Your Friendship

This card was made for the SNSSIC10 inspirational challenge found here. I'm still drooling over the photo used to inspire this card! Go ahead - click the link & check it out for yourself & you'll understand what I mean :)

I'm also entering this card into the Speedy the Cat's Friend's challenge #79 to use your scraps. I made a promise to myself to stop hoarding my retired dp, so I'm keeping that promise with this card. You might recognize this retired Apple Cider dp from SU! in this card. In addition to a half-used pack, I also have a pack of it that I've never opened yet, can you imagine? It's a disease I tell ya!!

I used scraps of dp and card stock in random widths and adhered them to a piece of scrap card stock, then cut it with the top note die. Afterward, I embossed it using a Sizzix Snow Caps ef. The background was done with a retired Stitched stamp using pumpkin pie ink. The sentiment panel was done with a labels eighteen die, and stamped with a sentiment from the SNSS Your Friendship set. I went around the edges with an orange marker for interest.

I'm hunkered down here in PA, waiting for the few inches of snow that's in our forecast for later today. I guess that means more stamp time for me, along with a big pot of home-made chicken pot pie! Life is good :)

Have a fantastic Saturday and thanks for dropping in to say "hi!"

Carol

Christmas is in the Air

EEEK! The sun is shining here in PA, but don't say it too loud or it will disappear again I'm sure! LOL We've had practically a solid month of rain!

This card is for the Stars & Stamps sketch challenge #89 found here. I embossed the deer image with gold on a piece of BoBunny dp and added some pearl pen accents to the antlers. With the photo, I either got a clear embossed image without the pearls showing, or I got the pearls showing and the embossed image nearly invisible! Ah well, I decided this would be the photo I'd use. You'll have to take my word for it that it looks better IRL. I used an embossing folder I won from Circle B Enterprises by playing along with one of the S&S challenges recently. (thanks Veronica) The pearl pen accents also came from a prize package I won from Julie by playing another S&S challenge during the birthday bash. {thanks Julie} If you've never tried a pearl pen, you don't know what you're missing! This thing works so well and really dresses up your cards!

All the dp is by BoBunny and the sentiment was done with cherry cobbler and my Quickutz.

I'm entering this card into Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #85 to use polka dots. I used some dp from the Jingle pad by Lily Bee and paired it with some Baja Breeze card stock. I embossed the polka dot panel with a CB snowflakes ef. The image & sentiment are by SNSS and were done on a labels 18 die. While it was still in the die, I went around the edge with a silver glitter pen. I lightly colored the image with pastel colors, and then popped up the darker colored inchie for interest. I added a piece of polka dot ribbon from my stash and this was done. I thought this was the perfect image to send to OWH, so that's where this card is going.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're enjoying your week so far.

Carol

Turning 50

I recently had a request to make a 50th birthday card for someone who gave me a picture of her sister printed on copy paper! I had no clue how to work with that delicate piece of paper, but this is what I came up with. I distressed the photo by carefully sponging it with vintage photo ink and layered it with ovals and beaded ovals. I found 2 matching ribbons in my stash and wove them through the layers for some vintage interest. The vertical strip was done with 2 pieces of lace and a piece of narrow ribbon between them. The numbers were done with my Quickutz and all the papers are from the Mirabelle stack by the paper studio.
This card is going into the Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #68 to add distressing.
Thanks for stopping by and may your day be a great one!

Carol

Catching Up!

I'm really running behind on my challenge cards, and hope I can find time to play with all of my favorite challenges before they expire! This one is for the mid-week throwdown over at the Stars and Stamps blog. This week we're honoring our OWH mascot and beloved pooch Ciara, who recently became an honorary soldier!! You can read the details here....too adorable!! Since she's now known as private Ciara, we're making K-9 themed cards in her honor! Go Ciara!
I used a free digi found on the OWH blog and colored it with Copics. The DP came from a dollar store pack that I've had forever and I added some side tabs and brads done with a fancy label punch from SU!
This card was made for the Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #66 which is to use anything but ribbon. I love this MFP Southwest Cowboy stamp set, so I got to work and made a masculine card using BG granola paper and some brads and hemp. I stamped the images off once, then stamped onto the background using Memento London Fog ink. The paper was distressed to begin with, so half the job was done for me. I added 2 thin strips of coordinating solid color DP to the striped panel for a little interest. The image was embossed first with clear ep, then colored with Copics and matted with coordinating dp.
Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope to get back in the full swing of things again soon!

