Monday, December 27, 2010

'Tis the season....to be thankful!


Hello all!
The presents are unwrapped, the paper is thrown away (most of it anyway), the toys are scattered ALL OVER MY HOUSE......Christmas is over!
At my house, as with most I'm sure, that means we have to start Thank You notes. Phindy's Place Challenge Blog has a 2 week challenge going on right now, "Give Thanks With Scraps". This fits my current needs perfectly!
Mary's challenge at Angel Creative Updates is "Anything Snows". Phindy's cute little "Tasty Flakes" Image was just calling for the snowflake DP so this card fit Mary's Challenge perfectly too!
So. without further ado, here's my card.....

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

'Tis the season.....to go crazy!

Well, Christmas is almost here and I think I've lost my mind! Why do I do crazy things like decided to rearrange furniture the week before Christmas?? A better question, why do I decided, less than a week before Christmas, to make picture frames for both of my kids Great-Grandmother's? Okay, yes, I know they will both love them, but, come on, wouldn't they like a store bought one just fine? Of course not! So, I HAD to make them something!!

Well, this one is for my boyfriend's grandmother. She is the Great-"Grandma" to all three kids. I had to merge 2 of Phindy's images so I could come up with 1 image with three kids....I did this for her Christmas card. Well, "Cookie" liked it so much she emailed me as soon as she got it and had a million comments and questions about the "picture" on my card. So, this great idea popped into my mind to make her a picture frame using the merged image.

I started out with a super simple (and cheap) picture frame:

I decided that due to time, it would be a simple transformation - no embellishments or anything (though, I'm wishing I had some little glass snowflakes to add), just paper and the image. Here is what I came up with:

I can't put the picture in it because I haven't taken it yet! I plan on doing that when the kids are all "pretty" for Christmas!

Overall, I can't complain. This was a super simple, easy peasy project and I think Cookie will love it!

As an added bonus, I get to enter this in the Phindy's Place Challenge this week as well as the Angel Creative Updates Challenge!!

Phindy's Challenge is "All Creatures Great and Small". Well, at first I was hoping that my teddy bear from the "Smooch" image would qualify but then I thought about it, technically, people are animals so I'm covered!

Mary's Challenge at Angel Creative Updates is "Anything Snows". Since there are snowflakes all over my DP for the photo mat, I get to use this project for that challenge too!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Really, you should play along!


Well Girls, My friend Mary's blog challenge, Angel Creative Updates, is in it's second week....time is ticking away.....there are NO entries! This means that I will be the ONLY one participating. I'm betting that random.org will pick my card!! I won last week too!! This is crazy! Please come out and play with me!!
Here is my card for the challenge this week. It was an easy one, Child's Birthday. This worked out perfectly for me because one of my daughter's friends has a birthday TOMORROW! Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Oh well, it's done!!
Hope you (and Hannah) enjoy it!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Oh, I wish I wasn't so far behind!


Well, Christmas is almost upon us and I am soooooooo far behind! Only half of my Christmas Cards are out - how horrible is that? Some aren't finished, some are going to be store bought, and some are missing addresses - still!
Anyway, I made this card for my boyfriend's Grandmother (my kid's Great-grandmother!). Since there are 3 kiddos, I figured I needed an image with 3 kiddos. Hmmm...this posed a problem since I don't own any digis with 3 kids! So, I merged Phindy's "Smooches" (one of my all time favs) and "Emma Spring Dress". I think it came out pretty cool!
This card is for Phindy's Challenge Blog - "Winter".

Monday, December 13, 2010

A New Challenge Blog


My friend Mary has started a new challenge blog! I'm so excited for her!! The challenge is called Angel Creative Updates. You should really go check it out!

This week's challenge (which ends on Tuesday) is all about "thanks". Your card has to include a sentiment of gratitude someplace but you can use any image (or no image). How easy is that?

With my daughter's birthday party being this past weekend, I now need to make 9 Thank You cards. Okay, what was I thinking? Why didn't I make these when I made the invitations? Oh well, at least now I can use them for the challenge!! I have one done, only 8 more to go....and Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! Eek!!

So, here's my card, it's simple but hey, I have to make 9 of them!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Phinally Phinished My Phindy Card!



Hello all! Well, Phindy's Place has a fun challenge going on this week.....Frugal Phindy Freebie! I made this tag for my son at his babysitter's. A few weeks ago, I made tags for all of the girls, he's the only boy and needed a "boy" tag! I think this image is just adorable and reminds me of him!!


Here's the fun part - for me anyway - I colored this image VERY differently than I have before, instead of painting with water colors, I used Crayola crayons and baby oil! I'm loving how it came out and....it was FREE! I "borrowed" my daughter's crayons and my son's baby oil!! Not bad, huh?


Also, the sentiment was a prize from another challenge that I had won - so that was free too!!


Hope you enjoy this little tag I whipped up! Sorry the pictures show my wet glue but there's no time for drying, the challenge is about to end!!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Merry Christmas Grammy!


