Two Challenges in One

Happy Sunday to y'all! Today I finally had time to sit down and create some cards. I do believe I was beginning to go through withdrawal. LOL! It's been kind of busy around here with no signs of it slowing down. This next month is my busiest for work and to make it even more hectic I just hired a new student worker on Friday that I need to train and supervise. No shortage of things to do.
So I worked on two different challenges in the same card. The first challenge is Midnight Madness blog challenge. I took a little liberty with the sketch but you can definitely see the sketch in my card.

The card uses the set Owl Always Love You by Gina K. I used Royal E-Z Rub-on Transfer Glitter Conversational Hearts. The background paper is Basic Grey Lime Rickey and the flower is recycled with the center being an adhesive rhinestone.
Now the second challenge that this card works for is the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #2. The challenge this week is to "make a card for your husband/significant other (or, if you are not married or dating, a loved one of your choice that you would like to show your appreciation to) to show them how much you love them." What a wonderful idea! I get so caught up in my work, the kids, the house, my volunteering, and definitely my card-making that I sometimes forget how important my DH is to me. So shortly he will find this card on his pillow with a special written note from me. Tom, I love you lots and so appreciate you being my soul mate and putting up with me! No easy fete!
So there's my card for today. I've finished another challenge card but I'll wait and post that one tomorrow. Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful beginning to the week and the month of September!

Happy inking,

Mmm, Good!

Happy Tuesday to you all! At work today we had our staff meeting for the week. We usually have it on Wednesday so all day I was thinking today was Wednesday. Sigh! But tomorrow is Wednesday so I guess I'll make it through the week.
I found a new challenge blog called Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges through my friend Lorie Ames. I met Lorie when I won some blog candy from her blog. The very first time I'd ever won anything from a blog. But we visit each other's blogs often and she wrote about her new endeavor with the challenge blog. The very first challenge was to incorporate food into your card. So having ice cream fanatics in my home, this was a no brainer!

I used the set Lazy Days of Summer from Gina K. All the stamps I used and the sentiment come from that set. It's a great summer set. The dotted paper is Basic Grey.
Check out the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge. There's still time to play along! They are giving away a beautiful birthday stamp set.
This card also works for the sketch challenge over at Stamp TV. Lots of great things to keep you busy on that site! Pop over and visit Gina and her team.
Hope tomorrow brings you a lovely day bright with sunshine and all good things. Thanks for stopping in today and stop back again soon.

Happy inking,

And Then It Hits Me!

I made this card for my son, Dan, who has moved away to Boston. So I try to send him a card every other week or so. I saw this sentiment on the Internet and thought it would be perfect.



That's Dan in the picture with his back to the camera, in the blue ball cap, throwing the Frisbee. He's a big fan of Ultimate Frisbee and plays on a team. He played all through college on the college team. On the inside of the card is a picture of his college team. Kind of a keepsake of sorts. No stamping on this card and I did the sentiment on the computer. So other than the layers it was a pretty quick and easy card.

Hope your Monday went well and the rest of the week zooms by. It's a busy week for me!

Happy inking,

Twilight Challenge

If you are a fan of Twilight you need to check out Carolyn King's blog for an extra special challenge. The challenge is to make a card inspired by the cover of one of the Twilight books. The winner may pick a stamp set of her choice from Gina K Designs.

Here's my card. I used the red, black and white from the cover and since there was an apple on the cover I used a set by Carolyn King Whimsical Autumn to add the apples colored with watercolor pencils and OMS. I embellished the corners with stars. The black background is woven with red and white pieces of paper. That's my quick and easy Twilight card. Give the challenge a try. You have until Sunday August 23rd. Good luck!

Have a great weekend. I'm off to visit my boys up north.

Happy inking,

The Tale of Two Birds

This card is for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog Challenge #45. The challenge this week was to make a card that was not the square or rectangular shape of a normal card, but a "shape" card.


So here's a template I found of a birdhouse. It's a bit difficult to see in the photo but the house part is embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and the roof section is embossed with a flower embossing folder from the With Love set. I added a gem to look like a perch and a flower with a button center at the top.


