Last Minute Tag Idea and a Christmas Card using Silly Santa by Lia Stampz

Well things have been a little hectic around here to say the least but isn't that always the case when we are days away from Christmas?!!  And now here we are on Christmas eve and I still have two things I wanted to show you.. So we are going to jam them all into one post.

You might remember my tags I made last year with the kids photo's.  I used my old business cards to make gift tags.  You can find them HERE.  Well my granddaughter asked if I would have pictures on my gifts again this year.  How can I tell her no??  I didn't have any of the business cards left over so in a panic I ran to Walmart, which is really my only close option.  I found some little wooden circles or discs.  There were 6 in a package and I think mine were about 3" in size.

I thought they turned out pretty cute!  Same basic process as was used on the business cards but the step by step on how I did it is below.

1.  Drill a small hole in the wooden disc.  You will need to use a piece of sand paper to smooth over the hole where you drill.
2. This step can be skipped but I was wanting a more finished look so I dry brushed a little paint on the back to give the wood a sort of antiqued look. (sorry no picture).  I also used a gold pen to finish the little side of the disc. I just ran my pen around the edge so it didn't look like bare wood.
3.  Print your picture or image in a size to fit your disc.  I used plain copy or printer paper.
4.  Cut your image out in a circle shape as close as possible to the size of your disc.  I used my Silhouette to do this but you could use any circle cutter or you could also use a glass and trace around it and then cut it out by hand.
5. Lay your photo on top of the disc. Find the hole in your wooden disc and mark that spot on your photo.  Next use a hole punch and punch a small hole out of your photo where you marked.
6. Paint a thin coat of Mod Podge (I used Matte) on the disc.
7. Place your photo on the disc and make sure you line the holes up.
8. Smooth the photo out, trying to remove all air bubbles.  I would let this dry for a few minutes.
9. Brush a thin coat of Mod Podge over the top of your image.  Let it dry.
10. Brush a second coat of Mod Podge over your image.
11. Once dry you can put a string through the hole and hang it on you package.I found my string at Walmart too. I actually found mine in the section with the beads. It had a pretty glittery gold string running through it.

On to my card.  I recently won the cutest stamp set from Lia Stampz.  Wow does she have some cute digital images!  I wanted to make my cards using this set but.... well I didn't find time to get cards made.  I did however make one card using the set just so you can see how cute they are.  Click on her link above to check them out.

Thank you to Lia Stampz for the opportunity to win this adorable set.  I wish I would have had more time to play with it.

I

these are the colors I used for my image above.

Have a Merry Christmas!

A Silhouette Project- Thank You Card

This is a pretty simple project but I thought I would share the card because it was a way for me to use up some of my scrap paper.  I am ALWAYS trying to use of some of my stash.  Why do I have so much!! Lol.

I created this card using my Silhouette.  I was drawn to the cut file because it reminds me of a quilt pattern.  I just used some papers that coordinated in color and then cut them out on my machine. Once I got the colored flags cut out I put them through my Xyron sticker maker and then just applied them to the card. 

For the sentiment I cut a strip of card stock the the size I needed.  I wanted the sentiment to be on a flag as well so I traced the "V" shape off of one of the pieces I had cut out with the Silhouette and then just used my scissors to cut it out.  I stamped "Thank You" on on the strip and then applied it to the card.

I thought it turned out pretty darn cute and I used up a couple of my four billion pieces of scrap paper to boot.

Have a great day!

Make Someone's Day Special

A Simple note can mean so much. It serves as a reminder that someone loves you and that they took time out of their day to let you know it.  My Granddaughter Emma gave me this one the other day.  She didn't make a big production out of it- She just wrote it down and handed it to me, "here you go" she said, "this one is for you".   It really wasn't a big deal to her but it melted my heart.  I hung it on my bulletin board and every time I walk by I feel such a joy in my heart.

She has a thing for Post It Notes or as she calls them  "sticky notes".

