Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

and a safe and Happy New Year!

From our family to yours

Happy Holidays!

Penny Black Christmas

5 more days till Christmas, are we stressing yet?    I'm trying not to but it's coming way too fast for me!

Thought I'd just pop in to quickly share a clean and simple card that I made.  This 5" square embossed card and envelope set (by Lasting Impressions I think) that I had for many years made it easy--stamped the sentiment (KaiserCraft "Christmas Sentiments"), attached the chickadees (Penny Black "Winter Wonderland") and the mistletoe (CC Designs Cutter) and it was done!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you're having a wonderful stress-free week!  Happy Holidays!

Two Turtle Doves

Is it really only 2 more weeks till Christmas?   The days went by so slowly when we were waiting for the birth of our grandson, but time's flying by so quickly now!    My Christmas tree is still sitting in a bucket out in the patio and I have so many more Christmas cards to make!   When is the deadline for mailing?   Oh my, I feel a panic attack coming on, lol.  Can I blame it all on sweet grandbaby Tate?    He's so precious I tell you!

The images I stamped on my card today are Belles 'n Whistles "Two Turtle Doves" and La Blanche "Fantasy" using the masking technique (for more on this technique, see Alice's fabulous masking tutorial here).   I colored her with Copics and lightly sponged around the inner edges of the Nestie die with Old Paper Distress Ink and the outer edges of the DP/CS with Picket Fence Crackle Paint.   My tag was punched out from the Glitter Paper Pad and the rest of the DP is from Webster's Pages.  I glittered the flowers and leaves with Stickles so I could enter my card in the B 'n W Challenge "Sparkle" for fun.    Oh, and just in case you want her too, this adorable image is now on sale at the Belles 'n Whistles store  ;)

That's it for me today, I know you're also busy busy busy with the holidays.   Take a deep breath and enjoy the holiday season!   And for all your sweet congratulatory comments and emails on the birth of our grandbaby Tate and for sharing in the joy with me, a huge THANK YOU!    MWAH!  

It's a boy!

It's a boy!

(hospital favors, Savvy Stamps Sketch Baby)

Welcome Sweet Baby Tate!

(Some Odd Girl--Baby Snuggle Kaylee; Papertrey Ink sentiment;

MFT onesie/duckie dies)

Yay, our grandson's finally here!  Tate was born on November 18, 2011, 1:57 pm., 6 lbs. 9 ozs, 20.5 inches, and is the cutest most precious baby you ever did see!  Ah, well, that's proud grandma talking of course, hee hee.   It was a very long and hard delivery for my DIL, but we are so thankful that baby is healthy and strong and with some healing time, mother will be just fine too.  What a blessing, we're all as happy and proud as can be!

 Here is Tate enjoying his first shower

ahhhh...

he is sooo precious!

Thanks for visiting me and for all your support and well wishes throughout the long 9 months!  My crafting/blogging days will not be as often as it was before but I'll try to visit you as often as I can.  Take care and Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

You glow girl!

(Warning, long post!)  Gosh, it's been almost a month since I last posted and it looks like I'm trying to make up for lost time with this one post, lol! 

Time is flying by, but this time it can't go by fast enough for me.  You see, son #2 is expecting his first born middle of November and we're just counting the days waiting for our precious little prince to arrive!

The mini journal you see above was made for my DIL with the thought that she could have something to record her notes in whenever she went to the doctor or to her prenatal classes.   The image I used is called Pregabella by Stamping Bella.  I used copics and prismacolor pencils to color her, the DP is Lost & Found by My Mind's Eye.

Here's a page from the journal.

  The onesie was cut with a Die-namics die from My Favorite Things.

We had a surprise baby shower for our "Miss Pregabella" this past Saturday and DIL #1 did a fabulous job planning and hosting the event.   The theme was baby jungle animals and everything was adorably decorated and color coordinated from the banners on down to even the drinking straws.  Here are some pictures from the shower, I hope you can click on the pics for a closer view:

the deserts and the diaper cake

  

the favors, one for each guest...

25 of them!

