Monday, July 30, 2018

Love is a Flower

Happy Monday! We are closing out July already. How did that happen? I am scurrying to get some of my progressive challenges done. I guess it's about time.


This image is for The Outlawz Progressive challenge. The image this month is Tulip Border from Sheepski Designs and I colored it with Copic markers. I paired the image with a quote from John Lennon: Love is the flower you've got to let grow. The sentiment came from a blog called Making Our Mark and I am unable to find it now. I finished it off with a few sequins covered in glossy accents. The panel is matted on purple card stock and the base is pink card stock. A CAS card this month.
I am entering these challenges:

Today was a volunteer day at Opportunity House. Tomorrow I have a free day. Have some errands to run and I hope to get some crafting time in. Hope your week is off to a marvelous start. Thanks for stopping by!

Donna

Friday, July 27, 2018

Final Day of Christmas in July

We've reached the final day of Catch the Bug's Christmas in July challenge. All week the underlying theme has been "Baby, it's cold outside!" For Day 7 we had a photo as inspiration.


The freebie at Bugaboo Stamps this week fits well with this photo.  SoI used it for my card.


The image is Tropical Santa - Buried. I created an oval background (from MFT Stitched Ovals) of beach and sky by making a mask from MFT Stitched Basic Edges 2 and then used the mask to cover and ink each area. I colored the Santa image with Spectrum Noir markers and added some Crystal Stickles to his hat. Santa is popped up from the background with foam tape. The background paper is snowflakes, continuing with the baby, it's cold outside theme. And to give it a pop of color I added the Magnolia Berry Lace die cut with green card stock behind for the leaves and a pop of red card stock. For the berries I added red gems glued into place. The sentiment is from Peachy Keen Stamps Chill Baby Chill Snowman stamp set. So there you have it. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eke out enough time to finish the challenge but I actually did it. I am entering these challenges:
So now I need to hit the ground running. My FIL in due in about an hour. I need dinner for tonight and tomorrow night done. Twins will be here tomorrow afternoon. My DH wants to spend the weekend at Baby Creek, our weekend retreat which means everything needs to be packed. At least the weather is nice outside. Thanks to all the DT and Josi over at Catch the Bug for a fun week and seven more Christmas cards in my box. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a marvelous weekend!

Donna



Thursday, July 26, 2018

Christmas in July Day 6

Day 6 today was a color challenge. I am not a fan of color challenges but I made it work and I think I found a way that made it easier for me. Tomorrow is the last challenge. The end is near. LOL!


Thursday is oldie but goodie day and I think this little guy might be retired. I couldn't locate him on the Bugaboo website. I colored him using Spectrum Noir markers and die cut him with MFT Stitched Circle dies. I added Yellow and Crystal Stickles to the image. The sentiment is a retired Gina K holiday set. I punched it out with a 1 1/4 inch Stampin' Up! circle punch. I added a self adhesive gem to the center of the snowflake. The triangle corners I die cut as a square from Spellbinder's die and then cut in half diagonally. All layers are backed with green card stock. To finish it off I found this snow couple in my stash. It's a button that had the back cut off. I am entering these challenges:

That's all I have today. Just found out my FIL will be visiting this weekend and we have the twins on Saturday afternoon. So I need to get one more card in tomorrow. Hope you have a wonderful start to your weekend! Thanks for taking the time to visit!

Donna


Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Day 4 & 5 at Catch the Bug

I have a two fer day today. I am catching up with the Christmas in July challenges. So Day 4 was a bingo board.

I chose to do the top right to the bottom left corner diagonally (sparkle, Bugaboo Christmas image, bling or pearls).

The image is Bugaboo's Little Penguin Winter Bench. I colored it with a variety of different markers and then started to add bling and sparkle. There are a number of adhesive gems on the tree and I used Yellow Stickles on the star and Crystal Stickles for the snow. The light embellishments are from MFT Happy Pawlidays stamps and coordinating dies. I used a white gel pen to accent the lights and then drew lines to connect them. I used several dies: MFT Stitched Inside and Out Rounded Squares and Spellbinder's Lacy Squares. The background paper is a scrap of American Craft paper. And I added gold ribbon. I am entering these challenges:
Now for Day 5 (today) the challenge was to create a funny project.
Since Santa was in a bathing suit in the image I decided to use one of the Tropical Santa's from Bugaboo.

