An award for me and for you

Happy Sunday everyone! Had to work today but hope to be able to play a little bit later on, have several cards I want to work on. I received an award from two very special people in my life over the past couple days. Patty from patty-inkitup.blogspot.com and from Elaine at atechnophobesblog.blogspot.com.  These two ladies were the ones who encouraged, pushed, shoved and generally cared enough to help me continue blogging and take my cardmaking further than I ever would of on my own. I am now a guest dt member for ladybugcraftsinc.blogspot.com and am proud of the work I do instead of embarrassed. Anyways, I still don't correspond with a lot of people and since I don't want to send the award back to the people who sent it to me I am passing it onto all of you, everyone who has visited me and listens to my rambling, like today! So here is the badge for you to take and I will list 3 things in my life that are very sweet so at least I do that part right!

1. Of course my husband Joe is the sweetest thing in my life. He is not romantic per se but he does laundry, helps with cooking, my car is always free of snow in the morning when I go to work and he never leaves for work without kissing me goodbye. Wouldn't trade him for anything.
2. Elaine and Patty, 2 people I have never met but have become some of my best friends. A little off their rockers but hey, you gotta take the good with the bad!
3. My friends I do see in real life for being there for me on bad days and good. And not being afraid to tell me if I look horrendous in that shade of lipstick or whatever cause real friends can say that and you know they are only telling you the truth cause they love you.

Ok, your turn to pass it on!

I have news!!!

Guess what? I was asked to be the March guest dt member for Ladybug Crafts! This is my first chance (hopefully not my last) to be a dt member and I am SO EXCITED!!!  If you haven't ever gone to http://ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ you need to hop on over cause these girls are talented and so funny! They have welcomed me with open arms and I can't wait to get to play with them. Ok, just wanted to share my news with my friends!

Aussie Slang!

Hey everyone, have you guys checked out the Make it Crafty site at http://www.makeitcrafty.com.au/news/happy-australia-day-lets-play-a-game.  Zoe posted a bunch of Australian slang and wants us to come up with our definitions You have a chance to win $50 to her store and she has some great digi images and die cuts.

The slang I am trying to "interpret" is                         and my thoughts are

You little ripper                                                                a little brat

Well I'll be buggered                                                       I can't believe that happened!

Buggerlugs                                                                       I have no idea but I love the word!

Bobs yer Uncle                                                                Just hoping he is not your Aunt!

Ok, I know they aren't very good guesses and this is not my forte as you guys know from my plain and boring blog titles, buy hey, $50 to Make it Crafty is worth looking goofy on my blog!

I changed my mind about wanting long hair...

Ok, I have a confession to make. I have ALWAYS wanted long hair and the hair on my head grows soooo slow I have never been able to get it to any length before I have to cut it. Now the hair on my legs is another story, could braid it in a couple of weeks if I didn't shave it. I know, TMI! Anyways, this is a kraftin kimmie image I did today and I had the hardest time doing her hair. There are probably 6 or 7 layers of color, and 5 or 6 different shades on there. Still not wild about it but it is okay. Anyways, I figure if I can't even manage long hair on a stamped image, perhaps I should give up my dream of long hair in real life. Whaddya think? The paper is my new Stella and Rose pad and the edging is a MS punch that I clipped to fit around the edges. My friend Patty at http://patty-inkitup.blogspot.com does a great job with borders so I thought I would take some inspiration from her and use my punches in a different way. The tail is done with some Ice Stickles and I have posted a different picture at a different angle so you can see the sparkle after this one. She has some liquid pearls around the edges, stickles around the sentiment and some tiny pearls I had given to me for on my nails but they worked perfectly in her hair.

This picture is taken laying flat on a counter in my basement in front of my light tent but I think you can see the glimmer on her tail much better this way.  Okay, just finished watching a new show on the cooking channel called Extra Virgin, very entertaining and makes me wish for summer and fresh veggies. Here summer summer summer...

