We're a perfect blend

Hello everyone, I'm so excited about the Outlawz.ning.com Monday Greetings Challenge this week! I'm a Guest Designer for the month of February. The theme for this week is "Anything Goes". You have to have a Greeting on your project. This is going to be so much fun. Please take the time to check out the DT projects for some inspiration. We have a fantastic sponsor this week and I'm sure you will love the images.

lacysunshine.weebly.com is our Sponsor:

and the prize is Three Images!

• I water color painted the image and added glossy accents to the coffee and Diamond Stickles to the wings.
• The Scalloped Square Die was used to cut the image out.
• The tag is from Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Label Die Set. and the Greeting is from the Fiskars Latte Love set.
• The beans are from the Latte Love set also and just added the little detail to the card along with three blue Jems up in the corner.

I can't wait to see all of your creations! Please remember to follow my blog so you don't miss my next post. I love reading your comments and answering your questions so please feel free to leave them in the box below.

I will be enter this into the following challenges:
the daily marker

Summer Sunshine and laughter

Hello Everyone and Welcome, Today it is 58 degrees here in central Minnesota. It's the end of February and usually pretty cold so you can imagine how happy we all are. I have a window in front of my desk in my craft room and I love to look and see what the birds are doing while I craft. Today its not the birds its the neighborhood. We haven't had people outside since October and everywhere you look somebody is outside cleaning out their cars, playing with their kids and just enjoying the day. It's so exhilarating! We are going to a friends later for a recreational fire and I'm so excited. All of this had me thinking of a nice calm day in the summer where you can hang out at the lake and relax. It inspired me to try and create a card to reflect my feelings. I tried several times to get just what I wanted and I'm happy with the results. What do you think?

• I started with a piece of white card stock 4" x 5 1/4".
• I used TH Distress Ink to create most of the scene:
• Sky
• Scattered Straw and Wild Honey
• Land
• Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy, Mowed Lawn and Pealed Paint
• water
• Salty ocean and white gel pen
• I used a mini ink blender to do the sky and then I took the blending sponge and folded it and put the land pieces in trying to create a texture and sand bar look.
• When I got the land the way I wanted it I took the blending sponge and dabbed a couple of spots of Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint just for depth and texture. I kept this to a minimum because I was also going to include the blades of grass.
• After I finished the land I used the mini ink blender to create the water and went over the edges of land to give it a sandy edge look. It gave the water a little bit more depth.
• I used the Meadow Stamp set from Inkadinkado and Marvy Brush Markers to create the grass, flowers and Butterflies.

I stayed with a one layer card for this project. I felt like that's all it needed. I Hope you like my project today. I love hearing from you and appreciate all of your comments so feel free to leave them in the box below. Have a blessed day. HUGZ

 I will be adding this to the following challenges:
can you case it
the daily marker

Kindness warms my Heart

Hello Everyone and welcome! Today at the Outlawz We have our weekly Saturday Paper al a Mode Challenge Kicking off. It is an Anything Goes Challenge this week. Our Design Team has some gorgeous inspiration for you. I hope that you get time to stop by and check it out. I would LOVE to see your projects there and get a chance to know all of you better. Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stitchy bear. They have so many beautiful stamps in their store. I chose to do one of their images called "Tea Time."

Here is my card:

Isn't this image great!?! I fell in love with it right away. I water colored painted the cups and used a stitched rectangle dies set from Scrapbook outlet and the design is by Gina Marie Dies Design. I can't tell you how excited about finding this web sight. The prices are GREAT and the shipping costs are 1/3 of everyone else. I highly encourage you to take a look. I can't wait to see all of your new projects on the Outlawz this week. Please take a moment before you leave and visit the comment box below. I appreciate your comments and I read everyone of them. If you think of it leave your blog address, if you haven't already, and I will start following your blog, too! I love making new friends and being inspired by everything you make. I hope you all have a fantastic week! HUGZ

I entered this into the following challenges:
the daily marker

Hello Grandmother

Hello Everyone and Welcome at the Outlawz We have a New Theme for our Festive Fridays Challenge. Our Design Team has put together some awesome projects to inspire you for this weeks Challenge. I hope you get the time to check them out and join us.

