Drop and run!

Look, here are those two cards I made earlier, that I told you about in my last (very short) post. I know, I know....just say it...FINALLY.

This first one was for a wonderful friend's amazing daughter, for her birthday.

This is such a cute Maggie. I don't own her, unfortunately. I got her in a card kit swap through the Magnolia-Licious group on Yahoo. I colored her up with my copics and used this adorable lady bug die cut (also in the card kit). I added my own ladybug button from my stash. I wrote a note to Kyra in the card and sent her birthday present off in good faith that our USPS would deliver it. Alas, they did not. The package has been lost for over a month now. Sigh...

 

Anyway, this second card went to my gram following a surgical procedure that kept her in the hospital for a few days. She may be in her 80's, but she's strong and stubborn, so now she's home and recovering with aplomb. Purple is her favorite color, and she likes feminine touches, flowers, and birds. This is another image that I don't own and was supplied to me in a card kit. She was so much fun to color, though, that I might have to hit Diana's store.

 I've gotten a bit closer to making more cards than just these two. I've colored some images and signed up for a crop in November. Yeah, I haven't gotten much further than that. Baby steps, right? Christmas is fast approaching, though, and I've got to make a few cards for those people that won't ever shut up if I don't. LOL. Thanks for stopping by and I'll just hope to have more to show you in the upcoming weeks.

Might be away for a bit longer...

Someone mentioned my blog to me last night and it made me realize that I haven't been here in a while. I apologize for that. My life has gotten more busy than anticipated lately and I've had precious little time (or mojo) to create. I've made two cards in the last two months, I think. Egads!!! I may post those cards, but I doubt I'll be around to post much else until the end of October, when this class I am taking ends. Please don't think I've abandoned the blog, though. I'll be back (take that as a threat or promise, whichever way you like. LOL). Thanks to all that have continued to keep me on their "follow" list. I greatly appreciate it and hope to be back with a vengeance in November.

Just under the wire

When I visited my friend Sara last weekend, we spent some quality time with our copics, coloring away. I came home with colored images, all ready to be smacked down onto some cards. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find the time to do so. Or, if I had the time, my motivation just wasn't there. Enter the Mojo Monday sketch. I love playing along with sketches and this one is pretty awesome. So, I started rooting around in my papers (of which I have tons, so this took a while) and my colored images, trying to find an image that might work. When I found this cute little image from Whimsy and the papers to match her, I checked this week's Whimsy challenge and guess what? Ribbon and lace. Yeah, I can do that. The hard part about that is choosing which piece of ribbon and lace to use, since I have three huge drawers full. I'm a crafting hoarder. What can I say?

Anyway, with the Whimsy and Mojo Monday challenges in mind, an image I colored last weekend in hand and pretty papers on my desk, this is the creation that emerged:

For the following challenges:
Mojo Monday - sketch 300
Whimsy Inspirations - ribbon and lace

For all of my American friends, I hope you had an amazing 4th, and that while watching fireworks, you remembered our wonderful military who do so much for us.

So sweet, I can't believe I forgot about her!

Look at this cutie. I don't know how I did it. Maybe it was the insane amount of stamps that I have. Maybe it was that I purchased her so long ago, when she was first released (before her retirement). Maybe it was my fascination with my newer stamps. I don't know what insanity possessed me, but I forgot that this little sweetie was hanging out in my collection until Whimsy released their new stamps this month. She came out of retirement to be one of them (lucky girl!), and it just sparked my befuddled brain. I thought, "hey, wait! I think I have that one!" and sure enough, I found her hanging out with my other Elisabeth Bell stamps. Of course, I've got so many of them, she just got lost in the shuffle, poor little thing. Anyway, here she is, resurrected from the little stamp storage area in my scrap room. Isn't she darling? You can find her now at Whimsy stamps.

I colored her with copics. More specifically, E42,41,40 and R85,83,81 for her outfit, with a red stardust pen for some bling. I added pink frantage around the image, made my own little rosette out of lace, stuck pink rose ribbon through with a hatpins, added some old crochet, a vine die, butterflies, leaves, a charm, and a gingham ribbon, then perched her on some paper I made myself out of scraps. I love the look of patchwork, so I took a bunch of my scraps and made my own.

Sorry for the rather washed out picture. I'll try to get a better one later, before I gift her to a coworker on Monday. She needs the uplift; she's been dealing with some health issues and a bit of homesickness lately. Since she makes my days at work more fun, I decided I needed to do something for her, too.

This card is for the following challenges:
Whimsy Inspiration Challenge Blog - shaped card

Father's Day Furry Fun and Disappoinment, too. :(

Well, Father's Day has come and gone. It's not always an easy time of year. My dad died in June of 2002. My husband also passed on, but in 2009. We didn't have kiddos of the human variety, so we made a little bit of a fuss over being parents to our babies in the fur suits. So, that usually meant a card and a special meal, plus getting fussed over for him. However, I am not the type to dwell on the reasons to be sad. I like to look at things in a positive light, so I got myself all excited over a gift that my brother-in-law and I had collaborated on for my father-in-law. Here's my card. Can you guess what we planned to get him, just based on the theme of the card?

