Woohoo!! Lots of NEWS to share!!!

....and I am so happy and excited to say that I found out this morning and I was one of the lucky three winners who took part in the Hero Arts 2014 Catalog Blog Hop last week.   I also want to say Congratulations to Trinh and Michelle, who I also know must be equally thrilled to be a winner!!   We will each be receiving a Prize Packet full of wonderful goodies from the new 2014 Catalog!   WOOHOO! Thank you to HERO ARTS and to all the Hero Hostesses who put on a great hop. I'm so pleased that they spread it out over a full week, so that I could join the fun and not let Fibro, win out!

   On top of that exciting news and after having two weeks of issues with Verizon, between my phone line and my wireless router, not to mention my very old PC which still runs the dreaded Windows Vista, I have now decided to order a brand new All In One -  23" TOUCH Computer from Dell!!  Hubby bought himself a new Dell Laptop with the Touch Screen last week, so I figured it was now time for me to get a new computer too!   Now we will ALL be updated and I do HOPE that will resolve some of the Wireless Networking issues!!   Plus, I have wanted to "All In ONE" unit for some time now and it'll be great not having a big tower right in my way!!    I thought long and hard about what I wanted and since we have owned about six different Dell's now and always been VERY pleased with them, I decided to stay with Dell, plus we a Dell Card, which offer free 6 month financing on any systems!!  Love that!!   Had I been a born a rich girl, I would have gone for an iMac, but then I would have needed ALL new software and that just was not in the budget!!

   Today, I'm catching up and sharing lots of new cards, a few were cards that I started working in Card Club at my LSS on Tuesday, and the rest are cards I have been working on yesterday and today for some of my favorite challenges.

    First, I am starting with some of my favorites from Card Club and this first card is one I am also submitting to the new The Card Concept Challenge, where the current theme is "Texture"  and this card is full of it and was also very easy and fun to make.

   I think I would have to say this is probably my favorite from Card Club too.   I love how using an embossing folder along with some silver foil cardstock really make it look like you created a metal heart on your card.    

   These next few cards were also super easy and were all made from the same set of Patterned Papers which is the Smitten collection by Authentique.   And even though we used some of this paper on most of the ten cards, I still have a large supply left that I'll put away for next year.

  The heart on the card above, was again cut from a piece of the Smitten Paper and then stamped and heat-embossed with the floral heart from this Penny Black Set.  The heart was then popped with foam dots and I tied on a little pink bow, at home.

   

   This entire background from another piece of the Smitten Set, along with another Penny Black clean stamp (from the same set, as above), also stamped and then heart embossed and popped up off the card base.

  This card started with a plain card base, that we stamped our own Background using the new Hero Arts "Five Line" Wooden Stamp, that we inked first with Memento "Lady Bug" red Ink.  The "Playing Cards" were cut from one of the pieces of Authentique Cardstock and the Hugs & Kisses and layered Red Hearts are Die Cuts, that were already pre-cut and given to use in our class packet.  The Hugs and Kisses are from Penny Black, but I' not sure on the hearts.

  And next is this fun "I Love You" card that was created with using more of the same patterned paper along with two large hearts, that were both inked in Distress Ink (Festive Berries) and one was also stamped with the same Hero Arts "Five Line" stamp.   The card was completed with this sweet "I Love you" die!

    Penny Black Mice along with a nice "Birch Tree" background created also with a Tim Holtz Texture Fades  folder and then lightly shaded the Gray Pan Pastels.  The little pink hearts are also die cuts and I added the sentiment at home, an older Inky Antics stamp from my stash.  

     My next card was creative exclusively for this week's challenge over at CASology and to stay that I was excited about this week's cue, would be an understatement, especially since it's PURPLE -- which I'm guessing you might already know is my FAVORITE color and a color I personally LOVE to create with!! And a LOT of my friends have emailed me to tell me that this challenge is one I must NOT miss!   Thanks for all those hints and reminders!!  :)

  And next is a very fun little square card that I created for this weeks' new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp, where our theme this week is Anything Goes with "Twine or String".   This is also another very simple card that all started with an adorable Stickeroo, by Penny Black!   Although this is from a retired set called "Collage Hearts", they still make a wonderful variety of Stickeroos, which you can see HERE!!   These are the perfect stickers to have on hand when you are a card-maker and need a quick and easy card and they are all gorgeous!   I simply mat them and create a card base and add on a few embellishments.  In this case it was twine to make this super fast card!!!

