Blessings...

Happy Saturday everyone!! My card today was made for a Sketch Challenge over on Stamp TV. I really like doing sketch challenges. It helps to increase your layout ideas and sometimes it can be a REAL challenge just trying to figure out what images, papers, etc. to use. But it also gives you more room to really just personalize a card without color or image restrictions. This wonderful Sketch was actually done by Mary Anne and posted by Cathy. I really liked this layout. I used Asela's, "Friendship Garden" from Gina K Designs and colored it in using my Copic markers. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss the soft leaves as a background on my card base. Do you recognize the bow??? A buttony-bow, as Joanne Basile demonstrated for us on her blog. I am getting really hooked on these!!! I have a whole day today at my shop so I hope I can finish more challenges from Stamp TV that were posted last week. And... I hear tell there's a blog hop in the works... woohoo!! More on that later. Hope you had a great begger's night, if they do that where you live, and a wonderful Halloween today! *smile*

HUDDLE!!!! It's Cold Outside!!!

Sorry my card for today is a bit late but I had to work late and then I had that wonderful Gina K Designs Release Party to attend and then... oh my... I spent over an hour deciding on what to order ONLY to have my computer keep locking up and I NEVER did get my order processed. So... I'll try again today.

I love how this card turned out. Those polar bears are just so darn cute cute cute!!! Of course, there is only one polar bear in Melanie Muenchinger's, "Jumping for Joy", but I, obviously, stamped him a couple more times and made my "bear huddle". *smile* My sentiment is from Theresa Momber's, "A Very Merry Christmas". I featured the Paper Temptress' Sky Blue Lined Vellum as well and used my snowflake Cuttlebug folder to emboss it. I really like how it turned out, but I did go over the raised snowflakes with a light blue sponge just to make them stand out a bit more. Do you just LOVE the new Nestabilities, Fancy Tags??? I think they IMMEDIATELY became a favorite of mine! I love being able to sponge color on even the littlest parts of them AND threading ribbon thru some. I think these are a "must have" for anyone wanting a classier, fancier card. I hope you have a great day and if your town does "Begger's Night"... huddle up and keep warm as you walk door to door! *smile*

"Silver BEADS... Silver BEADS.." Hee Hee

Guess what I have today??? You guessed it... another Carolyn King, "Warm Winter Wishes" card!!! It's almost winter... how can you NOT think of snowmen??? I wanted to add some BLING to this snowman. I've had this string of silver beads forever and I just knew this was the time I could pull it off on a card!! I was so excited to glue those beads down and make them a permanent bling. Trust me... I've tried using them on other cards but something just didn't work. I even tried making them into a bow. Just can't happen. But here.... it was perfect. I glued them using my Zip Glue but honestly... if I had it to redo, I'd probably use a thicker glue or adhesive... like... Crystal Lacquer. I had to be very careful not to bump them to hard or they would come off. My DP was various designs from a HUGE Christmas pack I bought last year. I don't know if I'll EVER get thru it all... LOL Paper... such an addiction!!! Something tells me you won't see the last of my "Warm Winter Wishes" cards... hee hee. Have a cozy day! *smile*

Silver Bells....

And you thought I was talking Christmas, didn't you??? Hee Hee I have to thank Gina K for this beautiful beautiful technique!! As you know, Gina gives us a weekly technique video to review and try our hands at. And man... she really hit the mark with this one!!! I totally LOVE how the "Tone-on-Tone" looks. And it's not just in silver. You should see some of the work the other gals over on Stamp TV have done with this technique!! They are all just so gorgeous!! I must say I simply LOVE this ribbon as well. While shopping with my mother-in-law one day I told her I liked it but it was wired and I didn't really like working with wired ribbon. Honestly... you CAN take the wire out and it's just fine. But, she talked me into buying it and I did and now I am sooooo happy she did that! I just think it's so striking!! But I admit, I have used wired ribbon on some cards and you CAN work with it... it just takes a bit of fussin. I also added silver embossing to the inside of this card and thought I'd share it with you. It's amazing how people look at you and think... "You know HOW to make that raised lettering????" They are in shock that it can be done. LOL But truly, before we call learned about embossing powder and a heat gun, don't you remember wondering how they created that effect on cards when you were buying at your local gift shop??? LOL You need to make sure you hop on over to Stamp TV and check out Gina's videos. With Christmas coming she has plenty of ideas she is sharing. Have a great day!!! *smile*

Geri Makes ME Smile!!

