Fun on the Ice - in JUNE?

Today I want to post a winter/Holiday card from Janlynn's Stamps Happen line called "The Skaters". The artist is Claire Stoner and I think it is an adorable and fun image. Doesn't it just make you want to pick out your favorite scarf and mittens and go play in the snow. Well, maybe not now since it's just the beginning of summer, but give it a few months and all you skaters will be anxious to put those skates on. I colored this all with Copics and used an SU! DP from the retired Wintergreen set. I used Soft Sky and Hunter Green for the solid CS. The sentiment is from PTI's Mailbox Greetings. Love that set! Hope you like this fun image. Janlynn carries some beautiful craft stamps. Hope you can check them out. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful week.

A Card and a Cake

Today we had a birthday party for my grandson who turned 1. We had six 1-year-olds, plus other kids and of course adults for a grand total of 29 people. I made my grandson a caterpillar cake because he loves the caterpillar on Baby Einstein, and then I fashioned a caterpillar card to go with it. Thanks Kristine for the reminder. Last week we took him shopping and bought all his presents and even gave him some early, so.... since I wasn't having to remember shopping or wrapping presents, I almost forgot to do his card. I know - that's unthinkable, but I had a lot going on to prepare for this and I just plain forgot. I have had this image from Victoria Case Art Designs ready to color for awhile now, so I used their sketch from this week's challenge so I could also post it to their challenge. I never do any cake decorating, so I was nervous about doing these little cakes justice, but it really was fun. In fact, I was running out of time and my DSIL asked if he could help. He said, "why not, I can spackle....", and so he piped the frosting, spread it (just like spackling, right?!) and dipped the pieces in the stuff right along with me. Before you go thinking this guy's a bit girly, you should know he's a Marine through and through. Just a willing Dad who's also talented working with his hands. I was proud of him and we got done just in time. Thanks, Richard. My daughter planned the whole party and prepared lunch for the whole crew, so I was proud of her, too. Anyway, long post but wanted to share the pictures of a wonderful party. Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Sunday!

Just Magnolia Challenge-Happy Summer

I made this card for the Just Magnolia challenge and this week's challenge is a sketch. I find I can put cards together the quickest if I already have the layout. My basic CS is Lovely Lilac (SU), the yellow is from Basic Grey's "Two Scoops", the blue is from Basic Grey's Marrakech, Tilda's dress is cut from DCWV's "The Sweet Stack" and the scalloped strip is from Basic Grey's "Euphoria". The flower is from a sweet friend, so I'm not sure who made it. The sentiment is from a set I love from PTI called Mailbox Greetings. I offset it with two Kaiser half-pearls in "Bliss." The main image is called "Tilda in the Sea." I really love Magnolia images. Well, I love a lot of images, but Magnolias are definitely among my favorites. I had extra time in my craft room this week which was fun, so I have several cards coming up to share with you. Meanwhile, take a look at the fabulous cards posted to this challenge. Hope you have a wonderful week-end. Tomorrow is my grandson's first birthday party so I've got to get busy getting ready for hosting lots of little ones and their families. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Patriotism on Parade

I did this card for the special project that Flourishes is doing. It's for a great cause and there's a generous $50 Gift Certificate to Flourishes to the winner of the drawing and a generous $25 Gift Certificate to two runners-up. How do you win? They want cards to send to the troops, and each card you send them by August 1st qualifies your name to be added to the drawing. They don't have to be patriotic - they need all sorts of cards. Be sure to check the details here to make sure I'm stating all of this correctly. I loved this new set the moment I saw it, and with each purchase of this set Flourishes is donating a percentage to the Wounded Warriors fund. Be sure to check it out and play along if you can. Whether or not you're a prize-winner, you're still a winner if you donate to the men and women who so faithfully serve our country in the military. Thanks for stopping by. I posted this in my SCS gallery as well, in case you need to see how-to details. You can find it here. God bless the USA and God bless our troops. Thank you, all!

Featured Artist with a Challenge Card

The other night Shelby, (my granddaughter,) asked if she could color an image I was working on for a challenge, and since I had printed out more than one image I gave her one to color. She used mine as a guide, along with my COPICS, yes, my Copic markers, and did an amazing job coloring her image. In fact it's brighter than mine. I told her I thought I liked hers better and she said, "it's okay Grandma, I like yours too." Then, she proceeded to cut at least half of it out herself and then tell me what color CS she wanted to use and even cut the ribbon she wanted on her card. I'm blown away! I might as well turn my blog over to her.....she's smart enough to operate the computer and in no time she'd probably be leaving comments on all of your blogs. :) I am so proud of her artistry. I walked out of the room and in a little while she called me back to see her finished product. She even added her own shadows and highlighting - with my COPICS! Anyway, the challenge can be found on the Victoria Case Challenge Blog here, and the challenge is chocolate, ivory, and violet. Shelby had to leave before we actually assembled her card, although this is the way she layered it. I finished it so that I could post it to the challenge. I love Victoria Case designs - they're so much fun to color and to look at. She had a bunch of new images since the last time I checked, and that wasn't all that long ago. Well, I'd better end this. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your encouraging comments. My wonderful SIL was the only family member that left a comment the last time I presented Shelby's work, so KUDOS to you Richard! I'll have to find some blog candy for you. :) BTW, here is a pic of my wonderful little guest artist. Grandma's just a wee bit proud.