I hope you are better at guessing from clues than my poor father-in-law. He just didn't get it, despite the fact that he has been talking about getting another dog for over six months now. So, Squid and I decided we'd do that for him. Since it's important that you find a pet that "meshes" with you and your family, we also decided to let him pick his dog. He was so excited and filled with chatter about it for the rest of the night. We made plans to go out yesterday to find his new best friend. Something happened between Sunday and yesterday, though, that made him change his mind (hence, the Father's Day disappointment alluded to in my title). He decided that now is not the right time, and he'd like to wait. Since adding any pet to your family is a huge commitment and responsibility, I just made him promise to let us know when he's ready. One day, we'll add another adorable furry friend to the family, just not today. On the plus side, I had the day off of work, so I enjoyed some time to myself, relaxing around my house and getting some stuff done. It was a much needed bit of time, that's for sure. I hope you have something fun planned for the weekend. I hope to get some cleaning done and maybe even make a few cards, since my other plans for the weekend fell through. I'm going to make the most of it!

Whimsy Stamps New Release Day 3

Hello and welcome to the Whimsy Stamps June Release Review Day Blog Hop! Woot Woot! In case you can't tell, I've been bouncing off the walls and super excited to join the DT for this month's release. I think I drove poor Simonne crazy, but she was too nice to say so.

Anyway, yesterday (June 19th) Whimsy Stamps released this month's new rubber designs, Shapeology dies and Whimsy Designer Paper packs. From June 18th until today the Whimsy Stamps DT and Special Guest (that’s me! yippee!) are showcasing these fabulous new goodies with a daily blog hop and I am part of today's hop! Each blog hop has a prize of 2 new release stamps hidden somewhere along the way and you have 24hrs to enter each prize draw. To be entered into today's blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT's posts listed on the Whimsy blog by 12.00PM EST tomorrow. All winners will be announced on the Whimsy blog tomorrow!

For my blog hop card, I inked up the adorable "Sweet Sparkle" by the very talented Sylvia Zet. I love these images because they are so cute and so easy to color. Here's what I did with her this time:

For my last card with this image, I went a bit brighter. This time, I toned things down a bit for a softer look. I colored her with copics and added some sentiments from the new release called "Seashells by the Seashore". Papers are Graphic 45. I used punches to make the butterflies, photo corner, and grass, as well as my cloud die from Spellbinders and a Sassafras Lass flower to mimic the sun.

Remember that the entire new release is available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you’ve enjoyed the new release!

I hope you're not tired yet! It's the second day of hopping along with Whimsy's New Stamp Release

Hello and welcome to the Whimsy Stamps June 2013 Release Day BLOG HOP! It's day 2, baby! Lots of good stuff from the talented Whimsy DT (I'm so honored to showcase my work alongside theirs. How cool is that?), plus fabulous new goodies in the Whimsy store. In case you missed it, Whimsy Stamps has released some brand new Rubber Stamps, Stamp Sets, Whimsy Shapeology Dies and Whimsy Designer Paper 6x6 packs. These new goodies are available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites. Please visit the Whimsy blog for a full reveal of this month’s new release.

Today we are holding a New Release blog hop to share creations made with some of the brand new Crissy Armstrong, Elisabeth Bell, Meljens Designs and 2 Cute Ink stamps. Each blog hop during our new release has a prize of 2 new release stamps hidden somewhere along the way and you have 24hrs to enter each prize draw. To be entered into today's blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT posts listed on the Whimsy blog by 12.00PM EST tomorrow.

Now let's get to the cuteness, shall we? For today’s card I used Elisabeth Bell's Tweetest Friends. Regular visitors to my blog know that I have been a huge fan of Elisabeth Bell for a long, long time. I can't even begin to count how many of her stamps I have inked up and loved, and I am happy to add this beautiful little girl and her birdie friend to my collection. Check her out:

Isn't she precious? I colored her with copics and then cut her out with some trusty Spellbinders dies. The sentiment is also from the new release; it's a set called "Seashells by the Seashore". I added some seam binding and a few other bits of eye candy before finally declaring this card to be done.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Don't forget to come back tomorrow to check out the final day of the new release. We've got good stuff in store. I promise!

 

As an aside, I'm entering this card in:

Elisabeth Bell's World Challenge (6/22)

We're hopping for Whimsy's Newest Stamp Release!

Hello everyone! I am beyond excited (dancing around the room, hollering like a banshee), thrilled, happy, and whatever similar adjective you can find to be the Special Guest for this month’s Whimsy Stamps release! Today is the first day of the Whimsy Stamps 3-day June release event and we are kicking things off with a Sneak Peak Blog Hop! To be entered into today's blog hop prize draw of 2 new release stamps, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT's posts listed on the Whimsy blog by 12.00PM EST tomorrow. All winners will be announced on the Whimsy blog on Friday.

Today we are excited to share sneak peeks of some of the brand new Wee Stamps, Kenny K and Momas Collection stamps that will be available to buy from the Whimsy Stamps store TOMORROW! For today’s card, I inked up Sweet Sparkle by Sylvia Zet. I'm a huge fan of her images, because they are just too cute and so sweet. Plus, they're just such a pleasure to color. Ok, I'll shut up and show her to you. Here you go:

Doesn't she just make you want to smile? I decided to give her really bright hair, so I made her outfit a bit more neutral so it didn't clash. She's colored with copics, but I know you're not surprised to hear that. For those of you who visit this blog, you know that's my favorite medium. Anyway, after I colored her up, I just started tossing things at the card to see what would stick. There's some dies, some seam binding, pearls, a metal, and a few different types of flowers thrown in there. I finally decided it was done. What do you think? You want to own this little stamp, don't you? Go ahead, go get her. She's available tomorrow. And wait for tomorrow, because I know you'll like that stamp, too. Cuteness!