On the inside is the cutest sentiment. I affectionately think this is my brother and he'll love it! So I'm saving this one for his birthday. But, there's a story behind this one. Last night I did this same card with different paper and a different bird. While I was adding the sentiment to the inside (Happy Bird-day!) I somehow got black ink all over the front of the card. Frustrated and mad at myself for doing that I knew I had to start all over again. No time last night so I had to wait until this evening. In the mail today, my friend, Karen (Hi Karen!), had sent me some images, this bird being one of them. As soon as I saw it I knew that this was it! There was a reason I got ink all over the front. LOL! So there you have The Tale of Two Birds!

Yippee! Tomorrow is Friday. I won't be around much this weekend. My Boston-based son is in a wedding in northern Indiana and my youngest just moved back to college today in northern Indiana, taking our van with him. So we will be driving up to change cars and visiting our"groomsman" son while he's in the area on Sunday. So no crafting for me this weekend. But I shall return next week. I hope you have a wonderful, safe, and relaxing weekend.

Happy inking,

Midnight Madness Halloween Style

The Midnight Madness Challenge this week has a wonderful sketch. I decided to make it a Halloween card.


I used a Stampin' Up! set called Haunting Halloween. The spider web ribbon is from Michael's. Isn't that the coolest ribbon? The background paper is from Paper Studio. I love the Halloween colors. On the burnt orange paper I Versmarked bats; all on a black card stock base. Funny that I have a bunch of Christmas cards done but this is my first Halloween card of the season. I send lots more Christmas cards though.

Well, here's hoping the rest of the week moves right along for you. Take care. Have a lovely Thursday.

Happy inking,

IC Sketch #30

Does this sound familiar? I was at the last minute yesterday posting my Inspirational Card challenge and today I got on the ball (for a change) and finished this week's challenge much earlier than I usually do. Here's the sketch. You should check out the awesome designs from the Design Team.

And here's my card. I used the stamp set Best Fishes from Gina K and paper pieced the seahorse and the worm with Lime Rickey paper from Basic Grey.

This also works for the color challenge from Stamp TV. The colors for this week were green, black, and white. I bet you could have guessed that one! LOL! The other background paper are tea bag tiles. I think I printed them long ago from a web site. I can't remember the name. I found them in my scrap drawer. Love to use up scraps!

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday evening. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to be back tomorrow with another challenge creation. Take care!

Happy inking,

Inspirational Card Sketch

Another quick post for the Inspirational Card Sketch #29 this week. My card is very simple. I used Paper Studio background paper. I punched the scallop border with a Martha Stewart punch. I cut the circle with my Colluzzle and used the Gina K set Wreath of Wishes for the image and sentiment. I sponged pumpkin ink of the circle. Thanks to the Inspirational Card Sketch Blog for another wonderful sketch!

I hope you have a wonderful week. This one is very busy for me and I'm just trying to get things in with deadlines. Take care!

Happy inking,

Flip Flop Card & Color Challenge & Window Challenge

I do believe this is a first for me. Two posts in one day! I don't often post twice in one day but I got time to craft this weekend and there's lots that I haven't shown you yet! Since my son will be leaving to go back to college by the end of this week I thought I should take advantage of the time this weekend. The rest of this week we'll be packing and moving him back next weekend so there probably won;t be many posts next weekend. VBG! So here's a color challenge for Stamp TV. The challenge was red, brown, and cream. I saw a video on making a flip flop card so I decided to combine the two and try it out. Here's the result!

This is the front of my card. You can see where the brown card stock stops and the red flips over it. I love that Paper Studio paper with the roses. The sentiment is from Elegant Flowers by Gina K. I added a red/pink flower with a brown button.


This is what it looks like after you open the red flap. I punched a "window" out of the card flap and added a rose. I left the right flap blank so I had a place to write a note. The window challenge is for the Kaboodles blog. I did another card for that challenge earlier this week. Had such a good time with that card I decided to make another one that was a bit different.

With this view you can't quite see the entire card stretched out but you get the idea. A very easy card to make and different from the usual A2 card. Hope you've enjoyed my cards today. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy inking,

MM Sketch Challenge #14

It's Midnight Madness time again! The MM Sketch Challenge #14 was my objective for today. And here's my card.

