleeves and underskirt to her dress. Stickles are also added to the tiara on her head. I wanted Tilda to stand up so you could see her when using this set of drawers so I made her into an easel card and then adhered the card to the top of the drawers. The handles for the drawers are mini primas. All of these embellishments can also be found at the 7 Kids College Fund store.

The drawers are actually made separately and then adhered together to make one set. I embellished the sides with white embossed paper. I embossed the paper using a cuttlebug folder and all four sides of the box are embossed. The sentiment is a Stampendous stamp.

Here is a side view of the drawers.

The rose and flourish on the side were cut on my Cricut Expression. Both sides are embellished this way. Here is a photo with a closer view of the card on top.

Challenges I am entering:

Magnolialicious Challenge Blog

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Fred She Said

Good morning on this snowy Saturday! Those of us in the northeast are digging out from snow again, but not as much as the blizzard we had just after Christmas! Just enough to be beautiful and cause the roads to get slick and slippery. A good excuse to stay home and craft!

Today I am sharing a card I made using a Fred She Said image. This image is called CatchinFlakes and goes along with today's weather perfectly! For this card I tried to make a joy fold card. It's not to bad for my first attempt but I could use some practice!

I colored my image using copic markers and I wanted to play around with the greens this time and give this cute little guy a true boy look! The best part about playing around with the copic markers is experimenting with colors and finding the combinations you like and sometimes the ones that don't work so well together. This is especially hard for me when doing anything with a male theme because you are so limited with the colors and embellishments you can use!

The front of the card opens from the top, and then the side. The card itself opens as a traditional card would and is blank on the inside. I did stamp a sentiment on the inside of the top folding part of the card. This is what it looks like.

Fred has some really great winter images so I hope you can take the time to hop on over to her store and check it out! You can either click on the link above or click here to get there.

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Meljen's New Release Thursday

Well, it's Thursday again and that means a whole set of new releases from Meljen's Designs! As usual, Melissa has outdone herself and created some absolutely adorable images for you to use for your cards and projects! Here are the new release images.

If you're ready to begin your Valentine's Day projects then these are some great digi images to use! For my project that I am going to share with you today I used a Meljen's image, but not one of her new releases. My mom LOVES penguins so before this winter was over I wanted to make her a project using one of Meljen's penguin images. She has several and they are all so cute I had a hard time choosing one to use. The one I chose is called Penguin's Skating Buddy. I recently made a box to hold an entire set of cards so I decided to make this box project again.

Here's a picture of my box with a few of the cards in the set. I colored the image using copic markers and added diamond stickles to the scarf. The scalloped oval for the front of my box and my card shape was cut using my SCAL program. The jewels are Reflections self-adhesive jewels.

Here are some other views of my project.

If you'd like to see more of Meljen's images click here to get to Whimsy Stamps, where her images are sold. You can click here to get to the challenge blog to see more of her new images and the challenge for this week, which is Move It! Make a card with parts that move! How fun is that!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

7 Kids College fund - Hot or Cold

I am so super excited, today is my first post as member of the 7 Kids college fund design team! I love this company and all the other great designers on the team! I am currently walking on cloud 9 and don't think I am going to get off any time soon!

Today starts a new challenge at the 7 Kids Challenge Blog and it would be wonderful if you could hop on over here and check it out. The challenge is Hot or Cold so you have the choice to make the project using either one as you theme! Plus, don't forget to use an image carried by 7 Kids College Fund to be entered in the drawing! This is one of my favorite parts about being on this team! I have been using my digi images so much lately that I am glad to have the opportunity to pull out my rubber stamps and use them! I love my digi stamps, but rubber stamping will always be my first love!

Anyway, if you aren't sure what images are carried by 7 Kids College Fund, or you would just like to check out their great store, then click here to get there. They carry such a large variety of stamp companies and stamping supplies it is truly one stop shopping!

Well, here is my card that I made for the challenge. I am always looking for unique ways to make my projects so I made this card into the shape of a mug to go with my "hot" theme. The image is from C.C. Designs and is called Sugar Plum Cocoa Emma. If you click here it will take you directly to the page where you can find the stamp at the store.

I colored my image using copic markers and added a little diamond stickles to her boot ties and shirt. The mug card was cut using my SCAL, Inkscape and Cricut Expressions. I have been trying to use even more images and shapes with my SCAL so I am SLOWLY trying to learn the free Inkscape software. So far, so good but I have taken A LOT of notes and haven't gotten very far! The swirl, circle and scalloped circle were also cut using this program. The jewels are Reflections self-adhesive jewels.

