Patriotic Snowman

Hello and Happy Wednesday.

Know what's good about challenges? Getting a head start on Christmas cards! I had every intention of making a card a week...but boy did that fail in a heartbeat! But I still have time. Over at Designed2Delight, the challenge this week is:

RED, WHITE, BLUE & CHRISTMAS TOO!

Today I'm using Heartfelt Wishes, colored with Copics and accented with Glossy Accents. I think this is a GREAT color combo for Christmas - and we are quite the patriotic family. I don't think you can see the embossing too well, but I did dust off some Cuttlebug folders for this one! I'm also using a new Stampin' Up sentiment set called Teeny Tiny Wishes. GREAT set!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

This will be entered in the following challenges:

• Die Cut Dreams - #92 Red, White & Blue
• Paper Playtime - #49 Digi and Red, White & Blue
• Sketch & Stash - Layout #64 (Stash - embossing folders, New - SU stamp set)
• Woodware USA - #33 Patriotic Theme and/or Colors

Super Sweet Emo

Hello and Happy Tuesday! Hope your weekend was relaxing!

Today I want to share one of my favorite characters from Just Some Lines. Her name is Emo Amber:

I've had this paper for forever and never once thought I'd use it since it's so bright, but hopefully I pulled it off! Sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I colored her with Copics and then fussy cut. I used plenty of pop dots and glaze for dimension. Another thank you card for my ma. And even thought it's so bright, I actually like the look. I don't know why I shy away from bright papers....maybe I'll try more.

Thank you for visiting and have a super great day!

This will be entered in the following challenges:

• Bows & Berries - Thank You
• Creative Stamp Friends - #28 Dots
• Stamps R Us - There Was a Little Girl...
• The Crafty Pad - #127 Bold & Bright
  

Felt Gift Tag

Hello and Happy Monday. I recently saw a lovely flower made of felt out in blogland. I thought there could be so many variations on it, including this gift tag/topper. I sewed the felt pieces together and I'm going to affix a pin to the back so this can be worn by the birthday boy!

I'm using a Bugaboo stamp, and today is ABC (Anything But a Card) day at Catch the Bug! So please stop by and take a look at all the great inspiration!

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I want to take a moment to say Good Bye to my good boy Jack. With tears in my eyes and ache in my heart, I know he's in a better place without pain. At 13 years old and 120 pounds...he will be missed and remembered.

Thank you for your visit.

Old Age Fun

Hello and hope you're having a great Saturday! Today we are attending a birthday party and some type of western thing. Anyway, today is also Catch the Bug challenge day, and the new challenge is:

RED, WHITE & BLUE
AND RIBBON TOO!

Most people think 4th of July, but I was in need of a birthday card for my Ma. And Stella is tops for birthdays! I used this week's sketch from Eat Sleep Stamp, added sewing on the panels that's impossible to see (but it's there, I promise), and glaze.

I made a little ribbon rose. I simply took around 10" of ribbon, ran a long stitch on the lower half with needle and thread, pulled one end of the thread, and it rolls up just like a flower.

And of course, I had to include a Stella sentiment on the inside. Hopefully my Ma will get a kick out of this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Card Holders

Hello all and Happy Thursday! I haven't been feeling well lately, so I have a few things to catch up on!

A couple weeks ago, I went to a Stampin' Up class to learn to make cards with built-in gift card holders. We made a total of 4 different styles and here are the first two:

The front of this card is shorter than the back and we got to use a really nifty punch.

The gift card holder also uses a punch - similar to a 4 petal fold. We folded two of the petals to create a heart, and voila! SO cute and simple!

Nice masculine card.

Inside hides the gift card so beautifully! This one is a really nice design.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by my quick post today! Have a wonderful day!

Hey Big Boy

Hello! It's HUMP DAY!

I got this sexy lady a while back from Kenny K Designs and have been a little intimidated to actually use it. Well, last night I pulled out my Copics....LOTS of Copics and got coloring.

 I'm still trying to think of something witty to put on the inside.

A close up of course. I think I could have put way more "texture" in her hair - I'm not used to coloring in SO much hair and went wild with the darker colors. Oh well. I tried.

Thank you for stopping by!

My card will be entered in the following challenges:

• Kenny K - #49 Favorite Color (Blue)
• Cards 4 Men - #12 Blue & Black (this worked perfectly!)
• Card Positioning Systems - Layout #222

Make: Stuffed Owl Friend

Hello and Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Today I'm sharing a little something I made for Bean a few weeks ago. She was running a pretty high fever for a few days with no other symptoms. She's so good at keeping her spirits up, but she was miserable.

So I put this together in a little under an hour using nothing but fleece scraps. She LOVES it!

It's such a generous size too. Want to make your own? Check out the FREE pattern and tutorial at Make It and Love It. Oh, and when I have enough supplies, I make things in threes for Bean's favorite little cousins...so they'll be getting one of these too!

Pearls & Lace

Hello and hope you're having a GREAT weekend! My nephew is in town for a few weeks, so we will be going to Explora (a wonderful hands on science center) today, and steaks for my birthday tomorrow. It's already a BUSY weekend - but it's all good.

