Happy Flowers in Smoothie

I decided to make a four card Inspirational Set for my Etsy Shop. This is the third of the set. The first is the post right before this one and the second one is here. The fourth may be posted tomorrow.  My poor Etsy shop is really lacking new cards.Why is it that the older I get, the less I get done.

This card uses the retired Dottie for you paper pack. I love the bright colored dot papers. It's so Springy looking and I sure need this right now with the COLD weather we are still having.

The Happy Flowers are pre-colored gorgeous flowers that come in an array of different colors or as a digi for you to color yourself. 

The Bakers Twine is from the Paradise collection and the sparkles are the Pink Glitter Gems. 

I decided to try something different for the Hand Stitching on this card. I used the chain stitch. It was very time consuming, but I loved doing it. I matched the embroidery floss up to the Topiary cardstock I used.

Orange Happy Flowers

I needed some cheering up after the snow we had Saturday. We're expecting more today. Friday, there were hundreds of Robins out in our lawn pulling out all the fresh supply of worms. The next day they were all gone. And even though the snow melted, they still haven't returned. I guess the 20° temps have something to do with that. WHERE IS SPRING!!!

The design inspiration for this card came from the week two Verve sketch challenge.

So, I made my card today using the newly released Happy Flowers from Fred She Said. These flowers are just SO PRETTY!  I chose the Orange pre-colored flowers to go with some of my new Claire papers from CTMH. 
I also used one of the new FSS Uplifting Sentiments. 

I punched a piece of Glitter paper from the Brown & Tan collection. Then tied some Sunset Bakers Twine from the Paradise Collection.

I try to keep my hand stitching simple on smaller cards so I tried using the chain stitch on this card using matching embroidery floss. I rather like this stitch and think it frames the card perfectly.

Other challenges for this card:
Just Us Girls - Green, white & orange
One Stop Craft Challenge- Anything Goes

FSS - Easter Chick

Here are my latest cards using the Easter Chick pre-colored image from Fred She Said. I think this is just such a cute image and one I fall back on for Easter or a Baby Card. I am showing you two cards here. Both the same except for the sentiment.

The paper is from Close to my Heart, from the retired  Dotty for You Collection. The flowers were cut from the CTMH exclusive Cricut cartridge "Art Philosophy" and the leaves are from the CTMH exclusive Cricut cartridge, "Artiste". The center of all the flowers are dotted with the Pink Glitz Glitter Gel from CTMH.
The Bakers Twine is from the CTMH Paradise Assortment

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
Crafty Catz - Dies/Punches
Jelly Park Friends - Lots of different shapes

Marigolds and Morpho Butterfly Birthday

My card today is a Birthday card using another image from the Fed She Said newest Release called Marigolds and Morpho. 

This is a pre-colored image. There are so many different options with this set and they are so gorgeous that I want to make cards with all of them. 

The design inspiration started with a sketch from The Deconstructed Sketch Challenge. I then used a Martha Stewart punch for my top and bottom edges. 

 The image was printed twice and the Butterfly was cut out of the second one and layered for extra dimension. Blue crystals adorn the heard and body of the butterfly. 

I'm finally getting around to using some retired papers from Close to my Heart. Colors are Star Spangled Blue, Sunkiss Yellow and Creme Brulee, along with Star Spangled Blue Grosgrain Ribbon. 

 The Happy Birthday is from a NEW Birthday Set called "Joyful Birthday". The Hand Stitching was done with matching Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card"
Broken Box Stock - Birthday
Card Makin' Mamas - Birthday
Crafty Catz - Pearls, Cies/Punch, Ribbon
Daring Cardmakers - Butterflies
Just Add Ink - Blue, yellow, white
All Sorts - Things with Wings

Marigolds and Morpho Mother's Day Card

I just had to make a card last night with the newly released Marigolds and Morpho set from Fred She Said.
The image I used for this card is pre-colored but it also comes in a digi set for you to color yourself.
I fussy cut three of the butterflies out and layered for lots of dimension. 

If you're wondering why I made it for Mother's Day, well, it's because I thought the image was perfect for that. But also because I'm always so far behind in stocking my Etsy shop that I thought I would get a head start.

The crystal flourishes, Color Ready seam binding and retired papers are all from Close to my Heart.

The hand stitching was done with my own unique design in matching Embroidery Floss.

The design for this card started with a sketch from My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns Sketch Challenge.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:

Forever Friends - Butterflies

Nolan and the Bull Frog

I hope you all were happy with what ever your ground hog predicted yesterday. Our Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow and predicted an Early Spring. I'm holding him to his word. He'd better be right! I hate this cold weather. We've been lucky with no snow accumulation so far and I'd like to keep it that way.

So, on to my card for today. We had a birthday party to go to yesterday for Erik, a sweet little boy who turned five. I thought the Fred She Said, "Nolan and the Bull Frog" would be perfect for his card. 

