The Scrap Lady's Craft Haven

LUVIN' THOSE BUBBLE FISH!

2012-02-02T16:05:00.000-06:00

In the Wonderful Squigglefly Shop

I thought I'd do a few valentine cards as well as birthday cards with BUBBA FISH! And the challenge this week at Squigglefly Blog is "Seeing Red"

Bubba Fish will come to you as both a left and right image in 8x10 and you can resize it from there in either left or right. The actual fish will not have the lines I put on, that will be up to you. I have a bit of luv with salt water fish so decided Bubba would be somewhat similar to Nemo's ancestors!

I was having a bit of difficulty with my miniature display booth for photographing my cards, so my 6x6 looks like it's a leanin' a bit. Sorry bout that. The bubbles all are liquid glassed; the image is cut with my fun nesties; and the colors are all copics of course. A few items from my red/pink heart stash box (actually a large clam shell) and some paper with an appropriate sea life background and wallah, I'm one step closer to enuf Valentine cards!

How are you coming with your Valentine's cards.........hopefully you aren't one of those who buys your valentines!! ;)

GRINNING FROM EAR TO EAR

2012-02-02T00:30:00.000-06:00

Grinning Retriever by Artist Chesney Young

Image being launched February 4, 2012

I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at a really funny grinning retriever coming out at Squigglefly's shop this weekend! Now if you have ever had any contact with a retriever you will know they are a super devoted single master canine! However, never have I seen one with a full new set of dentures as this one has! I well imagined he was dreaming about it raining bones - such as the sentiment says.

The card is a 6x6 with layers of various pp from my stash. I did overlay a vellum sheet with gold lace on it. Then I cut the heart and embossed it from my Spellbinders. The caption is computer generated from a collection I had kept for years. However, I had NO bones. I had given the last of my puppy/dog items to my daughter for her scrapbook. So out comes the Shrink Film and hubbie and I decided we would try our hand at making our own bones.

WELL NO BONES ABOUT IT,

this card has a lot of grin in it!

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!

2012-02-01T17:05:00.000-06:00

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE - Cheryl Alger

A new digi image coming out at Squigglefly this weekend, is this fun gal holding her own share of the sun! I did a triple layer of blues/browns and really made that sun look hot with lots of copic blending! The "You Are My Sunshine" sentiment comes with the set - makes it a great deal to print over and over and change the sentiment and combine images for lots of fun with your cards.

Come on over to Squigglefly and check out all the new images. While there, grab yourself a free image to try us out, and create something red to join in the blog challenge at Squigglefly's Blog! Click on the links to get there. Come back and visit me tomorrow as more images are released!

Sure wish we had all that sunshine! What will Jimmy the Groundhog (the Sun Prairie WI groundhog) see tomorrow?

SFC0412 Get the Red Out!

2012-01-30T00:30:00.000-06:00

THERE ARE 2 CARDS IN THIS POST - be sure to scroll down and I'd love to hear your cmments - negative and positive. Thx for visiting.

The theme for this week's challenge at Squigglefly is RED, show me the Red. Or show me all the REDs....this could be perfect for those valentines that are getting worked on or if you want to go in a different direction and have a funny bend, we all know what people who are seeing RED means. I have seen some adorable stamps for people who need to blow off their steam, lol!

SFC0412 - GET THE RED OUT - SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE

(THERE ARE 2 CARDS ON THIS POST - Be certain to scroll downward)

But I did not go that way entirely. I did make up 2 cards - one for a birthday sdhown above and one for a valentine, shown below. I went the traditional red card and everything is in red on the birthday image. The designer of this image, Betsy LePlatt, has appropriately called it SWIRLY BIRTHDAY BALLOONS!

I've used red everywhere - except the gold outline for emphasis and drama and the silver icicle Stickles that outline the swirly balloons. Those balloons remind me of the balloons the clowns used to give us when we went to the circus. They would create animals out of those long balloons and give them away. These make a lovely bouquet!

The gold in the red ribbon and the gold in the card kind of play off one another, don't you think? A bit of red distressing around the edges of the card - a very easy Birthday card for someone nearest Valentine's Day. Or simply make the card up without the birthday greeting and have a great valentine!

The following image is from Squigglefly also. I hope you like it. I hope even more my friend likes it.

Image is by Lynn Stansbery and is called:

My Punny Valentine 3.

BTW, have you noticed the great tutorial we now have for using digi images? You'll find it at the top of the following page: http://www.squigglefly.com/tutorials

"NEW! Sizing Digital Images in Serif PagePlus Learn how to resize and place digital images using PagePlus, a free software program. Tutorial by Charlene Mitchell. "

Come join us - LET'S PLAY IN THE RED THIS WEEK!

LOVE VIA USPS!

2012-01-29T00:30:00.000-06:00

I just have to share my cutesy card I got in the mail on Friday from my youngest daughter! She's very artsy and her scrapbook albums are to 'drool' over! She surprised me with this card, and now it's my turn! Thank you so much Sweetheart! My life would not be as sweet without you!

I LOVE HAPPY MAIL!

STUCK ON THE SIDEWALK?

2012-01-28T00:30:00.000-06:00

HOPEFULLY YOU DON'T GET IN THIS PREDICAMENT!
Image is by Lynn Stansbery and is called:

My Punny Valentine 3.

There is plenty of time left to make more valentines. This one is going to a very dear friend whom I've known for years along with some lace she needed. It's a 6x6 and will be a large enuf envie to hold goodies as well.

I put some stickles on the sticky looking glue - just to emphasize it! Coloring is copics, and layering is from stash. Zva crystal fluorishes are my very best favorites.

Come join us at the Squigglefly challenge. Get your image package at http://Squigglefly.com and then go to the BLOG and enter your creation! And best of luck. The contest for this week closes Sunday evening; altho this card would be perfect in the SHOW ME RED challenge.

TO A GREAT DAY

2012-01-27T00:30:00.000-06:00

TO A GREAT DAY - Image by Lynne Stansbery

Do you especially enjoy that one person's encouragement in the morning? TO A GREAT DAY - an image for Squigglefly by Lynne Stansbery just says it all. The card is a 6x6 and a few layers of fun stash papers brought it together easily for me. I did however have to review the instrux for making bows with my bow maker! :)

Have yourself a special cup of tea or coffee or cocoa with a friend; wish them a Great Day.

And don't forget to check out the PDF tutorial on how to work with digis. There are many free images available at Squigglefly and you can get in our challenge ending this Sunday evening. Check out the challenge requirements (they are simple as 1, 2 and 3 this time!) - click here!

A Tidy One Holer!

2012-01-26T14:39:00.001-06:00

A TidyOne-Holer by Lynne Stansbery (soon available at Squigglefly!)

If you were born prior to the 50's, you certainly remember these! And if you were one of the pranksters of that era on Halloween nites, you were one of the chosen few to have to re-erect one! What is it? Ask your Grandfather! All kidding aside, this One Holer is very tidily kept - even some lovely sunflowers planted around it with a lovely picket fence! Now that is aristocracy for all who used it! I chose to use a 6x6 card so I could do some ribbon gathering around 2 sides. A few beads add some fun. Instead of reading old catalogs and newspapers, how about our Notebook with Facebook? (tongue in cheek there)

This image is being launched this weekend at Squigglefly by one of my favorite artists, Lynne Stansbery! You'll have to grab one and try it out.........errrrrrrrr, the image I mean!

BTW, have you noticed the great tutorial we now have for using digi images? You'll find it at the top of the following page: http://www.squigglefly.com/tutorials

"NEW! Sizing Digital Images in Serif PagePlus Learn how to resize and place digital images using PagePlus, a free software program. Tutorial by Charlene Mitchell. "

It's easy to do - I use it all of the time, and I was one of those few who were digi challenged! Not any more! Try it and let me know your thoughts about it!

How about a Recipe with "Hay"?

2012-01-23T00:30:00.000-06:00

CHALLENGE SFC0213 - DAISY THE HOLSTEIN COW

The Challenges at Squigglefly are always so much fun! This is one of the reasons I enjoy being on the Design Team with them. Helps lift my day for sure.

Rhonda came up with a beauty of a challenge this week. Here is Rhonda's required recipe:
1. use ribbon or twine
2. glitter (something sparkly)
3. a brad somewhere on the card

Daisy and Daphne are some of our new releases from last week by Fawn Palmer, a new artist with us. Daisy apparently is a Holstein or Ayrshire depending on your colors and Daphne could be a black Angus, brown Swiss or any solid colored breed. I paired Daisy with a stamp I've kept for years of an old barn in the background. I used a 6x6 to get ample space and pop dots to bring Daisy to the foreground! I accidentally printed Hay! a bit large so I just cut and embossed it on one of the new cuttlebug folders that do this. Coloring is of course with copics and distressing by liquid chalks.

The twine is wound around the top of the card; the brad is in Daisy's ear (ala Diamond Stud!) and the glitter is on the brad (in the ear). And please do remember that cows do have tags in their ears, and Daisy is UDDERLY REMARKABLE with her stud! PUN INTENDED! ;)

Here is another take on the recipe............A 4.25X5.5 card mounted on a wonderful boy text dp. I've outlined in gold pen for more drama and off set the swirly balloons from the die beneath it for emphasis. The bling (required) is in the upper right corner (butterfly), the brads (required) are the center of the swirly balloons, and the required twine is blue and going vertical on the left. This is a wonderful new image by our new artist, Betsy LePlatt, and it's called appropriately SWIRLY BIRTHDAY BALLOONS!

I chose to go a different route and rather than color the image, I printed the digi image in a royal blue so I could get a type of monochrome effect. I also did this for 4 other colors and acquired myself 12 new birthday cards very quickly. With the wishes on the front of the card, I can place a gift card inside with a sweet message from me.

Have an udderly fantastic day - go to Squigglefly's freebies or check out all the new artists' work, become a loyal follower and grab a great image. Maybe even color up a cow!

Midwest Scenery - After the last storm

2012-01-22T13:33:00.003-06:00

10 inches on top of what we had! But it sure is beautiful. Just a short post today to bring some snow to my southern friends!

Our path thru the woods - we walk everyday!

Nikko loves to bury his ball in the snow and then go dig it up again, only to repeat the performance! Now we wait for the next storm and count the days/months to spring!

QUACK FOR MORE COFFEE! a/k/a SFC0212

2012-01-20T15:19:00.001-06:00

COFFEE DUCK by Monica Estill was released on Jan. 14 by Squigglefly. Coffee Duck is actually one duck, but since he's part of our wonderful digi world, you can make as many as you wish walk across your card. So my 3 ducks are in line for what else?

MORE COFFEE!

I've made another tri-fold card but have put a particularly fun twist on the card. First of all, my card is horizontally themed so the tri fold goes the same direction. I again used my nestie to have an identical tag for a sweet letter to a friend underneath the duck frame.

Did you notice the lace on the interior fold? My friend Pammie rakked me with a bunch of paper lace one day and it's just the cat's meow to work with! I had thought about crocheting my own, but figured I could just as well use the paper lace and perhaps put another little image on it before finishing it off.

I am tying buttons now in my spare time! I like a tied button better than an untied button it seems, and alas, these 4 buttons allow me to place my card in the Squigglefly Blog Challenge SFC0212 this week.

What? You haven't entered yet - yikes! Grab a freebie and make a quick card, you can be our next winner!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! QUACK! QUACK! QUICK!

Small Friends.........

2012-01-19T15:39:00.000-06:00

Friends are precious in all sizes.........as Ms. Spring Mouse says. Spring Mouse was created by Betsy LePlatt and this image is being released on Jan. 21st at our favorite Squigglefly store. Of course she comes in a left and right image and you create the size. She's a blast to color, I can tell you I thoroughly enjoyed working on a mouse not in a trap for once!

Ms. Mouse is on a tri-fold or gate card, easily done with just your ruler, personal cutter and bone folder, and of course some fun paper!

Ms Mouse is outlined with a gold pen and a bit of distress ink in Old Paper was brought in around the edges while I still had her in my Nestie. I love Old Paper for distressing - it's very real looking afterwards, not horrendous!

My interior message says: "Friendship lightens every burden and makes the sun shine brighter." Hope you like Ms Spring Mouse - grab an image and come on over to the Squigglefly blog and get in the challenge with us!

With a great blast............

2012-01-16T00:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Chillin' Winter Days again! Winter hit us in SW Wisconsin very strong last week. We are sitting here with temps barely above zero and 7 inches of snow on the ground. What a great time to craft!

This week the challenge at Squigglefly will just make you CHECK YOUR BUTTONS! IT'S ALL ABOUT BUTTONS! Instructions from the group's blog are as follows:
This card can include anything winter themed image that needs a coat OR go the totally in the other direction and include any fun card that uses buttons on it or button type embellishments such as button brads, button stamps, button images, button printed ribbon,...)

SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE SFC0212

I chose the fun mittens from the Punny Valentine Set #2 by Lynne Stansbery! The Lava Lamp is in that kit with multiple text sentiments in various lovely styles, the matchbooks - and every image has a left/right choice as well. Come on over to Squigglefly to check it all out. Then come on over and join in Holley's Hobbyist's challenge on the Squigglefly Blog to all of us!

And while you are there check out the newest release of items on the 13th - there are literally hundreds of new digis! Maybe even tons!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of the new releases are as follows:

All You Can Eat - artist Lynne Stansbery

Coffee duck - artist Monica Estill

Daisy & Daphne - NEW ARTIST Fawn Palmer
Especially, Valentine, Sunshine, Happy Valentine

Create with Buttons this week!

CUDDLE BUTTONS!!

2012-01-13T15:51:00.001-06:00

General note about me here: I love to sit and color while watching tv. Sounds silly huh? Well at that time I can do myriads of images I have printed and later put them all together very easily. Like the above Snuggle Buddies which you can find at Squigglefly! Aren't they the cutest little sweethearts. Beagles and basset hounds are known for their loving ways and kittens will take any advantage they may have when it means warmth!

I pulled my "clam" off the shelf that is labelled Valentines and Hearts and found all those little embellies in there. The corners are the most beautiful self adhesive photo corners - just gorgeous! So there's a quick little organizational hint for you - reuse those stamp set clams!

And it is very close to Valentine's Day, isn't it! Wow, just got done with putting away the Christmas items - still have a few snowmen donning the shelves tho! Well this 5x5 card will be given to my hubbie - along with some chocolates! He could use socks, but you know how it goes; if you don't want to receive a blender for Christmas, don't buy him socks for Valentine's Day!!!

