Stamping Sunshine

From The Heart

2012-01-31T00:59:00.000-05:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we are creating "from the heart." Our challenge is to use hearts on your project. With Valentine's Day coming up in just a couple weeks, this is a great chance to make a card or two for your loved ones. Or, like me, you could go a totally different direction with your project.

For my card, I used a darling digi called "Mousey Thank You So Much" to make a thank you card. It's been a busy few weeks since Christmas, and I'm still working on getting those thank you cards out! This image was provided by our newest sponsor, Dearie Dolls. Please be sure to stop by and check out their store. (If you like cuties like I like cuties, you'll be in heaven just looking around over there!) The papers are, as always, from my scraps stash. As much as I love paper, until I make a serious dent in my stash, I'm not allowed to buy anymore -- LOL! For the heart element of the challenge, I added two heart buttons, threaded with a little black embroidery thread, and of course the heart in the image itself. The greeting is by The Greeting Farm.

A funny little note about this card. The layout is an old one from Sketchbook Saturday. I didn't discover until after I used it that not only wasn't it this week's sketch, it was 3 months old. Guess it's a little late to submit it for that challenge, huh? ;-)

You Light Up My Life

2012-01-28T18:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday! I hope you're enjoying a very nice, quiet, relaxing day. This is the first Saturday since about mid-November that my family hasn't had at least one major commitment to keep, and I am *loving* it! Since there was nothing I had to do today (besides the usual household chores), I grabbed a few minutes to play along with a couple of card challenges. Over at Card Crafter's Circle, they asked us to make a friendship card. 2 Sisters offered a terrific sketch. So I combined both challenges into one card for a dear friend who is always a "light" in my life. And let me tell you what a joy it was just to have time to sit down and make this card -- LOL!

The fun, bold-patterned background papers I used were a gift from a friend, and I believe they are retired from Stampin' Up! The colors for the image were pulled from the papers, with a little of the jade green added in because I just liked how it "popped" against the other colors. The image and greeting are from my "Let Your Light Shine" digi set, available HERE from Clear Dollar Stamps. The stick-on pearls were were purchased last spring from one of the $1 bins at Michael's Crafts, and the flowers were made with Fiskar's punches.

Off to take advantage of the down time and make a few more cards. Have a fantastic weekend! :-)

Charmed by Bugaboo

2012-01-24T02:25:00.000-05:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we have a very "charming" challenge for you -- use a charm on whatever project you make to share with us. Our fabulous sponsor this week is Bugaboo Digi Stamps. They have such an adorable line of images, and they generously provided our team with some of those images with which to make today's cards. They have also provided a 7-digi-images prize pack for one lucky winner. Could that winner be you? Unless you play along, you'll never know!

For my card, I used the "Clyde Birthday" digi. I colored Clyde with Prismacolor Pencils, and added some Stickles to his wings for shimmer. Now since I don't normally buy charms and have vowed not to buy any new crafting materials this year (besides adhesive and the very occasional digi), I didn't have anything to use for the challenge. So...I had to get a little creative here. I stamped and colored a little cupcake image on a piece of my daughters' Shrinky Dink plastic, punched it out with a scalloped circle punch, and then punched a hole in the top of it. After heat-shrinking it, I tied a bit of embroidery thread through the top, and voila -- a charm! Not only did my card get finished, but seeing me stamp on the plastic got my daughters using it again, fending off hours and hours of rainy day boredom. You've gotta love when things come together like that! :-)

Check out these cuties!

2012-01-18T07:00:00.048-05:00

I'm always excited to see what new digis Katlyn of K 'n K Designs will put out each month. Her characters -- Kolar the dog, Juniper the bunny, and Pickles the cat (among others) -- are so sweet and always make me smile. She has a whole new batch of cuties in her store today -- woo-hoo! Here are a couple of cards I made using two of the new sets.

This first card uses the precious "Cup of Friendship" set. I followed this week's sketch at The Sweet Stop (rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise) to make something with a bit of a Valentine's Day feel to it. The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils. I got a bit shadow-happy on Juniper's tummy, I'm afraid -- LOL! -- but I had already blended the color before I realized how dark it would be, so he's stuck with it, poor little guy.

For this second card, I used the "Sign of Spring" set. I really relate to this image -- I'm not a huge fan of winter, because I just hate to be cold, so like little Kolar here, I'm always on the look-out for those reassuring signs that Spring is coming. Taken in the less literal sense, the message behind this set is also very encouraging, don't you think -- "Winter seems long, but this too shall pass." :-)

New Digis at CDS!

2012-01-17T11:00:00.006-05:00

Are you ready for your monthly dose of digi fun from Clear Dollar Stamps? :-) There's a whole host of new cuties available at the store today that you won't want to miss, including the two sets used on my cards today.

This first card features the new "Ark of Faith" set by Laurie Wilson. This was such a fun image to color, and I *love* the faith-based verses that are included! I punched one of the Scripture verses out and mounted it right on my little ark.

For this second card, I used the new "Dahlia" set, also by Laurie. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers (OK, yes, I pretty much love ALL flowers -- LOL!) because the buds are so robust, and they come in so many different colors, all of them cheery! What's not to love about that?

OK, now usually I share something made with my own new release digi sets, too, but I'm sorry to say that I don't have any this month. Due to some ongoing health issues, I've had to seriously cut back on my drawing and crafting. My lovely boss, Lori, has been super supportive about this, and at her suggestion, I will be moving to a quarterly release schedule for digis instead of a monthly one. This way I can still do what I love but focus on healing at the same time. So I'll have some new digis of my own to share with you next month, and in the meantime, I'll still be sharing the other cuties that Clear Dollar Stamps carries as often as I can, so I hope you'll still visit me! :-)

Stuck In Neutral

2012-01-17T01:21:00.001-05:00

So often we paper crafters tend to use neutral colors as just the bases for our cards, or the backgrounds to which we apply other, bolder colors. But over at Tuesday Throwdown this week, we're showing you how wonderful neutral colors can be all by themselves. The theme for this week is "Stuck in Neutral," and we challenge you to make and share something something made with just neutral colors.

Our generous sponsor this week is Stitchy Bear Stamps. I used their "Bucky Bronco" digi to create my card today. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, and used various shades of brown and white as my neutrals. The pun-ny birthday greeting is one that I made on the computer. I will be sending this one of to my nephews for his birthday. He's turning 7, lives in Texas, and his family volunteers with the rodeo, so I thought he'd appreciate this one!

To see more fun creations using Stitchy Bear Stamps, and to participate in this week's challenge, please visit us at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge blog. We always love to see what you make each week! :-)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2012-01-10T09:49:00.000-05:00

Winter is in full-swing, and over at Tuesday Throwdown, we are celebrating it with a wintery challenge. The theme for the week is "Baby, It's Cold Outside" -- make something featuring ice, snow, etc. Our sponsor this week is Catherine Pooler, Independent Stampin' Up! demo, and she is offering a wonderful prize of one-month's membership to her stamping club, Club Inbox, to one lucky winner!

For my card, I stamped a wintery scene using the "Season of Friendship" stamp set by Stampin' Up! I added Stickles glitter glue to the branches of the tree, and a bit at the base to resemble sparkly snow. Though we generally think of winter in icy blues and greys, I couldn't help but add a splash of red to brighten things up.

Hope you'll stop by and play along with us today. You don't have to use Stampin' Up! products on your creation, though we'd love to see it if you do. :-)

Make a Wish

2012-01-07T17:10:00.001-05:00

The next couple months are big birthday months among my circle of friends and family, so I need to make quite a few cards. Unfortunately, I've been coloring images all week, but lacking in inspiration to actually make them into cards. This morning a friend and I were lamenting our mutually missing mojo, and she decided to hunt up a challenge for us. She gave me a choice between this week's sketch challenge at either SCS or the Sweet Stop. Since I used the SCS sketch for my last card, I went with the Sweet Stop Sketch. I'd already colored up this sweet little owl by Meljen's Designs with the intent of joining their "stars" challenge this week, so the card came together very quickly. For the "stars" element, I added a little jewel star to the image piece, and coupled it with the "make a wish" greeting from a Penny Black birthday set. Now I have one birthday card made. It's a start! Thanks so much to my friend for the little push in the right direction, and to the teams at the Sweet Stop and Meljen's for the challenges! :-)

Humor is Hazardous to Illness

2012-01-05T00:15:00.000-05:00

I needed a card today for a loved one who is ill, and so I dug out my new doctor duck digi again from the "Happy Healing" set (available HERE at Clear Dollar Stamps) to make something light-hearted. I don't know if you can read the greeting, but it says, "Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that humor can be hazardous to your illness." Whether illness or just hard knocks, I do firmly believe that a little laughter can make any situation a bit more bearable. Laughing when in the midst of our trials is not always easy to do, I know -- believe me, I know. Some might even consider it irreverant. But I firmly believe that God gifted humans with humor as a wonderful coping mechanism, and so I try to share it as often as possible. Of course, my sense of humor might not be the same as anybody else's, but hey -- I try! LOL! :-)

To make this card, I combined the colors from this week's Color Combo challenge (CC356) -- Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, and Basic Gray -- with the layout from this week's Sketch Challenge (SC336) over at Splitcoast Stampers. My colors aren't quite right, as I don't have the more recent Stampin' Up! colors, but hopefully they're close enough. Since the layout was a bit fancier than what I'd normally do, I kept the accessories to a minimum, using just some green grosgrain ribbon.

Shiny New Year!

2012-01-03T05:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were warm and wonderful! :-) Though I love the splendor of the holidays, I have to admit that there's also something marvelous about packing up all the decorations and getting back to "normal." For me, part of that "getting back to normal" is finding time to craft. It brings me back to center and, along with a lot of prayer, helps to keep me sane. Well, mostly sane! LOL

Things are also getting back to normal over at Tuesday Throwdown. After a two-week break for the holidays, we have a new challenge to share with you today. Since we're celebrating a shiny, new year, we decided to incorporate that as this week's theme -- "Shiny New Year." The challenge is to use something shiny on your project. Our generous sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish. They provided the adorable image used on my card today -- "Snowcone." To create my card, I started with this week's layout from Outlines. (Though they only permit challenge entries made with their stamps, I couldn't resist borrowing their cute sketch!) I colored the image with Copic markers. For my main "shiny" element, I created a background paper piece using tin foil. This is a very simple technique. You simply cover a piece of cardstock with aluminum foil, place the piece inside an embossing folder, and run it through your machine. Fun, but easy! For additional "shine" on my card, I added some clear gloss to the snowman's buttons and his chocolate top-knot. I also added some Stickles glitter glue to the snow and the snowman button. So while it doesn't seem to show well in the photo, this is one super shiny card!

I hope you'll stop over at Tuesday Throwdown and help us kick of this shiny, new year in style. I can't wait to see what you make! :-)

Digi Day at CDS!

2011-12-15T10:55:00.000-05:00

It's time for another new batch of digis at Clear Dollar Stamps, and this month we have 13 new sets for you -- wow!

Among the new digis are a few Christmas sets that were previously only available as clear stamps, for those (like me!) who are still working on Christmas projects. These would also be great for creating Christmas thank you cards, or for scrapbooking your holiday photos after Christmas. My first card features one of these -- "Antique Ornaments," and my second card features another -- "Merry Deer." Both sets are by artist Laurie Wilson. Aren't they both just so elegant? I love the classic feel of them!

For those looking to wish someone well this winter season -- or any time of year -- we have the new "Happy Healing" set. Warning -- I find that laughter mixed with prayer is generally the best medicine, so this is a pretty silly set! :-)

And of course, though we are in the midst of the Christmas season, Valentine's Day is coming up pretty quickly. So we have a few sets to help you get started making those love notes, including the new "Hoppily Ever After," which includes not only a frog prince but a frog princess, too.

To see the rest of this month's new releases along with many wonderful samples made with them, please visit the Clear Dollar Stamps inspiration blog HERE. Thanks for looking! :-)

Warm Wishes

2011-12-14T19:41:00.000-05:00

Are you finished making and mailing your Christmas cards yet? With all that we've had going on, I've only managed to make about 10 of them, and none have been mailed yet. I looked at the calendar today and realized that if I don't get the rest finished in the next couple days, they aren't going to make it in time, given the traffic in the postal system this time of year. Unfortunately, though it would save time, I really hate making lots of just one design. So I decided to compromise and make maybe 3 each of several designs. That way I can save some thinking time but also have fun making them. So here's the first design I made today. The sweet, wintery scene is a digi by artist Anne Fenton, and is one that I received for free by participating in the Creative Freebie Challenge (CFC) at the Outlawz papercrafting forum. (The CFC challenge is a fun, progressive challenge where you use the images provided in order to earn the next set. Visit the Outlawz forum and click on "Challenges" to learn more.) I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, and then highlighted the snow with some Stickles. Back to work now -- I have a LOT more cards to make! :-)

For Someone Special

2011-12-13T05:00:00.002-05:00

Hello, crafty friends! I hope you're enjoying this special time of year. :-)

Today I have a card to share with you for this week's Tuesday Throwdown challenge. Our challenge to you is to make something for someone special. Perfect for this time of year, huh? I made a card, using a wonderful digi from this week's sponsor, MyGrafico. The image is from a beautiful set called "Nature's Christmas." I chose to use this digi to make a card for my mom. One of the things we have in common is a love of nature, so I knew this digi would be perfect for her card. For the layout, I used this week's sketch from Mojo Monday. They always have wonderful sketches that are so fun to play with! I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, and added a greeting from the retired "Primitive Christmas" set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

I hope you'll stop by and join us for this week's challenge. It's the last one for this year, as we'll be taking a break for the holidays after this week. Can't wait to see what you make!

An Extra Special Candle

2011-12-07T15:34:00.002-05:00

Today I have an extra special project to share with you. It is an altered candle that I made for my youngest sister for her birthday, which is next week. Now, you're probably looking at this candle and thinking, what is so special about that? Well, while it might not seem terribly special in the design, it really is. Confused? Well let me explain.

Many of you know that I am adopted. I was placed as an older child -- 11 years old -- after my father passed away and my mother was unable to provide a stable home for my sisters and I. I was placed with one family, and my two younger sisters were placed with another. My sisters and I kept in touch by letters and phone calls for about 2 years, before a "well-meaning" adult decided that this continued contact was impeding our abilities to bond with our new families. And so they severed contact between us. I missed my sisters tremendously over the years -- I can't begin to tell you what it's like to have been a big sister for 11 years and then suddenly not have those "babies" to take care of anymore. To say the least, it left a huge, gaping hole in my heart, a hurt that I carried with me my whole life.

