It's February???

  Wow....where does the time go!   I can't believe the January is already over and it's now February 2nd, Ground Hog Day!   I guess having the wonderful mild winter has really made it so much more bearable and I'm thrilled that it has been so good.  This is one of the best winters I have had in a long time and I would LOVE for every winter to be this mild.   It's been a blessing for those of us who suffer in the bitter cold and I do not miss that one bit.

    I'm a day behind in posting and had myself a fun day of pampering yesterday.  I had my regular nail appointment which is always fun and then I stopped by the Hair Salon on my way home to make an appointment for some hightlights.   Well it turned out to be perfect time, as my stylist (Nicole) had a cancellation and she took me right in.  Yippee!!   I also had her tone down the hightlights a bit from the last time I had them and now I really like them much more.   It was a nice day and with temps up the 50's I enjoyed being out, as much as possible.

     I do have one card that I created yesterday and I'm happy to share that one now.  It was created for the Midweek Throwdown over at Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps Blog.  Our challenge this week was to use Die Cuts and/or Punches on our cards.   WooHoo!  I love both and between owning a Cameo, a Cricut Expression, a Big Shot, A Cuttlebug and even a Grand Calibur, not to mention oodles of punches, this luck gal, has a lot to play with and can cut all kinds of wonderful designs.   Yes, I am a bit spoiled, but this is my only hobby and it's my passion.

   For this card, I wanted to stick with a CAS style, so I chose one of my Memory Box Dies (Amana Circle) which, I first cut directly into the front of my card to create a window.   I then picked a piece of contrasting paper and created a 'circle' which I adhered on the inside of my card, directly in the opening created by the first cut.   I created a small scalloped border across the top, with a border punch and finishing off this little notecard with a matching bow.

   This card would be very easy to quickly re-create and you could simply change the colors and papers to easily made a wonderful variety and would be fun to make in sets too.

     My next card was inspired by yesterday's new Sketch Challenge over at The Outlawz.   This week we had this fun sketch as our inspiration.   I also loved the cards that the Design Team created and that inspired me even more to play along!

       This card was really fun and thank to my wonderful Cameo and the fabulous designs that Silhouette offers, it was also quite easy to design.   I started with a White Striped card base and colored a white doily with my new Pan Pastels.  I then picked out a new heart/flourish image from the Silhouette store and cut it twice onto pink and white checkered paper.     The second cut was flipped so that I would have a flourish on each side, much like the sketch.   I then simply punched a scalloped edge heart in pink, edged it with worn lipstick distress ink and embossed it in my Cuttlebug.  I add that to the card with pop dots and finished it off with an I Love you sentiment from Hero Arts.

    And my next card was inspired two new challenges, starting with the new 'Sparkle, Glitter and Bling' Challenge currently being hosted at Crafting by Designs.   I also took that idea and them and created my card to also work for today's new 'Twisted Thursday Challenge' at The Outlawz, which is a Valentine or Love Theme. 

     This is the card that I created for both challenges and this one was also fun to created.  I started with one of my Hero Arts Background Stamps which I inked with Distress Ink and then misted with Perfect Pearls Mist.  I then stamped that directly to my card and used my Heat Tool to dry it.  Next, I took my Hero Arts "Frame Cuts" heart set and cut the largest heart in the center of the card.  I then stamped a heart on white cardstock and with Black Archival Inks and colored it with Distress Stains and added a layer of Rock Candy Stickles on top.  I then heat set that and adhered it right behind the window I had but out of my card.  I used a variety of other heart dies/punches to created some more hearts and layered them on the cards.  I added a pink glitter ribbon bow and finished off the card by adding white pearl bling with a Pearl Pen.   This is my "technique" card of the day and I hope you like it.

    Oh and speaking of techniques,   I'm heading to another Technique Class at my LSS next Tuesday and can't wait, the focus will be on working with Ranger products on special surfaces, such as: kraft paper, canvas, metal tape and grunge board!   I'm hoping we'll find out more about the New Ranger Distress Ink Markers, which I'm dying to buy!   I LOVE the Ranger Distress products and can't wait to add those to my collection.    In the meantime if anyone hears of any stores that have them ready for Pre-Order, let me know!  I want to buy the full set and both of the new Water Brushes that Tim designed! 

     Happy Crafting!!!

Hello Yellow!

     Today was another fun day in my craft room and I am happy to be here to share some new cards with you.  My first card was actually one I finished up last night for three different challenges.   My original inspiration came from the latest Copic Coloring Challenge over at the Color Me Creative Classroom.  The theme for Janaury was to color up a card based on some Wintery Color Photos that Suzanne shared.    Think - Frosty, Cold and Winter!!

