Monday, March 28, 2011

Second Post of the Morning!

I sat myself down and created an entry for the Crazy 4 Cocoa challenge #17 which is Polka Dots. My stamp is from the Sweet 'n Sassy, Cocoa set called Sew Happy. My card base is Rich Razzleberry from SU!, and the nice dp is from K&Co's collection called Sweet Life. The coloring was done with Copics and I added a row of coordinating buttons, and I scrunched a row of ribbon on a strip of Scor-Tape. Sponging was done with Memento ink around my Nestie Labels Two cut out.

Well, you never know, I may just be back again today. I feel the Mojo surfacing!

Monday, Monday.......

Well, here we are. Another week begins! This is my DH's last week of working 2 jobs. It has been 10 years. I won't know how to act having him home in the evenings and on weekends! He is so excited that he is counting down the minutes. Home Depot will miss him, I am sure. He has many customers that come in and ask for him personally, especially women who need to do a home plumbing repair. Three cheers for you, Jim! Okay, lets move on to my quick card post. Yesterday, while I should have been creating, I was cleaning a bit and looking through stuff that has been unloved for a long time. I came across this D.O.T.S. background that I had stamped and tucked. It is on glossy stock, and it caught my eye because of the shades of blue. I remember I use to use this flowers stamp a good bit and I had it in 2 sizes. I added some Prima's that were a gift from my DD, adding pearl centers. I am having lunch with a dear friend who recently celebrated a birthday and I thought this would be just perfect for her! I hear there are traces of snow in the surrounding states, so I would like to request that you keep it, since my leaf lettuce is up in the garden! Hugs!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

March Roses Challenge

Well, it's the last Sunday of the month, (okay, I am cheating and loading a wee bit early) and I was in charge of selecting this months challenge. I told the girls that I wanted to see Spring flowers. I wanted to be able to smell them, LOL! After the long winter, who would not enjoy the fresh smell of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and just any other posy you can imagine.

The next photo is an inside border I created to coordinate with the front.
My base is Grass Green Pure Luxury cs, and a new white I was trying out with Copics called Neena. The flowers are from a set I have had for ages by Close To My Heart. I can't find a name on it, but it has stems, flower heads, bulbs, and even a dirt pocket for an underground view. All of my word stamps are from an Impression Obsession set called Spring Seals. Sponging was done with SU! inks, and 3 of the corners were punched with an MS loopy corner punch. The butterfly and the bee were little guys I found in my stash. Stickles were used for sparkle and the only other embellishment is a single silver brad.

I hope you like my design, and don't forget to check out the other creations by our lovely bouquet!
Betty (is on break)

Friday, March 25, 2011

TGIF

Sorry I have been a bit scarce this week. I promise I will get back in the swing of things soon. Life has gotten in the way of my creativity.

Here is a card that I made a week ago and it has been sitting here waiting to be loaded. I thought it really fit the bill. The stamp and sentiment are borrowed from my DD. This kitty and (I believe) sentiment, are from Penny Black. My card stock is Sweet Corn from GKD with a layer of digital lattice paper I printed off. My sponging is with Memento and coloring is with Copic markers. I cut the sentiment in a free form shape and added Prima's, mustard grosgrain ribbon, and some amber gems, as my accents.

I thought he was cute and he gave me a smile. As sad as the week has been, I am excited about tomorrow. We are doing the food tasting for my DD's wedding menu, Saturday evening. Woo Hoo, we will be able to check another big item off the list. Hope to see you soon.

Monday, March 21, 2011

The Sweet Stop Sketch #100

This week, the sketch over at The Sweet Stop is a milestone 100! There is also a spin added to the challenge. The spin is "sweet". Here is my entry.

My card base is Sweet Corn cs from Gina K. Designs. I found a great stripy strip in my stash and edged the one side with my Threading Water border punch from Fiskars. I add a little bit of script to my background. My layering cs is Soft Suede from SU! My under panel has a sheet of paper from an antique dictionary. I used words that included "aroma". Ahhhhhh! The rest of the card is all about my Sweet "n Sassy set called Chocoholic. Don't know about you, but that is my idea of sweet!