When I was an adult, I began to search for my sisters. Unfortunately, the search was unsuccessful. Even a private detective friend of my hubby's was unable to track them down. So I eventually accepted -- for the most part -- that this was somehow God's plan -- for us to live our lives apart. But I guess part of me just couldn't ever give it up, because about 3 months ago, on a total whim, I typed one of my sisters' names in on Facebook, and there she was! Thinking it might be another woman with the same name, I clicked on her photo, and just about fainted. She looked just like me, and there was no denying that she was my sister! I called my hubby in to look at the computer screen, and he had a similar reaction. Thankfully our kids were already in bed, so we could just sit and be dumbfounded together -- LOL! I contacted my sister the next day, and through her, was able to reconnect with not only my second sister, but the whole rest of my birth family including, yes, my mother.

Fast forward three months, and here I am making a birthday gift for my baby sister, and just feeling incredibly blessed at the privilege of being able to do so. I used a lot of purple and silver because they are her favorite colors, and on the front I added a Scripture verse that we both love. Small, simple details that I didn't know 3 months ago, but that will make her happy on her birthday this year. Like I said, this is one extra special candle. :-)

Warm Wishes From Paul Penguin

2011-12-06T05:00:00.018-05:00

Are you enjoying the holiday season? The team at Tuesday Throwdown sure is, and our challenge to you this week is to create something that "celebrates the season." This could be a Christmas or other seasonal holiday card, or just something late fall/winter-ish. Whatever you're celebrating during this season, we'd love to see it!

Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish. I created my card for this week's challenge using the sweet "Paul Penguin Sleighing" image that they generously provided to our team. The image is colored with Copic markers. The layout for this card is from Card Positioning Systems.

I have to admit that we don't get winter snow in my little part of the world, and yet snowy images are some of my favorite to craft with during the holiday season, especially cute penguins and snowmen! Thankfully, I have plenty of friends and family who do live in colder climates, so there's someone to send these cards to! :-)

Birthday Calendar

2011-12-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

Here's another of the items I've been working on for the upcoming gift fair at my daughters' school -- a birthday calendar. It folds up accordian style, displaying 6 months of the year on one side when open, and six months on the other side. I made one of these for myself about three years ago, and have found it so helpful that I thought it would make a good gift item. The idea originally came from photo albums I'd seen made in similar fashion.

Though the construction of this took some time, the mechanics of the album itself are pretty basic:

1. Cut three strips of 12-inch by 4-inch cardstock. These will make up your album base.
2. Score your cardstock for folding. To do this, turn a strip so that it lays across your stamping area with the 12-inch length spread horizontally. Then, with your scoring tool (I use an Empressor stylus with my Fiskar's Euro-cutter), score the strip four inches in from the left end. After making this score mark, flip the paper over so that the score mark you made remains on the left end, but the former underside of the paper is now the top side. Now, score the paper eight inches from the left end, then flip the paper back over to its original position. If you have scored correctly, your paper should be scored into three four-by-four-inch squares, with the two score lines folding in opposite directions.
3. Repeat this process with the other two strips of paper.
4. When all three strips are scored in an identical pattern, affix the first square of one strip to the back of the third square of a second strip. This will give you a five-square-long strip of cardstock.
5. Repeat this process, attaching the first square of your final strip to the back of the third square of the strip you just attached. You should now have a seven-square-long strip of cardstock, with score marks that alternate in direction between each of the squares.
6. Using your folding tool, fold your album accordion-style along the score marks you made.

If you do all of this correctly, your album should fold into a four-inch by four-inch square booklet, with three folds at the left side, and three folds at the right. The cover of the album will have a fold at the left, and will open at the right. If you flip the album over from right to left, the new cover should now do the same. If you play with your new album, you'll find that it can be spread out to show all seven squares on a side at a time, or multiple combinations of three squares at a time.

For the calendar grids, I created a simple table in Microsoft Word that I printed repeatedly on white cardstock, editing it a bit as necessary for those months with fewer or more days than others. I stamped the names of each month using alphabet stamps from Close to My Heart. I also decorated the top and bottom covers of the whole album (see picture at top) so that there would be a picture showing no matter which part of the calendar was displayed. For this particular calendar, I used my "Everlasting Light" digi (no longer available, but if you "need" it, leave me a message with your email address and I'll send it to you), along with a computer-generated "Days to Remember" title. The papers are all retired ones from Stampin' Up! For the round-edged, "coaster" look, I punched all the page corners with a corner rounder.

Snowman Soup

2011-12-02T12:29:00.001-05:00

I've spent the last couple days making packet after packet of this charming little Christmas treat -- Snowman Soup. To each little pouch I added a packet of cocoa mix, a candy cane, and a handful of marshmallows (aka snowmen).

The darling Snowman Soup digi image is a new release at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, and was drawn by my dear friend Sandy Domelle. Isn't it adorable??? My coloring isn't the best on this one, but the image is only an inch high, and I find it tough to color in miniature. Also, my blue Copic markers have all gone dry, so I had to work with a watercolor marker to color the cup.

The poem is one that I wrote myself. There is a sweet poem digi also available at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, but it didn't quite fit my needs this time. These packets will be donated, along with a box of other goodies, to my daughters' school for their Christmas craft fair. The idea behind the craft fair is for the kids to be able to shop for their friends and families, so I wanted a poem that detailed exactly what snowman soup is, and that would be applicable to anyone they might buy it for. There are many poems out there you can find to use, but most had slightly different ingredients than what I put in mine. So it was DIY time. For anyone else who might like to use it, here's my little poem digi. To save it to your computer, click the image to enlarge it to full-size, then right-click on the image, and finally select Save As... and choose the location to which you want to save it.

Joy to the World!

2011-12-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I played along with the CAS ("clean and simple") challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. The challenge was a sketch, and here's the Christmas card that I came up with. Now, I've never been great with CAS cards, but I liked how this one came out. The image and greeting are both from the "Christmas Cuties" digi set, which is available as an instant download at Clear Dollar Stamps. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, and blended the pencils with a Prismacolor Blender Marker. I wouldn't normally use black on a Christmas card, but thought it looked elegant with the other colors. And besides, it made me feel less self-conscious about the obvious lack of patterned papers -- LOL! Now, if you're wondering about the gray splotches here and there, that is Shimmer Spritz. It's a brand new toy that I love, as it makes the paper sparkly in a quick second, but I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. I got a little heavy-handed, and thus the dusty face on the penguin and the gray splotches. I'll have to keep practicing. Good thing it's winter and all those snowy digis and stamped images "require" sparkle! :-)

One for the boys!

2011-11-29T05:00:00.018-05:00

I don't know about you, but when I make cards, they usually have a fairly feminine feel to them. I can't help it -- I love cutesy images, buttons, bows, pearls, flowers, glitter mist, and all those other girly notions! But this week at Tuesday Throwdown, we were challenged -- and are challenging you in turn! -- to set the girly notions aside and make a holiday card for a boy or man. Our wonderful challenge sponsor this week is Dude Time Doodles. They have a very fun collection of images and greetings designed specifically with "the boys" in mind. Here's what I made using the "Presents!" digi that they generously supplied to our team. The layout used for this card is this week's sketch from the Digi Makeover Challenge, rotated to work with the image. I hope you'll stop over at Tuesday Throwdown this week and show us your fabulous, masculine holiday cards. We always appreciate the extra inspiration! :-)

Celebrate the Season!

2011-11-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends! How are you? I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend, with lots of good food and special time with family! I know it's been a couple weeks since I posted, but I really needed some time to finish healing and recharge my spirit. Now my arm is finally feeling good as new again, and I'm ready to dive back into crafting -- just in time, too. The Christmas season is upon us, and like you, I have a LOT of gifts, cards, and other goodies to make!

Here is a Christmas card that I made just this morning. The layout is the current sketch at Graphicat Sketches. The scene is actually made up of two separate, new digis by K 'n K Designs -- "Kolar's Sled" and "Winter Kolar." As soon as I saw these new cuties (only $1 each at K 'n K Designs!), I knew I wanted to use them together. That is one of the things I love about digis -- the ease with which they can be combined into scenes, no masking required. To make the scene, I sized the two doggies to resemble a mama and her pup, and layered the smaller dog digi right on top of the other in Photoshop. I used the PNG versions of the digi files, as these have transparent backgrounds, so the digis layer "cleanly," without a solid white box obscuring anything. Sometimes there are some extra, unneeded lines showing, but these can easily be erased in Photoshop. I colored the image with colored pencils, using a Prismacolor Blender Marker to blend them. The greeting is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "So Many Scallops." I also added a little sparkle to the scene by spraying the card with some Frost Shimmer Spritz. You can almost see it in the photo if you look closely.

OK, back to my craft table for some more card making -- I have a lot of time to make up for! :-)

Digi Day at CDS!

2011-11-15T11:00:00.004-05:00

It's that time of the month again -- time for new digis at Clear Dollar Stamps! This month we have another wonderfully humongous release to share with you, and as always, I've made a couple of samples to share with you.

My first card uses the new "12 Days of Christmas Color" by Laurie Wilson. Isn't this a sweet scene? It incorporates all the fun elements from one of my favorite holiday tunes, and the fact that it's pre-colored makes it so easy to put together cute Christmas cards! I simply printed the image, cut it out with a Nestabilities die, and layered it on some of the pretty papers that also come in the set. I punched holes at the top and bottom of the die-cut scene, and laced some ribbon through for a little festive accent, and topped it off with some pretty half-pearl brads that I found at Michael's last winter. Easy-peasy!

For my second card, I used an image from my own newest set, "Let Your Light Shine." This set is a little different from my usual creations, but I wanted to make something that could be used for everyday encouragement cards for both men and women. I truly believe that part of our purpose in life is to encourage and support one another, and I'm hoping you'll find this set as useful as I hoped it could be in encouraging your loved ones! :-) To make this card, I used the hurricane lamp image, along with the Scripture verse that is included in the set. I colored the image with Copic markers, and layered the card with papers from the Citrus Stack by DCWV. Whenever I need "cheery" these are my go-to papers, because the colors are just so warm.

Please be sure to stop by the Clear Dollar Stamps blog today to see all the other wonderful new digis, as well as the many fun projects the design team has made to share with you! :-)

Circles!

2011-11-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we're all about circles! We want to see circles on your projects -- in your papers, your images, your accessories, or even the shape of your card -- however you want to do it, as long as it includes circles. Hope you'll stop over and play along with us!

For my card, I used these sweet little button and ladybug digis from the "Doodle Flowers" set by My Grafico (this week's generous sponsor). I used two different patterns of paper that both have circles on them, and cut out both the ladybug and the buttons so that their circular shapes would show up better. I popped up the ladybug with some foam dimensional tape, and then added a little Glossy Accents (my new favorite toy!) to her shell for shine.

A funny little note about this card. As it turns out, I probably shouldn't have added the Glossy Accents. I forgot that I had done so, and scanned the card before the gloss was completely dry. I got the card scanned just fine (obviously, right?), but when I lifted the lid of the scanner and tried to remove the card, I found that it was dried firmly to the scanner bed! With a lot of tugging, followed by some serious scrubbing with Windex, the scanner was saved, but sadly the ladybug had to be sacrificed in the process. Oops! Guess I'll have to make a new one. Maybe next time I'll leave the Glossy Accents off. ;-)

Trying to get my mojo back!

2011-11-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

With the holidays coming (way too quickly!) I've really got to get back in the groove of crafting. So today I popped over to Christmas Stamping All Year Long to see what their challenge was for this week, and it was to use a favorite sketch challenge to make a card. I have a few favorite sketch challenges, and finally settled on this fun layout from Mojo Monday. The images and greeting are all from a digi set called "Patchpal Reindeer" by Clear Dollar Stamps. I colored the images and the greeting with Copic markers, and then added some Glossy Accents to the holly berries, the ornaments, and the candy cane, as well as some Stickles glitter glue to the stars and the tree skirt to make things more festive. The papers are more from the Seasonal stack I bought at Joanne's back in September. I thought it was made by Cloud 9 but somebody told me recently it wasn't, so now I have no clue! :-)

An Apology

2011-11-08T14:08:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to post a quick apology to my blogging friends, as I have not been able to comment much on YOUR lovely creations lately. My arm is healing, but typing is still fairly painful and I can't do a lot of it. Please know that I will catch up little by little, and hope that you will forgive me for the relative silence. Just wanted you all to know that I really do still care! HUGS!

Merry & Bright

2011-11-08T05:00:00.004-05:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we are sharing projects made using our favorite color combinations. I love colors in general, so I have a lot of favorites, but probably my most favorite combo is red, yellow, and green. I know some of you are probably thinking "Ooh -- yuck!" but I truly enjoy how these colors look together -- so bright and cheery!

To make my card for this week's challenge, I used these colors along with a sweet image called "Snow Trio," from Stitchy Bear Stamps. To go along with the bright color combo, I added the "Merry & Bright" greeting from an old Stampin' Up! set by the same name.

Stitchy Bear Stamps is our fabulous sponsor for this week's challenge, and is providing a generous prize to one random entrant, so be sure to stop by and play along with us this week. All you have to do is use some favorite colors -- easy-peasy! :-)

Thankful For You!

2011-11-01T05:00:00.002-04:00

Happy 1st day of November, friends, and happy Tuesday! This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge to you is to make a "thank you" project. With Thanksgiving Day only a few weeks away now here in the United States, I chose to make one with a Thanksgiving theme, but you don't have to do that to play along -- every day is a good day to be thankful! :-)

The cutie-patootie turkey image used on my card was provided by this week's generous challenge sponsor, Robyn's Fetish, and is called "Tom Turkey." I colored the image with Copic markers, then added a little Glossy Accents to his beak, legs, and the buckle on his hat (wish it showed up better in the photo). The greeting is computer-generated. The papers are, I believe, from this year's seasonal stack by Cloud 9, and the ribbon is from my stash. The photo corners were made with an EK Success punch, and the orange half-pearls are by Recollections, found at Michael's Crafts.

Hope you'll stop by and play along with us this week, and show us YOUR beautiful "thank you" projects! :-)

Thanks For Giving Your All!

2011-10-30T17:15:00.002-04:00

Happy Sunday, friends! I pray you have had a beautiful weekend with your families! We've had a busy one, but I did want to take a moment to share a quick card that I made using the "Kolar's Care Package" digi by the talented Katlyn Traxler. This sweet set is another of the seven special fundraiser digi sets that are currently available HERE at the K 'n K Designs blog to help Operation Write Home (OWH). If you're not familiar with them, OWH is a not-for-profit organization that sends handmade greeting cards to American soldiers for use in keeping touch with their families back home. OWH has a big goal of $13,000 to reach in order to ship cards to our soldiers this holiday season, and I'm praying so hard that with your help, we can help them get that money. It would just be SO wonderful to guarantee that each of our soldiers and their families can be blessed in this way, considering how much their service blesses each of us every day. Every penny raised from the sale of these digis (minus Paypal fees) will be donated directly to OWH to help. The digis are only available thru Tuesday (November 1st), so if you haven't picked up yours yet, please remember to stop by and snag them. They are all very affordably-priced at just $2 per set, and all 7 sets for just $10.

