Silly Saturday.....

....After taking a day off I am happy to be back in my craft room today and have some new cards to share.  I had a good/bad day yesterday and did not have any time to create.   I spent most of the day with my Mom and two cousins who came up for a visit for the day.  We all went out to lunch and had a really nice time.   The bad part of my day, happened when I first left my house -- my car made some awful sound as soon as I went to back out of the driveway, and after only making it a 1/4 mile up to the local gas station, I knew something was wrong and called Hubby.  He said to leave it at the garage and ask them the look at it for us.  Luckily, we know the owners and that's where we do have work done, if needed.  DH does most of the easy things at home (oil changes, brakes and tune-ups), but anything else, pretty much is done at the garage.  Of course, it's not like we had an appointment, so I know it will be a few days before they can even begin to work on it.  I guess they think it's likely the Spring/Strut or something to do with the front suspension...I'm sure with my luck this week, it will be something expensive.  But then again, when has anyone had an inexpensive car repair.   Grrrrr!!   Wish me luck!! 

 
     Today, I've decided to not even think about the car and try and focus on happy things.  For me, that means spending the day being creative and that's pretty much what I have done.  I am happy to have four new cards to share and they were ALL inspired by new challenges.   I started by working on a card for a new challenge over at 'CraftsByDesign' and knew I would LOVE it because it was a color challenge and was based on one of my favorite color combos, which is Light Pink, Dark Pink, Grey and Black.   This is a copy of the color inspiration image/swatch:

  I have to admit the my Fibro Fog did get the better of me today and I was totally confused about the other two challenge themes, but in the end, it worked out fine and I just had to laugh at myself for being so confused over something that should have been very easy!!   LMBO...just one of those days!!

  This is the first card I created and I think it ended up being my favorite today!     It went together really fast and it was another card that was created almost exclusively with scraps:

    In addition to the challenge at CBD, I also wanted to create a card with embossing, so that I could submit it to the new 'Blogger's Embossing Challenge' over at the Splendiferious Creations!   I used my Cuttlebug and one of my favorite Sizzix folders to embossed the bright pink cardstock sections on the card.  I love how embossing add so much texture and dimension and think it's a fun an easy way to quickly change a card. 

    My next card was created for the Triple Challenge and the idea was meant to use at least 3 elements on my card, which luckily I did, but I also thought I needed to keep with the color combo and also make this one CAS too -- which did work out.   This is the second card and it was also submitted to a challenge at CraftsByDesign.

    And while still in my whole Pink/Grey/Black mode, I decided to make a third card and this one was primarily made for fun, after I realized I had already made the correct card for the challenges at CBD. 

    And finally, I have my last card for the day and this one was inspired by two different Copic Coloring Challenges.  One over at CBD, and the second being hosted over at The Outlawz Challenge Group.   My card was created with a fun digi image from Bugaboo Stamps and this one is from the Watering Can series, which you'll find HERE!   I have a few of the images from this series, but I think this one (with the tulips) is one of my favorites and I think it's also the one that I have colored most often.  It's also fun and easy to color and you can use a variety of colors and backgrounds to make a new card every time.

  In addition to the Copic inspired challenges, I am also submitting this card to these two challenges --

• Mami Doodles - Challenge # 31 - Flowers
• Paper Play Challenges - Week 30 - In the Garden 

   And I think that will likely be it for me today!!   I feeling better about my card-making today and glad that my MOJO seems to be back.  I will be looking forward to tomorrow's new challenges, which are some of my favorites!    Sunday is Sketch Day over at the Stars & Stamps Blog and there will also be a new CAS challenge at 'The Outlawz'.  Yippee!!

Dreaming........

 Taking a break for a day or two.....

        I'm dreaming of something like this..............ahhhhh!!

Weird kind of day???

   I am not sure why, but today is just not one of my better days.  I feel really tired and almost bored, something I rarely ever say, especially because I can always usually keep myself very busy creating.   I think I'm still kind of missing Summer Card Camp and just how fun it was knowing I had something new and exciting to look forward to every day.

