Saturday, April 30, 2011

Last Saturday as GD at Sugar Creek


I am hoping you are getting to see this as I am auto posting this last Saturday's challenge that I am guest designing for Sugar Creek Hollow and I thank each of you that has left me such sweet comments on my cards for them. I have had a blast and want to thank Tracy for her trusting me with this honor and all of the DT that has been so supportive.

Now to my card, our challenge this week is to do wet or dry embossing and I did both on this. I used and older set of Stampin' Up's called Antique Collectibles and embossed them with Versamark and clear embossing powder down the side of my card. My dp on the front of the card by K&Co's Ancestry.com was dry embossed with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder. You can see the difference in the embossing when you look at the piece on the inside that is not embossed. I used SCH's images "vintage" which I repeated several times and then die cut with Labels 4 and "Believe".
Hope you can stop by and see the rest of the cards by the DT at Sugar Creek Hollow and play along if you have time.
Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Mojo Monday


Well thanks to a lot of you out there that I have watched play each week in the Mojo Monday challenge, I have decided this week to play along.


I have had this image from Clear Dollar Stamps for a few months and to be honest had forgotten about it. I printed it out this last week and thought that this would be a good time to use it. My side trim is some pipe trim that I bought on clearance at Walmart a few weeks ago. And if you are eying the pretty butterfly and postage stamp...it is some of the digital page that I purchased from Sharon at Plumrose Lane and heads up....she has a sale going on right now.


Well guys, if you have been with me for all 3 posts today....good for you, and I promise this is the last one. I am going to have an auto post on Saturday, fingers crossed it works. Off to do a couple more things and to bed early, I hope.
Hope you all have a great next few days and I will be seeing you soon!

Card Details:
Paper: Stampin' Up baja breeze, Bo Bunny Gabrielle collection
Image: CDS Quiet Rocking Chair set with sentiment
Ink: SU markers
Extras: Ephemera Plumrose Lane, Making Memories brad, Fiskars border punch, Pipe trim from Walmart

Bullfrogs and Butterflies at D2D


Post #2 for today....getting my card in for this week's progressive challenge at Delightful Inspiration where the free stamp from Designed 2 Delight was "Bullfrogs and Butterflies" and this was a complete set with sentiments, the focal image and extra flowers. I used Stampin'Up Eggplant Envy as my base and Basic Gray Green at Heart dp. I just got a set of Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles and I think I am going to love these. I cut out a rectangle and after looking at it, I decided to use the negative as a frame. My original cut is my backdrop for the inside of my card.


I colored this with Prismas and OMS, adding buttons and popping the image up on pop dots for a little extra dimension.  Getting closer all the time to leaving for our trip, just a couple more chores and I will be back for my third and final post today. Thanks for stopping by.

"Dots and Stripes" for A Day for Daises

Hey guys, trying to get my cards loaded before we take off...this is one for A Day for Daises and their challenge #16 which is dots and stripes using one of ADFD's images. She has a really cute freebie this week which I snagged but decided to use this one that I got at CDAC the other week as I haven't made anything with it as of yet. It is called "Lamb for Easter" but I love it for anytime of year and thought that it went really well with the ticket from Paper Cupcakes.

My coloring was with the few copics that I have and my dp is from 7 Gypsies "Victoria" and is layered on Stampin' Up black and a melon color that I am not sure of the name. Hope you like it....have a couple of more cards to post but need to get lunch and to pack my bag. Be back soon.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Buttons,Buttons and a Sketch



Happy Tuesday....trying to get a few cards done before Rick and I take off to Pennsylvania for a couple of days so please bear with me as I will have a couple of posts coming today and tomorrow.
This one is for a couple of challenges, the first one is at the Doodle Pantry where we are to use a DP image and buttons, then my sketch for this card is from The Sweet Stop .

I just love this kitty, look at that sweet facial expression. It is called " Kitty Bouquet" and it includes a couple of different kitties with flowers and lots of sentiments. I used a piece of SU card stock and I am sorry that I am not sure of the name, I paired it with double sided paper from K&Co Ancestry.com and textured paper from Best Occasions. I colored the kitty with my prismas and the flowers with SU markers. My buttons are from GinaK Designs with DMC floss. My inside is just a "Thank You" sentiment. I made this for the wonderful lady that we have to cat sit for us....she is a dream! Very reliable and so good with our fur babies. Thanks for taking a look and please leave me a comment if you have time.

