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!

He is Risen – Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful Sunday with family and friends, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

I just wanted to quickly share with you today the quick tag I made to go on a small pot of daffodils for my secret sister at church.  I used my Copics to color up this sweet Easter Bunny image from A Day for Daisies.

Then I just tied the orange ribbon around this little pot of daffodils…

(Photos quickly taken in my kitchen before leaving for church!)

Happy Easter, again and thank you for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #318

Hello friends!  Hooray for Wednesday, and another Color Throwdown!  Vickie is our hostess-with-the-mostest today with this really fresh color combo…

Me, I love orange and aqua blue together all day, every day!  So this was right up my alley.  I hope you like it too, and will join us this week!  Here’s my card…

I used one of my favorite A Day for Daisies images, the Pumpkins and Butterflies.  I colored with Copics, then masked the image and airbrushed the blue sky in the background.  A few patterned papers and die cuts and my card was done.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezie!

Be sure to stop over at the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and stop by to see my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration today…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Petra Swart, November Guest Designer
Doni High, Guest Star Stamper

Hope you’re having a great week!  Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!

A Day for Daisies-Happy Fall

There’s another new batch of fun images in the shop over at A Day for Daisies, and they’re perfectly sweet to get you in a Halloween mood!  Check out the new October Club Kit “Happy Candy Corn!”

Here’s my somewhat simple card… I’m having a bad week, and had to keep this pretty simple!

There’s a new challenge on the A Day for Daisies blog too, to go along with these fun new images… Get Sugared!  Be sure to check out the challenge (the challenge that I forgot to incorporate into my card…. like I said, I’m having a bad week.)

The rest of the ADFD team will have some fantastic creations to share with you today using these cute candy corn images, so be sure to check them out!

Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcombe
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson

I hope you’ll play along!  Thanks for stopping by today!

A Day for Daisies-Pretty Black Cats

Tammy has done it again with some fantastic new images at A Day for Daisies!  There’s a whole new clowder of Pretty Black Cats for you to see!  (See, I pay attention when I watch Big Bang Theory!)

Here’s my Pretty Black Cat with some Fall-inspired colors…

Here is Black Cat 2, who is actually on sale right now in the ADFD store!  I’ve named this guy Finnick, because around our house, we do have a pretty black cat, and he was a good model for me to color this!  :)  I printed the image on Copic X-press It blending card stock, and colored with Copics, then added some die-cut flags, and some buttons and an enamel dot for embellishment.

Be sure to see what the rest of the team has created with the Pretty Black Cat clowder today…

Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcombe
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson

Happy Friday, and thank you for stopping by today!

A Day for Daisies – I’m back!!

Yay, today’s the day I can share that I have rejoined the fabulously talented girls on the A Day for Daisies team!  I had greatly enjoyed my time on this team last year, but after my Dad’s passing last December I had to leave the team for awhile, as stamping took a big back seat to getting through the grief and other issues.  But, while I miss my Dad terribly, life has carried on and I’m so glad to be welcomed back to this team!
Today marks a new release at ADFD… Tammy has once again created some fantastic images you’re doing to love with the new Tiny Teacup Fairies!  There’s also a new challenge today on the ADFD blog…
it’s an Anything Goes challenge!  My favorite kind!
So here’s my Tiny Teacup Fairy creation…

I used the new Tea Time Fairy, and decided to make a tag, and will save this to maybe attach to a box of tea or a sweet teacup to give as a gift!  My image is colored with Copics, printed on X-press It blending card stock.  I wasn’t able to capture it well in my photo but I added some clear Wink of Stella glitter to the wings.
Be sure to stop over at the ADFD blog to check out the challenge details, and I hope that you’ll join us!  And be sure to visit the ADFD team members for more of these adorable images today!
Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcombe
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson
Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #310

Hello friends!  I’m so happy that it’s Wednesday because that means we have another Color Throwdown challenge for you today!  Wanda is our hostess and her colors were inspired by these fun floral embellishments she found on Etsy.

Well, as you’ll see my colors are just a little bolder than the ones in the swatch… the coral cardstock I ended up using turned out more of a reddish-orange in my photos.  :)  But the challenge is all about your interpretation of the colors, so it’s all good.

I have a very dear friend celebrating a birthday (well, actually the birthday was Sunday and I still haven’t mailed the card…. ugh!)  I just had to use this beautiful new Flower Maiden 2 image from A Day for Daisies for her card.  I printed in Copic X-press It blending card stock, and colored with Copics.  On the flowers I added a little sparkle from a clear Wink of Stella pen.  The script in the background and the sentiment both come from the LJD Pretty Poppies stamp set from My Favorite Things, as do many of the Die-Namics I used for my design.