Baby Card

I thought I'd post a card today that I did for a friend who requested a card a few weeks ago. She needed a baby girl card, and I had just looked at Jenny Gropp's adorable baby card that she did for a challenge, you can see it here, so I patterned my card after hers. I was very pleased with how it turned out and so was my friend. You should click on the link and check out the great card Jenny did. If I recall correctly, mine was all done with SU! (except for the half-pearls by Kaiser.) Thank you all for your encouraging comments in regard to Shelby's (my granddaughter) card. I've got another post coming up soon featuring her latest creation. She amazes me. I hope you have a wonderful week-end.

Neapolitan Challenge and a "Featured Artist"

Is it hot enough for ice cream where you are? It is here for sure! Does ice cream sound good to you? That's what comes to mind when I think Neapolitan. That is the theme of the HM challenge this week, although they're talking those colors - not necessarily ice cream. I just happened to pick up this stamp last week and I'm so glad I did. It's called "You Snooze You Lose". I colored it with Copics and used my SU Candy Cane DP's, my Curved Rectangle Nesties, and the sentiment is from SU's Crazy for Cupcakes. I've missed a few weeks of participating in the HM challenge which was my first challenge to hear of and enter, so I hate that I'm missing any.

I also wanted to post a card that my 5-year-old granddaughter did for her new baby brother (see Sunday's post.) She colored the image all by herself and I told her I was so proud that I'd post it to my blog. She helped me pick out the papers and put together the rest of the card based on the sketch from last week's Mojo Monday. She brought it to her mom last night at the hospital, and today new brother is home and doing well. Shelby, I'm proud of ya, girl! You're gonna be a stamper at a young age and Grandma LOVES that. Family members, if you follow my blog I'm thinkin' that you want to get on here and leave a comment for that young artist, if you know what I mean. Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to get by and say howdy to y'all on your blogs real soon.

Copic Creations Challenge #6

Happy Monday to you and welcome to the Copic Creations Challenge #6 post. The theme of the challenge this time was coloring wood and our sponsor is Unity Stamps. I chose to use my "Bridge Gate" from Magnolia stamps and created my own scene to go with it. I added a small pond of water and some flowers growing out of the wee bit of dirt at the base of the fence, (not sure why it's called a "bridge gate", but it is. To me, it's a fence.) Tilda is sweetly tending to these few flowers. The colors I used for the fence are E43, E53, and E33. I wanted it to be a more faded fence. I colored Tilda with colors similar to those in the Marrakech DP because I love those colors. If you posted to the last challenge and I didn't get around to commenting on your post, please forgive me and I'll try to get back on track for this challenge. The new baby's arrival threw the whole day off Sunday from things I had planned to do.....not that I'm complaining in the least. He's a cutie and a keeper for sure. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week.

GLAD Announcement

No cards at the moment, but I had to share a picture of our newest grandchild born not 12 hours ago to our son and DIL. This is little Will, and he weighed in at 8lbs.6ozs. Today is our 41st anniversary, so I think this was a pretty cool present. This is our 9th grandchild. Mom and baby are doing well and I'm on my way to help take his 3 siblings to meet their new little brother. I'll be back tomorrow with our next Copic Creations challenge so stay tuned. Have a blessed and wonderful Sunday.

Summer Notes

Don't know if you caught it last week-end, but the DT for Magnolia-licious had a fun blog hop. They all did a cute project with a post-it note holder and carrier using preferably a summer-themed Magnolia stamp. The projects were all amazing and the DT members were offering their own give-away, as well as the main project sight which is here. I was so inspired that I did mine right away, but then I took it down to work to show it off and forgot to get a picture of it to post. Alas, now I am posting it on the last day. But, you have until tonight to do yours and post it, so I suggest you go for it! I used Riding Hood Red CS and matching ribbon, and Western Sky DP from SU! I was inspired by my granddaughter's excitement about horseback riding, which she is getting to do today for her birthday, so I wanted to create that theme. Wouldn't these be great little gifts with a Christmas theme! I used my Summer Tilda with Hat and my Bridge Deck. I love this little project and the tutorial was very good, although I had to tweak mine a little to make it hold a regular-sized post-it note pad. Hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by and if you've got Magnolia stamps it's not too late to get in on this. At least take a peak at the fun projects they all did. I promise they'll put a smile on your face. Happy Friday!