 When Grandpa came across a package of them the other day, he gave them to her.   She immediately sat down and wrote him a quick little note.....

how cute does it get?! 

 Do you want to make someone's day special? Place a note in their lunch box, leave a note on the counter for them to see after you've left, or write a message on the mirror in lipstick  for them to find in the morning. Trust me, even if you can't see it on their face, they are smiling on the inside.

I think that the old fashioned act of writing a note and sending it through the mail can have the same effect.  I recently created some thank you notes with some patterned paper and a printer.  no tools required other than some scissors.

I think they are simple and elegant

and the important thing, they were sent with love.

I hope you get a special note today in your mailbox, your lunch box or even on a stigy note! 

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Repair and Spotlight Winner!

How Many of you have one of these beauties in your kitchen?

 This lovely lady has been a true workhorse in my kitchen for about 22 years.  Ok, I will admit that I have on occasion longed for one of the really cool stainless steel models....  but mine, well she's been faithful and I'm not ready to trade her in just yet.  Several months ago I noticed my beater had become chipped.  I ordered a new one and went about my business thinking all was fine. It seemed reasonable that after that many years the coating had just weakened. 

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my NEW beater already had a chip on it. WHAT THE  HECK!  My first thought was that they just don't make them like they used to but after some research I found that there are actually some adjustments you CAN  and probably should make to your mixer.  If yours has been around as long as mine then I would assume adjustments are possibly due.

Here is what I learned.... If your beater is chipped, it is probably sitting too low in the bowl.  If you have a lot of batter that isn't getting mixed in the bowl, then your beater is probably sitting too high.

 

Raise the head of your mixer and notice the large screw.  If you turn this screw slightly to the left it raises the beater and if you turn it slightly to the right it lowers.  I was kind of unsure just how high it should be. I raised mine just high enough so that it didn't touch the bottom. After my adjustment I lowered the beater into the bowl, then I slid a piece of paper under the beater to make sure it wasn't touching the bowl.  

Another problem I've been experiencing is that the head of the mixer bounces when I am working with a stiff dough.    If you turn your machine over on it's side and look up under the head you will see a small screw which can be tightened to resolve this problem. 

I was very happy at how easy it was to fix this lady right up. With a little love and care, who knows how long this baby will last!

On to some FUN news. I found out that I was made Spotlight Artist over at the Lia Stampz Blog  for my SPOT OF TEA card. You can check it out on my October 14th Post HERE.  Whoop Whoop!! Wow I feel so honored. 

 

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!!

Lia Stampz New Release and Giveaway

Hi Everyone!
Since it's close to Halloween... you wanna hear something scary?  

It's time to start thinking about Christmas!  EEEk!  Lol!

Here's your chance to get started.

LiaStampz has a new release! Silly Santa digital stamps set! and they also have a giveaway!! check out their challenge blog to see the rules at Lia Stampz
 

 

Aren't these images adorable?!  If you would like to purchase this set or check out their other items you can visit their Etsy shop HERE .

Have a great day!

Too Cute To Spook

Today's image is a little cutie.  She is a digital image from Tiddly Inks. The image is called "Too Cute To Spook".

 

I love the images at Tiddly Inks.  They are so cute.   I am so "out of practice" on my coloring right now.  I really had a fun time coloring her today but I think I will give it another go tomorrow.  You really need to practice with Copics and unfortunately I don't always get the chance.  I still think she turned out great, and purple is my favorite color!

I used the copics shown above on today's card..  The "BEST WITCHES" sentiment is a wooden stamp I had. (I have no idea where I bought it).  It is made by Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co.  I stamped it on some white card stock and just cut out a little flag by hand.  Then I took a fine tip purple marker and added some dash lines around the edge of the card and three little purple pearls at the  bottom to finish it off.  Hopefully my granddaughter will love this little purple witch.  Only a few more Halloween cards to go and then I gotta get crackin' on Christmas.

