Puppy LOVE!!

.....Even though I have not had a great week, (back pain), and no time for creating, I do have one very happy event to look forward to and that of course, is the adoption of sweet like "Abby", soon to be known as "Skye".   We have now been officially approved to adopt her and I have signed the contract and paid her adoption fees.  I was thrilled to learn last night, that she is now already in here, in Massachusetts, and is in the process of going through her 48 hour quarantine, as required by State law.     I sure do WISH she didn't have to go through quarantine, but she does, plus it's out of my control, so I'm just waiting for it to be over and done.   Once she is out of quarantine, she'll be with a Foster Mom for a few short days until she has her appointment to be spayed!   And then she will be on her way to me and I could not be happier.   I think we are all set and have everything ready and I'm looking forward to picking her up very soon.   I have Scout's crate all set up and all lined with pink blankets and pads and a new today.  I also have a new collar and leash for her and a cute little pink bed that can be moved from room to room.    In it away, it reminds me of waiting for my boys to be born and getting their Nursery ready!   Loved those days!.

    As for crafting, I do have a few cards to share, but really have not had much time or energy to create many this week.  I did go to Card Club on Tuesday, but my back has been sore for days, so I never even made it through the class.  I ended up bringing my kit home and still have not even worked on the first card.  I'm also going to miss out on Silhouette Group tomorrow, as I must get to my Chiropractor.  I'm way overdue and am now regretting not keeping up.  I also have to pick up my regular prescriptons and will make it a medical day of rest for me.  I want to be all rested and feeling great when Skye moves in.

  I had lots of plans to make more cards and take part in some of my favorite challenges, but I just don't have  the stamina.   I only ended up making ONE Easter card, which was for my Mom and it was NOT one of my favorite cards.  I have my new printer (at last), but I don't really like it and I'm still having issues in using some of the features...Grrr!!    

  This first card is one of the only cards that I was able to finish up in time for the weekly challenge and this one was created for this week's Cas(E) this Sketch Challenge.   I am also sharing a copy of this week's sketch for anyone who would like to play along.  This is Sketch #21 and once I did struggle with, at least the idea I had, did not work as easily as I had hoped?

    As you'll see I started my week in a Pool/Tide mode and always love these colors.  I didn't realize until I went to take the pictures  just how many cards I had, all in that color theme!   I also love Xig Xags and the Chevron kind of look and used that in my next card too!!

   Next is this fun card which I designed to submit to this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz Challenges.   As you can see, I'm still in the teal mode!!

    I even have a picture of Scout today that shows the teal carpet that we have in our bedroom.  A color I now hate for our room, but one I loved when we first put it in!!

  After my teal mode, I seem to have moved into a Bumble Bee kind of theme....or at the very least a theme that reminds me of Bumble Bees -- Yellow and Black!  And this was the first card I made using some die cuts that were already in my stash, from another card that I had not liked!!

And even more scraps in a funky little graphic design....!

Created today for the new CAS Challenge, also being hosted

over at The Outlawz Group!!

And my last yellow and black card, which is now my favorite!!

   This card was also one of the easiest of all.  It's simply a black pre-folded note card, (Hero Arts) and a piece of Bo Bunny - Serenade Sunrise, patterned paper (from my huge 12 X 12" Stash that I cut down to fit on top of the A2 Card.,  I then added another strip of yellow and black cardstock, which I topped off with two flowers a pretty brad.    A very simple design, created with lots of 'older' stash items, yet it turned out to be a really happy card, it looks even better in person! 

    My last card today is one that I created for my nephew who will be turning 16 this week.   As always, I was pretty stumped to come up with an idea for a guy card and one that was not too boyish, but also not too old man-like.  That's when I turned to Pinterest and found this card, which was created by Stampin'Julie B and can be found on her blog, back from 2010!  Loved it and it's just the inspiration I needed for my card!

Stampin'JulieB's Card

My Card

   I liked how her card used Stars and also some solid straight lines, that were cut from cardstock.  I used those themes in mine, but changed the card size, colors and the way I added my sentiment, so that I was not "copying" her card!!  

