Talking a little break....

  Just wanted to check and and let you all know I am taking a little break from my blog and groups for the next few days.  I need to catch up on my Christmas Shopping and also finish creating my Christmas Cards, so that I can get them in the mail.

   I know I'll miss them and you all, but I will still be having fun and that's what matters.  I am one who LOVES to shop and loves to make all my holiday cards.  I also LOVE wrapping and spend a lot of time making my gifts look pretty, so this is all a joy to me!    I'll be checking my email and working on some fun projects, along with my shopping!  Feel free to email me, if you need me.  I'm still here~but simply won't be in my groups or online too much, until I catch up!

   Before I go, I wanted to send out some very Special Wishes to four wonderful 'Lady Buds' who will be leaving the Baby Bud Design Team, at the end of this term.   It's been a joy to meet and create with you all and I wish you ladies the very best!   You'll be missed, but I know you all will be happy and continue to create.  A bittersweet Goodbye to -- Silke, Giovana, Ellie and Jennifer!   I will look forward to seeing you all in blog land and plan to keep in touch.  I also hope you all have a Magical Holiday Season, full of love and happiness!    Hugs and my very best to you all!

   I am also excited to welcome the new team members and will  introducing them all to you next week!  In the meantime, please remember we still have a super fun Challenge and welcome you all to play along at the Baby Bud Design Blog!!     You are all also welcome to join one or both of our group.  We have one at Crafter's Digital Arts Center - Here, and our newest group - over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - Here!   Both groups are open to all the Baby Bud fans and we welcome you all to join.

    

  Happy Crafting !!!!

  

A Sunny Sunday...

 A nice day to spend time in my craft room and that's been my plan.  We are also roasting a turkey today and will have a nice little relaxing dinner with my son Alex, and his girlfriend Acacia.

 In the meantime I am working on some cards and my first card was created and inspired for this week's Copic Coloring Challenge over at SSC.  Our challenge this week is to incorporate a second coloring medium into our project, along with our Copics.   I started with this cute new snowman digi, which is from StampFairy, in case you can't guess--I've become a StampFairy addict and just love the adorable images.   And, now that I found out they are ALL on sale --  YES, every digi is now   50% off !! -- I had to add a few more to my collection!    I have not colored them all yet, but I am working on them and having a ton of fun! 

  I colored part of my image with my Copics and then choose a very pretty 'Winter Frost' paint from Inspirations Paints, to use to color the actual snowman.   I used another medium for the actual snow and wanted something with lots of dimension, so I used a Glitter Liner by Viva Decor, which can you also find over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.  My third medium was some 'Sparkling Ice' ultra fine Glitter from Great Impressions and I used the glitter for the snowballs.

  My papers are one of my new favorites for the seasons and are from the Winter Joy Collection by Bo Bunny.  They are all my favorite colors and I just LOVE them.  I also have the matching brads and tag set. My lilac cardstock I found on clearance last month from Stampin' Up and I used a snowflake themed Cuttlebug embossing folder to add some dimension to the paper.  My deep purple ribbon was part of a gift box of Ribbons that my dear friend Colleen sent me after a recent trip she made to a super Ribbon Warehouse!  WOOHOO!

   In the end I had this cute new card, which will be added to my Christmas pile and also submitted to a variety of challenges, outlined below.  I hope you'll enjoy it !!

• The Craft Pad - Challenge # 99 - Snowflakes
• Simply Scrapping Crafts - Copic Color Challenge - New Medium
• Crafty Calender - Challenge # 14 - Winter Snowflake
• I Did it Creations - Surprise Me Challenge - :)
• 2 Sisters Challenges  - Challenge 15 - Non Traditional Christmas Colors
• Christmas Stamping - Challenge # 72 - Anything Goes
• Totally PaperCrafts - Non-Traditional Christmas Colors 

     I have one more Christmas Card to share and this one was inspired by a Sketch that I found over at SSC in the 'Card Corner' Challenge.  The sketch was created by Clare Prezzia, an amazing paper crafter and one of the designers at SSC.  I grabbed a copy to share with you here --

   And this is my take on the sketch, which I flipped for my card.  

   My digi is from Pink Cat Studio and this cutie is Itty Bitty Betty, in her Christmas Tree Costume!! She is  one of the very first digi images I bought, just abut a year ago.   I enjoy coloring this digi and have created with her several times.   I hope you'll enjoy her and that I have inspired you to create some fun new cards.  I'm submitting her to these fun challenges and welcome everyone to join the fun!

