In the Spotlight- It's a Small World!

Hello!  Today I'm in the spotlight at Anything But a Card Challenges and I'm feeling a bit small about it!  Not in the psychological sense, but literally!  I am challenging you to think small and join me!

Here's a sneak peek of my post...

Please stop by for more detail and be sure to link up and join me!!  Have a wonderful week!

A 'latte' love for the perfect blend

Hello and welcome!  In keeping with the theme of today's card, I'm offering you a complimentary cup of cyber coffee and a magic muffin-it can be your favorite kind if you like!

This is not a typical anniversary card which is quite fitting since it is going to a very special couple!  Regulars of my blog will remember I worked with my sister on some wedding goodies for my nephew and his wife.  They were so easy going and fun to work with, and almost always had a coffee drink of some type in their hands.  No wonder we got along so well!  Their anniversary isn't until later this year, but the idea of a coffee themed card popped into my head and here I am completing a card well ahead of schedule! Yippee!!  The inside is a sentiment I made on the computer.  It says "to a perfect blend.  May you have a 'latte' more happy years together!"

I used my Blendabilities markers on this and really was happy with the results-not perfect but pretty good by my normal standards!  I used the rich razzleberry set since their wedding colors were purple and silver.  I dropped the silver and replaced it with coastal cabana since I didn't want it to be a total flashback to their wedding, not to mention that I really liked the colors together!

If you haven't made the leap to Blendabilities or the similar copics, I can tell you that they work so well for coloring images.  I love that the Blendabilities come in sets of three markers taking all of the guess work out of choosing colors for shading.  I am not very good at that!  The set of three also makes them an affordable option if you want to try out the alcohol based markers.

Well, we are preparing for the annual police/kids camp and I have to go grocery shopping for 20 hungry boys so I better get out of here and head to one of my least favorite places-Walmart.  Wish me luck and I hope you have a marvelous day! I'd like to 'espresso' my feelings and thank you a 'latte' for stopping by! OK... I'm done now!

Anything Goes at Anything But a Card Challenges # 37

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by today! It's my turn to share a project for Anything But a Card Challenges.  We are having an 'anything goes' theme this month which means you can share just about anything under the sun with us! Gotta love that!

I have been doing some major cleaning and purging of my home this summer and came across some cardboard jewelry boxes. They weren't anything fancy, just plain white boxes with the store's logo.  I'm not sure what my original plan was when I saved them, but they were the perfect size for gift cards, so they were covered and decorated to be used as pretty packages for some thank you gifts.  

Rather than cover the entire lid and base with paper, I cut scraps to cover the top of the lid and glued ribbon to the sides.  Then I added a strip of paper around the base.  This kept them from getting too bulky.  I colored a couple of stamped clay pieces that I made ages ago, added some punched leaves and a few candy dots.

This one seemed like it needed a little pizazz, so I added

stickles to the flower in the center of the clay piece, and 

some cherry cobbler dazzling details to the candy dots.

This one had a more masculine feel, so I left it pretty basic.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my repurposing project and we would love to see what you have been creating this month!  Please stop by the challenge blog and share your creation with us-as long as it's not a card, you're set!  Have a fabulous week!

Project recipe:  Paper-Junior Varsity and Summer Smooches dsp (both retired), Stamp Set-Riveting (ret), Ink-old olive, real red, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry, Accessories-simply pressed clay, real red grosgrain and old olive scallop dot ribbons (both ret.), brights candy dots, cherry cobbler dazzling details, non SU leaf punch, non SU yellow stickles

Summer Smoochin' Cutie

Hi! I am so happy you are here!  I had some time this week to create and will be sharing them through the next few weeks.

I can not believe that our summer break is almost over!  How did that happen?  We are going back to school shopping this weekend and that just makes me a little sad...  On the upside, I did get quite a bit accomplished this summer and hopefully will finish the last of my 'to do' list before school starts.  I know once August starts things will get all mixed up with routines and requirements, so I'm glad there's scheduled posting for Blogger-keeps my blog from feeling too neglected!

Since I'm wanting summer to last a bit longer, I thought today's card was a good one to share.  I used a free digi from Cuddlebug Cuties.  The print quality was not the best on this one and I'm not sure if it was my printer running low on black ink or the actual digi stamp, but it was free so I can't complain too much!  I used a lot of bright happy colors on the image and when I was finished I knew I would use Summer Smooches dsp since it is also full of cheerful colors.

