New Image Release and New Challenge Blog

ALL ABOARD (woot, woot!) FOR A NEW BUSY BEAUTIES ADVENTURE!!!!!

WELCOME! Today is a very BIG day for us, and we are way beyond excited! We hope you’ll join us on a fabulous journey as we travel through Wonderland with awesome new ALICE INSPIRED IMAGES from the Busy Beauties Boutique! Along the way, we’re also welcoming our April Guest DT SUSAN! Our final destination is our BRAND NEW BLOG: The Busy Beauties Creation Station!!!!! The adventure begins at Catherine’s blog. If you are arriving from Rachel's blog then you are on the right trail.

For my choices for the Hop, I love the Alice images Carolyn and Thomas have come up with. I must admit when I first saw the cat it was not anything like I expected. The Queen, likewise, looked very ominous. But when it came time to decide which images to do for the hop, those are the two I chose. I decided to "take a walk on the dark side" and I really enjoyed working these up. Since the Queen has sort of a Phantom look going on, I decided to keep the colors on the dark side as well. I used my 7 Gypsies "Savannah" DP and I was pleased with the vintage look it offered. I incorporated quotes from the "Alice in Wonderland" book for both of my cards.

"Chester Cat" is certainly not the harmless looking cat we're familiar with from the classic Disney movie, but he is apparently truer to the actual cat in the original story. I made an easel card with him and used Basic Grey's Eerie Paper Pad DP's to carry out sort of a cat/madness theme. I printed out two "Mad Scrapper" images, mirror-imaging one of them, and colored them and cut out just the heads, again to accentuate the "mad"-hatter idea. Once again I used a quote from the book. I colored all images with Copic markers. I know you'll love the rest of the images you'll find along the hop, so be sure to continue the journey and then join our challenge from our very own Busy Beauties Challenge Blog.

As always, we have HOP PRIZES! There will be 3 winners chosen from the comments left on certain DT blogs, but it's a secret which blogs we'll draw from! The prize for these winners is their choice of 1 Free BBB Image! So be sure to leave some love all along the way! Blog Hop Winners will be announced Sunday night on the Creation Station blog. And there is a prize package for the randomly selected winner of our Inaugural Challenge, so be sure to check that out at the end of the hop!

Your next stop is Michelle's blog! Enjoy the ride and when you finally arrive at the Creation Station, you’ll see our Inaugural Challenge is posted and waiting for you! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week-end.

Copic Creations Challenge #25

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post. I have been out of town, my computer crashed, and I was sick for several days, so all that truly set me back. I'm happy to report that my computer data has been saved and I'm over my illness. Now I'm finally getting back up to speed with my cards. Our Copic Creations challenge for the next two weeks is being sponsored by Paper Garden Projects, http://www.papergardenprojects.com/
and Cathy from PGP will be giving a $25.00 GC to the store. The theme of this challenge is flowers. What a great theme for this time of year. My Daffodils are from Flourishes' Calendar Set 1. I stamped the image 3 times, colored two of them completely and just one flower from the 3rd. I used dimensionals to mount the second flower image and 3rd single flower. My circle is done with a Spellbinder's die and a corner punch, previously featured here. The Copic colors I used are listed with my card on the Copic Creations website. The DT did some beautiful illustrations of flowers. I hope you'll check them all out and then join us for this challenge. So many left such wonderful comments on my last CC challenge post and I loved reading all of them. I used random.org to pick a winner for the "card" and Bow Easy, and it chose #7, who was Lissa. Lissa, congratulations! Please e-mail me with your address and I'll get that in the mail right away to you. I wish you all a wonderful Easter week-end. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Vacation Pics-Beautiful Sedona

I wanted to share with you a few pictures from our recent trip out west. A week ago today we drove to beautiful Sedona, Arizona, (from Buckeye) picnicked in a park and then walked a trail in another area. What incredible creations these were. The picture on the bottom left is of our grandson Ethan who lives with us, along with his mom-our daughter (his dad is military) and our son's youngest one, Emalee. They're 4 months apart and they had a good time together. In fact we heard that the morning after we left Emalee went around her house calling for Ethan. We had a lovely time being with our son and his family and it ended all too quickly, as always. The day after we got back I came down with some nasty virus and have been laid up in bed until this afternoon. Remnants of it are still hanging on, but I trust I'm on the mend. I'm also having a personal
crisis - a computer-crisis. Just before our trip I received my new computer and it was at that time that my old one, perhaps out of jealousy, who knows, decided it wouldn't boot up anymore. Now, of course, my life since 2004 is on that baby, and I loved that computer and I can't get a lick off of it. I'll have to take it in and hopefully they'll get it to boot up and work again, and if not, perhaps they can do a disk recovery on it. All of my digi-stamps are on it, and so much more. Well, I apologize for the whiney stuff. Hopefully I'll have a card up real soon. Meanwhile I wanted to post something lest people think I disappeared altogether.