I very seldom use orange on my card so this was a departure for me. I actually started with the turtle ribbon and the image which is a digital image from Squigglefly. Isn't that turtle the cutest thing? After I colored the green on the turtle, orange just seemed to be the color that made it stand out. I used my Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder for the orange background. The scalloped edging was done with a Martha Stewart punch and I added the little flowers as per the sketch in the corners. Hope you like my card!
Happy Sunday! Have a wonderful week. Hope it's a great one for you.

Happy inking,

Recessed Window Card

Good evening, friends! I am thrilled to share this project with you. It's a combination of two challenges. The Cuttlebug Challenge Blog Challenge #44 was to create a scene. The other challenge that this project works for is the Kaboodle Blog Challenge. My friend, Angie, challenged every one to use a window in their card or project. So putting those two challenges together, here's what I came up with.


The recessed window card was featured on Splitcoast Stampers this week on the Wednesday tutorial. I just love the way it turned out. I used Sunlit Ocean background paper from the Jersey Shore digital paper from Gina K ( a freebie BTW over at Stamp TV). And the Guiding Light stamp set, also from Gina K. I used the Swiss Dot embossing folder to emboss the entire front of the card. And you'll see more embossing below on the inside of the card. I added the ribbon and the flower and button as embellishments.

And here's the inside of the card. I used the same background paper to cover the back of the recessed window and added other stamps from Guiding Light to carry on the theme to the inside of the card. I love the color of the background paper. The picture does not do it justice.
Well there's my challenge projects for today. Hope you like them. Tomorrow is Friday once again and then comes my favorite part of the week. Yeah! Saturday I am having some friends drop by for a pitch-in lunch and some card making. We're making cards for a friend who is having surgery soon. Then my BFF and I are going to finish out the day playing with my Cuttlebug and make more cards. My DH has promised to make us dinner so we get the whole day to play! We haven't done that in a long time. I'm so looking forward to it. Have a lovely Friday. Thanks for stopping and come back again soon.

Happy inking,

Amazing Blog Candy

Usually I post my blog candy on my side bar but this one is amazing. Steph is offering a $150 gift certificate to a place of your choice to celebrate her 25,000 hits. Go check it out and spread the word!

Just a Quick One

I will apologize right away for the lousy photography and lighting. I just finished this project tonight for a very special soon-to-be 6 year old girl and I need to give it to her tomorrow so this was the only chance I had to photograph it.
But Macy is having her 6th birthday tomorrow and I wanted to give her a little something. She's my boss's daughter. Cute as a button. So I made her this little box and filled it with M&Ms.


You can't see it very well but the box is inked with fish and sea life and sentiments like "Best Fishes" and "You're fintastic!" They're from the Best Fishes set by Gina K. The tag is a digital stamp from the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog.


And here's the little 3X3 card I made Macy to go with the box. The images are from Just So Hippy by Gina K. and the sentiment is from Elegant Flowers.

It's past my bedtime but I just wanted to share this before heading off into the sunset. Okay, the suns been gone for hours. Hope you're all having a wonderful week so far. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy inking,

Cuttlebug Challenge #43

At the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog they are celebrating digital stamps. If you play along, Maggie will send you some digital stamps to use in your creation. I got so excited over the challenge I made a box and three cards to put in it.

This is the top of my box which is made from light blue card stock. I used a patterned paper and embossed with the Argyle embossing folder. The digital stamp is in the middle outlined with yellow card stock. I added some felt flowers.


One the side of the box I used the same patterned paper but embossed "with love" with the embossing folder of the same name. It ties in with the cards which you will see next!

On this card I used kraft card stock for the base and the same patterned paper from the box. Now here's my "duh" moment with the stamp embossing folders and the die cut that you get when you buy the Cuttlebug. Until today I didn't know those two things went together. I was reading my email today and someone asked should you emboss first and then die cut or should you cut first and then emboss. And I'm thinking to myself, "What's she talking about?" Then the light returned to my brain and I realized what the die cut was for. So I had to try out using the two together, which of course I had never done until today. DUH! The digi is great "You R the Best!" And I used a friendship sentiment on the inside.


I decided to stay with very simple cards for this project. This color combo is very different for me. The base card stock is almost a pumpkin color. Since the patterned paper had that color in it I went with that. I embossed the With Love and a line of dots. I sponged the digi with pumpkin colored ink but it's difficult to tell in this picture. And last but not least (cause this one is my favorite!)


