February Bouquet

A year ago I joined a new site called stampTV which was created by Gina Krupsky of Gina K. Designs. Little did I know how addicted I would become and how much fun I would have! The friendships I have made online with other cardmaking fanatics are amazing and a joy in my life! Seven of us starting "talking" a lot online and came to call ourselves the Wild Roses. We have started a monthly challenge for ourselves and our first challenge was to make a card for Gina and everyone at stampTV since they are the ones who brought our little group together. This is my card which was made with Gina's stamp set called Elegant Flowers; it came in the very first stampTV kit that I purchased and it is still one of my favorites! I will be mailing my card off to Wisconsin tomorrow to say THANK YOU, GINA K.!

Betty

The Last of the Dragonflies

Okay friends, this will be the last of my dragonfly posts. I never knew there were so many types of dragonflies -- but I do now! I'm excited to be able to mail them on Monday and have prayed a blessing over each one. I wonder how many cards Taylored Expressions will receive and be able to send to the neo-natal unit? Can't wait to find out. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and finds some time to stamp! I'll be attending a cousin's wedding so probably won't be posting tomorrow. See you Sunday!

Betty

Card Patterns Sketch 52 & Dragonfly Card Drive

I know I've been posting lots of dragonfly cards but it's for such a worthy cause! I used the sketch at Card Patterns52 and Gina K. Designs Lemon Drop Pure Luxury card stock. The dark brown is from Sizziz (Little Sizzles Hombre Texture Pad) and has a leather feel to it. I printed the image twice, rotating one so that they would be facing each other. I'll be back later tonight to post the last of my dragonfly cards 'cause I now have a small box full and plan to mail them off on Monday. See you later ----

Betty

MMSC42 and Dragonfly Card Drive

I am very excited about my card this evening. I just love the sketch from Midnight Madness and the way this dragonfly card turned out for Taylored Expressions Card Drive! I downloaded the dragonfly image, printed and cut it out. The card base is Lemon Drop Pure Luxury Paper by Gina K. Designs; other solids are Stampin' Up's Close to Cocoa and Very Vanilla. Found coordinating patterned paper, added a shiny ribbon and a brad, and called it done! This worked up fairly quickly and since I now have measurements, I think I'll make several more with this same sketch for the card drive. Hope you're all having a wonderful evening and for those of you getting more snow, stay warm!

Betty

When Just Us Girls (WAS/WERE?) Young!

When I first saw the sketch at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge I knew I wanted to make a gradient color card. I found these beautiful colors that worked well together, then added the white strip with Swiss Dots. Next I cut out circles with Nesties and embossed Swiss Dots on the white cirle. I've been making dragonfly cards for Taylored Expressions Card Drive and I had intended to do that with this card. However, at this point, it (the card) just yelled at me, "I need a tissue flower!" Well, who am I to go against the wishes of my card? So I reached for the gorgeous tin on my desk filled with beautiful flowers that I was lucky enough to have won from Just Us Girls for their 4th challenge. (They are now all grown up at 21!) You can see Mona's video on how to make these gorgeous creations by clicking on the link above. I have been hoarding my winnings (I know others of you do this too!!) but have now decided that I must share this goodness with others! This card can be used for many different occasions so I will add that sort of greeting to the inside of the card. Be sure to check out the links and come back to see me again!

Betty

Card Drive and Color Challenge

I have two cards to share with you this evening! The first is another dragonfly card for the neo-natal unit card drive. The dragonfly was downloaded from a free clip art site and colored with Bic markers. I was really happy with the coloring of the dragonfly and was also pleased with the sponged ribbon tag. Hope this will bring a bit of comfort to a grieving family.

The second card was done for this week's color challenge at stampTV. The challenge was to use metallics. A piece of copper card stock (although it looks more gold in the picture) was embossed with Cuttlebug's Stylized Flowers folder. I made the faux metallic flower and stem by following this tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers. Cut out some light green cardstock so that the flower would show up a little better and added a flower pot from Papertrey Ink's Everyday Button Bits.

Hope you'll come visit again!

