Back Atcha’

Hi everyone!  I knoooooowwww its been 2 weeks since I posted last…I am sooo sorry LOL!  But between being very sick and working feverishly every minute on my newest class at CMC and the start of school for my teens, well it left no time for me to create anything let alone post anything ack!  But I am back and I promise to keep posting regularly for now LOL…cuz you just never know what may happen.  In fact I just started feeling better, finished my class and NOW I AM SICK with Strep throat, double ear infection and sinus infection (ugh)…I shall go lay down in front of a semi!  It NEVER fails that when the kids start school they bring home all kinds of awful germs and my immune system was already low…half of the high school is sick so Riley is sick and he gave it to me, oh yay!  But whatever…I will deal…pull on my big girl panties and keep truckin as well as I can.  Although I will say that strep ugh-double-uck…I would rather have the flu than strep..its yucky!

My son's team in blue, he's on the field playing in this photo

So my son’s football team is 2-0 so far….yay and he’s having fun and doing a great job!  In fact he has a game tonight so hopefully they win again!!  The high school had their first tailgate and varsity game last weekend which was a blast…we always love going and the school (even tho its only 3 yrs old) has great team spirit.  The Tusky Terror is the group of students 250+ strong that dresses up, cheers & shoots off confetti canons…of course Alexa is in this LOL!  So its like that “small town” Friday football night but in a bigger town so to speak LOL!  And while we’re on the subject WHOOOOT REDSKINS and RGIII…what a great way to start of season…and Ravens too!  So excited to have the football season kick off!

 In photo at left that is Alexa w/ her mouth open in middle by her friend Hannah with long, dark hair in their Tusky Terror gear LOL!

Photo on right are Alexa's BFFs Grace, Alexa & Sophia ready for the game!

We also made it to another Nats Baseball game in DC…hoping the Nats make it all the way to the World Series (that would be uber exciting)!!  We took one of Alexa’s friends Darrius…or as I say “one of my son’s LOL since he is like my son. They all call me Momma Dean …he’s a senior and is being scouted by colleges for football so I’m a proud Mama!  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Blindside”…yeah that Sandra Bullock character IS ME, 110% just like me, how I talk, think and act so it always makes me laugh.  My kids and their friends when they first saw it all said OMG Momma Dean is in that movie hahahahaha and its true, that could very well be me.  Darrius is just one of my “adopted” children, I have a few and I have high hopes for their futures just like my “real” kids that’s for sure!  I AM MY KIDS (those that I birthed AND those that I've adopted lol) BIGGEST FAN..ALWAYS! (PS Yes Riley is 6'3 and Darrius IS bigger than him..oy LOL)

Riley, Alexa & Darrius at Nats Stadium on Sunday

So for anyone interested my CMC “All About Hair” Class is up and going…you can join anytime and its all on HAIR, how to color hair with alcohol markers. I break it all down step by step, rule by rule, color by color in many styles!  So if you want to check it out CLICK HERE!

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NewsBitz:

-CMC has new beginning Mixed Media Classes taught by Marti Wills!  You can find the info HERE….she’s also looking for some crafters that LOVE to get messy for her DT for the Mixed Media Group.  You have 2 weeks to apply, submit 2 mixed media projects and your blog/background and email to marti@pezadoodle.com

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Whatever…it’s your Birthday!

Today I’m using a super cute digi image from Tiddly Inks called “Whatever!”..I love her lil’ attitude AND the fact that she has fabulous hair for me to color.  She is one of the images I’ve used to show how to color black hair on an image with no hair lines for my CMC All About Hair Class!  Christy Croll has drawn the hair in such a way that it makes it fabulously fun to add depth and texture to it.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesday (anything goes)

Use It Tuesday (anything goes/old products--mine is my old trusty glitter dots)

Make It Monday (anything goes)

Paper Pretties (birthday)

Cutie Pie Challenge (no flowers)

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (sketch)

I used the Sweet Sunday Sketch today....I loved the fun layout and longer card size which worked well with my image!  The papers are a mix from a few paper pads – MME “Glitz Paper-Cashmere” and MME “Six by Six-Oh Happy Day”(both on sale now at SCACD)…I wantedd a fun mix of hot pink, teal and black for this cutie!  The funky branch elements are a Memory Box die called Leafy Branch, I used a new MS Border Punch for the border and those are black Glitter Dots at top.  (sentiment from PTI)

She was colored with Copics – C9,C5,C3 / E11,E00,R20 / BG15,BG11,BG10 / RV17,RV14,RV11.  I added some stardust Stickles to parts of the image, then I used some fun PTI stamps to stamp around the image a bit to funk it up.

That’s all for me, have a great week!

Are U A Reader??

Happy Friday and Happy 1st of October everyone! As you read this I should be making my way to Delaware to teach classes this weekend--its only a 3 hour drive this time so not too bad! I'm excited to meet my friend Anary finally (waving hi) and to meet up with Cindy Echtinaw (owner of Bildmalarna US and Stamping Scrapping Store) again! I'm actually happy to get out of the house for a bit because we have MAJOR teenage girl drama going on right now that is ugly, difficult and highly stressful! I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy I tell ya---ughhhhh! But I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I hope its not raining anymore wherever you are! I might be floating up to Delaware in my personal ark if it doesn't stop raining--blech--I need some sunshine!  So stay safe, be happy and have some fun!

NewsBitz:

-Want to check out my upcoming locations for my CMC On the Road classes--go to www.cmcroad.com!  I have some new locations to add to it later this weekend!