Another Year Has Creeped By

2011-10-29T16:24:00.001-04:00

October is my favorite month of the year, and I'm so sad that it is on it's way out. With a busted arm, I haven't been able to craft all the creepy-but-cute things I love to make for October. Now that the cast is off and I can once again craft (albeit slowly), I thought I'd get in one last hurrah for October by playing in several challenges at once and making an "almost Halloween" birthday card.

To make this card, I used the new "Spider Greetings" digi set by Clear Dollar Stamps. I love how sweet this little spider is. If I found one of these around the house, I might be tempted to keep him instead of shooing him outside -- LOL! I colored the image with Copic markers, then fussy cut it, and layered it on to the purple cardstock. I've had these green stick-on gems in my stash for so long, and finally found a use for them -- I added a few as "sprinkles" on the cupcake, and larger ones as corner accents. The orange border piece is punched with a Martha Stewart "doodle border" punch. The patterned papers are from the Eerie Collection by Basic Grey, which I've also been hoarding for a couple years now -- time to use it! The spider web ribbon was an RAK from a sweet friend, so I'm not sure who makes it.

I'm entering my card in these challenges:

* Outlaws Friday Promarker/Copic Challenge (Halloween)
* Sentimental Sundays (Halloween + a sentiment)
* Make It Monday (Anything Goes EVERY week!)
* Tuesday Morning Sketches (Layout used to make this card)
* Use It Tuesday (Orange, black, or purple)
* Crafting 4 All Seasons (Halloween)

Primary Colors

2011-10-25T09:00:00.003-04:00

(Sorry this is so late today! I just discovered that my scheduled post never actually posted!)

It's a very colorful week at Tuesday Throwdown! The challenge is to use "primary colors" on your project. This week's generous sponsor, My Grafico, provided the team with the very fun "Circus Stamps" digi set that is just perfect for this challenge. My Grafico offers an extensive line of printable digi stamps, papers, and full-color projects. They also have a pretty good sale going on right now, and many freebies available on their site for you to try, so be sure to stop by and check them out.

For my card, I used the elephant and popcorn image from the "Circus Stamps" set to make a birthday card. I colored both images with Copic markers, and then fussy cut them, and attached them with foam dimensional tape so that they pop up from the card. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I do that a lot -- LOL! I just love how the images look when they are applied this way. I had to really dig through my paper stash to find just the right print for this card, and finally found this dotted paper, which I believe was made by Creative Memories about 10 years ago. Talk about an oldie but goodie! The blue scalloped edging on the left end of the card was made using scalloped scissors, and the circles were made using the Nestabilities Scalloped Circles Large die, and the Creative Memories Custom Cutting System, respectively. The "happy birthday" greeting is by Stampendous, and is stamped in white craft ink.

Hope you'll stop by and play along with us at Tuesday Throwdown this week! We'd love to see what you can do with primary colors. :-)

OWH Blog Hop Prize WINNERS!

2011-10-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks VERY much to everyone who participated in our OWH Fundraiser Blog Hop over the weekend, and who helped us to raise funds for Operation Write Home! As promised, from those who commented to show their participation, here are the two randomly-selected winners of digi prize packs from K 'n K Designs:

Karen Seifert of Karen's Digi Blog!

AND

Donna Hanley of Designing Keepsakes!

Congratulations, Karen and Donna! Ladies, please contact me at amiste@sonic.net for directions about how to claim your prize.

***Just a reminder to everyone, there's still time to purchase your OWH fundraiser digis HERE to help OWH get the funds they need for holiday shipping. The digis will be available for sale thru noon on November 1st.***

Operation Write Home Fundraiser Blog Hop!

2011-10-20T22:00:00.019-04:00

Hello, friends -- thanks for stopping by, and welcome to the last stop on today's Operation Write Home Fundraiser Blog Hop! Today some crafty friends and I are showcasing some special digis that you can purchase HERE to help Operation Write Home (aka OWH) get the funds they need for shipping this holiday season. I'll tell you about my card in a moment, but first, please let me give you a little info about WHY we are hopping today:

Operation Write Home (aka OWH) is a not-for-profit organization that collects and sends handmade greeting cards to American soldiers deployed throughout the world. These include blank cards that they can use to keep in touch with their families back home, as well as "Thank You, Hero" cards for the soldiers themselves. It is so very important that our soldiers know that they are loved and remembered, and that their efforts in protecting our freedoms are appreciated. It is also important for their families to know how much their sacrifices on our behalves are appreciated. Every day, OWH and the many folks who contribute to them help to make that happen. But right now, OWH needs a little extra help. The cost of sending cards to our soldiers this holiday season will total about $13,000, and OWH simply doesn't have that kind of cash in reserve. If you're at all like me, seeing that staggering number instantly makes you say,"How can I help?" Well, let me tell you!

Over at the K 'n K Designs blog (their inspiration blog, not their store), you'll find 7 special digi sets available to purchase, including the one used on my card today. The proceeds from the sale of these digi sets (minus Paypal fees) will ALL go directly to Operation Write Home to help meet their holiday shipping costs. Each digi set is just $2, or you can buy them in various value bundles as well (e.g. get them ALL for just $10!) These will be available to purchase thru noon on November 1st. All purchases will be emailed to you within 24 hours.

If you are not a crafter yourself, or don't like digis, please consider purchasing the digis for someone as a gift. Alternately, you can help by donating directly to Operation Write Home. (Info about how to do that is HERE.) Every little bit we can do helps! :-)

Now -- finally (LOL!) -- for my project today, I've made a "Thank You, Hero" card using the "Eagle" fundraiser digi by Katlyn Traxler. I will use this card to write a personal thank you to one of our soldiers, to be included with a box of cards to OWH. I have no idea who makes the star background paper I used (its been in my stash for a couple years), but I loved how the pattern of the stars around the edges made it easy to put this card together! I printed the image on white cardstock by Georgia Pacific, then colored it with Copic markers. I fussy cut it, then layered it over some blue and red cardstock stripes, adding foam dimensional tape to the back of the image so that it pops up a bit from the card base. The greeting says "Proud to be an American," and is part of the "Eagle" digi set, too. I punched that out with the Word Window punch by Stampin' Up!, then layered it on red cardstock and used a white gel pen to create a little marquee of sorts around it. Voila -- a cheery card that I hope will lift the spirits of one our soldiers.

I'm entering my card in these challenges:

* Make It Monday (Anything goes EVERY week!)

* 4 Crafty Chicks (Mark it up -- Use markers)

* The Corrosive Challenge (Flying Things)

* Scrappy Frogs (Something that flies)

Now, back to the blog hop!

* If you were already following the hop, you should have come here from Steph's blog.

* If this is your first stop on the hop, please start at the beginning on NanaConnie's blog so that you don't miss any of the fun!

* Not only do we have some fabulous projects to show you, but we're giving away two digi prize packs, generously donated by K 'n K Designs! The two lucky winners will be selected by random draw from those who participate in the hop, so please be sure to visit all the stops and leave each crafter a little love so that we know you participated. You have until 8pm Pacific Time on Sunday evening to participate, and the winners will be announced right here on my blog on Monday morning, so don't forget to check back.

Thanks for visiting, and have a terrific weekend!!!

GRRR-eat Birthday!

2011-10-18T13:03:00.000-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge to you is to make a "shaped" card -- anything other than a standard square or rectangle. Our sponsor this week is Catherine Pooler, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Please visit us at Tuesday Throwdown to play along and read the details of the very fun prize Catherine is offering to one lucky winner this week!

For my card, I used the wonderful bear image from the "Under the Stars" set by Stampin' Up, stamped in Basic Black on Whisper White cardstock. The greeting is computer-generated. The patterned paper is by Basic Grey. To get the heart shape, I folded the cardstock in half, and then used the heart-shaped template that is part of the Custom Cutting System by Creative Memories. I cut most of the way around, leaving just a small tab at the top on each side uncut. The patterned paper was cut with the same template, using a different blade to make it nest inside. And yes, as you can probably tell, I'm still not manipulating tools especially markers so well right now -- LOL! But I didn't want to let the team at Tuesday Throwdown down by not participating!

Hope you'll stop by and play with us this week. It's truly one of the joys of each week for us to see the things you make! :-)

Digis to Help Operation Write Home

2011-10-17T07:00:00.004-04:00

Hello friends, and happy Monday! Today I want to tell you about a special fundraiser going on to aid Operation Write Home. In case you're not familiar with them, Operation Write Home is a not-for-profit organization that collects and sends handmade greeting cards to American soldiers for their use in keeping touch with their families back home. Donating cards is a wonderful way to help keep up our soldiers' -- and their families' -- morale, and to say thank you for the gift of our freedom. However, the cost to OWH of shipping all those cards can be pretty large, and right now, they need to raise $13,000 to cover holiday shipping costs.

A few weeks ago, my dear friend Katlyn Traxler of K 'n K Designs came up with the idea to sell some special digi sets to help OWH raise those needed funds. So here's what we've got for you: over at the K 'n K Designs blog (their inspiration blog, not their store), you'll find 7 fun new digi sets available to purchase, including some by Katlyn and some by me. The proceeds from the sale of these sets (minus Paypal fees) will ALL go directly to Operation Write Home to help them meet their holiday shipping costs. Each set is just $2, or you can buy them in various value bundles as well. Later this week I'll have some cards to show you using these sets, but for now, I just wanted to direct your attention that way. I hope you'll stop in and see what we've got for you, and help Operation Write Home make our soldiers' (and their families') holidays a little brighter! :-)

Digi Release Day at Clear Dollar Stamps!

2011-10-15T11:00:00.087-04:00

It's Digi Release Day at Clear Dollar Stamps, and if you thought last month's release was fun, wait until you see this month's! There are SO many new sets, it's hard to know which ones to play with first, but I did pick a few to share with you here today. (For those of you who have asked, no I did NOT make these with a broken arm -- I tend to craft ahead, and all of these were made weeks ago, thankfully -- LOL!)

First up, at the top of my post today, is the new "Charlie Harvest" set. If you've been following CDS for long, you know that Charlie Horse is sort of the company mascot. Illustrator Laurie Wilson puts him in all kinds of fun scenes, and now here he is this month rejoicing in the bounty of Fall. Such a happy scene!

This next card uses the lovely new "March Flower of the Month" set. I know we're a long way from March yet, but daffodils are close to my heart, so I couldn't wait to color this one up. Daffodils are my oldest child's birth month flower, and I have very vivid memories of them blooming everywhere the year he was born, an added gift in a time of great blessing. Every time I see a daffodil, I can't help but think back to the day of his birth and smile. You might notice the script in the background of the card. That is an image that is included in the set, and in the set it was originally black. To get it to be green, I first pasted the image into a new Microsoft Word document, then selected Format Picture > Recolor and chose green for the color. This is another really easy way to get some flexibility with your digis! :-)

And finally, here is a card made with a set that I created for this month's release -- "Christmas Cuties Color." I had so much fun making this set! Not just because I LOVE Christmas, but because for the first time ever, I tried my hand at making digital papers and digitally-colored images. This was a challenge to be sure, but I'm excited to have done it, and hopefully this will expand the types of products I'm able to offer you in the future. The "Christmas Cuties Color" set includes four pre-colored images, several greetings, and four printable digital papers -- everything you need to get started on your Christmas cards! The images and greetings are also available separately in a line art (black and white) version for those of you who love to color, and there is even a set of Christmas gift tags featuring the same images that includes both pre-colored and line art versions.

Thanks for letting me share all of these with you today. I always get so excited about Digi Release Day, and it's hard to limit myself to sharing just ONE card -- LOL! To see more fun artwork featuring these and all of the other wonderful new releases, please be sure to visit the Clear Dollar Stamps blog.

Inspired By & Swimming For Katie

2011-10-14T14:39:00.001-04:00

Today my heart is feeling heavy, and though I'm supposed to be avoiding crafting in order to let my arm heal, I felt compelled to make and share a special "Inspired By" card. A little less than a year ago, my CDS design team sister Katie Renz went to the doctor complaining of stomach aches, and a scant week later learned that she had inoperable stage 4 gastric cancer. Some people might crumble under such heavy news, but not Katie. Despite the fears she no doubt had for herself and her young family, she put her shoulders back, held her chin high, and dove right in to treatment, swimming with all her might. She has been an incredible inspiration to me on a deeply personal level. Thank you, Katie!

As you can imagine, it's not easy swimming up stream all day every day, and lately, Katie has begun to tire of the journey. Earlier this week, her journey took a severe sharp-turn, and she is now in the hospital facing an even more uncertain future. Katie is very blessed to have an incredible number of friends in the crafting community, and so I know there are many praying for her and her family today, as they have been all along. But I just think the more prayers we can get for her, the better, so I'm asking you today to please keep this wonderful woman and her family in your prayers, too.

While I have your attention, I want to tell you about a special fundraiser that is going on this week for Katie and her family. It's called "Swimming for Katie," and involves the sale of some special stamps and digi sets through I {Heart} Papers. These sets, including the one used on my card today -- "Keep Swimming Ribbon Fish" by Trudy Sjolander -- were specifically designed to help Katie's family. You can find all the products for sale HERE, and the proceeds from all purchases will go directly to Katie's family. Thank you very much for your compassion and consideration!

Pink For Awareness

2011-10-11T01:00:00.002-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we are doing our best to help support breast cancer awareness by using PINK in our creations. We'd love to see you do the same! Breast cancer affects nearly 300,000 women in the United States alone each year. Raising awareness is one of the most important things we can do to help fight this disease.

For my card (which thankfully I had made weeks ago, before breaking my arm!), I used two sweet digis by this week's sponsor, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. The image is called "Cocoa Supports the Cause," and the greeting is from the "Everyday Miracles" set. For a chance to win some free digis from SNSS, please stop by Tuesday Throwdown and show your support for this great cause!

In Loving Memory

2011-10-08T12:24:00.000-04:00

It's been a year since my Gram passed away, and I'm really missing her today. She loved birds, especially hummers, and the digi on this card is one I drew last Fall in her honor. I thought I'd share the digi here with you, so that there might be more sweet hummers out in the world today in her memory. To download the image, click on it to enlarge it to full size, then right-click on it to save to your computer.

Also, my posts are going to be pretty infrequent the next few weeks. On Tuesday I broke my arm. There are some fun things coming up I want to share about, so there will be some new things posted here and there. But my posts will be shorter with more time between for a bit here while I heal. Thanks for understanding.

Trick-or-Treat

2011-10-04T00:00:00.021-04:00

I can't believe it's Tuesday again, and the first Tuesday of October, no less! This whole year has just flown by, and I'm afraid to blink lest I wake up and find that Christmas is already here -- I haven't even started my shopping yet -- LOL!

Being that it is Tuesday, I have a Tuesday Throwdown challenge card to share with you today. This week's challenge theme is "Halloween." Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish, and they generously provided the team with some fun digis with which to inspire you, including the darling little "Bearly a Pumpkin" image featured on my card. Robyn's Fetish has a lot of other fun images, for Halloween and otherwise, as well as digital papers and what-not at their store, and I hope you'll stop by and visit them. They also have a SALE going this month -- in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all products are currently 35% off!

I colored this cutie-patootie teddy image with Copic markers, giving this sweet bear a little patch of orange hear to match his pumpkin costume, and added some stick-on pearls by Recollections for fun. The background papers are a mix from the Basic Grey "Eerie" collection (black patterned paper) and the Cloud 9 "Seasonal" stack candy corn paper). The greeting is from an old Halloween set by MFT.

Hope you'll stop by this week and join our fun challenge. We love getting inspired by you, and you'll be entered to win a prize from Robyn's Fetish this week just for playing! :-)

Inspired By...Rhonda!

2011-09-30T19:52:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday! Today I've made another fun Fall card to share with you, inspired by the work of Rhonda Miller. Rhonda is a lovely lady who makes equally lovely cards. She has a wonderfully clean, uncluttered style that I really appreciate. That's not to say that her cards are simple -- she puts a lot into them. But the way she lays everything out, her choices of colors, textures, images -- they always feel "organized" in a way that is very appealing to me. She also tries a lot of "fun folds" in her cardmaking. Normally I feel really overwhelmed when I see elaborate cardmaking techniques, so I just admire their beauty and move on. But more than once, Rhonda has inspired me to give one of these "fun folds" a try. Not only that, but Rhonda always seems to have the "skinny" on new companies, new digis, new challenges, who has blog candy, etc. I can't tell you how often I've visited her blog, only to end up shopping for something I shouldn't because I saw her use it in such a cute way -- LOL! So for today's "Inspired By" project, it seemed appropriate not only to make a "fun fold" card, but to use some images from one of the sweet companies Rhonda led me to.

This style of card is called a "step ladder." One of the things that my "organized" brain loves about this style is that, folded, the card measures just 4.25 by 5.5 inches and will fit in a standard A2 envelope. At the same time, when opened, it has a great 3-D effect for which there are so many crafting possibilities. You can find great directions for how to make this style of card HERE. Now I do have to admit that despite the great directions, I did have some trouble making this card. But that is entirely due to my lack of "mechanical-mindedness" as my hubby calls it. In other words, I folded the folds all wrong and the 3D effect wasn't working, and my hubby had to gently explain to/show me why that was. (Thank God for hubbies who care enough to help their wives figure these things out!) So just be careful, if you try this one, to pay attention to the part of the directions that tells you which way to fold each score line!

This card started as a red base with folds and slits that I layered different scraps of patterned papers onto. Since I'm on my Fall card kick right now, I used the Scarecrow and Pumpkin Pie images by The Stamping Boutique, one of the many companies Rhonda has led me to. I colored both images with Copic markers, "fussy cut" them, and layered them on. The greeting is computer-generated and says, "Fall blessings to you!"

Now that I've figured this one out, I think I'll be making a few more for family and friends during the coming holiday season. Thanks so much for the inspiration, Rhonda! :-)

A Little Spice

2011-09-28T23:25:00.001-04:00

Here is a little something I made today using the Sweet & Spicy digi set (available at Clear Dollar Stamps). Apples, in all their various forms, including and especially apple cider, are some of my favorite things about Fall. Of course, with the weather we've been having the last couple weeks (it's currently 83 degrees outside at 8pm), there's no need for a warm cup of cider, but hey, a girl can dream, right? The layout for this card is from this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoast Stampers I added a pretty glitter-edged leaf in place of the star that they show on their sketch, in keeping with the Fall theme of the card. I lucked into these leaves a few weeks ago at Michael's Crafts. I was there shopping for a gift, and discovered that all of the Recollections products were 50% off -- no coupon needed! As a stay-at-home-mom, my crafting budget is limited (whose isn't these days, though, right?), so I love when I find good deals like that and can pick up a little something extra. :-)

I am entering this card into these challenges:

* Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge #352 (Layout used on my card)
* Crafting For All Seasons (Fall Colors)

2011-09-27T00:00:00.013-04:00

Happy Tuesday, crafty friends! This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we have a special double challenge for you. The main challenge is to make a "thinking of you" card. The bonus challenge? Send your card to Operation Write Home! I've mentioned OWH many times here, but in case you're not familiar with them, they are a non-profit organization that provides handmade greeting cards to help American soldiers keep in touch with their loved ones back home. OWH gets its stock from crafters like you and me, and since "Thinking of You" cards are in high demand, we hope to help OWH grow their stock through our challenge this week. If you play along with our main challenge this week, you could win your choice of a free printable set from this week's generous challenge sponsor, My Grafico. And if you send your card to OWH, not only will you be helping to support our soldiers and their families, but you'll also be entered to win this week's bonus prize -- a $20 gift certificate to spend at My Grafico. How fun is that?

For my card today, I used the birdcage image from the "Posh 'n Trendy Stamps" set by My Grafico. The greeting is computer-generated.

Happy Fall

2011-09-26T13:01:00.001-04:00

Yes, I am all about Fall right now as far as card-making goes. What can I say except that I've been eagerly waiting a whole year to celebrate it, and since soon I'll need to move on to Christmas cards, I've got to get in all the Fall cards I can right now. :-)

For today's card, I used a sweet image and fun stitchy greeting from the "Patchpal Scarecrow" set by Clear Dollar Stamps. I have no idea where this patterned paper came from, but I thought it went great with the way I colored the image. Because the paper was a bit busy, I didn't add much in the way of embellishments -- just a little knot of orange twill tape and narrow, green grosgrain ribbon. I also added one of these cute little crow pop-up stickers that a friend sent me last Fall -- he has funny, googly eyes, and I just thought he added a little something fun to the scene.

Challenges Entered:
* Make It Monday (Anything goes EVERY week!)
* Crafts 4 Eternity (Autumn Days)
* CCEE Stampers (Add a bird)

Being With You

2011-09-23T16:47:00.002-04:00

Happy Fall! I'm so glad it's finally here -- my favorite time of the year -- woo-hoo! It's been a really long week here, and I can't think of any better way to end it than with the arrival of this wonderful season. I'm fixing to go out and play in a big pile of leaves this weekend. How about you? :-)

Today I made a Fall card for the challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks. I used one of my all-time favorite Fall stamp sets -- "Being With You." This is an old set by The Angel Company, long retired, and of course now the whole company has closed, so we won't be getting any more wonderful stamps from them -- so sad! To make this card, I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific white cardstock. For those of you who have asked, those are what I use when I want to color with Copics. The Memento ink doesn't smear, and the Georgia Pacific cardstock is available for very little at Walmart. (Yes, there are smoother cardstocks that also work, but as a stay-at-home-mom, I always have to be budget-conscious if I want to keep crafting!) The layout for this card is from sketch challenge #87 at Stars & Stamps. In keeping with the recipe challenge at Moving Along With the Times, I used three different patterned papers from my scraps stash, and two kinds of embellies -- buttons and a little baker's twine.

Now, I know I normally post an "Inspired By" card on Fridays, but I hope you'll forgive me for not doing so this week. Like I said, it was a very long week. I do hope to be back with another installment and another wonderful crafter to inspire you next Friday. Thanks for your understanding! :-)

Challenges Entered:

* Sketch 87 at Stars & Stamps
* 4 Crafty Chicks (Fall/Autumn)
* Make It Monday (Anything Goes EVERY week!)
* Moving Along With the Times (3 patterned papers, 2 kinds of embellies, 1 image)

Fall Days

2011-09-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I can't believe how quickly this last week has flown by, and that it is Tuesday again already, but then again this whole year has felt that way to me -- LOL!

I have a card to share with you today for this week's Tuesday Throwdown challenge. This week our sponsor is Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, and our theme is "Fall Days." What a perfect theme for this time of year! For my card, I used the gorgeous "Autumn Blessings" digi, provided by our generous sponsor. I love how sweet and old-fashioned this image is, and the greeting is part of the image itself. I colored the image with Copic markers, adding a little brown for a table of sorts around the collection of fruits and leaves. The background paper is a scrap leftover from a few Fall seasons ago. It's probably my all-time favorite Fall paper, and I'm kind of bummed to have used up the last piece of it, but oh well -- that makes more room for new papers -- LOL! The border was made using acorn- and leaf-shaped punches by EK Success, and just punching them alternately in a piece of burgundy cardstock. Then I added a very thin strip of yellow punched with a Stampin' Up! border punch below that.

I hope you'll stop over and play with us at Tuesday Throwdown this week. We love to see your wonderful creations! :-)

Inspired By...Sandy!

2011-09-16T12:55:00.005-04:00

Sandy Domelle is a crafter with so much heart. She is not afraid to share her Christian faith, something I appreciate very much. Every card she makes has such a wonderfully warm, wholesome, "homey" feel. She uses sweet little images (often pre-colored printables) that harken back to simpler, sweeter times, combined with lots of bows, flowers, buttons, and sometimes stitching or distressing. She often includes encouraging Scripture or Christian sayings on her cards, and you can just feel the love that she has for the Lord and the life that He has blessed her with, and how much she loves to share that love with others, every time you visit her blog.

My card today is inspired by Sandy's wonderful style. To make this card, I used a pre-colored primitive Annie digi (by Shweet Potato Designs, I think -- it's been a while, and I can't remember where I got this one!) along with this week's sketch by Tuesday Morning Sketches. The background papers are mostly scraps from a stack that Debbie Mumm did for Joann's Crafts a few years back, as well as a couple patterns from the Seasonal stack by Cloud 9. I tied on a crinkled ribbon bow and added a flower by Recollections to the center to make it a little sweeter. The greeting -- "Harvest Blessings" -- is from a retired set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

On the inside, I added another little pumpkin that I cut out from the original image, as well as a favorite Scripture verse -- "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. -- Psalm 107:1"

All in all a card that reminds me very much of the sweet ones Sandy makes -- thanks for the inspiration, Sandy! :-)

I am sharing today's card for these challenges:

* Tuesday Morning Sketches (Sketch plus decorate inside)
* Make it Monday (Anything goes every week!)
* Really Reasonable Ribbon (Autumn plus use ribbon)
* Cute Card Thursday (Anything Goes)
* Digital Tuesday (Celebrate the Season -- Any season (I'm celebrating Autumn!))

Digi Day at CDS AND Some Fun News!

2011-09-15T11:04:00.000-04:00

It's digi release day at Clear Dollar Stamps. If you haven't already, be sure to visit the store to see all the fun new sets! For more inspiration, there is a whole array of projects made by the design team over on the store blog (Clearly iStamp) today, too. Of course, I've got several samples of my own to share with you, AND some fun news as well. :-)

The Cards!

My first card today (at the top of this post) features the new "Sunshine & Smiles" set. I love all flowers, but sunflowers are far and away my favorites. What's not to love about their cheery yellow petals, with their wide faces always turned up to the sun? I can't get them to grow in my own yard very well, so I content myself with walking around the neighborhood this time of year and ogling my neighbors' instead. Hope they realize I'm just envying their flowers and not being a Peeping Tomasina -- LOL! :-)

This second card was made using the new "Autumn Friends Color" set. This is a fully-colored set that includes the digital papers that I used on my card, as well as the image colored a couple different ways, including a version with a happy jack-o-lantern face carved on the big pumpkin. It would be great for making quick-but-adorable Halloween treats, or simple Fall "hello" cards like this one.

On this next card I've featured the "October Flower-of-the-Month" set, the newest in the birth month flower series. Marigolds are another of my favorite flowers, again for their sunny dispositions. Anything that adds sunshine to the world is truly wonderful in my book!

Last but not least, here is a card made with the new "Sweet & Spicy" set. The focus of this set is Fall apples, and I've used the caramel apple image here. My hubby made some caramel apples for the family a couple days ago, and he said, "Look honey -- they look just like your card!" You've gotta love a man who pays attention to the cards his wife makes! Of course, it's probably only because seeing the card made him crave his favorite Fall treat in the first place, but I'll take what I can get -- LOL!

The News!

Now I promised to share some fun news, and here it is: two of the digi sets being released at Clear Dollar Stamps today (and featured on my cards) were drawn by me, and I'm so excited to get to share them with you! Here are the sets that I drew:

"Sunshine & Smiles"

"Sweet & Spicy"

Many of you know that I used to run my own digi store, but made the tough decision to close that store a few months ago. There were many life issues weighing on me at that time, more than I even realized, to be quite honest. But after a summer of prayer and reflection, and a little reordering of priorities, I am once again finding joy in drawing. I know some of you are wondering, so I'll tell you straight out -- no, I don't plan to reopen my digi store right now. Maybe at some point, but for now I'm taking things very slowly, and just feeling blessed to be right where I am. I do hope to create a digi set or two each month for you through Clear Dollar Stamps (as long as they'll have me!) and sincerely hope you won't mind me sharing my joy and some of my digi creations here. :-)

New Puppies!

2011-09-14T09:00:00.010-04:00

Have you been over to K 'n K Designs lately? They have a bunch of new cuties in their store. Woo-hoo! :-)

This first card features the new "Pumpkin Patch" digi. You know I love Fall, and am crazy about pumpkins in particular. Put a puppy in the scene, and I'm sold -- LOL! For this card, I used a variety of patterned scraps from my stash, along with some Fall-colored cardstocks by DCWV. I punched the edge of the orange patterned paper with a Martha Stewart punch. It doesn't show very well in the photo, but this punch actually embosses the edge of the paper as well as punching it, which adds to the fun, I think. To make my "fancy" green bow, I simply took two lengths of ribbon and tied them together in one bow, then fluffed the strands out and used glue dots to hold them in place on the card. I always admire the fancy bows I see on others' cards, but can never achieve them -- this is about as fancy as I can get -- LOL!

This second card features a sweet digi called "Dream Big." Which of us hasn't known, at some point or another, someone who's working hard towards getting a degree, to the point of them losing sleep, failing to eat properly, etc.? This is a great set for encouraging those driven individuals! I tried to carry the school theme from the image out into the rest of the card, using pencil-patterned papers from an old DCWV stack along with a piece of graph paper. I punched the edge of the graph paper with an EK Success notebook punch, and then inked the edges of the greeting piece with yellow to try to make it stand out from the graph paper. I was originally going for a "post-it note" look, but decided to attach it with a plain old paper clip instead. The card needed a little something more, so I tied a little baker's twine around the bottom. It doesn't quite go with the school theme, but the colors match! :-)

Precious Raggedies

2011-09-13T03:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! It's time for a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown, and this week we'd like to see you use pearls on your challenge entry. Our fabulous sponsor this week is Stitchy Bear Stamps, and one lucky player will win a prize from them! Stitchy Bear provided the TT team with some fun images to play with this week, including the sweet one used on my card today -- "The Raggedies."

