Cricut Cardz Challenge #10

This week's Cricut Cardz Challenge was a little worrisome to me. Having to come up with a Valentine card using the colors black, white, lavendar and green was a little scary for me. I had exactly one piece of paper that I thought I could work with by Chatterbox called Light Parlor Paisley. This is a two-sided paper with the paisley on one side and the light green polka dot you see under the two puppies. I stitched around both pieces using my sewing machine. My base card is black cardstock in a standard A2 size. I used Cricut's Paisley cartridge to cut the two dogs and their shirts. I cut them at 1 1/4".

I decorated their shirts with little hearts from a Martha Stewart border punch that I used on the inside of the card and then added pearls to the center. I used narrow green ribbon and attached a tag that I punched and then ran through my printer for the sentiment along with a heart charm.
On the inside of the card I stamped Happy Valentine's Day with a stamp from Inkadinkado that came from Joann's $1 bin. Then I added two of the little hearts in purple and the punched border.

2Sketches4You, 2redbananas

Sometimes I have a real hard time just keeping a card simple. I tend to want to add lots of embellishment or several patterned papers together. I wanted to stay simple with this card using the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You (http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/ ). For the piece of red cardstock with the image I stamped my own background for the challenge this week at 2 Red Bananas (http://2redbananas.blogspot.com/ ). I used Colorbox Queue chalk inks the red collection and a small heart stamp from Hero Arts. The large stamp in the center is from Studio G and is done with the darkest of the red inks, maroon. I stitched a red gingham ribbon onto the square. I placed a small piece of polka dot paper under it. I used a MS heart border punch and inked the edges slightly. I found that this didn't highlight very well on the card so I ended up adding a piece of red cardstock underneath so the hearts would show up better.

Allsorts,CraftyCreat,CraftyCardm,KellyJo,Mojo,Pink Elephant

I made a quick card this morning that just happens to fit a bunch of challenges.

The Challenges:

• Allsorts (http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/ )-Hearts & Flowers
• Crafty Cardmakers (http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ )-Hearts & Romance
• Crafty Creations (http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/)-Valentine
• Kelly Jo's Color Chef(http://www.kjsstamppad.blogspot.com/ )-Lt. & Dk. Pink
• Mojo Monday (http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/ )-Circle Sketch
• Pink Elephant (http://thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com/ )-Polka Dots, Bow, Pink

It's always a change up to make a shaped card and I love to do them so when I saw the Mojo Monday sketch for this week I knew I had to use it. I used Cricut's Wild Card cartridge to cut a circle card and then Mini Monograms for the scalloped circle. My dp are from GCD Studio's Rose Colored Glasses Collection. I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss hearts on the white cardstock. My ribbon is a sheer pink polka dot. I embellished with three buttons and added a little bit of sparkle with Stickles around a couple of the hearts.

BBTB2 Love Postage Stamp Challenge

It's a new week at BBTB2 and a new challenge using the Sweethearts cartridge and the stamp on page 49. As you can see I have two items to fit the bill. I'm a little behind the times and just discovered the little mailboxes from Target for $1.00. How can you beat that price? I bought several of them. I can think of so many things to do with them now that I have them. Of course, there is the usual filling them with treats. But, what about filling them with individual cards with things you love about your spouse, or quotes about love for someone getting married. For my card I cut the stamp at five inches then decorated the front with pink rick rack and a heart rhinestone. My pp on this card is from Little Yellow Bicycle and I singled out a pair of birds for the center of the heart.

For the mailbox I cut the stamp at two inches, inked the edges with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Warm Red, added a punched red heart and pink rhinestones to each corner. The patterned paper on the mailbox is from GCD Studios. I added lace at the edge of each side. The word notes was cut from the Don Juan cartridge at 1 inch.