  And that's it for now, but I do hope that one I have nt adjustment tomorrow with my Chiropractor, that I'll feel better and can get back to creating.  I know that once little Skye arrives, I've be devoting lots of time to her, and will create when she's sleeping, again, it reminds me of having a new baby in the house!!   My only hope is that she sleeps through the night a whole lot sooner and longer than my boys did.  She's now just over 3 months, so I'm thinking, that she'll do fine!   

  Sharing one more picture of Big Brother "Scout" who I am sure will love his new little sibling.  He's such a good dog and is so easy and content.  I can't wait to see how he likes his new little sister, and I hope he does really well with her!

  

Woohoo!!! What a wonderful day!!

   I am so happy and excited to let everyone know that we have now been "Approved" to adopt/rescue a sweet little baby girl Dachshund, who we plan to name "Skye".   We found "Abby" as she was named by her Foster Mom through a wonderful group called Furever Dachshund Rescue and that all came about, after one of my craft friends, Michelle, read the post about me wanting to add another dog to our family and that I had hoped to rescue a second Dachshund.   That post eventually led me to Furever and that was how this all began, back in late December.

"Abby" my new girl, who will think we will name Skye

    If you are a regular follower, you'll now that I currently have a wonderful 9 year old Male Dachshund, named Scout who I adopted from my "Daughter in Law" - Meghan and her wonderful family.  Scout had been living with Meghan and Brian, but they knew it would be too hard to have him make the trip to California when they moved there last Fall.  They also weren't  even sure, if they would be able to have dogs, so I offered to take Scout, and was thrilled when Meg and her Mom, "Colleen" agreed to the plan.  I did felt kind of sad for Sean, Meg's brother, as I knew he had long term plans to take Scout after her graduated from college.  Even so, he agreed and I promised them all that Scout would always be part of their family to and that everyone was welcome to visit or take him for visits, from time to time.   Meg's other dog, Ries a sweet girl, made the trip part way and went to live with Mary, Meg's Sister in Colorado.   Once Meg and Bri found a nice house to rent and found out they could have dogs, Brian had Ries flown in as a surprise for Meg, but there was not way, I was giving up Scout and we had all agreed about that in the beginning.  I also don't think that trip would have been very easy on him, especially since is is an older dog.   Happily, they have now added a second dog their family "Trace" a wonderful little Boston Terrier Mix, who Brian rescued after they moved to San Diego.  He is now just about 10 months old and I loved meeting him, when I went out to visit.  He's such fun and such a happy little guy, who loves to give lots of kisses !  

Ries and Trace Snuggling in their LL Bean Bed!

Ries is a beautiful Springer Spaniel and she loves to run.  She's now four and Meg

has raised her since she was a Puppy.  Being apart was very hard, so I'm thrilled they are not back

together and that Ries and Trace are so happy together!!  

Trace - Brian's Boston Terrier/Mix -- also a Rescue!!

  After my visit and seeing how well the two dogs are doing...I fell in love with Trace, I knew it was time for me to come home and continue on my search for a second dog and a sibling for Scout.  Scout has three other Doxie siblings, when he lived with Meg's family -- Anna, James and Stella who I also feel in love with and it was meeting all these Doxies that he me so interested in getting another.   Knowing that Scout, had always had a sibling, I think he'll also loving having a puppy to play with and also watch over.  He actually LOVED Alex's Ferret  go figure and is such a loving pup.  I can't wait for Scout and Skye to meet and think he'll do a great job in helping her grown up!

  

Delilah -- Alex's little Ferret

   And this is my wonderful dog Scout, who I so LOVE !!  He's my love and has already become very spoiled here with us.   He loves to sleep in our bed and even snuggle under the covers, something I'm sure that "Skye" will eventually love too!   However, we want to be sure she is well trained first and her first bed with be in Scout's former crate.   With her own new pinks blankets and lots of cute pink toys!!!