Christine's Sketch Challenge

I was excited to learn that my friend Christine from dolcreations is guest designer this week for the Truly Scrumptious Challenge blog. Her challenge is a sketch challenge with the option of adding a quilt effect. I colored my Tilda with copics and used DP's from Basic Grey's Marrakech for my background and quilt squares. The blue squares are stamped with a quilt-block stamp from PTI's Quilter's Sampler and cut with EK Success' square punch, which fits those blocks perfectly. My sentiment is also from the same set and the inside of the card continues the sentiment with "is sewn with love and measured with kindness." My ribbon is covered up with the quilt blocks but it's there. My solid brown is SU's Soft Suede and my solid blue is PTI's Ocean Tides. The light brown DP is a single sheet I ordered and I don't remember it's name. I'm glad that I got to play along with this challenge. I'll be MIA for a few days while I go visit my babies in AZ. I'm taking several images and several Copics so I can color some. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week-end.

100th Challenge!

I purchased a few digi-stamps the other day from a new (to me) artist that has some pretty cute images, found here at Stitchy Bear Stamps. This little fairy is one that I bought and I colored her for our neighbor's little girl's 2nd birthday that my grandson was going to attend. She loves fairies and I thought this one was so cute. I added Shimmerz to the top of her outfit but it's hard to see in the picture. I learned that Danni from Danni's Dreams - Flutter-By Wednesday is hosting her 100th challenge, so I had to post this to her challenge. Congrats, Danni - that's awesome! My DP's are from Basic Grey's "Lemonade." My sentiment is from SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes. I'm so glad I got that set because I use a lot of teeny tiny sentiments. Thanks for stopping by and if you haven't seen all the wonderful blog candy being offered for our Copic Creations Challenge Anniversary, back up one post and check it out....you'll be glad you did.

Copic Creations One-Year Anniversary Challenge

Welcome to our one-year anniversary post. We've done something special to celebrate. Not only do we have several sponsors for this challenge, but each DT member is giving away their posted card and/or blog candy. The challenge is to do your favorite image and incorporate one of more of your favorite challenge themes that we've covered this past year. My card is actually a hanging card. By the time I added the lattice work, I decided that it would be a pretty piece to hang, so I backed it with DP and added "picture-hanging hardware" so it could be hung. I have an optional "Happy Easter" greeting that can be adhered if desired, but I actually liked it better without it. My blog candy is a brand new Bow Easy. My card image is a design by Philomena O'Neill (sponsor of our 20th CC Challenge) at Phindy's Place. This card is sort of a CASE of one that Jami posted awhile back that I fell in love with. You can see her post here. The challenge themes I used are the feathering technique and the coloring of embellishments. I feathered this shy little bunny's dress with BV11 and R20 and I colored the top flower to match her dress. We have 10 fabulous sponsors for this anniversary challenge, and I'm going to invite you to get the details of who they are and how to win at the Copic Creations Challenge blog right here. Be sure you check out the fabulous entries the DT has for this challenge. Remember, in order to win from the individual blogs you must leave a comment on those blogs. The winner of each blog will be announced on April 1, the same time as we announce the winner of the challenge. I hope you'll help us celebrate the first anniversary of this fabulous semi-monthly challenge by playing along and leaving some luv for each of the talented DT members. Thanks so much for coming by and have a wonderful stampin' week.

Birthday Blessings

This card is for the 4th ODBD challenge, which is a sketch challenge. I used the image and sentiment from ODBD's Happy Birthday set. I colored the image with my lightest set of Copic Markers, and then I shaded a bit with the lightest of the regular series of colors, i.e. G01, BV02, etc. I realized after putting it together that to completely follow the sketch I should have done circles, and my circles should not have overlapped the bottom band. However, I decided I would enter it anyway and if they want to disqualify it, that's fine - I still like how it turned out and it's worth a shot to link to the challenge. I used DPs from Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry, and I sponged them a bit with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I used my Labels 5 Nesties and SU's scallop punch for the punched border. ODBD is having a second anniversary celebration coming up soon with daily challenges, and lots of give-aways, so I'm hoping I can participate in some of it at least. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely week.