Monday, April 25, 2011

An Anniversary Card for Speedy!


Can you believe it? I found out Saturday that I had won in Speedy the Cat's challenge at Mark's Finest Papers and emailed them my address and the stamp set came today. That is fast and I was fast to my craft room to create a card using the set "Big Cats". The challenge is to make an anniversary card and I knew this is perfect for Rick, even though our anniversary is not until November and there was no way I could wait until then to show him the card. Lol, he will have forgotten about it by then and it will be an surprise again.
The pictures don't do this justice, so much better irl. I love the details on their stamps, you can see the whiskers when it is stamped. Awesome! I have been wanting the African Veldt set and now will just have to order it!

Hope you love this as much as I do....and will check out their challenge for this week!

Card Details:
Paper: GinaK designs chocolate brown, dp Pressed Petals, Stampin' Up Ivory
Ink: Versafine onyx black, prismacolor pencils and oms
extras: Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles, SU top note, SU hemp twine
Images: MFP Big Cats, SU sentiment from A Word for You

Midnight Madness with Sugar Creek Hollow


It's the 100th sketch challenge at Midnight Madness and the sponsor this week is Sugar Creek Hollow and you guys know how I love their images, so I just had to play along. Here are the sketches for this week, you can use either the CAS or the Fancy:



I created a 5 1/4 square card and used SCH's image "March" and the sentiment is also from SCH. I added layers by embossing a piece of yellow card stock and sponging Night of Navy ink over the
flowers, not sure I love this part and might do it differently if I didn't have it all glued down. My left panel was created by off stamping the text in NON and then stamping on the Gina K Baby Boy Blue and then stamping the flower and leaf in straight NON ink. I colored the image with Prismas and OMS, My ribbon is also GinaK designs. Take a look at the pressed flowers and cork pieces on the left side, these are cut out of a new digital collage set that I got this weekend from Sharon at Plumrose Lane in her Etsy shop. I bought three different ones and will be showing some of these on some of my next cards. Easy to print and cut out, she is also where I bought my blog header and have just gotten a new one that I hope to be able to load soon. This is going to be a busy week, trying to get some DT work finished and Rick and I are going to Pittsburgh to the NRA show this weekend, for a quick getaway. Can't wait.
Thanks for the visit and if you haven't seen my Paper Cupcakes card for today, I posted it earlier this morning.
Have a great week!

Twisted Easel for PCC




Happy Monday and welcome to another magical Monday with Paper Cupcakes....our challenge this week, issued by Jenn Cochran is to create a card using your choice of any multi fold card and I am sure you are aware there are quite a few out in cyber land to choose from. One of my all time favs is the easel card and I have been wanting to try a twisted easel card and this was the perfect time to give it a try. I had so much fun making this card!
I used Nina's beautiful image "Tulips" and you can find the challenge here and a link to the store if you would like to purchase this image.
This first photo shows my card closed and this is the card sitting up:

My papers are from Prima's pack "madeline" and I used my Stampin' Up markers to color the image. Now that Easter is over, I am going to try and get some Mother's Day cards made to sell. I also want to show you a close up of the image which I cut out using my Spellbinders Peony dies. The only different thing about this card is to make sure your image will be positioned correctly when closed and open, especially with an image that needs to be upright. I hope you will check out our challenge this week and play along, I know a lot of you our there make some beautiful multi fold cards.


I am also entering this in the challenge at   Our Creative Corner where they want you to make an easel card. Was so happy to see this ....worked with this card but I would have played anyways, any excuse to make an easel card. lol
Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Card Details:
Paper: GinaK ivory, SU old olive, Prima madeline
Ink: SU blue bayou, baja breeze, old olive, always artichoke
Images: PCC Tulips, SU Well Scripted
Extras: Michael's ribbon, stardust glitter pen, Queen B pearls, Spellbinders peony dies, EK Success border punch, crimper,pop dots

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter !!!


