Monochromatic Snowy

Good Afternoon!!!!! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, I know I certainly am,,,,,I've done next to nothing except make cards! One of my favorite ways to spend the day!

Today I have a card that I made especially for the challenge at Party Time Tuesdays,,,,,you can find their challenges HERE! It really looks like a lot of fun this week,,,,,the theme is "Snow us what you got!" Well, I have no snow here in central Florida,,,,in fact, it's about 85 degrees today,,,,,,,but after coloring this ADORABLE image from Sassy Cheryl, I almost WANT some snow! You can find "flat bottomed snowy" here! And isn't he just the cutest thing??? I have been dying to do him monochromatic, and I found the perfect papers for it,,,,,,,MME Lost and Found Union station papers are just GORGEOUS and I think they about do this little guy justice!. some jingle bells, (YES AGAIN!), a striped bow and some pearls and lace and pleated ribbon pretty much finish him up!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Challenge Time!

Have I mentioned that I love challenges? LOL.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday, and didn't lose half your brains and go to Walmart at 10pm on Thanksgiving night for something I can not mention, because some people who shall remain nameless for whom something was bought might read blogs LOL.

Anywho, it was an absolute NIGHTMARE. Never again, that is all I have to say!

I enjoyed the rest of Black Friday card making,,,,,,,,far more fun, I can assure you!

I am finishing up my Christmas and Hanukkah cards for those special people in my life, so I am really having fun!

Today I'd like to enter a card into Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog that you can find HERE!

I actually used the same image and made two cards with it. Since you're only allowed to enter once, my entry will be the green red and gold card that has the jingle bells on it,,,,,,

but one of the things I love to do (and am illustrating here) is to use the same stamp and get a totally different feel on two separate cards,,,,,,,and I think I've done so here.

I've used Mo's "Not even a Mouse" stamp for both cards which you can find HERE!. The theme of Mo's challenge this week is fairies, elves, snowmen or santa. My little mouse has written to Santa that he is a good little mouse and would like some cheese,,,,,,,and it appears that Santa has heard his request, for there is cheese in his stocking,,,,,I just love this stamp, it's one of the first I ever bought from Mo,,,,so darling!

I've use Recollections paper for both these cards, colored both with copics and cut out both with nestabilities,,,,,,the postage stamps for the blue and brown card and eyelet circles for the red green and gold card.

The brown and blue card, I really kept quite simple. I've added two crafty secrets stamps (the post mark and the HAPPY CHRISTMAS), a few buttons and a gold corner embellishment, and it's done. The paper really carries this card, it's sooooo elegant, and you may remember I did a totally NON christmas card with this paper a week or so ago.

The red, green and gold card I've embellished a bit more,,,,a NOEL cut out with my nesties (part of the paper pack) some poinsettias I bought at Walmart (I am waiting with baited breath for my new poinsettia die that I ordered from Great Britain to get here, but it's a lonnnnnnnnnnng wait for mail from over seas!), MORE jingle bells (I can't help it, they're so cute and really cheap!) and some tiny gold holly leaf corner embellishments. The paper here is just so gorgeous, I had a hard time covering it up LOL.

I love the way both of them came out!

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend (if indeed you have a long weekend) and thanks for looking! I so appreciate it!

It's Time to get Serious.... about copyright infringement!

It's rare that I am a serious person. Especially on a blog. I like to be upbeat, happy, and sharing the craft I love.

But I've done some research the past three months or so, and I see a trend I do not like within the crafting industry. And I think it's dangerous to crafters.

I'll be blunt (another rarity).

I love digi stamps. They're either free or very low cost as a general rule. I know I can't buy most good sized wood block stamps for less than 15 dollars. I can't even buy any decent clear stamp for less than six. Or I have to buy a whole set of clear stamps so I can have one stamp.

But I can buy a digi stamp for about 3 bucks, give or take. I can pay for them one moment and download them the next. I can resize them for smaller cards. I don't have to use my gas or my time to drive 10 miles to the store only to find out the stamp I want is out of stock. I don't have to wait for the mail man. I can shop at 3am or on a holiday. If I lose it, I can go to my account and download any stamp I've already paid for for six months or a year.

In return for offering this fabulous very low cost service, many artists are getting what?

