Birthday Greetings

Today is the birthday of a very dear friend of mine. Bonnie is a very special person to me. Last year I made her a birthday card using one of Mo Manning's images, and I wanted something equally as lovely for her this year. I finally chose this cute little image by Saturated Canary. Saturated Canary are my current "favorite" images to colour. I have such a great time colouring their beautiful hair (although this image's hair isn't quite as long and flowing as most). This one is called "Thank You" which, though used for a birthday, seemed a very appropriate image to use as I am so very thankful to have Bonnie in my life.

I printed my image onto X-press It card and coloured her with my Copic markers. I then cut her out using one of my shaped Spellbinder dies. I then made a green card using DCWV cardstock. On top of the card, I placed a piece of patterned paper from a little pad of paper called Summer Goodness (by Raspberry Road Designs out of the UK). I mounted a piece of red checked paper onto white and a piece of green dotty onto white (both from the same paper pad). On the upper left corner of the green dotty paper, I added a bit of doily and on top of that, I cut a corner from a bit of paper that I had punched with a Fiskars border punch. I cut the little bit of the border so that the flower was centered in the corner, and I added a tiny pearl to the middle of the flower.

After adding the red checkered piece to my card, I added a layer of cotton lace and a very narrow red ribbon. This created a wee bit of bulk, so I used dimensional pop-up dots to adhere the green dotty piece. I printed the sentiment and cut it using a small circle Spellbinder die. I matted the sentiment circle on top of a scalloped circle by Spellbinder. I finished off my little card with roses, white tulips and white strawberry blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts and green leaves which I punched using a McGill hand punch.

Bonnie has already received this little card (in fact, she had to send me the photo of it because I didn't take one before mailing it off to her). I know she won't mind me sharing it with you, my blog followers.

Have a great day, Bonnie. My thoughts are there with you even though I cannot be.

Pearls and Lace

Our challenge this week over at Card Crafter's Circle was to use pearls and lace on our cards. Our wonderful sponsor is  DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS! However, we were allowed to use images from other designers, and while I really LUV Di's images (and own quite a number of them), I had a need for this specific kind of card, so I used a Sassy Cheryls image instead.

The generous Di is offering our randomly drawn challenge winner a $10 credit at the shop (which equals about 4 images, or it can be used towards the purchase of a larger order). This is a wonderful offer, and I know our winner is going to have a hard time picking from among the fun, fantastic images offered in Di's shop.

The design team for Card Crafter's Circle really went above and beyond this week with some gorgeous cards featuring pearls and lace. Do hop over to http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/ and check them out. You won't be disappointed.

Now, to my little contribution. As mentioned above, the sweet little image is by Sassy Cheryls (http://www.sassycheryls.blogspot.com/). It is printed onto X-Press It Copic card and coloured with my Copic markers. The card base is pink by Bazzil. The pattern paper (pink floral and green) are from a 6x6" pad by Basic Gray called "Out of Print." The ecru lace is by a company called "Simplicity." I purchased it at my local, small fabric store. The large rose is from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the four small ones were in a package I purchased at Michael's as were the small pearls I used in the upper corner.

Once I coloured my image and cut it out using my circle Spellbinder die, it was just a matter of layering the different papers, lace and flowers to create my sweet little card. I used the same paper for the inside of my card. The sentiment is an actual stamp that belongs to my girlfriend (sorry, I meant to copy down the name of the manufacturer after I used it so I could list it here, but forgot -- as usual, we were busy crafting, talking and laughing, so I got side-tracked).

I hope you enjoy. Stop on over and enter your lovely creation in the pearls and lace challenge this week. Would love to see your art work.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
http://www.southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.com/ - get your girly on
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/ - little girl
http://littledarlingschallenges.blogspot.com/ - flowers

Here a Stitch; There a Stitch

People who know me know that I do not sew. It is sad because I own three very nice, expensive sewing machines that do all manner of decorative stitches -- all given to me (probably in the hope that they might inspire me to learn to sew - HA). It isn't that I don't know how to do the basic things -- sew a straight line to repair a seam, for example -- but I don't enjoy sewing, and despite a couple of classes, I cannot grasp the concepts of putting things together. It is even more sad because my Grandmother was a wonderfully talented seamstress who could make clothes even without patterns.

Having shared that bit of information with you, I now have to admit that I shuddered a bit when this week's challenge for Card Crafter's Circle ( http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/) required sewing/stitches. OK, so I could have used faux stitches or rub-on stitches as those are allowed, but I'm also not a big fan of either of those techniques, so I bit the bullet and opened up one of the sewing machines and (after two attempts) managed to sew the one panel onto my card. Had planned on sewing the stripy panel, too, but decided not to push my luck!