Happy Easter to all of you that so kind to visit with me! It has dawned a beautiful morning here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA and the soft breeze, spring colors and flowers remind me of that new hope that Spring always signals. Seems like our spring is a little earlier than usual and everything is even prettier this year. My perennials are growing so strong and the azaleas are gorgeous this year. Thank you God for our salvation and your sweet promises to us all.

I have a little something to share today....I received an email from Katlyn at Doodle Pantry letting me know that I had been chosen as one of their top notch artists...well you can imagine my surprise and delight at this news. I love Laurie's images and never thought about being noticed by them whenever I have played in their challenges. You can find my featured cards here and the images I have used by Doodle Pantry here .


For my card today, I am using the set "Holy Land Flowers 3" which has the mustard and almond flowers and several sentiments and verses. I love these and will have to "have" the other 2 sets that feature more of the flowers found in the Holy Land. Be sure and check these out, I am sure you will love them too! My inside is decorated with the verse Matt 17:20 which is part of the set, speaking about faith as a mustard seed.


I hope you all have plans for a wonderful Easter Sunday and that God Blesses each one of you....my niece and her family were here yesterday for a visit and we had such a wonderful time. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to visit with you soon!

Card Details:
Paper: GinaK white 120lb, Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden
Ink: Prismacolor Pencils and oms
Images: DP Holy Land Flowers 3
Butterfly from Pink Paislee

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Circles Sketch for Sugar Creek Hollow


Happy Easter weekend my friends....I know that I have been quiet this week, but unfortunately it has just been a super busy week for Rick and I. Trying to get some behind the scenes crafting done and lots of appointments to keep, but I am back to present my card for the challenge this Saturday for my next to the last week as guest designer for Sugar Creek Hollow and I hope you have enjoyed seeing their beautiful digital stamps as much as I have enjoyed playing with them. This week I used "Petal Cross" and one of the sentiments from Tracy's set "Behold" which is one of my all time favorites. This week there is a sketch that I believe all of the DT is using but not required to participate in the challenge. So, if you love sketches...please use it and if not don't but the theme this week is Circles!



This is such an elegant image, but I love the look of distressing with it and the softness of the Provo Craft Soft Serenity papers. I decided to make this an always there for you type of card since I didn't need any more Easter cards.
                                                                   

Here's hoping that you have a Blessed weekend and will keep in your heart the meaning of this glorious holiday. I will be thinking of all of you and wishing you only the best. Take care and stop by at SCH if you have a moment and see what the rest of the team has to share this week.

Card Details:
Paper: Stampin' Up old olive, Provo Craft soft serenity, stash purple and lilac
Ink: SU lovely lilac, SU markers
Tools: Spellbinders circle and scallop dies, Martha Stewart border punch, SU distressing tool, Unk scrap of ribbon
Images: SCH Petal Cross, Behold, SU whimsical words sentiment, flourish unk

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

My First "Collage" Card




While visiting with my friend Olga at her blog the other day I saw where she had entered a lovely card at a site called The Sweet Stop and I fell in love with their sketch for this week and just had to give it a try.

In addition to the sketch they asked you to add something winged to your card.
 I had also been at     Mark's Finest Papers where they are having a challenge to create a collage card. I decided to give that a try as well and combine the two into my card. I love these new items that I have from Pink Paislee, I used some of the paper, the clear stamps and a butterfly from the ephemera package. My dotted dp as well as the green layered background piece is by DCWV- Mariposa. I used SU baja breeze, mellow moss and creamy caramel as my inks, as I wanted to keep it light.

I hope you enjoy this and will check out these two sites and play along with their challenges. Thanks Olga for pointing the way. Happy Day to you all!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Freebie time at Paper Cupcakes

Hello Sunshine!!! That is the name of our freebie at Paper Cupcakes and it can be yours....stop by There's Magic in the Air our challenge blog and get yours. Ildiko Cseh has challenged us to create a bright and cheery card and how could you not with the colors that she chose for us to use: Green, yellow and orange? I had so much fun with this card and was able to use my Only Orange card stock from Stampin' Up and an orange satin ribbon that I found at the Dollar Tree. IRL this cards sparkles like crazy from the Studio G glitter glue that I used ... wish you could see it better. And if you think you are dizzy looking at my sentiment (SU Well Scripted) , it is o.k. I just stamped it using the shadow stamp technique in orange and black. Hope that you will try and play along this week with us....as always you may use any image but if you use a PCC image , your name will be entered twice.


