Inspired By Stamps

Over the moon in Love With You

2012-02-13T18:06:00.001-05:00

Here is the Valentine Card I made for my husband today. I got away from the traditional colors for this to make it look more masculine. However, I forgot myself and started adding pearls and stick pins and then remembered who it was for. But, that's OK. It just made it look romantic looking.

The inspiration for this card started with a Sketch Challenge at Die Cuttin Divas. I used the CTMH exclusive Cricut cartridge called Art Philosophy to cut the doily and a MS paper punch for the side border.

The Papers I used are from the Close to My Heart Sonoma paper pack. I changed around some of the colors of papers to match the flowers. I used the new CTMH Card Word Puzzle Stamp set for the flowers and butterflies. I stamped them with Black Memento ink and colored them with Copic Markers.

The Over the Moon in Love With You is from the December Stamp of the Month, called Mad about you.
I tied a green bow and stuck two stick pins from the Bling Assortment through the back for some added bling.

Challenges for this card:
Cards for Men - Valentine/Love
The Crazy Challenge - Valentine

FSS Hearts & Roses Valentine Card

2012-01-25T09:31:00.003-05:00

I'm finally getting caught up with all of my stamping obligations and it feels so good!!!

Here is a Valentine card made using the Fred She Said Hearts and Roses pre-colored image. I love this set because the pre-colored images come in 7 different colors for any occasion, or a digi that you can color yourself. I added the Happy Valentines Day but you can add any sentiment or non at all.

The inspiration for this card started with the January Verve sketch, week 1, that the Heart worked perfectly with.

The paper I used are all CTMH from the Roxie Paper Packet, except for the green punched strip. That was left over scrap from a Christmas card but it worked perfectly for this card.

The Hand stitching around the card was done with matching embroidery floss.

Other Challenges for this card:
Wags & Whiskers - Valentine/Love
Stampin with the Dragon - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Needles & Pins
Drunkin Stampers - Love
JUGS - Red, Pink, White
Scrap, Stamp & Doodle - Have a Heart
I Did It - Love
Stampin Sisterhood - Inspiration (roses, heart, pink)
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Make a Heart stand out
Inky Impressions - Heart You

FSS - Hat Tipping Snowman

2012-01-24T11:57:00.003-05:00

I think I'm finally back and able to continue creating. My wrist pain is minimal now and I'm starting off slowly. I sure missed not making cards but especially not being able to hand stitch them. So here is my fist card of the new year. I used the Fred She Said Hat Tipping pre-colored Snowman.

The papers are all from the Wonderland paper packet from Close to my Heart. I really think I need to order more of this paper before it is retired at the end of the month. I really LOVE it for snow cards and layouts.
It's hard to see all of the glitter on this card but it's around the doily and one the snowflakes.

The Handstitching around the card was done using white Embroidery Floss.

The inspiration came from a sketch challenge at Deconstructed Sketch 35.

Other Challenges for this card:
DYSU Challenge Blog - Patterned Paper
DRS Challenge - Snowmen
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Anything Goes
Card Makin Mamas - Something Old (Swirls of pearls)
Fussy & Fancy - Let It Snow
Raise the Bar - Ring in the New Year (circles)
Stampin for the weekend - Out with the old. (papers and pearls)
Stamping with the Dragon - Anything Goes
Gingerloft - Let it Snow
Sentimental Sundays - Die Cuts
Stamptacular Sunday - Seeing Spots
Clear it Out - Baby it's cold outside
Ladybug Crafts - Bows

Fred She Said Christmas Tag Blog Hop

2011-12-16T01:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Fred She Said Christmas Tag Blog Hop. I'm having a really hard time believeing that Christmas is only 9 days away. Where did this year go!

Fred She Said is having a fun little Christmas Challenge! The theme is " Make a Christmas Tag OR Share a favorite Holiday Recipe "

The PRIZE is a $25 GC to the Fred She Said Store. There will be one winner chosen randomly. Entries will be accepted until Friday DEC 30th midnight EST. ... more details at the Fred She Said BLOG :)

I made a gift tag / Ornament. Papers are layered on chipboard and decorated with Fred She Said Christmas Wreath. This makes a sturdy tag that can then be used as an ornament.

Fred She Said Winter Blog Hop

2011-11-18T01:00:00.010-05:00

Welcome to the Winter Themed Fred She Said Blog Hop.

I’m so glad you dropped in today because our Design Team have some fabulous Fred She Said art work to share with you.

You’ll definitely want to play along because we have some wonderful gifts that THREE of you could win by just collecting the word/s along the way and putting them together for the secret phrase. Entry instructions will be at the FSS Challenge BLOG. Entries will be accepted for 2 weeks - until Friday December 2nd midnight EST. Winners will be announced Saturday December 3rd

PRIZES: 3 random winners. 1 winner for each prize below:
$30 GC for www.cropstop.com
$30 GC for Fred She Said
$30 GC for Fred She Said

If you’ve come here from Carol’s Blog, you are on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, you will want to start at the very beginning at the FSS Blog so you can collect all the words in the correct order.

My card today was made using the pre-colored Fred She Said newly released Christmas Poinsettia Lantern. Isn’t this just the prettiest image! I used this week’s sketch from Midnight Madness challenge blog. It was just perfect for my lantern.

I added some yellow stickles to the centers of the poinsettias and the candle flame. I also added some red Bling on the ribbon and right hand corners.

The papers are all from Close to my Heart and the Hand Stitching was done with Red Embroidery Floss.
My special words for the phrase are “a Very”.

Now hope on over to Val’s Blog and see the gorgeous artwork from her.

Other Challenges for this card:
Pile it on - Traditional Christmas
Mami Doodles - Christmas
Digital Tuesday - Christmas
Wags n' Whiskers - Christmas
Totally Gorjuss - Christmas Traditions

House Mouse - Midnight Madness Challenge

2011-11-01T15:46:00.002-04:00

I wanted to play along with the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge from last week with a House Mouse Stamp that I have had for at least 10 years and have never used it. So, here it is.
I'm also submitting this for the House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge. I'd LOVE to win some new HM Stamps.

I normally do fancy hand stitching around the card, but I'm getting this card in at the very lasy minute so I did a small amount of hand stitching on it with brown embroidery floss.

Vintage Father Christmas Card - 2

2011-10-24T18:08:00.003-04:00

I purchased some jpeg's of actual vintage Christmas cards and postcards some time ago and finally found the papers I needed to use them. These Bo Bunny Chrismas papers are just perfect. I think you may be seeing a few more in the next few days.

The inspiration for this card started with last Tuesday's Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.

The ribbon was 3/8" satin ribbon that I hand stitched a zig zag parrern is then pulled the threads to ruffle it together. I thought this looked more vintage then just using the ribbon. The white pointsettia flower brad was in some stash that I had from last years embellishment assortment called Mistletoe from Close to my Heart . I distressed it then attached it to pointsettia leaves from an old CTMH stamp set.

The Hand stitching was done with new England Ivy Embroidery Floss up the sides and top of the cards.

Vintage Santa Christmas Card

2011-10-23T12:26:00.004-04:00

Here is my last post for today. I saved the best for last.

I absolutely LOVE Vintage Christmas cards so I decided to purchase some vintage images. Then I found this fabulous Christmas Paper from Bo Bunny to go with them. I think I should have bought much more of this paper.

The inspiration for this card came from a Verve Sketch Challenge. They have some beautiful sketches every week.

The hand stitching was done using my own design with Embroidery Floss. For the stitching around the green paper, I used a running stitch and Gold Metallic Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges for this card:
Winter Wonderland - Vintage Christmas
My time to craft - Punches and Dies
ABC Christmas Challenge - Unused Stash (ribbon, gold embroidery floss, and those round circle things the pearls are inside of.)

Hydrandea 4" x 4" Note Cards (set of 6)

2011-10-23T12:13:00.001-04:00

Here is my second post for today with a set of Six Hydrangea Note cards. These are also 4" x 4".
I used the pre-colored images from Fred She Said called Hydrangeas. After the image is cut out using a nestability die, I keep the die on and sponge blue around the edge and brown on the bottom. This gives the appearance of it having a white layer underneath.

I cuttle bugged the front of the card and used one of my favorite punches for the corners. I wanted to give it an antique look.
All papers and inks are from Close to my Heart.

Pumpkins and Sunflowers Note Cards

2011-10-23T11:28:00.000-04:00

Here is the first of threel posts I may be putting up today. I was going to do one each day but I may just get it all over with today while I have a few extra minutes.

I've been on a note card kick lately. These cards are all 4" x 4". I think what I enjoy about them is the fact that I can make them in sets. This set can be used for Thank You cards or just a note card.

The image is a pre-colored one for Fred She Said called Pumpkins and Sunflowers. Everything else is from Close to my Heart. I just love this blue and orange combination.

Wheelbarrow of flowers

2011-10-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

I was on a kick with the 4" x 4" cards. I made a set of note cards with six of the eight pre-colored wheelbarrow images from Fred She Said. I would have made all eight but only 6 fit on my paper to print.
I cuttlebuged the front of each card then sponged around the edges with the same color of ink as the matting. I tried to match up the colores of each wheelbarrow with the colors of Close to my Heart Card Stock.

Sunflower Thank You Cards

2011-10-17T21:06:00.000-04:00

I was in the mood for making some small cards. So, I made a set of 6 Thank You Cards using the Sunflower and Thankfullness pre-colored images from Fred She Said. Not much to say about these cute 4" x 4" cards . I fussy cut a small sunflower for the top and poped it then added some brown faux flower soft to the centers of the sunflowers.

The Old Truck Birthday Card

2011-10-14T18:39:00.004-04:00

I just finished this Birthday Card for my Son-in-law using the Colored Version of The Old truck from Fred She Said. I’m horrible at making masculine cards and thought this image would be perfect.

After printing out the image, I scouted around for a Sketch Challenge to use it on and decided on this week’s Midnight Madness sketch. They always have such gorgeous sketches there. At first I wasn’t going to use the fancy sketch because of the flag pennants across the top but then remembered that there were flag pennants on the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge from Close to my Heart. Then back in August, there was a FREE alphabet stamp set I got that I thought I would never use. (I’m not an alphabet stamp person). This set was perfect for the space I had and added his name. I’m in love with the finished look of Easel cards so the bottom portion of the sketch is on the bottom of it.

The papers are from the Roxie Paper pack from Close to my Heart as well as the mocha pearls I added for a little bling. Can’t bling up a masculine card too much.