• Simply Scrapping Crafts - Card Corner Challenge -Sketch
• Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog - Merry Christmas
• One Stop Craft Challenge Blog - Christmas Cuties
• Crafty Catz - Challenge # 60 - Christmas
• Totally Gorjuss - Challenge # 58 - Oh Christmas Tree

  My next project is a birthday card for my God-daughter and I am hoping to get that done and in the mail in tomorrow.  I can't believe that November is almost over and that Christmas is only weeks away!  Time is flying by and I still have a lot to do !   I do hope to find some good online shopping deals tomorrow (Cyber Monday), and maybe that will help me get some more gifts bought !  I hope to be finished in the next week, so I can start on the wrapping, which is a killer with Fibro.  Luckily, I use a lot of gift bags and that's a big help for me.  I still have never found anyway to wrap that is comfy, but I also LOVE to make all my gifts look extra special!  :)   

 Have a nice day and Happy Crafting!!

Happy Saturday -- Fun NEWS!!!

  Has everyone recovered from Thanksgiving and  Black Friday Shopping?   I slept in this morning and it felt great to catch up on my sleep.  I could have slept even longer, but I have another full day and lots of things to do.   I had such a great time shopping, but never even finished unpacking all my bags, so that's one of my first tasks today.  I also forget to pick up my Fibro meds on my way back home, so I now need to run out the the Pharmacy and also need to finish up a birthday card for tonight.  We are going out to dinner later with our regular group of friends and the cards needs to be ready to go when we leave.  Nothing like rushing to get things done!  ARgh!

   I also wanted to share some NEWS and it's about a wonderful new digi store I found a few weeks ago called StampFairy.   Well, I found out yesterday that they are having a BIG SALE (my favorite word) and all the adorable digis are now ON SALE at 50% off!!   Woohoo!   The SALE runs for the remained of November and also for the entire of month of December too!   Yippee!!  Half price for all the adorable images.  Have fun!!

   I am very excited to let you know that I have now applied to be a member of the Design Team at StampFairy and I'm happy and hopeful.   I was over at the StampFairy News Blog the other day, when I came upon their post about a new Design Team Call!   The timing could not have been more perfect, and I decided that sounds like it may be exactly what I am looking for, almost as if it ws meant to be for me?     I really HOPE that it will work out and I want all my wonderful friends to Please WISH me Luck!  Thank you!!

 
  While you are visiting the blog - please be sure to jump down to this post and pick up this adorable FREEBIE Thank You image and Gerda has gifted to all the followers!  It's a wonderful little Thank You Bear and he's a very handsome little guy, named Lennie!!  

   I also wanted to share two of my most recent StampFairy creations that were submitted to new challenges over at SSC.  My first card was created for the new Color Combo Challenge, which you'll find at HERE!  I have also copied over a copy of the color inspiraiton for the challenge -- For more details, please hop on over to SSC.

  And this was my card - created with one of the StampFairy Reindeer! 

   My second card was created for this week's Stamp and Scrap Challenge, also over at SSC and our challenge was a to create a Christmas/Holiday card, using at least four embellishments and also to create our card in non-Traditional colors.  This card was especially fun for me, because I LOVE to make all my holiday cards in non-traditional colors and my papers this year, are perfect for the challenge.  My image is a cute new bear from StampFairy and this is 'Toby' -- another cutie pie and one that I was especially drawn to, because Toby, was my Dad's name!

  Isn't he fun!!!   My papers are from the new Bo Bunny collection and my snowflakes were created with a MS Punch and embellished with Gems.  Toby's hat has lots of sparkling glitter and I added some Glossy Accents to his nose for extra shine!  The 'Tis the Season' stamp is brand new and one of my fabulous finds from my Black Friday Shopping spree--it was only 50 cents!   My gorgeous new lilac ribbon was a gift from my sweet friend, Colleen, who is always so kind and generous to me!!  See had visited a ribbon warehouse store, and sent me a wonderful RAK full of all kinds of lovely ribbon, what a joy she is!  I'm so lucky to have such a caring and dear friend!   Thanks Colleen - You ROCK!! 

   I am working on a new card today for this week's Copic Coloring Challenge at SSC and I also picked out another of the StampFairy images for my creation.  If you would like to join the Copic Challenge, please go HERE for all the details.   My image for my Copic coloring card is from the 'Wintertime George' collection and is an adorable snowman, who you'll find HERE!!