2Sketches4You,Crazy4Challenges,OneStop

The Challenges:

• 2 Sketches 4 You (http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com )-Sketch
• Crazy 4 Challenges (http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/ )-Pretty in Pink
• One Stop Craft Challenge (http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/ )-Love & Kisses

A great sketch this week from 2 Sketches 4 You so I decided to use it. My base card is white cardstock and PP is from GCD Studios. My image is Cute Daisy May colored with Copics. I used Nestabilities Labels Three dies. I embellished with lace, ribbon and buttons because what would a Valentine card be without them.

Copics I used-B21, B24, B29, C1, E00, E29, E31, E33, R20, R22, R27, R32, Black100

Project Tuesday,Papertake Weekly, 365

I finished my Project Tuesday mini pizza box today. I filled it with chocolate goodies for my granddaughter for Valentine's Day. I did this box with predominately pink so I will enter it in Papertake Weekly's challenge and the chocolate I put in will let me add it to the 365 challenge from Tuesday. My print paper is Basic Grey Nook & Pantry collection. I used a white heart doily for the top and air brushed it a little with my Copic ABS using R22. I used pink tissue paper to make the flower and distressed the edges with brown ink then added some Martha Stewart fine crystal glitter. Which doesn't show up in the picture. I found this really cute felt heart edging at Joann's one day. I thought it would be perfect for some kind of Valentine project. I was pretty much thinking a card, in fact the lady cutting it for me asked me what I was going to do with it and that's what I told her. But I think it goes perfect around this box. Good thing I put it there, too. It will keep me from opening the box and eating the chocolate myself. I had really poor lighting today when I was trying to get this picture so you can't see my cute little stickpins I added to the flower and ribbon. They're hearts with a few pink beads added. I wish these gloomy winter days would be over if for no other reason than to get some decent pictures. The pictures just don't do this justice. It looks way better in person.

Doesn't this look so yummy? Makes you want some chocolate, huh? Have you ever had these Hershey Kisses with the cherry cordial centers? Yum, they're my favorite. I'm such a chocoholic. At least the chocolate photographed well.

Card Patterns,Cooking It Up, Paper Kutz

I just got a new digi stamp today. This adorable digi stamp was done by Angela at Sew Many Cards(http://www.sewmanycards.com/). It reminded me of my dog Trueman so much that I had to use it for my husband's Valentine card. Angela please forgive me for removing your puppy's tail from this image, but you see Trueman is a Mountain Cur and this breed has no tail. Just a little nub that's wiggles as if it were a tail. I used Card Patterns (http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/) weekly sketch for my card. I used brown kraft cardstock for my base card. My image is colored with Copics. The sentiment and paw prints are included with this stamp. I simply added a row of red buttons for dimension and texture, a bone clip on one corner and a little punched heart on the puppy. I will enter this card in the challenge at Cooking It Up (http://cookingitupwithkatie.blogspot.com/2010/01/challenge-9-at-cooking-it-up.html using my new digital image and texture and Paper Cutz farm animal challenge(http://papercutzchallenge.blogspot.com/). There's always a dog on the farm. Creative Belli Blog (http://bellichallenge.blogspot.com/) is looking for hearts.
Here is a picture of my dog that I drew inspiration from. This is Trueman the Mountain Cur, my wonderful, faithful dog and companion.

Sweetn'Sassy,Stamp,Scrap&Doodle,Crazy4Challenges

This is my granddaughter's Valentine's Day card. I used the wonderful sketch from Crazy 4 Challenges (http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/) and this fantastic brand new image from Sweet n' Sassy Stamps (http://sweetnsassystamps.biz/shop/index.php?main_page) called Heart Princess. I knew when I saw it would be perfect for this card. I'll also enter this card in the Stamp, Scrap & Doodle (http://ssdschallenge.blogspot.com/) challenge for a "girly" card. My granddaughter's favorite colors are pink and purple so I decided to do the dress in purple and the flowers in pink. Payton is 3 yrs. old and is definitely under the impression that she is a princess. Sometimes we call her Princess "P". My print paper is K & Company Juliana Lilacs. I used dark purple cardstock for my base card which is a 5 1/4" square. My wonderful friend, Sharon (Gramma's House of Cards http://grammashouseofcards.blogspot.com/), Copic colorer extraordinaire, has been encouraging my meager attempts with the Copics. I think I'm finally getting it. Thanks Sharon for the paper suggestion. I finally managed to get my hands on some Cryogen and I love it. The Copics I used on the princess image are V01, V04, Vo6, RV00, RV02, RV04, G00, G02, E00, E02, R20, E29, E31, and E33.

