Hello everyone and Happy Tuesday!

This is sort of a hard post to make.  After many many years with the Tuesday Throwdown challenge team, we have decided to close the challenge down.  Life just continues to get busy for us all and it's become too hard to manage everything that goes into a challenge blog.  It's really hard to see this team go...we've been together for so long.  And I have absolutely loved being the sponsor coordinator for our challenges.  But I just no longer have the time...our team leader doesn't either...and it's just best for us to step away and focus on our families instead.

I'd like to say that I'll still be around on this blog...but the truth is I'm not really a blogger.  When I started this whole card making/blogger journey back in...2011?  It fit, I felt like I could really dig into it.  But as the years have passed...so have my interests and my desire to create fancy, attention grabbing blog posts has faded.

This year, I have felt the pull to get involved in other things.  Other crafting elements, yes.  But the main thing I've felt drawn to is bringing awareness for pediatric cancer, with a major focus on DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma...learn more here).  This is a form of pediatric brain cancer that is aggressive and fatal.  And once I started looking further into this field, the more I learned how many different forms of pediatric cancers there are, how aggressive they are, and how there is so little funding for children's cancer research that most treatments are over 30 years old....  

I've been searching and searching to find a way to get involved to start making a difference for these kiddos.  We all get into the routine of ignoring stuff like this.  But it's out there, it's real, it's not rare like everyone wants you to believe....and someone needs to make a change.  I haven't found my path or place yet...but I'll continue to search and do what I can to try and make a difference.  

I hope you will too.

So this card is dedicated to the families that have struggled this year with a child loss...or are watching their kiddo struggle through the horrible cancer monster.  You are always in my prayers, and I will fight to get everyone I know to RISE UP and make a difference.

Gold is the color for Pediatric Cancer Awareness, so I really focused on using that color on my card.  I used lots of glitter paper as encouragement for those kiddos fighting to keep shining!

There's a Prayers die cut on top of the heart and a simple embossed sentiment beneath it on a piece of Lawn Fawn's shimmer vellum.

All of it is mounted onto a scallop frame from Newton's Nook.

Please join us for our last challenge at Tuesday Throwdown.  It's an Anything Goes theme, and we'd love to see all your wonderful creations one last time! 

<3 Emily

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 Hello hello!

I wanted to drop in and share a cute little card I created using some Sweet n Sassy images.

I had a lot of fun putting this card together.  I started by cutting out my panel with some circle dies to get my openings for the candy.  Then used some oxide inks to blend out some color around each circle, topping them with black rays from a sunburst stencil.  The whole thing was misted with a shimmer spray and set aside to dry.

I printed out and colored up all my candies in coordinating colors and then cut them all out with a very thin white border.  Layered them onto the inserts for each circle that I had also blended colors onto and then popped those into their appropriate locations on the card.  

I took some Halloween sentiments and white heat embossed them around the card front before finishing everything off with some black enamel dots.

Hope you enjoy!  Have a fabulous Halloween!!  <3 <3

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 Hello!

I'm a day late on my post for our new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown...such is my life these days.  I try so hard to keep up with everything but having a little 2 year old that demands all of my time means I miss a lot of things now.  But I'm trying to stay connected...and late is better than never right!

Our theme this week is Make it Sparkle!  The perfect theme for me to use :)  I can't ever get enough sparkle in my life.  It just makes everything better...heck I even put glitter on my daughters walls!  

Out fabulous sponsor this week is All Dressed Up and they provided some adorable images for us to use.  I chose to use Nap Time for my card and colored it up with my copic markers. 

For the background, I blended 4 oxide colors together and then spread some glitter paste over a stencil to get lots of sparkle and shimmer.  I absolutely love how it turned out!

Though I did learn a tough lesson....don't ever buy expensive crafting materials, and then take 2 years off....I was going to use my Nuvo Mousse...but they have all dried up into hard little rocks....so bummed!!  But the glitter paste worked great :)

I cut out the work Hugs with an alphabet die from Newton's Nook and layered 3 sets together.  Then added it over top of the image panel, put shimmer pen and glossy accents on top of it for even more shine.  I sprinkled some Nuvo drops in various colors around the card and that was it!

So much sparkle!  Sure to make someone smile!!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge!! <3 <3

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 So I'm a bit late with this post...Our new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown started on Tuesday this week...yeah...life just gets crazy sometimes and I forget to get my posts created.

But here I am!  Sharing my card for our new challenge.  Our awesome sponsor is Fred She Said and I used the Dahlia Garden set for m card.

The first thing I created was the background with some Distress Oxide inks.  Those are so fun to use!  I love how they can layer without getting muddy!  I used some of the same colors to add some splatter splashes in the background, and I also used some black shimmer ink to help break up the colors a little.

Then I colored up my Dahlia images.  I outlined the main flower petals in black so they would stand out a little bit more.  Then fussy cut them all out and added them to a shimmer strip across the center of my card.