   I'm so excited about all of this and do HOPE very much that this team will work out to be what was meant to me the right team for me!  I love being a member of the Design Team for Baby Bud Designs and I am staying on for a second term there, as well!  It's such a joy to have met Gerda and already have fallen in love with her images.  Now, I shall wait and hope for the best and encourage everyone who LOVES these cute images to hit the store for the sale and if you LOVE to design, try out for the team!   I found out last night that Lisa (one of my DT Sister's at Baby Bud) is also trying out for this team and it would be a joy to be on a second team with her!   I'm hoping for the best and also sending GOOD LUCK wishes to Lisa too!   

   SALE!!!

Fabulous FUN Friday!!!

   I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and nice day with Family and Friends.  Today for me, is the FUN day and by the time this is posted I'll be at my LSS, enjoying their annual Black Friday Sale.  It's one of the biggest sales they have for the entire year and this will be my third year!  I plan to be there by the time the doors open at 7AM!  WOOHOO!!

   Today is also a big day over at Baby Bud Designs, as we start our latest challenge and also have a brand new Baby Bud to introduce and she is Holly!   She is being released just in time for your Holiday and Christmas Cards and for a limited time she is being offered as our Friday Freebie!   All you need to do is hop on over to the blog and grab her!  If you do miss her while she is our 'Freebie' you can find her in our Etsy Store, along with the entire collection of Baby Buds.

    I am always very happy to announce that 'Andrea' was the winner of Challenge # 2, with this adorable card.   Thanks Andrea for joining our challenge and CONGRATULATIONS on your win! 

    I had a lot of fun creating some new cards for our current  Challenge # 3 -  and I invite you all to play along.  Our theme for this month is Winter/Christmas and you may use any Baby Bud image, include today's Friday Freebie - Holly!    This challenge runs through today through December 31st, at 12:00 Noon EST.  For all the details, please hop on over to the blog.   Our next challenge will start on January 4, 2011, as we all take a little extra time to off to spend with family and friends during the busy Holiday Season.  

   This is one of the first cards I created with Holly and I totally enjoyed coloring her and in a festive little outfit!

    I also thought it would be really fun to create a card with Holly and Noelle, and this is my card with both of our newest little buds -- They make a wonderful pair, don't you agree!!!

 

  

  For even more ideas and inspiration please hop on over to the Baby Bud Blog and take a peek at the fabulous creations the Design Team has put together for you.  You can also visit any of their wonderful blogs, which I have listed below!  At this time, I would also like to introduce you to our newest Design Team Member - Sara, who joined us this month.   You can find her adorable via the link to her blog below.  I'm very excited to meet her and looking forward to creating more fun cards wither her and all the other team members, who are known as --  

The 'Lady Buds'!

Calypso

Ellie
Giovana
Jennifer
Krista
Lisa V
Margie
Maria
Sara
Silke

    I'll be back later to let you know if I found any fabulous deals, in the meantime I hope you have a wonderful day and for those of you out shopping with for all the awesome deals.

....HAPPY SHOPPING!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

   My special wishes to everyone who is celebrating Thanksgiving today!  May your day be full of fun, love and all things happy.   I hope that you all enjoy spending time with your family and friends, creating new memories.

   Today I am also sharing a very special card and it's a Thanksgiving Card that I created back in August and also a very special card to me, as it was my first ever 'Published' card.  It's the card that was published in the 'Through The Craftroom Door'  publication.  It was featured in the Fall - September/October issue and was created for the  'One Sketch 3 Ways' Challenge.   I did not win the challenge, but to me, having a card actually published in was even more of an honor and very special.  I am humbled and honored to have one of my cards in the publication, a to me, that is a huge WIN!!   My special thanks to Suzanne Dean and Marti Wills for choosing one of my cards!   Thank you!

This is that card - 'Gobble Gobble Gobble'.

which I am thrilled to share with you today!

The perfect day - Thanksgiving!

 

    Crafts and cardmaking are such a joy for me and I am truly blessed to have found such a wonderful hobby.   I also am very thankful for all the fabulous new friends that crafting has brought into my life and today I say THANK YOU to you all for being so dear to me.

    My wishes to all of my family and friends for a joyous day and for many more to come!!   Cherish and enjoy each and every day and may they always be happy and filled of love!  Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving.

♥Lis♥

A lazy Sunday....

