Happy Thursday!

Hello there and I hope you are having a great week!! 

Guess why I am happy this Thursday?  

Well for me, today is like my Friday!!  

I have tomorrow off and I can't wait!!  :-)

I hope to have a fun day participating in tomorrow's Friends with Flair blog hop and creating some cards with my friend Vianna who is coming over to craft with me!!  I am so looking forward to my day off!!

For today I am going to start you off with three snippets that I can share with you for 

tomorrow's new release at Whimsie Doodles!

Got some ideas of what you will be seeing in full tomorrow?  Well trust me when I say that you won't be disappointed!  Once again Melyssa has created some fabulous digi AND rubber stamps for you!!

Come back tomorrow to see all the new goodies!!

Today I am going to share with you another card I made 
for last Friday's VSN challenges. 

 

This one was called Snow Blind, FEB10VSND. Our challenge was to create a card that contained mostly white including the cardstock, DP and embellies. We were allowed to color our images a little though!

The great news is that I was able to sneak in another sketch from the  Master Sketch list on my journey to work through all the SCS sketch challenges.  

Here is the sketch that I used...SC21

As you can see I flipped the sketch upright.  My panels were created using white CS that I embossed in two different patterns with CB Embossing Folders.  And then for the main image panel I cut out a shape using a Nestie Labels 4.

Here is a closeup of the image I chose to use.  I called my card White Wedding.  But I think this could also be given to someone who just got engaged too.  I thought it came out pretty nice considering the 45 minute time restriction to making our creations!  the stamp is from SU and the ribbon is a recycled one from a package I got at Christmas!  I used Copics to color the little bits of pink on the dress and the tiny pearls are from Studio 18 I believe.

Sorry for the crappy pictures, but I am happy to say that I have fixed one of the lights for my light box that has been  broken for  a while now and I should be able to get better pictures without so much shadowing in the future!

Well I am off to get busy making some more cards!!  I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will be back tomorrow for a really fun day!!  May your bucket be flowing over with fun things to look forward to on your days off this weekend!!

A Cause and a Challenge!

Yesterday I was fortunate to NOT get called in to work so it gave me a lot of time in my scraproom.  I started by putting all my leftover supplies away that I had used recently.  Then, with a cleared desk there was nothing else to do but make it dirty again!!  LOL!

While blurfing around yesterday I ran across Lori Craig's post HERE, who referenced Taylor VanBruggen's post HERE about this card drive that is going on for a wonderful cause that is close to my heart.  Many of you know that I work with babies!  Well my official title is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.  What that means is that I am an advanced practice nurse who takes care of sick babies.  I know all too well about the struggles of parents as they deal with the loss of a baby.  Thankfully I don't work in the NICU right now, so I don't see as many losses as I used to, but you never forget the grief of a parent once you have seen it.

So when I heard that they were having a Dragonfly Card Drive to collect cards to give to bereaved parents who have suffered a loss of a pregnancy or a baby, I knew that I wanted to help out!  

I made three "girl" cards yesterday and will work on some "boy" ones today!  The cards are supposed to have a Dragonfly on them because that is their symbol of hope for the parents who have suffered a loss.

I took the opportunity to continue using more SCS sketches as I continue on in my journey to use ALL the sketches from the Master List at SCS!  I really love sketch challenges and it is great to have a card idea already laid out so all I have to do is play around with the elements!  :-)

I made two of the same card that came from Sketch number SC11...

Here are the cards following that sketch...

The Dragonflies are from a border stamp by Katie & Co.  The Sentiment and Footprints stamp are from PaperTrey Ink's With Sympathy: Loss of Child set.  The DP is from MM and is actually scraps from a previous project that I thought looked sweet and soft for a baby.  The border punch is called Loops from MS.

To make the footprints become the soft pink like that, I stamped them with my Versamark watermark  ink and then rubbed pink Inkadinkadoo chalk over the top of it.  It allows the image to be colored in a soft pastel, but still lets the words read through beautifully.  I also chalked the edges of the sentiment panel.

The next card I made uses SC06...

I designed this card so that the tag could be removed to show the baby's information on the back.  The Dragonfly and flower silhouettes are from Unity's May09 KOM.

