Pedaling Cheer

Hello everyone!  Wow, it’s Saturday again and I completely forgot my blog post today for the newest Crazy 4 Challenges challenge!  Joanne is our hostess this one last time for July.  She’s an ocean lover who finds being at the beach brings her peace and joy.  So she’s challenging us today to create a card that depicts something that brings us peace and joy.  I admit I struggled with this a little bit, not knowing what to create.  I find just being at home to be peaceful… I’m always grateful to be on my way home at the end of a work day, and as my husband and I have entered the empty nest stage of our lives, I just find being with my hubby brings me joy.  We like to just sit outside by a campfire (of course, not with the heat wave we’ve been having lately!)  Something else we like to do is ride bikes.  We’re fortunate enough to have some wonderful bike trails in our area, that are built on converted railroad paths, and they’re the best for riding because they’re on a level grade and you don’t have to worry about traffic.  We even recently purchased an old tandem bicycle to ride, but have yet to get it on the trail due to the heat wave and some issues with the age of the bike.  So I created my card today with a bicycle!

I used the Multi-Step Bicycle stamps from my beloved Kitchen Sink Stamps for my card, adding a basket of peach-colored flowers in the basket.  I used the digital cut file for this stamp set as well, so my bicycle just rides right off the card.  The background was watercolored with Peerless watercolors, and I added a vellum circle, a Peach Bellini card stock Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics, and some sequins for embellishment.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie
Alexis Crossland-Smith, Guest Designer

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

MY Top 10 from My Favorite Things

The wonderful people at My Favorite Things are celebrating a huge birthday this month!  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was ordering from them for the very first time, way back in the Fall of 2007 when I was managing a small stamp store.  Looking back on my blog, my first post using stamps from MFT was on October 16, 2007.  So I'm honored to say I've been happily using their products for the majority of their 10 years in business, and have also had the honor of serving as a guest designer a few times, in addition to getting to go to their headquarters in the Summer of 2014 for a stamping retreat!  I even got a great treat this week in seeing that one of my creations was "Spotted!" and featured on the MFT Challenge blog!  That's actually my second one in recent weeks, and is SUCH a THRILL to see!



The MFT Design Team recently all did posts on their blogs with their Top 10 Picks of their cards, and I thought it'd be kind of fun to look back at my own MFT designs and pick a Top 10!  (Believe me, that first card from October 2007 is NOT one of them!)  So here they are, in chronological order...

These cool pop bottles are so fun to use... why am I not using them more often? This card for Color Throwdown #361 was definitely a fave!

This card was another no-brainer for my favorite list.  I don't know what it was, but just something about how this whole card came together made me love it.  I created this for the Deconstructed Sketch #163.

The brightness of this card, along with the simplicity (something I never feel like I'm very good at!) made this one another favorite.  This was created in August 2014 for a Dare to Get Dirty challenge.

I used a Die-Namics die to create my own stencil to apply paste for this card, another Dare to Get Dirty challenge in August 2014.

 

 

Here's another favorite in which the simplicity knocked me for a loop!  I just never feel like I do clean-and-simple very well, but every now and then I surprise myself!  This card was created for Color Throwdown #302.

 

 



I've always been partial to sunflowers, to this one was definitely a favorite!  I think the black frame gives it such a striking look, too.  I made this card for one of the MFT sketches in June 2014.

This card was a fun one because I made it with new release products that I picked up on that wonderful trip to Florida back in June 2014!  I was having a BLAST with all those new goodies!  I created this card for Color Throwdown #296.

Not sure what it is about this one... just something about the pretty papers and layers and other design elements just made me happy with this card!  Created for Mojo Monday #280 in February 2013.

No list of favorites would be complete without at least one ala' modes stamp!  They've been since discontinue, but I always just loved these cute, lanky girls!  The inside of this card had a sentiment that read, "Feeling a little green around the gills?"  I made this one for Color Throwdown #126 in January 2011.

And finally, I couldn't finish a list of Top 10 favorites without the adorable girl from the Pure Innocence line!  This card has always been a favorite, just for the bright colors and added design elements, created in December 2010 for one of the MFT sketches.

It wasn't easy to narrow my list to only 10, but it was a ton of fun to take a walk back through the years!  I look forward to many more years of using products from My Favorite Things!  Happy Birthday, MFT!

