Watt's Up?

The weekend is drawing closer! One more day at work. I left work a little early today (a whole 15 minutes) to run a few wedding errands. I stopped at our local visitor's center and they gave me 20 books about Bloomington to put in the hotel bags. We intend to give each hotel guest for the wedding a bag with a few things in it. I need to check the dollar store and see if I can find some bags. My next stop was the church.I wanted to check the aisles for the pew markers. I estimated 20 and when I counted today I found I only needed 12. YES! Less money on the flowers. They alone are over $1000. And we took most of the cheaper items they listed. Weddings are so expensive!
So tonight I have another birthday card for you.

The image and sentiment are from another Simon Says card kit. Not sure which month. The birthday sentiment is on the inside. It reads "It's your birthday!" I stamped the image on yellow paper and colored the heart with an R46 Copic marker. I grabbed a scrap of paper from my scrap bin and used another scrap from Tricia's wedding invitations for the accent color. Are you tired of seeing that Island Blue yet? I've been using it a lot since I bought 100 sheets and have lots of scraps from the invitations and thank you's. And after I had it all together I used my glimmer mist spray to spritz the card. I obviously didn't get it shook up enough with the big blotches and I wish I had sprayed the card before I added the image. But I guess it gives it character, right? LOL!

I am entering these challenges:

• Less is More: anything goes
•  Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Outlawz Monday challenge: anything goes with a sentiment

My weekend is busy. After David's bridal had to order a new dress for Tricia because they ordered the wrong size the first time (why they didn't measure her before ordering is beyond me!), we have another fitting on Saturday for alterations. Friends are coming for dinner Saturday night and we'll probably have Tricia and her fiance for dinner on Sunday. So I doubt I'll get much crafting done this weekend. I found out today that we can't do the favors we were going to for the wedding. We were going to buy single serving wine bottles and label them with Love Potion #9. But the venue won't let us bring alcohol in. I thought about getting bottles and fill them with something else and do the same thing. If you have any great ideas for wedding favors, I'm still looking. Her theme is Moment of Magic. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Take care!

Donna

Little Feet

Happy Thursday! Today I am a guest designer for the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge. The challenge is always anything goes but with an optional twist. This week the twist is "feet."

I used a Doodle Pantry set. The image, sentiment, and background paper are all from the set. I added some ribbon and pearls from my stash. I punched the sentiment from an EK Success punch and then drew some faux stitching. I colored the pearls with Copics. The background to the little baby shoes is a doily die set I won in a candy.
I hope you'll join in this easy challenge. Remember, it's anything goes. Head on over and check out the Outlawz.
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have an awesome Thursday!

Donna

Sweet Birthday

Happy Hump Day! We are more than half way through the week. And I am so glad. Two people are out at work this week so I'm the only one working certain systems in our security. Makes work days interesting and busy. But one of my co-workers has a birthday this Saturday. I wanted to make her a card. So I just got my Simon Says August card kit. I decided to use the kit to make her a card. Here's what I came up with.

The stamp is from the kit. Lots of cute summer treats in the set. I colored it with Copics (E33, YG03, YR15 and B04). The Kelly Perky orange letters are from a previous card kit. The "sweet" and "happy birthday" are from the stamp set too. The cute background paper is also included. I added the twine and the yellow gems. I ised the Tuesday Morning Sketch for my card:

 So I'm entering these challenges:

• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Outlawz Friday challenge: anything goes
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow I am a guest designer for the Outlawz Thursday challenge, so stop back and see what I cooked up for that special challenge.

Donna

Kitty Christmas

Happy Monday morning! I couldn't sleep for thinking about the wedding and all I have left to do. It's happening a lot lately. I do have my list but that doesn't seem to be helping me with sleeping. Bummer! So I thought I'd start my Monday morning by posting my card that I finished last night. This is another of my progressive challenges. This one is DigiStamps4Joy Christmas challenge.