...and, if you're still with me, lol, a kleenix box that I made for the baby's room:

The images are Zoo Babies Digital Doodles from KPM Doodles at Etsy.  I colored them with distressed inks.

Things have been quite hectic lately--cleaning up the spare room to turn it into a day-time nursery (I'll be baby sitting full time when mom goes back to work) and then with the shower--so I haven't had much time to craft or visit you in blogland.  And after baby comes, my crafting/blogging days will probably come to a crashing halt, lol!   We shall see...

Thank you so much for staying with me throughout this long post.  Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!

Dear Santa,

When I purchased this cute little digi from Make it Crafty a few days ago, I knew just the sentiment I wanted to pair him up with.  I bought this Studio G sentiment from Ben Franklin last year and a few days ago, got me a whole bunch more--they're so cute and inexpensive, it's hard not to buy them all.  

I had such a frustrating time coloring this little guy's hat with my copic pens that after 3 tries, I just gave up and glittered it all up instead.   It actually turned out for the best, lol (now I can laugh about it but at that time grrrr), because I can now enter this in Simon Says Stamp Challenge which is "Sparkle and Bling".   See the smoke coming out of the smokestack? (bottom right, click to see)  That's my bling.  And since it's "Anything Goes" at Papertake Weekly Challenge, I'll be linking this up with their challenge as well to join in on their birthday celebration.  Happy 4th Birthday Papertake Weekly!

The recipe:

Stamp:  Make it Crafty, Zippy Digi; Studio G sentiment

Paper:  Basic Grey - Eskimo Kisses, Manila

Ink:  Memento, Copic

Other:  Prismacolor pencils, Spellbinders and Die-namics dies, Martha Stewart train punch, bakers twine, buttons, adhesive rhinestones, pop dots

Thank you so much for looking and for your lovely comments,

 take care and have a great weekend!

Make a Child Smile!

Hi there, hope all's well with you!   Everything's good here, I just took a little break from blogland to get some things done and didn't realize that almost a whole month flew by since my last post.   

I had such a hard time getting back into card-making groove again--couldn't even color right, ugh!   But I was determined to make at least a couple of cards for a card drive.  You can read all about it here on Kris' blog, it's sure to touch your heart too.   Thanks to Kris and her aunt, they'll be a lot of big smily faces this Christmas!    (Kris, I'll be putting it in the mail today.)

Both of these images are from the Penny Black "Mimi's Christmas" set, the sentiment is from Savvy Stamps.   There were rules to follow--nothing that could fall or be rubbed off--so no glitters or embellies were used on these cards.  

I CASEd Vicky's adorable penguin card, you can see her video here.   Just love those Lily Pad how-to videos, enjoy the music!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Manga Girl

Are you ready for the weekend?  For us in the US, it's a 3-day holiday weekend and I've been busy getting ready for our annual family camp that starts tomorrow.  I remember I used  the term camp very loosly last year and had to clarify later that we "camp" in a two-story beach house--not in the wild outdoors roughing it in tents as some of you thought,  lol.

Before I go off on my holiday, I wanted to enter my notebook in the Simon Says Stamp and Show and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge and also join in on their Stamp-tember Blog Hop and Treasure Hunt.   The theme is Anything Goes so it can't get any easier than that.  This sweet image is called Sugar Nellie Manga Girl #1 from Funky Kits, the DP is My Minds Eye Be Loved.

Well, I've got to make this short as I have a hop and a treasure hunt to get to before my weekend starts.  Have a fun and safe holiday weekend my friends and thanks for stopping by!

Cute as a Button

Hello friends, hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Have you been watching Amy Young's videos lately?   OMGosh, she has done several this past week and they're all so incredible!   If you haven't seen any of them yet, you must check them out here or here cause you're in for some awesome copic coloring lessons, she is really amazing!

After watching Amy color Fairwee Josie here, I was so inspired to make something with her that I immediately went to buy her as a digital image at ATS.    In a matter of minutes I had Josie downloaded and was coloring along with Amy--it was like having her in my craft room giving me step by step instructions, so cool!   Thanks so much for taking the time to share your fabulous coloring skills with us Amy, you are the sweetest!  