    I'm am soooo darn tired today, despite sleeping in this morning, I feel wiped out.  But then again, I've been very busy lately, plus staying up later than normal, so I guess it's catching up with me.  I also hurt my back this morning, while I was putting new bedding on our bed. Grrr!   I bought a totally new comforter set, new pillows, throw pillows and curtains.  Today was the day I finally started the change in our room.  I would LOVE to have hubby re-paint it too, but I'm not sure what color I want?  Right now the walls are a simply atrium white and that work, so it's not a big rush.    I still need some more accent pieces and I asked my Mom to pick out some as a Christmas Gift.  She did offer to buy the new bedding, but since I had already bought and paid for it, I knew it would be better to have her find some nice accents.  She's an awesome decorator and has very nice taste!!  It'll be fun to see what she finds.  My bed looks nice and comfy with a big puffy new comforter and I almost wanted to hope in an take a nap this afternoon, but decided to work on more Christmas Cards.

   My cards today are both for Christmas and were initially inspired by new challenges and the first one is the new Copic Color Challenge over at iCopic.  I started by choosing the colors that I needed, which are perfect for Christmas Cards and that is another plus.  My cute image is from Bugaboo Stamps and is an exclusive from the November Stamp Club!

  I also based my card on this week's sketch over at OWH Stars and Stamp Blog and copied it over to share.  Today is Sketch Sunday and this week we have this fun sketch to work with!

 Sketch # 44

 My Card

  This is the card that I created as my take on this Sketch.  It's also going to be one of my Christmas Cards and I have a friend who loves has her own Snowshoes, so this will be her card!   I think she'll get a big kick out of it!  I'm also submitting it to these challenge:

• OWH Stars & Stamps Blog - Sketch Challenge - Sketch # 44
• The Crafty Pad - Challenge # 98 Red & Green

   I also want to take a moment to ask everyone to please take a moment and hope on over to the 'Craft for a Cause Contest' and please VOTE for Operation Write Home.   You may vote ONCE each day and only ONE vote each day is allowed!   Every little VOTE helps and OWH would LOVE for your to vote for us!  THANK YOU!!

  My second card was created for my personal collection.  My image is a cute little snowman by Heather Ellis and is from her NEW 'Mr Snowman' collection which I found earlier this week.  I LOVE snow people and love to use them on my cards!  This is is very cute and makes a fun card.

   This little snowman  card is being submitted to these new challenges!  I hope to see you stop by and join on on the fun!

• Scrappy Frogs Challenges - Merry Christmas
• iCopic Challenge Blog - # 8 - Red, Yellow & Green - Ornament Theme
• One Stop Craft Challenge - Challenge # 107 - Snow People
• Totally Gorjuss - Christmas - Not so Traditional Colors

   I also finished coloring several more digi images, which are all drying and waiting to be made into more card.  I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is Thursday!  I still have a lot of cards to get done for Christmas and I like to send mine early!   Time to go work on more....!!

   Have a nice night and I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

A creative day....

...Today I plan to work on some new cards and my focus today will be creating more Christmas Cards and to finish up two challenge cards.

   My first card today was first inspired for a new challenge over at Teddy Stampers!    The current challenge is a sketch challenge and it's called 'Bling it On' and we all know I LOVE bling.  I also love purple and teal and those were the main theme colors for my card.  My thanks again to Teddy Stampers and also to 'The Cutting Cafe' - it was so exciting to learn I was one of the prize winners and I love the new Greeting Sentiments, that I choose as my prize!  Thanks again to all!!

   I created my card based on the sketch and my papers are my favorite new Christmas Papers from this year's Bo Bunny - Winter Joy collection.  I absolutely LOVE the design and the colors.  I started by coloring this sweet little Bear (Brad), who is from one of my favorite new digi stores and that is StampFairy!  I love this little guy and think he makes a wonderful card.  It's also been a pleasure to have found this wonderful new store to to have met, Gerda the owner and creator of the Stamp Fairy store.  

    This is my card and my sweet little Brad is being submitted to these wonderful challenges -

• Teddy Bear Stampers - Challenge # 24 - Sketch & 'Bling it On'
• Simply Scrapping Crafts - Copic Color Challenge - Anything Goes
• Totally Papercraft Challenge - Challenge #43 - Snow and Snowflakes
• Bah' Humbug - Christmas Cards - Shades of Lavender
• Stampin' for the Weekend - Challenge # 51 - Winter Theme

    If you happen to love digi images and/or cute little bears, then you will LOVE the adorable images over at StampFairy.  You can also find a brand new StampFairy group over at - Simply Scrapping Crafts -  and another group over at Crafter's Digital Arts Center!!    To shop and visit the store -

   
Please CLICK HERE!