Carol

Challenge Time!

I made cards for a few challenges today. First up is my card for the OWH Stars & Stamps mid week throwdown challenge to use a "water" theme. I think this hilarious card fits the bill. This free digi image is from Leighs Paper Creations and I colored it with Copics, using flourescent Copics for the umbrella. DP is by Echo Park, blue is Cool Caribbean, and I used some embossed kraft for the bottom. I drew in some water with Copics, and sponged the sky using Tumbled Glass distress ink. The sentiment was done with an unmarked wooden set of summer-themed stamps. I'm not too fond of sunbathing, but I wouldn't mind lazing on a beach to feel a cool ocean breeze with this summer heat wave we're having right now!
This card is for the Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #65 to use 3 hearts. I also used the SC343 sketch found here. I used kraft, navy & red cardstock, along with some red DP from Bo Bunny, and some navy DP from SU! I cut the hearts using Spellbinders heart dies, and added a shiny brad along with 3 small heart stickers on the sentiment panel. The border of the strips was done with an EK punch. The sentiment is from MFP's Thankful Pumpkins & Mums. This one is going into my next OWH box so a soldier serving somewhere overseas can send a little love back home. I think that's reason enough to use more than 3 hearts for the challenge:)
Thanks so much for stopping by, and don't forget to check back in tomorrow when the winners are announced for the Stamps R Us birthday celebration blog hop. Each blog on the hop will be announcing a different winner so stay tuned!

Have a fantastic day!

Carol

A Cheery Challenge and an Award

I made this card for the Speedy the Cat's Friends #64 challenge which is to create something "bright & cheery" using pink, yellow & green. I used the MFP Thankful Mums & Pumpkins chrysanthemum stamp for this card, stamping with Versafine Onyx Black ink and embossing with clear ep before coloring with Copics. I like the uncomplicated simple look of this card, so I didn't add anything else to it. I used DP from a pack of "sugared collection" papers that were given to me by a sweet friend {thanks Michelle}, and inside was this stamped and cut sentiment, which seemed to be perfect for this card. Sorry, I have no idea who makes the stamp, but I love the sentiment!
My sweet friend Mary Anne of Lakeside Stamping gave me this award a while ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting it. Although I'm very appreciative that anyone thinks my blog deserves any kind of special recognition, I seriously doubt that anyone wants to know 7 more personal facts about me, but here goes just for laughs :)

1. I spend most of my mornings stamping in my jammies now that I'm retired. (love it!)
2. I cannot watch any kind of horror movie!
3. I hate wearing shoes if I don't have to.
4. I had to give up chocolate and surprisingly I don't miss it!
5. I never thought I'd make a statement like the previous one :)
6. I love the tv show Leverage (my new fav)
7. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you that stop by here and leave me some love!

Now I'm passing this award on to 7 more ladies who visit my blog often. Enjoy!
Donna Hanley
Nancy F
Lynn
Shannon
Wendy
Monika
Sue

Thanks for stopping by today and heartfelt thanks to Mary Anne for my blogging award. I hope you stay cool wherever you are today! It sure is hot in PA!

Carol

Got Hardware??

I may have gone a tad overboard with hardware on this card, but whenever I pull these sprocket dies out, my brain just takes me to all the metal in my stash. This card is for Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #63 to use a die cut as a background mat. I chose the top note die to use as my mat, and after I cut it, I embossed it with the Clockworks ef. The sprockets were all die cut with scraps of colorful card stock, and the white card stock was stamped with the retired flannel backgrounder stamp using Desert Sand ink. The sentiment is by MFP and cut with a ticket punch. A scrap of turquoise twill was used on the doo-dad on the sentiment panel. There's no doubt that this is a masculine card, so I'm also entering this into Sandy's blogaversary challenge to share our masculine/unisex cards.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're enjoying your day!

Carol

Got Buttons?