This week the Themes are:

Floral Design Day

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Leap Day

Open that bottle Day

I decided to make my card about a Fairy Tale. I found a Stamp awhile back and this gave me the perfect opportunity to buy the stamp and use it on this card....Like I really needed a reason to buy the stamp..Haha I hope this inspires you to make a project and enter it into the Challenge. We have Soooo much fun with this Challenge and all the crazy National Days we Celebrate. It is a lot of fun!

The stamp is from Unity Stamp Company. Isn't she beautiful!?! Her name is Red Girl and you can find her by clicking on her name. 

I water colored the image and used Diamond Stickles on the snow randomly around the image. 

The sentiment was from my stash and really tells what the theme for Tell a Fairy Tale Day.

I added Jems to the card for a little bit more detail and color. I didn't added a lot of embellishments because I really want the image to be the focus on this card.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the box below. I appreciate them and respond to each one. Thank you for visiting today and have a safe and blessed week. HUGZ


I entered this in the following Challenges:
cre8tive hands friends

Always Celebrate the Little Things

Welcome Everyone, I want to share a slice of whats going on in my life right now. A few weeks ago we found out that my Dad has Pancreas Cancer. They did surgery and removed over half of his Pancreas and all of his Spleen. The tumor was way to big and they couldn't get it all. They said he has a 6% survival rate. He has been in horrible pain and very depressed. This has hit me so hard. I'm very close to my Dad and I can't imagine life without him. I tackle everything one day at a time. It feels like this just can't be real. Monday Dad saw the Oncologist and we received a touch of hope. The Doctor has him on a treatment plan starting with Chemo for seven weeks. He has increased the survival rate to 20%. We are doing our happy dance. I know it doesn't sound like much but at least its more than we had before. I made my card inspired by the way I feel about the news. I hope you like the card and remember life is short. Always celebrate the little things.

• This is an Inkadinkado Stamp Set called Thought for the day. I felt this was perfect and would reflect how I feel.
• I placed the sentiment in the center of my card and them placed the flowers and butterfly around it. Once I decided on my positions I stamped everything with Archival Ink.
• I used Prisma Color Pencils to color the images. I used a white gel pen to add detail to the flowers.
• I used a Tag Die to create the cut and adhered it to a bright Pink cardstock.
• When everything was put together I added the music notes, Jems and Stickles for detail.

I hope you enjoyed the card. I shared my story because I want everyone to remember to stop at some point during your day and find one thing that you can feel happy about. Stop and enjoy it no matter how small it is. It's funny as you get older the little things are what leaves the biggest impression on us and are actually what we end up remembering. It's just a thought for today. HUGZ and Peace be with you as you finish your week.

It's a Mug of Love

Hello Everyone and Welcome, How is you Wednesday going so far? I have had one of those days were you feel like your wheels are spinning but getting you nowhere. I've been busy all day but just haven't accomplished much. I think everyone has those days. It's been gloomy and dreary here and that might have something to do with it. I can't help but think about all the people in the Tornado paths. I have stopped what I was doing a couple times now and said prays for all of them. I was thinking...if I could be there and do one thing for them what would it be??? Since, I don't have a lot of money it would have to be affordable for me. Then I thought what was the one thing I needed when the electric was out in our neighborhood. I had decided I would do a card today that would show what I would do...and then it came to me. The one thing that we ALL complained about when the electric was out and we were cleaning up after storms was that we couldn't make coffee.  That's what I would do if I were there. I would make sure everyone had enough coffee to get through their day. It just so happened I had a Digi from Faeryink that was perfect for this card. It was a freebie for signing up for their email list.

Here is my card:

• I erased the extra ink after I printed her and then water color painted the image.
• I used a Martha Stewart edge trim on blue card stock and adhered it to the edge of the image.
• I used the same blue cardstock and a Memory Box Calis Butterfly Die to cut out the butterfly's.
• I used the Spellbinder Bitty Blossoms Die Set to cut out the flowers. After I rolled them I brushed Red Puff Chalk Ink to the edges for a little color. 
• I adhered everything to a 6" x 6" card base. The patterned paper is from my stash.