  I'm off now to work on my schedule and move around some appointments and such!   My goal is to try and make sure that "Skye" is not left alone, at least for the first couple of weeks, while she adjusts to her new home and works on her house-training.  I am going to change my schedule and take some time off from card classes and such to give is time to bond.  I hope we continue to have warm sunny days like today, so that I can spend lots of time outside with both the pups!!   "Abby" as she's known now, is just a bit over 3 months old and has been "paper-trained" by her Foster Mom, Lyanne, which I'm sure will be a big help!    I also want to teach her and Scout to walk well together and took a private class with Scout yesterday afternoon to work on that and some commands that he has forgotten,  but picked up again very quickly.   I may even take him to a class for seniors to refresh his skills on "Wait" and "Come" and walking well on his lease, without "pulling".   

   My thanks to everyone at Furever Dachshund, particularly Julia and Maria who I communicated with the most.  I also want to thank Fabre, who was the first person I met at Furever and the one who contacted me after hearing about my blog post!    And on top of that, extra thanks to everyone who has wished us well and been so excited about our growing little family.   I think in time, I may even consider doing some fostering, but that will be down the road quite a bit.  Right now, I'm thrilled to have Scout and can't wait for Skye to be here too!   

Playing with Patterns!!

    Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you all had a nice weekend and that you are ready for a nice week.  I'm very happy and lucky that I signed up for a brand new class -- Pattern Play, which starts today.   Believe it, or not -- we actually are expecting more snow and it could be up to 6" starting late tonight.  YUK!!   Not how I want to end winter, I would much rather be having more of the wonderful Spring like weather, we had a bit of last week.

    But...since I don't have a busy week and don't have to go out much, I'll be very content working on new cards and waiting to hear any possible updates on my new puppy adoption.   The gal that had originally been doing the home visits, is not available, so the rescue I'm working with, needs to find a new home visit person in my area.  They had tried to have to do this part, when I started my application, and it simply did not work out, as I was going to be off to San Diego and wasn't ready.  Now, I am sad, because it is the one thing that will now hold up the process and I should have listened.   Let's all hope that things go well and that little Abby or McGee, will be moving in sooner than later.

   To keep me busy and take my mind off of the chance I could miss out, I have spend most of my free time the past two days working on new cards and I'm ready to share those first, before I show you the new cards I created after my first day in class.

   A few of these cards were actually inspired by challenges I had playing in last week.  I found I loved some of the ideas and designs, so I continued to make more, including these first too, which were inspired the this week's Cas(E) this Sketch challenge.

  This was my first card from Sunday and as you can see, I used the idea of framing my die cut, which was taken form the sketch, which I really love!   I again cut the leave design with my Cameo and had it cut on plain white, but used my Hero Arts Cube Inks to color it with the Blue shade (Cornflower), to make it go with my teal and blue theme.

   This is also another take of the Sketch, but instead of adding a sentiment banner, I used the center and added a digital sentiment.  I also was loving the blue and teal combo and really liked these fun pattern papers which are from the Scoot line by Echo Park.

    And my last little note card, was also created with the same sketch in mind, but for this card I used a cute little Pre-Colored digi images which is from Lili of the Valley.   I love their sweet little "die-cut designs", as they call them and they are perfect when you want to make a quick card and don't have time to color, or like me, have a printer that is broken--leaving you without anyway to print out digi images to color!   Boy am I missing my printer, much more than I ever thought I would.  I'm very happy it's fully covered and will be replaced with a new model, but I need ASAP, and it's definitely a tool the is required when it comes to creating with any type of digital elements!   Hopefully, it's on it's way and will be here in the next day or two?

    Out of all the cards I made in the past couple of days, this is my least favorite and what I consider to be a fail" card.  I can't pinpoint why exactly...but it didn't come out, nearly like I had hoped.   I have a feeling this card will going to be taken apart and re-vised or end else it may very well end up in my recycle bin.