   I started by picking out a cute little image to color and went with sweet little Hattie, who is from DigiStamp Boutique and is dressed in a perfect little winter outfit.    I colored her up in lots of shades of blues and blue greens along with lots of wonderful glitter for sparkle and shine.  My border is another wonderful die from Memory Box, which was one of the first I bought for Christmas Cards.  Oh and speaking of Christmas Cards, we are having a fun year-round inspiration challenge each week over at Crafting by Designs that is called "Getting Ready for Christmas".    The goal is to create at least one new card each week and inspires us all to make a head start for the following year.   It's a perfect way to stock up and also is great for those of us, who create cards for Operation Write Home.

    This is the card that I created for both challenges and I'm also submitting it to the Monthly Customer Challenge over at DigiStamp Boutique, which you'll find on their blog HERE!!

    My next card was created for today's new Color Combo Challenge being hosted over at The Outlawz Group.  This week Rox has come up with a pretty color combination and twist and I am sharing it with you here, to inspire you to join us. 

   There was a time a rarely, if ever colored or used my yellow in my cards, but the more I use it, the more I'm finding it like it and I had so much fun with this color combo, that I actually created three cards with it today.   The card that I am submitting to the challenge is this first one, as it's the one that also has the required "Twist" which is to include Fabric.   Fabric is not something I have much of, as I can not sew for beans, but I did have a few scraps of ruffled yellow trim in my stash and I hope that will work!   T 

   While in my yellow mode, and using up more of the papers I had pulled for the first card, I came up with a second card to share.   For this one, I found some yellow tulle in my stash and added that under my flowers as another layer and for some more dimension and texture

  And as the very end, I colored up another little Marcie image that was left over from one of yesterday's cards.  I colored her in the combo colors and quickly put together this very sweet little notecard.  The sentiment is also from Lori Boyd and part of a collection I bought some time back.  It's also the song I used to sing to my boys when they were little and every time I hear it, I think back of those fond memories...it makes me smile and feel very happy!!!

   I think she's simply adorable and after having so many sweet comments on the card I created with Marcie yesterday, I thought it would be fun to try again!     It a very simple card, but is still one I think is cute!

   I'm off now to clean my Copics and try to work on another page in my Smash Book.   Did you know we also have a new Smash Book/Journal group over at Color Me Creative?   Yes, we do and it's been a fun way to find inspiration and ideas for my book.   I have not accomplished too much in mine, but I really enjoy the group and you are welcome to join us too!   You'll find us HERE in the main classroom and this too is a FREE group and like the Copic Challenge Group, it's open to ALL!!

   See you all tomorrow!  I'll be off in the morning as I am heading out to have my nails done, but will be back and working on my Surprise!!   Stay tuned!!!

As sweet as can be!!

   I am such a "Girlie Girl" and I think it's because of fact that I raised two sons and spent most of the last twenty years living in a home with three males!   Goodness knows I LOVE them all to pieces, but there is nothing cute or fun and frilly about the way they dress or the type of decor they like in their rooms.   I had a peach bathroom for a few year, but they kept calling it PINK...nope it's was peach, but men, don't seem to get colors like we do.   I'm actually really to re-paint that bathroom again, and wait until they see my new color, because guess what hue it's going to be in.....!  If you guessed purple, you are RIGHT!  Although it's more of a light lavender and I've narrowed it down to three shades- French Lavender, Meghan (which ironically is my future daughter-in-law's name), and Spring Violet.   All the trim will be a bright white. as is the toilet, tub/shower and vanity.   The entire color scheme, actually came from a really cute little trash bucket I found at Michael's!  Go Figure!  I also already added a little lavender hamper and matching shower curtain.   I wish I had done my craft room in these colors and in time, I do plan to change that room too, but with so much furniture and 'stuff', it's way too much work for now.

   And speaking of sweet and adorable, some of my favorite digi images have been created by Lori and Hannah  Boyd of By Lori Designs and today's card shares one of my new favorites.  All their little images are always a joy to create with and I find it very hard to pass up a new release.  Today's card features Marcie, who is one of the newest little Bug & Roo images, created by Hannah (Lori's daughter).   You can find them along with a huge collection of wonderful images at Lori's store HERE!

    My card today features little Marcie and was created for a variety of fun new challenges.  It was originally inspired by the new Challenge over at Lori's site, which you can find HERE!  I have copied over the wonderful inspiration image that Lori shared as our inspiration.  As soon as I saw the picture I knew I wanted to play and knew I had some adorable digi papers that would work perfect.
 