This sentiment is from the same PTI set called With Sympathy: Loss of Child.  One confession I have to make is that the subtle stamping of the words and the silhouettes below the sentiment is NOT intentional.  I had the whole card done when I finally stamped the sentiment on this layer and of course I DROPPED my inky stamp right onto my project and it bounced twice.  It left a subtle stamping of the sentiment.  I wanted to cry because that was the last of the striped DP and it was otherwise ruined.  So instead of tossing the whole thing, I decided to [try and] make it looks like it was on PURPOSE!!  And above is the result of the finished product.  While not perfect, I think I was able to salvage it!

This is what the front of the tag looks like in full view showing off the two gorgeous Unity stamps!

And on the back of the tag I used this Amuse Baby Announcement tag so the parents could fill out the information about their baby and keep this tag as a keepsake and reminder.  Having been with many parents after a loss, I know that they truly enjoy the mementos they can have of their babies.  Where I work we always provide a picture (if they want one) of their baby all wrapped up and "resting" peacefully.  After many years in the field, it doesn't get easier and I end up crying right along with the saddened parents and family members.

I hope that many of you will be inspired to participate in this card drive.  If you are interested, please check out Taylor's post about it HERE.

Now how about a quick attempt at comicsl relief after the deep topic we discussed above?

On the 20th of each month the Dirty Dozen Girls and DD Alumni are challenged to make a card.  This month our hostess was none other than Jeanne Streiff  who gave us a challenge called Funny Thing is... We were to make a card using our sense of humor and we were restricted from using any sparkles, glitter or the like!

Again I used a SCS sketch!  This time SC23...

And here is my funny card...

The funny thing is really all contained within the sentiment that comes from this SU set called Sassy Suzie.  I am in love with the red and yellow color combos that I keep seeing around the galleries and so I decided to do a card using those colors predominantly.  This K & Co. paper was just the perfect find.  I colored in my image using Copics.  And added a dollar spot ribbon that I found at Target.  The brads come from BG.

Can you read the sentiment from this closeup?  It's a real hoot!!  (Notice I didn't say Hooters!! LOL!!)  The inside of the card says Happy Birthday!! It was a fun challenge that was relaxing to work on because I got to color!!  :-)

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get you guys all caught up with my creations.  I hope to work on the boy Dragonfly cards today!

Have a great weekend and may your bucket be overflowing with family time and fun while making happy memories to scrapbook later!

Cherry Blossom Birthday

I still haven't had the kind of quality time I long for in my scrap room over the past few days, but I did manage to get one card finished and another one started. I am working on some cards to enter into the Fall DT contest at SCS in the Clean and Simple Forum. Jen (MissBoo) has put together three seperate challenges for us to follow.

Her first challenge is to create a card using the sketch seen in THIS card.

I decided to go a Oriental. I hadn't had a chance to ink up my cute little Hero Arts Japanese dolls that I bought a while back so now was the time!

Here is what I made...




The doll is paper pieced using some BG DP from the Lemonade collection. The cherry blossom branches are from SU. I colored them in using a mix of Copics. The sentiment is from Custer's Last Stamp which I stamped in SU ink (Sage Shadow). I added a light gray outline around the doll and gave her a shadow underneath her and then I sponged the background to give a little more color. To finish it off I added the strip of paper up top that I used a MS Border Punch on and then added the trim and the oriental coin to complete the piece!

To see the rest of the submissions, you can visit the gallery HERE!

Thanks for taking a look! I am hoping for a nice Monday. Sunday wasn't so nice with four deliveries at work! Today I have to find some time to get my son some back-to-school clothes. He starts back tomorrow and has grown like a weed over the summer!

Have a wonderful day and may your bucket overflow with blossoms of happiness!

Everyone Needs a Little Inspiration!

Dictionary.com defines inspiration as

• Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.
  
• The condition of being so stimulated.

Don't you feel sometimes that you could use a little inspiration? Doesn't your mojo leave you temporarily and you struggle to find just the right stamp to ink up or the right paper to use? Well thankfully SCS has designed a way to help us get out of those ruts and to find inspiration from other artists and websites. Every Saturday you can log into the SCS Inspiration Challenge Forum and find many ways to be inspired.

Last Saturday we were inspired by Bellacor Vases that can be found HERE. There were over 1500 vases to choose from and anyone could find something to inspire them. As soon as I saw this vase HERE, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had found my inspiration!!

