Hippo Bird-Day!

Hi friends!  Has anyone missed me?  I haven’t stamped in weeks!  Know how I know that?  Because I made this card on Saturday, August 5th, and that’s the last time I stamped!  My mojo is completely missing… I’d like it back, if anyone sees it!

Using the adorbs BB Happy Hippos from My Favorite Things, I made this card…

The layout was inspired by the MFT sketch #344 from way back in early August.  I never even had the time to photograph and blog it in time to enter in the challenge!  What’s UP with that???  My kids are adults… WHY don’t I have MORE time on my hands?  Oh, I know what the problem is… my hubby and I spend too much time at auctions and antique shops looking for Pyrex!  And here’s my latest acquisition… a vintage Formica and chrome kitchen table!  Isn’t it DARLING? 

Well, we’re enjoying our summer and I hope you are too!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cow’s It Going?

Hi friends!  I’m checking in today with a card I finished for the current sketch #338, and the current color challenge #72 from My Favorite Things…

And here’s what I came up with…

Even though it’s a retired stamp set, this Birdie Brown Green Pastures stamp has always been a favorite for me.  I added the sweet little cow from The Whole Herd to go with the sweet sentiment.  Other products used include the BG Diagonal Stripes background, Stitched Rounded Square Frames Die-Namics, the Essential Sentiment Fishtail Strips (I think that’s what they’re called… I can’t find them right now on the MFT site), and the County Fair Plaid Paper Pack.  I also used Cherry Crisp, Blueberry and Cement Gray card stocks.

Day one of my stay-cation is in the books… I had a really rough day!  LOL  (Bazinga!)

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Have a Cool Day

Hey everyone, it’s time for another Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Our inspiration this time around is this photo of these really “cool” icicles…

For lack of any icicle stamps or dies, I went with something else that’s “cool”…

I did a watercolor wash background with some Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and splattered it with some water, Tinsel and Perfect Pearl sprays.  After the background dried, I die-cut the panel with Blueprints 13.  I stamped the sentiment from the Birdie Brown Cool Day stamp set, and embossed wtih clear embossing powder.  Then I die-cut a (retired) Pierced Snowflake from vellum, adhered it to the card front and embellished with some sequins.

Be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be chosen as the “Lead” for our next challenge and join us as Guest Designer!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Polar Birthday

It’s a new month, and that means we have a new hostess for the Crazy 4 Challenges team, and that’s our fearless leader, Frances Byrne!  And today Frances wants us to be inspired by the STAR… we put a star on our Christmas trees, and a star led the wiseman to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem… everywhere you look at Christmastime, you see stars.  So, using the letters S-T-A-R, incorporate them into your design! 

Now… you’ll have to forgive me but my brain is on overload this week with a lot going on at work.  So I took it pretty easy on myself and used…

S – silver
T – teal
A – apple green
R – red

And here’s my card…

 

On a piece of watercolor card stock, I used my Peerless watercolors to create a light teal wash.  After the ink dried, I spattered with more teal ink, and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Tinsel.  I added a Sweet Tooth card stock frame over my background that was die-cut with the Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.  Then I pulled out my Birdie Brown Cool Day stamp set from MFT, and die-cut and stamped the polar bear, sign and iceberg, then colored with Copics.  I embellished with some Sparkling Clear Mix sequins, added my sentiments, and Silver Sparkle card stock strip, and called this card finished.

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Ham it Up!

It’s time for a new challenge from the Crazy 4 Challenges girls, and today is all about adding some CAKE to your card!  Mmmmmm…. cake!  You just can’t go wrong, amiright?  Even as I type this, I have a pumpkin cheesecake in my fridge, waiting to go to my sister-in-law’s today for our Thanksgiving dinner!  But I am avoiding cake these days… not part of my healty eating and exercise routine, unfortunately!  But I digress…. here’s my “cake” card for today!

I decided to go with a cupcake for my card, using this adorable piggie from the Birdie Brown Hog Heaven stamp set from My Favorite Things.  He’s so oinking cute, don’t you think?  I die-cut the piggie with the matching Die-Namics, then colored with Copics.  The sentiment was stamped on Sweet Tooth card stock and die-cut with the Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics, and layered over a Zig Zag Stitched Circle STAX cut from Field Day card stock.  I added a little flag under the sentiment flag cut from red paper from the Fresh Squeezed Chevon Paper Pack, using a die from Blueprints 14.  The background panel, cut using Blueprints 24 is from the Sweet Celebration Paper Pack.