The text is from a new release at Squigglefly called: MY EVERYTHING by Jess Holland. There are so many cool loving sentiments in this release, you have to allow yourself a few! Click on the link and let me know what you created! I'd love to hear!

TRIPPIN' !!

2012-01-12T14:36:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: Eugene is selling his tickets! Boo hoo!!

In keeping with Eugene's Trip to Lambeau Field and then onward to the final game and then the Super Bowl, we're getting his clothing and suitcases packed! Ahhhh you know I'm funnin' you! Well anyway when I color images I generally do more than one image at a time - and this image was left over from the intro of Eugene to you all from Squigglefly and Sandy S. Only he's in reverse. This is one of those awesome things about digis, they can be reversed so easily, can't do that with a rubber stamp!

My girlfriend needs a grab bag of rub ons and twine for her scrapping Senior Center class, so I thought I'd send this card along with her package, as I know she's also working on vacations and road trip albums, and maybe Eugene will come in handy for her!

All coloring done with copics - faded lipstick red (distress ink) was used to distress the exterior of Eugene's plate and various pp from my stash brought it all together into a folded 6x6 card - ready for mailing!

Enjoy your day - do something special for someone!

EUGENE GOES TO THE GAME

2012-01-11T20:30:00.001-06:00

EUGENE is a wonderful digi from Squigglefly,. Eugene's artist is Sandy Sommerfield and click on her name to go to her fun blog!

Couple Eugene with this football crazy family of mine, and we've decided Eugene is going to the big Packer game this Sunday, against the New York Giants! Well, we all know how it will turn out. We're just banking on the fact that the New Orleans Saints will come out of their match up with San Francisco as winners and those wonderful Packers will fight off the Saints for a shot at the Super Bowl! My best friend in Louisiana has exactly the opposite hopes - but we know it's all in fun!

Eugene is on a 5x6 folded card, and inside will be a fun letter to my brother who is in the hospital right now awaiting open heart surgery. He is a true fan of a FORMER Packer and we always have a laugh during every game. Laughing won't be easy on Sunday for him, so he'll get his card early!

Thanks to a wonderful friend, Rhonda, who surprised me with a rak of goodies, a few items on this card came out of that rak, making it easy to put together!

So leave me a comment with your guess as to winner and score along with a way to get hold of you. We will hold a random no. generator drawing after the game for a Studio G stamp set!

It's a New Release from Squigglefly!

2012-01-09T00:30:00.000-06:00

I received so many beautiful gifts for Christmas from friends - total surprise gifts usually by mail! And just in time to help me say thank you to all my friends, Squigglefly is releasing a new image - one of several - named EUGENE! Eugene's artist is Sandy Sommerfield.

What a treasure of a penguin fellow too - sucking on a wheat straw! I wanted to put a real wheat straw in his beak but it would break up in mailing, I fear. I do have some tho in a lovely dried bouquet on my desk!

I used my copics as usual on Eugene - did a triple matting of various papers on hand - put a piece of dark red magic mesh running across the center topped with a golden punched piece of cs. The sentiment is computer oriented - so you could use any text with Eugene and literally color him myriads of colors. I was thinking of the Green Bay Packers green/gold after last week's win!!! WOO HOO! GO PACK!

So hop on over to Squigglefly and check out ALL OF the new releases. They are all on the front page and just waiting for you to snag one and take it home with you to your computer! If you are a bit apprehensive about using digis there is a tutorial there for you as well! It doesn't get any better, right? In fact, did you know that you can print a digi facing right or left - depending on your crafting need?

And come on back tomorrow and check out another image!

Watermelon Fun!

2012-01-07T16:07:00.001-06:00

Shy Bear Swellin With Melon!

This fun little creature is one of the darling Squigglefly Shy Bears all drawn by Lynne Stansbery! I love to color them and make cards out of them. This one is going to my daughter - watermelon decor is top on her list. Hope he finds a spot in the middle of her bulletin board!

Hop on over to Squigglefly's shop and blog and check out what's happening! Prepare for a great challenge on Monday!

NUTTER LAVA LAMP!

2012-01-06T11:02:00.000-06:00

I never make just one of anything - it's an OCD thing for sure! So had printed 3 Lava Lamps from the My Punny Valentine Set 2 by Lynne Stansbery (upcoming new release from Squigglefly!) and used 2 on the 1/5/12 post. And in keeping with "going green" with my friends at Scrapbook Place, I cut the cord off my bag of $6.99 navel oranges from Florida and used it for a lovely bow! The lovely netting is from stash - and the faux letter buttons were in an 8x8 paper kit. So putting them altogether, I have a card for my great granddaughter!

So many of you have been asking about my newcomer, Sir Lord Chumley (we put the Sir Lord on his name) and I'm happy to say he's getting fatter and just a lovely gentleman. He never does anything wrong. I think the girls are jealous. Well anyway the 3 of them never rest within 6 ft. of each other - it must be an unwritten rule. But yesterday I caught them all napping near each other. And you can see out the window how much snow we have in the yard - NONE! Would you believe it was 53 degrees - a record for the area! Unreal because 2 days ago we woke up to only 10 degree weather!

I LAVA YOU A LOT!

2012-01-05T16:28:00.001-06:00

Hmmmmmmmmm.............tune into Squigglefly on Saturday, Jan. 7! Grab your lava lamp plus many other goodies in the My Punny Valentine Set 2 by Lynne Stansbery! My great granddaughter requested a lava lamp from Santa this year and got it! What was old is new again, I guess.

I chose a 6x6 background of a chalkboard from my stash - have no idea where it came from anymore. I popdotted the lava lamp (printing and coloring twice) for a nice effect. I also double matted the 6x6 image and added the punny "I lava you a lot" which comes with the set.

This totally reminds me of my own school days as well as my children's school days. We all made Valentine's boxes to hold the many valentines we expected, and when we opened our box we searched for that one expected very special valentine! Do you remember?

Have a great day!

A Peek at a Wedding.........

2012-01-04T00:30:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't love a wedding? Who doesn't love creating albums and cards and thank you notes for weddings? I love it all - we have a wedding coming up in October and the dresses are already being reviewed. The bride has her gown selected. Mom is working on the veil...........it all continues with all the love we can pour into it.

The stars and gems in the background remind me of last nite's meteor shower. It was exceptional as the meteors flew across the sky. Even our dog was watching wondering what they were! Hope you had a chance.

This image is called WEDDING NIGHT - by our NEW ARTIST Monica Estill and will be debuting this weekend at Squigglefly! I've chosen to keep the colors light. At the last minute I chose to spray with Frozen Lake Glimmer Mist to accent all the beautiful pastel aquas in the paper and the copic coloring of the umbrella! I HOPE YOU LOVE IT! Come visit Squigglefly soon as you can!

Just a Note.........

2012-01-03T00:30:00.000-06:00

Come on over to Scrapbook Place - we are tearing things! This note card was created by tearing paper and also an occasional snip with my faux tear scissors. I tore up some vellum to put under my image solid paper (also torn) and added some lovely purchased flowers from my stash. I l,ove my tearing ruler and it helped me pull it all together! All coloring is by my copics of course!

The image is NOTE 4 U by Nate Owens and is available at Squigglefly! Come on over to our scrapbook/card making group and join in - you do not have to be a member of our group!

Just let them know Linda sent you!

It's a Surprise!

2012-01-02T00:30:00.000-06:00

I BELIEVE I CAN FLY......

A 2nd take on I BELIEVE I CAN FLY.....

GUESS WHAT - a sample of things to come with Squigglefly! Shhhhhh - it's a secret.

Just come back tomorrow and see what else may be happening.

The above image is "I BELIEVE I CAN FLY" and the artist is: Eszter Csokas (see the lovely doxie dreaming about flying??) and the text is "LONG ON LOVE". The image is not available until Saturday Jan. 7 - so hang in there, you can grab yourself the image with the doxie running in both directions! He may even be confused who knows - who says they can fly!

All coloring of my 6x6 card is copic coloring by me, the distressing is Tim Holtz distress inks. The paper is CTMH 6x6 from my stash. I punch my own fluorishes with a Sizzix die, add pearls, pop dot for effectiveness and I just plain have fun!

Here's a wonderful surprise for you from Squigglefly! There is a rewards program that Squigglefly has. It's free to join. Once you join, it keeps tracks of the money you spend. For every $15.00 you spend in the store you earn a free image. The free image can be redeemed at any time! You can let them build up and use the credits all at once if you want. Plus, if you are just finding out about the rewards program in the middle of the month and you've already purchased several dollars worth of images - if you sign up for the rewards program it will credit you for the images you purchased during that month! Isn't that cool? TOO COOL! What a wonderful company!

See you tomorrow?????

The New Year Bloometh!

2012-01-01T10:10:00.001-06:00

So today begins the challenge our group has given itself of tracking our progress thruout the year with our crafts - whatever we enjoy doing. Here are my 1st 2 cards for 2012 - 2 of the 4 I printed from the freebie I found online at Tiffany Doodles.

I am just finishing them up to send out as belated Christmas cards - with the typical Christmas letter of which explains my slowness this year! What could happen did happen in 2011 - so I am so happy to be part of 2012, I can bloom with enthusiasm. Here are my last 2 New Year's cards.

Last year my friend Lisa sent me this heavenly Timeless 6x6 pad of paper. I've so enjoyed using it that I'm very partial to using it - kwim? Just don't want it to end. I did some fussy cutting of the timepieces. My owl and crown were in my stash from the past year and just fit perfectly to these 6x6 cards. I enjoyed distressing the white backgrounds of the printed image (TIFFANY DOODLE) with OLD PAPER TH distress inks.There is also beautiful gold cord peeking out behind the images and I'm sure you see even more fun! I hope you had a great New Year's Eve!

HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR'S EVE

2011-12-30T15:21:00.000-06:00

.........and be careful out there!

Which way do you like the best?

The image is a freebie over at Tiffany Doodle's site. Available only a short time, so go get it now. I used a 6x6 sheet each from my new Madeline pad of pretties, punched with my lacy square spellbinder, did a bit of chalking while the image was still in the spellbinder and added charms/pins/tinsel/ribbons and even uplifted a flower and leaf so as to hang over the die cut.

Here's to a wonderful 2012!!!

A Christmas Medley - Cards for 2012

2011-12-28T16:27:00.001-06:00

Hi ladies! I'm on a roll; I am creating my Christmas cards for 2012. I will not be late; I will not be late; I will not be late in 2012!!! What a great resolution for me!

I love the 6x6 size of finished cards. Of course that means I make my own 6x6 envelopes - gives hubby something to do in the evenings if tv is boring!

And I also love working with the CTMH White Daisy Cardstock for my basic 6x12 and fold it in half - perfect crispness every time. The bg paper is from a pad from Crafter's Companion. The cute little saying is from the Squigglefly Digi Collection and entitled "CHRISTMAS MEDLEY" created by Jess Holland. Using this Medley and Holly Young's video I did learn to color the various notations in different colors - but I used them on other cards which I'll show you later on. Do you like the background of the sentiments - another paper created using shaving cream! I then used my Fiskars punch to run across the top and put a black bg against the olive green which was run thru my CB with the Swiss Dots plate. A few snowflake brads and some handmade lace, and wallah. 2 down and 200 to go! Just kidding - I hope!

New Design Team at Squigglefly!

2011-12-27T11:55:00.000-06:00

HOORAY - Today is December 27 - 2011! And I will be getting the new 2012 DT emblem soon.

Come celebrate with me! Today is the day I can announce that I've been selected to Squigglefly's Design Team.....and I'm loving every minute of it! It's very special to me in that I was selected earlier this year but at the last minute I was hospitalized with 2 tumors and spent quite a bit of the past 5 months recovering from the effects of the drugs and the ongoing effects of the tumors as they dissipate. So celebration is in order, as in 2012 I will be on top of the world!

Earlier this month Holly gave us some new images to play with while we await the start of our term on January 9, 2012. This wonderful 6x6 card uses many pieces of a 6x6 Madeline Pad I have on hand from Christmas gifts. The Be Naughty digi and the Save Santa The Trip digi (being only $.99) are printed on cardstock that is pre-colored with the shaving creme method. The colors worked out so great to go with the Madeline pad, don't you think?

Santa is pop dotted - I cut him from so beautiful stationery and luckily had 2 sheets left! The lace and sparkly trim are from my buddy in Ooltewah TN - thank you T! The Christmas Tree inside is a Jolee item along with the stars - no copic coloring on this card, I am shocked I couldn't find a space! hahahaha! I did however distress everything with a chocolate chalk.

This is the front side of the 6x6..........and below is the inside of my card. I am laughing!

I don't believe anyone in our family was naughty enough to not have a visit from Santa. In fact, I think Santa may be shy on cash now! :)

CONGRATS TO ALL THE NEW DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS, please visit their blogs and say hi!

Here's a list of the new DT and their blogs.

Holley Barnhart's team

Holley Barnhart http://holleybarnhartsblog.blogspot.com/

Shawna Sealander http://www.paperkissesandinkywishes.com/

Charlene Mitchell http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=205461

Theresa Gerber http://craftsfriendsangels.blogspot.com/

Tammy Hair http://tammy-tammyspot.blogspot.com/

Pat Martin http://patacakespages.blogspot.com/

Rhonda Zmikly's team

Rhonda Zmikly http://bumblcreate.blogspot.com/

Terri Fleming http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=171458

Kathy Bradley http://enteringkathyville.blogspot.com/

Sharon Jones http://www.inspirationalgreetingsbysharon.com/

Debbie Ebat http://debbiesstampingadventures.blogspot.com/

Linda Weber (Me!) http://scrappingheaven.blogspot.com/

I am seriously looking forward to designing with this wonderful group! Have an awesome day!

Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours

2011-12-22T14:40:00.002-06:00

Our last snowfall (not counting last evening's dusting) spread a beautiful layer of white snow everywhere. The weatherman says it could be all we will see for the rest of 2011. How sad!

Our Christmas Tree has been totally decorated since Thanksgiving; the great grandchildren enjoyed this room immensely playing games and then hiking outside with even a hovercraft ride. Now the tree sits anxiously for our get together - and it's bursting with gifts; most of which are home made!

This beautiful crocheted tree just needed to be posted as part of my Christmas this year. My plans are to make more after the holidays.

