FORWARD....march!

     I wonder if little Nesto is commanding his army of sand crabs to go forth and conquer?  LOL  If not the crabs, it sure looks like he's issuing an order to someone.  :-)

     It's time for another challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil and this week our wonderful Elaine wants to see "weather related" projects.  As I type this it is hot as Hades here and I sure wouldn't mind dipping my tootsies in Nesto's pretty blue water.  I've combined him with a beach umbrella digi from Make It Crafty.  General Nesto looks like he might roast as easily as I do so I thought I'd give him a little shade.  There are some Liquid Applique white caps rolling in behind him and I tried to give the effect of sun rays behind him by piecing the yellow section kind of like the little "Here Comes the Sun" card I did a while back.

     I hope you like Nesto and his relaxing summer beach scene and I hope you'll find some kind of weather related image in your stash of Mo digis and play along with this week's challenge.  You can always take a peek in Mo's shop if you don't have one.  :-)  There's a gift voucher up for grabs for every 25 entries.  Ya gotta be in it to win it!

     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafting For All Seasons--layers

Inky Impressions--summer fun

Paper Pretties--summer

Simon Says Stamp--anything goes

Celebrate the Occasion--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Digital Tuesday--just for laughs

Party Time Tuesday--anything goes

Crafty Boots--anything goes

Fashionista--simply summer

Karen's Doodles--stitch it up

Lexi's Creations--for the man/boy in our lives

Love to Create--add a sentiment

Make It Monday--anything goes

The Crazy Challenge--childhood memories

Here Come the Boys--anything goes

2 Sisters--bring on the boys

Once Stop Craft--one for the boys

Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards--for the boys

Crafty Catz--card for a man

Fairy Tale--boys and men

Fat Pages and Cards with Attitude-anything goes

Wags 'n Whiskers--summer fun

     Have a fabulous day!

Supplies


Paper:  My Mind's Eye, Bo Bunny, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps:  Mo's Digital Pencil "Nesto", Make It Crafty "Beach Umbrella", Create with TLC sentiment
Ink:  Copics, Tumbled Glass Distress ink, Marvy Uchida white gel pen
Tools:  Nestabilities Standard Circles and Classic Scalloped Circles, Memory Box Classic Scallop edge die, sewing machine, heat gun
Miscellaneous:  Liquid Applique, buttons from my stash, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String, Diamond Stickles

Chipboard Embellishment Tutorial

This week is my turn to offer a tutorial at The Kraft Journal and  I'd like to show you how to make your own chipboard embellishments using products from Kraft Outlet.  If you've checked out the chipboard section in the store, you'll see that Babette carries three different sized sheets of chipboard.  I've used the medium sheets to create a storage binder for my Nestabilities.  You can find the tutorial for that right here on The Kraft Journal blog.  I also have some of the full size sheets, and that's what I'm using today along with some 7 Gypsies Venice Gaffer Tape and two new products in the Kraft Outlet store, Cork Sheets and Chalk Board Stock Paper.

For the first embellishment I've used my quilting square to get an approximate measure of how large I need to cut my chipboard and the chalk board paper to cut one of the stars from this Sizzix die.  After cutting the two pieces I glued them together and ran them through my Cuttlebug.

I did the same for the Cork Sheet except that is comes with a self stick adhesive backing, so no glue.  I used a flower die for this one.

For the Gaffer Tape I chose a stamp die.  Since it's tape all I had to do was stick it to the chipboard.

Here are the three embellishments.  One layer of chipboard adds a nice weight to the embellishment.  It you wanted it thicker you could add more layers.  Just remember that the thickness will limit which dies you are able to use.  Of course you could always cut each piece separately and then glue them together.

Hope you'll give this a try.  It's super simple and the possibilities are endless!

A thank you flower

     Bet you all are starting to wonder if I've gone the way of CAS forever.  LOL  NOT!  I'm not really sure where all these CAS designs have come from cause I sure like my embellies.  I have come to realize (at least for me) that some images are better suited for the CAS route.  I think Mabelle's little cuties fall in this category.
     For this card I've used a kraft base and just two small pieces of DP.  I'm lovin' the zig zag stitch on my sewing machine.  The sketch is from Retro Sketches.
     I hope you like my simple little card.  You can find Gigi right here in the Whimsy and Stars Studio store.  Keep your eyes peeled for some W and S news, and if you missed it check out Mabelle's latest post on the W and S blog about her free digi offer with a purchase of one of her rubber stamps.
     This holiday weekend has really got me behind on commenting so I'm spending this evening catching up on what you've all been doing.  I'll be back tomorrow with a little tutorial for The Kraft Journal.
     Hugs and blessings!