    I'm back now with my second card and this one was inspired but a wonderful new sketch challenge over at the Flutter By Wednesday Challenge Blog.   I started by coloring another image and this one is a sweet teeny fairy image from 'A Day for Daisies'.    I started by printing out the sketch that Danni created for this week's challenge and then color up my teeny fairy and then put together my card based on Danni's design, which I copied over to share.  Here is the sketch that she created for this week's challenge - 

And here is my card --

   If you have lost some of your Mojo or are looking for some inspiration, please hop around and visit any of these wonderful blogs for some great ideas!   I am submitting my card to these challenges below and and invite everyone to join in on the FUN!!!  

• Mark's Finest Papers - Challenge # 30 Circles (Use a circle on your card)
• Flutter By Wednesday - # 131 - Sketch and Angel, Butterfly or Fairy
• Simon Says Stamp - S P A R K L E!!!

Woohoo! I won a Challenge!

   I wanted to share some FUN news and that is that I won a prize as part of the Big Birthday Celebration over at Teddy Stampers!   My special thanks to Teddy Stampers and also to The Cutting Cafe for the prize!   YIPPEE!!  

  The card I created for this challenge is this cute little Bear Hugs card and my little bear is 'Wink' from Pixie Dust Studio.

   I'm very thankful to my friend Colleen, of A Cards Delight, who is encouraged me to take part in the challenge and also introduced me to Teddy Stampers!  Thanks Colleen, you are an angel and a dear friend.   I'm also proud to have met Sharon, of Sharon's Kardz Korner, through Colleen and Sharon is also a member of wonderful Design Team at Teddy Stampers.  Both of these wonderful ladies and fantastic card-makers and have amazing talent.  I hope you'll stop by their blogs and say hello.

   I'd also like to invite you all to hop on over to Teddy Stampers and join in the current challenge, which is a sketch challenge!  I copied over the sketch (below) to share with you and I am planning to get to work on a card this weekend to play along.  The them for this challenge is 'Bling it On' and as always, please be sure to use a Teddy Bear in your design.  If you need some inspiration you'll find it HERE from the Design Team!!

  I'm off now to finish up two cards I am currently working on for challenges over at SSC.  I have one card done, for the Stamp and Scrap Challenge and now I'm working on my second card for the Color Combo Challenge.   After that, I'll be working on this next and again invite you ALL to join us!  

   

   My thanks again to Teddy Stampers for all the FUN, to The Cutting Corner for the awesome prize and to Colleen for inspiring me to join in! 

   Update:  I am back to share two of the cards I finished up for the challenges over at SSC.  My first card is for the Stamp & Scrap Challenge and our challenge was to create a Christmas Card and use lace of ribbon somewhere on our card.  For my card I used lace and a pretty digi image from A Day for Daisies.  

    My card was also inspired and is being submitted to these fun challenges --

• Simon Say Stamps - Sparkle!!   
• ABC Challenge Blog - H - H is For Holiday (Christmas) 

      My second card was created for this Week's Color Combo Challenge over at SSC and our theme was to use a variety of tan and brown shades and also use twine somewhere on our card.

  

   And now I am off to work on my card for the Teddy Stampers Challenge!  I hope everyone is having a great day and looking forward to a nice weekend!!!  HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

A dreary November day....

...and one of those days that I could have slept all day.   I woke to the sound of pouring rain and gusty winds, YUK!  Not a fun way to start my day.  One thing I have learned is that I LOVE skylights, but you do NOT want them in your bedroom.  The sound of rain hitting them is really loud and will wake you up very easily.  They are also NOT fun on nights when there are thunderstorms -- especially for someone like me who does not like thunder and lightening...scary, and when you have skylights in your bedroom, Yikes..the lightening is more vivid than ever!   That's my tip of the day for anyone who is considering putting skylights in your home.  They are wonderful and I love them in other rooms, but do not put them in a room you sleep in!

      I also woke up very sore today and I'm sure that's related to the weather and I'll be looking forward to better days.  November is one of my least favorite months and always seems to be - very gray, dark and dreary!   Yuk!

   On the upside, I did get some more Christmas shopping done online today and that was a plus.  I also was excited to start on some new projects and cards for challenges and I have one I finished to share with you.  This card idea has been in my mind for awhile and I actually started creating my little ornaments earlier this week.  I was inspired to make this card for a few different challenges and one was over at the Color Me Creative Classroom.  Our challenge there was to create a project based on this awesome inspirational image, which I have copied over to share. 