I am entering this card into 3 challenges:
1)Tiddly Inks Challenge #143-Non Traditional Halloween Colors
2) Lia Stampz Challenge #75- Spooky Cute
3)Deconstructing Jen-Deconstructed Sketch No. 174

Have a great day

A Spot of Tea

I have loved hot tea for as long as I can remember.  I like my tea usually with a bit of sugar or honey and a smidge of milk.  In the last 5 years or so I have also grown to love green tea.  I usually have one or two cups per day. This little image caught my eye when I was cruising around the web looking for something new to color.  I LOVE this image and I really enjoyed coloring her with my Copics.  I hadn't really used my markers for a while and thought I would sit a bit and color. 

 

For the card I kept it simple because I felt like the image already had so much going on.  I just distressed the edges to give it more of a shabby chic look.

Here are all the specifics:

1.  The image is from My Besties and you can find their images HERE. 

2.  I glued Flower Soft in the center of the flowers, I wanted them to be yellow but I didn't have that color so I used white and then colored it with my Y02 Copic marker

3.  I used Ranger Liquid Pearl on the green tea cup

4.  Copic Markers used:  Skin-E00, E50, E000, R20 and BV00; Flowers and top tea cup-R89, R85, R83, R81, R000 (N8 was used as shadowing on tea cup); Bottom Tea Cup and some of the leaves-G24, G21, G40, G20 (G85 was also used on some of the leaves); Hat and pants- E47, E44, E43, E41; Shirt-BV04, BV02, BV00;

This image is being entered into the Lia Stampz Challenge #74 Distressed + Kraft. You can visit her blog HERE for some awesome inspiration or to enter the challenge yourself.

Have a beautiful day!

A Super Simple Halloween Card

Happy Tuesday.  Well I am hoping my Tuesday will be better than my Monday was! Yesterday was just one of those days.... you know, the one where EVERYTHING you touch gets dropped, spilled or broken.  Yep that pretty much sums my day up yesterday.  Well even on "those" days I can still find so many things to be grateful for so enough whining from me.
I did manage to get a couple of Halloween cards made.  These will be for my grandsons.  They are a couple of little guys so nothing too spooky.

This was a super easy card and one that you could easily crank out several of in no time flat.

Here is how I made the card above but of course you could just use it as inspiration and put your own spin on it.
1.  Cut out a yellow moon using a 2 1/2 in circle punch.
2.  Stamp bats on the moon. I used a Craft Smart stamp. but any will do.  I think a witch would also
     be really cute.  Use whatever you have on hand.   I stamped the image with a Versafine stamp
     and sprinkled the image with Judi Kins Sticky Stuff embossing power.  THIS IS SOME REALLY
     COOL STUFF!   When the powder is applied to the stamped surface and heated it creates a sticky
     surface which you can then sprinkle your glitter on.  If you haven't tried it yet, you should! 
3.  Sprinkle Fine black glitter on the bats.  I used Martha Stewart Fine Glitter in Ebony.
4.  Using a pop dot, place the moon on the A2 card in the upper right hand corner.
5.  Cut a strip of patterned Halloween paper (mine is 1 1/2 inches wide) to stretch across the center 
      of the card.  Attach it using adhesive.

6. With your Sewing Machine and some black thread, add stitches to both sides of the patterned strip.
     If you didn't have a sewing machine and if your patterned paper was light enough, you could use
     a black pen to make little black dashes along the edge to look like stitches.
7.  Finish off the card by tying some string around it and creating a tassel. I placed my tassel just off
     to left hand side to help balance out the card.

If you create a card using this one as inspiration I would love to see it.

Thank you for visiting my blog! I try my best to give you accurate information. I am not affiliated with any of these companies nor did I receive compensation or free product for mentioning them. All products used and mentioned were personally purchased... except any digital stamps won through challenges, which were received from the company with no expectation. This blog is NOT sponsored, requested, or paid and I did it only because I wanted to. The information provided in this video is based on my own personal experience and opinion. I am not an expert nor do I work for these companies.
I hope you have a great day!  