   The next card is another kind of "fail", and it was one I started in last's month "Card Club", but one that I never finished.  I had the base put together and forget was was meant to go in the circle area.  I then decided to pick out a sentiment, which I had in my pre-printed folder and added that onto the layers of circles.   I then, still felt like something was missing, so I added two thin strips of the golden orange which matched the Washi tape.  This is another card, I'm not loving, but I think it's simply because I don't like the colors very much.

     After not loving those colors, I decided to go back to some of my favorites and so I pulled out this sweet tulip digi image, from Bugaboo Stamps,  that was in my folder of pre-colored images.   Often, when I'm really tired or if my Fibro is flaring and I can not be online, at the computer or at my craft desk, I will find a comfy place to sit back, put my feet up and relax by coloring.   All I need is my Copics and a pile of printed images and I can even sit in the recliner with a hot pack, if needed and still be creating.   Coloring for me is so comfy and is another reason that I find card-making to be so therapeutic.    I then keep all my  pre-colored images in a folder for days like today, when I can't print or when I may need to make a card quickly and don't have the time to color a new image.    And after two "fails", I was very happy with this pretty card!!  It's always been one of my favorite tulip digi images and one I have colored and make into cards, many times - love it.

     Today, I'm especially excited to be sharing cards that were ALL inspired by Day One in "Pattern Play" which is another fabulous class being offered and taught by Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire in their online card classroom.  If you are a regular follower you'll know that I LOVE their classes and have taken each and every one, as have many of the other students.  It's even more fun when you get to know the others and we all have the the same LOVE of paper-crafting and enjoying these awesome classes.

    If you want to learn all the great tips and techniques we learn, you'll have to take the class and I'll be you'll be very pleased if you do!!   Although I can not share any of the class content, I can share pictures of the cards that I create, which is what I'm doing now.   I can also tell you that Day One was awesome and I loved how each of the designers shared how they choose their papers and also how they organize their papers!!   Our guest designer today is the amazing Amber Kemp-Gerstel, and she's another favorite, as I love her Clean and Simple style.  You can visit her amazing blog and see her wonderful work.

Pattern Play Class

Day One

   These are the cards that I created today, using a variety of patterned papers and scraps.   The wonderful tips and techniques shared by Kristina, Jennifer and Amber, have given me a whole new way to look for papers and patterns that work well together.   Although they each have their own style and technique, they all  shared their wonderful ideas along with some fantastic videos!    Awesomeness at it's best!!

  This is my first card of the day and I think it will be a fun card for a younger child's Birthday.  All of the papers for this card are from Echo Park's - Scoot 6X6 Paper pack, as well as some scraps from my overflowing scrap bin.   The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and the bling is from my stash!

Card One

Card Two

   Card two also features papers from the same Scoot Paper Pad, along with some Navy Bazzill Cardstock that I used to create my card base.   I also used an EK Success Scallop Border punch to create the red vertical border and used my brand new Circle Dies, which are from Simon Says Stamp and were created by Kristina.  They also have a matching set of Stamps, which I also own and love.   For this card, I wanted a little boy like sentiment and think this "Hey Buddy" from Paper Smooches, was perfect.

   And that brings me to my third and final card today, which was created with more new papers and each of these actually came in the March Card Kit, which is designed every month by Kristina for Simon Says Stamp, along with assorted scraps left over from many of the cards I created today!   The March card kit, has actually been one of my all time favorites and I have been a subscriber, since they first started.  I really love how much thought Kristina puts into putting together every kit.   I especially loved the pretty Spring papers in this kit, all of which are by Lawn Fawn. and    I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new April Kit which looks awesome!!   WOOHOO!!  
  
   *This card is now also being submitted as part of the March Bootcamp Lesson over at the Stars and Stamps blog.

     I am heading over to Flickr now to share my cards and then will also one of two to the Gallery over in the Classroom.  I love seeing everyone share their work and find it always helps me come up with even more inspiration!

     See you all tomorrow with more new cards from Day 2 and hope that maybe.....just maybe the weather forecast is wrong and that we'll wake up to a sunny blue sky day?    And if that's not possible, then I'll hope I hear some news about my Puppy adoption and when the home visit can be done, so I'll be all set.  Wish me luck!