Supplies

• Paper:  Kraft Outlet Light Kraft , Crate paper "Farmhouse", Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamps:  Whimsy and Stars Studio "Gigi", TPC Studio "Greetings"
• Ink:  Copics, Prismacolor pencils and OMS, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  Memory Box Classic Scallop, sewing machine, EK Success corner rounder, Crop-a-dile
• Miscellaneous:  Recollections pearls, We R Memory Keepers eyelet, twill from my stash

Sugar and spice

     She looks like an advertisement for the "sugar and spice and everything nice" rhyme, doesn't she.  :-)  Her name is "Precious Callie" and she's one of Cheryl Alger's Sassy Cheryl's images.  I've colored her with Copics and popped her on this lovely mix of My Mind's Eye papers.  This is a special card because it marks my first DT project for the Catered Crop.  The lovely Linda McClain offered me a Top Chef position on her team and I just couldn't pass it up.
     Today is the start of a brand new challenge at the Catered Crop and the recipe element we want to see on your projects is felt.  For my card, I cut a scalloped border from felt and added some bling to it.  I also created that fun felt loopy flower.  Here's the tute I used.  They're easy peasy.  We'd love to have you come play along.  The challenge runs for two weeks and if you'll pop into the blog next Sunday, you'll see this card along with the inspiration from my fellow DT girls, Dorcas, Silke Ledlow, and Jeanie Witmer.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan--use pink
The Ribbon Girl--photo inspiration/pink and cream
CMC Copic Challenge--pink and green
Di's Digi Designs--bling
Totally Gorjuss--something new (never used before digi stamp)
Delicious Doodles--diamonds are forever
Aud Sentiments--any sentiment
Paper Shelter--bling it on
Bearly Mine--anything goes
Craft Room Challenge--add fabric
Sassy Cheryl's--favorite color combination
Creative Monday--stitching/real or faux
The Pink Elephant--buttons galore

     Hope you have a blessed day!


Supplies

• Paper:  My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found--Market Street", Kraft Outlet Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Sassy Cheryl's "Precious Callie", Papertrey Ink "Mixed Messages"
• Ink: Copics, Mary Uchida white gel pen
• Tools:  Nestabilities Labels Eighteen, Memory Box Classic Scallop edge die, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  felt, The Paper Studio and Basic Grey buttons, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String, Glossy Accents, Stardust Stickles, Michael's gemstones

A Magic Card video tutorial

      Several of you expressed the desire to have watched my tutorial on how to make this card, but I just couldn't publish it.  WAY to much of me flapping my gums.  LOL  I really think several of you just wanted a chance to get to chuckle at my twang, which by the way, I do NOT hear. LMBO  Well, you've gotten your wish and good or bad I've retaped the tutorial making the above card.  You can check it out here.  I've used another gorgeous Crafts and Me Sara Burrier image for this one.  She colored with Copics and a wee bit of Prismas.  The papers are Prima.
     Isn't that sentiment gorgeous!  It's one of Paulette's beautiful creations from Create with TLC.  She so graciously gives the most beautiful and witty freebies on her blog plus she has a store full of lots more.  To match the sentiment I printed out a beautiful verse of scripture from the Book of Psalms.  Those are the best shoulders I know to take on my burdens.  I hope you have that same reassurance.

      I tried to get a close up shot so you could see the dimension of the image.  She's popped up on foam, but I glued down her hand and foot so she looked more realistically perched on the ledge.  It didn't show up very well in the photo.  :-(

     Hope maybe you can get some help from the video if you'd like to try this card.  It's really super simple but gorgeous and unusual..  Thank goodness Marianne has such a creative mind!  :-)  Don't forget you can check out her picture tutorial right here.
     I'd like to enter this card at Make It Monday and the Oozak Challenge.  :-)
     Happy weekend!


Supplies

• Paper:  Prima "Botanical", Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Crafts and Me "Noon", sentiment from Create with TLC
• Ink:  Copics, Prismacolor pencils and OMS, Vintage Photo Distress ink
• Tools:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace and Cornice edge punches, Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Scalloped  Ovals, sewing machine, Memory Box Tender Leaves die
• Miscellaneous:  Prima flower, Recollections and The Paper Studio pearls, glitter

Still spinning

     Hope you all aren't too dizzy from yesterdays post or harboring the desire to hit me for sticking that song in your head  LOL cause I'm still spinning today.  :-)  This is CAS extreme for me.  LOL  This week Tammy has released some super cute pinwheel images at A Day For Daisies.  I picked this one and printed it out three times after adding the box outline around it.  I chose primary colors and added a little glitter for fun.
     This release conincides with our new challenge at the ADFD blog.  Arielle found the cutest photo inspiration for the challenge that just happens to be pinwheels.  :-)

     Hope you'll play along this week.  Can't wait to see what the freebie will be.  Did you nab that adorable little calf in the skirt last week?  Too cute!
     Happy Friday!