 

Chocolate Truffles YUM!

My Daughter-In-Law recently had a birthday.  I put together a bunch of goodies to help her get ready for the chilly days ahead.  I bought her a pair of finger gloves, which is totally her style, a pair of cute cute earrings, some Chai Tea (her fave), some Cafe Mocha mixes and some homemade chocolate truffles.  I made a batch of these at Christmas time and she RaVeD about them so I thought I would make some special just for her.  I gotta say.... they really are DELISH!

This recipe is one I've used several times and it always turns out great.  I use a recipe from Ina Garten. You can find it HERE.  Make sure you read all instructions before you make them and to follow all directions carefully.  You wouldn't want to spend all that hard earned cash on the bestest chocolate, only to have it seize up on you.  Once the truffles are made, you can roll them into your favorite coating.  I have used a variety of things but some of my favorites are coconut, chopped hazelnuts, cocoa powder and powdered sugar.  Also, just a note about the way I made these.....I didn't add the liqueur called for in her recipe, so I added a dribble more of the strong coffee to compensate.

I placed my truffles in mini cupcake wrappers and then put them in a Martha Stewart window box. Martha Stewart has some great gift boxes for treats.  I found these at Michaels. It really makes a "sweet" gift (pun intended). 

 

I had a cute little box on hand that I re-purposed as a gift box for her gloves.  By adding a paper rose, I was able to cover up the label that was printed on the top of the box. If I receive a nice box I hate to discard it.  However I don't have a lot of space to store these things so I save only the really cool or nicely made ones. 

 

I didn't mention that I decorated a coffee mug using a Sharpie. This is such an easy thing to do as well.  There are all kinds of things you can do with this application.  I plan on putting together a tutorial soon for this but you can find Sharpie projects all over Pinterest.

Well I better get back to work on my Halloween cards. I hope you have a fantastic day! 

Handpainted Cowgirl Silhouette

Happy Tuesday everyone.  I think I have finally resolved my blog issues.... I think.     I apologize to my Gmail subscribers who might have received my last post twice.  Hopefully all will work properly with this email.

My Brother-In-Law asked me for a favor.  He had gotten an idea for something he wanted to put in at his lake house.  I was a little hesitant because I am not an artist! I didn't want to disappoint him with my lackluster abilities!  In the end, I caved.  His idea was just so darn creative I couldn't resist helping him out.  I know you've probably seen the black cowboy silhouette pieces that are attached to sides of barns, homes and fences.  Well....

I turned this.................................

into this.........................

Ha !   Isn't that funny?!! We didn't trim anything off of the original shape......... obviously, which accounts for her excess "up-top".  I think that's what makes her um, let's say "interesting".  

As I said, I'm not an artist and it's not perfect but I think he was pretty happy with the final result.   The cowboy silhouette is just ply board, so I painted her with acrylic paint and then sprayed two coats of polyurethane. I used one that is for outdoor use. I used the same brand that was used on my picnic table project a few posts back, except I used it in a spray.

So that little project is done and on to the next.  I am trying to get things checked off of my project list before the holiday's get here and you know they are right around the corner.

Have a wonderful day!!

Chalkboard Paint To Update An Old Piece of Furniture

I wanted to get a quick little post out today for a couple of reasons.  First of all I am trying to change the way my emails are being delivered for people who have subscribed to my post.  I have had SO MANY issues with the the way these were being handled.  I am hoping to get this resolved.  If something looks strange on this email, I apologize.  It's a real work in progress for me.

Ok,  now on to the fun stuff.  So--- I was giving you some quick things I did to spruce up around my place and I left out one one of my favorites!

