Quick and Easy

I needed to make some quick & easy cards to have on hand and this card fit that bill. I used Flourishes Summer Botanicals and stamped it with Memento Rich Cocoa, mounted that on PTI's Dark Chocolate CS, added another layer of white CS which I scalloped on one edge and sponged with Rich Cocoa and mounted it on top of PTI's DP. I also used PTI's color-match ribbon. All of that was layered on top of white CS. I used my Kaiser Chocolate half-pearls and a photo corner and that's it - you're done.
I hope you're having a good week and staying warm. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Up, Up and Away

This week's House Mouse challenge was to make a Valentine card. I used my little Happy Hopper and let him get carried away with a bunch of red, heart-studded balloons. He's showcased amongst Su's Candy Lane DP. This came with the recently-offered bundle that included the "Love You Much" stamp set, the DP, and the 3-heart punch. I'm so glad I got this as I love the papers as well as the stamp set and punch. The small "Valentine" sentiment is from "Hearts on Fire" from Verve, as is the row of hearts along the bottom. The other sentiment was put together with my Just-Rite stamper letters. I scallop-punched it out and drew little hearts in each of the scallops. All of it is mounted on Chocolate Chip CS. My Happy Hopper is colored with Copics and then gone over to some degree with Prismacolor pencils. I had fun doing this and just might have to make a few more. Be sure to check out the other adorable cards over at HM and as always, thanks so much for stopping to take a look. I love it when you do.

Geared up for a Birthday

This card is what I did for my son who just had his birthday. Growing up he loved Legos and Transformers, so I thought he'd enjoy this robot on his card. I love this set from Alota Rubber Stamps. There is one stamp of a mommy robot pushing a baby robot in her robot buggy.....too cute! Anyway, I did this one with a computer generated sentiment on the front that my daughter came up with....."The Best Gears Are Yet to Come." I loved it and had to go with it. Of course he immediately asked if that meant his present involved a car. Get real! Anyway, I had fun with it....hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll still be back tomorrow with another post. (I'm on a roll.....I'll do my best to keep it up. :)

Dancing Lambs

I love this image from Alota Rubber Stamps. I think they are a crack-up. I made 3 cards with them. The first one I colored their outfits and the next two I actually stamped and cut their outfits out of DP. I think I preferred that and it added a bit of dimension. I used the "Thank Ewe" from SU's Pun Fun. The DP I used was Flowers for You from SU. Hope you like these gals. I had fun doing this card. Happy Monday and yay!, it's time for HM challenge again. Also. Alota Rubber Stamps is having a valentine challenge on Paper Craft Planet, so if you've got any of their stamps, head on over and join the fun. Today is also my youngest son's birthday,.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweetie! I delivered all 9 lbs.,7 oz. of him 30 years ago.

Christmas in January

I meant to post this in January, because I actually did get in done within the month of January. I challenged myself to do at least one Christmas card a month, so I'm one for one at the moment. I used Flourishes ornament set that I actually didn't get until it was too late to make cards with it in '08. However, I saw so many gorgeous cards made using that set that I knew I would use it in '09. I also used my Snowflake Embossing Folder and my SU taffeta ribbon, and my MS punch for the top and added the half-balls in the silver. It really perked it up. This was simple but I really like how it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a wonderful week-end.

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,

HM Paper Piercing

This week's HM challenge is Paper Piercing. I colored this image with my Prismacolor pencils some time ago for my SS kids and never made it into a card, so now I got to do double-duty. I did the challenge and did a Thank You card that I have needed to send out. I used my Nesties for the image and the matte behind it. The plaid DP's are both Prestwick from SU. The solid color CS is Night of Navy, Whisper White, and Garden Green. The sentiment was purchased along with the HM stamp and I think worked great with this. I stamped it on Sahara Sand. I paper pieced around the sentiment and the scalloped matte, as well as the corners. My MS border punch was kind enough to "pierce" it's own border for me. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check out the other entries in the challenge. They're always so cute, and if you can, play along. I have several more cards to share with you because I was able to get several cards done this week. Can't wait to show you my Dancing Lambs and my birthday Robot, as well as variations on Upsy Daisy, A N D......I even got a Christmas card done (one of my goals for this year - doing one Christmas card a month.) All this coming up....sounds like TV before a commercial break, doesn't it. Well then, stay tuned. :) Hugs and Happy Friday.