What a wonderful wonderful award to receive!!! My dear friend (and adopted mom, by way of Stamp TV.... hee hee) Geri Utterback has bestowed me with this heart-warming award. Thank you Geri... it made ME smile to find you would think of me with such a sweet award. Now I have to tell you five things about me and pass this on to five others. 1) I played the violin for 8 years. 2) I LOVE lobster! 3) I was Mexican-American Queen when I was 17. 4) I am a techie freak... all things Internet and cell phone and NEED the latest and greatest. LOL 5) I had a Cinderella wedding, complete with glass (acrylic) pumps just like the real ones, light blue dress, a waterfall cake and a parchment scroll for guests to sign instead of a book... my wonderful husband made me believe that fairy tales DO come true. *smile* The five people I would like to send this to are... Lee, Carolyn, Cat, Sharri and Jessica. Can't wait to see what you girls tell us!! Have a great evening!! *smile*

Warm Notes

Good morning everyone! First I want to apologize for not having a post up yesterday. WOW... the day got away from me and I "thought" I had put a card up and didn't have time to actually get on my blog, but... you guessed it, I hadn't! Today's card was made with Carolyn King's, "Warm Winter Wishes". I think this is MY favorite cards of all the ones I made using Carolyn's set. The coffee mugs were just perfect with their little heart and the steam coming up. I used my Copics to color the mugs and stamped three of them on my nestie. The DP was from long ago and I can't remember where I got it. The ribbon went just perfect with it and I was so pleased with how it turned out. This card would make a great "just a note" card. I can definitely see this as a gift for someone... maybe a set of 10 with envelopes tucked inside a nice clear box from Gina K Designs. I send lots of "thank you" cards to people and my husband made the comment the other day that he didn't think anyone did that anymore... except for his mom and myself. And then I was reading something about how no one sends hand written notes anymore. Well now... I'm not sure they remembered to ask ME!! LOL I do think the hand written note has lost it's way though and agree it's something we should definitely do more. What better way to say, "I'm thinking of you." then with a nice HANDMADE card AND a written word or two?? I would just about bet the person getting it truly enjoyed that someone took the time to MAKE and then WRITE a note to them. Have a great day and try to find the time to "write" a note. I guarantee it will make someones day. *smile*

Paper Temptress Treasure Hunt!! Let's Hop!!

Welcome to the next stop of the Paper Temptress' Treasure Hunt!! Today I am featuring Patricia's Astro Bright Fireball Fuchsia paper. I LOVE the brightly saturated color of this paper. When I first saw it I was reminded of the show "Grease Lighting" and the "Pink Ladies"... HA!! Then I thought, why not have a "Let's go to the Hop" card!! As you may recall, most "sock hops" were held in the gym over the basketball court. I used Melanie Muenchinger's "Sporty Accessories" for the pennant and her "School, Sports, Spirit" for the jacket. For the dress, I used Rupa Shevde's "Retro Boutique". My background was created using my Cuttlebug and the "Allegro" embossing folder. I apologize for the photo not being it's best. I was at my shop tonight and late into the evening three ladies came in and wanted to hold a "class". That was fine except I had no card planned so I was scampering. I got everything done and everyone out by 9:30 PM (normally close at 9)... stopped to get my daughter something to eat and got home about 10:00 PM only to realize I left my camera there!! Ugh! I promise your next picture will be MUCH MUCH better!! So, you need a letter, I think, right? Well... how does "R" sound? ROCK & ROLL... "let's go to the hop"!!! Head on over to the Paper Temptress site for your next letter! Have fun and good luck!!

Thank You Carolyn King!!