We recently acquired this beautiful piece of furniture from my Mother-In-Law.  It was my husband's Great Grandfathers.  I love it.  It adds so much warmth and charm to our home.  The side of the hutch was once attached to some old cabinets many many years ago.  It was painted with what I was sure was lead paint.  I didn't really feel like tackling the whole lead paint issue and trying to figure out how to remove it safely.  The paint was old and ugly and I had company coming over!!  YIKES.

I found some chalkboard paint in the garage (image that).  I painted the side and then once it was dry I used a chalkboard marker to paint the "What to Buy" title.  Now I can use it to jot down my grocery list.  I use it all the time and I think it looks awesome.

Well as I said, this is a quick post.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment.
Have a great weekend.

It's Fall Y'all

It seems like I always get a little more motivated to do some freshening up in the fall.  I was EXTRA motivated a couple of weeks ago because I had just returned from Oregon and needed to get the place in shape for a birthday party. I only had a few days so I my sprucing up would have to be some quick projects that have big impact and little time. I thought I would share a few of them with you.  It's always nice to have a quick project in your back pocket. These were so quick I did them in one afternoon.

First things first Is the appearance of your home when you pull up the drive... don't you think?  Well My existing "Summer" flowers were pretty sad because I had been gone and my husband didn't get them watered.  I replaced them with some fresh new fall mums.  I just plopped them in place where the old flowers were and spruced it up immediately. Then I just took some burlap ribbon and tied it around the containers.  The even left the plan below in the original container and the burlap covered up the writing on the pot.  Another hint- and something I've done many times too, if you want to just use the same plastic pot they came in, I have just spray painted it to cover the wording on the pot and it looks great as well.

I also did a quick project on my picnic table.  I found this idea on Pinterest but it comes from an awesome blog called Vintagerevivals.com.  

Our party was outside so I wanted to freshen up our picnic table that had turned gray from the weather.  This was super easy and quick.  Although, I have to admit I skipped one fairly important step because time was an issue.  I skipped the "SANDING" step.  It would have made a big difference in the outcome.  However, considering the small amount of time I invested in this project, I am very happy with the way it came out.  

First I taped off the design on the table. Make sure you press the tape down really well so the stain doesn't bleed underneath the tape.  Next just paint or smear on the stain using an old rag.  I used Minwax Jacobean.  Once the stain dried I removed the tape to reveal the design. Next you will want to protect it.  I used one coat of  Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane, as it was the one recommended for outside use.

I think I may sand mine down in the Spring and redo this project for even better results because I LOVE LOVE The way her table turned out below. Don't You?!

 Here's the picture from her blog.  It's so pretty.  Click on the link above if you would like to see how she did hers.  She has provided a good step-by-step process.

Well I have gotten my run in, and now it's time to clean up and do a little grocery shopping. I hope everyone has a great day!

Teen Birthday Card using Copic Markers

First I have to say that I am still having problems with my blog. For some reason only my subscribers with Gmail are getting my posts. Or at least I know my subscribers with Yahoo are NOT getting them.  If anyone who might be reading this, and knows how this issue can be resolved, I would love to hear your comments.

Last weekend we celebrated my grandson's 12th birthday. TWELVE!! Holy Cow I'm old.  He loves video games, got the new PS 4 for his birthday as a matter of fact.  I thought this image was perfect for him. 

 

I used a digital image called Video Boy from Mo's Digital Pencil.  You know I love their images.  You can find them HERE.  I colored this image with my Copics.  I used a LOT of markers for this image.  I had them written down but I can't seem to find the list. Talk about unorganized.  Here are some of the combo's I feel (somewhat) certain that I used.

Shirt R000, R24, R27, R29(R39 & N8 for shadowing); Skin E000, E00, E11, Jeans, B93, B95, B97, B000; Shoes T3, T5, T7, T1. Sorry I cannot remember which hair combo I used. 