      Update:   I had a card featured today over at Operation Write Home's - Boot Camp and I wanted to thank Paula for that wonderful honor.  That particular card is one that I created at a Card Class that I took at my LSS and it also features techniques and ideas that I have used and learned from Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner in some of the other wonderful online classes!

        I am also now submitting one of today's new cards as a new take on today's composition lesson!    Please be sure to check out all the fantastic cards that are also part of the BootCamp lesson!!   Thank YOU!!

Puppies, Printers and Playtime...

  That's pretty much been my day today!  For those of you who don't already know, I have been thinking about adopting a second dog into our family and started looking into this and rescues a late in the Fall.  That's when one of my followers, read a post about it and referred me to a Dachshund Rescue that I started working with to adopt.  I've now contacted them again to finalize my application and hope that will have a new little dog coming to live with us soon!  I think Spring and Summer will be the best time to house-train a dog and I can't wait to spend lots of time outside with Scout and his new sibling?   I even visited my local shelter on Thursday and almost came home with a dog that night, but sadly he was too aggressive for me and Scout, so that was not a good match.  But, I am now approved to adopt there and hope a new dog will soon be here!
 
   I spend most of the day yesterday, looking again for available Dachshunds, and also worked on finalizing my paperwork withe the rescue I had been working with.   That's what I also started to think more and more about adopting a Puppy and they happen to have a litter of Dachshund/Mix pups up for adoption and two of them reminded me of Scout (the same coloring), so I'm now determine to hopefully adopt one and HOPE it works out!!  Wish me luck as I'm super happy and excited and these puppies are adorable and need a nice loving home, which I am very happy to share with them!    I think Scout will do well with a puppy, as she seem to like them, while at the Shelter!   Here are pictures of the two that I think would be so loveable and wonderful friends to Scout.

 

  The first photo is a sweet little female and I just think she is adorable, but I also think that the little boy on the right, is also a handsome guy!   Plus, like I said, they both remind me of Scout and have the same coloring and that seems to make them both jump out at me!!  

   Today, I can't seem to get them off my mind, but all I can do now is wait.   The only thing left to do is complete a home visit and that is being planned.  If that goes well, and I can't imagine it wouldn't, I'm then totally approved and can request ANY of the available dogs and begin the final process.   I so HOPE it's sooner than later and I truly am so happy !!  Yippee!!

  Now, to keep myself from staring at these adorable pics all day long, I've tried to keep very busy and spend a great deal of time working on three new cards today, while Scout was napping.  Scout, being almost 10 loves he Sleep and he likes to snugger up in any open bed he can find for his naps.  Mostly in Alex's bed in the day time, because he can jump up on that bed along, but can't get on our bed without help!   I love seeing him snuggled under the covers and also recently ordered him his very own "Puppy Pocket", which I think he'll LOVE.  You can bet I'll order one for the new puppy too, if all goes as planned!  I've already bought a new lease and collar and a toy for Scout and the new dog too!  

   And I actually finished up three different cards and all three were inspired and based on the current challenge at Cas(E) this Sketch.  I am sharing a copy of the this week's Sketch below, followed by the three cards I came up with.

   I put my Cameo to good use today and started on my cards, but cutting a variety of squares, scalloped squares and banners for Sentiments to use on my card.  I also cut them in a variety of colors and picked out a cute layered Flower as an idea for a card center and picked a leafy background design as another option.  I ended up cutting two full 12 X !2 mats full of all kinds of shapes and colors and that's when I quickly realized I could easily create at least three cards.

   This was the first card I put together and it's simply the leafy background along with a pretty teal scalloped border.  I also cut my sentiment banner to match the background and used one of Kristina's  new Sentiment Stamp sets to add the fun little "We believe in you", which is actually her own handwriting that I greatly admire.

   
  This pretty "Thank You" card is may favorite and it's because it used some of my favorite papers (Viola from Memory Box) and also has a Spring theme, which is the little layered flower I created on the Cameo.