A closeup of some areas of our tree - note the tiny crocheted ice skates. The reindeer on the right is about 51 years old and was given to me by my favorite teacher in eighth grade at a Christmas party at her home.

Here's Chumley. One week ago Chumley had surgery on the left side of his neck below his ear.
It was a very large ugly long lump that kept oozing. Vet prepared us for the worst and that being chemo therapy and all the ugliness cancer brings with it, as he was fairly certain it was cancerous and malignant. We had the surgery and he sent the mass to the pathologist.

This a.m. Dr. Teasdale called with wonderful news - altho it was a cancerous macroadenoma (where have I heard that word before), it is benign and should never return in any form again.

Tinkerbelle spends yet another Christmas with us. She's eight now - and as vibrant as a kitten. She's a blue himmie.

Princess Raggs loves lying in the bay window. Eat and sleep are very important to her at 10 yo. She's a dilute calico.

Nikko shows off with his new early present from his groomer - his lovely sweater. He really likes it too. Dogs are funny sometimes.

A peaceful afternoon in the front room where everyone has a chair but me!

My wonderful husband found he needed to recreate the cat posts/beds as our cats are getting older now. Chumley especially should not be dive bombing from 6 ft. up. So he has larger stair steps and very accessible from the floor or the well cover. That is Chum looking out sat the birds. As you can see he takes up the entire bed. Gotta love that cat!

I hope you have a lovely Christmas and a restful week afterwards. This has been a tremendously 'heavy' year for myself and family with my hospitalization and all the medical bills and meds that came before I was even eligible for insurance of any kind. We made it thru - Praise The Lord! 2012 will be wonderful to us all.

I will be creating cards and projects for Squigglefly after the New Year as I've been selected to be on their design team again. I love this group so much it's a real treasure to be able to work with the best. So til then, after New Year's, I will be posting various Squigglefly projects using some new to me images! Cya then. Sign up to be a follower. Or just sign up via email. Hugs to you all.

CLEAN AND SIMPLE - Squigglefly #128

2011-12-18T17:06:00.000-06:00

KEEPING IT CLEAN AND SIMPLE - Check out this challenge. The time is running out for posting a clean and simple card - but do as I do - CRAM IT IN SWEETIE!

I have been so utterly busy in the last 8 days, I am so thankful for the upcoming 2 or 3 slower days! But this card is made with a lighter colored craft paper I had in my stash. The Shy Bear Image from Squigglefly is called SHY BEAR - CANDLE BEAR. Just click on my link to grab yourself a little sweetie. A self adhesive Thank You was placed on the black cs. There is a really pretty mixture of a green background that is difficult to see but trust me it's really cute in person, and

CLEAN AND SIMPLE!

A tea cup from a dear friend

2011-12-12T14:55:00.001-06:00

Isn't it just the most beautiful pin cushion you've ever seen? I do believe so!

My friend Pammie, from WA state, surprised me with this today. My mailbox was well packed tight with the very protective box she had formed around it. And it arrived in beautiful condition. What was best, was that it was a total surprise! Well anyway, here is a side view of all the flowers/ribbons/bows/jewels/pins in the beautiful German tea cup set.

And here we view it from the top side. Her card was equally outstanding in that she had punched every little white branch to form the Christmas tree! It's just so much more gorgeous in person, wish I could show you it better. But thank you so much Pammie........you are very special!

Happy Holidays everyone!

BASED ON A SONG - SFC 127

2011-12-09T21:58:00.001-06:00

Squigglefly Challenge 127 is "Based on a Song". We were to create anything that related to a song - not just Christmas songs either, could be birthday, love, etc. So I decided to go with Frosty the Snowman.

I WON THIS CHALLENGE - COME JOIN US AT SQUIGGLEFLY BLOG!

ShyBear and his Snowy Playmate is just a darling digi. I love all the Shy bears and have been collecting them, but this little Snowman hugged by Shy Bear should warm everyone's day. The folded tree is from a pattern from a lady in our Scrapbook Group. Coloring is by copics and the bg is a CTMH special holiday paper. Here are the lyrics:

Frosty The Snowman

Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul,
With a corn cob pipe and a button nose, and two eyes made of coal.
Frosty the Snowman, is a fairytale, they say.
He was made of snow, but the children know he came to life one day.
There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found,
For when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around!
Oh, Frosty, the Snowman, was alive as he could be;
and the children say he could laugh and play,
just the same as you and me.

Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
look at Frosty go.
Thumpety thump, thump, thumpety thump, thump,
over the hills of snow.

Frosty the Snowman, knew the sun was hot that day,
so he said, "Let's run, and we'll have some fun now, before I melt away."
Down to the village, with a broomstick in his hand,
Running here and there, all around the square,
sayin', "Catch me if you can."
He led them down the streets of town, right to the traffic cop;
and only paused a moment, when he heard him holler, "Stop!"
For Frosty, the Snowman, had to hurry on his way,
But he waved goodbye, sayin' "Don't cry, I'll be back again some day."

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas - as it's fast approaching. Remember the Reason for the Season especially!

4th and 6th Day of Christmas

2011-12-07T08:27:00.001-06:00

Our Scrapbook/Card Making Group is so busy keeping the blog up to date, I've finally fallen behind. But today I declare to CATCH UP!!!!!!

These darling gift card holders were an accident! We were making extra 6x6 envelopes and accidentally cut one of the sheets an actual 6x6 for the envelope! Duh! But no problem......we simple decided we could make gift card and cash holders out of the miscuts plus a few more now that they were fun, and wallah, these are fun. The paper is mostly from CTMH and they are the 6x6 swatches that you can keep on a ring.....having both sides a Christmas type flavor makes them so cute! Don't you think!

Well today I have to finish my Goody Bags - for the Mailman and whomever and start a Christmas Decoration. That is the easiest as my total house is beginning to look like Christmas - even the cat towers!

Do you like homemade potato soup? Would you like a warm Christmas gift for a friend? Then come on over to SCRAPBOOK PLACE's blog and check us out. Become a follower there and enjoy the company. Allie has posted a MUST READ for every homemaker! Yummmmmmmm!!!

* * * * *

On the FOURTH day of Christmas, my crafter made for me,
FOUR GOODY BAGS (that 3-fold Christmas card, and those 2 Christmas cards and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…

On the FIFTH day of Christmas, my crafter made for me,
FIVE shiny SNOWFLAKES!!! (4 goody bags, the 3-fold card, 2 Christmas cards, and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…

On the SIXTH day of Christmas, my crafter made for me,
Some embellished GIFT CARD HOLDERS (5 shiny snowflakes, 4 goody bags, the 3-fold card, 2 Christmas cards, and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…

On the SEVENTH day of Christmas my crafter made for me,
A Christmas DECORATION (a few gift card holders, 5 shiny snowflakes, 4 goodie bags, one 3-fold card, 2 Christmas cards, and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…TUNE IN LATER TODAY!

FIVE SHINY SNOWFLAKES A-FALLING.........

2011-12-06T04:24:00.000-06:00

ON THE 5TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS......

5 Snowflakes punched out of very pretty heavy shiny cardstock; green holly leaves and red rhinestones to set it all off. 5 more cards for my card box........very easily done using the Spellbinders Snowflake Pendant set from 2010, which I recently found on sale online.

On the FIFTH day of Christmas, my crafter made for me, FIVE shiny SNOWFLAKES!!! (4 goody bags, the 3-fold card, 2 Christmas cards, and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…join us at Scrapbook Place's Blog!

Poinsettias Rule!

2011-12-05T14:09:00.001-06:00

My house is slowly beginning to look like a suburb of the North Pole. Above 16 Santa cards await centers and gifts tucked inside for friends and relatives. The card is based on one I saw HERE - just click! Of course they aren't identical - nothing ever is, is it? I used up a lot of wiggle eyes I know - they were a lot of fun.

NOW few words about my poinsettias. Earlier in my blog I showed pics of my red and white poinsettias as they flowered last Christmas season. They are now 3 years old. This year I totally forgot to trim them down in the spring, so yes.......................

They are GIGANTIC! My husband built me special wood planters for the exterior pots. There is another pot within to contain moisutre. Every day it seems they grow a bit more.

You'll see now the brackets have formed on both the red and white. I was truly surprised to see that this morning. My sister in law was throwing the red one away 3 years ago and I thought I'd try raising it thru the winter.

The white one was from my husband for our anniversary 3 years ago - and I must say it's even more beautiful today!

Here's a long shot in the sunroom - focusing down against our Christmas tree. The 4 great grandkids just loved playing in this room on Thanksgiving Day - before all the outside activities. Guess I should put those pics up next.

Unfortunately I did not get my 4 bags of goodies done for the Christmas song, and today I must do the 5 snowflakes. I have the perfect huge punch for them!

Are you enjoying your Christmas prep? I am!

1st thru 3rd Day of Christmas

2011-12-03T14:23:00.001-06:00

Our Scrapbook Group is doing the Twelves Days of Christmas - OUR WAY! Lo and Behold I too have begun and will attempt to keep up!

THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

Today is the 3rd day of Christmas and our project is a Trifold Card.
What a great incentive to finally move these few things that have been sitting on my desk, waiting for a bit of creativity to hit me. I have no idea where I got them from - but I am sure they came from our scrapbook group in a pif or a swap.
This is the final card - a trifold card. The top opens up UNDER the crackled background and license plate - which reads WISCONSIN - Fishn! I have a brother who has a birthday in January and he just loves to fish. Being single he has the time and he's always eager to call me and report the catch. He'll love this for a birthday surprise!

Here you can see the interior. With the license plate and the background papers, I also had a stash of camo ribbon and this wonderful burlap colored writing paper - perfect for that all important note to him.

Here I have laid my scissors on the bottom 1/3 flap so you can see how that works. I do hope you have a bit of time to try a trifold card. They come in many methods - basically take a 6x12 sheet of cardstock and instead of folding in 1/2 - you will fold down 1/4 and fold up 1/4 leaving the interior a 6x6 surface.

Rolling along with our theme of the 25 Days of Christmas Crafting, we hear the carolers sing:

On the SECOND day of Christmas, my crafter made for me,

TWO Christmas CARDS (and that pretty Christmas ornament to hang)…

You know what - I used to feel totally overwhelmed when it came to sending out Christmas cards. Well I still don't start early enough but I have found some shortcuts. I make my cards - I just cannot buy a Christmas card - they aren't the same. I want feeling in mine! But how did I make it?

Well perhaps my way of creating Christmas cards/Birthday cards/etc. will help you out. Below is a very fun card I made for this year's season. Altho not all that religious, it still conveys the message.

This is the finished card minus the interior sentiment at this time. Now take a look at the following image to see what the card was comprised of and how could I possible make multiples of this card so easily?

See my secret? I make multiple images and color them all at the same time - usually watching tv in the evenings underneath my Ott lite for great depth of coloring. Then I fussy cut the images at another sitting.

Now check out the ribbon on the card - it really is just flat ribbon that I have rubbed stitches on - you can see the rub on stitches yet that remain on the fun sheet of rubons.

The background has been impressed with the cuttlebug dies - I have several ready all in winter and Christmas theme. Then I merely distress them with a lovely sand or brown (very lightly) to get more depth.

Do some pop dotting and the front of your card is ready. I'll now stamp my sentiment inside. Some people print their sentiments from digis and then remount. Either way is good.

Hope I helped you - Have a great holiday season!

FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS

"It's made with the Spellbinders Snowflake 4 piece nestie. I made 3 large snowflakes, bent them in the middle using my ScorBuddy from Crafter's Companion and hot glued them from there. Also used the other stars and ornament that come out of the shapes on the ScorBuddy. Lots of ways to use it. I hung my ornament on a cupboard door - couldn't see it against the tree!

Happy crafting, everyone!! Check us out tomorrow!

SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE 126

2011-11-30T15:47:00.001-06:00

Oh I am having so much fun with the House On a Hill digi set from Squigglefly. Previously I used their autumn house for a birthday card. Today I'm using the wintry scene on their new challenge. Can you see all the icicle Stickles I used for the snowflakes and the snow piling up on the rooftop. I felt that simple cooler wintry colors done with my copics would bring out the chill in our bones! I used a Chatterbox stash for the wintry pics I'm making today.

Will Santa's sleigh be able to sit on that roof while he does his yearly tour? I sure hope so.

I am making up several boxes of all occasion cards just using the 5 House Digis! How awesome to receive huh?

The digi is located here, please go take a look and grab the whole set for yourself for one small price! And then come join us and perhaps win yourself another great set of digis! Instructions are here!

SFC126 - Winter Wonderland!

Winter weather is coming, at least in some parts of North America. Let's see a card with a winter scene. Snow? Ice? Winter sporting events?

Be creative...show us something that makes us shiver!

Etch My Sketch! SFC125

2011-11-22T17:26:00.001-06:00

I'm an avid follower of SQUIGGLEFLY BLOG, their challenges are great!

Here's this week's challenge (per the team):

SFC125 - ETCH MY SKETCH!

Use the sketch below as the basis of your project. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch, just make sure we can tell you used our sketch ;) Also if you prefer to make the background strips all the same or all different, it is ok with us ;)

And here's my answer to the sketch!

I chose a Squigglefly Digi Image - SNUGGLEBUDDIES - to pop dot off the centerpiece. Copics did my coloring but OOPS I forgot the kitten's eyes, so just overlook that boo boo for now. Will fix before I send it onward. I am also doing a number of these cards for our local NO KILL PET SHELTER to sell for funds to help them out.

Hope you are having a great holiday season! I love the days leading up to Christmas as much as being in the actual date! Happy Holidays!

WELCOME SIR LORD CHUMLEY!

2011-11-20T10:04:00.001-06:00

On November 15, Sir Lord Chumley graced us with his presence. Chum is a chocolate point Himalayan, who is absolutely gorgeous and deserving of his royal name. Chum came to us from the Safe Haven Pet Rescue where he had spent about 1 month until his forever home found him.

His former owner had passed on with no relatives able to take him in. He's HUGE, has beautiful big brown eyes and eats a LOT! So I do believe he will get an "A+" at his next checkup! Better than bony, huh?

One can tell the difference in color between Her Highness TinkerBelle and Chum - Belle is more traditionally a seal point or even tending towards a blue point Himalayan. Yes, I need to make up my mind. Her colors are indeed blue against Chum's Chocolate. And of course she has true blue eyes!

