Whimsy Challenge: Summer Fun

As I've mentioned before, I have been sick for the last couple of weeks, and it stole my mojo. So, I (unfortunately) don't have a Whimsy challenge sample to share today. The challenge goes on, however! The theme this week is Summer Fun, so pull out all your fun, sunny stamps that make you think of all the fun you can have in the sun! To get all the details, go the the Whimsy Stamps Challenge blog. The other members of the design team will have some inspiration for you. I'm hoping to feel well enough in the next couple of days to share a sample with you, even if it's a few days late, so be watching out for it later in the week.

You might also want to watch the Whimsy Stamps Challenges space for some exciting news, as well! (sssssshhhhhh...I'm not telling!)

Today is a Doodle Dragon release!

Today is the day! I hope you like the images Dustin has created for you - they are adorable! AND, they are ready to party!

This little guy is ready and willing to party like an animal for someone's birthday! Dustin's entire set this week has a party theme, complete with a Hawaiian coconut cup and some tikis!

I colored the turtle with my Prismas & OMS, mounted it on black cardstock with my UHU permanent glue roller along with the sentiment, and used a 2S4Y sketch for the layout. The papers are from Bo Bunny.

The rest of the images released today can be seen on the design team blogs (look on the left side under the DDS logo) and on Dustin's blog. And, of course, you can make any or all of these cuties your very own at the Doodle Dragon Studio website!

supplies ~ black cs: Fiskars, dsp: Bo Bunny "It's My Party", image: Dustin Pike, sentiment: Inkadinkado "Humorous Birthday"


Thanks for coming to visit, and have a beautiful day!

Sneaky Peek of tomorrow's Doodle Dragon release

I know I meant to post peeks on Monday and yesterday, but this cough I've had for the last week kept me busy. I did manage to get a card done for you today, but you'll only get a peek - I'll reveal the whole card tomorrow when Dustin releases a total of 10 images. Get ready for a party, y'all, 'cuz all of them are really cute!

So without further discussion, here's your peek for today:


Cute 'lil fellar, ain't he? You'll see just how cute tomorrow as Dustin & the design team share some samples for you. You'll also be able to get the images from the Doodle Dragon Studio website. Oh, and remember that today is Wednesday - go get your freebie!

Thursday & another Doodle Dragon release is coming soon

Dustin Pike will be doing another release of Doodle Dragon Studio images this Thursday (and the plan is for EVERY Thursday). I will be having more sneaky peeks this week of his new art, so keep your eyes peeled for those! This next set of images will knock your socks off, folks - they are ca-ute and all about FUN! And remember to pick up the extra freebie he posted on Friday - perfect for thank you cards (and who doesn't need more of those)!

And for those of you who DON'T stalk Dustin's blog, he's offering a blog candy drawing with 11 (yep - ELEVEN) lucky winners for anyone willing to make a card for a sick child. You can get all the deets here. The deadline is June 6.

See you tomorrow with some Doodle Dragon peeks!

It's a Unity Kit of the Month hop!

Welcome to the Unity Kit of the Month Blog Hop! If you want to start at the beginning, start at the Unity blog.

Today I have a project to share with you using stamps from Unity's KOM. I've been sick most of the week, so this card isn't technically "new", but it IS one of my favorites! The details about which kit I used are in the supplies list at the bottom.



supplies ~ kraft: Bazzill, teal: Martha Stewart, dsp: DCWV Old World, flowers: Petaloo, buttons: Blumenthal Lansing Co., adhesive: UHU Twist & Glue, image: Unity KOM "Fresh Beginnings"


Thanks for visiting! Now you're off to Karen at My Simple Pleasures!

It's release day over at Doodle Dragon Studio!

I've teased you, taunted you and made myself out to be a little pill, but now I'm giving you the full reveal of one of Dustin Pike's new images releasing today. Make sure you visit all the design team blogs (listed on the left under the DDS logo) and Dustin's blog to see the other images!

I wanted to venture a little outside my normal range for this card. Not only did I color the image to look like a Peruvian pelican rather than the more familiar white one, but I also decided to use more dimension on my card than usual. After matting and mounting the image, I cut the waves out freehand with a swiveling craft knife. Then I ran them through my Cuttlebug. I popped each layer of waves up on pop dots, then adhered a 3D sentiment.

supplies ~ cs base: DCWV, black cs: Fiskars, blue cs: Martha Stewart, sentiment: stash, image: Doodle Dragon Studio "Pelican"

Thanks for visiting today, and be sure the visit the other design team blogs and Dustin's website to purchase these wonderful images!