Be sure to stop over at the CTD blog for all the challenge details, and please join us!  And visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Lisa Henke, September Guest Designer
Joanne James, Guest Star Stamper

Here are my supplies….

Flower Maiden 2	Die-namics Vertical Stitched Strips	LJD Pretty Poppies	BG Linen Background	Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX	Heavyweight Card Stock Spearmint
Premium Dye Ink Pad Spearmint	Hybrid Ink Pad Steel Grey	Die-namics Blueprints 13	Copic markers	Copic BLENDING CARD X-Press It	Heavyweight Card Stock Sweet Tooth

InLinkz.com

Other card stock includes Stampin’ Up! Calypso Coral and Bermuda Bay.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I appreciate your visits and comments!

Color Throwdown #287

Hello friends!  Well, another week has flown by and we’ve got another Color Throwdown challenge to share with you.  Lori is our hostess this week, and she found this beautiful Spring centerpiece with some soft pastels for you to try.  Very similar colors to last week, but I think the paler colors make it just different enough.  I hope you’ll give it a try!
Here’s my card…

I actually colored this image over the weekend, and then realized it would work pretty well for my card today along with this sweet Pebbles “Garden Party” paper I recently got.  I took some inspiration from the Retro Sketch #109 this week for the layout.  The image I used is from A Day for Daisies.
And speaking of this past weekend, over half of the members of the Color Throwdown team actually got together for a stamping good time in Virginia at the home of Barbara Anders!  We had SO. MUCH. FUN!!!  We stamped, and ate, and laughed, and ate, and stamped, and ate, and laughed, and had a BLAST!  Here we are on Sunday morning after we had breakfast buffet, before we all said goodbye…

Broni, Vickie and Wanda are all lucky enough to live within 2-3 hours of Barbara’s home, but my drive is 7 hours!  My husband wasn’t able to go with me, so my best friend from here at home went with me instead, and Heather (she’s front and center in the purple shirt) was graciously welcomed as our CTD “mascot” for the weekend!  LOL  As a special treat, we asked her to join us this week for the CTD challenge, and she’s so ambitious she made two cards!

 
Heather doesn’t have a blog, so I hope you’ll leave her some love in a comment here and I’ll make sure she’s sees it!
For more inspiration, please visit my Throwdown sisters…
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Jeanne Jachna, April Guest Designer
Thanks for stopping by today!

Remembering 2013 Recipe Swap

Linda has some fun lined up for us for the first Catered Crop Recipe Swap of the year… a chance to review all of our favorites from last year.
Honestly, 2013 wasn’t the greatest year for me.  My stamping suffered greatly from a lot of stress I was dealing with at my former job, and I even took the month of May off from stamping completely.  My Mom was also diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time early in the year (and is thankfully winning the battle!) and then my Dad unexpectedly passed away on December 4th.  Don’t get me wrong…. I have many, many blessings in my life that I’m very grateful for, but all in all I’m glad to see the end of 2013.  It was a difficult one. 
I didn’t really think I’d find a lot of favorites on my blog, but I did end up with a good selection.  Rather than choose one favorite from each month I just decided to pick my faves and leave it at that.  :)  So here ya’ go… my 2013 favorites.
From January, these Valentine tea lights made with stamps and Die-Namics from My Favorite Things…

The newly-learned chalkboard technique was something I loved to do during the past year, and this Sweetness of Friendship card with stamps from Flourishes is also one of my favorites…

In February, I used some newly acquired stamps and dies from My Favorite Things on this card that was for my sweet friend Gretchen.  She was in need of a pick-me-up and this card was just the ticket….

And some more new stamps and dies from MFT were used to create this card…

In April I had the distinction of being the Guest Designer for My Favorite Things’ new release and this Spring-themed banner I made was definitely a favorite…

In June, I was inspired by a card from Lisa Johnson and created my own version here with stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps.  And my BFF Barbara Anders shared a bounty of sequins with me around this time, which turned into another favorite for me in 2013…

In June I rejoined the design team at Kitchen Sink Stamps just in time for a great new release, and this card showing some paradise was a favorite…

The annual Dare to Get Dirty challenges over at Splitcoaststampers are always a bunch of fun, and this card using some new stamps from Wplus9 Designs I created for one of the challenges was pure joy to create…

Any Color Throwdown challenge with shades of blue makes me want to pull my hair out, as I just don’t work well with blue, but I was pleasantly surprised when this card came together using a variety of stamps from MFT, Hero Arts and Impression Obsession.  This card was sent to my Aunt Linda in Ft. Wayne who also unfortunately passed away this past year.  She was my Dad’s youngest sister, and my Dad died four weeks to the day after she did.  :(