I hope you've enjoyed my card today. If you are in the area of the storms and you see someone doing some clean up could you consider bringing them some coffee. I know it sounds silly but it would mean the world to them. I love reading your comments and questions so feel free to visit the box below. I hope the rest of your week is safe, warm and healthy. Hugz

I will be entering this in the following Challenges:
lemon shortbread challenge
Simon says Wednesday challenge
word art Wednesday
Through The Craft Room Door
cre8tive hands friends

Cabin Fever....

Hello everyone, How are you doing? Do you feel like winter is dragging on forever? I definitely do. Cabin Fever always seems to strike in February. A lot of my friends are taking their winter vacations right now. Do you have a winter vacation planned? We usually do a lot of camping during the summer months but don't do the winter vacations. My card today relates to Cabin Fever and the idea of Bon Voyage....

This week at Addicted To Stamps and More we have a Make Your Mark Challenge #182.

Our Sponsor for this Challenge are

Prize is 3 free digis

Prize: 3 digital images (does not include designer papers)

I Hope you like the card today. I look forward to seeing what you create. Have a fantabulous day! 

Violet Rose

Hi, today I am very excited to show you my project! I am doing a GDT for Through The Craft Room Door for the Anything Goes Blog Challenge. 

The sponsor for this Challenge is:

Make sure to stop by Through The Craft Room Door and see the Design Teams Creations. Your sure to find some inspiration from all the beautiful projects. I can't wait to see what you link up and create!! I was given a gorgeous image and enjoyed making my card.

1. I used an A2 size (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") card for this project. After Printing the Digi I erased the extra ink from the image. This prevents the ink from my printer from smearing.
2. I watercolor painted the image and used Canson 98 lb watercolor paper
3. I used TH Distress inks to watercolor the image. 
1. Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint 
4. I colored all of the edges with a Wilted Violet TH Distress Marker.
5. I used the TH (small) water brush and a Royal Crafters Choice Grip #1 Brush to paint the image.
6. The Ribbon, rose button and Jems I used for detail are from my stash.
7. I used the Stitched Rectangles Die set from http://wholesalecraftingsupplies.com Gina Marie Designs Dies http://wholesalecraftingsupplies.com/products/stitched-rectangles-dies-gina-marie-design-dies to cut the image and both layers of solid colored paper.
8. The sentiment is part of the "Life is better" stamp set from Unity Stamp Company and designed by Phyllis Harris.
9. I used recollections Black Embossing Powder so that the sentiment would be more noticeable.

The image has so much detail and is so beautiful that it was a lot of fun to do. The images from Morgan's Art Stamps are unbelievably beautiful. The detail in the images is amazing. I hope you get a chance to stop by her shop and take a look around. I appreciate your stopping by and checking out my blog. Your comments mean so much to me. It is so much fun getting to know all of you. Have a safe and blessed day!

You Did It!

Hello everyone, I'm so excited about the Outlawz.ning.com Monday Greetings Challenge this week! I'm a Guest Designer for the month of February. The theme for this week is A Birthday Project, or a Helpful Project. You have to have a Greeting on your project. This is going to be so much fun. Please take the time to check out the DT projects for some inspiration. I can't wait to see what you create!

I water colored the image and made some clouds in the background
Then I used a Scalloped Square Die to cut the image.
I cut around the Chicks wing so I could tuck a flower in his little hand.
The image was adhered to a matching background paper and adhered to an A@ size card.
The Sentiment is from a thoughts of you Hero Arts Sentiment Set.
I glued Jems randomly around the card for some sparkle and used Glossy accents on the eyes.

That's my card for today. I hope you like it. I can't wait to see what you make so don't forget to join the Outlawz and post your challenge to the Monday Greetings Challenge for this week! Hugz

Happy Birthday!!