I began putting up Christmas decor as my pre-Thanksgiving tradition. With the 4 great grandkids and other family members coming on Thursday, I really went into the Holiday Mood! It's been a good feeling being able to be here this year - after my very 'close call' in June.

As you can see, Belle is gracing her presence on the Nativity Set ! Would you believe every year she does!

And our house is always full of noise and activity. Above Nikko runs away with his master's sock! He loves to be chased as much as he loves to chase! And to steal anything of Verdon's is automatically hilarious!

I am very thankful this year for all my friends.......and mainly for the grace the Lord has given to me this year to continue in his Presence. We all hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with friends and relatives and remember to be thankful that we are still a free world too.

SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE #124

2011-11-15T18:46:00.001-06:00

SEASONAL HOUSE ON A HILL DIGI SET

SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE #124 is such an awesome easy challenge for all of us. You have to have a birthday card from time to time and you surely don't want to run to the store and pick up one of those yucky premade 1 of 9000 that all look alike - cheap and unimaginative! So come on over to Squigglefly Challenge Blogspot and join us in this challenge!

You see here the outside and inside of a 6x6 card totally put together quick and easy using items from my birthday tote and my colored image of the digi from Squigglefly called House on a Hill. You actually get 5 different house images - it's really fun to use.

Get ready for the next birthday in your circle and come on over to Squigglefly! :)

THE BOYS ARE HOME!

2011-11-12T14:10:00.001-06:00

Here are two of the very best reasons in the world to visit your local shelter and pet rescue places when seeking out a companion. Meet Lawrence. He's only 2 years old and a beautiful JTown Tabby Persian! Weighing in at only (ONLY!) 12 pounds, he's a big hunk of love, making a mad dash for his owner's lap soon as she sits down!

Now if that isn't enuf for one to smile about - the rescue of a beautiful animal who needed a home - then check out Louie. Louie is an absolutely gorgeous 5 year old 7 lb. Lynx Point Himalayan. What a beautiful little babe, huh? Louie and Lawrence luckily were fostered together and are everlasting companions, very lucky to have been taken home by the same owner.

Louie makes a mad dash for the lap too but has to yield to curling up next to the lap til Lawrence chooses to jump down. Ain't no way of squeezing in there!

How do I know all this? The lucky OWNER is my daughter Shelly! After the passing of Roscoe, her beautiful red Persian, she appropriately took time off. I know I was one who told her she needed a cat again; but never dreamed there would be 2 special fur balls waiting for her somewhere.

They have indeed taken over and blended with Roscoe's spirit. Great choice sweetie!

There is a special place on the net for cat lovers of all breeds to peruse weekly. If you have time, come on over to Kenosha Purebred Cat Rescue! (click!) And yes, there are mixed breeds as well, just as beautiful as their purebred cousins.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

2011-11-12T13:07:00.001-06:00

I'm hosting a giveaway for Jinky over at Jinky's Crafts. She designs some really great 3D craft projects such as gift boxes, cards, exploding cards/invites, and so much more.

She has made this great Twelve Days of Christmas Tutorial E-Book (includes everything you see in the pic above). I have last year's edition and there are so many great things to make! I'm excited to get this 2nd edition also!

What better way to package all your gifts than in boxes you made yourself!

---------------------------------

Here's what you can win:

First Prize : FREE 12 Days of Christmas E-Book (2nd Edition)

2nd Prize: FREE 12 Days of Christmas E-Book (Revised 1^st Edition)

3rd Prize: FREE 6 Tutorials from the 12 Days of Christmas (your choice)

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What do you have to do to win?

1. Be a follower of Jinky's Crafts Blog and..

2. Post on your blog or put on your blog sidebar a picture of one of the Jinky's Crafts giveaway on your blog or facebook page and link it back to Jinky'sCrafts 12 Days of Christmas E-Book. and...

3. Leave a Facebook comment on the Jinky'sCrafts 12 Days of Christmas E-Book page . Just tell what is your favorite project among the 12 projects.

**Make sure you scroll all the way down to find the facebook comments at the bottom of the page**

Once you have done this, simply leave one comment with the link to your blog or facebook page below on her post - and on my own blog here below.

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Jinky will pick the winners and announce them on November 15th. Make sure you come back to check!

Check out her page for the tutorial if you have any questions or want to see the projects.

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Also, if you like giveaways, you might want to become a follower of my blog. I've been feeling very grateful during this month of Thanksgiving for all the readers I have. So... I might just be having my own giveaway for my followers coming up soon. Just sayin' ; )

SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE #123

2011-11-10T15:35:00.001-06:00

Squigglefly's challenge for this week is an easy one; well they are always easy, but this one is more fun I think. It goes like this: Make a creation without using any patterned/ designer paper.

I chose SHY BEAR CAROLLING BEAR from my growing digi collection. I love Squigglefly's collection of digis. And their delivery to your email box is so quick! But Shy Bear has always been a winner for me, hope you enjoy him and maybe even bop on over to Squigglefly Store and get yourself a few sets!

I used copics for coloring, rub on stitches on the ribbon at the base and then I used a sheet of white cardstock to run thru my cuttlebug and then rub CTMH Parchment ink over the raised images. I also found the red ribbon already tied in my stash from my scrapbook and card making group.

Now it's your turn. Get your entry in by Sunday evening. And remember the countdown to Christmas is on.

KITCHEN HELP NEEDED - APPLY WITHIN

2011-11-06T13:02:00.002-06:00

WONDERFUL CHALLENGE OVER AT SQUIGGLEFLY!!! Create a project to tickle your fancy, or Marlene's fancy or Holly's fancy - just make them laugh.

I had colored up several Halloween type images and did not use a couple, so thought I'd throw everyone a curve with inviting the trick or treaters inside to create goodies for Christmas! They are sure to be pleased!

The challenge ends tonite - so quickly, grab your copics and whip up a funny one, and post here: SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE BLOG!

Meanwhile, did you remember to FALL BACK this weekend??? :)

HAPPY HALLOWS EVE!!!

2011-10-30T11:25:00.001-05:00

BOO TO YOU!!!!!!!! I wanted to take a different route and stretch my imagination with this Halloween Tilda! One of my friends gave me the image, I do not have the stamp - but would love it! While coloring her up I thought perhaps I'd try an overall green base on her skin and some face painting. Now I've never done face painting, but I watched while my great grandchildren were treated at the zoo last year. I loved the technique but all I could think of being able to do was flourishes. So I hope you like it.

The card is a 4.25x5.5 and using up some Halloween scraps. The little note (overused at times at this time of year) on the lower right says:

Trick or Treat

Smell my feet

Give me something

Good to eat!

My favorite item on the card is the cobweb! How unique! And of course I'm using my copics for the image.

Have yourself a great day tomorrow - watch for the little ones trick or treating this weekend and Monday eve. Keep them safe!

NEWSFLASH! - BIRTHDAY

2011-10-27T17:04:00.000-05:00


HAMBOHOEDOWN 39 - Newsprint Challenge

This newscaster represents one of the most trustworthy organizations on the planet! He even keeps company with Clark Kent! Well, maybe not really, but what fun it was to develop this 4.25x5.5 birthday card. Hambo Hoedown gave us the image free for participating last week and asked that we create something with newsprint.

Well the background of my card is a reverse newsprint copy on Club Scrap heavy cardstock! I have held on to several pieces and finally found something to use it for.

The newscaster is done in copics (of course! - just am so addicted to them!). I created a faux wood cabinet around his sound booth. The buttons are really neat, and they came from my friend Mary. One day when she visited she brought me a whole bag of unusual buttons. What fun!!!

I'm going to do several more as I always print more than one image when I'm printing digis. Remember to send birthday cards out to your friends as well as family. It makes a smile happen! Meanwhile, stop over at Hambo Hoedown and when you arrive home, watch the news!!!

SAYING THANKS

2011-10-26T14:40:00.003-05:00


SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE SFC 121

Ahhhhhha the month of November is almost upon us. Time to reflect on what we are thankful for this past year. For me, a great deal. Especially the grace of my Lord in the prayers we sent up when my tumors were first discovered! Alas, my doctors gave me an "A" yesterday at the various appointments. Absolutely amazed at the normality of my tests now, there is only one way to feel - heavenly!

This month SQUIGGLEFLY is having an awesome challenge, just make a project saying thanks! I chose my little bluejay from their digi stamps. This stamp is called "NOTE4U". A bluejay is perfect for checking on the mail! The little note will send lots of thank yous from me to various friends this year!

The dp is from various companies. The corner punch is a Martha Stewart complete that I picked up yesterday at Hobby Lobby at 40% off. Colored in with copics and I used a die cut from my friend Anna to hold my "Thanks". Now come on over to SQUIGGLEFLY and let's see a simple THANK YOU project. You have until Sunday evening to enter! No more excuses. It's an absolutely lovely bunch of ladies on their Design Team as well!

Thank you for visiting me!

Joan's Gardens Challenge #7

2011-10-24T19:52:00.003-05:00

Here is what you need to do for Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge #7:

■ Use a die
■ Use a Christmas Sentiment
■ Use some kind of light (Candle, Christmas Tree Lights, snow etc)
■ Use Red and White and additional colors if you wish

It just can't get any simpler than that, can it?

It was total fun to start making more Christmas cards! Thank you Joan for the inspiration! I used a 6x6 card of dp with the sentiment "warmest wishes" in the lower right corner.

I colored Tilda with copics and pop dotted her so to standout from the card. It's difficult to see that in the photo, I am sorry there. I double layered the bg behind Tilda and punched 2 corresponding corners for further "pop".

The punched lace is from a friend as well as the poinsettia is from another friend at Scrapbook Place - come and join us! Everything is distressed in dark red to make the whole thing pop! What do you think?

Join my follower base and insert your email for further updates. Never know what surprises Santa will bring you! I'm nearing my 10,000th hit!

IT'S A LITTLE SKETCHY .....

2011-10-24T16:52:00.001-05:00

......over at Hambo Hoedown right now. In fact, sketchy means "FUN"! So we are given the following sketch to develop a project out of:

HAMBO HOEDOWN 38

We are allowed to tweak it a bit but just keep the main idea afloat for judging. The DT's have some absolutely awesome designs for us to take off on too. Just click on Hambo Hoedown 38 to fly on over and ready yourself for some fun creating. There is still time to get involved today yet! Go for the gold! Well, go for the "MUMMY" would be more appropriate.

Also be sure to come on over to JUGS (http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/) - WHAT A CHALLENGE THERE! GO 3D and keep it Halloweenish! Well, whether it be Hambo or JUGS, here is my submission:

JUGS107 and HAMBO HOEDOWN 38 Submissions

Also entered in the awesome color challenge at Inspiration Journal

I thought I would have a bit of fun with the Mummy (a digi from Hambo Hoedown) and a 6x6 card for my base. I used CTMH dp and Bazzill bg. I went 3D with lots of goodies; I also crocheted my own 3 flowers using #10 strand cotton and a very small hook. I do lots of these flowers for friends at their requests. The mummy is pop dotted for depth and a few jewels lighten up the sentiment. Everything is distressed with my DISTRESS ALL - which I dearly love! The mummy is colored with a few copics and I sprayed Olive Walnut Ink on the orange bg behind the mummy for a bit more distressed look.

STOP OVER FOR THE BIG SALE AS WELL!

Hoping your days are better than his, get prepared for all your lovely kiddos to descend upon you in 1 week!

FOR MY FRIEND

2011-10-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

WOW, the month of October is just slipping by too fast.

Hi, Linda W. here again.

I love the fall and the friendly pot lucks and craft fairs. I just love getting together and enjoying the beautiful but short lived weather we have in the Midwest. Again, I would like to say thank you to all my friends at Crafter's Companion. It's been wonderful being a guest design team member.

Well to continue in our theme for October - FRIENDS - I decided to create a 5x7 card using many more ideas to help me stretch my creativity. First let me say that when you purchase a stampset from Crafter's Companion, you will be surprised to learn you can take one member of any stampset and place it with a different stampset member to get a different scene.

This is what I did with my card. I took Souffle the Duck from my Popcorn the Bear stampset and the Teacher from the S.W.A.L.K. stampset. I gave Souffle a special tag which says "for my friend" to give to his teacher. One must always be on the good side of the teacher, right?

Everything is colored with copics which can be purchased from Crafter's Companion and I did a bit of Stickles Glitter on the grass. Souffle and the Teacher are both pop dotted for depth. A long corsage pin with beads and a ribbon is included at the top of the lacey doily. I double layered lace (real and paper) in a vertical fashion in back of my images. The backdrop is an embossed card stock from my cuttlebug of hearts and flowers intertwining amongst each other. I rubbed it with Wild Honey distress ink to get a more pronounced feeling of soft velvet. Everything is attached to a sheet of 7x10 white cardstock which has been folded to a 5x7 card. I enjoyed making this card.

Well thank you for looking in on my creation. Hug a friend and have a beautiful day. Hugs, Linda W.

FALL INTO A BLOG HOP!

2011-10-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
~George Cooper, "October's Party"

Welcome to the Scrapbook Place October Blog Hop! If you came from the Scrapbook Place blog, you are on the right leafy path! If not, just follow my path below and you'll end up back where you started. Look for the colors of the season in all of our blogs. Leave us all some love by adding a comment on each and every blog you hop along and encounter! The ladies will appreciate it.

Happy Owl-o-ween! I have a girlfriend who has a birthday on Oct. 31st, and planned on surprising her with a Halloween type gift. Meanwhile, the ladies of our group at Scrapbook Place decided to have an autumn blog hop. So after creating several cards for sending out HALLOWEEN treats, I decided to upload these 2 Owl cards. Everything here was in my stash and begged to be used.

There are rubons and buttons, computer digi from Squigglefly (Happy Owl-Oween!), Queen & Co. self adhesive border and this darling Owl which has been in my collection for quite some time.

Now leave me a comment, become a follower of mine and tell me what you do for Halloween!

Come join us at Scrapbook Place and win prizes for blogging and swapping, as well as join in on all of our challenges. We do it all at Scrapbook Place.

Here's your list:

(you are here) Linda

Shannon

Anna

Pat

Annette

Donna

Teresa

Diane

Melissa

ScrapbookPlace blog

HAPPY FALL Y-ALL!

What do you fear on Halloween?

