MY DESERT INSPIRATION

Thank You

2011-06-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

I just had to make this special thank you for our neighbor to the North. They have an apple tree that sits right next to our common wall. Well, we all know it's impossible to grow just half a tree so you might imagine that half of the top is on our side of the wall. Bill gripes constantly about having to pick up errant apples this time of year. He was in the back yard last weekend when our neighbor struck up a conversation about that very thing. Bill told her he just chucks them over the back wall (natural desert) to feed the bunnies. Well she told him to hold on a minute and came back with a freshly baked pie. One day last summer about this time the kids were here and they tried to eat one of these apples and they were very mushy and bitter. I was in my craft room (of course!) and Bill came in carrying the pie. He was going to pitch it. That wasn't going to work for me. It didn't really fit in with our dinner plans so I took a piece in my lunch on Monday. It was delicious! I surprised Bill with a piece in his lunch on Tuesday and he agreed. So I had to make this card.

Supplies:
Paper: various-all from my stash
Cricut: pie w/rolling pin-Country Life, apple-Doodlecharms, Thank You-a cut that had been laying around for a while
Other: Nesties

It only took me about 15 minutes but I hope she'll like it (and think about making me another one!). I hope this has a been a terrific Father's Day for everyone. I know I enjoyed talking to my "Pops" earlier. Hugs...Kris

All Star Dad

2011-06-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well Father's Day is just around the corner and there are lots of challenge blogs calling for a Father's Day card or project. I haven't done a Penny Black challenge in ages and I loved doing the Whimsical Wednesdays challenge a few weeks ago so I'm going to enter their challenge also.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections (Michaels)
Patterned Paper: Making Memories
Image: Penny Black "Slugger" colored with Prisma pencils
Cricut: Banner letters from Country Life
Other: Nesties (squares and stars), self-adhesive gems, floss

I computer-generated the "ALL STAR" and also added some doodling. The colors are a bit different for a typical Father's Day card but I think they're bright and cheery. Hope everyone has a great week. Hugs...Kris

What a week!

2011-06-11T12:10:00.002-07:00

This has definitely been a trying week. It all started last weekend when we discovered that we would have to purchase a new garage door. We knew it was coming, but you're never really prepared, right? We've had 2 panels replaced and metal braces put on and it was just time. Oh btw, those braces were only suppose to last for 2 years and we got 5 more years...so who am I to complain? Then last Saturday night our home computer was totally infected with some vicious malware. A lot of the hard drive is trashed but I am having one of the IT guys from work come over next week to see what he can salvage. So on top of buying a new garage door (which does look beautiful btw) we had to buy a new computer. I mean the other one was 8 years old and really kind of outdated but I would have preferred to do it when I wanted to do it, not when some stupid virus decided to take over. Oh well, enough of the rant.

I do have some great, exciting news to share. I've been putting this off because I've felt that maybe I've been the jinx the last 3 times. Every time I make my daughter-in-law a card announcing that Liam's going to have a brother or sister something goes terribly wrong. Well, Heather is doing great and Liam's going to have a baby brother in the fall. I wanted to make something really special so I decided to really put my Gypsy to the test and make a shaped card. I have now learned how to flip and weld (to make the base) and hide contours (what a great feature!). As usual, I used a lot of different cartridges and had a ball making this.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections (M's)
Patterned Paper: Prima, DCWV
Cricut Images: Baby (Stretch Your Imagination), Duck Applique (Wall Decor), Banner (Mother's Day 2010), Coming Soon (Cricut Office Help)
All shading was done with pastels

I certainly hope I've waited long enough to make this. We've know for quite a while that she's pregnant so we're thrilled to await the arrival of new grandson. Hugs to everyone...Kris

Soar

2011-06-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Well as you may know, we went to Albuquerque a few weeks ago for our niece's graduation. We loved walking around Old Town and every where you go are reminders of their most famous attraction - the hot air balloon fiesta. Still the worlds largest ballooning event, it is hosting its 40th annual fiesta this year. I came home with lots of ideas for cards but no hot air balloon stamps or any hits searching on my Gypsy. However, I didn't give up. I must have checked out every [party] balloon shape in the Cricut library and finally settled on this.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Core'dinations

Patterned Paper: Clouds-American Greetings, Striped-K&Company

Cricut: Balloon-Celebrate with Flourish, Soar-Lacey Labels, Sun-Going Places

Other: hand-cut basket for the balloon, Fiskars border punch

I've never been to the fiesta but now knowing it only takes about 6 1/2 hours to get to Albuquerque, I'd like to plan to go in a couple of years (that's how far ahead rooms are booked!). Hugs...Kris

This is so me!

2011-06-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is! I really like my morning coffee but would like to think I'm a big teddy bear before I've had a cup, not a grouchy, grizzly bear. I have a feeling that Bill would probably think the latter although he's the one who only utters one word (mornin') until he's downed at least a cup.

Supplies:
Paper: various from my stash-stripe is K&Company
Image: High Hopes colored with Prismas
Sentiment & Coffee Cup: TPC Studio
Other: Fiskars border punch, Rectangle Nesties, stickles

What I really wish I had was a pair of those pink bunny slippers - too cute. Hugs...Kris

Sweet Birthday Wishes

2011-05-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. I hope everyone is enjoying a nice long Memorial Day weekend. I got to get together with my card-making buddies yesterday and it's amazing how much you don't get done in 8 hours before the guys come join us for drinks and dinner. It's my friend Sandy's birthday soon so Deb and I had decided beforehand that we'd load up her birthday gifts and let her have them a bit early - besides we probably won't see each other again before the big day. This is the card I made her. I just love easel cards even if they are difficult to photograph. I finally decided to tilt this one up from the back and just take the one photo.

SUPPLIES:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned paper: October Afternoon-The Thrift Shop
Cricut: SANDY-Plantin Schoolbook, sweet-Graphically Speaking, flourishes-Ashlyn's Alphabet, big butterfly-???
Other: branches-Sizzix, butterflies-Martha Stewart, flowers-all from my stash (mostly K&Company), sentiment-unmarked clear stamp, oval Nesties

You know how it is when you have a vision and nothing short of that will do? Well, I had a really hard time trying to wrap the flourishes around the letters then position them on the card. I know I started over once (I had the N backwards!)...my language would have done a sailor proud! In the end I was happy with the result and so was she. Have a great Sunday. Hugs...Kris

Good things come...

2011-05-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

Good morning and happy Friday to everyone. I can't believe that May is almost gone - time really does fly. I'm going to retire in 5 months and if you check out my latest Liam pic on the right, you'll see he has graduated from Kindergarten. Bill just doesn't get all this extra graduation stuff. It used to be that you were expected to move from grade-to-grade and then you graduated from high school and maybe college with one or more degrees. Now you graduate from Kindergarten, elementary or grade or grammar (whatever you called it) school, junior high or middle school, etc. It just drives him nuts (and Liam is just starting). Anyway, his pic is really cute and our daughter-in-laws comments are just perfect.

My card for today is a simple one with minimal patterned paper and embellies. I thought the image was cute and perfect for this sentiment that I saw at a stamp show (and just copied).

Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned paper: from my stash???
Image: Prima colored with Prisma pencils
Sentiment: computer-generated
Cricut: clouds-Paperdolls for Everyday
Other: Fiskars border punch (wave), oval Nesties

Whimsical Wednesday Back to Basics

2011-05-22T05:27:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at some of my blogging buddies latest creations and both Donna and Margie were participating in the Whimsical Wednesday Back to Basics challenge. The challenge is to NOT use your Cricut. Oh boy! I don't always use my Cricut but I do use a variety of newer tools/techniques. I've had my Cricut for over 5 years now and I was so excited when I got my first "baby bug" because there would be no more cutting. I'm left-handed and I don't care what anyone says, there is no such thing as a pair of left-handed scissors. I've been making cards for about 25 years. I started with computer-generated cards (I think I owned every brand of card-making software offered in the late 80's and early 90's), then I graduated to stamping and that was my passion until I got my Cricut. So for my back-to-basics card I used two old-school techniques. One, I computer-generated the "friend", cutting out each individual letter and backing it with black cardstock. Then - here's the personal challenge! - I used decorative edge scissors.

The stamp I used is newer but overall, the card is definitely old school.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Core-dinations
Patterned Paper: Marcella (K&Co) Lemon Drops circa 2007
Images: Unity Stamp-I'm Here colored with Prisma pencils
Font: CK Old School (yes, really!)
Tools: Provo Craft decorative edge scissors

This was a fun challenge...now back to the future.

Just me...

2011-05-21T05:59:00.001-07:00

Well we're back from out trip to Albuquerque to see our niece graduate from Pharmacy school. We had a great time and Bill got to catch up with his sisters. The ceremony was long but worth it to see our niece become a Doctor of Pharmacy. We learned all about "hooding" where each new Dr. has someone of their choosing place the hood over their head (you know, it's that collar thing that goes around the neck over the gown-I had no idea). Also each graduate handed the announcer a piece of paper saying what they were going to do. The main theme was their job (Target, Walgreen's CVS, etc.); ending with the statement that they were going to save the world-LOL! I think they must have all gotten together and decided that would be their mantra. Anyway we've decided that having a Doctor in the family that can dispense legal drugs is the best!

On to a card for today. This is something kind of different for me. I look at magazines and marvel at how these designers can put together 2-3 papers, simple embellies, and a sentiment and make it look so polished so this is my effort. The photo is kind of dark but you get the idea.

