Sunshine and Smiles...

  Yippee!!   The sunshine is back and it's one of those wonderful blue sky days.  The air is dry and it's very comfy...no need for AC today and the perfect day to keep the windows open.

   Today, I have been very creative and made five new cards to share with you.  The first card was one that I started last night and it's for the newest Challenge over at A Blog Named Hero.  Our challenge this time to to create a projects using the "Kissing Technique" which I did with two of my favorite background stamps.  The Friend Definition Stamp and a much older Floating Leaf Stamp, both from Hero Arts.   I started by inking the leaf background in Peacock Feathers and then inked the other definition stamp with Squeezed Lemonade, both from Ranger's Spring Collection of Distress Inks.  I 'kissed' both two together and stamped them directly only white card stock.   I repeated this again, only the second time, I reversed the inks on the stamps and stamped from the Friend stamp.  The first stamped image from the leaf "kiss" is on on the top half of my card and I used the second stamping, long with a Memory Box Die to out a cute flower for my card.   I then picked out some matching patterned paper from my stash, added a matching yellow ribbon and put it all together to make this new card.

 
I am also submitting this card to Joy's Summer Inspiration Challenge being hosted over at Simon Says Stamp.  I thought that the flower die cut, along with the Summery colors, were another way of thinking Summer -- my favorite season!

    My next set of cards were all created for Operation Write Home and were created and inspired by today's new Sunday Sketch that I have copied over from the Stars and Stamp Blog.  This is our sketch for this week, which is # 126.

  And these are the cards that I created based on the new Sketch, each one being  bit different in color and style.   For the first card I actually flipped the sketch and picked out a large nice sentiment from the Truly Appreciated set by Hero Arts.

   As you can see I also flipped the sketch on the last card and colored up this wonderful tulip image, which is from Wax Fruit Company.  The middle card was done using the sketch, as is and for that card I picked out of flower image sticker, which is one from my Penny Black Stickeroo collection.

  And next is a new card I created with another of my new Doodlebug Card/Envelope Sets, along with a pre-colored die cut from Lily of the Valley.  All I needed to do to create this fun little Masculine Card, was cut out the image, add a little bit of black accents strips to my card and a cute little Sentiment that I thought worked out perfect.  It's another one from a Hero Arts Sentiment set.

   And my last card today, was made for fun with a sweet little image I that have always liked.  I think it's the perfect card to tell someone you're sorry.  Maybe for a bad day they had or maybe because they just need a hug...either way, I love it and you can find it over at Bugaboo, along with a sweet little girl version too!  I own both.

    My "sorry" image was colored with my Copics then then simply mounted to a piece of scrap teal paper.  The actual card-base is from a My Mind's Eye Card set that I've had for ages.  They make a super fun and easy card and each card comes with it's own envelope and are in a variety of patterns and colors!!

   And that's probably it for today as I'm feeling pretty tired and still need to come up with a good plan for dinner for Hubby.   Not that I'm cooking...that's so NOT me, but Alex and I are planning to order him Chinese Food,  (his favorite) and I need to decide if I want to eat that too, or pick up something else.  I love it, but for some reason, whenever I eat it, it never sits well with my sensitive tummy and I really do not want to end up feeling lousy, ya know!   I sure which it did not do that, as it sure can be yummy!!   After more thought, I passed on the Chi and the guys ordered some of their favorite, very spicy dishes...things I would never eat.  I opted for a BLT wrap, which was very good and perfect for me!!

Short and Sweet!!

  Today, I have had a lot of fun creating and am just stopping in now to upload my newest cards.  I'm pretty beat, so I'm not adding a lot of details -- pretty much only the cards.

  If I have more energy later, I may update with more details!  All the cards were inspired or created with challenges in mine and I'm also still trying out the new ShinHan Art Touch markers while coloring some of the the images on these cards.   If I don't' get back today, I'll update and add links to the challenges tomorrow!!  Thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a super weekend!

    Here you go....!   The first two cards were inspired by a Home Themed Challenge at Crafting by Designs and both cards are much different, but are both in the same basic color theme too!   ENJOY!!!