Don’t forget to stop by again tomorrow for the full reveal of the new release and the New Release Blog Hop! Thanks so much for stopping by and happy hopping!

Whoops! This post is way overdue!!!

My friend Sara's birthday was way back in the early part of the month. I made her a card but didn't want to post it since she is a frequent visitor to this blog. Well, she told me that she got the card, loved it, and so forth. Yeah, that was something like 10 days ago. I should have posted it long before now. Better late than never, as the saying goes. Plus, I am going to a crop tomorrow and don't feel like packing, so posting on my blog allows me to do something other than pack and yet still feel productive. So, here she is:

She's an adorable stamp from Sweet Pea, illustrated by Conie Fong. She's called "Flowers on the Beach" and you can find her here. Isn't she precious? This card has a lot of my typical crafting style, which is to say, grab any nearby embellishment and toss it at the card until something suits. As you can see, lots of metal, flowers, punches, stick pins, even a button and some cheesecloth. I also played around a bit with some frantage. I think the silver frantage works great with this image; it looks kind of black Hawaiian beachy. I'm waiting on some of the white frantage, though. I ordered it a while ago but it got held up. Darnit all. I am not patient and hate waiting!

This cutie was colored with copics. I've added some bling in the flower centers. I also distressed the edges of the papers, which are Graphic 45. I guess that's about it. I have to go pack now. I don't feel like it, but it would kind of suck to go to a crop with nothing to do all day!!! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

Mingling!

I'm involved in various groups for various things. One of those is a yahoo group focused on creating with the adorable Magnolia and Wee stamp lines. As part of this group, I participate in a "mingle" where you make a card for another group member and mail it to them. I was late this time around and got my card in under the wire. Here she is:

This is just a quick post to drop my card and run. I am trying really hard to get some other cards created tonight. Mr. Mojo is being a brat. He wants to take a nap, but I'm trying to wake him up. I already gave him a bath in glossy accents. He's all pretty and shiny now while he naps, the little brat. Wish me luck on waking him up, so I can finish the cards I started at a crop yesterday!

Just because I felt like it

It seems like I usually make cards with a specific person in mind, which means I'll pick the image just for them. You know, one that speaks to me and says something like, "so-and-so would love her!". Then I might color that image in the proposed recipient's favorite colors and find papers to match, then set about making the card. And then there are other times when I just color an image because I like to color and I just make a card with that image because I like to create. Monday was one of those times. I was waiting for a friend to visit and I was too pumped up to sit and read or watch tv, so I got lost at my craft desk once again. This is what emerged after I was done, amidst the sea of paper scraps, half empty embellishment packets and ribbon pieces:

Luckily for me, I know several people with special occasions coming up who would love her, even if yellow is not their favorite color. I mean, who wouldn't love a little girl with a toddler chub tummy and stocky little toddler legs, loving on her teddy bear? She is illustrated by Elisabeth Bell for Belles N Whistles. I colored her with copics. For now, she'll sit in my stash and wait for that special person to call for her. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Oh, yeah. The challenge list before I forget. This card is for the following challenges:
Challenges 4 Everybody (6/7)- Anything Goes
Clear it out (6/3) - Critters (teddy bear fits, I hope) and earth tones (lots of yellow in my card)
Creatalicious Challenges (6/13) - for the girls
Cute Card Thursday (5/29)- Tie it up
Elisabeth Bell's World (6/22) - new beginnings (I think this would make a cute baby card)
Elphine House (6/12) - Welcome, Little One
Kaboodle Doodles (6/2) - Anything Goes
Oozak (5/31)- Anything Goes with Earth Tones
Simon Says (6/4) - Anything Goes
The Squirrel and The Fox (5/31) - Here come the girls
Sweet Stampin'  (6/1) - Doilies and Dies

First Mother's Day EVER

I'm not sure how many of you remember the little elephant envelope I made for my friend Tiffani months ago, to hold her card and a gift that a bunch of us gave to her and her husband, Dave. They are adopting their son from Ethiopia. They received his information over a year and a half ago and have been waiting anxiously and knocking down the walls thrown up by some unscrupulous, greedy people. Well, their day is finally here. They are currently on a flight back home, with their son Eli in tow. I am so excited for them, I can hardly stand it. I decided that she deserves a special Mother's Day card for her first Mom's Day ever.

Eli's room is done in blue and brown, with elephants. I had to use a more teal-y blue to match the paper, rather than the actual color in his room. Tiffani also loves owls, so I tossed a little owl on here, too. This is the card I made for her:

This is a round card; the pink is actually my cutting mat. I colored this cute little Stampendous elephant with my copics. The greys didn't blend as well as I'd like (I went too dark) but I think he's still cute. Papers are Bazzill and Echo Park. I cut the squares, clouds, and banner with my dies, and paper pieced the balloons. I popped them up a bit with pop dots. I used punches to cut out the sentiment, which is from an old Stampin' Up set that I've had for years. The fence is Jolee's, I believe (it's been in my stash for a while). I used stamps from Stamp Hideaway to create the grass and flowers under the elephant's feet. The little bow is from AC Moore's wedding section. I embossed some of the papers with the Swiss Dots folder. I think that's everything! I had a ton of fun making this card. I cannot wait to see Eli, Tiffani and Dave tomorrow! It's also what would have been mine and Rick's 15 year anniversary, so I'll head to the cemetary after the airport, to give him some flowers and reflect. Now if this rain would just stop, it'd make my travels a lot easier!!!

