Christmas Love

 Tonight I have a Christmas card to show. Since we had the twins all day, I colored the images yesterday and then after putting it together I needed time for the Stickles to dry.

My card is 5 inches square with a base card of green card stock. The layering is with black card stock. The images are Sunbonnet  Christmas Tree from Bugaboo Stamps. They are both called the same thing so here is the top sunbonnet image and here is the bottom sunbonnet image. The sentiment image is a freebie from Beccy's Place called Margie's Christmas Freebie. The background paper is from my stash and I made an attempt at tying a bow. I am really not very good at tying bows. I used a number of different colors of Stickles: Christmas Red, Silver, Blue, Yellow and Grape. The dies I used were MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares and MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags (retired). I am entering these challenges:

• Rudolph Days challenge: anything goes Christmas
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch #205 
  
• Catch the Bug challenge: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog: anything Christmas goes
• Sparkles Christmas challenge: trees

The twins wore me out today. Lots of things for them to play with and we hit the playgrounds after we picked them up and before we took them home. It was nice outside so they played outside for quite a while. They should be worn out tonight. We have to pick them up from school on Wednesday and my DH thought we should keep them overnight, so we'll have them all night Wednesday and drop them off at school on Thursday morning. That will be another adventure I'm sure. Thanks for stopping by to visit. Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna

Thinking of You

 Welcome to the weekend! It's finally arrived. I do have to admit that my weeks go so fast. Being retired every day is Saturday so my weekends aren't too different from the rest of the week, except for our day with the twins. When they finish school for the summer we'll probably have them 2 days a week instead of just one. Anyway, I need some thinking of you cards so I thought I'd start with this one tonight.

This lovely image is from Beccy's Place. This Gnarled Wreath is a freebie at Beccy's Place. I added the sentiment from Echo Rainbow designs.  I printed off two copies of the wreath, fussy cut out clumps of flowers, and popped them up with foam tape. I used Copic markers to color around the wreath before I fussy cut the wreath out. I added Diamond Stickles to the middle of the flowers. Hard to tell how sparkly they are in the photo. The background paper is from my scrap box and layered it with some kraft paper to bring out the brown of the wreath. The card base is a bright blue. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place April challenge: use a Beccy's Place image; optional floral
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Simon Says Monday challenge: bright cheerful colors
• Love to Craft challenge: anything goes 
• 613 Avenue Connect: anything goes; in the garden

It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. I have a couple errands to run and have to get ready for the twins to come on Sunday. But I hope to get some time to play too. Have a super weekend! Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna

Make a Wish

 Back again today with a card I had to finish. Today was out volunteer day. It's great to get out and be with people who also enjoy volunteering. We have as much fun as we do work so it's all good! I think my card tonight is going to be for my granddaughter, Valerie. She loves sparkly, girly things so this kind of has her name on it, I think.

The image is from Bugaboo stamps called Wee One Fairy Star. I colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with Quikcutz tag die. I added some clouds in the background with Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink and a scalloped circle. I used Stardust Stickles on the image to make her sparkle. The sentiment is another freebie from Desert Diva (thanks Hannah!). The designer papers are from my stash and each is layered with black card stock. The background is yellow and the card base is blue. Lots of layers on this card! To finish off I added an enamel heart and dot at two of the corners. I am entering these challenges:

• Stella Sketch at Catch the Bug: sketch 
  
• Sweet Stampers challenge: lots of layers
• Creative Knockouts challenge: wings and things
• The Paper Shelter challenge: dies and/or punches
• Crafty Friends challenge: ladies or girls 

  

Tomorrow morning I have an early rise as I have a doctor's appointment at 7:30am. Who made such an early appointment? LOL! Oh well. I do hope to get some time to play again tomorrow evening or Saturday too. We'll have the twins again on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe. Peach and all good to you!

Donna

Birthday Wishes

 We woke up this morning to a little more than an inch of snow. It was very heavy and wet and it broke tree limbs. But it was really pretty outside! I did get some time to play this afternoon. Kind of nice for a change to play during the day. 

The image is from Pattie's Creations called Gift Time (the free version). I paired it with Desert Diva's Birthday Wish Circle sentiment. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers. The image and sentiment were die cut with MFT Stitched Circle dies. I inked the circle with Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink. The layers are blue and green. The dotted background paper is from my scrap box. The base card is also blue. I die cut the bow from Die Cutting Essentials #59 All Wrapped Up. I added Stardust Stickles to the presents and bow. I am entering these challenges:

• Try Stampin' on Tuesday: sketch 
  
• Pattie's Creations challenge: birthdays
• The Outlawz Color challenge: green, blue, yellow and use a die
• The Paper Shelter challenge: dies and/or punches
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: anything goes

That's it for me tonight. I hope to get back tomorrow after I finish another card that I started earlier. I hope you'll have a wonderful Thursday! Stay safe. Peace and all good.

Donna

Birthday Bunny

I had a little time to play this evening. Hoping to get more time tomorrow as I will have most of my Opportunity House stuff priced and ready to go back on Thursday. But I wanted to get my other progressive challenge finished for the month.