Wishing You Sunshine and Blog Hop Winners

First, I would like to announce the recent Blog Hop winners. They are:
from Secret Beauty Carmen's Blog......
crafterGM (Gloria)
from Secret Beauty Heather's Blog......
coldwaters (Lorraine)
from Secret Beauty Karen's Blog.........
Stacy aka Twinshappy
AND...the Grand Prize Winner is:
Bobbi
Congrats to all of you and thank you all for hopping through to see our rendition of the newest releases.

I wanted to make this card for all of you who are longing for Spring. This is a simple card made with Papertrey's Blooming Button Bits. The buttons were a set of white and ivory buttons from PTI that I colored with Copics. It's a cold, crisp morning (for Florida) but the sun shines brightly, the birds are chirping a happy, Spring song, and it promises to be a lovely Saturday. I thought I would wish this for all of you. My son's in-laws are down from Minnesota and they're quite weary of the snow. They're also surprised how cold it is here. It is not our typical mild, balmy weather. But hey, ...... no snow!! I hope you have a lovely week-end and happy stamping.

Dots and Stripes

I am so excited that I finally got to color one of my new Magnolia stamps. This one is called Ladybug Tilda from the Raising the Ceiling collection. I made her for the ATS (All That Scraps) Weekly Wednesday challenge here. I used my Basic Grey "Junebug" papers along with Cosmo Cricket's "Snorkel" DP's. My buttons are from Papertrey Ink and my sentiment is from SU's "Lots of Thoughts." I used my smallest scalloped Heart Nestie for the two hearts in the lower left corner. I've gotta say, I'm really pleased with this. I just love Magnolia stamps and I love the combo of dots and stripes. Thanks for taking a look. I hope she brings a smile to your face. Happy Friday to all of you!

BB Blog Hop and Challenge!

Good Thursday morning to you. Welcome to

BUSY BEAUTIES BOUTIQUE NEW RELEASE BLOG HOP & CHALLENGE!!!!!
THANK YOU for joining the Busy Beauties today! If you are arriving here from Grace's Blog, you are hopping right along. To start at the beginning, please visit Carolyn’s blog.
We are super excited to introduce a new set of images and also share some news!
About my cards:
Thomas and Carolyn introduced a new Beauty named Savannah, and I'm loving this little girl. The card on the left is called "Apple of My Eye Savannah" and along with using this adorable new image of Savannah, I debuted my new Cosmo Cricket "Material Girl" papers, my Nellie Snellen flower punches (that also emboss) and my new Tim Holtz Distress Ink color, "Wild Honey" (sponged on the white CS behind Savannah). I'm loving that color. The sentiment is from SU's "Teeny Tiny Wishes".

The card on the right is another Savannah image called "Sassy Savannah." I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her, and I'm so glad she's going to be an ongoing image. I paper-pieced her skirt and colored the rest of her with Copics. The inside of my card says "Where've You Been? We've Missed You!" I used my Basic Grey "Nook and Pantry" papers with this card and sponged the orange flower a bit to tone it down.

And now, Coming Soon...The BUSY BEAUTIES BLOG! We are hoping to have all the kinks worked out and launch the blog next month, but we just couldn’t contain our excitement and want to get our feet wet now with OUR FIRST EVER BUSY BEAUTIES CHALLENGE! Our theme is “GO GREEN!” and the challenge is to use GREEN as the predominate color on your card/project. The challenge is open from now through WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17^TH (St. Patrick’s Day)! BBB images are of course encouraged & preferred, but not required for this one. Since our official blog is not yet ready, Catherine will be hosting the challenge on her blog, where you can find all the nitty-gritty details and link your creations. (She's the last stop of the hop, so just keep bopping along.)
And since this is our premier challenge, there is a tangible prize package for the winner:

The PRIZE includes: Basic Grey Origins 6x6 pad; 4 yards of American Crafts satin ribbon, 1 yard of May Arts striped twill ribbon, 1 jar of Shimmerz.

Here is my "Go Green" challenge card featuring our lovely "Shamrocked Beauty" with an Irish Blessing for you. I think I pretty much worked in all the green I possibly could, but I love how it turned out! The upper DP is from "Material Girl" again, and the bottom rows of green are Martha Stewart borders. The sentiment is from Flourishes "Irish Blessings."