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      My favorite today is the last card, which is one that I created for the Baby Themed Challenge over at Suzanne Dean's -  Color Me Creative Classroom.   NOTE:   The second card features a wonderful set of stamps that were designed by Marti Wills, who also teaches and runs groups over on the site.  You can see more about these new stamps in the Mixed Media Group, where you can also join the latest challenge there!   The main classroom is open to all and is totally Free and continues to grow and and offer new challenges, classes and tutorials all the time.    Everyone is welcome and I hope you'l come on over and have some fun!!

      I'm off now to clean off my very messy desk and then relax!   I'm beat today and thing all the damp foggy weather we had earlier, took it's toll.  Let's hope the SUN is now here to stay, at least for awhile!!  Have a great day and don't forget about all the Dad's tomorrow!!

Fun and Fabulous Friday!!

   I want to start my post with a big Thank You to Michelle for inviting me to spend the day with her yesterday.  As always, I find it such a treat to actually have a chance to meet and create with other gals have this the same passion for craft as me, especially people who have been creating a lot longer, like Michelle.  Her talent is fabulous and I really had a great time with her.  We share a lot of common and I'm excited to have a new friend to create with.  She will be coming here for our next get together and I am looking forward to spending more time with her!!  

  Today, I did all my bills and paperwork early to get it over with, so I could put that behind me and spend the rest of the day in my Craftroom.   I'm happy now to have  finished up three new cards to share.   My first card is one last Father's Day card that I started with a cute Golfer digi from DigiStamp Boutique, and it's one I have used a few time -- perfect for guys, especially golfers.   I colored the image with my Copics and then put together a fun card using some scraps along with these really cool new matching card/envelope sets, that I had I bought during the yard sale at AE!  They are all very unique colors, sizes and shapes are and by Doodlebug!  I really LOVE them and so happy I picked them up.

  This card is was inspired and created with each of these challenges in mind:

• DigiStamp Boutique - June Monthly Customer Challenge 
• Crafting by Designs - June Challenge - Love You Dad
• Fab and Funky - Challenge #125 - Father's Day
• The Pink Elephant - Challenge # 52- Masculine
• Through the Craftroom Door - Challenge # 28 - Summer Loving
• Do You Stack Up - Challenge # 76 - Boys/Men - Masculine

   My next card was is a fun little card that I created to today's new Copic/Alcohol Marker Challenge being hosted over at "The Outlawz" and it features one of my brand new adorable images from By Lori Designs.    I just LOVE whimsical images and Lori's are always some of my favorites.   The sentiment is also from Lori's store which you can visit HERE!!  

   The challenge today at The Outlawz was to made a project using your favorite color combinations and for me, you know that it would include Purple.   I also wanted to try out my brand new ShinHan Art-TOUCH Markers that just arrived.  I had won a challenge at The Outlawz, last money and my prize was a gift Certificate to MarkerPop, (formerly known as iCopic).    I knew it would be the perfect way to try more of these new markers, which are the newest alcohol based markers to hit the market.   I really am impressed with them and had bought my first skin-tone set from Susana (SCACD), a week or two ago.When I realized that MarkerPop had all the colors, I thought I would buy colors to supplement my Copic Collection and my order was all for Pink and Purple shades and I used ONLY the new markers for this card.  The only exception was her hair, was was colored in Copics.  All the pinks, her face and outfit were colored with my new markers and I really do like them.  

    I can tell you that from now on, I'll be buying these versus Copics and will continue to supplement my Copic Collection with the TOUCH markers.  I really LOVE the much more affordable prices and love that their colors are all a bit different than the Copics.   I found that the TOUCH Purple Markers are much pretty shades and the most vibrant and awesome Purple I have!  WOOHOO!   If you have been wanting to try alcohol based markers, but always felts Copics were a bit to pricey, I think these are doing to be a great hit.  In addition to the stores I mentioned above, they will also be available soon at Oozak, another of my favorite places to shop for my crafty supplies!!!

     I am submitting this card to each of these challenges and hope you'll play along:

• The Outlawz - Alcohol Markers - Favorite Color combinations
• Crafting by Designs - Weekly Color Challenge - Let's Color
• Oozak - Challenge # 3 - Two Papers and Embellies

  And one more fun card to share, before I sign off for today!   This card was also inspired and created for a variety of challenges and was also colored with my Copics.   I totally LOVE to color and when I'm overly sore or really fatigued, (like today), it's the perfect way to help me relax.   My image is another digi image and this one is from Bugaboo Stamps.    

   I have also liked this cute image and have colored it many times.  It makes a fun card and it makes me smile.  There is a whole collection of these sweet "Garden Cat" digi images that you can find in the Bugaboo Store and it seems to me that she/(?he), is always up to "something" in all the images!    The cutie is being submitted to these challenges, where everyone is welcome to join the fun:

• The Outlawz - Twisted Thursday Challenge - Use an Animal
• Forever Friends - Challenge # 38 - Must include an Animal
• CraftRoom Challenge - Furry Four Legged Animals

   I think that's it for me for today, but it had fun and I'm very much looking forward to a nice weekend.  I still have so many new things that I bought during the big sale and have lots of fun challenges I want to try!  Wishing you a wonderful weekend and to all the Dads out there -- May you have a very Happy and fun Father's Day!!   I really miss my Dad and wish he could have been part of my life a lot longer!!  

One Challenge -- Three Cards!!

   I love challenges and if you follow my blog, you already know that and it's never about the chance of winning a prize.  For me it's my own way to challenge myself to meet the requirements, try new things and also come up with new cards.  It's also always been the best way for me to practice my skills and that's the best benefit of all.

    Today, I have three new cards to share and all three were created and inspired by one Color Combo Challenge being hosted over at The Outlawz.   Our challenge this week was use the colors in the swatch below to create a new project -- including a twist, which is to also include a Flower in your project.  

When I originally started this I did not plan to make three cards, but after not being overly thrilled with my first attempt, I moved on and then came up with the idea of seeing if I could create three cards, using different ideas or techniques.

    Kind of the opposite of the  "One Stamp -- Three Ways" concept that I first learned in the CAS Card Class that I took this past January, in the Online Card Classroom with Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner.   The idea also came up because I just signed up for their newest class, which will be focused on that idea.  It's called "Stretch Your Stamps" and the goal is to teach us how many fun and unique ways we can use each of our stamps to achieve three totally different looks.  I LOVE the idea and I'm also a huge fan of these classes, and have taken every one!   For more details or to join me in the next class, please go HERE!!

   Instead of using one stamp, I challenged myself to come up with three totally different cards, all based on the same challenge.   I started with a cute little tulip stamp that I've had in my stash for ages.  I stamped it and colored it to match the challenge colors with my Copics, then mounted it on a light blue card base, added a ribbon border and sentiment, but when I stamped the sentiment, it ended up being the wrong shad of blue and it smudged, so that card was quickly torn apart and re-vamped into this one.

  After that I decided my next card would be created using my Silhouette and I started by browsing through my image collection to find one that I could 'color' to again match the color swatch.  I picked out a cute little "Echo Park Flower Pot" image from the Silhouette Store.

     I then changed the colors and sizes to make it work with the colors I needed for the challenge.  I used the Print and Cut Feature where I was also able to match the colors from the Swatch, by importing it into my library, a wonderful feature that I learned while taking the A Cut Above Class I took also from Jennifer & Kristina.

  And last, but not least, my third card was actually inspired by, this card that Guylou, one of the DT members has created as inspiration for us all.    As soon as I saw it, I knew the image was Lenny Bear from StampFairy and I also knew that she had colored her adorable bear, when we took one of Suzanne Dan's "On The Road Classes", while we were all down in Baltimore at The Outlawz Retreat!     I have the same exact bear all colored for another card, but since I was once a member of the StampFairy Design Team, I have a wonderful collection of Gerda's adorable bears.   I chose this Lenny, as he's always been a favorite, and then colored him to match the Challenge Colors!  I edited out the Balloon and instead added a cute little Prima flower!!

 
   As it turns out, I was happy that I challenged myself to do this and in the end, after the first fail, I am pretty happy with all my cards and had a blast creating these today.

     Yesterday, was also a special day for me, as I worked on getting another of packet of cards sent off to Operation Write Home.   I mailed 42 new cards and a donation off to Caro (my shipper) today and boy does it feel good to have that done.   To date for 2012, I have now sent a total of (140 cards!  Woohoo!!  My goal for 2012 was 150 cards and I know I'll easily break that record.   And to think that some of the card-makers send more than that each month....a truly amazing group.     I make each card different and many of them are cards that I created for challenges.  I think it's the perfect way to use them and I HOPE I can inspired you to become a OWH Card-Maker.   No amount is TOO small -- we need them ALL!   For more details on how you can share your talents, please GO HERE!!  

  And now I am off to pack up my craft bag as I have a special day planned tomorrow.  I'm heading out to meet up Michelle, who is a fantastic designer and one of the Design Team Members at A Blog Named Hero.   We recently both realized that we live in the same State and then quickly found out, we are only about 20 miles apart, so we are getting together to spend a day Stamping.  WOOHOO!!  I'm excited to meet her in person and also to learn from her too.  She's been crafting a lot longer than I have and makes stunning cars.  You can see many on her blog HERE!!

  I'll be back posting and Friday and hopefully will have some new cards to share that I created while I was visiting Michelle!   We've also quickly learned that we have a lot more in common, than crafts and that we also both have shopped and taken classes at my LSS (Absolutely Everything), even at the same time.   On and speaking of AE, I'm very excited to now be signed up to take Two Workshops with Dyan Reaveley, who is coming here to teach for a full weekend in July.   These are the two classes I've signed up to take and I've been waiting for these for awhile now.  I think they'll be fun and really help me get more into mixed media and journaling!!  WOOHOO!!

 These are some pictures of the Tags that we'll be making in the morning workshop.  The afternoon workshop is an Artful Journal.  You can see more details and photos in the current AE Newsletter HERE!
  

                         

 
Oh, and I already have my new Distress Inks on order too!    Don't you just love these new colors!   The names even sound like Summer to me -- Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean!!!  

   I ordered my set along with the re-inkers the first day they were announced.   I was very excited to see that  Simon Says Stamp has them IN STOCK that day and they were ready to ship.  If you hurry they still have some available from the first shipment and you can find them HERE!!   I'm sure they'll sell our fast again, so I always like to order them, as soon as I see them!   

  That's all for now -- still hoping this RAIN will go away and it does sound like we will have a nice weekend, which is wonderful!!   Have a nice night and as always -- Happy Crafting!

Creativity = Happiness!!

...and today is another fun day for me, as I have all kinds of awesome new goodies from my spree yesterday.  I still can not believe how much I found and how awesome the prices were.  WOOHOO!!   Next year when I start to second guess myself about getting up so early to go to the SALE, I sure HOPE I remember that it's well worth it!!  

   Today, I spent some time re-organizing all of my new goodies and I'm so excited and happy to find out that out of ALL that I bought, I only duplicated one Hero Arts Stamp, which I will put into my blog candy pile.  Its' this fun "Pom Pom Flower Stamp K5571", which is very popular and one I guess I should be using more, so that I remember I have it!!   You can go to the Flickr group and check out all these awesome cards made with this stamp.

    My first card today is a Father's Day Card and it was inspired and created for three new challenges.  One is over at Crafting by Designs, the Greeting Card Challenge at The Outlawz and also this week's Masculine Challenge over at The Pink Elephant!

     I have two much more FUN cards to share and both were inspired and created by the new Baby Theme Challenge being hosted over at the Color Me Creative Classroom.   I do not any any grand-babies yet, but do HOPE that dream will come true for me, sooner and later.   Hint Hint -- Brian and Meghan, are you reading this???
 
    When I started on this project yesterday, I actually printed out a full page of cute baby digi images and colored them all.  Then today, I had to choose which one I wanted to use for my card.  It came down to two, so I made a card with each!   My first card is a very sweet little card that features a very adorable digi from By Lori Designs.

  ....and next came this cute little card, also created with a sweet digi image that is from my DigiStamp Boutique Collection.   I am also submitting this card to their June Customer Challenge, which you can find HERE!!

    Both are really fun and cute and as you can see, I tend to be very fond of little "Girl" babies...Hum??? I guess because I have two boys??    But, I have to say that I have the most awesome sons, Brian and Alex, and I LOVE them both so much!!!!   I'm also going to have a new daughter in my life very soon!!  That's Brian's fiance Meghan, who I already love and cherish!   Looking forward to their Wedding and lots of happiness for their new life together!!