Sneaky Peek 2: Doodle Dragon Release is tomorrow!

Okay, folks - here's another little taste of what's coming tomorrow. You will see design team samples on Dustin's blog (and remember to go grab your freebie today, too!) and the image will be available for purchase tomorrow on his website.

Sneaky peeky of Doodle Dragon release!

Here it is folks! Just a little taste...nothing more! Want seconds? Come back tomorrow!

Doodle Dragon release on Thursday and challenge blog debut

Thursday is the day! Dustin Pike will be releasing several new images with samples from the design team. Visit their blogs for sneek peeks and full views every day this week leading up to the release, so check out the links over on the left under the Doodle Dragon logo! I will be back later today with a sneek peek, too! You can get in on all the action on Thursday at Dustin's blog and purchase the new images from his website the same day.

We are all very excited to announce another fantastic debut: Doodle Dragon Studio Challenge Blog! If you are a fan of Dustin's art and have any of his images, we invite you to come by for a challenge hosted by the design team. Keep your eyes open for it - it will be coming in a few weeks!

Last, but certainly not least, be sure to visit Dustin's blog on Wednesday (and every Wednesday) for a freebie image. If you search through his previous posts, you will find 11 free images, and the 12th will be released this Wednesday. If I'm not mistaken, 3/20/09 is the earliest freebie image. So if you'd like to participate in the challenges, go snag a few free images (or two, or five - LOL) and come join us!

I'll be back later this evening with a Sneaky Peek!

Whimsy Challenge 3 - Flower Power

Welcome to another Whimsy challenge! For this challenge, we were asked to create something with flowers on it. I've had these jumbo flowers for quite a while, but hadn't found quite the right project for them - until today!

This little skunk has been featured on several of the challenge design team cards, but my "stinking" mojo hadn't kicked in yet. For this card, I ran my A2 card blank through my Cuttlebug with a scalloped circle nestie, allowing for a hinge. Then I layered over the card my jumbo flower, a smaller flower, then finally my image. This was a really quick card since the skunk was a very simple image to color with my Prismacolor pencils.

supplies ~ black cardstock: Fiskars, white flower: Heidi Swapp, black flower: Prima






Thanks for stopping by today - have a magnificent Monday!

Happy Mother's Day!

I thought today I would share with you the cards I sent to my mom and to my mother-in-law. Both are wonderful, godly women that I feel so blessed to call "Mom". I hope that you take a moment to tell YOUR mom how much she means to you. Have a blessed day!


I made this card for my own mom, Glenda. I want to let you know, Mom, that I love you very much. The fact that you prayed for me as I grew up, taught me to love the Lord and serve him, and prayed for my husband before I even started dating means so very much to me. When I see what is happening in the world, I am so grateful to you for teaching me to lean on my Savior - the Rock of my Salvation and the only One who can keep me for eternity. Whatever may come, you taught me that Christ is the one never-changing thing I can rely on. Thank you, Mom, and Happy Mother's Day!

supplies ~ kraft: Bazzill, teal: Martha Stewart, dsp: DCWV Old World, flowers: Petaloo, buttons: Blumenthal Lansing Co., adhesive: UHU Twist & Glue






I made this card for my mother-in-law, Annette. Thank you, Mom, for raising a son who loves and serves the Lord. You taught him what it really means to be a Christian, and you taught him to love with all his heart. I couldn't have asked for a better husband, and I know it's due in large part to the way you raised him when he was young. I love your sweet spirit and the way you love to sing for the Lord. I am eternally grateful for a mother-in-law I can call "Mom" as if you had raised me yourself. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

supplies ~ kraft: Bazzill, teal: Martha Stewart, dsp: Hot Off The Press, image: Unity




Thanks for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Mother's Day!

A quick post for a quick card

Scroll down to the next post if you're looking for the Hip Hop Hangover post.

I don't have much time, but I wanted to share a very quick card I made using a Unity stamp and some Shimmerz. It was made for one of Unity's anniversary challenges to make a one layer card - oy! Now, THAT was a touch challenge for me! I originally tried to paint the Shimmers directly on the stamp, but the impression didn't come out very well. So this is my second attempt: the image stamped in black, then painted over with Shimmerz and embellished with flat-back pearls.

supplies ~ image stamp: Unity "Wish Sticks", sentiment: Unity "Gratitude = Joy", Shimmerz: Royal Purple & Evergreen, pearls: Martha Steward


Enjoy your Saturday!