Supplies:
Card: Premade from DCWV (a box I've had forever!)
Patterned paper: K&Company
Sentiment: TPC Studio
Tools: Flower-MS punch, Branch-Sizzix

If you're here please leave a comment - it really brightens my day.

Hats off to you

2011-05-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness I finally finished my graduation card obligations. It's not that I didn't want to, it's the colors. Of course, I asked both Moms what the girls colors were...one (Bill's niece graduating from Pharmacy School) is bright red with an olive green hood. She goes to the University of New Mexico and red is their main color but it's like making a Christmas card. The other (my good scrapppin' buddy Sandy's daughter) is graduating from Loyola Law School and at least the colors are maroon and gold. It's the only one I'm posting. Besides with my niece you never know what color her hair is going to be from day-to-day so I'm leaving that to the very end.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections
Patterned Paper: the Paper Studio
Image: Pure Innocence digi
Sentiments: ditto by Studio G
Other: tassel-gold gloss, shaped card-Cricut-Wild Card

It's my firt time making a tassel so I'm fairly pleased. I also put the image and the larger sentiment off of the card but level on the bottom so that it would stand properly. Her robe is not as dark as I would like so I might do more "doctoring" this afternoon...wish it wasn't Monday tomorrow.

Mom - I love you muchly

2011-05-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my simple card for my Mother for this coming Sunday. I so wish she could be here (and not in Kansas) so I could give it to her in person with a great big hug. I am so blessed to be 56 years old and still have both of my parents...something I am thankful for every day.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned paper: from my stash
Image and sentiment: My Favorite Things
Mom: Cricut-Mother's Day
Other: Fiskars border punch, Nesties

As usual my image was colored with Prisma pencils, blended with OMS. I think she'll like the card and I'm looking forward to talking to her on Mother's Day to see how she likes it.

Bookworm

2011-05-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time of year when I sent crossword puzzles to my Mom and Dad every week so I need plenty of every day cards. My Dad likes cute/funny so this one is directed mainly to him.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Book: Cricut-A Child's Year (some backing paper from my stash)
Worm: Cricut-Create a Critter
Glasses: Cricut-Paper Dolls for Every Day
Rick Rack & Sentiment: Cricut-Plantin Schoolbook

Yes, I just had to put some nerdy glasses on the little fellow - cute, don't you think? They are also voracious readers so I think they'll like this one.

Sketch Saturday

2011-04-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

It's been so long since I've joined in any challenges that I thought it would be a good way to stretch myself (equate that to feeling in a rut!). I immediately went to my NY friend Debbie's blog as she has a whole list of challenges sorted out by day. I checked out the Sketch Saturday blog and decided to have a go. Here's what I came up with.

Supplies:
Patterned paper: Prima Madeline Collection
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Image: Bildmalarna colored with Prisma pencils blended with OMS
Sentiment: ditto from Studio G
Other: Pink floss, Nesties, hole punch

We've spend the last day and a half sorting out clothes for donation. We managed 7 large bags-full so doing this challenge was quite relaxing. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Fresh & Lovely

2011-04-30T05:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday. It's that time of year (well, for those of us in the southwest anyway) to be able to hang our clothes outside. I confess that I love clothes dried in the the fresh air and I use my pool fence as my laundry line (no metal poles and wires for our HOA!). Of course, in another couple of weeks it will only take about 5 minutes for them to dry - that's what 100 degrees will do for you. That is what inspired this card.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: MM Chloe's Closet
Image/Sentiment: Cricut-Country Life
Other: Nesties Labels 8 for the card shape

I want anyone living in the southeast to know that my heart goes out to you for the horrible tornadoes that occurred this week. Growing up in Kansas I've seen more than my fair share and was grateful that the most we ever lost was our chimney. I can't imagine losing all of your property. You're in my prayers.

Home...

2011-04-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! I so wish I could share with all of you some of my stories from this week but when you're the HR guru (they call me Miss Kris to my face - don't want to know what they call me behind my back!) you just can't listen and tell. All I can say is that after this week I'm know I'm just getting too old for all of this young nonsense! So on to my card... A card with a big stamp as the focal point doesn't need too much embellishing.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Image: Unity Stamp colored with Prismas, blended with OMS
Swirl: Cricut - Ashlyn's Alphabet
Bird: Cricut - Indie Arts
Flower: M's $ bin

My stories usually begin at work and end with Bill shaking his head when I relate them to him (he is sworn to silence!). Please: if you've stopped by, leave a comment - I love to hear what you have to say.

Bee Happy

2011-04-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to use the bee hive from Sentimentals for quite a while but just couldn't put it together in my mind until I ran across these little 3-dimensional bees stashed in the back of one of my drawers. I knew then that I should just keep it simple and bright.

Supplies:
Patterned paper-DCWV Cafe Mediterranean
Bee hive and sentiment-Cricut-Sentimentals
Bees-Sandylion
Corner-Sizzix

Have a great day and bee happy.

Easter Wishes

2011-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

One more Easter card. I finally got up enough nerve to download a few Mo Manning images from Mo's Digital Pencil. I'm always in awe of these and how rich they look colored with Copic markers. As you know, I'm pencil girl myself and so this is my interpretation.

Supplies: Patterned paper -Heidi Grace
Image: Mo Manning (Mo's Digital Pencil)
Color Medium: Prismas blend with OMS
Sentiment: Cricut-Designer Calender and Alphalicious
Other: Nesties, Bazill's Borders (for the swirls)

I hope everyone has a fabulous Easter.

A few Easter cards...

2011-04-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well it's Good Friday and I still haven't posted my Easter cards. As you can see I'm on top things as usual!

Supplies: Patterned paper-K&Company
Image: CTMH (thank you Sandy!)
Sentiment: I have no idea
Other: Nesties and yellow satin ribbon

Paper: Not sure - Making Memories?
Image: Whippersnapper
Other: Fiskars border punch, Nesties

Paper: again, same dilemma - MM?
Image: Prima
Sentiment: Cricut-Easter cart
Other: Fiskars border punches, M's flower, Sizzix button

All of the images were colored with Prisma pencils blended with OMS.

Thanks for dropping by and I'll post the rest before Easter - I promise. Have a great weekend.

The duck whisperer...

2011-04-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

Here we go with some more vacation pics. Bill (my DH) is fondly know at this resort as the "duck whisperer" It's amazing how it only take the ducks about an hour after we arrive to figure out it's Bill and acclimate to the three-times-a-day feeding schedule he sets for them. These pics are from the first day when it was snowing like crazy. First he tries (that's the operative word) fishing and you don't even want to know the expletives he used when that didn't work.

So he decided to settle on his second task...feeding the ducks.

He has so much fun doing this, My friend Deb froze her butt off (actually it was probably her hubby Don) getting these pictures but they are just perfect. He just loves getting them to eat from his hand.

Back from the lake...

2011-04-16T13:16:00.002-07:00

Well, we're back from a wonderful week spent at our favorite cabin resort - Lake of the Woods - in Lakeside, AZ. We've gone in October the last several years and this year we decided to switch it up to April due to some scheduling conflicts. We figured October, April; it's Arizona - the weather's bound to be about the same....NOT! This is last Saturday - view out of our cabin door. Deb and I were fine - our crafty stuff set up in a matter of minutes and the Cricut humming away. The guys on the other hand...not so much...kind of a pain fishing in the wind and now.

Deb and I made tons of cards and got particularly carried away with making small, shaped cards with our Nesties. Here's a small sample of an Easter batch I did. I have more Easter cards to post throughout the week so stop back by for more trip pics and cards, and let me know what you think.

Supplies:
Premade cards from M's cut with a Nestie for the card base
Paper: Yellow Gingham-Making Memories, solids-Core dinations
Images: Pink Petticoat (digital)
Coloring: Prisma pencils blemded with OMS
Other: faux stitching and doodling, buttons-Sizzix

Enjoy Life

2011-04-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a little card I did just to put into my stash. I was gathering up scraps to pack for our lake trip and came across first; the paper, and then the stamp. I colored the stamp using the colors in the patterned paper and found some other matching scraps and here's what I came up with.

Kind of "funky" colors don't you think?

Supplies:
Paper: white card stock, patterned paper (Nikki Sivils), other solid scraps
Image: Imaginisce stamp colored with Prismas, blended with OMS
Sentiment: Cricut-Graphically Speaking
Other: Fiskars border punch, mini heart punch

Swing into Spring

2011-03-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

I promise you I'm almost done with the Pure Innocence digi-images. Just 2 more from the batch I printed a couple of weeks ago. With spring here in Southern Arizona I thought this image would be the perfect.

Supplies
Paper: patterned-K&Company, solids-Recollections
Image: Pure Innocence
Color Medium: Prismas blended with OMS
Sentiment: computer-generated
Other: Nesties, MS flower punch, Fiskars border punch, Sizzix vines, mini-brads
Card size: 5.5x3.75

I'm sure that's it for today - 2 posts! Enjoy your weekend.

You are special

2011-03-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know how long I've had this stamp but when I was rummaging through a drawer yesterday, I found this and thought I could color it up most anyway to match scraps. I was going for "quick & easy" until I just had to fussy cut it (nothing I do ever remains simple-LOL!).

Papers: from scrap bin
Image: Studio112 (by K&Company)
Color Medium: Prismas blended with OMS
Sentiment: Hero Arts
Other: MS Vine punch, Fiskars border punch, Nesties, EK Success small flower punch, self-adhesive rhinestones

I'm off for a much needed hair cut & color and then home to wait for Safelite for my new windshield. Some guy cut me off earlier this week, threw up a rock and you know the rest of the story...I love free glass replacement! Happy Saturday.

