Friends are the Nicest Thing

I love this stamp set from SU called The Nicest Things, so-named because the sentiment with it says "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be." When I saw that, coupled with such a cute image, I knew I wanted this set. I paired it with Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg DP's and the tag is from a SU set called Tiny Tags. I used my Labels Seventeen Spellbinder's die with it and that pretty much sums it up. We had a lovely week-end and I was refreshed by the message at church yesterday reminding us from Psalm 90:12, "So teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." God wants us to make wise use of our time.....something we tend to forget oftentimes as we pursue more frivolous things. The message points were to be Fearless and to be Faithful. It definitely gave me something to work on as I am reminded of this truth. I hope you have a lovely week as we close out the month of October and rapidly approach the holiday season. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Copic Creations Challenge #28

My goodness it's hard to believe that we are on our 28th Copic Creations Challenge. That's exciting, and we've got a great challenge for you this time. The challenge is to color with a monochromatic color-scheme. Katie from PMS Stamps did a wonderful tutorial on how to do this and I have to say I've had fun using this technique. For one thing, it takes the work out of deciding what colors to color with. PMS Stamps is also our sponsor for this challenge and the images the DT used are all from PMS Stamps. I decided to keep my whole card fairly monochromatic, except for a touch of pink to represent the rose. I used my Taste of Textile DP's from Stampin' Up and I loved using them for this project. My sentiment is computer-generated and mounted atop pink satin ribbon with a Prima Rose at the top. I hope you'll check out the tutorials offered with this challenge and give it a try. I think you'll enjoy it. Be sure to check out the wonderful cards the rest of the DT did and have a wonderful week-end.

ODBD Challenge #2

This second week of challenges is again brought to us by Guest Designer America Kuhn. The challenge is here. I am happy to say I was one of two winners to receive the blog award from the first challenge, which is on my side bar. Woohoo! This week's challenge is to use red or pink and bling. I decided to use red AND pink. I'm really loving the Martha Stewart Punch-Around-the-Page punches, which is what I used on the red CS. I did the same with the pink CS beneath the sentiment, only I just punched the corners on that one and set it up diagonally. The sentiment and design are from OBDB's "Thinking of You" set, and the additional butterflies are from SU's Butterfly Embosslits in Rose Red. I used my Deckle-Edged Nestie for the sentiment and lightly sponged it with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I used my Rose Red and Pretty in Pink markers to color in the sentiment, coloring the butterfly in Elegant Eggplant. I randomly added my bling. All-in-all, an easy card to make. Be sure to check out the beautiful cards the OBDB DT submitted. Thanks for stopping by. It's a beautiful day here, but another cold one. Are we sick of winter yet?

"Oops, There Goes Another Rubber Tree..."

Yay! My first High Hopes stamp gets colored and posted. I love this little guy, although I'm not sure how fond I am of coloring ants. This is my first attempt, well....second. The first ant was too dark so I started over with the Warm Greys instead of the Cool Greys. I colored the rest with Copics. He fit perfectly into my Mega Curved Rectangle Nestie. I had a flower punch that I inked with SU markers and stamped on the left side. I sponged So Saffron and More Mustard around the outer edges and used my two SU word punches for the sentiment. I attached my flowers and mounted it all on Garden Green CS and Voila! - I just smile when I see this little guy. This was a pre-order from 7 Kids College Fund and I got others to ink up as well. So glad I got them. Hopefully I'll share those with you soon. If you want to check out the other cool pre-orders they're offering, as well as the fabulous stock of items they now carry, you can get there by clicking on the logo on the left side of my blog. I hope you have a wonderful week-end and if you're on the east coast, don't get buried under too much snow. Thanks for stopping by.

