Shy Bear(Squigglefly), Mojo Monday, 365

I'm very excited about this card because I won this adorable Shy Bear image. Just out at Squigglefly (www.squigglefly.com) are these fantastic Shy Bear digital stamps. They had a contest leading up to their preview where you had to hunt their designer's blogs to find the hiding Shy Bears. Hurray! I won! I got to pick two Shy Bear images as my prize and this is my first card with the oh! so! cute! birthday bear. I used the Mojo Monday sketch and added fringe to two sides of my card for the challenge at 365 cards. My print papers are from Making Memories. I also used orange and white cardstock. After I colored the bear with my Copics I cut him out and mounted him on white card stock that I had masked an oval onto. I used foam to pop him off the card. I embellished his party hat with an orange rhinestone.

365 Days Sunday Sketch

I made this card following the Sunday sketch from 365 Days. The sketch caught my eye immediately because it was the long skinny kind. I like this shape but for some reason I rarely make cards this way. This cute little hot chocolate mug image came from a set that I just bought recently at my local craft store. I have no clue who made the stamps because I guess I threw away the packaging before looking. I'm usually very careful not to do that, oops. All of the print papers came from Me & My Big Ideas. It was a value stack that I bought last winter. My scalloped square is Nestabilities. This card went together real quickly for me. Sometimes it takes me hours to decide what papers or image to use. I didn't have that problem with this one. It must have been the great sketch and I must have been in a groove.

Crafts4Eternity/One Stop

For some reason I got it in my head to make Christmas cards with non-traditional colors this year. I used the Crafts 4 Eternity sketch and added die cut shapes for the One Stop Craft Challenge. My scalloped circle came from the Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge and the octagon shape is from the Going Places cartridge. (It's the stop sign shape from the cartridge). I used basic cardstock in medium grey, light grey, pink and white. The dark grey octagon shape was embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. After embossing it I sanded the top to let the white core show through for some texture. The Christmas tree image is a clear acrylic stamp that I got at Jo-Ann's but I don't know who makes it. It reminds me of those aluminum Christmas trees they had back in the day. I added pink rhinestones onto the ornaments for some bling and then I used glitter around the circle. My sentiment is computer generated. I embellished the card with an organdy bow with a little silver sparkle in it.

Caardvarks Sketchfest Day 7

These are the seven cards I made for Sketchfest.
Oh my, I can't believe it's day seven of Caardvark's Sketchfest. I had a blast using all seven sketches each day. I chose to do a Christmas card again today because I'm sending all handmade cards out this year to friends and family. The print papers on this card came from two sources. My background is from Imaginisce and my ornament paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday set. I used my Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge to cut the ornament and my Mini Monograms to cut the scallop circle behind my sentiment. The sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe. I embellished with hemp cord. This has been so much fun and I am very thankful for the opportunity to showcase my cards for a chance at a Design Team spot at Caardvarks.

Breast Cancer Awareness/Three Clovers

Most often I make my cards to give to people or sometimes just for challenges. This is going to sound odd but I made this card for me. Yes, I followed the sketch for day six of Caardvarks challenge, but there is special meaning for me behind this card. For those who have followed my blog from it's conception you may know that the idea began while I was lying in bed recovering from bilateral breast removal because of breast cancer. This card will go on my magnetic idea board in my craft room as a reminder to me of how far I've come since last August when I was diagnosed. Right now I can say I'm surviving because I found out you can't really call yourself a SURVIVOR until you've had several years cancer free. But, thankfully, my prognosis is good because my cancer was caught early. I hope that everyone of you that are reading this will make an appointment for a mammogram in October. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and it's a good way to remember when you're seeing so many items and stories about it. Each pink ribbon on my card signifies my four daughters and my four granddaughters because they are my reason for living. The print paper on this card is made especially for breast cancer by Melissa Frances of Heart & Home Collectables, Inc. The collection of papers have names like Strong, Hope, Cheerful and Inspire. Besides this print paper I used white, pink and blue cardstock and inked them all around the edge with Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral. I used my Nestabilities to cut the scalloped square and the pink cardstock underneath the word paper. I cut the pink ribbons from my Cricut Stand and Salute cartridge and shadowed them with blue. My only embellishment is the lace.

Carrdvarks Sketchfest Day 5/Three Clovers/Dutch Dare

It's Day 5 of Caardvark's Sketchfest. I decided to make my granddaughter's 3rd birthday card with today's sketch. I had to use her favorite colors pink and purple. It seems like those are every little girl's favorite colors. This fun polka dot paper came from DCWV Stack Nana's Kids. I had to have that stack because that's what Payton calls me, Nana. Actually, she calls me Nana Banana sometimes. I used the number 3 for Three Clovers challenge and added the heart charm to the party hat for the Dutch Dare challenge. The party hat cut and the number came from Cricut's Celebration cartridge. The sentiments are digital stamps from The Cutting Cafe's Calendar set. Iadded some fibers onto the hat because I knew Payton would like them and the cute little ball fringe is something I picked up while traveling over the summer. I wish I had bought a lot more of it because it's just the right size for cards. Now I just need to find the perfect birthday present.