I added my own unique design of Hand Stitching to both inside and outside of the card.

Other Challenge Blogs I'm submitting this card for:
Bearly Mine- Easel Card
Digital Tuesday - Fall colors
Paper and Such - Inspiration picture color challenge
Papertake weekly - 3 different shapes on card
Fab 'n' Funky - Fall Colors
Fresh Brewed - Fancy Folds
Repeat Impression - Fall or Halloween
Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthday
Truly Scrumptious - Distressing
Charisma Cardz - In Stitches
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - at least 4 layers
Sweet Srampin' - For Men

Hugging Ghosts - Guest Designer for Delightful Challenges

2011-10-12T05:00:00.006-04:00

Last week my card was chosen 1st place over at Delightful Challenges and I received the Guest designer post for this week. The Hugging Ghosts was the image I chose to work with and above is the card I made with it.

Check out this super cute Halloween image from Digital Delights by Louby Loo. I used the pre-colored version of Hugging Ghosts.

I thought this would make such a cute Halloween card to send to my grandchildren so I did minimal hand stitching and since I have to send out so many, the pre-colored image was fabulous.

I was looking for a fairly simple sketch so I could make the image bigger and found the perfect one with Saturday's Card Patterns.

The black and orange cardstock is from CTMH and the dp is from basic grey. I've had this dp lying around for ages and am finally using it.
I hand stitched a very simple running stitch around the card and tied some Mandarin Bakers Twine around the right side of the image.

Other challenge blogs for this card:
2 Sisters - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Clear it out - Halloween
Everybody Art - Halloween
Creative Card Crew - Spooky Fun
My time to craft - Orange & Black
Scrap Creations - Halloween
Shopping Our Stash - Spooky or orange/black

Candle and Sunflowers Easel Card

2011-10-08T09:49:00.003-04:00

Fall has definitely been in the air lately her in PA. Even though the days have been warm, the nights have been in the 30’s and 40’s. But, that’s what we need to change the leaves the magnificent colors of autumn. They are a little late changing this year but it won’t be too long now.

So, this is the inspiration for making my card for today. I love Candles and Sunflowers so I combined two Digi sets from Fred She Said for this card. I used the Sunflowers and Thankfulness pre-colored set to start off. I selected just the three sunflowers and printed up a whole sheet of them. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with them yet but just knew I LOVED them. Then I thought about a candle. So, I went scouring through all of my FSS Digis and came across the Rose spray and candle, which was just what I was looking for. I actually made the candle wider so it looked like one of those "Fat" candles. So, I printed that digi out several times and colored just the candle with Copic Markers. I actually used two candles here. One was cut out and layered with foam tape on top for more dimension. Then I Fussy cut out a bunch of the sunflower images and layered them also.

Since I love to play along with sketch challenges and I save many of them each week. I looked for one that would fit the images I was using. I usually start with the sketch but this time I did that last. I found this great one from Monday’s Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog with optional 3 dp’s and 3 embellishments. Just perfect!!!

After coming home from a business meeting at which some friends mentioned that they love my easel cards, I decided to make this into one so who ever receives this card could set it out as a fall decoration. I’m so grateful for their encouragement because I love it now even though there was a lot more Hand Stitching on this card. This was done with matching Embroidery floss in my own unique design. I think I need to add some yellow and orange stitckes glitter to the candle flame yet.

Other Challenges with this card:
Gingerloft - Orange
One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi
Paper Sundaes - Lots of Layers
Sentimental Sundays - Stitching
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Fall inspiration photo
Cupcake Inspirations - Fall colors
Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge - Use a digi, fall colors, give thanks
Sweet Stampin - Stitching

FSS - Blue Jay & Raspberries

2011-10-06T09:33:00.006-04:00

Today's card is using a beautiful pre-colored image from Fred She Said called Blue Jay and Raspberries. The set contains both red and black raspberries. I chose to use the black raspberries because of the papers I wanted to use. This also comes in a Digi version if you want to color it yourself.

The image was printed and cut out using the out of the box technique. Then another set of berries and a Blue Jay were also fussy cut and layered with foam tape for lots of dimesnion.

The papers and half pearls are from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Anything Goes - Die Cuts or Punches,
Papertake Weekly - Anything goes with option of using punches
Ribbon Carousel - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmaker - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes and use Ribbon

FSS - Emma the Cat - Halloween Card

2011-10-05T09:40:00.005-04:00

It's really hard for me to believe that Halloween is right around the corner already.

The inspiration for my card started with this week's sketch challenge from Eat, Sleep, & Stamp Blog.

I then chose this fun decoupage image from Fred She Said called Emma the Cat. This really was so fun to make because it is an entire decoupage sheet. The Purple background sheet and the orange plaid stripe were also included. Then there is the pre-colored images of Emma and layered pieces printed several times for fussy cutting and layering. You really can't see all the layers in the photo, so here is a close up of the many layers.

I love Hand stitching on my cards but this one was a little too busy for that so I just hand stitched around the edge of the card with a simple back-stitch.

The leaves were cut using a sizzix die then shadded with some copic markers for a little dimension. The flower was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge exclusively through Close to my Heaert. I added some purple faux flower soft to the center of the flower.

The Trick or Treat sign is held up with a Foundry Pin Clip also from Close to my Heart. I added a small bow with purple bakery twine.

Other Challenges for this card:

Secret Crafter - Halloween

Wee Memories - Favorite Technique - Hand Stitching,Shading within Nestie Die, Decoupage

Frosted Designs - Fussy Cutting

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Halloween

Srampin for the Weekend - What a Cutie

If the shoe fits...Scrap it! - Inspiration Photo

Stampin' Bee's - Halloween

Stamp Insanity - Photo inspiration

Come and Get It - Halloween

Corrosive Challenge - Purple Passion

My Grafico - Halloween

One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi

Paper Sundaes - Lots of Layers

Pile it On! - Do it for Fun

Sentimentsl Sunday - Stitching + a sentiment

Paper Creation Ink - Black and/or Orange

Stamp with Fun - Halloween

The Pink Elephant - Trick or Treat

Victorine Stamps - Halloween

Anything Goes - Die Cuts or Punches

Clear It Out - Halloween

Colorful Creations Sketch Challenge - Pumpkins and Sunflowers

2011-10-03T12:02:00.006-04:00

I have a fabulous sketch challenge and card to share with you today. I had been asked to be a Guest Designer this week at Colorful Creations Sketch Challenge. I feel so honored to be asked to be a part of the fabulous designers of this group today. Here is the sketch. Come on over and play with us.

For my card, I used a gorgeous pre-colored image from Fred SheSaidcalled Pumpkins and Sunflowers. The pumpkin image was printed three times then two of them were fussy cut and layered with foam tape for lots of dimension. The sunflower at the bottom was actually from a scrap left over from a card I made a few days ago. That was also fussy cut and layered with foam tape.

The papers, ribbon and pearls are from Close to my Heart.

The green swirlies at the bottom of the card were cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge which is exclusive to CTMH.

The worrd "Thankful", also from the pumpkins and sunflowers digi set is attached to the card using a "Foundry Pin Clip" from CTMH.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

A few other challenges this card was made for:
Crafts 4 eternity - Anything Goes
Frosted Designs - Fussy cutting
Delightful Challenges - Pearls and Swirls
Dolce Stamps and Cards - Fall Colors
Dutch Dare - Bingo - Ribbon, Flowers, Die Cuts
Paper-Crafting Journey - Die Cuts
Southern Girls - Anything Goes
Die Cuttin Divas - Vintage or Shabby Chic
Stamping Boutique - Change of the Seasons
Creative Craft World - Autumn/Fall
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Anything Goes
Fab 'N' Funky - 1 ribbon, 2 dp's, 3 gems
Freshly Brewed - Fall/Autumn
Inky Impressions - Punches or Dies
All Sorts - At least 5 flowers

Sweet Moments

2011-09-27T13:13:00.004-04:00

This card is far from my normal style of card making. All of my cards have been larger cards with hand stitching on it. This one is your standard 4.25 x 5.5 card. I sometimes have a hard time making these small cards but have decided to add some smaller and less expensive ones for my etsy shop.

Anyway, this card was inspired by a sketech from Market Stress Stamps Sketch Challenge .
All products used are from Close to my Heart. There are lots of layers here that you can't see on the picture.
I used the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge to cut out many of the shapes.This cart is exclusive through CTMH. I added two small brown flower buttons and some jute to adorn the card and the stamping is done using the Sweet Moments Clear acrylic stamp set. I can see a lot more cards coming out if this set.

Other Challenges this card was made for:
Die Cuttin Diva's - Shabby Choc or Vintage
Paper and Such - Recipe - Designer paper, twine, 2 buttons
Sarah Hurley - Vintage

Fred-She-Said Fabulous Fall Blog Hop

2011-09-23T01:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the Fred-She-Said Fabulous Fall Blog Hop. Hop along with us and not only will you see some amazing artwork from the Design Team but you could win some fabulous prizes.

Here's how to play along: Start here at the FSS Blog . From there you will visit the next blog as designated there, leave a sweet comment for each of us and pick up the secret word. Then continue to the next person and do the same throughout until you reach the challenge blog where you will be given final directions for your secret sentence.

Here's what you could win:
$15 Gift Voucher to Bearly Mine Designs.
$10 Prize Package of yummy goodies chosen by Judy from PizzazzAPlenty
$30 Gift Certificate to Fred She Said Store.
Entries close on Friday September 30th at Midnight EDT and winners will be announced Saturday October 1st.
So, now lets get on with the hop. If you've come here from Debbie's Blog, you're on the right path.

My card today was inspired by a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

The Gorgeous Sunflower pre-colored images are from Fred She Said. The set is called Sunflowers and Thankfulness. This is such a beautiful set. I wish I could have made cards with every image and sentiment in it. However, I was having some printer issues so I had to stamp the Thinking of you.

The papers are from the Dreamin Paper pack from Close to my Heart. I'm having a bit of trouble getting away from this paper. I just love it but I think I've been making too many cards with it lately. But, it is perfect for Fall Cards.
The Hand Stitching was done with Matching Blue Embroidery Floss.

My word for you is "Autumn". Now hop on over to Robin's blog for her fabulous artwork and her secret word.

Yellow Hollyhocks

2011-09-05T11:41:00.000-04:00

Happy Labor Day

Today I'm posting my last Hollyhock card. I had so much fun making these cards durting our power outage now I have to get down to other business.