Certainly not thanks and appreciation. Nope,,,,,

they're getting slapped in the face by crafters who are illegally sharing files. People are removing copyrights and uploading the stamps as THEIR own work. They are printing out STACKS of stamps and mailing them around the world. Those people then scan them into THEIR computer and have stacks of stamps they never paid for.
And it's not limited to digital stamps either. Some of the best brand names in the business are being stamped on paper, scanned into computers and downloaded onto CD's and sold for the profit of the thief. yes, the thief. Let's call a spade a spade here.

And the artists aren't being paid. That's bad enough, mind you,,,,,doing what's right is it's own reward, my grandmother always used to say,,,,

but it's also to OUR benefit NOT to support such illegal activities. How long do you think artists are going to work for nothing? How long do they continue to be disrespected before they just give up and go find a day job?

Again, I'll be blunt,,,,,,,that means fewer cheap stamps for you. It means more money spent on ONE stamp, rather than a few stamps. It means going out to shop, ordering online, PAYING POSTAGE, and not having the perfect stamp at your fingertips with just a few keystrokes and a credit card number. It means if you lose a stamp, it's gone. Go buy another. It means being stuck with the size stamp you buy. It means fewer artists holding challenges on blogs, which means less chance for you to WIN a free stamp.

So to those who do it,,,,,,,you are biting your own nose off to spite your face. What's worse,,,,,,,

you're biting my nose too. Your rights end where my nose begins, as the saying goes.

Do not share files,,,,,,,even free ones. Rather do the NICE thing for your best bud, and link him to where he can get the file HIMSELF,,,,,for a lousy three bucks.

Do not share print outs. Again, link your friend to where she can get it herself,,,,,there may be far more stamps he would enjoy from that company than just the one you give him anyway.

Do not scan any stamp for any reason. Do not give it away, and do not receive any stamps that are given to you this way.

Do not remove any copyright FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

Pay the lousy three bucks and buy the stamp.

If you want to change something on the stamp, or you want to share the stamp for a special purpose,,,,,,ASK. I've done so,,,,,and I've been nicely granted the privelidge. Gee, that wasn't so hard.

Do not sell stamped images on EBAY, ETSY or any other site. It's illegal, and you will get caught. I hope you do.

Because if we don't do the things listed above,,,,,,,,we'll all be out in the cold. Digi stamps will go the way of the dinosaur if we aren't all careful.

And wood block stamps will get more expensive,,,,honest people will have to pay for the sins of those who steal,,,,,,again.

If you still insist on copyright infringement,,,,,,,,visit this blog and see if it changes your mind.

If you want to help, God bless you. Same blog for information.

Thank you,,,,,,,,,Holly

The Helpful Elf!

It's time to do yet another Sassy Cheryl challenge, and I have to say I LOVE THIS CHALLENGE! I do a ton of challenges, but it's rare to enjoy myself as much as I do this one,,,,,,I just have to go back again and again!

You can find the Sassy Cheryl challenge HERE!

So the theme is "Anything Goes" again this week, and I colored this little guy not quite knowing what to do with him. Well, today, it hit me! I decided to pull out my Cinch and make a little notebook for my granddaughter (she's five). She loves to color with me and often carries a pad and a pencil with her to "write" things down.

So I fixed one up in a jiffy using a few pieces of chipboard, some paper scraps and Sassy Cheryl's "Noah the Helpful Elf" which you can find here which I had already colored using her favorite colors, tied on some matching ribbon and MORE jingle bells (Cheryl is going to think I am a nut case LOL!)a scrap bit of lace, and she's all done, ready to pop in my grand daughter's stocking Christmas Eve!

I'd also like to enter this into the Stamptacular Sunday challenge HERE! The challenge this week is to create a project using a boy or a man on it,,,,,well Noah, the Helpful Elf is certainly a boy elf! Such cute projects over there, be sure to stop by and try for a prize!

Hope you enjoyed, it was fun, fast, cheap and quick!!!!!! And I think it's adorable too! Thanks for looking!

Show Me Thursday!

Today is Wednesday,,,,,,which means it's the last day to post what I have been doing this week on Sassy Cheryl's SHOW ME THURSDAY (link HERE!)

I love this challenge, because no matter WHAT I'm working on, I can link it up, and have the chance to win a prize! I won a free digi last week! And it's a ton of fun to see what everyone else is working on during the week,,,,,,,and walk away with some inspiration and some ideas!