The design inspiration for this card came from a Sketch Challenge over at Sketch N' Stash. My stash for this challenge is the Outdoor Denim  twill ribbon that's I've had for years now and hardly ever use and the Pre-colored Digi from Fred She Said that was printed out about a year ago and never used. Also, the four square studs have been with me forever since I make very few masculine cards. The Happy Birthday is a retired stamp set from Close to my Heart called Say it in Style.

The papers were Newly released February 1st from Close to my Heart, called "Later Sk8r".

Other Challenge blogs for this card:
Critter Sketch Challenge - Use metal (square Studs) 
Stampin' Royalty - Birthday
Stampin' for the Weekend - Use some metal

Fred She Said Ground Hog Day Blog Hop

Fred She Said is having a Ground Hog Day Blog Hop.  Tracey, from Fred She Said hails from Wiarton, Ontario, Canada, home of Wiarton Willie, the albino ground hog.  Every February 2nd, Willie emerges from his den to predict whether or not we will have an early Spring.  If he sees his shadow, he will become frightened and scurry back into his den, hailing 6 more weeks of winter.  If he does not see his shadow, he will declare an EARLY SPRING woohoo!  Tracey has asked the Fred She Said DT to make a card - either a "wintery" card ( if they think Willie will predict  a LATE SPRING ) or a "Flowery or Spring" card ( if they think he will predict an EARLY SPRING ).

Your job, dear blog hopper, is to hop along and TALLY up how many DT thought it will be an EARLY SPRING and how many predict a LATE SPRING. Instructions on how to enter will be posted on the last stop at the FSS CHALLENGE BLOG.

ONE LUCKY WINNER WILL RECEIVE:
$30 GC for the Fred She Said Store
$25 GC for Crop Stop ( provided by Tracey )

COUPON TIME!!!
FRED SHE SAID also has a Ground Hog Day WEEKEND SALE COUPON! 
( 25% off any purchase  on or over $10 from Friday FEB 1 UNTIL Sunday FEB 3 midnight EST )
 USE COUPON CODE GROUNDHOG

HERE IS MY PREDICTION: EARLY SPRING

I used the pre-colored Tulip Bouquet in Pink for my card.

The design of my card was inspired by this week's sketch at TechnoStamper. 

The papers used are NEW Close to my Heart paper, Chantilly.

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

Now hop on over to Carolyn's Blog and see what she's predicting.

Here is the blog hop list in case you lose your way!

Blog Hop List:

Tracey
Michelle
Nancy
Carolyn
Crystal
Janet Kay
Karen
Patty
Zehra
FSS CHALLENGE BLOG ( entry instructions )

Good luck and Have Fun

Other challenges I made this card for:
The Color Throwdown - Desert Sand, Cotton Candy, Blush, Olive
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Anything
Inky Impressions - Bingo - Flowers, Ribbon, Pink/Red
                               Die Cuts, Sentiment, Pink/Red
The Perfect Sentiment - Anything Goes with a Die Cut
Repeat Impressions - Bright colors and Vibrant prints.
Card Crafter's Circle - Spring

Winter Blossom

My card today was made for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge which is to use something new. The  Flourishes Stamp set, Winter Blossom, the red velvet ribbon, and the yellow flower soft are all new.

The design inspiration started with a Verve challenge sketch, week one. I did a lot of stamping, coloring and cutting out, and layering with these images to get the dimension I was looking for.I wanted to keep the colors soft pastels except for the splash of red in the berries and ribbon. They were all colored in with Copic Markers.

All of the stitching around the card was done by hand with matching Embroidery Floss. I always prefer the dimension I get with hand stitching over machine stitching. I added some Flower soft to the centers of the flowers.

This card also fits perfectly for this challenge:
Quirky Crafts - New & Pink

Flourishes Love Letter's Challenge

I'm playing a game of Beat the Clock today. I wanted to play along with the Flourishes Love Letter's Challenge but I didn't have any appropriate Flourishes stamps to play.  So I've been waiting for my latest order to come in for the Heartlines stamp set. Well, it just arrived this morning. Just in the nick of time. One  hour left to get this posted.

The design inspiration for this card came from week two of the Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge.
I actually used two different Flourishes stamps, but you can't notice the second one. I stamped the roses from A Year in Flowers 2. second generation onto the die cut that was stamped with the Sentiment.
I ran the pink CS through the cuttlebug, then stamped the roses on that also. The subtle pink lines of the rose is slightly showing on the raised hearts.

The Hand Stitching was done in my own unique design with an off white embroidery floss.

Winter Emma and the Chickadee

Here is a card made using the fabulous pre-colored image from Fred She Said called Winter Emma and the Chickadee. She comes in five different colors, or as a digi to color yourself.
The inspiration for this card started with  sketch 73 from Sunday Sketch and Stash.

The papers are old retired Close to my Heart Papers from the Lucky Collection. 

Snowflake embossing folder was used for the two narrow stripes as well as a variety of Spellbinder dies. PLUS, I just got a new dies from Memory Box called Snowflake Corner.

The Hand stitching was done with white embroidery floss.

