Blu Birdie of Happiness

My Punny Valentine

2012-02-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I love Valentines day is the potential for puns! Here are a few groan worthy puns for you!

Isn't that fat little bunny cute? I know, right?

OK, are you ready for another pun? Be careful--this one really stinks.

Too far? Don't say I didn't warn you. LOL. This little skunk is one of the first stamps I ever owned. My mother gave it me for my birthday many, many years ago, and I like to dig it out when I'm feeling sentimental. What better excuse than Valentine's day?

Originally, I planned to write, "You shiver my timbers," but my husband said it sounded too dirty. LOL. He's the one that came up with "I'd walk the plank fer ye." Haha! Love it!

No pun here, but there is gliiiiittttteeerrr! I love shaker cards! They are so neat. Look!

I'd like to enter these cards into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge--"Love is in the air!"

Thanks for looking! Happy Valentine's Day!

A Lawn Fawn Valentine

2012-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

I finally picked up a set of Lawn Fawn stamps, and I love them! They arrived just in time for me to play in the current Lawnscaping Challenge. They're asking everyone to use this fantastic inspiration photo which is just perfect for Valentine's Day.

And if that isn't enough inspiration, the DT samples are fantastic! I actually started working on my cards before I saw the samples, and I was surprised to discover that Christy and I were using almost identical layouts! I guess what they say is true--great minds really do think alike. LOL. I liked it so much, I made a few different versions.

I made the hearts by covering the adhesive side of a sticker with ultrafine red glitter. The hearts are so much sparklier in real life. That's probably why the sweet little raccoon has run off with it--You know how they like shiny things! Here are a few close-ups.

I also decided to make a few cards featuring the fox. This card is for my grandmother. In retrospect, I wish the sentiment read "Happy Valentine's Day to a Foxy Lady," (maybe it's the crooked handwriting that's actually bothering me) but I guess it's pretty cute all the same.

Oh, and in case you were wondering--Lawn Fawn is equally adorable in pink!

I'd like to enter these cards into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp--"love is in the air"
Celebrate the Occasion--"Happy Valentine's Day" (must use a heart)
Papertake Weekly--"Black, Red, and White all over"

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Looking for Love

2012-02-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

House Mouse and Friends is having a blog hop! I love their blog hops--so many fantastic projects and so much inspiration. I'm cutting it pretty close on this one though--it's over in just a few hours! The theme is "Love" with more than one heart. I wasn't going to play because I didn't have any Valentine themed House Mouse stamps. But then inspiration hit and I decided to use this cute Gruffies stamp. A few hearts scattered on the ground and a valentine for the chipmunk and--VOILA!

I'd also like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen Challenge--"Love is in the Air"

Simon Say Stamp--"Love is in the Air"

Sweet Sketch Wed--Sketch #140-47

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

2011-10-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today I have made baby card without the traditional pastels. I thought it would be fun to use a different color palette, but I may have gone a little too bold with the red polka dot paper. The super cute image is Wynken, Blynken, and Nod from Mo's Digital Pencil. It's one of my favorites which makes it a perfect choice for this week's challenge--"Use your favorite Mo's image and add a sentiment." Although, to be perfectly honest, I could have used any image from Mo. They are ALL my favorites. :) Just check out the details on this sweet stamp.

The (loud) polka dot paper is from my stash, and the blue glitter cardstock is from DCWV. I wish it photographed better. It's so sparkly in real life--perfect paper for a card inspired by a nursery rhyme. I also added glitter to the stars and moon. I love how it catches the light.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Cupcake Crafts--"Buttons & Bows"
Simon Says Stamp--"Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes" My "inspiration" is Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge--"Favorite Image and sentiment"

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Winter love birds

2011-10-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

The current challenge at ABC Christmas is "U" for "unused stash." The DT included photos of their stash, and it was so much fun to see their unused stash "magically" turn into cards. I thought it would be neat to create a little magic of my own. Here is my unused stash. (Can you believe that gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamp was un-inked? For shame.)

And here ****waves magic wand**** is my card.

Doesn't this image make you want to cuddle?!

I used the fabulous sketch at Sketch Saturday to complete my card. The papers are from a DCWV Christmas stack--a little more unused stash for you :) The stitching around the image looks black, but it's really dark green. The camera also seems to have washed out the colors in the image--maybe the waxy finish of the colored pencils just doesn't photograph well?

And to make up for the fact that I left that poor little stamp un-inked for so long, I decided to make a second card. ****waves wand again****

Tadaa!
This time I used the sketch from Our Craft Lounge. The papers are from the same DCWV Christmas stack (it's not unused anymoooooorrrrreeee!). The ribbons and gems are from my stash.

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, I'd like to enter these cards in the following challenges:
Winter Wonderland-- "Robin Redbreast"
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long--"Seeing Spots"

Thanks so much for looking!

Oh, NUTS!

2011-10-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

I LOVE a good pun. (to be perfectly honest, I like most groan-worthy puns, too!) So when I saw this cute little Whipper Snapper stamp I knew I had to add it to my collection. Oh, the pun possibilities! :)

I decided to play along with Charisma Cardz. The current theme is "in stitches (real or faux)." I love the look of stitching on cards, but I don't have a sewing machine, nor would I be able to operate one even if I did. The original plan was to go with faux stitching, but I decided to be brave and try hand stitching with a needle and thread. It was actually quite easy, if a little time consuming. I just took my paper piercer (AKA old compass that I nicked--with permission--from my grandmother), punched holes in a (mostly) straight line, and used a needed and four strands of thread (to make it more like embroidery floss). I love the additional texture and interest stitching adds to the card. You might see a little more stitching on my cards.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day! :)

Got Candy?

2011-10-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

The month of October is just flying by! I thought I was getting a head start by making a few Halloween goodies, but it seems I've got just enough time to get to the post office. This is a little treat bag that I made using Mo's Halloween witch. So cute. I love the look on her poor cat's face. I think that's what I would look like too, if I were flying through the night sky at top speeds on a broom. LOL. I tried to make it look like she's flying in front of the moon. I used the wrong side of the swiss dots embossing folder and added a little grey glitter to create the moon.

I made this card to go with the treat bag, though they don't really look like a set. I might make another card and treat box to create "matching" pairs. But I'd better be quick about it! There's not much time left!

I'm entering this mismatched duo in the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew--"Spooky Fun"

Simon Says Stamp--"Halloween"

ABC Challenge--"Boo"

One Stop Craft--"Halloween"

Paper Sundaes--"Halloween or Fall"

Thanks for looking! I love reading your comments. :)

Ok...so I might be cheating... a little...