Anyway, I have managed to babble on quite a bit and haven't told you about the challenge for this week. So here are the details -- Our sponsor this week is another returning sponsor, LIMITED RUNS! There is such a variety of images at Limited Runs that I know our winner is going to have a hard time making a choice. While you're there, check out the freebie offer, and the many many, CUPCAKE images! There are cupcake images for every occasion, and I promise they are calorie free! Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive their choice of 3 (three) images from the Limited Runs shop. As mentioned, you can use actual stitches, faux hand-drawn ones or rub-on ones. It doesn't matter how you created your stitches as long as we can see them on your card/art work.

My little card is quite simple. The little birthday pup from Limited Run  coloured up so nice and cute that I really didn't need a lot of extras to make this a darling little card with a bit of a masculine feel. Male cards are often difficult to create beause so many of the stamps and digital images available to us card makers tend to be more feminine. In keeping the masculine look, I went with primary colours. My image was coloured with my Copic markers, and the papers I used came from my scrap stash. My sentiment, which matches the Limited Run image perfectly, is from a set that I own designed by Adam Prescott. Last, as some of you know, I'm not a real button fan and don't own a lot of them, so I was very pleasently surprised to find the little star buttons and tiny red ones in my embellishment stash. I was totally unaware that I had them, but thought they were just what my little card needed to finish off.

In closing, let me say that we would love to see what you do with stitches, so get out the sewing machine, sewing/embroidery floss, ink pen or stickers and get busy. Then, hop on over to http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/ and enter your lovely piece in this week's challenge!

Need a Hug

I have a friend who lives about 1.5 hrs. from me in LaFayette, GA. Every other Wednesday, I drive up to her house, and we spend the day together crafting. Yesterday was our Wednesday, and I managed to get a few cards "almost" done. It is difficult for me to actually complete a craft all the way through as I don't have my stash of supplies with me, and I've yet to get organized enough to fully plan out my projects so that I know what all to take with me. One of these days maybe I'll reach that point, but somehow I'm doubting it (grin).

Anyway, I did go up with cardstock, 6x6" pads of paper and a stack of already coloured images, so I was able to get a lot done, and only just had to embellish once I got home. The little Magnolia image card above is one of the (two) bases I worked on yesterday. (OK, I know two "almost" cards aren't a lot for the time spent, but we did do a lot of talking, laughing. eating, etc. After all, it is called a "play" day!)

Miss Tilda is coloured with Copic markers on X-press It card. The base for my card is Core-dinations card in green. The green pattern, floral, checked and stripy papers are all from the "Howdy Doody" 6x6" pad from My Mind's Eye. The white mat between the green card and green patterned paper is from my stash.

My card is 5.5 x 5.5" square. The white layer is 5.25x5.25" and then the green patterned paper is about 1/8" smaller than the white. On top of that, I cut and placed a piece of the floral, red checkered and stripy paper (the stripy punched with a Martha Stewart border punch). I cut a doily (Marianne die) from the same green as the base card, and a filligre heart (Joy Craft) from pink. I matted the image onto green card. The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts.

This little image is so adorable that the card doesn't need a lot of fru-fru to distract from it. I've used the floral and the red checkered paper for the inside to frame the sentiment whenever I get ready to use this card.

Hope you enjoy my little Tilda card. Thanks for stopping by.

Bonnie and Me

Bonnie Kohane's Card

My Card

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you may remember about a month or so ago I shared two cards that were the same but different. While visiting my friend Bonnie in Indianapolis, we each created the same background for a card and then finished it off with two different Mo Manning images. Bonnie used a little dog on her card, and I used Oskar, a grandfatherly image.

Well, we've done it again. Only sad thing is that we had to get together via internet and not in person. Using the same sketch and some of the same papers (well, the background floral piece and the wood strip piece are the same - the rest are different) we each created a card on our own.

As you can see, Bonnie and I both used Magnolia stamps for our cards.  Bonnie specifically used the Magnolia image so that she could enter her card in a Magnolia challenge. I used my little image because it fit in the oval (grin). Since I made the card base first, I had to then find an image that would go with my card, and this little Tilda was perfect.

We both started with a white card (mine is 5.5" x 5.5", and Bonnie's is 5" x 5"). On top of that, I placed a piece of purple and Bonnie used a Bazzill gray to mat our patterned paper (from My Mind's Eye). The strip of wood looking paper is also by My Mind's Eye. That piece is also matted with the purple/gray. Next, my yellow strip is from the same little My Mind's Eye pad (Bonnie's yellow piece is also by Bazzill). She cut two pieces of the yellow and matted them both. I only cut one piece of the yellow which I matted with the purple.

As you can see, I turned the sketch a quarter turn so that my wood strip is at the top rather than along the side. My oval shape is also from side to side rather than up and down. We cut our ovals using a Spellbinder regular oval and then a scalloped oval. Bonnie added lovely swirls using a Memory Box die (which I don't have, but definitely need to think about getting - grin).