My card layout was inspired by the current Sketch #308, and the current Color Challenge #58, both from My Favorite Things.

 

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #419

Ooooh, did you see the new Color Throwdown challenge posted on Facebook last night?  LOVE me those colors!  I just had to make a card last night, and here it is…

I’ve got a thing for this Birdie Brown Harvest Mouse stamp set, I think!  I just couldn’t resist using it again, and coloring with Copics.  I layered the mousie on a Gumdrop Green card stock circle that was die-cut with the Wonky Stitched Circle STAX Die-Namics, and stamped with the BG Burlap background stamp.  On the kraft card stock background panel, I stamped the BG Wood Plank background, and over that layered a piece of red polka dot paper, and an Orange Zest card stock strip that was cut with a die from Blueprints 2 Die-Namics. 

Here’s the CTD color swatch…

And my card layout was based on the new Retro Sketch #240 for this week…

Thanks a whole bunch for stopping by today!  I appreciate it!

Apple Harvest

Hello friends!  It’s time for a new challenge with the Crazy 4 Challenges team, and this week our aim is to include fruit in our designs!  And what’s one of the greatest fruits to have at this time of year?  Oh yeah, give me a good juicy, crisp APPLE anytime!  What’s your favorite?  I LOVE Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, Pink Lady and Golden Delicious the most! 

Well, here’s my fruity card…

I pulled out my sweet Birdie Brown Harvest Mouse stamp set, and colored him up with Copic markers using the current Color Throwdown colors for this week. 

And my card layout was inspired by the current MarkerPOP Blog sketch challenge. 

On my card background, I stamped the BG Small Brick background stamp with Versarmark, embossed with white embossing powder, then added a watercolor wash using Peerless watercolors.  I made the green frame with the Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics, and used Blueprints 24 to cut out the background piece.

I added the second half of the sentiment to the inside…

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Hedgehugs

Hello friends!  I am running late this week with my Crazy 4 Challenges post, but I’m finally here!  Our challenge this week is to create using your initials.  So I’ve used a little bit of Tropical Teal card stock for my letter T, and the super-cute Birdie Brown Happy Hedgehogs stamps from My Favorite Things for my letter H.

Since I was running late with my card this week, I turned to the MFT Challenge & Inspiration blog to get my mojo started, and used the current Color Challenge on my card (with the Tropical Teal added for C4C!)

And I had such good intentions last week that never came to fruition, to make a card with the Sketch Challenge #303.  So I used it for this card today!

So, that’s it for me today!  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

Thanks for stopping by!

You’re Paw-some

My daughter needed a dog-themed thank you note this past weekend, so I used the current Freshly Made Sketches #254 to create this card…

I used the Birdie Brown You Make My Tail Wag stamp set and matching Die-Namics to create this card, and I combined two sentiments from the You Have My Heart stamp set to customize the sentiment.  Other Die-Namics used include the Blueprints 16, the Stitched Circle STAX, and the retired Woodgrain Fence and Flat-Bottom Clouds.  Behind the circle, I used some strips of paper from the Tiny Check Brights 6x6 Paper Pack, and the Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots 6x6 Paper Pack.

Now…. if only I had remembered to have my daughter sign the card while she was home this weekend.  *sigh*

Happy Monday!

Color Throwdown #408

Hello friends!  The current Color Throwdown challenge #408 is like my nemesis... I SO don't do well with primary colors!

But I decided to give it a go and am glad I did!  I'm offering up this hint, if it helps someone else out.  Sometimes when I need to use colors that are outside my comfort zone, I try to find an image to color that will allow me to use all the colors.  So, this handsome gnome holding a pot of flowers was PERFECT for this challenge!

See!?  The gnome and the mushroom were just perfect to incorporate all four colors!  The gnome is from the Birdie Brown You Gnome Me stamp set from My Favorite Things, and I colored him with Copic markers.  I also used the Grassy Fields Die-Namics, the Radiant Sun Die-Namics, the Rectangle Frames Die-Namics, and Blueprints 24 for my card.