Did someone say they love snowmen??? Hee Hee I do!!! It has been such an honor and more fun than you can imagine working with Carolyn King this last month using her newest stamp set, "Warm Winter Wishes". Carolyn has the best sense of humor and thru many e-mails we, I hope, have gotten to know each other a whole lot more. It has been just fun, fun fun!! Kermmie, as I like to call her, truly surprised me when she asked ME to be a guest designer for her newest stamp set. I have long admired Carolyn's work and truly enjoy getting her blog notifications. She is quite an inspiration. For my card tonight I wanted to do sparkly, yet soft. So I created my snowman mounted on white with Gina K Designs newest Silver Lining Metallic Card Stock. Wow... the new metallics are awesome and you definitely can't go wrong using it on a Christmas card. For my heart I used my Atyou Spica Glitter pen to add just a tad more sparkle and to coordinate with my ribbon. Here's a bit of a close up so you can see how it shines. For the background I used the Blue Sky Stripes Vellum from The Paper Temptress. I think it adds a bit of class to your plain vellum paper. I can tell you this, I KNOW many of my friends and relatives will get Christmas cards this year made from Carolyn's set. NEW ones, of course (I did mail most of them to Carolyn to use as she wished)!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the many cards I created with "Warm Winter Wishes" and I hope you have been over to Gina K Designs to add yours to the cart. As I've mentioned before, Carolyn is donating 100% of her proceeds to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of her Grandmother. I can only imagine how proud her Grandma was of her and I'm sure she is just as proud today. Good work, Carolyn!!!

Have a great evening and keep "warm". *smile*

Candy for a Buttony Bow!!

It's Joanne Basile's Birth-O-Versary!!! And she is offering up some fantastic blog candy to help her celebrate. To enter the contest, you must make a NEW card (she wouldn't let me use an old one... can ya believe that nonsense???) *hee hee*... and... your card must include a Buttony Bow!!

Well... now that I've seen Joanne's "Buttony Bow" video... I KNOW ALL her secrets! shhhhh *hee hee*

When I made this card I decided I really wanted to use the "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful..." sentiment. I mean... LOOK at that expression! HA! And, of course, the inside finishes it off with "Hate me because your boyfriend says so!" HA HA HA It is one of my favorite's from "My Favorite Things" clear stamps called, "Hey Chica". Now I'd NEVER give this to anyone... but... first of all... that girl looks JUST like my sister!!! AND... SHE would definitely say this to someone!! She's just got that attitude. But.. she'd give it to a friend as a joke. (Don't want you thinking terrible things about my sister... ha.) I think she will love it so I'm going to give it to her. She will get a kick out of it. Honestly, she always says that to me too when she calls me.. "Hey Chica!". LOL

I hope you decide to hop on over to Joanne's blog and check out her candy. It all looks yummy!!You have until midnight on Oct. 26th to get your entry linked up. Good Luck!!

Have a great day!! *smile*

Carolyn King's "Warm Winter Wishes" Blog Hop!!!

Welcome to Carolyn King's blog hop featuring her wonderful new stamp, "Warm Winter Wishes"!! If you've been reading my blog you know that Carolyn is donating all her proceeds for this set in memory of her Grandmother to the Alzheimer's Association. No WONDER winter is warm in her eyes... SHE has a wonderfully warm heart!! My first card I decided to go pretty basic. I used the background "love" stamp and bordered it with red card stock. I left my snowman stamped in just Momento Tuxedo Black ink and only colored his holly and heart. I really like the simplicity of this card.

For my next card I stamped all my snowmen and colored them in different hats and scarves. Then I used my Copic markers to make their hearts appear to be on fire! Get it... WARM wishes??? Hee Hee... I make myself laugh!!

Now... want to know how the TAG came about??? Well... when you're busy stamping and creating at TWO locations... sometimes... things get left behind. Likeeee...... a Cuttlebug.... a Big Shot!!!! Grrrrr. So... I used a tag punch and put my sentiment on that. Now you won't be able to fit it in an A2 envelope, but for those of you who like those totally square cards... I'm sure it will fit in one of those envelopes! *smile*

My last card tonight was MY idea of "building a snowman"!!! LOL I didn't want to glitter the whole thing so I just used my Sakura Glitter Pen and hit a few spots on the white circles and on the snow man with it. I left my coloring to a minimum also.

For the snowflake, I used the "love" background stamp and stamped it in red... then used my black ink to stamp the snowflakes over it and cut them out.

