Another amazing class....

  Today is only Day 1, but I can already tell you that I now I'm going to love being part of the brand new "His and Hers" Cardmaking class being hosted by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner over at their Online Card Classroom.   If you are anything like me, you'll find that making "Male" cards, whether it be for Boys of Men, can often be a challenge and this class will help you learn to create fabulous cards suitable for both Her and Him...!!

   The only way you can really get the most from this class is to take it and I'm certainly not able to share all I learned today, but I can share the cards that I created and how also the sketch that I used as today's inspiration.  I already found it really fun to learn how each of these amazing designers will put their ideas to use to create cards that work out perfectly for each person.

  I decided to go with a Sketch today and I simply went to Google and did a search for a sketch and this is the first one I saw.  It was created by Stephanie and you can see it on her blog HERE.  I am also sharing a copy below so you can see it along with my cards!

Stephanie's Sketch!

My 'Her" Card

  and My "His" card!

   As you can see I learned that I can basically created one card based on any theme or in any color and then change up the sentiments, colors or even a stamp and make it transform it to a different card!   Awesome!!

   I have found a recent LOVE of creating with sketches and most of that came from the amazing cards sketches that are introduced in each new Cas(E) this Sketch Challenge, which is now a new favorite.   Today, I finished up my card for this week and need to be sure to get is postec quickly, before I run out of time.  First, I'm sharing this week's Sketch --

   I'm also sending out "Congratulations" to Donna Mikasa who is the newest Design Team Member of at the challenge.  I know Donna best from the Hero Art's Flickr Group and I know she's one very talented designer -- I'm sure she will be a wonderful addition to the team.   Yaay Donna!! -- I'm very happy and excited for you!!

My Card

   Once again, I put my Silhouette Cameo to good use to create the three fun little "tag" elements and I used for my card.  I simply created three that I cut from some leftover "green" patterned paper scraps.  I then added a piece of black cardstock behind each one to really show the cut die cut and then mounted each one onto my card case, as shown in the Sketch!  My little "Smile" sentiment is an oldie from my stash, unfortunately I have no idea where or what set it came in.  Today I stamped it onto some matching green cardstock and then used a 1" circle punch to cut it out.  I cut off the bottom of the circle, so it would be flush with the bottom of my card!!

    My next card is one I had talked a bit about yesterday and it's for this week's "Clean and Simple" challenge being hosted over at "The Outlawz Challenges", where the theme is Trees, in celebration of Arbor Day.   I also used my Cameo to cut my fun little tree design and simply added it to a brand new white card base.  I added a strip of black cardstock across the bottom and punched out a teal circle that I used to add my little heart, which is meant to be an expression of LOVE!    Hope you all like it!!

  

   I'm now ready to head back to class and watch today's videos again and also another part of my homework, which is a secret part!  Of course, if you are taking the class, you'll know what I mean and if not....well I hope that will get to you hurry on over and join the fun!!   

   Bye bye for today......!   My post today is dedicated to the Memory of my amazing brother, Greg -- who I lost 14 years ago today.  He was on vacation in Antigua and was tragically killed while taking a little Scooter ride.   I will never ever ever forget him and wish so much he was still here.   He was only 33, and was taken from us way to early!  I still miss him so much...!    I Love You Greg!

A Gorgeous Blue Sky Day...

...the kind of day I love and one that makes everyone Happy!!   The sun is shining, the temperatures are nice and warm and the skies are the gorgeous shade of blue, with not a cloud to be seen.   I've spend quite a bit of the day outside with the dogs and the balance in my craft room.  To me, that's a perfect day!! Loving it!!

   I have a fun selection of cards to share and the first card is one that I started on Friday and finished up this morning.  It's just an everyday kind of card and wasn't created with anything in mind. I simply loves the color of these flowers and wanted to put them to good use.  They are Prima's that I have had since I first started crafting.  I think I bought them in eBay and the come in cute little canisters.  I have them sitting on top of my ribbon shelf and in a way they are kind of like little bits of decor, but it's also time to start using them and that's what I did by making this card.

