Happy Place Card

It's time to say good-bye to July! Each day we get closer to Fall and that makes me happy. The sunshine is great but I prefer the crisp breeze of Fall.

This Happy Place Card was made using the new Newton's Birdhouse stamp along with the Frames and Flags die set by Newton's Nook. Copic markers were used to color the image and the coordinating die to cut it out. I did a little ink smooshing using Tumbled Glass distress ink and added some green grass punched with a Fiskars grass punch. A piece of patterned paper from the Sunshowers paper pad by Heidi Grace Designs was used and that's it. This Happy Place Card is entered into the following challenges: Addicted to Stamps (Make Your Mark), Inky Paws (Summer Theme), Simon Says Stamp (Anything Goes), Tuesday Throwdown (Furry Friends) and Watercooler Wednesday (Anything Goes). It makes me happy that you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Choose Happy Card with Pig

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today is the start of an Anything Goes challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. After two years as part of the design team at Tuesday Throwdown this will be my last post as part of their team. It's been a lot of fun and it went by really quickly! Thank you for following along over the last couple of years and I hope to continue to see each of you around blogland.

Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs and I'm using their Leonard Pig Blowing Bubbles image. It's such a cute image and could be used for multiple different occasions. We would love for you to join the challenge this week! Click HERE for all the details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, August 21st to link your creation.

This Choose Happy Card with Pig was made almost completely while standing up. Last week I had an outpatient surgery and the plan was to finish my card before, but I totally procraftinated!!! There was some cleaning but mostly procrastination. My pain level after surgery has been more than I expected and sitting is challenging. So, I was able to sit to color the image at my computer desk but after that I stood while I made this card. Everything used was on my craft desk or at a level that I didn't have to bend over. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see your creation in the gallery at Tuesday Throwdown.

Challenges entered:

• Dragonfly Dreams: Animals
• Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart: Anything Goes

Reach for the Stars Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! We have an Out of this World challenge for you this week at Tuesday Throwdown and the design team did an amazing job with their inspiration. Click HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. Our sponsor this week is MyGrafico and they provided the Space Art Digital Stamps for the design team to create our examples. I seem to be the oddball this week, but that's really "normal" for me. I used the alien, moon and shooting star to create this Reach for the Stars Card. We would love to see your Out of this World creations! You have until mid-day on Monday August 7th to add your link.

This was my first attempt at a space background! I started with a piece of mixed media paper and sponged on distress oxide inks in Broken China and Salty Ocean. Then I mixed in some Lucky Clover but I wanted the background darker and those are my only oxide inks. So... I used distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves. Then I used a water bottle and sprayed the paper. To speed the drying process I used a heat gun and repeated until I was happy with the results. The stars and sentiment are from the new Cosmic Newton stamp set by Newton's Nook and they were heat embossed with white embossing powder. The background was then matted to a piece of Navy cardstock. The images were colored with Copic markers. For the moon I printed it on Sahara Sand cardstock by Stampin' Up! and then used a splatter stamp from the retired Gorgeous Grunge stamp set by Stampin' Up! using Sahara Sand ink. All the images are fussy cut, so don't look too close this is not my best skill. Some glossy accents were added to the alien's eyes and that's it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will play along in our Out of this World challenge.

Tic Tac Toe at Tuesday Throwdown

Hello and happy Tuesday! I know I've said this before... but it's amazing how fast two weeks goes by!!! This week is Team B's turn to inspire you to play along with our Tuesday Throwdown challenge and it's one of my favorites... Tic Tac Toe. Our sponsor this week is Sparkle N Sprinkle and I'm using an image they provided called Brighten the Holidays Penguins. It came with a colored version and that's what I used for this Cheery Penguin Christmas Card. We would love for you to play along with us this week! Click HERE for all the wonderful design team inspiration and challenge details. You have until mid-day on Monday, July 24th to link your creation. I hope to see your creation in the Gallery!