One of my accomplishments this summer was cleaning off my crafting table. It's not actually clean or empty, but it is a lot more organized than it was before.  I even found some ribbon from a swap that I forgot I had! It's like shopping without the travel or money!  Of course, we won't be sharing with my DH that I found supplies I forgot I had... 

I added some crystal effects to the balloons and glitzed up her top with some purple stickles.  Other than that, this was a pretty basic card.  My shading skills leave a lot to be desired.  The hair turned out ok, but I really botched the jeans...not at all what I was going for!  But it won't get better if I don't keep at it!

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a fantastic day and if it's summer where you are, enjoy it while it lasts (unless it's really hot and humid then you can totally wish for fall!).

Card Recipe: Paper-whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Stamps-digi image, Remembering Your  Birthday(sentiment), Ink-skin tone blendabilities, memento tuxedo black, copics, Accessories-scallop dot ribbon (ret), purple stickles, crystal effects, banner punch

Hooray! A scrapbook page!!

Hello! I'm finally getting around to posting again!  Between visiting friends and family, and trying to downsize our 'stuff', I haven't been very crafty.  I keep thinking that once all of my cleaning is finished I will have lots of time to create. But for now, I'm doing my best to squeeze in a few cards and scrapbook pages as I get a chance.

I did manage to get a scrapbook page made after we returned from our trip to Chicago.  I have a ton of photos that were recently printed and I am really trying to work my way through them and get a few more books completed.  Besides, using up supplies and getting photos put away is cleaning right?! That's what I told my DH anyway!

The photo is of my youngest DD when she received an award at school and her name was listed on the school's sign.  I remember being so glad that she wanted to pose by the sign since I couldn't get her older sister to do that when she won an award a few years earlier.

I hadn't made a banner in a while and I thought since it was a celebratory page, the banner would work well.  I also used our school colors making it easy to coordinate everything! I also managed to squeeze in a few new goodies!  I used the basic black bakers twine (a new color option), and the Alphabet rotary stamp was used to put the date on the page.  That thing is HUGE and will be getting a lot of use on my pages!  

I have several other new items waiting to be used and hopefully I'll get around to using them and sharing with you soon!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you find some time to be creative and have a wonderful day!

Page Recipe: Paper-real red , basic black, whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Ink-tuxedo black memento, Stamp-Alphabet rotary stamp Accessories-pennant punch, basic black bakers twine, scallop dot ribbon (ret), non SU alphabet stamps

Happy 4th!!

Hello! I want to wish my fellow Americans a very happy 4th of July (aka Independence Day)!  We will be spending the day with family and appreciating the freedoms we have in this wonderful country of ours.  She's far from perfect, but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else!

I'm sharing a card I made several years ago for my dad for Veteran's Day, but thought it worked equally well for today! The original post can be found here.

For the rest of my blogging friends throughout the world, I hope you have a marvelous weekend and I'll eat a s'more and 'oooh' at the fireworks in your honor!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back soon with some new stuff to share!

Gimme Five- 5th Sunday Challenge at ABAC

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  Today is the fifth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a special challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  Any time a month has five Sundays we do a 'five' challenge.  Your creation can have the number five, five embellishments, five stamps, five anything!  As long as it has something to do with five and is NOT a card, you're good!

I decided to do another page in my quotes journal and used five flower stamps to create my garden.  I found a quote by Hemingway "When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead." and I thought this was a great reminder to not take life so seriously.  I also wanted to make a fun page to go with the quote so out came the bright colors and a stamp set that I have not used in a very long time.  I had a lot of fun using the blender pen to 'paint' the flowers and the butterfly.  I also used pastels to create the sky.

I hope that you decide to do something for fun and join us in our Five Challenge!  Have a wonderful week!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Time Well Spent, Ink- assorted inks from the brights collection, Tuxedo black (memento), blender pen, pastels

A Mooving Card! Flashback Friday

Hello! As this is posting, I am road tripping with my girls to visit my best friend who lives near Indy.  We have been friends since I was in 7th grade and she was in 6th.  She was frequently my partner in crime and was also in my wedding.  Shortly after that she moved and we lost touch for a few years, but things were quickly back to our version of normal after a weekend reunion.  She often comes 'home' since they still have family living in the area, but I have yet to get up to see her.  So after a rather crazy week last week, I decided I needed a change of scenery and she was more than willing to be my get-away location!  I couldn't however leave you without sharing my most recent Flashback Friday!