2011-10-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

The current challenge at House Mouse and Friends is a color challenge: Orange, Yellow, Green, and Black with the optional theme of Halloween. Sadly, I do not have any Halloween House Mouse Stamps, so I decided not to use the Halloween theme. I also decided to cheat, but just a little. I'm still using a House Mouse Image. All four colors are in my card. But I snuck in a tiny bit of pink and blue. Oh, OK--a lot of blue. Hopefully I don't get in trouble. :)

So how much do you love that DP? It's from the Echo Park Country Drive collection--courtesy of the fabulous and talented Lorraine. I won her candy during the House Mouse Birthday Bash. I couldn't have been more excited about it, and she couldn't have been sweeter about it. There's glitter on the puddle and on all of the rain drops, but you'll have to take my word for it, since the camera never picks it up. I paper pieced the umbrella. I love paper piecing, but sometimes it can look a little flat/one dimensional. SO here's a little TIP that helped me. To make it pop add shadows AND highlights. I use a white galaxy marker for the highlights, which is just right because it's still transparent allowing you to see the pattern underneath. Also, be sure to color before cutting your pieces out, since it's much "fiddlier" once you've cut. Learned that one the hard way. LOL.

The Sketch is from Sketch N Stash--my new stash, of course, being the DP.

I'm also entering this card in Top Tip Tuesday. The theme this week is DP and handmade flowers. I love reading all the tips from other bloggers and hope my paper piecing tip will help someone.

Thanks for looking and reading my extra long post! Have a great day!

Deck the Halls

2011-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Wild Rose Studio is having a festive frolic blog hop to celebrate their new Christmas release. To join the fun, all you have to do is make a Christmas card and then pop over to the DT's blogs to see what they've created. ***Spoiler alert*** Everything is super cute!

The card I've made features Fluffles the cat--up to his usual hijinks. Fluffles reminds me of my own naughty cats. They get so excited when we put up the tree. Last year I caught Crouton, my deaf cat, with one of the Christmas lights in his mouth. "Look!" he said to my other cat Marble, "My mouth is glowing!" LOL. The papers are all from my stash and the sketch is an old one from the Papertake Weekly Challenge blog. You can't tell from the photo, but the I covered the Christmas ornaments in glitter and glossy accents.

Here is slightly different version of the card. This time in wintery colors.

I'd like to enter these cards into the following fun challenges:
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long --"Seeing Spots"
Stamptacular Sunday--"You choose"
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge--"Christmas Baubles or anything that hangs"

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Christmas Sparkle

2011-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

The current challenge at House Mouse and Friends is Christmas Sparkle. The DT cards are so fabulous that I found myself humming Christmas carols as I admired them. :) For my card, I used large chunky glitter on the snowflakes and a few of the holly leaves. Sadly, the glitter on my card isn't showing up well in the photo, so it looks like "Christmas lumpy" instead of "Christmas sparkle." LOL. The green paper is from Stampin' Up and the red foil chipboard used to be packaging from Bath and Body Works. It was too pretty to throw away, so I cut it up and have been using it to make Christmas cards. The sentiment in the bottom right corner says "Be Merry." I thought that was appropriate since this little mouse looks so happy! I think he's trying to catch one of those lumpy snowflakes on his tongue.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
House Mouse and Friends--"Christmas Sparkle"
Simon Says Stamp--"Anything Goes" (Just doing my part to hit 1,000 entries)
Cute Card Thursday--"Animal Crackers"

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

May all your wishes come true

2011-09-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

The current challenge at Penny Black Saturday is "Monochromatic." I don't know about you, but monochromatic challenges have always seemed a bit daunting to me. I decided to try it out anyway, because I think monochromatic cards look so clean and polished. This week's fun sketch from Sketch N Stash made it easy, and I like the end result.

I cheated a little as mine is not truly monochromatic. As you can see, I colored the mouse gray and the dandelion green. I just couldn't color them blue! Baby steps. Perhaps next time I will color my image in monochromatic tones as well. The papers and the sentiment are from Stampin Up. I've been hoarding the paper pad--the papers are double sided and I always feel guilty when I use double sided paper. It's like I'm wasting half of it! LOL. :) I flocked the dandelion for a little extra dimension and some additional interest, because the rest of card is plain.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Penny Black Saturday--"Monochromatic"
Sketch N Stash--Sketch 71

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

More House Mouse Fun!

2011-09-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

House Mouse and Friends celebrated their third blogoversary last week and great fun was had by all! There was a fantastic blog hop and lots of yummy prizes. Just when I had recovered from the excitement, I discovered that I was the winner of the fantastic Lorraine's candy! YAY! I think that deserves another celebration card, don't you?

I feel like this cute bunny--carried away in the excitement of it all (though it would take more than 4 balloons to carry me--LOL). The stamp is called Balloon Journey. The cloud paper is from Stampin' Up and the cardstock and ribbon are from my stash. I thought it would be cute to add real strings for the balloons. You can see it better from the side.

Thanks for looking! I'll be back later with my card for the current House Mouse Challenge, "Christmas Sparkle."

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Paper Sundaes--Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp--Anything Goes
Celebrate the Occasion--Any Occasion Must Use Ribbon

"Witch" way to the candy?!

2011-09-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week at Charisma Cardz is to make a card and matching gift box/bag. I decided to make a Halloween card and some treat boxes.

Aren't the boxes cute! I made them with a kit I bought after Halloween a few years ago. I think they'll be perfect for my nephews.

This image I have used is from Mo's Digital Pencil--It always makes me laugh! It features Bella and her dog Bronte trick-or-treating. Bella and Bronte have some amazing adventures together. I wonder what awaits them this Halloween? I also love all the little details in this stamp. For example, did you notice the dog bone treats in Bronte's pumpkin? What about the black cat decal on Bella's jumper? Or the fact that Bella is carrying a cauldron to hold her loot? Mo thought of everything. And I have to say, Bronte's being a pretty good sport about the whole wearing-a-costume thing. I bought costumes for my cats (I got them for song after Halloween one year) and let's just say they weren't quite as good natured about it.

Heehee. :)

Charisma Cardz--"Make a card and a giftbox/bag"
Sweet Stampin'--"Anything goes"
Crazy for Challenges--"Halloween"
Stampin' for the weekend--"What a cutie!"

Thanks for looking!

Kind Thanks

2011-09-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

As kids, my cousin and I loved going for long bike rides together when we visited my grandmother's house. This beautiful image from Elisabeth Bell brings back those fond memories. We would pedal up and down dirt roads for hours chatting and looking for hills to fly down. I doubt I could even ride a bike now!

I don't often use flowers on my card, but I love the depth they create. You can really see it from the side.

I decided to play along with the color challenge at the Belles n Whistles blog. The colors were red, yellow, and blue.

At first I was a little nervous about the primary colors, but they actually worked really well together. I also added a bit of green to round things out.

To put my card together I used one of the sketches from Sketch N Stash. This week they are letting you choose from all of the sketches in their sketch catalog. They are so fantastic it was hard to choose! I ended up using sketch # 53. The sketch was a fun way to use my poor, neglected Elizabeth Bell stamp. It also encouraged me to dig out and dust off my Martha Stewart daisy punch.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:
Totally Papercrafts--"Thank you"
Simon Says Stamp Challenge--"Die cuts to die for" (I used my Martha Stewart daisy punch and my Scalloped Circle Spellbinders die)
Sweet Stampin'--"Flowers"
Paper Sundaes--Felt (the red rose is made from felt)

Thanks for looking! I love your comments! :)

Hello Friend

2011-09-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

The theme at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is "friendship," which gave me the perfect chance to ink up this adorable stamp--appropriately named "Bunny Friends." Isn't it cute?