Here is the card that I created after being inspired by that Bellacor Vase.

I decided that not only do I need inspiration sometimes, but so do others who are struggling with one of life's toughest battles... the loss of a loved one. I kept this card clean and simple because when you are trying to comfort someone who is grieving, it is better to take the minimalist approach so the true sentiments can be felt. I used my Unity silhouette flowers from the Birdie Inspiration set and lengthened the stems using a Sharpie Fine tip marker.

When I created this card I was hoping that I could inspire someone going through a tough time and move their mind to a higher level of feeling loved by me. On the inside of the card I used a Stampin Up sympathy stamp that says...

May God's love

heal your sorrow, and may

His peace replace your

heartache with

warm and loving memories.

I also played along with yesterday's Inspiration Challenge IC193 that can be found HERE! This time we were to be inspired by an ecclectic online store called The Curiosity Shoppe. They had really neat ideas and I found lots of creations that I would want to CASE or borrow! I chose THESE Earrings as my inspiration.

When I saw them my mind went directly to Dawn McVey's Damask Designs stamps from PTI and to the Ambrosia Collection by Basic Grey. So with the lace earrings as my inspiration, and the Damask stamps along with some BG, I was led and they led me to make this rather formal Birthday card...

I cut out one of my label nesties twice in one size and once in a large size. Then by turning one of them 45 degrees I was able to create this medallion like mat for my stamp. I decided to stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment right on top of the strip of Damask Designs. To finish it off I added four rhinestones to accent the center piece in the medallion.

Weather permitting my family and I are going to do some boating and jet skiing. Ricky will just be fishing since he is still supposed to be resting his eye. I am happy to say though that everday he is reporting that his vision is improving and his eye is hurting less. My daughter Leah made it back to Gainesville yesterday and is still in a little pain still but also doing better every day!

Please have a wonderful day and may your bucket overflow with inspiration from many sources!

Quick post today!

Sorry for being so late in posting today! I am off from work and am taking advantage of the time to do some organizing in the home finances department. Every so often I like to take a look and ensure that everything is going as planned in that area. It isn't fun, but it has to be done!

Yesterday was a fabulous mail day as the new Hodge Podge of Happiness kit from Unity arrived in my box! I was so happy to see it arrive that I sat right down and created three cards to share on tomorrow's Hip Hop Hangover!

But until then, if you want to see some more things created with this great kit, simply go to the Unity blog and start their Hip Hop blog hop!! Most of the DT members have used this newest kit in their projects and you won't be disappointed with what they have to show you!

Click HERE to start Hip Hopping!!

But before you leave, I have one quick card to show you. I created this for a friend of ours who just found out that she was having a girl. This is going to be her last pregnancy and with a boy already at home, they really wanted a girl. Lo and behold they got good news with their last Ultrasound and a girl it will be!!

I wanted to give them a little something to show them how happy I was for them!

With some of the leftovers of the K&Co. papers I had been using , and with the help of Monday's Faux Grid technique from SCS TLC229, I created this card...

The stamp set is from Stampin Up set called A Little Love. The ribbons are from Michael's and the flowers are Prima.

I will see you back here tomorrow for the Hip Hop Hangover and get to share with you some of the new Unity stamps!!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with happy mail full of new stamps!!

A Blog Award and a Ten Minute Card!

BLOG CANDY contest is still going on! CLICK HERE for more information and to join in!! Contest closes on Saturday July 18th!

A couple of days ago one of my cyber friends Sue honored me with this special award. She gave me the award because she "likes my style." Coming from Sue this is a really great compliment, because she is on like a jillion DT's and is an awesome paper crafter. But not only is she talented, she is also a great encourager and just a wonderful person! I can't wait to meet her in person at CHA and give her a big hug!! Thanks so much Sue for sharing this award with me!

Please visit Sue's blog HERE. You will be very inspired!! In fact, I would have given her this award if she hadn't given it to me first!!

As a part of accepting this award, you agree to pass it on. Isn't the picture so beautiful. It was designed by the lady's daughter who gave Sue the award. Her name is Janis, and you can see her description of the award and her daughter's creation HERE.

Here are the rules:

By accepting this award you recognize that the giver 'LIKES YOUR STYLE'.

