Happiness

This is the last birthday card I needed to make for all the office birthdays this month. When I saw this incredibly adorable image called Shire at Mo's Digital Pencil I knew it would be PERFECT for this person.


I used my pencils to color the main part of the image using the Gamsol method & then used markers for the fence, grass & to add a little dimension to the dirt. Then I used chalk ink for the dirt & the cloudy sky. The sentiment is a rub on, i believe by Making memories 



The challenge last week at Crazy4challenges was to make a Joy fold card & even tho I wasn't able to get in on the challenge, I really wanted to try it since I haven't made a lot of cards w/ specialty folds. How fun! This week's sketch at CPS fit perfect w/ the idea I had in mind for the front of this card

Here is the inside



For the inside, I cropped the main image down to focus on their sweet faces, used a circle punch & then doodled around it. I was trying to do a bit of a barbed wire look w/ it to keep w/ the country/western horsey theme.



close up.  I forgot to add the sentiment inside before I photographed :(   It read:  "Wishing you a day filled with all the things that bring you happiness & joy. Happy Birthday".   I attached it to the right of the girl & horse image.

So I was very good & got all the info together on the makers of the dp because I used so many different patterns & then I left my little sticky note at home on my craft desk :(  I am pretty sure the double sided brown swirl/lt blue is American Crafts, I know the horse is a Debbie Mumm design but I can't remember the company, & the word DP on the inside I really can't remember.

I really really love how this card turned out! & my co-worker/friend just loved it too! YAY! I think I will definitely be making more joy fold cards in the future!

I am playing along with the following:

CPS, Sketch

Cardmadfairys, Girly

Divas By Design, Summer

The Spotted Chick, TKT#52

Make it Monday, Anything goes + linky party

Totally Stampalicious, Anything goes

and for the first time, I followed the recipe- My ingredients are in blue

The Catered Crop

Here's your FTR17 recipe. With the combined ingredients, it's almost an anything goes challenge, so have fun!

• Colors – red, white, green, blue, gray, kraft
• Stamps and Stickers – strawberries, sentiment, aliens/monsters, scientists or science subjects
• Patterns – Circles, checked/gingham, scallops
• Color Mediums – markers (ProMarker, Copics, White Signo Pen)
• Embellishments – clear gloss, glitter, charms, brads, ribbon
• Tools – corner rounder punch, border punch, die cut shapes
• Techniques – faux stitching, doodling/drawing, make an easel card
• Theme – birthday, just hello/because

Wow What a Week!

I have been so crafty this week! And I have actually been able to steal a few minutes here & there to actually post what I've made! yay! The last few weeks have been kind of hard, busy, & un-inspired so it REALLY feels sooo good to back at my craft desk. So here is my second card for the day:

Its for my nephew's 17th birthday this weekend. I'm glad that July is near an end because I have had A LOT of birthday cards to make! I think only 1 or 2 more to go. My son's birthday is tomorrow (he is pretty happy that he is the older one between him & my nephew.. by 1 whoppin day lol!) and he is not a sentimental kind of kid so I gave up on giving him any kind of card at any time. The cake image was a freebie I found on Dustin Pike's blog... He has some very fun stuff! both dp's are Imaginesce. I inked around the edges of the circle piece w/ some Navy Martha Stewart ink. I colored a second candle & applied it over the other w/ foam tape just for fun.

I got my start with the Mojo Monday sketch #200, but used the mini clothes pins in place of the bow... figured it would up the "manly" factor lol! I am also going to play along at The Pixie Cottage where the theme is Fun with Food & at Card Makin Mamas where the theme is Food & Drink.

So that's it for me! Have a great weekend everyone! And hopefully I can keep up this momentum for next week too!

Cozy Winter Wishes

This sweet image reminds me of the pure, simple joy Christmas brought when I was a kid. My sister & I would turn all the lights off in the house & lay under the tree to watch the lights reflect off the limbs and the ceiling. (the tinsel too..remember the good ole tinsel from the 70's?!!! Couldn't put it too close to the lights or it would melt to them)
 Good times!