The Tic Tac Toe choices used to create this card include: Christmas, Silver and Ribbon or Twine. Since the image was Christmas that box was easy, so I decided to get a little messy for the sliver requirement. I used silver texture paste by Heidi Swapp with a diagonal striped stencil. The texture paste was applied on top of a red piece of Bazzill dot textured cardstock. At first I wasn't sure but I like the dot design and the picture doesn't do the the card justice, it looks pretty cool in person. Once the panel was dried I matted it to a piece of Cucumber Crush cardstock by Stampin' Up! and then wrapped green twine from The Twinery before adhering it to the white card base. The image was adhered with dimensionals and I adhered the sentiment flat to the card. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Monsters and Ghouls Card

Halloween may still be a few months away but the theme challenge this week at Tuesday Throwdown is Monster Mash. It definitely doesn't have to be a Halloween creation but it's one of my favorite holidays to make cards. Our sponsor this week is Sasayaki Glitter and the owner Naz Smith has several fun monster images to choose from. My Monsters and Ghouls Card features the Halloween Monster Family image and it was colored using Copic markers. The design team has some wonderful inspiration to share with you, click here for the design team inspiration and challenge details. I hope to see your monster creation in the gallery this week!

Cupcake Celebrate Card

Hello crafty friends and happy Tuesday! It's time to start another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week the theme is Party Time (something to celebrate). It seems I'm always low on birthday cards, so I used the Kittys Cupcake Tower Colored image from our sponsor Di's Digi Stamps to create this Cupcake Celebrate Card. As always, we would love for you to join the challenge this week. You can find all the details and design team inspiration HERE.

This Cupcake Celebrate Card is an A6 sized card 4 1/2 x 6 1/4. When I first started making cards this was the size I made. Then I noticed most people made A2 sized cards and I changed but every once in awhile I make the larger size.

Cupcake Celebrate Card Supplies:

• Paper: Cupcake and pink polka dots by The Paper Studio, Melon Mambo Cardstock by Stampin' Up!.
• Stamps: Kittys Cupcake Tower Colored by Di's Digi Stamps and Time to Celebrate sentiment by Stampin' Up!.
• Ink: Memento black 
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Avery Elle scalloped oval frame, Itty Bitty Banner punch and Washi Banner punch both retired by Stampin' Up! and pink sequins. 

Challenges entered:

• Cute Card Thursday: Pinks!
• Cutie Pie: Creatures Great and Small
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

You're Sweet Card

Happy Tuesday! I hope you're ready for a "Sweet" challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. This week the theme is "Sugar High" and we have some yummy inspiration for you. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. Our sponsor this week is My Grafico and they provided us with the Tea Time Digital Stamp Set. There were a lot of wonderful options to choose from and I selected the cupcake for this You're Sweet Card. It's always fun to paper piece the cupcake liner and then I went a little crazy with Stickles for the the icing. I hope you will join the challenge this week and share your Sugar High creation with us! You have until mid-day on Monday, June 12th to add your link. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This You're Sweet Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart: Anything Goes
• Southern Girls: Anything Goes

Anything Goes at Tuesday Throwdown

Happy Tuesday! It's time to start another new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week the theme is "Anything Goes." Our sponsor this week is STAMPlorations and they provided this lovely floral image called A Cup of Roses for the design team to create our inspiration. We would love for you to join us this week! Click here for all the challenge details. You have until mid-day on Monday, May 29th to link your creation.