The inspiration for this card came from the August Verve Sketch Challenge.
I used the Yellow Hollyhocks from the Hollyhock collection from Fred She Said.
I also used the Ornate Butterfly Digi from FSS.

All papers, ribbon, Half Pearls and the Thinking of You are from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with Matching Blue Embroidery Floss.

Vintage Pink Hollyhocks

2011-09-04T10:38:00.000-04:00

Here is day four of my Hollyhock cards. The inspiration for this card came from the Verve August sketch challenge.
The image used is the Hollyhock collection from Fred She Said. This collection comes in a digi form and pre-colored. I used the Vintage Pink color for my card.

The papers, ribbon and half pearls are all from Close to my Heart. I added just a drop of glitz glitter gel to the center of each flower for just a little sparkle.
The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Purple Hollyhocks

2011-09-03T09:50:00.003-04:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend. I can hardly believe the summer is over already. I wouldn't mind all of the seasons flying by so quickly if I wasn't getting older along with it! *Ü*

Here is the 3rd of 5 cards I made during my power outage. The sketch is from Verve August sketch challenges. This card is purple and green. I used the purple pre-colored holly hocks from Fred She Said and the Ornate Butterfly Digi which I colored with Copic Markers to martch. I added light green sparkles to the butterflies' bodies. White half pearls adorn the rest of the card along with Matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching in the corners of the card.

All papers, pearls and sparkles are from Close to my Heart.

White Hollyhocks

2011-09-02T11:45:00.006-04:00

Here is day 2 of my Hurricane Irene power outage creations.
This color combination is one of my favorites. It's Twilight and sweetleaf. All papers, ribbons, half pearls, stick pins, and tag cut from the exclusive Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge are all from Close to my Heart.

The image is from the Fred She Said Hollyhock collection. These images come in a digi form or 8 pre-colored versions. I had so much fun playing with five different colors.

The sketch is from the Verve August sketch challenge.

The Hand Stitching was done with white Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges this card is submitted to:
Stampin' B's - Use a clip or a pin.
Cuddly Buddly - Vintage, Distressing & Flowers
Sisterhood of Crafters - Flower Power
Stamp Something - Get Your Digi On
All Sorts - Blue & Green

Red Hollyhocks

2011-09-01T18:40:00.001-04:00

Well, we had an earth quake and Hurricane Irene all in the same week with a four day power outage. So the cards I post in the next five days are what I created while there was nothing much else to do.

This card was using a Verve Sketch Challenge.
Fred She Said just recently released the Hollyhock Digi and pre-colored images. Today I am using the Red Hollyhocks which I teamed up with Red, White and Blue papers from Close to my Heart.
I added red sparkles to the flowers above the Thinking of you as well as to dod the "i"'s. The I added light blue sparkles to the centerds of the Hollyhocks.

The Hand Stitching was done with Red Embroidery Floss.

Challenges that this card was submitted to"
Cute Card Thursday - Use at least one punch
Charisma Cards - Anything Goes
Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog - Bling and Sparkle

Butterflies & Blossoms-2

2011-08-30T16:26:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm finally back from four days with no power due to a power outage from Hurricane Irene.

I made a card before the power went out for a challenge at Flourishes Birthday Hop Challenge but never got to post it.
So here is it. I'm trying to make this quick since I don't know if the power will stay on or go out again.

My card was made with Flourishes stamp set "Butterflies & Blossoms". This set is gorgeous. I'm in love with those Butterflies. .The images were stampede and colored with Copic Markers. The flowers and butterflies were stamped and colored several times them then cut out & layered for more dimension.

The papers are all from Close to my Heart . The glitter on the Butterflies is from Martha Stuart.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with my own unique design and matching Embroidery Floss.

Butterflies & Blossoms

2011-08-26T20:52:00.002-04:00

Today I have a card for you made with Fourishes Butterflies and Blossoms Stamp set. This card was made for the Page Maps Blog Sketch Challenge where flourishes is one of the sponsors along with Basic Grey. The prize is to die for. You can never have too many of these gorgeous stamps. I sure wish I had more.

The paers, ribbons, stick pins and glitter gel glitz are all from Close to my Heart.
The Flowers and Butterflies were stamped with Memento Black Ink then heat embossed with Clear Detail Embossing Powder to give it a little added dimension. They were then colored with Copic Markers.
The Butterflies were stamped and colored twice, then cut out and layered with foam tape on the wings for more dimension. I touched their wings with stardust glitter gel glitz.
I added some Faux Flower Soft to the centers of the flowers
I had these stick pins fro a few years and never used them before. I thought they aded the finishing touch to this card. I just wish I could get my pictures of my cards to look as good as they do in person.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Flutterby Wednesday - Anything Goes - Butterflies
Freshly Brewed - Emboss It
Sisterhood of Crafters - Flower Power
Truly Scrumptious - Rocked Up Pink
Whimsie Doodle - Anything Goes
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Die Cut Dreams - Pink, Green & Coffee

Thanks a Bunch Roses card

2011-08-24T16:11:00.003-04:00

Well, I had my first experience with an Earth Quake yesterday. I live in Eastern PA and there was a 5.9 Earth Quake in Virginia. Which they say was felt as far north as Toronto Canada and East to Chicago. I was sitting out on my deck with the grandkids, who were quietly eating a frozen yogurt pop. All of a sudden, the deck started swaying and the table and my laptop shook. There was a slight breeze blowing and I thought, “Oh my, this isn’t good.” I never even thought of it being a quake until my daughter emailed me and asked if I felt the quake.

So, that was my excitement for yesterday. Now Hurricane Irene is expected to hit the East Coast later this week. They expect this to be the worst hurricane to hit the New York and surrounding area since the 1940’s. I sure wish I would have invested in a generator.

So, here is my card for today. I killed two birds with one stone. This card was made for the Flourishes’ Timeless Tuesday Challenge, All About Your Sentiment. I used the sentiments from the Flourishes Zinnias Stamp Set. Then to fulfill my DT obligation to Fred She Said, I used the Roses from the Hearts and roses set and the Summer Roses Digital Papers by Bearly Mine.

I added a few half pearls and the Hand Stitching was done with matching embroidery floss.

I am also submitting this card for the Crazy 4 Challenges Blog this week where Flourishes is the sponsor.
It's a Bingo Challenge. My card has Die cuts, Ribbon and the sentiments are embossed with clear EP.

FSS Light Blue Hydrangeas

2011-08-21T11:30:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Blog. It's been one heck of a summer. Scorching hot weather and absolutely no time for creating. I’ve been in withdrawal. Not only from creating, but from my stitching.

So, here is the first of many, I hope!!! But, be warned, I may start sneaking Christmas in here too!!!

My card was inspired by the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.

This card was made using the new release from Fred She Said called Hydrangea Bouquet. You can purchase this as a Digi to color yourself, or as a sets of 7 colored jpegs. I’ve used one of the colored images. Why change perfection!!!
I also used the Ornate Butterfly Digi and colored them with copic markers.

The papers are all from Close to my Heart and the Hand Stitching was done with matching embroidery floss.

I added a little of the Stardust Glitter Glitz, also from CTMH, to the tops of the flowers and some light green sparkles to the butterflies and tiny blue sparkles to the flourish that was cut out with the NEW Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge from Close to my Heart.
This cart can be purchased as a set with chipboard shapes and three stamp sets that all match cut outs from this cartridge. If you'd like more information about this cart, just send me an email. Or, you can see what all is in it or purchase it at the link above .

Here are a few other challenge blogs I made this card for:
All Sorts - You've been framed
CMC Copic Challenge - Winged Things
Ellephantastic - Add some layers
Paper Creations Ink - Show us your flowers
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant - Stitching
Victorine Originals - Birthday

Fred She Said Favorites Blog Hop

2011-07-22T01:04:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another fabulous Fred She Said Blog Hop.

The theme is favorites. It really is difficult for me to pick a favorite Fred She Said image, since I absolutely LOVE them all. So, I picked one of her latest releases as my favorite this time called Sentimental Flower Doodledallion. I used the pre-colored images but you can also get the digi's to color yourself.

So, let's get on with the hop. If you've come here from Robin's Blog, you are on the right track.

If you just happened upon my blog and want to hop along and have some fun and a change to win some fabulous prizes, then go to the Fred She Said Blog so you can start at the beginning.

Fred She Said Favorites HOP - HOW TO ENTER

To ENTER, please leave a comment on each BLOG HOP POST. There will be ONE winner. A random hop post will be chosen and then a comment on that post will be chosen randomly to win. BLOG HOP closes Friday, JULY 29 midnight EDT so please leave your comments by then ;) Commenting on ALL the hop stops is not necessary to WIN... BUT it definitely increases your chances of winning ;) and spreads some LOVE! Please make sure you leave your name in your comment! NOTE: some DT's moderate their comments for evil spam so please be patient if you don't see your comment right away.

THE PRIZE:
£15 Gift Voucher to Bearly Mine Designs
$15 Prize Package of yummy goodies chosen by Judy from Pizzazz APlenty
$30 Gift Certificate to the Fred She Said Store

The WINNER will be announced Saturday morning July 30th on the Fred She Said Blog AND the FSS Challenge Blog.

Now that you know how the game is played, I'd love for you to leave me some lovin and then hop on over to Donna's Blog and see what fabulous artwork she has to share today.

Red Peonies in a Jar and Corner Peony

2011-06-13T00:05:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Day 1 of a week long fabulous sale on the Peony in a Jar and Corner Peony Digi's and Pre-colored images over at Fred She Said. You have until June 19th at Midnight EDT to pick these up for 40% off. You need to check out all the gorgeous colors in these sets.

My card today is made with both sets. The fabulous thing about Digi's is the fact that you can print them any size. The original image of the Peony in a Jar has just one flower. BUT, I printed out two more in smaller sizes to make it look like there are three flowers in that jar. Then I printed out the Red Corner Peony for the lower right corner to follow the sketch.

The beginning inspiration for this card came from a Sketch at Ribbon Carousel challenge blog The papers are from the Wings collection from Close to my Heart. I used the reverse Juniper sides of the two papers but they just looked too plain with this image that I ran them through the cuttlebug embossing folder.

I hand stitched around the card with red Embroidery Floss to help make the images POP!!!
I then added Red Sparkles, also from CTMH, in all the corners.

