Happy Thursday!
Thanks to everyone that stopped by during my scheduled posts over the last week!  It was nice to have a little get-away with the hubby and see some family and friends.  Oh and get my butt kicked in my first Tough Mudder race!  That's right, I did that!  I'll share pics at the end of this post.

But for now, we have a fun new challenge starting today at Meljen's Designs!  We want to see patchwork on your creations!  I had a lot of fun with this one.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my card, but like always, waited until the last minute to get it done...oh well :)

I still love it :)

I used a bunch of sweet little heart papers from Lawn Fawn, cut them into 1x1 inch squares and pieced them all together on my white mat.  Then I did a zig-zag stitch around all of them with my sewing machine.  That took a lot of time, but fortunately my machine didn't fuss with me too much so it went pretty smooth!

After finishing the background, I really didn't want to cover the whole thing up, so I kept everything else pretty simple.  I used the sweet Little Pocket Puppy image from Meljen's Designs and colored it all in with my ShinHan markers.  I added a little StarDust stickles to the pocket and some gold thread for some fun added detail.  The heart doily fit perfectly behind him, so I had to add that.  And then I used my favorite new Spellbinders die banner for the sentiment!  It seems to be the banner I reach for with almost every card lately.  Perfect size!  I stamped a fun sentiment from the Hero Arts Everyday Sayings set.

So be sure to stop by Meljen's Designs to see the rest of the DT's creations, then join in the fun!  Remember, you don't have to use a Meljen's image anymore, but you get a double entry if you do!!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    A Blog Named Hero #52-Patterned Papers
    Card Mania Challenge #56-Doily
    Delightful Challenge-Cute & Cuddly
    Simon Says Stamp-Anything Goes

Ok, back to that Tough Mudder race...well...not race.  We've been calling it an "adventure run" :)  Matthew and I have been training all year for this race...I knew it would be tough since I watched Matthew do it last year.  So we ran, and ran, and ran some more.  Race day came and I still struggled with the running...but I had my wonderful husband and some awesome friends to keep pushing me forward!

Enjoy some pics :)

 All clean and smiling before hand.

 Just yeah...so much mud.

 "Arctic Enema"...giant hole of freezing ice water that we had to jump in...so cold!

 It's all about team work...and I had the best team ever!

So thankful it was over!  But pumped for next year!! <3

Happy Tuesday!
We have a new challenge starting for you today at Tuesday Throwdown.  We want to see your New Home creations!!

Our fabulous sponsor is MyGrafico, and they have provided an adorable set of images for us to use!

I decided to feature a windowsill for my card.  I started by using a combination of Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves distress inks to make a dark purple border for my card.  Then layered a fun embossed background over the purple to give a nice detailed backdrop for my window.  I decided to use some patterned paper behind my window instead of doing some sort of scene so that the focus would remain on the adorable little flowers in the windowsill.

The flowers (from the Kitchen Garden set from MyGrafico) are colored in with my ShinHan markers, and then coated with some glitter brush so they sparkled.  Because no card is complete without sparkle :)

The sentiment is computer generated and then cut out with a Spellbinders banner die before being mounted below the window with a couple layers of foam tape.

Overall pretty simple.  But I just love the bright purple with the sweet heart paper in the windows.

Be sure to swing by Tuesday Throwdown and check out the rest of the DT's creation!!

Thanks for visiting! <3

Happy Saturday!
I hope the start to your weekend has been fabulous!  Right now I am probably in the middle of running my first ever Tough Mudder race!!  Eek!  So as you can guess, this post has been scheduled :)

I am so excited to be a guest designer over at Send A Smile 4 Kids this week!  Thank you so much for having me SAS4K!! 

The challenge there this week is to use fall colors and make a creation for kids!  The sponsors are Jelly Park (offering 4 images), QKR Stampede (offering 5 images), and Sassy Studio (offering 4 images).  Such awesome sponsors and prizes, so be sure to join in!!