When I was pregnant with our older daughter, the first thing I wanted to find for my baby-to-be was a pair of raggedies. Though I didn't play with dolls much as a girl, my raggedies were much loved, and it was really important to me to have a set for my daughter, too. (I lost mine to a teething puppy when I was a teenager or I'd have passed those along!) I thought it would be really easy to find a set, but as it turned out, she didn't get them until she was almost 3 years old, when a dear friend who'd been helping me in the hunt finally found a pair at a rummage sale. Even though my daughter is nearly 12 now, and has finally outgrown all her other "babies," her raggedies still have a special place on her bed. So, I made this card for her, and will save it for one of those days when she needs a little extra love from Mom.

To make this card, I colored the image with Copic markers, and then cut it out with scissors. I like to do this with bigger images, because eliminating the extra white cardstock gives more room for layering behind the image. I used the heart-shaped template from Creative Memories' Custom Cutting System to make the big hearts in the background, and used an EK Success punch to make the flourishes that I attached the pearls to, to meet the challenge theme. The floral print paper is from the "Togetherness" Mini Deck by Cosmo Cricket. The lace and satin rosebuds are leftovers from different sewing projects over the years, and I thought they added nicely to the vintage feel of the raggedies image.

In His Time

2011-09-11T20:43:00.001-04:00

I don't usually post on Sundays, but the rest of my family is otherwise occupied today, so I thought I'd play along with a few crafty challenges to pass the time. A friend sent me some stamped images of this adorable "Apple Tilda" last fall, and I had totally forgotten about them until digging through my images today. It was like getting the gift all over again, and I had to color her up right away before she got "lost" again! :-) I used the sketch from this week's Just Magnolia challenge for my layout, though I had to rotate it to get my image to work. At Magnolia Stamp Lovers they wanted us to use Fall colors, and of course that is always such a hardship for me, you know -- NOT -- LOL! At Sentimental Sundays, the challenge is "Autumn" and you must include a sentiment on your card. Since I donate most of my cards, I often leave sentiments off so that the cards will be left versatile. But I added this lovely saying from the "In His Time" set (retired, I think) by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. This greeting is based on one of my favorite Scripture verses (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and I think Scripture is always a wonderful thing to include on a card. :-)

Inspired By...Katlyn!

2011-09-09T18:27:00.001-04:00

Today I have a card to share that was inspired by my crafty friend Katlyn Traxler. Katlyn has a clean style to her cards that I really love. She is an excellent colorist, and tends to keep papers and accessories to a minimum, which really lets her images shine. She also happens to be one of my favorite digi illustrators -- she is the creative mind and the hands behind K 'n K Designs, home of Kolar the puppy dog and Juniper the bunny. Something else that inspires me about Katlyn is the work she does to help others through her crafting. Among other helping deeds, she makes cards to send to Operation Write Home for the U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, and she sponsors challenges to help inspire others to create for OWH. In fact, it was her sponsorship of this challenge at OWH that gave me the foundation for this card -- the great sketch!

I tried hard to make my card in Katlyn's style today. I took it easy on the paper layers (yes, there are still layers, but fewer than I might normally use!) and accented with just a little piercing and colorful brads, as Katlyn often does. I also used one of her sweet "Kolar" images. This one is called "Kolar's Birthday." The image makes me giggle, as does the saying: "Go ahead and bark...it's your birthday!" This seemed like the perfect image to use since K 'n K Designs, Katlyn's store, is now celebrating it's 1st birthday -- woo-hoo! If you haven't already, be sure to stop by their blog and participate in the festivities. They have some fun games going on with chances to win free digis. Not only that, but Operation Write Home is also throwing a month-long birthday bash on their "Stars & Stamps" blog, and this sketch challenge is part of the festivities. This is a great chance to get involved at OWH and have fun at the same time. Thanks for the inspiration, Katlyn! :-)

Another 365-day Journey

2011-09-08T22:35:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is a dear friend's birthday, and due to the craziness of my home life lately, I haven't had a chance to mail her card yet. So I thought I would share it here since I know she will visit, that way she can at least see that I didn't forget. Happy Birthday, friend (you know who you are) -- may God bless you in every way on your special day and every day forward! :-)

To make this card, I first sponged the clouds on a plain piece of white cardstock, using an old cloud-making stencil with some Soft Sky ink, both by Stampin' Up! and both retired. The sun is a two-part stamp from "Spring Scenes," and the greeting is from "Birthday Greetings," both by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Again, I think, both are retired. The bunny image is "Balloon Journey" by House-Mouse Designs. This one is still available to purchase through House-Mouse Designs -- LOL! Both the sun and the bunny were colored with Copic markers, then cut out and popped up on the scene with some foam dimensional tape.

Recipe for fun!

2011-09-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting this past week, friends. My youngest was home from school with a fever all week, and she really likes to have me close at hand when she's sick, poor baby. Then on Friday night while washing the dishes, I managed to put my back out, so I spent the whole long weekend laying on the couch. (Getting old is no fun -- LOL!) Anyway, hopefully I can get back on track this week! :-)

To start things off, here is a Fall card I made for this week's challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. The challenge is a recipe: use 3 patterned papers, 2 buttons, and one bow to make something fun to share with everyone! :-) Sponsoring this week's challenge is Robyn's Fetish. They provided the team with a variety of fun products to play with, including both this lovely image and the gorgeous patterned papers that I used on my card today. The image is a digi called "Basket of Apples" , and the papers are from the "Forever Fall" digital (printable) collection.

I colored the image with Copic markers, trying to draw colors from the patterned papers. (Most of the time I do it the other way around -- color the image, then scramble to find papers that match. It's a very frustrating exercise, but I can't seem to break myself from the habit -- LOL!) My green apples didn't quite match the green paper, so I made the apple leaf match instead. I popped up the image with some foam dimensional tape, and tucked a fall-colored silk leaf behind one edge. I found these leaves several years ago at the local Dollar Tree store -- they were just $1 for a full bag of them, and make such fun accents for Fall projects, I think. Even so, it's been a few years and I'm still working my way through this bag of leaves! Just like real Fall leaves -- as they fall, there seems a never-ending supply! ;-)

I'm also sharing my card for these challenges:
* Lexi's Creations ("Autumn")
* Make It Monday ("Anything Goes every week!")
* CMC Copic Challenge Group ("Fall- or Halloween-themed")
* Crafting When We Can (Brand new challenge blog, and my sweet friend April is on the team! "Anything Goes")

Caught a Bug?

2011-08-31T00:00:00.003-04:00

The official cold and flu season may not have started yet, but with the girls being back in school and exposed every day to hundreds of other kids, the "Battle of the Bugs" has already begun in our home. So when I came across this fun image in my digi stash, I was inspired to make a get well card. The image, fun patterned paper, and greeting are all from the "Jargon Mix Color" set by Clear Dollar Stamps. I took the colors for my card directly from the image, which was already fully digitally colored. I've really come to love these pre-colored image and paper sets, as they make it so very easy to put a card together! As a busy mom, "easy" is always appreciated. :-)

Bananas About You

2011-08-30T00:00:00.001-04:00

This week's challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is right up my alley, and I hope you enjoy it, too! We are to use a punny sentiment (play on words). Woo-hoo -- I sure do love those! Our generous sponsor, Digis With Attitude, provided the team with some images to play with, and you should see what everyone came up with -- I'm giggling just thinking about it. I can't wait for the extra chuckles that I'm sure your cards will bring! :-)

For my card, I used the silly "Monkey Business" digi, and added a computer generated greeting -- "I'm bananas about you!" I colored the image with Copics, like usual. These fun jungle papers have been in my stash literally for years, and it was so fun to get to use them finally! They are called "Jungle Palms," and are made by Reminisce. I had a really tough time accessorizing this card, because I wanted to stick with the jungle theme. I finally ended up tying some chocolate-colored hemp into knots and sticking one knot at each of the corners of the greeting piece. Simple, but I think it adds to the feel I was going for.

Anemone Flower

2011-08-29T00:00:00.048-04:00

Do you have a favorite color combo? By far my favorite combo is red, yellow, and green. But then, if you've been following my blog for long, you've probably figured that out since I use it so often -- LOL! Over at Heart Song Inspirations this week, the latest challenge is "Anything goes AND/OR Use a favorite color combo." So for my challenge card this week, I used my fav colors along with the lovely "Anemone Flower" digi by Heart Song Designs. I colored the image with Copic markers, though I had a hard time getting my reds to blend this time for some reason. Maybe it's the heat? I cut out and embossed the edges of the image using my Cuttlebug machine with one of the Nestabilities Labels 4 dies, and then added some dots around the frame with a black gel pen. Ribbons and pearls finish it off. As you can see, this week's challenge is a super easy one, so I hope you'll hop over and join us! :-)

One of a Kind

2011-08-28T18:31:00.001-04:00

Hello friends! I hope you're enjoying a wonderful weekend with your families. I don't usually post on Sundays, but my kids went to play with friends after church, and my hubby got involved in the football games that are on the TV. Finding a little time to play, I eagerly made a card for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge. This is one of my all-time favorite challenges, and lately I haven't been able to play along at all, which is a bummer to me. As it is, I'm going to be entering this week's challenge just under the deadline -- woo-hoo!

I used the little apple stamp from the "Holiday Blitz" stamp set by Stampin' Up! to make this card, along with a computer-generated greeting that is printed directly on the card base. I inked up the apples by coloring directly on the stamp with Stampin' Write markers, then added a little more color to the red apple after stamping it so it would stand out better. I kept the card kind of simple overall, as I really wanted a lot of the white to show. As a crafter, I tend to forget that white is a color, and it was fun to let it shine this time! :-)

A Little Encouragement

2011-08-27T23:40:00.002-04:00

Sometimes we all need a little encouragement. Here is a card that I made to encourage my son, who is going through a tough time right now. He's twenty years old, and trying so very hard to figure out where he's going, and how to get there without surrendering the values with which he was raised. Some days, he just seems to stagger under the pressure of being an adult. We've all been there, right? I know this is a natural part of life, something we all need to go through, and that it is not part of God's plan that I should "fix" this for him. He has to do this to grow and be able to stand on his own two feet. But I can still let him know as often as possible that I love him and am here for him, and that's what this card is about.

To make this card, I used a sweet digi by K 'n K Designs called "Kolar's Raindrop." You can find this digi on the Freebies page at K 'n K. I colored the image with Copic markers, then added a little grey cloud that I cut out with a stencil and embellished with a white gel pen. The cloud is attached with foam dimensional tape so that in real life, the raindrops in the image appear to come down from the cloud. I added the greeting to the little cloud. The first part -- "Believe" -- is a stamp by Inkadinkadoo, and the rest -- "you are loved" -- is my own handwriting. I thought about typing the greeting on the computer to make it a bit neater, but I really wanted this to be personal. Besides, my son's used to reading my messy handwriting. :-)

Inspired By...NanaConnie!

2011-08-26T21:34:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday, friends! I don't know about you, but I'm sure happy that the weekend is here. Do you have fun plans? We will be relaxing at home for the most part. Now that the kids are back in school, the weekends have especially become precious family time again. If you are on the east coast of the U.S. and facing down storms this weekend, please know that my family is praying hard for the safety and well-being of your family and home!

Today's project is another installment for my Friday "Inspired By..." series. This week I have made a bookmark inspired by the work of my friend NanaConnie.

NanaConnie is an inspiration in so many senses of the word. First, she makes a LOT of cards, and a good many of them she sends to Operation Write Home for our soldiers overseas to send home to their loved ones. Many of the rest of them she shares with those in need of love and attention in her own community. I admire that so very much! She is also very active in the crafting community, not just in participating in challenges and teams, but in actively encouraging other crafters. I can hardly visit a blog these days where NanaConnie hasn't left some kind words for that crafter -- she's incredible! Something else that inspires me about her is that she always seems to be trying something new, or using things in ways I never thought to, and when she does, she shares about it. You have to appreciate a friend who is willing to share her crafty secrets, am I right?

My bookmark today is inspired by this card that NanaConnie made. First, on her card, she used a striking combination of purple and white, and I loved the look of those colors together. Also on her card, she used an embossing resist technique that I just had to try. She created a background piece by stamping the images with clear embossing ink, then embossed them with clear embossing powder. Then she swiped some ink over the cardstock, and voila -- a striking background! I used her technique with the snowflakes in the background of my bookmark, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. As you can see, when you apply the ink over the embossing the embossed area stays white -- so fun! Thanks very much, NanaConnie, for the inspiration!

BTW, in case you're wondering why I'm making wintery bookmarks in August, I was asked by the PTA at my daughters' school to make items for a Christmas craft fair they'll be having in December, and this is one of the items I'll be contributing. What's really fun about this craft fair is that its whole purpose is to provide low-cost items for the students to purchase as Christmas gifts for their family and friends. Any money made will simply go into paying for gift wrapping and other supplies needed to put on the craft fair. How fun is that? So I'll be sharing lots of little projects like this in the next couple months as I complete my quota, and looking to all of you for lots of inspiration! :-)

A Fall Cuppa

2011-08-24T00:00:00.038-04:00

I'm continuing with my Fall theme this week. Obviously it's much on my mind, huh? I just want it to hurry up and get here! The weather has been SO hot lately, and though we were blessed to have a mild summer overall, I'm truly ready for a change. :-)

Today's card was made using the "What a Pane" digi set by Clear Dollar Stamps. To me this image represents those wonderful Fall mornings, when the air is cool and crisp, making it perfect for sharing a cup of something warm with a friend or loved one. I colored the digi with Copic markers, then added a few tiny punched leaves to the scene to give it that truly Fall feel. The designer papers are from one of the DCWC fall paper stacks that I picked up a couple years ago, and the lace is from my sewing stash. I don't use lace much on my cards, but I really like the cozy feel it seems to add. The buttons, I believe are by Dress It Up, and I tied them with a little embroidery thread to match the creamy color of the lace.

