Die Cuts anyone?

 YAY, it's finally Friday!
Welcome to a new challenge over at TGF to start your weekend.

This week for FFF, Anita wants you to use:

Die Cuts & Punches

Here is my card using the new digi named Addy:

Isn't she such a cutie?
I printed her off a wee bit smaller than normal to fit her into the die cut.

That Polaroid die and Heart die (one set!) can be found here at the store.

I added in a SU rub on sentiment, buttons, and then used my mini Janome to sew.

This week Tuesday Morning Sketches is celebrating 4 years,
{Congratulations Melissa and crew!}

with the option of using any of these sketches (I used the top left):

Come along and play in on the fun!
You can use any die cut or punch for TGF's FFF challenge,

just be sure to use a TGF image (digi, clear, or rubber) to be eligible.

Have a wonderful day everyone,

thank you so much for coming by to see me!
xoxoxox

A Tiddly Ink cutie!

Happy wonderful Wednesday everyone!
 Normally this is my day off from posting but I couldn't resist this cutie.
Tiddly Inks offered this freebie for a limited time, isn't she adorable?
{Wryn Blooms is now available for purchase in the store.}

I decided to try a fun idea that I saw on a friend's Facebook page:

Instead of coloring the entire image, she just colored part of it and left the rest uncolored.

Super fun, but a bit tricky to do!
I suppose I am conditioned to color the entire image so I had to pencil in where to stop. ;)

I made my own 'frame' for this card after seeing them for sale in stores.

Very easy with nesties - just layer two together (in this case a square into a label) then run them through.

Voila! A frame - and a great way to use up scraps.
I am playing along in the following challenges:

Tiddly Inks: Use a Wryn
Tuesday Morning Sketches: Challenge #199

Card Mania Challenge: Spots and/or Stripes
Crafty Bloggers Network: tic tac toe (die cut/flowers/ribbon)

Cutie Pie Challenge: Photo inspiration

Thanks so much for stopping in to see me!

Hug those you love and keep praying for Oklahoma. 

xoxoxox

A Farm Fresh Friday challenge!

 

 Yeahhhh! It's finally Friday - and a TGF Farm Fresh one too!
Happy day to you and thank you for coming on by,

I hope you enjoyed May's new release? Eeek! So many fun products to play with!

This week at Farm Fresh Friday challenges you to be:

MONOCHROMATIC

(in any color that you choose!)

Here is my card using the Limited Edition Cheshire Bean:

Peeking over the fabulous new Fence Die of course. ;)

For my card I also used the current sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches:

Come on over to The Greeting Farm's blog to play along!
Click here to see the other fabulous samples on the blog, truly inspiring. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, thank you for your visit!
xoxoxox

Come on and Easel down the ro-oad!

Woohoo - it's FRIDAY! Are you just as excited as I am?
Not only does hubby telework from home today,
but my kiddos begin spring break as of 2:45 this afternoon. YAY!
No big plans as the weather will be so ch-ch-ch-chilly,
but that's perfect for dvds, snuggle time, hot cocoa, and plenty of crafting time. :)

And speaking of...
are you ready for a double dip into our new challenges this week?

Over at The Greeting Farm we want you to create:

EASEL CARDS

It's been such a long time since I've done one of these,
but they're super duper easy if you haven't tried making one.
{Here is a link to a YouTube video on this technique.}
And here's my Easter Anya popping in to say hello:

She's such a happy bunny! 
I used an old sentiment from a Stampin' Up set, a nesties die, and patterned paper.
I wanted to combine her with my current challenge over at Raise The Bar as well:

Spring is a hop away!
(use any chic, bunny, or baby animal)

And while I was on a roll, I used my friend Mel's sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches:

Come on over and play along with us!
We want to see you EASEL down the road with The Greeting Farm.
Be sure to use any TGF image (rubber, digi, or clear) to play along with us.
And don't forget to link up to Raise The Bar if it's a baby animal!

Happy beautiful day everyone, thank you for coming by!
xoxoxox

You're A Doll!

Happy beautiful Saturday everyone!
As luck would have it, I had a crazy Friday morning waking up late,

then the rest of the day was chaotic. ;)

But at least it was Friday, right?

So here I am posting for our current challenge over at Raise The Bar:

You're A Doll!

{Use any image of a doll/lovey/toy}

We are sponsored by the adorable QKR Stampede company,

and oh my, their images are sooooo cute!

They carry both rubber and digi for those with preferences.
We used their series of Rag Doll digis found here at their store,

but have a look around because it's worth your time. ;)

For my card I used Watering because I'm so excited for Spring!

Here are some other challenges I'm joining in on:
 

Creative Corner: Use Designer Paper

Oozak: Anything Goes with Spring
Tuesday Morning Sketches: TMS #187

And of course, Raise The Bar. :)

Thank you so much for stopping in on a Saturday,

have a wonderful day everyone!
xoxoxox

Happy Carnival Day!

Okay, it's not officially Carnival Day until the 26th of this month. ;)

Happy weekend everyone!
I am running a wee bit behind on posting and card making

as we have had some exciting news in the Wilson home -

our High School senior received his acceptance letter to the University he wanted! YAY!

And he'll be playing football there on a partial academic scholarship. So so proud of him.

So this card was made for Raise The Bar's Friday challenge:

 National Carnival Day 

{Feb. 26}

Fun, right?

Since we know you may not necessarily have a carnival image,

any balloons/circus/elephant/animal relevant one will do!

I used the sweet Circus Trixie from Saturated Canary,

this one was quite challenging to do with the no border technique!

I also followed the pretty sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches (rotated):

I am also entering Trixie into the following:
Saturated Canary: Love

4 Crafty Chicks: Twine

CCEE Stampers: CCEE1308 The letter "C"

(Cuttlebug, cardstock, Circus theme, copics)

 Come on by the RTB blog to see what the Bar-Tenders have done,

there are also some adorable samples by our Guest Designers as well.

Have a great rest of your evening everyone,

thank you so much for coming by!
xoxoxox

Sushi, anyone?

Happy day 2 of SCRS' new releases!
Today we are debuting Sushi Rin, isn't she cute?
I love the platter of assortment. mmm...
Now here's a fact - sushi is NOT raw fish, did you know that? 
It actually refers to the seasoned rice of this awesome delicacy. ;)
Now while I am not a fan of raw fish (also known as sashimi) I absolutely love sushi!
Thrown in a bit of wasabi and ginger, and I am one happy camper.
I love the sentiments that come with this image, "Roll With It" just makes me giggle!
For my card I used the current Tuesday Morning Sketches for inspiration:

Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Sushi Rin.
Sparkle will be giving away Sushi Rin to one lucky person!
For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below), 
then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Sushi Rin post.
You have until midnight EST each day to comment.
The lucky winner will be announced on Monday,  good luck everyone!

Danielle Lounds
Holly Flores
Joni Wilson
Kim Yu
Sandy Allnock - January Guest Designer
Shaela Odd
Simonne Clay
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft

xoxoxox

Blues & Whites

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!!
It is late in the evening and I am still trying to check things off of my to-do list. Grrr...
But 'tis the season, right? heehee!
I wanted to invite you to play along in this week's challenge over at Raise The Bar:

BLUES AND WHITES

This week we are being sponsored by the wonderfully talented and amazing LORi Boyd:

Here is my card using Simon Stockingheimer:

He's such a cutie! There are 4 images in a bundle over at her store,
be sure to get them at that wonderful price! :)

I used the cute current sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches:

Come on over and join in on the fun!
You can hop over to the blog here to see the cute lineup,
as well as link up your work.
Thank you so much for coming by to see me!
Have a wonderful Friday evening everyone.
xoxoxox

HI YA!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today starts a new month of Retro Fresh Challenge over at our FFC blog. 

This month we want you to dust off your craft items and do some

SPRING CLEANING!

 

As if Retro Fresh wasn't enough to make you use your older TGF stamps (6 months or older),

now you need to use some items that have been sitting in your craft space for a loooong time.

For my Karate Anya card (circa 11/09 digi) I used some patterned papers that I have had forever.

Seriously, forever. I bought this 12x12 Far East paper stack (DCWV) in 2008. 

{I only know this because I made my first project with Geisha Anya with this stack. ;)}

 It has some really pretty papers in kanji, as well as cherry blossoms, dragons,

and other nice asian designs. And the papers are super thick!

I paired her with some ribbon that was still in its packaging. 

I picked that up for Halloween two years ago from the $1 bin at Michaels.

The only thing new I used was the current sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches (hi Mel!):

 

Now let's see what old stuff you dust off for this challenge!

Retro Fresh runs for an entire month, so you have plenty of time to join in.

Click here to get to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog to enter in on the fun.

You can also upload your cards to TGF's gallery or to SCS.

Thank you so much for coming by everyone, I truly love your visits!

xoxoxox

Raise the S.N.O.W bar!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!
Wowza, the days seem as if they're accelerating by, don't they? Or is it just unorganized me? ;)
If you are done with your shopping and baking, come along
and play with Raise The Bar's current acrostic challenge:

S.N.O.W.

Silver, No ribbon, One designer paper, Wording {aka sentiment or script}

We're Bar-Tenders, you weren't expecting a simple recipe, were you? :)

I used the current layout by Tuesday Morning Sketches - love the elements for this week 

but somehow I feel like my card is missing something. 

The sentiment is one of the new releases over at Inktegrity -

simple sentiments that make really quick and easy cards!

Come on over and join in on the fun - this is our last challenge for December,

but you could be the first Guest Bar-Tender in January when we start back up again. 

 You can link up {here} and see the other wonderful designs by the DT.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone! Remember the reason for the season! 

♥ & Aloha,

Fall into Fashion! Bee Crafty's newest challenge

Hello and happy Saturday friends!
Bee Crafty has its newest challenge up called Fall into Fashion - create a card that has some type of digital & fashionable/clothing image on it and spruce it up! For my card I used the adorable bag and paper pieced it with some retired SU Haiku DP. I love this line as it has fall colors in brighter hues. I added some American Crafts rub ons for the sentiment and flourish corners.
This is also the current layout at Tuesday Morning Sketches. Come on over and join in on the fun for your chance to win an image from Merrigan! You can see the other fashionable cards on the Bee Crafty blog.
There's some pretty dresses that I would love to have in my wardrobe. heehee!
In other news, I am still reeling from an amazing football game last night. My hubby is a coach at a local high school that had a disappointing season last year, but they won against a state ranked team! Yay for underdogs! And their Offensive Coordinator is quite cute too (my DH) heehee!
Have a beautiful weekend everyone!  ♥

Don't adjust your television sets...

Happy Wednesday everyone! I've been seeing the most amazing cards in b&w and wanted to try my hand at it. What better image than a classy Teen Anya? The card came together quickly, as long as you have W and C copics, the grays are really fun to play with. I decided to make mine look like a hanging photo, so I cut out a scalloped frame and found some DCWV papers that looked a little like wall paper. ;)
I am also going challenge happy with these wonderful sites:

One Stitch At A Time: Say It With Shapes (ovals and scallops, diamonds and circles)
Paper Cutz: Anything Goes
Tuesday Morning Sketches: Current layout
Stampin' Royalty: Monochromatic Neutrals
Scrap Creations: Ribbon, Pearls and flowers


Thank you so much for coming by today! Before I go, I just wanted to wish our sweet DS a Happy 15th Birthday! Kalil is the type of teenager that loves hanging out with his family, watches the cooking network with his Grammy when she visits, dreams of going home to Hawaii where he was born, and is always so compassionate and caring when one of his friends is having a hard day. {Unfortunately, that makes girls swoon...and call A LOT!}
Here he is practicing his form for the homemade carrot cake I'm baking for him today:

heehee! And showing off some biceps, obviously. ;)
Have a beautiful Wednesday everyone, may it be full of smiles and accomplishments! ♥

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Hi everyone! It's a beautiful Friday, and oh what a wonderful way to start this weekend.
Over at Raise The Bar we are celebrating Mother's Day. Yes! You! ;) It doesn't have to be for mom, it can be for grandma, aunty, sis, you name her. Let's just celebrate the women in our lives.

Here is my card that coordinates with yesterday's scrapbooking page, using papers from My Mind's Eye Lush collection. I recently purchased Spotlight kit, it was a random decision but I am sooo happy I did! (By the way, Claudia has it on sale HERE at DCRU until tomorrow so hurry on over!) There are so many fun elements to mix and match in this set. The sketch is from Tuesday Morning Sketches, I made the roses from scraps of the same papers.
Be sure to stop by the Raise The Bar blog and join in the fun, the DT did some amazing cards in honor of their moms. I hope you all have a great weekend! I am going for a pedi after the soccer game and DH will be barbecuing on Sunday while I visit my fave nursery called Holly, Woods, & Vines. heehee! Enjoy your Friday everyone!
~*Joni

My apologies to all Vintage lovers

Happy Wednesday ladies!
So what is that title all about? Well my little digi company Inktegrity is sponsoring Tuesday Morning Sketches this week! It was so nice to be back with the original crew and working with Mel's sketch.
I decided to try my hand at vintage (gulp) since I drew this digi for one of my Winter Designers.

 

I really did try my best!! I am so bad at creating out of my norm, but this was fun to challenge myself. I've had that DP for quite some time now, paired it with Tracy's vintage digital image as well as the coordinating sentiment. I've also created this card for:

Digital Tuesday Challenge: Scallops

Cute Card Thursday: Ribbon

Here is a closer look at the paper piecing that I did on the image:

 

And here is the wonderful sketch for you to follow:

Head on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches site HERE and play along! You can see all the adorable samples by the design team, and you could win the $10 shopping spree to my store!
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone, my today be full of happy surprises.

~*Aloha

Thanh's PCP Seeing Red challenge!

Hi everyone and happy Wednesday to you. :D
We are snowed in, with more of the white fluff coming this weekend. Yay! I finally had a chance to catch up on some DT stuff after this weekend's virus. Thank you for your well wishes!

It's Whimsie Doodles Wednesday and time for a new challenge over at PCP. Thanh is challenging us to use Red! I decided to use Elephant Shoes for my card, he balances out the reds nicely in his gray shades. This is a sweet and simple sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches, I am getting used to my new mini Janome that DH bought me as a Christmas present. :D The flourishes were made from a QuicKutz set that my buddy gifted me. It's nice to be able to cut these in any color that I need now (thanks SherBear!).
Come on over and play along! You can find the adorable images HERE at the store, and we're hanging out HERE on PCP.
Enjoy your day everyone, stay warm and happy!
♥ and Aloha

Tuesday Morning Sketches and an announcement

Hi friends!
Today is my weekly edition of TMS and my last posting with this wonderful challenge blog. The truth is, Melissa and I had a huge fall out and it can't be resolved. HAHA! I'm kidding...I decided to step down from TMS and scale back for 2010. It has been such an honor being on design teams for all these wonderful stamp and challenge companies! I am going to take a little breather to re-focus and resolve to use some much neglected stamps that have yet to see ink (memento and printer!).
But on to the card using our sponsor, Pixie Dust Studio's adorable image:

This image reminds me of the Twilight quote: "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..." haha! Except that the lion doesn't look at all masochistic. ;)

Here is a closer peek at the fun flock everywhere on these two sweeties:

The sentiment is from an older SU set and fit in nicely with the real reason for the season!
Here is the wonderful sketch for you to play along with:

Have fun with this! The possibilities are endless, flip it, rotate it, just make sure to keep all the elements in the layout. You can see what the fabulous DT did with this sketch HERE on the TMS blog. This is also where you'll link up so we can visit your work. And please welcome their newest DT member - my uber talented buddy Gabby! I can't call her my replacement as her work outdoes mine all the time. lol!

Surely I cannot spend 2010 quietly, so I will fill you in on my latest venture tomorrow. ;)

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!

Enjoy your day and make it memorable.

♥ and Aloha

Tuesday Morning Sketches - Soft Pencil style

Hello friends and happy Tuesday to you!
We are still buried in a foot and a half of snow, plus dirty slush. Snow is beautiful but it can get quite messy after a bit...I still prefer sand any day. heehee!
My ILs made it in safe and sound at 2pm yesterday. After unloading their 'sleigh' of goodies and presents we went grocery shopping. Since they are here and enjoying the kiddos, DH and I are going out on a little date today (finish up our shopping!!).
It's TMS time, and I am excited that it is being sponsored by the wonderful Elizabeth of Soft Pencil. She graciously gave us digis to work with, I loved this one that I received:

They are so cute!!! I love this little scene, the critters are so sweet and her characters are adorable. Here is a closer peek of the stickles in the snow:

And here is the wonderful sketch for you to play with:

Go and have fun with this, the winner receives a nice prize from Elizabeth! You can see the DTs wonderful creations here, this is also where you link up your card. Have a wonderful day everyone, I hope your holidays are bringing you more joy than stress! Remember, a phone call to a loved one is a great gift. :D

*Love and Aloha*

Tuesday Morning Sketches Recipe

Hi ladies and happy Tuesday to you!
Are we all having fun this holiday season? Every time I think I'm ahead, I fall behind. haha!
Today is a fun little recipe challenge over at Tuesday Morning Sketches which a wonderful company (cough cough) is sponsoring this week!!

Tag
Glitter
Hidden Message

WOW, Talk about a challenge indeed! Inktegrity is this week's sponsor so I had the chance to use one of my own images for this recipe.
Here is what I came up with:

It's a double card that follows the Eat, Sleep, Stamp layout. The front of it was made as a tag holder, which is actually a pocket for a gift card.

This little fellow is my latest addition to my line called Bear Hug.

I covered him with stickles for the glittery effect, and then added that snowflake ornament (removable) as a little extra for the recipient. The card measures 5.5x5.5 and opens up for a message.

So come on over to TMS and join us! You know you have a minute to play along, especially since you keep buying yourself some crafting goodies every time you go out shopping for others. heehee! You can see the rest of the DT work HERE, this is also where you'll link up your fun creation. I'll be back later with another fun post! Until then, happy Tuesday Morning Sketches to you. ;)

♥ and Aloha