Do you hunt through your patterned papers to find the perfect design? It can be time consuming but well worth it when you find just the right paper. The image is so pretty and I wanted a pretty floral paper for this card. I ended up using a piece from one of the first paper pads I ever purchased. It's by Crate Paper and it's called Random from Fall of 2011.  To pull in the eye a piece of black polka dot paper by Bo Bunny was added. The image was colored with Copic markers, die cut with a stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inkers and then matted to a slightly larger piece of Melon Mambo cardstock by Stampin' Up!. Three sequins add some sparkle and that's it. I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

This Floral Note Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: Floral Profusion
• Challenge Up Your Life: Blossoms
• My Creative Scoop: Anything Goes with Hand Colored Image

Pear Doodle Card

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day. It's time for the start of another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week the theme is Doodles. I thought this was a fun theme and one that I'm interested to see how you interpret. Our wonderful sponsor is CraftyGirl and I'm using her Pear Doodle digital stamp. For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click HERE. I hope you will play along!

My vision is not as good as it used to be, so I made this image larger than usual. Since the design is intricate I decided to open my art box from college and use my Prismacolor pencils (sadly they've had little use since college 20 years ago). Once all the pencils were sharpened I started coloring. The image was die cut with a cross stitched oval by My Favorite Things and then to give it a framed look it was matted to a brown scalloped oval cut from an Avery Elle die cut. All patterned paper is from my scrap pile, I'm determined to use it when I remember. The You're Amazing sentiment is from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set by Stampin' Up!. To accent the sentiment two punched banners were added along with two green sequins. The last detail was the addition of the bitty butterfly with pearls. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

This Pear Doodle Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: Add a Sentiment
• Simon Says Stamp: It's a Frame Up!
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

Embossing at Tuesday Throwdown

Wow! It's Tuesday again and that means the start of another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. This week we want to see your embossing skills. Our lovely sponsor is Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and they generously provided the design team with a choice of digital images to use on our creations. I'm using Lilacs for Cocoa on this Hello Fabulous Card. For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click here. I hope you will share your embossed creation with us this week.

Card Supplies:

• Paper: Whisper White and Blushing Bride cardstock by Stampin' Up!, Green Apple cardstock by Simon Says Stamp, Lilac patterned paper from Butterfly Kisses paper pad by Bo Bunny and light purple scrap paper.
• Stamps: Lilacs for Cocoa by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Hello Fabulous! sentiment by Fiskars.
• Inks & Coloring: Memento black ink and Copic Markers.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Fancy Fan embossing folder by Stampin' Up! (retired), 1 1/4" circle punch, scalloped circle punch, rectangle stitched die by Lil' Inkers, white lace from Ribbon Resources and dimensionals.

Challenges entered:

1. Cards in Envy: Pretty Pastels
2. A Gem of a Challenge: Ribbon and/or Lace
3. Crafting From the Heart: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Colorful Plaid Thanks Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time for a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week we want to see Something Clear on your creations. Our sponsor this week is Honey Bee Stamps! You can check out their wonderful stamps, dies and embellishments right HERE. The design team has created a variety of inspiration and you can see it along with all the challenge details HERE. I can't wait to see what you create.

Clear embossing powder was used on the row of hearts on this Colorful Plaid Thanks Card. Besides some clear epoxy stickers it's about all I had in my stash. The stamp set is called For Being You and it's a retired Sale-A-Bration set by Stampin' Up!. The plaid paper is by Lawn Fawn and it covers the entire front of the card. For detail some purple twine from The Twinery and three sequins finished the card. That's it! Wishing you a crafty day!

Be Joyful Gift Tag

Tag and/or bookmarks is the theme for this weeks challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. It's fun to switch things up and do something different and we would love for you to join the challenge this week. Our wonderful sponsor is Joy Clair and they graciously provided the design team with the Uh-Oh Ink Splatter Clear Stamp Set to make our inspirational creations. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, March 20th to link your tag and/or bookmark.

To create this Be Joyful Gift Tag I started with a precut chipboard gift tag by East of India. They are really sturdy, so I decided to paint a base layer of Martha Stewart glitter paint. Once it was dry I stamped the splatter design using Staz On Jet Black ink and then it was outlined with Nuvo Crystal Drops in Caribbean Ocean. Joy Clair also provided the cute Be Joyful Bird stamp but I couldn't find it on their website. The bird was colored with Copic markers and then punched with a 2" circle punch. A piece of Pool Party cardstock was die cut with a slightly larger stitched circle die and used to mat the bird image. Two yellow gingham banners were punched and adhered to the back of the circle for detail. Dimensionals were used to adhere the image to the tag, that's it!