Hello Everyone and Welcome, How has your weekend been? My was busy. I had my two Granddaughter's overnight. Layla, is 4 1/2 yrs old, and Charlotte is 2 yrs old. I find it harder and harder to keep up with them. Charlotte is pretty busy and keeps me on my toes. She is fully potty trained now so that added a new dimension to their visit. We made a card, did some puzzles, watched a movie and ate almost the whole time they were here...lol I just adore my Grandchildren and never get enough time with them. They have so much energy and have such a fresh way of seeing the word. I just LOVE learning through their eyes. After they left I came in to my Craft Room and made a Happy Cheery card. I hope you enjoy...

• This is a Julie Nutting Image I bought from Hobby Lobby. She was clearance and I was able to pick up the set for $4.19!
• I painted her with TH Distress Inks.
• The Die is from Gina Marie Designs Dies. She has AMAZING stuff at half the price. She carries more than just Dies and her prices are great.
• I adhered the image to a piece of cardstock that I embossed with an Embossing Folder.
• This was adhered to an A2 size card. 
• I added stickles under her dress, on the bow of the gift and on the little dots around the gift.
• I added Glossy Accents to the balloon and then glued gems scattered around the image. 

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your continued support so much. Please feel free to leave me a comment or any questions you might have in the box below. HUGZ

Margarita's and Celebrating you!!

Hello Everyone and Welcome! We are kicking off another Festive Friday's Challenge at the Outlawz.ning.com this week. We have four fun and Festive Holiday's we chose as our Theme's for this weeks Challenge You can chose one or more of these theme's for inspiration on your project. The Holiday Theme's are Random Acts of Kindness Day,National Chocolate Mint Day, National Margarita Day, International Dog Biscuit Day . I hope you get a chance to stop by and see the Design Team's inspirational projects. I can't wait to see what you make!! Here's my card This week.







I ask Anne Fenton, one of our Design Team Members if she could make a Digi For me. I wanted it to be in celebration of Margarita Day. She sent me two images and they are both great so I did both images.

I used Prisma Colored Pencils to color in the images. I added glossy accents to the glasses for more detail and interest. The Jems and little heart finished off the card along with a pretty pink glitter bow.









This card I did for fun and will post in the challenge for more inspiration to the group. I am excited to see what you make Good Luck in this weeks challenge. Have a blessed week!

A quick video of my Craft Room

Hello Everyone, Earlier today a friend posted a video of her Craft Space and I was just thrilled. I love seeing where others find their inspiration and spend their time creating. Sometimes, I get great tips on different storage ideas and things. I told her that I would do a video of my space in return. I don't have a video camera so I recorded this using my phone. I hope it turned out and you get an idea of where I spend my days. If you have a work space it would be awesome to see it, too!

I hope you have enjoyed the video of my Craft Room. I appreciate your comments and continued support very much! Thank you for stopping by! Hugz

Warm Fuzzies

Hi and Welcome To another Outlawz.ning.com Monday Greetings Challenge. I am proud to be a Guest Designer for the month of February. This week the theme is "Get Well" and your card has to have a greeting on it. We have a great prize for this weeks Challenge, it's a $10 Gift Certificate to Di's Digi's. Let's get started.

• I printed the image using my home printer and then erased all the extra ink from the image. This will stop it from smearing. I then water colored the image.
• I used my A2 rectangle die set to cut the image and the card. 
• I added the small green bow to the top corner for a little detail.
• The Greeting I used is from a Hero Arts set I bought at Michael's. I used White WOW embossing powder on velum so it would be subtle on the card.
• Once I had that attached I added a Heart Jem to the end corner of the velum.

Between my card and the DT cards your sure to be inspired. I hope you get a chance to play with us this week. The prize alone makes it so much fun. I really enjoy sending get well cards and the recipients love getting them and knowing you care. Please remember to Follow my blog so you don't miss a thing. I love reading your comments. They encourage me and guide as to what everyone likes and enjoys. Thank you for stopping by today. ~HUGZ~

I will be entering this card in the following challenges:
word art wednesday
eureka stamps
Through The Craft Room Door

Heart 2 Heart

Hi everyone and welcome to this weeks new Outlawz.ning.com Paper Al A Mode Challenge! This week the theme is "The Sentiment is the Focus Challenge." That's right, anything goes with the Sentiment as Your focus. This being the day before Valentine's Day I went with a Love theme with my card.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is

Digi Stamp Boutique

I water colored the image and kept the image simple. I used Diamond Sparkles on the eyes and the bow just to add a tiny bit of detail. I used Jems and a paper rose along with a Scalloped Square Frame so that the focus is more on the sentiment rather than the card. 