My inspiration for this card also came from Jennifer McGuire's cute-as-a-button creation here,  I thought her concept was adorable.   I just tweaked it a bit by making a button card using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio.  Working with a digital image was perfect for this project as I could easily make Josie the size I needed to fit my buttons and I got to practice my coloring too.  The embellies I used came from my sewing box and my die cuts were made with Die-namics Doilies and Dainty Doily Border dies and Nestabilities circle die.

I'll be entering this card in the following challenges:

Pile It On!, #35 - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Dies to Die For!

Stamps R Us Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Flutter by Wednesday - Anything Goes with a fairy

The Paper Shelter, #28 - Die Cuts and Punches

Thanks for stopping by

 your visits and sweet comments really mean a lot! 

Have a great day!

Enjoy the Moment

Hello, happy hump day to you! 

I made a CAS (clean & simple) card today to enter in Embellish Magazine's Coloring Color Trends Challenge.   I colored my images with copics, sponged in some clouds with Hero Arts soft pool shadow ink (thanks for the tut Amy!) , and added a couple of pieces of DCWV adhesive paper border punch strips at the bottom.

Stamps: Itty Bitty Adventurous by Unity (air balloon), Popcorn the Bear Bundle of Joy (duck) , Papertrey Ink (sentiment).

Hope you're having a wonderful week, thanks for stopping by!

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Hello sweet blogging friends,  I hope you're all having a wonderful, stress-free week! 

    

I read about the Tim Holtz easel die on Lynn's blog a few weeks ago and immediately went to purchase it as I thought it would be a neat thing to have (Lynn, you're such a bad enabler, lol!).

It arrived in the mail just as I was coloring my Sarah Kay "Spring is Back" image so instead of a card, she turned into a desktop plaque (for lack of a better word).  

Do you remember the saying, "stop and smell the roses" or "stop and smell the flowers"?  This was taken from a quote from Walter Hagen long ago, "you're only here for a short visit.  Don't hurry, don't worry.  And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."    I really love the depth of this saying.

I went searching for this particular quote in a digi but couldn't find one so mine is just computer generated--not very professional, but the meaning is there, lol.  I colored her with copic markers and went over the entire image with antique linen distress ink to give her a more vintage look, as her colors were initially much too bright for the DP.   The image was stamped on the DP first and then layered with the cut piece on top.  I'll be entering this in the ATS Challenge - Anything Goes and Stamp Something Challenge - Summer Fun Something.

Thanks so much for looking, have a wonderful day/evening! 

Cards of Aloha

Just wanted to share a card that I made for the "Cards of Aloha" drive being held by Ben Franklin Crafts for the people of Japan.  They are having another Make and Give session this Saturday, but since I'm unable to attend, I'll  just be dropping off my card at the store.  You can read all about it here in case you want to participate as well.

I kept my card relatively simple so it would not be too bulky for transporting and now I'm wondering if I should have made it smaller as well (it's 5 1/2" square).   The sentiment inside reads "Thinking of You", the image is Swiss Pixie Welcome Birgitta.  I hope she brings someone a smile.  

So Glad You're My Friend

time with friends is the best way to spend the day

 

Hello friends, hope you had a wonderful weekend!

The challenge this week at the B 'n W Challenge Blog  is to use "Complimentary Colors"--using two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel.  Inspired by the DT's beautiful creations, I decided to play along.  I chose the red/violet, yellow/green combination for my card.

my image is Emma by Elizabeth Bell and was colored with Copic makers 

DP is Prima Annalee cut with a Nestabilities dye

 sentiment is a Whimsy mini postage stamp by Raindrop Echo Designs



Thanks so much for looking and for your sweet comments!  

Wishing you a wonderful stress-free week!

Altered Note Box

I purchased several of these recycled note boxes from Ben Franklin last year and finally got around to decorating one of them.   I made a shabby chic altered note box using a K&Co DP and a section of the Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps sheet. 

For some dimension, I added some paper posies,  K&Co grand adhesions,  ribbon that I dyed with my Copic refill to match the Prima flower, hemp cord,  Making Memories metal word (gosh this is a real oldie), lace, butterfly and some pearls.   Simon Says Stamp! has an Anything Goes Challenge right now and they're striving to go over 1000 entries.  Think I'll enter and join in the fun.

