Have you heard the news?

All you Cocoa Mouse fans out there are going to LOVE the new Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge Blog! This adorable little mouse has found his way into many hearts so we thought a fun new challenge blog dedicated to Cocoa would be a great way to share the Cocoa love :).

Today is our debut challenge over at Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenges and I hope if you have any Cocoa stamps or digis, you will join the fun :). We're giving away an exclusive Cocoa digi designed just for this challenge to EVERYONE who plays along this week :). How cool is that?!

I actually have 2 Cocoa cards to share with you today in honor of Cocoa's new blog AND our next digi release (TOMORROW) which features many new Cocoa images :)!! WOOHOO!

First up is this CAS card I created for my youngest son's birthday on Friday.


This image is called Cocoa Loves Soccer and will be available as a digi starting tomorrow :). I created a fake ticket around the printed digi sentiment using my SU! ticket corner punch and a bit of doodling. The DP is from a Die Cuts With a View stack I got last year. I added a couple Bitty Brads from CTMH to the top corner....I just couldn't leave it without some kind of embellishment ;)! Still, it was a super fast card. Even the image only take a few minutes to color. Gotta love that!

This next card I created for a very dear friend and fellow Cocoa fan. :) I think she will really enjoy this card. I sure do :).

This image is called Cocoa's Stocking and will also be available as a digi starting tomorrow. :)

The papers I used for this card are from the Merry Christmas line by Echo Park Paper Co. To create the glow around this image I stamped it on white cardstock and added colored around it with my Copics starting with the darkest color and then getting lighter as I went out further away from the image....then I sponged around the edges with Rich Cocoa ink. It's quite deceiving because it looks as though I stamped the image on tan paper. It's a really fun effect and gives it a very vintage look.

Here's a close-up of the image with the extra 3D details.


The fuzzy stuff on the top of this stocking is actually a very tiny pom-pom that I cut in half to create a sort of flock. I then glued it down with a glue pen. I am not sure if you can tell by the picture, but there are little flecks of "glitter" in it. Sooo fun!

I used an Exacto knife to cut two small slits along the top rim of the stocking and inserted a few wire candy canes.

I then did a bit of faux stitching around the image and background panel using a brown journal pen.

The buttons have some yummy red and white baker's twine tied through them to compliment the candy canes.

The ribbon is sort of an iridescent shimmer to it....when the light hits it a certain way you can see red as well as the green :).

And finally here are the Copics I used to color this image....oddly not as many as the snowman image from yesterday....interesting.....


Phew! That went a bit long. If you are still with me, thanks for sticking it out :).

I do hope you'll grab a Cocoa image and play along with us this week! Let's start this new challenge off with a BANG!

Hugs,