This cute little cats in the tree image is the free image this month. After I colored the image with Bic markers I cut it out with the Spellbinder's Beaded Ovals. I wanted to pick up the blue in the image So I sponged the embossing with my Bashful Blue ink. I wanted the background to look somewhat Christmas-like so I found this plaid paper in my stash and a Christmas sentiment tag that I already had made from a previous project. I popped the tag and then added the three little blue flowers for some extra pizzazz.
I am entering these challenges:

• DigiStamps4Joy Progressive Christmas challenge: us the image provided
• Outlawz Sketch challenge: sketch
• Party Time Tuesday: anything goes
• Papertake Weekly: it's a jolly holiday
• CraftyHazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope your Monday morning gets off to a great start. I just hope I can stay awake at work. LOL!

Donna

Winter Friends

Greetings! I am so happy it's almost the weekend. Lots of things to do for the wedding, so this weekend will be busy again. I am working on getting my progressive challenge cards done before the end of the month. So the first one is with From the Heart Stamps and I used the July Stamp of the month called Winter Friends.

This is such a sweet image! The set has some very nice sentiments with it too. I chose not to use one on the front of the card. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches for the card. The background paper I won in a blog candy but the snowflakes are sparkly in real life. The red was cut from Spellbinders Fluer de Lis die cut and the image is cut from Spellbinder Tear Drop Circles. When you emboss the circle there are small raised dots but I doubted that you could see them. So I added some blue glitter glue for some added sparkle. And then the three sequins I covered in Glossy Accents. I really like this one.

I am entering these challenges:

• July Stamp of the Month (From the Heart Stamps): use the provided image
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
  
  
   
  PaperTake Weekly: It's a Jolly Holiday!
  Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes
  Papermakeup Stamps: punches/dies
  
  
  I hope you have an awesome weekend and get some crafting time too. Our weather is beautiful once again. I'm not sure how we lucked out with such a cool summer but I'll take it after all the snow. It's been so pleasant. Thanks for stopping by!
  
  
  Donna

Whatever Floats Your Goat

Happy Tuesday! It's hard to believe that we are headed toward the middle of the week and the end of July. Where is the time going to? Yesterday Tom and I took the day off of work and drove to Indianapolis to look for a mother-of-the-bride dress for me. We looked in countless stores and everything was either black or white or in Tom's words "looked like a table cloth." Finally tried on my first dress at Saks Fifth Avenue. I think I tried on four dresses there. None at any other stores. So we bought one of the dresses I tried on at Saks. It's a long dress. I really had a short one in mind but it was the best one we saw. It's champagne in color and the skirt is really sparkly. I'll try to get a picture of it up sometime.It was after 6pm until we got home and I was beat. Over 12,000 steps yesterday. Shopping is work. LOL! I guess that's why I hate clothes shopping so much.

On the weekend I managed to eke out one card. I've got to get myself in gear and get some cards done. Lots of birthdays in August. Speaking of which, here is an August birthday card.

The inside says "Whatever floats your goat. Happy Birthday" I just love this set. The stamp set is from Doodle Pantry and the sentiment is from Hero Arts Birthday sentiments. The image and layer behind it was cur with Spellbinders Oval dies. I added several layers of paper. I used an OWH sketch. The smaller panel is embossed with D'vine Swirls. This one is for my BIL.

I'm entering these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry challenge: make it Christmas or make a splash
• Pile it On: summer fun
• Paper Makeup challenge: die cuts or punches
• Outlawz Thursday challenge: anything goes; optional twist is summertime

I made some zucchini soup this evening from my ever growing number of zucchini from the garden. I am going to have to find recipes for cucumbers next. I have a bumper crop coming. Hope your week is going well.

Donna

Back to Birthdays

July is a busy month for birthdays in our family and fortunately I had a few made ahead but I am about out so it's back to the birthday cards again. I needed a couple this week. Here's one that I used a new embossing folder on.

The fireworks is embossed and then I inked over each of the sparkles. I wish I had thought to add some Stickels before I sent it. I think I'll have to make another one and try the Diamond Stickels on it. The Celebrate sentiment is from Gina K. Ink is from Simon Says and Momento. I am entering this into the Through the Craftroom Door challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope the second half of your week will be fantastic!

