Wednesday, December 28, 2011

MWT - Thank You Dixie



Hello Everyone, Today over at OWH Stars and Stamps they have requested Thank You cards for our heroes to send home to their loved ones. This is also honoring Dixie, our fabulous East Coast Shipping for the past two years. Dixie we will miss you but at least we can get to see more of your creations on your blog. It's a new year coming so we will be breaking in Caro, our terrific new shipper in a big way now that the holidays are over. Beware Caro!


So I used a new Gina K stamp set, that I got for Christmas, titled Dogwood and Butterfly. This set is so nice and delicate, I just love it. I colored it with my Copics and cut it out using Nestabilities. The designer paper is from a retired pack from Stampin Up and the ribbon is also from SU. I'm back into my CAS mode for now, trying to fill up a box to ship out to Caro real soon. I hope you are all having a nice day and hope to see you again soon. Thank you so much for stopping by and spending a couple of minutes here with me.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Hubby's Christmas Card



Well it's the day after Christmas and all is calm again. I hope you are all able to take a few minutes to relax after the holiday. I forget to post this card before Christmas, so I thought I'd share it with you today. My husband likes things as simple and plain as you can get, so I made up this plain card for him. I colored up this adorable image from Di's Digis with my Copics. I just matted it with a Nestabilieies and used some beautiful background paper from K and Company. I did add some white dots to the scallops with my White Gel Pen. That will do it for me today. See you back in a few days.






Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas

I don't have a post today, but I did want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry, Christmas (if you celebrate). If you are traveling, I wish safe travels for you. I also want to take a minute to say thank you to all of you wonderful friends and followers that leave such nice comments on my blog every day. I feel like I receive a gift with each and every one of those sweet comments I recieve.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down



Hi Everyone,

Tonight's post is a very quick card I made for Stars and Stamps Mid Week Throw Down. We were challenged to make a Birthday card for our heroes to send home to their loved ones. It's a busy week, so I went the quick route tonight. My stamp is from SU and I used a MS punch and some retired SU designer paper. A couple of silver gems finished it off.
I'm afraid that's all I've got for tonight.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

S & S Sketch Challenge #100



WOW #100 in the Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge!!!! Today both my image and my sentiment are from a Gina K Designs stamp set titled Ready, Set, Snow. I find all of the images and sentiments, in this set, to be ideal for our heroes to send home to their loved ones. I colored the image with Copics and cut it out with stacking Nestabilities. I edged both with a deco paint pen while they were still in the dies. My Crumb Cake panel was embossed with a Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder. The card base was stamped with a retired background stamp from SU titled Simple Stripes. I added a few silver adhesive dots for some bling. That's it for me today, got to finish my wrapping. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. I wish you all a great Sunday and hope you accomplish everything you set out to do.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

As CAS as you can get


Well you can't get more CAS than this card, but I am very happy with the way it turned out. Last week I found a few minutes to try to organize the papers I had, and in doing that I came across this beautiful textured burgandy paper. Immediately I thought about making a "Love You" card with this paper just to get away from the normal red that I usually use. I ran my paper through a Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder. The heart is made with a SU punch and a SU dotted die. The sentiment is from a retired SU set and the ribbon is also from SU. This took me all of six minutes to make, but six minutes put to good use, I think. It will go in the next OWH box, of course. They can use Love You cards all year long and it's one of my favorite type cards to make. See you again soon. I hope you all enjoy your day. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Monday, December 12, 2011

S & S Sketch Challenge #99



Good Monday Morning All,
I tried to get to this challenge yesterday, but that just never happened. Anyway I'm here today and this is what I came up with for the Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge . My image is an Inkadinkadoo stamp that I fine has a nice, peaceful feeling about it. I stamped it with SU's Ballet Blue and Old Olive inks. My designer papers are from a retired SU pack and the heart and square are Creative Memories punches. The sentiment is from SU's Fancy Flexible Phrases. That will do it for me today. Got to run errands and hopefully make some more cards for my next OWH box. Thank so much for stoping by. See you tomorrow.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Crazy for Cocoa Challenge C4C27


Today I am posting a card I made for the Crazy for Cocoa Challenge. Carol challenged us to make a card with a circle and a rectangle on it. You can use any of the images from Sweet N Sassy in the Cocoa Challenge, so today I went with Rhubarb Heart. I colored him with Copics, stamped my sentiment from a SU set titled Flexible Fancy Phrases in the heart, then cut it out with a circle Nestabilities. For my rectangle I used a black piece of card stock with white dashes that I made with my Signo White Pen. The designer paper was from my stash from a while ago so I'm not sure who it is by. I added a heart brad and three little white hearts that were cut outs from the MS heart border punch. This card is the first of my next batch of cards that will go to Operation Write Home. If you have an extra minute this week to make a card for the Cocoa Challenge it would be great to see what you come up with. Thank you for spending some of your time here with me today. See you again soon.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down




