Welcome to World Card Making Day

Welcome! Thank you for stopping by today! There are oodles of cardmakers participating in the big hop today; just click the logo above to see who's playing along!

The card I'm sharing with you features one of my all-time favorite images by Dustin Pike at Doodle Dragon Studios. I used some Debbie Mumm papers I picked up from Joann's a few weeks ago - LOVE these fall colors and patterns! I colored the image with Prismas & OMS, then finished the card with a nice black satin ribbon.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: Debbie Mumm Harvest & Holiday Glitter Stack, ribbon: Michael's, image: Dustin Pike Scarecrow Trick-or-Treater

Make sure you come back on Monday for my Whimsy Stamps post, and also I'm hosting a whole week of Unity images with a chance for blog candy! Just pop over and leave a comment!

Have a great time blog hopping - see you again soon!

Friends with Flair Friday!

Hello again! I not only have a card for you today, but some news, too! One of the Unity addicts at SCS couldn't complete her week of Unity next week, so I get to take over her spot. Watch for my Unity posts all week beginning on Monday to get a chance for new Unity rubber!

Alright, on to my card for today. I made this one for the Unity Bachelor Bro Challenge this week. I just got my Hodge Podge of Happiness kit yesterday and couldn't wait to ink it up. I went with a brown ink this time and tried a new technique: overlapping the sentiment and the main image. A Stamp-a-ma-jig was soooooo helpful for this!  =D  I also used this week's CardPatterns sketch.

supplies ~ cardstock: The Paper Company, plaid dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack, dot dsp: Hot Off the Press, ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, flowers: Prima, button & hemp cord: stash

Thanks for visiting. Remember to come back on Monday for a whole week of Unity!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 59: Recipe

I'll admit it: I'm a challenge addict. The problem: life gets in the way! There are a gazillion awesome challenge blogs out there, many of which I follow. The Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog is one of them. I've entered all of two PB challenges since I started blogging last year, but I follow the blog. Every week I say, "I'm going to enter this week," and every week I don't have time. ::sigh::

But this week I finally got the chance! I had the card front already done from last month's SheetLoad sketch, and I colored up this image with Prismas & baby oil while on vacation. All I had to do was adhere the image and add a few embellishments for this week's recipe challenge to include 3 ribbons, 2 flowers and 1 charm. Voila!

Other than the hedgehog images, this is probably one of my favorite Penny Black stamps. It's so happy, and it's a breeze to color. It would have been even easier if I had made the flower a daisy, but I was at my parents' house when I colored this and some memories started to surface. Mom and Granny always had flower beds when I was growing up, and one of my favorites were Black-Eyed Susans. They are in the daisy family, but the coloring is definitely different from the typical white-petaled daisies that are so familiar. I wasn't too interested in flowers growing up and didn't know the names of many flowers (unlike my mom & grandmothers), but I definitely knew these! I guess you could say I was reliving my childhood as I colored. =D

supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, kraft: Bazzill, dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack, rub-on sentiment: Joann's, flowers: Prima, brad: K & Co., charm: stash, ribbon: Michael's

Thanks for popping in today - I'll see you again soon! =D

Verve Project Parade: Divine Details

:::Looking for my Whimsy Challenge post? Scroll down to the next one!:::

I have been an admirer of Verve stamps for quite a while, but it seems like there's never enough $$ to get everything I want. I won a $25 gift certificate in the last Project Parade, but my craft room is a mess, so I haven't inked up the stamps I bought (YET!) =D

So I decided to enter this card in this month's round of the Verve Project Parade, and you may notice a similarity to my DT project for the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog. It came out really well, and this month we're supposed to describe our design process when we make cards.

My process is simple, really. I have to have a sketch to begin. I'm very visual, so a blank panel does nothing to inspire me. Give me a sketch, and my imagination will take flight! So this sketch is from a Stamp Something challenge that I never had time to enter; it was hanging on my bulletin board waiting for a card.

The next step is to decide what image, papers and colors I want to use. This one was easy since I had two of these monkeys, and my intention was to start my card for the DT project. I also wanted to make a masculine card - I always need more of those. Basic Grey puts out a lot of nice manly papers, so I decided to use them.

Once I get those main elements down, then I start thinking about whether I will use sentiments or embellishments. I really struggle with sentiments, but I'm lucky to have an Archaic rub-on book that had some sentiments in it. I picked this one since it just fit the monkey so well and mounted it on a Nesties label with a couple of brads.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash & SU Chocolate Chip, dsp: Basic Grey Archaic, sentiment: BG Archaic rub-on, brads: Making Memories, image: Whimsy Monkey

Now you have a glimpse into how my crazy brain works - there really is a method to my madness! =D

Thanks for visiting to day, and have a terrific day!