.... The challenge this week is a Photo Inspiration Challenge...let it inspire you to create whatever you like, any way you like:

                                                            Photo is from and can be found at Cozy Canadian Cottage..

  

   I also knew that I wanted to paper-piece on a cute little outfit and submit my card to a new Paper Piecing Challenge, being hosted at Crafting by Designs.   I buy almost ALL of my wonderful digi papers from Shery K Designs and really LOVE them.  If you hop on over to Shery's store now, you can even sign up for a chance to win a Brand New Silhouette Cameo!!    You'll find all the details on her site, but hurry, the contest is almost over!!   Good Luck to ALL!!

   Once I had my papers picked out, I simply printed everything out onto my favorite Cryogen Cardstock.  I then cute out the little outfit I wanted for Marcie and a did the same for her little Hair Bow.  I colored the rest with my Copics and layered then used a nestie die to cute her out and layered that onto a second scalloped circle, of pink and white paper.  I then added that to a green checkered layer and put it all onto some pink polka-dotted cardstock from Memory Box.  I add a sweet little 'I Love You' Sentiment and tied on a little heart with Pink Twine.  I punched some more hearts with my mini Heart Punch and put it all together to make this sweet little card.  

     Don't you just love her?   I think she's simply adorable and these are the types of wonderful images that I adore.  They always make me SMILE and are fun and Happy.    I  had a lot of fun picking up papers to use to paper-piece her cute little overall and matching hair bow!     

      I'm submitting her to each of these fun new challenges and I invite you ALL to join in and play along:

• By Lori Designs - Photo Inspiration - Challenge # 23
• Crafting by Designs - January Technique Challenge - Paper Piecing
• The Outlawz Group - Monday Greeting Cards - Use Hearts

    And now I am off to work on some new cards and to continue on my special projects.....Sshhh...it's a surprise, but stay tuned!!   Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!

I feel awesome...and have lots to share!!

   After a week of dealing with a stomach bug on top of my daily life with Fibro, I am THRILLED to be feeling good today!!  Yippee!!   I can never say enough about how wonderful it is to feel good!   It's also been a super weekend for me and I have lots of new cards to share.
 
     I missed crafting so much and was so excited to make up some of my lost time.   I started by heading off to my LSS, (Absolutely Everything),  for two card-making classes yesterday.  When I left in the morning, I thought I would simply stay for the first class and then take the afternoon set home.    I really did not think I would make it through two classes, so imagine my surprise when I did.  I think having all that extra rest this week, paid off!  Yippee!!

      The first class was my favorite, because we used Copics for most of the coloring, and also made some really pretty Valentine Cards.   All of the stamps were from Northwoods and this is the first time, I've taken one of their classes.   Below is a copy of the board we had as our inspiration for the class and we created all six of the cards shown.   I changed up a few things on some of my cards, as you'll see below.

      The first card I will share is actually my absolute favorite and the one that I chose to submit to this week's Twisted Thursday Challenge at The Outlawz.   The challenge this week is 'Anything Goes' with a twist of RED - you can find all the details on the site.

  I loved this card so much that I bought both Stamps and will be making this again.  It was colored with a combination of Copics, Distress Inks and even some Red Glitter.  The heart image was first stamped in Versamark and then heat embossed in black.  I colored the red little hearts and roses with Copics and Stamped a second heart, which we cut out only the roses, colored and popped them up on the card.  The backgrounds of the heart, tag and little I love you tag were colored with Distress Ink in Tea Dye and Aged Mahogany.

   The next card is my second favorite and is was also very quick and easy to color.   I love the basket full of tiny hearts think this card could be used year round as a love type card too!   I think I may end up buying this stamp, the next time I'm back at the store.   This is the card that I created to submit to the Copic/Prismacolor Challenge this week (Anything Goes), also being hosted over at 'The Outlawz'.

   
    The next four cards were the remaining cards we made in class.  Most of the gals in class liked this next card best.  Usually pinks and purples are may favorite too, but in this class I really loved the deep reds...Go Figure??

This card is really pretty and has lots

of Sparkle and Shine!!