For my card, I've used the adorable Jumping in Leaves image from Jelly Park.  This was such a fun image to color, with all those sweet leaves.  Just made me smile!

I paired the card with some really fun fall papers from my stash, and used a doily in the background.  To soften the doily and not have it be so stark white, I used some Antique Linen distress ink around the edges.

When I saw this fun sentiment from Create with TLC, I knew it would fit perfectly with this joyful image! 

Be sure to swing by the Send A Smile 4 Kids challenge and join in the fun!!

Thanks for visiting today!  <3

Hi everyone!
I wanted to swing in real quick to share a super fun card with you!  Right now I'm on the road to Michigan, preparing to run my first ever Tough Mudder race with my husband!  A bit nervous, but it will be so fun!

This card popped into my mind as I was digging around for different ways to use this super adorable stamp set.

See!! So cute!  I used the adorable little pup image from the Simon Says Stamp You Are Pawesome set.  But instead of just leaving him alone, I sketched out a fun cape and eye mask to make a super pup :)

I figured he needed a starry sky to fly through, so I used some fun patterned paper and a couple sparkly stars over a vellum circle.

Finished it all off with a little sentiment tag and some clear buttons.

I just love this card!  And I hope you do too!  I hope it inspires you to take a look at your stamps and see what else you can do with them :)

Thanks for visiting!! <3

Here is my second card for this Sami Stamps release.  You can see my first card HERE!

For this card, I've used the oh-so-sweet Ribbon Kitty image (which you can get for free with another purchase at Sami's shop right now!)

As you know, I adore kitties.   Having 3 of my own, they are the joy that fills my heart.  And I just want to get more :)  So of course, I had to use this image when I saw it in Sami's release for this week.  I really wanted him to be nestled on top of a heart with a soft background, but none of the papers I had were working.

So I pulled out another stencil that I had made, grabbed a few more distress inks, and altered colors down the chevron pattern to make the background!  Aren't stencils awesome?!  I love that with a few inks, you can have your own custom background that is perfect for your card :)

I covered the background with a piece of vellum to mute down the colors a little bit, and then sewed around the edges for some fun detail.  The heart was cut out with my Silhouette.  I uses some Lawn Fawn papers for that, which matched perfectly to my background!

Then colored in my kitty with my ShinHan markers.  I love his fun fluffy tail!  Again, covered the whole ribbon in glitter pen so it sparkled.  I pieced together a touching sentiment onto a die cut banner from Spellbinders and attached it below the image.

The finishing touch was a few clear sequins sprinkled around the card, with some red gems in the centers.

Be sure to swing by Sami Stamps to see the rest of the release!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    2 Cute Ink #114-Anything Goes
    Pattie's Creations #99-Cat or Dog
    Penny's Paper-Crafty #194-Stitching
    Simon Says Stamp-Make Your Own Background
    Sketch Saturday #326
    Word Art Wednesday #149-Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting again!! <3

Happy Friday!!
Everyone ready for this wonderful fall weekend!?  I am!  Especially since it's our last weekend before a little vacation!  Matthew and I have signed up to do the Tough Mudder race next weekend in Michigan, and while I am totally freaking out about the race, I can't wait for the little get away that surrounds it.  And we get to celebrate Matthew's birthday while we are home, so that makes the trip even more awesome!!

Back to today's post though :)  We have a sweet new release today at Sami Stamps - Beautiful Ribbons!  In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, and the celebrate both her mother and grandmother's victory over breast cancer, Sami has drawn up some adorably heartfelt images for this release.

I will be sharing my cards in 2 separate posts.  So be sure to check out my other card HERE!

For this first card, I used the Flowers for a Cause image:

I just loved this image.  The flower is so sweet and while the focus is on breast cancer for this release, this image is really great for any awareness!