   I also did not end up having much luck with my trial of Photoshop Elements and do not except I will end up buying the program.   I was VERY quickly remind, how much my neck and back to do like it when I spend too much time at the computer and I should have known better.   That is one of the largest downsides of Fibro for me, since it's soooo uncomfy to do anything much online.  I can type up my blog post and edit a few pictures...but other than that, I really do NOT do nearly as much as I once did!!  I think in a way, that's been a let down and when too many things go wrong or not as I hoped...it kind of reminds me that this illness really is NOT fun!!   Grrrrrr!!!

    Moving on -- I did manage to create three cards and the first is the very first card I created all with digital images and did not color a thing by hand.  I simply chose elements from a few different digi kits and edited everything in Word to come up with this very simply Birthday Card.   I was able to add the pre-colored digi flower and then added a digi sentiment, which I recolored to match the flower.  I trimmed it down to A2 size and added a nice red background layer and then simply mounted that to a card base and added 3 matching pearls.  Not too bad for my very first try and this kind of thing.   I had been thinking of trying to get into more Hybrid card making, but after not having much luck with PSE, I don't think this will work out to be a very good option for me.   Plus, I really LOVE to color and think I would miss it too much. 

   My next two cards were created with using one of my favorite new Hero Arts Background Stamps and this one is called - Large Lotus Pattern.     I did a few more background sheets using Distress Inks, Pearls mist and watercolor paper.   I then simply cut down one piece as the top section for my card and then added a detailed edge with one of my EK Success punches and adhered it to my card base.  The bottom section is simply a piece of embossed cardstock in a matching color - purple in this case.  I finished it off with nice sentiment and tied on a piece of satin ribbon.

  This card is being submitted to today's new POM Challenge over at The Outlawz Challenge Group.  It's 'Anything Goes' this week, and you can find all the details over at the site HERE!!

   And with that same idea/theme in mind, I also made this card, which was created with the same stamp - only in different colors.   I also added a flower border that I created with my new Memory Box Die and added a bit of Stickles for some extra sparkle!  

   I have to admit, I LOVE the background designs, but the cards did NOT come out like I had hoped and I may take them apart and try again!!   I just don't seem to have my Mojo today, and for the first times in ages, I almost don't even feel like crafting?    Imagine that!!   It's so NOT like met at all and is very weird!  I do hope very much this feeling will pass and pass quickly.   Hoping tomorrow will be a much better day!   

Happy Wednesday! What's UP??

   Today seems to be a much better day and although I have not accomplished a whole lot, I am much happier with the two cards that I have completed today.

    I was very excited to get back to some of my favorite challenges and Wednesday if a FUN challenge day for me.  I started today by working on a card that was created for three different challenges and it was inspired by Bugaboo's Wacky Wednesday Challenge, and also by today's Midweek Throwdown Challenge over at Operation Write Home.

    The Wacky Wednesday Challenge (hosted at PCP and CDAC), was to create a project where the Theme was Square and that's exactly what I did with this fun little Summer Card.   Not only did I print my image out into a square size, I also created a square card and made all the layers in squares!    I also chose an image that included 'Water', since that is the theme today over at the Stars and Stamps Blog.   I have found that using 3D Crystal Lacquer on top of my colored image, really gives off the bright shiny look of the sparkling blue ocean.

    This is a close up copy, where you can better see how well the Crystal lacquer works to create a really neat shine and dimension for a water look.

   In addition to the challenges above, this card is also being submitted to these fun challenges:

• The Pink Elephant - Challenge #109  - Fun in the fun
• Paper Sundaes - # 79 - Beachy or Summer Themes

  The next card I have to share was inspired by today's new Sketch Challenge over at The Outlawz Challenge Group and I am sharing a copy of the sketch that Melanie created for this week's challenge.

    And this is the card that I created based on the Sketch.  It's a  Birthday Card and I created it for my niece who is celebrating her birthday next week.  This was perfect timing, because I knew I wanted to work on her card this week and had not come up with and idea!   The sketch worked out perfectly and this wonderful Birthday Cake stamp is a favorite.   It's called "Celebrate (Cake)" and was designed by Victoria Case exclusively for SCACD.

    In addition to the Sketch Challenge at The Outlawz, I am also submitting this new Birthday Card to each of these challenges:

• Stamps R Us Challenge - Happy Birthday - A Blog Hop too!!
• Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - Bling - Spellbinder Labels 15
• Two Sisters Challenge Blog - Anything Goes
• Bearly-Mine Challenges - Challenge #15 - Tag You're it!!