This is such a cute image and a lot of fun to paint. I kept thinking of my Granddaughter's with this card. They just love their fluffy friends and won't sleep without them. I felt like this would be the way that they feel about their fluffy friends on Valentine's Day and all year long. I hope you enjoyed my project for this Challenge and Please come to the Outlawz.ning.com and check us out. We have a different type of challenge for each day of the week and I guarantee that you will find something to fit your card and style. I love reading your comments and checking out your blogs so remember to leave a comment along with your blog address in the box below. Have a blessed weekend!

I am entering this card into the following Challenges:
just us girls challenge
Through The Craft Room Door

National Make a Friend Day

Hello Everyone and Welcome! We are kicking off another Festive Friday's Challenge at the Outlawz.ning.com this week. We have four fun and Festive Holiday's we chose as our Theme's for this weeks Challenge You can chose one or more of these theme's for inspiration on your project. The Holiday Theme's are Make a Friend Day, Valentine's Day, National Gumdrop Day, and National Umbrella Day. I hope you get a chance to stop by and see the Design Team's inspirational projects.

For my card I decided to do Make a Friend day. I made a card to welcome the Family that just moved into our neighborhood. I hope they have a sense of humor.....I'm not even sure where I got the Digi from anymore but I thought it would be a lot of fun to use it as a welcome to our neighborhood card. Here is my card.

• I colored her in with Prisma Color Pencils.
• I used the A2 Rectangle Die set to cut her and the blue frame out of card stock.
• I used a fun patterned paper behind her and found this one with crayon drawn hearts all over it.
• The Guitar and music notes are glitter foam shapes from my Grandchildren's craft supplies...haha

She is just to much fun! We have a quiet neighborhood with a nice group of people living here. I'm sure they will fit right in. I would like to ask how you approach a new neighbor. Do you welcome them with a gift of goodies or a card? Do you go over and introduce yourself personally? or do you just go on with your lives and leave them alone??? There are so many different ways to great a neighbor and make a new friend. I'm a social butterfly so I am one of the first to greet them to our area. Leave your ideas and traditions in the comment box below. Have a blessed weekend!

I will be entering this card in the following Challenges:
power poppy Challenge

A Waterfall Card

Hello Everyone, How are you holding up to the winter weather? It was -4 when I got up this morning. Usually we are in the 30's and the snow is melting by now. I can honestly say that I haven't seen a winter a strange as this one. The weather has been so unpredictable this year. Do you have big plans for Valentine's Day? I hope that Sunday is a special day for you and you have a lot of fun.
Sometime back I came across a scrapbook page layout that I saved because I am going to do it in the book I'm making about my mom's life. I's called the Waterfall Layout. A couple days ago a friend of mine posted a card with the same technique and with Valentine's Day around the corner I just had to make this card. I took several pictures of how it looks because I'm unable to post a video at this point. I will give you the whole layout tutorial after the pictures so you can make one of these amazing cards for your loved one, too.

I started by embossing a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of cardstock.
I cut the heart shaped paper 3" x 3 3/4"
I stamped the image on white cardstock and colored it with Prisma Color Pencils. The yellow Jems were added for a touch of detail.

I cut three pieces of blue cardstock:
 3" x 4" (This will be the front of the card)
 3" x 3 1/2"
 3" x 3"
I stamped my sentiments on each piece and set them a side for later.

I cut a strip of cardstock 4" x 3/4" and added the same patterned paper to the cardstock. Lay this aside for right now.

You will cut a strip of cardstock 3" x 9 1/4" scoring this along the 9 1/4" side at 3", 3 3/4" and 4 1/2".
You will glue the decorative 4" strip to the 9 1/4" strip use a strong glue so it holds up to the weight of the card.

