Ringing out the old!

Good morning peeps! Wow... three, count 'em, three days till a brand New Year 2014.  When I was a kid growing up in the 1950's the thought of  living past the year 2000 was... well... science fiction. Ha! I bet I'm not alone here, right?

Today there's a new sketch and challenge over on OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. To see the sketch, with measurements, click here. I tried Sketch 205 to make His & Her missing you cards. Missing You cards are always in need for the troops. I loved this sentiment stamp "I've missed You!" when I bought it. Hmmm... does "I've missed you" mean the same thing as "Missing you"? Let me know what YOU think.

I had to geehaw my card in the embossing folder so the embossing is going at an angle instead of being vertical. Now that it's done I really like the embossing this way... adds more interest.

Thank You so much for taking the time to stop by... hope you enjoyed yourself! I enjoy, and read, all comments and they are greatly appreciated.

Monster Love

Good morning peeps! The sun is shining bright, but boy is it cooooollld here in NE Ohio. A good day for what I planned... staying in and making cards!

I get the monthly card kits from Simon Says Stamps, and my January 2014 kit arrived Thursday. I couldn't wait to play with the new stamp set.The Midweek Throwdown over at OWH had a color challenge of red & white or green & white... but no Christmas cards. Soooo... I snagged OWH's sketch 195 and made this cutie. Love this monster and this sentiment!

All the stamps, including the faux stitching lines, are from the new stamp set. Here's what you get in the January kit:

Thanks you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Merry Christmas!

I wish you all the Merriest Christmas of all! I wish you health, happiness, and Blessings full of joy, peace and harmony. I appreciate all of my followers, and those of you who stumble by. Thank you for all your kind comments and words of encouragement.

Enjoy you day, and Thank You for stopping by!

Candlelight Christmas

Hello peeps! Yes it's been too long since I've posted anything here. I'll just say I've been dealing with an elderly family member [my mom] and let it go at that. Anyone who is, or has been, there will know it can be very time consuming and emotional. Needless to say a family comes first.

I made three new Christmas Card designs this year and can't take credit for any of them. I found all the ideas on Pinterest and I'm very glad I did. This one has candles and I love how it turned out. My lighting leaves a lot to be desired but it turned out so crisp and clean.

The red candle and the flames are glitter cardstock by Best Creations, Inc. [I'm emphasizing this part - glitter can not be used on OWH cards.] 

I do love using this cardstock for my cards because the glitter is somehow sealed on the paper. I've rubbed it on a rough surface, scratched it with my fingernail, ran a table knife over it... and the glitter did not come off. Even so, I would not use it for OWH cards because I don't want to take any chances.

Unfortunately the McGill Pine punch I used for the greenery fell apart just as I finished all my punching. Well... I've had it several years, used it a gazillion times, and it has served me well.

Enjoy your Christmas and thanks for stopping by!

OWH Blog Hop - World Card Making Day 2013

Good Morning Peeps, and welcome to my stop on Operation Write Home's Blog Hop celebrating World Card Making Day. If you got here from the Blog Hop you're in the right place. If you stumbled on here, then welcome. You can start at the beginning of the Blog Hop over on OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps, by clicking Here.

The theme of this Blog Hop is making thank you cards based on one of  OWH"s sketches; post the sketch or link to it in your post. Cards can be thanks cards for our heroes to send – or AnyHero cards with notes inside written TO them!

I chose this past week's sketch #192 for my two "Thank You" cards. 

Here is Sketch 192 that I used for my cards. To see the OWH members gallery with their take on the sketch you can go Here.

As you can see, I flipped the sketch from horizontal to vertical and matted my papers. The mail box and envelope stamps are from Unity Stamps "Sending my Love" stamp set. I paper pieced the outsides of the mail boxes and added a touch of color with Copics. I also used foam tape on the envelope and sentiment for dimension.

Thank You so much for stopping by and taking a look around. I do apologize for the white lines in my post. I don't know how they got there, or how to make them go away. Have a Great Day, and enjoy the rest of the Blog Hop!

You're a Funny Bunny

Good Morning Peeps!

Last Thursday, September 12th, I participated in the OWH Birthday Bash Fundraiser Card Class.  The stamp set, and yummy ribbon, I worked with is the cutest ever! It's a child dressed in a bunny suit and some adorable sentiments, by MFT [My Favorite Things]. The card class is free and you can sign up by clicking the badge in my sidebar on the right. The Birthday celebration goes an all month and there's plenty to take part in. Go to the OWH blog, Stars & Stamps, by clicking here.