Joy in Little Things

Got a quick post today. I've been undergoing a huge project of purging my craft room and it's closet of unwanted/unnecessary items. I'm loving a cleaned-up, less cluttered room. However, its obviously deterred me from actually creating, but that's okay. There's more room and efficiency to do that now. I should take pictures while it's all cleaned up to share what works for me. But, onto my card that I did a few days ago. This card was inspired by Leslie Miller's card (Running with Scissors) here, and I really like it and set out to CASE it. However, it really didn't look all that much like her card by the time I finished because I had to change it to use what I had, but I ended up liking it very much. I was very thankful for the inspiration. Yikes, I almost got rid of this stamp set. It is "Oh So Lovely" from SU! The papers are Cosmo Cricket, the punch is new from SU! and I'm really liking it. I'm off to more projects, (golly it's nice to de-clutter) so have a wonderful day and week-end and as always, thank you so much for stopping by. I love when you do.

Season of Friendship

Just a quick post today because I'm still not done with the big project - but I'm getting close. I had to make some generic cards for a friend and I pulled out this set from SU that I hadn't even inked up yet. It's simple - no coloring, but I like how it turned out. I'm sure I could do more to it, but I think this is how she will like it, so I left it pretty simple. The fence border punch at the bottom is from SU. I used my usual favorite Kaiser Half-Pearls and DP's from two different SU Autumn sets. I'll be back with the Copic Challenge on Saturday and the next TMITA card on Monday and I'll share pics with you of the big project. Phew! I usually get around to all that participate in the Copic Challenge and leave a comment, but I've had no time, so if you're one of those, I apologize. Hope you're having a lovely week. Hugs,

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.

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!

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.

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.

Great idea with Flower Soft

I'm featuring a card today that I CASED from Leslie Miller using Flower Soft. I love how it turned out, and as you can see I did two versions of it.....one was for a birthday, the other I used for a young man we know who graduated. If you check out Leslie's versions, she did "His and Hers" cards and by switching things a bit you can do a lovely feminine card as well. My papers are all SU! and the tree is from SU's "Lovely as a Tree". I also used my Kaiser half-pearls which are still one of my favorite embellishments. I hope you have a lovely day. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous....wish we could have lots more of this. I'm off to work but wanted to get this posted. Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments.

HM Bags and Boxes Challenge

The HM challenge for this week, as you can tell by the title, is Bags and Boxes. I decided to make a box. I used SU's Sweet Slumber DP and I used my Nestie to cut an opening in the top and attached clear cellophane to the inside. The sides are 2" deep, so I should be able to pack several Easter goodies inside. The image I used is called Basket of Friendship, and I colored my eggs with my Spica pens. You can't tell from the picture, but they're glittery and very pretty. The rest was colored with my Copic markers. Thanks for looking. The DT did some adorable projects, so be sure to check them out when you can. Yay, it's Friday!

OCC Color Challenge

I made this for the OCC Color challenge, which called for using Not Quite Navy, More Mustard and Bashful Blue. Interesting color combo, but be sure to take a look and the cards the DT did, because they're actually very striking. I stamped my gardening lady (from Alota Rubber Stamps) and the "Dig into Spring" sentiment (from Flourishes' Siberian Iris) with Not Quite Navy on More Mustard. I used the branches from SU's Thoughts and Prayers on the More Mustard paper for background. The Bashful Blue cardstock was embossed with my Argyle embossing folder. I used my MS lace punch for the More Mustard layer and I used Bashful Blue and Not Quite Navy for the flowers with a More Mustard brad. All of it is layered onto Not Quite Navy CS and I added a thin strip of NQN at the bottom of the Bashful Blue. Pretty simple, but I like how it turned out. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be out of pocket next week so I'm trying to participate in what I can this week. After that I should be able to stay put for awhile. Happy Thursday.

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.

A Simple Card plus a "long" Story

This card was a very quick and easy card for some friends, and I'm pleased with how it came out for being a simple one. I used the "frame" for the Top Note Sizzix die, Upsy Daisy for the stamp, some light sponging and Martha Stewart flowers for the corners. Stamp a sentiment and voila, you're done! Oh, I did add a few Kaiser pearls to the flowers on the stamped image. The DP is SU's Flowers for You.
This week has been busy. I was asked by a local children's clothing store to make 5 cards of 2 designs that I brought them. I'm not sure how I feel about mass producing when I have to color in the main design. They turned out pretty cute, actually, and I took them in to the store. Because I raised my "asking" from $2 to $3, she turned down the big card suggesting they wouldn't sell, but she did take the little gift cards....all 5 of them. I'll post pics of these in my next post. I didn't want to lower my price because coloring in all those images just isn't worth letting them go for $2. I missed making cards to post and commenting on all of your cards, so I have to think about this "venture." I'm still happy she took the 5 gift cards, and she liked my work. She just didn't think she could sell them by the time she added her mark-up. Now I've spared you all that reading with my next post. Have a wonderful Saturday. Thanks for stopping by.