Good Wednesday Afternoon. Wednesday means Mid Week Throw Down over at Star & Stamps. They have challenged us to make our own background paper on our cards. I made my paper from Alcohol inks (colors used were Stream, Clover and Silver Mixative). Then stamped Butterflies from a MS stamp set. Sometimes when you stamp on Alcohol Ink paper the stampings do not dry very well so I went to spray the whole piece of paper with a Fixative to set the stamping. When I did, the can spit out drops of liquid, which is why you'll see little water type marks on the paper. I was going to redo it, but then I decided I kind of liked the effect. It looked similiar to the Color Bleed Technique that was showcased on OWH back in November.

For my focal piece I used a Nestabilities Oval die, sponged the edges and then adhered a Butterfly brad I got at Michaels, added some black rhinestone and matted that onto a gold edged Scalloped Oval. The sentiment is from MSE and I cut that out with a double layer of Nestabilities. The ribbon is from SU. That's it for me today. See you tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

A Simple Christmas Card





Hello to all of you out there in blog land. Hope you are all having a good day. It is drizzling here, kind of warm but a bit damp. Anyway I tried to CASE a beautiful CAS card from Harriet over at Allycat Cards but I mine did not look any where near as classy at Harriet's, so I had to change it up a bit. I'll have to keep trying though because I love her card. You should all go take a peak. So I started with a stock white card base and then I added a smaller piece that I embossed with my Swiss Dot embossing folder and edged with my gold Krylon pen. Then I colored a stamp from SU's Bells & Boughs with my Copics and edged that piece also. I stamped my sentiment, which is also from SU, in black ink. Now that I think about it, I should have maybe used red ink, but it's too late now. I am giving this card to my fabulous friend and hairdresser this afternoon. Anyone that can do something with my head of lousy hair deserves a hand made card. LOL I hope she likes it. I think that will do it for me for today. See you all tomorrow.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Outlawz & ODBD



Good Sunday Evening. I really have no MoJo today because I've spend almost the entire day trying to rearrange my craft room to make more room. Short of knocking down a wall, nothing seems to work. You'd think I'd learn and stop buying, but I just can't. So many crafting goodies - so little time!!!



Anyway I want to say Thank You to OWH and ODBD. I was a winner for the first ever ODBD challenge over at Operation Write Home. YAY for me. So we have another ODBD challenge going on again this month. That challenge is to make a card with our focal point being a sentiment, not a picture. Over at The Outlawz CAS Challenge they challenged us to make a white card base with something popped upon dimensionals. I think this card qualifies for both. My sentiment is from Verses and I used the Swiss Dot Embossing folder and did some scoring alone the top and bottom of the card. Three little gold gems were my finishing touches. Thank you for stopping by today. See you again soon.



Wednesday, November 30, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down


YAY For Me!!! Two posts in two hours. That has to be some kind of record for me. This card was made for the Stars & Stamps Mid Week Throw Down where they challenged us to use a Digital Image on our cards. My image is from DeeDee's Digis, who I'm very sorry to say has gone out of business, which is a shame because she had some lovely images as well as some real cute ones. So I colored the image with light shades of green and blue Copics and cut it out with a Square Nestabilities. I drew a black line around the image, with a Spica Pen, while it was still in the die. The designer paper is from a retired SU pack. My card base was embossed with a Heart embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The sentiment is also retired from SU. Boy I use a lot of retired things, huh? I added a little bit of bakers twine. I would have liked to use some black and white twine, but I did not have any on hand. I probably have it, but who knows where it is. I either have to find it or buy some more. Even though I used pastel colors on the image I still think this could qualify as a unisex card. Well I think that will be it for me today, see you tomorrow. Thanks for spending some time here with me today.

House Mouse Challenge #109 Fuzzy & Warm


Well here I am finally posting this card after one week of trying to work on it. I absolutely love HM stamps, but I'm always so afraid I don't do them justice so I take forever to produce a card with them. Anyway my image is titled By The Chimney With Care. I think it is just so darn cute with these little mice sleeping in their stockings by the fire. I colored it with Copics and then fussy cut it out so that I could add some "wallpaper" behind the fireplace. The wallpaper is from an old stack of papers that was in my stash so I can't tell you who it is by, sorry. I "hung" a couple of Christmas swags on the wall which were stickers I found at the dollar store a couple of years ago. I knew when I started this card that I wanted to make this a "window scene", but I had a hard time trying to make the window look "real". I spent hours trying to make siding and shutters, etc, but to no avail. I finally remembered my weathered background stamp and used that. I added a transparant sheet for the window and my final touch was some Flower Soft for snow along the window sill and corners of the window panes. Thank you so much for stopping by, hope to see you again soon.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

S & S Sketch #97







Good Sunday Morning All. Today over at Stars & Stamps Blog they have given us our 97th Sketch Challenge. I went quite simple. I stamp a background paper with a SU stamp titled En Francais, which is a favorite of mine. I used a SU heart punch and die for one block. My sentiment is from the Gina K Designs set titled Love Notes. The larger block was stamped with one of the stamps from a retired SU set titled Heartful. My smallest block has some of the extra pieces from a MS heart border punch. I sponged all of the blocks with some Real Red ink from SU and added a small red gems as my finishing touch. That will have to do it for me today. See you later on. Thank you for stopping by, it really does meal a lot to me.

Enjoy your Sunday. Our day today here in Southeastern Massachusetts is going to be a very nice one around 55 degrees, so off to the back yard for, what is hopefully, our last day of picking up leaves. Then back inside to start putting up some Christmas decorations. See you again soon.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down


Good Wednesday Everying to all of you. Before I begin , in case you didn't notice I wanted to tell you that I've added pictures of Molly & Daisey here. I always refer to them as My Babies, so from this point on they can be known as my Blog Babies. Molly is in the back and Daisey is the one that won't look at the camera. Sue at Sue's Rubber Stamping Adventure has her dog, Keeley listed as her Blog Dog so I thought I'd CASE that idea. Sue is a super talented lady and you if you have not already been to her blog you should take a minute to stop by there and see her work. I am always amazed at what a great colorist she is and her fantastic sense of design.
Tonight's post is for the midweek throwdown over at Stars and Stamps. We were challenged to make a Love themed card. We are working on our deadline for Valentine's Cards so I am trying to get as many in as possible. I decided to make a Love You card with non traditional colors tonight. Seeing as how I need to get into the kitchen and do some prep work for tomorrow's dinner I went with a totally CAS design. My background card stock was run through the Big Shot with a Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder. The Love stamp is one that I found today in an old box of stamps that I haven't used in years. It pays to clean out boxes once in a while. I just used a scallop border punch from Stampin Up and I was done. I think this is a good card for either male or female. That will have to be it for me tonight. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow night. I want to wish each and every one of you a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving. I am a lucky lady and have a lot to be thankful for in my life and this year I get to add so many new friends that I've met through blogging to my list. Thank you for being you.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Honey Bee



Good Monday Afternoon. I received this new Sweet N Sassy Digitial Image FREE last week because I was "featured" over at the Sweet N Sassy Connection. You should think about posting your Sweet N Sassy cards at The Connection and if you are featured, you, too, will receive a FREE digital image. I think all their images and stamps are just so adorable. So for today's card I colored my image with Copic Markers and cut it out with a Labels Ten Nestabilities. I drew a line around the inside of the die with a black Spica Pen. I also added black gems on the top and bottom of the die. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with a Ribbon Tag Nestabilities. I added some GKD black stitched ribbon and I made a flower using several different punches. I am sorry to say that I don't know who my designer paper is by. I've had it for about 5 years now and my memory is not that good to remember. I am happy with this little guy and I hope you like it also. Have a great night and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by.

Friday, November 18, 2011

SNSDC29 All About Birds


It is a beautiful Friday morning here which made it extra nice to work on a card about birds. Earlier this morning I was just sitting watching the birds and squirrels coming to their feeders on the deck. For this challenge over at SNS Digi Challenge is decided to use the Blue Bird image. I colored it with Copic Markers and used both square and scalloped square Nestabilities as well at the Cherry Lynn French Pastry Doily. I went with SU's Pacific Blue and So Safron colors on this card. I also embossed the card base with a Tim Holtz embossing folder. Tiny dots of stickles for the flower centers and used some Glossy Accents on the bird's nose put the final touches to this one. I decided to leave it without a sentiment as I felt it could be used for just about any occasion. It will go in my next box for Operation Write Home as I have already started spring cards. I hope you find this one pleasing, I have to say that I was kind of happy with the turn out. Thanks for spending time here with me today. I appreciate it very much.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Crazy for Cocoa Challenge - Non Traditional



Hi everyone, It's Thursday night and I'm finally got to make and post my entry into the Crazy For Cocoa Weekly Challenge. Carol challenged us to make a Christmas Card using Non Traditional colors. I used a digital image from Sweet N Sassy Stamps titled Cocoa's Christmas Tree and, as you can see, I went with Purple and Yellow as my colors. I colored the image with Copics Markers and cut it out using a Labels Nine Nestabilities. My sentiment is from SU and I cut that out with a Ribbon Tag Nestabilities. I sponged both pieces with SU's Barely Banana ink while still in their dies. I attached the sentimet piece with some SU Barely Banana ribbon. My mat was embossed with a pretty petals embossing folder and the yellow designer paper was in my stash. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again tomorrow.



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

S & S Mid WeekThrow Down



Hi All, I am running behind schedule today because I had a problem getting on to the Internet to do anything a big part of the day. So our challenge over at Stars & Stamps is to create card for Any Occasion without a sentiment. I cannot get a good picture of this card at all so let me apologize for that now. I stamped a Gerber Daisey from AMuse all over the background paper in Versamark and then Embossed it with White Detail powder. I colored the centers of the flowers with a yellow Copic marker. Then I stamped a little leaves all around the paper. I also stamped the Daisey on my focal piece and embossed that one in Black powder.



I added a piece of Ribbon from SU and matted everything with Black card stock. I am happy with the way it looks in real life, and I'm very sorry you cannot really see it that well here. Thanks for taking a minute out of your busy day to stop by to see me. It is really appreciated. See you later.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Stamps R Us Challenge "Bling It On"





Good Morning. Today I have a card that I am entering into the Stamps R Us Challenge, Bling It On. You have two full weeks to enter, so hop on over there and show them what you've got. I used a newly released digital image from Sweet N Sassy Stamps titled Cupid Rhubarb that I fell in love with immediately. I colored him with Copics and cut him out using both Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestbilities. I made my archer's target with assorted colors of card stock and added a little rhinestone heart in the center. The sentiment was made using two different stamps from the Fancy Flexible Phrases from SU. It was cut out with the Word Window punch and mounted on a Modern Label punch, both from SU. I added two baby rhinestones on the Modern Label. The designer paper is from ANW Crestwood and it comes with it's own Bling on it already. A plus for me. I hope you like this one. I'm kind of happy with it. See you tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Outlaws CAS Challenge


Good Sunday Evening. Wow a busy day today, crafting, shopping, walking with my "babies" now back to crafting. This si my card ofr the Outlawz CAS Challenge today. We were challenged to use some of our favorite designer paper. This paper is just a portion of a full 12 x 12 sheet by K and Company. This is running along the bottom edge of the sheet. I really wish I could get full sheets of it. Anyway the card is certainly a CAS creation. I used Very Vanilla card stock by SU and stamped the Retired SU sentiment on there then embossed it with the the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I placed that on top of my Very Vanilla Card Base, added this beautiful designer paper which a edged with my trusty Gold Pen and I was done.

S & S Sketch Challenge #95







Good Sunday Morning. Wow I'm in spring mode already and we're still in autumn. We have to work way ahead for Operation Write Home cards because we need time to get the cards to our deployed heroes so they can have time to get them back to their loved ones stateside. Sunday's mean Sketch Challenge over at Stars and Stamps. So here is my take on that sketch. I've used the digital tulip image from Sweet N Sassy stamps found here. I colored the image with Copics markers and added a two tone bow. I used pink satin ribbon from SU and colored part of it with one of the same Copic markers that I used for my flowers. The designer paper is from my stash and has to be 7 or 8 years old. The sentiment is from SU also. That's going to be it for me today. It looks like it's shaping up to be a beautiful day here, so I'm going to try to get outside for a while. I hope you have a good day where ever you are. Thank you for stopping by. See you tomorrow.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Sending Hugs and Kisses



Today's post is one of a card that I hated to have to make. My daughter asked me to make a card for one of the dogs that she dog sits for. They found cancer in one of his front legs and they had to remove the leg right up to his shoulder. So ,Chester, this one is for you (and your Dad). Both the stamp and the sentiment are from the Gina K Designs set titled Under The Weather. I know Chester will do fine because these amazing fur babies adapt wonderfully. In a few days when Chester is up and walking around without any more help I hope this card will bring a smile to his Dad's face. Thanks for stopping by today, and if you could, please keep Chester in your thoughts tonight. Be back tomorrow.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Correction

I'm so sorry but on my last post I said that I used a MS snowflake punch. It is a EK Success punch. So Sorry!

SNSDC28


Hello and Happy Friday. Today the challenge over at SweetNSassy Digi Challenge is to use paper piecing. This is not my forte, but I gave it a try anyway. I have to admit I think I did OK on this one. I guess this is my Rhubarb week. I've done several different cards using Rhubarb. For this card I used Rhubarb Snowy Day image which you can find here.. I colored him with Copics and then I paper pieced the hat and scraf and the it was going pretty good so I also did his little belly, for no other reason other than I thought it looked cute.
I cut him out with a Labels Nine Nestability. I sponged with Bashful Blue ink and traced a line around the edge with a blue Spica Pen. I think I sponged a little too soon because it started to smudge a little bit. I'm going to touch up the smudge marks with some white paint later on today. The designer paper is from DCWV winter Pack. My sentiment is from the Gina K Designs set titled Ready, Set, Snow, and I cut it out using Creative Memories Heart Punch. I used a MS snowflake punch with SU's Shimmery White paper. I decided to make a two tone bow to top it off. I had the Bashful Blue ribbon and I colored a second piece of that with my Copic Marker to achieve the darker toned piece. I Maybe I'll try to do this technique more often. Hope you like this one and thank you so much for taking time to stop by today. See you tomorrow.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down



Good Thursday Evening - I seem to be a day behind schedule. I really should have had this card finished yesterday, but it's been one of those weeks. This week's Mid Week Throw Down challenge at Stars and Stamps is to make a Valentine or Love themed card for our heroes to send home to their loved ones. This is my favorite type of card to make because I think this is the kind of card I would be hoping to receive if my loved one was away. I used a Rhubarb digi image from SweetN Sassy Stamps. He is one of my very favorite little images. I colored him with Copic Markers and cut him out with Labels Ten Nestabilities. I used both blue and white pens to trace the inside borders of the two dies. My sentiment is from a retired SU set titled Fancy Flexible Phrases. The designer paper is from K and Company and the Tempting Teal card stock is from SU. For my finishing touches I added one little flower, two heart gems and some Glossy Accents on his nose and eyes. Rhubarb always puts a smile on my face and I can only hope he does the same for the recipient. Thank you for stopping by tonight. I hope to have a couple of postings tomorrow. See you then.






Monday, November 7, 2011

Stamps R Us Challenge


Today I have a made a card for the Stamps R Us Challenge. We were challenged to make a Masculine card. This challenge goes on until November 13th so you still have plenty of time to participate. The sponsor for this challenge is Doodle Pantry and I picked one of their digi images that I've had for a while, titled Vintage Car, to work with. I had a hard time trying to color this one because I know that back then the cars were all black, but I was temped to color it some bright, bold color. After several debates with myself I decided to go with grey. I added gold brads for the wheel centers and I colored them with a Red Copic Marker. I ran my trusty Gold Pen around the edges of the image piece just to help make it pop. The designer paper is from DCWV winter Pack. the sentiment is a retired SU stamp. Thanks for stopping by today. I'll see you again tomorrow.

Sending Healing Thoughts



Hello, today my card is a get well card for a dear friend. My image is one of the newly released digital images from Sweet N Sassy Stamp Company titled God's Promise. I colored it with copics and added some Glassy Accents to the berries. It is cut out with oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities. The sentiment, which I just love, is from a Gina K Designs stamp set titled Under The Weather.I stamped it in Versa Mark and then embossed it with Detail White embossing powder. The designer paper is from K and Company. It is actually from a Christmas pack. I matted that on to red card stock that I embossed with the Swiss Dot ef. The brown card stcok is embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. I think that will do it for me today. Hope to see you again tomorrow. Enjoy your evening and, once again, I'd like to thank you for shopping by.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

S & S SketchChallenge #94



Good Sunday Evening,
Sunday = Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge. It was a busy outside work day so I went with real easy. This is not one of my favorite cards, but hopefully someone that receives it won't mind it.
I just used a piece of designer paper that I found in my stash, punched out three fowers added some white dots and gems. I stamped Thank You across a piece of white card stock. My last step was to emboss the sentiment strip with Swiss Dot embossing folder. That will have to do it for me today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find my MoJo again. Thank you for taking a minute out of your busy day to stop by here. It is very much appreciated. See you later. Enjoy the rest of your night.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

ODBD Monthly Challenge - It's New



Good Saturday Morning! WOW two posts in a 24 hour period.



Well we have a brand new wonderful challenge going on over at Operation Write Home. It's called the ODBD Challenge. Our Daily Bread Designs is now sponsoring this challenge which will take place on the first Saturday of every month. They are generously offering (2) $25.00 gift certificates and on top of that they will be making a shipping donation every month. We need as many cards as possible for this challenge every month because their shipping donation is based on how many card we submit to the InLinkz. You can read all the particulars here. So get out your "stuff" and get cracking please. It will really help OWH with the cost of shipping all these beautiful cards to our heroes. I know they will be releasing some of these heroes by the end of this year, but there are still many, many men and women away from their families and would love to recieve these cards. For this first challenge they are looking for "Love or Valentine " themed cards. My card is very simple. I just used white on white with a swiss dotted embossing on the top layer of white. The hearts are made from SU's heart punch and their Heart Die. The sentiment on the hearts is also from SU. I just used a piece of SU dsp from one of their retired 6 x 6 packs and then added ribbon and the ric rak border punch from E K Success. I dotted around the edges of the hearts with red and white to help make them pop.

Friday, November 4, 2011

SNSDC27 Christmas Theme


Well I challenged myself to get this card posted tonight and I'm just going to make it seeing as how it is now 11:45PM. I made this card for the Digi Challenge over at Sweet N Sassy. This little image is one of the new digi stamps released last night. Isn't he just precious? I colored him with Copics and cut him out using an Oval Nesti. I ran a red Spica pen around the die before I removed the image. Then I matted it onto a Labels Nine Die that was embossed with the Swiss Dot ef. I edged that piece with my gold Krylon pen. My designer paper is from K and Company and I stamped the pinecones and sentiment, which are both from SU, directly onto the paper.I edged the dp with a Copic Marker for a little contrast before I matted that all on to black card stock and a Whisper White Card Base. My final little touch was adding three little gems down the front of the stocking and some Glossy Accents on Rhubarb's nose and eyes. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out and I hope the recipient will be also. Thank you so much for spending at minute here with me. I appreciate it.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Crazy for Cocoa C4C22 Challenge


Good Thursday morning to all of you. It's chilly here but nice. Chilly weather is good when you're working on holiday cards. For this week's challenge over at
Crazy 4 Cocoa Weekly Challenge Carol has asked us to make a card with snowflakes on it. Even though it is a Cocoa challenge, you are allowed to use any Sweet N Sassy image, and there are so many adorable ones. Today I picked one of my little favorite images from them which, as you can see, is Candy Cane Rhubarb. I colored him with Copics and cut him out with Oval and Beaded Oval Nestabilities. On the beaded oval I inked the "beads" with white ink and then sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on each one. My background paper was inked up with SU's Bashful Blue Ink and run through the Big Shot using a snowflake embossing folder. Behind that is a piece of white card stock with glittered edges. The sentiment is from a retired SU set titled Best Yet and it is cut out with a Nestabilities "Grommet Tag". It is very hard to see, but I also have glittered snowflakes on the sentiment piece. I added some blue gingham ribbon as my final touch. I'm hoping that the little three year old girl that will be receiving this card likes it. Well I think I'll go make myself a cup of Cocoa (no pun intended)now before I start any other projects for the day. Thanks a bunch for stopping by today. See you later.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A Holiday Door


Good Tuesday Evening everyone. I certainly all of you in the North East have your power back by now. It was a beautiful fall day here today. You'd never know we just went through a snow storm a couple of days ago. OK on to my card for today. I really hope everyone appreciates the fact that CASing is the highest form of flattery. I found this card that was made by a SU demonstrator, Dawn Olchefske. She has a wonderful blog titled DOstamping with Dawn found here. She is a very talented lady and makes many beautiful items, but this one really caught my eye. You should really check out her site. I made a couple a changes to her original card just to put my own spin on it. I didn't have the woodgrain stamp that Dawn had so I used the closest thing I had. The two layers of the wreath are punched out from SU scalloped punches. I added the Whisper White Ink to represent snow and a few Liquid Pearls and Stickles as decorations. The door knob is punched out from SU's OWL punch. Everything is assembled with demensionals. This was the only red ribbon I had here today, but I think I'd like to add some nice silk ribbon.
I'm looking for some help from you wonderful ladies. My question to you is would you add a small "Happy Holidays" sentiment on the bottom of the door or leave it plain. Sometimes I just can't make a decision and this is one of those times. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this one. I'l be waitning to hear from you. Enjoy the rest of your evening. See you tomorrow.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge


Here I am again today, boy I'm really catching up on my card making. YEAH! Today's challenge over at the Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge was to recycle something and the card has to have a sentiment on it. I think my card qualifies. I recycled this piece of orange Rice Paper for the background piece and a couple of flowers. When I say recycled, I really mean it. This particular piece of rice paper was actaully in the waste basket ready to go out with the trash. Then I found a very small piece of green rice paper and was able to punch out a couple of leaves from that piece. The Top Note die piece is left over from a batch that I had cut up for a project I was doing a while back. The challenge reminded me I had them hiding in the back of a closet, good thing for this challenge or they probably would have still beeen there five years down the road. I added a little flower and three green gems for the final touches. Thanks for stopping by again today. See you tomorrow.

Valentine Mouse


Good Morning All, I know it is Halloween, but I'm past that and into a Valentine mode this week.
Operation Write Home needs plenty of time to get their cards to the military personnel so they can get them home to their loved ones. For this card today I used a Cocoa image from Sweet N Sassy Stamps that I just love. I colored him with Copics and cut him out using the Scalloped Circle Nestability. I traced the inside of the scallops with a gold Uni-ball pen. The tiny sentiment is from the SU set titled Fancy Flexible Phrases. I also used The Lotus Pendant Nestability to mat the image. The designer paper is from Stampin Up. I added some red gems on the top and bottom, but I just noticed in my picture that the top ones are not even. I have since straightened them out. Sorry about that. Well that's it for me me today. Be back tomorrow. Enjoy your day.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Outlawz CAS Challenge 1030



Well I'm here today with an Outlawz CAS challenge card. CAS meaning Clean and Simple. We could either go with Think Pink or Anything Goes, so I went with anything goes. I used colors today that I don't normally pair together: pink and grey, but they came out pretty good. The card base is Whisper White from SU embossed with the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Both the grey and pink papers are from SU as is the heart. The sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly. That's about all there is to say about this one. thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow.

S & S Sketch #93



Good Snowy Sunday Morning to all of you. Yes we did get 2 inches of snow overnight. We are very lucky though, some people just about one hour away from us got 22 inches. Anyway I have power so I can see to craft. Operation Write Homes's Stars and Stamps Blog gave us yet another Sunday Sketch Challenge to work on. My card base is Whisper White card stock that was embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. My designer stripped paper is from my stash and the two green panels are double sided Mulberry Collection from The Paper Company that I've had for about 5 years now. I embossed the light green side after inking up one side of the embossing folder to create the two toned design. I originally planned to run gold pen around the edges of the two panels, but I found that with that with this particular paper it seems to bleed even if I try using tape under a ruler. The panels seemed too plain so I added a layered flower and my sentiment is stamped from SU's set titled Teeny Tiny wishes. I cut it out with a Rectangle Scalloped Nestabilities and sponged it with SU's Lavender Lace ink while it was still in the die. I added three green gems to one side only because the sentiment was off centered so I had to find away to even it off. I did deviate from the sketch a tiny bit, but I don't think anyone will mind, at least I hope not. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again tomorrow. Enjoy your Sunday.

Friday, October 28, 2011

A Doctor's Thank You




Good Friday Afternoon,
My card today is one that I made for my doctor that "fixed" my two frozen shoulders yesterday by manipulation under anesthesia. It WORKED just fine. This morning I was actually able to comb and curl the back of my hair, something I haven't been able to do in months without extreme pain. I had even resorted to a short spiked hairstyle that I could, at least, manage. Believe me it was not a pretty sight. I still have to go through another two weeks of intense therapy, but I am so very happy with my results that I just had to make the doc a card. I used a stamp from Inkadinkado. I stamped it with SU's Crumb Cake ink and sponged the edges with SU's Certainly Celery while still in the Nestabilities die. I ran my gold Uni-ball pen around both dies to give them some definition. The designer paper is from DCWV The Winter Combo pack. I just love that pack. I stamped the retired SU sentiment stamp, in VersaMark and then embossed it with Black embossing powder. the blue card stock is Pacific Point from SU.
thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your evening.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down


Good Evening, Today is Midweek Throwdown over at Stars and Stamps Blog and they have asked us to make a card with Polka Dots on it. I think I acomplished this or else I went over board, not sure which one. Any any case, here is my card. I used a Penny Black stamp titled Snuggle. I stamped it with Versafine Black Ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. I colored it with Copics and sponged it while it was still in the Labels Nine Nestability die. I then matted that onto a Circle Nestabilities. I used a heart border punch from Martha Stewart and the heart punches are from Creative Memories. The background paper is from Jillibean Soup. Operation Write Home is looking for more birthday, miss you, thank you cards so this one fits the bill. As you can see I dotted everything I could with white and gold gel pens. I used my little trick again with my red mat paper. It's just copy paper and I ran a Copic Marker around the edge. This will help keep the weight down, which in turn helps keep the postage down for OWH. I know everyone is very busy and your time is very limited so I just want to say thank you for taking the time to stop by today, I appreciate it. Enjoy your evening.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Cards That Care



Well Another week starts and I began the week by making a couple of cards for a cause titled "Cards That Care". If you get a chance please take a minute and read all about it here on Jennifer McGuire's blog. They are gathering up hand made cards to distribute to elderly people that reside in nursing homes. Some of these people don't have a lot of family so they may not receive a lot of company or cards for the holidays. This will be a nice way to bring a smile to their faces. How wonderful!!! Beside feeling great about doing something so nice for others, you could win some prizes. For every card you send in, your name will be entered into a drawing for some terrific gifts donated by some great crafting/stamping companies. How can you resist? You don't have to make a lot of cards, even just a couple or a few will help a lot but the more you send in the better your chances are of winning those prizes and the more smiles you will be responsible for. So my card today is made with a stamp from DeNami Design that I've had for years and every single year I pull it out to make at least one card with it. I stamped it with VersaMark and embossed it with Black embossing powder, then colored it with Copic Markers. As you can see I cut it out and matted it with both Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities. The designer paper is from KandCompany and the sentiment is a retired stamp from SU, that I embossed in Detail White ep. I edged my sentiment piece with a gold pen. Hope this does bring a smile to someone's face. I am pleased with the way it turned out. That's it for me today, see you tomorrow. Enjoy your day and thank you for spending a minute of your time here with me. I appreciate it.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

S & S Sketch Challenge #92



Happy Sunday everyone, It's sunny but a little bit cool here in south eastern Ma. today. My card today is for the sketch challenge over at Stars and Stamps Blog . We were asked to make more Any Hero cards. I used a Freebee image you can find at Operation Write Home . This is our trusty mascot, Ciara proudly wearing the American Flag. I thought it was a great image to send to one of our many deployed heroes. I colored it with Copica and sponged the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink. My Sentiment is from Hero Arts and I framed it with a Star Nestabilities. The strip of white paper was embossed with the Swiss Dot ef and the kraft paper was spritzed with Sapphire Ritzy Ditzy Glitz and then I embossed it using a Star embossing folder that I rolled Silver ink on prior to embossing. It doesn't show up too well in the photo but it kind of looks nice IRL. Three little star gems finished it off. I hope to be back tomorrow. Thanks for taking a minute to check out my blog. Enjoy your day.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

C4C20 Challenge Make It Sparkle


Hi Evryone, Well today I really got into the challenge over at Close to Cocoa Weekly Challenge. This week our challenge was to use glitter, stickles, glossy accents, anything that sparkles. I think I met the challenge. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but then it didn't fit on an A2 card, so I ended up with a 5 1/2 X 5 1/2" card. The digital image I used today was Cocoa Christmas Tree from Sweet N Sassy Stamps. He is just so darn cute. I colored it with Copics and added red, blue, gold and silver Stickles for the ornaments and star. The image was cut out with an Oval Nestabilities and sponged with SU's Barely Banana ink and gold striped while still in the die. I then backed that up with both a Scalloped Oval and a Square Nestabilities. I embossed the square with the Swiss Dot embossing folder and striped that also with the same gold pen. My designer paper is from KandCompany and I added some red Stickles here and there on the flowers and a few little green rhinestones as flower centers (didn't have any yellow gems). The sentiment is a retired stamp from SU that I stamped with VersaMark and then embossed it with red embossing tinsel. My card base is SU's Very Vanilla. The green card stock I used for the square is SU's Handsome Hunter and then I wanted to add another layer of green behind the dp, but I felt like the card was getting too heavy, so I just used a piece of thin white paper and colored the edges with the Handsome Hunter marker. Well that's it for me for now. Thank you so much for stopping by here today. It is really appreciated.

Another K'nK Designs Image



Good Thursday morning everyone. Today I am posting a card that I made with another K'nK Deisgns image that they are selling to raise money for Operation Write Home's fundraiser. OWH needs $13,000 to cover the cost of mailing cards this holiday season. Please stop by K'nK Designs Blog and pick up one or all of their images to help in this fundraiser. I colored the image with Copics and used Nestabilities to cut out both the image and the sentiment, which is also in the bundle package from K'nK Designs. I sponged the image and sentiment while they were still in the dies and then I ran a gold pen around the inside of the die to give the appearance of a layered piece. This was a trick I learned from Carol over at Our Little Inspirations and I will be using this quite often as I love the effect it gives. Carol is a very talented lady that I learn a lot of tips and techniques from. Thank you Carol. I added a double layer of ribbon and a bow. Three silver brad type embellishments in two corners helped to finish off my card. I like the way it turned out. I hope the recipient does also. Hopefully I'll see you again tomorrow. Thanks for spending some time here today.



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down




WOW- two posts one day! This is great for me. Today OWH's Stars and Stamps challenged us to make a "Thank You" card for our heroes to send home to their friends and family. I used a Lockhart Stamp that I love and I colored it with Copics. I cut it out with Nestabilities and matted it on SU paper then I draw silver lines along the edges with SU's retired Ziggy Pen. The designer paper is from Basic Grey and I used a SU border punch on that piece. The sentiment stamp is a retired stamp from SU also and then I just added some dots with a Copic Marker. Thanks for stopping by again today. See you tomorrow.

Card Drive for Kids




Hello, Today my card is for one of four children we are sending cards to for the Cards Drive For Kids. You can find all the information here. This is a drive to send cards to four children that are afflicted with Spina Bifida. These are truly some awesome little kids and all this drive is looking for is some cards. They are offering $500.00 worth of gifts from several different stamp and craft related companies for sending in just four cards. On this site you will be able to read a little history about each of the four children and their families. My card today is made with a stamp from Reflections which I bought at Michaels. I colored it with Copics and cut it out with Nestabilities. The designer paper is from the Winter Pack from DCWV. I just added a couple of stars and I was done. It took me no time at all to make this little card that will, hopefuly, bring a big smile to some little child's face. If you have a minute today, please use it to read about these precious children and their families and quickly make a card for one or all of them. Their goal is to receive 100 cards for each child. That should be easy to accomplish with all of us in the cardmaking community. Well enjoy your day, and as usual I want to thank you for stopping by here.