Sweet Watermelon

Hello, and happy weekend!  Our Crazy 4 Challenges team has a new challenge for you today!  Since July is known as National Hot Dog month, we’re incorporating picnic themes in our creations today!

Well…. I went through all my stamps and dies, and would you believe I just had nothing to use?  And even at my crafty day last week with friends, no one had any stamps with them that would do!  So I turned to my favorite digital images at A Day for Daisies and created this card…

Who doesn’t love watermelon at a picnic, right?  So I printed out this juicy Watermelon Wedges image from ADFD to create my card.  I colored with Copics for another day of coloring in The Daily Marker 30 Day challenge.  And I added some green gingham paper from the Farm Fresh Gingham Paper Pack from My Favorite Things, because every good picnic includes a gingham tablecloth, amiright?  Using some Blu Raspberry card stock, I die-cut the “you” using the You craft die from Simon Says Stamp.  (I get SO MUCH use out of that die!) and then to finish the sentiment I added “are so sweet” which comes from the LLD Donuts and Sprinkles stamp set from MFT.  Behind the die cut circle, I added a double-ended Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics cut from Razzle Berry card stock, and embellished with some black enamel dots.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie
Alexis Crossland-Smith, Guest Designer

Have a GREAT weekend, stay cool, and thanks for stopping by today!

Curtain Call Reminder

Hello friends!  Have you joined us yet for the current Curtain Call Inspiration challenge?  There is still time to join us!  You have until July 25th at 8:00 AM CDT to be inspired and share your project!  Here’s the inspiration photo if you need a refresher…

At crafty day last Saturday with my friends, I borrowed the sweet Birdie Brown Magical Unicorns stamp set and matching Die-Namics from Kirsty (and pilfered a bit of some pretty pink glitter paper, too!) to make this card…

Using the End of the Rainbow Die-Namics, I created a bit of a non-traditional rainbow using colors from the inspiration photo.  I used the current Retro Sketch #223 for the layout, and had some inspiration from this card by Jody Morrow.  My unicorn was colored with Copics as part of The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge.

Be sure to stop by the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and hurry up and join us!  You could be chosen as the Lead for the next challenge!

THANK YOU for visiting my blog today!

Flower Tag

I found the color swatch for today’s Color Throwdown on Facebook after I got home from work last night, and just couldn’t resist that yummy color palette, so I got to work on a card using these color…

I also found some inspiration in the current Tag You’re It! challenge #51 with this beautiful tag…

So, here’s my card…

The Painted Flowers stamps from Altenew are just so fun to work with… I don’t know why I don’t use them more often!  I just love ‘em!

Keeping this short and sweet today… any questions about other products I used, just holler!  And thank you for stopping by!

Arigato

I had some great stamping time with my friends this past weekend, and made this card just for the fun of it… and because I LOVE sushi!

This is the wonderful Let’s Roll stamp set from Lawn Fawn, which I just aDORE!  It’s so fun to color, which I did with my Copics for The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge.  I also used the matching Let’s Roll dies to cut out the stamped elements, and mounted them with foam boosters for some great dimension.  Otherwise I kept the card design pretty simple, embellishing with some enamel dots.

I hope you had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

CrAzY for a Sketch - C4C345

It’s time for another challenge with the Crazy 4 Challenges team, and this week we’ve got this great sketch for you to try…

Now, two things…. first, I stupidly sold all of my oval-shaped dies!  WHAT was I thinking?  So I went with a circle.  And second, the long tall design is so far out of my box and I had trouble making it work without an oval.  So I went with a circle in the center, and a square card.  Here we go…

One of my good friends, who likes her alcohol whether it’s beer or wine, has a birthday this week.  So this card is for her!  I finally got my Uncorked stamp set from Papertry Ink out and used it!  I also used the matching Uncorked dies, and Uncorked Words dies.  And my colors were inspired by the Color Throwdown #401 for this week.  I was really inspired by this Betsy Veldman creation for my design.

On the inside, I added a sentiment from the set and another wine glass, for good measure…

Stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  And visit the other Crazies for more inspiration…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie
Alexis Crossland-Smith, Guest Designer

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

Curtain Call–Unicorn

Hello friends!  I’m so happy you’re here today because I have some really happy news to share!  I am THRILLED to be joining the hugely talented team at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Squeeee!  I can’t thank Stacey and the team enough for asking me to join them!