Well, I made the deadline for Phindy's Challenge by the skin of my teeth this week! It's been crazy around my house with work, the beginning of the holiday season, and sick kiddos (and a Mommy who doesn't feel so hot). Tonight, I FINALLY got my Challenge card for Phindy's Challenge Blog finished and now I get to post it!! WOO HOO!!

So, the challenge was "metal" that's easy enough, right? I decided to do this card for my grandmother. She LOVES giraffes. When Phindy showed us this image "Hello There", I knew I had to have it for Grammy. I've made her at least one card with it already and decided to dress Mr. Giraffe up for Christmas to make her a special Christmas Card this year. My "metal" is my 3 "holly berries" (aka red brads)! Snuck those in pretty nicely I think!

So, here's my card for Grammy, I hope you all like it, I'm pretty sure she will!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Guest Design Spot For Me????!!!




A few months ago, I was contacted by Steph from The Christmas Card Challenge Blog. She asked me if I would be willing to do a Guest Design Spot on their blog. My first thought was "no way, me??? I can't do that!". Well, I was more than willing to, I was just amazed that they would ask me! Of course I said yes, not even knowing what the exact details were. Steph then told me that the challenge for Week #51 was a color challenge - dark grey, light pink, white and pumpkin/orange. Keeping in mind that it's a Christmas challenge blog, I was completely stumped.



Earlier this week, Steph contacted me again with a "friendly reminder" about the deadline. Not that I had forgotten, I just forgot that it was THIS WEEK!! EEK!!! So, I had been brewing an idea for all of these months and I sat down to put the idea to paper. EWE - it did not turn out well. My dear boyfriend even told me it was "ugly". Soooooooooo, back to the drawing board I went. What was I going to do? I was running out of time and definately out of ideas. As tend to do when these things happen, I browsed my collection of digital images. I found the perfect image - Phindy's "Smooch". I love this image because it reminds me of my daughter and son. Then, it all began to click for me!



So, to make a very long story short, here is my card. I really hope you'll head on over to the Christmas Card Challenge Blog and challenge yourself to enter this week's color challenge - if I can do it, so can you!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Another Poll from Phindy!


Hello, just a quick note to tell you that Phindy is having another poll on her blog. All you have to do is click on your favorite type of image to work with and enter your name. You'll be in the running to win this amazing new image "Peace and Cheer"! Easy Peasy - go enter - what are you waiting for??

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Trying to Beat the Rush!


Every year I try to beat the Christmas rush and have all of my shopping done before Thanksgiving.....didn't happen this year. I do, however, have presents for all of the kids at the sitter's. This weekend, I made gift tags for each of the girls.


These tags work for a few different challenges:


1.) Digital Tuesday - "never used stash" - I paper pieced the star at the top of Miss Chrissy Tree with gold foil paper that my friend Sue gave me. I didn't know what I was going to use it for but I had to give that paper a home - glad I did!


2.) Creative Inspirations - Anything Christmassy/Winter


3.) Delightful Challenges - Glitter it Up! - I glittered the ornaments on the "tree" and added a glitter brad.


4.) Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - Christmas Is Coming


5.) Stamp Something - November Digi Day - I love DigiDay because I almost ALWAYS use digis!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

'Tis the season - almost


Okay, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas! I really do!! However, I refuse to start listening to Christmas music on the radio - I cannot believe they are playing it already! That's nuts!! On the other hand, I am fine with starting my Christmas Cards - come on, let's be practical here, a 3 year old and a 3 month old, I can't crank out 20 or 30 cards in a week or two after Thanksgiving....sooooooooooooo, I'll make my Christmas cards without listening to the Christmas Music Stations.


Enough of my rant.....


This card is for a few different challenges:


Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - 3, 2, 1 Go - recipe challenge


Allsorts - "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - okay, this is amazing, I didn't know I had this paper until I went looking for something that went with this theme....the paper actually has the words to the poem, how wild is that? It totally threw off the color scheme that I had in my mind but that's okay, the paper is PERFECT!! I tried to get a close up of the words but they just got blurry so you'll have to trust me on this one!


Christmas Card Challenge - This challenge is always great for me because the challenges are optional as long as you use a Christmas Card - you're in! This week's challenge is a photo inspiration challenge. The tree in the picture goes along with my "pine" branches that I used as filler around the flowers.


Another try with an easel card


Well, my last easel card was so successful (thanks to Cec's wonderful instructions) that I decided to try it again! I'm quite pleased with this one as well. I decided to make it pretty simple for a couple of reasons (1) I wanted to focus on trying to work out the easel part and (2) the image was a larger and more detailed one than I usually use so I wanted that to be the focal point.

Speaking of the image. I got this amazing digi FREE from Phindy for joining in on all of the 1000 member celebration challenges on her PCP page! How cool is that??!!

So this card is for Phindy's Place Challenge - 3, 2, 1 Go! Recipe challenge. I used 3 brads, 2 papers, and 1 image. The card is also for Creative Inspirations Challenge - Glitter, Glamour, Girlie. Poor Mr. Brown isn't feeling too comfortable on this pink and purple card but he'll suffer through it to make Mrs. Comfy happy! She wanted him to wear a pink shirt and purple tie to match her girly and glitzy outfit but that's where he drew the line!! (oh, the stories I make up while I color!!)