The image is Tropical Santa Surfing. I colored him with Copics and Spectrum Noir markers. The background paper is from Trimgym and I thought it kind of looked like waves. The image is die cut with Gina Marie Cross Stitch Rectangles. The sentiment was a freebie from Paper Crafts magazine and the flip flops were a freebie from Betty Bee. The sentiment is die cut with Quikcutz Tags and inked with Barn Door distress ink. The red paper is from my American Craft Christmas stash and actually has darker red dot but they aren't very visible in the photo. I added some ribbon from my stash. I love the red, white and blue color scheme. I am entering these challenges:
I am done for now. But tomorrow is a color challenge. I always find that difficult. Love sketches but give me a pallet of  colors and I freak. We'll see how I do. 
Today was my last day volunteering at Head Start for this school year. They only take a two week break so I'll go back mid-August. I really love playing with the kids. Only 4 of the 8 will move to the new room but one of their teachers is moving with them so that will be awesome. Hope your week is progressing well. We are on the down side now. Take care!

Donna







Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Christmas in July - Day 3

Over at Catch the Bug, the Christmas in July challenges are continuing. Day 3's challenge was anything but a card: either a gift or gift card holder. I chose to do a wine tag for a wine gift.


I really like the Christmas colors on this and the snowflakes go well with my image. I thought this was a frame it image but I haven't been able to find it on the Bugaboo website, but here is the tag version called 4 Snowmen Tag. I colored the image and just fussy cut around the frame and added all kinds of sparkle using Crystal Stickles and Red Stickles. I also used a white gel pen for some accents on hats and noses. Here's a closer shot.

The background paper is a scrap from my scrap box and I added some self-adhesive gem stones in the center of each of the big snowflakes on the designer paper. The tag base is green card stock. The image I made into a tiny little card so I could write something on the inside. I wrote: "Something to keep the chill away during the holidays!" The theme for the week is "Baby, it's cold outside!" A bottle of wine and a fire in the fireplace" What more can one ask for?
I am entering these challenges:

Thanks for stopping by today. I have a list of things to accomplish this week and I've slowly been ticking things off. Tomorrow is my last day at Head Start for this school year. The twins will have a two week break before they start the new year. I'll have to find out if their new teacher wants me to come help. Have a wonderful week!

Donna

So Worth Celebrating

I needed a quick birthday card today. I'm a bit behind in getting birthday cards ready. So I used several new stamps and dies that I just got from My Favorite Things.


I started out making a 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inch background with distress oxide inks: salty ocean, broken china and peacock feathers. I used a layering technique from Jennifer McGuire. When the background dried I die cut it with MFT Collage Cover-Up die. I think I will be using this die a lot because it will be great for scraps. So the four pieces are from that die cut and I have a bunch more to use for other cards. I glued them to the background blue-green card stock and then added the cake from MFT Birthday Bears colored with American Craft markers and die cut with the coordinating die. The sentiment is from MFT Anything-but-Basic Birthday Wishes stamps set and was stamped with MFT Blue Yonder pigment ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder. The hardest part was getting a background that I liked. But I love the card.
I am entering these challenges:

Hope your Tuesday is going fine! I have a couple other projects I am working on and hope to get done today. Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Monday, July 23, 2018

Bugaboo - Day 2

I am doing a happy dance tonight. My computer has found its way back home and I am a happy camper. My DH is probably happy too that he doesn't have to share his computer anymore. LOL! And I finished Day 2 of the Bugaboo Christmas in July challenge. Day 2 is  a sketch challenge.

And here's my card!