Supplies

• Paper:  Copic XPress-it Blending card, Bazzill
• Stamp:  A Day For Daisies "Orange Pinwheel"
• Ink:  Copics
• Miscellaneous:  Recollections brads, Offray ribbon, Stardust Stickles

You spin me right round

     LOL  Did I do it to you again--get another song stuck in your head with my title?  :-)  Now if you're not a child of the eighties like me, you might not recognize those lyrics, and the singer definitely DID NOT look like little "Rosa".  LOL
     It's Thursday, so it's Mo Day.  Our challenge this week at Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge is to create a project with the theme of "World Travelers" as in other cultures.  I knew Rosa had to have a multicolored dress and that meant a multicolored card.  There are lots of fun bright My Mind's Eye papers plus red buttons, a rose and a striped banner.
     You can find Rosa right here in the Mo's Digital Pencil store along with several other Multicultural images.  We'd love to have you play along this week.  There's goodies to be had.  Mo is giving away a $5.00 voucher for every 25 entries so jump in and play.
     Make sure you check out all the cards my team mates have made.  We've got some very talented ladies.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments--any sentiment
Crafting For All Seasons--celebration + buttons
Digi Stamps 4 Joy--buttons
The Pink Elephant--buttons galore

     Have a great almost Friday!  :-)


Supplies

• Paper:  My Mind's Eye, Kraft Outlet Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Mo's Digital Pencil "Rosa", Cardz TV "It's All About You"
• Ink:  Copics, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  Martha Stewart Embossed Zig Zag edge punch and Photo Corner
• Miscellaneous:  Recollections flower, Michaels buttons, Kraft Outlet Hang tag String and Baker's Twine, rick rack from my stash, Picket Fence Distress Stickles, Yellow Stickles, Jenni Bowlin Chipboard banner pieces

Healing hope

     I'm usually a pretty square girl, at least when it comes to cards.  LOL  I guess if you want to get technical this is still a square, but it's also a bit of a fancy fold.  Marianne Skjelstad is my card design hero.  She continually comes up with the most awesome new card fold ideas.  This is her Magic Card and you can find the tutorial for how to make it right here.  Though I've been admiring this fold for a long time, this is the first time I've ever made a card with it.
     I actually video taped myself putting this together.  It's been FOREVER since I've made a video for YouTube and when I watched what I'd taped I knew there was no way I was going to post all that blabbering.  LOL  I was quite the polly parrot so I decided not to subject anyone to my chitter chatter.  I still may do a tutorial vid for this card, but it will be minus all the excess talking.  :-)
     The image is a beautiful Sara Burrier digi from Crafts and Me that I won a few weeks back.  It's called "Child of Healing".  I rarely ever finish the insides of my cards, but you really have to for this particular fold so here's what the inside looks like.

     It was kind of hard to get it all in the photo without it being to small.  I just printed out the scripture and mounted it die cut and inked on a scalloped oval.  The bird is a Michael's $1 bin chippie that I covered with Snow Cap Paint Dabber and a little glitter and ink.
     This was just a for fun card cause I've been trying so hard to find time to film a video.  Since it was a dud, I'll have to find a few more extra minutes here or there to film again.  :-)
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine--anything goes
Ladybug Crafts Ink--something with wings
Oldie But a Goodie--things with wings (beaded stems and glitter are both ancient)
Top Tip Tuesday--dig out the old (beaded stems and glitter, I made the little twirled green stem by hand probably two years ago)
CMC Copic Challenge--anything goes
Sweet Stampin--faeries and angels
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge--wonderful wings
Delicious Doodles--try something new (new card fold)
Fairy Tale--things with wings

     Have a fantastic week!


Supplies

• Paper:  My Mind's Eye, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Crafts and Me "Child of Healing"
• Ink:  Copics, Frayed Burlap Distress ink
• Tools:  Nestabilities Classic and Scalloped Ovals, Martha Stewart Cherish edge punch, Rose Leaf, and Photo Corner punch
• Miscellaneous:  Recollections pearls, Wild Orchid and Prima flowers, Michael's $1 bin chippies, glitter from my stash, Snow Cap paint Dabber, Dollar Tree decorative stems, handmade curly cue

The Lady in red

(Gayla--please contact me through my email address [macdonald.tracy96 at gmail dot com]so I can answer your questions.  I have no way to contact you.  :-)  Hugs!)

