Skating Along

It was a nice day today weather-wise. The wind was cold but it was above zero. I had lunch with an old friend. That was fun to catch up. I have a bunch of birthdays at the beginning of February so I am in birthday mode right now.

My card uses the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. I heat embossed the image from Great Impressions Stamps and colored it with Copics and Distress Markers. I die cut the scalloped rectangle in the background. I used two different designer papers; the penguin paper I got from a friend and the snowflake paper is from Hobby Lobby. I heat embossed the sentiment and added the ribbon. I punched the snowflakes and used Diamond Stickles to make them sparkle. I also added the Stickles to the snowflake and hat near the penguin.
I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
• Great Impressions challenge: use something new. I won this stamp in a blog hop and have never used it. It made the perfect card!
• Creative Knockouts: tic tac toe: stamp, sentiment and dies.
• Kaboodle Doodles: baby, it's cold outside
• Pile it On: animals
• Outlawz Monday challenge: anything goes with a sentiment

Thanks for stopping by today. More snow and freezing rain tomorrow into Saturday. I'm not too worried about this one. It's the one coming next week that's got us a little worried. I'm not sure how they know this so far ahead but they are saying anywhere from 15 - 22 inches of snow. I don't think I've ever seen that much at one time and I sure hope they are wrong.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Donna

Ride the Birthday Train

Happy Thursday! It's my pleasure to once more be a guest designer for the Outlawz Thursday challenge. It's such an easy challenge this week: anything goes! The field is wide open! The sponsor for January is Besties Digital Stamps by Sherri Baldy. I think the images that I had to work with this month have just been adorable! My card today is for a little girl whose birthday is coming up this weekend. Happy birthday Elaine!

Elaine's grandpa used to work on the train before retiring so when I saw this image I thought it was perfect for her. I am sure her Grampie has shared stories of the trains he loves. The image of course is a Bestie Digital Stamp. I used a Spellbinder MBossability to emboss the flowered background and then inked over it. I created the train tracks with just scraps of paper. The tag is a die cut from Clear Dollar Stamps which is no longer available. The sentiment is from Versatile Verses from Gina K.
I hope you will join us this week for another fun challenge over at the Outlawz! I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Paper Makeup Stamps: shades of blue
• Hiding in my Craftroom: for a loved one

Hope your day runs smoothly as we slide into the weekend. We may very well be sliding into the weekend literally. More snow and freezing rain from Thursday night into Saturday. Oh yippee! My son in Pensacola said he was at 20 degrees this morning. I am sure Flroidians don't know what to do with that kind of weather. Hope you are warm and safe.

 Donna

Football and Birthday

I hope you are all staying warm. And I hope those of you in the southern US are staying safe during your storm. Baby, it is cold here. Another night of below zero. But tomorrow we are supposed to get about 20 and by the weekend into the 40s. But they are calling for another storm next week. So our pattern continues.
Over the weekend we were busy with wedding plans. We addressed and sent the save the date cards. Made some additional plans with the church and the priest. So things are continuing to move forward.
This weekend is the Super Bowl. But my middle child was born on February 1st and he just happens to be a huge sports fan. So since the Super Bowl is so close to his birthday I had to put the two things together. Here's the card I made for him.

Dan is a huge Peyton Manning fan, so I know he is hoping the Broncos win. So I used the Bronco colors on the background. Using an MBossibilites folder, I inked the background with Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie. The Football Fan digi was a free image from Treasure Box Designs. I stamped the Happy Birthday from a Gina K stamp set and used the lettering from Kelly Purkey from a Simon Says stamp kit. And of course what would a birthday be without a present.

I am not much of a sewer but these were fun to make. I cut two burlap football shapes for each of the coasters. and sewed them together with a straight stitch on my machine and then trimmed the edges within a quarter inch of the stitching. Then I painted the football marking on the burlap. Pretty easy to do but I thought they turned out adorable. So he'll have football coasters for the Super Bowl. I think he will love them; at least I hope so.

I am entering these challenges:

• Creative Knockouts: birthday time
• CAS(E) this Sketch: sketch
• Hiding in my Craftroom: for a loved one
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

That's it for today. I hope you are staying warm and dry. Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know which team you want to win the Super Bowl. I think we have to go with Peyton and the Broncos. But I hope it's a good close game.