  That brings me to my very last card tonight and this one was inspired and created based on the gorgeous MUSE card, designed by Marion Vagg!

   I am happy to share a photo of Marion's Card!

   Oh and before I forget, I had a great time in the Stenciled Class and hope to be sharing more cards that feature what I learned in class in the next couple of days. The class was awesome, as always and now I am looking forward to the next Online Card Class in March, which will be their third "Clean and Simple" class...!!  Love love love that style and can hardly wait to sign up!

   I am also working on making cards for another cause and this one is that helps "Dachshunds" of course!  I'm going to be making cards for the "Furever Dachshund Rescue" to sell in their ETSY Store with all the proceeds going to the group.  And for those of you who may not know, that the group that brought Skye and Zeva into my life, so I am very happy to help out in my own little way.  They also have the honor of having two of the sweet Doxies who is part of this year's Puppy Bowl, and you can learn more about that on their Webpage HERE!!  Isn't Mandy adorable - I hope she wins!!

Oh, what a week...

..this has been!!    I had so many plans and was very excited to be almost finished with one big project and was also very happy to be starting a new online class on Friday...but as things often go -- the big project became my nightmare and took away far too much of my fun creative time.

  The big project was all meant to be a simple favor I was doing for my son, Brian who was designing some "Save the Date" tags for friends who will getting married in the late Fall.   We had worked together on a similar project when he and Meghan were getting married and so when he asked me if I could cut "200" Kraft Tags for him on my Silhouette and then add eyelets, I was very happy to help out.  It all started well and after the tag design was approved along with the stamp he designed, I bought the Ranger Kraft Cardstock and within one afternoon had the tags all cut.   Now, all I needed was the eyelets which Brian has ordered to be shipped here to me.   Well there was a mix up on that and they shipped them to him in San Diego...no biggie, but he quickly realized they were also the wrong size and asked me to order them instead, to be sure to get the right size for the tag holes.  That was easy and I ordered up 200 from eBay, all for about $4.   It took a few days for them to arrive and now with us being behind, I quickly started to set them using my Crop a Dile.  That's when I realized they were not fitting correctly and thought I had better buy the exact Crop A Dile brand, but now needed them FAST!!   Long story short I ordered a bulk set of 500 and cringed as I paid the extra shipping for two day delivery.  Finally, on Friday, they arrived and I sat down ready to set them and realized it was NEVER the eyelets that were off, it was the darn HOLE size in the tag....???  Oh NO!!   Somehow I had changed the design or hole (never realizing it) and they were ALL too big.    UGH!!

   Now I'm sitting here with 200+ tags that I can't use and of course I did not have ANY Kraft cardstock leftover.   That's when I realized I had to fix this and fast and quickly made the 40 minute drive to my LSS, after calling first to make sure they had the cardstock in stock, which they did.   I love my store!!!  I returned home to begin on the cutting of another 220 tags....but only after I decreased the hole size and cut samples to make SURE it was correct.  Of course, by now, it's dinner time and I had to stop and feed the dogs and us and eventually was so darn tired, I had to stop....and have since now finished all the cutting and all the eyelets and HAVE never been happier to get a project done.   UGH!!

 Here are some pictures of all my hard work -- the good ones and the "Oops" ones, not to mention all the time it took me to get these done (basically twice).  Good think I LOVE my son so much, because I am NOT even charging him for this and it was FAR most costly then it should have been!!

  

Happily I am now DONE!!

  But, it sure did come at the wrong time, because I had planned to be working with my new Stencils in the brand new "STENCILED" online class which started on Friday! I totally LOVE classes and have taken each and EVERY class that Jennifer and Kristina have offered.  They are always fabulous and I learn so much in every one.  I also LOVE the aspect of taking the "Live/Interactive" classes, so we can all chat together and share our projects and comments in the class Forum and Gallery.  So, as you can guess I'm not very behind and bummed that I have not had a whole lot of time creating with all the new techniques and Ideas I have learned.

  On the upside, sitting at my desk, setting eyelets gave me lots of time to watch all the awesome videos that we have been provided with each day in class!   I have also downloaded the class PDF files and this afternoon I started on my first very card, using this fun Tim Holtz Splatters Stencil I has bought around Christmas, knowing I was taking this class!   

  This card was inspired by a fabulous card that Kristina shared on Day One and the idea is to use Stamping, Misting and a variety of inking and blending with your stamps.  As you'll notice, the card still needs more time to dry and flatten out, but I did want to share at least, one project today and hopefully will have more tomorrow.  I'm blow away at all you can do with Stencils, along with some how you can use them with some mediums, that I have not used until now, but you can bet I'll be ordering up a big supply.

   I can't share all the details of what we learned, you'll need to take the class for that, but I can say that it's been really fun and this card was very easy to make.  In hindsight I meant to use watercolor paper, but forget and what's another reason my card is a bit warped.  I will resolve this by putting it under a big pile of books to flatter it out more.   For this card, I simply used some white cardstock, my Tim Stencil, Ranger Distress Inks, and an assortment of stamps that I heat embossed in white.   I also used some Blue Luxe Ink and and some Pearl Mist and finished off my card with some sequins and liquid pearls.   I have so many new ideas and can't wait to head back to my desk.

  In the meantime, I have a few more cards that I had been working on for Challenges and also for yesterday's 90 MInute Scramble, which I did play in over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group.  Leni was our hostess and her theme was "WOOD" which I admit, did kind of take me out of my comfort zone, but in the end, I really liked the cards and while working on them also used inspiration from other challenges so that I could enter them to those challenges too!!

  This was my first card and I used the brand new "Lil Hoot" Stamp Set, which is from the new Hero Arts 2014 Catalog release.   I started by taking some deep brown card base and ran it though my Cuttlebug in a wood grain Embossing Folder.  Next, I stamped my little owls and colored them up with my Copics and a Wink of Stella Marker.   I also stamped my Sentiment at the same time and later cut that out to add to the front of my card.   I used my Spellbinder Circle dies to cut out my owls, along with a contrasting tan mat for them and simply added them all to my card.

   I think it looks very cute and I love that this will be perfect for one of my Operation Write Home cards.   I also love that Hero Arts has teamed up with OWL to put together some adorable stamp sets, exactly for this purpose.  This set is from one of those sets!!

   I had this was done quickly and still had time to work on a second card, so I decided to create a window card, which was inspired by the new challenge at "Cards with Envy" and also used this sketch from this week's Challenge over at Cas(E) this Sketch, which was perfect as it had a tree in it and that's exactly what I wanted to use with the Wood Theme.  Once I put all those fun ideas together, this was the end result!  

  I started with a simple Kraft card base and then cut down a piece of white card for the front.  I stamped that with the Hero Arts WoodGrain stamp in their Soft Brown Shadow Ink.  I then used my Spellbinder circle dies to cut my window and also added a little frame around the window, in Kraft.   My sweet little tree is a one of the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive dies that I love so much and that was cut from Dark Brown Cardstock and added to another white circle, so that I could color some of the open leaves with my Copics.   The Sentiment is from another Hero Set "Anytime Messages" and I inked the edges with the same soft brown ink and added some matching sequins which were from a Lawn Fawn Set.  

  In addition to the Scramble, I am also submitting this card to the "Through The WIndow" Challenge at Cards in Envy and also to the current "Cas(E) The Sketch Challenge, which was based on their sketch, created by Julie Day, and shared here to inspire YOU!