Have a wonderful Mother's Day. I hope you have someone in your life who will pamper you this weekend.

Yay, yay, yay!!! Did I say, "Yay!!!"

Finally!!! I can do the happy dance (feel lucky that you can't see it. I have no rhythm at all). I will be the guest DT member for Whimsy's rubber stamp release in June! I am beyond excited. I can't wait to get started, play with new goodies, and showcase my work alongside such a talented DT. What an honor. Yeah, my cats are looking at me funny, as I do the excited butt wiggle and try to type at the same time. Not an image you want in your head, I'm sure, so let's move on to other things.

What are you doing for your mom (or the mother figure in your life) for Mother's Day? And if you're a mom, what are your family's plans to spoil you? We took my mom to dinner last night, as she will be out of town as of tomorrow morning. I had fun coloring an image for her Mom's Day card while I was visiting my friend Sara over the last few days. I kept the card clean and simple this time. Gimme some kudos, please, because you know that is hard for me. And to keep a card CAS and actually like how it turned out? Well, that's pretty much a miracle!

Ok, ok. I'll shut up and show you the card.

The adorably sweet image is a Wee Stamp by Sylvia Zet from Whimsy. Isn't she precious? I added flowersoft after coloring her up with my copics. Sara and I critique each other's work as we color, which is awesome. I love that, and I love that we can bounce ideas off of each other and learn from each other. Well, she advised me to blend her hair a bit more and I said no. Man, I'm an idiot sometimes. Yes, Sara, I am saying that you were right. Oh, well. My mom liked her, and that's all that matters. And I actually like the overall design of the card, which is shocking. I really do have such a hard time with CAS cards and admire the people who do them so well.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your Mother's Day is fantabulous!!!

Third time's the charm!

Or wait, is it the fourth time for me? Hmmm....I can't remember. Anyway, I'm trying out once again to be a GDT on the Whimsy Team. There's a multitude of reasons to give this spot another shot, but I'll just give you a few: 1) they're talented, which means it'd be an honor to have my work showcased with theirs; 2) it's a chance to express my creativity on a wider scale; 3) I love Whimsy's products. They have wonderful artists designing for them, with things like adorable stamps, pretty papers, and fun dies. It'd be fun to play along with all of the cool new products!

I made this card below with one of their newer stamps, illustrated by the immensely talented Elisabeth Bell. As you know, I've been a fan of hers for a really long time. My dear friend Sara blessed me with this stamp for my birthday. Isn't she too cute? And even though she has a little bunny and chick friends, I think she's great for occasions other than Easter. In this case, she's showcased on a Mother's Day card:

In real life, the colors are a little brighter, but it's too dark right now to get a picture in natural light and I won't have a chance to do so before the DT call is over. Darn work, expecting me to be there during the day! LOL. Anyway, this cutie is called Strawberry Swing, and you can find her HERE. I colored her with copics. Flowers are Prima and the Dollar Store. Papers are Fruit Stand from Doodlebug. The bow is seam binding. I used  die to cut the vines and I got the doily in a lot off of ebay. I think that about covers it!

This card is also for the following challenges:
Critter Sketch: use buttons
Cardabilities: sketch #73
7 Kids Challenge: April Showers bring May Flowers
Simon Says: Anything Goes
Totally Gorjuss: Ribbons and Pearls

As always, thanks for looking. I hope you had a fantastic weekend! (Oh, and wish me luck, please!)

Edited to add: Many thanks to those of you who clicked on the link to my card for the Cardabilities challenge. Thanks to you, I was a featured designer. You rock! THANKS!

Love is in the air!

...and all of that sappy stuff. My adopted baby brother is getting married in less than a week. I call him my "adopted" brother because he is really my brother-in-law and I have sort of taken to calling him my second younger brother. I love the guy and I am so happy for him. He gets upset with me if I don't make him a card; I never hear the end of it if he gets a store bought card from me. So, tonight I set about making him and his bride Kerry a card just for them.

This is what happened when I sat down in my craft room, music playing, a cat at my feet, and just let things come as they would:

Papers are My Mind's Eye Breeze. I chose them because the wedding colors are yellow and grey. I added the pop of red flowers with the flower soft, since he requested some red in their wedding. I'm not sure how Kerry has adopted this color into the scheme. I guess I'll find out on Saturday! Anyway, the cardstock is Bazzill. The image is Sarah Kay for Stampavie. I bought it simply because it reminded me of Kerry and Squid (that's my nickname for him). I purchased it and the grass and tiny flower stamps from my favorite stamping store in PA, Stamp Hideaway. Heidi's store is well worth a visit. She makes her own stamps there; the little grass and tiny red flowers are exclusive to her store.

I'm digressing again. That's nothing new, I know. The image was colored with copics. I mainly used Y13,11, and 00 as well as C5,3,1,and 00 for their outfits. I cut out a lot of shapes with my dies and punches, threw on some buttons, lace, and pearls, tied a bow with some seam binding, and ta-da!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. This card is for the following challenges:
Oozak - anything goes with pearls, lace and ribbon
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - April Showers OR spring flowers (I obviously used spring flowers)
Papertake Weekly - Bingo. I chose punches, free space, and ribbon

Seas the Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I normally spend Easter Sunday at my aunt's house, then rush over to my inlaws' for dinner. Unfortunately, my aunt was not able to host this year due to multiple circumstances beyond her control. I was pretty disappointed, but totally understood her dilemma. I decided to turn the day into something good, which means I slept in, lazed around a bit, and did some crafting.