And lemme tell you, I am busy like HECK this week!!!!!!! It's Thanksgiving here in the US tomorrow, and I still have to vacuum, clean the bathroom and bake for tomorrow. My oldest daughter and grands are coming over for Turkey day, so that will be a ton of fun!

I'm involved in about ten different challenges this next week or so,,,,,some bi monthly, some monthly, and several weekly challenges,,,,,I love them! And what's more, I think they are the key to improving my work so that maybe I can join a design team one of these days! So,,,,,,,,,challenges I shall participate in! And being busy will be par for the course if I'm ever on a design team, so it's good practice juggling LOL.

I've also got Christmas cards to finish, Hanukkah cards to finish (Christmas falls over Hanukkah this year,,WHAT THE HECK were they thinking??) and December birthday cards to finish!

E gads!

So without further ado, here's my Show Me Thursday photo!

I've been coloring several images so that I can finish up my holiday cards,,,,,,I've done two of the four December birthday cards I need,,,,,and silly me decided to go ahead and start a vintage mini book. Faint. What the heck was *I* thinking?

LOL, oh well, I love it!!! I can't wait to finish my mini, but if it doesn't get done for several weeks, it's ok,,,,,,I have no plans for it! I've covered all the pages inside, created pockets and started picking out images for it, but that's as far as I've gotten.

My mother and grand daughter's birthday cards are finished,,,,,,,,,and I just need to make another for my youngest daughter and my oldest daughter. Our family likes December to give birth LOL. As if it's not crazy enough during that time!

Hope your life is just a little less hectic than mine! Have a GREAT Turkey day if I don't see you all again til Friday!

Thanks for looking!!!!!

Jingle bells, Jingle bells!

OK, so I like jingle bells,,,is that a crime? LOL.

I think this is the third card which uses a jingle bell,,,or several jingle bells,,,,,,but I just LOVE them! They add bulk to a card, which is costly when mailing, but thank goodness for flexible plastic envies and clear plastic boxes. Sheesh.

Today's card uses Mo Manning's "Kai in the snow" which you can find HERE! which I've colored with copics,,,,,,cut out with Labels 3 and matted onto this GORGEOUS paper (I just couldn't resist making another card with it!) Lost and Found by MME. This stuff is delicious! I'm down to making the special cards for really special people, so I'm really having a ball!

I've used some lace, a brown ribbon to pick up on the slight browns in the paper, somoe jingle bells that I picked up at Hobby Lobby on sale, some K and co stickers, and a ton of punch outs with my MS branch punch (best ten bucks I ever spent! I use that thing for everything!)

I'll be entering this into two challenges,,,,,,,,,,Mo's challenge blog theme of WINTER which you can find HERE! So stop by and make a winter card and you might win a digi!

I'll also be entering this into the Stamptacular sunday challenge with the theme of PUNCH IT, using punches on your page, found HERE! It's an awesomely fun challenge this week, and I'm sure you'd love it!

Thanks for looking,and I hope you enjoyed,,,,,,,I'm being a bit quick today because my husband and I are off to Disney World to enjoy the sunshine and 80 degree weather,,,,,,Have a great weekend!

Challenge Time Again!!

Oh boy am I loving these challenges,,,I feel like they really inspire me and my cards have never been nicer!

Today, I have a pink and white and gold card,,,,,,which is the challenge at the Color Create Challenge blog HERE!

And oh, so pretty are these colors! so stop by and try your hand at a gorgeous card!

I've also used a sassy cheryl image (which are so danged cute I just can't STAND it!) "Going to see the Star" (colored in copics) which you can find HERE at Sassy Cheryl's shop!

And this week at Sassy Cheryl's challenge blog, the DT members are having a bit of fun trying to STUMP Cheryl! So stop by and see if you can guess who's card is who's! And it's extra easy this week, because it's ANYTHING GOES! So pop over and have some fun! You can find her challenge HERE!

So on to my card! I've used MME Lost and Found paper here, which is incredibly, deliciously YUMMYYYYYYYYYYY and I just had to buy a few pieces! I think I need the rest! Ive blocked 4 blocks of it onto kraft card stock, and then matted my image onto gold glitter paper. Some white doilies, white lace, a gold and pink stick pin, some delicious gold jingle bells (smaller ones this time!) for a bit of SHINE, and a few K and company dimensional stickers, including this gorgeous pink poinsettia, and it's DONE! It was easy peasy, and I totally think I got a ton of WOW factor out of such a little bit of work!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!