Tropical Blog Candy - deadline Sunday April 4th at midnight

Well, I just wanted to say that my Tropical Blog Candy winner hasn't contacted me in a whole month, despite a couple emails and a comment on her blog (oh, so sad...) Sooo..... the gooodies are up for grabs and they need a loving home - maybe YOUR home :)    So I've reopened the PLT Tropical Blog Candy so I can find a nice BBFF to send my cute little Tropical Trinkets to.  Here's the deal... and this is selfish on my part, but WHY NOT, it's round two!

To qualify for my Tropical Blog Candy you MUST

advertise my blog candy in a blog post
or on your sidebar to qualify

and... you can do any combination of the following, 

EACH one is worth one entry:

1. Already a follower - you've automatically got ONE entry.
2. Become a follower as of today, get ONE more entry.
3. Leave me a comment on *any* Pretty Little Things blog post and tell me how you found my blog (with a link back to the source if you can remember), get ONE more entry.
4. Participate in this week's Pretty Little Palettes Challenge, and add your link in the tool by inlinkz.com. (How ever many new/different creations you enter will qualify for another entry into the draw)
5. Leave a comment on THIS blog post *with a link* to a cool blog background specifically for the Pretty Little Palettes Challenge Blog *AND* tell me why you think it is appropriate and why it is better than the current background.  (However many cool links you leave, with your reasoning in *separate comments* will each be another entry for the goodies).

Deadline: Sunday April 4th at midnight

 · ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-

¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

Tips & Tricks: Building a better card.

Michelle has an awesome tutorial on building a better card;she talks about the following design elements that designers use: colour, grounding, repetition and the visual triangle. .
· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

TWO cute for words!

My dah'ling is TWO - I cannot believe it!  We had a wonderful cake and mini-party at home and on Sunday is the BIG party with the other baby friends and family.  I have been so busy i haven't had a moment to create and it's really getting to me :(  Friday our houseguest arrive, Sunday the party, a week of working and entertaining and then Easter weekend... off to the states so yet again - no time to CREATE!  LOL... I've been planning birthday cakes with my fancy chefs though ;)

I'll post some pics after the party, but in the meantime, how's this for a first time blowing out candles ;)

TWO CUTE Card
Stamps: Karen's Doodles Ride em Cowgirl
Paper: Neenah white cardstock,
Ink: Copic markers,
Accessories: Bling - Stickles & ribbon from my stash, and pop dots
Challenges: Pretty Little Palettes #2

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

US and Canada; Job Oportunities for Scrapbookers/Papercrafters!

US and Canada; Job Oportunities for Scrapbookers/Papercrafters!

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Tips & Tricks: Colouring stamps with Copic Markers

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

How fun are these Book Jackets !!

How fun are these Book Jackets !!

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

We Can Do It!!

I remember getting this book for one of my bridal shower gifts, and then researching what the big deal was with this 1960s type picture - pretty cool - and PERFECT for the very first Pretty Little Palettes challenge celebrating International Women's Day BUT... here I was thinking I'd come up with this sensational first entry for the challenge and then BAM!  BabyGirl is running a fever and I am home with her today sooo.... what more fun to do but make her a get well card together so that is exactly what we did.  SHE chose her best friend Dora "We did it!" for the card and helped me colour it with Copic Markers and if you look carefully you'll see her "imprint" with my Blue Iris ColorBox "cat eye" ink/chalk pad.

We think it's beauuutiful!

You know, I always meant to vLog so *snicker snicker* this is my first attempt and yet another first for today - LOL ;)

We Can Do It Card
Stamps: JustRite Stamps
Paper: Neenah white cardstock, misc from my stash,
Ink: my computer printer, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers,
Accessories: ribbon from my stash
Challenges: PLP#1

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

Lovely New Babies

Baby girl Maia (aka Maya), here's a lovely welcome to the world card for you with some beautiful sentiments from  Papertrey Ink

Challenges: MojoMonday 128 sketch, Embellish Mag, CraftyCreations56 - cut/pop up flower, EBTKS 93 - Beads on the flower 

And one for your lovely Mummy who is feeling discouraged that her preeclampsia caused you to be born at 31 weeks as an emergency c-section.  She wanted you to fatten up and cook a little more, but she's on the mend and you are doing well :)  This card was fun because i used a bunch of stamps and mixed them all up on the inside.

Challenges: MMSC43, CupcakeCraftChall80 - round and round, 2 Red Bananas - behind the scenes

And this is for baby boy Amar, but I am not sure if I'll redo it tonight, I might, if I have time.  I know it's meant to be simple but it feels unfinished.

Challenges: CACC - blue/stone, ABC-O - use one paper

Now for some fun... do you see something wrong with this picture???