Betty

Taylored Expressions Dragonfly Card Drive

The following was written by Donna Baker on her blog "Serenity in Stamping".
Taylored Expressions is hosting a card drive to benefit the Neo-natal Unit at Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls SD. Taylor has both a very good friend and a sister-in-law who work as labor and delivery nurses at SMC where they use the dragonfly as a symbol of hope for families who have lost a child during delivery or in the early stages of life and they have requested hand-made cards featuring dragonfly images.
Your help is needed. Would you consider making and donating some cards that feature a dragonfly? You may use stamps from any company - they do not need to be from TE. As a thank you for participating Taylor will enter your name into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to the TE Store. Here are the details:
Create cards (1 or as many as you'd like) that feature a dragonfly image (from ANY stamp company.) Sentiments can be things such as "thinking of you" and inspirational quotes or they can be blank.
If your cards are standard A2 size (4.25" x 5.5") Taylored Expressions will provide the envelopes. If your cards are any other size then we ask that you please send a blank envelope along with each card donation.
The more entries we receive, the more prizes there will be. Taylored Expressions will give away 1 $50 Gift Certificate for every 50 cards we receive. So - there will be one GC given if we receive 99 cards or less. For 100 - 149 we will give 2 gift certificates, for 150 - 199 there will be 3 gift certificates and so on.
You will be entered into the drawing once for EACH card you send in with no limit. The more entries, the better your chance to win.
Mail your donations to:
Taylored Expressions Card Drive
924 NW 33rd Street
Ankeny, IA 50023
Cards must be received no later than March 25th.

I think this is a wonderful cause and I have posted some of the cards I will be sending. Will you join me in being a blessing to someone who is hurting and needs the comfort that God and others are able to give?

Betty

Lucky Bear, Pure and Simple

Hello all! I had a lot of fun coloring this sweet bear image today for the challenge at There's Magic in the Air/Paper Cupcakes. However, part of the challenge was to use distressing. I was slightly "distressed" to have to do this to the perfectly cut scallops that my nesties provided, but I bit my lip and did it! I used colored pencils and baby oil to blend the color on the image and glittered up the highlighted portion of the shamrock. I sponged some Close to Cocoa around the distressed edges and Barely Banana to highlight the image. This sweet boy's name is "Lucky Bear" so I guess he's headed off to enter to win some blog candy -- wish him luck!!

Betty

An Image From a Friend

Mary Anne, my stamping online friend, sent me an image to color. I just love this basket of flowers and found a perfect piece of patterned paper to go along with it! I love the springtime look of this card and know that many of my online friends who live north of me are ready for some springtime -- here's hoping it comes soon!

Betty

A Batch of Thank Yous

Hi and Welcome!! Just wanted to show you what I've been working on the last couple of days. I needed 28 cards to send out to nursery volunteers for the first two weeks of February. I have made similar cards and am showing you three of the different layouts. Hope you enjoy them and most importantly, hope the volunteers enjoy them!!

Colorful Challenge

Hello all! this card is for Vicki Dutcher's Weekly Color Challenge at Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends. She wanted us to use bright colors -- and I found these that I liked! Stampin' Up's Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac and Old Olive. DP is an older print from SU. Stamps are from Papertrey Ink (sentiment) and Studio G (flower). I colored the brads with Bic permanent markers. Carol (Grammawamma) pointed me to SCS for the tutorial for the Folded Frame. It is not a difficult piece to craft and it gives a wonderful presentation for your image. (Carol has been using the folded frame with photos, and they look great!)

Painted Pony in a Circle

Good Evening to all my Stampin' Friends!! This card is my entry in There's Magaic in the Air Monday Challenge. Selma has challenged us to use lace and a circle along with one of Nina's images. I have chosen Painted Pony -- I just love coloring this little guy. I used my Bic markers and the color scheme from a page of my favorite My Mind's Eye paper. You'll find this paper in the corners with the ProvoCraft die cuts, for the little butterfly and also as a border around the Spellbinders Shapeabilities ribbon tag. A paper doily is used to simulate "lace" and the circle was cut from Brocade Blue Stampin' Up card stock. Little "pearls" form the butterfly's body and the card base is SU Cameo Coral. Hope you like it!!

Betty

Color Challenge at StampTV

Found a box outside on my porch this morning and it just couldn't be any better -- new stuff from Gina K. Designs!!! Got the new Lemon Drop Pure Luxury Paper -- I love that color! Paired it up with Lavender Lace from Stampin' Up and Pure Luxury White from Gina K to make this card for Shannon's color challenge at stampTV. I used Melanie Muenchinger's new set Pressed Flowers and expect to be using this set much, much more! Martha Stewart's Arch Lattice Edger Punch made the pretty side borders and I used gold microbeads for the center of the "closest" flower. The beautiful Lemon Drop Pure Luxury Paper is embossed in a Candy Cane Stripe embossing folder by Cuttlebug. The sentiment is also from Melanie's new set and the brads were probably purchased at Hobby Lobby. Hope you enjoy my new card as much as I enjoyed making it!

Betty

I'm Back

First of all, I want to thank those of you who have checked in to see where I've been. My asthma flared up last week and it sapped all my mojo! Hopefully, I'll be back in the mood to have fun with my stamps and papers tomorrow -- it's been too long since I made a card!

I'm posting a picture tonight of a card I made last week but never got posted. All the paper used is from my favorite (still!) paper pack, Simply Delightful by My Mind's Eye. I cut out the flower image from one of the papers and added a couple of extra leaves. The circles were cut in my Nesties and the stamp is from Stampin' Up. I love the sheer brown ribbon used for the bow.