I colored my images with Copics, sponged with Cantaloupe Memento ink and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink from TH. There are touches of Sakura glaze and gelly roll pen for sparkle and gloss to my sweets.

There are some wonderful prizes up for grabs, so go check out the challenge and play along! Have a fantastic Monday, everyone!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Pink and Green Thank You


It is time for another Joan's Gardens Challenge! This week Joan has a beautiful recipe for us to follow!

*Use the colors Pink and Green
*Create a thank you card.
*Use some kind of stripes
*Use something scalloped

My card stock is Melon Mambo textured, from SU!, and Grass Green Pure Luxury, from Gina K. Designs. The stamp set I used is also from GKD and is called Framed Greetings. This set coordinates with Nestie Label Sixteen. My coloring was done with Copic markers. I added scallops by using the Scalloped Lace border from MS. My embossing was done with the large dots EF from Cuttlebug. A gem flourish and ribbon scrap were also added.

Thanks for taking a peak, and if you would like to play along, you have until Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. est.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge #16 Spring

Happy Friday, friends! My card is for the Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge this week. It is one that I need for a visit to the local rehab center. Our dear neighbor and my DH's Aunt are both there re-cooperating for long stretches of time. I thought this would be sweet for his Aunt, so I did not use the Happy Spring sentiment from the Sweet 'n Sassy Springtime Cocoa set. I did however use the Cocoa image with the gorgeous springtime bouquet. I plan on putting a Springy scratch off, lottery ticket inside, to give her something to do.

I used a pure white card stock for my base. My designer papers are from Basic Grey's Hopscotch collection. I colored my images with Copic markers, and sponged with SU! Baja Breeze ink. The buttons are from Gina K. Designs springtime assortment, and my ribbon is from a long ago purchase from QVC. The flowers, bow, and Cocoa's nose are all outlined with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen for sparkle. I just could not get it to show up.

We are expecting a heavenly day of 75 degrees today. My DH has taken a vacation day to work in the yard. I must do a 3 hour shift at work and then it is play time! See you soon!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

They say that everyone is a little Irish on March 17th! Hope you are wearing a bit o' the green today! Even my favorite girl, Jessie, had to get in on the celebration! This little girl loves her scarves!

Hope you enjoy you're day and don't get into to any trouble pinching and kissing!
As my second note of business, my friend, Carol, from Our Little Inspirations, has presented me with this awesome award. She has also been so kind as to award it to my DD, and since we run in the same circles, I am going to cheat just a little and award it to 4 instead of 8 so that Dee Marie will be able to choose a few people without repeats. I would like to present it to the following bloggers:

Theresa Pollock from Theresa's Studio
Patti Painter from Paper Creations by Patti
Wendy Aungst from WeeBee Stampin 4 Fun
Connie Legath from CraftieConnie

I hope you will consider paying each of these talented ladies a visit. Now, to complete my requirements, I must tell you 7 things about myself.

1. I love French Bread Pizza! (so not on my diet)
2. I am off the chart allergic to yellow jackets and hornets.
3. I drive a mini van and can't seem to go back to a car.
4. I am a paper hoarder. Just tell me the shade or pattern ya need, LOL!
5. I like to bake.
6. Jim and I will be married 34 years this October.
7. One of my very first jobs out of high school, was working for a company making artificial
tendons, knuckles, and assorted medical tubing.

Okay, maybe that is too much info! LOL! See you again soon!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Sorry If This Is Crammed!

I have a couple of cards to share with you this morning! I am afraid if I don't double this post, I will get lost and and forget to get them on in time for the challenges!