FSS - Pink Peony in a Jar - Mojo Monday Sketch

2011-06-12T18:28:00.001-04:00

I'm a little late posting this card. I made it using the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and almost forgot it needs to be posted by today. I was only planning on posting it tomorrow for the BIG SALE at Fred She Said. This image will be on sale for a week starting TOMORROW, (Monday 6/13).

I used the fabulous pre-colored Pink Peony in a Jar from Fred She Said. The pre-colored images come in 8 different colors. Or, you can get it as a Digi if you prefer coloring it yourself.

The papers are from the Sweetheart collection from Close to my Heart.

The Handstitching around the card was done with Black Embroidery Floss to keep it in the Black, White & Pink theme for the Paper Cutz Challenge

Other Challlenge Blogs this card was made for:
Scrap Creations - Birthday
Party Time Tuesday - Summer Birthday
Dutch Dare - 3 patterned papers, 2 embellishments, & 1 image
Pal Paper Arts - What's your signature style
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Anything Goes
Frosted Designs - Use Stitching
Pieces of Ali 'n Me - Die Cut/ Birthday

Father's Day Blue Truck

2011-06-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

Wow, just one week until Father's Day. Where is this year going.

I played along with the challenge at My Sheri Crafts last week and won the honor of being the Guest Designer this week. The theme of this weeks challenge is Father's Day. Since you need a Father's Day Card by next week anyway, why not hop on over and play along with this challenge.

So, here is one of my Father's Day cards. I haven't used this fantaastic image since last year. I don't make many masculine cards. This is The Old Truck Digi and pre-colored Set from Fred She Said. I chose to use the Blue Truck fro my card. I just love the way that Tracey Lynn colors her images so when I'm busy, I choose to let her do the hard work for me. The best part is that when you purchase this image, you get the Digi and four pre-colored images as a package deal. It doesn't get much better then that.

I found this sketch at Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge, and thought it worked perfectly with this image.

I'm always experimenting with my hand stitching which I do with Embroidery Floss. This is a new design and I used two colors of floss. I first stitched around with the blue, then over stitched other areas with the green. I just needed a more masculine stitch then I usually use.

Other Challenges that this card was also made for:
Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge - Father's Day
House of Gilli - Buttons
Lexi's Creations - Masculine
Ladybug Crafts - Male Theme
The Stamping Boutique - Men only
Creative Inspirations - Card for Dad
Repeat Impressions - Father's Day
The Paper Variety - For the Guys
Whimsie Doodles - Father's Day
C.R.A.F.T - Father's Day
Craft Us Crazy - Father's Day
Paper Play - Father's Day
Papertrey Paper Dolls - Father's Day

Pink Petunias and Hummingbird

2011-06-09T08:55:00.003-04:00

I haven't been posting lately because I've been making cards for the Silent Auction for Operation Smile Charity at the CTMH Convention. Convention is only a month away, but the cards had to be mailed in to them in advance.

So, I'm back and creating again with the fabulous images from Fred She Said. The card today was made with the pre-colored Wee Hummingbird and Petunias. Tracey Lynn does such an exceptional job coloring these images for us. Of course you can also purchase them as digi's to color yourself.

I found this great sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches and knew it was perfect for my image.

Other Challenges for this card:
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Things with Tails
House of Gilli - Use Buttons
Incy Wincy - Pearls, Ribbon & Buttons
A spoon Full of Sugar - Here comes Summer
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Wings
Digital Tuesday - In The Garden/Outdoors
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Sew Long Flowers - Tuesday Throwdown Challenge

2011-05-31T01:00:00.005-04:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I hope you found a little time to honor our fallen soldiers and pray for the safety of those still fighting for us.

This is the final week as the May Guest DT Member at Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog. I had such a great time and the month really flew by too quickly.

The Challenge this week is to make your own Embellishments. The sponsor this week is My Grafico, who offered us the wonderful Digi images I used on my card.

The design inspiration came from the Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Challenge Blog.

The papers I used are from the Close to my Heart Sweetheart Paper Pack. The flowers were printed in various sizes then colored with Copic Markers, cut out and layered. The leaves are from a punch which I texturized with my piercing tool and added color with my copic markers.

The Hand Stitching is done in my own design with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges this card was made for:
Card Makin Mamas - Use your scraps
Just Add Ink - Fussy Cutting
Stamp Something - Use a sentiment
2 Sisters - Anything Goes
Kraftin' Kimmie - Hand Stitching
My Sheri Crafts - 1Button, 2dp's, 3 flowers
My Grafico - Anything Goes

Purple Tulip Bouquet - FSS Blog Hop

2011-05-28T17:33:00.004-04:00

To all of you FSS Hoppers and My DT members, I am so sorry I couldn't be up and running in time for the hop. I have been without Power since Wednesday because of TWO tornadoes touching down within 3 miles of my house on two separate days. There was so much damage here in Schuylkill County that I'm really surprised that the power is back on in only three days. I am so grateful that my home and family had been spared and that no one was killed here in PA.

I am such an optimist and was certain we'd have the power back before post time. But, I'm also a procrastinator so my card wasn't made as of Wednesday when we lost power. When it still wasn't back by Friday evening, I literally cut out and made my card with a flashlight under my chin. So, you will not see the usual hand stitching that I always do. I was ready to post it in the middle of the night if my lights came back on, but no luck.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet since the lights are flickering again.

My card was made using one of the fabulous Pre-colored images from Fred She Said. This image comes as a Digi or pre-colored in many different colors. I was so grateful that I had this image already printed out and didn't have to color anything with a flashlight. That would have been a nightmare. Besides, Tracey does such a fabulous job of digitally coloring her images that she has me spoiled.

The card was inspired by a sketch at Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog. My papers are all retired papers from Close to my Heart.

So, those of you that are just hopping now, hopefully you came from Darsie's blog. My word for you is It. Your next stop along the way will be Marlena' Blog.

If you just happened upon my blog, please start here with Tracey-Lynn's blog, and collect all the words along the way to win a prize.
Details on any of the other blogs. I need to post this quickly.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY to you All!!!

Other Challenges this card was made for:
Anything Goes - Bingo=Ribbon, Embossing, Pearls
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Digital Tuesday - Add some Texture
My Time To Craft Use a Die Cut
Ribbon Carousel - Spring Colors
Shopping Our Stash - Old Ribbon
2 Sisters - Anything Goes

Butterflies - Tuesday Throwdown Challenge

2011-05-24T01:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! It's starting out as a Happy One anyway. We've had so much rain this spring that my perenials are growing like weeds and getting leggy from the lack of sunshine.

Today is week four for me as a Guest DT member over at The Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog. The sponsor this week is Inktegrety Stamps and the challenge is to use Spripes.

The inspiration started with a sketch challenge from Sketchbook Saturday.

The Digi Images I chose to use are Butterflies and Sentiment from Inktegrity Stamps. I printed them out in several differnt sizes.

I love this paper from Close to my Heart called Miracle. So I began with that, incorporating the stipes into the challenge and then coloring the Butterflies with Copic Markers to match. I love these blues and greens together.

Are any of you old enough to remember many many many years ago when putting blue and green together was a No No!!! Huh, what did they know back then!

I added some blue bling to the butterflies and green bling to the left side corners. I finished it off with glitter gel on the butterflies for some added sparkle.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with my own unique design with matching Embroidery Floss.

Mother and Child

2011-05-20T21:37:00.002-04:00

This is the third week for me to be a Guest DT Member over at Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog. The theme was to make a card for Baby or Child.

Actually this post should have been up on Tuesday, but I think I had a touch of food poisoning since last Saturday and my card just never got made until today. The Digi image was given to me from the sponsor, Stitchy Bear Stamps. It's called Mother and Child.

The card was to have the sentiment "Sweet Baby" stamped in the right corner, but I forgot it. To make matters worse, I went to add it and can't find my stamp. So, I'm going back to bed and pretend this week didn't happen.

Wee Hummingbird and Petunias

2011-05-14T18:23:00.003-04:00

I've got a really busy week coming up so I'm trying to get a head with my card making. I have so many of these Gorgeous Fred She Daid images and I just had to drop a few house keeping chores to make another card.

The images on this card are from the Wee Hummingbird & Petunias Colored Collection from Fred She Said. I Love purple but I'm amazed at the lack of purple dp's I have. I found one piece of dp for my background from Basic Grey but that was it. So, I used Gypsy and Sky Blue Cardstock from CTMH and then made my own dp using those colors and a little green. That's the piece on the left of the card. I stamped and heat embossed with silve EP, then sponged on the colors of ink that I need to match. The hummingbird was cut out, puffed and mounted with foam tape. I alsp printed out more petunias then the original image, cut some out, puffed them and also layered them with foam tape.

The starting inspiration for this card came from a beautiful sketch from A Spoonful of Sugar.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for.
My Time to Craft - Scallops
Papertake Weekly - Punch or Die
Paper & Such - Birthday
Two Sisters - How does your garden grow
Ellephantistic - Birthday

Blue Tulip Bouquet

2011-05-13T21:42:00.001-04:00

My card today was made using the newly released Pre-colored Tulip Bouquet in Blue. Tracey-Lynn's coloring is so superb that it take all the stress out of coloring the digi yourself.
The butterfly in the bottom left corner is the Ornate Butterfly Digi.

The inspiration for this card started with this weeks sketch challenge at Midnight Madness.
I usually go for the Fancy Sketch, but this week, with my Hand Stitching around the card, there was no extra room to do the fancy one.

The papers are from the Bliss Paper Pack from Close to my Heart.

Here are more challenge blogs my card was made for:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Flowers
Ellephantastic - Birthday
Come & Get It - Birthday

Red Hat Stella

2011-05-10T01:00:00.001-04:00

My card today is about as far from the style of the cards I make as I could possibly get. However, I really enjoyed using this Digi image from Bugaboo Digi Stamps. Did you ever see a stamp and know exactly who you were going to make that card for! It just makes me smile.

This is week two for me as Guest Design Team member for the month of May at Tuesday Throwdown. This weeks sponsor is Bugaboo Digital Stamps. And, they are having 50% off sale all this month. I think I may just have to pick up on a few more that make me smile.

My card was inspired by a sketch at Twisted Sketches. The twist was laughter. I think I covered them both very well.