Ok, enough of my rambling.  I'm sure you're all curious as to who won my blogaversary candy.  Here's how it went:

From here:

to here:

to here:

Congrats Berenice R!  Please be sure to contact me with your addy so I can get your candy out to you.

Thanks so much everyone for playing and helping me celebrate my 2-year blogaversary.  I sincerely thank you for all the support and encouragement you've given me the past 2 years.  Hugs!!!

You're the Best!

It's my 2-year blogaversary and to those of you who've been following me so loyally may I say--You're the Best!   Thank you so very much for your continued support and encouragement--it's been another fabulous year and I owe it all to you!    I'm so grateful for all the friendships that I've made and for all that I've learned from each and every one of you--you're my inspiration, thank you!  


Since I can't offer you some cake, how about some candy!

 (please do not post this candy on your sidebar, thanks!). 

There's only one requirement to be eligible to win this candy:   You must be a follower as of yesterday, July 13.

Here's how you can win:  Your comment today will count as one entry plus for every comment that you made in the last 4 posts prior to this one (July 9, July 5, July 2, and June 30), that/those comment(s) will be entered into the hat also, giving you that many more chances to win.   So if by chance you're unable to comment on this post, you might still have a chance to win. 

All entries will be placed in a hat and one name will be drawn by my DH.  This candy will close on Monday, July 18th, and the winner will be announced the following day.  Please contact me within 2 days (if I'm unable to contact you) or another name will be drawn.    This candy consists of some of my favorite vintage embellies, I hope you like them too.

Thanks for playing and again, thanks for another wonderful year!  Hugs!!!

Live, Laugh, Love

Hello fellow crafters, hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

First of all, I have some "thank yous" to make to three people who've contributed to the card I'm sharing today.

During the month of May, Ann Vento from Raindrop Echo Designs had a giveaway a day for the entire month of May and I was the lucky winner of Day 8--you've got the ticket.  I won four sets of tickets that Ann herself designed for Whimsy Stamps plus the ticket die.   What a huge win that was, thank you Ann! 

My second thank you goes to Lynn from Lynn's Craft Blog for the Tim Holtz birdcage die cut that I used on this card.  Lynn cut out several of these birdcages and shared them with me a few months ago knowing that I didn't have this die.  How sweet is that!   And on top of that, she held a "secret" contest on her blog recently and I was one of the lucky winners.  What a total surprise that was, thank you Lynn!  

And last but not least, thank you to Joy from A Place To Be Me for the beautiful ribbon that I used.   She sent me several different colors of seam binding ribbons that she dyed herself.   It's so nice to be able to go into your stash of ribbons and find the perfect color to match the DP you're working with. 

No stamping was done on this card, except for the 2 Whimsy ticket sentiments.  The background DP is from the Pink Paislee Butterfly Collection and the floral/bird picture is a portion cut out from the Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps prints.  The birdcage was originally white so I colored it with Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Distress Inks.  The flourish was cut with the Magnolia Doohickey Swirl die.   And so happy to be using some of my really old stash--K&Co Cleary Yours (Love)--yay!

Thank you again Ann, Lynn and Joy, not only for your thoughtfulness and generosity but for always inspiring me with your wonderful creations!    And to these fun challenges that I'm entering, thank you for the inspiration, the opportunity and the challenge:   Simon Says Stamp and Show a Flourish! (Magnolia Doohickey Swirl)     City Crafter Challenge Blog Week #64 - Birds of a Feather (birdcage)

Have a fabulous weekend everyone and thanks for looking!

How Sweet You Are

Hi friends!  Just a quick post to share another card I made using this Sarah Kay image, only this time in pink.  Since this card was especially made for a very sweet blogging friend, I thought this image was perfect for her as it is named How Sweet You Are.

Some of the things I used are papers from the Grace Taylor vintage collection pack and K&Co/Brenda Walton pad, a Crafty Secrets vintage sticker, a painted chipboard heart, Cheery Lynn Designs doily and more of my favorite vintage embellies.