Please stop by the blog and check out what the rest of the DT has created this week and hope to see your name entered later this week. Take care everyone and have a happy week.

Card Details:
Paper: Stampin' Up , watercolor, dp Basic Gray Origins
Ink: SU markers, Memento Summer Sky, SU old olive
Tools: Spellbinders Circle die, Ribbon-Dollar Tree, Martha Stewart border punch
Images: PCC Hello Sunshine, SU Happiness Shared, Well Scripted

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Another Midnight Madness Card


I have another post for today....loved the sketch so much at Midnight Madness this week that I decided to make a Christmas card using it and enter one more card for this week's challenge. I am also entering this at ABC Christmas Challenge where they are on the letter "H" for hotspot or as some would call spotlight which highlights one part of your image. I used Stampin' Up papers in ivory, cherry cobbler and the retired dp "Deck the Halls". My image is from Flourishes set "Sleigh Ride". My card base is embossed with Cuttlebugs folder "Snowflakes" and then I used the two sided dp to create my focal point. I decided to stamp the dp and then punch out to create my hotspot making the sleigh look upholstered.


This is such an adorable set and I think I will get a lot of mileage out of it for my holiday cards. Thanks for stopping in for a look and hope you are having a Happy Day!!

Designed 2 Delight


It's only Sunday and I have completed my card for the progressive challenge at Delightful Inspiration the blog for Designed 2 Delight where Faith features her very own designs and if you play along with the image featured each week, you will receive the next week's image "Free" just for playing. Now isn't that a great deal? Hope you will check out this great site. I love the "Ladybug Balancing Act" image for this week and I combined it with a jar from a previous set called "Caught a Bug". I also used a sentiment for the inside created by Faith.


I colored this with my Prismacolor pencils and oms. Here's hoping you enjoy it and will visit with the ladies at D2D this week.

Card Details:
Paper: Stampin' Up Riding Hood Red, Unk yellow and dp
Ink: SU barely banana and riding hood red, Prismas and oms
Walmart ribbon, Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals and Peony
SU corner rounder and cropadile

Saturday, April 16, 2011

It's a Sensational Saturday


Here's hoping you are having a sensational Saturday wherever and whatever you are doing! It is certainly a great day for me as this is my third post as guest designer for Sugar Creek Hollow and I can only hope you are enjoying seeing what I am creating with their images as much as I am enjoying creating them. The challenge for this week is monochromatic and I know how some of you love doing those cards, so hope you can join us this time around. Remember, you can use any image, but if you use one of Tracy's from Sugar Creek Hollow, then you will be entered for the prize twice. She has some freebies, if you would like to try one before buying. This image that I have used is one of the new releases this month titled "Dressmaker Form Redo" and I used some dp and card stock from Stampin' Up in Groovy Guava. LOL, I don't even remember buying that package of design paper, but kinda glad that I did as I really like the combo with a touch of black.

I stamped a flourish stamp with Versamark to keep it subtle and used a couple of sentiments from a set from GinaK Designs that I think go perfectly with the dress form for the inside. If you have a few minutes, stop by and see what the rest of the team has been up to....know you won't be disappointed, as the talent in the DT at SCH is over the top. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you all soon!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Midnight Madness


Well guys, here I am playing a new challenge site(for me) for the second time in one day. This time I am trying the sketch at Midnight Madness and hope you like what I came up with. They have  two variations on the sketch and I did the one with some extra bling to it and flipped it on it's side.






I used some of the new Flourishes stamps that I purchased recently and tried to keep my colors in the tea set muted to match my papers. Hope you enjoy and will leave me a comment if you have a moment. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon!

Card details:
Paper: K&Co ancestry.com, GinaK brown and ivory, Stampin' Up baja breeze
Ink: SU markers, watercolor brush, Copic T1, Versafine Vintage sepia
Stamps: Flourishes Timeless Quotes and Let's have Tea
Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, Stardust glitter pen, EF by Sizzix for SU, brown satin ribbon, Studio G pearls

New challenge site for me!!