     This card is rather bittersweet for me.  A few weeks back I placed in the top picks at Jackson's Digital Expressions Challenge.  This is a brand new challenge blog sponsored by an amazing artist named Robert Jackson.  Mr. Jackson draws the most fabulous African-American digital images and has them for purchase in his store.  If you follow my team mate Carla Suto, you've seen her use several of the JDE images on some amazing cards.  Well, sweet Chana Harris, the DT Coordinator for JDE invited me to do a guest spot for one of the challenges.  I was thrilled cause, well, I just love to do guestie spots!  LOL  Especially when there are great images to use.  It was super duper hard to pick one out I'm telling you, but I had chosen to do the sketch challenge and this image worked perfectly for me.  Plus it reminded me so much of one of the ladies from my church.  Ms. Josie didn't wear hats to church often, but I remembered her wearing a outfit similar to this one at one time and I picked this image with her in mind.
     Ms. Josie was a 70 year old retired special ed teacher.  She had been a community leader when her health had been better.  In fact she was a bit of a miracle woman because she had lived well past the age she was expected to for someone with Sickle Cell.  She loved being able to shock a new doctor or nurse with that news.  She had so much to share about what she'd seen and dealt with in her life and I just soaked it all up like a sponge.  That little lady just stole my heart.  We lost her last Wednesday.  The years of battles with blood transfusions and heart problems had taken their toll.  It's been a long long time since I've lost someone I was really close to and although I know, and rejoice, about where she'll spend eternity, my heart is heavy with sorrow.  I'll  miss her tremendously.
     So this card is bittersweet for me because it was supposed to go to her and it didn't make it.  She didn't know about this card, but she did know about the white chocolate bread pudding and long visit my husband and I shared with her the Monday night before she died.  She had told me that she had dreamed about my bread pudding when I ran into her at the store.  I'm so glad I got the chance to make it for her and spend some time laughing and enjoying each others company.  My last words to her were "I love you" and that makes my heart rejoice.  The card won't go to waste.  I plan to give it to her sister at the funeral tomorrow.
     I hope you get a chance to play along with the sketch challenge this week at Jackson's Digital Expressions Challenge.  The winner will receive (3) images from Jackson's Digital Expressions, (2) images from Guylou's Inimitability, and an invitation to be a Guest Designer.  There will also be three Top Picks chosen.
     May you have a blessed week!


Supplies

• Paper:  Making Memories, Bazzill, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Jackson's Digital Expressions "Sunday Hat VII", sentiment from Create with TLC
• Ink:  Copics, Sakura Gold gel pen
• Tools:  Nestabilities labels Eighteen, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Michaels gemstones, Martha Stewart seam binding

Never Forget

     Couldn't you just squeeze him to pieces!    I think this little elephant from Mo's Digital Pencil is so sweet and since our challenge at The Kraft Journal this week is "remembering you" who better to put on my card but the animal who never forgets.  ;-)
     I actually broke into a new paper pad for this one--some more yummy My Mind's Eye with all those soft pastel colors.  I think this would be a great baby card.
     I started with a base of Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock and then matted with a layer of Buff Ivory Cover Weight cardstock.  Next comes that gorgeous DP.  I matted the image with more of the Buff Ivory and mounted it on top of some cheesecloth.  The fishtail banners and sentiment are both cut from Chipboard and covered with more of the Light Kraft.  I used a white gel pen to add some stitching.  That yummy pink bow is 7 Gypsies Victoria seam binding.  I just love the soft colors on this card.
     Hope you'll join us for this weeks challenge.  Babette just added some really cool products to the Kraft Outlet store so if you're the lucky monthly winner, you just might want to buy some of them with your gift voucher.  You can't win if you don't play and each time you do play you get another chance at winning.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Make It Monday--anything goes
Oozak Challenge blog--spring colors
Robyn's Fetish--anything goes
CMC Copic Challenge--anything goes
Craft Your Days Away--all creatures great and small
Just Inspirational--photo inspiration


     Happy Monday!


Kraft Outlet Supplies


Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock
Buff Ivory Cover Weight cardstock
Chipboard
7 Gypsies Victoria seam binding


Other Supplies


Paper:  My Mind's Eye "Follow Your Heart--Be Happy"
Stamp:  Mo's Digital Pencil "I Forgot"
Ink:  Copics, Victorian Velvet Distress ink, Marvy Uchida white gel pen
Tools:  Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, sewing machine
Miscellaneous:  Recollections pearls, Dritz cheescloth

Me, me, me......