You agree to display this award proudly on your site, and include a post linking back to the giver.

And because there are so many blogs out there which you like their style, you will share this award with them... however many that may be.

So, now for the tough part... narrowing down my choices because there are so many out there that I like!

Please click on the blogs listed below because I really like their style (among many others!)

• Kelly Caslow
• Melyssa Connolly
• Stephanie Muzzulin
• Nicole Anderson
• Nikki Tanner
• Alicia Ekermans

Thanks ladies for being a constant inspiration to me!

So, really quickly I also wanted to share a card with you that I made for yesterday's SCS Inspiration Challenge IC188 which was to visit the website called Chasing Fireflies and choose an inspiration. I chose the cute little tee shown HERE!

And this is the ten minute card that I created. It is really hard for me to make quick cards, because I never feel like I have enough on them. But as far as a clean simple card goes, I am satisfied with this one!

I hope you like it too!

The gator image is from SU, the balloons I had previously colored for another project, they are from Whipper Snapper Designs. The sentiment is from Inky Antics. The DP is from DCWV and the ribbon I am not sure about!

Please enjoy the rest of your Sunday! I am heading out for a hot date with my hubby! We are going to dinner and a movie! It has been way too long!

May your bucket overflow with many blogs to visit where you like their style!

SheetLoad Sneak Peek! And Final showing of May's Sketch

Wow! The month of May sure has slipped by rather quickly!! I can't believe that it is June 1st already tomorrow! We are already in "summer mode" in my household. Both of my kids exempted their final exams, so their last day of school was on Friday! Tiffany will walk with her class on Wednesday for her Graduation!

With the new month before us, it means it is time for a sneak peek at my submission for SheetLoad's new eZine being released tomorrow. I am not one of the featured designers for this month's release, but I am playing along with the other DT members.

Here is a snippet of the card I created using June's sketch! Be sure to visit tomorrow and I will show you the whole thing!!

Be sure and visit SheetLoad of Cards tomorrow for the release of the June eZine issue. And today you can visit there and see some more sneak peeks!! Click HERE to get some more previews of what's to come on June 1st!

I have one more order of business for SheetLoad. I am afraid that I won't be able to share with you the complete set of cards (nine 4.25 x 4.25 square cards and nine scraplings) that I made using May's SheetLoad sketch because two of my green Copic markers ran out of ink right in the middle of coloring my images. But I did get the second sample done. I made three of each of these too.

So here is sample two of my take on May's SheetLoad sketch with the scrapling! The DP is from Junkitz; the flower stamps (in two sizes) are from Unity's August KOM; and the sentiment is from the Essential Sayings set from MFT (which happens to be on sale right now!)

I have to order some Copic refills today!! Do you know how often you need YG03 and YG11 when coloring your stamped images? I have been paralyzed for a little while now!!

And finally, I have one other thing to share with you today...

We have exciting news in our Family!!

My baby sister is getting married {again!} This is a picture of my sister Michelle (I named my daughter after her) and her fiancee Claude! They have been dating for over a year now and are the sweetest most "in-love" couple I have ever seen!

Claude popped the question last week and they are planning a wedding in January!!

Aren't they a cute couple??








So of course big sis had to make a congratulatory card for the happy couple!



Here is the Clean and Simple card I made for them....

I barely stamped on it! I just used the sentiment stamp from SU's A Little Birdie Told Me set. I let the DP from PaperTrey Ink and the embellishments steal the show on this one! I used my Martha Stewart border punch to make the black lacy edging.

I couldn't be happier for them... Claude and his two daughter's are going to be a wonderful addition to our family!!

That's all for now! Have a great Sunday and be sure to visit tomorrow when I will have my June SheetLoad sketch to show you!

May your bucket always overflow with good news in your family too!

SOA Challenge Cards

There are so many challenges going on this week over at the Stampin Out Alzheimer's site!

Have you had a chance to go over there yet and sign up?? You won't be sorry that you did. First of all, for a minimum donation of $5, you can gain access to all the activities. The money...100% of it... is going to help fight Alzheimer's!! Most people in this world will be affected by someone they know or love who is afflicted with the terrible disease. As I told you in a previous post, my dear MIL has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is slipping away from us before our eyes. It is my prayer that people with an interest in preserving our memories into scrapbooks will also care enough to donate some money to help preserve some memories into the minds of those afflicted with Alzheimer's.