Versatile Upsy Daisy

This week I had the opportunity to make some thank you cards and some sympathy cards, all of which I needed. I love the Upsy Daisy set by Stampin' Up and I pulled it out and used it a few different ways. The card stamped in Pink Pirouette was a little faint but IRL it works okay. The other two are my preference. The Pink Pirouette and Bravo Brugundy-stamped cards use Parisian Summer DP, and the Baja Breeze-stamped card uses Manchester DP. I used my taffeta "Sand" ribbon on all 3 and I love that ribbon because it's more elegant than grosgrain and this color is so versatile. I used my scallop punch from SU on all three and attached my favorite little Kaiser pearls to each card. The sentiment on the front of the sympathy cards is from "Close as a Memory", also from SU! Pretty simple in all, but I think they made nice cards for what I needed. Thanks for visiting my "korner" and have a wonderful week-end. I've got more lined up to share with you. AMAZING, I know, that for once I'm a bit ahead of things. You know I would stamp 24/7 if I could, but I guess that's only for a "Walgreen World". Hugs,

SSnotime 57 Challenge

Today's card is a challenge card inspired by a card entered for another challenge. I saw an awesome card this morning....well, I saw lots of awesome cards actually.....but this one caught my eye and I loved the colors. It was done by Laura Fredrickson for Flourishes. I realized that I had purchased Flourishes shimmery "Carmel" CS and never used it - yet. I also had the Divine Swirl embossing folder for my CB that I had never used. I also recently purchased Brilliance "Cosmic Copper" and hadn't used that yet either. The "No Time to Stamp" challenge this week was to do a card with no pictures. You could use DP and sentiments, but no stamped images. Since I wanted to do this challenge, Laura's card inspired me to use these elements to make my card. Since I also hate to make cards that will serve a purpose rather than just allow me to enter a challenge (I'm sure no one does that), I used my new "Christ is Born" sentiment from SU! to add another Christmas card to my "stash." I also found a Basic Grey paper this week called "Mellow" and I fell in love with it. I must buy one or two more because I can see really using this up. I incorporated all of these elements into my card, and while the colors don't say Christmas, the sentiment certainly does. I believe we were allowed to attach flowers as long as we didn't stamp them, so I attached my Prima Poinsettias. Be sure to check out Laura's card if you get a chance, and I will post this as well to the ssnotime57 challenge at SCS. I'm trying to get SCS to respond to an e-mail and explain why my gallery link won't take me to my gallery. If any of you have had a problem with that and no of a fix, please let me know. I've not heard anything back from them at SCS and it's been a week now. Thanks for looking and have a wonderful rest of the week-end.

Christmas Workshop

This is my latest card for the workshop I have been asked to do for our ladies at my church. It's fairly simple but will teach them to use markers on the stamps and to use a reverse-mask technique as I did for the snowglobe and a mask technique for the presents. I'll post the others over the next few days. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you're having a good week.

Great "shows" from Card Night

Last night was my monthly card class, and we did some great cards. We employed a variety of techniques and tools to come up with these cards. I got to try SU's new die cut machine, and I had to get the adorable envelope die on the lower left card since it is supposed to work fine in my Cuttlebug. (I do love my CB and have no desire to replace it.) It makes the cutest little envelope and could be used for so many things. Anyway, just thought you'd enjoy seeing these fun cards. The scarecrow is in the new Holiday Mini Catalog. There are so many products out there to stamp with - it's amazing. There is also so much talent out there and it's so much fun for me to see what all you stampers come up with. These cards we did were cased, and I'm not sure from who, but whoever you are, your designs are inspiring and we thank you for sharing. Happy World Cardmaking Day! KrB