     (If you missed my post for A Day For Daisies earlier today please click here to check it out)
     Well, I know a lot of you liked my little Boudreaux Goss card last week.  So did his parents and so did Linda McClain at the Catered Crop.  She picked my little tough guy as one of her Top Chef picks.  That means I get to Guest Chef for her and make a project for the Sunday Quickfire segment this week.  Yippee!
     Well her challenge this go around is to use rick rack on your project.  Are you looking at my card and thinking "well she barely squeaked by with that scrap of rick rack on her card.  Take a closer look.  :-)  Do you see that big white rose?  Yep, that's rick rack.  Isn't it gorgeous!  It's super simple too.  There are several tutes out there showing you how to do this.  Here's one I found and here's another.  I had some pink that I was going to use.  It really didn't match so I didn't use it, but I also discovered that the stiffer material it was made out of made it almost impossible to braid the two pieces together.  So if you try this, it works better with the softer regular type of rick rack.
     I just couldn't help myself last week when Krista Smith put her Saturated Canary digis on sale.  I bought several to add to my collection including this one.  I used a cool sketch from Sketch Saturday with some shapes that were not standard.  Trying to break out of my box a bit.  LOL  I love how it turned out.
     The other flowers all started out white and I colored them to match with Copics.  The two larger roses look orange in this photo, but they actually match the pink on her dress.  It's just the lighting.  If I tried to tone them down it washed little "Party Hardy" all out so I just left it alone.
     The leaves are Memory Box.  I cut them out in Kraft and then layered the next smaller size on top cut out of DP.  There's a little sparkle on the roses and her outfit and I couldn't leave that cupcake flat.  It has Liquid Applique fluffy icing and a Glossy Accent cherry.
     This one was really fun to make and I hope you like it as much as I do.  I'd like to enter it into the following challenges:

Crafty Ribbons--flowers
Little Miss Muffett--anything goes
Moving Along with the Times--keep it real(no fantasy figures)
Saturated Canary--May Flowers
Diva's By Design--pink
The Paper Shelter--Birthday with a sentiment
Sisterhood of Crafters--May flowers
Truly Scrumptious--anything goes
Whimsy Stamps Inspirations--anything goes
Make It Monday--anything goes
Tammy's Scrappin Corner--show us your flowers
The Pink Elephant--polka dots and stripes
Joanna Sheen--birthday
CMC Copic Challenge--anything goes
Sweet Stampin--flower power
Sketch Saturday--sketch

     Have a fabulous weekend!


Supplies

• Paper:  My Mind's Eye "Follow Your Heart--Be Happy",Kraft Outlet Light Kraft
• Stamp:  Saturated Canary "Party Hardy", Cardz TV Stamps "It's All About You"
• Ink:  Copics, Versafine Vintage Sepia
• Tools:  Memory Box "Tender Leaves", Cuttlebug, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Michaels pearls, Prima roses, Liquid Applique, Glossy Accents, Diamond Stickles, Wal-mart rick rack

A hug for Mama

     YAY!  It's Friday and it's new release day at A Day For Daisies.  Tammy has some gorgeous new images out in a collection called Mama's Darlings.
     I dug way down in my paper pad drawer and found what's left of my BG Capella paper to use on this card.  Those corners are little mulberry paper pieces I bought at Michaels.  The heart chippies came from there too.  I totally cased that little heart stack from my buddy Alyce.  I sent her some of these in Australia and she used them like this on one of her gorgeous cards.  I told her I needed her to sit down with me and teach me how to color hair right.  I always have so much trouble with the highlights.  Tammy really liked this though, so I guess I didn't do too bad.  :-)
     You can find all five of the images in this collection in the ADFD store and our "Polka Dot" challenge is still running for another week at the ADFD blog if you'd like to join in .
     I'll have another post a little later today so please come back and check out a Saturated Canary cutie I did for a Guest spot at the Catered Crop.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Moving Along with the Times--keep it real
Penny's Paper-Crafty--I love you Mom
Deep Ocean--what a wonderful woman
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations--emotions
Karen's Doodles--something for mom
Creative Inspirations Paint--Mother's Day
Basic Grey--anything goes
Stamp, Scrap, and Doodle Saturdays--Mother's Day

     Hugs!


Supplies


Paper:  Basic Grey "Capella", Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp:  A Day For Daisies "Mama Hug", TPC Studio "Greetings"
Ink:  Copics, Pumic Stone Distress ink
Tools:  Nestabilities Classic Ovals, Classic Scalloped Ovals, Labels Ten
Miscellaneous:  Recollections flowers and mulberry corners, Wild Orchids rose, Michael's chippies and Rhinestones

When I grow up

     Well, I've discovered that circle cards are tough for me.  Guess I'm just a square kinda girl.  :-)  But, our challenge this week at Mo's Digital Pencil is "Circle Cards" so here it is.  I definitely need some practice with sewing a circle.  LOL
     The image is called "Big Shoes" and can be found in the Mo's Digital Pencil store with tons of other cuties.
     So all of you who are much better at making circle cards than me, break out all your cool tools for making circles, grab a Mo image, and come join in the fun!
     Mo offers a $5.00 gift certificate for every 25 entries.  Who know, you just might be a winner and then comes the hard task of deciding WHICH images to choose.  :-)  Mo's characters are all so much fun.  It will be a hard choice.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp--CAS
Everybody-Art-Challenge--purple and blue
Ladybug Crafts--anything but sqaure
Sassy Cheryl's--don't be square
Top Tip Tuesday--CAS
Kaboodles Doodles--CAS
Totally Stampalicious--CAS
Pile It On--CAS

     Happy Thursday!