 I did the shadowing with gray chalk and the gray I used on the labels was actually using my Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad in Pumice Stone. I used some star eyelets and sewed around the image with my sewing machine using black thread.

 

Isn't he handsome.  Poor guy spilled ketchup on his brand new Jersey right before the pic but still had this big smile on his face.  Like I said yesterday, I am truly blessed and feel so grateful for such a wonderful family.

I hope you have a great day.

Fiskars Sure Cut Paper Trimmer

Today I thought I would share my opinion of the Fiskars Sure Cut paper trimmer.

 

I purchased this trimmer a couple of months ago.   I have 3 paper trimmers in my arsenal already.  Do I have a problem.......... well yes, several problems,  but lets stick to the one at hand.  You see I didn't REALLY want to purchase, yet another to add to my collection but none of the past purchases really seemed to fit the bill.  And not to sound like a re-run of the Three Bears story but I have one that is too heavy for taking to crops, I have one that is too small and I have one that simply cuts the paper crooked.   

The Fiskars Sure Cut trimmer is light weight AND it cuts up to 12" but the thing that I love most about it is a small wire that is in the arm of the trimmer.  This wire shows you exactly where the cut will be made.  Maybe you don't struggle with this but boy I sure do.  I can't tell you how many times I have made the wrong cut with my old trimmers, which is frustrating to say the least. 

UH OH..... then it happened............I was so disappointed.  I wasn't getting a clean cut.  Oh no, not again.   So I take a look at it and the little wire was frayed, causing the problem.  I called Fiskars to find out about replacement wires.  The Customer Service Department tells me that they have corrected this problem with the wire and they are sending me a replacement arm for my trimmer at NO COST-- NO QUESTIONS ASKED.  She was so polite and accommodating.  I LOVE LOVE a company with great Customer Service!  This is of course my own personal opinion but I would recommend this trimmer to anyone.  I don't get paid or receive merchandise for giving them a good review, I just simply love to pass on a good item when I find it.

Have a great day!

First Birthday Penguin Card

Hi All!  Today I wanted to do a quick post of the card I recently made for my grandson Miles' 1st Birthday. 

I created the card using a digi image from 2 Cute Ink. The image is called Celebration Penguin. 

 

I colored the image with my Copic markers.  For the emblem, I used a chipboard number and covered it with some Martha Stewart fine glitter.  I pasted it to a circle shape that I cut out using one of my Spellbinder dies.  I used Stickles to create little confetti dots all around the image and then cut the little flags by hand and pasted them on some bakers twine I had.  

I really like the easel cards,  as you may know from some of my previous posts.  I did this card as an easel as well and put three little rhinestones to hold it in a "standing" position.  I find on these Easel cards, if you put something down for the front of the card to rest on, it will stand up a lot better for you and not want to fall over quite as easily.

Oh my garsh he is so handsome!!  I love this little guy. It's hard to believe a year has passed.  I am truly blessed with my children and grandchildren. 
September is a busy birthday month for us and I have several posts lined up to get out.  I know this will be hard for you to believe because I am terrible at getting my posts out (hey I am a busy lady!  haha)---But anywho, I do have several things lined up so stay tuned.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having.  Have a great day!

Graduation Card

Due to a tornado that recently struck our little town, I have been running a bit behind on my cards and other tid bits I do. I don't live in the town itself, we live about 2 miles outside of town.  Our house had just a few shingles blown off.  3 of our trees were blown over and just basic wind damage to flower pots and so forth.  My daughter lives in town and her house received moderate to heavy damage. She had a window blown out, heavy damage to her metal roof and siding.  Thankfully all are safe and that is the important thing. 80% of the town was affected by the storm.  People have really banded together to get this town back into shape.  It will still be a long time before things are back to "normal" if that's even possible after such a storm but it has been very heartwarming to see the kindness and generosity shown to the community from outside towns and even the help given to one another from within the town itself.  The school where my grandchildren go was heavily damaged.  Summer vacation started immediately!  As some of you know, I watch my grandchildren so when their break begins when mine ends.... haha.  Anyway, I just haven't gotten my cards up to date yet.  Today I am sharing a card I made for a beautiful young gal who lives down the road from us. She recently graduated. 