Caardvarks Sketchfest Day 4

I found this cute little stamp while on vacation this summer and this great container of rhinestones on a recent scrapbooking store venture and knew they'd be perfect for each other. But I have to say, handling those little tiny rhinestones was a little annoying. They do look nice on the tree though. I kept this card really simple today by using scraps of cardstock that I've accumulated way too much of. I did add a little texture with Cuttlebug embossing folders--Divine Swirls and Circles. The little flourish in the corner came from the brand new Cricut Sweethearts cartridge. There are a lot of great cuts on it that I plan on using to scrapbook my daughter's wedding in Hawaii last year. She got married on the beach and it was really beautiful. My scalloped square is a Nestabilities diecut. I can't wait to see tomorrow's sketch. This is so much fun and very challenging.

Card Patterns/Our Creative Corner

The sketch this week for Card Patterns was clean and neat, just perfect for my little teapot stamp I've been anxious to use. Then I saw the challenge this week at Our Creative Corner was a color challenge using light pink, hot pink, brown and white and had the perfect piece of paper. The paper is Heidi Grace and is two sided, your seeing both the polka dot and the paisley. The teapot stamp is Basic Grey and the ribbon is American Crafts. I stamped the teapot image twice, using Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan, so I could layer with foam dots for dimension. This little set of stamps came with a small flower image and I used it to stamp around the teapot and cup using Dark Peony chalk ink. Nothing for embellishment other than the ribbon for a clean and neat look.

Project Tuesday/Stamptacular Sunday

What a fun little box/bag from Project Tuesday. I couldn't resist and it gave me an early start on Christmas wraps for my Christmas goodies. The best thing about Project Tuesday is the directions are clear and easy to follow. This little creation only took about 20 minutes to put together. Great when you have to do something in mass. After the first one it will probably go faster with the rest. My circle sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe and I mounted it on a scallop circle I cut with my Cricut machine (Mini Monograms). My paper is Heidi Grace and the cute little gingerbread man is something I picked up last year from the day after Christmas sale at Target for 50% off. My ribbon also came from the day after Christmas sale but from Wal-Mart. Don't you love the day after Christmas sales. I always go with an eye towards items I could use for card making or scrapbooking. I drag my husband out every year. Poor guy, that's what happens when your wife is legally blind and can't drive.

BBTB dragonfly/Crafts4Eternity/Creative Card Crew/Creative Inpiration

I always love the sketches from Crafts 4 Eternity and it's the sketch I chose to use for the Bitten By the Bug challenge this week. Along with following the sketch this week, C4E added the color elements of brown and orange. I've been so disappointed the last two weeks when the BBTB challenges used Cricut cartridges that I didn't have. Very excited this week to have the Camp Out cartridge so I could participate. I have two firsts on this card that have never been on my blog before, photographing the inside of the card and printing on ribbon. I've wanted to try printing on ribbon for a long time but was afraid I would mess up my printer. No problem, for my trusty old printer, evidently. I usually have something on the inside of my cards, but I've never added the photo to my blog to keep from bogging things down with too many photos. But this week Creative Card Crew wanted to see the inside decoration, so here it is. Creative Inspiration is looking for an Autum or Fall card this week, so I think this card qualifies.

I love this print paper that I used for the front of my card. It is a piece of vellum with leaves on it that has been in my stash forever. I had visions of using it on a fall scrapbook page, but never did. (Probably because I'm years behind on my scrapbooking LOL). This fun dragonfly from the Camp Out cartridge is so dainty you wouldn't expect it to be on a camping cartridge. I layered it by using a piece of white vellum that I ran through my Cuttlebug to add the polka dot element (for the BBTB challenge) using the Swiss dot embossing folder. Then I popped it off the card with foam dots. The only embellishments I added were the delicate buckle and two orange rhinestones for the dragonfly's eyes. I think this was the perfect card to finish off the summer season and welcome the brilliant colors of fall.

For my hubby, thanks for the wonderful anniversary dinner tonight, I've loved you for 36 years.

