MIA No More

It seems like forever since I've had a chance to post here. I hope someone missed me. LOL! I am still working on the gifts for the Girl Scout recognition and I promise to share them when they are all finished. But I took a break tonight because I needed a card that everyone at work could sign for our student hourly who will be leaving for the summer on Friday. I wanted to send her off with a little party (I'll make treats tomorrow night) and a card that she can remember us by. She will be returning again in the fall.

The card was made for the Friday challenge on Stamp TV. The challenge was to use the "ink an embossing folder technique" for your background. I used the Celtic Knot folder by Cuttlebug and embossed with Bashful Blue ink. Then I used the hot air balloon image from the Gina K Eclectic Summer stamp set and paper pieced the balloons from scrap pieces of paper. I cut them out and pop dotted them off the background. I added a sentiment from the Gina K Lazy Days of Summer set and inked around the sentiment with More Mustard. The background panel was also inked with Bshful Blue around the edges.

Our basement is finally finished. We are still in the process of moving things back in. The carpet was installed on Monday and it was well worth the wait. It's amazing how  roomy the basement looks now. I'llt ry to post pictures so you can check out my space.

I hope everyone is having a spectacular week. I am thrilled the basement is about complete and my gifts for the recognition event are almost finished. I am so looking forward to getting back to creating some other things. Have a wonderful Thursday and see you back here soon!

Inky hugs,

Donna

Berry Sweet Cocoa

Happy Thursday evening to you all! It's been a busy week and I haven't had much time to work with challenges this week because I am working on recognition gifts for our Girl Scout service unit event. I'll share some of those things with you as I get them done. Nothing is completely finished yet so hopefully on the weekend.

I did manage to get this cute little guy on a card. This digi image is from Sweet 'N Sassy. I won the image for being chosen as the Customer Spotlight last weekend. I just totally adore these Cocoa images. So this is done for the sketch challenge on the Sweet Stop blog. The Sweet Stop blog is turning one year old and the sketch challenge is to celebrate the birthday! So to participate you had to follow the sketch and it had a twist. You had to also use buttons and bows. I added several buttons and a double looped bow made with my Bow Easy. The oval shape in the background is embossed with the Plant embossing folder and the yellow strip is embossed with the Swiss dots folder. The yellow strip is the new Post-It notes paper. Very easy to use. Just peel off the backing and stick it down. I love that! I've added some ribbon for accent.

Hope your week has been great! We're headed toward my favorite part of the week. Friday at 5 p.m.! Thanks for stopping by and hope that you;ll stop back this weekend. I'm hoping to post some of the projects I've been working on.

Inky hugs,
 Donna

Card Pattern Sketch Challenge and SNS Color Challenge

Happy Friday! Just a quick post tonight. I finished this card last night but didn't get a chance to post. It was digi day over at Sweet 'n Sassy so I made this card with a SNS digi image of birthday Coco using the Card Pattern sketch challenge. Is Coco just the cutest?

The SNS challenge was to use green and purple. The background paper is edged with the Stampin' Up! scalloped punch. I cut and enbossed the image with a scalloped circle Nestability. And the sentiment is from Gina K Holiday Sentiments punched with a 1 1/4 inch punch and pop-dotted to stand out and backed with a green 1 1/2 inch punch. Then I added a few self-adhesive rhinestones in the corners.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be traveling this weekend; home to see my DH's parents but I'll be working on some things while I'm there. Have a wonderful weekend. Be safe and happy!

Happy inking,

 Donna

What's a Twinchie

A twinchie is a double inchie! Instead of a 1 inch by 1 inch are, it's a two inch by two inch section. So Flourishes challenge was to make a twinchie your focal point. This challenge is a pre-release challenge. It won't be long and we'll have new stamps from Flourishes. And the sneak peaks have been amazing.

So my card used Flourishes Strawberries stamp set. I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug folder. The images and sentiment is from the same set. And I embellished with self-adhesive rhinestones. Check out the challenge. There are still a few days left to play. I love this Strawberries set. It reminds me of my son, Dan, who is a real strawberry fiend! Hi Dan!

Thanks for stopping today. We are having gorgeous weather but rain is headed our way soon. I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Happy inking,

Donna

Baby Challenges

It's getting late but I wanted to post this one tonight. I may already be too late to get in on some of the many baby challenges this week but I'll take what I can get.

