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!

OWH Animal Pun Blog SKip

Good morning peeps, and welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Animal Pun Blog Skip! Everyone on the Blog Skip is using one of the 3 new Animal Puns stamp sets released by Stampers Best, and they were all designed by OWH's President, Sandy Allnock. Please read my entire post for a special offer from Stampers Best.

If you arrived here from Kathryn's blog, Kathryn's Cards, then you are in the right place. If you are just joining be sure to start at the beginning on OWH's blog, Stars and Stamps, here. Today my card features the Write Soon Minnow set. I kept my card very simple in design so I could showcase the fish. 

Special offer from Stampers Best:  Buy two of the new Animal Puns sets and get one free! Wow, what a deal! To take advantage of this great offer I'm including a link the their site here.

Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the hop by going to the talented Allison's blog, Allison's Creations, here. I know she has created something fantastic for you. While you're visiting Allison be sure to leave some love.

Supplies:
Papers - Pebbles Family Ties 6x6 paper pad; Bazzill cardstock in Lagoon;
Ink - Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers - Copics - Y00; Y15; Y38; R22; R27; R46
White Pearls - Queen and Co Snowflake  [note: I used Copic B05 to color them]

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

OWH Sketch Challenge 162, and a Cute Elephant

Hi peeps! I finally got some crafting time in this weekend. My cards today are all made with this week's OWH Sketch Challenge 162. It went live on their Stars and Stamps blog on Sunday, March 3rd. Here's is the sketch:

When I first saw this layout I thought "Mother's Day". This card was the first idea that popped into my head.  Under the sentiment I used tiny punched hearts for accents. These were left over from using my Martha Stewart heart border punch for the mat behind my sentiment.

For this second card I used Ranger's Liquid Pearls in Flamingo for the dot accents. I used two styles of Martha Stewart Butterfly punches for additional accents. The solid butterfly is adhered first, and the second filigree butterfly is adhered on top, but only in the center for dimension.

I recently bought a cute elephant stamp, so he's the star of the next two cards using this sketch. This next card is my first try because the colors/papers were the first ones that popped into my head. The stamp is by Great Impressions [F520]. I used Copic's to color him and add grass. The papers are from January's monthly card kit by Simon Says Stamps. The "Hello" stamp is from My Sentiments Exactly! [H147] Ranger's Liquid Pearls in Daffodil mimic flowers in the grass.

This next card is another color/paper idea that came to mind. I used papers from a 6x6 paper pad by Bo Bunny called Camp-A-Lot. The Liquid Pearls I used is Hot Cocoa.

I can't resist showing an up close and personal glimpse of the elephant. I love to color but I'm not very good at it yet.

If you're wondering why I'm working on Mother's Day so early it's because the deadline for getting these cards to our OWH shippers is March 31st. Over at OWH we're on an early deadline for special holiday cards. If you're not familiar with OWH we send cards to our deployed troops to write home. Once our shippers receive our cards they box them and ship them overseas in enough time that our troops can go through them, pick the cards they want, and get them mailed home. For more information on OWH [Operation Write Home] click here.

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

Skip Winner and OWH Sketch 159

Sunday Blessings my friends. I want to apologize for being almost a week late posting the winner of last Saturday's OWH Blog Skip. So without further to do.... random.org picked... drum roll please..............

Winner of the Tonic Border Punch

Donna Nuce  

Congratulations Donna!

Donna, please email me your address so I can get you punch to you. It's: marlened00 at gmail dot com   [yes, those are 2 zeros following my name]

This past week has been crazy, but I'm thankful the Good Lord has allowed me to keep my sanity. Those of you that follow my blog know my mom, who is 90, is in bad shape in the Nursing Home. Mom's been having chest pains so they're looking to see if she's developed heart problems or if it's something else. There is no definite conclusion yet, but it's been a whirlwind of visits, phone consultations. and keeping the family updated.

I did manage to get some craft time in this weekend. Here's my take on Clean and Simple, and this week's OWH Sketch Challenge.

I've had the Hero Arts stamp set, All The Time, since it came out and have wanted a clock embossing folder to go along with it. I finally found this one by Darice at my local craft store. The clock and sentiment are stamped using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger. I matted the embossed piece and sentiment on kraft cardstock.

I've never had an embossing folder as temperamental as this one. Now, I use really sturdy cardstock when I emboss... but this folder embossed so deeply that it actually tore the cardstock at the circles. OMG... are you kidding me?? NEVER had this happen before!! On the bright side, I now have embossed clock die cuts to use on something else.

I used my Cuttlebug and had to do away with the normal "B sandwich". I solved the problem by placing several pieces of cardstock on  the A spacer, my EF on top of that, then a B plate on top of that. It was crazy but I was determined a piece of cardstock and a hand cranked machine were NOT going to get the best of me. [giggle]

Now it's time to get a 'cuppa joe', put my feet up, and relax a little. Thanks so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

SuperBowl Sunday Yes or No?

Good morning peeps... is everyone out there staying warm? I'm not doing such a good job. Right now I'm wearing enough layers of clothing to be classified as an abominable snowman! As for the SuperBowl... NO NO NO!!!  Sorry to say I belong to the handful of people who does not like football. I know, right? The horror! Besides, I've got way too much to get caught up on.

Yesterday my computer didn't like me and would let me online, so I'm getting caught up now. Did you all participate in yesterday's Blog Skip over at Operation Write Home Stars & Stamps blog? Wasn't it fantastic? And oh my, so much talent and inspiration. You can still skip around to the blogs by clicking here. Today the new Sketch Challenge is up on OWH and you can click here.

I went clean and simple... sort of, for my card. I really liked it at first but now the background looks a little naked. I should have embossed that piece of rose paper, or used Versa Mark Ink and stamped a pattern. I used black to mat my papers and give them some pop. I tweaked the sketch a little but all the main elements are there.

The center panel is an embossed tag from Heidi Swapp. The tags come with clear embossing on them. I spritzed the tag with Heidi's Color Shine Irridescent Spritz called Primrose. The spritz doesn't stick to the embossed design. When you wipe the excess spritz off the pretty design shows as white. The other papers are from Authentique's 6x6 paper pad called Lovely. Some black gems and twine finish it off.

Here's the sketch for this week.

That's it for me. I have to go get caught up on the Blog Skip and leaving love for the participants. Thanks so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed yourself!