First Birthday

I just love this set from Crafty Secrets called "Birthday Kids". It has a lot to the set and I love the adorable, chubby-cheeked children in the set. My grandson turns 1 in a few weeks so my daughter and I made up 10 of these invitations to send out to friends. The set has single candles so you can use the number corresponding with what birthday it is. It also has all the numbers from zero to 9 so you can get a lot of use out of it. We used DP from SU's Summer Picnic. I colored the image with Copic markers and drew my own string for the balloon. My ovals were cut with my Nesties. That's it - pretty simple but rather cute, don't you think? Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're having a good week.

Snowmen in June

You may not want to be reminded of snow this early in June, but I got another Christmas card done to add to my self- challenge of doing one Christmas card a month. I'm still behind, but thanks to this adorable craft stamp by Janlynn, I'm catching up. This one is called "Cheerful Snowmen", and I'm sure you would agree they look cheerful. I colored them all with Copic markers and cut them out. They are mounted on a SU Top Note die cut in Not Quite Navy and then brayered with white craft ink. I had to add a bit more white with my gel pen to try to create the idea of a snowy night. All of that is mounted on Night of Navy with a Sentiment from PTI's "Made of Snow". The main CS is white. The stars are punched from a SU punch, and the trees are from SU's "Lovely as a Tree". I am just loving these little guys and plan to make more because they really are cheerful little fellas. Janlynn is having a SUPER SALE until the 14th of June, so be sure to check it out. They carry a big variety of items and their craft stamps are beautiful! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful start to the week.

Not Your Usual Grad Card

This is not what you're used to seeing for a graduation card, right? I colored this adorable dragon from Victoria Case Art Designs and have been waiting to put it together. This week I added the pink background from PTI (Berry Sorbet), and then the DP's from Basic Grey's Euphoria. I had need of a graduation card for this week-end and I brought out this sentiment from PTI's Pond Life Sentiments that I decided would be perfect with a graduation card and my "fairy dragon". I do have a stamp with the cap and diploma that says Congratulations Graduate which I stamped on the inside of the card. It just happened that the hat, cut out, fit my dragon's head perfectly. Now this is no ordinary dragon. Her wings are colored in Atyou Spica glitter pens and her belly is alternately Stickles and Flower Soft. She's one smart, diva dragon, and don't you just love those eyes! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful week-end.

Happy Blooms

I am just loving these flower pot stamps from Lockhart Stamps from Ellen Hutson. I have one other one that I haven't done yet, but I couldn't wait to finish these and post them. They're quick and easy to color and I think they're just bright and happy. The papers I used for the Petunias, as well as the ribbon on both cards, are from PTI. They're part of their Perfect Match products. The daisy card uses SU papers. I ran the bottom panel of both cards through my Cuttlebug with Swiss Dots, and the green and purple with Divine Swirl. The flowers are a MS punch that I love with a SU circle-punch center. The "Hello Friend" and "Thank You" came from the Sweet Violets set from Flourishes and were mounted on dimensionals. (I do mix and match, don't I.) I used SU's orange CS for the back of the Petunias, but I sponged it first in Chocolate Chip and then Riding Hood Red. The edges are sponged with Chocolate Chip as well. I wanted to try to bring out the flower pot colors. These went together pretty quickly and I'm really liking them, so I'd like to finish the 3rd one ("Heather") and then make some of these as sets. Hope you like them and I hope your day is a good one.

Relax with a Cup of Tea

A few posts ago I shared a card done with a great craft stamp from the "Stamps Happen" line by Janlynn. Today I am featuring another one of their stamps called "Pot and Cup." I decided to color this in one of my favorite color combos which is yellow and blue. I used my gold pen to "etch" it in gold. The sentiment is from PTI's "Tea for Two". The DP is from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie and I made my own little version of a tea bag for an additional embellishment. My blue papers and brads are SU's Not Quite Navy. I can't wait to stamp the rest of the stamps I got from them. I'm really liking them and can't wait to show you the skaters! Thanks for stopping by. I think I'll go have a cup of tea. Care to join me?

Copic Creations Challenge #5

Happy Monday to you and can you believe we're on our 5th challenge with Copic Creations. The theme this time is transparencies. We are being sponsored by Gina K Designs, and we were graciously provided with a stamp set from Gina K to color. It's a beautiful set called Friendship Blooms with 3 images and 5 sentiments, but the one I used was the only one of the 3 that really lent itself to being transparent. I used Copic markers N1, YG91 and my blender for the water in the pitcher. I also added stems in the pitcher because the Gina K image does not include them inside the pitcher. I used my new Marrakech DP from Basic Grey, and "Vintage" Cuttlebug die cuts, cut in half, for the fancy background behind the image. I decided to keep the sentiment for the inside of the card because I thought it might take away from the image. I hope you like it. If you have Copics, check out the tutorials and play along. It's a great way to sharpen those coloring skills. Be sure to check out the cards the rest of the DT made. They're quite impressive. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day and week.