Now fold on the creases and fold so that the fold places the cardstock behind the decorative strip and attach the decorative strip to the embossed paper with brads. It needs to be something strong to hold everything in place when you pull out the waterfall portion of the card. 

The next step is to adhere the sentiment cards you  made earlier. Put your glue next to each score line. start at the 3" score line and adhere the 3" card stock. Above that adhere the 3 1/2" card and then adhere the 4" card to the very top. This will be the front of your card.

Now, take a whole punch and put a whole in the center of the cardstock hanging out of the bottom and add ribbon. By pulling the ribbon it will cause the card to fold upward and expose the card underneath and so on.

I chose to decorate the cardstock that gets exposed when you pull the ribbon down.

Here are some side views of the card:

I hope you've enjoyed this card and can understand what I was trying to show you. If you have any comments or question please leave them in the box below. I hope to see your waterfall cards in the future.Have a blessed day! HUGZ

An Offering of Friendship

Hi everyone and welcome! I'm so excited that you have stopped by. I'm posting a card I designed for Stamprints today. The image is beautiful! You can find this image as part of the Happy Valentine's Day Collage. I will be using the other images from this collage in my future posts so you will have to stick around and follow my blog so you don't miss any of the up coming cards. Here is the card I have for you today!

 

I started by fussy cutting the image from the Valentine's Day Collage. I used a embossing folder with pink cardstock on the background. The green dotted paper is from my stock and I used the Simon Says Doily Heart Dies to make the white heart behind the image. I then adhered the image using foam tape to raise it up off the card. I tied a small bow and added it to the flowers for a touch of detail and then adhered paper roses I picked up at Micheal's. The sentiment is from my stock and wrapped around the bottom of the card. I high lighted the words Friends, Sunshine and Life with chalk ink for fun. I will be posting the remaining images in future posts so make sure to check back often. I hope you all have time to craft this coming weekend. ~HUGZ~

Happiness....

As Valentine's Day approaches I can't help but think of all the people that are alone. The Holiday for Lover's can make a person feel so empty and sad because they aren't celebrating the day with the love of their lives. It leaves a person thinking about the love they never had, the love they wish they had and the love they let go. I try to think of the day as a time set apart from the rest of our days to remind important people in our lives that they are loved. I like to make sure that my Children, my Grandchildren and my Grandparents know how I feel about them. It's important to remember those who are alone. Make a special card for them. Maybe you have time to have lunch with them. That is what Valentine's Day is to me. Share your time with the people in your life that don't get that box of chocolates this year. It will make your Valentine's Day even better.

Addicted To Stamps and More. 

It's our Photo Challenge and here is our inspiration.

Our Sponsor this for this Challenge is Stamplorstions and the prize this week is a $10 Gift Certificate 

I did a "Z" card for the challenge this week:

• To start this card you need one piece of cardstock for the base of your card 5 1/4" x 12"
• along the 12" side you will score your paper at 2", 4" 8" and 10"
• I cut two pieces of red/white paper at 1 3/4" x 3" and used them to decorate the front two panels.
• The wood paper was cut 1 3/4" x  2" for the bottom of the panels and I glued ribbon across the center to hide the seam.
• The inside piece was cut 3 3/4" x  5" and the sentiment piece was added to look like a pocket.
• I folded and adhered a lace doily to look like a hankie.
• The Happiness piece is from our Sponsor this week I adhered it to the left panel after coloring it in with Prisma color Pencils.

I hope you enjoyed the card and you get a chance to enter our challenge this week. I can't wait to see what you create! Please remember to follow my blog and make sure to leave your comments and questions in the box below. See you soon and Happy crafting!

I will be entering this in the following challenge:
Through The Craft Room Door
power poppy Challenge

Sending lots of Love

Today at the Outlawz.ning.com We have a Challenge for each day of the week and I am a Guest Designer for them this month. Today, Monday, is the start of another Outlawz Greeting Challenge and this week the theme is "Think Spring" you also have to include a Greeting on the card for this Challenge. With "Cabin Fever" starting to hit everyone this is a great time to "Think Spring".