A Wee lassie for WOC

Happy Saturday everyone! Well the wind is blowing to beat the devil but the sun is shining so that makes me happy. I have two projects for you today, the first is by a new company called Wee Stamps. I have followed (mostly) the sketch by Wild Orchid Crafts except I couldn't cover up my pretty little flower lace so my image is off to the side as opposed to on top of the lace. I think I need to make 10x10 inch cards to accomodate all of the elements sometimes! The paper is Mariposa by DCWV. When this paper came out a couple of years ago I think I bought 2 of the 12 x 12 stacks, 2 of the 8x8 and some of the 4x6 stacks but I thought it was so pretty I never used it. That is what you call hoarding! Well, times and tastes change and although it is still very pretty I am willing to cut it up now and start to use it. The flowers are by WOC and even though I am not the best at placing flowers on my card I think these ones came out okay.

This item on the other hand, not so great but since I made it I figured I would post it. This is for Ladybug Crafts which is to make anything but a card. I had the bright idea to buy a picture frame from the dollar store and alter it. I wanted something I could change out from season to season and this is what I came up with. I removed the insert and used a Magnum image (still gotta work on fur coloring) for the top of the background. I thought it was too plain so I stamped some corner flourishes in the upper corners and truly disliked them so I slapped a flower over the one on the side to cover at least one of them. I then pulled the back sheet off of my post it notes and stuck it onto the outer portion of the glass frame so it can be replaced when it runs out. Good idea, not the best execution. Oh well, live and learn!

Tiddly inks and digi paper

Finally Friday! I hate to say it but I have become one of those people who live for the weekends and/or their days off. I enjoy my job but you need downtime too to be able to function well. This is a Tiddly Inks image called Belinda. I love the image but do NOT like the way I colored the hat. I think I would have been better to shade the bottom and leave the upper portions light not shade the sides. And on here the blending looks horrible but it isn't that bad really. The paper I used is by Bearly Mine designs and is very pretty but kind of washed out looking when I printed it. I have since reprinted it after fussing a bit with my word program and have gotten it a bit more intense which is what I prefer. I did spritz it with some iridescent gold glimmermist and that adds a nice sheen. My flowers are made of felt with a pearl center. The pearl is from the wedding section at Michaels, it is actually a brad so it worked well to thread it thru the center of the flowers. I have added some glossy accents to her purse and shoes and the flower on her hat is some bling.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/
http://bearlymine-challenges.blogspot.com/
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/02/challenge-152-shiny-happy-cards.html

Love this paper!

Still need to work on my post titles, so plain and boring but I really do love this paper. It is by a company called Best Creations and I love the designs, colors and you can't tell in the picture but this paper is glittery and even has some shine to some of the flowers. I am not sure of the name of this particular paper off the top of my head but if someone really wants to know send me a note or leave me a comment and I will haul my behind into my craft room to look at the actual sheet. Anyways, this is my entry for stamping bella this week. It was a sketch, my favorite kind of challenge since I am "sketch impaired". I am liking this card except I think it could have used an extra layer of cardstock under each of the dp pieces but frankly, I just didn't feel like cutting out any more cause this was my second choice of dp. The first one I picked was all daisies but looked a little washed out when I put it on the yellow and pink. The flower is by Recollections from good ol' Michaels. I am gonna have to wait for these to go on sale and get some more. Ok, almost time for the start of Survivor and Top Chef is on tonite, one of my fav's.

Adorable new digi stamps

Hey everyone, check out the gadget on the side of my blog. It is for a new digi store called Wee Stamps and even though she only has a few images out right now they promise to be adorable! And if you follow her blog, do a post and leave her a comment she will send you a free digi. Doesn't get better than that!

Lets try this again...

Ok, I sat down and typed up my entire post then when I hit the publish post button it came up service unavailable. So then I had to log off and of course that cancelled all my babble. Maybe that is someone higher up telling not to ramble on. This is my entry for Kraftin Kimmies challenge this week which is a recipe of 3 colors, 2 papers, 1 ribbon and 1 button. I tried to color her hair similar to the my haircoloring idol Melanie Holtz at http://paperblessingsbymelanie.blogspot.com/ but it isn't quite the same. Not even close really. I need more contrast and less streaky, back to the drawing board. Nonetheless I am still happy with how my card came out. My button is acrylic which I squirted some orange stickles onto, it is much more glittery irl than what it shows here. I am also entering this into Marks Papers challenge as it was his sketch I followed. Now I am off to have a cup of tea and hope my ill friends out there are feeling better. (that means you Elaine and Patty)

Happy Valentines Day Joe!