I really hope you take the time to check out the & Kids College Fund Challenge and the other fabulous DT cards! They are simply amazing!

So glad you decided to stop by today,

Marlena

Phindy's Place Challenge

Good evening! It's been a long day of being back to work and driving to after school activities after being on vacation for a week! Tonight I am posting a card to enter into this weeks Phindy's Place Challenge. If you've never visited Phindy's Challenge Blog now would be a great time. She has opened her challenges to using all images, not just Phindy's Place images. Although, I love Phindy's image and welcome the excuse to design a project using one!

The challenge this week was to make a thank you card. An extra challenge was added of using up some of those scraps. I don't know about you but I have so many scraps I almost ALWAYS use some in my projects! I like to organize SO much that my scraps are even organized by color! Lol, I know, strange right!

I used Phindy's image, Hot Cocoa for my entry. Here it is!

I colored my image using copic markers. I added gold stickles to her pants where there were very quite swirl designs! The mug has glossy effects added and the marshmallows have Ranger white enamel on them! The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co KOM for March 2010. The flowers and rhinestones are fro Michael's.

So Glad You Decided to Stop by Today,

Marlena

7 Kids College Fund DT

I am just popping in quick this evening to announce that I am now going to be part of the 7 Kids College Fund Design Team! I am so excited to be joining this team and get started on my projects for their site. If you have never visited the 7 Kids College Store, or challenge blog, you really have to click on over and check it out! Click here if you'd like to see the large variety of products in the store and here to visit the challenge blog.

I hope you'll stop back as my DT term progresses!

Thanks so much for dropping by today,

Marlena

Tiddly Inks Thanks

So, I've been playing around with my SCAL software and trying to learn a free Inkscape software that I've had for awhile, but just couldn't figure out how to use. Thank goodness for free tutorials, I've learned so much from them!

SO, I wanted to make a thank you card to send to a friend and I tried to make it a little unique. I had fun playing and merging and cutting out my card and figuring tools out as I went along.

So I created the welded thanks in Inkscape then went onto SCAL to create the shadowing layer and the word card itself. I just updated my SCAL with the free update, which you can find by clicking here, and then found some tutorials on some of the features. I'm sure it has more that I don't yet know how to use and will hopefully learn, someday! Anyway, I was able to see how it would look and then turn off each layer as I cut the other. Cool, huh?!

My Tiddly Inks image is called Toasting Properly. This is one of the new New Year's images and of course is absolutely fabulous! If you'd like to see more of Christy's great images just click here to get to her store. I colored her using my copic markers and then added Silver Ice stickles to her dress to really make it sparkle. I also added some diamond stickles to the foam of her champagne glass and glossy effects to the glass and bottle. The word Thanks is outlined with silver stickles.

I do have to make an envelope for this card because it is slightly larger than any I own! One of the features I will have to work on when creating cards.

So Glad You Decided To Stop By,

Marlena

Elisabeth Bell

Good morning again! I can't believe New Year's Day has come and gone and we are currently on the second day of 2011! I hope you all had an enjoyable New Year and wish everyone health and prosperity for the upcoming year!

Today I am posting a card with an Elisabeth Bell image called Letters to Santa. I know it is past Christmas but this image is very cute and like so many other people I ran out of time to make all the projects I wanted before Christmas came and went! Elisabeth Bell is having a GDT call for the months of January and February for her digital images, so I thought I'd give it a try. The only requirement was to use one of her images and follow a sketch posted on the Digi Bells blog, which you can find by clicking here.

There was a choice of one of two sketches you could follow. Here's what they look like.

And, here's the card I made following one of these sketches. I chose to follow the second one for my card.

I colored my image using copic markers. It's coming up on a year since I discovered these markers and I almost forgot I used to make cards without them! The sky background is shaded using my Stampin Up bashful blue stamp pad. The flowers are all recollections that I purchased at Michael's and the Paper is My Mind's Eye. I recently discovered this brand of paper and I really like a lot of the patterns they have. The blue border punch is a Martha Stewart double Edge punch, which I LOVE! The jewels are self-adhesive and also Recollections and from Michaels.

So Glad You Decided to Stop By Today,

Marlena