I have awesome friends who remind me in many ways of how amazing and thoughtful they are. My friend Sara is one of those. For my birthday, she gifted me with two stamps that I really wanted from a recent release at Whimsy. Shelly is one of those. She just makes me smile, chillin' on the rock with her little turtle friend. I was able to visit Sara a few weeks ago, where I stamped off my new images and colored them up. However, I didn't get the time until yesterday to put her on a card. Check her out:

Isn't she precious? As usual, she's stamped with Memento Ink on XPress It paper, then colored with copics. Patterned papers are a mix of American Crafts and Simple Stories. The cardstock is Bazzill. Sentiments are from CC Designs and Whimsy. I also used multiple dies on this card, some magic mesh, ribbon from my stash, and cheesecloth.  

Here's a close-up of the image, because she's just too cute:

I added bling to her hair and fins, glossy accents to the turtle shell, and liquid pearls to her hair and the rock. I also threw on a few adhesive pearls and used a sharpie pen on their cheeks.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Pretty Little Ribbon - spring is in the air (to me, this image says warm weather and I hope the colors make you think of spring)
Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - Favorite Film (I love anything by Disney, so the Little Mermaid it is!)
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin' - Go Girly


As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy spring!

Loss and other yucky things

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. It's been a rough two weeks. My gram was ill and passed away last weekend. My aunt was hospitalized. Nine people in my family got the nasty GI bug. My trainer moved on to another gym (minor in light of my gram's passing, I know, especially since I can keep in touch with him). It was not a fun period, let's just say. I like to look at the positives in even the most negative situations, though. I got to be with my Gram when she took her last breath. I got to hold her hand as she moved on. I have been reminded once again of how many supportive, caring people exist in my life, as the messages of condolence continue to come in and people continue to offer their assistance. My friend gave me a sign for my desk that says, "God only gives us what we can handle. God must think I'm a bad ass." Yeah, that about covers it.

Anyway, before all of the illnesses happened, I sat down and made Matt (my trainer) a quick card to thank him for all he's done for me in the last six or so months. He's a great guy who is awesome at what he does. He's encouraging, compassionate, and yet a bit of a hard ass when he needs to be. He needed to be with me, because I'm stubborn and cranky about the whole working out thing. I think I cursed more than his macho male clients! In fact, I know I did, because he told me so. The poor guy put up with a lot of BS and excuses from me while managing to push me in the right direction. So, I yanked out some of my new Stampscapes stamps and made him the following card:

Masculine cards are so hard for me. That's one of the many reasons I love the Stampscapes line of stamps, because they are quick, easy, and make awesome cards for men. I also like that they still look striking even when they are not colored. In fact, I'm kind of intimidated about coloring them. I mainly use my copics on people and animal images, not so much on these detailed nature images that need a lot of shading and attention to light source. I guess that should be a new crafty resolution of mine: stamp off and then actually color a stampscapes scene. Heck, I'm a bad ass. I can handle it. I think.

Hugs for my friend

I'm scheduling this post to show up on Saturday evening, so let's hope it works! Blogger hasn't really been showing me much love lately, so I have my concerns.

Anyway, I'm off to go see my friend Sara this weekend. I was in the mood to play with an image I colored a while ago and when I found this sentiment in my stash, it just seemed perfect to go with her. What do you think?

This is one of those instances where I can't share the copic colors with you, because I colored this cutie from CC Designs over a year ago. Sorry about that! It's also one of those cases where I threw everything but the kitchen sink at the card and just decided to see what looked right enough to stick it down. Who am I kidding? That's my usual tendency! It's how my craft room ends up being such a hot mess after I make one lousy card!!!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!!

I love creative days

My original plans for yesterday were canceled, so I had some spare time to sit down at my craft desk and create. For once, Mr. Mojo was visiting during one of these times! Hallelujah. I might have chased him off again, though, since I didn't feed him any chocolate, chips, or other delicious snacks. This trying to eat healthier thing sucks sometimes.

Anyway, back to it.

I took a class at Stamp Hideaway with the awesome Sharon. She has boxes of Stampscapes stamps, and taught me how to use them. Thank you, Sharon! I am now addicted. Of course, I had to buy some of my own. The card fronts for the cards below were actually made using her stamps, though. I just had to take a few minutes to mount them on cards.

I love how you can leave them in black and white. I think they look striking that way. Each scene takes several stamps to create, but it's actually quick and easy once you learn how to do it. Makes for fast cards when you need one in a hurry.

Then I had colored some images ages ago and used those to get some more cards made. It's time to send in Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home, so that they can get to the soldiers in time to write notes and send them back home. I made more cards than those pictured, but I don't want to overload you too much. Here's a sampling of the cards I made with some images I'd precolored:

As usual, I tried to keep them kind of flat for ease of mailing. All images were colored with copics.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you'll consider taking some time out to make a few cards for Operation Write Home. Enjoy what remains of your weekend!

Hippity Hopping, Easter's on its way!