Once again, there are "secret beauties" whose blogs will award one winner each with their choice of 3 images from the BBB. There will also be a grand prize winner who gets to choose 5 images from the BBB, so be sure to hop your way through the blogs, get acquainted with the wonderful new releases and leave a comment on each to be sure your name is eligible for a prize. Be sure you hop quickly because Carolyn will be choosing a winner on Friday. All of these new images will be in the Busy Beauties Boutique on Saturday.

Thanks so much for visiting! Your next stop is Michelle's Blog! Enjoy the show and we can't wait to see your GO GREEN Challenge creations!

Copic Creations Challenge #23

It's time for another CC Challenge, and since it is March, we're playing with green. Green fluff, that is. Our sponsor this time is Our Craft Lounge, and this adorable dragon is from OCL's set called "Drake the Dragon." Drake is sporting some fluff on his tummy called Sparkly Fluff in Appletini Green. Our theme, if you haven't guessed it, is "A wee bit o' Green." I also added the fluff to the leaves of the tulips on the side. The Copic colors I used for "Drake" are G05, G07, G09 and G40. The winner of this challenge will receive 3 stamps sets from OCL, including a recent release from Marianne Walker. The DT has done some very creative cards for this challenge that I think you'll find are just plain fun. We are welcoming a new DT member - Heather (Rica) from "Rica's Haven" has joined us. Be sure to stay tuned because our one-year anniversary is coming up on 3-15, and we've got some special things planned. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can join us for our "wee bit o' green" challenge. You may have noticed my Busy Beauty blinkie in the side bar. We have our next hop on Thursday, March 4, as well as a challenge. I think you'll really like the images you'll find along this hop, and they'll all be available in the Busy Beauty Boutique as of March 4. Happy Monday and Happy March to you!

Tailz and Finz

It's time to share a fun little card. This card features one of the newest releases from the Busy Beauties Boutique, available in the Boutique on March 4. I thought this was such a fun little pair and my grandson loves fish, or "feeh" as he calls them (he's only 20 months old so we go with the feeh.) I used my Cosmo Cricket papers with this called "Snorkel," and I added some bubbles from a House Mouse stamp. The sentiment was put together with my Just-Rite font set. I colored these two with my Copics. There are some great images being released so be sure to stay tuned for the latest and greatest coming from the Busy Beauties Boutique on March 4 as we feature them with another blog hop. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a good week.

ODBD #3-Secret Admirer

I haven't posted for awhile, but that doesn't mean I haven't been stamping. I've actually made several cards that I've needed to get done. I needed to make a wedding card for a friend, so I decided to make it for the third challenge for Our Daily Bread Designs. The challenge is to acknowledge and case a crafter you admire or a creation you admire changing just two elements to make it your own. I chose to CASE this one from Yvonne's blog. She does the most beautiful things with Spellbinders dies. First off, my image is different than hers. I used a Gina K image called "With This Ring", designed by Rupa Shevde, since this is for a wedding. I colored it with very light Copics. I also did not have the same corner punch she used for the circle so I had to change that. My DP is from SU's Afternoon Tea, so I changed more than two elements. I thought it was an exquisite card though and one that would be perfect as a wedding card. I need to build up my inventory of ODBD Stamp sets, so I did not use one of their images on this. They don't require it, but love it if you do use one. I hope to have more of my creations to share with you, including a new release coming up at the Busy Beauties Boutique, and it's a cutie for sure. Thanks for stopping by.

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?

Copic Creations Challenge #22

Welcome to another Copic Creations Challenge. Our challenge this time is sponsored by DZ Doodles and you'll see a selection of their Easter images done by the DT. My image is called "Basket of Eggs". The theme of this challenge is to use your copics to color embellishments. I apologize that the picture makes it look washed-out because it's more colorful IRL. I colored white ribbon with B000 and weaved it in the basket. The one along the bottom was colored with R02. I colored the flowers and brad with R00, R02, BV11 and B000. The buttons were colored with R00 and the narrow zig-zag ribbon with BV11. I colored the larger pearls with BV11. I used my Shamrock Flower Soft on the Easter grass. Be sure to check out any tutorials posted on the CCC website as this is a great way to use your Copics, especially when supplies are limited. The DT has done some beautiful cards. Thank you for taking a look and have a wonderful week.