My first card is for The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #99. Boy was this a super sketch! I used a base of Red Hot CS from Gina K. Designs. All of my designer papers are from a new pad I bought this weekend, called Sweet Nectar, from K&Co. My stamp set is an adorable Sweet 'n Sassy Cocoa set called Springtime Cocoa. I colored with Copics, and used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen for some sparkle. Sponging was done with Baja Breeze ink from SU!, and my ribbon and embossed flowers are from my scrap stash. Here is the sketch we had to follow.

I saw this morning a special request went out for a dear person who needs cheering, and I will use it to do just that!
My next card is for Joan's Gardens Challenge #9 this week. Joan has given us another of her special recipes to follow. Here are the directions.

Use the colors orange and blue
Create a card with a spring theme
Use a die cut
Use a circle

I used quite a combo of items to create this card. The card stocks are Sweet Mango and Ocean Mist from Gina K. Designs. My dp is possibly K&Co. My diecut is from Tim Holtz and is called Scroll Work. I used my scalloped circle punches which have been very neglected, and pierced and layered. The soft back image of a flower is from GKD set called Autumn Splendor and the foreground sentiment is from Unity. I added sugared flowers from Prima because they reminded me of the dewy spring mornings when everything is soaked. I used sprig and butterfly punches along with blue gems, as my accents.

Thanks for hanging in there for this long post. I am so glad I have some time to play today! My prayers go out to all of the families who have loved ones lost or found during the recent tragedy in Japan.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Cityscapes Are On The Rise Challenge

I was doing some blog hopping yesterday and I came across this awesome challenge at Moxie Fab World. Cath is the best at current trends, and this is one! She calls it Cityscapes Are On The Rise. I created this by coloring a Tim Holtz border die called Townscape, with Copic markers. My base is Moonlit Fog card stock, from Gina K. Designs. I placed my houses over an embossed swirl panel, to make it look like a city near the beach. The swirls were highlighted with Colorbox , Frost White. For embellishments I added pink gingham, a 1" circle punch for a sun, and little plastic critters. My sentiment is from an SU! set called Right At Home.

Hope you have a great Friday and super weekend!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cards For Men, Challenge #5

Good morning to all of you beautiful people! This morning I want to share card I made using a stamped background I lifted while on my outing last Saturday. The shop where we were, has a wall of stamps that you can use which is included in the room fee. I tried to snag a few manly images. Here is one and I forgot to write down the designer. If anyone knows who's stamp it is, please let me know so i can give them proper credit. I added the fishy shadows with an unmounted I have had for years, using Going Grey ink from SU! My fishy sentiment is from Rubbernecker. Sponging is done with Baja Breeze, also from SU! The lure images are colored with Copics and my embellishments are silver half rounds, Stickles, and Glossy Accents.

I would like to enter this in the "water" challenge over at Cards For Men. I am new to this challenge site. I never have enough men cards on hand here.

Speaking of water, we are expecting 4" of rain today, and on top of the 3 1/2" from Sunday, much flooding is expected! It will be a great day to stay in and stamp. This is the blessing of picking my own days to work! Thanks for taking a peek!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Building Roses

While I was blog hopping this morning, I ran a cross a tutorial by my friend Selma, on creating roses from punches. She always does such gorgeous work! Well, I thought I would get it a whirl and I think I failed miserably. I only had 2 of the 3 pear punches she used and so I figured I would wing it! Here is the result of my attempt.

All of the papers are from my scrap bin, except for the gorgeous embossed lattice layer, which was a gift from my friend Carol. Thanks, Carol! I used some spring green satin ribbon and white tulle to balance my roses and then tucked in a few fern punches for my greens. My sentiment is from Amuse and is stamped on a SU! punch out that my DD gave me. All of my sponging is done in SU! Blushing Bride ink.

I think that the key is to break down the fibers in the paper petals so they are easier to work with. I had fun playing, and if you would like to see Selma's tutorial, please visit her blog here.

See you soon!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Lovin the JustRite!