2011-10-19T16:44:00.000-05:00


SQUIGGLEFLY'S LITTLEST WITCH AND GHOST

For Challenge # SFC120

Also for Color Challenge at Inspiration Journal

Oh yeah, what does it take for you to 'scream'? For me it takes a spider or a mouse! Can't stand either one. Unfortunately where I live there a lot of each! And it's not just on Halloween!

So poor little witch and ghost have their bags/hands full approaching the doorbell at this home. Spiders, bats, probably a mouse inside the pumpking, what next? But I'm sure they'll get lots of goodies and fun this Halloween.

This card is a 6x6 (as most of mine are these days) and I basically colored the digi with copics. I received the digi from Squigglefly (which I won in the last challenge!) and then fussy cut it out. Then I layered with CTMH papers I had on hand (various 6x6) and found some goodies in my HALLOWEEN stash!

Come on over and join in this challenge! It's fun and Halloween wilal soon be over with. Come see what the other gals have done too. Just click here!:

HOPE You Can Cling To Challenge

2011-10-19T13:23:00.001-05:00

This week Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge is supporting the Second Annual "Hope You Can Cling To" Challenges at SCS. We have chosen the "Fight Like A Girl" challenge that was posted October 11 for our challenge this week. Here is the info about this challenge ( HYCCT1111):

Create a card or project with some girlie embellishments; flowers, lace, glitter, bling, pearls, ribbons..... all things girlie!

I decided I'd really fight like a girl with this card. I support cancer awareness all the way; especially after being a 21 year survivor of uterine/ovarian cancer. I salute the ladies surviving breast cancer - their strength is remarkable.

For my card, I free handed the cut out of a bra. I actually saw a similar card in a 2009 magazine a friend gave me 2 days ago and wallah I was off and cutting and creating! Lots of paper lace (also given to me from a friend and her faithful punches) AND LOTS of rhinestones and pearls. Did you notice the double strand of pearls below the bow? :)

Come join me either at Splitcoast Stampers or Joan's Gardens and create for a cause!

CRANKY CREAKY WITCH

2011-10-15T20:20:00.000-05:00

Also entered in the awesome color challenge at Inspiration Journal. Click here and enjoy!

CRANKY WITCH is a fun digi from Squigglefly! She looks a bit cranky but I suspect she's more creaky than cranky, especially if she's like me trying to wean herself off meds that have kept pain away since the month of June. She and I will have to go tricking together this year!

But anyhow, there's a wonderful challenge going on at Squigglefly this week. SQUIGGLEFLY CHALLENGE #119 is very easy - YIPES STRIPES! The challenge closes tomorrow evening so go check it out and upload a Squigglefly digi (there are freebies on the website) and be in the running for a cute prize!

And then if you want even another fun challenge using 4 colors, check out JUGS CHALLENGE. I've entered Cranky there too! :)

I used CTMH papers and misc. ribbon from my Halloween chest that I dive into yearly. Copics for the coloring of Cranky and distressing around the edges with some milled lavender distress ink.

Let's see your Halloween cards! :) 2 more weeks til the big spooky nite! My great grandkids are going to have a ball this year!

Trick or Treat Bag Game

2011-10-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Scrapbook Place has a great contest going for the group members. You need to choose a no. of items Melissa puts out for grabs (treats of kinds you would find at Halloween, and then later on she tells you what each item is actually worth in the terms of card making or scrapbooking.

I chose and got the following:
Raisins - Anything purple
Popcorn balls - 2 different patterned papers
Caramel apple - some heat embossed
Pennies - a colored image
Snickers - a tag

The papers are from Close To My Heart. The image came from a friend - I do not have that stamp yet! - the ribbons and brads and tags I had in my Halloween Treat box that I go to year after year. Can you guess what is heat embossed?

Enjoy getting your holiday cards together. I am. Linda

Bunches of Love

2011-10-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there, Linda here. I've been absent from my love of coloring for a few months, all due to a medical emergency. I relied a lot on all my friends for many things during my absence. Friendship is a wonderful thing; I hope you will take a moment and reflect on your friends. I am so happy that Denise and the ladies have asked me to be a guest designer for the month of October and the perfect theme - FRIENDS. How precious are all of our friends!

I have a gift to give a friend. They are seeds from my very own Candy Tuft Iris. It's such a tiny flower but it produces such large seeds for reproducing, I always give them away with my love and wish for a happy growing season.

I chose a wedge card to carry my gift to my friend. The wedge card is so easily created with the use of your Ultimate Companion and accessories! If you don't have one, check out the Crafter's Companion website for a wonderful opportunity to stretch your creativity. Truthfully it's basically 6 folds and 2 holes punched.

For my scalloped card on the front of my wedge card, I chose Bunches of Love from the POPCORN THE BEAR stampset collections. However, I chose to dress it up a bit more with some really glitzy fall primas all dazzled with their very own glitter. On the original stampset there are tulips, but since this is fall and my gift is that of a fall nature, I colored in the tulips darkly and used glue dots to fasten the flowers down over the tulips. In this manner the tulips didn't show and it appears as if the petalled flowers were intended to be there. I chose a beautiful fall sheer ribbon to tie my wedge card shut and added a tag (see the instructions provided you with your Ultimate Companion and boards). I promise you they are super easy!

The image is colored with my copics which can also be purchased from Crafter's Companion. It's truly a one stop shopping for me.

Til we meet again along the way, SMILE and be a friend. Hugs, Linda

Just Feelin' Good!

2011-09-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

In a series of 6 photos, I can finally show you TinkerBelle walking her catwalk upside down!

Preparation (feelin' frisky)

A quick run upside down the full length of her catwalk!

And she rights herself and determines whether to do it again or chase the dog!

Just thinkin'.............


Belle decided she'd just play with her mouse!

YES she really crawls around upside down on both of her catwalks, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

BELLE GOES TO THE DENTIST

2011-09-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Belle sleeping on my printer

My sweetheart, TinkerBelle, is a seal point himmie. We all know that himmie's are prone to health issues if they aren't watched carefully. Well this past summer while I was very ill, TinkerBelle's tooth health got 'funky' as my daughter says. I totally knew there were no problems til several nites in a row she woke me up breathing thru her mouth and making strange gurgles.

Well everyone who is a feline lover knows cats do not breathe thru their mouth. It causes huge bubbles of gas in their stomach and intestines and a lot of pain. But there has to be a reason for them to start this unusual trauma to their system.

After a trip to a new vet (whom we love!) we found she has several teeth in serious stages of infection. She went thru prednisone (shot) and clindamycyn (meds) and is much, much better.She began eating beautifully and put on almost a pound in 3 weeks!

So yesterday she had a return visit and altho her gums are looking better, those particular teeth have lost their enamel and are very painful for her. They will need to be removed surgically. We're praying it all goes well on Friday, Sept. 30. Dr. Curtis is such a wonderful caring veterinary, it is awesome to watch her work around Belle. Belle even held her mouth open for Dr. Curtis! I'm hurt, she never lets me see further than her canines! ROTFL!!! She had her blood work and there seems to be a small heart arrhythmia along with some stress on the kidneys. So we pray she will be fine.

We found Belle almost 8 years ago now - and we want to keep her in the family for at least another 8 years.

Here she is on her catwalk up close to the ceiling. Someday I'll have the camera ready when she walks upside down on this catwalk hanging like a monkey! Truly!

PUFFBALLS IN THE FALL

2011-09-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

Here in Wisconsin deep in the dark woods, odd creatures grow each fall. Here is a relatively new one - being small in size. Many are edible, but to be sure, we just DON'T! They are called PUFFBALLS and you can read about them by clicking on that link.

Last week we found 6 in our woods quite by accident, on our daily trek thru the area. "A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota" as taken from Wikipedia. This one is only about 10 inches across..

As they get older and 'ferment', the color changes. There is no opening and some grow on stalks; these don't. In Tibet they have been used as a black ink by cooking etc. You'll find more about that on the link above too..

This one is almost fully mature - and is about 12 inches across in diameter.

My husband chose to open it up and the spores just puffed and blew all around. Normally the Puffball gets very very dry and a crack will form in the skin before the 'puff' process happens.

And here is a great view of the soft interior. Again, if it had matured even more, there wouldn't even be this much material to pick up. Their entire life is bent on creating more spores. And even tho they are huge, we may or may not see another next year. One just never knows. A true wonder of nature.

Happy Fall Y'all!

2011-09-10T15:05:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed getting back a little bit of the creativity I'd lost this summer thru various medical emergencies. For a beginning back to my blog, I chose to create something flagging FALL to us. This is actually my very first alcohol ink card - thank you Karen, my friend, for the gentle push by sending me your creation samples!

The card is 5.5x5.5 and I used various alcohol inks and the blending solution and feel that I blended it just enuf. I then stamped the Crafter's Companion Stampset called SUNFLOWER by Sheena Douglas - using STAZON. Everything dried in seconds. The alcohol inks were first stamped on Stampin' Up Glossy Paper and then reattached to a Bazzill White card stock measuring 5.5x5.5.

Did you notice the tiny butterfly sitting on the sunflower? We have so many of those tiny white and yellow butterflies this time of year, I just had to put one on there! The FALL charms I found in my huge fall tote - and there is a simple adhesive set of leaves in the upper left corner.

Therefore, this card is entered at:
CRAFTER'S COMPANION
and
YOUR SCRAPBOOK PLACE.

Thank you for looking; if you are new here, please consider following me for future candy blog! Have a beautiful FALL!

Humphrey's Corner Collection - Friends Forever (friends walking)

2011-07-16T00:01:00.002-05:00

How much does friendship mean to you? I'm finding that more and more these days most of my friends are 'online' as compared to physically walking down a mall with anyone. Our world is changing. But let us never forget how much friendship really does mean to each of us.

I chose this lovely stampset from Humphrey's Corner Collection because of the quietness one can see in their 'just knowing' the other is there for them. The figures are super easy to color with copics or watercolors or distress inks - just pick the media you are most comfortable with. I chose some metallic quilled flowers as well as some sparkly prima flowers to embellish my 6x6 - both of which were a gift from 2 friends.

Create a whole set and give them as a gift for a friend! This stampset collection is available NOW from Crafter's Companion USA. This collection was designed by Sally Hunter of the UK and it is now in stock in Crafter's Companion's store. Don't miss out - grab yourself a whole collection. And while you are there, check out the awesome Ultimate Crafter's Companion tool - I use mine all the time for making bows, making odd sized and regular sized envelopes, boxes, and myriads of other items. I just keep it right on my craft desk top and it's ready to help me be creative!

I hope I inspired you too to be creative and especially treasure your friendships.

Paint Fusion Launch - Sunflower Stamp at Crafter's Companion USA

2011-07-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Below is my completed set of paper machie boxes that I will be filling with handmade flowers for a friend as a gift!

It was easy to start - I already had the boxes sitting in my 'to be done someday' stash! Doesn't everyone have something like that in their crafting area? I'm trying to clean mine out! Anyhow, these are just adorable. I first painted all 3 items inside and out with my Eco-Friendly Acrylic Paint from Crafter's Companion USA. And you are saying, what a mess! Well, I have an awesome crafting sheet under everything - you can purchase that also from Crafter's Companion. I mix my paints directly on it and I just wash it under the faucet when done!

After drying I picked out my stamps that would look the best as 2 of the pieces are a bit small, but I made it work! I wanted to use that gorgeous Sunflower Stamp set from Sheena Douglass. I now have several sets in my collection - Daisies, Apple Blossoms, Berries, Tulips, Sunflowers, Poppy - and I am enjoying working with them all. After this set of boxes, I am working on a set of cards each done in an original flower painting by me. Ok, back to this project!

I tilted the lid for you and as you can see I've used Stickles (also purchased from Crafter's Companion) to highlight the edges and wording of the Sunflower box. I also emphasized the tiny seeds in the center of the flowers with the Stickles.

I'm a gardener and what gardener doesn't love the presence of butterflies! The butterflies in the Apple Blossom stamp set are just awesome to work with. Usually I do a direct to project stamping and create from there. This time I chose to emboss in gold on heavy card stock and then fussy cut and attach to my box of blossoms and bees!

My smallest of the trio of boxes holds some hand painted (without stamping) poppies. At this time I edged all the boxes with a brown chalk ink to appear a bit distressed.

Poppies are indeed my favorite flower - and I find them difficult to grown in our clay soil. But I can always have them by painting them! Now you too can have your flowers any time of the year - just pick out a beautiful stamp set from Sheena and get started! Have a beautiful summer!

It's Summer Time and Living is Good!

2011-06-30T00:01:00.004-05:00

It's summer time - and what sweet memories still flood my mind of sitting on the front porch with my Mom and my siblings. Often times a neighbor would pop by and we'd have a cool drink. Altho I was a busy girl ain those days, it's good I still have all those warm fuzzy memories of days gone by.

This month I chose The Old Front Porch for my project on Craft Us Crazy, where I am a Guest Designer. The theme is Summer and what a more appropriate stamp from Squigglefly to consider for this project! Squigglefly is sponsoring this challenge and I invite all of you to stop on over to Craft Us Crazy and check out the other wonderful projects! This group is truly a super talented group of designers.

This card is a 6x6 and colored entirely with copics. The pot of flowers in front of the window is pop dotted for dimension. I cut out each individual pane of the window and put a piece of transparency on the back of the window. Shy Bear-Hi Bella looks out the window as if to say, Welcome Friend! Just a minute while I bring out the lemonade! Shy Bear - Hi Bella is a freebie at Squigglefly now - just click on the link and download. The Old Front Porch is also at Squigglefly and can be found HERE!

Please drop by Craft Us Crazy and Squigglefly - put them on your FAVORITES list today!

I'll be MIA for awhile..........

2011-06-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

I will be gone from this blog for awhile. At first I had anticipated journalling my next 'short' journey but don't think people want to REALLY hear. The roses are from my daughters/granddaughter/great grandchildren. Aren't they gorgeous! So have yourselves a gorgeous day; remember to hug a child!

Humphrey's Corner Collection - Friends Forever

2011-06-18T00:01:00.013-05:00

LOTTIE AND JESS ARE FRIENDS FOREVER

Crafter's Companion USA has done it again..........they are launching the cutest collection of stamps called Humphrey's Corner Collection. Designed by Sally Hunter this year, this collection is very representative of the beauty that the UK puts into their stamp sets.

As soon as I received my sets, I could not help myself and had to start designing right away. I just love the little ice cream cafe and the quaint atmosphere that only an ice cream cafe can give you. I remember when my father and uncles would take the 4 of us children to the local cafe for a treat of ice cream! So cool and tasty! 3 scoops of ice cream in that ice cream soda, WOW! I remember those days - before I started watching my weight! LOL!