Donna

Wedding Thank You

So last night I showed you the invitations for the wedding and tonight I am showing you the matching thank you card I made for Tricia to send for wedding gifts. Again I used her colors of blues and silver and used leftover paper from the invitations.

The silver paper is very shiny and didn't photograph very well but it's really pretty in real life. The hearts are from a Simon Says Stamp Kit set from May 2013. The Thank you sentiment is one that I won in a blog candy. No manufacturer was given on the random stamps. The blue paper and ink is Simon Says Island Blue. I have 46 of these made so far.

Well, this is short and sweet. I am really tired tonight so I think I'll call it an early bedtime. Thanks for stopping by. Next thing will be the centerpieces. And we already have ideas in the works for those. Stay tuned. I will share when completed. Have an awesome hump day!

Donna

Sigh of Relief

Are you hearing my sigh of relief wherever you are? My daughter's wedding invitations are done, written and in the mail and I am so relieved to have that much over. So today I am sharing the invitations with you.

This is a tri fold card so it wasn't easy to photograph. Her theme is Moment of Magic and her colors are cornflower blue and silver. I created the sentiment and added the shadow to it. I found this sparkly silver paper at Hobby Lobby. It wasn't really easy to cut with the die. We had to punch out each little piece. They didn't fall out like they normally do. I inked around the sentiment to bring the blue into the die cut.

My favorite part of the invitation is the caricature of the happy couple drawn by my friend Karen. She did an awesome job. The third part that you can't see is a map of the area marked with all the spots for church, reception and a party the evening before. I am happy with how they turned out but so glad they are finished and out of here. On to other things like centerpieces and favors. There is always something going on.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am hoping to get more crafting time in now that the invitations are done  but who knows. We'll take it one day at a time. Have an awesome week!

Donna

Outlawz Guest Designer

What a better way to come back to my blog but as a guest designer for the Thursday Outlawz challenge. The challenge is always anything goes but our twist, if you chose to use it, is fun in the sun. And if you chose to use the theme you get entered twice into the drawing for the monthly prizes. Our sponsor this month is Anne's Digital Art. So here's my creation for the challenge.

I have this thing for plaid. I think it looks great! Maybe I was thinking Christmas when I did the red and green look. The Picnic Ants are from Doodle Pantry. I popped up the food stuff so it has some texture. And after I put together the background paper I used the honeycomb embossing folder to give it some texture.

I am entering these challenges:

• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes
• DigiStamps4Joy: for the boys
• Cutie Pie: use a cute digi

Join with us for a fun in the sun challenge! Everyone needs a summer card!

Wedding update: I finally finished the wedding invitations tonight. All 70 of them. Now we have to address the envelopes for the second time. Sunday we addressed all the envelopes to find out that I measured incorrectly and one dimension was 1/4 of an inch too big for the envelope. So I hunted for new envelopes adn found them last night. So I hope to have them out the door by this weekend. Yeah!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I am looking forward to getting back to some normalcy. Well, as normal as it gets. Hahaha! Have an awesome Thursday!

Donna

I'm back... with Christmas

I can hardly believe that I've only made two cards in the month of June. Girl Scout day camp took it's toll on my crafting time and now it will be wedding plans that put a crimp in my crafting. This weekend I am working on the 70 wedding invitations that we need for my daughter's September wedding. So probably not much other crafting getting done this weekend. But I did manage a card last night so I could participate in my Christmas progressive challenge at DigiStamps4Joy.

This adorable snow globe image is the image this month. I just love it! Colored with Bic markers and I added Diamond Stickles for the snow. It sparkles beautifully in real life. The Spellbinder's die is the Picot edge circle and the background paper is scraps from Echo Park Season's Greetings by Lori Whitlock. I added some red, green and white striped ribbon.
So I am entering these challenges:

• DigiStamps4Joy: Progressive Christmas; use their image
• Outlawz Friday: anything goes with a Christmas twist

Thanks for stopping by. I am trying to get back into the swing of things but I feel like I've missed so much. After I get the wedding invitations out I can breathe a little easier. Haha! Then it will be favors, centerpieces, thank you notes and the list goes on and on. Have an awesome weekend!