    And now I am off to work on a card for a brand new challenge that I want to play.  It's a really cute new digi image blog and it's called Jellypark and you can hop on over to play in Challenge One!    I was also excited to see that one of my designer friends, Jennifer, is on their Design Team, which inspired me even more to play along.  Jennifer and I had created together on two former teams and she is a joy to know.    If you plan to play along in this first challenge, hurry on over, as it ends this week, but is one I want to play.  It's a  Christmas in July challenge and they have provided an adorable snowman for those who want to join the fun.   You can find ALL the details on the Challenge Blog and if you want to shop for some of these adorable image, you can find the Jellypark Etsy Store HERE!!   I've already added a couple images to my shopping cart at Etsy!  

  Update:  I am back with my completed 'Christmas in July' card and had a lot of fun creating this one.  It's been fun to find so many holiday challenges lately and that's really been great for helping me get a head start on my cards this year. 

  I really think this is one cute snowman, and it's by Jellypark.  The card is being submitted to their very first challenge and also these new challenges which are all hosting Christmas Themed Challenge:

• Jellypark Challenge Blog - Challenge #1 - Christmas in July
• Going Grey with Scrap Creations -  Favorite Holiday (Christmas for me)
• Partytime Tuesday Challenges - # 26- Anything Goes 
• Paper Creations Ink - Challenge # 5 - Christmas in July

  And that's it for today my friends!  I hope you are all having a nice day and finding some time to create and smile! 

Hum???

   Today is another day that just doesn't seem quite right.   I feel pretty good and I want to be creative, but I still feel kind of lost.   I played at bit more with the Photoshop Elements trial and can tell that will take time.  I think I'll continue to watch the tutorials and hope I can figure it out.

   In the meantime, I only found one new challenge today to try and it was the Color Combo Challenge at The Outlawz.   But, for some reason, even after making 4 different cards, I can't seem to come up with one that is really right.   The problem is that you need to include some doodles on your card and I ruined my first one trying.  I just don't really have 'doodling' skills, LOL!! 

   In the end, I did make one card to submit, but it will be without the doodling and it was the very first card I made today based on this color combo --

   I also did not have any blue as dard as the "planetarium blue' shown in the color block, but I did use the darkest I had and that was a Stampin' Up ink in Nearly Navy along with some Stampin' Up designer papers from my stash.

    This is the very first card I created and the little flower is from one of my newest Hero Arts Sets - Speckled Ornaments -  This is also the card that I ended up liking the best.  I had made a duplicate of it where I tried doodling, but it actually ruined the card and that's when I knew doodling was not a good plan for me.

   After that I moved on and made this next card, also Stamped with the same Almost Navy Ink from SU, and also with a new Hero Arts Stamp I won on eBay called Exotic Bloom.    If you are ever looking for stamps, I found this store HERE, on eBay and have won several stamps for $3.99 or even less, back when their starting prices were even lower.   The service is always great and they will also combine shipping if you win more than one stamp!!    A great store and one I would recommend to all!!

  And after that, things seemed to go downhill and after making this next card, I knew I need to walk away a bit and move on.   This card was also created with the same challenge in mind, but again, I did not attempt the doodling.   I did use another stamp from the Speckled Ornaments Set and stamped it three times across the card, but it did not stamp all the well, especially on the textured cardstock.  I then added White Pearls with a pearl pen and even topped them with glitter, but it's just boring!!   LMBO!   And the blue is simply not looking good directly on the yellow.....  Bleck!!    And even though you can't tell from this picture...I also created the card totally upside down!!   Even if I wanted to use it, I would need to take it apart and add it to a new card base.   It kind of made me laugh when I realized and that's when I knew it was time for a break.

  So I think that will likely be my last card today!!   I may do some coloring for a little bit, but I'm also starting to feel a bit tired! 

   How about YOU?   Do you ever have these days where your cards just do NOT come out as you hoped?   It's funny too, because sometimes I cards I really do NOT like, I'll find that other people do like, and I know we are always hardest on our own work, but that is also how we learn.

    I sure HOPE your creativity is better than mine today and I hope for me, tomorrow will be better!  Wednesday is a usually a good day for challenges and I'm looking forward to something fun!!!   If you have any suggestions  -- please share!!

