A Year Of Flowers Blog Hop!

I made this card for Melanie's A Year of Flowers Blog Hop! I used two sets that Melanie designed. First I used the rose, leaves and lady bugs from "A Year of Flowers". I stamped them onto watercolor paper and used "Peerless Water Colors" to add the color. It was so much fun using these watercolors. The sentiment is from Melanie's set "The Best Things in Life". Both these sets are MUST-HAVES in my opinion!



Here's a different view showing the dimensions.



The card partially open.


Inside of the card with room for writing.


A little dimension on the inside too.
The ladybugs were so much fun to make... but a little difficult to cut out. lol

I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I enjoyed making it.

Here are the deets:

Stamps: "A Year of Flowers", "The Best Things In Life"

Ink: Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Moment Tuxedo Black

Paper: Basic Grey Sultry, SU: Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, watercolor paper

Accessories: Martha Stewart punch, Quickutz Frame, Basic Grey brads

PS: I gave this card to my MOM for her birthday! It was so hard to give it away but who else deserves such a card except for the woman who gave me life! She also raised me so she REALLY deserves it! hehe!

Jessica made a card for her Grandma Taylor

First, I want to apologize for my loooooooong absence. My family got hit HARD with the flu and we are barely getting back to "normal".... at least OUR "normal" (which isn't very normal at all!) LOL We've had this flu in our house for about 2 months. Jess got extremely sick and almost didn't make it.... but she did! *whew*! Now... on to bigger and better things:

Jessica was so happy to make a card for her grandma Taylor for Mother's Day. I helped her stamp the image and cut the special shapes, but she did the coloring and wrote her own note to Grandma on the inside of the card.



My mom had surgery a few months ago and Jessica is so happy that Grandma is feeling better.


Here is our messy work space in my craft room. We enjoy watching movies while we do our crafty projects. I'm so lucky that Karl made this craft room for me! :-)

I hope you enjoyed Jessica's card. My mom absolutely LOVED it! Everyone was saying how precious the card was - especially because Jessica made it. It is one of those things that Grandma will cherish forever. I just feel bad that I didn't have my camera with me so I didn't get a picture of Jessica giving the card to her grandma. But here is a recent photo of the two of them together:

World Record Inspirational BLOG HOP!

Edit: The link is now working! Sorry for the mix-up!

Welcome to Unity's World Recover Inspirational BLOG HOP! Wow, I'm thrilled to be a part of this awesome event.

If you want to start at the beginning go to Angela's blog. She also has some really great specials going on in her store so check them out here.

I won't hold you up since I know there are a ton of other blogs we all wan to visit so here are the deets to my card:

The base of my card is Clear Cardstock. I used one of my fav Unity stamp kits: Hey Chick! I stamped these cuties onto several different Basic Grey designer papers and paper pieced them together onto white paper. (Click on the images to get a closer look!)




I used oval and scallop oval nestabilities for the base for the birdies. The cool heart is from the center of Creative Memories' new Sweet Heart Maker. (More about this fun punch at the end of this post). I embossed the clear cardstock with Cuttlebug's "With Love" embossing border. I added a little bling to the centers of the flowers. (I LOVE this effect on the cardstock!)



On the inside of the card I folded some pink cardstock and adhered the cute Heidi Grace dp. The purple dp is from Anna Griffin and punched with Martha Stewart punch.

View of the inside of the card.



See how the pink paper in the center opens to allow the sender to write their own thoughts?


I hope you enjoyed your visit here today. Now stop on by
Emily's Blog: Buzzy Blogger and see what she has prepared for today's blog hop!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ps
Here is what the CM Sweetheart maker does:Unfortunately the Sweetheart Maker is on backorder but will be in stock sometime in April. Isn't it cute?! Interested? Contact me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Watercolor Rose

I made this card for last week's sketch challenge on StampTV and also a challenge on SCS (Splitcoast Stampers) .

I used Melanie's "A Year Of Flowers" and stamped the rose in Ridinghood Red and I stamped the leaves in Garden Green and embossed both in clear embossing powder. (I stamped them all on watercolor paper) I used my waterbrushes and Peerless Water Colors to watercolor the images. The "thank you" sentiment was from Rupa's "So Grateful". I also popped up the rose and all the leaves on pop-up dots to give them fun dimension. The DP is an old DCWV Spring matstack from several years ago. I embossed the bottom of the card with a cuttlebug border and rubbed a reddish-pink "metallic rub-on" onto the raised part.