I used Bazzill cardstock, The Paper Studio Quatrefoil embossing folder, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and Prismacolor colored pencils.

You can go to OWH's blog anytime to make a donation. Our heroes need to know our citizens are behind them and are thankful for their service. Your donation will help pay the hundreds of dollars spent each month  sending cards to them. For more info, click here. Or to donate, click here.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed your visit! I read all comments and appreciate them all.

OWH Birthday Bash 2013 and Stampers Best

Good Morning Peeps, and welcome!

As the banner says, it's OWH's Birthday this month and today we're having another Blog Skip. OWH has a great partnership with the fabulous Stampers Best. Stampers Best has awesome stamps in their Operation Write Home section. What's more, they donate a portion of the sales of these stamps to OWH. The link for Stampers Best is HERE.

You may have also guessed I'm one of the stops on the OWH Blog Skip. If you got here from Seongsook's blog, you're in the right place. If not, go back to the beginning by going to OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps and start from the beginning. The link is HERE.

I made two Any Hero cards for the troops using this past Sunday's sketch. Any Hero cards are specifically for the troops to let them know I think about them and their service and sacrifice. They keep these cards for themselves. For my first card I chose the set "Turtely Awesome" and paper pieced the turtle. You can find the link for this set HERE.

For my second card I chose the set "Write Soon Minnow", and also paper pieced the minnow. You can find the link for this set HERE.

I opted to keep both cards on the simple side. Card stock by Bazzill. The papers are from a 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye, called Howdy Doody, from the Miss Caroline collection. I use a little foam tape to pop the turtle and minnow up off the cards.

You're next stop on the blog skip is the talented Cindy. Please visit her blog, Cindy's Card Co, to see what goodness she has created for you. The link is Here.

Let's get united using Unity!

Happy Hump Day Peeps! I hope everyone enjoyed the long Labor Day weekend.

As the banner says, it's OWH's Birthday this month and today we're having a Blog Skip. We're also being sponsored by the fabulous Unity Stamps. The link for Unity is here.You may have also guessed I'm one of the stops on the OWH Blog Skip. If you got here from Kristie's blog, you're in the right place. If not, go back to the beginning by going to OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps. The link is here.

My card is an "Any Hero" card and features a new set by Unity called Forever Grateful for Our Freedom, and I used all 3 stamps. I'll ask you to overlook my crooked sentiment on the largest banner. After umpteen tries to get the sentiment straight I decided, albeit unhappily, to just let it be.

I followed this past Sunday's sketch 187 to create my card using scraps in my stash. Here's the stamp set.

You're next stop on the Skip is the awesomely talented, and creative, Pam. Let me tell you, you're in for a treat! The link to Pam's blog, Airbornewife's Stamping Spot, is here.

Thank you for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Happy Hoppin at OWH 4th of July Bloghop

Happy 4th of July peeps!!

I hope you are all having a fun and safe holiday. Today, over at Operation Write Home, we're having a bloghop on the OWH blog Stars & Stamps. Sponsoring the Hop is Tombow Adhesives, who generously provided all of us with product to try. And yes... Tombow is providing Blog Candy. Yay Tombow and Thank You for supporting OWH!!

If you're not familiar with OWH please go to their blog, Stars & Stamps, and start at the beginning. If you're already hopping, and you came here from Marie's blog, you're in the right place.

Tombow sent me a Tape Runner, Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Power Tabs, and Fastener Tabs [like Hook & Loop]. These last two are super, duper slim so they won't add too much dimension. I've used the Tape Runner and Liquid Glue for quite some time and love them both!

For my 1st card I got the idea from a card sample at Archiver's. I love the look of the design and all the white space, which is you friend, adds a clean, crisp look.

On this card I used Tombow's Tape Runner to adhere the papers. I used their Power Tabs, ultra thin dimensional squares, behind the speech bubble and stars.[ Absolutely love this product] For the rhinestones I used some of the Mono Multi Liquid Glue... because mine don't have adhesive on the back.

My 2nd card is one I found on Pinterest. Yes, I actually do get around to making things I've pinned! [grin] I like the CAS look and it will be perfect for Any Hero Mail.