The image is Snowmen Block  from Bugaboo. I used scraps from my scrap box for the background designer paper. All papers are from American Crafts. I colored the snowmen block with American Craft markers. I used Spellbinder's Classic Squares and MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags for die cutting. The "for you" sentiment is from Altenew Morning Glory stamp set. All layers are backed with black card stock. I am entering these challenges:

That's it for me today. I did my volunteering this afternoon. I picked my tomatoes and cucumbers. So I can go work on some other things now. Maybe get a head start on jobs for tomorrow. Hope your week is off to a great start. Sending hugs your way! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Donna

Baby It's Cold Outside

Happy Monday! The start of another week. Hard to believe how fast they go. Bugaboo Stamps is having their annual Christmas in July challenge all this week. It;s a great way to get some Christmas cards made and win some nice digital stamps. I love Bugaboo. So I am playing catch up. Not having my computer is really causing me some problems. I am hoping that today might be the day but given their track record so far I am not holding my breathe. Ugh!
So the first challenge is Baby It;s Cold Outside. Not so around here but my card is making me feel cooler.

So this image from Bugaboo isn't on their site. I don;t know if it hasn't been brought over from their old website yet or if it's retired. But he's an adorable bear on skates. Perfect for cold winter weather. I colored him with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut him and the sentiment with MFT Cross-Stitch Oval dies. The sentiment is from Simon Says Big Holiday Wishes stamp set from 2013. The designer paper is from my scrap box and I added three small snowflakes for embellishments. All layers are backed with black card stock. I am entering these challenges:
I have to volunteer this afternoon at Opportunity House. So my afternoon is full. Tomorrow I hope to get caught up with some things around the house like meal planning, cleaning and laundry. I'll have to pick tomatoes this evening so I will probably have enough to make juice; another project for tomorrow. Have a wonderful week this week. Hope you will make some Christmas cards and join in the Bugaboo challenges!

Donna


Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Happy Bee-day

Every 15th of the month, I post a card made from a kit that is sent by one of the Dueling Darlings on Splitcoast Stampers. You can see the first card from the kit in this post. That post also lists all the contents of the kit. There is always so much fun stuff that comes in these kits and you can often make two or three cards and still have leftovers. I didn't get a chance to make a second card for the original post, so tonight I made a second card with the kit.


For this card I used another of the sentiments that Terry sent and die cut it with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags die. The bee designer paper is so cute but what you can't see in the picture is the vellum layer that's embossed with little honeycomb shapes. It really adorable! I found this stitched frame that I had leftover from another project on my desk so I used a black marker to make it black. I added brads from the kit in the bottom right corner of the frame. It's hard to see the two yellow brads but the black brad shows up well. There were originally three yellow brads in the kit but I lost one on my desk so I added a black one from my stash. I added one of the bees to the sentiment. One of the hives and the bee is popped up from the card. I really like this one. Terry sent an awesome kit! Thanks again, Terry! I am entering these challenges:

We finally heard from the computer place today. My computer is infected with malware. Hopefully I will get it back by Friday. Tom went away this evening so I was able to use his computer for a little while. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are having a great week. 

Donna

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Watt's Up

Hello! My computer has gone to the shop. I've been missing it since last Saturday and hoping it comes back soon. I snagged a little bit of time on Tom's computer this evening so I am posting a card that I got done for a nephew's birthday.


This is really a conglomeration of a lot of different stamp sets. I started with the Simon Says 2014 Watt's Up? stamp set. I inked the background with Distress Oxide Inks (Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade) and then stamped the image and sentiment on top. I die cut it with MFT Stitched Circles and backed it with black card stock. The "Birthday Dude" sentiment is embossed with white embossing powder. The "birthday" came from the MFT Birthday Bear stamp set and the "Dude" came from a Simon Says 2014 All Boy stamp set. I had to mask the rest of the sentiments to just get those two words together. The designer paper is scraps from my scrap box backed with black card stock. Here's the inside.


The inside sentiments: "High Five! Happiest of birthdays" is from the MFT More Essential Sentiments stamp set. This turned out pretty good, I think.
I am entering these challenges:

That's it for me tonight. I am hoping it's not it for this week but we'll see how long it takes to get my computer back. Ugh! I hate to be reminded how dependent I am on it. Unfortunately it's the truth. Tomorrow I go volunteer at the twins' Head Start class. The highlight of my week. We have them all day Saturday too so their parents have some recreation time. Love having them around. Take care. Have a wonderful week if I don;t get back and I'll be around to visit as soon as I can.