Donna

Warm Winter

It's Friday! Thank goodness. I only worked 4 days this week but it seemed like forever. And of course 45 minutes before I was supposed to leave work, they dropped a job of assigning 80 people new security and they needed it yesterday. So of course I wound up staying overtime today to get that finished up. I'll finish up early on Monday morning and all will be good. I am so ready for the weekend.
Tomorrow morning we are going to fit my daughter's wedding dress and probably pay for it. We'll be able to check another item off the list. More snow predicted for tonight and again on Sunday. Monday night is supposed to be -15 to -20. I am so over winter! LOL! So maybe that's why I liked the saying on my card tonight.

The sentiment is from Rainbow Echo Designs. I made the banner from the Simon Says Folded Banner die. I just cut the ends of the die to make the perfect banners. Then I used some Kelly Purkey letters from a Simon Says stamp kit to add the word to the banners. The "winter" is printed on a ribbon. And there is several layers. I found the plain still on my desk from another card and thought it was perfect. I really like this card!
So I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Seize the Sketch challenge: sketch 
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: warm winter wishes
• Cutie Pie challenge: January blues
• Kaboodle Doodle challenge: use blue
• Sentimental Sunday challenge: more than 3 layers

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are excited about the weekend. Relax, enjoy and stay warm and dry!

Donna

Wedding Prep and More

More snow and cold today. Tomorrow it's supposed to be even colder. Right around 0 for a high tomorrow. I am beginning to feel like winter will never end and we are only in January. Okay enough complaining about the weather. I wanted to share some of things I've been doing to get ready for the wedding. We got this idea from Martha Stewart.

After we printed the post card then we got to paint them, because they are scratch off cards.

First you coat the area with rubber cement and let it dry. This will be very sticky until you paint over it. I had some blue glitter paint in my stash. Your mix one part dish washing detergent with 2 parts of paint and paint over the rubber cement. Since the letter was red underneath it took three coats of paint to cover the red. It was fun making these cards.

I do have a card for your tonight. It's a pretty easy one.

The images and sentiment is from a Simon Says stamp kit. The sentiment is kind of mix and match. There are lots of other phrases that can go with the "You Make" phrase. I love that you change things up with the same set. A Littel red and black ink and that's it. I am entering this card into the Paper Players challenge.
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you are all safe and warm. Winter will end at some point. Guess we just need to be patient. Have an awesome Thursday!

Donna

Balloon Birthday

My apologies friends for being away so long. With my daughter getting married this year we are busy getting things together for her big day. I just finished the "save the date" cards that I hand painted (all 70 of them). I'll share those with you as soon as I get a photo of them. Now to address them all and get them mailed out. I took a break tonight and made a card. Haven't done that for quite a while. I am going to have to get busy because I have a bunch of birthdays coming up at the beginning of February. So my first February birthday card is for my son.

This was a pretty easy card to put together. Several layers of blue for the background. I colored a white doily that I had with Copics to symbolize the sun. I paper pieced the air balloon with some plaid that was laying out on my desk. And I used a Simon Says stamps set that matches their banner die. My son lives in Boston so this is the perfect sentiment for him. I just bought my first glimmer mist in clearance mostly because it was close to the color of my daughter's bridal dresses for the wedding party. I thought maybe I'd have a use for it at some point. But I spritzed the glimmer mist on the front of the card. The color is Jack Frost. Here's the challenges I am entering:

Sweet Sketch Sunday : the sketch 

 

Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Kaboodle Doodle: use blue

Outlawz Thursday challenge: paper piecing

Thank you for stopping by today and hanging in there with me since I haven't been here for a while. I hope your weather is warmer than our weather is going to be here for the next week or so. Our forecast alternates between O degree temps and snow. Yippee! I will be so ready for spring, sunshine and flowers. LOL! Maybe that's why I was thinking sunshine this evening. Hope your week is full of sunshine!

Donna

Kitten Valentine

Sunshine was outlook today. It was a beautiful day. Not terribly warm but above freezing. So that was great! I spent most of the day with my daughter. We are working on her 'save the date' cards for her upcoming wedding. I think we will be really busy with wedding plans from now until September. I did get this card done yesterday.

