In honor of love and old friendships

Some of us were blessed enough to grow up with a really close friend with whom we shared pretty much everything. As adults, we might grow apart or go our own ways for a while, but that person will always remain special to us. They've taken a piece of our hearts and kept it with them. My husband was lucky enough to have one of these friends. Rick and Robby were inseparable for years, or so I am told. They did typical boy things...let off model rockets, played with toy soldiers and cars, and got dirty in the back yard. During these boyish activities, they hurt each other and then the hurt one covered for the one who inflicted. They were brothers of the heart.

Rick and Robby grew apart as they aged and followed different paths in life. Both of them grew up to be good men with great hearts, but they didn't see much of each other for a while there. I've only met Robby a few times, but when he came to Rick's memorial service, he sat next to me in the front row. He earned his place there as the little boy who stood beside Rick for years, who had grown into a good man. Now Robby is getting married, and I wanted to make him a special card. I had to girlie it up for his bride, but I used a precious image from Lili of the Valley for Robby. I thought the two little kids on the swing together might bring back memories of his own childhood and the things they shared. I know that Rick would want to be there in person to celebrate with him, but that wasn't to be. Instead, he gets to smile down on the whole day, and maybe play a prank or two (as he liked to do...if things go wrong that day, or little annoyances happen, he'll probably be up there in heaven, laughing his fool butt off).

Anyway, this card was made with the LOTV image and several punches to meet their challenge for the week. I used the heart border punch, leaf punch, and butterfly punches from Martha Stewart. Papers are Memory Box Minuet. The smaller flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts,while the large yellow roses are Recollections. The little journaling card says "enjoy every moment" and is from Webster's Pages. The congrats stamp is from the $1 bin at Michael's. The card opens below the heart border to show a pocket, where I plan to place some cash on their big day.

I colored the image with copics, then covered it with a circle of paper so I could spray with smooch spray. Then I used spellbinders to cut it out and pop-dotted it onto the card. Here's the inside:

The sentiment goes down into the pocket slightly and I added the "perfect pair" embellie, as well.

Thanks for looking! I plan to enter this card in the Lili of the Valley challenge to punch it up. As I already mentioned, I used three punches on it. It also fits the Color Create challenge to use pastels.  The main colors are light blue and yellow, as well as Stamp Something's edict to make a spring card. What's more spring than flowers, butterflies, and swinging on a swing with your buddy? Card is also for A Spoon Full of Sugar to use ribbon, flowers, and pearls. And last but not least, for the Simon Says Stamp challenge to make a girlie card. I'd say this one is pretty girlie, even if half of the pair it's going to isn't!!! LOL

I had a lot of fun with this card. I hope they like it!

With sympathy...

My dear friend Brenda lost her mother-in-law a short time ago. As you can imagine, it's been a rough and emotional time for her whole family. I wanted to send her a little card to let her know that I was thinking of her and her husband at this awful time. I have a really difficult time with sympathy cards, though. In the end, I decided to use one of my favorite Sweet Pea images from Ching Chou Kiuk. Okay, okay...it's true. Sweet Pea images are one of my new obsessions, so I think my faves list is a bit long, but still....

I colored the image with copics and attempted another multi-fold card. I have a very, very difficult time with measuring, scoring, and folding, despite owning the appropriate tools for doing all of that. I must be getting better with practice, though (or so I tell myself), because it seems to be getting easier and the folds seem to be lining up better. Woot woot!

Here are two pictures of how the card looks when it's opened:

And here's the copics I used. This image doesn't call for many:

I plan to enter this card in the Sweet Pea Dream challenge, which is to make a card for spring. I think the flowers, colors, and little bird qualify this one. I hope so, anyway! I'd also like to enter it in the Color Create challenge to use pastels.

Now it's back to doing the laundry. I finally pulled my spring clothes down out of the attic and I've been washing, washing, washing all day. I don't know how that can be, when I didn't have that many clothes, but it sure feels like a never-ending job. Happy Sunday, everyone. And Bren, you know I'm still sending prayers and hugs your way, girl. Love you!

Thanks!

Voting is almost over for the Sweet Pea stampoff, round 2. I'm still in the #4 slot, which means my little card is not moving on to round 3. It's  all okay, though. The competition was fierce and the cards that did move on are fantastic. Very creative, pretty, and obviously labor-intensive. Gorgeous stuff! Congrats to the top three!
And here's my card. It took me a while, because you all know that I suck at measuring, scoring, and folding. I colored three sweet pea images from ching-chou kiuk, using my wonderful copics.

