Hugs and Hearts

Oh my! I sure have missed card making and blogging! I have been called into work every day this week (substitute teacher). I know many of you work full time, but when you don't expect it, and there are many other things planned already (meetings, appointments, etc.), it sort of throws a me for a loop...lol!

I was determined to make a card when I came home today from those adorable, yet quite energetic, first graders! I was inspired by a mix of Becky Rusher's fun A Muse cards! I just *heart* this little Love Monster from A Muse! I picked him up last Thursday when I went shopping with my friend Clara. I inked him up in Black Stazon and colored him with a Crayola red marker (Yes, I know...I NEED to buy some markers!!!) and some Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean ink. He is layered on a square of Cool Caribbean and then onto a scalloped square (Marvy Mega Punch) of Stampin' Up Real Red. My card base is a wonderful 4 Bar Note in Maderia Blue from A Muse. My little scalloped oval is made with a punch from Punch Bunch. I used some Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red for the "Hugs and Hearts" sentiment from Hero Arts. The sweet red stitched ribbon is from my swap friend Tracy Clemente (*waving* hello). I thought that my card still needed a little bit of something, so I added some Real Red hearts that I punched out with an old punch from Marvy. A little bit of faux stitching on the hearts to pull it all together and there you go!

I'm so glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Sharon's Scalloped Edge!

The weekend always brings about such wonderful challenges from other bloggers. Oh, how I wish I could do them all! Last weekend, I was able to participate in Beate's Sketch Challenge. This weekend, I decided to do Sharon Johnson's Challenge. Her challenge is to use a scalloped edge on the card that you create.

Here's my card...yes, I know that I didn't use any of my new rubber...lol! I'm afraid that will have to wait until tomorrow! My Sassy Stems set was still out from the card I made a few days ago, so I was inspired to use it again. I started off with a card base of Barely Banana. My black scalloped edge is made with Stampin' Up's Slit Punch (guard removed). I added a strip of Cool Caribbean and then I decided that I needed a bit of black on the right side of the strip to balance everything. I paper pierced the other black piece before I attached it for a little bit of detail. I just love this May Arts ribbon with the swirls! I was going to go with polka dotted ribbon, but the swirls reminded me of the scallops. So I thought this ribbon would be a nice way to tie it all together!. My image is watercolored with Barely Banana and Cool Caribbean inks. Star Dust Stickles were added for a bit of sparkle. The sweet little "happy birthday" is from Stampin' Up's Little Hellos set (another retired favorite).

Enjoy your Saturday! So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Have a Splendiferous Day!

Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope that you are having a "Splendiferous Day"! I certainly am! A little stamp shopping with a friend, lunch at Panera Bread, and a trip to Michaels would make any day Splendiferous!!! Now I am having the pleasure of making a few cards with my sweet 10 year old niece! She is working on a Valentine's Day card and I whipped up this little number with some pieces that were just waiting to be made into a card!

I wheeled Stampin' Up's Basics Outline onto a square of Papertrey Ink White Card Stock and colored it up with Regal Rose, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery inks. Layered that square onto a piece of black and added some gingham ribbon. My Certainly Celery card base has the Canvas background stamped in Versamark for just a little texture and then I added one of my favorite Amuse sentiments. I finished it off with some self-adhesive pearls from Kaiser Craft and just a tiny bit of Diamond Stickles.

I purchased a few stamping goodies today and my latest Stampin' Up order just arrived! I'll be back tomorrow with a new creation to share! So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

BLOG CANDY Winner!

Drumroll please!!! The winner of the Blog Candy is Chris from Mudmaven Designs! Congratulations Chris! Please send me your snail mail address and I'll get your goodies out to you. Thank you to all of you for participating. I really appreciate that you have taken the time to visit my blog and I hope you stop by again! :D

A Cheery Card!

After posting two sympathy cards in a row, I decided that I needed to have a happy, cheery card for today! Stampin' Up likes to retire all the things that I like...the Sassy Stems set, the Riveting set, and the Petals and Paisleys paper...lol! That's alright though. I just love to play with new stamps and paper too! The other set that is used on the card is Circle of Friendship. Along with the designer paper, I used Cool Caribbean, Pretty in Pink, and Old Olive. The ribbon is from American Crafts and I just love how it matches the Cool Caribbean! Added just a little bit of Star Dust Stickles to make this card extra happy.