I added a row of lace and then my sheer white ribbon tied around the bottom.

Be sure to check out Carolyn's blog later in the week for even more cards I created using her wonderful set.

For even more inspiration visit Carolyn King - the Illustrator of Warm Winter Wishes and the Idea Center gallery HERE.

Then, check in with Carolyn's special guest designers:

Charlene Merrick

Tina Gilliland (You're here!!! *smile*)

Deb Anton

And, finally stop by these GinaK Designer's blog participating in the hop tonight:

Cathy Tidwell Cindy Lawrence Emily Giovanni Erika Martin Jessica Fick Kurtis Amundson Lee Murphy Nina Brackett Melanie Muenchinger Tami Mayberry Theresa Momber

and our CenterStage Spotlight Team: Joy Hadden Kay Simmons Linda Payne Lori McAree

GinaK will be giving away a copy of Warm Winter Wishes on her blog tonight - so pop over there to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win the set for free! (If you've already purchased the stamp set, we can swap it out for another GinaK stamp set valued at $19.95 or less.) Enjoy the rest of the hop!!! *smile*

"I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas.. "

Well... how about a PRE-Hop card from Carolyn King's, "Warm Winter Wishes"?? Hee Hee. I've posted this on Stamp TV already so since I'm struggling to NOT post cards I've done for tomorrow night... I'll go ahead and share this with you. Didn't do much to this sweet snowman other than putting him on a oval I cut with my Nestabilities and used my Copics to color his heart, hat and scarf in a pretty pink. I also used my Quickie Glue Pen (just like Gina K showed us) to add pink glitter to the heart. I loved the pink Christmas tree DP and decided he would look just so pretty against them. Make sure you stay tuned later tonight (10:00 PM CST) and I'll share more cards I created with Carolyn's set and will link my post to all the other wonderful Gina K Design Team member and the others hopping with us!! Have a great day!!!

A Poinsettia??? Or Poinsetta???

Soooo, which is it... "ia" or "a"?? I don't know.. and you know what... I'm not going to look it up!!! HA!! I'm just that lazy today! Either way... they really really scared me to try and color them. My poinsettia came from Melanie Muenchinger's, "A Year of Flowers" set. I believe it is the ONLY flower in the set that I hadn't inked up yet. I have seen some pretty amazing ones over on Stamp TV and well... ok... what's the worse that can happen... it looks like something my daughter colored??? Oh well. We learn from our mistakes, right? Honestly, I think the one on the left turned out pretty good. It's the one on the right I was concerned about. I bought one of these last year for my mom and it was the most awesome color. It had SOME red on the edges and the inside was more of a coral. While I think I got the colors, right... my blending didn't go as well as I planned. Could have been I was a bit rushed as well and thus, it just didn't get done the way I wanted. Oh well... I have many many more opportunities to try again, right???? *smile* In any event, the paper I used as my layer was from The Paper Temptress. I LOVE this Ruche paper!!! I think it makes the card look so much more expensive and elegant. It has fibers in it much like cotton (duhhh paper, cotton.. hee hee) and as you can see, I tore the edge a bit. Well let me tell you.. this is TOUGH paper!!! Tearing it is not easy but I LOVE the fibery soft look of it. (Secret: I started the tearing with my teeth!!! LOL) After I got it started... it wasn't that hard to tear but doesn't tear like regular paper. For my sentiment I used the Antique Parchment paper. I wanted a bit of a classic paper but not to much color as I wanted the flowers to be the focal AND it assisted in bringing out the small amount of yellow in the flower. My crystals were clear and I colored them with my red Copic marker... LOVE using those clear and white bling items as my Copics color them all just the color I need for any project. In the end, I was pleased with this card and I'm not so afraid of using the poinsettia now. I'll definitely try it again. Have a great day!! *smile* NOTE: Spellcheck.. it's poinsettIA! LOL

It's Almost Holly Time!