Well, I should go get in bed now and enjoy my extra hour of sleep (thanks to Day Light Savings) but instead I think I might use my extra hour for crafting :)!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

I only want snow on my cards!


Hello all,


I have decided that this winter, I only want to see snow on the cards I make - none of that yucky white stuff on the roads or my driveway!


Anyway, I made this card using Phindy's Adorable Image - "Tasty Flakes" - I just love her!


This card is for 3 different challenges:


Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - your favorite color - dark green


Fussy and Fancy Friday - Winter Wonderland


Christmas Card Challenges - include candy canes - this is an optional theme, as long as it's a Christmas Card it works!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

One Last Entry For Phindy's PCP Celebration Challenges!


Well, I have one last entry for the festivities over at Phindy's Place on Paper Craft Planet!

This card is for Tammy's Thursday Challenge - A Christmas Card using non-traditional colors (no red/white/green). Soooooooooooo, I decided I NEEDED to use "Hot Cocoa" since I have yet to use her (it was killing me to see her sitting here and not play with her). Well, I knew I had this template to make a "mug" and I just thought she needed to be on it. I used the snowman DP because they remind me of marshmallows which reminds me of hot cocoa - see the thought process there?

The sentiment is a little tricky to read in the picture but it says "Hope Your Holidays are Warm and Cozy!". I have also "stuffed" this card with a packet of cocoa mix and a candy cane - had to be blue because red/white would be traditional colors!

This card works for a couple of challenges. They are:

Phindy's Place on Papercraft Planet - Tammy's Thursday Challenge - Non-traditional colors

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Party's Still Going at Phindy's Place!



Hello All! I'm back with another Phindy's 1000 Members Week Challenge Card! This one is for Lynda's Wednesday Challenge (yeah, I'm a little behind). Her challenge was a template challenge. You get the template to make this easy peasy acorn card and she challenged us to "mix and match or edit or alter any of Phindy’s image to use". I used the babies from "Hugs from Here" and "Big Sister at Work". They are now friends - aren't they cute. Okay, I know, it's not perfect but merging images isn't easy! Plus, I don't think Phindy really had this in mind when she drew either one of them! Either way, I think they look pretty adorable "hugging" each other!
This Cute Little Acorn Card is for the following challenges:
Phindy's Group on Paper Craft Planet: Lynda's Wednesday Challenge - Use the Acorn Card Template
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Keeping it Clean and Simple
Papertake Weekly Challenges - Sparkly and Bright - the "Give Thanks" brads are shiny and the ribbon has a pretty sheen to it!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

More Celebrating at Phindy's Place on PCP!


Hello again!


I've been busy, busy, busy and my friends over at Phindy's Place on PCP are keeping me even busier!! There is some crazy celebrating going on over there - you should check it out! 1000 members is a VERY big deal and we're all very excited!


So, we have now had 3 different challenges since Sunday. This card is actually for yesterday's challenge but working 3 shifts yesterday, I didn't quite have time to finish it (go figure!!). Tonight I had a little bit of time (thanks to avoiding any household chores and my mom feeding my kiddos dinner) so I finished up the card. This was a sketch challenge - I think the sketch is pretty cool and I'm just LOVING this "Riding Rudolph" image from Phindy. Her "Winter Cuties" are just adorable (well, actually I love ALL of her images).


Anyway, this card is also for some other challenges:

Delightful Challenges: "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas"

Diecut Dreams Christmas Club: "The One I Love" - this image reminds me of my son so I think this card is for him!

Christmas Card Challenges: Use Flowers - Now, the great thing about this challenge blog is that the challenges are optional, you can always enter any Christmas Card you make! So, this fits!

Phindy's Challenge Blog: Your Favorite Color - this is a double whammy card because I think my favorite color is dark green - I used it for the trim and for the "holly branches", oh, for the baby's jammies too!

Pile It On!: Holiday Card using Red, White, Green, and Something Soft - I have all of the colors and my something soft is my ribbon.

Monday, October 25, 2010

More Halloween Treat Bags


As if making 6 treat bags for the kids at the babysitter's wasn't enough, I decided to make 6 more for a party we went to last weekend. I ended up staying up until 2 AM Friday night (okay, Saturday morning) so they'd be done by the time we had to leave for the party. I really think I am becoming insane!!!


This project fits for many challenges, there are probably even more than I have found but here's what I have:

PaperCutz- Halloween using stars, circles, diamonds, or crescents

Spoonfull of Sugar - Boo!!! - Halloween


Fab N' Funky - Things that Go Bump In The Night

Corrosive - Halloween (or orange and black)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

My first sucessful attempt at an easel card!!