Stop by the Color Throwdown blog and join my besties for this challenge!

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!

From All Of Us

The director of the agency where I work has resigned, and the supervisor in charge of her going-away party asked me if I'd make a card for everyone to sign.  Well, knowing that the director is a big cat-lover, I just had to incorporate a few cats into the design!  (Many thanks to my friend Kirsty for the loan of all her cat stamps from My Favorite Things, as well as a thank you to my friend Pat who had a "from all of us" stamp!)

I kept the design on the front fairly simple without too much dimension, because I knew people were going to need room to sign on the whole inside of the card.  And I made the size to fit a #10 envelope so there would be more room inside than the traditional A2 size.  Here is my card...

I used the Birdie Brown "I Knead You" and "Cool Cat" stamp sets and matching Die-Namics from MFT to create this kitty gang, coloring with Copic markers.  I made my own background by stamping more of the images from the stamp sets... the yarn balls, paw prints, fish and mice.  I *think* my card stock colors are Summer Splash, Orange Zest and Peach Bellini (but I made this a week ago and at my age, who can remember back that far?)   :)

Color Throwdown #391–Cool

My girls over at the Color Throwdown have another great color combo with today’s challenge!  Aren’t these flowers GORGEOUS??

I wanted to make a really cute birthday card for one of my co-workers this week, so I reached for my BB Penguins in Paradise stamp set from My Favorite Things, and used these colors for a tropical-themed card…

(My shades of orange here didn’t end up being very prominent, but they’re there!)  I colored with Copics, and die-cut the penguin, tree and beach ball with the matching Die-Namics.  The background is a watercolor wash of Summer Splash and Blu Raspberry premium dye inks from MFT and is speckled with some drops of water and Perfect Pearls.

I’m trying not to jinx it, but I think I may have pulled out of my stamping slump!    SOOOOO happy about that, and sooooo happy that YOU stopped by today!  Thank you for all the kind comments!

Color Throwdown #388

Hello friends!  I have a co-worker with a birthday tomorrow, so the sneak peek last night of the Color Throwdown #388 for today was just what I needed to get a card made for her!  The colors this week are yellow, green, blue and white, so here's what I came up with...

If you have to use white, what's better than a polar bear, amiright?  :)  So I grabbed my Birdie Brown Birthday Bears stamp set and matching Die-Namics, from My Favorite Things and got to work. The background was stamped with the BG Grid background with Versamark ink, and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I used Daffodil and Sour Apple dye inks to water color over the grid, and added some spatters of Perfect Pearls mixed with a little water.  Behind the bear I added a vellum tag that was die-cut with the Pierced Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics, and the sentiment strip was die-cut using the Horizontal Stitched Strips Die-Namics.

I might slowly be feeling the stamping mojo coming back.... thanks to all of you have stuck with me through this slump!  :)

Pawsitively Awesome

Hi everyone!  I have a super quick card to share with you today, using the sketch from the current Share Joy challenge #24...

Here's my quick card...

One of my favorite co-workers had a birthday recently, and she's a dog lover so a card using the Birdie Brown You Make My Tail Wag stamp set was perfect.  Again, just super simple for this card (yes, I was in a hurry!) with an added sentiment from the Birdie Brown You Have My Heart set, both from My Favorite Things.  The papers I used are from an old Simple Stories 6x6 pad.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Flippin' Awesome

Hi friends!  I have a simple card to share with you today using the current Color Throwdown colors, and the current sketch from My Favorite Things...

My youngest daughter's boyfriend is currently in culinary school, and over the Valentine's Day weekend he and Kelsey went to the awesome West Side Market in Cleveland and did some shopping, then came to our house and he cooked us dinner (which was also AWESOME!)  So I had no choice but to order this sweet Birdie Brown Recipe for Happiness stamp set to make a thank you card for Chuck!  Other supplies used include the BG Gingham background, BG Small Brick background, Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics, Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics, and the Recipe for Happiness Die-Namics.  The black and white diagonal stripes at the bottom is just an old piece of patterned paper.  (I even gave the chef a red mustache, since Chuck is a ginger!)