The sweet bunny image is the Imagine That Digi stamp of the month called Teacup Bunny. I die cut the image with TODO Rectangles and then used ek Success corner rounder to round the edges. I inked the image panel with Mowed Lawn distress ink. The pink layering paper is a scrap from my scrap box. The leafy paper is from Imagine That Sweet Pastels Paper. I didn't find it on the website so unfortunately I don't have a link. The sentiment is from the Teacup Bunny stamp set and I die cut it with MFT Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strip Dies and inked the strip with Spun Sugar distress ink. I added three pink pearls in the upper righthand corner. The card base is green. I am entering these challenges:

• Imagine That Digi of the Month challenge: use Teacup Bunny
• Sketch Saturday challenge: sketch 
  
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Crafty Friends challenge: for ladies or girls 
  
• Jan's Digi Stamp challenge: anything goes

Here we are at April 20th, and it is snowing outside. I was done with winter over a month ago and Mother Nature is playing April tricks on us. This afternoon I was repotting some of my tomato plants wishing I could plant them outside and now I'm glad they are warm and comfy inside for the time being. What a mess. I hope spring makes a quick return. LOL! Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Hope your day has been awesome. Stay safe! Peace and all good!

Donna

 

Let's Shell-ebrate

 Happy Sunday! I really liked the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week; and since my first attempt forgot to use the slimline requirement I decided to try again this morning. 

I turned the sketch but used the mini slimline element they asked for. The image and sentiment were both in my crafting box ready to go. The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Turtle Birthday. The images are colored with Spectrum Noir markers. I cut the balloon off the image and then drew a line to it to complete the connection. The present is from MFT Birthday Bears (retired). I'm not sure about the sentiment. The designer paper is scraps from my scrap box and I layered with black card stock. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Catch the Bug challenge: anything goes
• Pattie's Creations challenge: birthday
• Creative Knockouts challenge: add a sentiment
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

That's it for me for a couple days. We are heading out to our Baby Creek property and tomorrow we are supposed to meet another builder. Hopefully this one will show up. Have a great start to a new week. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe! Peace and all good!

Donna

Hello

 It's been another busy week again! And not much crafting time. The good news is that the deck that my DH was replacing for the neighbors is finished! Yeah! So I won't need to help with that anymore. The bad news is that the next project is to replace flooring in our washer/dryer area that was damaged when our wash machine overflowed a couple weeks ago and the flooring buckled from the water. So I am sure that I'll have to help with replacing that. 

We usually have the twins on Sunday, but this weekend we had them today instead, so I keep thinking this is Sunday instead of Saturday. I thought I wouldn't have time for the Tuesday Morning Sketch but since today is Saturday I worked it in after dinner. The only problem was that I forgot it was supposed to be a mini slimline so it probably won't count for the challenge, but I loved the sketch.

I tried a tone on tone background and it doesn't show up well in the photo especially in the bottom left corner. The base is kraft card stock and I used Delicate Branches stamp set from Inkadinkado with MFT latte ink. The two smaller red birds are from the same set and stamped with MFT Cherry Crisp. The designer paper is from my stash. The larger cardinal is recycled from another card and popped up on foam tape. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and stamped in the MFT Cherry Crisp ink. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Crafty Critter Crazies challenge: use a critter
• Penny's challenge: anything goes
• Love to Craft challenge: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

We had a very gray and rainy day today. The morning was very rainy but the afternoon got a little better. We got the twins out for a bit this afternoon. Took a wagon ride around our neighborhood and stopped at the playground before we took them home. It was a wonderful day with them. Of course I'm tuckered out after chasing them around. Thanks for stopping by today. Stay sage. Peace and all good!

Donna

With Love for your Birthday

The days are flying by around here. We are still working on our neighbor's deck. We were supposed to meet a contractor this morning out at our Baby Creek property to talk about building a house. But he decided he didn't want to come and let us know last night after we were already out there. My Dh was very disappointed. But after a couple other projects we had to do today I sat down at my desk to finish up with an image that I already had colored but not on a card. 

The image is from Scribbles Design called  Flower Pot 2. I colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with Spellbinder's Classic Rectangles Large. I used two different designer papers from my stash: one with flowers and one with dots. I added a pink ribbon and instead of the bow (that's on the sketch I was following) I used a circular sentiment from Jak Heath, die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. Lots of layering on this card done with black card stock. The card base is pink. I am entering these challenges:

• Scribbles Designs challenge: spring fling
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch 
  
• Crafty Friends challenge: for ladies and/or girls 

  
• Love to Scrap challenge: spring forward
• Pattie's Creations challenge: birthdays

I hope to get more crafting time tomorrow. It will depend on whether Tom needs help with the neighbor's deck. I have a presentation tomorrow evening and I need to finish off my comments for that. So fingers crossed that some time opens up. Thanks for stopping by. Hope your week is going awesome! Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna

 

Post Easter

 I can hardly believe it's been a week since I last posted. This week did not go as planned. Last Monday I sat down to do one more Easter card because I had printed this image and instead of filing it away, I thought I should just make a card from it. I started the card and it just didn't click for me and set it aside to start a different one (which also didn't click) and I was never able to get back to my desk last week. So after having the twins all day today and finishing dinner I decided to revisit this Easter card and finally finished it.

