Picket Fence

Ugh! What a month. Visited by strep throat at the beginning of the month, only to be concluded with bronchitis at the end of the month. I am so sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Looking so forward to a much more productive, healthier March.

I did finally feel like playing in a challenge (it really is bad when the thought of coloring is exhausting). I created this card for The Shabby Tea Room Challenge #51, which The Stamping Boutique is proudly sponsoring this week. The challenge is to get inspiration from this photo, of which I took the colors red, black, cream (and the gingham).



The digital image is a new spring image from The Stamping Boutique and is called "Picket Fence". I printed it onto X-Press It cardstock and then colored with Copic markers. On the fence, I added some white gel pen highlights to attempt to make the fence appear more wood-like, adding texture. Red Stickles add a little sparkle to the flowers. Patterned paper from Lasting Impressions form the framed panels for this card. Red gingham ribbon and black brads put the finishing touches on this card.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today. Stay tuned. More energy should mean more cards.

Spring Fever

The Stamping Boutique Design Team is hosting a "Spring Fever" blog hop this weekend! I am delighted to be a participating, because I am so ready for spring! Enough already of these bitter cold temperatures and mounds of snow!

You'll have to make sure you hop to every design team blog to see some amazing creations. Make sure you post on EACH blog post to be eligible for the prize, 4 new adorable spring images from The Stamping Boutique!

If you came here from the talented Jen McGee's blog, you are in the right spot. If not, you will need to start at Amanda Newton's blog and work your way through the group! At The Stamping Boutique Challenge Blog there will be an Inlinkz where you can post your comment after you have completed hop! From this list, the winner will be chosen randomly! The hop will run from February 19th 12AM EST and you will have until February 20th 6PM EST.

The Design Team used a sketch this month for our creations. And here is my take on the sketch!




I chose to work with this adorable digital image of this little rabbit. The image is called "Rabbit in Egg" and it is one of the new spring images from The Stamping Boutique. I printed it onto X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copic markers. I masked the image and added some clouds by sponging some Memories Soft Baby Blue dye ink. I also used Copic markers to add some grass below the egg. I cut the image panel with a Nestabilities die. I used patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and pink Bazzill cardstock to create the layers for this card. A Cuttlebug embossing folder provided the dots on the pink layer. Buttons were added to the card, along with a sentiment from Hampton Arts.

Keep hopping! Don't miss seeing some more signs of spring on the talented Kendra's blog.

I Will. Always.

Here is the card I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. As newlyweds, we're still kind of giddy and reminiscent of anything about our wedding. When I saw the way this bear bride and groom are looking at each other (how on earth did illustrator Christy Croll do that with simple dot eyes?!) I knew I had to make it a part of my Valentine card for my husband.

The image is from Tiddly Inks. It is called "With This Ring." I printed it onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I then proceeded to use patterned paper from DCWV and black cardstock to form the layout of this card. I paper pierced around the main image and added some Stickles to the diamond ring. Black sheer ribbon put the finishing touches to the card.

This card was inspired by Challenge #37, "Love is in the Air," on the Tiddly Inks Challenge blog.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! I hope you had the chance to spend the day with someone you love.

Jumping Through Hoops

The Stamping Boutique is sponsoring a challenge today over at Sunday Sketch & Stamp. The challenge is 'no corner' - so just round and oval shapes. I thought the image "Jumping Dogs" from The Stamping Boutique worked perfectly with this challenge.

I printed the image onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I printed the image a second time and used pop dots to create the illusion of the dachshund actually jumping through the hoop. I cut around the main image with a circle die from Nestabilities, and then proceeded to cut several circles and "hoops" from orange cardstock with circle die Nestabilities. The sentiment is computer-generated, and two orange eyelets act as the O's in the word "Hoops." A ribbon that inspired the color scheme of this creation was also added for a little dimension. Some dots from a white gel pen go around a couple of the orange circles.

I hope all of you are enjoying the weekend. Thank you so much for visiting my blog.

Buckeye Football Girl

When I saw the Hambo Hoedown Challenge, I knew I had to play in order to make sure the Buckeyes were represented. The challenge is "football" and an adorable freebie digital was offered for all who participated. I just had to make her scarlet and gray. Really. In my mind, there was no other option.

I printed the Hambo image onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers to mimic an Ohio State football uniform. I then cut the image out with Cutter-bee scissors. Patterned paper from The Paper Studio and gray and black cardstock form the layered panels of this card. The gray piece of cardstock was texturized with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The Block O circle is from Sports Solution and was cut with a Nestabilities die. The Buckeyes ribbon was added to complete the card, along with the three small black brads. The layout was inspired by the current Mojo Monday Challenge #177.

As always, thank you so much for visiting my blog.

And as always, Go Buckeyes!

Sugar Cookies, Anyone?

I had to grab this image from Sassy Cheryl's when I saw it. This so reminds me of the heart sugar cookies from a local bakery in the town I grew up. So much so, that I called my Dad to pick up a dozen for me this week. Melt-in-the-month delicious.

The image is called "Have a Heart~Girl". I printed it onto X-Press cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. Patterned paper from Colorbox and an unknown source (though I know I bought the glittered hearts paper at my local scrapbook store) make up the layout of this card. The sentiment is a $1 stamp from Michaels.

This image happens to be this week's "Color Me" challenge #10.

I think this card is going to my Dad for Valentine's Day, doubling as a thank you card for the cookies. ;-)

Love is in the Air

Really???!!! What am I going to do with all of these Valentine's I've been making? I started right after Christmas and I keep making them. Pretty soon, I'll be giving Valentine cards to my enemies, LOL!

This card was inspired by the current Reader Challenge on the Penny Black Blog. Specifically, this was a sketch challenge, feb2011sketch.

I stamped the Penny Black image "Love is in the Air" onto X-Press It cardstock using Marvy black dye ink. I then colored it with Copic markers. I used my Cutter-bee scissors to cut around the image.

Patterned paper from Lasting Impressions, Bo Bunny, DCWV, and Penny Lane form the layers on this card. A corner punch and a border punch were used, along with my Cricut to cut the sentiment "Love". I used a white gel pen to dot around one of the larger panels. A sheer white ribbon completes this card, and the main image was raised with Pop Dots.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.

Who?

With the help of today's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast, SC#318, this card came together in record time.

I knew I wanted to use this Valentine image from Tiddly Inks called "Who Loves Me?". I printed it onto X-Press It cardstock and colored the cute image with Copic markers. I do believe X-Press It is the best cardstock when you're going to be working with reds and pink colors, as they blend more readily (for me at least). I printed the image a second time to color and cut some additional hearts to put along the ground.

Pink Bazzille cardstock and black cardstock were used on the layers, and a ribbon was added as the finishing touch.

Who likes a clean and simple card? Sometimes, I do.

Icing

Today's word of the day is "icing." That's what we are dealing with here. Lots and lots of ice. On trees, on sidewalks. Everywhere.

My card has icing too, but this icing is chocolate...the kind of icing no one complains about. The bunny image with cake is Birthday Flopsey from My Favorite Things. I stamped it with Marvy black dye ink onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I cut around the image with Cutterbee scissors.

Patterned paper from Making Memories, DCWV, and Hot Off the Press, along with kraft cardstock make up the layers of this card. The circle and scalloped circles were cut from Nestabilities dies. One of the kraft panels was embossed with a Sizzix folder. The layout was inspired by the current sketch challenge #317 on Splitcoast.

The sentiment is also from Birthday Flopsey from My Favorite Things. Buttons and lace help put the finishing touches on this card.

Now, when will this ice storm be finished? That is the real question.

Icing on the Card


Icing on the Tree


Icing on the Outside Table Where I Usually Take Pictures of My Cards