My aunt hosts Easter at her house and she goes all out. A pinata, games and crafts for the kids, a huge spread of food; you know, all of the stuff I suck at doing because I hate entertaining. I have fun at her house, though. It's a blast and a highlight of the spring season. I try to make her a cute Easter card to thank her for all that she does. This year, I had a hard time. I picked my image and colored it to match the papers I'd also found for it. I was excited, because the DP was perfect. Then I cut it all up, put it on a card, and decided to finish it off with some flowers. Not a big deal, right? I use flowers a lot. Well, this time, they didn't look right and because I had put them down with KI Gloo, those suckers were not coming off without taking half of the card with them. Damn you, KI Gloo, for being so strong! So, I had to start over. Luckily, I had just enough scraps left to make another card. Here it is:

How cute is that paper? The image is pretty darned cute, too. Wanna see it? Here you go:

It's a digi from Whimsy. I love the mama with her babies. Or, in this case, the grandma with her grandbabies. My aunt has 5 grandchildren. Just perfect, right?

Image colored with copics, as usual. Papers are New Bug in a Rug's One Fine Day. Ribbon and flower clip from my stash. Little silver pearl studs from Recollections. I got the charms on ebay ages ago.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Whimsy Stamps: use metal
Oozak: Anything goes with spring

Whimsy DT application: Some call it "determined"...

...I call it like it really is: I'm stubborn. I rode a mule named Willow back in September, while visiting the Grand Canyon. They warned me that she was stubborn. I told them she'd met her match and away we went. Well, sometimes, like recognizes like. Willow and I got along fabulously.

I'm digressing again. This post is yet another attempt to make it as a guest DT member at Whimsy. One of these days, it will happen. Maybe not last month (okay, definitely not last month), maybe not this month, but at some point, maybe. Hopefully. I am stubborn, so they're not getting rid of me with one little no.

Not only is their customer service phenomenal, but I love the stamps and have quite a few already. They're so much fun to color and always inspire me to create. Who wouldn't want to design for a company that makes you feel that way? Plus, their DT does some pretty amazing work. So, even if I don't make the GDT spot, I'm still inspired. That's always a good thing.

On Sunday, I took a class on never-ending cards. Now I am hooked and have begun several that are only awaiting embellishments. That's the hard part for me, because the embellies need to stay kind of flat and I like those big, fat, dimensional kind. After staring at this card for a while, I finally remembered that I had a hole punch and a signo pen to make some tiny circles, plus some cool punches, tiny little Jolee's flowers, and even a flat sticker or two that came in the paper pack. Voila, here it is:

The front. Sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly. That cute little kitten is from the Playful Kittens set at Whimsy.

Open it up to this view, where you can write a little note to the recipient.

Then this one, where you get another cute kitten.

And finally, this one. Yep, it's another cute kitty!

All kittens were colored with the C's, mainly C3, 1, and 0. Cheeks, paw prints, and ears are R20 and R000. Flowers, butterflies, and hearts are RVs. Papers are Echo Park "Happy Easter" collection.

 

This post is already picture heavy, so rather than adding more cards to show some variety, I'll just link back to my last DT application. Here you go!

 

Ok, now I'm anxiously awaiting an answer. Oh, I guess I didn't mention that I'm stubborn and impatient!!!

 

By the way, can I at least get some kudos because I finally managed to make a fancy fold card without messing it up?!? I am fancy fold challenged. 

 

Sometimes, you've only got time for a quickie.

And some titles make my friends minds go right into the gutter. You know who you are. Back on up out of that gutter now, darlings. Come along now.

It was 12:30 at night, my cousin was in the hospital following a particularly nasty surgery, and I needed a quick card to put in the mail first thing in the morning. Luckily for me, I'd had some time to color recently, so I had a few images ready to go. Mojo Monday's sketch 279 made the decision for me. I only had two images that went with the shape of the sketch, and I really, really liked this sketch and wanted to use it.

This is the card I put together. Notice that I finally used one of my non-Elisabeth Bell Whimsy images like I promised I'd do over a week ago. Better late than never!

This little cutie is from the Playful Kittens set at Whimsy stamps. My cousin loves cats, and I love her, so a cat with a heart is perfect. Papers are Crate Paper. Image border cut with a Spellbinders Nestie. I'm going to enter this card in the Whimsy Inspirations challenge to use fancy edges. Anyway, cardstock is Bazzill, buttons and twine are from my stash, and the little grommets are actually stickers from Rain Dots. And, of course, the image was colored with copics.

Please pray for my cousin's speedy recovery. And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Valentine's Wishes

Here's another card with an image I colored while visiting family this weekend. I have loved Ching Chou Kiuk's images ever since I first saw them. I have quite a few, but tend to add more to my collection on a regular basis. I just can't help it; they are so pretty and ethereal. This was one of the easier ones to color, as it doesn't have as much background details as some others.

I based the design after Cardabilities sketch #68. The sketch calls for a rectangular card and I probably should have stuck with that shape instead of square. I feel like there's too much negative space on the sides, but it's a little late now! I was afraid to cut the background paper too much, because I was worried I'd end up covering up the butterfly.

I colored the image with copics, added glitter with a spica pen, liquid pearls in her hair, and chalked a sky background. Papers are Creative Imaginations. I used my spellbinders nesties to cut her into a circle and make the heart border. Since my husband's passing, I don't really have anyone for whom I make Valentine's cards, so I am hopeful that having all of the hearts around the image gives her a romantic enough feel to qualify for the challenge at Sweet Pea, as well.

As always, thanks for visiting!

A little sassy, A lot sweet

My friend Danni's birthday is coming up later this month. Danni is a bit of a sassy chick, with a wicked sense of humor and brutal honesty just when you need it, all wrapped up in sweetness. She's a wonderful friend to have who is always quick to help when needed and jump to my defense even when I'm too oblivious to recognize that I need a defender. I was visiting at my aunt's this weekend, where I got the chance to not only see my family but also to color some images while my aunt scrapbooked. I colored this adorable image with Danni in mind, illustrated by Krista Smith for Sugar Nellie as part of the "Simply Sassy" line. I've had this stamp for ages; it was about time I pulled her out again.