Phindy's Place on Paper Craft Planet has reached 1000 members (actually, as of this moment there are 1022!!). To celebrate, the DT from Phindy's Challenge Blog are hosting several fun challenges over on the PCP page for us. Today's challenge was a "card-a-thon". I missed the live version of Cec's discussion but I went back and followed along later anyway. It sounded like great fun and I'm sorry I missed it! Cec "walked" us through making an easel card. She must be a wonderful teacher because this is the first easel card that I have done that actually works!


You should really go over to the PCP discussion and check it out - there's a great prize up for grabs and it's a random drawing - gotta love that! While you're there, become a member (if you're not already), I can't believe how fast we've grown from 1000 to 1022! Amazing!


This card also works for Stamp Something - Digi Day - I just love Phindy's Digis!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

One of my crazier ideas...


Hello all!

Well, I decided to make treat bags for all of the kids at the babysitter's. There's only 5 little girls (and my 2 month old son) so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? Yeah, okay! These cute little bags took a bit of time between coloring the adorable Phindy Image, cutting everything out, stamping/glittering the paper, and assembling them all - I think I'm nuts!

Though, I have to admit, they are adorable!


This project fits several challenges this week...I'm sure there are more but this is what I've found:



Stamp Something - Halloween Something

Pile It On - Kid Themed Halloween

Stamptacular Sunday - No Cards Allowed

Allsorts - "Bingo" (you've got to check it out, I can't explain but it's cool) - I chose the bottom row - I have a "tag" with the child's name on the back, I used a punch (to make the tag), and I have ribbon (to hold it closed).
Phindy's Place - Fancy Folds - I wasn't sure if this qualified or not since it's not a card but Phindy says it does, so I guess it must!!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Finally....my camera and computer are friends again!

Hello! I actually got to take a real picture of this card because my camera and computer are friends again! Woo Hoo! It's a good thing too since I couldn't figure out how to scan this card!

Phindy's Place Challenge Blog has a challenge this week that was a bit of a "challenge" for me. It's Fancy Fold Cards.....wasn't quite sure how I was going to go about that one. I looked up some tutorials and ended up just winging it! I think this card turned out pretty neat!

This is the card when it is all closed up.


Untie the ribbon, open the first flap and this is what you get (it says "Happy Birthday").


Now with flap #2 opened!


All the way opened! There's lots of room for a message in there!

Here's a top view so you can get a better idea of how it worked out!

The image for this card is a freebie from Phindy's Page on Paper Craft Planet. Our group has reached 1000 members, how cool is that? Anyway, I just had to use this little guy.

Speaking of Phindy reaching 1000 members, there are big doings on her PCP page starting this weekend to celebrate. If you're a member, stop over and join us, if you're not a member, stop over, become a member, and join us! I for one can't wait!!

This card is for:


Paper Cutz - Anything Goes

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Something Cute


You'll have to excuse the picture again this week - still missing my laptop :(. I had to scan this one in!

Soooo, Phindy's Challenge this week is to make "something cute". How easy is that with a Phindy Image? Here's my card.....

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

It's been a while!


Wow, life seems to have gotten crazy! It's been a while since I've posted but I'm back in the swing of things and I have an entry for Phindy's Challenge Blog. This week is a sketch challenge, I just LOVE sketch challenges!


I wasn't able to "clean up" my picture because my laptop with my photoshop program is currently not working - UGH! So, you get a rough picture - sorry!


I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this Phindy Image - it's one of the new Winter Cuties. I think it's my new favorite because it reminds me of my daughter and son! Too cute!


Without further ado, here is my card!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Ahhhhhhhhhh....quiet time!


It's 1 AM and my house is quiet. Why is it that my children don't seem to require sleep? My 2 month old son was up until after 11! 'the poor little guy had bags under his eyes but refused to give in to sleep.


Anyway, I've been enjoying the quiet and crafting (though I should have been cleaning!).


I made this sweet little thank you card using a freebie from Phindy's Place on Papercraft Planet. If you're not a member yet, you should really head over to the PCP page and join the group! There is a wonderful group of ladies who have become Phindy Phriends who chat regularly. I just love them all! If you're not into chatting, that's fine too, everyone would love it if you just shared your Phindy creations. If sharing isn't your thing, just come on over and join so we can get up to 1000 members! I'm DYING to find out what freebie Phindy will give us when we hit that big milestone (she has given us a PHABULOUS freebie for every 100 members) - we're only 18 people away!!! Plus, if you join the group, you can get the freebies we've already gotten!


I used papers from Summer Driggs. I just love her digital papers AND they're FREE! How great is that?


Now, here is the list of challenges that I have made this card for:




2.) Paper Sundaes - Fabulous Fall - I thought these rich brown colors just looked like fall, don't you?


3.) Papertake Weekly - Animal Magic - Little Miss Patty is such a cute little animal!


4.) Meljens Designs - Autumn Colors - it was 89 degrees here today, it didn't feel very much like the beginning of fall!


5.) Paper Play Challenges - Coffee and Cream - I can't stand coffee but I am loving this color combination - Paper Play is being sponsored by Phindy this week! I would REALLY like to win this challenge!


6.) Paper Cutz Challenge - use a critter


7.) Phindy's Place Challenge - Give Thanks - make a thank you card


8.) Stamp Something - Something with Fall Colors - WOW - lot's of challenges with Fall/Autumn colors!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Yet another Christmas Cutie!


Well, I'm not sure how I did it but I have made a second set of 8 cards this week! I just couldn't resist...Phindy's new Christmas/Winter Cuties are just so darn cute!!! This one "Chrissy Tree" is absolutely adorable. When my 3 year old daughter saw her, I had begun to color the lights and ornaments but her dress was still white. She asked why the girl had all the "stuff" on her, I explained that she was pretending to be a Christmas Tree. To that Alex said "well, she needs a green dress". So, Chrissy has a green dress.


Anyway, here is the list of challenges that these cards are for.




1.) Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - OWH Cards - now, you don't HAVE to make a set of 8 cards for OWH, I'm just a bit obsessive! I TRY to make sets of 8 when I send them to OWH because I saw someplace that they send out 8 boxes of cards at a time, this way each box gets one of the cards. If you are unfamiliar with OWH, read my sidebar, it explains a little bit about them and has their website. This week is also the Birthday Bash for the OWH Stars and Stamps Blog, there is a link to that site on my sidebar as well.

2.) Fussy and Fancy Friday - Christmas Colors - this does not have to be a Christmas card but these cards worked for this challenge.

3.) Christmas Card Challenge - Distressing - okay, I didn't distress these cards but you can use ANY Christmas card for this challenge blog at any time so it worked.

4.) A Spoon Full of Sugar - Anything Goes - Boy do I love the anything challenges!

5.) ABC Christmas Challenge - T is for Tree - well, this may be a little bit of a stretch, but in dear Chrissy's mind, she is a tree!
The sketch that I used for this card was one that I found on Paper Craft Planet. It was from Diana Gibbs. I just loved how simple it was!







Speaking of PCP - I am on a mission. I just love Phindy's Images and my Phindy's Phamily over at the PCP group. They are a bunch of wonderful women. We really are like a family, if not family, then definately very close friends! Anyway, here's my mission: Phindy is only 18 people away from 1000 members. She is also currently away visiting with her mother and father. My hope is that by the time she gets back, we will be up to 1000 members. I think she would be thrilled by that. Okay, I'm being slightly selfish here too, for every 100 members, Phindy has given away a phantastic phreebie (they're still available on her PCP page) and I'm betting that the freebie for 1000 would be AMAZING and I WANT IT! So, if you're not already a member, go check it out and sign up - tell your friends too!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Oh Wow! Check these out!


Phindy has released her Winter Cuties - WOW - they're adorable!!! Of course I need them all, however, I had to limit myself :(. Be sure to go visit Phindy's Challenge Blog to check out the release and go on the blog hop (there are prizes to be won).
Anyway, here is my first card using one of these adorable little ones - so sweet! This is "Tasty Flakes". What kid (who lives where there is snow) hasn't caught snow flakes on their tongue?? That's the best part of the first flurries!
This card (well 8 cards, I'll explain in a bit) is for several challenges:
1.) Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - OWH Cards - Phindy's is supporting OWH this month for their Birthday Bash all month long. (OWH is described in my sidebar) I saw someplace on the OWH site that they like to do batches of 8 boxes at a time so I try to make my cards in batches of 8.
2.) Stamp Something - Digi Day - use a digi
3.) Winter Wonderland - Monochromatic Colors










The sketch used for these cards was for last week's challenge at Stamptacular Sunday, I wasn't fast enough though and missed the deadline.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

One More Green Card!




I realized tonight that I almost always do Phindy's "Birdie" image in blue. Soooo, I decided to make her green for this week's challenge (that ends in just a little bit) at Phindy's Place. I paper pieced her because it's easier to paper piece while holding an infant than it is to color! Really, that's the only reason. For no reason at all, this turned out to be a monochromatic card (except the birdie).

I used digital papers from Summer Driggs Design. I really enjoy her papers and it's so nice to have so many that go together so easily!

There was no plan for a layout for this card, I was just playing. I think I like the way it turned out and the lacing was fun!

Hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and don't forget to go to Phindy's Challenge Blog tomorrow for her new release of Christmas Cuties!! Can't wait!!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's been a while!



Going back to work after having the baby is really throwing me for a loop!!! I have however, managed to get one card done (it's taken a few days in little bitty spurts of crafting time!).


So, here is my card. It's for a few different challenges:


1.) Paper Cutz - use tags




2.) Phindy's Place - "Going Green" - okay, I didn't take the recycled route, instead I made made her wear some green. This little cutie is from Phindy's Place! I just love her "Summer Cuties" and the "Halloween Cuties" Are great too! Now, on September 17th, Phindy will be releasing her "Winter Cuties" and I am soooooo excited. From what Phindy says, the DT has some exciting and fun stuff planned for us at the release party!!! Oh, and while you're checking out Phindy's Cuties, you should vote on her poll about what type of challenges you like the best, if you vote, you can enter to win one of her "Winter Cuties" for free! How easy is that?