I have to admit, I am really getting excited about Christmas CARDS!!! Theresa Momber's newest set, "A Very Merry Christmas" definitely has images that gets you thinking of dressing the house and having the family around! I totally surprised myself at coloring this holly!! I was being lazy and just didn't want to go look up how REAL holly looks... hee hee. So... I punted; and I gotta say.... I am quite pleased with how it came out. But... my favorite part was the ribbon... no doubt!! I wanted burgundy but with a touch of shine and I didn't want to add glitter or any type of lacquer. So... I actually used what I learned in my Copic Certification class... imagine that!! Coloring the edges and just using my blender to bring the color in towards the middle to nothing. I LOVE how it worked out!!! THEN... another "woot woot" when I went to add ribbon to the card. Gina K's Holiday ribbon assortment had JUST the color of the ribbon I was coloring!! Noooo I didn't realize this when I bought the pack... Noooo I didn't get it and go thru it all. But, what a nice surprise!!! LOL Perfect!!! I embossed my base card with the Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder and my gold oval was created using the new "Good as Gold" Pure Luxury Metallic cardstock. WOW!! I believe I have a new PERFECT gold!!! You must go check out all the new ribbons, buttons, papers AND the added "Deck the Halls" digital paper also designed by Theresa Momber!!! It's sooooo pretty!!! Hope you have a great Monday!!! *smile*

Colored Mugs

My card today was done with guess what???? You got it... Carolyn King's, "Warm Winter Wishes". You MUST have this set!!! There are so many cute cute things to do with the images and it seems EVERY design and EVERY color just work wonderfully with it! I took the mug and stamped it four times and colored each in a different color with my Copic Markers. I decided to leave the hearts white to accent the background I stamped on AND the snowflake I designed using my self adhesive half pearls which I LOVE LOVE LOVE, from Gina K Designs. Though I left these pearls white, obviously, I was making a snowflake.... they are just awesome to keep on hand because the Copics color them well and you can match the pearl which just about any color you want!! Another reason I always buy clear rhinestones... just color them with Copics and they are perfect!!! I heated embossed my "Warm Winter Wishes" sentiment to add more texture to the card and I think it just really is bright and crisp... more so than using craft ink. If you can see inside the very left part of my card... I used Carolyn's snowflake image from the set and stamped it in several colors to add a bit of a border. Hope you have a great Sunday and honestly.... enjoy the crisp weather BEFORE the snowflakes fall!! *smile*

Fall Friends

For today's card I used Gina K's, "Tree Sihlouettes" as my focal image. I LOVE this ribbon I have, though it IS wired. It has pretty gold leaves on it... not sure you can see it that well. But I tried to mimic my ribbon using my Momento Inks and sponging it on before taking my Nestie off. I used glossy cardstock because when ink dries on it, it becomes a little more muted. I also used my Cuttlebug embossing folder on the base card stock and some of Gina's fantastic Floral Fantasy digital paper to layer between my image and the base. The colors matched so well. I hope you have your pumpkins picked out and your kids are busy carving (if you have children). If not... hey... there's nothing wrong with bringing back those childhood memories on your own! GO GET A PUMPKIN!!!! Have a great weekend! *smile*

My Christmas Door

When I first saw Theresa Momber's newest set, "A Very Merry Christmas"... I KNEW I had to take those bells and make them with this purple ribbon!! It's JUST like the one I hang on MY door at Christmas!!! Of course ... you KNEW I'd have purple, didn't you??? *grin* I colored the ribbon and bells with my Copic markers and the white/gold ribbon is from Gina K's newest collection of Christmas ribbon... isn't it GORGEOUS. I love it!!! My sheet music was from my son's piano teacher who found these in one of her "teaching books" and asked if I could possibly use them on a card. (She knew I did stamping.) I was thrilled to get them!! I used some Tim Holtz Distressing ink to make them look a little vintage. Love that new purple base??? OMGosh... I DO TOO!!!! Again... that Gina K has it all!!! This is one of her newest Pure Luxury Heavy Base-Weight colors called Vibrant Violet... eeeeek!!! You KNOW I'm all over that color!!! I'll be honest with you... I have FORCE myself not to make one purple card after another!! *sigh* The sacrifices I make for my friends. *giggle* You know I love ya. Stay tuned for more wonderful images from Theresa's set. Christmas is cominggggg.... *wink* Have a great day! *smile*

Lotsa WARM wishes...

