I'm so excited...

...and I just can't hide it (and now the song will be stuck in my head all day. Not sure I did myself any favors there).

CC Designs is having a DT call. I love their stamps and dies! Love, love, love them. They're too cute and so much fun to color. I could have applied when the call was first opened about two weeks ago, but I had to make another card. I couldn't just use "old" cards from ages ago, could I?

Turns out, I ended up making TWO cards, although the first one was actually in process when the call came out. She's for a friend who loves mermaids. This is one of my absolute favorite sets from CC Designs, and also one of the first I ever purchased. It's called Under the Sea and you can find it here. Anyway, let's get to the card, shall we?

 I went on layering and die cut overload, but I so love when I get to do that. Lots of dies, alcohol inks, beads, embellishments! So much fun to make!

I recently purchased the adorable Puppy Power set and Puppy Accessories Dies. I really wanted to play with them, and I've been seeing these great inside shadow box cards, so I decided to try to make one. There's some trial and error involved there, but overall, it was much easier than I thought it would be. The problem? There are too many cute puppies. I couldn't decide which to use! lol. I finally came up with this card front:

  

And this fun interior/inside:





 

Then this guy happened, because I couldn't stop once I started playing with them. I find CAS to be an art form that I have a difficult time mastering, but I like to try on occasion. He's got a big shadow around him because he's on an action wobbler. I've got another card to send to the team for consideration, too, but I think I've gone picture happy enough for now. Thanks for looking and have a fabulous, crafty day!

 

 

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.

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!