Enjoy Your Day!

Here is the card that I made for the continuing Sketchfest Challenge going on over at the Caardvarks blog ! Today we were provided with the following sketch...

And below you can see the card that I made for today's sketch...

My original thought when I saw this sketch was using a tree as the main image on the card, but then when I found this awesome paper by Jillibean Soup, I changed my mind!

I decided to cut the flower image right out of the DP. And add some more DP to make the stem.
I embellished the card a little more with three cute little birdies from Unity's February 09 KOM and also with the "enjoy the day" sentiment from Unity's May 09 KOM.

I made the button that you see the ribbon tied through for this week's Technique Lover's Challenge TLC239 at SCS which was to make your own 5 layered button. You can see the post and the link to the directions to make your own HERE.

I am really enjoying these challenges and happy that it has worked out for me to be able to make a card every day so far. I hope it keeps working out that way. Thanks for taking a look and sorry for the extra posts, but I have to try and fit these in every day!

I hope you Enjoy Your Day and may your bucket continually overflow with ways to do just that!

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!!

It's a Unity Kind of Day! Hip Hop!!

After three assignments being due for my DT's yesterday, it felt great to be able to just play in my stamp room not completing an assignment! I spent some time doing Splitcoaststamper Challenges and inked up some of my Unity.

Another thing that was good about yesterday was that I had a fun mail day! Some new rubber I had ordered from Unity arrived in my box making yesterday especially special!!

During last week's sales I bought...

• Tickled Pink (cause we are expecting a new baby girl in the family soon!)
• Little Me
• Folk Inspired and
• Something Within

I worked on a little something from Folk Inspired today that I am going to share during the Hip Hop Hangover for Unity tomorrow! But today, I am going to share with you two other creations I made using my Unity stamps and some inspirational challenges!

The first card I have to share is called Friend to Friend

This card uses the Butterfly image from Unity's September 08 KOM and the sentiment from last month's June 09 KOM. Have I mentioned how wonderful Unity stamps are? And if you are not getting the KOM, you are crazy, because if you like their style, the value is unbeatable!! Click HERE to see a picture of this month's kit!! I strongly encourage you to start collecting Unity! Their stamps really ROCK!!

OK, I digressed!! (Sorry!!)

Here is another view...

The cute DP on that card is from K&C0's Retro Floral Mat Pack and the sketch for the card came from this week's sketch challenge SC235 on SCS. I used my nesties to cut each of the circles and then just arranged them into the grid from the sketch! I added some stickles to the dots on the butterfly and also under the sentiment. The fibers are from Michael's (maybe Joann's... can't remember!)

My next card is from Monday's Technique Challenge TLC227 which was to make faux burnt edges on our card. My intention was to make this adorable owl from the June KOM at Unity look like he was living inside a tree that had burned down. I don't think I quite captured that, but at least the color scheme coordinates and it still came out with a masculine flair to it.

I printed the sentiment out from the computer. The black ribbon is from PTI. And the DP is from DCWV The Green Stack!

Today's post is short and sweet (at least compared to yesterdays post!) I will be back tomorrow with a HHH post.

Don't forget that today is Thursday which means it is HIP HOP day at Unity. To see some wonderful creations made by the Unity DT, please visit their blog HERE. And if you want to be challenged with some fun, then go to the Unity forum and play along with their HH challenges!

I have some preparations to make for a 4th of July party we are having with some friends and family, so I will talk to you tomorrow! May your bucket be overflowing with time to play with your favorite things today!!

Belated Father's Day Post!

OK, better late than never! I came home to Internet issues and wasn't able to stay connected to update my blog last night, so finally here is the post I promised yesterday!!

I am sure that there aren't many fathers out there who will be reading this blog post, but I did want to acknowledge a few special fathers in my life.

Last week we celebrated Father's Day early with my dad. My dad is a really special person in my life and one of the people that I can say has had a very strong influence on me and my developing character while growing up. He has always been a positive influence, with consistency and good direction. My dad is the kind of person who I can rely on to give me sound advice when I need a little help in my life. Here is a picture of my dad, his wife and me last weekend at my brother's house celebrating Father's Day with a delicious brunch!

Ellen, Dick (my Dad) and me!

The card that I made for my dad used that cool coloring on acetate technique that I used on the butterfly and zebra cards that I posted recently. It was from the Try a New Technique challenge on SCS TLC224 where you print out a photo in black and white onto acetate and then color on the back of it to allow color to come through. The card also uses the requirements for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS a week ago which was to use only the colors of water and sand plus add to it, ribbon, twine or hemp, brads and piercing. It was just what I needed to produce this card for my dad!

This past weekend we travelled to the east coast of FL to see my DH's dad for Father's Day. Jim isn't his biological dad, but the man Tom considers to be his "real" dad!


Here is a picture of my DH Tom and his sister Susan with their dad on Father's Day morning!

Susan, Tom and Jim (seated!)

Here is a picture of the card that I made for Tom's dad. It uses the "Oh So Cute Shirt" tutorial by Cambria Turnbow that I believe came from the Scor-Pal website. It was such an easy creation to make starting with just one 4x6 piece of DP that gets folded into the shirt that you see.