  As soon as I saw it I was inspired to make a card with Ornaments and to use lots of purple - especially since it's my favorite color.  I also just happen to own an 'Ornament Shaped' punch from Stampin' Up and that's what I used to create my ornament shapes.  Some were made with Cardstock, Smooch and lots of Glitter and the others were created from foil which I first embossed in my Cuttlebug.  I also used my Copic Airbrush system to color the foil ornaments in colors from the image -- Purple, Teal and a bright Pink.   In this end I had created this new Christmas Card.

   

   I really like how the ornaments came out, especially the foil ornaments and I hope to make some more.  My card was also inspired by this week's Card Corner Challenge over Simply Scrapping Crafts.  Our challenge at SSC is to create a card with lots of Glitter and Glitz and I made sure to start off with a glittered cardstock as my card base.  I also added some pin gems to my foil ornaments and lots of glitter to the paper ornaments and to the edges of my sentiment!!

  I'm also submitting this card to this week's Copic Coloring Challenge also over at SSC and this week it's ANYTHING GOES and the cards that Colleen, Tammy and Pryn created for inspiration are all AWESOME!   WOOHOO!

A Year in Cards ! More Christmas Cards....

  Today has been another great day for being creative and I started off my day by watching the new 'A Year in Cards' Tutorial over at Two Peas in a Bucket.  This is a monthly card-making class that is presented by Kristina Werner on the 15th of each month and I always enjoy it.  You can also find a fabulous Holiday Card series on Kristina's personal blog HERE!!

    If you follow my blog, the you know that I've been taking the class for close to two years and totally enjoy it.  I've learned a lot of great tips and hints and it's always fun to see what's new each month.  I was very happy this month to create three more Christmas Cards, which I have posted below.  If you would like to join in, please go HERE for the November class.  A printable PDF file is available for you to download and keep and you'll find that HERE, along with the class video, which I have copied in below! 

    

 

  After watching the videos and printed out my PDF, I went to work on my cards and these are the three new cards that I created, based on the basic idea.   I did not have all the same supplies, but I did like the idea of using a Sentiment Stamp as my focus stamp on my card.  You'll notice right away that my cards are not the same as Kristina's -- I use her ideas and suggestions and then make my own, based on what I have for supplies and tools.  

   This first card was very easy to make and could have bee done in a variety of shapes and colors.  I started by stamping my 'Warm Holiday Wishes' sentiment onto some white cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  I then colored in the little stars with various shades of red with my Copic Markers.   Next I used a Spellbinder Beaded Oval die to but out my sentiment and inked the edges with Distress Ink in 'Worn Lipstick' a soft red color.  I then then used another Scalloped Oval Die and cut and embossed a background layer for my sentiment.  Next I cut a 2" x 5 1/2" cut a strip from patterned paper and adhered it to the front center of my card base.  The red embossed oval was added next and I used dimensional dots to end with the Sentiment layer.  I finished off my card with some pink/red gems! Quick and easy. 

   

   My second card, which ended up being my favorite, was created with the same Stamped Sentiment, only this time, I used another Spellbinder die to cut it out, edged it with a pink Copic Markers and colored the starts more in a pink shade.  I used the same die (in a larger sizer) and cut a mat in pink and white snowflake patterned paper I had in my stash.  I used another piece of patterned paper from My Minds Eye for my center strip and also cut a second piece which I punched with an EK Success Border punch.  I then cut 3/4" off the bottom front of the card and adhered that border in place of the piece I cut off.  This idea came from Kristina's video, I simply used papers I had on hand and a different punch.  It also was another fun card to create and again used the sentiment as my main image.

  And this was the third card, which really was just made up as I went along.  I decided not to use the large sentiment on this paper, because I did NOT want to cover up the cute tree designs in my paper.  This cute paper is from My Minds Eye and I bought it in a sampler pack from Die Cuts R Us,   I love these little sampler packs and Claudia sells, it's the perfect way to try papers and buy a larger variety of colors/styles, without having to spend a fortune.  I also bought this set and the set by Winter Joy - Bo Bunny, which has become my favorite new set for the 2010 Christmas Season. 