    And that brings me to the last card which is another cutie featuring a pre-colored image form Lily of the Valley.  I had planed to color up a digi image but was unable to get my printer to work and have since learned that it's dead and so now I'm printer-less, and I never realized just HOW much I do use my printer, until today.  On top of that it's the ONLY printer in our home and all our computers print to it using WiFi!!

    The good news is that after I called Lexmark for assistance I quickly learned that it was NOT something they could repair, but that my printer was still under warranty and they are now sending me out a Brand New (upgraded version) of the one I have, since that model is not longer made.   I sure HOPE it's at least the same or very comparable  because I really love how well my printer prints on Cardstock and such, especially my digital images.    It's coming via Fedex 2nd Day Air, so that's a plus too!  They are even sending me extra inks, as I told them, I have inks that I just bought that will now be useless for me, and the will also take those back for a full credit toward the new cartridges I will need!

    I had been planning to eventually upgrade to a 12" Wide Format Printer and there is one by Epson that I've had my eye on.   I think in time, that will still be my goal, so that I can do Print and Cuts and be able to print on 12" cardstock, which would be especially useful with my Cameo.

   So that's my day and now I'm ready to sign off and enjoy still seeing daylight and sunshine at 6:15 PM!  I love have the longer days and that will also be a bonus, if we have our new puppy    I sure hope this all works out and I'm very excited.  Scout and I are back to having an after dinner walk, something we stopped, when it started getting dark and very cold at 4 PM.  I'm sure happy that my dogs, don't like the cold any more than I do and that we all love to be out, when it's sunny and warm!

A Wonderful Wednesday....

   It's another amazing "Blue Sky" day with lots of sunshine and warm temps and the huge snow bankings are almost all gone and hopefully will be in another day of sun!   Now, I can't wait for the Spring weather to move in and hope that winter is in the past and that we are done with the bitter cold and the snow.  I'm such a fan of warm sunshine and absolutely love Spring and Summer.   Summer is my favorite and also when I feel the very best, so I always hope it's a nice long season and that we have a nice Spring too.

   Spring has been on my mind often and it's been a part of my creative process lately too, especially since I started enjoyed the wonderful March Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp.  I think it's fast become my favorite to date and I have another card today, that was created with the pretty papers that were included in the kit and are from Lawn Fawn.

   My next card is one I started yesterday, as soon as I saw the new challenge that was posted over at CAS-logy, which has become a new favorite.  I am sharing this week's CUE and hope I can inspire YOU to play along.  You can find ALL the challenges details over at the CAS-ology!!

Challenge # 35 - Cue Card

My Card

 UPDATE:   I found out this evening that this my fun little "Alien" card was the WINNING card over a CASology and I am beyond excited.  I truly love this challenge and have only recently really started to learn how to create fun CAS cards.  It's a style that I've grown to love more and more and playing in this challenge has truly helped me to learn!  I'm also very honored and can hardly believe I WON!!   Thank you very very much!   It's been ages since I have won a challenge and it sure feels nice to feel like I finally have my MOJO back!!  This is my first in of this year!  THANK YOU!!

  As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew that I wanted to use one of the adorable "Alien/Monster" digital images, by Hero Arts.    I also knew I wanted to Paper-Piece him and searched my selection of digital backgrounds papers, until I found this adorable purple zig zag paper, which is actually a "Freebie" from Sheri K Designs.    I love combining digi elements in my cardmaking, also known as Hybrid Cardmaking and have that I really love the papers from Shery K Designs, and also buy all my Hero Arts Digital Images over at Two Peas.    I also now have a wonderful library of digi images and there are oodles of wonderful designers who sell them from the blogs, online stores and even at Etsy!   