Donna

Dad is my Super Hero

I can hardly believe that this is my first card in June. I missed my hubby's birthday yesterday. Poor thing didn't get a card this year. Getting ready for Girl Scout day camp next week. It's taking everything I have to get it together. This card is going out to Tom's Dad tomorrow. I hope he likes it.

This is the adorable image for the From the Heart challenge this month called Super Birdbrain. It comes with some awesome sentiments like the one I used. I colored him with Copic markers (R29, R46, B29 and Y08). I used the Sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. I used me Stars embossing folder and some patriotic designer paper. And added some twine to match the sketch.

I am entering these challenges:

• From the Heart challenge: use the provided image
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch and twist of masculine
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: Father's Day

Well, I apologize for my lengthy absences but I probably won;t be around much until after camp finished on June 20th. We have 210+ girls this year. I'm in charge of all resources and activities. I do have everyone's schedule in line now but now it's collecting all the materials needed. Lots of stuff to do ahead. And my neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend and my daughter decided she would do it but she is expecting me to get things together for it. Never a dull moment! Hope your week is going well. I'll be back to see you all after camp!

Donna

MIA again

I think this summer is going to be wash between Girl Scout day camp and my daughter's wedding. Ha! I haven't seen my desk in over a week. Of course we were gone to visit my son in Florida over last weekend. So today I am scrambling to finish up my last progressive challenge for the month.

The digi stamp is from DigiStamps4Joy for their month progressive challenge. The image is colored with Copics and I used the Spellbinders Oval and then beaded ovals to back the image. I added the embossed star to the image since Magi follow the star, right? I used the sketch for the Wednesday Outlawz challenge. The background green paper has stars stamped in Versa Mark stamped all over. A bit difficult to see in the photo. I used some Christmas paper scraps and die cut the scalloped shapes. Add the sentiment tag from Clear Dollar Stamps and finished off with the star outlined in Gold Stickles and the dots on the beaded oval.
I am entering these challenges:

• Digi Stamps4Joy: progressive Christmas challenge
• Outlawz Wednesday challenge: sketch
• Simon Says: anything goes
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today. I am hoping to finish off the proto type of my daughter's wedding centerpiece this weekend. I'll pass it along when it is finished. Have an awesome weekend.

Donna

Warm All Over

I am on a roll! Three nights in a row. But it's about to come to an end. We will be visiting our son this weekend, so I won't get much crafting done. But here's my card for tonight!

This is a Doodle Pantry image and sentiment. The designer paper is also from Doodle Pantry. I used a Martha Stewart border punch and added a few self-adhesive rhinestones. I used the Stella Sketch from Bugaboo for the layout.

I am entering these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry challenge: use a Doodle Pantry image
• Stella challenge: sketch
• Outlawz Sunday: dig out those gardens
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Sweet Stamps challenge: anything goes

Tomorrow I weigh in at my weight loss class.  I think I may have lost a few pounds this week. At least I hope so. Here's hoping you have a safe, relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend.

Donna

Grateful to Gardeners

Happy Tuesday! I managed to get another card done tonight. Sometimes it's a struggle. But I like this one!

The image is from From the Heart Stamps. This is the image and sentiment for the May challenge. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

 

I embossed the background cardstock with the Victoria embossing folder. I inked the edges of the die cut and the sentiment. The three enamel hearts are from Simon Says. In case you can't read the sentiment, it says: Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

I am entering these challenges:

•  May Free Stamp of the Month Challenge (From the Heart Stamps): use the provided stamp
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Sentimental Sunday: funky flowers
• Simon Says: die crazy
• Hiding in my Craft Room: embossing
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode challenge: flowers

Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow I am in Indianapolis giving a training all day. I will be glad when that's over! I don't mind doing presentations but I have so much to do at work right now it's hard to believe that I'm going away to do this training. I hope to have another card tomorrow night. Take care!

Donna