Supplies

• Paper:  My Mind's Eye "So Sophie--Graceful ", Bazzill, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Mo's Digital pencil "Big Shoes", Studio G sentiment
• Ink:  Copics
• Tools:  Nestabilities Standard Circles and Classic Scalloped Circles, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Queen and Co. pearls

Here comes the sun

     Here's another late in the day Whimsy and Stars post and another pretty CAS card.  :-)  I've been trying to kick back and relax a little lately.  It seemed that 90% of my time was spent making cards so I decided I needed to slow down and smell the roses so to speak.
     My daughter and her boyfriend absolutely adored the Avengers, but when I said I wanted to see it, they informed me that I had to watch both Iron Mans, Captain America, and Thor so I would be up to speed.  Well I've squeezed them all in and hope to see the Avengers sometime this weekend.
     I also have a bit of a thing for Masterpiece Mystery and the new season of Sherlock Holmes just started so I've spent a few hours watching that too.  Just needed to spend some time with my family and spend some time just vegging. :-)
     So, the card is made with Mabelle's newest release, "Amelie to the Beach".  Isn't she cute!  After I colored her I had to laugh cause she looks like Gilligan.  Don't cha think!  LOL
     The background is pieced together using a pattern you can find here at Mel Stampz.  She really offers some awesome freebies.  I added a few little punched shells that were painted with Pearl Perfect pearls and a little Glimmer Mist.
     You can find Amelie right here in the Whimsy and Stars Studio store.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesday--on the beach
Creative Mondays--stitching
There She Goes-vacation time
Basic Grey--anything goes
Annabelle Stamps--stitching

     Hope you're having a great week!


Supplies


Paper:  Basic Grey "Piccadilly", Bazzill, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp:  Whimsy and Stars Studio "Amelie to the beach"
Ink:  Copics
Tools:  sewing machine, unknown shell punch, Memory Box Classic Scallop die, Nestabilities Labels Four
Miscellaneous:  The paper Studio button, kraft Outlet Jewel Hemp Cord, Pearl Perfect Pearls, Vanilla Breeze Glimmer Mist, jute

Thank you flowers

     Our theme this week at The Kraft Journal is "Thank You".  Now you don't see too many CAS cards around here, but this is pretty CAS for me.
     I started with a card base of my favorite Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock from Kraft Outlet.  Just love this stuff!  I stamped it with a script stamp and some Old Paper Distree ink and doodles around the edges.  The image was colored with Copics and matted on a couple of DP papers, one being wrapped with Pink Baker's Twine.  For embellies I added pearls, a flower and my sentiment, stamped on a X-Small Grungy Prim Tag.
     Thank you cards always come in handy so let us see what you can come up with.
     Happy Monday!


Kraft Outlet Supplies


Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock
Pink Baker's Twine
X-Small Grungy Prim Tag


Other Supplies


Paper:  Crate Paper "Random", Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp:  A Day For Daisies "A Special Flower", Papertrey Ink "Mixed Messages", Inkadinkado script
Ink:  Copics, Micron Sepia pen, Versafine Vintage Sepia, Old Paper Distress ink
Miscellaneous:  Recollections pearls and flower

Featured Stamper!

     I was so excited yesterday to receive an email from the lovely Stacy Morgan.  Stacy and I met through Splitcoast Stampers and I have been admiring her work for a while now.
     If you've been following me for any time, you know that I am a bit eclectic in my crafting.    Although a lot of my work is geared towards Copics and digital images, you will find a few vintage, shabby chic, CAS, tags, and mini albums thrown in here and there.  In other words I like lots of different styles.  Now that doesn't mean I do any of them well, LOL, but I like them.
     Stacy is one of the ladies that I admire for really clean crisp, beautifully designed cards--you know, professional style.  :-)  People like Andrea Ewen, Julee Tilman, Heather Jensen, and Mona Pendleton.  If you've never visited Stacy's blog, Twinshappy, may I suggest you pop over there for a treat.  She's a member of the design teams for Flourishes and House Mouse and Friends.
     Stacy's email was sent to inform me that I had been chosen as Featured Stamper of the Week at Splitcoast for this week!