-Make sure to check out the NEW Elisabeth Bell & Victoria Case releases for SCACD HERE!  They are super cute!  And check out my BLOG CANDY in the post from yesterday--just scroll down!

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READ!!!

Since today is the first of the new month that means it's time for a new Copic Creations Challenge!  Our lovely sponsor is Tiddly Inks (the talented artist Christy Croll)!!  The challenge is to use favorite tones of orange in different ways not just on pumpkins, hee hee!  And I adore all the Tiddly Inks digi images--the one I'm using today is "School Girl"!  I decided to make a fun reader card---this would be great for a birthday girl and add a gift certificate to a book store or Amazon if they're a Kindle reader like meeeee!

My fun papers are from Bo Bunny's "Learning Curve" Collection --the background paper is of worn pencils and books and I LOVE the primary colors.  I added some fun accessories to match the colors--the paper clips and buttons I had in my stash.  That FUN Bingo card is from my friend Jenni Bowlin's Collection HERE---I love all her vintage and beautiful papers and accessories!  The black paper I punched with my spiral notebook punch by SU and distressed the edges a bit more.

Of course this "School Girl" is colored with Copics and the oranges I used are some of my faves YR18,YR12,YR01 & YR000.  I colored her hair with E35,E31,E51 and made sure to color it so the waves popped!  I added some Stickles to a few of the books and hair bow for some fun bling!

Now make sure to hop over to the Copic Creations Challenge Blog to join in on the fun and to see the other DT gals beeee-utiful projects with these fun images!  I'll have a new post up on Sunday as I'm a lucky guest artist for Whimsy Stamps new release!!

Whatcha' Doin'???

Hello my blurfing friends (that's blog surfing, hee hee)!!  How are you all this sunny Tuesday morning?  I'm up and all about today--got ants in my pants and lots to get done, LOL!  Tonight I will be sending out all the NEW Sept/Oct pdf subscriptions for Through The Craftroom Door publication---yay!  And if you get the paper copy they were sent out today so you'll have them in your hands very soon!  I will also be having a Live Chat at my CMC Classroom tonight at 8:30 pm EST and you all are welcome to stop by--it's always a lot of fun, make new friends and talk Copics & Crafts!

And now I have to have a small rant--LOL! You're free to skip this part but it always makes me better to type my frustrations out now & again :)  I took the kids school shopping this weekend as you know and my lovely daughter really likes Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores.  I think she does this to torture me in a way that is not at first apparent to myself, lol!  Those stores STINKKKK--and the music is too LOUD!!  Am I just an old fart?  Why do they insist on spraying those disgusting, obnoxious colognes thru-out the store---do they NOT want the parents in the store?  Cuz' HEY we're the ones paying for their overpriced clothes KWIM!  As a paying parent that doesn't like migraines and EVERY SINGLE SENSE overloaded upon entering I need them to STOP!! Blech, makes me sickie poo everytime we enter and I know I embarrass my daughter (ummm big surprise, lol) by holding my nose & making gagging noises thru-out the store, but HEY I'm trying to prove my point to the OBVIOUSLY non-smelling & non-hearing folks that work there!  Enuff said!!  LOL--thanks for listening!

**Okay--I edited and uploaded 3 NEW Copic QuikBitz Videos on hair coloring!  I have 2 more to come along with a separate copic coloring video in store for you later in the week.  See below for links & videos and I hope you enjoy them!  (they will also be linked on my Tutorials/Templates page above)**

NewsBitz:

-See yesterday's post for some great-smelling Blog Candy, hee hee!

-The CMC Copic Classes On the Road are still ongoing!  I have a new location up for pre-registration in Ontario, Canada in November at the Stamplicity Store!!  Visit the website at www.cmcroad.com for details!

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Whatcha' Doin'?

Okay, so yeah sometimes I think I live under a rock, lol!  I just discovered this fabulous site called "Tiddly Inks" by artist Christy Croll.  I knew she drew some of the images for Stamping Bella but had NO idea she had her own fabulous shop with tons of cute digi stamps!!  Well a few fell into my cart of course and I just love the little girl images--they are perfect for showing copic coloring techniques too!  So this cutie is called "Whatcha' Doin'?" and I used her for one of my Copic QuikBitz Videos below on hair coloring!!

Isn't she a cutie--I just love her!  I paired her up with some new & fun papers by Cosmo Cricket called "Togetherness", lots of fun patterns in this pad!  I inked the edges of my image again & used my SB's nestabilities to mat it.  The ribbon and cs is by PTI--I also added a scroll from my fave Marianne Designs dies and then added some pretty flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts (love this company for paper flowers, highly recommend them)!  The bow was made with my Bow Easy tool and then I added another flower to the center and some pearls to finish it off.  I love the happy & pretty color combo!

And yes, she's colored with Copics and then I added some stickles to her cute hair bow!  (Copics Used: E25,E31,E50/ Y15,Y11,Y00/BG13,BG11,BG000/E11,E00,R20).  Make sure to check out the videos below including one on how I colored her hair!  Hope you enjoyed this post today!

**If you subscribe to have to access the videos directly from my blog!!**  Also I apologize if the volume is not loud enough for you--I am speaking about as loud as I can for ya, so forgive me for not being a super loud gal :)!!  Make sure to turn up BOTH your volume on your computer AND the volume control that YouTube gives you on the video---that should crank it pretty loudly!!

Tiddly Inks Hair Color Video/Copic QuikBitz:

Copic QuikBitz Hair Coloring Video #1:

Copic QuikBitz Hair Coloring Video #2: