Better or Worse.....Day 330

Wow 16 days since I last posted...which really means I haven't had time to do anything in 16 days!  That is a long time. Yes January is a busy month for me, work travel, reports, budgets and some....I think I am just about caught up so work should be back to normal shortly.
I tried to follow the sketch today @ 365 Cards I saved this quote from a card I received quite some time ago and I thought it is time to use it before it gets lost and buried for a few more months. I used bazzil card stock for the base, I embossed using argyle cuttlebug folder, used some tim holtz ink and added the pearls from kaisercraft ~ I had to turn the sketch to make it all work (I know Pam doesn't mind, it's not cheating...really~) So here is the sketch and here is my card (the picture is terrible..I gave up trying to get a good one!) 
If you haven't checked out 365 Cards or played along you should - great group of light hearted, fun loving, unique inspirational crafters!
Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by!

Day 313 ~ create a reflection.....ok I'll try....

Day 313 @ 365 Cards was to use a stamp and create a reflection ~ I'm not a stamper and I don't have very many great versitile stamps - I have lots of bella stamps but they didn't quite work ~ anyway I tried,and I tried again....and then I changed the stamp and tried again...and it worked! Well I ended up with a card I was happy with.
You have to stamp onto a transparency then put that face down onto your paper - I found it tricky to stamp on the transparency as it wants to slide a bit...My card is Bazzill card stock and paper is just scraps, I have no idea where the stamp is from, the thank you is a rub on from pebbles inc, added pink to the flowers on the tree with a copic and added some hemp jute to finish off the card.
Hope your Friday was great ~ thanks for stopping by!

Day 314 put a braid on your card....

Yeah ~ the weekend is here and I get to take some time to create some scrappy things!
The challenge for day 314 from Pam at 365 cards was to have something braided on your card - ribbon, wire - whatever!
I was tempted to scraplift Sophies card - love it, very simple and elegant....my card for day 313 was inches from the recycling bin when I realized this little dog could use a braided leash!.....anyway - the card base is bazzill cardstock, the paper is basic grey, the braiding is braided embroidery floss, letters I think are also basic grey - with some stickles. 
I hope this card will bring a smile to someones face!
Here is the card ~ thanks for stopping by!

Day 308 ...Stampin' Saturday.....

Check out the challenge today @ 365 Cards - the challenge was to stamp on some ribbon and use it on your card - I stamped on ribbon once about 4 years ago to tie onto a scrapbook - it worked but wasn't sure if there was a better or different way to do this - Gloria gave some good advice - tape down some twill at each end before you stamp it, use Stazon Ink - and use a stamp wider than the ribbon - well I followed 2 out of 3 - I used a small dog bone stamp - and voila....instant stamped ribbon. The bone stamp is stampendous and the big stamp is great impressions - I also used a sakura glaze pen to color in the hearts and a bone paperclip!  Cuttlebug to emboss the dog at the top of the cardstock - my trick (in case anyone is wondering) some of the 2 x 2 I cut apart and just put tape on the top or bottom to act as the hinge - this way I can use them to emboss on different areas of my page.
One more day before back to work.....yuk! 
Oh ya - here is my card & thanks for stopping by!

Slow Speed Challenge DigiChick

More info on the Digichick right here
I am new at this - this is my first time participating in a digital challenge - The paper and embelishments used for this layout are from Gypsy Couture - Winter Dreams.
Fonts are Impact & Squire.
Thanks for stopping by!

Meet Shorty.....

This is Shorty my sisters dog ~ they live in the Bahamas and have the luxury of going for a walk on the beach every morning~my sister loves to paint and take pictures but hasn't started a blog yet ~ I'm telling her she should.  I think she will be surprised when she sees what I did with the picture she sent to me ~ hope she likes it!
thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY 2010 !!!

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other." ~ Anonymous

Happy 2010 ~ hope you all have a wonderful year!

Day 305 ~ Divide & Conquer @ 365 Cards

At 365 Cards today the challenge was to divide and conquer - separate the card into 4 quadrants and use the following within each - flower embli, stamped sentiment, rhinestone and punched item.
I used bazzill card stock for the base, added a stamp from SU set (?) a felt flower and I added a smidge of stickles (and messed it up when I stuck my finger in it! lol) bling is basic grey and the diecut is from a quickutz die - I think it might be called love birds...since you could not spill over into another quadrent - I only have one bird.....Enjoy the last Wednesday of 2009!
Thanks for stopping by!

365 Cards & Get Sketchy Challenge

Well I am thrilled to finally get a card done!  And guess what it covers off two challenges one that I like to keep track of daily at 365 Cards day #304 was "Sounds Great" - we had an inspirational cd cover and had to come up with a card.  The challenge at Get Sketchy is "Trash to Treasure".....here is my card - this image was on a Hallmark card that I received for my birthday a few months back and I fell in love with it! I saved it and it fits both of these challenges perfectly - I used bazzill white card base, embossed swiss dots onto some green cardstock, used MS loopy punch on some basic grey pink - inked the edges of everything and added part of a 3D American Crafts emblishment in the corner ~ I love it and can't wait to send this out as a birthday card - the inside says Celebrate so I can use it for birthday or something else special that comes along! 
Hope you are enjoying the holidays ~ thanks for stopping by!

I'm a Digital Scrapbooker!!!!

I've been interested in digital scrapbooking for the past year or so and started to take an online self paced course at Jessica Sprague and I just love it! This is the first layout I did on my own from scratch.  You know with traditional scrapbooking you have so many ways to organize your paper - well this is also a challenge with digital scrapbooking - how to find the right way to organize all your digital elements - it's a work in progress for sure but so far - the course is great and I really love doing the digital layouts!  ....now I must get a card made in the next day or two for 365 cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps & Smiles Digi Image

Just like everyone else I am busy with last minute wrapping and cards, gift bags, wrapping, shopping, cleaning, decorating...I'm sure I've missed about 10 more things!  I think by tomorrow I will be ready to sit back, relax and enjoy the magic of christmas!

My DH needed a large card to hold a gift certificate so I thought of the image I won from the Stamps and Smiles blog hop.  It was the perfect image to span across the card and being digital I flipped it and adjusted the size!
The card is 8.5 x 5.5 on bazzill card stock.  The paper is basic grey from the eskimo kisses line - don't you love the eskimo kisses? - I coloured the image with copic markers, I added red pearls for the noses and on the sentiment and I used a product called flower soft for the some of the white trim, added stickles for the moon and tied it with some silver thread.  I did the inside of the card with an embossed sentiment and photo corners using eskimo kisses and added paper onto the envelope as well.
Hope you evening is great & thanks for stopping by!

Stamps & Smiles Bloghop winner....

Yippee.....I won Believe in Magic from the blog hop on Friday Stamps and Smiles I was one of many winners. (Congrats to all the winners!)
Rose M is on the DT and does an awesome job with digi images.  You can check out her blog here. The images are super cute! This was my first time playing along with a blog hop and I had my time zones mixed up so I was just in from work and rushing around like crazy....then I had an hour to spare! lol crazy especially since I know the time zones ~ I have family spread across the country....see what blogging can do to you! 
Have yourself a fabby Sunday and thanks for stopping by!

Day 285 @ 365 Cards ~ use the word PEACE

This is my second card out of the weekly challenges - I just bombed this week - could not get any cards done!
Here is my card for 365 Cards  ~ use the word PEACE on your card. I used Bazzill card stock for the base - some Carolyn Gavin designer mat  - I thought I would use an actual peace sign to replace the A - just wanted to have a fun card! I also got out the sewing maching and stitched ~ this was the first time I've stitched on a card - it was fun! The brown letters are basic grey - not sure of the name.

Thanks for stopping by...

365 Card - Catch Up.......Not Very Successful!!!!

Well I try to play along with 365 Cards but haven't had much luck getting anything done this week...I was determined to start with the Sunday sketch from Day 281...I was intrigued by such a challenging post and looked at it for days ~ I have a card that is acceptable but I'm not overly crazy about it.

This is the sketch....and this is my card. Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Doodles...What you can do with a digi image....

Here is a fun image from Simple Doodles. This image will be released on December 10th and  I wanted to show you that you can make a quick card with a digi image by adding color to it in photoshop (I used photoshop elements) or paint. You don't always have to color or paper piece a digi image - they can be used in many ways.   Once I colored this, it added some stickles, rock candy on the hat, Tim Holtz black soot on the bag and hearth and diamond stickles on the stocking.  I tied a piece of cord around the bag, added a layer of embossing, computer generated sentiment, mounted it all on basic grey pointsetta and then onto a craft card base.  If you wanted to, you could dress this up many different ways - I kept it simple...Simple Doodles digi stamps are easy, fun and simple to work with!

I have a ton of things to do today ~ enjoy your Sunday & thanks for stopping by!

Day 279 Words on your card

This challenge is to have words on your card - I used a stamp from SU, I don't recall the name but it was a set of 4.  I stamped on some kraft paper and used diamond glaze over top of the word 'thanks' - it's a bit hard to see in the photo.  The green is bazzill and the card base is craft - embli is some hemp cord and buttons.
Try and play along at 365 Cards ~ you won't be disappointed at the daily challenges that Pam throws out there!
Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Doodles...Band Aid...Has this ever happened to you???

This card is for Simple Doodles - the band aid is one of their soon to be released images - hop on over and check em out!
I used the digi image, printed on some mm paper, sakura gloss pen on the heart, some wheely cute buttons (lol), the car and words are cut on the cricut, threading water punch and trusty bazzill card stock. 
This card is dedicated to all of my friends who just can't help let things get in the way of their car!  With malls being busy they will fight for a parking spot - crash into a shopping bugy or yikes...why was the cement at the bottom of the pole so wide (who knew!!)??...and since when is the curb 1 1/2 feet tall??  You know who you are and this card is dedicated to you!
Happy shopping, safe driving and thanks for stopping by!

278 You Can't Miss it...

A hint of color and it has to be glitter...that is the challenge today at 365 Cards
I used an image that I happened to have printed off already and it is from KLM Digi Designs (and it is one of the freebies) The card base is bazzill cardstock, background has been embossed with distressed stripes, on the image I used an adhesive product by sookwang and burnished in Glitter Ritz in chartreuse, opaque micro fine glitter - finished it off with some organza ribbon and a cute little stamp that came in a kit that I bought from Pam at Mac Mae Card Kits
Thanks for stopping by! **off to clean up glitter....how on earth does it end up everywhere!!!**

Day 275 ~ 'tis the season...red & green with Simple Doodles

At 365 Cards the challenge for the day was to create using mostly red & green ~ I am also a guest on the DT for Simple Doodles and here is one of their images...isn't she "Precious"?...she really is! I can't seem to get a decent scan or photo of the card - the cat looks kind of scruffy...oh well!
I've used bazzill card stock for the background red & green, swiss dots embossing folder and for the image I colored and then paper pieced the box, there are some sparkles using  atyou spica pen in clear in the bow. The sentiment is a stamp.
Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you to Gloria & Amy

Gloria & Amy are two very talented ladies! They are both on the DT at 365 Cards.  I was lucky enough to win a RAK from each of them in the early part of November - they each sent a great card along with the goodies ~ the scan doesn't do it justice but here they are:If you visit their blog you might be able to figure out who made which card!

So Gloria & Amy thanks again for sharing your talent and for having a great blog ~ and thank you again for the RAK!

Simple Doodles Snowflake

Trish at Simple Doodles sent out this beautiful snowflake and asked us to create something with it ~ it was a bit of a challenge, I wasn't really sure what to do with it! I ended up making a card with the image that I'm happy with - I didn't stick to the traditional winter colors - would rather have cheerie and bright! I printed the snowflake onto Carolyn Gavin designer mat pad paper and then cut it out, just like a big snowflake!  I embossed some natural kraft paper with the winter embossing folder, the snowflake is pop dotted a bit and the ribbon (SEI) is knotted from behind the snowflake in the middle - it was fun to use this image and I hope to have additional posts using the snowflake again - it is a beauty indeed!
Hope you are having a great Sunday ~ thanks for stopping by!

274 Super Sketchy Sunday - awesome sketch to try! ***and a fraction***lol

I had fun with the sketch today at 365 Cards, 

It's a great sketch and one you can be sure to use over and over again.  I checked out the new sponsor - KLM Digital Designs - their digi stamps are so cute - they had a few freebies so I snagged this one called "free fallds" - to make my card I used the digi stamp for two of the layers, I printed it off in two different sizes so you get a peak of it in one of the layers - all the card stock is Bazzill Card stock, I inked all the edges, embossed a layer with swiss dots, colored the image with copic markers and added a photo corner from EK Success Punch.

Hope you are having a great Sunday ~ thanks for stopping by!

Day 273 ~ Pretty Paper

I haven't had time this week to make any cards or post on any blogs to speak of ~ I've had a look at 365 Cards throughout the week and I just want to say the cards being posted are just amazing! You will learn so much by playing along with the challenges that Pam posts (ie thumb stamping & face composition...lol!)..so much fun! 
So the challenge today was to use a damask pattern - I have a card made using bazzil card stock - some damsk SEI paper in the background and some cardstock embossed with a sizzix damask embossing folder - some ribbon & a button to finish this off. 
Simple card but I just wanted to get one posted before I call it a day!

Thanks for stopping by!

267 Super Sketchy Sunday....

It's late ...it took me all day to come up with a card for this sketch ~ don't know why I kept getting an image of a tree in my head so that's what I went with.  The challenge today at 365 Cards is this sketch, provided by Pam ~ challenge indeed! Here is my card, I used a craft cardstock - a tree cut from cricut, some owls from my stash (who knew I had them!) and chipboard that I stamped on ~ thanks for stopping by!

WOW would you like to WIN a GYPSY?????

Check out the new blog for Cricut Gypsy users right here ....don't own a Gypsy??  Well all the more reason to check them out as they are giving one away on December 1st! 
Wouldn't you love to win one?  I sure would!  Good Luck to you!

You might recognize Gypsy Spot when you get there...if you are familiar with Nilda, she started a blog for Cuttlebug and have been going strong with followers and sharing great ideas!

Thanks for stopping by!

265 Simply Put Challenge @ 365 Cards

Easy Peasy right...one of each pattern paper, embli & sentiment....not so easy...just want to add something else, another flower, ribbon, button or some ink!  Yikes....well here is my card for the challenge at 365 cards  It is a small 3.5 x 3.5 I used bazzil card stock ( I pretty much always use this) with some basic grey paper nook & pantry collection, the flower with the bling in the middle is only one (I did not cheat!) I don't know who makes them or what they are called, they come in a little silver tin, the sentiment is a rub on from Pebbles inc and I used the MS loopy corner punch for the corner of the card and the paper ~ hope you will play along in the challenges at 365 Cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

#264 Keep it to yourself.....

This card has to convey the message of congratulations without having a sentiment on the front.  Fun challenges at 365 cards!
For this card I used a die cut from Cricut - card base and car are bazzill card stock, the blue in the background is bling - I used silver smooch to color the cans then stickled them up with diamond stickles, thought it would be fun to have them hang off the edge of the card - added some ribbon for the wedding knot ~ and some pearls to trim the car. 
Hope you like it & thanks for stopping by!

266 Color Me With This & Simple Doodles # 6

"Color me with this challenge" at 365 Cards ..."this" means anything except markers! The other challenge is at Simple Doodles, it requires one of their images and something metal. Ok...the image and the sentiment are from Simple Doodles and it is colored with Prismacolor.  The base of the card is Bazzil folded at the top, the paper is Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse (that I received from Amy **thanks again Amy**) the heart is chipboard that I covered with the cardstock, added the metal brad and the twine...one of those cards that should have been so simple but changed my mind on things about 10 times....ever do that?   Thanks for stopping by! 

Oh ...don't forget to check out Amys blog ~ her cards are amazing and she is celebrating and giving away lots of great stuff!

Day 262 Color Scheme

Day 262 at 365 Cards is a color scheme with a guest on the DT today ~ Rose! Rose makes wonderful cards!
I think I managed to get most of the color into my card.
The paper is basic grey - wisteria - the colors just fit!
I used fiskars threading water punch, some ribbon, string & a button to finish it all off.  I don't have a sentiment on the card yet - quite often i add them as I need them or use it as a blank card.

Here is the color scheme

And here is my card
Thanks for stopping by!

Day 260 ~ Super Sketchy Sunday

Well the past 1 1/2 weeks seems I can only manage to get in the Sunday challenge at 365 Cards oh well ~ I guess one card is better than no cards!

Pam posted the sketch  ~ here is the sketch and here is my card.  The card is on Bazzill Bling which is hard to get a decent picture of - the star is also bling and the paper swirls are from last year S.E.I.  Alpine Forest. The brown dotted paper is from Adorn It, fern collection - inside I have some SEI paper again with the sentiment "celebrate" embossed, because the card is bling stock, the inside looks totally different than the front in the picture - same card ~ honest!

Thanks for stopping by!

New blog look...

I have been very inspired by the look of everyones blog - just amazed at how great they all look and have been wondering "how'd they do that" - rather than spend my spare time on making cards, I thought I would do a little research and see how I could make some changes....So what do you think?
The blog background was free at My Style Backgounds - it came with a blinkie so you can click on it or check out her site here fantastic georgous backgrounds and headers - wow very unbelievable!  So this is where I got my background from.
The header that I used if from another great site - I found them I think while looking up fonts Kevin & Amanda they have a great blog - the digital files used were a free download from Kevin & Amanda and are from her Fall 2009 Collection.  So I managed to figure out how to create my own header and the background is from My Style backgrounds - both using Amanda Fall 2009 collection.
I don't think I will get to any cards today!  I hope you like the change ~
Thanks for stopping by!

Super Sketchy Sunday Day 253

Well I'm sad the weekend is almost over - I wish it could go on for a few more days!  Here is my card for todays challenge over at 365 Cards ~ it was a sketch that Pam posted - a great sketch - my card is an image that I downloaded - just microsoft clip art - it is printed on Basic Grey paper, I used a stamp from A Muse Artstamps a little bit of my new American Crafts Merrymint Licorice paper and coloured these round flat silver dots with my copic markers - the idea came from a video by Hero Arts that my LSS posted.
It was very simple and I like how it turned out!
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend ~ thanks for stopping by!

See What You Got Challenge @ Simple Doodles....

Simple Doodles  has a fun challenge going on for a few more days - you need to use one of their digi images ~ I ended up reading the blog and found a few that I could try that I downloaded for free.
I used both of them on a small card - snowman tall hat and snowballs - they are on bazzill cardstock and bazzill bling that has been embossed with a sizzix fleur de lis frame. I used some tim holtz soot on the hat and some stickles on the snowballs - the paper at the bottom is from my stash.
Check out their site - hope you like the card & thanks for stopping by!

White Space or Blank Space....Day 252

Today the challenge at 365 cards is to create a card based on the sketch and keep the white area blank - here is the sketch & here is my card.  I 'm not sure what the base is, it came in a kit from Mac Mae Cards, it's pretty cool, already embossed so I'll have to scout it out and get some more! The paper also from the same kit is Basic Grey Wisteria.  I cut and pop dotted one of the flowers and added a few brads, "thanks" is a rub on. 
It's hard to leave so much space on a card, this turned out not too bad and sometimes less is ok!
Thanks for stopping by!

251 ~ Dream Duo

The challenge today was to use your two favorite colors - I have lots of favs but went with two I seem to use a fair bit ~ brown and pink. I used various shade of each.  I created a simple card with the flower made from various sizes of circles and I have some pink tissue paper mixed in with cardstock.I don't have a sentiment on it yet ~ not sure if it will be a thank you or a birthday card so I will add that to the front bottom later.
If you haven't been to 365 cards - check 'em out and play along!

Have a great weekend ~ thanks for stopping by!

"Curves are so emotional" ~ Marvelous Mondrian Day 250

The challenge @ 365 cards was to create a card being inspired by Piet Mondrian ~ I have seen the influnce of his work in various industries but never really took the time to find out who Mr. Mondrian really was.  At 365 there is always more to the challenge than "just making a card"! I googled him and I was inspired by this picture that I found - one lone yellow square!  

This is my card and as I was reading about Mr. Mondrian I came across this quote of his that I thought went well with the card!

Hope you like it ~ thanks for stopping by!

Day 246 SUPER Sketchy Sunday.....

Today is Super Sketchy Sunday at 365 Cards - here is the sketch and here is my take on the sketch ~ everything is from my stash.
Fun sketch - everyone should give it a try!
Hope you had a great weekend - thanks for stopping by!

It's a Matter of Inches!....Day 245

Happy Halloween!

Here is my inchie card for the challenge today at 365 Cards
Hope you like it -
Thanks for stopping by & have a safe & spooky Halloween!

Pin Up Day 240 @ 365 Cards

The challenge for this day at 365 Cards was to use a pin on your card - I wondered where everyone got there great pins from...after checking out Glorias blog - I learned that Rose made them - they are adorable and such a great embli for a card!  A few google searches, 5 days later - I made a pin and can now post my card for day 240! 

Oh I should add I checked out the kits for sale at  Mac Mae Card Kits - I purchased one and the kit is fantastic! Some of the paper I used to make this card. The cardstock is Bazzill and the paper Basic Grey - Wisteria both from the kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

232 ~ Super Sketchy Sunday....ug.....

Sunday is always a challenge for me with the sketch challenge at 365 cards no matter how hard I think about it, it doesn't get any easier. Here is the sketch that Pam posted and here is my card.

Thanks for stopping by!

231 - Imagine This: the sky......

Here is my card for todays challenge at 365 Cards - sky inspired card....with Hallowe'en just around the corner, bats in the sky won out over snow flakes! Everything I used was from my stash and I don't recall where it all came from! Have a great Saturday ~ thanks for stopping by!

230 ~ Shape Up!

The challenge at 365 cards is to shape up - use a semi circle, one or many....
I have used a mm glitter clear frame on my card - Bazzill Bling base & circle along with some ribbon.  I did not put a sentiment on this yet but will add one to the front later.
Thanks for stopping by!

229 - Color Scheme

Color combo challenge at 365 Cards - very pretty colors....my colors are the same as what I see the challenge colors to be  ~ I found the paper in a Spring DCWV paper stack - there was a wide blue stripe but with the magic of copics - I was able to change it to brown. Colored some flowers to match.
Hope you like it ~ Thanks for stopping by!