The patterned paper is from DCVW's green stack--so in addition to being pretty cute, it's made with 70% recycled paper! The ribbons and buttons are from my stash. And that's it! A quick post from me today.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Hoppy Birthday!

2011-09-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

This week House Mouse and Friends is celebrating their 3rd birthday! Hooray! To celebrate, they are having a birthday blog hop featuring all of the members on their design team old and new. Their creations are truly spectacular! And the DT member are giving away loads of delicious candy!! If you haven't seen it you should check it out. House mouse stamps were some of my first rubber stamps when I started crafting a few years ago and they are still some of my favorite stamps, so I am happy to join in the celebration. I decided to use "Party Hoppers" for my card--after all, what's a birthday celebration without party hats? (when I first showed the stamp to my husband he said it should be called "Party Poopers" because the bunny on the left looks annoyed about being forced to wear a hat. I think my husband is bit of a party pooper--now I can't look at the stamp the same way! Oh well, there's one at every party, isn't there?)

The papers and ribbon are all from my stash. I went with really bright colors--I may have over done it a bit, but birthdays are a time of indulgence, right? I used stickles and dollar store glitter glue on the hats and the sentiment. The picture doesn't quite capture how sparkly they are.

This one doesn't either. But it does give you a little peek at the inside. (And perhaps the rabbit on the left looks a little more cheerful from this angle?)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
House Mouse and Friends--"Birthday Celebration"
Papertake Weekly--"Creature Comforts"
Truly Scrumptious--"Clean and Simple" (The colors are a bit bright, but the layout is simple and uncomplicated.)

Baby's First Birthday!

2011-09-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

Over at Bronte and Bella's Challenge Blog they're celebrating their 100th challenge! Whoohoo! Naturally the theme this week is "Celebration." I had a hard time choosing an image for my card because all of Mo's images are joyful! :) In the end I settled on 1st birthday. So cute! The little boy reminds me of my nephew who recently celebrated his first birthday too. He has really curly hair and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I love that Mo often includes animals in her images. This puppy makes me giggle. I think he wants cake too! (Who could blame him? I could go for a little cake at the moment! LOL). The sentiment is from a Studio G set. All the papers are from my scrap drawer. I love it when that happens. Whoohoo. Another reason to celebrate :)

Thanks for looking! Have a great day.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

2011-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

I can't count the number of times I've vowed to make a Christmas card every week. I can, however, count the number of times I have actually done it---ZERO. I can also count the number of Christmas cards I've made this year---ONE. This one. LOL. Better late than never. :)

When my cute husband saw it, he said "Wow, you're already doing Christmas cards? It's only September." LOL.

I followed the fantastic sketch by Erika over at the Sugar Bowl where the added theme this week is to use your scraps. The sketch is fantastic--I love that it's not overly complicated. For some reason, though, I had a really hard time with it. At one point, I think I had my entire box of scrap papers dumped out on my desk. I finally settled on this red foil card stock that I recycled from some Bath and Body Works packaging. I wish the foil photographed better; it seems to wash out the image. The red velvet ribbon on the card is from the same package. The stamp is an old Elizabeth Bell image from Sugar Nellie.

Here's a little peek at the inside. I've put a little more of that lush velvet ribbon on the inside.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Say Stamp---"Sing it" (I hummed the Twelve Days of Christmas the whole time I was making this card. LOL).

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long---Photo Inspiration

Winter Wonderland---"Girly Christmas"

Thanks so much for looking! Have a great day!

If life gives you lemons...make lemon zest

2011-09-16T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Challenge at Penny Black Saturday (which I am too late to enter, oops!) is "Delicious." I don't know about you, but lemonade doesn't immediately come to mind when I think of the word "delicious." Unfortunately, I don't have any Penny Black stamps with cake or cookies so I had to go in a slightly different direction. Luckily, it gave me an opportunity to ink up these adorable stamps.

The green paper is from a Sam's Club jumbo paper pack. I don't know the actual brand of the paper, but I've been hoarding it because I love how cheerful the polka dots are. I added the lemons, which I cut out of two different shades of yellow paper. The overall effect is a bit bright, but I thought that was appropriate for an encouragement card.

I also decided to decorate the inside. Usually, I just add a strip or two of coordinating paper, but since the challenge at Paper Sundaes and Truly Scrumptious this week is to decorate the inside of your card, I decided to do a little extra. Here's a peek...

And here's the inside.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Truly Scrumptious---"Decorate the inside of your card"
Paper Sundaes---"Finishing Touches"
Card Positioning Systems---Sketch #235

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A Child's Prayer

2011-09-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

I love this sweet image from Mo's Digital Pencil. It was one of Mo's first digistamps and it's still one of my favorites. It's perfect for "sympathy" and "thinking of you" cards. This time I paired it with a Child's Bedtime Prayer and framed it to make wall art for a child's room or nursery. I paper pieced the little girl's nightie. I thought I had two sheets of the striped paper, and I planned to use it for the mat too. Turns out, I only had one. Oh, well. Time for Plan B! Even though it's not what I had in mind, I still think it came out OK. I'll probably paint the frame another color or trade it for a different frame because I think the black is too severe for the pastel papers. I really wish the camera picked up the color a little better. The picture is looking a little grey and washed out. In real life, the colors are soft but cheerful. I left the tag blank, so it can be personalized later.

Here's a closer look at of Mo's sweet image:

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:
Totally Papercrafts--"Not a Card"
Stamptacular Sunday--"The Sky's the Limit"
Papertake Weekly--"Anything Goes"

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

My Sweet Friend

2011-09-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back with another sketch challenge, this time from Lisa at Paper Sundaes. I was really excited to try this sketch because the Paper Sundaes' design team did such a great job with their samples. I'm happy to report that the sketch did not disappoint. I really loved this sketch. Not only is the design is innovative, but it's also a great way to use those strips of scrap paper my husband makes fun of me for saving.

The stamp is from Penny Black. I love how fat and happy the mouse in the spoon is. Even though this stamp is one of my favorites, this is the first time I've made a card with it. All of the papers are from the Nana's Nursery DCWV stack. The collection is older, but I love the soft colors and sweet patterns. I paper pieced the label on the jam jar, and I hand made the flower buttons out of polymer clay. The flowers remind me of the blossoms on strawberry plants, so I thought they'd compliment the strawberry papers on the card.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:
Paperplay--"Make your own flowers"
Charisma Cardz--"Anything Goes"

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Love

2011-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

When making cards I really enjoy picking out stamps, papers, and coordinating ribbons or other embellishments, but I often get stuck figuring out how to put it all together. That's why I love sketch challenges. They're like instructions. Sketches help me arrange my card and force me to make a plan BEFORE I start gluing. LOL. Before I discovered sketches most of my cards were one stamp in the middle of a folded piece of cardstock (plus a square of patterned paper if I was struck with "inspiration"). I'd like to think I'm making progress--thanks to help from sketches like the one Dawny P created for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge. It was so much fun to use. I'll probably file it away to use again. Here is her sketch:

And here is my card:

In addition to the Papertake Weekly Challenge, I'm entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge where the theme this week is "Anything Goes" and in the Creative Card Crew Challenge where the theme is also "Anything Goes."