   Until tomorrow.....

I'm lost today....

....After having such a wonderful weekend of crafting and a fun-filled month at Summer Card Camp - I'm feeling lost today and already missing Camp and have a new fun challenge or inspirational email sitting in my in-box every day.

   On the upside, I do know already that Jennifer and Kristina are working on the next Camp Session which is gong to be a Holiday Card Boot Camp which will run from November 7- 21!!  WOOHOO!  You can bet that I'm be signed up and it will be a ton of fun.   We were also excited to learn today that Summer Card Camp will now be an annual even and that the girls will continue to be adding lots of fantastic classes!!

 

    Another thing I have been thinking about is buying myself the latest Photoshop Elements program and also learning how to use it.  I would like to have the ability to enhance my digital skills and think having Elements will be a bonus.  It seems to be the most commonly used program for crafters and I would also like to learn how to also use digital elements in my cardmaking too!   I downloaded the Free 30 Day trial and viewed the first few tutorials today!   If you have/use Photoshop Elements, please share and also tell me HOW you learned to use the program and if you like it.  If anyone knows where I can also buy it for the very best price....I'd like to know.  It seems to start at about $70 and go up??    I am using the newest Version #9 and found some great Tutorials on Adobe TV.   I know there are probably many more on YouTube and I really want to learn this.  If you have any suggestions -- Please share!!

   With my withdrawal from Card Camp, I only manged to make one card today ----- ahhhh!!   I need to get myself back into challenge mode and hope to focus some more on that tomorrow.     Today's card was created for the Greeting Card Challenge over at The Outlawz, where this week's challenge was to create a non-square/rectangular card - in other words a 'Shaped card' which LOVE to make now that I have my Grand Calibur and a few sets of the Grand Nestie dies.  For this card I used the Grand Labels 11 set.

     This is my card and it was created all in Purple, Lavender and white....my favorites, of course!!  It's a HUG card and that is also my favorite sentiment!

  And that's it for today!!  I do hope after I spend some more time watching the Photoshop Elements Tutorials I will have even better pictures to share here too!  It's cloudy here today, which makes my pictures dark -- but our temps now down in the 70's....I don't mind a few clouds at ALL!   :)

What a wonderful day....

....Today has been such a wonderful day!   The hot and humid weather is moving away and we are back to one of the gorgeous blue sky days with lots of Sun.   I has both of my sons here today and even that the same time, something that's rare to happen these days I love when my whole family is all here at the same time!!   It's also been a perfect day to create and I've enjoyed every minute in my craft room.

   My first card was once I started last night and it looks like it sadly with be one of the very last that I'll be submitted to Summer Card Camp.   I have had so much fun at Camp and I'm sure those of you who follow my blog know how much I loved it.  I will miss it, but I am also going to love using all the new things I've learned and it's really had me making all kinds of different cards!

    This card is actually one that is so easy to make,   It's just a matter of putting together papers and colors that work well together and that's all I did.  I was searching for some aqua paper for another project and came across a this gorgeous floral pattern, which is from the Hello Luscious collection by Basic Grey.  As soon as I saw the paper, I realized it would work out really well with one of the color combos from Camp.   This is the color swatch I used as my inspiration.  

  And this is the card I created with that theme.   I even found I had the perfect envelope to match and made a this little card set.

   My next card was inspired by two new challenges and the first is the new Copic Coloring Challenge being hosted at the Color Me Creative Classroom, which you'll find HERE!   Our newest challenges is a color combo challenge and our colors are light aqua, red and white (or cream).   I picked out one of my cute new Bugaboo image and also knew I wanted to combine this with their current challenge, which you'll find HERE!!   This is the card that I created for both and I think it came out really cute!

  The Challenge at Bugaboo was called 'Heavy Metal' and the idea was to use some form of Metal on your project.  I used two light aqua eyelets and then added a cute 'Smile' sentiment that is actually a large metal brad.  You can see it a bit better in this close-up picture.  It was from a set that my son bought for me, when I first starting crafting.   Thanks Bri!!