For this card I used the Tape Runner to adhere all the paper layers, and Mono Multi Liquid Glue to adhere the satin ribbon.

You're next stop on the Hop is Laura's blog, Laura Kelley's Inkling. Please be sure to leave Laura, and all the BlogHop Participants, lots of love in the form of comments. We all really appreciate your feedback.

Well, Thanks you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit. And as I said earlier... have a happy, fun, and safe 4th of July!

Visiting Crisis and a Share

Howdy peeps! Hope you are all doing better than my poor car. I visit my son in KY several times a year, and the 10th of this month I came down for a week. Yeah about that... Well, I'm still here. (:   The day after I got here my poor car's motor blew up!! On the bright side it waited until my 6 hour drive was over and I'm with family. The dark side... finding a motor I could afford and having it fixed. I found one to the tune of $850 and a guarantee, and a good friend down here is switching them out free of charge. At a garage I'd be looking at another $300 labor charge.

Another problem has been my son's internet connection. It was being all wonky and would immediately knock you offline. Two week's without being able to use it... and no lost use discount. The problem was finally fixed over the weekend and I'm trying to play catch up.

Now a share: I made this card and tag at one of my All Day Crop's at Paper Crazy. Diane, the owner, always has such wonderful make-n-takes at her Crops.

The card was made by using a masking technique... naturally, the butterflies. I used to do this often but kind of got away from it. The cute butterfly stamp we used is discontinued and I can't remember who made it. But, any cute butterfly, or other stamp, will work just as well. You got to "shop your stash".

The flower on the tag was made using a new chalk ink Diane found. It's called "Mix'd Media Inx Chox" by Donna Salazar Designs sold by ClearSnap. I love it so much I had to buy some. :)  Ribbons on both projects is by May Arts.

Well, that's it for me peeps. Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Scrappy Trouble

Goooood morning peeps... or should I say afternoon! My oh my, can I find scrappy trouble or what? I made two  cards and the first one turned out like I planned. It's made for Wednesday's MWT over at OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps, here. The theme was transportation. I used OWH Sketch 174 found here.

I'm very happy with how it turned out! [Love it when a plan comes together... lol] The papers I used on both cards, 6x6 double sided papers, are from Simon Says Stamps May 2013 Card Kit of the Month.

The second... oh my! Now, I'm the first to admit I have trouble taking scraps and turning them into a great card. So I challenged myself to make a second card using only the scraps from the five 6x6 papers from card 1. 

I ended up with some pretty odd sizes of paper left over from card 1. Soooo.... I went "sketch hunting" through OWH sketches. I figured Sketch 147, here, would work... almost. But.... ta daaaa... I made a pretty good card! [Oh phooey, she says throwing modesty to the wind] I think it turned out great!!


Papers & card stock - SSS May 2013 Card Kit of the Month
Card 1 - Bicycle die cut from Paper Crazy. flower trinket from Serenade Trinkets by Bo Bunny
Card 2 - Dies Cuttlebug 2x2 sliders die by Provo Carft, ribbon, my stash

Well peeps, as my Great Uncle used to say... "stick a fork in me and call me done". Thank you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop

Good Morning Peeps! Are you ready for the biggest and best Blog Hop ever??? Then you're in the right place... almost. This weekend OWH is having their ginormous Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop! There are over 100 OWH Corporate Partners [companies] and Individual Bloggers [like myself]. If clicking on the badge above doesn't take you to the hop then click here.

The theme is Thank You cards, using one of our OWH sketches. You can find all the sketches by clicking here. Our Heroes always need Thank You cards to write home in. What is really needed now are Any Hero cards. It's hard to believe some heroes get very little mail, so Any Hero mail lets them know someone cares about them.

 I made my card using Sketch #81, and there is a friendly note from me to cheer up a Any Hero.

I used a die to cut the star and backed the opening with DSP. Yep, it's the same as my photo background. You can see the original OWH Sketch Challenge for this card by clicking here.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit! Now go, scoot, get to hopping!

Supplies:
Dies - Stars by Sizzixs, Top Note by SU
Stamp  - from the Mar 2013 card kit by Simon Says Stamps
Embossing folder - A2 stars by Cuttlebug
Scrap DSP - "Glory" collection by Authentique
Cardstock - by Bazzill

Variety is the Spice of LIfe!