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

My (not-so) Triumphant Return to the Blog-o-sphere!

2011-09-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

After more than a year's absence from blogging, I have returned. Not that anyone noticed I was missing. :)

For my first project, I should have tackled something simple, something easy and straightforward. I did not. Instead, I picked one of the fussiest projects ever--I decided to alter something. I love the idea of altering little objects to make them more attractive or more personal--it's also called "up-cycling." In fact, I have 2 boxes full of ugly containers and notebooks waiting to be made beautiful. However, if this project is any indication of what's to come, they're going to be waiting for a looooong time. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me two days to alter this container and make a matching card. In all honesty, most of my time was spent trying not to throw the box across the room. It was just so "fiddly!" I huffed and I puffed and I took a break to organize my scrap papers (Yep, that's how frustrating it was...I organized my scrap paper). But I finally finished. Wanna see the result?

This is what I started with: a box that used to have marshmallows in it. It was part of a hot chocolate and mug set that I got from my sister-in-law last Christmas. Guess how many marshmallows were in the box. Seriously, just guess. FIVE. That's right. It only had five marshmallows, in the ENTIRE box. And I'm sorry to say there was nothing indulgent about them.

This is what it looks like now. I covered the box in some paper I've had for ages. The paper is adhesive on one side which made the application...tricky. For example, the paper adhered well, but centering/lining it up was a pain. If it wasn't in exactly the right spot when you laid it down, it probably never would be. I topped the box with some handmade felt roses, a ribbon, and a monogrammed tag.

Here is the matching card. The E. Bell image is from Sugar Nellie. I paper pieced her smock and her pants (including the patches on the knees), but it's not showing up that well in the photo. The card is 6X6 (That should give you a sense of the how big the box is and how ridiculous the fact that it only had 5 marshmallows is.)

I'm happy to enter the gift set in Cupcake Craft Challenges. It's one of my favorite challenge blogs, and I'm excited to participate again. The theme this week is "Alter It."

Someone Better Call the Fire Dept...It's Frank's Birthday

2010-04-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

More Penny Black Chickens. Aren't they a riot? I particularly love the chicken standing next to the fire extinguisher. Doesn't he look worried? Heehee. You can't tell from the picture, but this card actually has a lot of dimension. The chicken blowing out the candles (Frank, lol) and the birthday cake are both popped up on 3-D foam. I kept the rest of the card really simple so this adorable image would be the main focus (Plus all those embellishments are flammable. lol). Just a little red and white DP and a hand-written sentiment at the bottom to finish it off.

I'm entering this card in the Challenge over at Cupcake Crafts. The theme this week is red and white.

Thanks for looking!

Planting Some Love

2010-04-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Over on SCS, there is a fabulous challenge for Sugar Nellie Fans. I hope they continue doing this challenge. It's fun to have a challenge that is technique-based. I really enjoyed trying something new. This week the challenge is to make a diagonal double pocket card. I was pleased to discover that this intimidating-looking fold was actually quite easy and a lot of fun. I'll definitely be using this fold again. The only catch is that the fold needs double sided paper. Now, I have a love/hate relationship with double sided paper. I love it because it makes coordinating colors and patterns simple. But, it feels like a waste, doesn't it? I just hate gluing down one side of the paper--no one will ever see it! Consequently, I don't have a lot of double sided paper in my stash. Luckily, I had this bright and cheery sheet of 12X12 green polka dots that I recently snagged from my mother. It was perfect for this bright and happy feel of the card.

I used the stamp "planting some love" from Sugar Nellie. This is one of my all time favorite stamps. It's just so sweet! I paper pieced her hat, shirt, gloves, and back pocket, and then I covered the flowers on her hat with diamond stickles. It's super sparkly in real life. I also added white stitching to her jeans. Here's a close-up of the image.

I'm entering the card into the following challenges:
Sugar Nellie Challenge #3 over at SCS: Diagonal Double Pocket Fold
Create4Fun: Circles
ABC Challenge Blog: "S" for Sparkle
Papertake Weekly: Cutie Pie

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Love Blooms

2010-04-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I picked up some of these Pure Innocence Digis from Heather Ellis. These cuties have been poping up all over blog land, so I had to have a couple of my own. They're so simple and sweet.

I'm entering this card in the challenge over at Papertake Weekly. The theme this week is Cutie Pie. I think this counts. After all, she's pretty darn adorable in her polka dot wellies. hee hee.

Thanks for looking!

I cut into the cupcake paper---EEK!

2010-04-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite craft purchases ever is the Sweet Stack from DCWV. The papers are so lush! I love the pastel colors and all of the glittery details. The papers feature pretty little cupcakes, and cherries, and candies. Oh, my! So sweet. Here's the problem. I can't bring myself to use it! Well, after months of hoarding, and with much reservation, I finally decided to cut into the cupcake papers--the most precious of all the papers in the stack. And you know what? It felt good. Hmm. Who knew?

In fact, it felt so good I made not one, but two cards, featuring this delightful paper.

Unfortunately, my photography does not do the paper justice. The flash washes it out quite a bit. The background looks white, but it is actually blue in the first card and pink in the second. Oh, well.

Aren't the images cute? What a sweet image for Baby's First Birthday! The image is from Mo's Digital Pencil. You can find it here. Mo also drew another version for a little boy. Stay tuned. I'll have a card featuring that image in the next couple of days.

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Challenge--A Card for a Child

Creative Card Crew--Happy Birthday

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Before and After: A Notebook Gets a Makeover

2010-04-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

I just love altering notebooks. I don't know why. And to be honest, it's kind of a pain. I once spent the better part of a hour trying to put one back together again only to realize the front cover was upside down. Argh!! But...even with all of the headaches, I love altering notebooks. I usually pick them up at Micheal's when they're on sale. I got this one for 50 cents. Yay!

Before:

After:

It's an improvement, don't you think? (Well, if you overlook my poor photography. Heehee. The colors are much more vibrant IRL, I promise). I added the dividers, by cutting a piece of cardstock just a bit bigger than one of the pages, punching holes, and adding a tab. I think dividers makes the notebook seem a little more special. To decorate, I covered the notebook in some paper from a DCWV stack (I think it was last year's summer stack) and added this cute image from Mo's Digital Pencil. I also added a little metal embellishment/sticker that says "Imagine." I think it's a perfect fit for the image. I wonder what she's dreaming about. I also added some "fruit punch" stickles to the flowers. Here's a closeup of the image. You can see the glitter a little better in this one.

I'm entering this notebook in this week's Dare You to Digi Stamp Challenge. The theme this week is "metal." My notebook has metal binding (weak, I know) and a metal embellishment.

Thanks for looking and I love comments!!