   And speaking of Bugaboo Challenges, I was very excited to learn this morning that I was one of the lucky winners of their Christmas In July Celebration Week.  I won second place and won a gift certificate to the store along with this cool new badge, which is now on my Award/Challenge wins page!   Yippee!!

 
  My next card today was inspired again by one of the new color combos from Summer Card Camp and also by the brand new sketch we had today over at the Stars & Stamps Blog.   I love the sketches and OWH has a new sketch every Sunday and everyone is welcome to play along!   As a reminder, all cards created for the Beat the Heat Holiday card drive should be in this mail ASAP.  The deadline for submitting these cards is July 31st!

  Below is a copy of the color combination along with this week's OWH Sketch.  I combined both together to make my next card and I really enjoyed it.

    My Marigold image is from Wax Fruit Company and was colored with my Copic Markers to match the color theme.  I then picked out matching papers from my scrap bin and cut the three strips as shown in the sketch. 

     And I still have one more card to share and this was created today for the latest CAS Challenge over at The Outlawz.   The DT Girlz created some fantastic inspiration cards this week and I knew as soon as I saw them, that I wanted to play.   The theme this week is a color theme and the colors are Bright Yellow and Bright Orange.  Colors I LOVE for Summer and colors I have used quite often in the past few weeks.   If you would like to play along, you'll find all the details HERE!!   There are also several fantastic prizes this month and every one who enters has a chance to WIN!! 

  This is another card that features one of my favorite new dies from Memory Box.   I think these dies really make the card and it was so easy.  My papers are from a favorite retired Stampin' Up set and I started by creating a 5" X 5" square card.  I cut a 3" section from bright orange for the top and then added a yellow/white polka dotted 2" piece on the bottom.  I used bright yellow card stock with the Spring Border die and cut the border in my Grand Calibur.  I then adhered that section to the middle, added a computer generated Sentiment and 3 little matching butterflies and my card was done!   

   And that's it for now.   I had so much fun and have actually come up with a few more ideas while I was browsing through all my papers!  It's fun what you can actually find when you start digging in your stash and I was really happy with the goodies I found today!

Snowflakes in July....

.......After the record-breaking temps we had yesterday, I was thrilled to wake up this morning to the sound of rain.   Unfortunately, it was quick little shower and instead of being a cool front, it's brought back all the humidity.  UGH!   Luckily, this should be the last day of this heatwave and we'll be back to more comfy and weather sometime tomorrow.   We would use a nice long day of rain, it would be fabulous for the gardens and also for everyone who has been suffering in the heat.     I'm looking forward to having a seabreeze back and a day where we can open up all the windows and enjoy the fresh air!

   In the meantime, I am very comfy with my AC on and working on lots of new cards.  I feel so lucky to be having a nice day and a day full or crafting.  The more time I'm in my craft room, the better my day often and I'm happy to have three new cards to share. 

    All three cards were inspired by the wonderful color combos we've been working with for the past month in Summer Card Camp and I love each one.  I still can hardly believe it's almost over and that's my only sad thought today!   I feel a bit like I will now be lost without it, so I really hope there are lots of fun exciting new challenges coming up this week.

     My first card was also inspired by the 'Use Your Scraps Challenge' at CraftsByDesign, and it's a take off of the card I had shared yesterday.  For this one, I used one of the brand new color combos from Summer Card Camp and I have included that swatch below: 

    This card is also being submitted to a new Challenge over a Mark's Finest Papers.  Their challenge this week is to use Hearts somewhere on your project..

   My next card was created for a new challenge over at The Outlawz and I used another of the color combo from Summer Card Camp as in colors for this card.  The theme for this challenge was 'Things with Wings' and in my card - it's the little Butterflies.

    This card is being submitted to all of these fun challenges and you are ALL invited to play along:

• The Outlawz Challenge Group - Friday Copic Challenge - Things with Wings
• Flutter By Wednesday - Challenge #163 - Butterflies, Angels and Fairies
• Little Claire's Designs - Challenge # 11 - Things with Wings

    And last, but not least is my favorite card of the day and this was also created with several challenges in mind and is another 'Christmas in July' themed card.   But, as is typical for me, I LOVE to create all of my cards in non-traditional colors and this is one of my favorites.    Purple, Teal and white are simply stunning and work out so well for me!!   I also happen to have kept an extra supply of this Winter Joy Collection that was released last year by Bo Bunny.  I just LOVE it and hope we'll see more of these colors again this season.  I also used one of my newest Memory Box Dies and this one is gorgeous and is from the brand new winter collection that just came out!   Love.........! 