Thanks so much for looking, hope you're having a fabulous week!

You Did It!

Wow, is it July already?  Hope you're all enjoying your summer!

I started to gather ideas for a traditional graduation card at first,  but then I remembered I had this image called Yippee Fhiona and made a fun card instead.  I thought this is probably how my niece must have felt after graduating...but then again, that could be her mom there jumping for joy--no more tuition, yay!, LOL!

I'll keep this short as I know you're all busy, busy, busy.   Thanks for taking the time to drop by!   Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!


The fun challenges I'm entering:  
Fab'n'Funky Challenges,  #79 - Bermuda Triangle
Paper Crafting Journey, #13 - Blog Hop/Anything Goes

The recipe:
Stamps:  Your Next Stamp, Yippee Fhiona; Hero Arts Clouds
Paper:  Prima
Ink:  Copic, Memento, Distress Ink
Other:  Spellbinders Ribbon Banner, Papertrey Ink Clouds Die

A RAK from Cami

from Cami, Capture a Heart

Are you blown away by this gorgeous creation?  I totally was!   When I opened my box of goodies from Cami, I could not believe she sent this fabulous card and treat box to me.   OMGosh, talk about happy mail--I was dancing the jig after seeing this!   If you click on the picture, you'll get a better view but it can't compare to seeing it IRL.   What an inspiration she is!

Thank you sooooo much Cami, not only for your gorgeous works of art and for all the wonderful goodies you included, but mostly for your friendship!   

And thanks to all of you for stopping by today.  Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

The Shabby Tea Room

Hello dear friends, I'm so delighted that you took the time to visit with me!

My card today was inspired by the Shabby Girls at The Shabby Tea Room, which has lately become one of my favorite places to visit for shabby chic inspiration!    Their challenge this week is Classic Patterns/Polka Dots or Gingham.  I chose to make a card without an image this time, trying to focus on the vintage look with just the papers and embellies. 

I used the papers from the Grace Taylor vintage collection paper pack and the stamps from the JustRite Victorian Nested Frames & Occasions set and Stampin' Up.  The edges were distressed with Distress Ink and the ovals were cut with Nestabilities.

 I hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  Take care and "Thank You" for looking!  Hugs!

My tummy tickles...

...thinking of you

I had in mind to make another vintage card but as I was going through my box of stamps looking for the right image, an adorable little face with the biggest, sweetest eyes looked up at me and said, "can you play with me please?"   Now how could I not take her out to color, hee hee!

This is a Swalk stamp titled Thinking of You.   She's colored with Copics, her dress is paper pieced, the papers are Basic Grey Urban Prairie. 

The challenges that inspired me (thank you!):

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Let's Play Bingo (shape, ribbon, sentiment in a row)

Paper Sundaes Challenge #73 - Girly Girl

Stamp Something - Something Punched

Stampavie and More, #145 - Butterflies

Hope you're having a great week!

Thanks for looking!

Dear Heart

I have another Sarah Kay card to share today, this image is called Fanny's Cuddle.   When I saw her on Bev's video (see previous post), I thought she was so sweet I could not wait to get her.  I colored her with copics and prismacolor pencils, distressed the edges with VersaMagic Jumbo Java and went over the entire image with Distress Ink Pumice Stone to try to achieve the vintage look.  

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday for the layout, the papers are Basic Grey Sweet Pea.

The challenges that inspired me (thank you!):

Sketch Saturday, #158 - sketch

Basic Grey Challenges, #45 - Shabby Chic (Basic Grey DP)

Creatalicious Challenges #22 - Flourishes (Magnolia DooHickey Swirl)

Cute Card Thursday, #168 - Pins & Pearls

Bunny Zoe's Crafts, #12 - Lace

Paper Sundaes Challenge #72 - Let's Get Sentimental!

Dream Valley Challenges #8 - Stamp Something

Have a wonderful weekend and

thanks for stopping by!

Hello Friend

Hello friends!   Wow, can you believe it's June already!