     WOOHOO!!  I'm so honored that she would choose me.  This is really fun because there's a challenge involved.  As the featured stamper, those who want to play along are challenged to look through my gallery at Splitcoast and choose a card to case.  They can pick whatever they like and then put their own spin on it.  How fun is that!
     So if you happen to belong to Splitcoast and have a spare minute or two to play along, I'd love to see what you come up with and I'm sure the other players would too.  You can find the thread for the challenge here.   LOL  I love the title she chose for the thread.  Beats me how she knew I like Mr. Mac and that yummy Mickey D burger.  :-)
     Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  I spent yesterday with my best friend trudging through the flea market.  Brought home some fruits and veggies and some lovely azaleas that will belong to my mother tomorrow.  :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

     Be blessed!

Vintage lady clown

     It's new release time at A Day For Daisies and this week Tammy has some amazing vintage clown images to share.  Hope you're ready for another kitchen sink tag.  I'm going to have to take a pic of my table next time I make one of these.  LOL  It's pretty scary looking.  :-)
     I was so pleasantly surprised to see Distress Stain three packs at my Michael's this week.  Snapped up a couple of them with those handy dandy 40% off coupons so I could play with this tag.  I put the stains on my craft mat and swirled the tag through them, spritzed with water and dried.  I then embossed the tag with an argyle folder and added Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder the the edges.  It was a little too thick for my liking so I scraped quite a bit off, but it left a cool lighter edging.  I inked up a splotch stamp with Versamark and used some gold embossing powder for that.  I already had the elephant sticker on there so you can see some of the embossing on him.  The banner pieces were cut freehand from chipboard.  I covered them with Snow Cap paint dabber and then stamped the dotted flag on top after it dried.  The ticket was created using a blank my friend Dana created combined with a fun Create with TLC sentiment added to the middle.  I dyed my white seam binding with the stain.  The image is colored with Copics.  I originally did it with Distress inks but messed it up when I decided to try to "antique" it with Old Paper.  Printer ink DOES NOT like Distress inks and it smeared and made her arms grey.  YUCK!  It was a bit too washed out even without the Old paper so I decided to redo it in Copics.  And there you have it!  Another "everything but the kitchen sink" tag.  :-)
     Yikes!  Typing this up I just remembered that this release marks a new challenge at the ADFD blog too and we want to see "polka dots".  Good thing I put those polka dots on the pennants!  LOL
     Hope you'll come play along.
     I'd like to enter my tag into the following challenges:

Sarah Hurley--tags and tickets
The Cheerful Stamp Pad--tags
Incy Wincy--spots and dots

     Happy weekend!


Supplies

• Paper:  Ranger Manila tag, Canson 90 lb. watercolor paper, Kraft Outlet chipboard, Copic X-Press it Blending card
• Stamp:  A Day For Daisies "Vintage Scarf Clown", digital ticket stamp from my friend Dana, sentiment from Create with TLC, My Mind's Eye Market Street "Adore" for pennant, All Night Media splotches stamp
• Ink:  Copics, Vintage Photo, Bundled Sage, and Tumbled Glass Distress Stains, Versamark, Versafine Vintage Sepia
• Tools:  Argyle embossing folder, Cuttlebug, Marvy Uchida heat gun
• Miscellaneous:  Hug Snug seam binding, Kraft Outlet Brown Bakers twine, Snow Cap Paint Dabber, Ranger Antique Gold embossing powder, Tim Holtz Lost and Found Salvage Sticker, buttons from my stash 

Attitude crawling

     I know you're all scratching your heads saying "what's up with that sentiment?"  Well, like Ricky told Lucy, "I got some splainin' to do."  :-)
     You see, this week at Mo's Digital Pencil challenge our theme is "Tickle My Funny Bone".  I knew right off the bat I wanted to use this little guy and I originally planned to give him a DeNiro line--"You talkin' to me?"  Well the more I thought about the card the more I knew I had to go in a different direction with the sentiment because I realized just who was going to get this card.
  We have the sweetest couple at our church who are expecting their first baby.  When they found out they were pregnant the husband, who is quite a jokester, decided to have a bit of fun with his wife when they started talking about baby names.  Now if you've spent any amount of time in the south you have heard some whopper names.  This funny man suggested that if it was a boy, he would be named Boudreaux or Opie Dell.  LOL  His sweet wife put the skids on that, but he shared it with us at church one day and Boudreaux stuck.  No matter that they picked out a very nice "normal" name, the baby is always referred to as Boudreaux.  Poor little fellow is probably going to get stuck with that nickname for life.  :-)  One of the older ladies even presented papa to be with a tube of Boudreaux's Butt Paste!  LOL  Now if you don't know what that is, it's diaper rash medicine.  His plan was to put it in a place of honor on the shelf he refinished for the baby's room, although he told me he had a sneaking suspicion momma wasn't going to leave it there.  :-)
     Thus the new sentiment was born.  Momma might not leave the butt paste on the shelf, but she just might leave this card.  LOL  I think they'll both get a real kick out of it.
     So what can you come up with to tickle our funny bone?  You can head to Mo's shop if you want this little guy or use some other Mo's image to play along with our challenge.  I have a feeling scrolling through the entries this week if going to be a lot of fun.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Belli--baby/new arrival
Divas by Design--one for the boys
Paper Shelter--anything goes
Creative Craft--anythings goes
Everybody-Art-Challenge--baby
Papertake Weekly--cute, cute, cute
Cards for Men--kicking back
Make It Monday--anything goes
The Crazy Challenge--for a young one
The Catered Crop--the letter "B" (baby, bottles, brads, Baker's Twine, BOUDREAUX!  LOL)
That Craft Place--one for the boys
Craft Your Days Away--just for children