This Be Joyful Gift Tag is entered into the following challenges:

• Get Creative: Favorite Color Combo 
• Love to Create: Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes/Twist: Stamped Images Only

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Hoot Owl Birthday Card

Ciao! It's Tuesday again and that means the start of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week is one of my favorite themes...Things with Wings. I love using birds! Our fabulous sponsor is Your Next Stamp and I'm using their Life's a Hoot stamp set for this Hoot Owl Birthday Card. We would really like for you to join our challenge this week. Click here for all the challenge details and lovely design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, March 6th to add your link. As always, I hope to see your creation in the gallery.

This Hoot Owl Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Make My Monday: Birds
• Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything Goes
• Crafting When We Can: Photo Inspiration

To make this card I started by selecting my colours using the photo inspiration at Crafting When We Can. This led me to some retired papers by Stampin' Up! from the Cherry on Top paper pad. The owl image was stamped, colored with Copic markers and die cut with a stitched circle die by My Favorite Things. A second balloon was stamped and fussy-cut. The Hoot! Hoot! Hooray! sentiment was stamped directly onto the patterned paper and three sequins were added for a little sparkle. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Hello My Friend Card

Hello my friends! I've been enjoying a few weeks with minimal computer usage, so I haven't been blogging. However, I have been crafting and will share some of my recent creations soon. Today is the start of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and the theme is Say it with Words. Our sponsor is Winnie & Walter and they generously provided a spending allowance for the design team to select our merchandise. It was really hard to pick but keeping the theme in mind, I got the Hello Cutaway & The Big, the bold, and the Happy stamp set. We would love for you to join us! Click HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day Monday, February 20th to link your creation. I hope to see your link in the gallery!

It was difficult to get a good photo of this card! There really is a lot of shimmer and shine. The background was made using mixed media paper along with glimmer mists in Lime Light and Sunlight by Tattered Angels. I had some problems with the Sunlight spray bottle getting clogged but I like the splotchy look it created. Once everything was dry I added a strip of Wild Wasabi chevron paper by Stampin' Up! and matted the panel to black cardstock. The hello was die cut using a Big Shot and adhered flat to the card. My Friend was stamped onto white cardstock and punched for the banner detail. The last addition was three gold sequins and that's it!

This Hello My Friend Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Make My Monday: Shimmer and Shine
• Ooh La La Creations: Die Cuts

Thank for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Love Notes at Tuesday Throwdown

Hello and happy Tuesday! Valentine's Day will be here in a couple of weeks and to help inspire you our challenge theme at Tuesday Throwdown this week is Love Notes. Our sponsor is The Paper Shelter and I'm using the I Love You, Baby! image that was generously provided to the design team. As always, we would love for you to play along with our challenge this week. CLICK HERE for all the details and design team inspiration. I hope to see your creation in the gallery!

The digital image comes with coordinating paper, but I decided to do some digging in my paper stash. I knew I had music notes in the perfect color to go with the image and since the frog is playing music, and the theme is Love Notes... it was worth the dig. The sentiment is by Impression Obsession and was stamped using black Memento ink. Five small punched hearts were added for detail and topped with sequins for sparkle. That's it!