  And that brings me to my final card of the day, which again was inspired by two more of my favorite challenges.  The first is this week's "MUSE" Challenge, where Jackie Rockwell created this fabulous card, as our MUSE of the week.  NOTE:  I also want to WISH a Happy First Birthday to this group, and a welcome back to "Jackie" who was the original creator of the group!   Great to have you back online Jackie and see more of hour fabulous work!  

My Card

  This card was super fun and easy to make and I started it with a brand new "Heart Themed" die from My Favorite Things, that I picked up on Friday afternoon on my rushed trip to my LSS!   I figure if I had to go out, why not shop and have some fun TOO!!   I used one of the borders from the set and cut it directly from white cardstock.  I then knew I wanted a deep contrast in colors and chose a deep teal cardstock for my next layer, which I ran though my Cuttlebug to add some extra texture.  I chose a black card base, as I think Black, White and almost ANY color are always a great combination to work with, additionally keeping in mind that I was also planning to submit this to the current "CONTRAST" Challenge being hosted at "CASology".   I adhered my row of hearts and the colored in the two open hearts with a Clear Wink of Stella Marker to add some Sparkle and Shimmer.   My Sentiment was stamped in black on white cardstock and is from a new set "Oh Happy Day" by Avery Elle, which has this font that I LOVE!  Once I put it all together I finished it off with some matching sequins in Black and Teal. Hope you like it!!

  Now the dogs are all barking and waiting impatiently for me too feed them dinner.  I am very happy that my big guy "Scout" is having a good day, after having a seizure yesterday, which is just awful to see.   He sadly, has a long history of seizures, but had not had one for many months.  He also takes meds that for the most part control them, but even so, they do happen and I hate seeing him go through them.  I sit down on the floor with him and calmly talk him through it and gently pat his back.  This one was not as bad as those he had over the summer and that made it easier or him and me.  Today, he's been in his bed right near me in my craft room and seem very happy to rest and relax!!   

Very excited...Awesome News!!!!

.....and also VERY Happy to learn that one of my challenge cards from last week, was selected to be a Honorable Mention over at the Muse Challenge Blog   WOOHOO!!  For me this is a proud moment and quite an honor!   THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to vote for my card.

 

  I'd also like to Congratulate the TOP Three Winners and the other two Honor Mentions!   ALL of the cards were awesome this week and I know it wa hard to vote, even for me, but I'm happy to say that I feel much like the rest of you and voted for the same TOP 3!!

____________________________________________________________________

   And today, the very next day, I found out that my fun little "Snow People" card won the "First Class" honor over at Cards in Envy.   WOOHOO!  I think this must be my lucky week!!   

   I also wanted to give a shout out to all the players who also received the honor of being a Mailbox Award!!  WOOHOO!   And more importantly to my friend Carol, who introduced me to this new challenge site.  It was my first time playing and I sure am glad I did!!  YIPPEE!!

   And is that is NOT enough excitement for one week --- I received a very generous and kind gift this week from one of my favorite craft stores!!   I found out that they had applied a very generous credit to my account to spend in the store on anything my heart desires!!   As you can imagine I was very excited and happy, not to mention shocked.  Of course, I had no idea why this was done, and was even more touched when I learned that it was because I have been an appreciative and supportive customer, who always tries to have a happy and positive outlook! How awesome is that!!  

  What a week, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket?   Thanks to everyone who has made this week extra special for me!!  

A sunny snowy Sunday....

...that's how my day started off and for me, snow is something I do NOT love, but I admit, it can sometimes look very pretty!!   We didn't end up with much snow, but one the sun came out, the lovely glistening look really made it look gorgeous!!

     Today I am working on some more new cards and having another fun and creative day in my craft room.  I'm also keeping an eye on the NFL Championship Game, as my home team "The Patriots" are playing Denver for a chance to head back to the Super Bowl, which I would LOVE.   We also have a huge rivalry playing against Peyton Manning and I know that the Broncos are favored to win.  Even so, that's okay with me, as I tend to love being the under dogs, but I know this will be a tough game....!   Hoping they win!!   GO PATS!!

