Happy "Owl"oween

Fall is SO in the air here! It is like October hit & the temperatures automatically took a nose dive lol! I've had to build a fire a couple of nights now to take the chill off the house & have woke up to find frosty roof tops a couple times too. Leaves are starting to change colors & drop & the sun is setting earlier every day. Which means less time to do outside chores & more time to craft! (not always the case but it's nice to dream!) Last night after taking the boy to get some school stuff I was feeling the crafty urge & the bright nearly full moon outside inspired me to create this.

This is so much cuter in real life..so hard to photograph such a dark card. I chalked in some depth to the moon w/ grey chalk & that doesn't show in the photograph either.

The star DP is DCWV & I used stamps from 2 different sets from The {Stamps} of Life owls2love & the clouds are from kites2build. I hand cut the circle for the moon so that it wouldn't be perfectly round & added some iridescent glitter glue around the outside edge to give it a sparkly halo & attached the fussy cut owl w/ foam squares so he pops up a little. Easy peasy Halloweenie!

I am entering on the following challenges:
Sentimental Sundays, Anything goes
Make It Monday, Anything goes w/ link party
Going Grey w/ Scrap Creations, Halloween
Simon Says Stamp, Halloween
Simon Says Stamp & Show, Things with Wings
Fussy & Fancy, Fall/Halloween
The Pixie Cottage, Dark & Spooky

Woo Hoo!

My October set from The {Stamps} of Life were waiting for me in my mailbox last night & I actually was able to break them open & stamp with them on the first night! That hasn't happened FOREVER!

It's called penguins4christmas & has a ton of cute stamps & sentiments! I used foam squares to add the stack of prezzies so that the edge of my joy fold card would rest underneath to stay closed & the present he is holding is on a foam dot too. The fluffy bow on top of it is a prima flower folded in half & trimmed a little w/ a brad added.

Here is the inside. The frame is a {Stamps} of Life also-it was a fun freebie Stephanie added in w/ a set a couple months back & the sentiment is from this month's set. I know I've said it a bunch, but I just LOVE being club member!

I am entering on the following challenges:
Catch the Bug, Anything goes
Card Making Mama's, Fancy folds
ABC Challenge, A: Anything goes
Make it Monday, Anything goes

The weather here has taken a nasty turn to the cold side... so I am hoping to get to cuddle up with a nice warm fire & have a little craft time tonight!

Trick or Treat!

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for a while.... Lots going on & unfortunately I have had no time or energy to craft.. So glad to be back to myself again tho! It felt REALLY GOOD to sit down at my desk & be creative last night.

I don't usually do Halloween cards, but I found this super sweet witch digi on Torico's digi blog & fell in love with her. The dp is a Heidi Grace design I picked up last weekend, again I saw, loved it, had to have it! I also used a gift certificate from my mom I've been holding onto to pick up some Prismacolors pencils... OH MY GOSH! How nice it is to have them! SOOO much better to color with than the ones I had picked up from the school supply section. I've been wanting to try coloring on kraft (I've been drooling over the incredible images that Dorcas creates, click on the link & check out her work!) I've got a ways to go before my blending & shading skills are perfected but it sure is fun to practice!

I am entering this on the following challenges:

Make it Monday, Anything Goes

Going Grey with Scrap Creations, Its a Girl Thing

Simon Says Stamp, Anything Goes

Sassy Studios, DTBST, Fall Colors

Stampin B's, Halloween Card

Good Bye Summer.....

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! It's a good day here, because it's Friday however I'm just a little sad..... so hard to believe it is the LAST Friday of the summer. WHERE DID TIME GO? Seems like I didn't have nearly as much play time this summer & have worked way too much. Guess I will have to make up for it by playing extra hard this winter....

Ok, now on to the business at hand ;) I don't get to make baby cards very often, so it was quite fun to get the chance to make one. In fact, I will need to make a second one soon lol! two different friends of the family have announced grand babies coming soon. For this one, I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do & it took just a little work with positioning to get it to translate onto cardstock. I really wanted to have the baby peeking out of the buggy & was going to merge the images, but then I thought it would be way cuter to punch a window & have the baby on the inside of the card

here is the inside. the "congrats" sentiment is from a {Stamps} of Life set

The baby buggy is a digi I found online when I first started using digi's & I did not save where I found it.. sorry. it is a cute one & I had fun coloring it. the sweet bunting baby image is from Bugaboo. Have you checked out their new website? Lots of very cool stuff going on there! All the papers are from my scrap pile & I have no clue who they are by. The sentiment stamp on the front is from a Studio G set.

here is a view of the enter front

I am entering on the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp, anything goes. Oh my goodness, before I forget..they are also having a big celebration with a blog hop & some absolutely  FABBY b;log candy & prizes!!!! be sure to check them out!!
Going Grey with Scrap Creations, Finish the inside of your card
Make it Monday, anything goes + linky party
Cute Card Thursday, use at least 1 punch
Stamp Something, Digi days