      I am submitting this new Christmas/Winter card to each of these new challenges::

• The Outlawz Group - Paper a la Mode Saturday - Christmas in July
• Designed to Delight - Designer's Challenge - Christmas in July (no Red/Green)
• Totally Gorjuss - Challenge # 90 - Die Cut or Punch
• Christmas Stamping All Year Long -  Favorite Color-PURPLE!!

    And that's it for now - I have a couple more ideas that I want to work on and I am hoping I can get at least one, maybe two more cards created to submit to our Summer Card Camp Gallery!   Wishing everyone a fantastic day and hope you all enjoy your weekend! 

Hot Summer Fun.....!!!!!!!

   I LOVE Summer and as much as I admit it is a bit HOT today, I would take this day ANY day over a cold winter day.    Now, if we lose power or if I did not have AC, I'm not sure I would be loving anything, but thankfully, the AC is keeping me very comfy and cool.

   Today is one of our last days in Summer Card Camp and it I am definitely going to miss it.  It's been such a great workshop and I know that I've learned a lot and it's helped me to really try all kinds of new things.   I want to thank Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner for a fabulous event.   I will highly recommend any of their classes to all crafters and if you every had a chance to attend one -  Go for it!  You will not be disappointed.

    We have a fabulous new color section today and I'm sharing a copy of the fabulous new color combos we'll be working with this weekend.

    Awesome colors - Don't you agree?      There are so many that I love, so it will be hard to pick which to use.  I plan to start on my projects this afternoon.

     This morning I colored up two fun cards for a Copic Coloring Challenge at CraftsByDesign, a very fun new group that I was recently invited to join.    Our challenge is to use our Copics to create a Summer themed or Summer color inspired card.  I ended up making two, because I could not decide which image I like best.  My card card featured a cute little digi from Bugaboo Stamps and the second features another adorable image from By Lori Designs.

 
     Whenever I think of Summer the very first thing that comes to mind is the beach and the ocean and that's the theme I used for both my cards.   The beach is one of the best places to be on a hot summer day, as long as you are sure to keep very hydrated, use lots of sunscreen and be sure to keep cool.   Often there is a nice sea breeze right at the ocean line and it can sometimes feel 10 or 20 degrees cooler!   I'm sure the beaches here are totally packed and will be all weekend.   As much as I miss going, I do NOT miss trying to venture there on a hot weekend mid-Summer....nope, it's too crazy for me and you need to be there very early to hope you can find a place to part!   The best place to go is out on a boat or to one of the beaches that you can easily travel to by boat.

      Well that's it for now -- I am off to do some stamping and very excited because I just received an order from Dick Blick and I bought a bunch of new colors in the awesome Big Brush Pens (Markers) by Faber Castell, which they have on sale!   You know ME, I LOVE a sale and want to thank my friend Dana for letting me know about this one!!  :)  These markers are very cool and use India Ink and you can use them to stamp with, which is awesome.    Check out the video below that Jennifer McGuire did showing this awesome technique!  You can also do the same with the new Gelatos too!  Fun FUN!!

My love of Lollipops.......

...and I am not talking about the sticky candy ones, but the adorable Lollipop digi images that are the wonderful creation of Lori Boyd of By Lori Designs.

   Just imagine my surprise when I stopped by Lori's Blog yesterday and found out the it was National Lollipop Day.   Did you know that, I sure didn't!   Even so, I was really excited when I read that Lori was hosting a fun little challenge which you can read all about on the blog HERE!   I knew right away that I wanted to play and I'm always more than HAPPY to promote Lori's store because I truly do LOVE her Lollipops and her other adorable collections too.   I've been a big FAN for a long time and have a wonderful collection of her sweet images.  I have Lollipops, Puddle Jumpers, Spoonfuls and Sugar Sticks!  I owe something for every collection and would be thrilled to win the entire August Release!!   WooHOO!

  I am also very excited because I will now be adding at least one new Lollipop to my collection and that is this cutie - Hannah Lollipop!  Thank you, Lori!