You can click on the gadget on the right side of my blog and donate to this wonderful cause! Jen and Susanna have already reached their goal, but wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to surpass it by leaps and bounds?

I have three challenge cards to share with you today.

Here is the first one...

Kate from I {heart} papers is donating a $30 assortment of Flower Soft to the winner of this challenge which was to use Flower Soft on our project.

For this card, I used Basic Grey DP, and the stamped image and sentiment stamps are from Stampin Up! called Friendships Grow. I colored the image with Copics and then added the Flower Soft to the background flowers in the stamped image and also to the accent Prima flower on the ribbon. I used my Nestabilities to cut the mat for the image and the sentiment.

Here is my second card called Nuts for Buttons...

This challenge was called "Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?" We were to use at least three buttons on our card. The winner of this challenge will two Vintage button collections from PTI!

Since PaperTrey was the sponsor of this challenge, I chose to use their stamp set called My Punny Valentine. The squirrel and the sentiment comes from that set. The tree is from Unity and is called the Burberry Tree. The grass stamp is from SU!

I was going for the Clean and Simple look for this card. The DP is from Sassafras, the Hog Heaven collection and the ink used is from SU! The ribbon is from Michael's. I am not sure about the buttons... they were in my big canister full of buttons!

Finally, here is my last card submitted to the challenges at SOA...

I called this card Grunge Birthday! The sketch was the required element for this challenge from Taylored Expressions. The winner of this challenge will win a $25 gift certificate to the TE store! The colors I used came from K Werner's Designs recent color challenge #53.

Closeup of the Unity stamp!

This card originally started off very elementary looking and even feminine (so my husband says); but with the help of distressing tools, staples, black ink smudging and the awesome stamp in Unity's This is the Time stamp set, I was able to transform it into the masculine grungy birthday card I needed for a teen boy in my family.

Here's the inside!

I hope to have some more SOA challenge cards to show you this weekend. We only have through the 31st to get our cards submitted to enter into the contests!

Tomorrow I will have a Sneak Peek for you of the card I created using the new June Sketch at SheetLoad! The new eZine will be available on the 1st!

Have a great Saturday and may your bucket be overflowing with wonderful memories that will never fade!

Hip Hop Hangover Day!!

Happy Thursday!! It's Hip Hop Hangover (HHH) Day!!

You might be asking yourself "What is Hip Hop Hangover?" That's easy...it is the day after Unity's Hip Hop Blog Hop where their customers instead of their DT get to share creations they made!

I love to participate, but don't always get a chance to! I was able to make three new Unity cards over the last couple of days, but the best news is that I was combining challenges again and also made them so that they qualify to be entered into the challenges over at Stampin Out Alzheimer's too!

Here is the card that I made for the HHH today. It came from the Unity Addicts Challenge this week which was to make a collage card! This was really tough for me!! Collage falls into that artsy kind of category and I don't think I do. LOL!! The color combo is from the Color Throwdown blog.

Here are the deets:


Stamps: All Unity of Course: Butterflies and Friends for Life (Aug KOM), Flowers and Leaves (Gratitude = Joy), Corner Embellishment (May KOM), The Road to a Friends House...(Sept KOM)
DP: Botanical Collage Flat Paper (K&Co)
CS: Bordering Blue, Elegant Eggplant and Barely Banana (Stampin Up!).
Ink: Stampin Up! (Chocolate Chip)
Embossing: Ink: Top Boss, Powder: Custer's Last Stamp (Detailed Gold)
Embellishments: Ribbon: Joann's, Buttons: unknown, Gold Gems (Joann's)

Ready for a little more Unity?? Here are the two other cards I made for the Hip Hop Challenges.

This first one was for the "Always New at Unity" challenge where we were to use our newest stamp set from Unity. I used the Rain & Flowers set that I just got. This card also uses Julee's MojoMonday sketch #88 and the SCS color challenge (CC220) to use Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie.


The rubber boots DP is from American Crafts and the flowers are Prima. The ribbon comes from Basic Grey.



This last one was for the "Unity's Knot Any Old Stamp Company" challenge. In this one we had to use knots on our card! I decided to stamp the flower from the Everyday Adorable set (which is on sale right now through the weekend at Unity) onto some fabric with Stazon and then I tied many french knots using embroidery thread. (I will share some details about how I did this in a later post!)