    My first card of the day was one I started to think about the day the challenge was first posted, but for some reason, I've been stuck on idea unitl today, when it finally came to me.  I know I wanted to use an image of some sort on this card for the "CAS(e) This SKetch" Challenge, but wasn't sure what I wanted.  I started looking though my stamp stash and when I saw this sweet little floral stamp, which I believe is an oldie from Whipper Snapper.   I knew it was exactly what I wanted, so I quickly stamped it up and then colored it with my Copics.  I then picked up a card base to match my coloring and added a simple strip if black cardstock down the front of my card, and heat embossed my Sentiment in White!

CTS#60

My Card

  My next card was also inspired by a Sketch and that is this week's Sunday Sketch from Operation Write Home, which you can find over at the Stars and Stamps Blog we are are working on Sketch # 208, which I am sharing here.

My Card

  As you can see my circles were cut in slightly larger sizes than in the Sketch, since I did not have punches in the exact size, I used my Circle Nestie Dies and chose sizes that were close to those in the sketch.   I also used two different stamps sets to great my "Miss You - Love" sentiment, the Miss You is from Paper Smooches and the "LOVE" Circle is from Neat and Tangled, two stores I LOVE!   This card is one of those, that actually looks better in person, the photo is not so great!

  Next is a really fun and different card and this one was inspired by a challenge that I am playing in for the very first time.   It's NOT new, but the talent here is amazing, so I guess I've been a little intimated the very popular "Case Study Challenge".  I'm so happy that I decided to give it a try and also am trying this fun little inking idea for the first time.   I also loved the card that Donna Mikasa created and have always admired her work!!   

Donna's Card

My Card

  For my card I started with picked up two stamps, both from this SSS Set that was one designed by Kristina Werner.  I knew I wanted to do some type of "Resist", so I stamped them both in Versamark and then heat set them with white embossing powder.   I then decided that I wanted to ink color to be "Purple" (no surprise there), and pulled out my Neon Purple Dauber, by Hero Arts.   I wiped the color across the embossed images and then hit it harder in a few places to create that fun "splat" look.,   Once it was all dry I added on a variety of purple and white iridescent sequins for more sparkle!!   It was really fun and very different for me!!

  In addition to that challenge I am also submitted this card to the latest challenge over at "Addicted to CAS" where the them is NEW!!  And since this was all NEW to me and the first time using this gorgeous new Purple Dauber, I thought it would be perfect for their challenge too!!

   And that brings me to the last card I have for you today and this one is another Challenge inspired card and was created based on the Photo Inspiration over at "FUSION".   As you can see I used the idea of a woodgrain background and the fun color combo of black, white and yellow for my card, which started with a simple black card, created from some Hero Arts Layering Paper.  I then cute a card front from this wonderful woodgrain textured cardstock and is sold over at SSS.  I added a pretty black strip with this Black Lustre Cardstock and then Die cut my elements to be the focal point on the card.  

  

 My Card

  I am very thankful to have had such a nice day of creating!  Unfortunately, as of right now it looks like my Football Team may be in trouble!  Bummer!! 

Spring Fever!!

   Yesterday was such a nice day, not only was I able to spend more time outside and be comfy, I also was out in Flip-Flops, something I can't do nearly as often as I'd like in the Winter.   It was a wonderful day, very much like and early Spring day and boy did it give me Spring Fever!!   But...that has now quickly ended, as I'm looking at the window at it snowing like crazy!!   Just when ALL of our snow and ice had "finally" melted, it's back to Winter and that is NOT fun for me.

    I sure am thankful that I have this amazing hobby and that is why it never bothers me to be home so often.  I always have something to do and I'm never bored.  I only wish I had more energy and stamina some days, so I could create even more.

   Today, I'm happy to be sharing more new cards and these again were primarily inspired by challenge and also to try out some of my newest stamps and dies.   My first card features an adorable little "Dachshund" Stamp Set, called Marley with is from Taylor Expressions, another crafting store that I was amazed to find out I had never heard of!! Imagine that...two in one week!!    But, thanks to Heidi, a friend from the Hero Arts Group, who shared a link to this adorable new set, knowing I would LOVE it.   It's one of the brand new releases and I ordered it the day it came out.  You can find it HERE in the store and always see the amazing inspiration cards that the DT created with this set!  Love Love LOVE!!   I have also now shared, or should I say enabled, two other craft friends (who also own Doxies), Madeline and Fabre -- who also are now adding this sweet set to their craft stash!!