Other Challenges for this card:

All Beautiful Cards - Shiny and Sparkly

Smudgy Antics - Use scraps

Anything Goes - Just good friends

Digital Tuesday - Layers

Bearly Mine - Something Old, Something New

Scrap Creations - Something New

Winter Chickadee Birthday Card

I'm still in the Christmas Mode for making cards because Fred She Said has some amazing winter images.  So, I decided to make several "Winter" cards instead of Christmas. After all, winter is just beginning even though I wish it were over.

The design of my card started with a sketch challenge over at Sunday Sketch and Stash. We were to use any of the sketches presented in 2012. I chose Sketch #30.

For this card, I used the pre-colored Winter Chickadee from the Christmas Birds Series. I also added a small pre-colored pine cone from the Pine Cone Spray set.
I love using Blue and white when I make winter cards and it was perfect for this image. Because of the red berries, which I added a small amount of red stickles to, I added red velvet ribbon and some red sparkles. 

The papers I used are retired papers from the Wonderland collection from Close to my Heart.

The Birthday Greetings was stamped then Embossed using the Just Numbers clear acrylic stamp set from Close to my Heart.

I hand stitched around three sides of the card with White Embroidery floss in my own unique design to look like snow flakes.

Other Challenge Blogs this card was made for:
Gingerloft - Christmas or Winter
I Did It! - Use a Doily
Stamptacular Sunday - Use Doilies
Broken Box Stock - Winter/Snowflakes

Dove and Holly Ornament

Happy New Year stamping friends!

Have you made your New Years Resolution that you're not going to keep? *Ü* Every year it's always the same for me....to lose weight. So, this year I want to make it something that makes me feel really good. Yes, losing weight would make me feel ecstatic but this year my resolution is also to stamp more. My goal is a minimum of 3 projects a week. Who knows, just maybe one will lead to the other!!!

 Front

Back

Ok, here is my second creation this week. The other one is on my CTMH blog. That poor blog is rather neglected compared to this one.

I made a Christmas Ornament for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday favorites of 2012 challenge. I used the Flourishes #200 Challenge which was to make an ornament.  I love making my own ornaments. 

I used a Spellbinders Die and cut out two pieces of cardstock and one of chipboard. I sponged Dessert Sand ink around both pieces of CS with the die over top.  I then used my xyron to add adhesive to both sides of the chipboard. to sandwich all the finished sides together.

I started stamping the large image from the Dove and Holly stamp set THREE times.  I purchased this set last year before Christmas and never got around to using it.

I colored the image with my Copic Markers then cut out the whole image and adhered to the front piece of CS. Then I colored the Doves of the second one and cut them out and layered on top of the first image with foam tape. Then I colored the one dove and cut that out and layered with foam tape again. I also colored one of the holly sprigs and cut that out to add in a bare spot at the bottom of the ornament. 

I then added cream colored pearls around the edges, added a hanger and bow to the top. Topped the bow with a flower button. 

On the back, I stamped "Peace on Earth" sentiment and more holly. 

This makes a great package topper that can then be used for an ornament. 

These are so much better then paying big buck for cheap ornaments made in China!

Other Challenge Blogs for this project:
Tuesday Alchemy - hopes & Dreams (Peace on Earth)

Peach Petunias and Hummingbirds

Here is my last post-it note holder for a while. Now I need to spend some time cleaning up my craft room. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I create, I get everything out and don't put it back until I'm done with that project. Bad habit, I know.But, when my mind is going, I can't stop it to clean up! *Ü*

My cardstock used is from Close to my Heart in the colors of Taffy, which I Cuttle Bugged with a dots folder, and Sunset. The images are from Fred She Said and are called Wee Hummingbird and Petunias in Peach.  These pre-colored images come in 7 colors of the Petunias and 11 combinations of colors of the hummingbirds. 

I printed out the sheet of Hummingbirds so I could get the color I needed in reverse, and the Peach Petunias twice. I fussy cut out a set of the petunias and both hummingbirds and layered with foam tape for lots of dimension. 

I added a small amount of yellow Flower Soft to the center of the flowers. 

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

Other Challenges for this card:
Anything but a Card - Anything
The Crazy Challenge - Easel Card

Purple Petunias and Hummingbirds

Here is another Easel Post-it note card in purple and light blue.

I used the pre-colored Wee Hummingbird and Petunias in Purple. The Hand Stitching was done with White Embroidery Floss.

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:
2 Sisters - anything but a card
Sweet Stampin' - seeing double

Blue Petunias and Hummingbirds

I've been busy making Easel Post-It Note Holders this month. I had a lot top get done in a short amount of time so I used the same design and the same pre-colored Images from Fred She Said, just each in a different color.

This card was done in Blues. I used the Wee Hummingbird and Petunias in Blue. 
I printed the flowers twice and fussy cut the second set and layered them with foam tape for added dimension. I printed the hummingbird in reverse and fussy cut it out to add a second one at the bottom 

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

Other Challenges for this card:
C.R.A.F.T. - Not a card
Card Crafter's Circle - Anything Goes
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - Anything Goes
Stampin' for the weekend - Anything Goes