I chose to use copics on the entire 6x6 card. The image is pop dotted away from the card.......I used several pieces of CTMH patterned paper from their W1106 collection. I tried something new to me and threaded my ribbon thru my nestie cut out. I think it's so cute! I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion to fashion a 6x6 envelope slightly larger than the card to allow for extra space needed and not crush the card in transit.

Come on over to Crafter's Companion USA and check out Humphrey's Corner Collection - the price of the stamps is sooooo reasonable as well; you can't beat economy for shopping with Crafter's Companion USA!

And don't forget you can actually WIN your choice of 2 stamp sets from Crafter's Companion as this month they will not only be giving away a Paint Fusion package of goodies, but will also be giving another random winner their choice of 2 Crafter's Companion Stamps! How cool is that?! So get out those Crafter's Companion stamps and enter our Summer Challenge for a chance to win some these fabulous products!

A Little Girl and Juvenile Diabetes

2011-06-11T15:00:00.000-05:00

FAIRY KLARA

Squigglefly has a new image from artist Jane Beljo - Fairy Klara. All proceeds from the sale of this image will go to Caylin's Cure . Please check out her mama's plea for help!

Fairy Klara is colored with copics, trimmed with Icicle Stickles and perched on a cloud as she jumps from cloud to cloud granting wishes. Hopefully she'll grant everyone's wish to find a cure for juvenile diabetes. Oh what a wonderful cause for us all to support. Join in the fund raising!

Be sure to check out her Mom's blog site. Nothing is more precious than the wellness of our children.

Thankful for Father's Day!

2011-06-10T15:44:00.004-05:00

The Squigglefly Challenge Blog has a new challenge (#101) this week: Make a card using an image for one holiday, but change it up and make it into a different holiday! I love this turkey...enjoying himself immensely amongst all the wonderfully ripe apples. It's HIS day and he just is going to milk it for all it's worth! So I thought how perfect for a masculine card for Father's Day - my hubby will enjoy it. I used copics everywhere - mounted several times with scrap stash on a 6x6 folded card. Captions are computer generated and printed and double mounted.

This card is entered in the following:
Squigglefly Blog
Craft Us Crazy
Joyful Stamper
Your Scrapbook Place
Paper Take Weekly
Crafty Calendar Challenge

IT'S A GIVEAWAY - Come and get it!

2011-06-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

Ladies, you cannot miss this one. Check out Crafter's Companion give away - started yesterday and only goes to June 17th! Rules are so simple. Just go to their blogsite (click below the photo) and put your name on the list and you are in the contest!

And if you would like to get an additional chance in the contest all you have to do is get one person to sign up for their blog and then have them email your name to yourcraftycompanion at yahoo dot com. The prize will be the Crafter's Companion Ultimate tool AND a mystery gift.

Crafter's Companion Giveaway Candy!

Shannon's Cards

2011-06-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

HAPPY SUMMER!

A lovely artist on Scrapbook Place sent me a lovely package of beautiful items today and included this awesome card. Isn't it a grand work of art? She's so talented, it's unbelievable........makes these awesome flowers that look so real! If you would like to meet Shannon and more artists, come visit Scrapbook Place Challenge Blog!

PLAY AND ENJOY BEING GREEN!

2011-06-06T15:01:00.000-05:00

(No I do not sell Avon - yes, I do use it; this is NOT an ad however.)

I am very proud of being part of the Green Movement in the world today. With my efforts and millions of others, hopefully this world will be a better place when we leave it for the younger generation.

Today I received some precious mail from a friend. In Scrapbooak Place (a yahoo group you may wish to check out), we send each other various mailings. This friend sent me cards/raks/stamps in accordance with her membership in the group. I just felt I had to share this!

First of all, I'm marvelling at the whole envelope only costing her $1.88 in postage fees and that included a delivery confirmation no.! DOUBLE WOW!

We all as family supporters have used Avon bags for something - either receiving awesome merchandise or giving something away and reusing that bag.

Well my friend Donna chose this nice large bag, and inserted the contents towards the mid-center of the bag and did 2 folds.........one from the bottom and one from the top. She simply sealed with some tape and added my address etc to the bag envelope.

Now on our group we are always looking at ways to reuse and recycle and coming up with awesome storage tips. This in itself is an awesome mailing tip - so you now CAN hop on over to SBP Challenge Blog and see their latest presentation of storage ideas. I guarantee you will say WOW! and look for ways to implement them in your own household! CLICK HERE TO GO TO SBP CHALLENGE BLOG!

Swinging Butterflies

2011-06-04T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hi, Linda here. My passion is butterflies. So when I receive my new envelobox and boxer boards from Crafter's Companion I had to quick pop that DVD into my computer and look for fun projects! I'm that way - never have quiet fingers ever! Below is the actual outside of a swing card.

Have you ever seen a swing card? They are so cool, it's unreal how much fun I'm going to have making more of them. This 6x6 was created with some lovely black 6x6 stash I had on hand. The butterflies were embossed, stickled and glitter distressed and then attached to the swinging frame of the card. Now you see the back side of the front of the card - another version of the same butterfly all done up with jewels and gold.

When you receive your boxer board with the Ultimate Crafter's Companion Advanced Construction Techniques DVD you will receive full instructions on where to use your stylus to lay out the frame for folding as well as the frame to cut on to expose your butterfly.

I selected a darling acetate stamped sentiment I thought my friend will love. She's been so helpful in some important factors of my day, I want her to know I do appreciate her.

As a final 'dress up' to my card I added 3 punched butterflies that I covered with Liquid Glass. Overnite their wings will automatically fold up. The paper I used was a dual sided purple/orange and the punch was a MS.

I hope I inspired you to try your hand at a swing card. My next one will be even better - but I really love this one too!

And the winner of my blog hop is...........

2011-06-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

RHONDA DAVENPORT - CONGRATULATIONS RHONDA!

I'll be sending you a cute little stampset! Thanks for hopping along with us!

SCHOOL'S OUT!

2011-06-01T13:38:00.001-05:00

BEST TEACHER STAMPSET (S.W.A.L.K.)

Come on over to Crafter's Companion Blog spot today as we start another great contest!

My great grandson graduates from prekindergarten this year and my great granddaughter graduates from 3rd grade this year. I thought it would be great if Grandma and I made up some cards for them to sign and give to their teachers with a special gift. I'm not sure if you ever did this, but I did when I was in school, albeit a long time ago now!

I stamped the images with my new Rock-A-Blocks which I totally adore. I used to use acrylic blocks but had a lot of boo-boos and also had a difficult time keeping trak of them in storage. The Rock-A-Blocks are the answer to no more smears! I colored the images with my copics, cut out with a nestie and did some double mounting. Turned out to be a great 5.5x5.5 card. Now onward to do 2 more - at least!

This size envelope is easy to make with my Ultimate Crafter's Companion and most recent revised Boxer Boards allow me to create any size envelope which really works for me! Enjoy your summer!

Support Our Troops

2011-05-30T00:01:00.004-05:00


Shy Bear-Support Our Troops TRIPLE THREE CHALLENGE AT SQUIGGLEFLY

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! My card today salutes all of our military personnel in and out of action. I salute to all who have joined the forces and fortunately have been able to come home. I salute to all who have lost their lives in action. My Great Grandfather served in the Civil War in the 5th Virginia Cavalry, my Great Great Grandfather served in the Seminole Indian War, my father and his brothers served in WWII. I also have located graves of family members of my past who served in the Revolutionary War.

I visited many graves last week with my eldest brother and tears always come to our eyes of their remarkable service to our wonderful country!

This card is part of the Squigglefly card challenge SFC-100 this week - in honor of entering triple digits for this wonderful company.......100 challenges to keep us all inspired! Note the 3 rhinestones in the lower right corner and the 3 colors on the flag. Shy Bear-Support Our Troops be found on their website as a wonderful FREE DIGI by clicking here: SHY BEAR FREEBIE

Do something special today - but most importantly remember our military and their struggles today!

Let's hop to the sound of flowers!

2011-05-27T00:01:00.006-05:00

Welcome to Scrapbook Place's monthly blog hop! Our theme this month is "April Showers Bring May Flowers" so you will see FLOWERS featured in all of our creations. I chose my flower to be of fabric and a wonderful friend helped me formulate this tut for you.

First of all, cut yourself a strip of fabric approx. 2 inches wide and 20 to 22 inches long. You can adjust the flower by using a shorter narrower strip of fabric if you wish.

Fold your fabric in half and press smooth. No need to sew the ends together either.

Make a straight stitch or gathering stitch on the raw edge. On my machine I also loosened the tension to allow easy pulling of the threads. You can backstitch on the beginning edge but not the end stitch. You want to be able to pull the top thread.

For those of you who don't like to go near a sewing machine.........you can thread a needle with a long thread (not doubled) and run a long stitch all the way across the rough edge of your piece of material - catching both sides. I tied a knot in the end of the above example so the thread wouldn't pull out.

A closeup of the needle and thread - no need to make it pretty.

Start pulling gently on the thread, by holding and distributing the gathering as you go along. Tie the thread together once you have it all gathered. After securing your piece securely, now you can start rolling it at one end to make a little bud. Secure the bud with a stitch or two and continue to roll the gathered fabric around the bud til you get your flower.

I hot glued a button in the flower on the right and a colorful large brad on the flower on the left. You can now hot glue your finished flower to any altered item or a card or project of your choosing. Try it, and come back and send me a link, so I can see what you have accomplished!
If you just happened upon my blog, you will want to go back to the beginning of the hop - Lindsy's blog - and follow through to see all the beautiful creations!

In the group:
Lindsy (the beginning of our hop)
Leti
Allie
Annette
Shannon
Linda (you are here)
Debbie
Teresa
Diane
Donna
Pat M
Anna
Rhonda
Holley
Jinky
Scrapbook Place Group Blog

Have an awesome day! Leave us a comment too please! I am also offering a gift to some special person drawn from all the comments!

Thank you for joining us in more inspiration!

Paper Piecing Holiday Cards - SFC - #99

2011-05-25T18:30:00.000-05:00

Oh I loved this challenge from Squigglefly's Blogspot! I had to get a few more Christmas cards in the works anyhow - and I had recently purchased this awesome Shy Bear:Candle Bear from Squigglefly.com. Perfect excuse to enjoy some paper piecing and use up some of my smaller stash papers!

Right away I knew what paper I wanted to use - I received it in a package of Close to my Heart and it was perfect. I only had 2 6x6s of the patterned paper so printed wisely - doing 2 identical cards. I added some copics to Shy Bear and some Icicle Stickles to the candle wax and Shy Bear's hat. The tag was super easy to make just cutting around my sentiment "Happy Holidays" and remounting on a scrap of red. Then a small hole with the Cropadile and of course, my favorite, CORD! Love that stuff!

Hope I inspired you to try some paper piecing! Come on over and visit Squigglefly's store and take a moment to enter their challenge on the Squigglefly blogspot. Just click on those links, you'll love it there!

HAMBO HOEDOWN 16 - Entry 2

2011-05-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

Digi - Hambo Hoedown Stamps

I always make at least 2 cards when I decide to do a card. It sure helps my card box stay full! So here I decided to enter that 2nd card in the Hambo Hoedown #16 challenge. This card also came about as I had tried creating this lovely pinwheel rosette flower! I thought the distressed chipboard, the fun beach colored back drop of the patterned papers and our fun loving SUMO friend would wish anyone a wonderful anniversary! Again, it's very easy to join in the Hambo Hoedown challenges, just click and jump in with a freebie provided by Hambo! Deadline is Tuesday! Rules are here (click)!

More info on that flower on Friday May 27 - so come on back y'all - you hear?

HAMBO HOEDOWN 16 - Entry 1

2011-05-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

SUMO - digi by Hambo Stamps

Our challenge this week was to use SUMO and one of the sentiments provided. And then create a project that includes Chipboard. This is a 6x6 card in which I used multiple layered backgrounds consisting of an ATC created by a dear friend in WI and gifted to me, plus numerous embellies also gifted to me by another great friend in IL. I crackled the chipboard using paint (2 different colors) and PVA glue and heat. What fun huh?! You can join us at Hambo Stamps simply by clicking on the name and get into the challenge. You do not need to use SUMO - there are a number of freebies you can use and get into our contest. Enjoy your day!

Coca Cola can meets flower!

2011-05-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

The following 6x6 card project is entered in the Squigglefly blogspot challenge as well as Joan's Gardens card challenge.


Miss Victoria Kitten from Squigglefly.com The following tag is entered into Joan's Gardens Challenge.

Last week I was fortunate enough to win a free image from Squigglefly by participating in one of their wonderful challenges on the Squigglefly Challenge Blog. So this week, why not use that image in their next challenge?!!! I just love this little kitten anyway! In fact, I am always intrigued with cat's eyes.

I was just out of my realm when I took on the latest Squigglefly challenge! Believe me I am not a metal worker - nor do I want to be! However, to be totally out of my realm (their challenge) I knew I had to do something I totally resist doing! So I cut up a Coca Cola can (empty of course!) - and began my project! Here's a quick tut on what I did:

I don't have any fancy machines other than my Cuttlebug and my Sizzix for cutting materials, so I used the trustworthy Sizzix and a multi flower die.

Below are the results of the cuts in the aluminum. It cut much easier than I expected and it tore very easily I found out too! Ugh!

So then I decided to get out the Alcohol inks that I still haven't used - why not challenge myself a bit further. And oooooooh I love how these meld together! Woo hoo - I'll do more with the inks!

Then I pulled out Divine Swirls for the Cuttlebug - I just knew that embellishing the flowers with this embossing die would be the cat's meow for sure! (pun intended)

Just had to sand a little bit of the paint off the embossed areas to give it a bit more elegance......

Okay, now to check on my image. I always do images first, so this is just a plate of how I printed them out prior to coloring with my copics. If anyone is curious as to what colors I used, here you go:
HAT: YR31; YR23; YR00 YR000 * CAT: C1; C3 YG03; YG63 * FLOWER R00; R20; R22; R24 * BASKET E2; E7; E11 * BACKGROUND E000 * HAT BAND V12; V000 0

Pulling out supplies I had in my stash; thanks to all my friends in our Scrapbook group I had a lot of vintage items I could use.