  My next card was created for the new challenge over at FUSION, and this week I went with the Sketch portion only and did not "fuse" both together.  I found that I really loved Jackie's sketch and decided to base my card off the sketch only.    I'm including a copy of this weeks' inspiration and will look forward to seeing all there other cards that are created for the challenge.

  My card is a very fun and simple CAS card, but I think it came out cute and I also LOVE the fun touch that any sentiment from Paper Smooches, adds to a card.

  And speaking of CAS Cards, this next card was inspired by this week's "Addicted to CAS" challenge where the theme is "Flower" and I knew I had the perfect new stamp to use, which is an adorable little Flower image from Whipper Snapper Design.   I stamped the flower in Memento's Tuxedo Black Ink and then colored it up with my Copics and added a hint of 3D Crystal Lacquer to give the water in the vase some extra shine.

     My final card for today was created for this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge over at OWH's Stars and Stamps Blog, a challenge I try to plan in every week.   At first I felt a little stumped with the sketch and then decided I would start out by cutting out the pieces I needed all from Red, White and Blue paper.  I ran the red piece through an embossing folder in my Cuttlebug and instead of using a 1/2" strip across the center, I used some red ribbon with white stitching.   My sentiment is from The Alley Way Stamps which is another really fun and cute stamp line!!

    This week we are working with Sketch #170, which I am sharing below.    Many of the sketches that are created for this challenge actually come from cards that are sent in to Operation Write Home and that's exactly how this sketch was created.  It was based on this sweet card, which was created by "Cindy E", one of the OWH card-makers!!

Sketch #170

Cindy's Card

(Inspiration for Sketch # 170)

My Card

   My next goal for today is to try and get a card done for this week's CAS Challenge over at "The Outlawz Challenges" where our theme is in honor of Arbor Day and is "Trees".  I found that I had a really neat selection of tree cut files in my "Silhouette" Library and I have already cut a few trees to use.  I'm not sure which I will use yet, but I am heading back to my desk now to work on that card!   Oh and for any of you who are Silhouette users, don't forget to hear on over to the online store and take advantage of the big half price sale, which runs through May 2nd.  Plus, don't forget there is a new Freebie being offered every day during the sale--WooHOO!

   Tomorrow, I'm very happy and excited to be going to a new class; another fabulous online class hosted at the Online Card Classroom, by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner.  If you have NEVER tried any of their classes, you are missing in on some of the best classes I have ever taken and this one should be a lot of fun.  It's called "His and Hers" and it's shorter one week class, but will also be jam packed with lots of fabulous cards and videos    You can still sign up to be part of the "Interactive Class",  my favorite and all you need to do is go HERE to read all about the class and enroll!!   

  And that will be it for today!  Hope you all have had a fabulous weekend and enjoyed some wonderful weather.   For those of you who I know will be in class tomorrow, see you there -- and, as always -- Happy Crafting!

A perfect day to create....

....and that's exactly what I am doing on this very damp and dreary day!   Some days I wonder if we are ever going to have any Spring warmth and sunshine, but after seeing my friend Sandy's snowy picture this morning on Facebook, I guess we are lucky to be having rain.   I feel awful for for her and all those who live in her area, (Duluth, Minnesota) -- where they have had a ton of snow in the this past few weeks ---- Simply Awful!   This is one of the new pictures she shared this morning, imagine that ---Brrrrr!     I don't think anyone wants SNOW this time of year -- I think I'd be crying if that's what I saw out my window this morning!

     To make things seem brighter I have a fun happy kind of cards to share today and that theme came to me after seeing this week's new challenge over at CASology where this week's CUE is --

    As soon as I saw the "CUE" the very first thing I thought of is the Giggle of a happy child and that reminded me of how fun it was to 'tickle' my boys when they were little.  Their adorable fun smiles and giggles were always so fun.   I miss those wonderful little laughs and the sweet little voices they had, now they are men and all grown up and while I still LOVE them smiles, I cherish the memories of their giggles too!   

