Good to be Home

We had a wonderful time in the UK, but it's good to be home. I miss my son and I'm so glad he'll be back in the states this summer. We saw some incredible sites in Scotland and we loved visiting Christ Church in Oxford. This picture is of my son and me on the grounds at Christ Church. The weather that day was mild - quite a contrast to Edinburgh which was for the most part cold and very windy. Hopefully I can get in on some challenges this week. Don't forget this week starts the Copic Challenges on April 1 (no foolin'!) so please join us if you can. Happy Monday to you!

I Love My Computer....

I wanted to post one more card before leaving. I got this stamp set from There She Goes because I loved the sentiment. I will miss checking your blogs and doing the challenges, but I am definitely looking forward to a train ride from Oxford to Edinborough while over there. I will post some pictures at some point and wish you all a wonderful week next week. Carolyn, I'll be thinking of you as you enjoy being with your son again. Don't forget about the Copic Challenge starting in April - it's right around the corner. (You'd think I was leaving the country.....oh that's right..., I AM!) Big hugs,

HM Birthday Sketch

This week's HM challenge was a sketch challenge, sponsored by the talented girls at KL Stampin 'n Scrappin'. Their own DT posted cards to the challenge along with the regular HM DT. The cards are fabulous! I mean, they're always fabulous, but this week, with all the layers to the sketch, they're really fabulous! KLSNS is also offering a prize so be sure to check it out. The sketch involved many layers so this took a lot of thought. In fact I put together all of my layers before coloring my image to make sure it all went together. My DP's are all from Basic Grey's "Cupcake", but I backed my image with SU's Yo Yo Yellow to be sure it stood out. I wanted the papers to make it look festive because these little mousies look like they're about to really celebrate. Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to get up one more post before embarking on our big adventure to the UK. Wish I could meet up with my blogging friends over there, but unless you're willing to meet me in Edinborough, I don't think that will happen on this trip. Happy Wednesday.

A Walk in the Park

This image is "Michelle and Bonnie" from Alota Rubber Stamps. I was so excited to have won this one and one other from posting a card to their Valentine challenge on PCP. They are having a color challenge over there right now using the colors pink, purple and green. You'll notice that Michelle is always stylin' in her green plaid skirt even when walking Bonnie, who also happens to be rather stylish in her plaid cover-up. I am also going to submit this card to the OCC challenge for this week which is a Limited Supply challenge. It calls for 3 layers only, plus one kind of embellishment. Now technically, if you count the paper-piecing, I suppose this would be 4 layers, but since Michelle loves this skirt, she asked that we not count that layer and begged me to let her wear it. I have a lot to do this week to leave for the UK and Scotland - woohoo! - on Thursday, so I'm sorry to do another twofer on the challenges. My DP's are "Banbury" from SU, the CS is Perfect Plum, and the flowers are Primas. Since I watch my precious grandson a lot while my daughter teaches, I thought this would be cute to give her with a computer-generated sentiment saying "Taking care of Ethan is a Walk in the Park". It's true - he's such a good baby and I love him to pieces. I'm not sure if the LS challenge was harder or the one HM is doing right now with many, many layers. It's a sketch challenge and their DT cards are awesome! Check it out when you can and have a wonderful Monday.

Exciting News

I have some great news for all of you Copic lovers, and soon-to-be Copic lovers. There is a new challenge beginning April 1st to allow you to post your creations done with Copic markers. There will be 2 challenges per month and will feature a different theme for each challenge. We even have a sponsor for our first challenge which is 7 Kids College Fund. To learn more about this, you can read about it here. To add to the excitement for me, I have been asked to be on the design team for this blog. Needless to say I am VERY excited about this and hope we have lots of people who want to participate to share their talents and learn from the talents of others. Mary Giemza from My Cardz, My Passion, a very talented lady, has put this together and I'm thrilled and honored to be asked to be on the team. I will be posting a blinkie on my blog that will take you to these wonderful challenges, so be sure to check out our first challenge on April 1.