More Pure Innocence...

2011-03-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

When I get on a kick, I really get on a kick. My boss' wife made me such a cute little beaded green bracelet for St. Paddy's Day that I had to do a special little thank-you card for her. I always try to incorporate the word "joy" as that is her name.

Supplies:
Paper: Patterened - freebie from ATRS with my last order
Image: Pure Innocence colored with Prismas and OMS
Sentiment: Hero Arts
Other: Nesties rectangle and scalloped rectangle, mini heart punch, Stickles

There is no inking (what was I thinking?!?!?) but I like the clean lines of this one. What do you think?

Get Better

2011-03-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

My BFF's Dad is going through a miserable eye infection problem. I can completely sympathize with this because I had an ulcer on one of my cornea's about 7 years ago and it was the most painful thing I've ever experienced...takes weeks (and about 20 visits to the eye doctor $-$-$ to get completely over). So I made him this card complete with his own little nurse. (I soooo wanted to put a patch on her right eye-LOL!)

Supplies
Paper: from my stash (no clue as to who gets credit)
Image: Pure Innocence colored with Prismas and OMS
Sentiment: Computer-generated
Other: Nesties (Ovals and Circles)
Size: 4.25" square

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great weekend.

Everything is better...

2011-03-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Time to quickly post this before DH and I go out for a late lunch. I'm surprised he thinks we can "afford it" since he's become such a clothes-hog LOL! I always bought his clothes - up until the last couple of months anyway. I think he's bought at least 10 shirts, 10 ties, and 8 pair of slacks in just the last 3 weeks! I'm going to have to move out of our very large, shared walk-in closet and find some other place to stash my stuff. OK, back to the card. I'm not too sure of this - it seems like the shadows are all over the place but here it is anyway.

Supplies:
Image: Pure Innocence
Color Medium: Prisma Premier Pencils blended w/OMS
Sentiment: Hero Arts
Cardstock: Recollections
Patterned Paper & Border: K&Company
Other: Nesties

Thanks for droppin' in - have a great weekend.

Just Because

2011-03-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've been coloring so hope to post some cards in the next few days. Here's one with a Magnolia stamp. I love the sitting Tilda's because they are so versatile if you want to fussy-cut them. As always, I love it that you dropped by and your comments are always appreciated.

Supplies:
Image: Magnolia
Color Medium: Prisma Premier blended with OMS
Patterened Paper: DCWV
Cardstock: from stash
Cricut: Sentiment from Stamping Solutions
Other: MS border punch, Small flower punch, self-adhesive pearls, Nesties oval and scalloped oval

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a little card for everyone who enjoys being "Irish for a day" on St. Patrick's Day. I just thought this little girl with her mushroom hat and bowl of shamrocks was adorable.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Co'ordinations Foundations
Printed Paper - ??? - stash
Image - Lunagirl
Cricut - sentiment, shamrocks, arrows
Also used - Fiskars border punch and self-adhesive rhinestones

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-11T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well this is the last of the Valentine's and these are for my dear sweet husband who is totally cool with me going away for a wonderful card-making weekend at my friend Carole's this weekend. of course V-Day isn't until Monday so I'll be back in plenty of time to make it up to him (wink, wink!)

This card is done with an image from Luna Girl- oh so simple to print and cut. I used my Nesties Labels 8 to cut the card shape and a then papers in my stash and some flower punches.

This card is another easy one - all done with K&Company die cuts and papers and a MS border punch. I just made a window card for some added interest and built the whole thing around an old sticker sentiment I've been saving that says "If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I could walk through a garden forever".

Have a great weekend.

More Valentine's

2011-02-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well the folks are gone (as are 2 bottles of wine) and this week is so totally booked for me with work and going to my wonderful friend Carole's next weekend that I need to rush to get some of these Valentine's cards posted before the Super Bowl commercials!

This first one is [again] a Penny Black stamp (I do so adore them) colored with Prismas and OMS. A simple card - just some paper, the image, MS border punch, and a CB sentiment. Patterned paper is from HOTP.

The one I did for Bill from the dogs. We have 2 big old Labrador Retrievers - Betty and Cooper. I cut the dogs with my Cricut and A Child's Year, used some MS border punches, heart Nesties, and computer-generated the sentiment. Patterned paper is from MS.

I hope every has had a great weekend and is looking forward to a wonderful week ahead.

Thawing out...

2011-02-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

Well this has certainly been the a week! AZ has been experiencing record cold (we never have lows in the upper teens!) and we were one of the "lucky" ones who lost their gas this week. Fortunately we were only without heat for about 24-30 hours but let me tell you - a shower with no hot water is not fun and you should have seen us when we went to bed on Thursday night! I had on tons of clothes and our male Lab snuggled up to me, while our female Lab snuggled up to our male Lab amd Bill not only had on lots of clothes but his watch cap and gloves! We were a sight for sure. Then, I had to work yesterday and I hate working on Fridays but I was really glad to get to my nice warm office.

So we are truly warmed up again and here I am with some more Valentine's. These are both with Penny Black stamps. I know that the weather is frightfully cold all across the country so I hope wherever you are you can find some warmth this weekend.

Valentine's

2011-01-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I can't believe that February is almost here. I think I've finished my Valentine's so I'll post a few over the next week or so. Here are a couple for my niece and nephew in Texas. Both are made with $1 stamps from Inkadinkado that I got on clearance last year for $.50! The main images are colored with Prismas and OMS. The branch on the beaver is cut with my Cricut - Serenade cart. I punched some mini hearts, added the "+ kisses" from come clear stamp that I cut up, and drew the strings. On the LUV BUG, I cut the scalloped mat with my Nesties, put that on a doily, and computer generated the sentiment. Hope my niece and nephew like them!

Happy Thoughts

2011-01-22T04:33:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post this morning as I get ready to join my 2 card-making friends for a [hopefully] creative day. Then back home with friends coming for dinner and then dinner for my folks tomorrow. When Monday rolls around it will not feel as though I had a day off. Oh well! My apologies to all of you still "digging out" from snows of the post 2-4-weeks but spring comes early here in AZ and it was in the 70's all week so I decided to do something springy. The papers are My Mind's Eye and the stamps are High Hopes (image) and Hero Arts (sentiment). I also added a little caterpillar cut with my Cricut. Hope this warms you up. Have a great weekend and remember...go BEARS!

New Stamps!

2011-01-15T12:40:00.001-07:00

Well, I just got my pre-order of new stamps from 7 Kids College Fund. These are from a Swedish company - Bild malarna and they have some darling images. I knew when I saw this one that I had to have it. My Mom is quite a hot tea drinker and I knew I'd be able to make her several cards with this one called Mimosa Tea. Of course, my coloring medium is Prisma Premier pencils. The background paper I found in my stash. All I can tell you is that is came from my BFF's sister's stash from sometime in the 1990's. I cut the tea kettle with my Cricut and Wall Decor and computer-generated the sentiment. Thanks for coming by and I hope you have a great weekend (go Bears!). Sorry, I just had to do that for DH.

A Thrifty Start to 2011

2011-01-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

A belated Happy New Year to everyone. I haven't posted in over 2 months and 2010 ended almost as hectic as it began. I'm looking forward to a much better 2011 and here is my first personal challenge of the year. I like to buy the thank-you or general note cards sets at Michael's that are found in their $1 bins. I often do this with small or square sizes as it typically gives me 8 envelopes of a non-standard size for a really good price. I usually chuck the cards right into the trash can. I bought this set last week and as I was getting ready to pitch them I thought, "why don't you see what can you with them?". I've first shown the card as purchased and then what I've done with 4 of them. Hope you like the concept.

Here is a Magnolia (Tilda) stamp - sentiment from Hero Arts

Here is a Pure Innocence digi-stamp with a sticker sentiment

Another Magnolia stamp - sentiment from PrintWorks

Another Pure Innocence digi-stamp - sentiment from Hero Arts

Thanks for checking in and I hope to re-start my card-making, blogging journey in earnest soon.

Polkadoodle Quick & Easy

2010-11-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge is to make a Christmas card that is quick and easy to mass produce. This is my humble offering.

All of the images and papers (except for some plain cardstock) are from the new Sundae of Seasons CD. I trimmed the main image and sentiment from larger sheets and matted them with red cardstock, then used background papers and matted them with red and green cardstock. The only other addition is some punched snowflakes (Martha Stewart) finished with some self-adhesive snowflake rhinestones. VERY quick and easy! If you have an idea for this theme please pop over to our challenge blog and follow along this week.

Polkadoodle Challenge-Fall

2010-10-29T05:51:00.001-07:00

Yea, it's Friday and time for this week's Polkadoodle Challenge - Fall. We actually had some fall-ish like weather here in Arizona. I think temps we were actually in the 70's last week. Of course today, we're suppose to be 90! It's a good thing we can think of fall. Here's my simple card for this week's theme.

All of my papers and images are from the newest CD - Sundae of Seasons. I just trimmed the main wheelbarrow image and matted it with dark red cardstock then put it on a muted plaid matted the same. I cut out the little bird and perched him on the handles, punched out some buttons, added stickers to spell fall, and punched some leaves out of yet another paper. Please check all of this week's inspiration pieces over at the Polkadoodle site and we'd love to have you enter your creation in this week's challenge.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much except for my Polkadoodle design team cards. It seems as if every part of life is just too busy. I have made some Halloween cards for friends and family and I thought I'd actually remember to photograph them and post some here this week. I just love this little shaped card. The design was traced off of a pack of Studio G cards (8 for $1.00!!!).