Hip HOP Hangover

Welcome! Did you go the the HOP yesterday? It was fun, and lots of prizes were given away; you should try it!


I have way too many scraps sitting in my scrap tray, so I created this card with what I had already cut. I wasn't sure when I cut the scallop circle if the negative would ever get used, but I put it in with my scraps anyway. Today it got used! =D

I love this stamp. There are so many names of God in the Bible, but each one of these is precious to me. I hope you are blessed by them, too.

supplies ~ cardstock: DCWV & Martha Stewart, ribbon: Michael's, stamp: Unity







And here's another Unity card - they've been keeping us busy over there with anniversary challenges! I made this card for their FIRST challenge. Each letter stands for something we had to include on our card in addition to the Unity image.

F is for flowers
I is for insect
R is for ribbon
S is for scallops
T is for turquoise or teal

I also entered this one in my first-ever entry to Three Clovers Designs Thursday Challenges. I really enjoyed working with one of the DCWV Old World stack papers for a Mother's Day card (you'll see that one on Sunday), so I decided to use some of the left over paper for this card. I also thought I wanted to use either black or kraft. Some friends on the Unity SCS forum suggested I use both, and I elected to use some Shimmerz on this card, too.

supplies ~ kraft cs: Bazzill, black cs: Fiskars, dsp: DCWV Old World, ribbon: Michael's, gems: Darice, images: Unity Floral Fantastical (butterfly) and April KOM Fresh Beginnings(sentiment)

Thank you for coming by today. Have a super weekend!

Happy Birthday, Hun!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, sweet Bill! Happy Birthday to you!

It's my husband's birthday on Saturday, so I made this card for him. I love the bright primary colors of Bo Bunny's "It's My Party" line of papers! I also made this card for a Unity challenge. Last week there was a huge party celebrating Unity's first birthday. I made some other cards, too, but I'll share those on Mother's Day. This one uses this week's CPS sketch (#114) and Unity's anniversary challenge to use a cake for inspiration (this was my inspiration). I was more inspired by the layout of the cake's design than the colors.

I decided that since this card was for a man (MY man!), I wanted to avoid flowers and girlie colors (he'd think I was mocking him - lol). I won these papers in a giveaway a few months ago - so bright and fun! I thought they'd be perfect. Taking my cue from the papers, I colored the party hat with my Prismacolor pencils in matching colors and matted on black. Using a black card base, I adhered the stripe and solid papers. Then I adhered the image to the card front and embellished with buttons. For the inside, I glued a yellow mostly-solid paper from the same pack with more of the stripes on the bottom since this card has a black base. Gotta have somewhere to write a message to my birthday boy!

supplies ~ black cs: Fiskars, dsp: Bo Bunny It's My Party, image: Unity Party Brim, buttons: Blumenthal Lansing Co.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit! Have a terrific day!

Never in my wildest dreams....

...did I think I would make Dustin Pike's design team, but I did! I can't wait to start creating with his art!

If you're not familiar with Dustin's art, you ought to stop by his blog and his shop to see more of his work. DRS just released a set of rubber using his images, and another set is coming out very soon. Keep an eye on him - I think you'll see lots more of him in the future!

Hip HOP Hangover

Is it Friday again already? Where does the time go? Well, at least that means I'll be on summer break soon - yippee! AND, Unity Stamp Company turns ONE! We've been celebrating all week long, and today is the last day!

Today's card was inspired by Disney's newest movie, earth. Have you seen it yet? You should! It has some spectacular pictures of this wonderful planet, and you'll hopefully walk away with a new appreciation for God's handiwork. So, I decided to ink up this little stamp for the first time. It's called Itsy Bitsy Giggles, a smaller version of the individual trees. They are so cute!



I included two photos; one of the card closed and the other with it open. For some reason, it didn't want to stay closed for the photo, so I used my UHU non-permanent glue roller to tack it down until I could get the photo. Did you know that UHU has a free sample every month? The glue roller was from the February sample of the month.

I used a sketch for the 2 Sketches 4 You design team call, but made my card a gate-fold and the bands of trees alternate openings for Splitcoast's VSN last week. This is an unusual card for me, but it was fun. I colored the trees with ZIG ColorTwin markers, and used scraps from my scrap tray.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: Hot Off The Press Citrus pad, images: Unity Itsy Bitsy Giggles

Have a fantastic weekend!