So there you have it -- two for one (smile). For a better look at Bonnie's card, go over to her blog (http://grandmabonniesplace.blogspot.com/2012/04/this-ones-for-you-my-friend.html). I know you will enjoy the visit because Bonnie is a very creative, talented crafter.

P.S. Yes, I realize to be grammatically correct, my title for this entry should be "Bonnie and I"; however, that just didn't seem to fit the mood (smile). Bonnie and me just sound more homey and friendlier -- ok?

Pastels and Gentle Colours

The challenge for the DT team this week was to use our sponsor's image with pastel colours. I keep thinking I'm not really a pastel person, but when I look back at many of my cards, I realize that I use a lot more pastel colours than I think I do. Anyhoo, first the details of our challenge --

We are happy to welcome back, as our sponsor, Happileigh Scrappin' (http://happiscrappinstore.blogspot.com.au/). Her delightful little images lend themselves well to a soft colour palette (as you will see from the DT cards at Card Crafter's Circle (http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/). My DT sisters are quite talented ladies, so you will enjoy seeing their lovely works even if you decide not to join us this week with the challenge (but it is such an easy challenge that I cannot see how you wouldn't - smile). Our randomly drawn challenge winner will receive the 4 Sponsor images the Design Team has created with - coloured and uncoloured!

My delightful image of the little mouse sneaking cookies from the cookie jar reminded me of a song we used to sing with the younger kiddies when I was teaching kindergarten and grade 1. The song was called "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar." It was a fun little song that helped the children learn each other's names. Oh, I digress down memory lane -- sorry.

I happen to receive a little gift package of papers from a company in the UK just as I received this DT assignment. The papers were a perfect compliment to this little image as the colours are pastel, and the one sheet was covered with those delightful tea pots. After colouring my image using Copic markers, I covered a white base card with solid pink. I then cut the teapot paper to use on just the top half of my front. I used a Martha Steward edge punch to create the white lace that separates the pattern paper from the solid pink. I added a small pink grosgrain ribbon and bow. Over the top of  patterned paper, I place two squares of solid paper (from the UK paper), staggering them over each other. I then matted my image with the pink and placed it on the top square. I typed the sentiment on white card and cut it using just the top portion of one of my Spellbinder dies. I tucked the sentiment under the green square so that the words are peeking out on the side. Lastly, I added two pink gingham buttons from my stash. Everything came together quite nicely to make this charming little card. I was rather pleased with it once it was all done.

Hope you will create something lovely today using soft, pastel colours. Then hop over to the Card Crafter's Circle blog and enter this week's challenge. We'd love to see what you create.

Chocolate Bunny

Hello my dear blogger friends. I know I've not been around much -- just my weekly posts for the Card Crafter's Circle DT challenges/cards. After being tagged for a week of jury duty followed by my little granddaughter (whom I keep during the week) having a week's bout with strep, I'm running way behind. I've been madly trying to get my samples finished up for new dies for Dutch Paper Crafts, and I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Had hoped to get those samples in the post today, but sadly, will be Monday before they get sent out.

Anyhow, this week's challenge at Card Crafter's Circle is CHOCOLATE BUNNY. You are asked to either use chocolate as your colour scheme or to use a bunny. We are excited to have a fabulous returning sponsor MELJENS DESIGNS. Meljen images are so delightful and fun. Her whimsey is quite charming, so if you haven't visited the Meljen site, treat yourself and go have a look.

I have kept with the Easter theme for my card, but you don't have to use your bunny for Easter (after all, Easter is just two days away, so you may have finished up all the Easter cards you need). Bunnies are also delightful images for babies, spring, birthdays, love -- hey, who doesn't love a bunny?

The image I used is MD Hop Along Bunny. I coloured it up using my Copic markers. My base is white card, and picking up the flower theme in the design, I used a colourful flower design as my background paper. I used a sketch from "The Sweet Stop" sketch challenge blog (http://sweetstopsketches.blogspot.com). I placed a strip of pink card across the patterned paper and then cut a piece of ribbon which I layered on top of the pink and under the image. I inked the square from which my image is cut and matted it atop a piece of blue paper. Lastly, I added the flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts) and the sentiment (matted with pink). Not a tremendous amount of work, but the results is a colourful, spring-ish card that celebrates the season. Over all, a rather pretty little card.

If you have a few minutes (or are looking for a bit of inspiration), drop by Card Crafter's Circle (http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.com/) and see what my DT teammies have created. I know you will enjoy all the wonderful cards. Also, remember to enter our challenge this week as our  randomly drawn challenge winner will receive 4 digital images (uncoloured) of their choice... and since Melissa's designs are FAB, you'll not want to miss the opportunity of possibly getting four free images.

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates this glorious season.