   Today, I also have three new cards to share and while all three were created using this week's Color Combo from Summer Card Camp - I also choose two of my favorites and the first is one of the new Summer Puddle Jumpers - Gidget!!   All ready for a fun summer day at the beach!!

    As you can see she is adorable and I'm very happy to also be sharing her at the Gallery at Summer Card Camp today along with these other new challenges, which everyone is welcome to join:

• Papercraft Star - Challenge # 54 - Beach Inspired
• Scrapalicious USA - Challenge # 12 - Summer
• City Crafter Challenge Blog - # 12 - It's a Shore Thing

   My next card was also created for Summer Card Camp also features another adorable Puddle Jumper, Shelby, and little Shelby has also been colored in the lovely shades of blue/green and that we have as our color combo this week. 

  

     I have to admit that I think my ALL TIME favorite Lollipop is little Ella, and this has always been one of my favorite Ella cards.  This is also a card that was sent off in my last batch to Operation Write Home and I hope that some day she'll be send back to a child who has as Mom or Dad serving overseas! 

   I think out of ALL of Lori's adorable images I have colored Ella the most.  I just love her sweet little Polka-dotted dress and her matching hair bow.   If you would like to add any of these wonderful images to your digi collection, please visit Lori's Store HERE!!    I know you won't be disappointed and these images always make people SMILE!!

    And now I have one last card to share today and this is another card that I created for Camp.  I sure am going to miss camp with it ends, and have totally LOVED it.   This card was also created with one of the new Inking techniques were learned and also incorporate the new colors.   It was another fun card to create and I really love how it turned out!!

    This card is also being submitted to this new challenge!    Come over and play along!!

• Crafts & Me Challenge Blog - # 44 - Add a Flower

    I am off now to work on a new sketch idea and wanted to also say a SPECIAL THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by and left me such sweet comments yesterday.   When I feel lousy, it often feels to me like it comes out in my cards and I really did not like much of what I had done.  It was so touching to read the comments that many of your left for me and it truly touched my heart.   Today, I feel pretty good again and I will cherish every day that I can say that!   I also will always remember the kind words you shared!   THANK YOU soooo much!!

  Hugs to all,

  

Winding down....

....Today is back to a tiring day for me and not only is my energy missing, but I seem to be missing my MOJO again too!   I have a few cards to share, but I'll start right off and tell you that I am NOT loving any of them and one has already been taken part and it now in the recycle bin.

     My first card was started yesterday and it's for the new Color Combo Challenge over at The Outlawz.  This is a copy of our color theme, followed by my card --

     
    My next card was created today and is for today's new Midweek Throwdown Challenge over at the Operation Write Home  Stars and Stamps blog, which you'll HERE!    I also incorporated the Sketch from today's Challenge at The Outlawz to create a  Card for Kids. , which is what OWH is looking for this week.   I made mine with a cute image By Lori Boyd, but it just seems to be missing something.  I am also not having the best of luck today with my pictures and the colors look  a bit off?  Like I said, not one of my best days??   Help???  This is the copy of the sketch that I used as the idea for my card design.

 

     I am also still working on my very last week in Summer Card Camp and I've been trying to enjoy each minute that we have left.   We are still working with the wonderful shades of blue and green and I this next card is the one I had created....then eventually took apart and recycled.  The card shape did not cut well and the look of the stamped image did not show up nearly as I had hoped.  It looked so pretty before I cut it down for this card!  Bummer! 

   After not really be happy with how that card turned out, I ventured on to make another one and I have to admit that although this one I do like better, I think I probably ended up using too much black.   Black does make my little Die Cut Tree pop more, but I'm still not sure about the card.   I colored with tree by using my finger tips as dabbers and worked with a variety of blue and green Distress Inks.  Once it was colored I added a light misting of Perfect Pearls.    This is my finished card  -- I'm still not thrilled!!

  I think I'm now going to take the rest of the day to simply rest and relax.  I may color a bit and I do have need to do some organizing in my Craft Room.   I'm simply not feeling at that great and I feel like it's showing in my cards---meaning it's time for a little break!  

   I HOPE you are all having a very creative and happy day and I continue to hope that everyone is doing their best to stay comfy and cool during these hot Summer Days.     Hugs.....