Sunflowers have always been a favorite for me, so this card was a shoe-in for a 2013 favorite, using Kitchen Sink Stamps…

This past year was when I discovered A Day for Daisies digital stamps, and got lucky enough to join the design team!  This sweet card for Color Throwdown #264 was definitely a favorite…

In October, there was another great new release from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and this wonderful Multi-Step Bicycle stamp set was an idea that I came up with, so any card made with this fantastic bike image is a favorite of mine…

Every now and then, a card comes together and you just think “oh, YEAH!” because you’re so happy with it, know what I mean?  This card using a digi from A Day for Daisies was one of those happy moments…

And finally, another new company I discovered this past year was Reverse Confetti.  I just fell in love with this coffee stamp set they released, and just loved this card I created with that set…

So, there you have it… my favorites from 2013.  If you’d like to show off your favorites too, stop over at the Catered Crop blog and leave a link so we can see yours, too!
Happy weekend, and thank you for stopping by!

Sweet Fairy of Flowers

The team at A Day for Daisies is sharing the newly release fairies and flowers for January again today, and we have a new challenge for you to participate in, as well!
Here’s my card using the Sweet Fairy of Flowers image…

Our new challenge today is to use yellow, so I was sure to color my fairy in her finest yellow dress.  I added some major glitter to her wings, and paired her up with some of my favorite October Afternoon papers.  I added the computer-generated sentiment using Kimberly Geswein’s Makes You Stronger font. 
Be sure to stop over at the ADFD blog for all the challenge details, and so you can play along!  We’d love to see what you create, and maybe all that yellow will bring some sunshine to our frigid winter!?!
Stop and see what the rest of the team created today, too…
Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcombe
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson
Mila Popova
Sherry Eckblad
Thank YOU for stopping by today!

Thank You Fairy Much

Hello friends… I’m back, still trying to gradually get back into the stamping groove, so I have a card to share with you today using a new image from A Day for Daisies!  Please allow me to introduce to you, Fairy Bug Sky…

My sweet fairy was printed on Copic Xpress It blending cardstock and colored with Copics, then I added some shimmer with a glaze pen, some gold sequins and a few spritzes of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls.  I computer-generated the sentiment using the Makes You Stronger font from Kimberly Geswein.  Because my mojo still feels like it’s missing, I just kept the layout kinda’ simple here, and added a bit of lace to dress up the Authentique papers.
Be sure to stop over at A Day for Daisies Club Kit page today and check out the new club options for 2014!  There are great deals to be had if you’re a big ADFD fan, and can’t get enough of these wonderful images!
And be sure to stop and see the rest of the ADFD team members for more whimsical fairy creations…
Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcomb
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson
Mila Popova
Sherry Eckblad
Happy Friday, and thanks for stopping by today!

Celebrating Christmas at A Day for Daisies

It's time for another new release at A Day for Daisies, and we've got some great images for you to see.  Stop over at the ADFD blog for all the details.  My card uses this sweet Christmas Ribbons reindeer, and I used the Clean & Simple sketch #269 from last week...

I apologize for this post being short and sweet, and hope you'll forgive me.  I received a call at suppertime Wednesday this past week that my Dad unexpectedly had passed away, and so my life has been turned completely upside down at this point.  But since this card was completed, I wanted to make time to share it with you.

If you're so inclined... prayers for my family would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Little Kitty Play

It’s Friday which means time again for a creation from A Day for Daisies, plus it’s a challenge week!  We hope you’ll play along with the challenge this week which is to add pink polka dots to your creation!  So here’s my card….

I used one of the new kitty images, Little Kitty Play and colored with Copics.  I decided to go with a clean and simple design, using some papers from My Mind’s Eye.
Stop by the ADFD blog for all the challenge details, and play along with us!  And be sure to check out the other team members for more pink-polka-dotted inspiration!
Arielle Gordon
Broni Holcombe
Danielle Kennedy
Juliana Swanson
Mila Popova
Sherry Eckblad
I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving, and are enjoying the holiday weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #270

Hello my stamping friends… it’s time again for the Color Throwdown.  Wanda is our hostess this week with this great earthy color combo.  I really liked creating with these colors… I hope you like them too and will play along with us!

For my card, I chose to use this Warm in Winter image from A Day for Daisies, along with some green polka dot paper that was a perfect match for Gumball Green.  I added a silver shimmer paper scalloped border, and a piece of kraft from a Panera coffee cup sleeve.  Some silver cord, silver sequins and sentiment tag finished up my card along with some glitter on the snow.

Be sure and stop over at the CTD blog for all the challenge details so you can play along!  And see my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Lori Tecler
Melody Rupple
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Cindy Lawrence, November Guest Designer

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope your holiday is full of good food, family and lots of love!