My scalloped rectangle under my image and the scalloped oval for my sentiment were cut with my Cricut Storybook cartridge. The dragonfly is from the print paper. I cut a second one so I could layer them. I added Martha Stewart fine crystal glitter to the wings and purple Stickles on the body. I also added purple Stickles to the center of a few of the lilacs. I used pink Stickles for the flowers in her hair and on the heart. The sentiment is computer generated. I used two ribbons on this card. The white flower ribbon is topped with a narrow purple ribbon. Payton is going to love this card for two reasons, the princess and the glitter. She's obsessed with glitter. Every time we craft together she wants to use glitter. I finally realized I better get some inexpensive glitter glue for her to use at my house before she found the Stickles.

Crafts 4 Eternity, A Spoonful of Sugar

Crafts 4 Eternity (http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.com/) has the absolute best challenge this week, just brilliant. Now this is a challenge. I've long gone to Crafts 4 Eternity for sketches, but now they've added a little bit more, a bit of a twist. A recipe to go along with the sketch. This week they ask you to use a color you don't like. Now tell me that's not a challenge. For me it's orange. These print papers have been in my stash for so long I have no clue where they came from. As much as I dislike orange it was amazing that I could find a few things that went together. I'm sorry to say I don't know where the cute little snail digi image came from either. If anyone looking at this knows, please help me give the artist credit. I have a lot of layering on this card which is what A Spoonful of Sugar is looking for in their challenge for this week ( http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/).

I used my Copics to color (YG91, YG 95, G00, G02, Y17, YR07). I used my Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge to cut the scalloped circle then added a little doodling with a Sakura 3-D glaze pen. I inked the edges of my papers with Colorbox chalk ink in tangerine. I added a few orange rhinestones to the flower centers. My sentiment is from a container of stamps from Hero Arts. I loved stepping out of my comfort zone for this challenge and using some of this orange stash that's been hanging around. Gosh it's hard for me to even look at this posted on my blog. It clashes so much with my cute little blog background. I apologize for that.

Cricut Cardz Challenge #9

Today at Cricut Cardz Challenge (http://www.cricutcardzchallenge.blogspot.com/) we have S-fold cards with the theme "Thinking of You". This is the third card I made before I actually got this challenge right. First I made an S-Fold card with a Valentine theme, totally missing the fact that it was supposed to be a "Thinking of You". I waited until the next day to start on the card again. For some reason I made the second card totally leaving out the S-Fold part. I made the most beautiful "Thinking of You" card. I'll save it for a future post. Card number three and I finally got it right. This "Thinking of You" cut comes from the Don Juan cartridge. I cut it at 2 3/4" and placed it on a Nestibilities Label Three cut from black cardstock. My PP is Ebony and Ivory from Kaiser Craft. I doodled around the edges of the black cardstock with a Sakura 3-D glaze pen in white.

The inside sentiment is Inkadinkado from Joann's dollar bin. I must have hit the store right after they filled up the bins with new stamps after Christmas. I nabbed quite a few really darling stamps with Valentine themes then several all purpose stamps like this one. I colored the coffee cup with my Copics (R20, R27, R29). It doesn't show up well in the photo but I added a red rhinestone to the flower on the cup and black Stickles to the steam rising from the cup.