Yeah, it's totally the mirror image LOL :)  My digi cam got dropped and barely survived our cruise but handy hubby got out the scotch tape and put a roll at the battery and then taped the battery door shut sooo.... it worked but now that I've opened it to read the memory card, well... no camera - GASP!  Anyway, my handy dandy iMac has a camera so I used it to take a pic knowing it would probably give me dark images, but they didn't turn out too badly ;)  Just that they are mirror images LOL.  Well, I'll flip them horizontally at work tomorrow, no time now.  I thought it was kinda funny so I thought I'd share ;)

... and I didn't even use my Copics...

New Babies Cards
Stamps: PTI Baby,
Paper: Neenah white cardstock, Ellen Krans Daisy Ds blue stripe, ColorBox BLue Ink,
Ink: my computer printer, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers,
Accessories: fabric from m stash, paper from my stash,

     

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

I wonder what I'll name her - Part 2

Just for fun I showed my daughter the pic of my new air compressor and she said "Booo Mummy, Boo" meaning *blue* so perhaps I'll call it

"My Boo"

We'll see if it sticks, any other ideas ;)

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

Where's my Mojo?

AWWWWwww maaan?! Where the heck did my Mojo go? This morning I was brimming with ideas and visions of baby grins and cuddles and coudn't wait to get home to create 3 cards (all which are required for Hubby's last minute meeting with some old frinds who've recently had little bundles) 2 girls and 1 boy... and now.. I sit tired.  Haven't had a moment to myself all day and just want to go to bed.  Maybe it's the last minute notice... maybe it's the fact that I need to make three and not focus on just one!!  Maybe it's the almost 2 year old who's called me four times in the last 40 minutes asking for one thing or another (thank God she's trapped in her crib)... siiigh...  maybe Hubby's 4th of 5 night shifts are taking it's toll on me.  How on earth do single parents keep up?!  (silent prayer for them)

In the meantime, this Textuality class sounds very appealing ... anyone want to take it and be my virtual buddy??

WELL HELLOOOOooooo - That's why I love challenge blogs, that's what I'll do - hop on over and find me a challenge, and I won't peek at my own Pretty Little Palettes challenge until it launches on Friday, I'm looking forward to it too !!!


A quote from Chris Dunmire:

When I started quasi-blogging pieces of my creative journey on the Creativity Portal in July 2003 in a feature named "Inner Diablog", something unexpected happened to me. I found that the more I engaged in my own inner dialogue through writing, the larger my creative appetite grew. You would think just the opposite would happen — that I would eventually exhaust my energy and run out of things to write about. Not so.

I read a remarkable thought about the nature of creativity in an article by author Alan Cohen that describes this phenomenon.  He wrote:

 "Will you ever run out of creative ideas and expressions? Ha! The more creative ideas you have, the more you will discover. Creativity is a tree with countless branches that never stop blossoming."

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

I wonder what I'll name her ....

So I've been busy. I just ordered 12 new Copic markers and 7 Various ink refills of my all time faves (2 which have run out and one which is getting a tad light, and 2 that I use all the time when airbrushing). and... an air compressor! LOL... yeah, I did it and I am crazy but I got an unexpected bonus at work and after dumping most of it into bills and such, I treated myself to this generous gift *eh hem...* I mean investment *wink wink*

COPIC TIP: Start light, and buy in threes.

I took the Copic Colour Wheel and put a dot beside each marker that I own, then I compared tones and all that jazz we learned in the Copic Certification Class and chose complimenting light and darks for the markers I love the most.

It's so hard not to just get them all, but I am being very picky in choosing how to expand when I just bought an AIR COMPRESSOR :) LOL...

I must say I love Ellen Hutson and she's become my first stop shop for everything Copic because I like to support our own but I've been eyeing this darned compressor for over 2 months now and it's been out of stock AND since I have to ship things from the UW to Canada I have to be careful about how much and when and our taxes are insane! I hate the 'surprise' taxes I get after ordering a beautiful bounty for the US - so my opportunity knocked and I answered.

First, I ordered the compressor here and all my Copics and hoses and stuff from Ellen. I felt so invigorated yesterday when my all time wonderful best friend said will be travelling to the US this month and will be back in a few weeks so not only can I ground ship my order to a residential address for her, she'll hand deliver the darned thing to me personally when she returns with her "almost empty" checked luggage - WOOOOO WEEEEEE I hear the angels singing :)

So... the embossing tool and stuff I've had my crafty mojo set on since Christmas will have to wait until my next splurge... probably closer to winter when embossed textures will be sooo pretty ;)

Now... onto the important question...

What will I name my new, true-blue crafty pal??
Any ideas??

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix

Tips & Tricks: Flower Card

Here's a tutorial on how to make this beautiful flower - card by Lynn.

· ´¨¨)) -:¦:- -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨)) Live with integrity.... -:¦:-
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ Create with passion!
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´* -:¦:- NikkiNix