Are you ready for another Carolyn King, "Warm Winter Wishes" card??? I am!!! *smile* This is honestly, just a fun stamp set to play with. The ideas keep coming and coming and well... I just keep making them! LOL On my cute snowman this time around, I decided he DEFINITELY needed to be in purple (of some sort). I don't stay away from this color very long... but you didn't notice that, right?? Hee Hee For the heart, I used Carolyn's background stamp and stamped it off and then paper pieced it onto the heart he is holding. I added my mugs and colored them in with my Copics and then thought, "I bet those words fit in there!" And they did!! Now my recipient can have a cup of "joy", a cup of "love" and a cup of "hugs". *smile* My borders were free handed using my Copic Multi-Liner. I also used my favorite way to add glitter now... using a Quickie Glue Pen and adhering the glitter after. So easy... so clean... love it... Thanks Gina K, once again for providing an awesome video of how to do this. Have a great day!! *smile*

Fairest of them All

Today's card was one I did for a Midnight Madness Challenge a few weeks ago. I really like the layout but dang... I have an awful time getting four squares to match up. *smile* I used Rupa Shevde's stamp from "Perfectly Polished". There are so many "girly" stamps in that set that you can just about make any occasion card with it. I used my Sakura Stardust Glitter Pen for the mirror and well... something took hold of me and said... "use your Copic glitter pen too!" Hmmm... I have no idea why I thought that would work for me, but.. it didn't! LOL When I posted this over on StampTV everyone seemed to think the blue glitter pen made it look like a "mystical/magical" mirror. Well... I appreciate the support but... it's still not sitting well with me. Ha! If you need inspiration or a way to get your mojo going again, hop on over to Midnight Madness and grab their challenge. They post one a week and if nothing else... you can look at all the wonderful entries everyone else posts. Have a great day!! *smile*

"Hip to be Square" Blog Hop!!

I am thrilled to be sharing with you a few of the cards I created for Melanie Muenchinger's "Hip to be Square" blog hop!!! I couldn't wait to get my hands on this set and as soon as I got it cut out... I made TWO cards immediately!!! Once again, Melanie outdid herself with this VERY versatile set!! On my first card I was thinking of a "plague" or design that would highlight National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (this month) in honor of my dear dear friend, Bette (whom my blog is dedicated to), who passed away last year after a 17 year battle with breast cancer. Bette lived in Dallas and we worked together when I also lived there many years ago. After I moved back we stayed connected and though we visited her as we could, she knew I was always holding her hand and giving her all the support I could... even from a distance. I miss her terribly. I paper pieced a two of the squares with soft pink DP's. I used Melanie's "Hand in Hand" for the image and actually colored our hands to reflect our real skin color... I AM Mexican, you know? Hee Hee I didn't have a pink ribbon stamp so I drew my own. (Sometimes I get brave... LOL.) Beware... pencil does NOT erase under a Copic marker. HA! (Hope you can't see it! *grin*) My second card was done from remembering something Melanie stated in her "tip sheet" for the "Hip to be Square" set. I recalled something about using your crimper to make certains and use the set as a window. So... I did. I also added a punch at the bottom of the "valance" and on the bottom of each curtain panel. I used the circle stamp as my pumpkin... but ALSO used it as my moon in the upper left hand corner. My tree was from Gina K's set, "Spooky Silhouettes" as well as the "Happy Halloween" plaque I made and hung from the bottom of the window. (NOT that I'd ever hand a real plaque in such a place... but I kinda ran out of wall.. Ha!

For even more ideas with Melanie Muenchinger's "Hip to be Square" stamp set, visit her blog link below as well as the GinaK Idea Center here: Hip to Square. Her tip sheet has been added to the Idea Center as a PDF so you can print out all the tips and suggestions for a handy reference tool! Here's all the Designer's Blog Links to check out tonight:

Melanie Muenchinger Carolyn King Cathy Tidwell Donna Baker Erika Martin Jessica Fick Lee Murphy Nina Bracket Theresa Momber

September's Center Stage Spotlight Team:

Giovana Smith Kay Simmons Linda Payne

and finally, Melanie's Guest Designer for Hip to be Square:

Karen Knegten

and Special guests:

Tina Gilliland

Selma Stevenson

Geri Utterback

Have fun hoppin!! *smile*

Guest DT Call!!!

