My First Quilling Attempt

I didn't think I'd have any other posts this month as we are on vacation. I really didn't bring much with me for paper crafting but I brought a beginner kit for quilling with me. And low and behold they have a craft group that meets on Monday mornings. I met a woman who taught me some of the basics of quilling so I thought I'd share my first attempt.

This is a poinsettia pattern that was in the quilling kit. I've never tried this before and it's fairly easy once you get the hang of it. One of the other things that I brought with me was files with stamped images that have been lying around for a while. I found this sentiment in my Christmas file and decided to use it on a card with the quilling. The sentiment is a freebie from Beccy's Place and I had already had the black card stock backing on it, so that worked out well because I didn't bring any colored card stock. I did bring a few pieces of white card stock so I was able to make a base. So that's my first quilling project. I've also made a quilled snowflake that I'll make into a card once I get home. I am entering these challenges:

• Rudolph Days: Christmas anything goes
• Beccy's Place January challenge: use a Beccy's Place image
• Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• The Outlawz Festive Friday: Christmas

I thought I'd share with you the sunrise this morning.

The dark figures on the right are campers in the campground we are staying in. You can almost see the sunrise from our camper. We have to walk a few feet to see this gorgeous scene every morning. Such a hardship. LOL! We have had a lot of wind since we have been here. In fact we had a wind storm the day we arrived and there is supposed to be another later this week. We will leave here first thing on Friday morning. We'll make a stop in North Carolina to visit some family and should return home by mid next week. I'm not looking forward to returning to the cold weather but I am looking forward to my bed. Have a super week. I'll return in February!

Donna

Bug Birthday Bash Day 7

And for the final day of the Bugaboo Birthday Bash they have a photo inspiration.

This challenge is associated with the Friday Freebie. I already had the free image so I used it on my card.

I like the bright colors of the photo and used some of them in my card. The Bugaboo Image is Sheep Trio (free right now over at Bugaboo Birthday Ewe Trio. If you've been to my blog before you know I love plaid so I used MFT Merry and Bright Plaid Patterns. I colored the image with American craft markers and die cut with MFT Stitched Ovals. The sentiment comes with the image and is die cut with MFT Essential Fishtail Sentence Strips. I backed the layers with blak card stock to make the color pop. To finish off I added some self-adhesive gem stones as accents. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 7: photo inspiration
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Crafty Friends challenge: anything goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: anything goes
• QKR Stampede challenge: anything goes:

Thanks to Bugaboo Stamps for posting the challenges ahead of time so I could work ahead since we were traveling this week. And for giving us a few extra days to post. That was a tremendous help to me. I'll be taking a little break now from blogging. Internet here is hard to work around. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed rest of the month!

Donna

Birthday Bash Day 6

Still working on Bugaboo Birthday Bash cards. The wind is still howling outside so I'll get right to the fun.

Day 6 is a color challenge. Not my favorite kind of challenge but I seem to be doing okay with these. I have to plan them more carefully to make sure I have all the colors.

I embossed the yellow card stock with the Spots and Dots embossing folder. I used a black card stock base. The image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitch Rectangles (no longer available). The checked paper is from my stash. I added the "clucks" to the image from Gina K's Funny Farm stamp set. On the inside the card reads: "Holy Cluck! Another 'bird' day." I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 6: color challenge
• The Outlawz Monday Greeting: embossing
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter

My DH Tom looked at the wind map a bit ago. The southern part of Florida is very windy. We are getting gusts up to 30 miles per hour. Even the birds are having trouble flying around. Thanks for stopping by and hope your day is calm and relaxing!

Donna

Day 5 Make Us Laugh

We made it to Florida yesterday. Stayed at Flying Js for two nights. We set up in our campsite here at Big Pine Key and a neighbor camper said we were supposed to get hit by a wind storm in a few hours. Rain came first but then the wind came in and howled all night long. It's still very windy and shakes the trailer. I wouldn't want to be here in a hurricane, that's for sure. Hoping it will die down sometime today so we can get outside. Here's my Day 5 card for Bugaboo's Down on the Farm Birthday Bash. The theme is make us laugh.

I used Bugaboo's Farm Critter Stack for the front of the card. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and I inked the sky with Salty Ocean Distress ink. I die cut the image with the tag from MFT Blueprints 13. The haystacks are from Clear Dollar Stamps Fun on the Farm (no longer in business).The background paper is from my stash. The sentiment is from Gina K Funny Farm. I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the card but it has a pig stamped on the inside and says: "Sent with Hogs and Kisses." I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 5: make us laugh
• Crafty Friends challenge: anything goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge: anything goes

I'm not sure how long I will have Internet. The campground Internet is not working so I am using my phone as a hot spot. So I'm signing off so I can get the rest of my cards posted before I lose it all together. Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

Donna

It's Bingo Day

We made it to Cincinnati without any problems this afternoon. Took us the better part of the morning to get the trailer packed and ready. I think they want to leave tomorrow morning by 7am so I'll be heading to bed a little early tonight. So today is Day 4 at Bugaboo's 10th annual Birthday Bash and the theme is bingo. Here's my card.

I used the Bugaboo image called Cownt Your Blessings. I colored with Spectrum Noir and die cut with My Favorite Things Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares. The sentiment is computer-generated. I punched some hearts to add to the sentiment strip. The paper is an animal print collection from Michael's. The layers are backed with black card stock. Here's the bingo board.

I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 4: bingo (board above) (stripes, Bug image, gems)
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch #152 
  
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter

Off we go to Florida in the morning so I'll be off grid for three days. When we arrive in Florida on Friday I'll get the Internet back so I'll be back then. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!

Donna

Sending Lots of Love

I saw the Atlantic Hearts sketch this morning and had to give it a try before we left for Florida. Here's what I came up with.

The Daffodil image is from Pattie's Creations. I colored them with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut the image. The sentiment is from Altenew Heart Flowers stamp set. The background paper is really a light green but my lighting makes it look rather yellow. The card stock strips are of course orange and green. The base card is kraft paper. I like this one! I am entering these challenges:

• Pattie's Creations Design Challenge: anything goes
• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: fun with florals
• Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge: anything goes

That's it for me tonight. Tomorrow morning we'll pack up and head out to Cincinnati. We'll have Internet tomorrow evening but then nothing until we get to Florida on Friday. hope you all have a lovely week. Mine will be a very long truck ride. Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Anything But a Card

Day 3 of the Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash is all about anything but  card. Their suggestion was to make a party favor so that's what I did.

I used a tutorial from Scor-Pal to make the box with some designer paper from a thrift shop. The image that I used was Make It Snappy - Hey There colored with Spectrum Noir markers. I added the Happy Birthday in a photo program. And I added my DH's favorite candy. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 3: anything but a card 
  
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes

I had the time this evening to make another card in between packing the trailer and running errands so I'll be back in a bit with another card. We leave tomorrow for our four day trip to Florida. Tomorrow we drive to Cincinnati to pick up Tom's Dad. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Birthday Chick

Welcome back for Day 2 of the Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash! Today is a sketch challenge and I love to use sketches when I create cards.

The Bugaboo image that I used for this card is Birthday Bird 01 colored mainly with American Craft markers and die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. The purple birthday paper is from my stash as is the dotted vellum paper. The sentiment is from Create with TLC and die cut with Quickcutz Tags, inked with Squeezed Lemonade and Fossilized Amber distress ink with my ink brushes. I used two enamel dots to help cover up my liquid glue to hold down the vellum. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 2: sketch 
  
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Pattie's Creations: anything goes
• QKR Stampede: anything goes

Now it's time to go get some packing done. I hear the weather in Florida will be about 30 degrees warmer than it was last year. So I am excited! Last year we wore our coats the entire week we were there. So I'm packing more shorts this year! Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Hugs,

Donna

Down on the Farm

The birthday bash is here! Bugaboos 10th anniversary birthday bash and it's all about down on the farm and birthdays. You can find all the details at the link above. I love Bugaboo images. This is kind of a bad week for me as we'll leave Tuesday to travel to the Florida Keys. That's a three day journey for us so I won't have Internet for those three days. But I'm going to try to get as many projects done as I can before we leave and then plan for the rest and hopefully I'll have time once we are in Florida to craft. Paper crafting in the car does not work. So we'll see what happens. I have my first two cards done!

This is for the Day 1 challenge: create a farm image project.

My image is Party Pig Trio colored with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitched Rectangles (no longer available). The sentiment is from Create with TLC die cut with Clear Dollar Stamps Designer Labels (sadly no longer in business) and inked with Salty Ocean Distress Ink with my new ink brushes. The yellow card stock panel is embossed with a Paper Studios embossing folder. I thought that made a nice border. The background dotted paper is from my stash probably from an thrift store find. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Down on the Farm Birthday Bash Day 1: on the farm project
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch (I decided to leave the embellishment off so it wouldn't cover the celebrate panel)
  
• The Outlawz Festive Friday challenge: birthday
• The Modsquad challenge: birthday balloons
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

I'll be back with my Day 2 project soon. Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to Bugaboo for the fun challenge. I always need birthday cards! Have a blessed day!

Donna

Birthday Wishes

I'm continuing to beef up my stash of birthday cards. After errands and laundry and cooking I was able to make this birthday card.

Lots of color in this card. The image is from Eureka Stamps called Butterfly and Sunflower colored with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares. I inked the background of the image and sentiment with Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink and my new ink brushes. The sentiment is from Gina K Birthday Greetings and die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. The green card stock in the background was dry embossed with the Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder. The orange frame is die cut with MFT Single Stitch Rectangular Frames. The layering and card base is blue card stock. The ribbon is from my stash. I am entering these challenges:

• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch #162
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Seize the Birthday: layer it
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: fun with florals
• Tuesday Throwdown: something new (new ink blending brushes)

Tomorrow we have the twins all day so it's a play day for us. We play with cars and read books and all kinds of fun things with them. So I won't have any play time at crafting tomorrow. Sunday I'll be getting the camper packed to leave on Tuesday. So I'll see if I get more time this weekend. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Don't Light Those Candles

I am into birthday cards this week as I need to get ahead on them. Lots of birthdays in February. And we leave next week for 3 weeks in Florida. So here's a birthday card.

I found this sentiment that I wrote down in a notebook and found it the other day, so I thought I would use it on a card. I paired it with a Bugaboo Dollar Candle Cake. I colored the cake with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with MFT Stitched Circles. The candles coming out from the cake are die cut from Spellbinders Sweet Wishes. The designer papers are from my scrap box. The layering is black card stock. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Catch the Bug challenge: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• The Male Room: anything goes masculine (sending this one to my son) 
  
• Seize the Birthday: layer it

Went back to Head Start this morning after the Christmas break.  Always fun to play with the twins. Tomorrow we work at Opportunity House and Teacher's Warehouse so it's our busy day. Thanks for stopping by today.

Donna

Second Birthday

This is my second birthday card post for today but my card is really for a 2 year old little girl. She's my only January birthday in the family.

The image is from a retired Beccy's Place stamp set called Quilted Numbers. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers trying to match the colors in the plaid paper that I used. The paper is from My Favorite Things called Merry and Bright Plaid Patterns. For the sentiment I used my MISTI to stamp with VersaFine Black Onyx ink. the sentiment is from Gina K Birthday Greetings.
So I have to explain something for one of the challenges that I'll list below. Beccy's challenge this month is asking to keep things local to where we live. The bunnies in our backyard are brown but I chose to keep my bunny white because it reminds me of my childhood. My uncle and his kids raised white rabbits and my brothers and sister and I would often visit and play with the bunnies.So here's the challenges I'm entering:

• Beccy's Place January challenge: use a Beccy's Place image and keep it local
• Stella Sketch: sketch 
  
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Carlin's Map Paradise: child's birthday card and stripes or squares (my card is 41/4 inch square and there are lots of stripes in the plaid design)
• The Outlawz Festive Friday challenge: birthday

Almost bedtime so I'm about to call it a day. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful week.

Donna

Do I Smell Cake?

Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start. I got a new washing machine this morning. Mine died over the weekend. So sad. So a friend helped my DH bring the new one home. Otherwise, delivery would have been 10 days from now when we were on our way to Florida. A little too late. I had lunch with friends earlier today so my day is going pretty well. I even had time to put this easy card together.

The cake is a sticker that I am reusing from another card. The sentiment is from Create with TLC, die cut with MFT Pierced Flags, and inked with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The background paper is a double-sided paper I found at a thrift store. The purple and pink card stock banners were also cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. Layering is done with black card stock. To finish off the card I added some pink self-adhesive gemstones. I am entering these challenges:

• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Incy Wincy Designs: anything goes
• Seize the Birthday: layer it
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

I am hoping to get back to my desk this evening after dinner. Always something to do around here. Tom and I went through 2 file cabinets of paperwork in the last few days. When I texted my son that we had cleaned out 40 years of papers, his reply was "Thank God." LOL! Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Happy Anniversary

Just a quick post tonight. I needed an anniversary card for my brother and his lovely wife. Not sure how many years they've been married but it's been a few years for sure.

The background heart day is from Simon Says Stamps Stacked Hearts. I added back in some of the heart die cuts. The sentiments are heated embossed with white embossing powder. The top sentiment is from MFT Essential Sentiments. The second sentiment is from MFT Together Forever.  I am entering these challenges:

• My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge: sketch 
  
• Scrapping4Fun challenge: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts: anything goes
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Time Out Challenge: photo inspiration 
  

That's it for me tonight. We've been cleaning out drawers and getting rid of papers that are 40 years old. It's amazing what you accumulate over the years. We are getting there slowly but surely. My neighbor also gave us a bookcase and chair today so we had to clean out the areas we wanted them to go. Then we took the twins to the playground as the weather was sunny and in the 40s. They enjoyed the time outside. Here's hoping you have a blessed week ahead. Thanks for stopping by today.

Donna

Orange Valentine?

Orange you glad I didn't say banana? Oh my, that's an old one. It's nasty weather here today and a perfect time to craft and get silly! My card uses orange today. That's a color I usually avoid. Orange isn't a favorite of mine, but it just seemed right as I started coloring this image.

Not your usual color for a Valentine either but I think it came together very nicely. The image is Bugaboo Chibi Flowerpot Peeker. So cute! She's the progressive image at The Outlawz this month. I am trying to get back into the swing of the progressive challenges. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir and American Craft markers. Die cut the image with MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares; then inked the edges with Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Ink with my new ink blending brushes that I got for Christmas. On the front of the little flowerpot I stamped "Love You" from a retired Simon Says Stamps set called Only Have Eyes for You. The background paper is scraps from my scrap box, as is the orange strip across the middle. All background layers are black card stock and the card base is orange card stock. The sentiment is from Desert Diva and inked with spiced marmalade to match the image.To finish is off I added some black enamel dots. I am entering these challenges:

• The Outlawz Progressive Challenge: use Chibi Flowerpot Peeker
• Catch the Bug challenge: anything goes
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch #152
  
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: something new: image and ink brushes
• Crafty Friends challenge: something new: image and ink brushes

Time to get dinner on the go so I'll close this for now. Hope to get some more play time today. We leave for vacation in about a week so I have lots to get done before then. Thank you for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

My Happy Place

A quick card today for you. We are leaving shortly for Cincinnati to help my FIL take down Christmas decorations. We'll be back tomorrow but the weather is supposed to be rainy for the rest of today and tomorrow. I hate driving in bad weather. But we'll survive! I'll just think about my happy place.

The image is from QKR Stampede called Bear Hugs.  I colored it with Spectrum Noir markers. The sentiment is from Bits of Paper. I added a faux stitched border around the card. The base of the card is red card stock and the layering is black card stock. I punched a heart with a Recollections punch and added a purple heart gemstone to match the patch on the lady bear. Pretty simple. I am entering these challenges:

• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Incy Wincy Design challenge: happiness
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Time Out challenge: photo: inspiration  
• Double D challenge: use a punch (Recollection heart punch)

That's it for me today. We drive back home tomorrow so maybe tomorrow evening I'll have a chance to play some more. Take care; have a blessed day.

Donna

Christmas Carolers

I am hoping this is my last Christmas card for a while. I wanted to do this one for the Limited Runs Christmas challenge. Thus, one more card.

The image is Limited Runs Christmas Carolers. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with MFT Stitched Circles. The background is some leftover pieces from other cards using the MFT Collage Cover-Up. The paper is American Craft. The star stamp is from Jillibean Soup Balloon Party. I used Eucalyptus and Christmas Red Stickles for the hats and collars. It really looks like they are textured. I am entering these challenges:

• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch 
  
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Christmas
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper: use patterned paper

That's it for me tonight. Tomorrow I return to volunteering so it will be early to rise. Then we are making a quick trip to Cincinnati to help my FIL take down his Christmas decorations.  So hopefully on Friday I'll get some more time to play at my desk. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Donna

New Year, New Challenge

Welcome to 2020 and to a new challenge at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up.  I know Christmas is over but you have to start making them some time and sooner is better. LOL! So our first challenge for 2020 is an old fashioned Christmas and our sponsor is Lunagirl Digital Stamps. Our challenge lasts all month long; plenty of time and you don't have to use our theme. The challenge is always anything goes.

My card features the Lunagirl Blue Noel Digital Collage sheet. I love the non-traditional color for Christmas. I used two different papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles:

I also added a doily and a flower from Sandylion Essentials. All the layering is done with dark blue card stock. I hope you'll come play along this month with our first challenge of the year. 

I am entering these challenges:

• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: bonus challenge sketch #160
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Christmas 
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper: use patterned paper
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: something new (image from Lunagirl)

I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start. We have sunny weather today and we are almost back to 50 degrees. So my next activity is a walk. It isn't freezing and windy today so it's time to get outside and "blow the stink off" as my Mom used to say. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Donna