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps

Prize is: 3 images

• To start this card I used an eraser to remove the extra ink from the Digital stamp I printed out with my home printer.
• I water colored the stones, frogs and well.
• I used ribbon from my stash and glued it to the back of my green dotted card stock.
• When it was dry I used the Memory Box stitched Circle Die to cut out the well and used foam dots to adhere it to the card.
• The Greeting is from an Art-C sentiment kit and stamped onto yellow card stock and adhered to the bottom of the card.
• The frog is a button. I removed the loop on the back, tied tread into a bow around his wrist and glued him above the Greeting.

Isn't that frog a hoot!?! I have had him in  my stash for years and waiting for the right project to come along. and viola, Here it is! He is just leaping off the page for a hug. I hope that this and the other DT cards have inspired you. I can;t wait to see what you have created! ~Hugz~

Love Love me do.....

Hello Everyone, How are you today? I hope everybody is having a Fantastic Friday! I have a cheery Valentine's card for you today. It's a stamp called Love Bug from Unity Stamp Company. I love this stamp set. It came with several sentiment options and the image itself is very versatile. The Unity Stamp Company has a Facebook page called {Unity Show & Tell} and they have started a new challenge for their members.  

This week it is a Sketch Challenge.

Here is my card for the challenge:

I water color painted the image and then I added the scenery around the car using a masking technique. The License Plate Sentiment came with the set. I added some sequins for sparkle and fun. The Song Sentiment is also included with the set. I used part of the sky I made from the car and then I added the heart and sequins for some color and detail. The hearts were also included in the set and I stamped them as if they are fly in the sky. Once I had everything adhered to my 5 x 7 card I added stickles randomly around the card for sparkle. I hope you enjoy the card. I hope everyone has a blessed weekend! 

Your Age is Our Secret

I was wondering today how many people try to ignore a birthday because they hate getting older? I was also wondering how many people hide how old they really are and tell everyone they are younger? In today's society its frowned upon to be "older." The focus is young, sleek and sexy so does that encourage more people to hide their age? Everywhere you look the media is bombarding us with how we can be thinner, look younger, feel younger and have more energy. It's like everyone is trying to make time stand still. Age is the natural progression of our bodies but yet we resist it, loathe it, hate it. With all of this on my mind this morning it inspired me to make a birthday card reflecting the resistance of age....here's my card.

• This is an A2 size card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") I started out with the monkey's stamp. It's from Stampabilities it's called 3 Wise Monkey's. I purchased it at Hobby Lobby and I stamped it with Lawn Fawn Black Licorice Ink.
• I used Prisma Colored Pencils to color the image and then used a die set from Gina Marie Designs for both layers.
• The sentiment is Happy Messages from Stampendous. I used WOW white embossing powder so it would stand out against the dark background.
• The hat and bowl of chips are buttons from my stash.

I used a little bit of humor on the card...couldn't help it. I just adore the stamp and thought it was perfect for this card. I kept the embellishments really simple because I want the image to be the focus. I hope you enjoy my card and it inspires you to run to your craft room and whip up something fun and playful! Hugz

Hello There...

Hello There Everyone and Welcome. This morning it was still snowing from yesterdays storm. We had a bit of a blizzard going on and travel was really bad. I was reminded that these snow storms not only close schools and make it hard for us to get around but they also make an already difficult situation for our seniors even worse. Our senior citizens have medical needs. They need to keep their doctor appointments, or to get to the pharmacy to pick-up their medications. Sometimes its as simple as they need to get to the food shelf or the grocery store. We hustle around taking care of our families and our parents are left to figure it out on their own. Its such a simple step to remember that Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad need us to check on them during these storms. They need a ride or maybe for us to pick something up for them. I was reminded today how hard it is for them.....This inspired me to make a card to just say hello and to remind them that I'm here and ready to help with the things they might need. Here is my card.

I water colored the images with TH Distress Inks.

I water colored the grassy area the same way.

I used Stormy Sky Distress Ink and a mask cut like the top of clouds to form the sky.

The butterflies and her ribbon have Diamond Stickles and the center of the flowers have glossy accents.