HM DT Wannabe

HM is looking for new DT members, and I AM APPLYING! Are you kidding?! I've done this challenge from the beginning. Look at my "Labels"....I have by far the most under HM Challenge. I LOVE HM images, and this DT is the BEST for commenting on each other's cards and the cards of those who participate. Very important to this stamper! I have a pretty good stash of HM stamps at this point because I purchased several to use for the Sunday School curriculum I developed for our 2 & 3-year-olds. They love Mudpie the best, but they also like all the others. We're just finishing "The Fruits of the Spirit" and I've got to come up with another series quickly. My church would gladly provide me with materials, but since I love HM, and love stamping, I wanted to try doing my own. Attached are some of my HM creations, a Sketch Challenge, an Anything Christmas Challenge and a Color Challenge. Ya gotta love these little critters. They have such personality! I know there are lots of qualified applicants, but I would really LOVE to join this group. Thanks for havin' a look.

Cheer-Up Bee

I've been a "busy bee" this week making cards for specific events and people that need to or have already gone out. I made two of these cards with a "I Hope this note finds you feeling better" sentiment inside. The image is another one from Alota Rubber Stamps and I think this little guy could cheer anybody up. The papers are Bazzill papers and the ribbon is a double-sided ribbon from Flourishes. I love this ribbon and use it quite often. I used a MS punch and realized after I was done that it resembles a honeycomb, so guess it was a good choice. Thanks for stopping by. "Bee" back soon.

Alota Valentines

Nancy at Windstar Creations had done these adorable pocket envelopes to go with her Cards 4 Kids valentines. She was kind enough to send me directions and I had to try one, which led to three. Thank you, Nancy. They're super easy to do, so I made them and then copied her idea of putting valentines in them with the tab on the top. I did my valentines with the set I ordered from Alota Rubber Stamps, "Valentine Cuties." I love this set. The DP and hearts are from the SU! bundle which included a great Valentine stamp set, the 3-heart punch, and the DP. These are for 3 of my 8 grandchildren. I need to get more done, but I'm waiting on my robot images to arrive to do a few up with those. They are also from ARS, and I'll post those when I get them done. ARS also has some new sets that are beautiful and versatile so check them out if you get a chance. Thanks so much for looking. Loved all the cards I took the time to look at today. Flourishes also had some beauties to showcase. So much eye candy, and so inspirational! Hope you have a lovely week-end, wherever you are.

A Big Thank You! and a Card Challenge

Wow, I can't believe it's been 5 days since I last posted to my blog. I seemed to be on such a roll last week and then this week I've had a lean week for stamping. I do want to say a big thank you to Nancy, Windstar Creations, and Carolyn, P.M.S. ETC. Each of these sweet ladies nominated me for an award. To say that made my day would be an understatement. Thank you so much, girls, for honoring me with those awards. Each of these girls is so talented and generous and I am thrilled to be nominated by them. I will be back to post my awards and nominate someone for them, but I did want to acknowledge Nancy and Carolyn for thinking of me.

I also wanted to post my HM challenge since I managed to get it done. I was recently in Hobby Lobby and remembered that they sell HM stamps there. I found one of the images I fell in love with on the challenges, AND....it was on sale! I even found a sentiment that went perfectly with it. This week's challenge was a color challenge....Cameo Coral, Old Olive, and Night of Navy. I think my card is self-explanatory, given those color perameters. I colored my bunny with my Copic markers. If you can see, I colored her necklace beads in Old Olive and Night of Navy, alternating colors. My bunny has a keen sense of fashion when it comes to color coordination. :) Thanks for stopping by. I'm always thrilled to read your encouraging comments. The HM design team did some adorable cards so be sure to check them out. I'll try to be back soon. Nancy sent me a tutorial on making ATC pockets and I made 3 and put valentines in them for my grandbabies. Can't wait to show them to you. Thank you, Nancy for sharing that. Happy Saturday!