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Cardmakers: Love, Love, Love
• The Paper Shelter: Make It Digital

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Elephant Love Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time again for the start of a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week our theme is Favorite Medium. This one was hard to narrow down, I like a lot of different mediums. So, I went with what I use the most... Copic markers. Bugaboo Digi Stamps is our wonderful sponsor this week and I'm using the Elephant Love digi. We would love for you to make a project with your favorite medium and share it with us. CLICK HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. Can't wait to see your creation in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Elephant Love Card Supplies:

• Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black and Real Red cardstock by Stampin' Up! along with black chevron paper by The Paper Studio.
• Stamps: Elephant Love digi by Bugaboo and XOXO sentiment by Stampabilities.
• Ink & Coloring: Copic Markers and Black Memento ink.
• Other Stuff: Coastal Cabana thick baker's twine by Stampin' Up!, Avery Elle pierced oval and scalloped frame dies, circle punch and stampin' dimensionals.

Baking Snow Lady Card

Hello and Happy Tuesday! We have a new challenge theme starting today at Tuesday Throwdown and it's Christmas Baking. The baked goodies are one of my favorite things about the Christmas season. The yummy smells coming from the kitchen really warm a home.

Our sponsor this week is Robyn's Fetish and Robyn generously provided the design team with a variety of images to create our inspirational cards. My card features the Snow Lady Chef digital image which was colored with Copic markers. We would love for you to join us this week! Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, December 12th to link your creation. I hope to see your card in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

This Baking Snow Lady Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Come and Get It: Christmas
• Robyn's Fetish: Square or Rectangle Cards
• The Paper Girls: Snowmen

Embossed Tree Christmas Card

Hello and Happy Tuesday! It's time for another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week... It's All About the Words. Our sponsor is Craft Classes Online, they offer an array of different crafty classes. I can't wait to see how you interpret this theme. You have until mid-day on Monday, November 14th to link your creation. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. I sure hope you will play along!

This tree stamp by Inkadinkado was the first thing that came to mind when I read the challenge theme. Then I found the Merry Christmas word paper by Pebbles and thought it would work too, so I used both. The tree was heat embossed with Emerald PEARLustre and silver glitter powder on the star both by Stampendous. A simple layout and three silver sequins finished the card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Embossed Tree Christmas Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craftyhazelnut's Christmas: Anything Goes
• Fashionable Stamping: Trees
• Cupcake Inspirations: Trees

Merriest Wishes Penguin Card

Happy Tuesday! Again two weeks have gone by super fast and today is Team B's turn to provide inspiration for the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge. The theme this week is to add a border and our sponsor is Conie Fong Art. My card features the darling Joy to the World image. I absolutely love this cute penguin! We would love for you to join us this week. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, October 31st to link your creation. I hope to see your card in the gallery.

To create this Merriest Wishes Penguin Card started by selecting the background patterned paper by Bo Bunny's Altitude Collection. Then I colored the image with Copic markers to coordinate with the paper. The image was then die cut with a scalloped frame die by Taylored Expressions. Cardstock colors used include: Pool Party, Blissful Blackberry and Rich Razzleberry all by Stampin' Up! The snowflakes were cut using a Cricut machine and Christmas Noel cartridge. Deciding on a sentiment took me a bit, but I finally settled on the Merriest Wishes from the new Christmas Magic stamp set by Stampin' Up!. The final touch was adding some sequins for sparkle and a little clear Wink of Stella to the penguin's hat. That's it!

This Merriest Wishes Penguin Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes
• Critters and Creatures: Anything Goes
• Christmas Card Challenge: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Halloween Challenge at Tuesday Throwdown

Hello and happy Tuesday! It's getting close to Halloween and hopefully our challenge this week at Tuesday Throwdown will inspire you to get creative. It's simple... use the photo above, make your creation and link to our challenge by mid-day on Monday, October 17th. Our sponsor this week is A Day for Daisies and they generously provided the design team images for our creations. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration.

The image selected for my card is called Little Witch On Fence and it was colored with Copic markers. All patterned papers are from my Halloween paper scrap bin. The twine is from the current holiday catalog by Stampin' Up! and the Goulish Greetings sentiment is retired by Stampin' Up!. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Boots: Halloween
• Let's Craft and Create: Halloween/Autumn/Fall
• Craftyhazelnut's: Patterned Paper