I am really loving plaid paper lately. I think it gives the cards such a fun look. The image is From the Heart Digital Stamps. This is a freebie for this month. And if you play along you get the stamp for the next month. I used the sketch from the Wednesday Outlawz challenge. The several sentiments that I used are from a Simon Says stamp card kit. The die cut is a new set that I just purchased at Michaels on clearance called scalloped rectangles. I added a few buttons for embellishments. I am entering these challenges:

• Outlawz Wednesday challenge: sketch
• From the Heart Stamp of the Month: use the stamp of the month
• Creative Knockouts: use buttons
• Delightful Challenge: use designer paper
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you ad a great weekend and your week is off to an awesome start.

Donna

Happiness Enclosed

Happy weekend! It was a gray day today but above freezing so the snow and ice continues to melt. Fortunately we didn't get as much rain as predicted so our yard didn't flood too bad. It certainly is very saturated though. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 45. It will be nice to see some sunshine for a change. My card though is snow related. Somehow I think we will see more snow in the near future.

I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch for this card. The image is from A Day for Daisies. The sentiment is from a Simon Says card kit. For the background I used the Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder. I used Diamond Stickles on the snowflakes in the image. The image is colored with Copics. The plaid paper is from Trimgym. I added the star embellishments at the top of each of the banners. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• A Day for Daisies: use one of their images and add yellow (the plaid has a strip of yellow)
• Delightful Challenges: patterned paper
• Tuesday Throwdown: snowman fun
• Outlawz Friday challenge: winter wonderland

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you are having a fabulous weekend. Hugs to you all!

Donna

Guest Designer Week 2 at Outlawz

Happy Thursday! For week 2 of my guest designing for Outlawz Thursday, the theme is Hello/Good-bye, So I went more toward the good-bye and made a Missing You card for Operation Write Home.

The image is from Besties who is the Outlawz Thursday sponsor this month. I colored her with Copics (E00, YR00, R20, R27, B04, BG13, and BG15) and added Diamond Stickles to make her sparkle. The background is a new Spellbinder M Bossability that I just bought. I backed the image with the Spellbinders Hearts pendant. I added the sentiment (from Markies Finest Paper) on the ribbon and the pearls around the pendant and the corners of the card. I hope you will join is in this really easy challenge. I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Simon Says Monday challenge: blues
• Paper Makeup Stamps: use something new (M Bossability folder)
• Pile it On: just because
• Catch the Bug: anything goes

Hop on over the Outlawz and check out the hello/good-bye challenge. Hope to see you there. Thanks for stopping by today.

Donna

A Little Love to Share

Happy Hump Day! I couldn't decide if this was Monday or Wednesday. It felt like Monday. I couldn't seem to get back in the swing at work. But I am thrilled it was Wednesday. e hadn't been out of the house since Saturday and I was amazed at how icy the roads were. Lots of schools are still closed tomorrow. And we have more snow and freezing rain coming tomorrow. But it's supposed to turn to rain by Friday. Then we'll be flooded again. That's what happened a few weeks ago when we got 5 inches of rain in one day. Mother Nature has not been very kind to us lately. But we go with the flow; I do have the canoe ready just in case. LOL!

How about a Valentine tonight?

The sentiment and image is from DigiStamps4Joy. The border is a Martha Stewart punch. The paper is by Doodle Pantry. I added Red Stickles to the hearts and also the heart embellishment. A little twine finishes it off. Simple but I really like it. I am entering my card into these challenges:

• DigiStamps4Joy challenge: Glitter 'n Sparkle
• Outlawz Tuesday: colors: pink, red and black
• Crafty Boots: anything goes
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Even after 2 days off this week for the weather I took another day off tomorrow to go wedding dress shopping with me daughter. So I am off work tomorrow to shop. Clothes shopping is not my forte. I'd much rather grocery shop. But I do have a gift card to Michael's from Christmas so I just might have to treat myself to something new. LOL! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!

Donna

Winter Wonderland

We are still in our own little winter wonderland. We will be going back to work tomorrow although the school system is still off. Tonight they lifted the travel ban in Indianapolis. The driving is hazardous. I haven't been out for 3 days so I'm not sure what I'll encounter when I venture out to work tomorrow morning.
Today I took some time to clean off the mess that was my desk and to make a card. I cleaned our basement too. My card today is yet another Christmas card. Woo-hoo I will have a stash for 2014 if I keep this up!

I took apart all of my Simon Says Card kits and found this awesome stencil of a snowflake. I used the stencil and inked the background with Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue. I used the sketch from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder. The sentiment is also from the December Simon Says Card Kit. I added the ribbon and the ric rac and then use a blue marker to make the faux stitching.
I am entering these challenges:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown: sketch
• Simon Says Monday challenge: blue
• Outlawz Sunday CAS challenge: use something new (sentiment and  stencil)
• Speedy Fox and Friends: use a stencil
• Open Minded Crafting: use a new toy or new technique
• Holly Jolly Christmas challenge: use ribbon and/or lace

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you had a wonderful Tuesday. Stay warm out there.

Donna

Really Incredible

This is my second post today. I am loving being home and crafting. And incredibly I will be home another day because they have again closed the university again tomorrow because of the weather. We are well below 0 tonight and the wind chill is predicted to be -40. It just blows my mind that I have two days off work with pay. Tom is very restless and I wouldn't doubt that he doesn't take my 4 wheel drive tomorrow and go to work even if they are closed.

So another incredible thing today is that I have met one of my New Year's resolutions; at least for the first month. I told myself that I was going to try to make at least 5 Christmas cards each month so I wasn't behind in December, like I have been the last few years. So I finished 6 Christmas cards today. They are all the same but that's okay with me.

The image is from the new progressive Christmas challenge at DigiStamps4Joy. You just need to follow the directions at their site to get the first image, use it to make a project and enter the challenge and then Desire will send you the next image. I love doing these kinds of challenges. It's fun to get new images especially when they are free! I joined two sets, the image from DigiStamps4Joy and the Merry Christmas sentiment frame from JustYolie. The paper is also new to me. It's from Close to My Heart and I won it as a blog candy before Christmas. I hadn't even opened the package yet so I decided it was time. I layered all the background papers with dark gray paper. The image and sentiment was cut with Spellbinders circles and backed with scalloped circles. The red background is embossed with an embossing folder from Sizzix called Holly Swirls. And I followed through with my second New Year's resolution that I would finish the inside of the cards too. So I now have 7 Christmas cards completely ready for the 2014 Christmas season. Yeah me! Here are all the cards that I made today.

So I am entering the cards in these challenges:

• Digistamps4Joy Christmas challenge: use the provided image
• Sweet Sunday Sketch: sketch
  
• Christmas Cards All Year Long: anything goes
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: use something new (image and paper)

Thanks for hanging with me twice today! I hope you are getting some crafting time. I am getting spoiled with being at home. I really need to retire! Stay warm out there.

Donna

Baby It's Cold Outside

Happy Monday! The last time I checked we had made it up to 0! It was -8 when I got up this morning. Tonight it's supposed to be -14 as a low. The wind chill makes it even colder. Last night a blue moon must have occurred because Indiana University closed all campuses for today.  I can count on one hand the number of times IU has closed for anything. So I got a free day from work. So crafting is what I am doing.

This is a card I made using a new Spellbinder's Mbossabilities folder that I bought in a clearance sale. I love the pattern. I rubbed the embossing with another color of green ink to make the embossing stand out. I colored the rose (from my stash) with Copics. I used a few new rolls of washi tape also. The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Small Script. It was one of the first sets I ever bought from Stampin' Up! I stamped and cut the sentiment from the same color as the background and then embossed it and lined it up with the background. I like this one. I am entering these challenges:

• Pile it On: Just Because
• Come and Get it: something new
• CAS-ual Friday: in a word
• Simon Says: something new
• Outlawz Friday challenge: something new

Thanks for stopping by today! I do hope you are warm and dry wherever you are. At least we have a gorgeous winter wonderland outside. Hope your week is off to a great start.

Donna

Birthday by the Numbers

I am watching the snow fall and I just watched the Indianapolis mayor ask that all schools close for tomorrow because of the intensity of the storm. It started as snow and turned to freezing rain and now it's back to snow again. It's very messy and I am really glad I don't have to be out in it today.I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring for work but I guess we'll see.
How about those Colts yesterday! They really hung in there and pulled out a great game. Go Colts! Can't wait for next week's game!
While the snow falls, I have time to craft, while keeping an eye on the football action today. I have a birthday card this time that I wasn't sure I'd like at first but it's growing on me.