I used papers from my stash including (I think) some open stock from Michael's and $1 bin at Target. The stamp is one of my favorite Halloween stamps from Penny Black colored with Prismas and OMS. I tilted her forward to look as if she's going after that big, bad spider. I added a some die cuts (using my Cricut) for the sentiment and the spider dangling from the top of the hat. To finish I added some rains dots (both on the spiders body and the bats). Thanks for dropping by...hopefully more posts this week.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-10-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge from Enfys is to make a baby card. I just knew that everyone would be using one of the cute babies from Sundae of Seasons and so…me too! I did try to make mine a bit different by going with a shaped card. I took a top-folded 5”x5” card and cut a semi-circle out of the middle of the top then I used some decorative-edged scissors to cut down the sides and round the bottom to give the appearance of a baby bib.

The backing paper is also from Sundae of Seasons while the sentiment badge and buttons are from earlier CD’s (forgive me for not knowing which ones). To finish, I added some punched pink stars with pink gems. Even if you don't "need" a baby card you should join in the challenge this week - you never know when the occasion will arise.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-10-08T02:00:00.000-07:00

This week's challenge is so much fun!...make your own embellishments! Trust me, I've seen lots of tutorials lately for making all kinds of flowers and I couldn't get any of them to come out looking like a flower-LOL! I went back to my tried and true. I punch 1" and 1 1/2" circles and then used some decorative-edge scissors on the edges.

I always love how these turn out and they look great with my focal point for this card - an awesome image from Nikky's new CD - Sundae of Seasons. The scarecrow is from the fall collection and I just love the plaid backing paper (of course, I love plaid of any kind).

I finished up with some stickers, self-adhesive gems, and a little doodling. Please use the link over on the right side and join us this week for our challenge to make you own embellishments. I'm betting you have fun with this too!

Polkadoodle Challenge-Hidden Element

2010-09-24T02:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm just not very creative with these "gimmicky" cards. This weeks challenge asks us to make something with a hidden element. I went with the pocket card remade for a Halloween theme. First the card...

Now the pocket message (the entire witch attached to the moon pulls out) to reveal the message.

All of the images are from the brand new Sundae Seasons CD (WOW - this CD is a stunner!). All I added was some ivory and black cardstock, some diecut stars, and the Martha Stewart deep edge Iron Fence border punch. If you fancy a challenge please click over to the challenge blog and show us your "hidden" talents. Happy Friday!

Friday Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-09-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Yea, it's Friday again! I'm back with this week's challenge card, one of my favorites...an easel card. I just love these (although first-time recipients always have fun trying to figure out how to display them!).

All of my components are from the Love & Cherish CD, The Twoo of Us collection. My base is dark brown cardstock and then I added the soft pink background paper and the cute little owl topper. On the base I used some coordinating dark pink and white cardstock edged with a Martha Stewart broder punch. The sentiment tag is from the collection as are the little cut up words at the top. I also used some of the little heart cuts left over from the punched border. Please join us this week - easel cards are all the rage (still, I think?). We love to see your creations.

Friday Polkadoodles Challenge

2010-09-03T02:00:00.000-07:00

OMGosh! With the week I’ve had I completely forgot to add the text to my post for this morning. To anyone who has already seen this, I do apologize. This week’s challenge is to use one of Nikky’s templates to make a shaped card. I chose the apron. All of my close friends will get a big chuckle out of this as they know that DH does all of the cooking and the baking in our house and the chance of me having a holiday cupcake exchange are about as good as me winning the lottery-LOL!

All of my papers are from the new Creative Christmas CD. I put the main part of the apron on the top fold of the card and cut it out adding the pockets and over mitts and then inserted the ribbon between the patterned paper of the apron and the card to make the neckpiece. I added some faux stitching around the body and pockets, a couple of computer-generated sentiments and a cupcake from the Sugar Birdies CD (colored with Prismas and OMS). Lastly I found the cute little chipboard badge in my stash that says Great Baker (kind if hard to see in the pic) and put it on the top pocket. Please hop over to the challenge blog to join in this week’s challenge. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-08-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

TGIF! and time for our weekly Polkadoodles Challenge. We have a wonderful sketch this week provided by Nikky and in addition can only use only 3 colors.

My colors are copper, taupe, and royal blue (I figure the ivory doesn't count-LOL!). I rotated the sketch 90 degrees. I used paper and flowers from the Sugar Birdies CD layering the flowers and tying them with twine. The sentiment is from All Around & Everywhere. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the sentiment and the mat, then notched the mat on both ends to slide the sentiment in. I finished with a couple of copper-colored gems. Remember that this is also the last week for our MEGA coloring contest so please hop over to the Challenge Blog to join in the fun of this sketch contest and also to show off your coloring skills in our MEGA coloring contest.

Sympathy Cards

2010-08-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well here we go again. I was determined not to have to make another sympathy card for a while but things never go as planned. My Mom's Brother passed away this week and so once again I find myself making these difficult cards. The first card is for my Aunt and second one for my Mom and Dad. On both I used K&Company papers and my Cricut with Plantin Schoolbook for the flowers. The first one has a sentiment and vine from the Calligraphy cartridge and a dove (MS punch). The second one has a sentiment and flourish from Stamping Solutions. Both fairly simply, yet hopefully effective. I want to wish everyone dropping by a wonderful weekend. Hopefully I'll be back with more [happier] cards tomorrow.

A Vintage Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-08-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Well it's Friday again and the start of my weekend. This week at Polkadoodles, Fliss has asked us to make a card with a vintage feel.

I've made my card base from some olive green card stock and added a piece cut from the Not for Girls CD - seed packets collage. I edged that with strips punched with the MS doily lace punch. The image is a stampie (one pre-colored - so lazy this week!) from the Back to Nature CD. I added a diecut sentiment (Cricut), a bit of faux stitching, and some self-adhesive pearls. Don't forget that our mega coloring contest only has about 10 days to go and the fabulous prizes offered by Letraset (makers of Pro and Aqua markers) are to die for. Visit Polkadoodles for more details and to join this week's vintage challenge.

New Challenge Blog

2010-08-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've very excited to see that one of my favorite online stores has started a challenge blog. 7 Kids College Fund is physically located just up the road from me in Phoenix. She carries a wonderful supply of stamps, papers, tools, embellishments, pencils and markers - you get the idea. Her service is terrific and shipping fast. Anyway - back to the challenge. There will be one every other Wednesday with chances to win prizes. This weeks theme is pink and polka-dots.

I immediately thought of using one of my brand new High Hopes rubber stamps - Piggie Bath (purchased from 7 Kids!). I stamped the little piggie twice and colored him with Prismas and OMS, I cut the full image out using my circle Nesties and then cut his head out to pop on with foam tape for added dimension. I also added Glossy Accents to the mud in an attempt to make it look more "watery". The sentiment is computer-generated. I doodled around the sentiment and added the faux stitching around the backing paper. All of the papers are Hobby Lobby open stock and the little flowers are a MS punch with mini-brads for centers. Thanks for taking a peek and if you're up for a challenge this is a fun one.

Polkadoodles Challenge

2010-08-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

Well here we are at Friday again (Friday, the 13th to be exact!) and for the first time in 3 weeks I don't have to work - YIPPEE! This week the challenge is to print onto acetate or vellum. I haven't done this in ages and I must remind everyone that the effects are stunning but be careful when you print onto vellum as it smudges easily. It was all I could do to keep the extra black ink on my fingers and off of the card.

I printed one of the Blossom Explosion backing papers from the Back to Nature CD onto plain vellum. I then cut panels to fit my ivory concertina card and framed them with plain black card to give a stained glass effect. I then stamped the butterfly and sentiment from the Fairy Flutterfly set - Bevvieboo. The butterfly is colored with Letraset Aquamarkers with a few highlights using regular Promarkers. I added a bit of glitter glue and Glossy Accents to the butterfly and also some doodling on the circle mount (cut with Nesties). Please remember that our MEGA coloring challenge is still going on (as well as this week's vellum/acetate one) so pop over to Polkadoodle and play along with us.

Polkadoodles Sketch Challenge

2010-08-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

Nikky has certainly got me in a Christmas card mood. I decided to take the sketch and rotate it 180 degrees. I made a “frame” card that gives an extra bit of dimension with a few little cuts and folds. The papers and sentiment are from the new Creative Christmas CD and the poinsettia is one of Nikky’s new Stamp Doodles. I wanted to show the versatility of this stamp. It’s quite large with 4 layers of petals. I colored and cut only 3 layers for the larger image and 2 for the smaller ones – also cut just the center and “popped” it onto the larger bloom. I colored with Prismas and OMS for the flower petals and a gold metallic ProMarker for the centers.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-07-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Friday again (boy the time does fly!) and time for another Polkadoodle challenge. Nikky is in the driver's seat this week and has asked us to do a card that would be suitable for either male or female. In addition, the design team has been asked to use more than one of her fabulous CD's.

I have used Back to Nature for the tree trunk and owls and All Around & Everywhere for the heart backing paper. I did diecut the HOOT HOOT HOORAY and the sideways sentiment is from Polkadoodle. Please remember to take a look at the challenge blog and enter our mega-coloring contest. Nikky has another fabulous tutorial this week and we want to see everyone's colored-creations.

Happy Friday!