I have to admit that I'm quite happy with how the water coloring turned out. The peerless watercolors are sheets of paper with the watercolor on them. I took a ninji waterbrush and touched the tip to the color of my choice. I then colored the rose petals adding more water to lighten the color as I needed and even leaving some areas white. Of course I did the leaves the same way. Here's a picture of what it looks like. Very interesting and cool way to watercolor at a very good price! hhhmmm.... I wonder if I should invest some stock in Gina K Designs? ;-)

I also have this lovely card on my wall right where I can enjoy it... that is until I send it off to a very special person who has probably thought I've forgotten to thank her properly. I am usually soooooooo slow at mailing things. My poor brother and his wife are still waiting for their Christmas card w/gift! *sigh* Whatever are we going to do with me???

Ladybug Party

I made this fun card for two challenges. The first challenge was for Gina K's Release Party challenge #3 - a sketch. I really enjoyed making this fun card since the other challenge was to make a funny card - Paper Garden Projects Birthday Blog Bash week 1). I used SU's "Very Punny" set. I found a matstack that I had purchased several years ago and it had a few sheets of this CUTE bug paper. Of course I had to use the ladybug from the SU set! I masked off the sentiment which is directly below the bug, inked it in black, took off the tape and stamped it. I also stamped it again, colored it and then cut it out. I popped it up with a pop-dot after I had cut the main image out with the spellbinder, embossed it, masked off the ladybug and sponged around it with Bashful Blue. *deep breath!* lol The rest was easy. Cut, adhere and show it off!



In real life the ladybug really pops off the card and is the highlight of the party! I have it showcased directly in front of my laptop on my craft room wall. FUN! (I also have other cards on my wall too. I'm trying to clean up a bit so I can take some photos of my work space and craft room.)

You can probably see in the picture below that the ladybug is floating in front of the card. lol


Here's the inside of the card. This time the ladybug is flat... but still so cute!


More to come in a few minutes!

CHALLENGE WINNER!!!

Do you remember THIS post? Well, this card won the color challenge on StampTV and I get to choose one stamp set from Gina K's store! I LOVE the stamps she has to sell and so of course I already own several sets... so how do I choose just ONE? LOL

I finally did choose a set and I chose "Friendship Blooms". Karl helped me choose the set since I just couldn't decided on my own. Karl saw a couple of other sets that he liked and I said, "I already have that one". I guess I had better get them out and use them in more challenges, huh?

I just thought I'd let you all know my FUN news and to encourage you to go to StampTV if you stamp, and enter in some of their challenges because guess what? They choose winners RANDOMLY! haha! If you participate you have just as much of a chance of winning as a professional designer. Cool, huh? I've made some fun friends on StampTV as well so you might as well give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe I'll win again? *crossing fingers*

Thanks for stopping by! More cards coming up a bit later!

Silhouette Butterfly

I made this card using Jessica's sketch on StampTV from 3/5. I was also doing a black/white color challenge from Kwernerdesign Blog Color Inspiratioon #45. I stamped the butterfly from Gina K's "Take Flight" set onto black cardstock and embossed it in white. The layers of DP are from Making Memories and other unknown brands (scraps from previous projects. I didn't have a black ribbon (although Robyn tried to give one to me during Gina K's Release Party last night - LOL ) ..... so I took some white ribbon and colored it with my black copic marker. Genius! I have seen other crafters use copics to color buttons and even flowers so I figured it should work on ribbon - and it did! YAY!

The punches I used were EK Success's dotted scallop - my new favorite punch! And on the inside I also used Fiskar's threading water. I also used SU's ticket punch in the corners and Kasier pearls. *deep breath* Did I remember everything? LOL

Hope you enjoy it!

Here is a side view.


This is the inside of the card

I've really been having fun in my craft room... can you tell?
Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Inspired Card:

This card is Spring inspired. Little Sophia is out hunting Easter Eggs. I made this card for the "Spring Fever Challenge" at Pink Persimmon. The sketch I used was from Our Creative Corner Sketch 28. I used my new stamp Paper Prettie's Hippity Hop Sophia. The DP is DCWV and the great shinny white (stripes) and shinny yellow is from The Paper Temptress. Isn't it awesome? I colored Sophia using my Copics.



Inside of the card. I did some paper piercing but I'm not sure if you can see it very well.



Side view hoping that you can see the shinny papers. LOVE this stuff.


Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo Monday 77 & color challenge

I made this card for Cammie's color challenge on Stamp TV. I used my houndstooth embossing folder (by cuttlebug) to emboss the light pink card. I stamped one of the images from SU's "Pocket Silhouettes" in black onto light pink paper. I used my NEW EK success's dotted scallop on the bottom of both the small light pink paper as well as the black frame. The DP is Stampin' Up. The brads and pink ribbon are from my stash. (In case you can't see, the DP has both red and pink in it)

I also used the sketch from Mojo Monday week 77. I love their sketch challenges.


Here is a different view of the card.



I'll be posting another card in a few minutes!

Butterfly Card

Here is a card that I made for Kwernerdesign's Color Inspiration #44, Mojo Monday's sketch challenge # 76 and Flourishes Timeless Tuesday (March 2) which was to use Spellbinders die cuts. I used my JustRite Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III to stamp the main image. I love how the sentiment has a butterfly with it and one of the papers that I used also has butterflies.




I used some really fun paper for this card. The paper with butterflies and the pink strip is from DCWV's "The Garden Party Stack". It has glitter and so many fun prints! The shiny white paper is from the Paper Temptress. It has really cool swirls to it. It's called the Vintage Silver Lustre (at least I'm pretty sure that's what it's called... it's from an awesome pack that I recently won as Blog Candy!) It's soooooo purdy! I hope you can see some of the shiny swirls and the glitter on the butterflies in the picture below. The card is Stampin Up's Chocolate Chip.



Here is the inside of the card. Of course the pretty white paper is too pretty to cover up so I used my spellbinders label die cut to remove the middle of the paper that is on the front of the card (and was going to be covered up by the butterfly paper) and adhered it to the center of the inside of the card.



The tiny heart border was punched out using my new EK Sucess punch that I bought at Michaels. So many punches... so little time. (and money! lol)

Hope you enjoyed the card and thanks for stopping by!

Clear cards using Clear Cardstock!

Edit: Several people have asked me where I got my clear cardstock. I bought it at Flourishes online store. Click here to go directly to clear cardstock. I just love it! It's thick and very clear - no residue like some acetates have. The ladies at Flourishes are so nice and they also have a blog. I love a lot of the stamps at their store too... if only I could buy one of each! hehe! Enjoy!

Oh yeah... if you make something using clear cardstock, please let me know. I'd love to see it!

I took a card making class last week on how to use acetate or clear cardstock in card making. I had so much fun! It's just what I needed to have a break from my daily life and do something FUN!!! I have a bunch of clear cardstock and now I'm so psyched because I know how to use it!

This first card was made for a challenge on Splitcoast Stamper's "Virtual Stamp Night". This particular challenge was called: "Window Into My Soul".


Here's the front view: The ribbon is adhered with a clear glue dot.


The trees are stamped with StazOn Timber Brown. When stamping on slick items such as acetate, you need an ink that will stick and that's what StazOn products do. They also stick to glass, metal and all kinds of things... only you need a special StazOn cleaner or it will stain your stamps. I added self-adhesive bling randomly on the trees.




Here's a 3-D picture. If you'll notice, the designer paper is adhered to the INSIDE of the clear card. I believe it's a 4.5 x 5.5 double sided piece folded in half..


On the inside of the designer paper I stamped the sentiment: "In everything give Thanks" (~1 Thess. 5:18)


On the back of the card I adhered another strip of paper to cover up the adhesive I used on the inside of the card.

Card deets:
Stamps: Stampendeous
Paper: My Stash, clear cardstock
Ink: StazOn Timber Brown
Accessories: Bling,

This second card I also made for a challenge on Splitcoast Stamper's "Virtual Stamp Night". This particular challenge was called: "Long Lost Love". We were to find a stamp (or stamp set) that we had fallen in love with and then had set aside and not used in a long time. Well, I found this set: Stampin' Up's "Simply Said" and knew I just had to use it for this challenge! I totally fell in love with this set, used it a couple of times and then it got set aside. I'm so happy to use it on this particular card.


I stamped the daisies on the front of the card with StazOn opaque "cotton white" ink. This ink is VERY sticky and fun to use with the clear cardstock! I love how the daisies and dots bounce around on the card! I used stamped the daisy heart onto redish-maroon cardstock and embossed with white embossing powder. I cut it out and then adhered it to the front with a pop-dot. The worded heart behind it was stamped in SU's Purely Pomegranate onto light pink cardstock and then adhered BEHIND the acetate centered behind the daisy heart. I added self-adhesive bling randomly around the daisies. They are too big to put in the center of the daisies.