That's how she looks opened. And closed, the card looks like this:

From the closed picture, you can see the first panel pretty well. Here's close-ups of the other three panels, too.

They all have a bit of bling on them using stardust pens, as well as tiny little pearls here and there.

Thanks for looking, and if you got the chance, thanks for voting! And congrats, once again, to the top 3!!!

Cottage cat is sweet, not sneaky!

Some people think cats are sneaky. Admittedly, they can be. Sophie is a perfect example. She knows she's not allowed to chew my one lousy little plant, so she waits until I leave the room and gives it a taste. Then she's like those sour patch kids commercials. First she's sour and chewing on my plant, then she's sweet and loving up on me, purring away. Well, cottage cat from Guylou's Inimitability has decided to show you the sweet side of being a kitty cat. Just check him out. Don't you want to come love on him?

I colored him up last night, using my copics. I added glossy accents to his eyes and the umbrella. Cottage Cat has been at Guylou's store for a while. He was one of her earlier digistamps, and has remained one of my favorites. I love any image of cats and this one just reminds me of how serene and sweet they look when they curl up to check out the world or nap. The design of the card is based after sketch 100 at the Sweet Stop. Check it out; the prize this week is awesome.

I'm currently trying to build up a stash of cards to send to Operation Write Home. I only have two more cards to make for events in my life (provided that nothing else pops up unexpectedly), and then I'll be set for my cards through early May. In the mean time, I'm trying to make a card here and there for OWH. It's a great cause, to help out our wonderful military who make sacrifices for us every day. This card is not the right size for them (they prefer A2 size for shipping reasons), so I'll use it for one of my own needs. I just wanted to take this opportunity while I was writing already to remind people about OWH. I know, totally off topic of my cottage cat card, but since when have you known me to stay on topic througout a whole blog post?!?!

We're seeing spots over at Guylou's Inimitability!

Come play along and see some spots with us! The challenge this time around at Guylou's Inimitability is to make a card using dots. Polka dots. Fat dots. Dalmation spots. Ha...check me out, channeling Dr. Suess. What a talented man he was. My little rhyme pales drastically in comparison. Ok, again, I digress. You're used to that by now, I figure.

The DT worked with an adorable image called "cat and fish." I think it's pretty obvious that cat images always make me smile. I had a good time making my card. It's actually a gift card/cash holder. One of my neighbor's older children is going to take care of my cats for me for a bit, so I wanted to make her a little card to thank her for her time. I'm going to give her a wee bit of cash for it, too, which will definitely thrill her. She's coveting some jewelry from Avon, and some new markers for her art, and probably some clothes. Hey, she's a teenager, what do you expect?

Without further ado, here's my card:

Of course, I would hope that while she is taking care of them, it's not in the mindset of that kitty cat who wants to eat the fishies!!! LOL.

Like I said, it's a gift card holder. It opens where the scalloped border is. The bottom half of the card makes the pocket. I used rain dots as the little stones in the fishbowl, added glossy accents to the fish so they're shiny looking, colored the image with copics, and cut it out with my spellbinders. The fish paper is Cosmo Cricket.

You have until March 31st to make your own card for Guylou's Inimitability. Just make sure you don't forget to include the spots! Easy peasy, right? Well, then, what are you waiting for? Get to it!

What a flattering birthday present!

A few days ago, I received an adorable birthday card from my friend Guylou. G owns a digi stamp store and I've been on her DT from day one. As if it was not flattering enough that she included me in this endeavor, then she went and drew me!!! Yes, that's right, she surprised me with a digi image of none other than myself, sitting with my two sweet kitty cats. Not only am I so flattered and touched that she did that, but I'm also happy to see that she made some...um....welcomed changes. In the world according to Guylou, I am no longer flat-chested and chubby. I've well-endowed and willowy. Man, you gotta love friends who see the skinny inner child living inside of you!

As soon as I saw the image, I knew I had to color her up and put her on a birthday card for my gram. My gram loves purple and I also know that she'd get the biggest kick out of getting a card with me on it. So, here's what I came up with:

I colored her up with copics, added a sentiment stamp that I got at Michael's, and some flowers and leaves that I had in my stash. I had to give her freckles, because I've got quite a few. The chandelier gems are from Michael's wedding section. I was worried that the big cluster of gems, leaves and flowers might be a bit too big, but my gram loves all of that frou-frou stuff, so I decided not to tone it down. The design of the card is based after this week's sketch over at the Sweet Stop. Go check it out...they've got great sketches to inspire you!