And one last little tid bit of fun... Head on over to the Lili of the Valley blog Ideas to Inspire. They are getting ready to release a new Christmas set & they are giving away 2 stamps every day for the next 5 days! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

Floral Thank you

I know that I have told Y'all before just how much I love being a club member of The {Stamps} of Life. It is SOOOO much fun getting brand spankin' new rubba in the mail the first of every month. But I have to admit, I have been bad lately. Some how this summer has turned into the craziest, busiest ever & for the past few months, the new stamps have came in, been lovingly placed on my craft desk  & then not touched again. So sad! So when the opportunity came up to craft last night, I had to reach for my August set to redeem myself before the month was over! And here is what I came up with

The set is called branches4flowers & boy was it a fun set to play with & it has a ton of great sentiments with it. I used CTMH ink in Gypsy & new England Ivy as well as a lavender colored chalk ink that I picked up at Michael's for the flowers & the leaves. I inked the edges first in Vintage Photo distress ink & then I went over it w/ a sand colored chalk ink to blend it in & give it the look I wanted. I still am working on my technique- haven't quite got the sponging down the way I would like it to be. I cut a few of the larger flowers out, bent the edges a bit & then glued them on for a bit more dimension. I love how it turned out! 

The ribbon is some I picked up at Walmart & the little half pearls are Recollections from Michael's. I used black, white & lavender.
I am entering this on the following challenges:

CPS, (their sketch this week is sponsored by The {Stamps} of Life, play along to win some!
The Spotted Chick, Thats Krafty Thursday #53
Make it Monday, Anything Goes + linky party
Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge, Thank you
Stamp Something, Thank you
Do You Stack Up, thank you
The Poodles Parlour, Anything goes

Here is the entire set, go to The {Stamps} of Life to check it out plus all the other great sets Stephanie has. They are WONDERFUL quality, stamp great the first time out & are clear so you can see where you are putting them! And as a bonus, the price is fantastic!

For the Love of a Fur Baby

I'm not sure why I decided that I needed to add a heeler to my family. I don't know who told me that they were wonderful, smart dogs. All I do know is that they are WAY different from the black lab that we had before.... My sweet little fur baby has been with me for a little over 3 years now & let me tell you there were days when I wasn't sure if he would make it with our family! If you have never had the pleasure of being in the "pack" of a heeler then you are not going to relate. OMGosh, it is a different world! If they are bored, or unhappy, everyone is unhappy & they will find ways to keep themselves occupied & the activities they find on their own are not always family approved! (I believe as a pup my guy chewed thru 4 garden hoses & could not keep the stuffing inside any bed I ever brought home for him) But now I have a special friend who wants to mind & behave -after that initial rush of excitement that he is no longer alone..no one has EVER been so happy to see me! And I am truly the center of his world.

I fell in love with the Bronte images at Mo's Digital Pencil because they remind me so much of my Rhett. Of course he hasn't quite acquired the stocky body yet, but the looks Mo captures are spot on for his personality. The challenge this week at Mo's Digital Challenge is to make an easel card w/ an animal on it so I had to use one w/ Bronte

I tried really hard to get my coloring to match my baby's markings, not sure I hit the mark, but came close!

Here is a close up of him & here is the "real" baby

The sentiment is from Create with TLC, I just cut it into sections & then popped up on circles that I punched out & put together to mimic the circles on the DP

I am also entering on :

Sweet Stop, the front panel was inspired by this week's sketch

Stamp Something, Digi days

Make it Monday, anything goes

The Crafty Ho's, last challenge :( Anything goes

Quickie Card

I love it so much when an idea comes together & I especially love it when it comes together quickly! I needed a quick lil sumthin sumthin to pop in the mail & wanted to play along with a couple challenges while I was at it & YAY! here it is!

I colored little miss Cherry w/ my pencils & then blended w/ paper stumps & some goo gone. I used my markers on the cherries & the basket

I recently found some great digi stamps that I LOVE, by Mo Manning. Oh my gosh, I could spend an entire pay check on her images! They are all too sweet-I especially love her Bronte images, they remind me so much of my stinky, hairy Red Heeler fur baby Rhett! I will be coloring up some of those later, can't wait! So any how there is a challenge blog for her stuff Bronte & Bellas Challenge & the challenge this week is something sweet but it must be food related. How sweet is lil miss Cherry?! I am head over heels for this image (this is the second card I've made using her)

I used this weeks Sweet Stop Sketch for a starting point & the DP is from DCWV Sweet pad. The sentiment is from a DCWV Friends sticker pad. I am also playing along with Make It Monday, anything goes & ABC Challenge, A is for auburn.