Dimension & Texture

2011-08-23T00:00:00.076-04:00

The Tuesday Throwdown team is playing with dimension and texture this week. Hope you'll hop over and play along with us! We are sponsored this week by My Grafico, who generously provided the team with a fun set of images called "Pretty Primative." Each of the images in this set is lovely, but I was really drawn to this sweet birdie on a sunflower, and had a lot of fun finding ways to deck it out with dimension and texture. I added some Dew Drops "seeds" to the sunflower, popped the whole image up from the card base with foam tape, tied on a little fiber and twine, tacked on some punched leaves, and even did a little hand-stitching in one area. My hubby was looking at me a little funny when he saw all that I'd done to this one card, but, hey, it was fun to make, and that's all that matters, right? :-)

Books & Flowers

2011-08-22T00:00:00.046-04:00

Do you like the "shabby chic" style? If so, you'll love this week's challenge at Heart Song Inspirations! The challenge is to make something using the shabby chic style and/or to use pearls. For my card, I used the new "Book with Flowers & Apple" digi by Heart Song Designs. This is such a wonderful Fall image, I think, as it combines several of my favorite Fall things -- fruit from the harvest, sunflowers, and a good book to cozy up with. To meet the challenge, I started with decorative papers from the "Old World Stack" by DCWV that have a pretty but distressed look to them. I colored up the image with Copic markers, then distressed the edges of both that piece and the greeting piece, and then inked them up with a bit of brown. In laying out my card, I felt I needed one more element besides the image and greeting, and finally settled on the wrapper from the crinkled ribbon that I used here. It was already stamped and deckle-edged, and seemed a great match. I attached the greeting tag with a mini safety pin, then accessorized the card with a red button, a couple of punched flourishes, and some yellow pearls. I'm honestly not sure if I hit the mark for "shabby chic," but I gave it my best shot. I hope you'll give this challenge a try, too! Even if it's not your usual crafting style, it's always fun to try something new. :-)

You & Me

2011-08-16T00:00:00.039-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge is to create something using a non-stamped sentiment. For my card, I used the sweet "Charlie Dog Watching" digi by this week's generous challenge sponsor, McMahon 5 Designs. This image was so much fun to color, because of the effect of Charlie looking through the fish bowl. The image itself is drawn to give you clues about how to do this, with the lines on that part of Charlie Dog being drawn in grey instead of black. So what I did was to color the side of Charlie that you see through the fish bowl in lighter shades of brown and pink than the other side. Then, after I colored the goldfish, I colored right over the top of the entire water area (all elements that would appear here, including Charlie and the fish) with the water-colored marker. I shaded the water a little darker around the edges of the bowl to try to give it some depth, too. Now as to the challenge part of this card -- a non-stamped sentiment. This was definitely a challenge for me. My handwriting is really bad (that shaky hands thing again), and I wasn't sure how else to do the sentiment. Seriously, this card sat unfinished on my desk for about 4 days before it finally dawned on me that a sticker would count for the challenge -- LOL! I remembered that a friend had sent me some Fresh Cuts by Heather Bailey last year, so I used one of the clear stickers from that set, and voila -- a finished card without a stamped sentiment!

I hope you'll stop by Tuesday Throwdown and play along with us this week. You could win a $10 gift certificate to shop at McMahon 5 Designs just for playing! And besides that, we have some lovely new ladies joining our team this week, and we'd sure love for you to "meet" them and see what they have made to share with you this week. :-)

Praying You'll Feel Better Soon!

2011-08-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

(Today is a busy post day! To see my Heart Song Inspirations post, please scroll down.)

Today is Digi Release Day over at Clear Dollar Stamps. The DT has made a whole host of fun creations using this month's new batch of digis, so be sure to stop over at the Clear Dollar Stamps blog and see.

For my card, I used the new "Praying Eyes Mantis" set. I think this set has so much charm, and especially like all the fun greetings that come with it. The set includes both a line version and a colored version, and I colored the line version using Copic markers. Using an old template by Stampin' Up! called "Nature," I cut out a piece of cardstock shaped like a leaf, then ran it through my Cuttlebug machine with the "Spots and Dots" embossing folder to give the leaf some fun texture. I thought the leaf would make a great little perch for the praying mantis to sit on.

Now I know many of you aren't big fans of "bugs," but as I've mentioned before, as a gardener, I have a soft spot for helpful bugs, and praying mantises are definitely helpful. Around here, you can even buy the egg cases in the garden stores, so that you can hatch and release the little babies in your garden. My kids and I have done this many times, and it is always so much fun to see the hundreds of babies hatch from one little egg case. They are so adorable with their big, round eyes! Even more fun is occasionally finding one of the full-grown adults later in the garden. What a blessing! :-)

Sing Praises!

2011-08-15T01:22:00.000-04:00

This is a special week at Heart Song Inspirations. Yes, we have a new challenge to share with you. But we're also celebrating a new addition to our leader Leah's family. Leah and her hubby have just adopted a sweet little boy from Ethiopia, and unbeknownst to her, the DT decided to use this week's challenge to make cards to send to them to help celebrate this joyful blessing. Surprise, Leah, and welcome home to little Makaio! We love you, and are all thrilled beyond words for you and your family! :-)

The actual challenge this week is to use an animal image AND/OR use pleated paper or ribbon. I love animals, so that side of the challenge was a natural choice for me. I used the precious "Bird Song" digi by Heart Song Designs, and paired it with a computer-generated Scripture verse. I know this might not seem like a traditional "welcome baby" greeting, but knowing the incredible journey that Leah and her family have been through to bring their baby home, and how hard we have all been praying for this to come to fruition, well, celebrating Makaio's homecoming with Scripture and praises for God's grace was all that was in my mind and heart as I made this card.

I hope you will stop by over at Heart Song Inspirations and play along with us this week, and join us in wishing Leah and her family a wonderful future filled with joy together!

Where's the Fire?

2011-08-13T09:00:00.023-04:00

Where's the fire? Turns out it's over at K 'n K Designs, where it is new release day today! Along with a darling new "forever freebie" (you can find it on the new "Freebies" page, Katlyn has come out with this fun new digi, "Juniper's Tealight." How precious is this? I've got to tell you, I truly love everything Katlyn draws, but this one had me jumping in my seat because it's just TOO CUTE! I took the colors for my card straight from the image, and though I normally color Juniper white, this time I thought grey would be better, sort of to give him a "sooty" look, like firefighters get when they've been hard at work on the job. I hope you'll stop by K 'n K Designs and see what Katlyn has to offer. Not only are all her digis adorable, but they are very affordably priced as well! :-)

Inspired By...Lori!

2011-08-12T15:10:00.000-04:00

My friend Lori Stokes-Wright is a very versatile crafter. She makes all kinds of beautiful projects, from cards and scrapbook pages to decorative pins. One of the things she makes that really intrigues me is "artist trading cards," a.k.a. "ATC's." These are basically card fronts (i.e. single layer, no fold) in miniature. Each one measures just 2.5 by 3.5 inches, and Lori puts just as much into each of these mini creations as any of her other projects. They are truly amazing!

One thing I always have a hard time with is working on a small scale, because I have naturally shaky hands. So I tend to make bigger cards, use bigger images, etc. so that my projects have at least a chance at a "neat" appearance. But there is something so sweet about "mini" things, so I decided to give one of these a try, and here's what I came up with. The colors are Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, and Mellow Moss by Stampin' Up! I made a mini card base from the Rich Razzleberry cardstock, then stamped it in the same colored ink with a script stamp by Inkadinkadoo. The flower is also by Inkadinkadoo, and I inked the edges of this piece with Mellow Moss. I added a little Melon Mambo grosgrain ribbon and then a Dew Drop to the center of the flower. I'm pretty excited how it came out, and despite shaky hands, it came together so quickly and easily. I can definitely see the appeal of making a bunch of these. You could trade them with friends, save them to put on full-sized cards, use them as accents on scrapbook pages, or even as gift tags. They are very versatile due to their size. Thanks very much for the inspiration, Lori! :-)

Birthday Ball

2011-08-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

We're celebrating birthdays this week at Tuesday Throwdown! This should be an easy challenge for everyone to play along with -- I mean, who couldn't use an extra birthday card to add to their stash? :-)

For my card, I used the darling "Circus Seal" digi by this week's generous sponsor, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. To make my card a little extra fun, I printed just the ball part of the image (using Photoshop to crop it away from the seal) a few extra times. After I pasted the extra balls to the card, I drew in some little "bounce lines" with a black gel pen. The greeting is computer-generated, as you know I can't resist a good pun when I can think of one -- LOL!

I hope you'll stop by this week and play along with us, and see the other fun birthday creations that the team has made to share with you! :-)

Back to School

2011-08-08T01:18:00.001-04:00

Summer has flown by, and in just one week, my kids will be heading back to school. I can hardly believe it is that time again already! It seems to me that summer break gets shorter and shorter each year, but oh well -- it is what it is, right? :-)

Speaking of "back to school," that theme is one of the choices for this week's challenge over at Heart Song Inpsirations. You can create something for "back to school" AND/OR using circles. We'd love to have you join us and see what you make!

As you can see, I made a little back-to-school gift set, with a card and coordinating pencil pouch. For the card, I used the darling new "Apple" digi by Heart Song Designs, and colored it with Copic markers. I cut it out and attached it with foam dimensional tape, one of my favorite things to do. The pencil pouch was very easy to make:

1. Take a piece of 5.5- by 8.5-inch cardstock, then turn it so that the 5.5 side extends left to right.
2. Score the cardstock at 2-1/8 inches and then again at 4.25 inches. This will leave you with two 2-1/8-inch-wide sections and one 1.25-inch-wide sections.
3. Fold along the score lines, folding the 1.25-inch-wide section inside, so that it lays flat against the middle section.
4. Run tape along the outside of the folded-in 1.25-inch-wide section, then press the right-most 2-1/8-inch wide flap down on top of it to seal it.
5. Use a paper crimper to crimp the bottom couple inches of the sealed pouch.
6. Using a circular punch of some sort, punch through the top edge of the pouch to create a decorative area where the tops of the pencils will be displayed.

Now I should tell you that it is probably easier if you decorate the pouch after scoring and folding but before sealing. But altogether, quite easy, and a great way to make a personalized little gift for a student heading back to school. :-)

Inspired By...Kathy!

2011-08-05T14:53:00.004-04:00

As crafters, we get inspiration from so many different places, not the least of which is from other crafters. I think it's important to credit those we receive inspiration from, so I decided to start a new feature here on my blog called "Inspired By." Each Friday I will share something I've made that was directly inspired by another crafter, and link their information here so that you, too, can be inspired by them.

My first "Inspired By" card is based off of the work of my friend Kathy Braun. Kathy challenges herself every Friday to make a one-layer card. She makes the most incredible creations using just one layer of cardstock. Seeing her lovely cards each week inspired me to try to make a one-layer card myself, something I don't think I've ever done in all the years I've been stamping! Here's what I came up with. I used the retired "Butterfly of Happiness" stamp set by Stampin' Up!, along with swirls and dots from a couple different sets by Stampendous. The colors I used are Regal Rose, Rose Red, and Always Artichoke. I did cut out an extra of the large butterfly, decorated it with some Stickles, then popped it up using foam tape. This might disqualify it as a strictly one-layer card, but I figured it was in lieu of adding any embellishments, and I really like how it came out. I will definitely have to give this a try again sometime. Thanks for the inspiration, Kathy!

I'm entering this card in a couple of this week's challenges. At Cute Card Thursday, we are to use no designer paper. I definitely think this qualifies! At Clear It Out Tuesday, the theme is "Summer," and seeing butterflies in the garden is a very summery thing for me. They also require us to clear out older crafting supplies, so I dug out a prefolded white card base from a set I bought a couple years ago, but never used. The stamp set I used has also been hoarded -- I haven't used it in a couple years at least! :-)

Happy Housewarming (MMSC114)

2011-08-04T15:55:00.002-04:00

My sister-in-law and her family just moved into a new house, and I want to send a little something to congratulate them on their new home. Our two little families share a love of baking, so I'm going to put together a basket full of cookie ingredients for them to play with. Here is the card that I made to go with their housewarming gift. I was so excited to find this digi set at Clear Dollar Stamps, because it perfectly fit what I want to do for them. Both the image and patterned papers are from the "Jargon Mix Color" set. Normally I enjoy coloring the images myself, but lately I've had a shortage of free time, so it was great to be able to print and go. To make this card, I used this week's sketch (#114) from Midnight Madness. They have two versions of the sketch -- a simple and a fancy one. I love how elaborate the DT get with their cards over there, but it worked better for me to use the simple version of the sketch. As usual, my scanner just won't pick up the embossing textures well, so I'll tell you that the white piece of cardstock is embossed with Swiss Dots, to match the white polka dots in the image and papers. The hearts are brads I had left from Valentine's Day, and the ribbons are just little bits I had left in my stash.

Luv Watermelon

2011-08-02T01:51:00.001-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge theme is "Summertime." For my "summertime" card, I used this sweet digi by Robyn's Fetish (this week's generous challenge sponsor) called "Luv Watermelon." Watermelon is one of my family's favorite summer treats, and I just love this image of the little crow with her jaunty hat getting ready to dive in. I used papers from my scraps stash to complement the colors in the image, and to hopefully give my card a little of the "country" feel that the image, to me, has. The heart frames were cut out using the Custom Cutting System from Creative Memories with the heart-shaped templates. The greeting is computer-generated and hand-trimmed, and the little quilty flower accent was made using a scalloped circle punch. I punched scalloped circles of both the red and green gingham papers, then cut them apart and layered pieces of them on white cardstock, cutting around the layers to give a white base background. Since this week's challenge is an easy one, we hope that you will want to join in, too, and show us what fun summertime creations you have made! :-)

Owlways Here For You

2011-08-01T00:00:00.037-04:00

Happy Monday, and happy first of August! Today at Heart Song Inspirations, we're playing with monochromatic color schemes and/or brads (remember this is an and/or challenge). If that weren't enough fun for one day, there are also several new releases at the Heart Song Designs shop for you to check out. Leah has been very busy, and you won't want to miss out on the sweet sets she has come up with for this month. :-)

My card today features one of the new release sets -- "Owl on Branch." Isn't that little owl the cutest? I love owls, and they are especially great for Fall, which is fast approaching. In keeping with the "monochromatic colors" part of the challenge, I used some retired designer papers from Stampin' Up! in browns, to match the way I colored the image. I also added some diamond-shaped brads to the sides of the saying to meet the "brads" part of the challenge. By the way, the greeting is one that comes with this sweet digi set. Leah has started adding greetings to her sets, which I for one really appreciate because it makes cardmaking that much easier!

Hope you'll stop by at Heart Song Inspirations this week and join in the fun! :-)

Sticky Fun

2011-07-30T16:12:00.000-04:00

Roasting marshmallows is such fun, don't you think? The treats are tasty, and the process is good family and friend bonding time. Though we don't get to camp often due to my hubby's work schedule, we keep marshmallows on hand to roast year-round with our kids. We roast them over the cooling coals of the BBQ during the summer, and over the cooling embers in the fireplace the rest of the year. We always have such a fun time together doing it. The only downside to roasting marshmallows is that the melted treats are so sticky. Without fail, every time we roast them, somebody gets marshmallow stuck somewhere they shouldn't, and more often than not, I end up sitting in the mess. What can I say, it's a gift -- LOL!

Today I made a card celebrating one of my favorite family activities. The image I used is called "Kolar's Marshmallow" by K 'n K Designs. There is such a feeling of camaraderie in this image between the little bunny Juniper and his puppy friend Kolar, and that inspired the computer-generated greeting that I used here: "Marshmallows are like good friends -- they stick to you no matter what." :-)

Fundraiser to Help a Mom in Need!