Now I am off to color some new images and they are brand new digi images by LoRi Boyd!  Her adorable Puddle Jumpers, have NOW been released in digi format -- WooHOO!!   I am such a digi girl now and totally LOVE digital images.  I also have a big fan of LoRi's sweet and adorable designs and I own a nice collection of her wonderful Lollipops and Sugar Sticks.  You can find a nice selection of the new digi Puddle Jumpers at Die Cuts R Us (A Crafty Little Place ) - HERE!   And if you are like me and want even more, then you can also hop on over to Lori's store (By LoRi Designs) and find another new release HERE!   If you are brand new to digis, there is also a fantastic tutorial on her site to help you learn how to print and size them!   HAPPY SHOPPING!!

    And that's it for me!  I am now trying to get a card done for the current Copic Coloring Challenge over at the Color Me Creative Classroom.  If you would like to join me on this fun new challenge, please hop on over HERE to CMC and look for the Challenge Group - HERE!  You do not have to be one of Suzanne's students to take part in the challenges or in the group!  It's open to all and we always love new friends to join in !!  Our current challenge is a Inspiration Theme challenge and you until Sunday November 21st to submit your Project!!   

OPERATION WRITE HOME - Needs your VOTE!!

 

   I thought would share this video and think it's wonderful and a sweet way to encourage everyone to continue to support Operation Write Home!

   Please help us and VOTE today and every day!    

THANK YOU!!

  Today is also Sketch Sunday over at the Stars and Stamps Challenge Blog and I invite you ALL to join in and create a fun card.  I have copied over the sketch to share with you and will be working on my card shortly!!

  

   I'm back with my afternoon update and also to post some new cards I created for a variety of challenges and also some for more I'll be adding to my Christmas collection.  My first card was the card I made based on the sketch above and the one I'll be submitting to OWH.   My image is from Bugaboo Stamps.

 
   This fun and playful card is being submitted to these new challenges -

• Operation Write Home - Stars & Stamps Blog Sketch Challenge - (No Glitter)
• The Stamp Man Challenge - Cards for Men/Boys - Christmas Theme
• Winter Wonderland Challenge - Winter Sports!

   I also created another sweet Christmas Card and my second card was created with Noelle, who is the newest edition to the Baby Bud Designs Collection.   She's adorable and makes a perfect card for the Holidays or a fun Winter card.   For this card I Paper Pieced her into a fun litttle Holiday outfit and then add white and red Stickles to her had and shoes for extra sparkle and shine.   I also want o encourage everyone to hop on over the the Baby Bud Designs Blog and join in our latest challenge.  Our theme for Challenge 2 is - Scallops, Buttons and Bling and you can find some fabulous inspiration from the Design Team on the blog.    Please remember that we ask that you create a project using a Baby Bud Image and we offer a Freebie on the last Friday of each month.  This challenge runs through Wednesday, November 24th (Noon) EST!   

   This card is also being submitted to these new challenges --

• The Crafty Pad - Challenge 97 - Christmas Sparkle
• Ellephantastic Challenges - Challenge #19 - Christman or Butterfly
• Christmas Stamping - Challenge # 70 - Stripes

   My final card today is another Christmas Card that I created to add to my stash and also some new challenges.  All three of today's cards were created with Digi Images, which have quickly become my favorite.   This card was created with a cute Teddy, named Brad and he is from StampFairy a new digi site I found this week over at CDAC. 

   For those who LOVE Teddy Bears, this one is really adorable!  I created this card with these challenges in mind -

• ABC Challenge Blog - Letter H - H is for Holidays
• A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge # 129 - Snow or Snowflakes
• Flourishes - Timeless Tuesday - Challenge FTTC92 - Glitter!!

   And I think that will be the last of my cards for today!  I am now going to load some more of my Cricut Cartridges onto my Gypsy and continue on that project.  I'm very happy to say that my Gypsy seems to be working out MUCH better and now that we have figured out all the bugs, I have been enjoyed designing with it.  I also wanted to mention that I did sell one of my Cricut Jukeboxes, but I still have one left to sell.  It's in excellent (like new) condition and it will ship in it's original box, complete with a cord and manual.   I bought it on sale for $39, plus shipping at Custom Crops, but will be happy to sell it for $35 with shipping included, or $25, plus shipping for those who may live close!  The shipping via Priority Mail is $15 in a large Flat Rate Box!  I accept PayPal Payments and can ship to the US ONLY!   If you are interested, please send me a message!  

   I am NOT trying to make any profit,  I simply want it to be put to good use and will also consider a Swap/Trade for other craft supplies!   Have a wonderful day and Happy Crafting!!

World Kindness Day Challenge !!