2010-07-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

Well it's Friday and time for another Polkadoodle Challenge. My Grandmother passed away a couple of weeks ago and I've been gone. We had a wonderful celebration of her 100+ years of life. So I'm back from the "hot and humid" of the midwest to the "it's a dry heat" of Arizona. Also, it's my turn to host over ot Polkadoodles this week and I set the theme of Christmas in July - maybe it will cool us all off a bit - if only mentally!

My card is made using the wreath template from the brand new Creative Christmas CD. The CD is full of templates that can be used to make shaped cards or (as I did here) used for toppers on regular sized cards A4-A6. I used some stitched papers for my background (from last years Jingle Jangle CD) and also added a little birdy colored with Prismas and OMS.

I hope you'll come over to Polkadoodles and play along with us this week. There is a huge announcement and fabulous prizes for a mega-coloring contest. So if you're really into markers or any kind of coloring I suggest you go and get the details.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Well I've been so busy with family and work stuff that I think my blog is feeling a bit neglected. I did go to a weekend "cardover" with some of my best friends last weekend and a wonderful guest appearance by Heather - hostess extraordinaire of the Bitten by the Bug2 challenge. We had a great time and I actually got some holiday cards made. I'll save the Halloween for a more appropriate time but here are some 4th of July cards.

First one with my Cricut and A Child's Year cartridge.

Second one also with my Cricut and Stand and Salute Cartridge.

Third one with a Whippersnapper stamp colored with Prismas and OMS.

And last this sailor girl from CC Designs also colored with Prismas and OMS.

I'd like to wish all of my American friends a wonderful 4th of July and all of my overseas friends a wonderful fun and safe weekend.

TGIF & Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-06-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

Boy am I glad it's Friday. Things have been really busy here. In just a few short hours, I'm headed off to a 2 1/2 day card-making marathon but first it's time for another Polkadoodle challenge.

This week we're presenting boy/male birthday cards. I thought immediately of doing a baby boy card. I used the wonderful layered star cake and backing paper from the Paper Boutique Vol 1. The cake has five layers and the dimension is fabulous (you know - tons of extra postage if you're mailing-LOL!). I computer generated part of the sentiment, layered up some die-cut "2's" and used a rub on for "birthday boy". Very quick card. If you need some inspiration for boy/male birthday cards just hit the link to the challenge on the right to view my teammates lovely creations. We'd also love to have you play along.

Friday Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-06-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

Time for another fun challenge over at the Polkadoodle Challenge Blog. This week's challenge was set by Dee and she asked us to do something for Dad.

I used a backing paper from Not for Girls, the Dad topper with stars from Paper Boutique Vol 1 and a cute little owl from Back to Nature. I did leave the topper white and punched a bunch of little stars to add. I just love that all of Nikky's collections coordinate beautifully and the colors are true from one CD to another. If you don't have a card done for Dad (Father's Day is this Sunday) then come play along with us this week.

It's Friday!

2010-06-11T02:00:00.000-07:00

Yay! Time for the weekly Polkadoodles Challenge. Nettie picked the theme this week and since she's going to have a baby pretty soon she asked us to draw our inspiration from a nursery rhyme. I went with "The Cat and the Fiddle" (aka Hey Diddle Diddle or The Cow Jumped Over the Moon"). Imagine all those choices from one nursery rhyme.

I used backing papers and the fiddle from the Not for Girls CD and the cute little winking kitty (Dylan) from All Around & Everywhere. I added a computer-generated sentiment and some die cut notes. If you can draw some inspiration from a nursery rhyme please hop over to the challenge blog and play along this week.

Polkadoodles Challenge - Sew & Sew

2010-05-28T02:30:00.000-07:00

Of course when I saw Lou post this challenge I was trembling in my flip-flops! I an definitely sewing-challenged. Oh, I have a machine - what self-respecting Midwest gal doesn't get one from her Mom when she goes out on her own? Just because it's over 30 years old and has been used more by my BFF (when hers was on the blink!) than by me is no excuse. Well, I didn't break out the machine, but I did manage to actually stitch on my card and I'm right proud of the fact that I threaded the needle and managed to keep the thread in the needle while stitching the flower stems with embroidery floss.

Then I did some faux stitching around the card (I did actually punch the holes and connect the dots!). This cute little fox, background paper and sentiment are all from the new All Around & Everywhere CD. I did distress the edges of the background paper but it doesn't show up too well in this photo. Anyway...I made it through another challenge and feel pretty good about the sewing. We'd love to have you come play along with us this week. Just remember that there must be some sewing on the card - faux or the real thing. Just hit the link for the Polkadoodles Challenge over on the right.

BBTB2-Peggy Loves Vintage Contest

2010-05-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

There is a contest going on over at BBTB2 and with summer fast approaching this one really appealed to me. The contest is to use one of the free images provided by Peggy Loves Vintage and you must use one Cricut cut.

First here is the image I chose - Glen and Dorothy. They just look like they're having such a fun time on the pier - on vacation maybe?

Next is my finished card...

I cut around the image and then around Glen's feet and Dorothy's hand so I could make it look like they were playing in the water. The striped paper is from DCWV Cafe Mediterranean and I had the postcard image cut from a piece of K&Company paper. For my Cricut part I used my Life's a Beach cart and cut the title, pier post, and pelican (all enhanced with Prismas and OMS). I used my Fiskar's wave border punch to cut two shades of blue for the water. Now I'm really ready for the beach!

Fabulous

2010-05-23T09:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a little "everyday" card I made using another one of the "Cheeky" images from The Greeting Farm. I just love these glamorous ladies. She is colored with Prismas and OMS and then cut with Nesties as is the mat. I used my Cricut and Graphically Speaking for the sentiment and the flourishes behind the flowers (don't know what Cart as they were in one of my "I'll use them later drawers"). I have a couple pieces on the left side where I used my Fiskar's border punch and then I made the flowers using just a circle punch and some decorative edge scissors. All of the paper is My Mind's Eye. Thanks for dropping by. Leave a comment just to say "hi" if you have the time.

Polkadoodles-Color Challenge

2010-05-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

Fliss is hosting this week and has presented us with a color challenge based on her Mum's favorites - blue and orange/peach. If you played along last week and got the free download from Nikky (in celebration of our 1-year birthday/anniversary) you will recognize the background paper on this. I also added a Sugar Birdies paper punched on either side with a Fiskar's Apron border punch, some flowers, buttons and a sentiment topper from All Around & Everywhere and then some butterflies stamped from one of the Fairy Flutterfly sets. Lots of patterns going on here but I think they all work together. If you fancy a challenge and want to play along this week just enter HERE. We love to see your creations.

Mom's Birthday

2010-05-16T14:01:00.001-07:00

Well my Mom is having birthday next weekend. I made this card using an image from Kraftin' Kimmie. I colored her with Prismas and OMS and then cut her out with my Nesties. The cake is cut using my Cricut and Wedding Solutions (it normally has a little heart at the top and I put a flower there instead) and Happy Birthday is from Create a Critter. I computer-generated the "eat cake" and the paper is all from DCWV Latte Stack. Now I think I'm done with May "obligations" so it's on to June! Hope everyone has a great week and I do appreciate you dropping by.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

2010-05-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

I went and played with my card-making buddies yesterday and actually got some cards made! We are usually too busy catching up and laughing to get much done. I had some Penny Black images already stamped (actually I think one was a gfit from my friend Debbie in NY) so I decided to kill two birds with one stone...make my weekly card for Mom and Dad and enter the PB Saturday Challenge. The theme this week is flowers. There are a ton of PB stamps that have flowers so if you want to play along it would be easy to pick an image, use the link to your right, and enter. I colored this one with Prismas and OMS. Now you're going to ask me where I got the "letter" paper. Well, I can tell you where I got it (from my BFF's sister) and when I got it (2 summers ago) but where to credit it - who knows? I was an old 8 1/2 x 11 piece of scrapbooking paper...circa late 1990's. The kind you hoard and save for just the right card. The other paper is Making Memories and the sentiment is cut with my Cricut using the Sentimentals cartridge. I did cut the image and mat with Nesties, used my Fiskar's "bracket" border punch and added some little die-cut flowers and antique mini brads. I think that's it for this one. I'll be back later with my Mom's birthday card.

Happy Birthday Polkadoodles!

2010-05-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that it's been a year since the first Polkadoodles Challenge? I remember playing along for a few months before I was asked to join the lovely ladies on the design team. Some are gone (moved onto other ventures)and some are newer than me. What I can tell you is that Nikky (besides being a wonderfully creative and talented lady) is the best slave-driver around and I get to do this with the best bunch of ladies EVER!

Anyway on to this week's challenge. It's fitting that it's presented by Enfys as she was an original team member. She gave us two words this week...dimension and texture. I thought a lot about this one and decided on using an old material - Magic Mesh - and a new technique (for me) - alcohol inks on acetate. I'll give you a close up view and then a full view - easel cards are so hard for me to photograph.

I made sympathy card using the idea of a butterfly and the caterpillar sentiment (blatantly scraplifted from my BFF). I stamped the butterfly from Nikky's Fairy Flutterfly set "Meeshelle" on acetate and colored the backs with alcohol inks. Really, this is first time I've used this technique (I won't tell you how long I've had the inks!) and I love the effect. I scored on either side of their bodies and folded their wings up for my dimension. I put each one on a circle (cut with a Nestie) of Magic Mesh. The backing paper is from the new CD All Around and Everywhere and the big sentiment is from the same fairy stamp set. I computer-generated the caterpillar saying and added the smaller stamped butterfly. I hope you like it and want to play along with out birthday challenge. There is a download of free papers for you to use this week and we can't wait to see what you create.