It's Friday YAY!! But also a little sad :( I have been having a lot of fun this week playing along with the Christmas in July mini challenges at Catch the Bug (today is anything goes) & I now have 5 more holiday cards in my file for this December. WOO HOO! I really like how this simple card turned out so I do believe I will be making a few more very similar. I may actually end up with enough homemade cards for my entire holiday card list this year! Hee Hee.... I have been pressed for time the past few years, so I have not sent out as many cards as I really wanted.
So on to the details! The sweet image is by Jodie over at Bugaboo, I colored with my Bic markers & then sponged a little chalk ink around him. I used some liquid applique for the "fuzzy" parts on the hat & the cuffs, added a chunk of ribbon, then added a little rub-on for the sentiment. The dp came from the same pack, but once again, I failed to pay attention to who it was by..I promiss to be better :)

I am also playing along with:

CPS, Their great CAS sketches work well with my crafting style
The Spotted Chick, That's Krafty Thursday #52
Sassy Studio Designs, Dare to be Sassy Thursday #82, CAS

Don't be surprised if you see me back again today... I have been on a creative spree this week! If not, HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Snow Business

Wow this week is flying by! The Christmas in July mini challenge at Catch The Bug is Snow Business- make project w/ snow or snowmen. I just love this line of snowmen so it was fun to get to color one up!


Up close look, I used colored him w/ my pencils & then added glitter to give the snow some sparkle then threw on some bling & some blingy snowflakes for giggles :)



OK, so I was horrible again today-I have no idea who the dp is by, the sentiment is a sticker & it is off a sheet of freebies I got from a magazine renewal. I have to say I have had a lot of inspiration flowing this week & it has been very nice to get a few holidays cards built up in my file. I think there should be a "Christmas" celebration  every month & maybe I wouldn't have to rush around to get cards finished on the 15th of December! ROFL! I don't think my holiday traditions would quite feel the same without that pressure over me tho...

I am also entering on the following:

Sweet Stop Sketches, Sketch w/ a spin this week: Christmas in July
The Stamping Boutique, Cool Colors
My Grafico, Anything Goes
The Crafty Pad, Christmas in July

Gotta love Gus!

For the Christmas in July Mini Challenge today Catch the Bug has the following sketch:

I decided that I just had to use this fun Gus image that I've had forever...

I colored him w/ my Bic markers & colored pencils, added some glitter to the "fluffy" areas & then added some glossy accent to make his glasses good & thick. (doesn't show in the photo, but they are like Coke bottle bottoms lol!)

The reindeer dp is K&Co & the stripe is Pink Paislee. I added some sparkly mini tree brads- I think they are Making Memories, but am not sure-I've had them in my hoarders drawer for a while.

I am also entering this on the following:

Make It Monday, anything goes w/ a linky party

ABC Christmas O is for Older- user an older image

My Grafico, Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes, Christmas in July

So have you joined in on the fun over at Catch The Bug? There is still time! Tomorrow's mini challenge is "Snow Business"- make a project w/ a snow theme. And there is a blog hop going on until Friday Night. 

Christmas Ruby

So for the second Christmas in July mini challenge at Catch the Bug we were given this adorable freebie called Christmas Ruby to use on a project.

I colored her in w/ my Bic markers & then inked the background w/ some chalk ink & went over the edges w/ a dark green ink (CTMH-I don't remember the color name) The peace sentiment & the ornament are from a set called Holly4Christmas from The {Stamps} of Life. the dotted dp is Bo Bunny, but I am not sure who the green is by- I know, BAD me! I was on a roll & didn't really pay alot of attention to what I was grabbin to use... let me tell ya, the paper was flyin & everything was inky by the end of the night lol!

I used this week's sketch from The Crafty Ho's as my starting point & I am also uploading to the following challenges: Creative Inspirations Christmas in July; My Grafico Anything Goes; 

Christmas in July Celebration

It is a BIG celebration going on over at Catch the Bug this week. Filled with mini challenges each day, a blog hop & lots of prizes! SO I am a little late getting stuff posted :( but it's better late than never! And since the very first challenges I entered when I started my blog where the mini challenges for their birthday I just had to play along with this week's mini challenges too! I love me my Bugaboo!
SO the first mini challenge was to use non-traditional colors & here is what I came up with

I used one of Jodie's sweet new tag images to make this fun gift card holder. The gift card slips inside & is held in place by the ribbon. I used an ornament stamp from my Holly4Christmas set from The {Stamps} of Life on the light blue background cardstock
I am also entering this on:
The Stamping Boutique, use cool colors
Stamp Something, Christmas

Well that's it for now.. I will be back later with more-I was a busy girl last night! I love when imspiration hits!