Whimsy Challenge: Sketch

I can't believe that I'm finally back! After two weeks of vacation, a week of hubby's hospitalization, and a week of trying to settle back into "normal" life, I finally had time to make a brand new card. I did color up several images over vacation and get them onto card fronts I made before leaving, but I'll share those later.

Today is a new challenge at the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog, and it's my fave...a sketch! And I'll tell you something funny (at least it is now): I'm a very visual person, so I usually print out sketches and post them above my craft table as I work. I thought I was all organized and ready-to-go for this week's challenge when I was ready to work on it. I got the card all done, photographed, edited and went to post it on the DT message board...and I used the WRONG SKETCH! It wasn't even an old Whimsy Challenge sketch; I have no idea where I got that sketch! So you can imagine my frustration as I went back to the drawing board. To save myself a little heartache, I used the same image and papers the second time around since I was happy with the color combo, but BOY! was I an unhappy camper to have to start over!

So here are the deets, assuming you've picked yourself up off the floor! This cute little monkey was colored with Prisma pencils (no OMS this time), papers are BG Archaic matted on SU Chocolate Chip. And do you notice something you don't usually see on my cards? Yep - words! Sentiments are always the hardest for me, so many times I either put it inside after thinking about it a while, or I let the card be entirely image-driven and blank inside for a personal note. I won a blog candy that included Archaic rub-ons, though, and they are so cute! I used one of them on this card, and another on the "mistake" card mentioned above.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash & SU Chocolate Chip, dsp: Basic Grey Archaic, sentiment: BG Archaic rub-on, brads: Making Memories, image: Whimsy Monkey

OK, that's it for me today. There's lots more inspiration on the other design team blogs. You can get the links on the left side of my blog under the Whimsy banner, or go to the challenge blog to see their creations all together.

Thanks for visiting today, and have a Magical Monday!

Whimsy Challenge: Recipe (but you don't have to cook!)

Welcome to another Whimsy Stamps challenge! This week's challenge is a recipe. On your card you should use 2 patterned papers, 1 ribbon and 3 brads, buttons or flowers. I hope you join us this week. You don't need to have Whimsy stamps to play along, but you get an extra entry if you do! Come on - you know you want to play!

Here's my card. I decided to try something a wee bit different this time. I usually used my scallop nesties to mat an image, but this time I wanted to try making the image panel the scalloped part. Interesting effect, eh? I colored the image with Prismas & OMS, and the circles and heart at the bottom are some chipboard buttons in my stash. They're dressed up with some scrap ribbon. The layout is from the June SheetLoad magazine issue, and you'll see this image again when I finish the cards I'm making using this sketch.

supplies ~ cardstock: Martha Stewart, kraft: Bazzill, dsp: DCWV Sweet Stack, chipboard buttons: Colorbok, ribbon: stash, image: Whimsy Owl

Thanks for stopping by today! If you'd like more inspiration, be sure to stop by the design team blogs for complete details on thier projects. The links are on the left side under the Whimsy banner. Come again soon!

A new Doodle Dragon release today

ETA: Yeesh! This was ready to go and set to publish this morning, but I JUST found out it didn't publish as scheduled! Sorry!

Today is the day! You're going to be "over the moon" with today's releases! You can head over to Dustin's blog to see all the releases and purchase your favorites at the Doodle Dragon website. You can also see more inspiration from the other design team members using the links on the left side of my blog under the Doodle Dragon Studio banner.

This week's card is pretty simple, but the background does all the work instead of dsp. For such a simple card, though, it took a lot of time to color the background! If you didn't visit Dustin's blog yesterday, you can get the moon background for free. The space ship in the foreground is part of today's release. I colored the entire card with my Prismacolor pencils, but chose not to use OMS this time. I cut out the space ship and popped it up on pop dots to add more dimension since this card has only three layers.

supplies ~ cardstock: Fiskars, images: Doodle Dragon Studio

Thanks for stopping by for a look today! Come back soon!

Father's Day (Doodle Dragon style) and a blog candy update

Hello! Normally, I would be posting sneak peeks of Doodle Dragon releases, but I'm not done with my samples yet. I hope to be back later today with a sneak or two for you. So, I have some older images I used to make Father's Day cards. Since neither my dad or my father in law are internet users, I feel safe posting them before Sunday! =D

This first card is for my own dad. For as long as I can remember, we used to go on fishing trips just about every chance we had. My parents still love to go fishing when they have the chance, so I thought this would be the perfect image to use. I started with this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems. An acetate card forms the base, and I adhered some Basic Grey paper to the back of the card inside to stamp the "got fish?" and "Happy Father's Day" as well as leave room for a personal message. Then on the front, I layered an embossed piece of kraft over more Basic Grey paper, then finally adhered the image. The image is colored with Prismas & OMS.

supplies ~ acetate base: Grafix, kraft: Bazzill, dsp: Basic Grey Archaic, image: Doodle Dragon Studio, sentiments: Studio G





The second card is for my FIL. He's a mechanic for a company that services large equipment, and he's very handy with tools and home repairs. Mr. Fixit here seemed the perfect choice. This week's sketch at Card Patterns (#19) was my starting point. I began with a dark blue base, then layered some Basic Grey paper over that. I used my new EK Success border punch on a second BG paper and also cut a narrow strip for the piece further down. The image and sentiment were adhered last. I colored the image with (yup!) Prismas & OMS, and the sentiment is the same one I used inside the card above.

supplies ~ card base: stash, dsp: Basic Grey Boxer, image: Doodle Dragon Studio, sentiment: Studio G

Finally, my blog candy has been updated with a picture in the post, as well as above in the link to it. If you'd like to enter, please do - you only have a few more days!

It's release day at Doodle Dragon Studio

Ahoy, mateys! Heave anchor and make ready to hoist yer sails - we be leavin' port for dangerous waters! hehehe

My husband and I love all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and he's been watching them a lot lately. So I'm feeling a bit nautical today!

If you haven't been over to Dustin's blog today, he's releasing 10 new "salty" images. This is just one of them, but all of them are so cute. You can buy the images at the Doodle Dragon Studio website. I'm hoping to have time to use some of the other images and post a pic or two later.

This was a pretty simple card to put together, but the black cardstock really makes it pop (I really love that). I colored the image with Prismas & OMS. The layout is from a sketch at SCS, and the papers are K & Co.

I saw the 12x12 pad of these papers at Michael's today, but my jaw dropped when I saw the price for the pad. I walked away thinking I would have to wait for a coupon to get the papers. Then I saw that they also had mat pads for the same line of papers at a significantly cheaper price - bingo! Since I planned to use these smaller size papers for cards anyway, I got a twofer from this find! Doncha just love it when that happens? =D

Thanks for stopping by today for a look! You can get more inspiration from the rest of the design team - the links are on the left side under the Doodle Dragon Studio banner. Have a ship-shape day!

supplies ~ cardstock: Fiskars, dsp: K & Co. Citronella, image: Dustin Pike Sailboat2

High Hopes challenge 34: a sketch

I really love High Hopes stamps, but I've only had the time to participate in a couple of their challenges in the past. Now that summer is here, I have lots more time to play in my stamp room and enter challenges. The image on this card, Little Missy, was one I received in a swap over at SCS. Since money is always a consideration when it comes to stamping supplies, I really like swaps.

The sketch for this week's challenge was a pretty simple one. Although I really like quick cards with minimal layers, I have to confess that the cards I love most are the ones with more layers. I also decided to decorate the inside of this card. I colored the image with Prismas & OMS.

supplies ~ cardstock: stash, dsp: Basic Grey Porcelain, image: High Hopes

I am working on images for the Doodle Dragon release on Thursday and the freebie image for tomorrow, so I may be back later today with peeks for those.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Whimsy Challenge: A Sketch!

Welcome to another Whimsy challenge! Did you see the great news on the Whimsy Stamps Challenge Blog? Now, not only can you use any image in many of the challenges, but we are now doing WEEKLY challenges - double the fun!

This week, we have a sketch to use for inspiration. This is the first time Whimsy has had a sketch challenge, but I'm hoping that there will be many more...I love sketches!




I inked up my duck stamp for the first time for this challenge. I like to have a different take on images sometimes, and this was no exception. I decided that I really wanted to do a mallard duck for this challenge. After coloring him in with Prismas & OMS, I used scraps from my scrap tray to mat the image and added a couple of coordinating pieces of dsp on the green cardstock. I mounted the image on pop dots to add some dimension.

supplies ~ cardstock: DCWV, dsp: K & Co. Urban Rhapsody, image: Whimsy Duck

Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure you visit the other design team blogs for more inspiration. The links to their blogs are on the left side under the Whimsy banner. Have a terrific day!

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!

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!