Mad Cow

2010-04-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

I just love this mad cow stamp. It makes me laugh every time. When I bought the stamp I really didn't know what I was going to use it for. After all, how many occasions call for a cranky cow? Turns out--lots! Heehee. One if my favorite uses for Miss Bessie Badmood is a missed or belated birthday. The cow and the hay bale are both stamps from High Hopes. I drew the party hat and some little packages to make the scene complete. For some reason the green background paper is photographing really bright. IRL, it's not as fluorescent, and the green paper actually matches the presents and party hat. One of my favorite things about this card is the orange pom pom on top of the party hat. You just know that little cow had the best birthday planned and you had to go and ruin it. For shame. Heehee.

Here's the inside of the card.

I must miss a lot of people's birthdays, cause I made several of these cards. Made 2 in blue and pink, but those are already in the mail...ooopss. But I can show you one I made in red and purple. For this one I decided to go with the more traditional black and white cow as opposed to the brown cow in the first card.

I finished this card the same way on the inside.

I have really mixed feelings about using my own handwriting on cards. I think it looks so much more professional when I use a stamped sentiment, but I never seem to have one that says the right thing. I've toyed with the idea of printing sentiments on the computer, but IMHO it's cumbersome and time consuming. Plus, I cannot seem to get the spacing/arrangement right. My computer generated sentiments end up looking as amateurish as the handwritten ones! Argh! I think that part of the problem is that I don't have any good fonts. I only have the basic ones. Oh well...

I'm entering this card in the High Hopes Challenge. This week we were supposed to use 2 stamps (sentiments don't count).

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Thanks a Bunch!

2010-04-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

A quickie card and a quickie post from me today. I used another stamp from Penny Black. I just love their stamps, especially the "critters." They're so sweet and lots of fun to color. I think this little bunny is so cute with his big bunch of carrots. Makes for a great pun, and we all know how much I like a good pun. Heehee. All of the papers on this card are from my scrap pile. I love using up scraps! It makes me feel so resourceful!

I'm entering this card in the Charisma Cardz Challenge. The theme this week is "Thank you."

And on that note, thank you for looking and thanks for your comments!

Caught a bug?...Better let it go.

2010-04-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I made a couple of "Get Well" cards using this cute stamp from Whipper Snapper. The stamp is actually a purchase I made when I was sick a few months ago. (I think I bought, like, 5 get well stamps that week. Ah, the power of suggestion.) It really captures how how I feel/look when I'm unwell. Bulging eyes, tongue lolling about, teetering around in a haze. Heehee.

I love the bright cheery colors on the second card, but it might be a little heavy on the polka dots. Hmm. Maybe I'll trade the dotted yellow ribbon for a solid color.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

What's Moo?

2010-04-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

What's moo, faithful readers? I've decided to give my neglected blog a little love. My Penny Black stamps have been needing a little love, too. So I inked up this cute little cow and her quirky chicken friends. It's called "From the Folks." Cute, right? Can you believe that this is the first time I've made a card with this image? I'll definitely be using it again, and I even have a few more cow puns up my sleeve. LOL. I've paired the image with some red gingham papers from my stash. Nothing says country quite like gingham.

There's a little surprise hiding inside the card...another chicken. LOL. Can you see it peeking out? I even made a matching seal for the envelope. Yep. Another chicken.

I'm entering this card in a couple of challenges:
Penny Black Saturday Challenge: "Check" it out. Gingham ribbons and papers
ABC Challenge: "R" is for Red.

Thanks for looking! (and for your comments...hint..hint!)

Mo's Challenge #17: Wood!

2010-02-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

The challenge over at DP2 this week is wood/would. I thought that this cute image fit the challenge perfectly! I love the sweet look on the little girl's face, and you can just feel the fuzziness of the horse's muzzle. I made this card as a thank-you for my great uncle who has been taking care of my grandfather's animals. I kept the card simple because my uncle's a no-frills kinda guy.

BTW--there's ALOT of fun stuff going on over at Mo's! Design team calls for Mo's Dream team, Guest Designer spots for Mo's challenge blog, and a huge party over at Mo's PCP site to celebrate hitting 1,000 members!! Check it out!

Thanks for looking!

Friday Sketchers 81: Cutie Pie

2009-12-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

I have a new nephew! He's about a week old now and I'm looking forward to meeting him for the first time. His mother sent me some pictures and he really is a cutie pie! I made this card for him. (Actually, both of my nephews are pretty darn cute. I'll be making "big Brother" a card soon so he doesn't feel left out.)

I used this sketch from Friday Sketchers. It was a lot of fun, and I love how it all came together. You'll be seeing this sketch again soon.

This was one of my first images from Mo. It's part of a set called "Diaper Crew." Heehee. Even the names of her stamps are cute! I hope you're not getting tired of Mo's illustrations. I promise to change it up soon, but Mo is sponsoring the challenge at Friday Sketchers this week. How could I not use one of her delightful images?! I used paper glaze on the pacifier and the bunny, so they're shiny bright. (Just like a new baby!)

Thanks for looking!

Let it Snow!

2009-12-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

This image from Mo makes me giggle every time I see it. Bella (the little girl) and Bronte (the poor little dog) are recurring characters in Mo's artwork and I love the shenanigans they get into. Check out the worried look on Bronte's face--heehee! He knows this isn't going to end well.

I made this card using the fabulous sketch from Jeanette at Sketch Saturday and I incorporated the theme from this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp which is "Let it Snow." I wanted to give a nice snowy/icy effect, so there's lots and lots of glitter. It's that big chunky glitter...you know...the stuff Kindergartners use. I snagged it from my Mom (with permission, of course). I snagged the super cute paper from her too. It's from one of this year's DCWV holiday stacks. It's so cute, I almost didn't put Bella and Bronte on the card. I didn't want to cover up any of the cute details! Anyway, the glitter means I can enter it in the "Glitzy Something" challenge over at Stamp Something.

Thanks for looking!

Picking Apples

2009-12-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

Do you like sketch challenges? If so, get yourself over to the Sugar Bowl. There is a gorgeous sketch from Lilian for you to follow. I really liked this sketch, and I know I'll use it again and again.

Here is my take on the sketch. Can you tell I was inspired by the plaid in Lilian's sketch?! The "please include" option for the challenge is to use your favorite color. I cheated a bit and included 3 favorite colors so I wouldn't have to pick just one! Hee hee! My favorites are Blue, Pink, and Green. (and purple...guess I cheated a lot...LOL).

The image is from Sugar Nellie. It was one of the first stamps from artist Elisabeth Bell. Her stamps are what drew me to Sugar Nellie, but they have a bunch of other talented artists too. Right now I am in love with the Sugar and Spice stamps. They are so cute. I hope to add a few of them to my collection soon.

This image is also perfect for this week's challenge at Charisma Cardz. The theme is "Dreamining of Summer." Nothing says summer better than running around barefoot, and I've used bright summery colors for this card (my favorites, remember). It was fun to take a break from red and green.

The end result is quite girly, so I'm also entering this card in Cute Card Thursday. Their challenge this week is Swirly, Girly.

Thanks for looking!

Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!