     I actually use Microsoft "Word" program to print out all my Digi images/papers, to do the paper-piecing on the computer.     I learned how easy it was to paper-piece digitally, from this awesome tutorial that was shared by Arielle Gordon, over at The Pink Elephant, a couple of years ago!   It's by far, the best tutorial I have seen and the best part for me, is that I don't need any special photo program, it's all done easily and Word!!    Once I have all my images and papers added to my page (document), I am ready print.  I then simply change my paper to a nice quality cardstock, specifically one that I love to color on with my Copics.  For me that's the Cyrogen Iridiscent White, that I have always purchased from Patricia, of The Paper Temptress.   Then it's simply a matter or cutting and coloring and putting it all together, which I did by adding a fun little Sentiment from Paper Smooches, that I cut out using a brand new die "Phrase Bubbles" from Hero Arts.

   And speaking of HeroArts, the gals over at the Hero Flickr group, have started a fun little "Weekly" discussion, where this week's question was tell us ALL, what you MOST favorite Hero Arts Wood Stamp is.   For me, and most of the others, that was a hard question, but since we could only pick one, I knew for me it had to be one of the newest and that is Leafy Vines.  I absolutely LOVE this stamp and every time I see it on a card I love the card too.   That question, also inspired me to get mine out and to create some new cards, and that's when I noticed that my is actually in Cling, but it is also sold in Wood!  It's one a few stamps that Hero has sold in both ways!!   Interesting !  I know that the NEW "Everything Flowers" image is another one sold in both Wood and Cling, but I wonder WHY??    Do you know?

  Moving on, these are three new cards I created using the same stamp aka -- One Stamp - Three Ways and their be more to follow and I stamped it about six times yesterday in a variety of colors and inks!!  These just happen to be the two cards I have finished.  I'm also planning to work on a card for the current challenge at Hero Arts and made both of these into Friendship Cards, thinking that was one of the themes, this month -- Wrong!!!   The theme I had been thinking of is actually "Hello" cards!!   DUH!  I need to re-read the challenges before I start, so I don't mix them up!!  Tomorrow, I'll plan to create my HELLO card!!

   

   As you can see they were all done in different colors and the third card, was one I created my own card in a fun shape using my Grand Nestabilities.  I also stamped onto some pretty pink and white patterned paper using Versamark, which I then heat embossed with "Melon Mambo" Pink Embossing Powder from Stampin' Up.  I then simply added a little "Love Always" sentiment (from a Hero set) and a cute matching punched heart, with a pink button and bow.  

   My last card is actually the very first card that I finished this morning.  I needed to get this one done and out in the mail, as it's for my nephew's Birthday, which is on Friday!!   I also struggle with Masculine cards and it seems that I'm always waiting until the end to get them done, as I'm often torn on ideas.  Luckily, today I was inspired by a new card that Shari Carrol has created and it's this fun "Hexagon" card that was posted on Hero's Blog today.  I don't own the Hexagon Die Set, (well not yet, but it's in my cart on at Etsy), and I plan to purchase it on my next order from A2Z, before the 17th, so I can use their latest promo code!!  I'm loving shopping more and more at A2Z and love that they've been offering these exact incentives to save me money!!  They also have tons of Hero Product, making it a great store for me!!

    I did think about simply using my Silhouette, but because I initially wanted lots of colors, I knew it would be faster and easier to use a die and that's when I decided to go with squares from this wonderful new die set that is one of my faves --- created by Kristina Werner.  At first I had thought about basically "CASing" Shari's card, using squares in male deep colors, but then when I saw how I could use the die to cut all three squares in a row, that's exactly what I did and more of a window like card, much different than Shari's but still inspired by her idea!! 

   As you can see, I cut all three squares from a piece of embossed cardstock and then added the green lined patterned paper behind each of the windows.  I then ran a simple line of Washi tape down the center and punched a little circle to give this card a graphic like design.  I stamped the Happy Birthday Sentiment onto a scrap of the same paper and then layered the entire top onto a solid black card base   Because I needed something for the inside to write on, I used more of the green paper and added a contrasting strip of black to make it all match well, as shown in the next photo.

  In the end, my card doesn't look anything like Shari's but her card was definitely what inspired me to start with squares.  This is why I love browsing blogs and why I have so many on my Google Reader.  I love to see what the designers come up with, especially my favorite's like -- Shari, Kristina and Jennifer!!   Oh and speaking of my favorite designers, they will all be sharing even more in the next class that is being hosted over at Jennifer and Kristina's Online Card Classroom, which starts on Monday!   It's called Pattern Play and you can still sign up and start the LIVE class with us all on the 18th.  I can't wait and am very excited to be taking another awesome card with these gals.   Hope to see you there and I know I have already noticed lots of my online friends, have already signed up and shared some of their latest cards in the Gallery!!   Awesome!!

Catch up day....

...and a kind of cloudy and gloomy day too!!   I had a really good day yesterday and was quite happy to finish up several cards, but then was too tired to post them here on my blog.

  Today, I'm posting first and then hope to head back to my desk and work on some more cards for some of my favorite challenges.

  This is one of my favorite cards from yesterday and it was created for the newest Muse Challenge, which you'll find HERE!  I am also sharing a copy of the lovely card that Therese created as this week's super talented, Muse!!  I loved her card and design so much that I pretty much cased it, but used some brand new "Patterned Paper" by Papermania, that I picked up at my LSS on Sunday!  I just LOVE these papers and now own them in Blue, this lovely mocha color and in a light pink!!   I also love how this color looks with Pink, so I chose a pretty pink flower, (oldie from my Stash) and also when with pink and white Baker's Twine.  I did use the same sentiment, which is a favorite from the "Truly Appreciated" clear set, which I stamp with Cup o' Joe, also from Hero Arts.

Therese's MUSE Card

My Card

   I had so much fun with that card style, that I went on to create a second card, also in a similar design, only this time I went with my all time favorite color or a deep plum shade (i.e. Purple).  This card was submitted to this week's CAS Die Cut Themed Challenge at The Outlawz and I used good Ole' Nestie Dies to cut my window as well as the pretty circular window.   My card is from Hero Arts and the papers for this card are a old favorite "Viola" from Memory Box.  The flower, as like the pink one above, are from my Stash and I found them while re-organizing my craft room.   Great find!!

   Next, I put together these two new cards, the first one was created for this week's Greeting Challenge, also at The Outlawz, where the theme is "Green".  In my card I went with a soft 'sage' green and a pretty CAS style, my new fave.  The cardstock and papers use for this card were all part of the March Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp and the sweet little Sentiment, is another one of the exclusive stamp/die sets that was designed by Kristina Werner!!   I plan to share this card over at Simon's March Card Kit Blog.

    I was on a roll by then and continued on to make two more cards, which were made using more elements from the card kit, as well as more of the Stamps that Kristina designed.  I truly LOVE them and am slowly buying the sets to add to my Stamp and Die Collection!!   

    Both of the cards above, used up the remaining papers and pieces that were left on my desk, after I made the first cards.   I used the same new papers by Papermania on the second card and added a layer of embossing on each card, where I used the same folder, from the Twirl Set, which is from Lifestyle Crafts.  I love the design and how it gives a different look on each card.  I also love the second folder in this set and have found that Lifestyle is making some of my favorite new embossing folders!   

   The last card I completed yesterday was this fun color-blocked card which was inspired by the new Challenge over at CAS-ual Friday's.   I had a lot of fun making this one and it all started by taking a 1" square punch and using us the rest of the scraps that were on my desk.  The cardstocks from Bazzil, the Plum Layering paper from Hero and the cute flower patterned paper from Memory Box.  I made a quilt like pattern on a 3 1/4" square and then adhered that square to the center of a larger background, which was added to my square card base, all in the same cardstock and colors.   The "Hugs" sentiment was added at the end is my all time favorite Sentiment.  I have this stamp so long, that I don't even remember where I bought it or who created it?

     I really enjoyed making all these and hope that today, I can make a few more.  I am off now to read my emails and see what fun new challenges I can enter!!  Wishing you all a very Happy Tuesday and I hope it's a wonderful day full of creativity for us all!!