The Papers, buttons, and Bling are all from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this Card:
Delightful Challenges - Mother's Day or Someone Special
Stamp Insanity - Bling it On!
Crafty Catz - Use a Quote or Sentiment
Digi's With Attitude - Make us Laugh
Fun at Fairy Knoll - Mother's Day
Prairie Fairy - For the Girls
Stamp Something - Use A Digi
Catch the Bug - Anything Goes

Blue Columbine and Hummingbird

2011-05-09T14:24:00.003-04:00

Today I'm featuring a new release from Fred She Said, called Hummingbird and Columbine. This set comes pre-colored in many choices of colors or as a digi to color yourself. I chose the Blue Set and am madly in love with this card. These images are to die for and are all colored so beautifully.

The inspiration for the design of this card is from a Midnight Madness Sketech Challenge.
The papers are from the CTMH Fanfare paper pack. I used an inked cuttlebug embossing folder for the blue dotted papers on either end on the framed image.
There is lots of dimension to this card since each flower and hummingbird was cut out then puffed out with 3D foam tape.

The Hand Stitching was done with my own unique design with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
PaperPlay Challenges - Show your style
Paper Romance - Favorite Die
Stamp Something - Use a Digi
The Friday Mashup - Nature and embossing
Wags 'n Whiskers - Use Die or Punch
Crazy 4 Challenges - Flowers
Speedy The Cat Challenge - Use NO Embellishments
Crafty Pad - Spots & Dots
I Did It - Monochromatic

Spring Flowers

2011-05-03T03:00:00.001-04:00

Today is my first week as Guest DT for Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog. This weeks challenge is Mother's Day.

The Spring Flowers Digi Image I used is from Robyn's Fettish, the sponsor of this weeks challenge.

I've been using so much Pink lately that I started with the papers first this time. These are nice neutral colors from the Close to my Heart Bliss Paper Pack. It has a soft peach color in the papers so I pulled my copic markers that would blend with the papers, yet pop off the card. The Happy Mother's Day iks from Say It In Style, clear stamps set from CTMH. I stamped it in black and embossed it with clear detail EP.

The colors of the CS are Dessert Sand and Taffy. I used matching Embroidery floss for the Hand Stitching around the card.
I added some stickles to the flowers for some glitz and some half pearls on the left side for some visual interest. I wanted to put some white Fun Flock on my Pussy Willows, but couldn't find it. So as soon as it shows up, I will add it. I think that would add the finishing touch.

The inspiration for this card came from the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge Blog. I had to change it slightly in order to preserve the beauty of the papers.

Other Challenges for this card:
I Did It - Mother's Day
Sentimental Sundays - Mother's Day
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
House of Gilli - Layers and Stitching
Happileigh Scrappin - Mom
The Outlawz - Mother's Day Greeting card challenge
Stamping, Scrapping - Anything Goes

Daffodil Birthday Card

2011-05-01T01:00:00.001-04:00

This week, Fred She Said is a sponsor over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings Blog for this weeks challenge.. And some of us FSS DT got to play with some of the FANTASTIC ribbons from Really Reasonable Ribbon (RRR). The challenge is called Double Dutch, which is to use two different ribbons.
I used some fabulous ruffled ribbon for around the oval of the Daffodil. Then I used some of the 5/8" beautiful Pink Satin ribbon and hand stitched a zig zag stitch down a strip of the ribbon and pulled the threads to ruffle it.

My main image is a Daffodil from the Fred She Said Daffodil Card front Kit in Pink. The Daffodil was printed and cut out three times and layered for lots of dimension. I also use matching Daffodil Digi Papers designed by Bearly Mine Designs for Fred She Said.

The Cardstock, Crocheted flower, button, pearls, & Happy Birthday are all from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss in my own unique design.

Dreams Come True

2011-04-19T13:32:00.006-04:00

I haven't created a card in some time and I'm running out of time. I am making Close to my Heart cards for a Charity Auction for Operation Smile. So, I need to get busy. This is one of the cards I finished this morning.

I used a sketch from Midnight Madness sketch challenge from last week for my inspiration.

Everything used here is from Close to my Heart. The Stamp Set is called Dreams Come True. I used Universal Backgrounds for the script behind the flowers.

The Buttons are from the Pink Assortment. I also used Half pearls, and tiny sparkles. The strip above the butterfly is from the Color Ready Kraft Borders. Glitz Glitter Gel was used around the edges of the flowers for a little sparkle.

The Hand stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges for my card:
Let's Ink It Up! - Stitching
Pile It On - Rubber Stamp
Quirky Crafts - Sparkly punchy Spring
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Tone on tone
Catered Crop - Striped Paper, Copic's on leaves, Spring, Sewing, Distressing, Die Cuts, Buttons
2 Sisters - Bingo-Die Cuts, Glitter, Flowers
Challenge Up Your Life - Masking
Secret Crafter - Stitching
Inky Impressions - Flowers
Truly Scrumptious - Vintage
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Lots of Layers
House of Gilli - Stripes & Bling
Incy Wincy - Bright & Bold
Kaboodle Doodles - Thoughts of Spring
Woodware - Die Cuts/Punches

Happy Easter Chicky!

2011-03-31T22:09:00.003-04:00

Well, today is April Fools Day and we woke up to SNOW!!!! And that's no joke. It's actually snowing here in PA. So, for those of you that are also getting snow, I hope this card warms your heart a little!!!

There is so much talk lately about making our own paper flowers and I have to tell you, it is addicting. I'll never look at my punches the same way again. My three flowers in the upper right hand corner were made using a 5 petal punch. I topped them off with Glitz Glitter Gel from CTMH just for that extra sparkle.

The design inspiration for this card came from The Pixie Cottage Sketch Challenge. This challenge has two parts. The sketch and stitching. Right up my alley since I stitch most of my cards anyway.

The papers are from the Mayberry Paper Pack from Close to my Heart. The Happy Easter is also from CTMH and is called Say It In Style.
The Chick and egg image is from Fred She Said and is called Easter Chicky. This fabulous image comes as a Digi or pre-colored images in 8 different colors. They also come with or without flowers. You can use these for Spring, Easter or Baby cards or layouts. I used yellow crystals in the center of each of the small flowers for a little extra bling. They started out as clear crystals but I colored them with my Copic Markers.

I usually hand stitch around the entire card, but this card was so busy that I only stitched the righte side with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
2 Sisters - Make your own embellishment
My Sheri - Spring
Sugar Creek Hallow - Stitching
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge - Wet & Dry Embossing & part of the image popped up.
Totally Gorjuss - Spring Has Sprung
Wee Memories - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Decoupage
There's Magic in the Air - Pink, Yellow, & Green
Anything Goes - Make your own Embellishments
Lady Bug Crafts Ink - Handmade Flowers
Party Time Tuesday - Anything goes + A Handmade Flower
The Stamping Boutique - Handmade Flowers
Tuesday Throwdown - Flowers
ABC Challenge - Roses
Creative Belli Challenge - Sewing
Cooking it up with Katie - Sparkle, Shine & Shimmer
Creative Craft World - Easter
AI Factory - Bright Colors
Craft Us Crazy - Easter or Spring
Delightful Challenges - Flowers
Dutch Dare - Distressing

Parrot Tulips - Fred She Said Blog Hop

2011-03-25T01:00:00.007-04:00

Good Morning and Happy Spring. The snow we got yesterday and last night has melted and my tulips are already 6" tall. Can't wait for them to look just like my card.

My card today was made for the Fred She Said Blog Hop. If you came here from Danielle's Blog, you are on the right trrack. However, if you just happened upon my blog, you will want to start at the beginning with Tracey-Lynn's blog. This is important because you will be collecting a word along the way from each of our blogs to make a sentence. You will then follow the direction given at the last blog stop. There will be a random drawing of all correct sentences on Saturday April 2nd. So you have until Midnight EDT on April 1st to play along.

The prize will go to ONE winner of $25 FSS GC, $25 CropStop GC and 2 Digi Paper Sets from Bearly Mine Designs.

Your second stop along the hop is Donna from Bearly Mine Designs, who is our co-sponser. You'll definately want to check out her shop where she has the most gorgeous Digi papers.
I used four of her papers on the background of my card today.

The Parrot Tulip images are a new release from Fred She Said. You have a choice of a digi image or a whole set of 12 pre-colored tulips. They are just so GORGEOUS!!!

The inspiration for this card layout came from a Cards & Things Sketch Challenge.

The Sentiment was stamped using a Clear Stamp Set from Close to my Heart called Card Chatter - Birthday.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Now, hop on over to Anne's Blog, and see what neautiful creation she has to share with you.
BUT, before you go, my word is "At".

Other Challenges thisa card was made for:
Birthday Sundae - Anything Goes
The Crafty Pad - Use a Digi
Gingerloft - Die Cuts or Punches
Cutie Sunday - Spring colors/images
Inspiration Avenue - Hello Spring
Mami Doodles - Celebrate Spring
Aly's - Happy Spring
I Did It! - Welcome Spring
Let's Ink it Up - Die Cuts/Punches
My Grafico - Anything Goes
Order of the Opus Gluei - Spring
Stamptacular Sunday - Sentiment as main focus
Sentimental Sunday - Sentiment as main focus
Digi's by Phooka - Flower Power
Happileigh Scrappin' - Spring Has Sprung
Hand Stamped Sentiments - Blooming Blossoms
Everybody Art - Happy Birthday
Little Miss Muffet - Brads, gems or pearls
For Fun Challenges - Flowers and sentiment focus

Mother's Day Tulips

2011-03-21T10:57:00.004-04:00

There are several Challenges this week to make a Mother's Day Card. Evidently, It's soon Mother's Day in the UK. Or, maybe it was this weekend, not sure.
Anyway, I had this great Tulip Bouque Digi from Fred She Said and thought I'd play along with some of the Mother's Day challenges. The tulips have some Glitz Glitter Gel on them and the picture with the glitter looks a little wierd. But the tulips are very pretty in real life.

There's a lot of dimension to this card that you really can't see. The whole image was stamped three times, colored with Copic Markers, cut out and layered with foam tape.

The inspiration for the design of this card came from A Spoonful Of Sugar Challenge Blog.