2009-12-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

So how cute is this choir of children?!! I love their sweet faces. It looks like they're singing their little hearts out. The image is from Mo, and I think it's just adorable. I've colored them to look like a happy little Christmas tree--the green part of their choir robes is the tree, the red books are the ornaments, and the gold trim is the garland! I colored this image while I was visiting my Mother, and I forgot to bring it home with me when I left. She mailed it to me, so I could enter it in this week's challenge at DP2. Isn't that awesome?! Thanks Mommy! Suprinsingly, it's the first time I've entered one of Mo's challenges and they're already on challenge #9! I'm also entering it in Cupcake Craft Challenge. Their challenge this week is "Sing a Christmas Carol."

On a side note: The striped paper reminds me of those fruit punch candy canes. I can't decide how I feel about those "designer" flavors. Something about fruit punch and bubble gum flavored candy canes seems wrong. Thoughts?

Thanks for looking!

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

2009-12-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

My crating mojo has been MIA and I'm hoping it comes back soon! I can't seem to make any cards that I actually like. I fiddled with this card for over an hour last night. Different papers, different embellishments, different ribbons. Nothing! Finally, I just gave up and made this simple little card. It's only about 3 1/2 inches, so it's just the right size for a tag or a gift card.

The little angel is an image from Mo. It's part of her Christmas nativity. I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but I glittered her up and she's delightfully sparkly. The brads are too. They're actually gold, but the photo makes them look kinda brown and drab.

The Challenge this week at Cupcake Craft is "Sing a Christmas Carol!" Last night while I was trying to make this card work, I sang lots of Christmas Carols...LOL...Hark! The Herald Angels Sing...Angels We Have Heard on High...Joy to the World...They put me in the Christmas spirit, but didn't do much for my card. LOL.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Cards for Paige

2009-10-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

Erin from Scrap, Stamp, and Be Merry needs your help. Erin lives next door to a 13 year old girl named Paige who lost her arm in tragic boating accident. Paige and her mother were kayaking when they were rammed by a 28 ft speed boat. You can read more about the incident here or you can read more details on Erin's blog. Erin, sweet and generous soul that she is, has been on a mission to get as many people as possible to mail cards to Paige. She's even offering blog candy to those who send Paige a card. Simon Says Stamp heard about Paige's story too and they're hosting a special 24 hr challenge to help Erin get as many cards as possible for Paige. SS wants you to make a girly card for Paige. Here are the cards that I made for Paige...

This is the girly card I made for page. There's lots of embossing on this one (not that it shows up in the photo). I wanted to make the card special, but I knew that it would be difficult to mail with lots of bulky embellishments.

After I finished the first card, I really wanted to make Paige another card. (Erin said that Paige looks forward to the mail everyday!!!) I thought that this image was really sweet, but I was worried that it was too young for a 13 year old girl. 13 seems young to me, but it probably seems old to 13 year old girls. After some hemming and hawwing about whether or not this would be an appropriate card for Paige, I decided that heartfelt prayers are always appropriate, so this card will go postal with the other one on Monday.

Now, I always appreciate a visit to my blog, but don't linger long. You've got a card (or two) to make for Paige!! Get crafting!!

Spoonful of Sugar: Christmas Cards

2009-10-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Over at Spoonful of Sugar they want to see Christmas cards. Christmas is rapidly approaching, so I decided to make TWO Christmas cards. I used this nativity set from Mo. It's by far the best nativity image I've seen, and it's a total bargain. All of the images can be used separately, or you can combine them like I did here. Mo has a ton of cute Christmas images...check them out at her store or come by my blog in a day or two since a few of them decided to come home with me...heehee.

Sorry that the pictures are a bit shadowy. I took the photos outdoors and it was my first foray into outdoor photography. One day, hopefully one day soon, I'll learn to take a decent photo!

Thanks for looking! Come see me again soon!!

Cute Card Thursday: First Birthday!!!

2009-10-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week over at Cute Card Thursday is a Pinch and a Punch! They want to see cards for a first something...first kiss, first birthday, first anniversay...etc. When I saw the challenge, I immediately knew that I wanted to use this image from Mo' Digital Pencil. It is soooo cute and soooo much fun to color!! One of the things that I love so much about Mo's images is her attention to detail. Just look at those ruffled party socks!!! OOOO!

The image is colored with my Prismacolors and handy Bic Markits. The paper is from a pack I've had forever and so is the ribbon. I was pleased with how well it matched. And those cutie patootie cupcakes were made with my new Martha Stewart punch. I have big plans for that little thing! Haahaa.

Thanks for looking! I love comments....hint, hint!

Simon Says...Stitch!

2009-09-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

At Simon Says Stamp this week the challenge is to use stitching on our cards. The DT members were gracious enough to give us a choice between real stitching and faux stitching. It wasn't difficult for me to decide which one I was going to use. I can sew on a button, but anything more complicated than that gets taken to the tailor (aka--my mother. Her turnaround can be a bit slow, but you just can't beat the price..heehee). I don't even own a sewing machine. I broke out in a cold sweat "stitching" with a pen...can you imagine what I would have been like with a needle?!?

This super cute image is from Penny Black. I thought it went well with the theme of the challenge this week. I've colored it with my Bic Markits and Prismacolor markers.

Thanks for looking! Leave me some love or leave me some criticism. I don't care as long as you leave a comment!

OH! I almost forgot! The Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog is trying to hit 200 entries this week, so take a look at the challenge and give it a go! If you enter the challenge you also have a chance to win a Magnolia Stamp OF YOUR CHOICE compliments of Heidi at SS!!! Whoohoo! For details about how to win this scrummy candy, check out the details on Lorraine's blog. While you're there check out her gorgeous creations and say hello!

Another book mark?

2009-09-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

After my prolonged absence from the blogosphere I'm back!.......with yet ANOTHER bookmark from Mo's Digital Pencil. Heehee. You're probably wondering when I'm going to make something else. Patience dear readers...or should I say reader? More stuff is coming.

This bookmark is for another friend of mine in graduate school. We grad students do a TON of reading. If I had such a cozy nook to do my reading in it might not feel like such a chore!

My aplogies for the poor photo quality. The sun hasn't visited GA in a few weeks. (Although there's a chance it pop in for a quick visit tomorrow! )

Thanks for looking!

Freebie from Mo

2009-09-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

I just love this image. I've always been an avid reader and I've always wanted a window seat like this or some other little cubby to read in!! Mo challenged her fans to make this image look as cozy as possible, and this is my interpretation.

I made the image into a bookmark for my friend Ruth. She just started her PhD program and I know she'll be doing a lot of reading.

Mo is offering this sweet image as a freebie to the members of her PCP group. If you're not a member yet, then what are you waiting for? GO. There are other freebies and the cards that get posted there are AMAZING!!

Roses on Paper: Challenge 19

2009-09-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

At the Roses on Paper Challenge Blog, Peta wants us to follow a sketch from another challenge blog and incorporate punches. I decided to use the sketch from Mojo Monday. I love their sketches, but I rarely play along.

Here is the result.

I used my circle punch and this adorable image from Sarah Kay. Isn't she sweet with her little kitten. When my sweetie saw this card he asked if it was a card for a cat. Isn't he obnoxious?! Heehee.

Thanks for looking! Come again!