The challenge over at Speedy the Cat's Friends #60 is to use a button/buttons on your card. I made my own button for this card using cool caribbean card stock and glossy accents. I used a scrap of wild asparagus polka dot dp along with chocolate chip, kraft, and cool caribbean card stock. The 2 smaller flowers were colored with Copic markers to match, while the largest blue flower was used as is. The background was embossed with a CB ef, and the sentiment is from MFP's thankful mums & pumpkins, stamped with chocolate chip ink and layered with 2 SU! punched pieces. For the final touch I added some bakers twine.
Thanks for stopping by today and have a great Wednesday!

Carol

3 Dimensional Flowers

The challenge over at Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #58 is to use 3-dimensional flowers on our cards! I used the MFP Planted with Love set for my card and made some flowers using pink vellum and the MS Hydrangea punches. I did the letterpress technique on the white card stock using Memento New Sprout ink and a floral Impressabilities plate. I colored the image with Copics and cut out the smaller crow in the set and popped him up on a punched branch from the SU bird punch. I hand-cut and crimped the leaves made from pale green vellum and popped a Kaiser pearl in the centers.
Congratulations to my friend Benzi for winning this stamp set in last week's Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge! I know you're gonna love it as much as I do!
That will do it for me today folks! I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Carol

Three 4 Monday

I made cards yesterday for 3 different challenges and first up is the Speedy the Cat's Friends #56 to do a tone on tone card with a popped up focal image. I interpreted tone on tone to be pretty much the same thing as monochromatic, so I did this in shades of yellow & gold. I used the new Planted with Love stamp set from MFP that I won last week, and I haven't been able to put it down since I received it last week! I colored this with Copics and used scraps from my bin.
Next up is the sketch from this weeks Stars Stamps challenge #70. This was super easy for me and I used the Spellbinders Sprocket dies, along with the CB diamond plate ef, which I added color to with a C1 Copic marker on the raised portions. I did the red border with a SU! spiral punch and the sentiment is from MFP. The dp is from a Basic Grey stack.
And finally this card is for the Sweet'nSassy SSS109 sketch with a spin to make it masculine. I needed a little boy's birthday card, so I used blue as the main color. The digi image is by the Paper Shelter and I colored it with Copics and added some crackle Glossy Accents for interest. The little ribbon slide was made with a Quickutz die.
Wendy, if you're reading this I know you're safe back in PA this week, but I'm hoping & praying that your home was spared back in Joplin! There must be angels watching over your family that you chose this week to return to PA and avoided that devastating tornado. I can only hope for the best for you and all the other folks living in Joplin.
Have a great Monday everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Carol

New Stamps and a Special Birthday

I recently won a new set of stamps from MFP by playing along with the Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge found here. This set hasn't been released yet, but it's called Planted with Love and all of you gardeners out there are going to LOVE it! I think I squealed when I opened the package and saw them :) The seed packet I used here was really fun to color and just what I needed to pick me up after a gloomy, rainy week! The DP is by Basic Grey and I used black, brown and green cardstock. Don't you just love that little crow?! There's also a larger crow image in this set, and just wait until you see all the fun stamps that are included!! I love that when you win in this challenge, you never know what stamp set you're going to receive as a prize, because it's an unreleased set! Surprises are the best!! Big thank-you ((hugs)) Faith!!
My best friend's sister will be celebrating her 50th birthday later on today with a surprise party, and this is the card I made for her. Purple is her favorite color, so of course I made this to please her! I used Concord Crush cardstock, embossing in silver and adding silver beads. I also used Spellbinders foliage dies for the leaves and branches, doingboth with embossed silver cardstock and white. I also used the MS fern punch. I added a dainty floral embossed CB panel for the border, and did the embossed silver numbers with my Quickutz. Of course the embossed background is my favorite ef Square Lattice by SU! That ef just goes with everything, and I'm surprised I haven't worn it out yet! LOL

The sun made an appearance here in PA today and I'm feeling better already! I think every bone in my body has been crying for the past week with all the damp weather! The surprise birthday party starts soon, so it's time for me to get this day started! Have a fabulous Saturday everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

A Quick Post

This card is for the MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge#55 which is to create a card with monochromatic blues, and I also used the sketch for the Stars & Stamps sketch challenge#69. I always struggle to create monochromatic cards. but whenever I use Soft Sky it all seems to come together effortlessly. If there are any details you need to know about what I used to make this card or the one below, shoot me an email and I'll fill you in.