Good morning peeps! For this month's BootCamp lesson Paula is teaching us how adding variation to your design can add interest.

I chose a CAS design and used flowers in different styles, color, and size for my variety.

I love how this turned out, but only Paula can decide if it fits the BootCamp lesson. My inspiration comes from a recent His & Hers Online Card Class where Jennifer McGuire had a lesson on Masked Borders. I'm gravitating to CAS style cards right now and this technique really struck my fancy. I will definitely make more of these.

Supplies:
Stamps - flowers, leaves, & sentiment - SSS Card Kit of the Month for March 2013
Ink - Ranger Distress Inks in Crushed Olive, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black.

Well peeps, it's time for me to go. Thank You for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Roses For Mom!

Good morning peeps, and Happy Mother's Day to all my family and friends!

I heard from my son a little while ago and we had a nice chat. He lives 6 hrs away so I won't get to see him today... but that's O.K. because he was just up last week. This afternoon my daughter is taking me out to my favorite restaurant to eat. Yay!

My card is made by using supplies from the May 2013 SSS Card Kit of the Month. You just can't beat this deal, and, it's mailed to your door every month! This is what came in my kit:

I stamped the roses and leaves in Frost White by Color Box, and heat embossed. I used my Ranger Distress Markers as water colors to get the softer color. [I used: Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Broken China, and a water brush] I CASEd one of the sample photos that came in the kit because I just love the look. Jennifer McGuire designed the sample card. The link to Jennifer's blog, Jennifer McGuire Ink, is here.

Well, that about does it for me today. Thanks you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

His & Hers Cards

Howdy peeps! The weather has been so beautiful here in NE Ohio, except for today. :(  It's been rainy, cold, and damp. BUT... this is Ohio so I'll just hang around a day and the weather will change.

I haven't been around much lately. Not because I don't want to, but I just haven't had the energy. I battle on and off with depression and it has been acting up. A lot of it is situational, meaning certain things going on will make it worse. Right now it's issues with my mom, who is 90, and in the nursing home. She's had slight dementia for awhile but right now it's starting to get a little worse. Mom know exactly what she want to say but can't say the words. She knows what is going on with her and gets, understandably, upset. So sad!

Hoping to get on a brighter note: My doctor increased my med dosage and I'm starting to have some desire and energy again. I'd like to share with you 8 cards I just made. I made them for this week's Midweek Throwdown [MWT] on OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. The challenge is to make two cards, one for Him & and one for Her, using the same layout. You can find this challenge here.

The layout is one Kristina Werner used in the Online Card Class I took recently. Ironically enough the class was titles "His & Hers". The classes are fantastic and a great source for learning and inspiration. I used to following 6x6 paper pads: Set 1, Indie Chic Nutmeg by My Minds Eye; Set 2, Renew collection by Authentique; Set 3, Hope collection by Authentique; Set 4, Hers, Carefree collection  and His,Original collection, both by Authentique.

The background paper is cut at 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and I used two border punches for the sides. Hers is by Fiskars and His is by EK Success. The white strip is 2" x 4 1/4" with rounded corners on one end. For my ribbon I used a 1 1/2" circle punch and a 2" scalloped circle punch, both by Fiskars. The banners on the ribbon are cut at 3/4" with one end cut to make the V. The sentiment is from Very Special clear stamp set in the Jan 2013 SSS card kit of the month.

Well, that's about it for me. Thank you all for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Mojo No Go

Happy Sunday peeps! I've been taking the Online Card Class called His & Hers this past week. Just so ya know... I'm reluctantly posting my cards for 3 lessons. My mojo, like Elvis, has left the building! One great thing about paying for these online classes is that I always learn a lot, the teachers are fantastic, great sample cards and videos, and unlimited access to the student galleries.

Of course all this great stuff doesn't help when you're mojo won't cooperate. Ha! So without further ado I'll get to my cards I made.

Day 1 - Thinking of You - Kristina Werner, teacher - using circle elements
His: I'm really loving this one. The mustache print and stripes are from a double sided paper by Fancy Pants Designs called Mustache Fever. Perfect for guys.

Hers: I really like this one too. I just had trouble with my lighting so it looks kind of washed out here. The doily stamp is from a SU set called Delicate Doilies.