2011-07-29T00:22:00.001-04:00

Today I have a special cause to share with you. Kim Sherrod, former DT Coordinator for Tuesday Throwdown, is hosting a fundraiser to help a fellow mom in need. Her friend's son has a serious heart problem, and he is sadly not expected to live. He lives away from home, and funds raised from this event will help his mother travel to be with him, something she would otherwise be unable to do. Ann Vento of Raindrop Echo Designs has generously designed two stamp sets to help raise the needed funds. Both sets are available in digi and clear stamp format. The cards in my post today feature these two sets. Please consider visiting Kim's page to purchase your sets, and to help make it possible for this mom to see her son one last time. Thank you!!! :-)

Enjoy the Simple Pleasures

2011-07-28T09:00:00.002-04:00

Most summers we plant a huge vegetable garden. It not only helps us save on the cost of Summer and Fall veggies, but the process of tending the garden is something the whole family enjoys. This year, because of weird weather and other contstraints, we didn't get to plant most of what we usually do. So it was such a blessing a few weeks ago when we realized that pumpkins -- one of the things we love most but didn't get to plant -- had come up voluntarily from the seeds of a pumpkin that rotted into the ground last year! Such a simple thing, but I can't begin to tell you how much joy it brings to my family to see those pumpkins growing there. And what a fabulous reminder of the mysterious ways in which the Lord works in our lives!

My card today was inspired by this little miracle that has touched my family this Summer. The image and greeting are from the "Autumn Blessings" digi set by Clear Dollar Stamps. Although the set is intended for Fall, obviously, I thought it would also work to make a nice Summer card. To that end, I used with it these brightly-patterned papers by Basic Grey along with bright greens, oranges, and crisp whites.

Hello Sunshine

2011-07-27T20:49:00.002-04:00

Just a super quick card share today. Here's a little something I made today for this week's challenge at There's Magic in the Air. The challenge this week is to use lots of layers of paper -- at least 6. Wow, that's a lot of paper -- LOL! Luckily, I tend to be a paper glutton, so this wasn't too hard -- much easier than the "two layers only" challenge I tried a couple weeks ago! For the layout, I followed sketch 343 from Splitcoast Stampers. The image is "Hello Sunshine" by Paper Cupcakes. Isn't it sweet? :-)

A Matched Set

2011-07-26T00:00:00.004-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our fabulous sponsor is My Grafico, and the challenge is to create, "a matched set." Using the fabulous 'Lovely Floral Stamps' set of printables provided by My Grafico, I created a stationery tote along with a coordinating set of cards. As you can see, the cards fit right inside the little tote. The tote holds 6 cards and matching envelopes. Though I've made totes like this before following a pattern, I couldn't find any of the ones I'd used in the past, so I sort of "winged" it this time. Maybe it was muscle memory, but somehow it came out OK -- LOL! I attached the tote handles with brads, so that they can be moved up to carry it, or moved down to get the cards and envelopes out. Here are the three patterns of cards that I made to fit inside the tote:

Though I made a full set of cards with a tote for this challenge, you don't have to get quite so complicated to play along! We'd love to see whatever kind of "matched set" you choose to make. :-)

Lovely Cupcake

2011-07-25T00:00:00.001-04:00

It's Monday, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Heart Song Inspirations -- FUN! :-) This week's challenge is a fairly easy one, and I hope you'll all want to play along. The theme is "Anything Goes" AND/OR "Use a favorite technique."

For my card, I used the "Lovely Cupcake" digi by Heart Song Designs. For whatever reason, this image reminds of the dress a friend wore to her wedding a few years back. The dress was cream-colored satin, with Fall-colored satin rosebuds adoring the neckline and sleeves. Oh so pretty! So I decided to color this image to match her dress. As the "favorite technique" part of my card, I first debossed a piece of tangerine-colored cardstock with my Cuttlebug machine, then used a Nestabilities die to shape it. Then I took an ink pad of the same color as the cardstock and rubbed it over the debossing to make it stand out. (Though the way Blogger messes with my photos, it still doesn't stand out too well in this photo!) If you're wondering what "debossing" is, it is the reverse of dry embossing. Instead of the patterns being raised, the patterns look sunk or etched in. How do you do it? You dry emboss your cardstock, and then flip it over -- the reverse pattern is simply the reverse side of the dry embossing. I love both embossing and debossing, as each gives such wonderful texture to a card.

In addition to this great challenge, we have some lovely, new ladies joining the design team at Heart Song Inspirations this week. I hope you'll stop by and give them a warm welcome, and see all the beautiful things they've created for this week's challenge. :-)

Busy Bee

2011-07-23T14:32:00.000-04:00

One of the blessings I find in summer gardening is seeing all the "good" bugs at work. Though I know they aren't a favorite of some, bees are definitely a "good" bug! They are such hard workers, and without them, many of the fruits and veggies we rely on for healthy eating wouldn't produce, so the more of them in the garden, the merrier I say. :-)

Today I made a card featuring this wonderful, helpful bug. The image is "Busy Bee" by K 'n K Designs, and it is this month's freebie with any purchase. As usual, I colored the image with Copic markers, and though it doesn't show well in the photo, I also added some sparkle to the little bee's wings with a Sakura pen. I'm continuing my journey of exploring new-to-me crafting challenges, and have entered this in a couple of sweet ones. First, the Friday Promarker/Copic challenge at The Outlawz is "Things With Wings." The Outlawz is this terrific online crafting community that a friend led me to, and I've kind of been lurking there checking it out the last couple weeks. I figured it's time I finally joined in the fun -- LOL! Next, at Craft Your Days Away, the theme is "summertime," and bees in the garden are definitely a summertime joy for me.

Beau-TEA-ful Day!

2011-07-22T14:10:00.001-04:00

Are you a tea drinker? I definitely am. Though I love the smell of coffee, it upsets my stomach, so I stick to drinking tea. Hot tea in the fall and winter, and cold, sweet tea in the summer. Not only do I enjoy drinking tea, but I love all the sweet things associated with tea -- teapots, teacups, cozies, etc. They just have such a warm feel to them, you know?

Today I have a "tea" card that I made to share. The sketch for this is from Tuesday Morning Sketches, though I rotated the sketch to fit the image. This lovely teapot digi is from the "Eclectic Teapots" digi set by Clear Dollar Stamps. It's such a wonderful set for tea lovers -- it includes a four different teapot images as well as coordinating sayings -- very fun! Of course, I chose to use the teapot with the sunflower on it, and the very punny saying -- "Have a beau-TEA-ful Day!" :-)

Little Donkey

2011-07-20T15:32:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a good week! The girls and I are lying low at home, trying to keep cool, as the cooling marine layer we had hanging over us the last week or so has finally passed on and the temps are soaring again outside. I do love summer, and even the heat, but this year the weather has been so changeable, it's a bit hard on a body, you know? Oh well -- I guess it makes each day a surprise, right? :-)

Today I have a card to share that I made with one of my favorite images -- "Little Donkey" by Meljen's. I try to keep things interesting here by using a variety of images on the cards I share, but I also make a lot of cards I don't share. And as one of my daughters informed me this morning, I sure do use this little guy a lot -- LOL! This time I created a little scene with him and the sweet "Little Butterfly" digi, and the "Hi" greeting, which are both also by Meljen's. I've got to say, I love how Melissa of Meljen's embellishes her images and greetings with little swirls, stitches, and dots. Not only do they make them uniquely recognizable as her designs, but they tie all the images together in a fun way, so that they can be used together so easily. I feel like I have a coordinating set of hundreds to play with. What's not to like about that?

I'm attempting to stretch my wings a bit by entering this card in a few challenges today. Usually I just craft for one challenge at a time, but I thought I'd push myself a little here. I used buttons and a big bow for the "Buttons and Bows" challenge at Meljen's. At Clear It Out, the challenge is "Anything Goes," but we also have to use old supplies to clear them out. I dug out these papers that I bought years ago to make baby announcements for a friend, and still have lots of it left over, though a bit less now. Finally, at Use It Tuesday, the theme is "animals," which I used two of on my card, and we also had to use "hoarded" supplies. OK, I am a terrible ribbon hoarder, and the bow I made is a perfect example of that. I've had this lovely celery ribbon for, I think, two years now. It was a limited availability item, and I have never been able to bring myself to use it because, if I use it up, it won't be replaceable. Pretty silly, huh? :-)

Grow

2011-07-19T05:00:00.000-04:00

Isn't this little guy a cutie? I love his chubby cheeks, and his sweet eyes and smile, not to mention those darling overalls! When my son was little, he lived in overalls of all sorts of colors for years, and I still have a soft spot in my heart for them. :-)

This precious little guy on my card is a digi offered by Stitchy Bear Stamps called "Flowers for Mom." We are showcasing Stitchy Bear Stamps over at Tuesday Throwdown this week, where our challenge is to use something metallic on your card. I used a couple of aged gold brads, as well as a gold charm that says, "Grow," on it. The word was a little hard to read, so I colored over the top of it with a blue marker, and that really made it stand out better. Of course, my scanner still couldn't pick it up, so I borrowed my hubby's phone to grab a picture of the card.

You have a chance to win some Stitchy Bear Stamps digis of your own by playing along with our challenge this week. Hope you'll join us!

Kraft & Lace

2011-07-18T09:00:00.056-04:00

Do you ever get "stuck" on certain colors or papers in your crafting? I definitely do. I will find something I like and use it over and over until I'm basically sick to death of it -- LOL! Lately I've been stuck on Kraft cardstock, for whatever reason. So this week's "and/or" challenge at Heart Song Inspirations was right up my alley -- to color on Kraft cardstock and/or to use lace. I did both, as you can see in my card today, but the Kraft cardstock was the big draw for me. Mostly I use it in paper layering, because it adds a lovely, old-fashioned feel to things, I think, so coloring on it was a new experience. The thing about coloring with Copic markers is that the kind of cardstock you use can make a BIG difference in how the markers blend, and I was a bit nervous about this. I printed this sweet "Snail and Friend" image (by Heart Song Designs) several times on a piece of cardstock, just in case my first attempt or two didn't turn out right. But surprisingly, the cardstock was very smoooth, and the inks blended just fine. I really like the way the colors look against the Kraft, too -- softer somehow. :-)

Yummy Sunflowers!

2011-07-17T23:00:00.001-04:00

I love sunflowers! OK, I love all flowers -- LOL! -- but sunflowers are definitely at the top of the list! One of my favorite digi designers, Whimsy And Stars Studio, is sponsoring the current "Other Theme" challenge at Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC), and offered this very yummy sunflower digi as a freebie to all who participate. The challenge itself is a sketch with a brown-yellow-green-purple color pallette, and was so easy to work with. I colored the image up with Copic markers, adding a little glitter from a Sakura pen to the bee's wings. If you'd like to snag this sweet digi for yourself, you have until July 27th to participate in the challenge.

Larkspur

2011-07-15T05:00:00.064-04:00

It's Digi Release Day at Clear Dollar Stamps! This month, among several other fun, new sets, CDS has added the lovely "Larkspur" to the line-up. Larkspur is the July "flower-of-the-month," and is said to represent an open heart. It is one of my favorite wildflowers because of its unique shape and the wide range of rich colors it grows in. For today's card, I decided to color the Larkspur blossoms a deep purple. I always say I hate purple, but for card-making, it is one of my favorites for whatever reason. This set has a sweet, old-fashioned feel to it, so I tried to create a card here that reflected that, with vintage-style papers, some distressing, some hand-stitching (no working sewing machine here), and lots of different buttons. I think the Kraft layer also helps give it that vintage feel. Don't know why, but something about that color says, "old-fashioned" to me, in a good way of course! BTW, if you want to see more fun samples using this and the other new-release sets, be sure to stop by the Clearly iStamp blog today -- you'll find lots of inspiration there! :-)

Kolar's Wish

2011-07-14T09:00:00.009-04:00

Have you seen? K 'n K Designs has several new digi sets up on their site today! :-) Here is a card featuring one of my favorite new sets, "Kolar's Wish." Don't Kolar and Juniper look so sweet sitting together wishing on stars? This image brings back so many happy memories of childhood, of camping out with friends and family, sitting around the campfire or laying in sleeping bags and counting the stars. There's just something about getting to be outdoors at night that is so magical, don't you think?

You might be wondering how I cut the image itself into a star shape. Actually, that's one of the fun things about this set -- it includes two versions of the image, one set within the star frame and one of just the scene. I colored the image with Copics, which was a little tricky since I printed the image so small. I've found that when coloring on a small scale, instead of trying to blend the colors (nearly impossible for me with my shaky hands), it works best instead to just go for high contrast, if that makes sense. The papers I used are a mix from different stacks by DCWV. I'm kind of addicted to their paper stacks, both because they have such great colors and patterns, and because they're almost always half-off at our local craft store -- I can't resist a good deal!

Speaking of good deals, be sure to stop over and see the new sets at K 'n K Designs. Not only are the digis always affordably-priced, but Katlyn offers a monthly freebie with all purchases. This month's freebie is super cute, too -- you won't want to miss it! ;-)

Mysteriously missing photos!

2011-07-12T13:41:00.001-04:00

Somehow, something has gone wrong on my blog, and a great many of my photos are missing. Please bear with me as I try to rebuild. Thank you!

Fun in the Sun

2011-07-12T05:00:00.001-04:00

Summer is definitely in full-swing, and this week at Tuesday Throwdown, we are celebrating it with a "fun in the sun" challenge. Hope you'll stop by and play with us!

When I saw this digi by Pink Cat Studio, this week's generous challenge sponsor, I was so jealous of this little girl! Talk about fun in the sun -- I want to know where we line up for the tortoise rides! Then again, it might not be so much fun for the poor tortoise to carry big, old me on it's back -- LOL! Seriously, though, isn't this image a hoot? It's called "Lily Riding Turtle." I colored Lily up in sunny pinks and oranges, and tried to give a bit of a "sun-kissed" look to her face. Her tortoise friend got browns and greens, as well as a little soft, green grass beneath his feet. The greeting is from "Loads of Love Accessories" by Stampin' Up!, and just seemed to fit with the image. A mix of brightly-colored patterned papers and bright orange flowers seemed to be the order of the day, just right for a summery "fun in the sun" card. :-)

Very Cherry

2011-07-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

What does summer mean to you? That's one half of our AND/OR challenge at Heart Song Inspirations this week. To me, summer means warm days, lots of time outdoors with my kids, and the sweet smell and taste of fresh fruit and veggies growing in our garden. So for my card this week I used the new "Very Cherry Frame" digi. I colored the image with Copics, and layered on a greeting that says, "So sweet of you," from the retired "So Many Scallops" set by Stampin' Up!

The second half of this week's challenge at HSI is to use no patterned papers. Because this is an AND/OR challenge, I could have just gone with the summertime theme, but not using patterned papers is such a challenge for me that I felt I had to give it a try -- LOL! I took "patterned papers" to mean the pre-printed variety, and so used cardstock that I dry-embossed with a fun paisley pattern instead. Some might say these papers are still patterned, but hey, I tried! :-)

I hope you'll stop by and play along with us at Heart Song Inspirations this week. Remember, you don't have to use a Heart Song Designs image to do so. Also, just a heads-up for those of you who love HSD -- Leah has posted a DT call! You can read the details HERE, and have until July 19th to apply if interested.