This one is definitely more my style. Very simple. I used a Martha Stuart punch and used both sides of the punched patterned paper. I embossed the stemmed flowers from the With Love embossing folder and added the digi. I sponged the digi with blue ink but it's difficult to tell in this picture. This one definitely looks much better IRL!

Well, there you have my creations for today! Thanks so much to the challenge blog and Maggie at MlamarreDesigns for the digital stamps and all the fun I had using them. I'm looking forward to the next Cuttlebug Challenge! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Take care and thanks for stopping and reading this book today!

Happy inking,

Squigglefly Christmas

The Squigglefly Challenge this week intrigued me. They gave everyone a free digital Christmas stamp and you had to make a card using that stamp. What fun to see what everyone came up with. The digital stamp was a cute reindeer. Here's my card:



I layered his head and his collar so they stood out on the card. He's colored with watercolor pencils and OMS. Then I drew a little scenery around him. I stamped a couple of tress, sponged in some clouds and drew some "snow drifts." The scalloped edge is from a Stampin' Up! punch and the Season Greetings is from a Stampin' Up! set also. I really liked the way he turned out. I hope you do too.

Happy weekend everyone. I'm enjoying electricity once again after being out for two days and hope I get my laundry done before it goes out again! Have a wonderful weekend and come back to see me soon!

Happy inking,

Midnight Madness Birthday Wishes

Did you think I fell off the face of the earth? Died? Been sick? Actually, we had a huge storm on Tuesday and it knocked out our electricity. We've been without electricity for the past two days. I so appreciate that amenity now. I didn't get much card making done because it was impossible to see well enough to craft after dark and that's usually my time to craft. So it was early to bed but not very good sleeping because of all the neighbors' generators. I can't complain too much about the noise because one neighbor was nice enough to let us plug in our refrigerator yesterday. We alternated our frig and freezer and hopefully we won't lose too much food. I haven't been through the freezer yet. But enough of that! On to the good stuff.

Tonight I finally got back to my "bright" desk and worked on the Midnight Madness Challenge. I fell in love with the sketch this week. There are so many possibilities! Here's the sketch:

Maybe because it's colored purple, one of my favorite colors! Or maybe I just like the layout. Anyway, here's what I came up with using the sketch:


I love that colorful Lime Rickey paper by Basic Grey and I used one of my favorite stamps: the hot air balloons from Eclectic Summer stamp set by Gina K Designs. The sentiment is from Elegant Flowers by Gina K. I added a few star brads to finish the card off. Check out priscillastyles blog for all the details on the Midnight Madness #13 challenge.
Hope you all had a wonderful week. My favorite part of the week is coming up. I hope to be back with more things to share and no more power outages. Keep those fingers crossed!

Happy inking,

Midnight Madness Tag Sketch

I ran into a new-to-me challenge blog the other day and decided to try their current challenge. The sketch had a tag as the focal point of the card front. You can see the Midnight Madness sketch at priscillastyles. The design team did an awesome job with the sketch. And here's my take on it:

I didn't think I'd like this color combination but I liked the end result. The image and sentiment are both from the Elegant Flowers stamp set by Gina K. The ribbon is from Sugar and Spice and the flower is recycled from a lei that my daughter was throwing away. I added the green button. The green background was embossed with the Leafy Branch embossing folder in my Cuttlebug. Thanks Midnight Madness for the challenge. It was great fun!
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Take care!

Happy inking,

Inspirational Challenge

My friend Lorie Ames at Live-Love-Laugh-Create had an inspirational challenge on her blog this week. The idea was to make a card that reminded you of this zippered bag she found last weekend.


So I took up her challenge and I came up with this quick little card that could be used for any occasion.

I don't usually use brown in my cards too often and it just occurred to me that this would look much better with some green leaves. I may have to alter this card. If I do I'll edit the post. But here's to you, Lorie! Thanks for the challenge and I hope others will check out Lorie's blog. She very talented and I'm amazed at her creations all the time.
Have a wonderful weekend. We're having dinner with friends this evening and I maybe some hiking tomorrow if the weather holds out. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy inking,