Blog Hop!

Today is the start of Cindy Echtinaw's blog hop! It is a "Thank You" blog hop in honor of the sponsors of her StampingScrapping Design Team. If you want to follow the "hop" (and enter to win the pize!) start at Cindy's blog: http://stampingscrappingstore.blogspot.com/

Blog Candy @ Scrap Garden

The "Scrap Garden" blog is having a birthday...the very 1st! So "Happy Birthday" to you! Jamie is offering blog candy to celebrate so I became a follower...only partly because of the candy! There is a lot of neat stuff on her blog as well as on her "Beary Scrap Design Team Challenge Blog"! If you want to go look here are the links: http://Jamiesdesigngarden.blogspot.com/2011/03/happy-birthday-to-my-blog.html (for the candy!) and...

http://www.thebearyscrapdesignteam.blogspot.com (for the challenge blog)

A Special B-day Card

This birthday card is special simply because it is for a special lady: my sister-in-law Julie. She is such a sweet and talented "girl" (she still has a couple years before she hits the big 5-0)! By profession she is a floral designer but she does so many artsy craftsy things...she is amazing! SO creative AND such a big heart! Did I say, she's amazing? She is! For this card, I followed a color "sketch" or theme required for a certain challenge: using kraft, cream, dark brown, + "choice"... and I chose aqua.

• My ingredients:


• Paper- most is from my stash, the brown w/aqua swirls is K&C.


• Stamps- Lg. swirl is "Vintage Flourish" from Stampabilities, Sis is Storybk alphabet from Stampendous, connected hearts are from "Anglaise Lace" from StampingScrapping.com, plus a few others; on the inside is a Bible verse from Verve Stamps.


• Die-cuts- Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4


• Rhinestone gems- Basics by Kaisercraft


• Ribbon- from my "growing!" stash.

Entering this card in 2 challenges: http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ - "Colors: Kraft, etc." http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.com/ - Challenge #42, "Special Birthday"

A Wedding Card for Ben

Today is "Wedding Day" for my daughter Chris's brother-in-law Ben. I don't usually spend so much time on cards for people that I don't know very well but I was looking for an excuse to make another one of these! It is somewhat different than the other one (posted Feb. 18) and I was not able to enter that one in any challenges, so now I will! The ingredients: *both lavender papers and the pearls are from my stash *the off-white irridescent paper is the Cryogen *all the stamps are from the "Lacey Circles" set from StampingScrapping.com (except for the flower in the very center of the circle and the "Best Wishes" sentiment) *the ribbon and tiny flowers are from HobbyLobby *I used the Martha Stewart punch "Scalloped Flower Border" and the Cuttlebug embossing folder "Swirls" I am entering it in 2 challenges: "Pastel Colors with Bling" - http://houseofgilli.blogspot.com/ "Pastel Challenge" - http://stampingscrappingchallengecentral.blogspot.com/ Well, off to a quick clean-up job on my house to get ready for babysitting my 2 little grandsons during the wedding & reception! Happy Saturday to you all!

March Road Trip & "Green" Card

No, not the Green Card that keeps you from being an illegal alien...it's the "Green" card that I made for Anary's challenge blog! A St. Patty's Day card. It says "Aye, and may the luck o' the Irish be with you!" I used a Tilda that is really a Christmas Tilda but I colored her apron green and put shamrocks in her pigtails and have her holding a string of shamrocks. Or are they 4-leaf clovers? Does someone out there know the difference?
I sewed a piece of fabric across the card which I had first stamped with green ink so it would match the other colors better. The light green behind Tilda is embossed with the flower folder from Cuttlebug. Tilda is colored with colored pencils...do you like her red hair? She's got a bit o' the Irish in her, don't ya know.
And a Happy St. Patty's Day to you all!



Hey, I just got back here to snow-country from "down south" where it is, yes, WARM! Hubby and I took a spur-of-the-moment road trip.
The destination was Gulf Shores but we meandered through Indiana, Kentucky (went to the Creation Museum...so cool!), Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and then to Gulf Shores, AL for a few days.
We got to see our very first Mardi Gras parade! Came home with a ton of bead necklaces and Moon Pies! (NO flashing involved! Eeewwww!)
I ate several kinds of "Southern" foods on this trip: deep fried okra, greens with pork, sweet potatoe fluff, fried green tomatoes, black-eyed peas. I think I ate several kinds of EVERYTHING! I know I gained weight on this trip. Good thing spring is just around the corner so I can get outside and get busy with my flower gardens soon.
That was just a little depressing coming back up north watching the trees have less and less buds and greenery on them...and more and more snow on the ground! Oh well, we had a great trip and feels so good to be home again...and back in my craft room!!


