More snow....UGH!!

  After a fabulous spring-like day yesterday, today we are back do gray skies and snow flurries and on top of that I just received this terrible weather update in my email -- 

Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 1 PM EST - Sunday...

* locations...interior northeastern Massachusetts.

* Hazard types...heavy snow and gusty winds.

* Accumulations...snow accumulation of 4 to 6 inches.

* Timing...any mixed precipitation should changeover to snow this evening. The snow may fall heavily for a time tonight and Sunday morning....YUK!!!

  While I did know that some flurries and a bit of snow had been foretasted  I was NOT happy to read this. Just when the snow was really starting to melt away, we end up with more.  I guess this is NOT going to be one of my favorite winters, but I sure am happy that we are already into February and not December.  At least now we are winding down and not just beginning our winter and cold months.

     I'm very happy however, to be inside today and I am totally enjoying more time in my craft room, except that my MOJO seems to be missing a bit.  I did manage to create three new cards today and had great ideas for each, when I started, but I have to admit, it's NOT one of my best days and in the end, I'm not lovin' any of these, but still had fun simply creating.  Good cards or bad, spending time being creative is a wonderful form of therapy for me and I LOVE IT!! 

     I'm sharing each of the cards, as I always share the good and the bad, which I feel helps me to grow.  I can look back in time and these cards will help me come up with better ideas.  It also helps me to see how much I do improve and how some days I really am very happy with all my cards.  Either way...to me it's all about fun and being creative and that's why I love this hobby.   Each of these cards were inspired by challenges and I find challenges are one of my best forms of inspiration.  They help me come up with new ideas and also often force me to create out of my comfort zone or also create in a style or with colors that I might not otherwise use!!   It's also FUN!!!  

    

     My first card today was actually inspired by two challenges.  The Color Combo Challenge at The Outlawz, as well as the new "Here's my Heart" challenge which you'll find over at Crafting by Designs.   I am including a copy of the color swatch from The Outlawz group and hope it might inspired YOU to play along.

  For my card I started with the sweet "Hanging Hearts" image which is digi image from Dilly Beans.  I printed it directly to white Cyrogen Cardstock, which is my favorite cardstock to use, when I plan to color with my Copics.   Once I had the hearts colors I added a layer of 3D Crystal Accents on each to give it some extra sparkle and dimension.  I also added a very sweet little LOVE Sentiment with is from a new set of clear stamps by Technique Tuesday and Ali Edwards, who I think creates some of the best Sentiments.  

   The next card I created was inspired by the new Paper a la Mode Challenge which started today over at The Outlawz.  The theme for this week is movement and my first thought was to use some type of flying bird or insect.  I opened up my Silhouette Designer software, as I also knew I wanted to use my Cameo to cut my image.   I have not been using my Cameo enough and want to get back into the habit, especially since I have my monthly Cameo group meeting on Monday at my LSS!!   I also knew that I have well over $100 in credits to use for the month and had some fun adding lots of new images to my Library.  (I have a monthly subscription and pay $14.99 each month, for $150 in store credits -- a great deal and well worth it to me for the savings).  If you are a Cameo user and need any Valentine images, head over to the store now while they are all on sale for 75 cents!!  

    By the way, if you do NOT own an Cameo, but have been thinking about it, you can download and use the software FREE to try it out.   The Designer Edition is an upgrade and one that's well worth it, if you do decide to buy a Cameo, but if you want to try out the Silhouette Studio software and see all the images you can add from the store, you'll find the download HERE!!     This is something I did before I bought my Cameo and it helped me to decide that I loved it.   There is also a brand new machine, called the Portrait, which is a smaller size and less expensive for anyone who can not afford the Cameo, this is a great choice.  I would also suggest that you shop around as you can find much better prices at Amazon and many of the other online vendors.

     And now that I have enabled you again, and gone way off track, LOL, this is the card that I created for the challenge, with the cute little butterfly that I bought from the Silhouette Store!

    My first step was to cut the Butterfly and I did that using plain white cardstock.  (NOTE:  I cut many of my images on white and then use a variety of coloring mediums to color each cuts to match my project).  When I cut this butterfly, I actually cut a full 12" sheets of assorted images/shapes, all to be used on future cards.   I then colored this butterfly with my Copics in two shades of pink -- a very light pink for the main area and a darker brighter pink for the section that lifts off the card.   This  butterfly shape can be found HERE, in the Silhouette Store.

   Next, I took a piece of light pink cardstock (from my scrap pile) and rand it through my Cuttlebug in the  Chevron Embossing folder, (by Hero/Sizzix).    That piece adhered to my card base, which is from Hero and is one of their newest products and a favorite of mine.   I was thrilled when they added the new Midnight Hues line, which includes  Black, Charcoal and Wet Cement in both note-cards and their awesome layering papers, which you can use to create you own card-bases    It's much more a cardstock than paper and like all their other cards and layer papers, only one side if in color.  The other side is white, which is perfect for cardmaking.   Next I added a wide lavender strip and a black die cut circle which I used as the frame from my Butterfly.  To complete the card I added Pink Gems to the butterfly and stamped the "Happy Everything" Sentiment by  Paper Smooches in Versamark, and then heat embossed it in black. 

   

  

     And last by not least I have one more card and this one was started with a fun little "Shooting Star" cut file that was also purchased from the Silhouette online store.  I had also cut this from white and it was cut from the same white cardstock I had used for my butterfly.   

  I used two different Dylusion Sprays to color up the star and then picked out some matching yellow chevron paper from the new Soleil Paper Pad by Basic Grey.   I cut a piece to layer directly onto my dark brown card base and then also used a dark brown Copic marker to color the outer layer of the star image to match the background    I chose this sentiment from one of the Hero Arts Clear Stamp sets (Year Round Sentiments), that was designed for Operation Write Home and that's exactly where this card will be going.   It is also being submitted to the VCMP Challenge being hosted today over at the Stars and Stamps Blog.   I thought it fit perfectly with the Star image and I stamped it in Versamark and then heat embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder.  I then punched two smaller stars from the same BG patterned paper using a MS Punch and added those to the sentiment strip to finish off my card.

  And that is it for today, I'm off to clean off my desk and unpack my brand new Fiskars Trimmer that I had to have after seeing this post and video by Jennifer McGuire.  Please be sure to stop by tomorrow and I'll plan to share my review and let you know how I like it.   I have to tell you that I have tried many many trimmers and it took me a very long time to find ANY that I loved.  My current favorite is another Fiskar's Trimmer that Jennifer also had recommended, as well as the new Trimmer that Stampin' Up came out with earlier this year, along with my other large favorite which is this one by Tonic...!  ALL three are awesome and are my go to trimmers and the ONLY trimmers I am loyal too and still LOVE after much use! 

    On top of that, I also plan to have more cards to share and hope to have something created for the newest challenge at A Blog Name Hero and this month's Sketch Challenge hosted by Hero Arts, along with one of my favorite Sunday Challenges, which is the weekly Sketch Challenge over at OWH's Stars and Stamps blog!   Hope you'll join me and play too -- the more the merrier!!