Here's a different view of the card. I placed a red piece of paper below the card so you can better see the fun daisies. I adhered a purple designer print paper in the center of the card. If you look to the left of the photo I used some tweezers to hold the folded designer paper closed.



Here's a 3-D photo of the card. The sentiment reads: "A friend is someone who makes it easy"



More designer paper is adhered onto the back to cover up the adhesive.

Card deets:
Stamps: SU "Simply Said"
Paper: Basic Grey, clear cardstock
Ink: StazOn Opaque Cotton white
Accessories: Bling, white embossing powder

Two Awards!!!

Ann from Whitch Craft has given me TWO awards! One was quite awhile back but that was shortly after Jessica (my daughter who is terminally ill) had done a CT scan and the results were not good... and then my dear nephew, Marcus, was diagnosed with his 2nd brain tumor and deteriorated so fast that he only survived two months. You can read more about him and Jessica (and the rest of my sweet family) on my blog - appropriately named: "Are We Having Fun Yet". Actually, if you read my blog you will find that we DO have fun - even when life is tough!)

Back to the Awards! Ann is just so awesome, she has written some really sweet things about me when giving me these awards. The first award is:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Thank you so much, Ann! I know you LOVE my decorative painting I've done one the furniture that my dear husband built for me. I hope to get back to painting soon but for now I'm having fun scrapbooking and making my cards.

I'd like to give these awards to:

1. Ann from Whitch Craft. I know she already has the award (because she's the one who gave it to me!) but I really enjoy her crafts and ideas so I think she deserves it AGAIN! hehe! She also really deserves the other award she gave me - the "spreader of Love" award. She always leaves me such wonderful comments. Thanks Ann!

2. Gretchen from Happiness Is... I have visited her blog several times recently and have found her blog to be quite refreshing. I've been inspired by quite a few of her cards and projects.

3. Dougnat from Dougnat Diaries. She designs for a couple of my favorite companies and she is awesome. I have some of the stamps that she uses and I'm really excited now to use them in new ways!

4. Melanie from Hands, Head and Heart. Melanie is an illustrator, stamp designer and of course on several decorative teams. She comes up with fresh ideas and writes extensive tutorials - with pictures - so anyone can make the lovelies that she does.

5. Jessica at iEmbelish. Jessica so creative! She teaches classes at Gina K's store in WI... so far from AZ! I'd LOVE to take some of her classes. She makes such amazing cards, etc. I particularly love the card she is teaching this weekend. Go check it out by clicking on the link Nestabilities Overload!

6. Mel at Mel Stampz. Mel is so creative and finds ways to make things without the expensive tools. She has been experimenting with making your own dry embossing "folders". They aren't really folders but the embossing is incredible! If you already have a cuttlebug or Big Shot then you can make some pretty great embossing "folders" for your paper crafts. Mel also has tons of tutorials on how to make really cute boxes, envelopes, bags, etc. The list goes on. I love her site and so will you!

7. Diane at Diane's Designs. Diane is a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and makes some really awesome cards and other paper crafts. Most of her designs are not only gorgeous but easy to replicate. I hadn't checked her blog in a little while and boy was I missing out! She has some really gorgeous stuff up now. Go check it out! NOW! LOL

(OK, so I didn't stop at 5. I could go on and on and list more fantastic, creative ladies but I must contain myself. LOL) Now on to the next award:




Ann also recently gave me this award and said:

"This one just HAS to be for Nancy. This lady is amazing. Nancy doesn't post very often on her blog as she has a very ill daughter called Jessie who needs a lot of looking after and regular trips to the doctors, but bless her she still lives life to the max(way to go Jessie). But when Nancy does post her work is FAB and I've said it before and I'll say it again, her painted furniture is to die for. So this award is very apt for Nancy because when she does have the time she very generously spreads her love to those she visits."

Thank you so much for these awards! I am truly honored. I appreciate your kind words, Ann. You ROCK!

I would like to give this "The Spreader of Love" award to:

1. Chelemom from Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker. Chelemom has a daughter with special needs (like me!). Chelemom's daughter is a cheerleader with other special needs girls and has the most beautiful smile evah! I can just tell that Chelemom spreads love not only on her blog by sharing her amazing crafts but every where she goes.

2. Melanie from Hands, Head and Heart. Melanie not only is an amazing artist but does RAKs quite often on her blog. Last fall Melanie did an RAK for my nephew, Marcus, before he died. She really cared about him, our family and me. It means so much to me that she opened her heart - and her blog - to me and my family. She also sent a pkg with some goodies for Jessica and me. (I got stamps! woot!) hehe... What a sweetheart!