I think I got this paper on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It was in a pack so I wasn't able to see all the papers. I don't use this paper much but this was perfect for the challenge at Seize the Birthday. I used the sketch from Clean & Simple. I punched our three of the pieces of the designer paper and then die cut the flowers from Heart Felt Creation dies. After I popped up the flowers I used Fruit Punch Stickles on the purple flowers (although it looks gold in the picture) and Purple Stickles on the pink flower. I embossed the Happy Birthday sentiment with black embossing powder. Pretty easy but fun. I am entering these challenges:

• Outlawz Monday sentiment challenge: anything goes
• Clean & Simple: sketch
• Seize the Birthday: numbers

Here's hoping your Sunday is safe, warm and dry. Thanks for visiting today.

Donna

So Thankful

We had such a wonderful holiday season this year with all the kids and their girl/boyfriends. I made lots of thank yous in the last few weeks. I've posted some of them. Here are a few more.

I used the Outlawz Wednesday sketch for this card. The sentiment is a sticker that I found at Marshalls. This is an image I had in my file and I couldn't find it in my electronic files so I'm not sure where it's from. I used the Victoria embossing folder and some striped paper to give it a little more pop of color. I found these buckles that I forgot that I had, so I added one with some ribbon. I really like this one. I am entering these challenges:

• Outlawz Wednesday challenge: sketch
• Digi Stamps 4 Joy: anything goes
• Paper Makeup Stamps: anything goes

Here's another thank you I did this week:

Here's another card that I used the Victoria embossing folder for. The flower image is by Beccy at Beccy's Place. The lovely verse in the frame is by Michelle Perkett. I die cut the verse with the Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangles and inked the edges with Lilac ink. I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Sunday Outlawz: anything goes

Thank you for stopping by today. If you are in the U.S. and in the path of this storm, as we are, are do hope that you are safe and warm. We are supposed to get a foot of snow by tomorrow night and then fall into a deep freeze with highs not above 0 this week. Please be careful in this nasty weather. I did all my errands this morning and intend to stay put until I have to go back to work. Hopefully more crafty time as I watch the snow fall. Have a wonderful weekend!

Donna

Guest Designer at Outlawz

 Today I am so excited to be a guest designer at the Outlawz Thursday Challenge. The challenge for this week is anything goes and the twist (if you choose to use it) is a lady with a hat.

The sponsors for this month for this challenge is My - Besties. They have the cutest images. I am so honored to work with them this month!

Isn't this image adorable! My first Christmas card for 2014. Since I came up 15 short in 2013 I am starting early to make Christmas cards this year. I used an OWH sketch for the card. The background paper is Echo Park. I colored the image with Copics: R27, R46, YG09, YG 17, YR00, E00, R20, RV06 and C-1. The top of the ornament is covered with Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I used the Spellbinder's Oval dies to cut out the image. I hope you will check out the challenge and join along with us.
I am entering these challenges:

• Sentimental Sunday: warm and cozy

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope 2014nis off to a wonderful start.

Lot of Thanks

Happy New Year! I've been AWOL this past week to spend some time with my family. My boys were in from Boston, MA and Pensacola, FL and it's not very often that we have all the kids together. So I am kind of stingy with spending time doing other things when they are here. And this Christmas season I am especially thankful that the family was all together. So I am making lots of thank you cards to send out to family and friends.

This image is an Inkadinkado stamp that my son gave me for Christmas; something new. He also gave me a gift card to Michael's. I embossed the image with fine black embossing powder and then watercolored the image. I haven't watercolored in a long time. I inked the background in Bashful Blue. The green background is embossed with the Victorian embossing folder. The sentiment is a sticker. I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Outlawz Sunday: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: anything but holiday
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Here's another thank you card I made:

The image is from Doodle Pantry called Tractor Sheep. The sentiment is a digital stamp but I forgot to write down where I got the freebie. I used the Spellbinders scalloped rectangles. I used an OWH sketch. I added some red Stickles to the heart. The arrow is added as an embellishment.  I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry challenge: use a DP image
• Paper Makeup Stamps: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketch: anything goes

That's
it for tonight. I'll have another post soon. Hope your holidays were wonderful. I go back to work tomorrow. Bummer! But at least it's only a two-day week. I love those kind! Take care!

Donna