Hello everyone! I have to say I finally made a card I am really happy with and luckily for me it is for my husband so I don't have to mail it anywhere where I can't see it! Ha! This is an image from Make It Crafty, I love Zoe's stuff but have to work on the merging thing. If anyone knows how to get rid of the white background that comes with some images I would love to know. My card base is kraft cardstock which I thought was a little more masculine than my normal white or cream. The dp is from this years Valentines paper pad by K and Company, felt flowers I made with my die from MFT and dipped in some glitter and the tag is one I made from an old stamp set and I apologize cause I don't know who made it. Colored with copics and added some stickles to the flowers and atyou glitter pen to her bows. Wish I had colored them a different color but they are acceptable.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

http://www.makeitcrafty.com.au   shadow and depth
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/02/challenge-151-hearts-flowers.html hearts and flowers
http://thespottedchick.blogspot.com/    make it krafty thursday

Look what I got!

Just a quick note to show you guys what I got in the mail today. I had entered and won the blog candy giveaway at http://www.inkclinations.blogspot.com/ and I recieved my goodies today. There was actually 2 pieces of candy to start with but I ate the first one while looking thru the stuff. Melissa was very generous and if she only knew how much I love that ruffled ribbon! She even included a handmade card and all this on top of her mom being ill. What a generous person. Thanks Melissa, I love everything!

A tropical love card!

This is my entry for http://ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ and this weeks challenge is Love is in the Air. Well, I don't have any romantic images from Ladybug yet but I thought Lily and Magnum have some lovin going on. Plus the tropical colors make me happy this time of year. The paper is a new pad from Kaisercraft, a Recollections flower and these wonderful jewels I used in the corners. They are from Joanns from the charm section and they are faceted, very very pretty in real life. Please pop over to Ladybug Crafts and join in the fun!

Sinbads opinion on circle cards

Well, the challenge this week at stamping bella is a circle card which I have never done before. And I have to say I am not in any hurry to do one again. As you can see from above, Sinbad is sticking out his tongue to offer me his support. The image I used is Gardenia Greenthumb and the paper is new from Memory Box. Love the image, the paper, the flower, don't care much for the circle. It just doesn't seem finished and I didn't want to stick lace around the edges, too fussy for me. May need to disassemble and redo into my comfort zone of rectangle or square card.

Don't be a dodderhead!

How is that for an interesting title? My friend Patty wrote me a note saying she had been a dodderhead this week cause she was ill and I thought that was the funniest term. Well, it seems I have been too cause I made a card for the Ladybug Crafts challenge over the weekend, posted the card but forgot to enter it into the challenge. Duh!! So I am posting this image and will enter is ASAP over at the kraftin kimmie challenge which is to use red. I have no idea who made this paper but I have been hoarding it for awhile now but a kraftin kimmie image is "paper worthy" so I pulled it out. The flower appears to be black in this image but actually it is a red metallic foil with a smaller black and white flower and a viva decor pearl pen accent. I used some heart bling I got on sale at Michaels to dress it up a smidge. I got it for $1.79 for 2 sheets and I am telling you that cause it drives my husband nuts when women tell each other how much we paid for something. Hey, a deal is a deal and should be shared, right? Ok, today is my day off so I'm gonna go get busy and should be back later with a couple of other items.

Kids cards

Is everyone ready for the Superbowl? And Patty, you can make me a wonderful card but you can't still cheer for the other team, one or the other! Lol! This card is for a company I have just started entering challenges for called Your Next Stamp. The challenge this week was to use pleats. I have always liked that on other cards but I ripped this ribbon off about 4 or 5 times so I am thru messing with it. I think this image is a little large for the card, would have been better on a square or A2 but hey, tis what it tis. Paper is by Kaisercraft.

This is my second kids cards and I have to say these are some of the most difficult, a kid and a boy to boot! I can do girly, flowers, ruffly stuff but a button and simple, not so much!  This is for Ladybug Crafts challenge which is to make a card for a kid. Not sure who I will give this to as my nephews are all in High School or college but they might just get it anyways.  The paper is Cosmo Cricket Wanted with a little twine and buttons from my stash. Wish the buttons were higher but I was gonna do the card the other direction but couldn't get the image to fit well so I had to turn it and when you glossy accent a button down it ain't movin!  Ok, supper time and my pork chops are calling my name...