Sweet Little Donkey

I have another quick post to share with you before heading for work. I'm only going in briefly because technically today is a holiday, right? This was for a sketch challenge on PCP for Alota Rubber Stamps. I'm getting really addicted to their images and this one is another in the "Michelle's Sweet Little Donkeys" set. The DP is from Basic Grey's "Cupcake". The ribbons are Chocolate Chip from SU and the yellow is Lemon Tart from PTI. I cut out my donkey and then made my own grass for him to sit on. I popped him up on dimensionals and I colored all of it with my Copic Markers. Hope you like it and thanks so much for looking. Today is another new challenge at HM&Friends. It's a color challenge, so check it out and if you can, be sure to join in.

Ya Gotta Luv Alota

I finally put two cards together yesterday of images that I received from Alota Rubber Stamps and colored right after Christmas. I made the one a Valentine's card (DUH!) and the other is for a baby shower we're invited to. I colored these with my Copics that my husband so generously got me for Christmas. I'm loving these little donkeys and have more colored/to color. The donkeys are in a set called Michelle's Sweet Little Donkeys, and the other is called Walking in the Rain Umbrella. Aren't they just too cute!!! Alota Rubber Stamps issued a sketch challenge beginning the 16th but sadly these won't work, so golly,....guess I'll just have to do another card. Darn! :)
Thanks for stopping by and hope you like these. If you have any of their stamps, join the challenge!

Flourishes Home Decor Challenge

To celebrate the release of 3 new home-related stamp sets, Flourishes is having a challenge. The idea is to find something in your home and use it as inspiration to make a card. The DT came up with the most gorgeous and creative cards. They are choosing one lucky winner to give the new sets to. I wanted to get in on this challenge because,.....well, it challenged me. (I long ago gave up on the idea that I might ever win anything free, so I don't do the challenges with that as my main goal. I mean there's still hope, but miniscule at best when it comes to me.) Anywhoo, I have a Charming Tails piece in my craft room that I just love. I bought it with my daughter, for my daughter, but it graces my craft room because she still resides here. I decided to attempt to capture that for my card. Most everything I used is from Flourishes. The coffee cup is from "Coffee with Friends". The large flower and the leaves are from "Poppy Patch" and the small flower is the coneflower from "Summer Botanicals." The sentiment is from "Mixed Greetings." The pearls are "Blush" Kaiser pearls, and the background paper is from Memory Box's "Grove." I colored my flowers and leaves with copic markers and adorned the edges with Stickle's Stardust. It is all mounted on Bazzill dotted swiss CS. The green and white ovals, cut with my Nestie's, are from SU and PTI. Be sure to check out the cards the DT did, and I think there's still time to get in on the challenge, but hurry. Thanks so much for looking.

Blog Award from Rachel

Rachel from My Cardstock Creations nominated me for this award. Thank you bunches, Rachel. Needless to say, I was ENCOURAGED.

The rule's of this Award are as follows:

1) Post a link of the person who gave you this award.
2) Nominate 5 other people and give a link to there sites.
3) Let the people who you have nominated know.
4) Put a logo of the award on your blog.

My 5 nominees are : (this is always the tough part, because there are so many incredible bloggers and talented stampers - but here is my list for this time)

For beautiful card creations and the ability to make me laugh: Joan, Paperlicious
For adorable cards with critters that I'm just now discovering: Teresa, Crafteresa
For beautiful cards and as much encouragement as any person could give: Carolyn, P.M.S. Etc.
For cards and a blog that keep getting better and better: Cindy, Stamping Therapy
For a fun blog to visit and really great projects: Nancy, Windstar Creations

Please be sure to check out their blogs. I know you'll smile and be inspired. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my blog. It encourages me more than you know.