I'll be back later on tonight to announce the BLOG CANDY winner. If you'd like a chance to win, it is a few posts down. So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Another Sympathy Card

Well this is the third sympathy card that I have needed to make this month. This is for a wonderful friend of mine. Her father-in-law passed away. I find sympathy cards and masculine cards challenging so I hope this design works. I made a card very similar to this a couple of years ago, but with a more feminine feel.

I stamped the MSE sentiment first and then made a mask with a Post-It note. Then I stamped Stampin' Up's Canvas background over the entire Old Olive panel. The beautiful maple tree image is from the Lovely as a Tree set and it is stamped on watercolor paper and then colored with watercolor crayons. Added some Making Memories brads, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon from Sweet Miss Daisy, and some gold cording to put the whole thing together.

Tomorrow, I will be sure to post a happy and cheerful card! I'll also be choosing the BLOG CANDY winner. If you would like to check it out, it's a few posts down. So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge!

Beate posted a fantastic sketch for this weekend for us! I unfortunately need a sympathy card for a good friend of mine. Her mother and father were in a horrible automobile accident just before Christmas. Her mother passed away this past Wednesday. The services will be this upcoming week. Her father is stable, but he could certainly use your thoughts and prayers. My friend is also a card maker, so I really wanted to make something special for her and her family. This sketch was perfect for this retired set (Heartspeak) that I just got from Trudee. I also used my new Mixed Messages from Papertrey Ink with a tiny scallop punch from Punch Bunch. The card base is Certainly Celery and the Pretty in Pink panel has Stampin' Up's Floral background stamped in Brilliance Moonlight White Ink. The celery patterned paper scrap was left over from the card that I posted the other day. It is from the Just Delightful Simply Scrappin' pack. The pearls are made by Kaiser Craft. I thought that they'd add a little bit of elegance on the Pretty in Pink circles. The flower basket is colored with watercolor crayons and then some Star Dust Stickles were added. Let's hope this brings a little bit of comfort to my friend and her family.

So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

BLOG CANDY!!!

Another trip to Mike's brought me a little bit of luck, so I thought that I'd share and give away some more BLOG CANDY!!! These clear plastic packages are a bugga' to photograph though...lol! If you can't tell, the sets include birthday, thank you, congratulations, love, a cute little cupcake on one set and the last set has a lovely expectant mother...very cute! The ribbon will work perfectly on all those Valentine's Day cards that you'll soon be making! Just leave me a comment on this blog post by Tuesday, January 22nd. I'll draw a name sometime around 8:00 pm. That's it!!! Easy peasy!! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

So glad that you could stop by...Toodles! :D

Happy Saturday!

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a crop at Lauren Salzberg's Stamping and Scraping Group. It was wonderful to spend time with some close friends and to make a few things just for fun. Here is one of the cards that we made. Lauren designed an absolutely darling, horizontal card with the sweet little mouse from the Stampin' Up Happy Heart Day set, and I basically flip-flopped the card and asked if I could use the adorable elephant from the set instead. She was sweet enough to indulge my little burst of creativity (Thanks Lauren!) and this is what I came up with!

I have this set on order and I simply cannot wait for it to get here! Elbert (yes...I felt the need to name him...lol!) is stamped on watercolor paper with Black Stazon. I then used Stampin' Up watercolor crayons to bring him to life! When I got home, I added some Christmas Red Stickles (yes...I have another color besides Star Dust Stickles...lol) on the little hearts because after all, it is going to be Valentine's Day and you NEED sparkle on Valentine's Day...right?!?! We made the little Regal Rose scallops with the Stampin' Up Slit Punch and a hole punch. It was so nice to use the Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon too. The card that we made started off as a Regal Rose card base, but I actually cut my card front down when I got home and then adhered it to a Real Red card base. Thanks so much for inspiring me Lauren!

So glad that you could stop by...I'll be back with a little BLOG CANDY later on...Toodles! :D