   Happy Saturday!  Today, I am so excited to be a part of this week's new challenge as a Guest Designer for Bugaboo Stamps, one of my favorite places to shop for my digi stamps.  I was honored earlier this month as Bugaboo's 'November's Greatest Fan' and as part of that wonderful surprise I was also asked if I would create a card for one of the November challenge 'Catch the Bug Challenge blog'.

  Today is finally the day I can share the details with you and invite you all to join in on the fun.   Bugaboo's challenge this week is based on World Kindness Day and the theme is to create a Friendship/Kindness, Thank You or Thinking of You card to celebrate this special day.  You can find all the details over on the challenge blog HERE!!   NOTE:  There is now a SKETCH to use for the challenge, however I did not have it when my card was created, which is why mine is a bit different.  I have copied over the sketch to share and I hope to create another card based on the sketch, which will then be my submission to this FUN challenge!   If you are playing, please be sure to use the sketch below --

  This is my card which I created as on of the inspiration cards for the challenge.   I had a great time making this card and totally enjoy coloring Bugaboo images.   I decided to create a fun Easel Card and the image is chose is one of the newest images from the November Stamp Club, which you can find over at the store HERE!!  There were so many fun images in the latest set that I had a hard time choosing - I really love them all.  If hop around my blog, you'll see that I created with a few of them in the past week and it's been a lot of fun. 

This is a side view --

And in this view you can read

and see the 'Kindness' sentiment I chose

for my card -

   The Bugaboo Design Team has created some fabulous projects as inspiration and I would LOVE for all of my friends to join me in the very sweet challenge.   We all have so many wonderful friends, so I know you can all make a fantastic card for someone you adore a random act of kindness!

    UPDATE - I am back with a new card to share and this is the card I created based on the sketch and was also inspired by many of the new Christmas Themed challenges.  It was a lot of fun to create and my images is from Bugaboo and one of my new favorites! 

  
  This is my new 'Happy Day'Christmas Card and it will be submitted to these new challenges -

• Catch The Bug - Bugaboo Stamps - World Kindness Day Challenge
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge C4C63 - Christmas Cards
• Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - # 109 - Sparkle & Shine
• Two Sisters Challenge Blog - Challenge # 13 - Christmas
• Totally Gorjuss - Traditional Colors - Christmas Cards
• Mark's Finest Papers - Challenge # 29 - Snowflake Theme

   And if you LOVE these adorable images -- now is the time to stock up!   Bugaboo Stamps is having a super sale and ALL of the stamps are ON SALE for the entire month of November for 50% off!  All you need to do is enter the Promo Code in your cart, click apply and every stamp you add, will be reduce to half price!!  You can even pick up the November Stamp Club for half price....!  How great is that!  All of these Stamps for only $10!   YIPPEE!!

   The promo code and all the details can be found on the main page HERE!  If you are brand new to Bugaboo or Digi Stamps, you can even try for FREE.   Yes, totally FREE and this week's freebie is a super cute set, which you can download directly HERE!!   I just love the new 'Winter Eggbert", and he is part of this week's offer!   Here is a watermarked image to show you how cute he is!!

    I'm off now to color up some more images for some cards and I think I might color this cute guy next.   I LOVE snowmen, so I was very excited to see him and always look forward to each week's new release!  I hope I have inspired you to create and I hope you'll join me in the fun challenge!  I'm so happy to have had this wonderful opportunity and I'm also very happy to be applying for a permanent Design Team position with Bugaboo.  I'm very excited that I've already completed the first step and have moved on to Round II!   Please wish me luck, as I really WANT this and truly LOVE these stamps!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Today is also a VERY special day over at the OWH - Stars and Stamps Blog as they are hosting a Fantastic 'Be My Valentine BLOG Hop' and I invite you all to join the hop!  

   I'm doing my best to get to as many of the blogs as I can, but it's truly a challenge for me with Fibro.  I would have LOVED to have been part of the HOP, but knew it would be too difficult.   However, I'm still very honored to be a member of Operation Write Home and to create Cards for our Troops and I encourage you all to check out the wonderful BLOG HOP!   They are some amazing crafters and lots of fabulous prizes for those who join in.  My BEST WISHES to all!   To start on the HOP - Please go to the START page at the Stars and Stamps blog HERE!!

  And I also want to once again ask for your to help out and PLEASE continue to VOTE for OWH at Jo'Ann's Craft for a Cause Contest.   You can vote once per day and we would LOVE your support!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all your support and have a very Happy World Kindness Day!!

Let's all do something kind and make someone smile today!

  ♥