Caardvarks Sketchfest Day 3

Day three of Caardvarks Sketchfest. I'm having fun and getting a lot done. For today's card sketch I decided to do a winter card. I figured I should use this opportunity to get some Christmas cards done. I love to use light blue and white for winter cards so that's what I went with. This card is 6 1/2" x 5". The paper I used is a beautiful Heidi Grace set that I picked up at a scrapbook store I found while we were vacationing this summer up north--Michigan. The diamond paper is two-sided with the dark blue snowflake print on the other side. I used my new Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge for the snowflakes and the sentiment "Let It Snow" on this card. I cut them in white cardstock and then added glitter to them. I used foam dots to pop them off the card for a little dimension. For embellishment I added a sparkly organdy bow and a button covered in a coordinating color.

Caardvarks Sketchfest Day 2/BBTB contest

I made this card using the sketch for day 2 from Caardvark's Sketchfest. You can find the details at (http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/2009/09/sketchfest-monday.html. Bitten By the Bug has a contest going on right now using the vintage images from Peggy Loves Vintage. The details are here http://regina-bittenbythebug.blogspot.com/2009/09/time-for-another-fun-contest.html.

I kept my supplies for this card simple. I thought a print paper would distract from the beauty of this image. I used cream, beige, red and green cardstock. I added a pretty cream colored lace. For the BBTB contest you are required to use one cut from a Cricut cartridge. My cut is the snowflake from the new Winter Woodland cartridge that I picked up last week. This cartridge looks really cool, but I haven't had a chance to explore it too much. I added glitter and a pearl center to the middle of my snowflake for a little bling. I can't wait to see the sketch for day 3. I know I'll be up bright and early tomorrow to check the Caardvark blog.

Delightful Sketches Bear in Cauldron

This adorable bear in a cauldron is the Freebie for Friday from Digital Delights. Thank you so much for giving everyone the opportunity to get this delightful digital stamp. I just love the image and used the Delightful Sketches sketch for this week to make my card. This card is a

5 1/4" square and I used the following supplies:

• Debbie Mumm Harvest and Holiday paper stack
• Polka Dot paper is Target $1 bin
• Orange and white cardstock
• Sentiment-The Cutting Cafe
• Brads-Target $1 bin
• Orange ribbon from Hobby Lobby
• Cricut-Plantin' Schoolbook cartridge

I was so dissapointed last Friday when a class I was going to take to learn how to use my Copic markers got cancelled. So I am still working on learning how to blend and have taken to the internet for more tutorials. Anyhow, I gave the little bear my best try. I know I'll get better with time (and more markers, LOL). I printed him out on a white cardstock oval I cut with my Cricut Plantin' Schoolbook cartridge. I inked the edges then mounted it on orange cardstock and popped it with foam dots. My sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe's Halloween This and That set. I printed it on orange cardstock,added a few dots and lines and shadowed it with purple cardstock. The two brads are purple with little ghosts on them but they don't show up very well in the pics. I added a little glitter to the stars on the bear's hat that also didn't show up very well.

Caardvarks Sketchfest

I made this card really, really fast this morning after I checked the Caardvarks Challenge site and found they were having a design team challenge with a sketch everyday this week. I missed Sunday's post so I had to move fast. The deadline was in an hour. This card is just made of basic cream and black cardstock. The flower on the card is made from ribbon that came from Hobby Lobby. Just a couple swirls and a few dots with a button for embellishment. My sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe.

Sweet 'n Sassy sketch with Red, Tan and Black

When I saw the Sweet and Sassy sketch challenge had added the colors of red, black and tan to their challenge I knew exactly what paper I would use. This red patterned paper has been in my stash for quite some time now. I have no idea who made it, but I'm determined to use some of my older papers up to make room for some newer paper I've purchased lately. (And it will appease my husband who can't understand why I keep buying more paper, LOL). I was excited to use my new Cricut cartridge, From My Kitchen, for the rolling pins. There are so many cute cuts on this cartridge. I can't wait to explore it a little more. I used Digital Delights Maggie May sitting digistamp for this card. My plate of cookies and sentiment came from The Cutting Cafe's new Kitchen and Food sets. The supplies I used for this card:

• Black, beige, brown and red cardstock
• Red patterned paper
• Black check ribbon
• Black buttons
• Jute
• Cricut-From My Kitchen, Plantin' Schoolbook, and My Community cartridges
• Sentiment and plate of cookies-The Cutting Cafe (Kitchen & Food sets)
• Maggie May digistamp-Digital Delights
• Red Rhinestones
• Copic Markers

My chair that Maggie May is sitting on came from the Cricut My Community cartridge. That cartridge has images to cut for the fairy tale The Three Bears. I thought it would look cute for her to be sitting in a bigger chair like Goldilocks. I used a blade to cut Maggie May's hands apart so I could insert a rolling pin in between them. I added a couple red rhinestones to the hair bows for a little bling.

Sketch Saturday, PaperPlay (tag)

Isn't this scarecrow the cutest? My aunt and I found him on a recent crafting session together. I seem to have some sort of radar to find hidden scrapbook stores and this expedition was no exception. We found this little guy in the QuickKutz diecut section and couldn't resist him. I followed this week's Sketch Saturday sketch and added the tag for the PaperPlay challenge. I used the following supplies to make this card: Green and beige textured cardstock; gold, yellow, brown and black cardstock (scarecrow); a brick red patterned paper; jute ribbon and cord; and a leaf button. My sentiment is from The Cutting Cafe's (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com) new Autumn Days digital stamp set. I swear, there is not one single thing that The Cutting Cafe's Regina Easter does that I do not LOVE. She is one talented lady and such an inspiration for me. If you haven't visited her site, you absolutely need to.

Inspirational Card Sketches Design Call

Inspirational Card Sketches is having a Design Team call. How exciting is that? I made this card following the required sketch to be entered for consideration. This was the most frustrating card to photograph. I think the foil on the sentiment was the problem. I keep saying I'm going to take a photography class for some tips on getting better pics. I'm often attracted to K&Company designer papers and these prints are from an Autumn paper pad. They are double-sided, so the stripe is the back side of the swirl paper. I embossed the stripe with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dot folder and the swirl paper with QuickKutz diamond folder. For such a reasonably simple design I used a lot of different supplies. I used moss green cardstock for the base 5 x 5 inch card. The elements are all backed with dark green cardstock. The foil sentiment is from Paper Studios. The circle sentiment is a combo of digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe and a rubber stamp from Target's Dollar bins. The embellishing rhinestones came from Kaiser Scrapbook and the organdy ribbon is Offray. It is always an agonizing feat to produce a card for a design team call, especially if you tend to be a perfectionist. I had fun putting this card together and I know there is tough competition out there. There are so many talented card makers to compete with. Good Luck to All!

Sketch & Stash,A Spoonful of Sugar, Our Creative Corner, Creative Belli Blog, Alphabet Challenge (W), No Time To Stamp

It's the time of year to make fall and Halloween cards. I love fall, though I am not known for my fondness of Halloween. I think it comes from having to make Halloween costumes for five children, way back when. Or it could be all those years working in elementary school. Being up close and personal to children who a) don't think they should have to learn on Halloween and can think of nothing but the candy they're going to get or b) are so sugared up the day after they can't sit still. But now I have a 2 1/2 yr. old granddaughter who loves to get mail from Nana. This card is for her. So many challenges this week are looking for fall or Halloween cards. This card uses the Sketch & Stash bi-weekly sketch and will qualify for fall or Halloween requests from A Spoonful of Sugar, Our Creative Corner, Creative Belli Blog, ABC Challenge, and No Time To Stamp. Whew, that's a lot! My patterned papers on this card came from a variety of sources. The word paper is from the Target dollar bin as well as the little spider brad. The orange and the stripe behind the image came from a Debbie Mumm Harvest and Holiday stack I bought last year. I just embellished with a little orange ribbon from my stash and three buttons that I stacked together. Although it doesn't show well in the pics her wand and necklace have glitter on them.

The sweet digital image of the witch came from:

Lindsay Stamp Stuff: http://www.shophandmade.com/Store/Lindsay

The BeWitching sentiment came from:

The Cutting Cafe: http://www.thecuttingcafe.typepad.com/

Sketch Saturday Design Team Call

I was very excited to see that Sketch Saturday had put out a call for Design Team Members. This is my entry using the required sketch. Today was the perfect fall day in Michigan--sunny and warm with the leaves starting to turn color. It was my inspiration for this design. What you would need to make a similar card:

• Coordinating fall color print papers-I used four different prints
• Cardstock to match-I used dark brown, beige and rust
• Fall image and sentiment
• Ribbon
• Leaf Button
• Hemp cord
• Cuttlebug
• Embossing folder-I used a diamond pattern by Quickkutz
• Border punch-I used a Fiskars punch

My card is a square measuring 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" (7 1/2 cm. x 7 1/2 cm.). My image is colored with Copic markers. He's such a cute little guy. I have to admit that this rubber stamp belongs to my aunt. I stamped it and brought it home with me after a recent crafting weekend with her. She used to own a craft shop and has hundreds of stamps. I didn't even get to see them all. Next time I go visiting I will have to bring cardstock and stamp some more of her images. I found the cute leaf button while vacationing this summer in a small town located on the shores of Lake Huron called East Tawas. They have the best Ben Franklin store there with lots of little goodies like this. I came home with more stuff to add to my stashes (which my husband can't understand). I decided to keep my embellishing simple because of all the different patterned papers.