     I especially love that the Marley matching die is included!  I have already colored and die cut four little doxies, but have only had time to create one very simply card, which I'm sharing now ---

    Next is another card which features some more new things that I had bought from Reverse Confetti.  It's also a card I created to submit to their current color themed challenge and boy do I LOVE these vibrant fun colors.  They very much reminds me of Summer and and I was thrilled to play along.   First, I'm sharing the inspiration colors image for the challenge, which you can also find on the RC Blog HERE!

    Both sentiments are from this Reverse Confetti "Lots to Say" Stamp Set, and the sentiment banner and scalloped edge were also created with goodies from the store!!   I've already been back and placed a second order, because I am so LOVING this style and design!!   The heart is another die and the scalloped circle was cut on my Silhouette.  The little "chevron" images are the negatives pieces left over after using my new SU Chevron Punch, which I totally LOVE!!

   The next card I created was for the newest Card Chain Challenge that is hosted every month by Gigi (Deborah) on her BLOG Here!!  I really love being a part of this fun exchange and already have a wonderful little collection of cards from all over the world!!   Although I can NOT reveal my card yet, I did use this color combo and the theme of Valentine's Day for the card that I made to send out!! THe full reveal will be posted on Gigi's blog on February 1st, so feel free to stop by and if you are very quick, you can still sign up for the current challenge, as the deadline to sign up is tomorrow and all cards need to be mailed by the 20th!!

Color Palette for February

Sketch Idea!

 

  You can find loads more details over on the Deborah's blog and along with more ideas and inspiration for making your card!!

   My last card for today was another Challenge inspired card and this one is for the current Challenge hosted over at Simon Says Stamps where are theme is "EMBOSS IT" -- Your choice of Heat Embossing or Dry Embossing!!  I actually did a little of each.  I embossed my card background with a cute Hero Arts Embossing Folder called DOTS and then also white heat embossed my Sentiment, which is one that was designed by Kristina Werner for SSS!    I also am trying out my brand new "SSS" Trio of Hearts die, which just arrived here yesterday!!  I totally LOVE all their Exclusive dies and stamps and I am so excited because they are now going to be sold at my LSS!!   That's right, no more shipping charges for waiting for me --- I can go to "Absolutely Everything" as I so love to do and find all these goodies there!  YIPPEE!!

    After putting it all together, I tied on a matching ribbon and used that for my Sentiment tag, which was created with a Stampin' up Punch and a simple eyelet from my older craft stash.   I also added a little wooden Studio Calico heart, which I colored with my Copics to match the card.  I then added a layer of Ranger's Crackle Accents to give it a fun look.   Here is a close up so you can see the heart a bit better and also the fact that I used foam tape to add this card front to my base.  I like the extra layered look and the added dimension it adds.

  And that is it for today!  I'm off now to get my "CCC" card emailed off to Gigi and then will get ready to package it up to send out on Tuesday.   There is no mail here in the US on Monday, due to the Martin Luther King Holiday!   I hope you are all having a nice Saturday evening and that your weather is a whole lot better than ours.   Hopefully, this snow is not going to add up much, but then again, I didn't even know it was going to snow at all, so I guess you never really know and that is very typical our weather her in New England!

Love is in the air....

....and so is a feeling of Spring with the wonderful milder temperatures we've had the past couple of days!!   Oh how I wish that winter was already behind us, and this really was the beginning of Spring...!!   Ahhh..that sure would be lovely!!

    Today, I have quite a few new cards to share, all of which were inspired by some of my favorite challenges along with a brand new one that I just happened to find this weekend after visiting another blog.