Hello

2010-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

Since it's Mother's Day and I can do what I want (except for that pesky laundry!), I've been working on some cards. Here's one I started a few weeks ago and decided to finish up. I do this a lot. I get the main image or design down and then I set it aside and wait for some sort of inspiration (translate that to looking at someone else's work to get a great idea!) to complete it. Both images (the sitting girl and the stump) are from CC Designs. They are colored with Prismas and OMS. I cut her out and popped her onto the tree stump that I had cut out with a Nestie. All of the paper is DCWV Latte Stack. I also used some punches (MS deep lattice border punch, MS branch, and EK Success tiny butterfly). The flowers are from the M's wedding department shaded with eggplant chalk ink. You get tons of these flowers in this cute little pail that would be a great item to alter later. I layered 2 together and fastened them with some mini brads. The sentiment is cut my Cricut and Stamping Solutions cartridge. I hope everyone has a fabulous Mother's Day - doing what you love and being with the ones you love.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

2010-05-08T11:50:00.001-07:00

I'm always so happy when I have time for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I have been using stamps from PB for about 15 years now and every year they put out fresh new products and even bring back some of the great oldies. This week they have a sketch to celebrate their 100th challenge.

This stamp is from one of my T for Tranparent sets - Bubbly. I made this with a girlfriend in mine who just loves the PB cats. I colored the image with Prismas and OMS. I cut the image, the green dotted circle and the scalloped mat using Nesties. All of the paper is from Making Memories, Chloe's Closet. I added some faux stitching, a few mini brads and then a diecut flower with a rhinestone brad center. The sentiment is stamped directly onto the backing paper and is from Studio G. If you have some PB images, there is link to the challenge on my right side bar.

Love You Muchly

2010-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

So first I have to tell you a story. I get home from work on Wednesday and there is this big 14"x14" Priority Mail box from AddictedtoRubberStamps. Well, I know I only ordered 3 stamps and a 6"x6" Basic Gray paper pad. So DH is already thinking "what did she buy this time?". He doesn't really care - just likes to give me a hard time. Well, I order from these people quite a bit and so I usually get something free every time. One of the free items this time was a 12"x12" sheet of paper so they had to put that on cardboard (their paper always comes pristine - no ragged edges/corners!) and then throw in the other items. I got this huge box all because of one piece of paper! I just thought it was funny. Anyway...here is a new line (to me at least!) from My Favorite Things called Pure Innocence and they are the cutest stamps! I just had to have this one as I love the sentiment. She is called Flower Girl.

I pulled this paper out of my stash and it looked so soft and sweet that I decided to stamp my image on watercolor paper and color her with watercolors. I haven't used them for ages, but it really is just like riding a bike. I used a Fiskar's border punch on the left-hand side of the card and put down a strip of the same paper on the inside of the card. I stamped the sentiment on a coordinating striped paper and added some little Jolee's vellum flowers (they are not quite so blue in real life!) and leafy stems. I think I'll be buying some more of these stamps. If I don't get back I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. Whether you're a Mom or not, you deserve to be happy!

Summer Blossoms

2010-05-07T02:00:00.000-07:00

Well it's Friday and time for another Polkadoodles Challenge. I took it quite literally this week since the theme is "Summer Blossoms". I've given you two views of this cute little stair-step card...one to show the depth and one to show the full-on view.

I just printed a bunch of the stacking flowers from the new CD - All Around and Everywhere. Instead of stacking them, I scattered them all over the card steps. I also printed and cut out two of the cute little birdies, put one in the amongst the flowers and one on the side. I diecut the sun and sentiment (using my Cricut). The card is also made from one of the backing papers included on the CD - I just love gingham. I did doodle on all of the flowers and leaves for some added interest. PLEASE check out this week's Challenge and play along with us. We love to see your creations.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

2010-05-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

I had some time so I thought I'd play along with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - "Get Punchy".

I used my Penny Black Poppies stamp (3949H). I stamped it twice, colored the images with Prismas and OMS, and then cut the blossoms out of one to pop onto the other. My original idea was to do an all white card except for the image but just didn't like it. So I also colored just the edges of the white MS punched butterflies and chose some simple poppy and green cardstock for the accent matting and the tiny butterflies. I did use one other punch - the MS deep lattice punch and then added a sentiment cut with my Cricut and Just Because cartridge.

Mother's Day x80

2010-05-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Things are kind of hectic around here right now so I'm going to post some things I've done in the last couple of weeks. This one is for my Grandmother.

She had my Father the day after her 20th birthday. She is now 100 so this is her 80th Mother's Day. I used my Cricut and cut the card base from Wild Card. I cut the big stylized flower, Grandma, and Mother's Day from the Mother's Day cartridge and added the "x80" from Jasmine. I used my 1/4" hole punch for some flower centers, a MS punch for the butterfly, and then added some pearls. She is still very sharp and I think she'll like it. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Waiting for Mr. Right

2010-04-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

I was kind of on a coloring frenzy yesterday. When I get new stamps I tend to ink them up and stamp a few and then throw them in my "I'll color them later" drawer. I went scavaging yesterday morning and pulled out a few, colored them, AND actually made the cards up. My BFF will be happy with this as my #1 New Year's resolution was to finish what I start and I am happy to report that I now have only 2 other pieces "in the works".

This stamp is from The Greeting Farm - Miss Anya Dressy set. She is colored with Prismas and OMS. The paper has been in my stash for about 4-5 years...a very old 6x6 stacker that no longer has the cover. I used my Nesties to cut several mats and my new Fiskar's border punch (I like to call it the bracket punch). I computer-generated the sentiment and that little 3-D butterfly is from the $ bin at Michael's. I also used my MS branch punch and Cosmos punch for the flower and added a rhinestone brad. Happy Saturday everyone.

Mom

2010-04-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to test my "realistic" coloring skills with this card. Many years ago now my BFF and I owned a wholesale flower business - yes we did! For 10 years we sold to florists and made arrangements for several grocery chains. She was definitely the creative force while I lurked in the background - buying, keeping the books, etc. Anyway, one of my favorite flowers for special occasions is the Stargazer Lily and I attempted to duplicate their fabulous look on this card.

I used my Cricut and cut the lilies from the Easter cartridge in plain heavy white card then colored them with Prismas and OMS. Mom is cut from the Mother's Day cartridge. I added some simple punched butterflies (MS and EK Success) and self-adhesive gold gems. The backing paper is K&Company. I think she'll like it [almost] as much as the real thing! I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'd love it if you have time to say "hi".

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-04-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

Yea! it's Friday and Nikky has another brand new CD debuting this morning. Please check out the Challenge Blog for details. This week Nettie has asked us to go monochromatic (try saying that 3 times really fast-LOL!) and most of us on the design team have opted to use elements from the new CD so you get a wonderful sneak peak today.

I chose a orangish/yellowish color and had a cardstock to match (big bonus!). I used a heart-shaped sentiment topper, some stacking flowers and buttons, and a little bird stampie. I tried to color him as close to the main color as possible using my Prismas and OMS. Oh so quick and easy and a delightful little "everyday" card for my stash. Please click on the link above and check out the other examples then play along with us this week. We love seeing your creations.

Spread Your Wings

2010-04-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

What am I doing posting in the middle of a Monday you might ask? Well, we got home from our niece's wedding yesterday and took today to catch up. I am not a happy camper! I got home and went to download all of my wedding pics and my camera couldn't read my memory card. Oh, was I upset. I spent this morning going to just about every place I know that has a reader (all of the drug stores, Target, etc.) and it's just got to be reformatted...all of my pics will be lost! Hopefully I will get some emailed from my two SIL's soon and can share some of the beauty of Sedona, AZ with you. Until then...

I decided to play with some of my new Polkadoodles Fairy Flutterfly stamps. If some areas look a bit "smudgy" it's because of my mood and total lack of patience after stamping them!

First let me show you what you get with this set called Meeshelle. Notice you get six stamps and they are a great value.

Now here's what I've done.

I stamped Meeshelle on white card and then again on a 3x3 sticky note (just her top half). I cut her out of the sticky note to make a mask, put the mask on top of the first stamped image and then inked up the big butterfly and stamped it right on top of Meeshelle putting the wings right behind her. Then I colored her with Prismas and OMS. I cut some marquees using my Cricut and Storybook and the sentiment from Straight From the Nest. AND then I used (very sneaky of me!) a backing paper from Nikky's brand new CD that will be released this Friday. So use the link above to see all of the fabulous Fairy Flutterfly stamp sets and learn more about her new CD "All Around & Everywhere". That's it for now...I'm done crying over pictures...time for some wine! Have a great week.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-04-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

TGIF and time for another Polkadoodle Challenge. As most of you are seeing this, we're are on our way to beautiful Sedona, AZ to attend our niece's wedding tomorrow. We're so looking forward to a little get-away at a first-class resort and having absolutely nothing to do with the wedding except attend - yippee! OK, back to the challenge...animal magic.

I chose the funky monkey from the latest CD - Paper Boutique Vol. 1. All I did was cut him out and place him on my card. I really don't remember which CD the backing paper is from but it looks like little vines so I went with it. I added one of Nikky's fill-in toppers to provide the sentiment and I couldn't resist adding some die-cut vines (Cricut using Zoobaloo). Please take a sec to hop over to the challenge blog (link over on the right) and play along this week. Don't forget that Nikky has some fabulous new fairy stamps (extremely good value!) for sale in the Polkadoodle Store...you just might want to give them a try. Well, that's about it (thank heaven for scheduled posts)...I'll be back Sunday evening. Have a great weekend.