Donna

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Santa Claus is coming to town... in a new outfit. LOL! We are halfway through July. I've been on a leave of absence from my 12 Months of Christmas design team but it's time to get back to creating again. I normally post on the 1st of the month and I will be back to that for August. Since I had extra time this week I made a card as a reminder that you can still play along this month. The theme is anything goes!


I used the Woodland Santa image from Scribbles Designs and paper pieced his suit and pack with a paper from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. The rest is colored with Spectrum Noir markers. Come join along before the end of July and win some awesome papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. I hope while you are working on those Christmas in July projects you'll share them with us at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up.
I am entering these challenges:

Thanks for stopping by for my second post today. Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Donna

Bee Mine Dueling Darlings

It's the 15th of the month and that means it's time for the Dueling Darlings. This month my kit came from Terry A who sent to all the Dazzlers and Terry S sent kits to the Divas. They chose bees as their theme. She included a paragraph about how important bees are to our existence and it was very interesting. Terry included all kinds of cool items in the kit. Here's what I came up with.


Here's what she included in the Dazzlers' kit:

  • Stamp set and dies: Hero Arts "Busy as a Bee" (used above)
  • Designer paper: the Paper Studio
  • SU! Hexagon Hive die cut on SU! Hello Honey card stock (used above)
  • SU! Hexagons Dynamic on Simon Says vellum
  • Die cut gold doily - the Paper Studio
  • Black Adhesive gems: Jolee's Boutique
  • White round gems: the Paper Studio
  • Bee Happy button: Dress It Up (used above) Looks like the real thing. Kind of scary!
  • Yellow brads: SU!
  • Yellow twine: the Paper Studio (used above)
  • Black 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon: SU!
Terry included a bunch of different sentiments. I just used one of them. You can see that I have a bunch of things to make more cards too. I was hoping to get another one done but that probably won't happen before this post goes live. Thanks Terry for this month's awesome kit. So much fun!
Check out what the other Dazzlers did with this kit:
This is a scheduled post. I'm not really sure where I will be when this goes live. But I doubt I will be someplace where there is Internet access so I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks for stopping by and thanks again to Terry for the wonderful bee kit!

Donna

Friday, July 13, 2018

HB To You

Welcome back. I managed a little time to make this quick card this afternoon. I found the Bugaboo image on my table and decided he was begging to be added to a card. LOL!


The image is Bug Brat Boy Balloons. I colored him with Spectrum Noir markers. The background is a birthday napkin. You can find some really fun napkins to make into backgrounds. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things All About You stamp set and is white heat embossed to the black card stock. The die cut "You" is also from MFT (You Trio Die-namics). A very simple design. I used the MFT Sketch as inspiration.
I am entering these challenges:
So dinner is ready for tomorrow and I'll be able to play with the twins. It's supposed to be a scorcher so we'll set up the dining fly and get their swimming pool out so they can cool off. We hit 102 today. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back on Sunday with a scheduled post. Have a super weekend!

Donna


Magical Christmas

Well, it's Friday the 13th and so far so good. Did a bunch of errands this morning and back home again to cook. I have the twins all day tomorrow so I like to have my dinners done ahead so I cna spend more time with them. always so much fun!
The last time I had a magic birthday card, today I have a magical Christmas card.


The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Raggedy Angel Stars. I colored her with Copic markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitch Rectangles. The star paper is from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles.The Sentiment is from Cards by Bird and die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags and inked with Twisted Citron. The layers are backed with black card stock. I used yellow stickles for the stars and halo. I am entering these challenges:

Busy day today and a busy weekend ahead. Hope your Friday the 13th is wonderful with no unexpected catastrophes. Have a crafty weekend!

Donna

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Birthday Card Magic

It's Wednesday already! Happy hump day to all. The weeks fly by and it's really hard to keep up with everything. This birthday card is for my nephew. I thought he might like a little "magic."


The images used in this card are from QKR Stampede. The front image is Magic Card and the inside image is One Year Older. The designer papers are all the same design just different colors and they are Halloween papers. Lots of die cuts used: Spellbinder's Splendid Circles, MFT Stitched Rounded Corner Squares, and MFT Pierced Fishtail Banners. Here's the inside:


It's hard to read the sentiment on the inside but the whole thing reads: This card is Magic. Open it and ... "poof" you are one year older. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Hero Arts.
I am entering these challenges:
I thought I would leave you tonight with a couple pictures I took at Head Start while volunteering. Of course they are my favorite kiddos in the whole world: Valerie and Arthur.


Thanks for dropping by my blog. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Donna


Monday, July 9, 2018

For Goodness Cake

Happy Monday! My computer didn't go to the shop yet, so I still have it to work on. I finished a card this afternoon for a couple of challenges. I need birthday cards right now so that's my focus.


The cupcake image is the progressive image from Limited Runs this month. It's so adorable. I colored it with Copic markers and fussy cut it out. I added white gel pen accents. Above and below the image I added some dry embossed pieces from the Cuttlebug With Love embossing folders. The yellow background is a scrap from my scrap box, The sentiment is from Create with TLC die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags and inked with Shaded Lilac distress ink. The chevron die cuts are from the MFT Blueprints 32 die-namics. I backed those with the yellow scrap also. This will make a great feminine birthday card. 
I am entering these challenges:
Thanks for stopping by today. I have a bunch of work to do but I hope to get back to my desk tomorrow and create something else. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Donna


Sunday, July 8, 2018

5 Little Speckled Frogs

I am back again today with a quick card for the final lesson for the My Favorite Things Summer School. This lesson was on symmetry.


The twins love the song 5 Little Speckled Frogs so I noticed that in  the MFT Witch Way is the Candy stamp set that there is a frog. I colored the frogs with Copic markers and then cut them out with their coordinating dies. I added some speckles with a white gel pen. I added the sentiment from the same set, white heat embossed and die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. So my card is symmetrical if you folded it down the middle right to left. The background is inked with Spiced Marmalade distress oxide ink. The patterned paper is from my scrap box. I am entering these challenges:

Thanks for stopping by today. I am going to miss my computer so hopefully I will be able to use my hubby's during the day when he isn't here. Have a wonderful week!

Donna

Complementary Colors

Happy Sunday! Sadly my computer is having problems so I hope to get some cards posted today before Tom takes my computer to be fixed. I know I am going to have computer withdrawal issues. While I know I can use his computer, it doesn't have the same files on that mine does. Ugh! I hate when this happens.
Today I have 3 cards that I made for the MFT Complementary Colors challenge. I made the same cards almost but just different sets of complementary colors.


I don't have any MFT flower stamps. (I guess I need to correct that!) So I used two sets: one from Simon Says 2013 kit Life is a Journey and the other from Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Flowers. I positioned them in my MISTI and then removed some and stamped one color at a time. I filled in with some tiny dots, leaves and flower shapes that were in the Simon Says set. I used distress oxide inks: Salty Ocean and Orange Marmalade; Candy Apple Red and Lucky Clover; and Seedless Preserves and Fossilized Amber. Each sentiment is different.


For this card I used the MFT All About You stamp set for the sentiment and then I added Wink of Stella to the "YOU." The shimmer is very pretty IRL.


This is my first Christmas Thank you card. I make these each year. I like that they are Christmasy colors but not necessarily Christmas stamps. The sentiment on this card is from the Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Flowers set.


This sentiment is from the MFT Essential Sentiment stamp set. I added some lines as they showed us in the Altenew class and I had a booboo with the black pen that left a bigger dot on one of the lines so I added the small flower at the ends of the lines.
This was a fun way to make several cards at a time and you can use them for any occasion by adding different sentiments. I had fun doing this, I am entering these challenges:
Going to dinner at a friends house this evening and playing bridge. So I have to get a bunch of stuff done this afternoon before my computer disappears. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a lovely start to your week!


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