Looking for a spot as a guest designer on a DT? You have to check out Roses on Paper & Belles 'n Whistles Combined Challenge Blog! All the details are on the site.

I love the Magnolia stamps and couldn't resist giving this a shot! My card follows their Challenge 21 requirement to use "stitches" of any kind... rub ons, stamp, or a real sewing machine. Well... since I HAD to have my new Janome Sew Mini that Gina K shared a video tutorial on, I figured I might as well do the real thing and "stitch"!

It's a special time when I read to my daughter at night before bed. She loves seeing all the pictures and making fun of all the goofy characters we come across in her books. This little Magnolia reminded me of her giggling whenever she sees a particularly funny one. Isn't it just darling?!

My DP is from a pack of paper I bought quite awhile back from SU and I hoard as much of it as I can so I don't run out!!

My sweet Magnolia and the books were colored using my Copic markers. I love the bright colors!! I wrote in story titles on each spine. *grin* I used my Nestabilities to make the circle and scalloped circled then freehanded the moon for my cutie to sit on.

I recently found this challenge blog and can tell you, I will be going there often as I went thru some of the challenges and I just love the "simplicity" of their challenges. Sometimes they are just colors... sometimes they are a sketch and sometimes just a minor requirement, like this one... to stitch. Check it out and while you're there... there's still time to try out for the Guest DT position!!

Have a great day! *smile*

Simple Fall

Initially I wasn't truly happy with this card and I'm not sure why other than... well... I didn't quite think I worked well with these colors first off... and secondly... I wasn't sure HOW I would want to use this card. Maybe a "thank you"... or a "just a note" kind of card. Either way... it was for a Color Challenge that Theresa Momber presented on Stamp TV last week. The other examples of cards done with these colors were awesome but for some reason... I had a very hard time working with them. Weird though... when I seem to struggle with items such as this color... I got more "comments" from others on it than I do on some I seem to really love. LOL Not sure what that tells me... other than maybe... just maybe... *wink* some people have better taste than me??? LOL *shrugs* Oh well... no worries... it was fun to at least make an attempt at using the colors. Though I admit, I did like them when others used them. LOL You think I might be "color challenged"?? LOL Seriously... my mom can buy me clothes in colors I NEVER EVER buy myself and I just LOVE them once I wear them. But for some reason... I have a hard time getting those "different" colors. And not so much that they are "different"... but perhaps I just don't think of them when I go use them/buy them??? I don't know but I'm glad someone challenges me to use them or even buys things for me because I'd never go outside my comfort zone if they didn't. How about you... have a difficult time with some colors??? Or even just mixing certain colors together? You MUST try the color challenges.. there are times when I think "WOW! Why didn't I think those colors would work together??!!". Give it a try.. you might find something you'd never dream of liking. Have a great Sunday!! *smile*

MY favorite Horsie!

Today's card was another I created using the Sketch Challenge over on Stamp TV. I really like this layout... clean and simple. The seahorse is from Stamp TV's, "Eclectic Summer" set and I just ADORE him!!! I've used him sooo many ways. I've stamped him in a solid color like above and I've done him with dabbing a few different colors on him... I've even used him with other fishies... *smile*. My DP is from an old stash I had and may be from SU, I don't remember but I thought the bubbles went well with it and actually, I believe if you flipped the paper over... the inside is what you get... the dotted bubbles. But honestly, I don't remember for sure. Sorry. I recently found this ribbon at a Michael's store and how perfect was it to go with my bubbly seahorse card?!! Hope you are having a great weekend. *smile*

Evening Play

Another card I did with Carolyn King's, "Warmest Winter Wishes". This is just the cutest snowman ever! I decided to just see what he'd look like in an all black and white card and I didn't know if I'd like the white craft ink better or the white embossing powder. Definitely... embossing powder wins, hands down. This was just a CAS card that I was toying with as the night was getting old and I needed some sleep!! LOL Make sure you come back for more of Carolyn's set and definitely check out the blog hop Gina K will be hosting featuring "Warm Winter Wishes" on October 20th... 10:00 PM CST. I'll be posting more in the meantime so stay tuned. *smile*