I used WOW white embossing powder fro the sentiment "Hello"

The purple Jems are from my stash.

The Stitched rectangle is a die cut with Gina Marie Designs.

I hope that everyone remembers their elderly Family members during the storms. Stop by, have a cup of coffee and just say hello. Take them out to lunch before you get their groceries. Its time will never regret spending with them. I hope this finds you all well, safe, healthy and blessed. Hugz

Excellent Easter Chicks

Hello Everyone and Welcome pull up and chair and grab a cup of coffee, or tea. Today, I was thinking about my Grandchildren and the up coming Holiday. No not Valentine's Day...Easter. How does your family celebrate Easter? Do you have a big breakfast after Church, or maybe an Easter Egg Hunt with all of the children and then a brunch? For me and my Family its a special day. My three children come over with their spouses and all the Grandchildren, seven of them. We have a Brunch set out Buffet style so everyone can eat at their leisure. I stuff 120 eggs and hide them all over the house, outside if it's nice. I also make an Easter basket for all the grandchildren and I hide them, too. The kids have a blast trying to find them all. It's so much fun watching them scatter about and giggling the whole time. There have been so many years when an egg doesn't get found for months..lol I can't remember where I put all of them. I love watching the children and their happy faces. All of this made me dig out a stamp set I bought at Hobby Lobby for probably $1. I knew I had to make this card. I will be sending it to one of the grandchildren.

• I stamped the image with archival ink. Then I pulled out my TH Distress inks and started painting.
• Once I had the stamps painted the way I wanted I wet the paper and laid some pumice stone ink onto the ground and around the images.
• I splattered black ink to make the gravel appearance along with Vintage Photo. 
• For the grass I used mowed lawn and drew grass randomly around the card.
• The Salty Ocean was perfect for the clouds masking technique. I used the mini inker to do this.
• Mustard seed is the color of the sun. I just dabbed it on the mini ink pad and the rubbed it in a circular motion on to the sky.
• I used a piece of Pink cardstock for the matting and then adhered it to an A2 size card.
• The little banners are from a sentiment kit from last year. I just cut the ends to make the banner points.
• The Pink and white thread was wrapped three times around the crease of the card and then tied into a bow.

I love this little stamp set by Prima. It not only has eggs in the basket but the Bible, too. All to often people are in a hurry to celebrate the holidays lately but forget what the Holiday is all about. You can't Have an Easter Celebration without acknowledging that it is about Jesus, his sacrifice and his rising. I Hope that your and your families Easter brings you Peace, Good Health and Happiness. HUGZ

I will be posting this in the following challenges:

http://www.thedailymarker.com/

http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/

http://www.wordartwednesday.blogspot.com/

http://lemonshortbreadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Love is the Link

Hello Everyone and Welcome to the first Outlawz.ning.com Greetings Challenge for the month of February. I'm honored to be a Guest Designer for February. The Greetings Challenge Theme for this week is "Love is in the Air" and You have to use something with wings in your image or embellishments. The sponsor for this week is Creative Bug Digis and I highly recommend you check them out. They have a nice selection of Digi's that are as cute as can be. The Winner of this Challenge will receive 5 Free Images! Here is my card.

She is called Mrs. Sunshine and isn't she cute as can bee? I loved water coloring this card with Tim Holtz Distress Ink. The image had so much going on that it made it fun to do. After I water colored her I decided to use Tim Holtz Distress Ink and a Mini Inker to make the dirt. For the clouds I used the cloud masking technique and Broken China Distress Ink. I added Glossy accents to the Rose Water in her little jar. I found the sentiment stamped on vellum from a project I was doing last year and never used. It seemed perfect for this card. I added a little Frog on one corner of the vellum and  a little flower on the other. This way I could cover up the glue spots from adhering the vellum ;). The ribbons are all from my stock and the little Dragonfly is a button I had picked up last year. I hope that this has inspired you. I can't wait to see what all of you are going to create this week! Have a blessed week.

I plan on entering this in the following challenges:
Eureka Blog Challenge
catch the bug blog
simon says monday challenge
lemonshortbread challenge
Tuesday throwdown