The DP is Basic Grey, the ribbon is unknown and the Flowers are from Prima. I used my oval and scalloped nesties to make the frame and the base for the sentiment which is a Stampin Up! stamp from the set called "It's Your Birthday." The brads are Basic Grey.


I have also entered these last two cards into challenges that are occurring over at the Stampin Out Alzheimer's site. Have you signed up yet? For just a minimum donation of $5 you can gain access to the site to participate in all the contest going on. There are tons of prizes being given away! Remember it is for a wonderful cause!! Please join!!

It's Graduation Time!

As May nears June it seems that school's are letting out and kids everywhere are graduating! You may remember that earlier this month my daughter Leah graduated from the University of FL. Well, in early June my youngest daughter Tiffany will be graduating from High School.

I have had the task of completing Tiffany's graduation announcements hanging over my head for a while now and I am happy to say that with a lot of help from Tiffany, we finally got them finished! Her school colors are Maroon and White, and her mascot is a Sponger! I know that is a little unusual, but the little town we live in is considered the Sponge Diving capital of the US and has close ties to Greece!

Unity Stamps came to my rescue again and offered the perfect stamp collection to help personalize and feminize the otherwise masculine school colors and logo!

Here is a picture of Tiffany's Graduation announcement...

The front picture shows the flourish stamp from Unity's January KOM called Love Etc. that I stamped in Amuse Black and also in Ranger Aged Mahogany. The flecked cardstock is from SU and the black cardstock comes from Recollections and the Maroon cardstock is from The Paper Co.

Here is a picture that shows the inside and the outside together...

On the top half of the inside I used the "2009" stamp from Unity's January KOM. The verbiage was typed on the computer using a font called Biondi.

We are very proud of Tiffany! She has plans to become a police officer some day and has been very active with Crime Watch at her school. She has been hired by a local Police Department in the Americorps Department where she will work along with officers as a community resource. In the fall she will begin her studies in pursuit of a degree in Law Enforcement.

Here is a recent picture of Tiffany at her Senior Prom! She is pictured here with two of the local Police Officers that she has worked with at school and in our community. They were on patrol the night of the Prom to keep the kids in check!

I have one more Graduation Card to share with you for now!

Our best friends Chad and Tiffani have a son Trevor who is graduating from Pre-K tomorrow. I didn't want to forget his great accomplishment, so I decided to make him a special card. He has waited a long time to be able to ride the big yellow bus to school like his big brother Tyler!

The card I made uses the Clean and Simple challenge CAS15 from Monday at SCS which was to use Black and White and one of the Bold Brights! I chose to use Real Red as my bold bright since Trevor's school color is red!

Here is the card that I made for Trevor...

The Fine Print: CS: SU (Real Red), GP (White), Recollections (Black); Stamps: SU (Shooting Stars, 2000), Congratulations Graduate (Not stated); Ink: SU (Real Red), Amuse (Black).

Have a wonderful evening and may our bucket be overflowing with endings and beginnings as is fitting for this time of year!

The Combo Queen is at it Again!!

I knew that if I tried hard enough I would be able to make one card that combined FOUR challenges into one and TODAY was my lucky day!! LOL!!

I have had a great day with my daughter Leah in the scraproom... she was helping me out and we got two cards finished. We also went out to lunch and ran some errands picking up St Patrick's Day goodies for Tuesday!

Here is the first one...

This card combines 4 challenges in one!!! The first challenge was from SCS Limited Supplies Challenge where we had to use a bug somewhere on our card and also limit the card to four layers and use no Patterned Paper (I hope the card base doesn't count as a layer, because I left it showing and it makes it look like a layer... and I also hope that we were allowed to stamp images onto paper to make our own PP otherwise, I may have disqualified myself!)

The second challenge was from Kristina Werner's Color Challenge which was to use Basic Black, Basic Gray and White in your creation.

The third challenge was from No Time to Stamp where we were to include a white mat on our card!

And the fourth challenge was from Viva La Verve Friday Sketches where Julee provided yet another fabulous sketch to use!