3. Heather from Pine is Here. Heather is an amazing stamp designer who also has a daughter with special needs. Heather and her family raise money for the Cerebal Palsey foundation every year. Heather's daughter is such an amazing little girl. Click here for more info about their fundraiser this year. I'm sure that Heather spreads hope and love through the fundraising events as well as every day that she posts on her blog.

4. Monique at Self Expressions. I just met Monique on Paper Craft Planet and I just love her designs. I commented on some of them and she was so nice with her replies. You'll love her cards too.

5. Angela at Unity Stamp Co. Angela owns Unity Stamp Co. and is so generous! Every Thursday she does a "Hip Hop" and has amazing specials! She frequently has give-aways and is so generous with her compliments to everyone. You should really go and check it out! You'll be glad you did!


Go and give these ladies some love. They all deserve it!

And thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate it!

Quick post

I've not fallen off the face of the earth.... I'm still around, just very busy. Austin is sick and Brandon was sick last week. Poor Miss Jess is coughing some and is in pain, poor kid. She was up ALL NIGHT last night and has finally gone to sleep. I'm just finishing up a couple of things and then will try to sleep today.

I started a "Blog Candy" list at the bottom of the left-hand side of this blog. I may change it later but for right now, if you want to check out any blog candy, go and click on whatever links happen to be there. (there's only one right now). Maybe this way I can advertise the blog candy for my fellow paper crafters and keep this area for posting updates and photos, etc.

I do have a few items I want to share, it's just a matter of taking the photos and uploadinng them. I am still trying to find the best place to take the photos. Thanks for being patient!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet!

Oh how SWEET it is! That is what I'll be saying if I win the Gina K's Jan Release Challenge #3! I LOVE Gina K's new releases and my friend, Melanie, has a new release (stamp set) this month called "The Best Things In Life". This set has so many words and phrases that you can use to describe the best things in life. This set is not only great for card making but is especially useful for scrapbooking. This is the set I will choose if I win any of Gina K's challenges this coming week.

Here is what is posted as the challenge by Theresa: "My challenge is to make Something Sweet! Make a card, scrapbook page or other stamping item using the theme "Sweet." It can be something with the word "sweet", some kind of edible "sweet", something for a "sweetheart" or something that makes you say, "ahhh, that is so sweet."

Hopefully my card will not only make you drool for the "sweet" chocolate it holds but that you will also oooooh and awwww and say, "Oh how sweet!".



I used a template that I found on Ellen Hutson's "The Classroom". I printed it up, cut it out, traced it onto doublesided designer print cardstock, scored the two places the template said to score and embellished. What a fun project! I have to thank Ellen for the template and the inspiration she provided.

Thanks for stopping by! I have more cards to show you so please come back. :-)

Answers to some questions

Here is a better picture of the card that I made for my card exchange. The stamp is from Stampin' Up and is from the set: "Snow Swirled". I used white pigment ink and SU's and Iridescent embossing powder. I then used glitter glue for the different colors of ornaments. The white card stock is punched from one of Martha Stewart's decorative punches. The "Merry Christmas" stamp is SU as is the punch I used to cut it out with. The decorative paper is some I've had for YEARS. I've been finding lots of fun stuff as I move into my new craft room and try to organize my stuff. The operative word is TRY to organize. LOL



Ann asked me in the comments section in my last post about the "luggage" in the corner of the picture. Well, Ann, it's storage boxes! Below is a picture of the two boxes. You are right... I sure wish the lady image was a stamp too! I have quite a few decorative boxes that I use as storage. The trick is remembering what is in which box. hehe...


I've been using the top of a large "basket" to place my cards to photo graph them. Karl did such an excellent job on the beadboard on the wall, I think it makes a great background for my card photos. On top of three square baskets I usually keep three decorative boxes. They are situated alongside a book case that Karl made for me quite a few years ago. On top of the book case is a hatbox that contains all kinds of goodies... like brads, stamps and other shinny fun things. It's a card maker's treasure! I have a "Big Shot" and I have collected quite a few sizzix, cuttlebug, quickutz and spellbinders dies. The white storage box with the pink, silver and tan containers are for Quickutz alphabets. I have yet to organize them in the containers but I got the set on sell and am looking forward to having all my alphas in there.