Being part of the current blog hop/ challenge over at Joan's Gardens, has yielded me so many wonderful comments! Just Rite has offered up an amazing Grand Prize and Joan has 2 super special prizes for commenter's. There is still time to play along , so hurry over to Joan's Gardens to get all of the details!

Joan, being the sweetheart that she is, has allowed the members of the hop to create and enter one more card, and this is what I came up with.

I used My JustRite, Beautiful Day set and stamped my sentiment and border, then cut it out with a classic oval Nestie. My DP is a single sheet that I had bought in the OBX for a vacation layout (sorry I don't know who made it). I took MS punches, pearls colored with Copic Markers, and embossed, glittered stickers that were from the same beach project, and layered them to create an ocean scene. One of the rules of the hop, is that we can only use JustRite stamps, hence my use of stickers. Sponging was done with SU! inks.

Thanks for taking a look, and I promise I will use something other than blue for my next post! Seems I have been in quite a groove lately!
Also, I attended a get-together of Eastern PA Stampers, that was held in Ephrata yesterday, at L&L Rubber Stamps. A super time was had by all, and it was wonderful to finally meet some of our amazing local stampers! Carol, from Our Little Inspirations, has some great photos of the event that she posted today, if you would like to take a peek Have a wonderful Sunday evening.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Joan's Gardens Blog Hop!

I was thrilled to be included in Joan's current hop! There is such a vast group of talented ladies participating. Be sure to read through this whole post to find out how to win some super prizes!

My card is using JustRite stamp set called Beautiful Day. It uses a 21/4 x 3 1/16 holder. My base layers are Pure Luxury card stock colors In The Navy, and Little Boy Blue. The stitching was done on my new Baby Lock sewing machine that Santa brought! The beautiful sentiment from my stamp set was cut out with a Classic Oval Nestabilities, and layered on a Beaded oval Nestie. My iris were colored with Copics and carefully cut and layered. For embellishments, I used lace, pearls, and MS punched butterflies.

EXCITING NEWS! This week you have the chance to win an AMAZING PRIZE PACKAGE you won't want to miss out on. JustRite Stamps has so generously donated the grand prize for this week's Joan's Garden's 8th Challenge for 2011. This prize package includes the following JustRite products:

acrylic block set – $8.95
mini binder box - $9.95
mothers natures gifts – 16.95
fancy tags- 19.95
happy everything -32.95
nested frame dies 24.95
nested sentiments dies 24.95
3 ¼” block -12.95
Fancy frames 19.95
Inspires me 19.95

Wouldn't you love to win this grand prize from JustRite stamps, with a value of over $191. In addition to this fabulous grand prize, there will also be additional prize packages from Joan's Garden's to give you 2 additional chances to win.

You will have until next Thursday morning (March 10) 6:00 AM EST to link your card/project. There are only two requirements for this week's challenge:

• Create a card/project using ONLY JustRite stamps (any JustRite stamps and matching dies are acceptable) Do not use any other brand stamps. You may use any card stock, design paper and embellishments you want.

• You must be subscribed to Joan's Gardens blog to win. This allows you to receive all updates about challenges and sales, etc.

The winner for the grand prize package from JustRite Stamps will be chosen from a Random drawing and will be announced Friday morning (March 11). This person will also be entered in the End of the Year drawing for a $100 gift certificate from Joan's Gardens. You may enter this challenge more than once, but each card/project must be made with only JustRite stamps.


TWO more chances to win another a great prize! You won't want to miss all the inspiration in the beautiful cards created by these talented designers. While visiting each of these blogs, you have a chance to win another great prize from Joan's Gardens. In order to be eligible for one of these two prize packages, you need to leave a comment on each blog in this Hop. Out of the fourteen blogs, there are two "mystery" blogs, each with a prize package from Joan's Gardens. For a chance to win, be sure to leave a comment on all fourteen blogs. Here is your lineup..........


Thanks so much for stopping by, and best of luck with winning a big prize!