To start the card, I laid down a stencil I made with my Silhouette, and used some distress inks to make an ombre colored background.  Once that was dry, I added another homemade heart stencil and used some white embossing paste to fill it in.  Before it all dried, I sprinkled some glitter over top because I really wanted those hearts to sparkle, but the glitter didn't really stick all that well and proceeded to rub off the more I worked with the card...guess I'll stick with using sparkly embossing powder on the paste so I can heat set it.

For the image, I colored it all in with my ShinHan markers and added a bunch of glitter brush so it really shimmered!  I used some fun lacy ribbon around the edge to give it a frame but still keep it soft overall.

The sentiment was the last part to be added...mostly because I didn't plan that out from the beginning and struggled to find one that I wanted to use.  I decided to use this sentiment because it was encouraging and really said how I feel about anyone that is battling cancer.  The strength they have to keep fighting blows me away and I really feel they are amazing!

I did add a few drops of glue that I sprinkled with glitter around the sentiment and image.  Just wanted the whole card to sparkle!

You can see the rest of the release at Sami Stamps, along with the DT's amazing creations!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    Artistic Inspirations #108-Anything Goes/Round and Round
    Craft Your Passion #230-Going Round in Circles
    Crafting With Dragonflies #34-Girly and Lacy
    Crafty Catz 246-Clean and Simple
    Creative Fingers #48-Anything Goes/Flowers
    Delightful Challenge-Simple Times
    Simon Says Stamp-Create Your Own Background

Thanks for visiting! <3

Happy Thursday!!
Time to start another awesome challenge at Meljen's Designs!  Did you know that you can now use any image you want on your creations for that challenge!?  You'll get a double entry if you use a Meljen's Designs image, and we always love seeing what you can do with those!

For this weeks challenge, we want to see you use a funny sentiment!  Make us laugh :)
This challenge can always be fun...who doesn't love to receive a funny card in the mail?  I really wanted to do something Halloween related with mummy's and stuff...but just couldn't wrap my head around something funny to say on the card.  So I sifted through my sentiments and knew as soon as I saw this one that I had to use it...even if it has nothing to do with Halloween (I'll try that theme again later :) ).

Bahahahaha!  That sentiment just cracks me up!  Fortunately there is no cake or ice cream around to come out my nose...but I'm still getting a good chuckle from it :)

I chose to use the Triple Treat Cupcakes image from Meljen's Designs for this card.  It's colored in really softly with my Spectrum Noir pencils and blended slightly with some baby oil.  I then covered each of the tops of the cupcakes with Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen, the swirls with some Star Dust Stickles, and the hearts with some Glossy Accents.

I wrapped the twine around my card and mounted the sentiment where all the threads met together.  I was thinking of trying to make up a striped straw or something to use instead of the twine, but the twine was just right there on my desk...begging to be used.  So I stuck with that :)

Finished it all off with some clear gems in the corners!  Love this fun birthday card!!

So be sure to swing by Meljen's Designs to check out the rest of the design teams creations, they will crack you up!!!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    DigiStamps4Joy #100-Celebrations
    Divas by Design-Anything Goes
    Mojo Monday Sketch #362
    Totally Gorjuss #252-Bling

Thanks for visiting! <3

Happy Wednesday everyone!!
I worked on this card last week, and then it got lost in the piles of other stuff on my desk and I forgot about it.  Do you ever lose cards on your desk?  I've been trying so hard to keep everything organized and clean up after myself each day, but some days the mess just stays...

But since I've been on a sunflower kick lately...figured what's the harm in one more? :)  I'm sure it won't be my last!

Sorry for the poor photo quality...been struggling really hard lately to get nice photos and it's frustrating me!..

But for this card I used the Our Friendship Grows set again from Lawn Fawn.  The sunflower has been white heat embossed and I did some masking to get the leaves positioned correctly.  Then I set to coloring with my ShinHan markers.  I found a gorgeous sunflower color combo that I just love and can't get enough of!  And the white outline just looks so elegant with this flower!

To keep everything one layer, I die cut out the Stitched Journaling card die from Lawn Fawn right from my patterned paper and did the same with my image so they pieced together.