 

This digital stamp is from Tiddly Inks. The name of the image is Annie's Diploma. I thought this image was a little challenging, at least for me, because the school colors are black and gold.  I don't use a lot of black in my cards. In my experience "black" can be a challenge to shade properly so it doesn't look "gray". I thought I pulled it off on this card though.  ( Is it spelled GRAY or GREY???  I have always heard that in America it is GRAY and in England it is GREY.  I don't know if that is true or not??? hmmm things to ponder.  I may have to investigate this but I have a lot of other things that need to be done before investigating the proper spelling of a color. )

The photo of this card was taken at an angle so the ribbon looks crooked but it is actually straight.  You'll just have to take my word for it! 

Well that's it for today. I hope you have a great day!

Birthday Princess Card

Today I am sharing the card I made for my granddaughter Emma who just turned 6.  I can't believe how fast she has grown.  She is 6 going on 16 but I think most kids are these days.  

I used a digital image from Mo's Digital Pencil. Isn't this little image adorable.  I cut the crown and the stars out with my Cameo.  I colored the image with Copics. Skin; E50, E51, E53, E55, R20 for cheeks. Hair; E50, E31, E25, E29. Dress; R81, R83, R85, R000. Sorry, not sure which purples I used for sure. For the background I used some chalk and then used my Quickie Glue pen and some fine glitter to create some streamers and stars.  I also used a Spica pen on dress ruffle.  You can't really see it in the photo but it added a lot of sparkle. 

Well I am off to the birthday party.  I worked for 2 days on her birthday cake.  I delivered it to my daughters house last night.  I sure hope it's still standing ha ha......... uh but seriously.  It has been years and years since I decorated a cake and this one had it's fair share of problems.  I didn't snap a photo but hopefully I can get one today.  I am also hoping the rain stops long enough to celebrate this beautiful 6 year old... fingers crossed. 
Have a great day.

Hey Mom! Spoiler alert... It's a Mothers Day Card

Mom, if your reading this close your email immediately! Ha Ha.  I know you won't.  I hope everyone has a great Mothers Day tomorrow.  I am seeing part of my kids tonight at my granddaughters birthday party. Tomorrow I want to get my scheduled run in.  I am training for a 10k and am on the schedule for 4 miles. I just want the weather to hold out because I would much rather do it outside than in the gym.  After that I plan on going to my moms and hanging out with her and then will probably meet up with my daughter and hang out with them too.  Sounds like a full day for sure, but any day with family is a good one in my book.

Before I start talking about the card I want to apologize that I didn't get the video done on the envelope board that I mentioned in my last post.  I have been having technical difficulties.  I'm not sure why, but not everyone is getting my blog posts.  Hopefully this one distributes properly. Once I get it up and running correctly I will get a video in for the envelope board.

Here is a Mothers Day card using an image from one of my favorite artists. This image is from Mo's Digital Pencil.  This image is called Imke and Mama.  I just love this image!  It reminds me of my mom and her love of gardening. I love the way the little girl is looking up to her mom with such admiration.  It really does take me back and remind me of a time when I was little with my mom working in the garden. I really had fun coloring this image.

 I apologize as I couldn't find my list of markers used for this card.  I am pretty bad about that.  I used A LOT for this card though.  I am pretty confident I used skin combo E000, E00, E11, E21.  I used a handmade stencil and chalk for the clouds and sky background. If anyone would like directions on how to do this let me know and I will post a quick tutorial.

I am entering this card in the Love to Create Challenge #114

Have a great day!