That's all for me today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Treats

I decided to surprise some of my co-workers today with some Valentine treats!  My oldest daughter graciously helped me make some chocolate, and sprinkle -covered pretzels last night, and then we bagged them up in cello bags, and tied on some tags I've been working on for a few weeks!  Here's a sampling of the tags with product links under each photo!  For all the tags, I used the Pierced Traditional Tags STAX and the Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics from My Favorite Things.

 

LLD Accent It - Feathers and Arrows Die-Namics, Hearts Stencil

("Love Struck" sentiment from a retired set)

 

LJD Scribble Roses, LJD All My Love

 

Hearts background and "xoxo" are retired from MFT.

 

BB I Knead You and matching Die-Namics, BG Tiny Hearts background

(Thanks for the loan, Kirsty!)

 

 

The "love" and "sweet" dies are Lovey Words Confetti Cuts from Reverse Confetti, with Lovey Words Coordinates stamps, as well as the Double Heart Garland Confetti Cuts, and the Whole Lotta' Hearts stamp set.  Also used here are stitched clouds from the Rainbow & Clouds die from Lil' Inker Designs.

 

I'm feelin' the love!  :)

Color Throwdown #372

It's Color Throwdown time again, and this week my BFF Barbara is our hostess with these non-traditional, but FABULOUS colors for Christmas!  I hope you'll jump on over to the CTD blog, check out the challenge, and join us!

Here's my card...

I had some fun with this cutie-patootie from the Birdie Brown Merry Christmoose stamp set from My Favorite Things, coloring the image with Copics and die-cutting with the matching Die-Namics.  The background, stamped with Kraft hybrid ink, is the BG Distressed Stripes.  I added the sentiment on a Kraft card stock flag, and added a silver flag underneath.

Please be sure to visit the CTD blog today for more inspiration, and please visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…. 

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Torico, December Guest Designer
Gerrina, Guest Star Stamper

Happy Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #366

Hi friends!  We’ve got another Color Throwdown challenge for you today, and Joan is our hostess with this wonderful Fall color combo…

I have always loved shades of orange with shades of aqua, so this was right up my alley!  I decided this week to try my hand at some no-line coloring with my Copics using this sweet Harvest Mouse stamp set…

For my card layout, I used the current Sweet Sunday Sketch #292.  The polka dot paper I used is from Papertrey Ink.

Please be sure to visit the CTD blog today for more inspiration, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Michelle Boyer, October Guest Designer
Ashwini Rao, Guest Star Stamper

Your visit is a blessing to me today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Beary Special Day

Hello friends!  I have one more card to share with you today from my great Saturday of stamping with some friends!  This one is for the current sketch #245 from My Favorite Things, and I also used the colors from the previous color challenge #28 at MFT just because I LOVED the combination of Spearmint, Wild Wisteria, Tropical Teal and Blu Raspberry.  (Although, I goofed and used Lush Lagoon instead of Tropical Teal!)

This sweet bear, from the Birdie Brown Birthday Bears stamp set is stamped on Copic X-press It card stock with Steel Grey hybrid ink, and colored with Copic markers.  For the background inside the frame, I stamped the BG Tiny Stars background with Versamark on watercolor card stock, and heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.  Then I applied a watercolor wash using Blu Raspberry dye ink, and spritzed with some MIX-ables Sheer Shimmer Mist for some sparkle.  The frame was made by stamping some stripes from DC Plaid Background Builder in Wild Wisteria, Blu Raspberry, Spearmint and Lush Lagoon dye inks on a piece of Smooth White card stock, then I cut my frame using the Inside & Out Stitched Rounded Square STAX Die-Namics.  (Thanks Kirsty, for letting me borrow it!)  I stamped a sentiment from the Birthday Bears set on a Lush Lagoon card stock Fishtail Flags STAX.  And on a square of Spearmint card stock, I stamped the BG Simply Circles background with Sweet Tooth pigment ink.  I assembled the card onto a Sweet Tooth card stock base, and added a few Sparkling Clear Mix sequins for embellishment.

And just for good measure, I think I’ll enter this card into the Card Design Superstar challenge at My Favorite Things, although I am far from being any kind of superstar.  Thanks for stopping by today!