To get the sentiment lined up, I first stamped it directly below the sunflower.  Then used my Spellbinders banner die to cut out the sentiment banner, fit in the Kraft piece and stamped the sentiment again, using the top of the L to line everything up.  Worked perfectly!

I kept the embellishing simple with just a few dots of liquid pearls and some Wink of Stella clear glitter pen to the whole sunflower.  Super sparkly!!  I love this card.  Just so soft and gorgeous!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    Lawnscaping Challenge-One Layer
    Ooh La La #164-Clean and Simple
    The Paper Shelter #173-Embossing

Thanks for stopping by today!! <3

Happy Tuesday!!
We have a fun new challenge starting today for you over at Tuesday Throwdown!  It's a recipe!!  We want to see you use 1 image, 2 papers, and 3 flowers on your creation!

Our fabulous sponsor is A Day For Daisies, and they have provided the design team with some amazing images to use!!

I chose to work with Pearls in my Hair for my card.  Such a gorgeous image!  I wanted to keep everything soft and light so chose to use my colored pencils instead of markers...just have better control with those.

For my 3 flowers, I stamped an image from Penny Black and used my watercolors to paint them in.  This was so fun and relaxing!  And I just adore how they turned out!  There is a bit of sparkle throughout all the flowers, so they really shimmer in the light!

To finish off the card, I black heat embossed a sweet sentiment from Hero Arts along the side, and added some liquid pearls to her hair, along with some clear wink of stella to the birdies.

I hope you will join us this week!  Be sure to stop by Tuesday Throwdown to check out the rest of the DT's creations!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
    Incy Wincy Designs-All Things Girly
    Loves Rubberstamps #120-Glitter or Sparkle
    Nutcrafters #76-B is for... (blue, birds, buds)
    Word Art Wednesday #148-Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting! <3

Good morning!
Stopping in on this rainy morning to share a few cards I worked on this week to go along with a few more challenges over at Winnie & Walter.

This first set of cards goes along with a challenge to choose a stamp set from both Simon Says Stamp and Winnie & Walter and make 2 projects with them (Day 3).
I chose to use Flower Friend from SSS, and The Big, The Bold & The Happy from Winnie & Walter.

This was the first card I made.  I really loved a tutorial by Jennifer McGuire using this same set where she stamped her image in white pigment ink and colored over it with pencils.  So thought I would give it a shot.  My pigment ink wasn't the best...it's one of the old Stampin Up pigment inks that they no longer carry and it just isn't as smooth as I would like it to be.  But maybe that's okay, because it gave the flowers a little texture, but was hard to color over.

For the sentiment, I die cut out the banner shape right from the flower panel and did a little inlaying to make it one layer.  Finished off the flowers with some white enamel dots.

For the second card, I decided to try some multi-tone stamping, dabbing off ink around the edges to get some nice shading in the centers.

I really wasn't all that happy with this card at first.  The flowers were just a bit boring and overpowering.  But I stamped the striped background in a light grey, added the white embossing to the centers, and the little black dots, and the whole thing just sort of worked out.

It's really pretty and bright, and was fun to try out a bunch of new techniques with these fun stamps.

This card also works for the One Layer challenge from Day 4.

My final card is for the sketch that Winnie & Walter has for Day 5.  Totally love simple/fun sketches like this one and I've been trying to get into the mood to make Halloween cards, so I ran with that idea for this card.

I stamped out and colored in a bunch of silhouette trees and layered a few behind some vellum so they were in the background.  The kitties are from the You Are Pawesome set from SSS, and I used a hat from the Lawn Fawn Critters in Costume set.

For the sentiment, I mixed up a few embossing powders because I wanted it in black, but I wanted it to sparkle and I don't have any sparkly black embossing powder yet.  I think mixing two together worked out pretty well..gave me the effect I was looking for :)

Finished the card off with a few Lawn Fawn bats in the sky.  I just love the little witchy kitties!  That hat totally belongs on them :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous weekend! <3