The Sophia Papers, bling, ribbon, glitz glitter gel, Say it in Style Stamp set, & button are all from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs I submitted my card:
Bearly-Mine - Mother's Day
Clear It Out - Buttons
Creative Card Crew - Show us some green
Anything Goes - Die Cuts
Crafty Creations - Mother's Day
Creative Cottage - Spring Has Sprung
Freshly Brewed - Spots & Dots
Charisma Cardz - To Die For
DelightfulChallenges - Show some green
Digi Doodles - Anything Goes
Paper Play - Embossing
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Mother's Day
Paper Cutz - Anything Goes
catered-Crop - Spring Recipe(used to many to list here)
Res-Q Challenge - Be a Surgeon - Stitching and Ribbon
Stampin' For The Weekend - Mother's Day
One Stop Craft Challenge - Diamonds are.....
Totally Gorjuss - Button it
Aly's Sunday Challenge - Spring
Card Cupids - Spring
The Crafty Pad - Use a Digi
Linda's Creativity - Die Cuts and Punches
Die Cut Dreams - Mother's Day

Purple Crocus & Butterflies

2011-03-17T19:13:00.007-04:00

We had such a beautiful Spring like day today that it inspired me to make this card. I went outside to switch over the pond heater to the water fall and saw my crocus blooming. So, I finally got to use some new stamps I got a long long time ago and never got around to using. I'm also using pearls from my huge stash.

The design of the card was inspired from a sketch at sketch n' Stash. Actually, I started with two Flourishes Challenges and found a sketch that worked with it. The first challenge is called "The Cut Above the Rest", where we were punch a decorative edge on our card. The second Flourishes challenge was the Timeless Tuesday Challenge where we were to use butterflies.

So, all of my stamps are Flourishes. The Crocus is from "A Year of Flowers 1". The Butterflies are from "Gerbera Daisies". And the sentiment is from "Timeless Quotes". They were all colored with Copic Markers

The papers, Glitter Gel and pearls are from Close to my Heaert.

The Hand Stitching was done with matchihng Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges this card was made for:
Anything Goes - Die Cuts
Creative Card Crew - Show us some Green
Papertake Weekly - Trio Tastic
Scrap Creations - Anything Goes
Creative Cottage - Spring Has Sprung
House of Gilli - Pastel colors & Bling
Happileigh - recipe
Lexi's Creations - Easter
Paper Scissors, & Rocks - Use more then one Die Cut
Stamping, Scrapping Challenge - Pastels
Sweet Pea Stampers - Scallops
The Pink Elephant - Spring
Wild Orchid - Die Cuts or Punches
Woodware USA - Spring is Coming
Wags 'n Whiskers - Spring Creations
Paper Crafting Journey - Up in the Air
Charisma Cardz - To Die For
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Anything Goes
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Anything Goes

Spring Chicky - Sneak Peak

2011-03-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful day!!! It's my Birthday and I am so grateful to be able to celebrate another one. I've had so many wonderful Birthday wishes from friends and family and it just makes me feel Warm & Fuzzy inside.

My card today is a sneak peek at a new Digi Image from Fred She Said that will be released soon. Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen!!!
Many of the cards I make I leave without a sentiment to leave my options open as to its use and this was one of them. I initially intended this to be an Easter Card but when it was finished, I thought it would make the cutest Baby Card.

The inspiration for the design of the card came from a Sketch Challenge at Mojo Monday. I wanted to have this card done days ago, but I had surgery on my big toes on Thursday and had to have it elevated since then. This was really hard for me since I'm usually all over my craft room while I create. But, I met the deadline and that's all that matters.

I used Copic Markers to color the image and give my die cut leaves and flower more dimension.

The papers are from a new paper pack from Close to my Heart called Mayberry .

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Purple Peonies in a Jar - SC323

2011-03-11T09:54:00.002-05:00

I finally got around to creating again. Sometimes you just have to take care of family and cleaning the house first. When I get into the creating mood, which I was last month, some things like cleaning only get half done. *Ü*

My card today was inspired by the Wednesday sketch from Splitcoast Stampers. Then I printed out some of the pre-colored Peonies from Peony in a Jar, from Fred She Said. I varied the sizes so I could combine them to look like the little buds that open on the same stem. I pulled colores from the image for my Cardstock, which I used my cuttlebug folders on. The Cardstocks are from Close to my Heart and are Heavenly Blue, Juniper and Pansy Purple.

I did lots of Fussy Cutting on all the flowers and layered with foam tape for lots of dimension.

The Hand Stitching was done with Matching Juniper Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges with this card:
Fab & Funky - Make it Girly
Bunny Zoe's - Spring Flowers
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Die Cut Dreams - Spring GArden
Paper Playtime - Anything Digi
The Pink Elephant - Spring Time
Wild Orchid - Anything Goes
Anything Goes - Die Cuts
Flourishes - Sewing on Card
Tuesday Throwdown - Use Scraps
Clear It Out - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts - Spring Colors

Daffodil - Thinking of You Card

2011-02-22T10:11:00.002-05:00

I think the Ground Hog was playing games with us. Last Friday, it was 70° here and Sunday night we got about 2" of snow. And, a dusting again last night. So, my cards are bringing Spring to me.

This image is from Fred She Said and is called "Daffodil Cardfront Kit 1". It comes in four different colors. If printed as they are, they will actually make the entire front of an A2 card. However, I only used a portion of it. It's hard to see in the picture, but the color is actually a shade of purple. The kit has a paper piercing or pricking pattern, which ever way you say it. I put the pattern on the back and pierced each hole so you could feel the texture on the front.

I love to follow sketch challenges, but this large of an image is hard to incorporate into a sketch. However, I did see one on 365 cards that worked perfectly.

Now, if you look closely at the Hand Stitching around the card, you will see that I used TWO matching colors.I first stitched all of the purple, leaving spaces for the green. Then went back and filled in with the green. For extra interest, I overlapped some of the stitches all the way around. Yes, the stitching took me forever, but I really like the outcome of it.

Other Challenge Blogs for this Card:
Aly's - Thinking of You
I Did It! - Anything Goes
My Grafico - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time - Anything but Square
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Use green in a card
Stamp It Crazy - Frfee For All

Purple Wheelbarrow - Spring Has Sprung

2011-02-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

It's funny because when I started this card, it wasn't intened to be so purple. But, now that it's finished, I really like all of that purple!!!

The inspiration for this card came from the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.

Today I decided to use the pre-colored Wheelbarrow from Fred She Said. You can pick this up as a Digi to color yourself, or a set of 8 pre-colored images. Tracey does such a fabulous job of coloring her images that it really would be foolish for me to color my own. You can't beat perfection.
For the flowers, I made some faux flower soft in purple, pink and yellow. I like the dimension it added.

The Sentiment and the tag it's on was stamped and embossed using stamps from Waltzing Mouse.
The papers and pearls are from Close to my Heart.
The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this Card:
Bearly Mine - Ribbon and Pearls
Digital Tuesday - Use a Die Cut
Everybody Art - 3 papers, 3 flowers, & Ribbon
Scrap Creations - Spring Fever
Phindy's Place - Monochrome
Res-Q Challenge - Anything that makes you Happy
Wags 'n Whiskers - Punches
Stampin' for the Weekend - Monochrome
Charisma Cardz - Spring Has Sprung
Stampin' B's - Monochromatic
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Show us what you got!

Red Wheelbarrow Birthday Card

2011-02-20T17:12:00.005-05:00

Well, another weekend bit the dust. Where do these days go! At least it's getting closer to Spring. And, I'm making it happen sooner with this wheelbarrow full of flowers. I chose to go with brighter colors rather then the Spring pastels. Mainly because I wanted to use this Red pre-colored Wheelbarrow from Fred She Said. They come in 8 different colors and since Red is one of my favorite colors, I just had to use it.

I don't know where my head is this weekend. I LOVE to play along with challenges and especially Sketch challenges. So, I started printing my images and planning my cards so I can sit and hand stitch them while I watch TV in the evening. Well, yesterday waqs my Granddaughter's 4th Birthday Party so that day was shot. AS I was making this card today, I just realized that I have three cards planned out and all three are from sketch challenges from Tuesday. So, that means that I have to finish and post all three cards in two days. Oh My!!!

This card was inspired by a sketch challenge from Anita Be Stampin.
The papers are from the Sweetheart Paper Pack from Close to my Heart. The color black was added to make the image POP.

I did the Hand Stitching with White Embroidery Floss to frame the whole card nicely.

The Happy Birthday is a Clear Stamp from the Birthday Card Chatter Set also from CTMH.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Card Makin Mamas - Birthday
Fun at Fairy Knoll - Birthday or Thank You
If the Shoe Fits - Happy Birthday
Stamp Bazar - Spots and Stripes
Wags n' Whiskers - Punches
Charisma Cardz - Spring Has Sprung
Stamp & Doodle - Ribbon, Embossing, & Bling
Dital Tuesday - Use a Die Cut
The Crafty Pad - Red, Pink & Black
I Did It! - Anything Goes

Pink Rose and Butterflies

2011-02-19T10:42:00.002-05:00

I found a really pretty sketch challenge this week from Party Time Tuesdays. Skeetch challenges are used as just a guide, however, this one I followered almost exactly as shown.

The papers are from a new collection from Close to my Heart called Sophia. The rose started as a pre-colored Corner Rose Collection from Fred She Said but it was a pretty light pink and I wanted to make it match the colors in my papers. So, I used my Copic Markers and re-colored it to match. I printed it twice so I could layer it for mor dimension and I should have taken a picture of the two side by side so you could see the difference in the coloring, but I forgot until just now.

I then used the Ornate Butterfly Digi, also from Fred She Said, which I printed out a whole sheet of all different sizes so I have on hand any size I need. I colored them with Copic Markers to match the papers. I cut out four different sizes for my two butterflies and coated them with Liquid Glass for lots of shine and added firmness so they hold their shape better. I then added Pink Crystals for the bodies.

The Happy Birthday is from a new Clear Stamp set from Close to my Heart called Card Chatter-Birthday. Do you know what I really LOVE about the Clear Acrylic stamps.....You can cut anc alter them. The Happy Birthday was a stamp with the words side by side. I cut it between the two words and mounted it on my acrylic block the way you see it on the card!

I used the Labels 10 Nesties for the sentiment but before stamping the Happy Birthday, I stamped the matching frame you see using the "Very Vintage Labels 10" clear stamps from Waltzing Mouse Stamps. I also added a few of the pink crfystals on that.

The green flourishes were cut using a Tim Holtz Sizzix Die, which I then added tiny pearls to.
I Hand Stitched around the card with matching Embroidery Floss then added a Pink Crystal in each corner.

Other Challenge Blogs with this card:
Card Makin Mamas - Birthday
Charisma Cardz - Spring Has Sprung
Cute Card Thursday - Shiny Happy Cards
Digi Doodle - Anything Goes
Dutch Dare - Sparkle, Glitter, Bling
Lili of the Valley - My Favorite Colors
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes
Paper Play - Add Shine
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday - Show us what you got!
Copic Creations - Warm Colors
Digital Tuesday - Use a Die Cut
Aly's Sunday Challenge - Bling Bling
My Gtrafico - Anything Goes
I Did It - Bling it Up!
One Stitch at a Time - Make it Pretty
House of Gilli - 3 dp's, sparkle, 2 dies

Blue Peony in a Jar

2011-02-17T12:22:00.005-05:00

I asm so in love with all of the Digi's and pre-colored images from Fred She Said. My card today is made with the Blue Peopny in a Jar. These pre colored images come in 8 different colors or a digi.
The Butterfly was made from the FSS Ornate Butterfly digi. I printed out a sheet of the butterflies in all different sizes. I colored two different sized butterflies with Copic Markers, cut them out and added Liquid Glass to them for shine and dimension. I also added the Liquid Glass to the glass bottle. The Peony flower was printed a second time, cut out and layered.
It's really hard to see all the bling in this picture.

The inspiration for this card came from the Wednesday Sketch Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.

The Papers, Blue and Green crystals, Crocheted Ribbon, Liquid Glass, Button, and Waxy flax in the button are all from Close to my Heart.
The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenges for this card:
Our Craft Lounge - Button and Bow
Phindy's Place - Spring is on the Way!
Paper Cutz - Butterfly
Kraftin Kimmie - 3 colors, 2 dp's, 1 ribbon, 1 button
Our Creative Corner - Cut it Out
Scrap Creations - Spring Fever
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Use 3 DP's
Digital Tuesday - Use a Die Cut
Charisma Cardz - Spring Has Sprung
Cute Card Thursday - Shiny Happy Cards
Digi Doodle Shops - Anything Goes
Dutch Dare = Sparkle, Glitter, Bling
Lili Of The Valley - My Favorite Colors
Pixie Dust Studio - Don't be Square
Paper Play - Add Shine

Purple Pansies Birthday Card

2011-02-14T08:55:00.003-05:00

These pansies from Fred She Said are just the prettiest images for Spring. And, I am thinking Spring!!!

This card was inspired by a Sketch Challenge at Friday Sketchers.

I thought it was just perfect for the Purple Cup of Pansies and Pansy border from Fred She Said. This set comes as a Digi to color yourself, or a Pre-colored Set, which I used. I love coloring with my Copic Markers, but when it comes to Tracey's pre-colored images, If I want the purple or blue, I don't mess with perfection.
The Pansies were printed and cut out several times them layered with foam tape for lots of Dimension

The Happy Birthday, Papers and Pearls are all from Close to my Heart.. The dotted circle to the left was done by inking up an embossing folder.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss and the edge punch is a MS Pansy Punch.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Phindy's Place - Spring is on the way!
CCEE Stampers - Embossing Folder
Digi Doodles - Nature
Pals Paper Arts - Vintage Theme
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Get Punchy
Challenge Up Your Life - Monochromatic
Our Creative Corner - Cut it Out!

Cup of Blue Pansies

2011-02-10T09:02:00.003-05:00

Are you all ready for Spring? I sure am. It's been frigid the past few months. So, here is my little touch of Spring for you.

The inspiration for this card came from the Wednesday Sketch Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. It was just perfect to show off this pretty DP. The paper is from Close to my Heart and is called Bliss. It's one of those papers that you don't want to cover up with lots of layers so I kept it rather simple.

When I design a card, I usually look for papers with the colors from my focal point. But, for this one, I wanted to use the neutral colors to make the focal point image really pop. The Cup of Pansies is from Fred She Said and there are lots of different images with this set. It actually comes in the pre-colored version which I used and the Digi version. My pansies are cut out and layered three additional times for lots of dimension.

The Butterfly is from a new release called Ornate Butterfly. This comes as a Digi, which I used and as a cutting file for your cutting machines. Your digi sheet to cut yourself comes with the butterfly in all different sizes. For mine, I used two different sizes and then colored them with my Copic Markers to match the colors in the Pansies.

The Hand Stitching was done with Matching Embroidery Floss and the pansie border is a MS edge punch.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Sweet Stampin - Spring Flowers
One Stitch at a time - Do it with Digi's
Paper Sundae's - Two or more images
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
My Grafico - Anything Goes
Aly's Sunday Sketch - Bling, Bling
Digi's by Phooka - Bling it on
Belli Challenge - Pearls
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Flower Power

It's a Birthday Girl!!!

2011-02-04T13:49:00.001-05:00

I had this sweet pre-colored image from Fred She Said all printed out and my Granddaughter Mya, saw her and I think fell in love with her. She was asking me all kinds of questions about what I was going to do with her. So, since she loves purple and her 4th Birthday is in 18 days, I made it into a Birthday Card for her. I think she'll be tickled pink, I mean purple!!!

The inspiration for this card came from Wednesday's Sketch Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. This cute little girl comes pre-colored in 8 different colors or as a Digi to color yourself. The name of it is, I Love You This Much!
Ther Happy Birthday is from a new Clear stamp set from Close to my Heart called Card Chatter - Birthday.

All stitching was done by hand with matchin Embroidery floss.

Other Challenges this card was made for:
Crazy Challenge - Birthday
Pile it On - Punch It!
C.R.A.F.T. - In the Roll of a Die
Tuesday Throwdown - Stitching
Sparkle Creations - It's a Girl Thing

Purple Roses - Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge

2011-02-03T09:20:00.006-05:00

Good Morning to you all on this Sunny Gorgeous Frigid day. The groundhog said we'd have an early Spring. I'm just wondering how early. It can't come soon enough for me. We had snow Tuesday and Freezing rain and Ice yesterday. It's times like this when I wished I didn't have a really LONG driveway!!!

I always love playing along with the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge every Tuesday. And when I saw this week's sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

I LOVE purple and I have this gorgoeus paper left over from some bulk papers from Close to my Heart from several years ago and knew it was perfect to go with these fabulous pre-colored roses from Fred She Said. These roses are from the set called Hearts and Roses. You can get them as Digi's or as pre-colored images. The roses come in 7 different colors and I'm determined to keep making cards with them until I use every color. Only four more to go!!!

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.
The green cardstock was sanded in a cross hatch ddesign to make it look like linen.

I've had these Nesties for ages and finally had the perfect sketch and images to use them. The pearls going down the left side were colored a light lavender with a copic marker because they were placed on white paper. All the other pearls were left white.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Belli Challenge - Pearls
Creative Craft World - Love
Creative Cottage - Words of Love
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Flower Power
For Fun - Spring Card
Crazy 4 Challenges - Vintage or Shabby Chic
Stamps, Scrap & Doodle - Use Punches
Totallt Gorjuss - As you like it.
Creative Card Crew - Pink & Purple (Pink is in the DP)
My Time to Craft - Flourishes
Papertake weekly - Anything Goes + Flowers
Tuesday Throwdown - Stitching
Fresh Brewed - Anniversary

Fred She Said Valentine Blog Hop

2011-01-28T00:05:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the Fred She Said Valentine Blog Hop.

Playing along is so easy and there are two great prizes up for grabs.. You simple visit each DT member's blog and collect a word on each.

You will start with Tracey Lynn's blog for the details and the first word.

You will follow the blog from there and collect all the words along the way. Your words will make a complete sentence.

You have until Midnight, Feb 4th to play along.

We love to hear from each of you so please leave a comment after checking out the fabulous artwork from each of our DT members

If you came here from Marlena's blog, you are on the right path. If not, you will want to go back to Tracey Lynn's Blog for the first word.

For my card today, I used a new FSS pre-colored image called I Love You This Much! This fabulous image comes pre-colored in 6 different colors. If you love to color, it's also available as a Digi.

The inspiration for this card came from the Papertake Weekly Challenge Blog.
My Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Now hop on over to Sonya's blog. But, before you do, my secret word is Sunshine.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Critter Sketch Challenge - Distressing and a circle
Kaboodle Doodles - Bling it Up.
Ooh La La - 3 of a kind
Pink Elephant - Red, Brown & Pink
Paper Cupcakes - Stitching, Buttons, & Hearts
A Spoonful of Sugar - Valentine
My Time To Craft - Emboss
Tuesday Throwdown - Distressing
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Have a Heart
Creative Sketches - Holiday
AiFactory - Buttons & Bow
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Sentiment of Love
Bunny Zoe's - Love is in the Air

I Love you This Much Valentine

2011-01-27T17:53:00.006-05:00

My card today is using a new image from Frd She Said called I Love You This Much. Isn't she just the cutest thing. She makes me smile!!! You can get her as a Digi, or a six piece pre-colored set. I used one of the 6 pre-colored images.
I combined this with the pre-colored images from Hearts and Roses, also from Fred She Said. The pre-colored roses come in 7 different colors. If you like coloring, it also comes as a Digi.
If you check out the post prior to this one, you will see a card made with the Heart and Roses.

The inspiration for this card came from a sketch from 2 Sisters Challenge Blog. This is my first time playing with them and I really liked their sketch this week.

The papers are from a paper pack from Close to my Heart called Sweetheart. This paper makes the greatest traditional colored Valentines. I also used the velvet ribbon that was in the retired Cherry-O Creative Basics papers.

The Hand Stitching was done with white Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
The Crafty Pad - Something Girly
Cupcake Inspirations - Red, Pink, White
I Did It - Card for a child
My Grafico - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes - Distressing
Pile it On - Love is in the Air
Crafty Cardmaker - Florals
Craft Your Passion - Use to Designer Papers
Digi's By Phooka - Love is in the Air
Lexi's Creations - Valentines
Totally Stampalicious - Pink & Red
Victorine - Red, Pink & White
Woodware USA - Anything Goes
Charisma Cardz - Valentine/Love

FSS - Hearts & Roses

2011-01-22T13:28:00.005-05:00

My card today is made with a FANTASTIC newly released set of Digi's and colored images from Fred She Said called Hearts and Roses. The Roses actually come in 7 different colors in the same set. My card was made with the Pink Roses.

The inspiration for this card came from This weeks Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.

The papers are from the New paper pack from Close to my Heart Called Sweetheart. This paper will be available on February 1st. The half pearls, from CTMH, were white, but I colored them pink with a Copic Marker.

The Ribbon is from Flourishes and the Dots around the "forever" is a stamp from Waltzing Mouse.

The Hand Stitching was done with Embroidery Floss in Tulip and White

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - 5X7 or Big Card
Sparkle Creations - Pink, Brown & White
Tuesday Throwdown - Valentine
My Time To Craft - Spots and Dots
Bunny Zoe's - Love is in the Air
Paper Playtime - Use the word LOVE
Paper, Scissors & Rocks - Use Red
Simon Says - DOTS
Woodward USA - Pink, Red & White
The Corrosive Challenge - Lace & Pearls
One Stitch at a Time - New
Stampin Sisters in Christ - New
Pile It On - Anything Goes
Creative Belli Blog - Lettter "P"
Cupcake Inspirations - Pink, White & Black
Papertake weekly - Ribbon and Pearls

Waltzing Mouse Blog Waltz & Sketch Challenge

2011-01-17T09:33:00.005-05:00

The 17th of every month, Waltzing Mouse Stamps has a Blog Waltz for customers to participate in. So I thought I'd play along this month. The theme is Valentine/Love.

The inspiration for this card came from the weekly Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge. I thought I may as well combine both in this one card.

The papers are from a new paper pack from Close to my Heart called Sweetheart. The flower was made with the same paper.

I used two Waltzing Mousr Stamp Sets fro my card. Holiday Labels #14 and Fancy Phrases.

I did some paper piercing in the corners and sdded some flat pearls.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
2 Sisters - Flowers
Elephantastic - New Beginnings
Kraftin Kimmie - Fancy Florals
Secret Crafter - With Love
Aud Sentiments - Only Two words in sentiment
Glitterbabe's - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - New Beginnings
The Creative Cottage - Something New (Papers and two stamp sets are new)
Stampin' B's - Use a Die Cut
If the Shoe Fits - Inspiration Picture
Just Add Ink - Monochromatic
Phindy's Place - Valentine/For a Loved One
Stamp Something - Anything Goes
Wags 'n Whiskers - With Love
The Crafty Pad - Something New
Let's Ink It Up - Anything Goes
Pile it on - Anything Goes
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Something New (Papers, stamps, techinque)
Lexi's Creations - Say it with Love

FSS - English Robins

2011-01-16T08:58:00.002-05:00

Good Morning to you all on this beautiful, sunshiny, Bitter Cold, Sunday Morning. We've been fortunate not to have much snow yet this winter BUT, the past two months have been bitterly cold.

I want to start thinking Spring with my card making, but I can’t seem to draw myself away from these Gorgeous Winter Bird Series from Fred She Said. The birds come as Digi’s and Pre-colored images, which is what I chose to use today. My feelings on the pre-colored images is, why re-do something that’s already perfect. The other day I used the Chickadee and today I’m using the English Robins. The only one left is the Cardinal. I may have to do that one tomorrow. If you haven’t picked up on these images yet, you don’t know what you’re missing!

I got the inspiration for this card from the Critter Sketch Challenge. I love to start my creations with a sketch challenge.

I used the Olivia Paper Pack from Close to my Heart and matching Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Incy Wincy Designs - Go Dotty
Kaboodle Doodles - Do it with Digi's
Paperworks - Recipe_3papers, 3 embellies, an animal
AiFactory - Anything Goes
Dutch Dare - All Stitched Up
Meljen's Designs - Rouind or Square card
Glitterbabe - Anything Goews
Paper Crafting Journey - Digital
Stampin' B's - Use a ie Cut
Stamp n' Doodle - Winter in the Woodsa.

FSS - Better Than Chocolate

2011-01-13T11:54:00.007-05:00

I was determined to play along with the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge this week and also to get a head start on making Valentines. So, I chose this fabulous precolored image from Fred She Said called Better than Chocolate. I Love coloring with Copic Mrkers, but I have to tell you that I have fallen in love with all of Fred's precolored images too.

My image was printed four times. The heart lid was cut out and layered with foam tape. The rose was cut out twice and layered. The rose in the upper left corner was printed twice and cut out and layered.

For my card I used some new papers called Sweetheart from Close to my Heart. I also used ribbon, red assortment buttons and red bling from CTMH.
The foourished stamped on the background is from a new CTMH stamp set called Dreams Comr True. All of these NEW CTMH products will be available February 1st.

The hand stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs This Card Was Made For:
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Red, Pink & White
My Time to Craft - CHOCOLATE!
Crazy for Challenges - Pink & Brown
Secret Crafter - Tons of Texture
Kenny K's - Love You
One Stitch at a Time - Love and Valentine
Crafty Cardmakers - Red and a Die Cut
Craft Your Passion - Tie One On
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Something New
Kaboodle Doodles - Do it with Digis
Lexi's Creations - Say it with Love
Woodware USA - Hearts
Victorine Originals - Tag It
Bunny Zoe's - Love is in the Air
Paper Crafting Journey - Let's Get Digital
Pixie Dust Studio - Let's Play Tag
Stampin B's - Use a Die Cut

FSS Chickadee

2011-01-12T14:19:00.002-05:00

Oh My, It's almost the middle of January already and I'm only now starting to get my Mojo Back after the Holiday break. Better late then never.

My card today was inspired by a sketch from Inspirational Card (IC) Sketches. And of course with the fabulous Chickadee from the Fred She Said Winter Bird Series. This happens to be one of the pre-colored images.

The other inspiration for this card was from Our Creative Corner who had an inspirational picture of a Chickadee.

The papers are from the Magnifique Paper pack from Close to my Heart. The blue sparkles are from the Blue & Green assortment from Close to my Heart.

The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Aly's Sunday Challenge - Wings
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Wings
The Crazy Challenge - An Animal. Is a bird an animal??? They have a duck as a DT card so I guess my bird qualifies.

FSS Bird Series Ornament / Gift Tags

2011-01-05T09:23:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year to you all!!!

I hope you all have a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2011!

Here is a picture of two of my precious grandchildren that I care for during the week. I am so blessed to be able to do this. I don't get much done during the day, but they grow up so fast and I wouldn't trade these days for anything.

Jeffrey is almost 18 months and Mya will be 4 on February 22nd. This is the same little guy who was screaming on Santa's lap in a picture a few posts back. It's hard to believe that little mouth could open that wide! If you want a good laugh, check it out!

I think this Christmas Holiday season was the busiest I've had. It all starts the day after Thanksgiving when we go and pick out our tree. Between the decorating, cleaning, baking, cooking shopping un-decorating, cleaning, and putting things away again, I've been so out of touch with my card making. I still haven't gotten my mojo back but I have these three ornament/gift tags I made and forgot to post last month.

It's hard to see, but the top left one is copper metallic paper and the top right is silver metallic.

I used the Fred She Said GORGEOUS Christmas Bird Series.

I had such high hopes of making tons of ornament/gift tags with all of the fantastic Christmas images from Fred She Said for gifts and this is the only set I got done. I actually may make some now for next year.

Melonie Mouse

2010-12-31T01:25:00.000-05:00

Good Morning and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!!

I can't tell you how strange it is to be making Christmas Cards last week and a Valentine today.

My term with the Sweet 'n Sassy DT is coming to an end today after 21 months. I find it hard to believe that it's been that long. As my final DT card, I used a soon-to-be released Pre-colored Digi called Melanie Mouse.
The papers are all from a Close to my Heart paper pack called That's Amore.

The hand stitching was done with Ecru Embroidery Floss.

Snow Friends - SSS87

2010-12-18T11:41:00.001-05:00

Well, here we are just one week until Christmas!
I'm not wishing my life away, BUT, I hop the winter goes as fast as the rest of this year went. I hate this cold weather.I guess if I never had to leave the house until Spring, I'd be fine.

My card today is a combination of a special swap card I had to make and the Sketch challenge over at The Sweet Stop Sketch Blog. I LOVE the sketches that Korin has each week. So, if you've never played along and you need some inspiration to get your mojo going, I suggest you play along sometime.

This time of year, I really need to kill two birds with one stone and this worked out perfectly. It should have been finished last night, but I did a really stupid thing. I tried to scan the card when I thought all of the liquid applique, that I used for the snow, was dry. Well, it wasn't completely dry and when I took it from the scanner, I had quite a mess on the card and the scanner. So, I had to make another image and try again. This time I left the LA dry before heating. I like this appearance much better. It doesn't get as bumpy and has a smoother appearance. However, I didn't make it in time to post on the challenge blog along with the other DT cards.

The papers I used are from the Magnifique Paper Collection from Close to my Heart. The image is called Snow Friends, also from CTMH.

One of the requirements of the swap is to use two embellishments togeher. So, I took a clear button, punched a small circle in white and a snowflake in blue and glued them to the back of the clear button (also from CTMH), then I added a blue sparkle to the center. Lots of sparkle on this card.

The Hand Stitching around the card was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

FSS - Winter Chickadee - SSS86

2010-12-11T01:04:00.001-05:00

Well, here it is Saturday already and only two more weeks until Christmas. I've been having an issue with tendonitis in my thumb for the past week so I don't even have my Christmas cards made yet. I'm hoping it feels better by Monday and then I'm spending the whole week making them. But I guarantee you one thing, they won't have hand stitching on them! *Ü*

My card today was inspired by a sketch at The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. Korin always has the greatest sketches so if you need some inspiration too, hope on over and play along with us this week.

The papers and Ribbon are all from the Mistletoe collection from Close to my Heart.

The Chickadee is from the Christmas Birds Series from Fred She Said. This image is one of three birds that comes in digi or pre-colored format.
The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Digi's With Attitude - Anything Goes

FSS - Wreath &Christmas Rose

2010-12-09T19:16:00.002-05:00

I love playing along with the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. For this card, I used the Fred She Said Christmas Wreath and the Christmas Rose. Both come in Digi or pre-colored. As much as I love coloring with Copic Markers, I chose the pre-colored images for my card just to get it done faster.

I love this wreath and I love the candles and roses so I decided to combine the two. This is the beauty of Digi's. You can make them what ever size you need. I think I may have to make a similar card in a 5.5 x 5.5 card so I can make the wreath bigger. Christmas card making may be coming to an end, but I think these images would make beautiful Winter Birthday Cards too.

I used Red Embroidery Floss for the Hand Stitching.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was mae for:
A Spoonful of Sugar - A Christmas Card
Tuesday Taggers - Deck the Halls
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Jeffrey with Santa

2010-12-07T09:02:00.000-05:00

I don't have a card to share today so I thought I would post a picture of my Grandson on his first visit with Santa. He's almost 17 months old and didn't like sitting on a strangers lap. This picture makes me smile!!!
His sister wasn't along that day so I hope we can get a picture of her with Santa too.