Today a new challenge has been set at Catch the Bug:

PEARLS & LACE

I don't really use either pearls or lace much, so I had to dig deep in my stash to find some supplies!

I LOVE these Kid Toppers. They can pretty much be for ANY occasion. See my lace? It's hiding a bit....well, so are the pearls! The layout is yet another fabulous sketch from Eat Sleep Stamp. I believe this is Thank You card #10 (out of 30) for my Ma.

And THANK YOU for your visit and don't forget to check out Catch The Bug for more DT fun and inspiration! Have a WONDERFUL day.

Just a quick pic of my first bloom in my flower garden. I believe these are some type of lily. The colors kind of match the card above!

O Christmas Tree

Hello and Happy Thursday. You know, in January I had good intentions to make a few Christmas cards a month. Well, so far I've only made one...well, two if you count this one:

I'm using a Dollar Delight from Designed2Delight called Christmas Tree. Super easy to color up - used Copics and Ranger for shading. The sentiment is Stampin' Up's Holiday Best.

Great and simple layout from Splitcoaststampers (SC50) - fairly CAS. I didn't want to add too much and kept it as flat as possible. I find these cards make it through the mail a lot easier.

So two Christmas cards down!! LOL!. Well, I guess you always have to start somewhere right? Thanks so much for stopping by today! I appreciate each and every visit.

Summer Girl

Hello and hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday and that your air is clean. I don't know if anyone knows about the fires in Arizona, but the smoke has carried over to New Mexico and our skies are yucky, ash is falling, and the sun is orange-red in the evenings and you can look at it with the naked eye. Oh, and it's bad for our health. But hopefully, everyone in AZ is safe!

Today I want to share a little Summer Girl with you. I've had this set for a while from Just Some Lines. There are a total of 5 girls, and I hope to share more of them!

Can you believe NO sewing this time! I thought this would work as a thank you card for my Ma's stack. Plus, I was attempting to keep this under 1/2 hour. It helps to have a sketch: from Card Positioning Systems.

I tried to keep her as soft as possible using Copics and especially depending on my blending pen. Sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Trendy Trees.

Anyway, that's it for today. We have an early morning eye appointment for Bean and then off to work. Thanks so much for taking a peek today.

Thanks for Your Support

Hello and hope you're having a GREAT Tuesday. It's New Release Tuesday over at Bugaboo Stamps, and check out this FAB image:

Nothing like undies on the line to brighten someones day!! Colored with Copics and Prismas, fussy cut, and hung on hemp...I didn't realize until after it was all said and done, that the undies were already on their own line!! Oh well.

The inside reads: Thanks for Your Support. Another Thank You card for my Ma. I made the background the best I could...it's supposed to look like clouds. The layout is this weeks Card Patterns!

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to check out the rest of the new releases at Bugaboo and all the other inspiration at Catch the Bug!

Father's Day Fish

Hello and hope you are having a GREAT Sunday! I want to let you know about the latest challenge over at Designed2Delight:

MASCULINE CARD & NO FLOWERS

Because really, how many guys really like flowers on their cards?

Of course, other sentiments could be "Great Catch", "Happy Birthday", "There's Plenty of Fish in the Sea" oh I could go on and on....especially with some a little more "adult" like.

So I printed my image, pulled out my Ranger inks (4 colors total), and started blending all over the image. I saved my brighter colors for the fish. Then I fussy cut around the frame and added black CS (also fussy cut) to make a layer. I'm using yet another great sketch from Eat Sleep Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Thanks a Latte

Hello and hope you're having a GREAT Saturday!! Of course, Saturday's are challenge day at Catch the Bug, and this weeks challenge is:

ANYTHING GOES

And since I'm still working on my Thank You cards for my Ma (3 down, 27 to go), I made three of these "Thanks a Latte" cards (which brings me to 6 down, 24 to go!):

Ava is one of my favorite characters, and of course I ADORE coffee! I'm using a really old mat stack that I rediscover every couple of months (I think I will have this stack till the end of time!!). I did a rather simple layout (since I made 3) with plenty of "white" space.

Close up of glossy goodness. Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you'll enter your Anything Goes creation this week at Catch the Bug!

U Rock

Hello and Happy Thursday! Today is HOT and humid, and I don't even want to think about doing anything outside today.

I want to share a card I put together last night:

This little cutie is from Tiddly Inks, colored with Copics, die cut with Nesties and shaded with Ranger ink. There's lots of sewing on this since there are SO many layers. The sentiment is from one of those $1 sets of individual alpha stamps from Michaels.

See the little decoration on the bottom - the blue and pink circles? Well, that's from my new Cricut cart: Birthday Cakes (cut at 1"). And guess what? I WON this CART from the talented Tracy! How awesome is that?! I NEVER win anything!

Close up as usual. And this card is already in the mail! Thank you for stopping by and I hope you visit me again!

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

• Tiddly Inks - #52 Darling Diva (hope she's Diva-ish enough)
• Party Time Tuesday - #18 Anything Goes
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch #104