Two Challenges

... two challenges, two challenges in one! The card I did for today's post works for two different challenges. First up is the sketch challenge at Inspirational Card Sketches. Here's the sketch:


I turned the sketch and came up with this:

The base card is yellow, with several layers of plain colored card stock and a layer of Limericky paper from Basic Grey. I used a scallop punch to make the yellow edging. And a polka dotted flower that was sent to me in a blog candy win. The large bee is a digital image from Dustin Pike.

Which leads me to my second challenge. The Kaboodle Doodle blog's challenge is to use a digital image in designing your card. I just love using digital images. They are so versatile and reusable.
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you had a wonderful Friday and that your weekend is blessed with lovely weather, family, friends and crafting!

Happy inking,

2 Sketches 4 You

I can never resist a challenge; especially one with a substantial prize. 2 Sketches 4 You has $100 gift certificate up for grabs from JustRite Stamps. I've been eying these stamps for a long time but since I have to pay my son's college tuition, new stamps aren't always in the budget. So I'd love to win this one! The sketch challenge was a great deal of fun. Here's my card!

It's pretty hot and sticky here tonight so I must have been thinking fall and cooler temperatures when I sat down tonight. The image is from Whimsical Autumn and the sentiment is from Elegant Flowers, both from Gina K Designs. I just love that little squirrel drawn by Carolyn King. Don't you think he's a real cutie! The maple leaves are punched and I love the decorative edge punch from Martha Stewart. The background paper is Basic Grey Lime Rickey.
Thanks for stopping by. Wish me luck for the gift certificate. Hey, check it out and try to win it yourself! Tomorrow is Friday. Have a wonderful day; the weekend is almost here.

Happy inking,

And Last but not Least.... CB Challenge #41

July is almost gone. Where did all those July days go. August is looming. It's scary how fast the days go. The Cuttlebug Challenge Blog had a marvelous challenge to win new products that were being introduced at CHA. You needed to participate in all four of the challenge for July. And here's my last project. The challenge was to alter a container using the Cuttlebug. I chose to alter a jelly jar to fill and give as a gift at Christmas time.




I have amazed myself this year. I actually have quite a few things done for Christmas. Maybe if I keep up the pace I won;t still be making things on Christmas Eve. Oh yeah, I forgot, that's a tradition, right? It a tradition I wouldn't mind getting rid of.
Back to my project. The lid is embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. And it's very difficult to see in the picture but the peppermint paper is embossed with the "With Love" embossing folder. I also used my Cuttlebug to cut out the die shapes of the stars and the trees. I really like how the ribbon runs through them.

If you are interested in seeing my other projects for the Cuttlebug Challenge you can check them out:
Challenge #40 a sketch challenge;
Challenge #39 a color challenge; and
Challenge #38 a red, white, and blue card.

I've really enjoyed participating in all the challenges. I haven't had my Cuttlebug all that long and I learn something new about it every day! Keep your fingers crossed. I'd love to win some new accessories. I'm really wearing out that poor Swiss Dots Folder. LOL! Thanks for stopping by. Take care until next time!

Happy Inking,

CB CHA Challenge #40

Challenge #40 was a sketch challenge. I decided to make a Christmas card. Here's the sketch:


And here's my take on the sketch:


The photo makes it difficult to see the layers. The red layer is embossed with Swiss Dots and the green patterned layer is embossed with the leafy branch embossing folder. The images and sentiment is from Stampin' Up! A Cardinal Christmas. I hope you like my card!

Tomorrow is hump day! Yippee! Looking forward to the weekend. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great Wednesday!

Happy inking,

My First Card with Happy Camper

Last week I told you that I won a Gina K set for one of the challenges at Stamp TV. I picked a wonderful stamp set by Theresa Momber. You must visit her blog Crafting the Web. She is such an inspiration and her stamp sets and cards are amazing! Anyway, I picked one of Theresa's sets called Happy Camper. One of my co-workers is leaving this Friday to move to Seattle to work with Americorp. They asked me to make a card for him that everyone can sign. I was thrilled that Theresa's set fit so perfectly. Here's my card!

It's a very simple design but the sentiment fits so well. Thanks Theresa for such a wonderful set. I can't wait to use it again!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to have the rest of me Cuttlebug challenges finished by tomorrow. My time is running out! Have a great Tuesday!

Happy inking,

Cuttlebug CHA Challenge #39

At the urging of a friend, I thought I would try to get myself in gear and complete the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog's challenges for July. Lots of prizes to be won as the new products get introduced at CHA. I'm so new to the Cuttlebug that winning would be wonderful because I don't have many accessories to go with my Bug! LOL So here's challenge #39. It was a color challenge of orange, green, and blue.


I used the Gina K stamp set Owl Always Love you. I colored the image with Koh-i-noor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the four background panels. I used Leafy Branches and one of the small embossing folders from the With Love set. Those have been adhered to an orange card stock background and that is adhered to a light blue card. I added a few buttons too.
Thanks for checking in today. I'm off to do another Bug challenge so I get them completed before the end of July. Hope your weekend was great and you're looking forward to the week ahead. Take care!

Happy inking,

CPS Sketch 125

JustRite Stamps is sponsoring the Card Positioning Systems Sketch Challenge this week. I have drooled over these stamps for so long now and so far I haven't been able to buy any. So I decided this was the week to try out the challenge and see if I could get lucky and win some. Remember this has been a lucky week so far. My BFF (Hi Julie!) told me to go buy a lottery ticket. LOL! So here's the sketch:


And here's what I did with the sketch:


I used the Gina K set called Best Fishes and another sheet of background paper from the summer stamp kit from Gina K. I really like that paper. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder for the top of the card, hoping that it might looks like bubbles in the water and used Versamark ink to highlight the seaweed at the bottom of the card. And of course the self-adhesive "bubbles" add that special touch. Who can resist a little bling, right?

So cross your fingers. I'm hoping for a win over at the CPS! Thanks for stopping today. With my DH gone I'm really getting some crafting time in. Hope you are enjoying the extra posts. Take care!

Happy inking,

Inspirational Card Sketch Challenge

Happy Wednesday everyone. The week is on the down swing. Can you tell I live for the weekends? LOL! Yesterday I had the most amazing day. In the morning a friend emailed me and told me to check the Inspirational Card Sketch blog and I found I had won last weeks sketch challenge with this card. I won three digital stamps from Squigglefly.com. So my day was off to a wonderful start. Then in the afternoon, I got a notice that I had won a color challenge on Stamp TV. For that win I got a free Gina K stamp set of my choice. Here is my winning card! So Tuesday was the best day of my week!

But this is Wednesday and you want to see my latest card, right? Well, wait no longer. I used this week's Inspirational Sketch Challenge for this card. There's a wonderful prize with this sketch too.


This card uses the Gina K Lazy Days of Summer stamp set and the background paper from the summer stamp kit from Gina K. I had forgotten about these papers and I love the colors. After placing the papers according to the sketch I ran the background through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I pop dotted the images after punching them with a scalloped punch and added baby blue Stickles to the images and black Stickles to the capital letters. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

On to the rest of the week. Thanks for stopping by. Come back and see me soon.

Happy inking,

Sweetest Day

Yeah, I know it's not October (although around here it's been feeling more like October than July)! And this card didn't start out being a Sweetest Day card. I wanted to use my new Nestabilities dies and tonight I finally got the mat so I could emboss. I tried lots of things instead of buying the mat (foam, mouse pad, etc.) but nothing worked. So I cut my 40% off coupon out of the Hobby Lobby ad and bought myself the pads tonight. And then of course i had to try it out. Right? So here's the result of experiment #1. Since the background was hearts I went looking for a stamp to match and BINGO, there it was! This stamp is from the Eclectic Summer stamp set by Gina K. And the sentiment is Notes to Mom also by Gina K. The background paper I used is from two different sources: one is from Gina K summer stamp kit and the other is from Paper Studio. The card stock I used in the nesties is from Targets dollar spot. So I guess I can cross my DH's Sweetest Day card off my list of things to do. LOL!
Hope you had a wonderful start to your week. Thanks for stopping by today and hope you'll stop by again soon.

Happy inking,

Inspirational Card Sketches and Cuttlebug Challenge #38

Happy Saturday!
I found a new challenge web site the other day, Inspirational Card Sketches, and decided to give this one a try. I liked the sketch a lot! So here's what I came up with.


Isn't this little gingerbread girl too cute? Shes' a free digital stamp from Dustin Pike. I used My scalloped square from Spellbinders and die cut the shape with my Cuttlebug; but I cut off the corners and punched them with a retired punch from Stampin' Up! and then turned them around to give it a different look to the background. The flowers are from Gina K but they come in white and you can color them whatever color you need for your card. I love that idea! I did the sentiment on the computer.

This sketch also works for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog challenge #38. You could win some new release embossing folders bu playing along. This weeks challenge was red, white and blue and buttons.

My DH went with some friends to Boundary Waters this week so I'm hoping for more play time. It's chilly here. They say we may break the record low for mid July. Who would believe that when other parts of the country are way over 100 degrees. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a splendid weekend.

Happy inking,

Birthdays Galore

A bunch of my cyber friends had birthdays recently and I didn't post the cards I made because I didn't want them to see their cards ahead of time. I think it's safe now to show you all the fun things I've been up to. So tonight is my parade of birthday cards. Enjoy!



This was for my friend Meda in Romania. She's part of the Cuttlebug team so I used one of my new embossing folders on her card.



This birthday card was for Val in British Columbia. I actually got to meet and visit with Val while up in BC earlier this year. It's really thrilling to meet the people you correspond with on an almost daily basis. And Val is a special friend! Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Val!



Next up was Lindsay's birthday. I was in a red, white and blue mood the day I made this one. The ice cream so reminds me of summer birthdays and of course I'm trying out all those new Cuttlebug folders.

Hope you've enjoyed my birthday share. Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy inking,

Best Fishes for Kaboodles

This week the Kaboodle Blog has a cute challenge to use buttons and ribbon on your card. So here is my entry:


This was great fun to design! I started with the fish and had the idea to use the buttons as the bubbles. I brayered the background after embossing the seaweed toward the bottom of the card. I laid out the fish and buttons and then decided where to put the ribbon and the sentiment. The stamp set used is called Best Fishes by Gina K Designs. The card base is black card stock. Thanks to Kaboodles for this challenge. I probably never would have attempted this card if it hadn't been a challenge.
Happy Tuesday to you all. Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your week is going well.

Happy inking,

"99 Things"

Sue at Sue's Krafty Kards has a wonderful blog candy that will end on July 17th. It's a bit different from other's that I've participated in. You have to tell about yourself in a blog post to have a chance to win. I have done 48 of the 99 things listed. I am truly blessed that I've had a chance to do all these things. Stop by Sue's blog and get in on this big opportunity to win.
So here’s the list. My ‘Haves’ are in red
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world/Disneyland Paris
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (Did visit it and would have gone up but it was closed due to 9-11)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Made a Snow Angel
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Stood in the rim of the Grand Canyon
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an erupting volcano in person.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Cookies for charity
62. Gone whale watching
63. Been given flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited Buckingham Palace
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt or blanket
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Been to the top of the Empire State Building
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com

The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest - "The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need your help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out at www.TheCuttlebugSpot.com

Another Stamping 411 Challenge

Here's another challenge card for a new week on Stamping 411. I really like the color combination. and the ribbon is one of my favorites. The pink flowers on the ribbon don't show up very well in the scan. I bought my first set of nestabilities today so the scalloped square was done with my Cuttlebug. The self-adhesive gems stones are actually pink in real life but they don't show up pink on the scan. This is just a quick one. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Take care.

Happy inking,

Kaboodle Sketch Challenge

My dear friend, Angie, recently was selected to be on the design team for the Kaboodles Blog. So I decided to go check out her new gig and decided to play along with their sketch challenge. The card also works for a swap I'm in. The requirement there is to incorporate stickers in your card. You can check out the sketch challenge here. And here's my card for the challenge:


I used a light purple card stock for the base card. The stamped purple flowers and the sentiment are from Elegant Flowers by Gina K. The butterfly and the outline flowers are stickers.

And here is the inside of the card. I incorporated the circular motif from the front of the card on the inside but the butterfly is a different color. Check out the challenge and join in. And check out Angie's blog. Her birthday is next week and she's celebrating with blog candy! It's a win-win situation for you. A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Angie!
Tomorrow is Friday. Yippee! The weekend is almost here. I will actually be home this weekend for a change and I am so looking forward to it. Have a great Friday and come back soon.

Happy inking,

Donna

Caardvarks Challenge

I ran into the Caardvarks blog quite by accident and decided to give their challenge a try. I've started making my Christmas cards early this year and decided it would be nice to continue to make a few each month and get a head start. So I used this challenge for a Christmas card. With the girls making cards at day camp, someone gave me an entire bag of old Christmas cards. As I was going through them the other day I found several that I thought I could recycle into cute Christmas cards. So here's one of those recycled images. Here's the sketch challenge at Caardvarks in case you want to play along.



My card base is a deep red card stock with Christmas patterned paper. I layered green textured paper under the recycled image and then I stamped the different sizes of stars from Lazy Days of Summer (Gina K) to make my embellishment. There are three different layers/sizes of stars pop dotted. I thought it made a gorgeous embellishment for Christmas. Check out Caardvarks and play along. They have some gorgeous examples for this challenge!
Hope you are having a wonderful week. We're moving toward the weekend and that's always a good thing. Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy inking,

Donna

Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge

Here's the birthday card I made for DH's soon-to-be 6 year old nephew. I used the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge. Henry likes trains and "diggers" so I used Melanie Muenchinger's Wee Tees. I wanted to try the Cuttlebug die that came with my Cuttlebug so I cut out the red trim around each image with the die. I sponged the backgrounds in blue.
Hope your week is off to a fabulous start! After all the rain we had over the July 4th weekend we finally got a sunny day; just in time to go back to work. LOL Thanks for stopping by!

Happy inking,

Donna

Sweet Stop Challenge

Happy Sunday! I hope it's a good one for you. I've been out of town for a few days visiting DH's family and we celebrated his nephew's birthday last night before driving home. So today after laundry, dishes, and a general clean up I had some time to play. I worked on a card for the Sweet Stop Challenge #11. It's a fun sketch this week and here's my example.



I used the Sweet n' Sassy stamp set I'd Pick You for my central image and for the sentiment. I used pink, blue, and black cardstock. The ribbon is from Michael's and the flowers are from the Dollar Tree. I added self-adhesive gems to the centers of the flowers and a butterfly to the image. The image is colored with colored pencils and the background is dabbed with blue ink.
And I decorated the inside to match the front:



I'm really liking how finishing the inside of the cards makes such a difference in the cards appearance. It just makes it look like an entire package.

I hope all my American friends had a wonderful 4th of July yesterday and my Canadian friends had a great Canada Day on the 1st. Looking toward the work week, have a great one. Thanks for stopping in today.

Happy inking,

Donna