3.) Paper Sundaes - at least 3 types of embellishments - I used wire on my tag, a plastic flower, and 2 eyelets (1 on the tag and 1 on the flower)




4.) Crafty Sentiments - use a digi - ALL of Phindy's images are digi's so that was easy too!




Tuesday, September 7, 2010

OWH Sketch Challenge


This month is a big birthday bash over at OWH Stars and Stamps blog. To celebrate, they have tons of fun challenges and other "stuff" going on. You should go check them out!

One of their challenges this month is a sketch challenge (Sketch #34). The challenge is to use the sketch, the color yellow, and make it a thank you card. Not so tough! I made this card with a Phindy Image "Birdie". I just love her and all of Phindy's other "cutie" images. They're so, well, cute!

I hope you'll head over to check out the OWH blog, they're a great organization for a great cause and they have some fun things going on all month long! Plus, there are lots of great prizes to win!

Friday, September 3, 2010

More bits and pieces!!


Well, I've decided that since today is my last official day of maternity leave, I would have a lazy day and just hang out - no house work, no errands, nothing! It's been great so far - we've successfully stayed in our pj's (except Johnny who decided to spit up on his) and not lifted a finger. I got the whole spa treatment from my 3 year-old (hair, make-up, and jewerly), AND I got to craft! Nice!!

So, now that I've rambled long enough, my SECOND card of the day is another paper pieced card. It is for several different challenges.


1. Phindy's Challenge Blog - Paper piecing - you should definately go check out Phindy's Blog and Store as well. She's having a poll on her blog, if you vote you might just win one of her "Halloween Cuties". At her store, she's having an end of summer sale - buy 3 images, get 1 free! Go check them out!


2 A Spoon Full Of Sugar - Sketch Challenge - I thought this simple sketch would work well for a boys card.


3. The Corrosive Challenge - "For the Guys" - I'm so glad that I have a guy card to make, I've had this paper FOREVER and never got around to using it. I've seen it a lot lately from other people's blogs and wanted to try it out.


4. Cards for Men - "Long Summer Days" - Now, this Phindy Image is definately a summer one in my book - ride on toys NEED to be OUTSIDE when you live in a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids and a dog! Plus, shooting any liquid out of a straw better only happen outside!


5. Stamp Something - Something Cute - well, he is cute, isn't he?

Paper Piecing!


Well, I have spent WAY too much time on this card today and I REALLY need to get some housework done while my baby is FINALLY sleeping - ah, this was way more fun!!

This card is for 6 different challenges:

1.) Phindy's Challenge Blog - Paper Piecing


3.) Allsorts Challenge - inspiration from a garden or park

4.) Stamptacular Sunday - Pretty in Pink

5.) Crafty Sentiments - "Summer Inspirations"

6.) Paper Cutz - 1 ribbon, 2 buttons, 3 colors

Thursday, September 2, 2010

One more Christmas card


Okay, I REALLY am not in the mood to think about Christmas but those ladies at Phindy's Place seem to insist upon it!


Well, earlier in the week, Phindy was welcoming a new member to her PCP group (you should really join, we're almost at 1000 members and I bet there will be a great freebie given away when we reach that milestone!) and she mentioned the freebies (as always) and the challenge blog (as always) but then said that she wasn't sure that any of the freebies would work for this challenge. This of course got me thinking. I decided to challenge myself to see if I could get one of those freebies to work for the Christmas challenge. I think it worked pretty well!


So, this card fits for Phindy's Challenge: Christmas in Summer, and Sketch Saturday: Sketch.

A touch of frost


I'm back with another Christmas Card. This one just looks frosty to me!

For this card, I used a Phindy Image - I just love this snowman and his little friends. Phindy's Challenge this week (which ends today) is "Christmas In August". I don't normally like blue for Christmas but this seemed to work for me last night.

The sketch that I used is from Friday Sketchers - as usual, I wasn't sure about the sketch until I started working with it, I think it turned out pretty cool! (haha, frosty/cool, I'm just so tricky!)

Winter Wonderland's challenge this week is "All I want for Christmas". All I really want for Christmas is to be with my family and friends so this little snowman is getting just what I want!

Over at Pollycraft Monday, they want us to "add a little nature" to our cards. All of these furry and feathery friends are my touch of nature.

Papertake Weekly is challenging us to add just one of something on their card (images don't count) in their "Just the One" challenge. I have just one flower!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Christmas In August??!!


Okay, I'm sitting infront of my air conditioner while I make a Christmas Card - something's not right there! There are several Christmas Challenges going on right now and I never seem to have enough Christmas Cards ready when the time comes. So, these challenges will help me.


This card is for several different challenges:

1.) Phindy's Place - Christmas In August - Okay, this is NOT a Christmas Image from Phindy but she's adorable and she looks like she's ready to celebrate, why not have her celebrate Christmas?

2.) Card Patterns - Sketch

3.) Christmas Card Challenge - Sparkle and Shine - The glass beads that I used as the center of my flowers added some sparkle and shine to my card.