We had a cookout with hamburgers, hot dogs and fresh fish that Tom, our nephew and my son caught last week while deep sea fishing. Tom's daughter Ashley came over to visit with her boyfriend and their son. Little Chris is just about to turn one! He is so adorable!

Grampa Tom, Baby Chris, Ashley and Chris!

I also can't let Father's Day pass without acknowledging how thankful I am for having Tom in my life and the lives of my children. He is such a wonderful influence on my kids, especially my son Ricky! They are both avid fishermen and get out on the boat together as often as they can! We are very thankful that he is with us and love how he completes our family so well. Many years had gone by without a positive male role model for my kids. Tom has changed all of that for us!!

Here is a picture of Tom, my DH with the newest addition to our family, Tasha!!

Tom and Tasha!

This is the picture of the card that I made for Tom. It uses the motorcycle image from Artful Inkables called Road Rider!. The DP is from Paper Salon.

Sorry for the long post but there was a lot to cover as I wanted to share not only the cards I made for the Father's in my life, but also a glimpse into some of the people that share my life with me!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with wonderful Internet connections!! Ha Ha!!

Remembering a Wild and Crazy Woman!!

Today I am celebrating my Granny Wild's birthday! Just because she is no longer with us doesn't mean that we can't still celebrate right?? I am trying not to be sad, because she was always a happy lady and she would much rather that I rejoice than feel sorrow!

I know that she watches down on me every day and loves the cards and creations that I make. You see, the crafty side of me definitely was passed down from my Granny to my mom and then to me!! She was a seamstress by trade (so was my mom for many years) and even had a sewing room where she taught sewing lessons in the basement of her home. Her DH, my Grampa, is still alive at I 95 years young!!!

Here is my beautiful, smiling angel Granny Wild...

Using today's sketch on SCS and Monday's acetate technique again, I decided to make a funky, "wild" and crazy kind of card in honor of my Granny since that is the kind of lady that she was!

My Granny collected zebras and her married name was Wild, so you can see where my thoughts were coming from when I created this card...

The Fine Print: DP: Basic Grey (Urban Prairie); CS: Michael's Recollection (black); Computer Generated Printing: Jokerman Font; Ribbon: Michael's; Flowers: Prima, Brad: Basic Grey; Markers: Copics; Technique: TLC224.

Weird, but this was a NO stamp card!! That doesn't happen too often!! LOL!

Thanks for letting me indulge in the wonderful memories of my Granny. Although I celebrate her in my mind nearly every day of my life, it was nice to celebrate her out loud with those who I know will care!!

I am keeping it short and sweet today, but one more thing!!

Quick Reminder...

It's time to Show Us Your SheetLoad!! Remember, you can be eligible for a prize if you create a card or layout using this month's SheetLoad Sketch and post it on your blog. Then simply share a link to your card with Alicia over at SheetLoad and at the end of the month a winner and a runner up will be chosen. Gift Certificates from the Angel Company are up for grabs this month!!

Show us what you got!! Click HERE to read more about it!

Have a great night and may your bucket overflow with loving memories of someone special to you!

We Are Going to be Parents Again! And a Cool Technique

About Becoming Parents Again...

If all goes well, sometime in the next few days we are going to be adopting a new puppy for our family! We are so excited about this prospect! The decision is currently in the hands of the owner of the shelter. If we get approved we will be picking up our new little furbaby really soon!

I would like to name her Tasha I think! I am not sure why that name, but I really like it and think it looks right on her. She is currently named Marge, but I don't think I can call her that. I am not much of a Simpson's fan and that is all I can think of when I hear that name! LOL!

Here is a picture of her when she was 4 1/2 weeks old.

"TASHA"

She is now ready to be released and has probably grown a lot since this photo was taken. They believe she is a mix of Lab and Boxer. Isn't she just a doll??

Onto the Cool Technique...

I try on Mondays to check out what the Technique Lover's Challenge is over at Splitcoast Stampers. Sometimes they aren't ones I want to try, but other times they might involve supplies I don't have or require time that I just can't spend. But thankfully yesterday I decided to try the technique they posted.

The challenge was to print out a black and white photo onto one side of Acetate and then to color with Copic markers onto the back side to add color back into the photo. I chose an image of a butterfly that was all black and white with just a little bit of pink on its wings. I selected my DP to match the colors of the butterfly, then I matted the acetate onto white cardstock and again on black.

Here is the final result of my Acetate technique. I really love how this card turned out and it might even be one of my all-time favorites.

I call it Birthday Butterfly on Acetate

The Fine Print:

DP: DCWV (All Dressed Up Stack); CS: Georgia Pacific (white), Michael's Recollection (black); Flower: Prima; Ribbon: PTI (Black polka dot), American Crafts (Pink Polka dot); Border Punch: Martha Stewart; Stamp: SU! (Birthday Greetings).

I strongly recommend that you give this technique a try. One thing I learned in the process is that my inkjet printer did not work well for this, but our Laser printer was perfect with it!

For more inspiration on this technique, you should visit the Gallery showing this technique HERE!

Wish us luck on the Adoption and may your bucket overflow with all things beautiful!!