Just 4 You

2010-04-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

I got to play with my card-making buddies yesterday and actually managed to get some cards made. We usually have so much to catch up on and then there is that never-ending laughter... Our whole family is invited to my bosses Grandson's 4th birthday party next weekend. Unfortunately, we're going to be in beautiful Sedona, Arizona for my niece's wedding so I made this card to send him to let him know we're thinking of him.

I used my Cricut and my brand-new Create a Critter cartridge. I wasn't going to buy this one and then thought of all the cute animal cards to make for kids. Once I opened it I was very glad I did! The invitation was a dinosaur so I decided to use one of the two dinosaur cuts. Each of the main images has about 5 layers if you cut the shadow. It took my a minute (I'm naturally "slow") to figure them out but once I did it was all good. I used patterned papers from DCWV Citrus collection and solid colored cardstock. Dino is cut at 3.5" and the "just 4 you" is cut at 2". I also used an EK Success border punch and Happy Birthday is from Stamping Solutions cut at 1.5" and run horizontally instead of one word above the other. I used my Cuttlebug and Mosaic folder to emboss the top layer. I think it looks bright and cheery - perfect for a 4-year old. Thanks for dropping in and I always appreciate it if you have time to leave a comment.

Polkadoodles Challenge

2010-04-09T02:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! Kerry is hosting the challenge this week and I was very excited that she chose for us to make a wedding card. She has a niece getting married today and I have a niece getting married next Saturday.

For this I used background papers and pieces of toppers from the Love & Cherish CD - the Moonlight collection. There is nothing quite so elegant or striking as black with silver and white. I added some die cut hearts (Nesties) and an embossed sentiment (Sizzix) along with a silver ribbon...rather quick and easy. If you want to play along just follow the link to the Polkadoodle Challenge blog over at the right side. We'd love to see your creations. Also note that Nikky has added some fabulous new fairy stamps to the Polkadoodle store - you're gonna wanna get your mitts on these!

Easter Wishes

2010-04-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

We're being a bit selfish today as this is our first weekend without my folks being in town since the middle of December. SO!, we're just hanging out - the two of us. I did to want post this card to wish all of my blogging friends a wonderful day filled with sunshine, friendship, and love.

I used the Little Chicks set from Pink Petticoat (there are 6 images in the digital download) and colored it with Prismas and OMS. I cut the image out with my oval Nesties and also cut an oval Nestie scalloped border. The flower border is cut with my Cricut using Straight From the Nest. I doodled a bit and added some little punched butterflies. The embossed backing paper is Heidi Grace. Thanks for dropping by and have a great day.

What's the BUZZ about?

2010-04-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well, in two weeks we have two very important things happening in our family. This is for one them - my SIL's 50th birthday. She is the last in our family to make that big turn so I thought a special card was in order.

My brother is a CPA and is working crazy hours right now and it's a good thing my SIL's birthday is two days AFTER the tax deadline or I'm sure it would be just her and the kids-LOL! And since it's right in the middle of spring, I decided on that for my theme. I used my Cricut and cut the grass and flower stems from Straight From the Nest, the cupcake "flowers" are from Stamping Solutions, the bees from Sentimentals, and the flowers from George/Basic Shapes. I computer-generated the sentiments and added a bunch of Stickles and Glossy Accents to the cupcakes. I believe the background paper is DCWV (but can't be sure as it was laying loose on the shelf!). The inside says "It's only 50!". Thanks for taking a peek and I hope you have/had a wonderful Easter.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-04-02T02:30:00.000-07:00

Well it's Friday and time for another challenge over at Polkadoodle. Ruth is hosting this week and coincidentally she has asked us to make a birthday card as it's her birthday! This is what I came up with (sad to admit it was last minute after getting my folks ready to head back to Kansas) but I think Ruth would love to have a great big cupcake!

I used some more cuts that I had printed last fall along with a background paper from the new Paper Boutique CD. I colored the cupcake with Prismas and OMS and added lots of Stickles and then Glossy Accents on the cherry. The sentiment is computer-generated. I hope Ruth likes her cupcake. Now if you want to play along this week (come on, everyone can use another birthday card in their stash!) use the link over on the right and show us your birthday card.

Seriously!

2010-03-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a little card I did this morning - very quick and easy!

I am lovin' this Forever Young cartridge - especially when using only part of the model. This is model14 cut in black cardstock. I only cut the solid dress and then used some hole punches and a couple of silhouette circles (cut with George/Basic Shapes) to make her dress look as retro as the backing paper from American Crafts. I computer-generated the sentiment and added a bit of bling for some jewelry. Hope you think it's fun too!

Perfect Spring Day

2010-03-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

In the midst of these past few weeks I had [almost-LOL!] forgotten that I have several new Cricut carts that I haven't used yet. I put together this little using some the new ones and some of my old favorites.

I used Heritage for the fence, Forever Young for my gal walking the dog (I did cut her hand away from the body so she could hold the leash), Everyday Paper Dolls for the grass/bushes, my brand spanking new [can't-ever-say-I've-never-ordered-from-HSN-again!] Straight From the Nest for the branch and bird, and Paper Pups for the dog. I hand-cut the leash and added a few little punched flowers. This is kind of different for me as there is no sentiment on the front of the card but I don't really think it needs one. I hope you all are also having some nice spring weather and thanks for popping by. Leave me a quick "hello" if you have the time.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-03-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

Well if it's Friday, it must be time for a Polkadoodle Challenge! This week's fun project has us using a sketch and only black and white and one other color.

My third color choice was "ruled" by these little blue flowers just sitting in my scrap bin. I also use the cute swirlie background paper from Sugar Birdies and a peacock silhouette from Back to Nature. I used my oval scalloped Nesties for the solid mats and a MS border punch. I also added some rhinestones and a little stamped sentiment and that's about it. Please join in our fun this week. Hop over to the blog (link on the right side) to see the other DT examples, take a peek at the sketch, and play along. We love seeing your creations.

CHILL OUT

2010-03-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a little birthday card I did for a friend of ours that we had lunch with today. We sometimes go together with my BFF and her DH - one does the shopping, one makes the card and it was my turn to make the card. The patterned paper has been in my stash forever so I have no idea where it came from. The image/sentiment is from Inkadinkado colored with Prismas and OMS and matted with Nesties. I used my Cricut to add the "chill out" (Stamping Solutions) and little turtle border cut (Walk in My Garden). Just a quick and fun little card. Thanks so much for dropping by.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-03-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

I truly feel as though I'm back. I couldn't wait to join my lovely Design Team friends in this week's challenge presented by our ferocious and funny leader - Nikky!

There is a fabulous sketch and a "command" to use only brown and blue. I chose to fussy cut some flowers from the Climbing Rose collection on the Love & Cherish CD and then I used the new Paper Boutique (vol 1) for the backing papers and mats. One really neat little feature of this CD is shown on the mat shape that my sentiment is printed on. All you do is highlight the shape, type your own text, and print it out. How easy is that? I hope you will follow the link on the right to check out the sketch and other samples for this week, then play along. There are always bragging rights and other nifty things to be won.

Penny Black Challenge

2010-03-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

One the best ways I know to get back in the swing of things is to do some challenges. I just love Penny Black stamps and so I came up with this for their challenge this week - spring colors. This little lady looks like she's ready for a spring walk to me.

This stamp is called "Bee Sweet" and even though it first appeared many years ago, it is still available from Dick @ PB Stamps (see link on the side bar). She is colored with Prismas and OMS (I'm still old school and right now too cheap to buy into Copics!). I added a shape that was embossed with my Cuttlebug and Birds & Swirls folder and a sentiment from Hero Arts. I added a pair of braces cut with my Cricut and 3 little golden gems. The paper is Marcella K/K&Company. I hope you all have a great Sunday and I'd like to wish all of my UK friends a Happy Mum's Day.

2010-03-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

I think I'm on a roll. Another brand new card and it's only 1:00pm! Of course, Easter is only 3 weeks away so I have lots more to do.

This is one my favorite Whipper Snapper images colored with Prismas and OMS. It is also the first time I've used my new Cricut carts - Heritage for the frame (it's a charm cut with the the little circle cut off) and Forever Young for the layered flowers (they have about 10 different ones that are so adorable!). The patterned paper is Brenda Walton-K&Company. I also used a Fiskars border punch, my Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder, and added some Stickles and simple doodling. Thanks for dropping by. It's gorgeous here today so I might take a break and go outside and get some Vitamin D. TTFN!

Happy Easter

2010-03-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm slowly but surely climbing out of my funk. I completed a new card this morning but can't show you that until next Friday's Polkadoodle challenge. So instead, I'll post this little Easter card I made at my good friend Carole's house over a month ago.

The image is from Stampavie colored with Prismas and OMS and the sentiment is one I borrowed and have no idea who to give credit to! The paper is K&Company. I used my Nesties, a MS border punch, added some doodling, a punched butterfly (also MS), and some self-adhesive gems. I'm so behind! I'd better get crackin' as Easter will be here before know it. Happy Saturday and I'd love it if you have time to leave a comment.

LUCKY

2010-03-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all and happy Saturday. I've been MIA for a couple of weeks (except for my scheduled Polkadoodle post last Friday). My sister was tragically taken from us almost 2 weeks ago and just yesterday we finished with all of the things one has to do when this sort of thing occurs. It's now time to move forward and prepare for Easter and spring. Here's a little card I put together this morning for St. Patrick's Day. I had everything cut and printed a couple of weeks ago I am hoping that it stirs my "mojo" (which is sadly missing). So sorry the photo is kind of "wonky" but the sun is not cooperating today!