The Sugar Bowl: Challenge 18

2009-09-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

This week the challenge at the Sugar Bowl is this sweet sketch by Kathy. The sweeties also want to see buttons on your card. I've been wanting to play along at the Sugar Bowl for a while now, but somehow the deadline always slips past me. Pretty sad, especially since it's a two week challenge. LOL. So here is my first entry.

The image is from Sugar Nellie's range of stamps designed by Elisabeth Bell. The name of the stamp is Catching Butterflies. I think it's so sweet and she looks like she's having so much fun. It's one of my favorite stamps. Here's a close-up so you can see all of the detail Elisabeth puts in her drawings.

Thanks for looking!

Mummu and Virginia

2009-09-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

I love this sweet image from Mo's Digital Pencil of Virginia and her Mummu. I'm lucky enough to have both of my grandmothers and one of my great grandmothers still with me. I feel like the sentiment on this card describes all three of them beautifully: "A grandmother is a little bit parent, little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend." The lighting in these photos is terrible, so I wasn't sure whether or not you could make out the sentiment on the card.

Here's a close up of the image which is colored with my Prismacolor markers. I wanted to give Virginia and her Mummu freckles, but in the end, it looks more like they have a skin disease. Oh, well. Maybe it's genetic? Heehee, had to end this sappy post with a little humor ;)

Thanks for looking!

Truly Scrumptious #15: End of Summer and a Sketch

2009-09-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

This week at Truly Scrumptious the theme is End of Summer and there's a beautiful sketch by the very talented Michele. I loved working with this sketch and I know that I will be using this one again. AND... Guess What? The very talented design team is looking for a guest designer to join them for October and November. Sounds like a lot of fun, so I'm going to throw my hat into the ring with this card as my entry.

For me nothing says summer quite like an ice cream cone. And I know that Tilda agrees! Heehee. This image is from the Magnolia Summer Kit. It was sent to me by my friend Susan, who is always sending me something great--stamped images, links to good sales, helpful hints. I keep telling her she should get her own blog so everyone will be able to benefit from her crafting expertise.

Here is a closeup of Tilda. She's colored with my Prismacolor markers and Bic Markits. I love the cute way that her head is tilted. Oh and look...Tilda chose Mint Chocolate Chip icecream. She has great taste! Hee hee.

I made little icecream cones out of polymer clay to go on the card. I think they're so sweet, if I do say so myself!

Thanks for looking and thanks for your comments! I love comments! :)

Stamp with Fun: Challenge 22

2009-09-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

The challenge at Stamp with Fun this week is a cute little sketch from Tina.

Here's my card. The image is from Mo's Digital Pencil. She offered this stamp as a freebie for her PCP group. Mo--talented AND a sweetheart!

I colored her with my Prismas and glittered her within an inch of her life. LOL. The papers are really old. I don't even know where they came from. I pulled them out of a box, dusted em off, and pasted them on my card.

I tried my hand at making some of the lollipop flowers that seem to be so popular right now. I'm not sure that they're my style, but I think they look cute on the card.

Thanks for looking!

Create 4 Fun Week 30: Milk Cartons

2009-09-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week over at Create4Fun is to create a milk carton with the provided template.

I don't make 3-D items very often, but these little boxes was a lot of fun. I think they're so cute. They'd make great little thank-yous or just because gifts. I had so much fun making the first one that I made two. The image on the first box is from Whipper Snapper. My sweetie said it looked like the mouse was in trouble. Hee hee. Maybe this one should be an I'm sorry gift. ;)

I made the second box with an image from Stampendous that I received in an image swap. It was the perfect size for this little box. I didn't really the way that the coloring came out on this one. So I put a little bit of paper glaze and glitter on...glitter makes everything better. Hee hee.

Thanks for looking!

Just Magnolia 20: Ribbon and Bows

2009-09-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

This week the challenge at Just Magnolia is ribbon and bows. I thought that this was a really cute theme and I figured that it would be simple too. WRONG. I fussed with this card for longer than I care to admit. I switched ribbon 4 times and paper 3 times. Every time I chose a new paper, the ribbon didn't match anymore! ARRGGHHH!! I'm not crazy about how the card turned out. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.

One thing I do love about this card....Tilda!!! How could you not love her!?! She's so sweet in her little overalls and pigtails. Tilda and the strawberry are both from the Magnolia Summer Kit. My friend Susan stamped them and sent them to me. Isn't she sweet? Thanks Susan!!

Thanks for looking!!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care...

2009-09-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

So how cute is this image? Seriously? Mo has done it again! My favorite part of this image is the little doggie. What do you think Santa is going to bring him for being so good? I love the way that Mo incorporates animals into her images. Sometimes it's a dog and when I'm lucky, it's a cat. LOL. But we know why Mo didn't draw this one with a kitty...kitties don't even bother with stockings because they're too naughty for presents. Heehee. I added a little bit of glitter with my Martha Stewart glitter markers, but the photography isn't picking it up. Maybe I should stop taking my pictures at night?! LOL.

I tried a different color scheme on this one. Verdict? I can't tell which one I like better.

I made this one a little bit smaller than the other two which are 6 inch squares. On this one I put a little flock on the top of the stockings. I love that stuff! It adds something special AND it helps distract from coloring blunders. LOL.

Thanks for looking!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Christmas

2009-09-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

This week the them at the Penny Black Challenge Blog is Christmas. I had a really hard time getting started on this challenge. It's 90 degrees here in Georgia and humid to boot. Let's just say I wasn't feeling any Christmas cheer. So I started listening to some Christmas music, and before I knew it I had, not one, but three simple little cards.

This one is my favorite. How cute are the little woodland animal playing on a teeter totter!?! Too, too cute! My friend Susan sent me the image and I've been hoarding it because it was way too cute to color. Heehee. When I was younger, I didn't color in my favorite coloring books either. The other day I found a Barbie coloring book in my old stuff that looked brand new. I hadn't colored a single page. LOL.

When I finally worked up the nerve, I colored the image with my Prismacolor markers. The Christmas tree is a sterling charm that I got after christmas for 90% off last year! Yes!! I paid $0.25 for 7 of them. It was such a good deal, I felt a little bit like I was stealing. LOL.

This image is also colored with my Prismacolor markers, but I tried a different color scheme on this one. I love Christmas cards in non-traditional colors like pale blue. In fact, all of the decorations for my Christmas tree are blue. Uh Oh...now I want to go decorate....LOL. Maybe I should wait until AFTER Halloween.

Susan also sent me this cutie-patootie image. Have I mentioned how awesome she is? She is super generous with her time and her stamps. She's so generous that when she saw that a fellow blogger hadn't gotten her Summer Stamp Kit from Magnolia, she offered to stamp the whole thing for her!!! AND to top it all off, her stamping is impeccable. THANK YOU SUSAN!!!!

Here's the finished card. Long and skinny, this card is the perfect size for giving a little holiday green..ahem cheer. LOL.

Thanks for looking!