The image is from Eureka Stamps called Lilly Cross. I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and die cut the image with Gina Marie Designs Stitched Rectangles (retired).  I struggled with the paper that I wanted to use with it, but finally decided on this plaid paper from my stash. Then I cut the paper incorrectly which actually turned out to be okay as I really like the break in the plaid. It gives it some interest. The sentiment was a freebie from Desert Diva. I die cut it with Spellbinder's Grommet Tags and inked it with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. To hide the grommet cut outs I added 2 pearls. The card base is blue and the layering is dark brown. It might have taken me a week but I am happy with the finished product. I am entering these challenges:

• QKR Stampede challenge: anything goes
• Sweet Stampers challenge: lots of layers
• The Paper Shelter challenge: with a sentiment
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: anything goes

It rained all day here and was chilly, so we parked the cards outside and let the twins play in the garage. We had lots of fun today. We bought some Play-Doh so they got to play with that. They wore us out and I'll be glad to see our bed very soon. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Stay safe! Peace and all good!

Donna

Arthur's Bank

 Last night I posted  a bank (and the explanation) for Valerie, my grand daughter. So today I am sharing the bank I made for her twin brother Arthur.

The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Michael Sitter. I colored him with Spectrum Noir markers and fussy cut him. The designer paper is from the Paper Studio. Just like Valerie's bank I added his name.

I used MFT Caption Alphabet to die his name and Quickutz Tags to die cut the tags. My DH made the slot in the lid. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug challenge: anything goes
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Scrapping4Fun challenge: anything goes
• Crafter's Café challenge: anything goes

From my family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Easter! May the risen Jesus bless you in all you do! Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna

Easter Parade (and Egg Hunt)

Last week when we had the twins, Valerie spied the plastic Easter eggs that I had gotten out to get ready for Easter. So I decided that she could play with them. She was so interested to see what was inside them. Of course, nothing was there at first; but we found dice and little things to put inside and she played a long time with open and closing the eggs. I hid some of the eggs in their bedroom to see if they would hunt for them since we've never had an egg hunt before. Valerie was very much interested and Arthur didn't really care. So I got more Easter eggs this week at Opportunity House and this morning I put coins and candy in each of the eggs. Tomorrow we'll have them hunt in the yard for the eggs. So my thought was to get each of them a bank so that they could put their coins in after they open the eggs. But we didn't find anything that wasn't glass or ceramic and we were sure that they'd break them too easily. So Tom suggested plastic peanut butter jars. I've been saving them because he's been putting nails and screws in them so we had some extra ones. I couldn't just give them a plain peanut butter jar so here is Valerie's jar.

The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Bug Brats Easter. This is the same image I used for the Easter card that I sent to her. I die cut the image with MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares. The paper that I wrapped around the jar is from the Paper Studio and has cute little Easter bunnies on it.

You can see the bunny paper better in this photo. I used MFT Caption Alphabet dies to create her name and the Quickutz tags to die cut the tags in two colors. You can see the slot that my DH added to the top of the jar. I did cover it with clear Contact Paper so they couldn't pull the decorations off too quickly. Tom wanted them to be able to see the coins in the bottom of the jar so I didn't cover the entire jar. I am entering these challenges:

• The Outlawz April Progressive challenge: use Bug Brats Easter image from Bugaboo Stamps
• Catch the Bug: anything goes
• Penny's Papercraft challenge: anything goes
• The Paper Shelter: Easter time
• Simon Says Monday challenge: Easter/spring

Tomorrow morning I'll post Arthur's new bank. I hope you'll come back to check Arthur's bank out. Looking forward to having the twins and their parents for Easter dinner and the Easter egg hunt. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna

Jingle with Kris Kringle

 Welcome to April and a new challenge at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up! A new challenge begins and as usual our theme is anything Christmas goes (as long as it's a card). We do have an optional twist. This month it's red and gold. Our sponsors this month is Taylormade Cards 4 U and Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. 

My card is an aperture card. I die cut the aperture with MFT Stitched Circles. The image is Retro Santa from Taylormade Cards 4 U. The glitter paper that I used for embellishment is from Recollections. The sentiment is from Papercraft Magazine and die cut with Clear Dollar Designs Labels (no longer in business). The designer paper is from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles Miscellaneous Christmas Red & Gold Patterned Paper Mini Kit.

And here is the inside of the card:

I added a gold glitter frame die cut with Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Stitched Rectangle Frame. I hope you'll play along this month at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. Get those Christmas cards started now! I am entering these challenges:

• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• Merry Little Christmas blog: anything goes
• Christmas Crafting All Year 'Round: G is for gold; H is for holly
• Creative Knockouts challenge: sparkle and shine

Thanks for stopping by today! Stay safe. Peace and all good!

Donna