BBTB2 Doodlecharms Shaped Snowman Card

I used my Gypsy to create this cute little snowman shaped card with the Doodlecharms cartridge. It's great having a Gypsy or Design Studio to create a shaped card, but I was making shaped cards long before either convenience came out. I basically created a template or pattern with my Cricut then would trace it onto a piece of folded cardstock and cut it out by hand. That's the way to go if you don't have either of those two items. My base card is DCWV blue glitter paper that I had left over from a winter scrapbook page I did up as a sample for a Cricut class I was teaching. (See, I'm still doing good with my "using what I have" goal.) This is cut at 6". I used a scrap piece of cream colored cardstock for the top layer. The snowman's cap is cut from the seasonal cartridge Snowfriends, again using a scrap (not sure who made it). I added a few clear rhinestones to the cap for sparkle, put on a little faux stitching with a 3D Sakura Glaze pen and a white pompom on the end.His scarf is a wide twill ribbon with wintery words printed on it that came from my favorite scrapbooking store which went out of business in November. That was a sad day for me. I could always find out-of-the-ordinary ribbons like this one at that shop. I cut the nose layer from the cartridge out of white cardstock then colored it orange with a Copic marker and added orange Stickles on top. The eyes and buttons are done with black Stickles. The Warm Winter Wishes sentiment came from Whimsie Doodles and is digital. I printed it directly on my sparkly paper not knowing if it would work in my printer or be dark enough to show up. But it did work and I'll remember that for future use. Glad it didn't break my printer though.

Papertake Weekly DT

This is a card I made with this week's Papertake Weekly challenge. I loved this sketch when I saw it and decided to get a jump on my Easter cards. This cute little bunny image is a rubber stamp that my Aunt recently gave me. She used to own a craft store and has been going through her stamps from years ago for doubles so she can share them with me. The company that made this stamp is Stamps Happen, Inc. I just thought it was adorable. I colored him with my Copics (W1, W3, W5, RV00, RV02, E31, E33, YR2, and YR7). I used Heidi Grace papers and good old black cardstock for this card. My scalloped squares were cut with my Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge.

Project Tuesday/ 365 Card Sketch

This sweet little treat box will be filled with Valentine goodies for my granddaughter. The box is this week's challenge for Project Tuesday (http://sasprojecttuesday.blogspot.com/).
It's called a one sheet box, as it's made from one sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper. I used the sketch from 365 Cards (http://365cards.blogspot.com/ ) as a basis for my box decoration. I thought it was perfect for the design I had in mind. The logical paper colors for a Valentine project are red and pink so that's what I went with. Everything I used to make this bag are leftovers from other projects. The only new thing I used was the cute bird stamp from Joann's $1 bin. Now I have to admit, for the first time I had a little bit of trouble following the directions for this Project Tuesday. After ruining three sheets of paper I finally figured it out. I think my brain was just a bit foggy from spending two days with my three year old granddaughter. I adore her but she completely wears me out. We play hard, very hard. When we are together we create our own little universe. Occasionally we surface to spend some time with Pop (grandpa). I enjoy the three to four year old age span, it's definitely my favorite. Payton has the most vivid imagination of any child I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot (having retired from elementary education). This child can pretend anything--even making a sweater for my dog to wear so he won't be cold outside. Anyway, I digress, easy for Nana to do.

Once I figured the box out I topped it with a lacy paper doily that I air-brushed a little with my new Copic ABS using R27, R32 and R37. That was fun. I used my little bird stamp with Colorbox chalk ink in warm red. I heat set it hoping that would keep my markers from bleeding into the stamped image. I colored the hearts with RV00, RV 02 and RV 04. I cut the birds out and used pop dots for a little dimension. The sentiment came from the same $1 stamp set. I stamped it on pink paper using warm red. The two hearts on each side of the sentiment were cut from a scrap of DCWV Be Mine stack. I embellished with a wide red-checked ribbon and used a red heart button (from Hobby Lobby) in the center of a large pink button.