     My first card was inspired the Sunday Sketch challenge hosted every week over at Operation Write Home's - Stars and Stamps blog!!  I really struggled with this one and two previous starts ends up in my recycle bin.  Even in the end, this did not turn out as I hoped and is a bit different than the sketch -- so I'm sharing for fun and to show once again that some days, I simply can't come up with a good card!!

Sketch # 207

My Card

(Flipped and Reversed)

  My favorite part of this card is the pretty iris on the left, which is actually a fabulous Stickeroo, by Penny Black.  Even though I am not generally a sticker gal, I LOVE their stickeroos and love how you can create a really pretty card with them, even when you are struggling!   My next card, created for fun and to add to my OWH Stash, was also created with a Stickeroo from the same set - Romance of Flowers!!   I really love how the second card came out and the best part is how easy it was.  I simply picked out a Hero Hues cardbase that matched the colors and then matted it on some patterned polka dot paper and added a plain white strip down the back.  I tied on some twine and will add a nice sentiment on the inside.  

  And that brings me to the new challenge which is called "Cards in Envy" and I found it after visiting one of my OWH Friend's (Carol's Blog)!  I stopped at her blog to see her adorable OWL card that she created for Sunday's sketch and that's where I saw she had another cute card she was submitting the Card With Envy Challenge.  I went there next, loved the concept and decided to play along in the current challenge, the "Snow Buddy Like You" challenge, which I thought would be really fun, especially since I Love snow people and have a wonderful collection of stamps in that theme!!

  This is very much a CAS style card and I started by picking out my "Warm Hearts" stamp set, from Paper Smooches.  It's one of my favorites, but then again I LOVE pretty MUCH every set the Kim has created, not to mention all the awesome dies! I stamped my little snowman and then added my adorable sentiment up above him.  I colored him up with a combination of Copics, Glitter and Wink of Stella Markers, and then used a circle shaped die to but him out.  I then cut a mat in black and mounted my little snowman on that and finished off my card by adding one sparkly snowflake falling from the sky.  

  Next is one of the cards I created today and this one was inspired by the brand new "MUSE" challenge, and this wonderful card that was created by Therese Calvird, one of the very talented MUSE DT Members!!

Therese's Inspiration Card

My Card

 

  I used the colors and the idea of a "line" of design along the bottom area of the card with a sentiment above.   I cut four of my hearts with my set of Simon Say Stamp "Hearts of Plenty" Dies, all in white and then chose a cute teal polka dotted paper (Memory Box), for the final one to go more with the look of Therese's card!  I colored each of the other hearts with my Copics and also added sparkle to the large pink heart with a Wink of Stella Marker.  I used two Stampin' Up punches for the little add on elements, the flower on the light blue heart and the tiny heart on the big pink heart.    My sentiment is the same one I used on my Snowman card, as I thought it worked perfectly for this card too!   To finish this off, I cut two thin strips of black card stock to frame in my hearts!  Hope you like it. 

  I have one last card today and it turned out to be one of my favorites.   This too was inspired by a challenge and this one is for the newest challenge over at CASology, with "DOT" is this week's Cue!!

   The very first thought that came to mind for me, is polka dots and since I had a full sheet of Memory Box's Teal Polka Dotted card stock sitting on my desk, I knew that's what I wanted to use on my card.   I had no idea right away on the theme, until my mail lady arrived, with a little package of Happy Mail, which were two of the new Exclusive dies from Simon Says Stamp and I decided that I would use them both on my card.  

    I punched the hearts in the polka dotted paper and used my Copics to color the leaves in a matching deal.  The "love you" die was used with some Hero Arts Pool card stock and the matching sequins were from my stash!!   Very much as CAS card, I really love how it turned out!  :)   Another card that was very easy to create and also fun!!

     This card is also being submitted to the newest challenge - NEW YEAR - NEW STASH over at A Blog Named Hero, which Simon Says Stamp is currently the sponsor!!  WOOHOO!!   How cool would that be to win a gift certificate, so I can buy more of these amazing exclusive dies!!

     That's it for today -- hoping tomorrow will be another fun and creative day!