I stamped a simple sentiment and scattered a few glossy accent dots around the card for a little extra shine.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you'll join us in this fun challenge!! <3

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Hello and welcome back to a new challenge for Tuesday Throwdown!

This week, we'd like to see you use a stencil on your cards.

I had a lot of fun making this card.  The sponsor for this weeks challenge is DRS Designs, so I used their Cherry Top Cupcake image and colored it up with copic markers.  I colored in some sprinkles and filled the cherry with glossy accents.  This was matted onto a scallop cut circle before layering it onto some vellum and patterned paper.

For the background, I used Newton's Nook's Confetti Stencil over a background I blended with Distress Oxide inks.  I always forget out vibrant those inks are and how smoothly they blend...amazing!

I used some glitter paste over the stencil so the whole pattern sparkles.

Everything was then layered together over the background with a fun sentiment and a few enamel dots to finish it all off!

I hope you'll join us at Tuesday Throwdown for this fun and easy challenge!

Thanks for stopping by! <3

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Hey!
Welcome back to a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!
This week we're looking for Polka Dots on your projects!

I started my card by created a watercolored background.  While that was wet, I laid a polka dot stencil over top and let it dry.  This caused the polka dots to stay full strength and the part where the stencil was touching is a bit faded looking.

I lined up my stencil on some solid cardstock and used white pigment ink to add the polka dots so they would line up with the watercolored background.  I layered up a Hugs die cut, glued that onto the solid cardstock and covered it with shimmer pen and glossy accents.  The little butterfly is from the Blissful Butterflies set from Pretty Pink Posh.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Simply Celebrate set.

A few sparkling clear sequins were scattered around the card to finish it all off!

I hope you'll stop by and join in this super fun and simple challenge!!
Thanks for visiting! <3 read more →

Hey hey!!
Happy sunny Tuesday!  I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far!  Nice and hot here in Washington!  Some days I feel totally ready for the summer heat...and other days I just want to stay in my sweat pants under a blanket :)

So this weeks challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is nice and easy with Anything Goes!  Our amazing sponsor is Sunny Studio!

I had a ton of fun putting my card together!  I actually made 2 of this card but only photographed 1 since they were basically the same thing, just a few different colors.

I combined several stamp sets for this card.  I've used Puppy Parents, Purrfect Birthday, and Sunny Sentiments.  All the images are colored up with copics and then fussy cut and arranged on my little outdoor scene.  I love the kitty in the background with the balloons on her tail!  So adorable!

I added some clear crystal drops to my balloons and then sentiment so that they had some shine, along with shimmer pen to the smiling sunshine!

Hope you will get the chance to join us!  Thanks so much for visiting! <3 read more →

Hello!  Happy Tuesday!
I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and healthy!  It's strange how the days kind of fly by but time is standing still right now....if only that meant I was getting more done!

We have a new challenge for you at Tuesday Throwdown.  This week we'd like to see cards for that Special Guy!  Our fabulous sponsor is Dr. Digi and they have provided us with some fun images to use!

For my card, I've used the Cheeky Devil image.  It reminded me of the times I've played Dungeons and Dragons with Matthew and how much fun I had running around as a wizard!

I kept that image as the focus of my card and used my pencils to color it all up.  That was a lot of work!  I don't get to make cards too often lately, so when I do, I don't usually focus on coloring heavy images...which means I'm a bit rusty at good quality coloring and shading.  But I think I did pretty good on this image :)

I layered up some coordinating colors of cardstock and then stamped out a fitting sentiment to place below the image.  I meant to add some embellishments and details to everything, but my daughter woke up from her nap and I forgot to finish it all off.  But I still like the simplicity of the whole card.

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge!!
Thanks for visiting! <3 read more →

Hello and Happy Tuesday!
Time for a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!
This week we have a fun Tic Tac Toe board for you to play along with!  And our awesome sponsor is Sweet n Sassy Stamps who has provided us with some fun images to use.

I chose to use the Forget-Me-Not image and colored it up with m copics.  I printed it twice and cut out 3 of the blooms to pop up onto foam tape for some interest to the image.

That was layered onto an ink blended background that was splattered with some gold shimmer spray.  I cut out a frame in a soft yellow and layered that over my colored image before heat embossing a sentiment onto a die cut banner.

Some shimmer pen was added to the flowers and I added some black pearl dots along the side to help complete the card.

Here is the Tic Tac Toe board for you to follow!

I hope you'll join us!
Thanks for visiting!! <3 read more →

Hello!  Happy Tuesday!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful fun filled week so far!  It's a bit rainy here in Washington, but we've been trying our best to get outside for walks every day.  The fresh air definitely seems to help calm Gwen down.  She absolutely loves the outdoors!  Which is good since we now have a giant yard for her to play in :)

This week we have a new fun challenge for you at Tuesday Throwdown.  We want you to add a doodle to your cards!  Our awesome sponsor is Lawn Fawn and they kindly provided us with some new materials to use on our projects!