My card today was inspired by Bev Rochester's fabulous video on coloring with copics and prismacolor pencils.   She used a Sarah Kay image so naturally I had to pull mine out and I dare say Sarah Kays are now my favorite!  I know,  "my favorite" seems to change from day to day, hee hee.   But tell me now,  isn't this image precious?  How could you not love that sweet innocent face of hers!

   

This is the sketch I used from the Papertake Weekly Challenge and I tried to achieve the vintage/shappy chic look, a style I'm loving more and more.  The stamp I used is called How Sweet You Are by Stampavie and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I hope you get a chance to see Bev's videos (4 in all), too.  Thanks for a great tutorial Bev! 

The challenges that inspired me:

Papertake Weekly Challenge, Sketch #56

Copic Creations, #51 - Copic Distressed/Vintage cards or projects

All That Scraps, Anything Goes (Sarah Kay image)

Paper Sundaes, #71 - Vintage or Shabby Chic
Simon Says Stamp and Show - your favourite stamp

Thanks for stopping by and for all the sweetness you leave me!

Hugs!

Ooh La La!

Hi friends, hope you're enjoying your weekend! 

As for me, I'll be doing the happy dance all weekend.   A few days ago I participated in La-La Land Crafts' Summertime Collection Blog Hop and would you believe I won their entire collection!   I had to pinch myself when I saw my name--I won all 6 stamps and each one is so gosh darn stinkin' cute!!!    Thanks so much Irina and La-La Land Crafts, what a fabulous prize!

If you didn't do the hop, you should still visit the design team and see their awesome creations.   In fact, they were so inspiring they got me inking up my Sweetheart Marci!   Don't ya just want to pinch those chubby cheeks of hers, lol!    I colored her with copic markers, paper pieced her dress, and added glitter to her heart banner and Diamond Glaze to the baubles in her hair.     My papers are from the Little Yellow Bicycle Snugglebug collection, the stitches are rub-ons and the die is Dainty Lace by Die-namics.

La-La Land Crafts has a sale this Memorial Day weekend so if you've been as inspired as I,  this would be the perfect time to get their new summertime collection!   Ooh La La!

And because Marci is so cute & cuddly and pink & girly, she'll be perfect for these challenges:

La-La Land Crafts Customer Gallery - May 2011

Fab 'n' Funky, #74 - Let's all go Cute and Cuddly!

Totally Papercrafts, #68 - Pink and Girlie

Have a wonderful and safe weekend 

Thanks for looking and for your sweet comments!

Celebrate Today

Hello friends!

The image that I used today is called Susan, by Elisabeth Bell.   I tried something a little different with her today--I colored her with prisma colored pencils.  I've been admiring Elise's beautiful coloring for some time now and was inspired to give this medium another try.  I had these pencils stored away for years as a lost cause but I'm glad I tried them again.   It was a fun change from copics and with a lot of determination and practice, it may prove to be a worthwhile purchase after all.  Thanks Elise!

I used another printed card stock from the Mariposa Matstack again.   I really love this paper pack, most of the pages are really beautiful.   The design on this piece made for a nice frame for my image and a clean and simple card.   My sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

And since I'm using an Elisabeth Bell image, I'll be entering my card in these challenges:   Belles 'n Whistles Anything Goes challenge and SCACD Friends with Heart Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for always leaving me such encouraging comments.  You're the best!  Hugs!

Sharing my RAKs

Hello!  It's been a while since I last posted.  It seems that every time I come back from a trip, it takes me a long time to get back into the groove of things and to find my mojo.    But by visiting your blogs recently, I've been inspired to craft again so I'll hopefully have a card to share in a day or two.

For today, may I share with you these amazing RAKs I've received for Spring, Easter, Mother's Day and "just because".    These thoughtful gifts are from some hugely talented ladies and I'm so deeply grateful for their blogging friendships and so honored to be the recipient of their awesome creations!   Thank you so much ladies, you're my inspiration and I love your creations! 

Thank you Maribeth!

Thank you Lynn

Thank you Elise!

Thank you Amy!

Thank you Brenda!

Thank you Joy!

Thank you Mama!

Please visit their blogs for some amazing inspiration and

thanks for visiting me today!