Simon Says...Back to School

2009-09-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

This week the theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge is Back to School. I've always loved going back to school...well, that's not entirely true. I loved the back to school supplies! Brand new crayons and pencils and glue sticks. Color coordinating notebooks and pencil boxes. (Oh, and socks. The new school year always meant new socks. LOL.) I'm still drawn to the back to school aisles, but now that I'm a grad student I just can't justify buying myself new crayons. LOL.

Thanks for looking!

My First Christmas Card!

2009-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Mo recently released a set of images for a Christmas Nativity. They were so adorable, that I simply had to add them to my collection. One of my favorite things about the set, is that any of the individual images could be used on its own or they can be combined to create different scenes. I decided to try a stair fold card, andI created a scene will all of the different images, except the angel. I tried to create a lot of depth with different textures. The Baby Jesus and the sheep are popped up on dimensionals. The Wise Ones' crowns and gifts were glittered and then covered with paper glaze. You can't tell from the crappy photography, but I put fun flock on the lambs' wool and on the donkey's little muzzle and underbelly. hee, hee. All of the different textures make this card a lot of fun to rub. In real life the contrast is more striking--furry, glittery, shiny, matte. Alas, my photography makes it look all the same. LOL. I had the weather against me too. It's been raining all day.

I tried to stick to blues and browns for the color scheme, because I didn't want it to look too busy. Ultimately, I think it ended up too plain! LOL. Even though I'm not 100% pleased with this version, I might give it another go. Stay tuned for Nativity 2.0--brighter, neater, prettier! :)

Cute Card Thursday #75: New Beginnings

2009-08-27T10:41:00.001-07:00

The challenge at Cute Card Thursday is New Beginnings, a perfect theme for a baby card and perfect chance to use this super sweet stamp from Whiff of Joy's wedding and baby collection! I decided to use a less traditional color scheme and went with green and purple rather than pink or blue. I'm hoping this could be used for a boy or a girl, but it looks a little more like a baby girl card doesn't it? I could NOT get this card to photograph well (not that my photography EVER comes out well..LOL...I'm still learning). In real life the dress matches the paper much better. For a special touch, I added green fun flock to the baby's sleeper. When I was putting the card together, I kept rubbing it and smiling.

Thanks for looking!

Truly Scrumptious #14: Anything but a Card

2009-08-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Recently I picked up a couple of notebooks at Michael's for $0.66 (not too shabby, eh?). I thought that they would be good to alter for the challenge at Truly Scrumptious. For this challenge we can make anything...as long as it's not a card. LOL. Altered notebooks seemed like a fun alterantive, so away I went. I had never altered a notebook before, but I figured that even if it was a total disaster, I'd only be out $0.66 and an afternoon. I used really different color schemes for the two notebooks. On the first one, I went with soft pastels, and on the second one I used the colors of the notebook itself.

This image is from a stamp line at Sugar Nellie drawn by Elisabeth Bell. These are some of my favorite stamps. I think they're so sweet. If you want some for yourself, they're available over at Funky Kits. I wanted to keep the overall look soft, so I set aside my prismacolor markers and I used my prismacolor pencils. The papers are from from DCVW Nana's nursery stack. I've been hoarding this paper because I like it so much, but I finally talked myself into cutting them...*gasp.* I kept every little scrap. LOL :)

I decorated the inside using the same papers.

And the back, since I had to hide the original cover for the notebook.

For the second notebook, I used a deeper color palette of purple and green. Since I used the same colors that are on the notebook, I didn't have to be as careful about hiding the original cover. YAY! The images are from Whiff of Joy, another stamp company that carries a line of stamps designed by Elisabeth Bell. I just love her images. I tend to get hooked on certain artists--have you noticed?! LOL. I used my Prismacolor pencils for the coloring on this one too.

If you noticed the giant amphersand on the front of notebook, you probably guessed that I decorated the back of this notebook too. LOL. hee, hee. My sister is always complaining that illustrators give girls blond hair while their beaus are brunettes. As a brunette dating a blonde, she finds this particularly annoying. I reversed this trend on this notebook as a little shout-out to her. Hi Lola! ;)

Thanks for looking!

ABC Challenge: "C" is for...Circles

2009-08-27T09:06:00.001-07:00

They're moving on to the third letter of the alphabet at the ABC Challenge blog! Woohoo. "C" is for circles. I thought that I'd continue my love affair with Mo's Digital Pencil this week. I'm using one of the freebies Mo has so generously offered, Summer Fun. Not only is this image super cute, but it has a couple of circles built right in, which makes it perfect for this week's challenge. I packed in a few more circles for good measure. In fact, the scalloped border around the image is actually made from a bazillion little blue circles that I cut out with my coluzzle. LOL.

Thanks for looking!

ABC Challenge: "B" is for ... Buttons

2009-08-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Over at the ABC Challenge this week they've moved on to the letter "B" and the theme is "buttons." The only buttons I had in my crafting stuff were striped neon pink and lime green chipboard button. Why I had said buttons, I don't know. So I went to my closet, and found a burgundy corduroy button from a jacket and a rosy button from a sweater. I think they match this card pretty well, I just hope I don't need them later. LOL. They were the spares that came with the clothes (I didn't actually pull them off--LOL), but you never know.

I used another image from Mo's Digital Pencil. I LOVE her!!!! Seriously I do. This image is one of my favorites. It reminds me so much of my own grandma. That woman can do am---aaa---zing things with a needle and thread. Just looking at this image makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Speaking of warm and fuzzy...did you notice the cat peeking out of the yarn basket. What a naughty kitty! You can tell it's up to something.

And sure enough, on the inside of the card, the kitty has made off with a ball of yarn (Mo drew this image too....love her!)

Thanks for looking!

ABC Challenge: "A" is for...Anything Goes (Animals)

2009-08-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

They're starting over and making their way through the alphabet for the third time over at the ABC Challenge Blog. I thought it would be fun to play along this time.

This week "A" is for..."Anything goes" with the added option of "animals." I decided this was the perfect chance to make a card with one of my new digital stamps from Mo's Digital Pencil. Her images are amazing. Be sure to check out her blog and then head over to her store. You'll be glad you did, though your bank account might not be (She's really reasonably priced though...just makes it that much harder to say no!)

Thanks for looking!

Just Magnolia Challenge: Week 17

2009-08-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

The challenge over at Just Magnolia this week is a sketch challenge. The sketch was designed by Martine one of the talented DT members.

This is one of my first times working with a sketch, so I modified it slightly when I got stumped.

Thanks for looking!

Finally! a card!

2009-07-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

So I finally managed to make a card and take a picture! It's my first real post. I used one of my favorite new stamps from Sugar Nellie. The name of the stamp is Girl and Birdhouse. The image is really big and detailed, so I wanted it to be the focal point of the card. I kept it simple and a little bit rustic. The image is stamped on watercolor paper in Jet black Stazon, and it's watercolored with my Tombow markers.

A blog is born!

2009-02-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

I love scissors and paper and markers and rubber stamps and glitter and ribbon and all sorts of pretty little things. I also love blogs. And so, I created this blog as a way to indulge my love for cute things and the internet while also providing some much needed stress relief (I'm writing my dissertation right now--or to be more precise--I'm putting off writing my dissertation right now).