Bye for now .... Betty

Valentine Treats

Hi! Just wanted to let you know what I've been working on today. Valentine's Day is coming up and with my daughter going back to work, I volunteered to make the treat holders for Ashton's kindergarten class and for Brianna's day care class. I've burned out on traditional Valentine themes (having done a number of challenges lately) so I decided to make non-traditonal valentines. Looked through my freebie folders and found lots of fantastic animals. I failed to write down the source as I was pulling them but tried to go back and find them again so I could give credit. I may have missed some; I'm truly sorry if I did. Here's all that I could find -- Amerigo Mundi, Cuddlebeez, GTC's Crafty Corner, Pam LeFores, Pink's Poetic Scraps, and Scrappers Emporium. They were already colored so I cut my time considerably!! Thanks, also to Splitcoast Stampers for the tutorial! By the way, the treat inside is a little bag of Zoo Animals Fruit Snacks -- how appropriate is that with the animal theme of the holders!! Betty

"Paint" by Number

I made this card for Papertrey Ink's "Paint" by Number Challenge. Aren't the colors yummy? They give you the sketch and a color pallette that is based on the first letter of your name. The play on words is to announce that PTI will be releasing a set of acrylic paints in all of their colors. And they will be packaged in the cutest little paint cans you have ever seen -- I'm a sucker for all things miniature!! Go on over and help them celebrate!!

Betty

A Year of Flowers - Thank You to Melanie

I am posting this too late for her challenge but just wanted to tell Melanie Muenchinger how much I love her stamp set "A Year of Flowers". I have seen some of the most fabulous cards made with this set and I have enjoyed using it many times over. Thanks Mel!!

Update: I find that I was mistaken about being too late -- the contest doesn't end until tonight. So if you want to enter, head on over to Hands, Head and Heart; you have this one last chance! One thing I failed to do in my post was to give credit for the sketch. It comes from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. Isn't it a great one!

Betty

Manly Hearts

This card will be entered into four challenges:
Our Creative Corner Sketch Challenge

Our Creative Corner Challenge to make a masculine valentine card

Crazy 4 Challenges to use a valentine theme

Our Daily Bread Designs Shine the Light Challenge to use hearts

My cs colors are Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Ruby Red by Stampin'Up. The stamps are also from SU, and I've used some red and brown brads for accent. The Close to Cocoa background paper has been embossed with Cuttlebug's Bird Call folder.

If you like challenges I'd recommend that you check out one or all of these -- you just might have some fun or win a prize!

Valentine in Pink with Bling

I have a valentine today that was made for a Flourishes challenge to have pink as your main color. The sketch is from Annabelle Stamps; their sketches must include bling! Unfortunately the camera doesn't capture the beauty of the sliver bling! Take my word for it, it's pretty!

Michael's seems to be my "go-to" place for most of the elements on this card. Items from Michael's are the heart stamp, ribbon, and silver adhesive brads. The flourish stamp is SeeD's Nightingale Savoir Faire Series. My card base is SU Regal Rose and the other pinks are rom misc. 12x12 pages.

This valentine goes out to all my internet stamping friends!

Betty

Hello from Texas

I made this card for the Flourishes "What's Your Cup of Tea?" challenge to make a card inspired by your favorite beverage. Well, mine is Pepsi and the colors on the can inspired me to make this card with the Texas flag.

The sketch I used is from Card Patterns.

Card stock used is SU Night of Navy, Real Red and Whisper White. I printed the flag and the sentiment from my computer and used a SU 1/4" punch on the word HELLO and its shadows. Nestabilities were used to cut out the circles and the ribbons are from Gina K. Designs.

More later,
Betty

Emboss Resist Leaves

Sketch Challenge from Just Us Girls
Colors from stampTV Color Challenge (sage green, yellow, black and white)
Technique from Papertrey Ink (emboss resist)

My card base is Stampin' Up Sage Shadow; I've also used SU So Saffron, Basic Black and Whisper White. I cut a smaller layer of Sage Shadow and embossed it with Cuttlebug's Bird Call Folder. The strips of So Saffron are also embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, Swiss Dots. I stamped the leaves from Martha Stewart's Leaf and Branch with Versamark and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. My next step was sponging Sage Shadow and So Saffron over the embossed leaves; finally wiping the ink from the leaves. I rifled through my 12x12 sheets of paper to find something I liked for the other circles. The stamp is by Stampin' Up and if the light is just right, you can see that I embossed a smaller leaf inside the thank you stamp. Let's just say that it is very subtle!!

See you in a bit with another post.