Cricut Cardz Challenge #8

The challenge this week at Cricut Cardz Challenge is to make a masculine birthday card. Lucky for me I knew just the person to make a masculine birthday card for. This card is for my father-in-law's 73rd birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! This wonderful present shaped card came straight from the Sweet Treats cartridge. It doesn't get easier than this. This cartridge has great features including cards, cupcake holders and party favor boxes. I used brown kraft paper for my base card. My print papers came from DCWV Farmer's Market stack. What an adorable selection of papers in this stack. I've made a ton of cards from it and I used leftover scraps on this card. My new motto for the year: Use what I have! I have such an addiction to papers, but I'm going to do my best to limit my paper spending this year. (I can do it, I can do it). I cut my base card at 5 1/4". Then I cut the bottom striped paper using the shift key and cut out the present from polka dot paper. I cut off the bottom because I wanted my brown base to show through the striped paper layer.

My circle sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/). If you've never visited Regina Easter's Cutting Cafe you are missing great digital stamps and need to hurry over to the site and give it a look. This birthday set has sentiments that go in the middle, but for this card I chose to make a cupcake from the Sweet Treats cartridge for the center. My father-in-law loves sweets, though he knows he shouldn't eat many for health reasons. I used the cupcake cut on page 29. My frosting layer and the candle came from my print paper and I used dark brown cardstock for the base. A little yellow cardstock for the flame layer on the candle which I added a drop of Stickles to. I used aqua Stickles to outline the frosting on the cupcake. I just added some hemp cord and an olive green button to accent the center of the bow on the present.

Copic Color Challenge, 2Sketches4You,Crazy 4

The Challenges:

• Copic Color Challenge(http://copicscolourchallenge.blogspot.com/) -Jade Green, Light Pink, Light Blue
• 2 Sketches 4 You(http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/) -Sketch
• Crazy 4 Challenges(http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/) -Birthday
• Stamp, Scrap and Doodle(http://ssdschallenge.blogspot.com/) -Celebration
• The Pink Elephant(http://thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com/) -Birthday

I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with my Copics after taking a class over the weekend. I decided to practice by using the colors on my stamp from the Copic Color Challenge. Using the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You and the theme of birthday celebration this is what I came up with. My stamp has been in my very small collection for many years and is from Hampton Arts. All my papers were scraps from my stash. My sentiment is a digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe (www.thecuttingcafe.typepad.com).

MojoMonday,ASpoonfulofSugar,CopicBuzz,CharismaCardz,Cupcake,CuteCardThursday,Crafty Cardmakers,Digital Tuesday

THE CHALLENGES:

• A Spoonful of Sugar (http://aspoonfullofsugarchallenge.blogspot.com/) -Hearts
• CopicBuzz(http://copicbuzz.blogspot.com/ )-Cute Daisy May, Ribbon
• Charisma Cardz(http://www.charismacardz.blogspot.com/ )-Pink,Brown,Cream,Toffee
• Crafty Cardmakers(http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ )-Something new
• Cupcake Craft Challenge(http://www.cupcakecraftchallenges.blogspot.com/) -Going Girly
• Cute Card Thursday(http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/) -Something new
• Digital Tuesday(http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.com/ ) -Valentine, digi
• Mojo Monday(http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/ )-Sketch

I'm most definitely addicted to card challenges. The more the better! I had nothing going on today so I was able to spend the day in the design studio. At times I couldn't leave if I wanted to because hubby was painting the hallway. I had to keep the dog in with me so he wouldn't get into the paint. I've been wanting to make a card with my Cute Daisy May digital Valentine stamps so I looked for a sketch that would allow me to do that. Mojo Monday's would work wonderfully. When I saw the colors for the challenge at Charisma Cardz I new my Heidi Grace Cherrywood Lane/Paisley was perfect. I got a chance to color with my Copics and put some of the stuff I learned in my Copic class over the weekend into practice. My picture didn't come out very well because it is a cloudy, snowy day so the light in my room wasn't very good. I used a cream colored base card. My image is backed with brown cardstock. I used Martha Stewart's Heart Border Punch, my new punch, on medium pink cardstock.