     Happy almost weekend!


Supplies

• Paper:  DCWV "All About Boys", Bazzill, Recollections, Copic XPress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Mo's Digital Pencil "Biker Babe"
• Ink:  Copics, Prismacolor pencils and OMS, Marvy Uchida white gel pen
• Tools:  Nestabilities Classic Ovals, EK Success corner rounder, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Kraft Outlet Baker's Twine, Recollections brads, Glossy Accents

Flower Delivery

     Hey yall!  I'm a bit tired so my drawl is coming out.  LOL  I'm also late in getting this posted today.  I've been trying to step back from my crafting a bit and take care of other things I've been ignoring and pushing aside, so instead of having this ready to be posted this morning, it's coming tonight.
     There's still a couple of hours to get in on the Whimsy and Stars Blog Hop fun.  There are goodies to be won.  :-)
     This is another Whimsy and Stars Studio image called "Flowery Gift".  Mabelle's little girls are so sweet.  I've colored her with Copics and used some bright papers from Kaisercraft.  Stamping the sentiment on the image panel was an afterthought after the card was completed.  I got really lucky that it printed straight and solid.  LOL
     I'm way behind on visiting but I'll be around ASAP.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly--cute, cute, cute
Creative Mondays--anything goes
Digi Makeover Challenge--May flowers
The Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge--anything goes plus sentiment on front

     Big hugs to you all!


Supplies

• Paper:  Kaisercraft "Utopia", Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, Bazzill, Copic Xpress-it Blending card
• Stamp:  Whimsy and Stars Studio "Flowery Gift", Stampendous "Notes For a Friend"
• Ink:  Copics, Memento Tuxedo Black
• Tools:  Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped Ovals, EK Success Retro Flower punch, Swiss Dot embossing folder, Cuttlebug, sewing machine
• Miscellaneous:  Recollections pearls, Kraft Outlet Baker's Twine, ribbon from my stash

Sometimes you just need cake

     Hmmmm?  Maybe I should have left the "Sometimes" part off.  LOL  This cutie from Bugaboo Stamps has some mighty yummy looking cupcakes I wouldn't mind sharing, especially if they'd make me as skinny as her.  :-)

     Our challenge theme this week at The Kraft Journal is "Cards for Her".  We ladies know that a good cupcake can solve the problems of the world, don't we.

     My card base is Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock.  I've used some great DP from Crate Paper and layered Miss Cupcake on top.  The double row of scalloped border cuts is wrapped with Pink Baker's Twine.  The fun sentiment is another gem from Create with TLC.  Paulette comes up with some of the best sentiments.  I really enjoy finding a good one and creating my card around it's theme.  Adds so much more to the card than a plain Happy Birthday or Thank You.

     I also added some Prima flowers and a flourish, doodling around my image, and last but not least a couple of buttons tied with Hang Tag String.  Hope you can see that fun puffy icing on the cupcakes too.  That's Liquid Applique.

     We'd love to have you come share you "Cards for Her"  with us.  It is a special week for lots of mom's so there should be plenty of "her" cards getting made out there in cardland.  Just make sure you use kraft paper or a product from Kraft Outlet on your creation to qualify.

     Happy Monday!

Kraft Outlet Supplies


Light Kraft Cover Weight cardstock
Pink Baker's Twine
Hang Tag String


Other Supplies


Paper:  Crate Paper "Random", Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamp:  Bugaboo Stamps "Girl Cupcakes", sentiment from Create with TLC
Ink:  Copics, Micron pen
Tools:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Fancy Flourish, Nestabilities Standard Circles, Memory Box Classic Scallops edge die
Miscellaneous:  buttons from my stash, Recollections and Prima flowers, Liquid Applique, Pollymark paint