     I started this card by looking my digi collection for a sweet image that make me feel happy and that's when I picked out this adorable little "Bee" from Bugaboo Stamps.    I colored it up with my Copics and then added a layer of 3d Crystal Accents along with some light blue Stickles for the wings.  I cute two matching mats for the image and then popped it up off my card with foam tape.  I hope it makes YOU smile too!

  My second card is also another cute digi that was one I thought about using for my card, but in the end, I thought the little be was more fun and I used this image to make a cute little card that will go in my stash for Operation Write Home.   It's a cool little Dude who is hanging at the beach and he was also colored with my Copics and Crystal Accents.  The sentiment for this card is from Paper Smooches.

   And speaking of Paper Smooches, my next card was created for this week's Sparks Challenge, which you can find here.  This week we have photo image which is a sweet little polka-dotted vase, full of yummy looking cupcakes that all are meant to look like white roses...how cute is that!!  (See below).  I knew right away I wanted to do something with a cupcake image, but wanted to be sure to use one from Paper Smooches, so I luckily found one on their site, from the Freebie collection, which was perfect.   I saved it to my computer so that I could print it and also Paper-Pieced it into a Blue and White polka dotted wrapper.  I then created my "frosting" using a combination of Crystal Accents, Liquid Pearls and Glitter.   My "Celebrate" sentiment is from the  Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler Set!   I love Kim's sentiments and own several different sentiment sets.

This Week's Photo Inspiration

My Card

  

    I have to admit, that this challenge was a struggle and I felt a bit lost as to any other ideas.  I like my idea, but it just did not come out as neat as I thought it would.  But, that's part of card-making...some days it all goes really well and other days...it's not so easy.

   I do have one more card today and this was a very simple card I made with a Spring theme.  It's a very simple little design and sweet little floral image is from DigiStamp Boutique.  I'll also be sharing this card over at their April Customer Challenge, which you can find here.

    In addition, I am also submitting this card to this week's new challenge over at "Addicted to CAS", where the Code Word for this week is FLOWER and the sponsor is one of my favorites -- Bugaboo Stamps!   WOOHOO!!

   I have one last card and if it looks familiar, that's because it may be.  It's a card I made a few weeks back, but every time I saw it in my stash, I felt like it looked too much like a Valentine and I wanted it to be more of an everyday card.  So....I took the sentiment and and the top pink heart off the card and instead added a simply "punched" button and a little bow made from Pink and White Baker's Twine.  I also added a bit of bling in the upper left corner.   What do you think -- do you like the Before or the After version???   

Before

After

   That's it for now, but I want to see what else I can work on before the puppy wakes up from her nap.  She is so full of energy, that I know once she wakes up, she'll be wanting all kinds of attention and will be running around -- she's a joy, but also a lot of work!   I was so wiped out last night that I was sound asleep by 8 PM and slept pretty much all night, except for her two bathroom breaks about midnight at 4AM.   I sure will be thrilled when she sleeps ALL night and likes to sleep in, like Scout and me!!   

 

A moment of silence....

....was a touching thing to watch the people of Boston remember all those who's lives have forever changed as a result of last week's awful tragedy.   Like 911 and so many other tragic events, this is another day I will never forget and I day and event I hope is never EVER repeated.   May we all remember all the heroes and try and forget the horror that those two evil monsters caused that day.  I hope the justice will play the next role and that it will help to heal the hurt and pain.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Moving forward to happier things, I was very excited and humbled to find out that the card I submitted to last's week's Muse Card Challenge, was one chosen to earn this badge for Honorable Mention.   What a pleasant surprise when I popped over to the challenge blog this morning to check out the new challenge!

    

     It's so nice to have a card win an award and I'm truly very honored.  My thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and I also want to say Congratulations to ALL the winners from this fun challenge.