Both my circle sentiment and the Be Mine under my image came from The Cutting Cafe.
(http://www.thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/) Both are from Valentine sets being offered right now so head on over and check out Regina's digital stamps. I added a few pink rhinestones to my heart and finished off with some brown ribbon.

Project Tuesday Notecard Box

I always have so much fun creating with the Project Tuesday challenge.(http://projecttuesday.blogspot.com/) The project is a 3" x 3" notecard box. They always have a link with directions for the project and they are always easy to understand and follow. I have to admit I took a little liberty with my design for the box by using my new Martha Stewart Heart Border Punch. Isn't it so pretty? I just love it. It's so dainty looking. I used my Cricut to create the flower for the top of the box. (Gypsy Wanderings) The little heart in the middle is from a button pack I found in the Valentine craft aisle at Hobby Lobby. I tied the box shut with pale pink satin ribbon.

For the lid of the box I used heart paper from DCWV Be Mine stack. The bottom of the box is pink cardstock and the band of heart paper on the bottom of the box is Little Yellow Bicycle Sweet Love Lots of Love. I made four note cards to put inside the box.

I used pink cardstock for the base of all the cards and cut a scalloped square from my Cricut Storybook cartridge at 2 3/4" to top them. I inked the edges of the scalloped squares with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Maroon. The Love Is In the Air clear stamp came from JoAnn's dollar bin. I stamped with more maroon ink. I colored in the large flower with Copic RV00 and added a few pink rhinestones. The card with the heart charm has a digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe's

(www.thecuttingcafe.typepad.com) Valentine Long Phrases stamp set. This is really a versatile set with ten different phrases. The dark pink paper on this card is also Little Yellow Bicycle. I added a little lace and ribbon for the charm to hang from. This charm has been in my stash for a long time so I don't really know where it came from. I'm doing great with my goal this year to use what I have. All these notecards were made with scraps and supplies I already had.

For the third notecard I used a heart stamp from Studio G (from Michael's $1 bin), again stamping with maroon ink. I also did a little flourish stamping on the pink card base on this one, although it is mostly covered up. I used a corner punch from Fiskars and added a little lace. Card four with the two birds is just a piece of Little Yellow Bicycle Love Birds paper. I added a little ribbon and another of the hearts from Hobby Lobby. I'm really happy with the way these little notecards turned out. I made envelopes for each card using my Cricut Wild Card cartridge but I forgot to take a picture of them. I will be sending this set to my Aunt as a thank you for letting me stay at her house over the weekend when I took my Copic class. We always have so much fun together crafting and shopping for supplies.

BBTB2 A Child's Year Valentine w/ Vinyl

The challenge this week at BBTB2 is to use the Valentine (shift) cut from A Child's Year and vinyl. For my project this week I made a Wall/Door hanging. I made a heart using chipboard, for sturdiness, from the Gypsy Font cartridge cut at 8 inches. Then I covered it with Little Yellow Bicycle Sweet Love collection Pink Gingham. I made two hearts cut at 6" from BoBunny Unforgettable and a piece of clear acetate which I edged with lace and mounted on the larger heart. My Valentine cut from A Child's Year is cut in pink vinyl at 4". I had never worked with vinyl before and was a little nervous but it was a breeze to work with, nothing to be afraid of.

I cut out and assembled my own flowers using the flower cut from my Gypsy and cutting them at 1 1/2", 1 1/4" and 1". I again used Little Yellow Bicycle papers for the flowers. I inked the edges with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Maroon. The little hearts that I used for the center came from Hobby Lobby's valentine section.