Better late than never

I have been meaning to post this since last Wednesday... I've been crazy busy at work, crazy at home & then I took a much needed four day weekend to relax & celebrate my birthday. I figured that I should since it is the last I will publicly celebrate- I've decided if you are gonna be the same age for a while, it may as well be 39! ROFL!
So anyhow, I made this using last week's CPS Sketch as a starting point with my cousin in mind. It was her birthday on the 16th. (She loved it by the way)

I used my cricut to cut the sun & the circle background, the stamps I used around the border are from 2 different sets from  The {Stamps} of Life, I used a Scarlette image (colored w/ my Bic markers & attached w/ foam tape) from Bugaboo, & the DP is Flair Design- I cut out the beach chair from one piece & layered over the word sheet.
I am squeaking in just in time to enter on the following:
Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes
Card Making Mama's Summertime

I have a billion ideas flowing right now, I guess a little time to re-set helps with that, so I should be back a lot more this week! Later!

Cherries

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve picking cherries with my grandpa. My granparents had several fruit trees on their property, but the cherries, well they were the sweetest & so they were my favorites! I can remember being very small & grandpa would climb up the ladder & then drop the cherries down to me so I could "pick them" too. So when I saw this ADORABLE image at Mo's Digital Pencil called "Cherry" I almost started crying (grandpa has been gone for a while) because of the special memories it brought. So I had to have her!

I also know that my mom holds those same memories pretty close to her heart, and her birthday is coming up next week, so I made this to be her birthday card & I am hoping she will love it as well! I used a few different mediums for coloring: on her dress I used both markers &  a blender pen dipped in Sky ink from CTMH; colored pencils for her skin & hair (I made here a redhead because that's what I am- of course it was flaming orange when I was little lol!); markers for the basket, cherries & grass; & then I used chalk ink to do a bright lightly cloudy summer sky. The dp is DCWV, Sweet stack & cardstock is Bazzil. I am not sure where the happy birthday tag came from, I found it on Free DigitalStamps when I first discovered digital stamps & did not properly track them. The other sentiment is from Create with TLC

I am entering this on the following challenges:

Sweet Stop Sketches #116
Make it Monday, Anything Goes
the Stamping Boutique, Summer Scene
Card Making Mamas, Summertime
Crazy4challenges, Summer
Catch The Bug, CAS
Sassy Studio Designs, Red, White & Blue
Pile It On, Show us your favorite technique- I would have to say my favorite technique to use right now is using my chalk inks & a scrap of paper to add in clouds to the sky. I seem to be doing it on most of my images lately!

Well that's it for me today! I had a crazy week last week between the holiday, the first of the month/missing a day for the holiday & over all just being wiped out, so I am really, really hoping to do more crafting this week. Plus, I still have a BUNCH of birthday cards & a couple baby shower cards to get done so you should be seeing more from me this week!

One more Birthday Card

Happy Friday Blog land! How wonderful it feel to have the sun shining, a little breeze blowing & to know that after 5:30pm, I will have 3 full days free to enjoy the wonderful summer weather that has FINALLY arrived! Happy Happy Joy Joy! I feel like a little kid on the last day of school. Of course by the time Tuesday morning rolls around, it will be back to life as I know it.. UGG! Oh well, think of that later! So let's get to the point... Here is another of the birthday cards I needed to make for co-workers this month

For this one I used a digi from Bugaboo Stamps called Scarlette gifts. I love this digi (welll actually I LOVE ALL of Jodie's digi's!) beacuse it is so versitile.. can use for birthdays, just because, Christmas. Oh and guess what else! All Bugaboo digi's are on sale right now, 25% off every purchase! (hurry tho it ends July 5th) Awesome! One more excuse to feed by Bugaboo addiction! I colored Miss Scarlette w/ my Bic markers & colored pencils, used my Cricut to cut the swirls (nearly choked from all the dust gathered on the thing.. need to use it more!) added a few self sticky pearls- think I got them from CTMH & then added a fussy cut stamped flower from The {Stamps} of Life. This one was a fun freebie Stephanie included with a monthly kit, however she has LOTS of great sets to choose from & the Flowers2doodle set matches this stamp. I sponged chalk ink behind the stamped image to add more depth than just plain cardstock.

I was inspired my this week's Mojo Monday Sketch
I am also entering on the following:
Simon Says Stamp, Lemon & Lavender
Stamp Something, Digi Days
Do you Stack Up, Squares
CCEE Stampers, use your electronic cutting machine
Crafts and Me, Birthdays
Crazy Challenge, Beautiful Women

So now I am going to sit here & stare out the window, Longing for quitting time to roll around! Happy 4th everyone! And Happy Canada Day to our friends to the North!