I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks of my new craft room! I hope I can get more organized! I've gotten my desk pretty much cleared off but I have two tables with tons of stuff on them, including LAUNDRY! That's the problem with the laundry room being right off my craft room. There's no room to fold the laundry in the laundry room so it gets stacked on my craft table.

I'm realizing that trying to clean my house and do laundry while raising 4 children is like trying to rake leaves during a hurricane. haha!

Have a great Sunday!

Card Exchange Group: January 09

Here are the cards I made for the Card Exchange Group that I participate in once a month. It is sponsored by a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and we have a BLAST! We have 8 ladies on our group. We usually have 10 but two had to drop out due to personal reasons. Anyway, we have a minimum ($25) that we have to spend in order for us to reach the level that someone gets the hostess gifts. Then we take turns being the host! (My problem is that I don't spend $25.... it's usually MORE! LOL! I have to be careful and not spend too much!) So at the group meeting the demonstrator, Sue Brown, makes 4 cards or other fun things and then the host for that night gets to keep them. Meanwhile we are learning new, fun ways to use the stamps and other supplies. After the demonstration we have a make-'n-take. Sue has the papers pre-cut and then shows us how to make the project. Then of course we have tons of fun making it. After that we exchange our cards and tell what we did on each card. We each have made at least 8 cards that are the same and we pass them around and everyone gets to take one.

Here's the pictures of the last two cards that I made for the card exchange. I was behind so I gave out two cards. The Christmas card was one I had started in November but hadn't finished before our meeting. I had forgotten that we don't meet in December. The girls all encouraged me to finish them and just bring them in January - so I did!



Here's the card that I made for January. I had a lot of fun making it and then of course I had to make more! I ended up making 12 cards. I like to make extra to give to my mom.


LOTS of snowflakes in this bunch! I don't get snow here in Southern AZ so I have to make cards in order to have fun in the snow! hehe!


I hope to blog more often. It's late so I won't give all the details of what I used for the cards but if I get a chance later, I'll do it. I LOVE PUNCHES!!! I have quite a few of SU's and Martha Stewart's punches. I have ALL of CM's punches. I guess you could say I'm quite "punchy. **duhh** LOL

Thanks for stoppping by!

A new card for a new challenge!

This card was a lot of fun and evolved over time. I wanted to do two challenges with this one card so I used the sketch from "So Sketchy" (From Dec 13). I also wanted to enter the 'Lovey Dovey" challenge at "Our Creative Corner" so I got out my things, made a huge mess and viola! This is my creation! I like it. :-)



I used Kim Huges fun stamp set U R A Hoot!, colored with copics and topped it off with some basic grey brads and a clear acrylic heart with a pink button. The owl and branch are on pop dots for dimension. I added the strip at the bottom to accommodate the "Who Loves You?" sentiment. I'm quite new to copic markers but I'm coming along. They work much differently than the acrylic paints I've used for years but I'm sure with practice I can improve.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blog Candy Alert!

Oh, I just love blog candy! I've won a couple of contests and I'll have to post later and show you what yummy things I've won.... but for right now, I'm entering a couple more contests. Free crafting stuff ALWAYS makes me smile!

Claire over at: Crafty C's Crafting Library is hosting a huge variety of things in her blog candy! Click on the link and go check it out.

Also, Katharina at Stamping with a Whiff of Joy is doing an advent calendar and is offering DAILY stamp giveaways.

Thanks for stopping by!

My poor neglected craft blog!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I posted! But with my nephew getting so sick from his cancer and then his passing away.... and my daughter having more troubles with her wound, etc... posting here hasn't been the easiest thing to do.

I have been doing more stamping though.

"Look to the Lord and His Strength; Seek His face Always"
I made this card for the sketch challenge on Paper Craft Planet. The colors match much better in real life, I just can't seem to figure out why they look so different here. The butterfly is stamped and embossed onto vellum and popped up with a pop dot. The backing to the butterfly is out of the same paper as the cream with pink polka-dot strip behind the sentiment.




Here is a close up of the butterfly


So Grateful:
I used 3 different stamps from Gina K Designs on this card
I made this card for Melanie's Mixology 101 and Beate's weekend sketch challenge #66 . I used all Gina K stamps. The background was stamped with versamark using the leaf stamp from "Botanical Dreams", the pumpkin is from "Whimsical Autum" and the greeting is from "So Grateful". I used the Koh-i-noor woodless pencils to color in the pumpkin and outline the vines.


Declared INSANE!
I love these fun stamps that I got from Unity Stamp company for only $1 during a Hip Hop Thursday!