And I hope YOU will join us, too!  Play along this week by creating something inspired by this darling photo…



Now, when I first saw this photo, I thought “what am I gonna’ do???”  I did not have any unicorn stamps, but please don’t let that stop you!  You can just be inspired by the colors!  Maybe an image of a princess since there’s a crown on the chair.  Maybe create something with a banner like the flags?  Think outside the box, and get creative because that’s what it’s all about!

However, I couldn’t resist ordering some new stamps, and I’m so thankful to Jen at Reverse Confetti for rushing these right out her door to me!  From Texas to Northeast Ohio… order placed Thurdsay morning, stamps in my mailbox before noon on Saturday!  How’s that for awesome customer service?!?!?!  So here’s my card…



I went with a unicorn for my main image as you can see, by using the Unicorn Wishes stamp set and matching Confetti Cuts dies from Reverse Confetti.  I used the Double Scallop Gardland Confetti Cuts to mimic the banner flags in the photo, and added the peach sentiment flag along with some gold sequins for embellishment.  On the background panel, I stamped a striped background with Versamark ink, then embossed with white embossing powder to reflect the wall behind the chair.

Please be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be in the running to be chosen as the “Lead” and be our guest designer for the next challenge!  And be sure to visit the Crew for plenty of inspiration…

Anni Lerche, Guest Designer
Betty Wright
Kim Singdahlsen
Leigh Penner
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Stacey Schafer
Tara Godfrey

Alright, that’s all for me today!  Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by today!  And thank you again to Stacey and Lisa and the whole Curtain Call Crew for welcoming me to the team!

Just wanted to send you a line…

Hi friends!  My posts have been few and far between lately, but I actually have four or five cards that I made during a long weekend stamping retreat back in APRIL that I haven’t shared with you yet!  So I thought I’d throw one of those cards up on the blog today for you to see!

During the retreat, a few of us girls escaped for the morning and went to the Adventures in Stamping convention in downtown Akron.  I spent WAY too much money in the Rubbernecker Stamps booth, and here’s a card I made with two of the stamps I picked up that day…

I just couldn’t resist those silly birds, especially the one doing his own thing!  I watercolored these… I think I used my Ranger Distress inks, but who can remember back to April, huh?  The stamp is Be Yourself from Rubbernecker, and the sentiment is Send You a Line, also from Rubbernecker.  I added a row of vellum clouds behind the main panel, using the Simon Says Stamp Cloud Bank die, and watercolored the background.

I hope you had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

CrAzY for Cheer

It’s time for another challenge with the Crazies, and this week we’re looking to cheer someone up!  July 11th is actually Cheer Up the Lonely Day, so let’s create cards that provide comfort and encouragement!

I went with a simple thinking of you sentiment for my card…



I colored this poppy from the LJD Delicate Pretty Poppies stamp set from My Favorite Things using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, then die cut and mounted it to a piece of watercolor card stock that I also used my Zig markers on.  I splattered the background with water, some watered-down Perfect Pearls and some Tropical Teal dye ink as well, and embellished with a few sequins.  My poppy and background were colored as part of The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge, and I also used these colors for the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge.

Stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  And visit the other Crazies for more inspiration…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!

Guiding Light–Crazy4Challenges #343

Hi friends!  I have a card and some fun news to share with you today… I’m CrAzY!  LOL  Yeah, I know how many people are saying “we knew that already!”  What I mean is that I have rejoined the girls on the Crazy4Challenges team!  I’ve been wanting to get back to a team setting, and I’m so grateful to Frances for inviting me back to the C4C team.  The challenges are always fun to try, so I hope you’ll stop by the C4C blog and check them out!

Today’s challenge is to use a lighthouse in your design.  If you don’t have any lighthouse images, maybe create an ocean or a beach scene, or something nautical?  I loved this idea because I finally got my Guiding Lights stamps from Papertrey Ink inky!  I’ve had these stamps for so long, and it’s good to finally use them!

I took some inspiration for my layout from the Retro Sketch #220 for this past week, and used an old PTI paper pad called Men of Life with my design.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details!  And visit the other Crazies for plenty of inspiration…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Well, I’m off today for a date with the Phantom…. the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, that is!  Have a wonderful weekend, and a Happy 4th of July to my American friends and readers!  Thank you for stopping by today!