    Today, is even more special because one of my online 'craft' friends, (Virginia Lu), was chosen to be this weeks' MUSE for today's new challenge.   I met Virginia through the Hero Arts Flickr Group  and have greatly admired her wonderful design skills.  It's always fun to see people you know honored and I was equally excited to see her as the guest designer this week.    This is Virgina's wonderful "Mother's Day" card and this is the card we all will be working to recreate in our own way.

Muse Card/Challenge #14

Designed by Virginia Lu

 And this is one of the cards that I created today, which was totally inspired by Virginia's card.   I actually created a variety of cards, but this is one that I have decided that I want to submit to the challenge.

   I created tihis card using a fun "watercolor" technique that I actually learned from Jennifer McGuire.   I didn't have any stamps similar to Virigina's, so I decided to choose one of my favorite Hero Arts Background Stamps - Lotus Background - CG349.  I then took a set of my Colorbox "Cat Eye" Inks (Fiesta) and randomly inked up the stamp.  Just before I stamped the image on my watercolor paper, I lightly misted it with water, which gives a fun watercolor look.   I used my Heat Gun to dry it and then mounted it onto a pretty piece of gold shimmer cardstock.   My sentiment is a digi image and I printed it on white cardstock and then cut it out with a circle shaped Nestie die.  I then cut a pink mat using a die one size larger and added that along with a few matching flowers and bling, so finish off my card.

   I also created a second generation stamp by adding more water and this time I used a circle for a mask (which I had forget on the first card).   I typed my own sentiment on this one and chose a darker cardbase.

   And then I took another of my favorite Hero Wood Stamps -- Floating Leaf Pattern - S5055 and inked in totally different colors and agian misted it with lots of water to make another card, all based on the same idea.  I love this stamp and have used it many times in a variety of colors and techniqes.  NOTE:  This awesome stamp I believe is now retired, but I did find a link to share and there are a few still available to purchase over on eBay.  The price is fabulous too, much less than I paid, so hurry on over, if you have 

always wanted this stamp!!

  The sentiment on this card is also a digi sentiment and this one I bought from Rainbow Echo Designs.  I added a little color to the iris using my Copics and then finished it off with some green pearls.  This card is also being submitted to this week's "The Wonder of Watercolor" challenge at Moxie Fab!

  My last card today, again inspired by Virginia's color scheme and this time I simply added a little banner that hangs a bit "over the edge", so that I can submit this card to the new CAS "Break the Plane" challenge being hosted at The Outlawz.  I had created a card yesterday, but after thinking about it, I realized I did not have any elements that were truly "off the card" so I created this banner to be extra long to meet the challenge requirements.

    Oh, and I treated myself to a very special new craft goodie today, something I have wanted for a long time, but just felt like I did NOT need and since it's a big ticket purchase, it took me a long time to give in.   However, with so much saddness this month and lots of down days, I felt like it was time for something extra special.   The final decision came, when I talked to our Fence company and found out today that the changes were are making, will be saving us money!   Woohoo!   Once I know that, I decided to spend it right away, and that's pretty much exactly what I did.  ...I went online shopping to see if I could find myself a Vagabond on sale or at a really good price and I was successful!    I was thrilled to find one at Overstock.com and it was $169.99, which includes FREE Shipping.  I think is a fabulous price and it's also tax free, making the savings even greater!!    I have had my Cuttlebug and Big Shot for a very loing time...but with my Fibro and aching hands, I have wanted to upgrade to the electric verison for equally as long and today was that day!    Now to make room for it in my craft room, which be a another challenge, but I am very excited and can't wait to try it out!  I have always wanted to upgrade and have waited a very long time and the best part is that I know I will use this daily, and I love adding die cuts or embossed elements to my cards.   The best part is that it should be here next Monday and that's the very first day in the new His and Hers Cardmaking Class, so I'll have it in time for that!!  YIPPEE!!!

   If you own a Vagabond, please tell me about yours and how much you like it...!  I think it will be really easy for me to use and save me time too!   I am pretty excited and only wish they had color choices...like Pink or Purple!  