JustBuggin,FlutterbyWed,DivaCB,ABC,ColorThrow,Belli

I spent my day blog hopping and boy was it fun. I saw so many wonderful creations and got so much inspiration. Flutter By Wednesday (http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.com/) is celebrating their new blog with a hop. What great designers. This is my first time entering one of their challenges because my stash has limited butterflies, fairies and angels. I plan on fixing that shortage this year. I used my Cricut to make some butterflies and used some DCWV butterfly paper. Hope that works. The other challenges for this card are:

• ABC challenge(http://abc-challenge.blogspot.com/) -L is for Layering
• Color Throwdown (http://colorthrowdown.blogspot.com/) -Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango
• Belli Challenge (http://bellichallenge.blogspot.com/) -Glitter
• JustBuggin' (http://justbugginchallenges.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenges - Stamp on a Cricut cut
• Diva Coffee Break (http://www.divacoffeebreakdesigns.blogspot.com/ )-Sketch

When I saw the sketch at Diva Coffee Break Designs Challenge today I knew I had to use it for my butterfly card. I used one of my favorite DCWV stacks, Whimsy, for my patterned paper (it has lots of glitter), brown kraft for my base card and a little dark brown for shadowing. My butterflies are cut twice (for layering) from Gypsy Wanderings at 2", 1 1/2", and 1". I used a flourish stamp from Studio G to stamp on my top layer of butterflies in dark brown chalk ink. I did add a little bit of Stickles on my top layer, too. My ribbon is a light orange polka dot and I added a couple orange rhinestones for that final bit of bling.

Cricut Cardz Challenge #7

For those of you who got a Gypsy for Christmas you're going to love the simplicity of this card. I'm madly in love with my Gypsy. In fact sometimes I call it Bugsy. I know, I'm a little bit weird, some might say a lot weird. LOL! One of my daughters called me yesterday and asked me what I was doing. I said the same thing I'm always doing working in my studio, I never grow tired of it. She replied, Mom get a life. This is my life since retiring and you better believe I'm enjoying every second of it. I'm having the time of my life designing cards for the Cricut Cardz Challenge and Bitten By the Bug 2. There isn't anything else I'd rather be doing. Anyway, for this card I'm trying to live up to one of my goals for the year. That's to use what I already have in my supply stash. Not to say I won't buy more things (especially Cricut cartridges). But I'm going to try using up all the scraps of paper I have laying around. I found this white card base while reorganizing and used it for a long card. I really enjoy making long cards so that started the card out. I found the background paper in my scrap file and liked the color so cut it for the front of the card. The Thank You cut came from Gypsy Wanderings. I cut it at 8 inches from a light blue scrap and shadowed with a darker blue. I also cut the butterfly in the corner from the same cartridge at 2 1/2 inches from the print paper. I did a little embellishing on the butterflies by adding Stickles and pearls. Very quick and easy. The worst part of this card was trying to be careful I didn't smudge the Stickles. I wish that stuff dried quicker. I hope I've inspired you to get that Gypsy going and join our challenge this week. I'll be traveling with mine this weekend while I go to attend a Copic class. I want to be able to use my markers as well as some other designers do. I'll be waiting anxiously to see what everyone's thank you cards look like. It's so much fun to visit all your blogs.

2Sketches4You,Allsorts,SatChallenge,Papertake,CardsForMen,CCC

I just loved this digital image the moment I saw it on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog challenge. I was needing an image for a guy in a new home. I thought this image had presence and wasn't too frilly. I'm using this card for a bunch of challenges today:

• 2 Sketches 4 You (http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/)- Sketch
• Saturday Challenge (http://thesecretcraftersaturdaychallenge.blogspot.com/)-"New"
• Papertake Weekly (http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/)- New Beginnings
• Cards For Men (http://cardsformen.blogspot.com/)- New Beginnings
• Creative Card Crew (http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/)- Distressing
• Pile It On(http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/)- Anything Digital #29

The 2 Sketches 4 You sketch this week was perfect for my "New" home card. I knew I needed to use guy colors so went with beiges and browns. My small piece of print paper is a scrap from the DCWV Green Stack. I don't really make New Year resolutions but I sometimes set goals. One of my goals this year is to use what I already have in my craft studio. (Mostly to please hubby who can't fathom my need for more paper). Every piece of paper on this card is a scrap. The only new thing I used on this card is my Fiskars punch I got for Christmas. I used chalk ink in Chestnut Roan to ink and distress the edges of my papers. My sentiment is computer generated. The only item in the way of embellishing is the small piece of ribbon from my stash. Guys don't usually go for much in the way of bling. I used Copics to color my image.