Aged to Perfection

2011-07-10T16:02:00.002-04:00

Well, our family reunion is finally over, and what a crazy but fun time it was! So very hard to say goodbye to everyone and send them back on their way until next we meet, but at the same time, kind of a relief to get back to normal life. I have so much to catch up on now that I've missed while off playing with my family. Email, blog hopping, and then of course there's my messy house. Sounds like it's going to be another busy week catching up, so I thought I'd just start it off on a relaxing (for me) note by sharing a quick card that I made for two of my favorite challenges.

This week Meljen's Designs challenged us to make a card of "two layers or less." I thought the adorable "Cheesy Mouse" digi by Meljen's would work great for this challenge, since the image is kind of monochromatic. That might not make sense to you, but to me, the more colors there are in the image, the more papers I'm more likely to use to bring out the colors. I typed up this greeting on the computer to go with the image -- it says, "You're not old, just aged to perfection." To go with the the idea of being "aged," I tore and inked up paper edges. OK, I admit I wasn't quite sure how to interpret "two layers or less" for this challenge. I figure the image and greeting count as one layer, and the embossed cardstock under them as the second layer. But does the card base count as a layer? If so, I'm over the limit. Either way, my card has far fewer layers of paper than I normally use, so it was still a challenge to make -- LOL!

Now at Stampin' Sisters in Christ, they challenged us to use "what works for [us]" -- in other words, our favorite item for stamping. By far my favorite stamping tool is my Cuttlebug machine. I don't generally go in for all kinds of stamping "toys," but this was one I "had" to have. I had to save for a long while to get it, but it was so worth it -- I use it constantly! Today I used it to emboss the mustard layer of cardstock behind the image with my favorite "D'Vine Swirl" folder. I inked up the swirls with the same color of ink to make them stand out a little better.

Peaceful Shore

2011-07-06T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you have a "thinking spot?" You know, a place you go to that always makes you feel at peace, able to think things through? For me, it's always been the ocean. We are very blessed to live within driving distance of the Pacific ocean, and I always feel most at ease there. The cool, foggy air and salty scent of the sea always help to clear my head, while the powerful sight of the waves hitting the rocks always reminds me that I am but a very small piece of the puzzle that is this huge world. When my own thoughts and troubles get overwhelming, it is really good to be reminded of that, and I always come home from the ocean feeling refreshed and at peace.

My card today is based on my "thinking spot." The image is part of a digi set called "Peaceful Shore" by Clear Dollar Stamps. I chose fairly soft colors for this, and kept the card relatively simple so that the scene would really be the focus. The designer paper is from last year's Summer Stack by DCWV, and the pattern on it reminded me both of the plants that grow along the hills surrounding our ocean, as well as the tall sea kelp that tends to wash up along the shore in big clumps. I added in a little strip of cardstock textured with a mesh pattern, as it reminded me of a fisherman's net, and inked it up with white craft ink so that the texture would show really well. I colored the image with a mixture of Copic and Prismacolor markers, since I didn't have most of the colors I wanted to use in Copics. The white caps on the waves were colored in with a white gel pen.

Christmas in July!

2011-07-05T05:00:00.049-04:00

The sun is shining, the pavement is sizzling, and the smell of BBQ is in the air. That must mean it's time to start making Christmas cards, then, right? Oops -- have I confused you? LOL! Well, over at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge theme for this week is "Christmas in July." That's right, we want you to make a Christmas card to share with us. It might seem an odd time to be having a Christmas challenge, but think about it this way: 1.) We just passed the mid-year mark, and are now closer to next Christmas than last; 2.) Starting your cards now will save you time and stress during the thick of the actual holiday season; 3.) Sometimes thinking about this lovely winter holiday can be very soothing amidst all the summer heat; and 4.)You could win a prize from our fabulous sponsor, Robyn's Fetish, just for doing something you'll need to do at some point anyway. Have I convinced you yet? :-)

For my card today, I used an adorable teddy image called "Christmas Bear" by Robyn's Fetish. You know I'm a sucker for teddies, and I love how sweet this little guy looks peeking out of the gift box. Oh, and not only did I color the image up with Copics, per usual, but I also colored the buttons! I had these sweet candy cane buttons in my stash from a few years back, but the red had all flaked off. I remembered reading on someone's blog that they had colored buttons with their Copics, and what do you know, it worked! Not only that, but the color of the stripes on the buttons now match the ones in the image -- I love that! The greeting on my card is from an old Stampin' Up! set called "Merry & Bright." I tied the tag on with just a little baker's twine, because it reminded me of candy canes, and hey, what a fun way to tie it all together (pun not intended!)

I do hope you'll join us for the Christmas in July challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone makes and getting some good inspiration for my own Christmas cards this year! :-)

Hooray for the red, white, and blue!

2011-07-04T05:00:00.010-04:00

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends! And to my non-American friends, Happy Monday! :-)

I apologize right now for how short this post will likely be, but I'm having computer troubles. Our outside temps have been heating up big time the last couple days, and whenever that happens, my computer goes a little haywire. It's ancient, you see, and the fans inside it don't work very well. Since we don't have AC in the house, the only way to keep it from crashing on these hot days is to just keep it turned off. Obviously, I've braved turning it on, but it's making it's weird whirring sounds that sound like it's dying already, so, let me tell you really quickly about my card! :-)

The challenge this week over at Heart Song Inspirations is to make something using the colors red, white, and blue AND/OR to use paper piecing. I opted for the color combo part of the challenge, and made a festive card featuring the "Theadore and Balloons" digi by Heart Song Designs. I love how versatile this image is -- depending on how you color the bunny and balloons, you could come up with cards for so many different occasions! Instead of using multiple patterns of paper today, I combined a little blue gingham with some dry-embossed cardstock. Wish you could see it, but our scanner (yet another piece of ancient hardware) refuses to pick up the textures. So you'll have to take my word for it that the red circle is embossed with swirls, and the white square with swiss dots.

I do hope you'll join us over at Heart Song Inspirations this week. Leah has a fun new freebie available for everyone to play with, as well as several new digis in the store. Here are some peeks at some of the newest digis, just to entice you! ;-)

And remember that this is an and/or challenge, so even if you're not a fan of this color combo, you can still play along by doing some paper piecing. Hope to see you there! (Computer willing -- LOL!)

A Just Because Card

2011-07-03T16:39:00.001-04:00

Hello, friends! Hope you are having all sorts of fun this extra-long Independence Day weekend! We are spending a quiet weekend at home, time that we really need. We have family in town from all over the country for the next week or so for a HUGE family reunion, but we are opting out for the weekend to just "be." My hubby has been working such long hours lately -- his vacation even got cancelled last week due to a "crisis" at work. And of course the girls and I have been on the run with their summer homeschool classes and other activities. So despite the festivities of the weekend, and wanting to visit with our much-loved relatives, we are taking the down time we need. Sometimes it's nice to just "be," don't you think?

One of the fun things about getting a little down time is that I can catch up on my "for fun" stamping. So much of what I've made lately has been of the "have to" variety. Not that I don't still enjoy that, but sometimes I want to craft "just because." So here's a "just because" card that I made yesterday. The image is "Spring Rain" by K 'n K Designs, and the greeting is by Raindrop Echo Designs. I know the image doesn't seem very summer-like, but I really like the message of encouragement the image and greeting make together. :-)

So Sweet

2011-06-30T02:00:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite things about summer is all the yummy, fresh fruits and veggies that are available. I love to cook, and having fresh produce to play with is always such a blessing! Just thinking about it makes me hungry -- LOL! Of course, images of fresh produce are fun to play with, too, don't you think? They are so versatile, and can be used for almost any kind of card, masculine or feminine. Gotta love that! Today I made a couple of fresh and fruity cards to share with you, using a combination of digi products from Clear Dollar Stamps.

For this first card, I used an image called "Little Strawberry," and colored it up with my Copic markers. The greeting is from the larger "Little Strawberry Color" set, which includes several pre-colored images and matching greetings, and the pretty gingham paper is from the "Little Strawberry 6x6 Digital Papers" set.

This second card was made with elements from the "Sentimental Fruit Color" set. The luscious orange image came pre-colored, and how could I possible resist using the punny greeting that came with it, or the beautiful coordinating digi paper?

You probably noticed that I used black cardstock as the base for both cards. I almost never use black cardstock beyond Halloween, but there was a sheet of it on my crafting table that came loose from the stack, and in shuffling things around, I caught sight of one of the images against the black. I really liked the way it made the lines of the image and greeting stand out. Dramatic, you know? Something new to try, anyway! :-)

Red, White, and Blue!

2011-06-28T02:00:00.004-04:00

June is nearly over, and that means Independence Day will soon be here -- woo-hoo! As an American, I love Independence Day and all that it represents. As a kid, it was always about the BBQs and the fireworks for me. Not that I don't still love those, but I've come to understand how much more it really means, and I am so very grateful to the many men and women who have given their time -- many, their lives -- so that we might enjoy all the freedoms that we do. I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from one person, but to all those who have made that sacrifice (and that includes their loved ones!), thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Over at Tuesday Throwdown, we are celebrating Independence Day a little early with a "red, white, and blue" challenge this week. Our fabulous sponsor for this challenge, MyGrafico, generously provided us with a sweet set of full-color printables to play with. This set is called the "Spotsy, Dotsy Floral Collection." The fun, starbust-style flowers and the labels on my card are all from this set. Aren't they festive? I have to tell you, it almost never occurs to me to use pre-colored printables, I guess because I enjoy coloring so much, but doing so sure made this card come together quickly and easily! I printed the images and cut or punched them out, and layered them on some strips of paper from the DCWV 2010 "Summer Stack." Then I added red brads to the centers of the smaller flowers, and a blue button to the larger flower for accent. A little ribbon, and a couple of greetings stamped on the pretty labels, and it was done! I am definitely going to have to try out more of My Grafico's printable products, because it was so nice to get a card done quickly for a change -- LOL!

For more "red, white, and blue" inspiration, be sure to visit us over Tuesday Throwdown this week. And of course, we'd love to see your colorful creations, too! :-)

Lifting You Up

2011-06-27T02:00:00.073-04:00

When you think of summer, what images come to mind? One of the first that pops into my head is "hot air balloons." In the area where we live, seeing hot air balloons drift by in the sky is a regular part of most summer mornings, at least if you're up early enough to see them.

Our challenge this week at Heart Song Inspirations is to use scallops and/or paper piercing. When I saw what the challenge was, I knew I wanted use the hot air balloon image by Heart Song Designs, because there are scallops right there in the image -- in the edging on the top of the balloon, and in the shape of the clouds. In watching the balloons that drift through our skies each summer, my kids always marvel at the different patterns on the balloons. But my favorites are always the rainbow-striped ones. So of course when I colored up this sweet digi, I just had to make it rainbow-colored! :-)

Ironically, once I had the image all colored up, I couldn't find a single piece of patterned paper in my stash to match. So I set the image aside, thinking I was going to have to re-color it -- bummer. But then Saturday morning I got a package from a long-time friend with some sweet papers inside, and you guessed it, not only was there some rainbow-colored paper inside, but the rainbows were scalloped-shaped! What a terrific gift! I have no idea who makes these papers, but aren't they pretty?

To round out this card, I added a scallop-punched border. I did up the greeting on the computer, and layered it on a scalloped circle. Lots and lots of scallops, huh?

I hope you'll stop by and play along with us at Heart Song Inpsirations this week! We'd love to see what YOU come up with! :-)

Little Princess

2011-06-25T21:26:00.002-04:00

Whether real or digital, some puppies are just too cute for words, don't you think? That's how I feel about this darling digi puppy from K 'n K Designs. Her name is "Little Princess," and I'm so in love with her! For years I've said I was going to get a pug when the kids are grown and I retire, but now I'm thinking I need me one of these instead! Not only are they adorable, but I might be able to save time on housework because they'd do my dusting and mopping for me! (Just kidding!) Of course, the only thing better than a cute puppy is a free one, and guess what? The Little Princess digi is FREE this month with any digi order from K 'n K! Talk about the best of both worlds! :-)

To make this card, I used more of the sweet "Hullabaloo" papers from Making Memories. I know I've used these a lot lately, but I just love the combination of colors and patterns in them. Though I usually prefer Copics for coloring, I didn't have the particular shades of gray I wanted for this image, so I colored Little Princess with my old Prismacolor markers. The thing I've found with the Prismacolor markers is that although they, like Copics, are alcohol-based, they just don't blend as well as the alternative. But they work great for coloring an image like this one, I think, where you want the texture of the fur to show up, because the inks don't blend as well. The greeting I added is one I received in a greeting swap a couple years ago, so I have no idea who makes it, but I thought it went great with Little Princess, since she is the best! ;-)

Birthday Moose

2011-06-22T13:38:00.002-04:00

Are you good about remembering birthdays? They are such special days, and everybody loves to have theirs remembered and acknowledged. I try to be really good about remembering friends and family members' birthdays, but I have to admit I'm really lousy at it. A couple years ago, I made myself a birthday calendar that I keep right next to my desk to help remind me, but then I forget to look at the calendar, so I still end up missing birthdays -- big help, huh -- LOL! Sometimes there's nothing else to do but admit I forgot someone's special day, and pray for forgiveness.

Here is a card I made as a late birthday greeting for a friend whose special day I missed earlier this month. The digi I used is called "Birthday Moose" by Clear Dollar Stamps, and I think it's totally adorable! I love the punny greeting especially, and hope the recipient will, too. I do think laughter is the best medicine, even for forgotten birthdays -- hope she agrees with me! :-)

Cactus Kirk

2011-06-21T02:00:00.007-04:00

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, our challenge is to create a masculine card. This is definitely a challenge for me, largely because I tend to collect "cutesie" images, and those are somehow hard to work into cards for the guys -- LOL! Thankfully this week's generous sponsor is Dude Time Doodles, and they have a whole store full of fun images and sayings that are all perfect for guy cards. If you haven't already, be sure to stop by and check them out!

For my challenge card, I used the incredible "Cactus Kirk" digi. This image just really spoke to me. The contemplative cowboy reminds me so much of my grandfather, who was not only a rancher but also the quiet, thinker type. Also, though I don't show it much here, I love cowboys and western-themed things. I had such a great time coloring this up with my Copics while watching an old spaghetti western movie. (Hey, a girl's got to set the mood, right?)

I used a distressing tool to "shred" the edges of the image and it's frame, then paired Kirk with these great western papers that I bought a few years ago from Stampin' Up! I then made a paper belt of sorts for an accent. I couldn't find a button the right color, so I followed this tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers to create a paper button, and threaded some twine through it. And voila -- a masculine card!

I hope you'll stop by and join us at Tuesday Throwdown for this week's masculine card challenge! We love seeing your creations, and I especially look forward to getting some more inspiration on how to make this kind of card! We'll also be sharing the winners from last week's anniversary blog hop, so if you participated, be sure to check and see if you've won! :-)