As usual, I used copics. Unfortunately, I didn't note down the colors. Sorry about that! I chose the colors based on Saturated Canary's color challenge here.

The sentiment is kind of hidden at this angle, but it says, "May all your dreams come true." Seemed pretty fitting for a birthday card, as well as this cutie sitting in her pillows. The cream colored flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and the pink ones are from my stash. I think I got them at AC Moore in the wedding section. The big flower is actually a hair piece where I removed the bobby pin used to hold it. Papers are Bazzill (cardstock) and Neopolitan by Recollections (Michael's). Pearls are from Michael's, as well. The felt corner is Heidi Swapp and I think long since retired. I'm working through my stash of them.  I guess that's about it!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Saturated Canary - color challenge
Sugar Bowl - anything goes with Sugar Nellie image
Oozak - anything goes with your fave color(s) - pink is my fave
Sunday Sketch and Stamp - sketch #141

Now to figure out the perfect gift to get for a friend who is both sassy and sweet!

FYI, it's my friend Tracy's birthday today (you can see her card a few posts below). Tracy has been with me through a lot of hard times and has always been supportive and compassionate. She makes me laugh, which is always a great quality to have in a friend. Please visit her blog and wish her a happy birthday.

Things are lookin' a little funny at Guylou's

It's time for another challenge at Guylou's Inimitability. I've got to admit that it was a hard one for me, but I lucked out. Once I figured out how I wanted to incorporate the orange, it all came together. Oh, wait. You actually want to hear what the challenge IS, don't you? Well, it's Chana's turn to play hostess and she has decided that we need to be a little off color. I don't think she means overtly inappropriate jokes, although the challenge does call for a funny sentiment, so who knows? I'm scared to ask. LOL. In addition to a funny sentiment, your card should be blue, grey, and orange. That was the hard part for me. I have never used this color combo before. It took me a little time to figure out what I wanted to do. Like I said, though, once the idea finally came to me, this card just came together.

Luckily for me, I had a paper pad with lots of blue and grey. Papers are My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Portabello Road. I added some pearls from my stash and used a punch for the photo corner. Sentiment is one I found online and just typed into Word and printed out. I figure it will make a fun "congrats on your wedding" card or even anniversary card.

The image was colored with copics. Blues on the jeans and folded clothes are B95, 93, 91. Orange is YG65, 61, 000. Greys are C3 and C1. I drew in a little hardwood floor, too. My original intention was to make this card pretty embellie-happy. However, it doesn't feel like it needs it to me. I've been asked several times how I know when to stop with the tossing of embellishments at a card and I can never answer, except to say "I just stop when it looks right." I decided this card looked right as-is, so here you go!

 

Please consider joining us for Chana's off color challenge. The challenge ends on February 14th, so you've got some time. You could win the chance to be a guest designer on a future challenge, as well as a gift card to the store. What are you waiting for?

Whimsy DT Application for March

So, as you can see, I decided to keep this title free of puns or otherwise potentially confusing wording. For once, my title is very cut-and-dried, can't-miss-what-I-mean. I didn't want anyone on the Whimsy Team to miss it. :)

If you can't guess from the straightforward title (I know, it's confusing because I'm just not usually so...well...dry with my titles, unless we're discussing dry humor), I am applying to be on the Whimsy DT as a guest designer for March.

I've been a fan of Whimsy Stamps for a while. I love the fact that you can find so many things there, from beautiful digi papers, to adorable and fun stamps in both rubber and digi to shaped sentiments with special dies just to cut them out. How cool is that, and so super easy, too? They even have personalized stamps, as I know because I just got one. LOVE! I used it for the first time on the back of my card below. I think it was appropriate to break it in with a Whimsy image, don't you?

So, this is my brand spankin' new card that I just made tonight, with this DT call and my friend Barb in mind. This sweet girl is from Elisabeth Bell's Cottage Cuties collection and her name is SkippyDee. We can't forget her furry little friend, too. That's Bella. I'm a cat person, so I love when Elisabeth puts Bella with her images.

The design is based on sketch #54 at CLP Challenge Blog. Papers are Prima Songbird that I distressed and inked. Embellishments from my stash. I colored SkippyDee and Bella with copics. Here goes with the colors (I tend to use a lot, so this could take a while):

Skin: E11, E00, E000 and R20 for the cheeks

Hair: E25, E31, E50

Hat: E40, E41, E42

Scarf: R20, R21, R22 and a green spica pen for the polka dots

Shirt: G20, G21, G24 (it's a lot more muted than it looks like in this pic)

Pants: E41, E42, E44

Bella: Y28 (bell), C1, C3, C5

Log: E23, E57, E59

 

I think it would be so much fun to participate as a guest DT for the March new release. Not only because I'd get to work alongside some amazing artists (truth, not brown-nosing, just so you know), but let's be honest - I'd get a huge kick out of being one of the first to see the new products. Don't fib; you know you'd want to have that honor, too. Plus, their products always inspire me to create. I wasn't much good at work today; I kept picturing cards to make in my head. Good thing it was a slow Friday.

 

Just in case my new card doesn't showcase enough of my crafting style for the DT to make a decision, here are two of my older creations:



I recently purchased some Sylvia Zet stamps, too, and hope to create with those later this weekend, so keep your eyes peeled!