 Have a wonderful day and as always --- Happy Crafting!

It's a Teal kind of day...

.....or so it turned out to be once I started making cards.  I have grown to love the shade of teal and aqua, almost as much as purple and I also love them together in the right combinations.   I'm a bit behind on posting so have I have lots of new cards to share today.

    I also want to say how thankful and grateful I am that the second suspect in the tragic Marathon Bombing has been captured and I do hope in time, we'll figure out WHY in the world such a young boy turned into such a monster.  I feel blessed and extremely honored to be from Massachusetts and I'm so proud of all the people in Law Enforcement who worked day to night on this case.  Special thanks also to the owner of the boat, David Henneberry, who I believe is truly another Hero!  If he had not noticed the tarp on his boat had looked different, who knows when and if, they would have found the suspect.  I'm also so thankful that he and his family was not hurt in anyway!   I do hope that his boat will be replaced and I have read that an anonymous person has already come out and stated that he would replace the boat and I think, that's wonderful!   Knowing that the suspect was FINALLY in custody was such a huge relief for so many.  I think it was the first night all week, that I slept well!  Even so, it's still very bittersweet and my heart still breaks for those who were killed and injured.    

    As some of you know, I have my own tragic memories in the month of April and today is another of those sad days.  It's hard to believe, but I lost my Dad, twenty five years ago today.   I wish very much he was not taken so young and had been here to be part of my life for a lot longer.  One of the hardest things was not having him her to see my boys grow up and to never have even had a chance to meet Alex.   Brian was only 16 months old when Grampy died and that's way to young to lose your grandparents too!   I know he would be so proud of them and the wonderful men, they've both grown into -- I love them both so much and know they would have loved their Grampy too.

   My first card today is one that I made out of LOVE and the them of LOVE is shining through in many of my cards.  This one is a very clean and simple card and I created it to submit to this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlaws Challenges, where the theme is any easy one -- Anything Goes!!

   My second card was also inspired by another challenge over at "The OutLawz" and that is today's new CAS Challenge, where the theme is to create a CAS style card where an element or part of your card, goes over the edge, or as the DT named the challenge -- "Break The Plane", which I am not sure I really accomplished with this card.  I also have to give most of the credit for this card, to the fact that I own a Silhouette Cameo and that I found the "Gerbera Daisy" card, which was created by Jamie Koay, in the Silhouette online store!   I did make changes to the size and shape of the original file and then created my own score line, but since "nothing" really goes 'over the edge', I'm sharing for FUN!

Jamie's Card Design

My Card

    I also used my wonderful Cameo to create some of the elements that I used on my next card, which was created for this week's (Cas(E) This Sketch Challenge.   NOTE:  I was sad to hear that Jackie Rockwell, the original creator of this challenge, as well as the Muse Card Card and a partner in the newer Fusion Challenge is taking a break from blogging and the challenges she had started.  I, have always admire he wonderful work and will miss seeing her in all these places.   I was happy to hear she will continue to run her brand new Design business Rockwell Designs, which you can find here!   In the meantime, because these new challenges are so well-loved, they have all been taken over by other members of the original Design teams, which was very good news to me.  This challenge is now being run by the very talent Ardyth Percy-Robb, whose work and artistic skills, I personally love.  Congratulations Ardyth!

CTS # 24

My Card

     I have to admit, I am not thrilled with out this turned out and worked on three different takes on this card, without coming up with something I Love.  But, with time now running out, it's time to submit this one and be thankful that I had better luck with my other challenges!  

     And my next two cards turned out to be two of my favorites today and they are both in shades of "Teal" and both were inspired by today's new Sketch over at Operation Write Home's - Stars and Stamps Blog.   I again put my Cameo to good use this weekend and used it almost exclusively to create both of these cards.  I LOVE that that can input a copy of the sketch into the program and place it beside my workspace, so that I can design the element I want to cut.   For the first card, I created my own "Print and Cut" file, which made this card go together very easily.   I did change up the sketch a tiny bit, with my heart and added this wonderful sentiment which is one of the many that I have purchased from "Rainbow Echo Designs".