I....may have gone a little crazy with my doodle....I wanted something new and fun but everything I kept trying just didn't seem to hit the mark.  So I went outside my comfort zone and did some zentangle drawing for my sky.  Let me tell you...that is not a skill I have at all!  That was a ton of work which I wasn't entirely prepared for.  But I actually totally love the outcome!

Of course, I had to include mountains in my card because I just love mountains and am so blessed that we have a view of the Cascade mountains from our home.  I added in a sun peaking from behind the mountains and scattered some swirly clouds in the sky.  It was fun to create this background!  The painful part was getting it colored!!

If I had just used markers, it probably wouldn't have been so bad...but I wanted to do soft ink blending....which meant masking off every single thing in that background over and over again.  So much work!...but oh well.  This card is for my dad for his birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!) and I'm sure he will love it.  So all the extra work is worth it :)

The stamp set I used is the Really High Five set from Lawn Fawn.  Oh my goodness this set is so much fun to use!!  Lawn Fawn never gets it wrong but they really nailed it perfectly with this set!  I will be using it quite often now!

I wanted to put more critters on the card, but felt the fox fit perfectly by itself.  So I just cascaded some balloons through the sky for him to hang from and then white heat embossed my sentiment to scatter around the card front.  So cute!!

I hope you'll join us this week!

I'd love to enter this card into the Lawn Fawnatics Spectacular Skies challenge this week!

Thanks for visiting!! <3 read more →

Hello!  Welcome back to my little blog!
This week is a fun challenge at Tuesday Throwdown!  We want you to include a moving part on your card!  Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it moves!

All Dressed Up is our sponsor this week and they provided some super cute images for us to use!  I chose to use the Cheeky Monkey image and put him on a little action wobbler so this crazy skateboarding monkey bounces around on my card front!

I've colored him up quickly with my copic markers and added him to some patterned paper with a zigzag cut border.  I embossed a thank you sentiment onto a flagged banner and stuck that under my image.

Super quick and easy but so cute!!

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge!! <3 read more →

Hello hello!
I'm a little late in getting my post up for our new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown.  Even though life is different now with all of us home...I still have not time to do anything :)

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and not going crazy yet!

To help make your crafting a little more relaxing, we're having an Anything Goes challenge this week!  So you can make whatever you want to!  Our awesome sponsor is Colour of Love who has provided some adorable images for our team to use.

For my card, I chose to use the Wildflowers image and colored it up using my pencils.  It's been so long since I've done any real coloring that trying to make it pretty and show all the little fine details really made my hand hurt!!  But it was so fun!

I added this image to the corner of an acrylic poured background that I cut using a scalloped frame from Newton's Nook.  I stamped a simple sentiment in the corner of the image and scattered some Nuvo drops around the whole card.

Hope you'll join us for this simple challenge!!

Thanks for visiting! <3 read more →

Hello hello!
Well...I had every intention of getting this post up in time for the start of our challenge last week.  But then...life....so I thought it would be perfect to post as a reminder yesterday for all of you so that you knew you'd still have until Friday to enter your cards!  But of course...Gwen wasn't feeling well and my whole day ended up being centered on her and nothing was accomplished...so..it's now Wednesday...and I'm finally posting my card for our Tuesday Throwdown challenge that started last week!  Lol...hopefully my team understands and will forgive me.

Our theme is Good Luck and the amazing Power Poppy is sponsoring us this week!  You still have until Friday to get your cards posted for the challenge!!

My image is from the Wish You Luck stamp set.  I've colored it up with my copic markers and fussy  cut it all out so that it would fit into the opening of my little frame window.  I added a piece of vellum in the window as well and colored it up with a shimmer brush so that it had a little bit of sparkle behind the image.

I printed off my sentiment from the Shamrock and Roll set and folded it to make a little banner across the base of my clover cluster.

I hope you'll be able to join us for this fun challenge!!

Thanks so much for visiting! <3 read more →

Hello Hello!
Welcome back!  So glad you stopped in today.  I'm excited to be back into making cards, though the process for me is much slower than it used to be.  But I'm working on trying to get it all back to normal!

This week at Tuesday Throwdown, we'd like to see you create your own background!!

Our sponsor this week is Digital Delights and they provided us with this adorable Sweetheart Felicia image to use on our cards.

I decided to give alcohol inks a try.  I've never used them before but I've had a few colors for quite some time and it's a medium that I always see so many other people create beautiful backgrounds with...so I wanted to try it.  My first attempt was not so successful....I'm not used to how the alcohol inks dry so quickly and with such harsh edges.  I kept adding more blending solution to keep it all moving and ended up with just one solid color with no details at all.

So for my second attempt, I tried really really hard to let go of some of the control and just played with what was created.  And that is what I used on this card.  I even managed to time it just right to get some silver foiling in there too!  I love it, but I'm definitely going to have to do a lot more practicing with these inks.

Felicia is colored up with copic markers and fussy cut so that she can sit within my frame.  I added some shimmer pen and a few white gel pen hearts around the background and called it good!

I hope you'll join in our challenge this week!

Thanks for stopping by!! <3 read more →