The little leprechaun stamp was from a clear set I purchased at Joann's on clearance last year. He is colored with Prismas and OMS. LUCKY is cut with my Cricut and the Stamping Solutions cart - regular and shadow - and then run through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder. I computer-generated the sentiment and added a felt shamrock. Thanks so much for dropping in and for those of of you whose kind words and heartfelt wishes helped me so much in the last two weeks - I say "thank you".

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-02-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

Good morning and happy Friday to everyone. This week's challenge is to make a shaped card. I turned to my Cricut and the Wild Card cartridge and cut a simple triangle card. I'm still trying to plow through my scrap drawer and this is what I've come up with.

I've used bit and pieces from Candy Doodles, Sugar Birdies, Back to Nature, and even an owl cut from Love & Cherish. Just goes to show you how easy it is to coordinate from several CD's - the colors and such run true from one to the other. Please take a peek at the challenge blog this week (link on the right) and see what fabulous creations my DT friends have come up with. Hope everyone has a great weekend...Kris

Anniversary card for DH

2010-02-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well it's time for our anniversary - in like 2 years! Bill has a very smug sense of humor and when we married he decided that February 29th would be a great day. He figured (WRONG!) that he would only have to buy a really nice gift every 4 years. Well, I fixed that right off the bat...since there is is no 29th we have to celebrate on the 28th and on March 1st-LOL!

Anyway...I got some really cute new stamps from The Greeting Farm and this is one from their "Cheeky" collection. In keeping with the fact (it is Arizona after all) that our annual rodeo starts this weekend and continues well past our anniversary [days] I thought this would be appropriate.

This "Cheeky Shooter" is colored with Prismas and OMS. I used my Cricut to cut the WANTED poster from Graphically Speaking and the star badge from A Child's Year. I added a couple of hand-cut corners, gems to her belt, and some doodling. The background paper is K&Company. The inside is says "This ain't our first rodeo!". Thanks for dropping in and if you have time...I love your comments.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-02-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! Well it's my turn to host over at the Polkadoodle Challenge this week. I decided to come up with a little sketch (when you pop over there, excuse the drawing - it's my first time!) and then ask everyone to put a bird somewhere on their project. Here's mine.

I've printed a lot of gorgeous papers from Nikky's CD's and my scrap drawer is filling up, so my cards for the next few challenges will also be using up some of these scraps. Please go check out the rest of the DT examples and play along with us this week.

Tilda w/Sentimentals again!

2010-02-13T13:38:00.001-07:00

I'm only doing these to make SandiK and DebbieL drool! Another reason you must have this cart ladies. This is my latest attempt to marry Tilda with my Cricut Sentimentals cart. Of course Tilda is colored with Prismas and OMS, then cut out and popped up on the desk. I cut the desk at 3" in a very dark brown and then the drawers in a lighter shade. I used amber-colored gems for the drawer pulls and cut one of the ornate frames (2") and lined it with frosted vellum to give the appearance of a mirror on the wall. The books are cut from HK Greetings, her little doggy from Paper Pups, and the sentiment from Wild Card. I just love using my Cricut and Tilda together - a perfect combination for me. Thanks for dropping in. Leave me a comment if you have the time.

Calendar Easel Card

2010-02-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

Well last week I gave you sneak peek of a little something I made for my friends for our card-making weekend. Here's the finished product. I had 3 little 2010 calendars left over from making some post-it note holders before Christmas and I thought this would be a cute little memento that could be set by the computer at home or work. The easel card is 4.5" square. For the face I cute a 3" square piece and punched out the center to make a frame for my computer-generated sentiment. Then I punched each side with a Fiskar's border punch. I added a branch (SYI) and butterfly (GS) cut with my Cricut and some other butterflies using a MS punch. I glued down the front edge of the calendar and popped up the back with foam dimensionals. The paper is double-sided from open stock at Joann's (Heidi Grace/Fiskars). Thanks for taking another look. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-02-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

I missed doing last week's challenge as I took a few days to go to Phoenix with my Tucson scrappin' friends. We had a lovely time visiting my good friend Carole Beath and I'm sure that I'll upload some of my cards and pics over the weekend. But first, another fantastic challenge over at Polkadoodles this week set by Dolly. We were to do hearts and flowers in honor of Valentine's Day and we could use any of Nikky's fabulous CD's. I used the newest Love & Cherish CD for the focal paper on this one and then cut some flowers from the Sugar Birdie's CD. I just added a MS border punch, some stickers to spell the word LOVE, and scattered some of the hearts from the border punch...quick and easy! So if you still need a little romantic card play along with us with us this week at Polkadoodles.

...you old bird!

2010-01-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a birthday card I did a few weeks ago and realized I hadn't posted. It's for a good friend of ours and since we're all a bunch of "old birds" I think it's just perfect for her. The bird and sentiments are from an Inkadinkado set. I used my Nesties and cut some mats for the bird and colored with Prismas and OMS and then added some doodling around the edge. I used my Fiskar's punch for the bottom edge and then my brand new MS Bird-on-a-Wire border punch. I also punched some little flowers and added a few golden gems.

Now I have a little sneak peek of something I've been working on for my scrapping buddies. The three of us from Tucson are going up to Phoenix next weekend to my dear friend Carole Beath's for 2 1/2 days of card-making - that is if can stop laughing long enough to make a card. So here's the peek and I'll post the entire thing when I get back next Sunday. I hope everyone has a fabulous week.

Polkadoodle Challenge

2010-01-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

Our challenge - presented this week by Kerry - was to come up with a Valentine using unconventional colors - no pink or red. I turned to the Back to Nature CD and made one of the shaped cards. I altered it just a bit, making a double gate instead of a single stall and used one of the alphabet sets for VALENTINE. I'm not sure Nikky had my irreverent computer-generated inside saying in mind. Oh well, hope you all get a chuckle out of it and please make a visit to the challenge blog (link on the right) and play along. We love seeing your creations.

Time for Love

2010-01-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

Get it - watch - time for love - of course you do! Well I am truly in love with these Kraftin Kimmie stamps. This guy "Chester" came with the pocket watch and I checked out the DT blog this week and the challenge was to make a card with no embellies so I decided to have a go. Chester is colored with Prismas and OMS. I used some Nesties to cut his mats and trimmed off a black corner and stuck it on top. I used a punch for the hearts and computer-generated the sentiment. The patterned papers are DCWV (red) and Polkadoodles (black/silver). Thanks for taking a peek and you know I appreciate your comments.

Tilda w/Cricut-Sentimentals

2010-01-23T09:50:00.001-07:00

I haven't colored a Tilda in a while and I knew when I saw this chair on my new Sentimentals cart that I had to put her on it. I chose Tilda with Christmas Stockings and decided to color her with various shades of blue - more for winter. Of course, I used Prismas and OMS. I cut the marquee mats and the foliage from Storybook, the chair and sentiment from Sentimentals, and the blue flowers from Plantin Schoolbook. The patterned papers are K&Company and I used a MS punch around the card [border] punch on the top and bottom. I will save this for when my folks leave Arizona to return to Kansas in the spring. Thanks for dropping by and your comments are always appreciated.

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetie

2010-01-22T17:22:00.001-07:00

I was finally able to play with some of my new stamps this afternoon. I was lucky to get a pic as we've had 3 inches of rain so far this week and are expecting another inch or more tonight. Back to the card...these cute little skunks are from Kraftin' Kimmie. I colored them with Prismas and OMS (I will splurge for markers one day - just not yet!). The paper is from Making Memories, Sabrina Collection. I added a pink felt heart button and cut Sweetie with my Cricut and the Sentimentals cart. Thanks for dropping by and I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Polkadoodle Challenge-Color Call + Sketch

2010-01-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

Ruth is hosting again over at Polkadoodles this week and we have a lovely sketch and have been asked to use the colors red and orange. Hop over (link on the right) and see all of the lovely creations that used the colors as the main colors. I chose to use them as accents to my black and white. I've given you 2 views - one to show the dimension of the flower and one of the full card. We could use any CD(s) and I wanted to show how versatile all of the papers and images are. The background paper is a harlequin design from Jingle Jangle (Christmas CD) and the stacked flower from Back to Nature with the flowers printed on red and orange card stock. I added a butterfly from Candy Doodles, computer-generated the sentiment, and added a bit of doodling for the butterfly trail. Please take a look and play along. There are bragging rights and great prizes for the challenge winners.

It's The Little Things

2010-01-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

WOW - it's Sunday afternoon and I've finished 3 Valentine's this weekend. This little card is made mostly with my Cricut. I used the Sweethearts cart for the tag (cut the couple using the tag feature and then the plain tag in shadow) and for Cupid (regular and shadow). I used Opposites Attract for the love block and the little heart stick pin bouquet. The sentiment is a stamp from Daisy Bucket. I added a hand-cut corner, some ribbon, and little gems. I think the paper was open stock from Joann's - I've had it for ages. I've cleaned up my craft room and I'm ready for some stamping. I got 2 lovely packages this week. I almost feel like a jet-setter...Fairy Doodles from GB and Kraftin' Kimmie from Canada (thanks so much for the enabling on the 2nd one, Margie!) so I'm ready to play with my new goodies. Hopefully work will not interfere too much and I'll be back with some new projects at the end of the week.