16th Birthday Card

Hey Hey it's Friday! It's going to be a beautiful day so I thought I would do a quick post on a birthday card I created.  I believe I told you in a previous post that I now have a Silhouette Cameo.  I LOVE it.  I am still trying to figure out how to use it. I just haven't been able to spend much time with it yet.  It can really do some AMAZING things and I cannot wait to figure out how it all works.
My Granddaughter Lilee is turning 16 and I created this card for her. Some of the elements in this card were things that I did while playing around on my Silhouette.

 A couple of things I used my Silhouette for- First the flags.  I was really impressed with the quality of the really tiny cuts!  I actually think the flags were a tad too big for the card but I made it work.  Now the thing I was really excited about is the digital image.  I was able to print out my digital image and then put it in my Silhouette and cut around it perfectly.   LOVE IT!  NO more tedious cutting around images with scissors. 
So to make this card I used a digital image by Dilly Beans.  I actually think the flower was a freebie.  Either way... she has really cool images. You can check them out HERE.
I colored the flower with Copic markers YR07, YR04, YR02, YR000, YG05, YG03, YG00,B97. I used my white Sharpie pen to make dots in the center of the flower.  The paper was from stack made by DCWV called Cotton Bloom Stack.
I will be making a coordinating envelope with my Envelope Punch Board and hope to post a video on that tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Easter Cookies and a Dilly Beans Challenge Card

Well things are crazy busy so all is normal!  I finally did it.  I finally grew my hair long enough to donate.  I will have to update my profile picture sometime when I figure out how to fix short hair again, Ha!  I was able to donate 11inches to Locks of Love. I liked having long hair but having it short again is really nice and low maintenance.
Well today I got a couple of things accomplished!  It was a pretty nice day outside but I had already made my sugar cookies and they needed decorated soooo.... here are the fruits or uh hem, cookies of my labor.

The cookie carrot design I had seen on a Pinterest board and thought it was adorable. I would love to give credit where credit is due but it was one of those frustrating pins that just bring up a picture and not a link.
I was also able to get a card done for my nieces upcoming birthday.  Woo hoo what do ya know I'm ahead of the game this month!

 

This image is from Dilly Beans and will be entered into their FLOWERFUL challenge. You can click on the link HERE to check out their challenge and the adorable images. The paper used is from a paper stack by DCWV called Street Lace.  I actually colored this very closely to the image I had seen on her blog because I was intrigued with how the eyes were colored.  I need practice for sure. I love the way she colored her images and I think I will try this image out again using colored pencils.  I had a hard time getting my copics into the tiny spaces of her eye.

Well I hope everyone has a great day.

Thinking of You

Hello! Just a quick post from me today.  Things are busy, busy, busy! Today I was looking through some paper and ran across this cute paper I used in the background.  It is actually from a Valentine pack from K & Company. 

I decided to use it for a few challenges that are going on.  First I will give you a quick run down.  I used a digi stamp from Digi Stamp Boutique.  The paper from the same K & Co Valentine pack to do some paper piecing on the turtle shell.  I then colored his body with copic markers YG25, YG23, YG21 and R81 for his rosy cheeks.  

 I am entering this card into the following challenges:

The first challenge I am entering this card into is Muse Challenge #60 you can click on the link to check out the challenge.  The inspiration given was a line of tall trees with a sort of rainbow colored background.  It's a beautiful card.  I decided to use the tall trees as my inspiration and thought that the tall flowers on my card would represent trees to a cute little turtle!  Here is there inspiration card.  The challenge is to interpret however you like!

 

This card is also being entered into the Digi Stamp Boutique Challenge. Check out this site for some great inspiration and some really cute images.

I am also entering this card into the Love to Create Challenge Blog.  Check out this cool challenge.  You have the bingo card below and can choose to create a card that includes 3 items in any of the columns going across, down, or diagonal. 

 

My card has top row across, PINK, PEARLS and SPARKLE!  Most of my cards include those items!

Click on the link above to see all the great things going on over there.

Have a great day!