Vintage distressing on some items like the little tag, some beautiful vintage inks on the doily; some hot glue to help with attaching ... and wallah! Miss Victoria enters the latest Squigglefly challenge as well as Joan's Garden final card and tag challenge til fall! The lovely tag will go on my great granddaughter's birthday gift and I know she'll love the tag better than the gift - she's a kitty lover!

Thank you for visiting.........come back again. Please leave me a comment if you have the time. Hugz, Linda!

LUSCIOUS BLACK BERRIES

2011-05-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

As soon as I received my Paint Fusion Kit I had to spread all the contents out on my art table! Oh the paint tubes are full and lovely; the 3 stampsets are just awesome (well designed and excellent cut of rubber), the Practice sheets just rock (that means it was super easy to practice, practice, practice - wipe them off and practice some more!) Am I excited? I have really wanted to get back into painting - it's been a long time and I'm soooooo rusty but with Sheena's new DVD it's going to be a real blast playing!

I immediately chose 3 different items to try. For my first project I chose a candle and berries theme. Sheena's DVD has a candle project/inspiration theme for you to start with. Just ink up one or more of the stamps provided and roll your candle on the stamp. Allow to dry. And from there just relax..........start painting. I did refer back to Sheena's DVD many times - but the best part was it was so easy to just jump back into the DVD anywhere I wanted.

This particular candle is my FIRST piece - and yes I do know it has a lot of areas for improvement. But the DVD ease of learning will get me even further! I have 2 more projects in mind.

Oh yes, did I tell you the candle graced my Easter table today amidst a wooden center piece that has been with our family for years! It's one of those that can be changed for the season or the holiday.

Ahhhhhhhh thank you Crafter's Companion for such a wonderful opportunity to get back into acrylic painting for so little cost!

LET'S FOLD AND ORGANIZE!

2011-05-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hi, Linda W. here, and I am so glad to share with you my latest project! Today is the actual launch of the new boxer and envelobox creator. I was really anxious to receive mine from Crafter's Companion, so that I could make up a few projects for gifts for friends. I participate in a great scrapbook/card making group and we have many contests and prizes, so this wonderful ACCORDION BOX FILE is one of my handmade creations just for a friend!

As you can see, my precious S.W.A.L.K. "JULIE" from Patchwork Polly & Friends graces the cover. I colored with my copics and added a bit of glitz and glitter before fussy cutting. Note the stuffed puppy and her writing case sitting next to her. I found a great leather attachment from my stash to just dangle from the side. A few silk flower buds and yo yo flowers, and wallah! This whole project took about 1.5 hours from start of stamping the image to completion of the file.

I figured my friend would even love the placement of several S.W.A.L.K. images placed inside so she could just color anytime and anywhere. Here's basically how I made the Accordion box and I'm sure you cannot find an excuse as to why you wouldn't be able to create one too!

I make all of my envelopes now using my Ultimate Crafter's Companion so began by making those up. These are standard A2 envelopes and all of the instructions are provided.

I made a cover sheet as well as the front fold down hooded sheet that folds and secures the inside contents. You'll note the accordion folded cardstock to the right in the photo. This is just a series of valley and mountain folds that actually will affix your envelopes inside each fold. The 1/2 inch embossed markings on one side of the folded cardstock alternate with 1 inch embossed markings on the opposite side of the cardstock so you have perfect give and take of the paper grain.

I used a beautiful sheet of 8.5x11 Pearlescent pink cardstock from Crafter's Companion USA to make my cuts for the exterior sheets. The front sheet is essentially the same size as the envelopes you use, as you don't necessarily have to use A2. You can use larger envelopes and not cut them apart, just slit the tops of each. This is what I did as I wanted envelopes large enough to accommodate 4.25x5.5 images.

As you affix each envelope within the accordion fold, simple place down your glue on the front side of the mountain fold, and butt the fold up against the envelope. It's best NOT to take the envelope to the fold, bring the fold to the envelope for smooth placement. Massaging both sides of joining areas to assure great seal quality.

I prefer the covering of the file to be a smidgeon larger than instructions, as I wanted my envelopes full of images well protected. Here's the back placed on the file already. To create the hooded sheet, it is essentially again the same size as the rectangle you just cut plus 1 inch more for top stretch and then your drop down measurement.

Front placement was super easy - and you can also adjust the depth of the 'hood' that will come over the front of your file. I liked a lot so I could make my placement of images with a few embellies and not look overdone.

I am well known for deviating from instructions, so please bear with me as I tell of one more way I chose to alter my accordion file. The original instructions on the DVD that came with the boxer boards shows punching 2 centered holes in the hood and 2 matching holes in the front liner and then tying with a bow. It was all lovely but I chose to use a craft magnet I had been storing in my cupboard for some time now. And I cut it a bit larger than probably needed but in this way I was assured the flap would not flop open and dump its contents.

There were many tips I learned along the way, such as when spreading a roll of double stick tape on your project, do a quick 90 degree turn to break the tape contact. No mess, less waste.

I REALLY encourage you to order yourself the Ultimate Crafter's Companion with the NEW Boxer Boards. The DVD that accompanies them is very well done and provides a lot of projects for every step of your expertise, including several bonus projects! I have tried several other boards for doing envelopes and boxes and to date I have found NOTHING better than the Ultimate Crafter's Companion.

May Mother's Day Challenge

2011-05-17T00:01:00.003-05:00

Crafter's Companion USA is holding an awesome May challenge...just make something for a mother in your life. The prize is awesome........well worth your time investment! Here's what one lucky person will win this month:

You must use a Crafter's Companion stamp to create your project. You may submit up to 3 projects. You may combine our challenge with other challenge blogs, but your post must contain the blog name and link back to us. If you do not have a blog, that's okay too. Just email Denise at lala3237 at verizon dot net with your creation and and the name of the Crafter's Companion Stamp you used.

This huge package includes:

The Ultimate Crafter's Companion Tool

The Boxer

Envelobox Creator

Ultimate Advanced Techniques DVD

Total Retail : $100.80

The Boxer, Envelobox Creator, and Ultimate Advanced Techniques DVD have not even been released yet! These products can make so many things it's incredible. Here's more about them.

Envelobox Creator

Add the finishing touches to your three-dimensional hand crafted cards by packaging them in matching envelopes! This tool can be transform any sheet of regular or patterned cardstock or paper into any one of hundreds of different envelope sizes ranging up to 8” x 8” and up to 1” deep! Perfect for custom cards or as an unusual alternative to regular gift boxes. Designed to work with your Ultimate Crafter’s Companion Tool, but can also be used as a stand-alone product.

The Boxer
Measure, score and fold accurately with this innovative Boxer Board. One side includes imperial (inch) measurements up to 8 inches in 1/8” increments, and the reverse side features metric (cm) measurements up to 20 cm at ½ cm increments. The lines at each edge are engineered differently to enable you to create custom size boxes with ease. Simply use two identical size pieces of cardstock, and this board will make your lid slightly larger to fit perfectly over your box base. Designed to work with your Ultimate Crafter’s Companion Tool, but can also be used as a stand-alone product.

Ultimate Advanced Techniques DVDThis inspirational DVD is crammed full of crafty tutorials for advanced construction techniques using the Envelobox Creator and Boxer boards in conjunction with the Ultimate Crafter’s Companion tool. The DVD features 12 step-by-step projects including stepper cards, tea light holder card, accordion file box, swing cards, treasure chest, hinged box, set of drawers and more. 2 ½ Hours of instruction and projects!

I've received my Ultimate DVD and will be showing you some projects this week!

Daisies, Mom and May

2011-05-16T00:01:00.010-05:00

My mother loved daisies, lily of the valleys and beautiful simple old fashioned garden flowers. She also loved to paint. My most fond memory is of coming home from school one day to see her sitting and painting on velvet with one of those paint by number sets. I'm sure you all have seen them......I can still smell that paint too. It's a good memory; she's been gone many many years now.

Well I'm in my 60's now, my children are adults and I've spent a wee bit of time doing crafts in my retirement. But just recently I received an order from Crafter's Companion which contained my Paint Fusion kit by Sheena Douglass and it totally changed me. I was totally enamored by the first paint brush I picked up and the paint I loaded onto the brush. It was a warm comfie feeling, great memories of home came flooding back. A huge package of supplies were all provided, a wonderful practice sheet to use over and over til I get it right (for me), and just fun packaged JUST FOR ME!

Each month my desk receives a new 6x6 calendar - all handmade and full of fun. That calendar inspires me daily! So I began by gathering my supplies.

I learned of a better and more economical way to crackle a background than I've ever done. Wow! And on chipboard - yet another way to use and love chipboard - so many ways to use it! I did the crackle background with the simple instructions provided me on the Sheena Douglass Paint Fusion DVD - first a wash of paint and let it dry, then a wash of PVA glue and partially let it dry and then one more final coat of a coordinating paint and warm it with the heat gun. Wallah! Then I decided to do my favorite flowers - the daisies - and yes step by step instructions were provided on that DVD again.

I really appreciate the fact that the acrylic paints are eco-friendly and all the accessories were chosen by her personally to coordinate with the stamps, which she also created.

Meanwhile I set up the cardstock backdrop of the 6x6 with various papers from the Fairyopolis 12x12 packet, added a darling doily (visit your wedding aisle for them) and a yo yo flower button. Even the yo-yo flower represents my childhood - as Mom taught me how to make them. Back then we used them for hats for our small dolls! This particular one came from my best bud Teresa - and you need to visit her blog as well - go to: T's Scrappin' Spot!

The small vintage colored calendar can be printed out from the net, tie up a few buttons and adhere and do a double mount of cardstock for the last background.

Here's a photo of my May desk calendar.

I really love the month of May; as I enjoy looking at this calendar during my day! So if you want to try something new, something simple and something so rewarding, check out Crafter's Companion's Sheena Douglass Paint Fusion kit.

The Blue and Gold!

2011-05-14T09:18:00.001-05:00

Just a quick photo of a goldfinch and Indigo bunting sharing the same lilac bush! Both are similar species but the Blue Bunting has an awesome song! For my bird lover followers!!! Take time to look around - you may see a new species!

HAMBO HOEDOWN 15 - Shade your eyes!

2011-05-13T18:09:00.004-05:00


Hambo Hoedown 15 - BOLD, BRIGHT COLORS with PAPER PIECING

If you entered the Hambo Hoedown challenge last week you would have received this wonderful balloonist for free! What a great stamp! I'll be using her a lot because we are going for a hot air balloon ride!

I did some freehand cutting once I had the original image colored and fussy cut out. With a double mount looking a bit like it was floating, I was satisfied with the front of the card.

I decided to make her unusual in that she has a fold at the top of the balloon and the card opens vertically. Therefore, I put the image inside as below:

I then made a bow and attached it with hot glue. She even has a bit of distress stickles around the top of the balloon basket, and the basket is paper pieced, fulfillng all requirements for Hambo Hoedown 15.

This project was a lot of fun and I encourage you to join us at the Hoedown weekly!

SFC #97 - Challenge on Squigglefly

2011-05-13T17:58:00.003-05:00


Shy Bear: Hi Bella!

Squigglefly has a great challenge this week - SHAPED CARDS! Thought I'd get into it so I chose one of their cute and easy to color Freebies. They are there for everyone; go ahead and try one out.

Shy Bear was easy to color with copics. I mounted him on an extra sheet of purple cs I had in my stash. With a bit of punched lace for a bottom edge, I mounted the final on a yellow card back. I also made him open from the right with a smaller hinge on the left. The whole purpose was to stay away from square and rectangle cards, so I lopped off the corners to take away the rectangle feature.

I made up a cutesie bow and added a 3D butterfly to the bow and wallah! Shy Bear can now join the group at Squigglefly and their new Shaped Cards challenge!

Baby I'm not complaining..........

2011-05-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

it's a bit hot here in SW Wisconsin. We hit 93 on all of our thermometers yesterday - from a norm of 61! We are promised 2 more days of 80's but rain both days...........and I am not complaining. The birds have shown up to start nesting and we are having a blast at listening to their lovely songs! Check 'em out!

My husband has counted over 30 goldfinches at a time on our 3 socks.

Notice the female ruby throated hummingbird sitting on the feeder. Yes we saw the male there as well as a 2nd female!

Red bellied woodpecker on the suet feeder; female downy woodpecker waiting; orioles in the backdrop of the branches......

Red bellied woodpecker on the suet (yet); oriole on the hummingbird feeder (!).........

Nuthatch and oriole

Now to get back to card making!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2011-05-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

to all of our Moms/Foster Moms/Adopted Moms/Grandmoms/Great and Great Great Grandmoms! I wish each of you a fantabulous day of peace and love.

This gorgeous card was created by Shannon L. with lotsa love to you and all of us from Scrapbook Place!

A SQUARE CANDLE HOLDER

2011-05-07T00:01:00.001-05:00

Oh I am so excited yet about Sheena's DVD and projects! She makes acrylic painting ultra-easy! My most difficult decision - do I do backgrounds or try another project? The DVD has a great section on all projects and inspirations with 3 sets of rubber stamps and practice sheets for all 3. I desperately wanted to do one more project before creating some backgrounds!

My daughter had given me a beautiful glass candle holder for my square candles........and I've been very happy with it. But as soon as I started watching Sheena Douglas' DVD on Paint Fusion I knew I just had to try a small rose image on the side of that glass candle holder.

Now the sides are not perfectly level and smooth - they have sort of wobble in the glass that is quite lovely. So that in itself did not present a great challenge - getting a good image was not necessary. As long as I had a slight outline I was fine and I used Stazon ink, but you can use any archival ink if you wish, I recommend a light color. In fact, I practiced on the remaining 3 sides before cleaning them off and finalizing the one side above.

Working with the Paint Fusion paint tubes and brushes is ultra-easy! The brushes clean up beautifully and are top quality. I work over a craft mat so I simply clean off the mat when changing colors or quitting for the day. Wash out your brushes and allow to dry - never leave them sitting in the water! Sheena's hints and tips are quite easy to comprehend and remember for even me - a beginner! Check out the video online right now!

Now can I see your first tries?

HAMBO HOEDOWN 14

2011-05-05T16:05:00.001-05:00

DOTS AND STRIPES CHALLENGE

My challenge was to use Farm Chicken and DOTS and STRIPES on the project and get some respect for Farm Chicken(s). Well, I needed a sweet birthday card for our youngest grandson Zach who will soon be 3! WOO HOO! I'm sure 3 year olds don't really care what kind of card they get, it's the gift with it! But just in case, I gave him some darling Farm Chickens to talk about!