This St. Patrick's Day card is being entered in 4 challenges:
1)"Buttons & Bling" @ http://magnoliastamplovers.blogspot.com/
2)"Fabulous Fabric" @ http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/
3)"Luck of the Irish" -Week 52 @ http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/
4)"Sketch" @ http://stampingscrappingchallengecentral.blogspot.com/


As always, I love to read your comments, so comment away, my friends!

My "fixer-upper" card....I fixed it!

Well, that last card really bugged me. I couldn't leave it alone...had to "fix" it somehow! So I followed some of the suggestions I got from helpful people and...voila! TWO new cards! I realized it was the background color I didn't like so I simply removed it and replaced it with a subtle pastel stripe...not so intense! And I changed the ribbon (as suggested) and like it much better. So what do you think?

However, that slightly used coral colored paper with the polka dot stripe and the peach ribbons all attached I couldn't just throw away....I'm much too Dutch for that! ...so I worked alot longer trying to salvage that. Now its a little more "okay" and I will actually give it to someone! I love the Bible verse I've printed on it...that stamp is a new one I just got from Verve. The green swirls stamp: I didn't write down the brand name but that set can be found at Joanne Fabric.
I don't think I will be using that coral for a card ever again!...well, maybe as an accent color.
So, I hope your Saturday is fun, productive and full of "sunshine"! Its a great day to prepare to go to God's house tomorrow for worship.
Hugs!
P.S. Thanks again for help with my troublesome card, to all of you who commented and made suggestions!

"I'm Thinking of You!"

Have you ever had one of those days
when you fuss over a card you're
making, tweeking it, adding details, adding just the right embellishments that you think "go" perfectly...only to be dissatisfied with it when you're done? THIS is one of those cards for me...its kind of OK...that's all. But the House Mouse image IS one of my favorites...in fact I like all of the elments alot...just not put together quite like that I guess! Oh well, I'm still entering it in a few challenges!

Here's some of the stuff I used :
1)The stamped image of Maxwell the House Mouse- "Feeling Rosey" colored with colored pencils
2)Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle dies

3)on that scalloped die cut is a stamp from Cindy's Lacey Circles set
4)Martha Stewart scalloped flower border punch

5)the white paper is Cryogen, the rest is from my stash

6)as well as the ribbon and buttons

7)the "Thinking of You" & heart stamp are acrylic ones from ??? (sorry)

I stamped those 2 stamps in a pattern for the background paper in green, but then I think I covered it up too much....it really did turn out nice!

The challenges I'm entering this card in:

http://scrappyfrogschallenge.blogspot.com/ - "Love"

http://housemouseandfriends.blogspot.com/ - "Love"

http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.com/ - "Favorite House Mouse Stamp" #89

http://theshabbytearoom.blogspot.com/ -Week #50 - "Buttons & Bows"

http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ - "Get Wordy"

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com - #179 (Sketch)

This time, any advice on what I could have done differently to improve this card....please! Feel free to comment! Thanks!!

"Best Wishes" to the Happy Couple!

Yesterday I found a beautiful card on someone else's blog...can't quite remember how I got there but her name is Jean Martin, the gal who designed the card. She said it got published in a magazine and I could see why it was chosen...its gorgeous! Soooo...I thought I'd try something similar. And here is what I came up with. I doubt if you can see it but I used that nice iridescent Cryogen paper and all the stamps I used are from Cindy Echtinaw's "Lacey Circles" set. Oh except there is a flower one in the very center of the circle design which I colored and covered partially with the paper flower and button. I'm curious to see what Cindy thinks of this one!

The lavender paper and the ribbon are from my stash; everything else can be purchased at Cindy's http://www.stampingscrapping.com/ ! I looked at my list of challenges that I sometimes enter cards in and believe it ot not this card doesn't work for anything! Oh well, this one was just fun to make. And I'm pleased with how it turned out. It is going to be a wedding card (I have to finish the wording and design on the inside yet). So, "Thank You", Jean Martin!

And thanks in advance to anyone leaving some kind comments!

*******************************

Well, its now a few days later and, yes, I HAD to "fix" the uneven edge on the card! The photo made it look worse than it was but I still didn't like it. So I took it all aprt on that side and trimmed and trimmed and reglued and rephotographed. So here's the corrected version:

And since I finished the inside of the card as well I'll include a picture of that too!