I've had the cow image for so long that I have no idea where it is from... I'm sure it was a freebie, but have no clue who made it.  This was another of the images that went camping with me, so it was all colored up and in my stack of things to do.  My blogging friend, Lynn is always making fun and fabulous cards for her blog.  This cute cow reminded me of something I might see on her blog.  I think she probably would have done a better job with it too! :)

 

Along with the old digi, I also used a very, very old piece of hay dp-no clue who made it as it was a leftover in my scrap container.  The denim ribbon is now retired and thankfully I was able to buy an extra roll before it left. Love this ribbon!! The red dsp is from Summer Smooches (ret). Oh, and I couldn't resist using wiggle eyes either! I stocked up on those too! That means the only current items on here are the whisper white cardstock and the markers.  On the inside, I used part of a Michael's $1 stamp.  It says 'You're getting too old!'  I'm not sure who will be receiving this, but it will probably be one of my older siblings!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Hi!  I want to apologize for the Chicago earworms that may have been turned loose upon reading my title!  I had just realized that my last post was a Christmas card and today I have a Halloween card to share.  This led to a momentary bunny trail wondering how many days/weeks it was until Halloween and wondering what in the world was inspiring my creative process for early holiday cards.  The words entered my brain "Does anybody really know when it's appropriate to post these.", quickly followed by Chicago singing "Does anybody really care? About time?".  I'm not sure if you know this or not, but when the lyrics spirits whisper to you, you have to listen!  This led to my post title and an increased probability that my visitors would have the song running through their heads for the rest of the day (aka earworms-Thanks Butterfly for teaching me this word!).  My post really doesn't have anything to do with time or the band Chicago-like I said bunny trails...

Enough rambling!  I do have two cards to share with you.  The images were colored in the great outdoors on our camping trip.  I decided to use bright, fun colors on an  All Dressed Up's freebie.  They were too cute to be made scary anyway!

I don't normally 'do' Halloween cards, but there has been a recent increase in little people in our family and I thought they would like to get a fun card in the mail.

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you take some time to be crafty this week! If you live in most of the US right now, it's a good excuse to stay inside with the A/C!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe: Paper- Summer Smooches DSP (ret), Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Ink-daffodil delight, real red, lucky limeade, island indigo, tangerine tango, Image-All Dressed Up, Accesories-blender pen, daffodil delight ribbon

Christmas in June- Early or Late? You decide!

Well, hello! Today is officially the first day of summer...longest day of the year...a wonderfully warm 92* with a humidity level that slaps you in the face if you're crazy enough to venture outside.  So I did what any 'normal' person would do to celebrate the first day of summer-I made a Christmas card!

Yes, I know there are oodles of days before December 25th, and believe me I'm nowhere near ready to think about shopping!  I did however print out several digital images to take along on our recent camping weekend.  It is a lot of fun to sit at a picnic table near a campfire and color.  One of the images was a wintery theme and a freebie from Newton's Nook Designs.  So today, to take my mind off of the extremely humid day, I made a bright and cheerful Christmas card using my colored images.

I also used some retired products including almost the last of my pumpkin pie dots dsp from the brights stack-I should try to do this more often. I really don't think I would 'need' to buy paper for several years, but what fun would that be?!  The midnight muse ribbon is also retired (we won't discuss my ribbon stash...). I think the only current supplies are the real red and whisper white cardstock, and the markers used to color the mittens.

Speaking of retired, I was starting to freak out a bit when I looked through the new SU catalog (check it out on my sidebar) and didn't see any Christmas sets.  Then I remembered an update I had seen.

You can still order some of the recent Christmas/Holiday stamp sets that are not shown in the new catalog.  Click here to view the carry over stamp sets.  These will be available until August 27th, so if there is a set on your wish list, don't wait too long!  There will be some new Christmas and winter holiday stamp in the new Holiday catalog that will be released later this summer.

Well, the family is vegging out in front of the tv so I think I'm going to try to get a little creative time squeezed in before bedtime!  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, whisper white, brights dsp stack, Image from Newton's Nook, Ink-real red, pumpkin pie, not quite navy, Accessories-snow burst embossing folder, midnight muse ribbon, staples