4.) Paper Sundaes - Christmas In August - fell in love with these papers from Summer Driggs Designs and decided to use them instead of traditional Christmas colored papers.

5.) Cupcake Craft - Lets go digital - not only is the image a digi, the papers are too

6.) Creative Inspirations - Christmas In August - I TOLD you that there were a lot of Christmas Challenges going on right now!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

It's Almost September!


Can you believe the summer is almost over and it's time to go back to school? Part of me is thrilled about this because I LOVE Fall! Part of me is sad because I do NOT LOVE Winter!

For this card, I used a cute little freebie image from MelJens Designs and paper pieced the whole thing. I think it looks pretty cute!

This "back to school card" is for several challenges:

1.) The Beary Sweet Challenge - In Stitches

2.) Pixie Dust - Stitch it Up!

3.) Fussy & Fancy Friday - Back to School

4.) Stamp Something - Back to School


6.) Sentimental Sundays - Clean and Simple

Saturday, August 28, 2010

I wish I could be this relaxed!


Hello Again!

I'm back with another card with a Phindy Image - I just love her images!! This time I have "Sudsy Susie" - I wish I could be her!!!

This card is for several different challenges (big surprise there!):

1.) The Corrosive Challenge - "drinks are on us"


3.) Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - shaped card

4.) Creative Card Crew Challenge - Sparkle and Shine

Hope you enjoyed this one!

Oh, and, don't forget, Phindy has a chance to win one of her Halloween Cuties over at her Blog. All you have to do is vote on the poll and you can enter to win! How easy is that?? Go vote now!

Friday, August 27, 2010

It's wayyyyyy too late for me to be up!


Hello all! It's way too late for me to be up and I'm hoping to finish this post before a certain little babe wakes up and wants to be fed!

I used another one of Phindy's Summer Cuties on this one. "Birdie" seems to be a bit sophisticated for her age, doesn't she? She reminds me of my 8 year old step-daughter who is still a little girl in so many ways but thinks she is "hot stuff" with her texting and facebook!

Speaking of Phindy, she as a "just for fun" poll going over at her blog. If you vote, you can enter to win her newest Halloween Cutie (she's pretty adorable) before you can even buy it at her store! That's simple, you should go check it out!

This card is for 3 different challenges:

1.) Cute Card Thursday: No Diecut machines (I don't have any so that part was easy) and no punchs (okay, that was a bit harder)

2.) Card Patterns: Sketch

3.) Delightful Challenges: Cute and Girly using pearls and lace - I found that this black lace is a bit of a bear to work with but I loved the end result! I snuck the pearl into the middle of the flower (which I cut out of the paper and used as an embellie)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Black & White Only! Seriously?


Yup, that's right, the Wild Flower Wednesday Challenge this week is to make black and white card. I really didn't think that I was going to make this one. It just wasn't coming together in my mind.


Then I started playing....


I used an image from The Wild Flower Patch - it was a freebie a while ago. I made it completely black (though I REALLY wanted to go brown).


The papers are digital papers that a friend of mine had directed me toward.


The sketch is from this week's Paper Sundaes' Challenge.


Sentimental Sunday's challenge is to use inspirational words. I searched and searched and came up with this quote that I think works!


Okay, I like the card, I really do, but I SO BADLY want to put a bright red apple in that tree!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A whole bunch of challenges!


A friend of mine shared a link with me to Summer Driggs' Blog, she has the most amazing digi papers! They come in complete digi kits and are free! (She does have paypal set up so you can send her a donation if you wish.) Well, when I saw that Cupcake Craft's challenge this week was blue and green, I immediately thought of Summer's paper pack, Relax. They're perfect!


Of course, I then went off in search of challenges to combine it with...


Digital Tuesday's Challenge is called "Cool-It!". They want images with water/beach/or tropical themes to help us "cool down" after a hot summer. I thought of "Splashy Siena", one of Phindy's Summer Cuties. She's helping cool down that cute little duck! I think the cool colors of Summer's Paper complement the theme and image nicely!


I then needed a sketch. After looking through a few, I decided on Sketch Saturday's sketch this week. That one just caught my eye!


After picking the sketch, I went through some more challenges to see if anything fit....lo and behold, I found 2 more!


Spoonfull of Sugar has a choice of 2 challenges this week. You can either make a shaker card OR do a 3-2-1 with 3 flowers, 2 buttons, and 1 ribbon OR combine the two. Shaker cards never quite work out for me sooooo, I decided the 3-2-1 would work well with this sketch. I decided to use lace for my ribbon, actually, it's paper lace. I wish I knew where my mother found it (or that she could remember) because I love working with it and it's almost gone!




Sooooooooooooo, this led me to my final challenge to combine all of these with......Crafty Sentiments Challenge this week is "lace". Well, that was easy, I had already planned on using lace.


So, that's my card! Hope you like it!!!




So Sweet!


Hello all! I finished this sweet little card last night and wanted to post it for all of you to see today! I just love how it came out! It's so sweet, the colors just seemed to work so well.

