Here's a fun card that I sincerely hope will put a smile on a sick child's face.  So simple but I love how it turned out.


See Kards for Kids for some other fun inspirations to try ... and you could win a prize too!

The challenge this month over at Mad for Markers was monochromatic colouring.  It's something I've wanted to try for a while anyways, so this was great timing for this challenge.  I coloured Tilda with her umbrella in browns, and then little Edwin hanging from the hook in cool greys.  (I REALLY have to start a Copic journal and start keeping track of the colours I use, so I can use them again!)

Then I continued the creativity and turned them into stunning cards.  Both cards were inspired by designs I saw in issue No3 2010 of Magnolia ink.  I'm not going to be able to give them away. :)

Inspired by Camilla S on pg 51

Inspired by Kianel on pg 20

Another Magnolia card from me.  This card was inspired by The Official Magnolia Inspiration Challenge blog -- spring colours from the lastest issue of their magazine and magazine shape -- and a lovely card in one of their 2011 issues by Mindy (No. 2, page 48).  I'm usually a pretty clean and simple card maker, so this helped to push me a bit creatively and try something different.

I'm really happy with how this card turned out.  I'm always partial to bright colours, so this colour combo was right up my alley.  I originally created this for the Play Date Cafe challenge but I was a day late in getting it done so I couldn't enter.  Oh well.  It was still lots of fun to create.



All of the papers are CTMH, except the dotted paper on the umbrella.  Embellies are CTMH too, with Tilda as my heroine, coloured with Copics.  The layout was inspired by one I saw in The Big Book of Holiday Paper Crafts, by Papercrafts magazine.

I am a Canadian who hates winter.  I know, I know, it's something that I have to deal with, living in the Great White North.  But that doesn't mean I have to like it.  So when a gorgeous, sunny day like today comes along, bringing freshness to my life, I can't resist it.  I have the windows open in the house and simply cannot bring myself to go downstairs to my office and workshop studio in my basement.  That might mean I don't get as much done today as I would like.  But I'm okay with that.  I need my dose of springtime.  I need to pay my respects to Mother Nature.  Sorry, Creativity, but you'll have to take a back seat today.  I'm going for a walk in the sun.

I've been a little under the weather, physically and mentally.  So one thing I do when I need to lift my spirits is colour.  I'm still learning the best ways to use my Copic markers, and I got some new Magnolia stamps for Christmas which I still hadn't had much chance to play with.  So I stamped out a bunch of images and sat down to play.


I played with colour and practiced my skin tones with these three imgaes: Magnolia's Tilda with Bananas, Mo Mannings boy with skateboard, and Your Next Stamp's girl with cocoa.







And with this adorable Magnolia Tilda, I played around with doing a sepia treatment.  What do you think?



I really had fun tapping into my "inner artist".  And it did help to relax me.  Now, to make some cards with these fun little guys.