   The last card does not feature the stamps we used in class.  I actually did not like how that card turned out, so I took it apart today and keep the pink background and the dies cut borders and put that together will all new elements today, to make this card for the new CAS Challenge over at The Outlawz.  Our challenge this week is a 'Melting Pot Challenge' and the idea is to use (4) different elements on our card.    Mine are:  Die Cut Border, Patterned Paper, Die Cut Hearts, which I popped and Distressed in Spun Sugar.  My last element was adding a little Stick pin, which I made today with white and pink beads and finished off with a little Baker's Twine bow.  I like this card so much more than the one I had done yesterday and I'm very happy I started over!! :)

     My next set of cards were all created in the second class and these cards and stamps are all from Inky Antics and are very whimsical and cute.   In this set they are all cute little bears and we colored them all with the new Marvy Le Plume Alcohol Markers which have recently hit the market.   They are very much a lower cost version of a Copic, but in my humble opinion, they are nothing like a Copic and not a marker I would buy.  They only have one tip (brush), are not refillable and the colors are very washed out looking, as you'll see in the cards.  They almost have a chalk-like look, which could appeal to some.    I LOVE the vibrant colors of Copic's ink much more, and I admit I am spoiled, because I already own my Copics.  Had I never tried Copics, I might like these more, which is why I can understand that for some crafters this might be a much more affordable marker.   The retail price is $2.99 and there are currently 144 colors.    These are all six of the cards and I'm starting with my favorite first, which is also the featured card on the Ink Antic site.

       They are kind of cute, but I not really my favorite styles or colors.   I did not end up buying any of the stamps or the contrasting papers.    Even so, it was still nice to get out and spend time with others, who love to create as much as I do.   It was a fun afternoon, but I really LOVED the morning class and cards much more.

        Today, I have two more cards done and ready to share and the first was created for today's new Sketch Challenge over at OWH's Stars and Stamps Blog.  We are now working on Sketch # 106 and this is a copy I copied over to share!    I really enjoyed this sketch and know it's one I'll use again!!

Sketch # 106

My Card

Note:  Special thanks to Paula for creating me new OWH Watermarks for my cards!  I love them both and will put them to good use!!  THANK YOU!!!

   And last, but not least, I have one more card to share and this one was also based on a CAS Sketch and is also for a new challenge over at Crafting By Designs.    I have also copied over Gwen's Sketch to share and inspire you to join.

CBD Sketch

My Card

  This card, although very Clean and Simple is also one of my favorite cards today.  It was created with a brand new stamp set that I just LOVE from Hero Arts.   Both the Sentiment and sweet little floral image are part of the set (Merci Bouquet), along with even more adorable images.  This stamp I bought after seeing Jennifer McGuire used it in the CAS Class.   I love it and colored my little flowers with Copics and Spica Pens!!!

   Oh, and speaking of Jennifer, I was absolutely thrilled to hear that she is expecting a new Baby this Spring.  For those of you who had not heard the news, she shared it on her blog on Friday.  You can see it here, along with an adorable picture of her and her sweet little son, Colin.  I am so happy for the entire family!!   She's glowing!!   Congratulations again Jennifer, I'm beyond thrilled for you all!!   Enjoy your time at CHA and have a safe and happy trip back home!!   

    And now I am off to work on a special project!!  Sshhh....it's a secret, but it's going to be fun and I can't wait to share it all with you, later this week.   Be sure to stop by each day, so you don't miss out, there may even be some Blog Candy involved???    In the meantime, I want to thank everyone for all the Well Wishes and for the sweet comments you all left for me when I was sick last week.   I'm looking forward to doing a lot more crafting this week and I am off to a nice start!!

My thanks to Operation Write Home!

  Today is a very special day for and and I wanted to take a minute to share it with all my craft friends.   I am very excited to be this week's Featured Cardmaker over at OWH's Stars and Stamps Blog.   My special thanks to Paula for contacting me about this wonderful honor.   I'm very happy and truly feel very proud to be a member of Operation Write Home and love doing my little part to let our heroes know how much we value and appreciate their service.  

 As many of you know I have been creating cards for Operation Write Home for the past two years and find it a wonderful way to say THANK YOU to those who proudly protect and serve our country.     I also love to take part in their challenges and my two favorites have always been the Midweek Throwdown, which is hosted every Wednesday, as well as the weekly Sketch Challenge, hosted each Sunday.

  I would also like to invite and encourage all of my card-maker friends to consider being a member of this fabulous group.   Even if you only have a time to make a few cards each week or month, they will all be greatly appreciated.  You can even send me your cards and I'll be happy to Stamp and Tuck them and include them in my next shipment!!    If you think this is something you'd like to do or if you want more details about being a card-maker for OWH, please go here!!    If you are not a card-maker, but would like to help out, donations are also greatly appreciated and you can donate directly from the main site, simply go HERE!!

  I hope you'll consider joining us and know you won't be disappointed!  If you need more inspiration, you can find it here!    I think you'll be very happy you joined this group!   You also find us on Facebook and we welcome you to stop by and visit!