This is my third entry for Phindy's Challenge Blog. This week, her challenge is to make a card for a small child or baby. I love this little summer cutie "Summer Blossom". She's such a sweet little girl!

Speaking of the "cuties", Phindy has started releasing some of her Halloween Cuties - I NEED them, there are also several Summer Cuties that I still need!! So, I NEED to win the random drawing for Phindy's Challenge.

Phindy is sponsoring this week's challenge at Cupcake Inspirations. (I NEED to win this challenge too) Their photo inspiration this week has 3 cupcakes with white frosting and lavendar flowers with chocolatey brown flourishey stems. I used the colors and tried to imitate one of the flowers in my flowers in the bottom left corner, I think I'm liking the way they came out! I "made" the flourishey "stem", by stamping with a clear acrylic stamp on my green paper and then cutting it out. It's times like these that I really wish I could afford a Cricut!

I used a sketch from Friday Sketchers' this for this card. I wasn't so sure that I liked the sketch when I first saw it but then I decided to give it a try. I just love the way it turned out!

Finally, Papertake Weekly has a 3-2-1 challenge this week. You can use anything you want as long as it's 3 of something, 3 of something and 1 of something. I have 3 DPs, 2 Flowers, and 1 image. When I first read this challenge, I thought it was going to be a bit tricky, it was very simple!


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Big Brother Card


My friend just had her second baby which made her 2 year old son a big brother. Big brothers (and big sisters) need special cards to celebrate the occasion - especially since Mommy, Daddy, and the new baby are getting so much attention! Soooo, I made this cute, quick little card for my friend Landyn because being a big brother is a big deal!

I used a Phindy Image (well, half of one actually - I used the other half of the image that I used for my last card) for this one and it fits in Phindy's Challenge this week because it is for a small child! WooHoo - something I needed and a challenge in one!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Playing Some More With Digital Papers!


I've been downloading some digital papers lately. Oh, they are so much fun and my paper piles have not grown an inch (as if they need to!). They've all been free too so it's quite nice on the pocketbook!!


As soon as I saw this cupcake paper from Summer Driggs, I KNEW it had to be used with Phindy's image, "It's All Yours". I ended up cropping the image so only one of the cutie patootie groundhogs are on the card. I also used the cupcake from the image (shrunken) as my embellies.


Anyway, I decided to use those papers and image for a card that I was making for my Step Daughter to take to a birthday party today. Well, the card got made and Trinity didn't like it so she ended up taking one from my stash anyway!


Oh well, such is life!


But, this card qualifies for a few different challenges:




2.) Pixie Dust Studios - Polka Dots


3.) Wild Flower Wednesday - Polka Dots


4.) Paper Cutz - Anything


5.) Phindy's - Oh baby! - a card for a baby or small child - well, not really baby but it is for a small child!


6.) Stamp Something - digi day - well, digital paper AND a digital image, definately digi!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Just for Fun!


The ladies in the Phindy's Place Group on Paper Craft Planet were talking about digital/printable papers tonight. I had never used them but decided to check out a few links they were sharing. Well, checking them out led to playing with them, which led to making a card with them!


My friend Mary had shared a link for The Angel Company which has tons of free downloads. They have some really neat black and white papers. I decided to print some of them on yellow cardstock. I printed out three different patterns and then played with them. I used black cardstock to layer with. Those were the only papers I used!


The image is also digital. It's one of Phindy's Images. This one is called "Celebrate with Cake" and can be found at Phindy's Place along with a ton of other fabulous images (I can't wait for the fall/winter cuties to come out)!


Alright, enough rambling....I hope you like my card that I made just for fun!


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I'm on a paper piecing kick!


Once again, I'm back with another late night card and it has paper piecing again! I had so much fun with it the last 2 times, I decided to try a 3rd! I think this little summer cute from Phindy's Place just needed some gingham - don't you agree?


Speaking of the summer cuties - Phindy is going to be coming out with fall/winter cuties soon - I just can't wait to see them....I really need to do some shopping!


Okay, this adorable little card is for 4 different challenges:

1.) Phindy's Place Challenge Blog - Pink - how easy is that?


3.) The Corrosive Challenge - Faux Techniques - I used faux stitching around the card and around my little "scallops"

4.) Pollycraft Monday - In Stitches - again, my faux stitching worked for this!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

A little more Pink!


Hello again! I'm back tonight with another "pink" card! This one has a whole different feel, softer and sweeter I'd say.

Well, I had a picture in my head of this card, didn't quite turn out that way thought.....I was trying to follow a sketch but it just wasn't working for me so I abandoned ship and just flew by the seat of my pants! I like doing that every once in a while anyway.

So, this card is for Phindy's Pink Challenge. I just love "speedster", she's adorable and fun!

I also made this one for the Allsorts Challenge - paper piercing or paper piecing. I was a little upset that I had JUST done a paper piecing card before I checked the Allsorts Challenge but I decided that, since I loved the last one, I would just do another! I think sh turned out pretty cute...

Sentimental Sunday's Challenge this week is ribbons or lace. I added ribbon and my version of a bow - I can't tie a bow to save my life!