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a new to me challenge site called CR84FN where they use a color/inspiration board for each week's challenge.
This is the one for this week:

Aren't those luscious colors? I did a very simple design for this week using Stampin' Up's set "Inspired by Nature" which I stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with black embossing powder. My bird image is also by SU and from their set "Sentiment Silhouette's". If this is a new one to you also, stop by and check it out. I am thinking that I am going to enjoy playing along with them.

Thanks for stopping in.....

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Doodle Pantry Challenge #11

Well, back for my second post today, but wanted to share this card that I created for the challenge going on at Doodle Pantry where anything goes as long as you use one of Laurie's images from DP and she does have some free ones if you don't own any yet. This is one that I purchased last year called "Gazania" and includes this sentiment that I merged with the flowers. When you pull this flower up on the internet, you find that it comes in a large variety of patterns and colors. So much fun. I colored this using a mixture of Stampin' Up markers and then added a glitter glue pen to the petals. I cut it out with Spellbinders Peony die and sponged with SU barely banana. My dp is from K&Co and is such a beautiful pattern. I hope you can play along with the gang at Doodle Pantry this week and they are also sponsoring some other challenges where you can win some great prizes, so what are you waiting for....stop by and check out all of the info. They are also sponsoring the color challenge this time at CDAC...blue and yellow and there is a super cute freebie to use for that.
Thanks gang for stopping by again and hope to see you soon!

Best Friend Award


I am so honored to be awarded this from two of the nicest ladies in the world. My friend Kathy at the Lucky Stamper gave this to me first and I hope you can stop by her blog and check out the beautiful work that she does. She is always such an inspiration to me. Then before I knew it, I was honored again when the lovely Olga at craftieodamae bestowed this to me. Thanks Olga, I will always cherish our friendship as you were the very first online person to become my friend and to think we only lived a few miles away from each other. You need to check out her beautiful work as well....such talent in all of my friends and that includes you reading this.
When receiving this award you need to thank your givers and then link back to their site. You then need to pass this on to followers for your blog that inspire you with their visits and comments. I so appreciate each and everyone of you that stops to visit with me and want to pass it on to all of my followers and readers, if you have not already posted this from someone else, please accept it with my love and gratitude. I hope each of you is having a happy, special day!

It's a Garden Party



Don't you just love a party? Well if so, then you need to join in the one this week at Designed 2 Delight . This is my entry for the progressive challenge that Faith puts on each Friday. For each week that you play and post a creation, you will get the next weeks digi free. I made a 5 1/2 inch square card for this week using some card stock from Rubber Cottage and some unknown purple and dp from my stash (these are oldies but goodies, I guess). The sentiment is also by Faith and is in a set she sells by the name "Willow Whimsy" which has the most beautiful tree image included.


I was looking at my collection of cards and saw that I am light in the Happy Birthday ones, so that is what I will be concentrating on for a bit. I will have another post a little later on , so if you have time be sure and check back in. Happy Day to you all!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Magical Monday for Paper Cupcakes

Well gang, it's Monday again and that means time for my card for this week's challenge for Paper Cupcakes where Chelsea Barnes is our hostess and challenges us to use fabric and stitches in our creations. As you all know, I do not sew with a machine so I had to resort to my old cross stitching days and decided to use a piece of aida cloth that I am still holding on to. I love to cross stitch but my eyes don't like for me to do it as much as they used to. My papers are from the new Prima pack called Madeline that I recently ordered and my coloring was done with Prismacolors and OMS. I really love this image by Nina which is called "Decorative Egg" I hope you can join in on the challenge this week. You can use any image you would like to, but if you use a PCC image your name will be entered in the draw for our prize, twice.


I hope you all had a super weekend...Rick and I got away for a few hours on Saturday to shoot in a fund raiser tournament for a local church in our area. It was such a blast, we were able to meet up with some friends that we haven't seen in quite and it was a gorgeous day set up on a local horse farm and next to the beautiful New River that runs through our area. Here's wishing you all a happy day!!