Later, Betty

A Square Card

Hello friends! The sketch for this card is from Jennie Harper over at stampTV. I had a lot of fun with this sketch, and even though my card is CAS, it seemed to take longer to put together. Still, I think it was worth a little extra trouble!! Embellish Magazine extended a challenge to use turquoise, brown, and pink and to add ribbon and I loved working with these colors. Hope you enjoy them and my card too! Oh, yes, I cut out my ovals with Nestabilities and the stamp is from the set Friendship Blooms by Stampin' Up.

Betty

PS Be sure to take a look at my friend Dee Marie's birthday blog candy to the left of this post. She's having a birthday next week and wants to gift a special someone with some stamping goodies. Click on the photo to go to her blog and enter!

Challenge Cards

Hello all! I took the entire morning and played with my stamps and paper! I tackled a number of challenges and want to tell you about them.
Citrus Card: Flourishes Timelss Tuesday Challenge 52C and Card Positioning Systems152. The Fourishes challenge is to make a birthday card using fruit or citrus colors. CPS is a sketch challenge. The card base is Cameo Coral by Stampin' Up and I used 12x12 paper that had no info. Stamps are Stampin' Up, Tart and Tangy. Sentiment is computer generated. Birthday greeting are inside.
Get Well Deer: Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 52E (use same link as card above)and Scrapbooking and Crafting Friends Weekly Color Challenge. The Flourishes challenge was to "Frame it Up!" and the Color challenge was to use Brown and White. The paper I used is Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury Base Weight White for the card base, and Sizzix Little Sizzles Hombre Texture Pad. The frame is from Pam Lefors Design and the stamps are Stampin Up's Natures Silhouettes and Gina K. Design's Say It With Flowers, Melanie Muenchinger, illustrator.
Fairy Bear: Teddy Stampers challenge was to used dry embossing on your card, along with a teddy bear image. I used Stamping Up's Perfect Plum for my card base and Pale Plum which I embossed with Cuttlebug's D'Vine Swirl. The fairy bear is a digi image and I cannot locate where I found it; the same for the pretty little circle with border behind the bear. If you know the designers of these pieces of art, please let me know so that I can give credit. I added a bow at the bottom to finish it off!
Well, I had a blast this morning but now must get to chores. Maybe I can get back to the fun stuff this evening!!

Betty

One More Post -- Two More Challenges!

I was able to complete another card tonight. It is a CAS card and meets the requirements of two different challenges:
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Anniversary Challenge FTTC52A by Cindy Haffner (sketch -- Flourishes is having their one year anniversary and has lots of challenges and prizes; be sure to go by there and have some fun!)
Digital-Ink Co. Challenge to make a birthday theme card, using a pet or baby image and the primary colors, red, blue, yellow, green and a neutral. Check my sidebar for a picture of the great prizes from Digital Ink Co. for this challenge.
Stamps: Framed Friends, by Gina K. Designs: Asela Hopkins, illustrator
Paper: Stampin' Up Glorious Green, Yoyo Yellow, Brilliant Blue and Real Red
Ink: SU Real Red sponged; Dog colored with pencils & blended with baby oil
Other: Spellbinders Shapeabilities Ribbon Tags Trio; Nestabilities Circles, Stampin' Up's scalloped square punch; press on colored lines

Good night,
Betty

Envelope of Thanks

My card tonight is made for a church nursery volunteer. The flower stamp is from a stampTV kit by Gina K. Designs, the stamp set is called Elegant Flowers. I used a coluzzle to cut the ovals (this was made before I got my Nestabilities). Card stock is Sage Shadow and Whisper White by Stampin' Up. I used misc. dp inside and out. The bottom corner treatments inside were done with a ProvoCraft die and the small envelope was made with a Sizzix Scallop Envelope die created for Stampin' Up. I printed the "Thank You" on a piece of vellum and attached to a 2x3" card with pink brads and embellished the corners with a Martha Stewart punch. This "Thank You" card goes inside the small envelope. It is stamped with a clear stamp from Studio G that I found at Michael's (there were three stamps in a set for $1.00). I had made this card a while back but finished it up with the little envelope and the thank you card tonight! Happy Stamping to all......

Betty

Bears for Brianna

My card today is a Valentine card for my 3 year old granddaughter Brianna. I have four Valentine bears on a shelf in my closet, in varying sizes. Each time she is over here she asks me to get the bears for her to play with. The image is from Nina May at There's Magic in the Air, challenge hosted by Sue (Tillymint). Sue, my project had a mind of its own and I ended up without the tag and without the stitching!! Am I terrible, or what??? Linda Payne gave me the inspiration because she resized the images for her project. After printing the images, I colored them with markers and cut them out. The sentiment oval is cut out with a ProvoCraft die and attached with a shiny brown ribbon. I am also entering this card in the DareU2Digi Challenge to use hearts or valentines and a digi image. I know Brianna will love the bears and we'll have to wait and see if it makes her thinks of the bears at my house!!

Betty