Are you looking for the DOTS and STRIPES?? Check their beaks! LOL!

While going thru my stash I discovered some BoBunny paper I hadn't used - and those little birds on that sewn background called out to me to use the Farm Chicken somehow! So I printed the digi from Hambo Hoedown in triplicate, did a bit of fussy cutting with allergy ridden eyes, colored with copics and did a pop dot assembly on the hillside with the singing birds.

Added a bit of whimsy with a birthday hat, a rub on wish and some fun balloons..........do you think Zach will like it? Come visit Hambo Hoedown for prizes and a free digi image!

Don't Forget...........

2011-05-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

to put your wonderfully crafted Mother's Day card in a beautiful envelope for Mom!

Hi there! Linda here........All too often we create a card (albeit very lovely) and just pretty much toss it in a plain ole envelope! Well can you imagine how much more "WOW!" the recipient gets out of that pretty envelope versus a plain ole envelope? So here's what I did just to give you a bit of inspiration on today, Inspiration Monday! Here's how I started:

I wanted paper that would coordinate with my card background paper so chose this very rich creme pattern from my Fairyopolis 12x12 Pad of beauties! Using my Ultimate Crafter's Companion, I determined my final envelope size to fit a true 6x6, so I cut the patterned paper to 9 5/8" x 9 5/8" using the mouse cutter provided in my Ultimaate Crafter's Companion. Instructions are easily laid out for everyone to use with the UCC.

I then flipped to the outside of my UCC and followed the embossing guideline for the final folds of a 6x6 card/envelope. They were easily spotted at "F" for all 4 sides of my 9 5/8" x 9 5/8" square.

You can see my stylus lined up with line "F" and may completed card waiting patiently. :) Just fold on the 4 fold lines and add double stick tape/glue where needed and wallah, I was so happy with my completed envelope. So happy that I made 6 more all within 20 mins!

My husband and I will quite often spend our evenings watching tv and making envelopes and we really appreciate the speed and agility our Ultimate Crafter's Companion has given us for creating everything from envelopes to boxes!

Have a fairily inspirational day!

HAMBO HOEDOWN 13 - Lace and Flowers

2011-05-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

HAMBO HOEDOWN 13 is all about lace and flowers and the announcement of love for Mom as her day fast approaches. I think I've captured that very moment with my royal blast of "Love You"! His Royal Highness was colored with copics and lots of gems came out of hiding to get attached. The bit of lace and ribbon was in my black/white embellishment cubby and found a home! Hooray! The Love You is a Rub On from Fairyopolis at Crafter's Companion USA. I love those rub ons!

I hope you find time to come on over and play at Hambo - just get that project photographed and into the ladies by 10 pm Tuesday nite and you'll be given a free image to work with for the next week's challenge! You win everytime!

And the winner of my blog candy is...........

2011-05-02T00:01:00.004-05:00

.........and here is what she wins!!!!!!! Isn't that a yummy blog candy package supplied to me from Crafter's Companion USA! I love working with Crafter's Companion products! The stampsets are so wonderful to produce beautiful images....the projects are always professional looking. And today they have a wonderful sale on for 20% off ANYTHING in the store! WOO HOO!

What do you need to do to win this? Well all my winner had to do was sign in as a follower with my blog and the Crafter's Companion blog, as well as leave me a comment that she was here! She also put a picture on her sidebar of her blog and linked back to Crafter's Companion USA information blog. I do hope she also signed in on all of the other designer's blogs for more possible gifts! Diligence always pays off, I say. Well shall we keep her in suspense a little longer? My hubbie and I threw the names in a bowl and picked out this lady! She also fulfilled everything she needed to do to qualify.

I just know she's scanning this post looking for her name - oh who can she be, BUT.......

BECKY HOVDE

CONGRATULATIONS Becky.....I will mail your package to you this week. Enjoy your week - and happy crafting!

And to all of my followers, watch out for the month of May - another contest coming at you!

Vintage, Daisies and May

2011-05-02T00:01:00.003-05:00

It's the end of April and I need a new May calendar for my desk. I love creating my own 6x6 calendars. I've also been playing around with Sheena Douglas' Paint Fusion techniques, so I chose a chipboard and completed a bunch of daisies on a crackled background.

First of all, of course I needed to do the chipboard and let it dry. I really enjoy playing with these paints, and her wonderful idea of using PVA glue instead of crackle medium saved me a few $. And now that I'm hooked all my cards are taking on a new look. A wonderful DVD comes with the kit so we can refer back anytime by just popping it into our computer or taking the more leisurely course of watching it on the tv.

But anyway, I gathered my goodies and began measuring:

Of course I still needed double stick tape/hot glue/pop dots and chestnut roan distressing chalk. I do believe I'm having withdrawal from non-copic use tho.

Well here's my finished product using some of my vintage items I received from my friend who actually loves to make her own kits up. They are just beautiful to finger and play with - much prettier than anything I've ever purchased. I chose a bit of her hand dyed book binding ribbon and her yo yo button. Note the pin stuck in the yo yo button.

Such a treasure for me to just look at daily thru our wonderful month of May. I can use this calendar as a measure of my accomplishment this month. I know I'm going to be trying to do better - I see so many flaws already, yet I have to accept the fact everyone starts somewhere, right? It's inspiration for sure!

Only 1 week til Mother's Day...

2011-05-01T00:01:00.004-05:00

While my mother passed away when I was very young, I still remember her love and push she gave me to keep trying in everything I do. She was a very creative person even while she was caring for four children! I still can't even imagine it - she was a widow with 4 children at 34 years of age!

One of my fondest memories was coming home from school and finding her oil painting one of those paint by number sets on black velvet! I was very very young but I recall that scene so vividly. She taught me crocheting and embroidery as well as sketching. I'm not the most proficient at any of it but I'm a willing worker!

This little sweetie is thinking - perhaps about what the children are up to. She's a S.W.A.L.K. (sealed with a little kiss) stampset and comes with additional stamps to help you create that perfect layout or card. Priced at under $5 - she's a gem from Crafter's Companion USA! And surprise, there's a 20% off sale all week!

I used items I've had in my stash and colored her with my copics. Added a bit of crocheted edging (from the store) and a few pearl beads, and she's going to surprise another mom in my life!

Our April blog contest is over (sadly)! I was hoping to obtain a few more followers but since I'm new at blogging and cannot find a lot of time to devote to it, I'm thankful for everyone of you who does follow me. So this afternoon I'll be going thru the various comments and pulling a lucky name with our random no. generator. Stop back to see if it was you!

And get prepared for May's contest! CLICK HERE for a preview - you will not want to miss this one!

Inspiration Monday - Flowers and Bears

2011-04-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hello, I'm from the Popcorn Bear Floral Collection BUNCHES OF LOVE! I'm waiting to surprise someone on a very special day! If you love to create small amounts of flowers, then I want you to try your creativity out with me.

Well maybe Popcorn can't actually tell us of his ease in creating a gorgeous card, but I'll leave it up to you for your own judgment. This little sweetie was stamped in Stazon and colored with watercolor pencils. I use a fine point waterbrush to move the color around.

The doilied type bear is on pop dots as well as the butterflies. The butterflies are die cuts from our Fairyopolis collection - just bend them a bit and pop dot them and they literally sit and wait on the card to be touched! A few pearls and a rub on from the collection completed a fast card. While it took me an hour to color him, it only took me about 20 min. to complete the card.

The backdrop card is from our luxurious FAIRYOPOLIS CARD MAKING KIT. You will love it - guaranteed! Top quality materials - gorgeous colors that just bring your fairy feelings to life, lovely 3 fold storage container consists of 24 pre-printed background cards and envelopes - some are 6x6 and some are standard A2s. Stickers/die cuts/decoupage/rubons and complementary embellishments just bring your creations to life!

As a new designer for Crafter's Companion, I am totally thrilled to be able to come onboard with the new Fairyopolis collection and many more new items! Stay tuned!

HAPPY EASTER !

2011-04-24T00:01:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone! And may I wish you a Happy Easter! Guess what? Sloe, is a lovely fairy from the Crafter's Companion Fall Fairyopolis Collection (Flower Fairies) and she was just begging for me to dress her up on a lovely 6x6 and send off to a dear friend! Somedays I have to pinch myself to realize that I am now a designer for Crafter's Companion USA. I'm a mom, grandmother and great grandmother with time on her hands and enjoying every free moment I have creating for Crafter's Companion! I actually have not had a blog for very long so the entire world of blogging totally intrigues me.

Now back to Sloe - she was stamped with Stazon on our wonderful paper and is finished with prismacolor pencils and a little touch of the water brush here and there. For a final dress up to her wings, I sprinkled them with sunflower sugar glitter from my friend Anna's shop. The paper is from MME, the ribbons and pearls and gems are all various manufacturers, as I tend to collect items thru Scrapbook Place - a scarpbook/card making group I belong to.

May we all believe in fairies - it will be a wonderful world if we do! Please take a moment to leave a comment and become a Follower over on the right hand side of this blog. And don't forget to wander on over to Crafter's Companion's website and check out their awesome stamps!

Now for the BIG SURPRISE!

There's a link on my right side bar for blog candy!! Who doesn't love blog candy? I know I do - it's not fattening but it sure is addicting! Crafter's Companion has blog candy and I am giving some away also. Everyone is welcome to participate and over at the Crafter's Companion Blog, there's a HUGE contest with a wonderful prize package. You can see a link for this on my sidebar on the right, scroll down a bit and see the wonderful Fairyopolis collection, click that and go to the blog to see that contest and then participate!

And as always, leave me a comment and sign up as a Follower for my giveaway - remember I love you all! Come back again very soon!

Holy Saturday..........Eaglets and Facebook!

2011-04-23T00:01:00.003-05:00

It's Holy Saturday here - a time for our family to recall the past and where we stand in our religious beliefs. It's time for one of my daughters to come home and stay overnite and extended family to join us tomorrow with Easter celebrations. My eldest daughter (with her husband and family) is serving her church tomorrow on Easter Day and thus needs to stay in her hometown. We hope you are having a peaceful weekend.

And I just want to invite you take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and check out a nest of 3 eaglets with parents only 90 miles from me. It's a live feed thru UStream and the Raptor Resource Center. This family has survived snow and ice storms recently; the young are growing fast and require lots of food now. The Live Feed is just awesome. The ability to watch this nest of our growing eagle population is totally fascinating everyday!

JUST CLICK HERE: http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

WANT SOME FREEBIES??

Check Crafter's Companion Design Team Giveaway.

ENJOY AND HAPPY EASTER!

It's Blog Candy at Crafter's Companion!

2011-04-20T00:01:00.011-05:00

(Don't you just love this lovely card - it's from our absolutely fabulously rich Fairyopolis Card Making Kit. She is White Bryony from our Autumn Collection.) The Fairyopolis Collection will be available April 21st.....

Now you are not too late for the great BLOG CANDY GIVE AWAY - and it's Crafter's Companion's USA FIRST! What do you need to do to win this? You just need to 1. Become a follower of Crafter's Companion USA Information blog and

2. Post or put on your sidebar a picture of one of the Design Team's giveaway on your blog or facebook page and link it back to Crafter's Companion USA Information blog.

Once you have done this, simply leave a comment pointing to your link to our contest on your blog or FACEBOOK page. There are 9 different design team members, each one is giving goodies away. You only need to post ONE design team member's giveaway on your blog or FACEBOOK and then leave a comment on EACH design team member's blog to enter EACH of the design team members giveaway. So you'll have up to 8 chances to win! (i.e. you only have to leave ONE link on your own blog/FACEBOOK and then post a comment on each design team member's blog showing your link back to anyone associated with Crafter's Companion). The giveaways will run from April 1st to April 30th. The winners will be posted on our blogs May 5th, as well as the Crafter's Companion USA Information blog. You must live in U.S. to get one of these prizes, however, an additional contest for all crafters outside the USA is also going on so you can get some great Crafter's Companion goodies too. To sign up and win, begin with mine, and then proceed to: 1. Amy's Designs 2. Carmi's Art Life World (Canadian Residents only) 3. Holley's Blog 4. Lala's World 5. Paper, Scissors, and Glue 6. Positive Force 7. Scrap with Stacy 8. Stamp with Me
and you are already here, so don't forget to leave me a comment and a link to your blog or FACEBOOK.

Good luck Everyone!

It's a Tut Challenge at Scrapbook Place

2011-04-19T04:12:00.002-05:00

Today Scrapbook Place goes live with its very first Tutorial and inspiration examples. While we are a very small scrapbook community, it has taken some time to get our blog up to speed. But we thank Allie Gower immensely for all her help. So for today, she's given us the chance to figure out how to do this tutorial in our scrapping and card making - just to make life a bit easier. The reference tut is HERE! Be sure to check it out.

My take on using this template will be the numerous tags I'm using in my Ancestry book I'm finally bringing together. The tags will automatically be printed and I need only fill them in.

I recently found a couple new cousins with loads of info for me, and one of the cousins (Joan), actually had taken a trip to Mifflinburg PA - the home of my great-great-great grandfather. As you can probably see the stones are written in German, and the church in the background on the left is still standing and has gone thru many owners as other proprietary establishments since Yost Fries passed on.

I very much am using up a lot of embellies that are only 2 or 3 of in this ancestry book. I'm also putting in some antique style embellishments (call them vintage if you wish) but I'm waiting on them to arrive from my scrappin' bud Teresa in TN. Meanwhile I have 2 pages ready to insert - using K&Co paper which I dearly love.

Have you tracked some of your ancestors yet? Seems like it's the perfect opportunity to pass on some memories to your loved ones. There are many places on the web that are free to track. Enjoy!

GET OGRE IT! - Hambo Hoedown 11

2011-04-18T22:19:00.001-05:00

Just a cute and fun project from the Bacon Bits Studio! Use a little distressing anywhere, everywhere, and Mr. Ogre becomes a friendly little character! I actually made another one with the other sentiment for Father's Day (I Can't Get Ogre You!). This gorgeous doily was in a package today from a dear friend in Minnesota - I just love it! The card bg was one I had premade and held in my stash. A bit of gold distressing on the Get Ogre It! and my Ogre (A/K/A/ Incredible Hulk!) is walking off the page! Have a great Monday evening!