Sweet Puppy Hugs

I love this image from Sara Kay and I decided to use it for two challenges. OCC's challenge this week is "Add a Doodle", so I added doodles around the image and around the scallop of the circle. Magnolia vs. Stampavie had a sketch for this week's challenge so I put this together for their sketch challenge as well. I colored this sweet little girl with my Copic markers and punched out the "lace border" with my new MS punch. The yellow scallop paper is from PTI and so is the yellow ribbon. The flower is from a gorgeous tin of Caboodles Prima Flowers. I put my sentiment together with my Just-Rite Stampers letters. I'm happy with how this turned out, although it took me awhile to work out the circle and the doodles. Thanks so much for stopping by. I've got some exciting news to share with you soon. Have a wonderful Friday.

Timeless Tuesday Sketch Challenge

This is my post for Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge for this week. The sketch was fairly simple, and I decided to debut an image from the set they gave us for attending the Stamper's Dream Week-end. I used Basic Grey's "Offbeat" again for the DP and the rest is pretty self-explanatory. Flourishes is releasing their March sets on Friday, so be sure you catch their sneak peaks over at their blog. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Thursday.

HM Masculine Card

This week's HM challenge was to do a masculine card, so I was so thankful that I had Muzzie in his running shoes and this sentiment that I also purchased from House-Mouse. My husband has done a good bit of running in his lifetime, and my boys all ran cross country and track, and they still like to run local events when they can. I decided to try to simulate a track event, because this is actually a card I would give to any one of them if they were to compete in a running event. I stamped Muzzie once and then part of him again. I drew my own track (I know you're thinking "DUH") and I sponged in some "grass and sky". The CS is Baja Breeze and the DP is from Basic Grey's "Offbeat." I punched out 3 stars and attached half-pearls onto them. (Do I do any cards without those half-pearls?......I don't think so.) Hope this passes for a masculine card. It's hard to combine these cute little mousies, or even the Hoppers and Gruffies, with masculine, so this was another great challenge. Thanks for looking and see you again soon.

Toddler Birthday Card

Good Monday morning to all of you! I wanted to share this card that I made for our neighbor's little one. Hardly seems like a year has gone by already. I saw a different version of this card a few weeks ago by Linda Duke and since my grandbabies will be 1 in May and June, my daughter and I fell in love with this set she used from Crafty Secrets and decided we had to have it. There are many possibilities with this set and it's perfect for a little one. My DP is from "Flowers for You" from SU and I colored her with my Copic markers. The sentiment in the corner is from SU's "Wow Flowers" and I added a half pearl to it. I popped up my little balloons on dimensionals. The background is "airbrushed" using SU's ""Color "Spritzer Tool." It's not as smooth as using the airbrushing system from Copic, but it worked for this card. Thanks for taking a look and I hope you all have a wonderful Monday. Today is HM's new challenge for this week, so I'm on my way over there to see what's in store for us. Hugs,

Week-end Sketch Challenge and tutorial

The WSC, hosted by Sharon Harnist, (Paperfections) is a simple layout, so I decided to use it with the medallion from SU's "True Friend" that I made prompted by Leslie Miller's (Running with Scissors) tutorial from this week. I love how it turned out and it seems to go quite well with this layout Sharon gave us. I used my Textile EF on the black CS, and the rose-colored paper is from SU's "Holiday Harmony" from '07. Be sure to check out Leslie's blog for the tutorial. It's a great technique. Thanks for looking and thank's to Sharon for hosting the challenge.