My card really came together quickly after I stamped the background paper with two tiny SU bee stamps that I had. The main image is from the Friends Are Like Flowers Set. The Sentiment on the front was made on the computer using the "O Whoa DNA" font that can be found for free here. The inside sentiment (not shown) says "With a BIRTHDAY Hi!!"

The ribbon and white brads were from my stash and I am not sure who they are made by... sorry!

The next card I made is another one of my SPD cards. I only have four days left and as of today I still had six cards to make! Thankfully most of the recipients are local and so mailing time won't be an issue!

Of course I used more challenges to complete this card too! If you haven't used challenges yet, you will see that they really do help by either giving you a framework to base your card off of, or at least decreasing the amount of choice you would otherwise have when starting to create a card! I really love the sketch challenges, but I am becoming more fond of all of them! They really do "challenge" me!! Hehe!!!

Anyway, here is my latest St Patty's Day card...

The Fine Print: DP: DCWV and BG; CS: GP; Ribbon: BG; Flowers: Prima; Stamps: Shamrock: Vap Scrap ($1), Sentiment: Custer's Last Stamp, Brads: Bazzill; Photo corner: unknown; Ink: Amuse Black ink and Copic Markers. Faux piercing.

This card uses three challenges technically, but since two different challenges were the same one, I will only say that I actually used two challenges on this one. LOL!

The first one is the challenge from Friday Sketches where they gave us the great sketch to use.

The second (and third) challenges from SCS Way to Use It Challenge and also the one from Stamp Something were "Going Green" challenges requiring us to use the color green on our card! Of course the color green comes into play perfectly for me since I needed to get more SPD cards done!

Well, it is Friday night after 5pm here in FL and Leah and I are off to act like true Floridians and have a nice drink over looking the water at one of our favorite night spots in Tarpon Springs! Hopefully tomorrow will bring a little more time to complete all my SPD cards and even some time for some much needed yard work!!

Have an awesome night and a great weekend... may your bucket overflow with fruity drinks while watching the sunset!

SCS Challenge with Alcohol! And a FREE cutting File!

Hi Everybody!!

When I saw Thursday's challenge on SCS, I knew that I wanted to participate. The challenge from Julia for the "Way To Use It" was to use alcohol in your project. It didn't matter if you used alcohol inks like Tim Holtz's ranger inks, or your alcohol pens like Copics, or if you used images that related to alcohol, like wine glasses etc. I even think it was OK if you just consumed alcohol while you were doing your project! LOL! You just had to use alcohol somehow!

Well with a couple of masculine birthday cards in need for early next week, and with one of the recipients turning 21, I figured a bday card with a big beer mug was in order.

Here is the card I created for the challenge...

The Fine Print: DP: Basic Grey; CS: Bazzill; Vellum: The Paper Co.; Hardware: MM; Ribbon: not sure; Beer Mug die cut out on KNK; Ink: Amuse black ink, Top Boss embossing ink; Embossing Powder: Stamp La Jolla Snowy embossing powder; Paint: Heidi Swapp white acrylic; Stamp: SU Lots of Thought.

Here are the details of the foam I made for the beer. I stamped my embossing inkpad directly onto this die cut piece and then ended up adding three layers of snowy embossing powder heating it after each addition. It made the piece get very dimensional! My embossing powder is pink and for some reason it did not become clear, so I ended up having to paint on white acrylic paint to the top of it! It thought it came out really nicely!

This is the inside of the card! I used another SU background stamp that I tried to make it look like bubbles were popping to go along with the Happy "Burp"day sentiment! It was fitting for beer I thought! I am usually all sentimental, so this was a bit different for me to go whimsical and comical!

I hope the recipients will like it!

Now I have a FREE file for you....

I made the cutting file and cut it out on my KNK and that is what is attached to the front of the card as the main image. The glass portion of the mug is cut from vellum so it has that frosty glass appearance. I even scored it on my Scorepal to make the edges of the glass appear like those faceted beer mugs that you often see in bars. For the foam, I used snow embossing powder in three layers. Then I painted it with white since my pink embossing ink didn't disappear after I used it. :-(

I want to share with you the cutting file for FREE that I made for this card. It is zipped into all formats, so you guys can use it no matter what type of cutter you have. Enjoy!

Click on the beer mug image to go to the download site.

Have a great day and may your bucket be overflowing with the things you love!

Kelly :-)