PLEASE - if you email me to ask a question, leave a way to contact you to answer you! If your email is not associated with your blog, there's no way I can respond to a "no reply" when I click on your name!!

edit: the embossing folder used on this card is from the Provo Craft Cuttlebug set called "with love borders embossing folders set of 5." {#37-1171}

This card is for the Sweet Stop Sketch SSS108. I used a SNSS forget-me-not digi for this one, coloring with Copics and layering with scraps of DP from my bin.
I apologize for not giving specific details about these cards but I have a very good excuse. We were expecting out-of-town guests to arrive late tomorrow night and stay with us for a few days. Imagine my shock when they arrived unannounced at 9:30 this morning while I was sitting here in my pj's and robe!!!! They've gone to visit other friends for a couple hours this afternoon, so I thought I'd quick get these cards finished & posted while I have a few minutes.
Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous Sunday!

Carol

Double Challenge Time!

I made this card to meet 2 challenges. First up is the SC332 sketch challenge found here. I'm also entering this into the Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge 54 found here - which is to use stamps, papers and inks, but no embellishments. I pulled out my favorite MFP stamp set called Southwestern Cowboy and stamped the image with versafine onyx black ink, then embossed it with clear detail ep. Next I sponged on some Ranger vintage photo & antique linen inks, along with some Colorbox yellow, orange and red inks, and added a little interest with a Copic marker. The DP is retired SU! (sorry, I forget the name) and I used sage shadow, chocolate chip and really rust card stock. I embossed the background with a CB ef and covered it with Versamark ink, and embossed it with clear detail ep to make it look like a piece of leather. The sentiment is from the MFP Thankful Mums & Pumpkins stamp set and was done with chocolate chip ink. This card will be going into my next OWH box.
Have a fabulous Wednesday and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #51

The challenge over at Speedy the Cat's Friend Challenge #51 this week is to make a collage card. I pulled out so many stamp sets for this one I had a hard time keeping track of them all! I just kept stamping and stamping until I had no room left to stamp anymore and I'm calling this a collage :) I'll list all the stamps and supplies below for those who are interested. I don't normally dabble in collage stamping, but I think I might have to try this again because it makes a great masculine card! I guess that's why they call this a challenge :)
I'll be back in a while with another challenge card. Thanks for checking in :)

Carol

stamps - MFP southwest cowboy, take the time, Heidi Swapp, Nick Bantok compass, PB sentiment, PTI text
papers - black, DCWV gold glittered, BG, Tim Holtz Shabby Vintage
inks - Ranger pumice stone, fired brick, denim, sponge daubers, versamark, Memento london fog, rich cocoa, desert sand
accessories - brown ep, top note die, bakers twine, red twine, Spellbinders sprockets, Cuttlebug Timeworks ef

MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends #50

I got some new goodies this week and had to make time to play today, so I made this card for Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #50 which is to use the emboss resist technique. I stamped the MFP "Take the Time" image & sentiment with Versamark and embossed it with clear detail ep, then sponged it with ranger antique linen, tea dye, and vintage photo inks. I used the Clockworks CB ef and some Bo Bunny timepiece dp for the background, and embossed a scrap with gold ep. I die cut some pieces of the gold with the new Sprightly Sprockets by Spellbinders and added a metal piece of Tim Holtz Sprocket gears on the top of one. I stitched some hemp on the sides and did some distressing to finish this card. I guess you could say this card is all about sprockets and time huh? LOL
I hope your having a wonderful weekend so far, and thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon with another card!

Carol

Food for Thought

Here's the Sweet Stop sketch#97 for this week. I'm combining this fun sketch with MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #44 which is to use food on our cards.
I used all SU! Concord Crush and Pear Pizazz inks and papers for this one. The image is a retired CTMH set and I'm sorry, there's no name on the stamps so I don't know what the set is called. I stamped the grapes with Concord Crush ink, and masked it to stamp the leaves which were inked with Pear Pizazz and enhanced with a darker Tombow marker. I added glossy accents over the entire image and IRL it looks pretty neat, but the picture just didn't capture those details. I used a retired SU! backgrounder called weathered, and stamped that in PP ink. The sentiment is by HA and the ribbon was in my stash. The gemstones are by Kaiser.
Happy weekend everyone, I hope you enjoy yours and do something fun!!!

Carol

Two Saturday Challenges

I made this card for Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #43 found here. Joanne challenges us this week to use black, white and one other color, along with piercing on our cards. Check, check, check, and check! I used the Cuttlebug leafy branch embossing folder for the background, and used Gable Green cardstock for my pop of color. The sentiment is from the Thankful Pumpkins & Mums set by MFP. I used the labels ten die and created a twisted ribbon rose for an accent. I snipped some matching polka dot ribbon for "leaves" and added a big honkin' button to the center :) The button might be too big for this card, but it was the only black button I could find! LOL
Next up is my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch #96 found here. I really like this sketch and I'll be using it often!
For my card I used the Sweet 'n Sassy digi image called Lilacs for Cocoa. I colored him with Copics and used all Basic Grey Kioshi papers. I created the flower accents by using the Martha Stewart Hydrangea punches (the large single flower, along with the medium & small combination) and punched some pink, green and purple vellum. I added some light lavender color to the pink flowers with a Copic, then layered them and added stickles to the centers. I also added lavender stickles to the flowers on the image. Since the spin on this week's sketch challenge is a think spring theme, I added the Mother's Day sentiment by G studio, and I colored it with Marvy markers before stamping. I layered it with a diecut from the Spellbinder Lotus set.
That's it for me today. Here's wishing you a wonderful weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by. They'll fire 'em up in Daytona tomorrow - the first official Sprint Cup NASCAR race of the year, and I'm SO ready for that! For all my fellow NASCAR fans out there - enjoy!!! I know I'll be tuned in!!!

Carol

Three Sketch Challenges

This is going to be a long read as I'm posting 3 challenge cards today. First up is the challenge at Speedy the Cat's Friend's challenge #42 which is a sketch. Sorry, I wasn't able to copy the sketch, but if you click the link above, you'll find it there. I used all Bo Bunny Jazmyne dp for this, and an image from the SU! set Ever After.

Here is the fun sketch from The Sweet Stop SSS95......

And here is the card I made for that sketch. I made more of the vellum punched flowers using a MS hydrangea punch and added some liquid pearls to the centers. For this one I used SU! Afternoon Tea DP. Those little doo-dads on the bottom are starburst punches with a dot of liquid pearls in the centers. The sentiment was done with a G Studio stamp, and matted on a piece of Soft Sky cardstock.

This is the Stars & Stamps sketch challenge #56......

And here is the card I created. The image is from Sweet'nSassy stamps called Patriotic Cocoa. I think this image is just perfect for making OWH cards for soldiers! I colored the image with Copics and used some basic red, white, and blue card stock, adding a few tiny star brads and embossing the background, using a Cuttlebug star embossing folder.
If you're still with me after this long post I appreciate it! Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous Sunday!

Carolge

MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends #41

The challenge over at SPeedy the Cat's Friends #41 challenge this week is to use a self-made flower on your project. For my flower I used some SU! newsprint dp and punched 3 scalloped circles. I added some color to them with tattered rose and fired brick distress inks, then snipped each scallop about halfway into the center. Finally I curled the "petals" and twisted and crushed them in my hands until I got the look I was going for. I folded some creamy brown cardstock, then ran it through a crimper, and hand cut the leaves. For the final touch I used some silver spray smooch for a little interest. All of the DP is from the Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby stack, and I used a piece of velvet ribbon along with the Fleur de Lis punch for the border. The sentiment was done with Spellbinders fancy tags and stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.
I hope your Thursday is going well for you so far and I'm glad you took the time to stop by. Make it a great day!

Carol

Love is in the Air!

I made this card for 2 challenges. I used the sketch from The Sweet Stop SSS93, along with Speedy the cat's Friends challenge #40 which is to make a Valentine. I've had this stamped image for quite a while and I'm pretty sure it's by Penny Black. I colored it with Tombows and a wet brush and used dp from Echo Park's Be Mine collection. I embossed the smaller panel with Cuttlebug's larger spot ef, but then covered most of it up with the image? LOL I cut a couple of hearts from scraps and added 2 heart-shaped brads in silver and white. I made some tiny dots around the edges with a white sharpie marker.
I hope you're having a super Saturday so far!

Carol