OCC Sketch Challenge

Since this is the week of challenges for me, I completed another card for the OCC Sketch Challenge. I was hoping the Spica pens I ordered would come in time to color in the rest of the eggs, but alas, they haven't come yet. (I'm thinking I can still go over those areas with the pens when the do arrive.) I like sketch challenges and this one is similar to the HM card that I did for last week, because I borrowed the same idea, minus the button. I'm still loving these bright papers from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie. The image is from Flourishes "Signs of Spring" and I added the chicks to the bottom of the basket. It's colored with my Copic markers and I used Flower Soft for the grass that the little chicks are sitting on. The "button" was done with my MS punch and the "threads" colored on. The butterfly is also a MS punch. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week-end.

Paper-Pieced Tilda

Paper Piecing is the theme for this month's challenge over at KLSNS on PCP. The thought of dressing up Tilda in a variety of adorable "paper clothes" really appealed to me so I set out to dress my newest Tilda. Her entire outfit except for her underskirt is paper-pieced from SU's "Bella Birds". Even her hairbows are from that DP. Her sleeves are out of a yellow paper from that collection, but because of the grey tones in the dress they look more ivory than yellow. I colored her hair, skin and underskirt with my Copic markers. The red and checked DP's are from SU's "Sweet Slumber" which has some fabulous papers, and... they are textured! The buttons are punched with my Martha Stewart button punch. The sentiment is from Flourishes "Open to Love." The little hearts were punched with a heart punch I've had for a long time. I'm guessing it's a Marvy punch. I've got to get some furniture stamps for Tilda to sit on....I think she would prefer that to sitting poised in mid-air. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Flourishes Spellbinder Challenge

This week's Timeless Tuesday challenge at Flourishes is to use Spellbinders, and this card is Spellbinders to the max. I just received my Spellbinders "Cameo and Brooch" and was anxious to use it, so it was a given that I would use it for this challenge. I cut it out in black, sponged it with white ink and then touched it up further with my Inkessentials pen. I popped it all up on dimensionals. I also used the Labels 1 die in two sizes for the background of the brooch and a Label die for the "Timeless" sentiment. The background is stamped in Flourishes "Damask" and I tied the black ribbon where the papers meet. I made the "Timeless" sentiment with my Just Rite letters and added a black half-pearl to each side. Thanks for looking and be sure to check out the great creations for this challenge.

House Mouse Chipboard Challenge

This week's HM challenge was to use chipboard. I NEVER use chipboard, so this was good for me because now I'm not so inclined to bump it out of my repetoire for elements to use. The only chipboard I even had was from my very first order from SU almost 2 years ago, which included this flower-shaped piece. I'm not a fan of sponging it, so I traced around it on CS and cut it out and mounted it, then sponged it with two shades of yellow and then Tangerine Tango. I saw it taking shape for this image as the sun, so I kept going with that idea. I colored my flower with my Copic markers and then cut it out. I also stamped the whole image again on CS and colored it. Last week I received the rainbow and sentiment ("Rain and Sunshine") in my order from There She Goes, and it went perfectly with this idea. I adhered my flower to the chipboard, using dimensionals at the base of the flower. I used Crystal Effects on my raindrops and I ended up liking this a lot. My DP is from Basic Grey's LilyKate and it is all mounted on top of Apricot Appeal. The "clouds" at the top are cut out of a piece of DP from LilyKate also.
I have added some icons to my blog of challenges I'm going to attempt to participate in regularly.
HM Monday Challenges are the only ones thus far that I have done faithfully, so I hope to branch out a bit. Be sure to check out other clever ideas using chipboard at the HM Challenge site, and jump in on the challenge if you can. Today is Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday challenge which calls for using Spellbinder's, so I'm on it! :) Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping!

House Mouse Mother's Day Card

Eeek, I'm "squeaking in" under the wire, but I finally did my card for the HM "Mother's Day" card challenge. I borrowed the OCC Sketch Challenge for my layout, (I intend to do another, similar card but with another image for that challenge) and I used the Urban Prairie DP's along with Baja Breeze CS for the card itself. I colored with Copic Markers and I will give this to my dear friend for Mother's Day. Thanks for stopping by, especially so late. Hope you have a wonderful Monday tomorrow.