Sketch # 169

Card One

Card Two

   This card also features a digi sentiment from Rainbow Echo Designs and was created with some of the same elements from my first "Print and Cut" file.  I changed the colors slightly and also cut some pieces in white, which I then colored to match with my Copics. 

   And while still in my teal mode I also created this card which I basically put together with all the left over pieces and scraps that were lying on my desk after I finished up all the other cards.  This card was also partially inspired by the card and design I made for the Fusion Challenge, which is shown below.

   And as noted, this last card is the card that I created for this week's new Fusion Challenge and I used both the Sketch and the Colors from the Photo Inspiration to create my card.  

Hypothesis # 3 - Fusion

My Card

   Once again, I was very happy to use my Cameo to create elements of this card.  I first cut the fuchsia flower in white (it's the same flower as on the card above), but I colored it with my Copics to match the colors in the inspiration image.  I then cut the second flower and the flourish, both of which are part of cut files I bought from the Silhouette Store.  Those two pieces were cut together from black cardstock, along with many other black images that I'll stash for future use.  Whenever I do my use my Cameo, I always fill up the entire sheet with images, and then keep them all on hand for new projects.  The sentiment on this card is from a brand new mini stamp set that I bought last week from PTI.  It's called Lighten Up' and has some really nice sentiment.   I am always on the lookout for new Sentiment sets and love having a large variety.  I also love it when I find sets that have these smaller size sentiments which work really well on smaller cards.

   Before I go, I have one more thing to share and it's a new watermark that I had created because of my new OVE of Dachshunds.    You may have noticed it on one or two of the cards above, but in not, I'm showing you now.  It as designed by Wendy, of Delightful Custom Blogs, and the cute little Dachshund, is a digi image I bought from as Etsy Store - called Paper Addictions.   Thanks again to Jackie, (the artist) for giving me her permission to use her image on my newest watermark.   I think it came out really cute -- thanks Wendy!!

LOVE....

....is such an important word and it's exactly that word that first came to my mind today, when I decided to play in this week's challenge as CASology.

   I have so much love in my heart and loving and caring for people is something I so enjoy.  To me it's the best feeling in the world and also can be one of the most heartbreaking....!     ....and that is when you lose someone you love...those are the hardest times in life and as I wrote in my post yesterday, I have been through that experience far too many times in my life and most of that pain and hurt for me has happened in the month of April.

    Now, to add the horrific events of this week's tragedy at the Boston Marathon, makes it another very tough day and I can only HOPE that there will not be anymore sad and upsetting days in April.

    Today, I want to share LOVE and tell my friends and my family how much I do LOVE them and cherish having them in my life.  I can't imagine my life without some of them, especially my boys are are my greatest loves.   I have already lost one child, albeit and infant daughter who I never was even able to bring home.   My sweet baby "Kristyn Alyssa" was taken from me at birth and that was 22 years ago tomorrow...and it was by far one of the most difficult days in my life.

   Today, I want to focus on the good and the LOVE that I have in my heart and that's what I am trying to share in this very simply card!!

Love is vital and in many ways as the old Beatles song says --- ALL you need is LOVE!!!  

All You Need Is Love

Love, love, love. 

Love, love, love. 

Love, love, love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done. 

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. 

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. 

It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made. 

No one you can save that can't be saved. 

Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time. 

It's easy

All you need is love. 

All you need is love. 

All you need is love, love. 

Love is all you need.

All you need is love. 

All you need is love. 

All you need is love, love. 

Love is all you need.

There's nothing you can know that isn't known. 

Nothing you can see that isn't shown. 

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy

All you need is love.

All you need is love. 

All you need is love, love.

Love is all you need.

All you need is love. 

All you need is love.

All you need is love, love. 

Love is all you need.

Love is all you need.

Love is all you need.

Love is all you need.

Love is all you need.

  Love is all you need...