Celebrate In Style

This card put me way outside my comfort zone. I had to think long and hard how to use this "In Style" cut from Graphically Speaking. I finally settled on an idea for my granddaughter's 16th birthday card. Both her brothers received handmade cards from me for their birthdays so I couldn't do less for Brytnie. I can hardly believe she will be 16. Where have all the years gone? We don't get to see these three grandkids as often as we'd like because they live about a 3 hour drive from here. We had the opportunity to visit them for the holidays. Brytnie is currently taking driver's ed. She had class the day we visited so my husband let her drive our car and accompanied her. He is a brave man. Glad our insurance was paid up. LOL Anyway, for this card my base is purple and I used Cricut's Wild Card cartridge to cut the circular card at 5 1/4". The "In Style" circle is cut at 5" from Moxxie's Just A Girl line of paper. It's called Girl Swirl. It's two-sided so I cut the Style part from the pink back. I also cut the "Celebrate" from Wild Card. I added Sweet 16 to the inside of the card. The "sweet" came from Paisley and "16" came from Designer's Calendar.

I embellished the front with a little purple Stickles to outline the word "in". I added a pink polka dot ribbon with a purple button for the center. I put pink rhinestones around the inner circle.

I popped the word "Celebrate" with foam dots. I designed this card with my Gypsy during the drive home from their house. We will be putting a gift card for some stylin' shopping inside when we give her this card. We plan on taking her out for a special dinner by herself and then letting her shop after. What more could a Sweet Sixteen girl ask for?

Project Tuesday Mini Album

I needed a project to take me into a creative zone and Project Tuesday's Mini Album was just the thing. While most of the world was preparing for and celebrating the holidays I was in a construction zone. Oh, how I long to be back into a routine. My house has been torn up for over a month now. How dumb to start a project with the holidays coming, but alas, that is what we did. Our entire second floor is getting painted and new carpeting (five bedrooms, hallway and stairs). This had to be done in two installations because where in the world could we put five bedrooms worth of furniture and 36 years of accumulation. All the carpet is installed and two rooms are painted, three bedrooms, the hallway and stairs still need paint. Of course, the first room my husband chose to paint was my studio. The room I have been using for about 13 years is no longer my studio. It has become the guest room and I've been relegated to a smaller room and I hate it. I had a large room on the south side of the house painted a nice cheery yellow. Now I'm in a beige cave. I'm going to have to find some way to make this room brighter and cheerier or I'm going to go crazy (or should I say crazier). All of this in preparation for trying to sell the house this spring. We are empty nesters and do not need a five bedroom house anymore. I hope some nice large family will come along and want it. What a disaster, trying to get all my stuff in a smaller room. I'm still trying to unpack and put stuff in it's new location. I got enough unpacked to get this project put together.

I used a Cosmo Cricket Gal Friday paper pack for this project. They are double-sided papers making it easy to coordinate multiple pages and it came with a page of journaling tags and assorted images. Now, I know the front of the album says My Best Friend, at the moment that happens to be my three year old granddaughter. We had a big discussion on her last sleepover about best friends and she told me I was her best friend. I know that will change in a few years, but I'm happy to be loved and so important in her life right now. We have such a good time together.

I will be adding pictures of the two of us in various assorted activities. I just haven't had time to get them printed up yet.

This was really a fun little album to put together and I enjoyed making it knowing that it was for Payton. The online directions from Project Tuesday were easy to understand and follow. It really only took me about an hour to put it together. Now I guess I have to go back to the drudgery of organizing. On the bright side, I've managed to find some supplies that I have forgotten and I'm looking forward to using some of them.