Pssssstttt....Whimsy Team, March is my birthday month. Don't you think it'd be a great gift to let me design for your team? Not that there's any pressure or guilt tripping going on or anything. Really.

My first card is also for the following challenges:
CLP: sketch 54
Elphine House: vintage
Elisabeth Bell's World: vintage Valentine

Deja Vu all over again

In the last few months, I was in Toys-R-Us way too many times to count, purchasing gifts for various children. I was taken by surprise with all of the toys that have been re-released from my childhood, like the Smurfs, Holly Hobbie, and Strawberry Shortcake. It was strange to see my old friends again, but fun at the same time. It sure brought back lots of memories, like the ones of playing records on my big record player. You know the kind that was in a suitcase sort of configuration, with a handle for carrying? My parents covered mine with Holly Hobbie paper for me. Yeah, I was spoiled like that. I also had tons of dolls representing all manner of shows like the Smurfs and Strawberry Shortcake. My dear friend Sara's twins love Strawberry Shortcake and have a movie called "Strawberry Shortcake: Adventures on Ice Cream Island." I decided to use this movie as my inspiration for a card to enter in Saturated Canary's challenge #34: Movie Inspiration.

I have several of Krista's images. They are so cute and fun. I chose to use free hugs, simply because I needed a birthday card for my wonderful friend Tracy, and she will laugh because she knows how I am about hugs. As mentioned in a prior post, I'm a grab 'em and go girl. If you get an extended (or better yet - unsolicited AND extended) hug from me, you'd better recognize that you are damned special. Tracy will get lots of them if I ever get my butt down to Texas to see her!

I used a lot of orange because it's a favorite color of Tracy's. To bring in the ice cream inspiration, I added ice cream patterned paper, sherbet colors, and a little ice cream sundae button. This darling image was colored in copics, with some glossy accents added to her eyes and lips for shine. Paper is Recollections "Neopolitan" collection. Tag is a die from Magnolia. The tulle was actually a gift from Tracy at one point in time, so I figured it'd be appropriate to use on her card. Plus, the glitter adds a festive touch, don't you think?

Happy birthday to my friend Tracy! Love you, girl!

P.S. Many, many thanks to Sara for having me at her house once again, and providing her valuable input and advice regarding coloring. It's so much fun to color with someone else and bounce ideas off of them, especially when that person is Sara!

Supporting our Soldiers

I joined Soldier's Angels a while ago, because I believe that supporting the men and women who sacrifice for us every day is a wonderful cause and something we should all do. It really helps boost the morale of our troops when they are reminded that those of us back home are thinking of them, thankful for all that they do, and will always wish for their continued safety.

I am on my third "adopted" soldier. That's nothing compared to my soldier's "third": Paul is on his third deployment in the last six years. I've been sending him care packages but he only recently revealed that his birthday was back in December. I decided to make him a card and send him an extra-big care package this month. I've been wanting to try a tutorial by Sandy Allnock of Operation Write Home (another awesome cause to help support our troops). She has a great video on her blog showing how to color camo. You can check it out here. It was a lot easier than I expected, although I definitely need practice.

The image is "soldier Ian" by the Greeting Farm. Isn't he precious? He's colored with copics. For exact colors, watch Sandy's video. My memory for that stuff sucks! I did deviate from her tutorial on the skin colors, though. His skin is not as well shaded as I'd like, because my skin tone E's are getting dry and I don't have refills for two of them. Time to place another order with Oozak! The buttons are ones that I was gifted at a recent crop. Papers are the Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for looking, leaving any comments, and hopefully, for taking a minute to do something for our amazing military. Links in my sidebar to both Soldier's Angels and Operation Write Home (hint, hint, shove, shove).

Shoot. I almost forgot. The card is based on this week's sketch at Mojo Monday. It's sketch 276. It is also for the Farm Fresh Friday challenge to Punch It! I used two spellbinders dies around the image, then a corner punch for the little photo corners.

There's no place like gnome!!

(Sorry for the lateness of this post. I had issues with blogger today).

It's time for another challenge at Guylou's! G has challenged us to add spots/dots to our projects this time around. That's an easy one, since I love polka dots. The hard part was picking the paper to use, because I've got lots of polka dotted paper. I let the image inspire me, which helped. I have a love of cutesy gnomes. Not so much that I actually have any of the little guys at my house, but enough that every little gnome embellishment comes home with me and I smile at every gnome-laden card I see on blogs and in online galleries. For some reason, G's new image of this little house just reminded me of a gnome's cottage. I decided to paper piece the heck out of it to make it even more gnome-friendly. Check it out:

As previously stated (that sounds so pompous, doesn't it? But once again, I digress...), I paper pieced the house. I popped up the windows and door for dimension, added flower soft on the windowsills, and used some stickers from Barnes and Noble. I have entirely too many stickers left in my stash, and just when I thought I had weeded them all out, too! Anyway, the sentiment is from Stampin' Up. The doily came in a pack of 500 that I got on ebay. Okay, it was probably closer to 100, but the stack was so high it looked more like 500. I always sucked at those "how many gumballs are in the jar" games.

Now it's your turn to play with some spots. Enter your project at Guylou's for the chance to win a gift card to her store and be a guest designer on a future challenge. You can also head by the store to pick up this cute little house as a freebie! How cool is that? Go on. Get over there. Go! Go! Go! (Yeah, I know I'm bossy. And when I forget, my baby brother reminds me).