RAK WINNER!!!!!!!

So, I know that when I am waiting on a RAK draw, the wait is the worst part. I didn't want to torture everyone too badly. I can't for the life of me figure out how to put the darned random.org results in my posts so you can actually see the calculator. Sheesh.

Without further ado, the winner of my combination blogaversary and birthday RAK is: #24 Debby W - Paper Pearls!

Debby, please shoot me an email at (email removed to prevent Spam). If I don't hear from you by 8:00 a.m. EST on Monday, March 18th, I'll draw for a new winner.

Congrats, Debby! I've added several things to the RAK since I posted it back in February. I hope you enjoy it all!

Help! I need a sentiment!

So, I wanted to enter some more challenges and also play with some of my newer stamps while I was at it. I colored up this adorable little kitty. My mother-in-law loves cats. I want to give it to her for Mother's Day, but I can't figure out a good sentiment. Any ideas? I've got time to think about it, thank goodness!

Image is from Sweet Pea stamps, and colored with copics. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Fuzzy Wuzzy - sketch challenge
In a Sweet Pea Dream - pink sweet pea (card is primarily pink and mint green)
Simon Says - anything goes

Mojo Monday, when you don't have any of your own

I ran out of mojo today. Yesterday, Mr. Mojo was visiting me and having a grand time, but I guess he got bored with my company. As usual, when my mojo has decided to take a vacation, I turn to a sketch. I find that designing the card is often the hardest part, and the sketch challenges alleviate the need to come up with a design completely on my own. This time around, I used a sketch from Mojo Monday. I love their sketches. Fabulous stuff!

I needed yet another birthday card. I recently got this stamp set with a cute little bunny and some adorable sayings. One of my fave is "I hope your birthday is as fabulous as me!" Too funny. For this one, though, I just used the "go forth and eat cake!" sentiment on the inside.

Most of the papers are from that pack I found at Tuesday Morning for only $2.99. They're Heidi Swapp. Then I threw on some Doodlebug pink dotted cardstock from my scrap pile, and the blue cardstock was also in my scrap pile. I colored this cute bunny up with copics, then added liquid applique for cake frosting, and glossy accents on the candle and his nose.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Once again, it's about Tammy and the bears!

So, a day or two ago, I posted about the sweet and awesome bear that Tammy made for me. Even though I commissioned her to make the bear, I wanted to send her a special thank you for her compassion and just overall fabulousness. Here's what I came up with:

There is a very thin layer of red around the outside of the card. Due to my measuring snafu, it's not as thick as it should be. Hopefully, that does not detract from the card. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, with the exception of the big red rose. I got that at the Dollar Store. Papers are Prima, sent to me for my birthday by my great friend, Terri. I got a huge roll of red tulle on sale for 70% off at Hobby Lobby after Valentine's Day, so I added it to the card, too. I have tons left! The image is colored with copics on Hammermill paper. I have so many wonderful friends...another one of them (Tracy) sent me the Hammermill to try. She loves it, but it didn't work for me. I'm sticking with my Gina K or Neenah. I love that Tracy was generous enough to share her stash of Hammermill so I could try it, though. Wasn't that sweet of her?

So, anyway, this card is based on this week's sketch at Friday Sketchers. I'm also entering it in the Belles N Whistles challenge to use red, pink and white on a card, as well as the DYSU challenge to layer. As you can see, I layered paper upon paper upon paper. It's a pretty heavy card! I hope it makes Tammy smile.

Welcome baby!

I'm going to make this a quick, short post. I was wondering why I have been feeling so hungry for the last hour or so. I just now looked at the clock and realized it's past my dinner time. I usually eat between 5:00-5:30. Whoops. Good thing I went grocery shopping today!

My cousin just had her baby boy. His name is Brayden and he's precious. I'm not posting any pics, though (sorry), because I'm not sure if she'd be okay with that. I always make it a point to ask the parents first. However, I will show you the card I made to congratulate her and welcome baby Brayden to our family. I based it after the sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday, sketch #92.

The stamp is from an older Stampin' Up set. I stamped it using the CTMH ink that my friend Bren generously gave me. The button is actually light blue, but it's iridescent, so it didn't photograph well. The whole card is blue and white, with the exception of the outlines of the clouds. I hope she likes it!

Yummy, sugar!

First off, prepare yourself for lots of activity on your dashboard from me today. I've been making cards like crazy today. My house needs a good scrubbing, but oh, well. It's not like anyone is going to break in and steal the dust, right?

Here's two of the cards I've finished today. Both are sympathy cards. My friend Kim and I met years and years ago, when we were in 7th grade. We've known each other more than half of our lives. When her grandfather passed away, I wanted to make her a special card. Purple is her favorite color. This is what I came up with:

I'd like to enter this card in two challenges:
1. The Sugar Bowl, challenge 55 - to use Erika's sketch and of course, a sugar nellie image
2. A Spoon Full of Sugar - anything with a vintage/shabby theme. I distressed this card like crazy to make it have a more vintage feel. I also added some crocheted lace and pretty flowers.

As you can imagine, since Kim and I have known each other for so long, that means that I also know her awesome parents. They're two very sweet people who have always supported our friendship. They're also just extremely thoughtful. I had to make them a card, too. Here's the one I made for them:

This card is for the Cardabilities challenge, using sketch #26. I snagged the gold ribbon off of a gift that I recently received. I think it works well on this card. I managed to tie it by hand, because I am still mad at my bow easy!

Darnit all, I missed the cardabilities challenge. Oh, well, at least the sketch helped me get a card done!

Funky and fabulous!!! (picture heavy post)

Wow, what a great mail day (both snailmail and email)! I got some lovely birthday cards today, a gift certificate for Oozak.com (you can bet I signed right up to be notified when the new copics appear again), and no bills. Woot woot! To top it off, I found a soaking wet box on my doorstep. Ok, I know that doesn't sound like a good thing, but trust me, it was a fabulous thing. Not the fact that the box was wet, but the contents of the box...oh, my!

About two months after Rick passed away, I was at this crop that a friend of mine had convinced me I should attend. I think she was trying to get me out of the house and also where she could keep an eye on me, because she was worried about me. So, I reluctantly agreed to go. I'm glad that I did. I met a sweet bunch of ladies who were so compassionate and understanding of my teary eyes and rather withdrawn behavior (can you imagine it...ME, not talking much?!?). One of the ladies had recently lost her father and she was talking about memorial bears. I had seen them before, but I guess grief had fogged my brain and I wasn't thinking of them. That's a bit shocking, since I collect bears and other animals. I have a huge collection of Steiff, Hermann, artist and other bears (not to mention the hedgehogs, tigers, cats, horses, dogs, birds, etc).

Once I got home, I went to my trusty pal Google and started checking out sites for memorial bears. I found Tammy Bears and I am so glad that I did. All of her bears are so unique, full of character, and made with such thought and care. Unfortunately, I just could not decide what articles of clothing I wanted to use for my own special Rick bear. It took me forever (over a year!), but I finally figured it out. You see, Rick used to wear this bomber jacket everywhere. As soon as it cooled down even a little, he was in that thing. He even had various wool scarves to wear with it. While I could not fathom cutting up his bomber jacket, I figured I could leave one scarf hanging with it, and send the rest off to Tammy, so that's just what I did.

I told Tammy that I love funky bears that are different than anything else. Then I told her what a prankster Rick was, and how he was always up to something mischievous. I even sent her a picture of him in the process of pulling a prank on one of his buddies in Iraq. I happened to send the bear request right at the height of her Christmas rush. Knowing that, I told her not to hurry and that if I had the bear by my birthday in March, I'd be happy. Tammy made it happen. He arrived today. He's fun, he's funky, he looks a little curious and a little serious, too. I think he's waiting til I fall asleep to start his next prank, but he sure looks like he's plotting it now.

Now, just look at him. Isn't he cute? He's got those ears off to the side that always make bears look so curious (at least, I think so), long, soft "fur", and even leather paw pads that remind me of Rick's bomber jacket.

The little heart on his chest is embroidered with a number that was one of our little private things we signed in our cards and notes to each other. His body is made from Rick's scarves.

As Rick would tell me, he was calling my name from inside that box. That's what he used to say when I would see a bear I wanted in the store. He'd tell me that bear was calling my name. This one definitely calls for me. In fact, I think he's screaming my name pretty loudly.

I hope you never have need of a memorial bear, but if you do, please visit Tammy. Read her inspirational story, check out her amazing work, and support a fabulous artist. And if you're not a bear person, she makes dogs, too. Some of the dogs she's made look so realistic that I figure they might even bark. Even if you don't want a memorial bear and you just want that special bear that's handmade just for you, you might want to give her a call.

My little Rick bear is going to hang out on the shelf in my living room, where he can be seen and admired, but not easily touched. He told me that he doesn't want to live behind glass, so he's hanging out next to some scrapbooks, loving life. He's got his friend the Steiff Sloth bear just a few steps away (although you can't see him in the pic below. He's a bit further down on the shelf).

This is one of his lighterweight bombers. This was the one he wore the most. He also owned one of the more traditional bombers, with the really thick shearling collar and lining. That thing would roast you out in 10 degree weather. Since Rick was always cold, I guess he liked that.

Now I've got a fabulous bear to make me smile every time I lay eyes on him, and to make me remember how Rick always pushed me to get any animal I wanted for my collection. Thanks, Tammy. You made my day. Heck, probably a lot longer than just a day!

An udder birthday?

Wow, with the world opened up in the internet, I'm meeting all kinds of people who share my birthday month! Happy Birthday to my fellow March babies! I'm moving on to a new month with this card, though. My friend Melissa's birthday is in April. Since I won't have much time in April to craft, I am trying to get both March and April projects done now. It's slow going, but I'm working on it. I guess it would help if I made a list on actual paper, rather than the notepad that lives in my head (and tends to disappear on occasion, like the rest of my memories can sometimes do!). That's another thing to worry about doing, though, and I just haven't quite gotten to it yet.

I just won this stamp set over on Anita Be Stampin's Challenge blog. You really need to go play over there. She has great sketch and color challenges, and the prize is an awesome gift card to use in her store. Her store carries both digis and rubber stamps. When I first got a rubber stamp set from Anita's store, I could not believe: 1) how fast she shipped it; 2) how cutely (is that a word?) in which she packaged it (I love pink polka dot tissue paper); 3) how deeply etched the rubber is; and 4) how cleanly they stamp. Totally worth every penny. Each set comes with sentiments and an image or two. I now have multiple sets from her store (5, I think?), plus some digis. Such cute stuff!

Here's my card for the challenge this week, which is a sketch. You need to head over to the blog to see the sketch, though. Go on, get over there. No, no, wait! Look at my card first, THEN get over there. I'll shut up now so you can see. Here you go:

I used Nesties labels 11 to cut out the sentiment. Papers are Cosmo Cricket. I added shine to the balloon and party hat with glossy accents. Since I love buttons, I had to add a few of those to the card, too. The image is colored with copics. I found this awesome tutorial on 7 Kids College Fund to show me how to make the cloud background. Needless to say, I need some practice, but it was fun to try. I am slowly but surely learning how to make various backgrounds. Dana taught me how to do the dotted one. Someone else (sorry, I can't recall who it was!) showed me how to make the shadows, and now I learned how to make clouds. Fun!

So, anyway, head on over to Anita's challenge blog and check out the sketch for yourself! It's okay...you can go now. I won't pull you back to listen to more chatter. At least, not yet.

That Star chick is silly...I mean, sweet. Yeah, yeah, that too!

So my pal Starla decided I needed an award. How did she know I have been a cranker all day today? Totally off topic, but isn't "cranker" an interesting word? I picked it up from my friend, Danni. Basically, I'm being a witch today. I'm just so tired, which makes me cranky. Good thing my coworkers only have to deal with me for another half hour. In all honesty, I've been trying to hide from most of them today, for two reasons: 1) their safety; and 2) to preserve their view of me as a nice person. LOL!

Anywho, Star made me smile for a little while, just by giving me a blog award. Now, she said I had to pass it on to five other people. There's a few stipulations in there, including that they had to be people who are so deserving of one of those huge follower databases (you know the ones...people who have thousands of followers) and yet don't have a ton of followers just yet. I think all of these blogs are fantabulous and that the reason they don't have the gazillions of followers yet is because maybe you haven't seen them. Heck, since I don't have a ton of followers, maybe you still won't see them here on my blog, but I'm trying! Without further ado, here's my list. I tried to pick people that Star hadn't snagged already. She always has to try to be first. Man, what's up with that? (Love ya, Star, and you know I'm kiddin').

Trina
Bren
Tracy
Chris
Amanda

Go ahead, click on their names to see their blogs, and follow them, if you aren't already. I promise, it's worth it!

Oh, yeah, the other stipulation...I have to post the award. So, here it is:

Now, if my five friends want to accept the award, they just have to do the same...pick five people with less than 200 followers (the original award said 150. I changed it because I hate following rules) and send them an award!

Sweet Pea sympathy

I have such a difficult time with sympathy cards. I made this one for a friend who recently lost a wonderful family member. I mailed it already; I hope she gets it before she sees this blog post. Unfortunately, I didn't want to wait any longer to post the card, since the challenge at In a Sweet Pea Dream closes soon. Well, I guess if she sees it, then she'll get to look upon it twice. That sounds like a good rationalization, right?

Image is colored with copics and blinged up with stardust pens in various colors. The large green rose is prima; all other flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts. I don't know if this image is right for a sympathy card. I just know that my friend loves Ching-Chou Kiuk's stamps (as I do) and that the image looks somehow intense and so serious. The challenge this time around at In a Sweet Pea Dream is "warmer weather." Well, I figure her bare shoulders don't bode well for cold. Take the bare shoulders, flowers, and butterflies into account, and she's definitely a warmer weather lady!

Elisabeth Bell and Whiff of Joy and yumminess

So, for my birthday, I treated myself to Whiff of Joy's kit club. I am so stoked to know that I will have four kits of Elisabeth Bell images coming to me over the course of the next 12 months. How exciting is that??? And the fact that they only bill each installment as the kit is sent out makes it rather afforable. It's definitely a good deal. Ordering this way gives you not only bunches of awesome stamps, but also 11% off of each kit, plus a 20% off coupon to the Whiff of Joy store. And I think it's super fun that the kits are a secret. I won't have any idea what images I'm getting until the kit arrives. It's a surprise! It's like having another birthday every three months. How cool is that??? If you're interested, check out Katharina's blog, where she gives you some links to order. Hurry up, though. I think your last chance to sign up ends this month. Here's a sneak peek of the summer kit. I am in love with this little cutie and her glasses already! If you can't afford the kit club (I mean, that'd be the only reason not to get it, right?), but maybe you have some dough set aside from your tax return and want just one kit, you can preorder the summer kit now.

Oh, and if you're interested in getting an Elisabeth Bell image for free, don't forget to check out my combination birthday and blogaversary RAK, to be drawn on March 14th. The sticky at the top of my blog has the link!

Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses

I recently found this great pack of Heidi Swapp papers at Tuesday Morning for a whopping $2.99. Since I am really in the mood for spring, this pack of pastels had to come home with me. This is the first card I've made with the pack. It's for a dear friend who is going through a rough patch. I just want her to know that she's on my mind and I'm sending positive thoughts her way.

I colored this little cutie with copics. She's from Mo's Digital Pencil (although I got her in the acrylic version). I'm entering her in Mo's Digital Pencil challenge. The theme this week is "oh, baby!" She's a cute little baby. Well, really, probably a toddler, but they're still babies, right??? If not, don't disillusion me, k?
The design of the card is based on the sketch at Mojo Monday. The options for square or round cards were offered this time around, and I picked square. My card is 6x6. As previously mentioned, papers are Heidi Swapp. The ribbon was on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I used an EK Success scallop border punch, distressed some edges with my Heidi Swapp edge distresser, and added some buttons. The colors are actually more vibrant in real life, but I wanted to get her into an envie and sent off, so I am not waiting til tomorrow for better lighting. Besides, I'm not really sure we'll have better lighting tomorrow. It's raining to beat the band here in my little corner of Maryland. Blech.

There's no shame in being a worm!

A bookworm,that is. I've been called a bookworm for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were growing up, my mom used to read to us every night. She says that I was reading by the time I was in kindergarten, and bringing home each of my lessons from school to teach my younger brother. I will read pretty much anything. I'm that person you might find at the breakfast table, reading the cereal box, just to have something to read. Since I speed read, that cereal box is practically memorized by the end of the meal. LOL.

Anyway, let's get to it. The challenge over at Guylou's Inimitability this time around is to make a project using Carmen's sketch. It's an awesome sketch. Since it's reading month, G wanted the DT to make cards using Marysse or Caroline. I made a card with each one. I was really inspired by Carmen's sketch, so I just made one card and kept right on going!

Here's the awesome sketch:

And here's what I did with it:

Now it's your turn. Make a card using Carmen's awesome sketch. Upload it to Guylou's Inimitability and have a chance to win!

You have until March 17 at 10:00 p.m. EST to enter your project. Please make sure to read the rules over on the GI blog, so that your project is eligible to play. It makes us sad when we can't include you. And if you follow those rules, you have the chance to win a free digi from Guylou's Inimitability, as well as the opportunity to be a guest DT on a future challenge (which means another digi to use as you play along with the DT). I'm looking forward to seeing what you do!