This "sweet" little card uses Melanie Muenchinger's Wee Tees for the image and the sentiment. I used Gina K luxury card stock and embossed it with the swiss dots folder. Added two lines of ribbon and some prima roses to complete the card.

So this card is for the following challenges:

• Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge
• Cuttlebug Challengeblog: baby project
• Caardvarks blog and blog hop: baby card
• Stamp TV: Inspire #18 challenge: baby card.

I was amazed how many blogs were asking for baby cards on the same week so I guess I took advantage of that. Hope your week is going well. I have another card for tomorrow. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Inky hugs,

Donna

Birthday Emma

Good Sunday morning to you all! I was able to get a couple things created in the last few days but there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. LOL! My motivation to create is slowly coming back some of it by necessity since I have to get some things done for a volunteer recognition event for Girl Scouts coming up very soon. But my card today was sparked by two things. First I won this sweet Emma Digital stamp from the Sweet n' Sassy blog hop on Sandy's blog. And of course I had to try it out. And I printed off the directions of how to make this frame a while ago from Split Coast Stampers and I thought the two together might be a winning combination.

So I colored Birthday Emma with colored pencils and sponged the background and then mounted her into the frame. and mounted the frame on Black card stock. The crad base is a light pink with a darker pink card stock toward the bottom of the card. The ribbon I think I got at Michael's on clearance and then I added the sentiment from a Gina K set. The name is escaping me at the moment. I mounted the sentiment on a scalloped punch card stock.

On the inside I used a new punch I got when our LSS went out of business. It's the EK Success notebook punch. I used the same paper as the frame. Pretty simple but gives the inside a little perk.

I'm using this card for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge: You bought it You use it challenge. I had never used the punch before so that's the biggest thing. And the paper is several years old from Stampin' Up!

Hope your weekend has been wonderful. I'll be back with some other goodies I've created. So glad this will be a somewhat slower week for me. Hope your's is also.

Inky hugs,

Donna

Tag You're It!

I can't believe it was last Saturday when I last posted. It's been a busy week and my motivation is still somewhat low although I think as time gets to be less of a premium, I'm starting to get antsy to get back to creating things. That and the need to create cards is getting greater. One of my co-workers grandmothers passed away last night so there's a card I need right away. Last night I did sit down at my desk and worked on this tag. The tag was for two things. Stamp TV has a Tuesday Anything But a Card Challenge hosted by my girl friend Karen Knegten  and a Yahoo group I am on Making Greeting Cards has a tag swap this month. So as soon as I get a padded envelope this tag will be off to my swap partner in the group. (Don't look, Debbie!)

I made the flower by punching out 10 5-petal flowers with my Stampin' Up punch. First I scrunched them all up and then un-scrunched (is that a word?) them, stacked them and punched a hole through the middle. I put a brad in the middle and then scrunched them up again to form the flower. The stamp set I used was Timeless Treasues from Gina K designed by Theresa Momber. I cut the flourishes from a QuikCutz die and stamped the sentiment on coordinating paper. I punched a whoe and added the ribbon. Pretty easy.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm hoping to find time on the weekend to work on that motivation issue I've been having. LOL! I guess I just have to GIT 'ER DONE!

Inky hugs,

Donna

Spring has Sprung!

Happy Saturday to you all. I'm at a real low this week. I can't seem to get motivated for making cards. Unfortunately it took me three days to finish this card. I just couldn't seem to wrap my mind around it.

The dsp is from Hobby Lobby and I used Shapbilities to make the background impression. Added some ribbon and the sentiment is from Arranged with Love by Melanie Muenchinger. The flourish at the bottom is from Floral Flourishes by Inkadinkadoo.

On the inside I used the same dsp and added the fleur dis leis from the Spellbinders set that I used for the front of the card. It was pretty simple but so difficult to wrap my head around it. LOL!

This card is for two challenges:
2 Sketches 4 You: sketch challenge #49 from Kazan.
Cuttlebug Spot: a color challenge: pink and green; the colors of the blog!
Stop by and take a look at the amazing creations form the design teams. Lots of inspiration!

That's it for me today. I'm off to work on the basement remodel and maybe I'll find my mojo hiding under the rug. LOL! Have a wonderful weekend and a very blessed Easter to you and your family. Thanks for stopping.


Easter hugs,