Is the weather beautiful lately or what? Well here in Texas it sure is. And the temperature hasn’t reached hot as hell (literally) yet so we’re all good! I love summer. And Jen came up with this great summer themed challenge for us:

Creative Challenge:

Your creative challenge this week is to go all out and celebrate summer! You can create a Twilight themed summer piece or you can celebrate your own summer plans or a fantastic summer that has passed.

Those of you participating on the other side of the world from those of us in the US/Canada are just wrapping up your summer… your task is similar to above, celebrate something wonderful you did this summer or focus on Bella and Edward’s possible summer adventures.

Comment Challenge:

Do you have a favorite summer adventure of your own? I want to hear about it! It could be from your childhood or currently. Do you have any exciting things planned for THIS summer? I’d love to hear about those too!!

I really, really love summer. Summer always held such fun for me as a teenager and very young adult. So I guess it just reminds me of youth and promise. I can think of so many fabulous summer memories…there was this one time….at band camp…no really…(I wasn’t in the band) but I could tell you some stories!! And if you are from a small town where there is nothing to do, I bet you have the same ones! I do have one particular summer night that very vividly stands out in my memory that involves motorcycles and not coming home until 5:00 a.m. (I was 20 thank you very much).

But, in my current life, my favorite summer adventure has to be when we went to Disney World, the happiest place on Earth. You know it was! It was fantastic and I plan to go again very, very soon (look out Maureen! Rebecca! I’m coming to see YOU!). I love the beach. Any summer that involves spending time at the beach is a great one. I seriously have so many great summer memories, I have no idea where to start. And this summer, I get to go to Seattle…and FORKS!

So, my project. Seriously, I do not know if there are lighthouses on the west coast. I’m not trying to show my stupidity here…it’s just I haven’t been and all anyone ever hears about are the beautiful east coast lighthouses. But I chose a lighthouse as my centerpiece anyway.

I figure Bella and Edward hung out in Edward’s meadow. Maybe in a few trees (ala the movie) and perhaps in a lighthouse or two? Personally, I’m thinking Bella and Edward enjoyed summer nights (aha…those summmmmmmmerrrrr niggggggghhhhhhtttssss…tell me more, tell me more, tell me more! Name that movie.) together. I envision them under the stars just talking and falling further in love.

Let’s talk about what I did to this image. I used OMS (odorless mineral spirits) and Prismacolor pencils for the coloring. Have you tried OMS and Prismas? I have OMS in my store (the good stuff) and I’ll be releasing it this week for orders. I’ll be selling my OMS in 2 oz. plastic bottles with a dauber top. I think you’ll like it a lot. And I have some great stumps as well for blending. I should have that ready to order on Wednesday.

When you color with Prismas and then blend it with OMS, your pencil lines fade and you get a fabulous picture.

I’m probably going to do a video on this technique.

In this image, I added Crystal Effects to my clouds, water, and light.

It’s not easy to photograph and today I was having a particularly difficult time.

You might see it easier if you click on the picture to enlarge it. The white on the water isn’t a gel pen, it’s light reflection!

I’m really excited to share the design team’s blogs with you this week since we’ve got the new guest designers with us! Be sure to check them all out and see what fantastic projects they’ve made!

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie