Thinking of you . . .

 Brrr  Happy Saturday!

Dang ... it's frigid out there!  We went for breakfast this morning and it was a frosty MINUS 11 and that's not with the wind chills!!!  I am definitely ready for spring!!  lol

So with that being said, I'll be staying in my crafting cave today playing with ink & paper!  

 

Before it ends, I wanted to play one more time on the current sketch challenge over on the Freshly Made Sketches Blog.  Here is the sketch . . .

 

 I have a cousin who orders Thinking of You cards from me for her church so this card will go into the 'Paula Box' for her next order.

Product used . . .

Simon Says Stamps 'Vintage Garden' stamp set
Brutus Monroe 'SUNFLOWERsoiree' 6x6 paper pad
Sunny Studio 'Dots & Stripes Pastels' 6x6 paper pad
Tutti Designs 'Stitched Scallop Circle' dies
Swivel Craft Knife
Dimensional Tape 

 

Challenges to share in:

Color Dare Challenge #688 - Color Photo (at least 2 of the colors) [2/5]

 

 Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge - ATG (2/4)

 Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!

As always . . .

 

 

 #FMS

Being a little 'squirrley' . . .

 Happy Friday again friends ...

When I spotted the inspiration board over at the Inspiration Station challenge blog, I just HAD to play along (wish I had spotted it sooner ... there's only about 8 hours left so I had to get right on it!)

This is their inspiration board . . .

 

 OMG!  LOL!

And when I was flipping through my Autumn Garden sticker book, I spotted the perfect image so quickly created this card.

 The background panel with the 'dots' was created using the Creative Expressions Mini 'Bubbles' stencil and TH distress oxide ink.  It was actually a scrap from another card and was laying on my workstation so you know what they say about 'waste not want not' lol.  The strip of orange card stock was another scrap.  My sentiment is from the TON.

 Fast & Fun

 Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!

As always . . .

 

Pretty in Purple

 Happy Friday!

WOW!  Is another week gone already?  
Goodness ... January is almost over!  Geesh time is flying!

Today I had a bit of fun with another sketch.

This time, one of the sketches over on the 
Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge  [ends 2/3] caught my eye!

 Their sketch #318 ...

 

 Here's what I came up with . . .

 If you know me, you know my favorite color is purple so that's the base color I went with today.  I have a drawer designated to strictly purple designer papers and today I'm playing with the Paper Rose 'Dear Isabella Patterns' 6x6 paper pack.

 

 

These are 2 sided papers so that's always nice when you're wanting to coordinate a design from the same pack.  The floral 'square' is actually not from this paper pack ... but was laying on top in the drawer and I thought it would work perfectly with my checks & polka dots.

My pot of flowers is actually a sticker from the Paper Studio.  As is the leaf next to the checked Prima flower.  Nuvo Crystals drops helped finish off this beauty.  Isn't this a fun sketch!!!

A Tutti Designs 'Stitched Scallop Square' dies was used to die cut the floral panel behind the focus flowers.  OH! and as an accent on my focus image, I used the Tombow #623 marker and a metal ruler to draw the accent edging. 

 

Challenges to share in:

Ellibelle's Garden Party No. 11 - ATG in or from a Garden (2/10)
Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge - ATG (2/4)
 

I hope you're doing something fun today!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!

As always . . .

Pretty Poppy

 Hello friends ...

Hope everyone is getting through these frigid/snowy days without incident.  We finally went out today for breakfast and grocery shopping ... first time out since Sunday!  Felt good to get away from these four walls lol.

Today I've made a card to share in a couple fun challenges ...

 

I actually had these 'scraps' laying on my work table and realized they would work perfectly for the sketch over on the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge blog (#721).  
[#FMS - ends 2/3]

 

 AND, since this Just For Fun 'Poppy' stamp is an old wood block stamp, I'd like to also share it over on the  Woodblock Wednesday  January challenge. 
[#woodblockwednesday, #woodblockstamps - ends 2/2]

I've used Tombow markers for the coloring and Gloss White Nuvo Crystal Drops for an accent.  The scrap of poppy designer paper comes from the Paper Rose 'Wild Poppies' 6x6 paper pad and my black striped background panel is from the Say it with Stamps 'Neutral' 6x6 paper pad. 

    

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!

As always . . .

 

Wood Block Wednesday Challenge

Hello Friends

Amy Tsuruta has her Woodblock Wednesday challenge up and running and I've been trying to join in each month as it gives me the opportunity to play with all my old wooden block stamps which don't get the love they deserve since clear stamps came about.

  

 The wood block stamp I've used today is an old Stampabilities (circa 2010).

 After stamping my image, I colored the butterflies using Tombow markers then die cut using the largest die in the Tutti Designs 'Stitched Scallop Rectangle' die set.  The background is from the Brutus Monroe 'Butteflies' 6x6 paper pack and a few extra butterflies were punched out using a VERY old Martha Stewart punch.

 Why not pop over and check out her blog and play along ... you know you have wood block stamps that need some love just like I do!  LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!

As always . . .

Tag:  #Woodblockwednesday #woodblockstamps

GRAPEful for You!

 Happy Tuesday friends ... 

With there being over 12" of snow on the ground, looks like I'm once again staying inside and playing in my crafting cave!  I spotted a couple of challenges online that I've combined to create a fun card to share with you today.

 Here's what I've created ... hope you like it!

 The challenges I've designed this card for are:

Addicted to CAS ... where the theme is 

 

and Make My Monday #270 ... where the theme is CAS. 

 

My sentiment was computer generated and my focus stamp is an old stamp by Inkadinkado called grapes.  I've used Tombow markers for the coloring then fussy cut them using a swivel craft knife.

 Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day ahead!!
Those of you dealing with all this cold & snow ... stay safe & warm ... 
and remember . . . better days ahead!

As always . . .

 

So Sorry

 Hello Friends . . .

I hope all of you that were in the path of that CRAZY Snow/Ice storm over the weekend are safe & warm.  Here in Akron Ohio we got around 13-14" but luckily no ice, so it's 'manageable'. 

I thought I'd create a card to share this morning and since I just recently purchased another pack of these fun & fabulous Penny Black 'Premium Cardstock 3.25 x 4.5 design cards', that is what I chose for the focus image today.  This one comes from the 'Vintage Beauty' pack.

 

My background paper is from the Brutus Monroe 'PLAIDpetals' 6x6 paper pack and the sentiment is by The TON called 'Easy Expressions Sympathy'.  A strip of scrap card stock used behind the image and black Nuvo Crystal Drops were used as an added accent.

 

   

Challenges to share in:

Penny Black January Saturday Challenge - ATG or Something New ( closed 2/6) 
Crafty Calendar January Challenge - Anything NEW (Penny Black images) (1/28)
Dragonfly Dreams January Challenge - Floral (1/31)
Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #268 - Add Pink Flowers (2/3)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,
I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!!

As always . . .

Can You Handle the Pressure - Twist - All White

Hello Friends, thanks for stopping by today!

We have a new challenge starting today over on our new Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge Blog and the TWIST theme is ...

All White

Remember, the twist is optional but you MUST use an embossing folder on your projects to qualify for the prize.  Heat embossing is also permitted but only in conjunction with an embossing folder.

 Here's what I've created to inspire you today ...

 

 I am loving these 3D embossing folders!  They 'speak' so well on their own but today I wanted to add just a few more things to make my white-on-white card more intriguing!  I chose to use the Altenew 'Spring Blossoms' 3D embossing folder today.

 

 

 

So with that being said, I reached for one of my favorite framing die sets ... Paper Rose 'Stitched Rectangle Frames' #16679.  Of course I needed a sentiment and didn't want to stamp anything as I would have done that in black, so I reached for my Tutti Designs 'Happy Birthday' dies and used the larger dies in the sets.  A few white Nuvo drops and VIOLA!!! 

 

OH!  I forgot to mention that I did use 3D tape to pop up the frame for added dimension.  I do hope you'll come check out our challenge blog and play along.

Challenges to share in:

Alphabet Challenge - T is for Texture (2/7)
CAS on Friday Challenge #326 - Monochrome (does all white fit this theme?  hope so ... if not, my apologizes) [2/4]

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today,
I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!!

As always . . .

New PICK 3 Challenge

 Hello Friends ... 

Are you ready for the upcoming Snow Storm??  
As for me, I'm just going to hide out in my crafting cave until it passes! LOL

So, today I'm joining in on a Brand New Challenge Blog you'll have to check out & play along in!  It's called PICK 3 Challenge Blog.  Here's the board for their first challenge where you'll choose THREE elements to use in/on your project.

 

 The three I chose for today's card are:
TREE - TEXTURE - LAYERS

Here's my card . . .

 I began with a background panel embossed with an older Darice snowflake embossing folder onto white card stock then sponged over with TH blue ink.  Next I created the mounds of snow by tearing strips of white card stock scraps.

That was the beginning of my layers.  Next I die cut from various green scraps of card stock from an Impression Obsession 'Fir Trees' die set and stiple brushed with white paint.

Next I chose these adorable Frantic Stamper puppies (Oscar, Spot & Trixie ... only used 2 of the 3) for the focus characters and added a Creative Expressions sentiment.

Oh and I finished it off with a pretty Sue Wilson snowflake corner die cut!

Well that's it for me today. 

Take care, stay warm and thanks for stopping by today! 

 As always . . .

  

Just a Note

 Happy Friday Friends!

If you live anywhere east of the Mississippi, be alert to the icy/snowy storms coming our way this weekend!!  This winter has been CRAZY ... 

Today I'm playing in yet another fun Sketch challenge.
This time it's over on the Colour and Sketch Challenge for Clean & Simple (CAS) Styled Cards. 

Here's the sketch for this challenge:

 

 And here's what I've created . . .

 When I saw the sketch I immediately went to my scraps box and pulled some coordinating color scraps.  I really like this sketch and think I'll use up a few more scraps by creating several more cards for my sale boxes.  Would work beautifully for just about any occasion!!

 I also dipped into my Prima flowers to create a small color coordinated cluster and the sentiment, though generic, I think works perfectly.  What do you think??

 

Nuvo Yellow Crystal Drops was used for the flower center.
Sentiment stamp is an oldie but goodie by Wordsworth (circa 2007).

 Other challenges to share in:

Little Red Wagon Challenge #842 - K for Keep it Simple (1/27)
Crafty Catz Challenge #705 - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers Challenge #314 - Anything Goes

Take care, stay warm and thanks for stopping by today! 

 As always . . .

  

Miss You!

 Hello friends and welcome back to my blog.

Another fun sketch challenge out in blogland to join in is called Freshly Made Sketches and that's the challenge I decided to play along with today.  Here is the sketch they are offering up for inspiration . . .

 

 And here is my interpretation . . .

 

 I could have gone SO MANY different ways with this awesome sketch but I spotted these Tim Holtz 'Crazy Dogs' which I already had stamped, colored & cut so that's the direction I went.  The background paper is actually 'wrapping paper' that came in the mail a few years back from the Guide Dogs for the Blind organization. 

I cut out a frame and a sentiment ... VIOLA! 

Challenges to share in: 
Crafty Animals Challenge #101 - ATG w/animals (1/28)
Critter Crazy Challenge #106 - ATG w/animals (1/26)
 
Take care, stay warm and thanks for stopping by today! 

 As always . . .

 

Double D - Friends

 Hello Dear Friends!

It's time once again for a new challenge over on the Double D Challenge Blog!

 

Here's today's theme:

 

FRIENDS

 

 and here's an inspiration board created to help get you started . . .

 

 

 

 We all need friends and I know I'm certainly blessed with some AMAZING friends ... hope you are too!  With friends in mind, I just had to go through my Doni Collection.  I knew she had some fun Art Impressions stamps that I could create with for today's card ... and she didn't disappoint!  

 

I created the background using TH inks and Stampscapes stamps. 
Next I stamped & colored (using Tombow markers) this fun Art Impressions stamp called 'Road Trip'. 

 

 

 After coloring, I fussy cut the image and popped it up with 3D dimensional tape.  I have a few little Heartfelt Creations birds already stamp/cut & colored just for a day like today.  Placed him in the tree and he's not sure what to make of this group of friends speeding down the highway!  LOL

 

Challenges to share in:

 

 Retro Rubber Challenge #263 - ATG (1/23)
(this focus stamp is one I inherited from friend Doni when she passed over a year ago)

 

 Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Bright & Beautiful (1/31)

 We Love Stamping January Challenge - New or ATG (1/31)

You'll want to be sure to pop over to the Double D Challenge Blog to see all the details and amazing samples offered up by our VERY TALENTED design team ladies!!

 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hope to see you at Double D! 

  As always . . .