Day 2 - Happy Birthday - Christina Kowalczyk teacher - using vellum
Hers: This one isn't too bad. My strips of vellum are 1/2" wide and I colored them with Copics. [Y15, YG03, BG01, R22] I attached the strips, at angles, to the back of the white piece. Believe it or not, the sentiment is actually straight. I think the angles of the vellum make it look wonky.

His: This has to be my favorite of the two, which is good considering I have trouble with masculine cards. I used Copics to color my vellum [ BG01, BG05, YG03]. The squares are 1 1/2", the HAPPY is sticker letters.

Day 3 - Sympathy - Kristina Werner teacher 
His: I love this one too. I love Washi tape so I used two designs on this card. The music design is by Theresa Collins, don't have a clue about the woodgrain. I found it at a LSS. I stamped the sentiment with Brushed Corduroy distress ink and used a distress marker [same color] for the dash line. These are by Ranger.

Hers:  Yeah.... no! The Hers version was an epic fail. 

Well there you go peeps. My mojo may not be where it's supposed to be but I had fun trying to get it back. Now it's time for me to get a cuppa coffee, prop my feet up, and put the heatin pad on my tired, aching back.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

It's all about the Owl

Happy Sunday my friends. After all my whining last week about my problems I can honestly say the week has been great... YAY!!

Have you ever stressed out about something and then halfway through you ask yourself... "what's your problem lady?". I did that with this weeks Sketch Challenge over at OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. The challenge, by the way, is sponsored by Doodle Pantry which has some awesome digital stamps. I used Doodle Pantry's pre colored Owl and one of the sentiments from the digital set, Quirky Owl, to make this card.

Here's the sketch:

My interpretation of the sketch doesn't have the small circles [which can be anything]. I tried lots of things like various shapes, bling, buttons, you name it, and nothing looked right to me. It seemed off balance with the owl. So I finally said "what's your problem lady?", and left those elements off. Yep, I talk to myself when I'm crafting. Ha!

You can find the Quirky Owl set here. The set come with 2 owls, one black & white and one in color, two digital sentiments, and 2 digital papers.

Well, that's it for me today. Enjoy you day and thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit with me!

Pretty in Pink... and Gray

Hi peeps, I'm back again for the second post of the day. The Midweek Throwdown, last Wednesday, over at OWH is a Color Challenge using your favorite color combo. You can check it out here. Right now I'm into the colors pink and gray. I just love how they look together and right now they're very popular.

The DSP is is by Bo Bunny's Isabella collection called Isabella Becoming.  The swirl print is one side and the soft lattice motif in light gray is the back side. It's just soooo pretty. The card stock is by Bazzill. For the first sentiment I used Inky Antics' Autums Dogs set, and the second is from Lawn Fawn's You've Got Mail set.

Now I have to scoot again. Thanks so much for stopping by, again, and I hope you enjoyed your visit.

OWH Sketch 168

Hi peeps, guess who?? Yep I've been MIA again by that little 'ole thing called life. Broken toe, broken car, broken washer... will it ever end? Momma said there would be days like this but she never said they would come one right after the other! On the bright side... I've had more time, especially with the broken toe, to make some cards.

This week's sketch challenge over at Operation Write Home's blog Stars & Stamps has been tons of fun! You can check it out for yourself here. This is the sketch:

It's great for double sided 12x12 papers and also the 6x6 paper pads. This sketch can also be mass produced very easily. Here's what I've made:

For this brown set I used two different shade of Kraft cardstock for my card bases because I couldn't decide which I liked the best. I found the woodgrain, by TPC, at Hobby Lobby and the patterned paper is by Inque. I found it a while back at a local craft store and it's the only time I've ever seen that brand of DSP. The sentiment is from Simple Sentiments by Inky Antics. All the card stock used in my cards is by Bazzill.

Once again, with this green set, I couldn't decide which color card base I like best, so I used both of them. The DSP is a double side 12x12 is by Echo Park's This & That collection called Dots & Plaids. For the sentiment I used Cuttlebug's die, With Gratitude, and die cut just the Thanks.

This pink and gray set is the last I made using this week's OWH sketch. Yep, it's pink and GRAY, even thought it looks black in the photo. I used a double sided 12x12 by Bo Bunny's Isabella collection called Isabella Becoming. The sentiment is from You've Got Mail by Lawn Fawn.

Well peeps, I best be scootin along. I want to Thank You for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your visit!