This One's For Ashton!

I have to admit that it was much easier for me to make a cute, frilly mailbox for the granddaughter than this one for my 7 yr old grandson! Orange is his favorite color so I went with a fall theme. I love the little acorns on the flag -- those are Martha Stewart stamps. I also found a little acorn brad; I removed its "legs" and attached it to the flag with a pop up dimensional. The acorns that I stamped onto the patterned paper is from Stampin' Up. The tree is also a MS stamp and I used several different ribbons.

I'm busy making valentines for their classmates too. Will have a picture of them in the next day or two!

Betty

Mailbox for Brianna

Last night I altered one of Target's mailboxes for my granddaughter's Valentine present. Didn't it turn out cute? Patterned paper, ribbons, some stick-ons, nesties and a butterfly punch were all I needed to make a really sweet gift. I'll find a cute little stuffed animal to put inside and it will be ready to go! I know she'll just love it!

Good news -- we received an offer on our house yesterday which we accepted. Praying that all will go well and that we'll soon be on our way to the next chapter in our lives -- retirement in the area of Lake Chapala Mexico!

Betty

Button Brads

Okay, I felt sorry for the big brads that I trashed in yesterday's post so I designed a card especially for them!! Kept the color combo of Chocolate, Blue and Pink from the challenge at Annabelle Stamps (after all the brads are brown, blue and pink -- it was a no brainer!)and added an image from Annabelle Stamps set titled Thoughtful Stems. DP is from My Mind's Eye paper pack titled Simply Delightful. Sponged with SU ink.

Hope all of your football fans are enjoying the game!
Betty

Missing You

(Please scroll all the way to the end of this post -- I decided that I need to redo this card!)
Here is a card I've made to send to Operation Write Home. I have used the sketch from Card Patterns Sketch 101 and the color combo from Annabelle's Stamps Challenge to Say It in Chocolate, Blue and Pink.
You have probably heard about a special campaign for Katie Renz, a designer for Clear Dollar Stamps, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer. Several stamp companies banded together in an effort to help Katie and her family pay for her medical bills. You can find the information about the stamps and how you can help at Jak Heath's blog. Jak is now hosting a contest to make a card with one of the images that you receive when you make your donation. You can find info about the contest here. My image comes from Clear Dollar Stamps and it is part of a set of several sewing images and sentiments. I learned about the contest from a fellow blogger -- thanks, Donna!

On a personal note, it warmed up here today (that made me so very happy!) and we also had someone else come to look at our house which is for sale -- We'll just have to pray that something good comes from the visit!

Edited to Add: I had to redo this card. The more I looked at it, the less I liked the "honking big" brads on the top right. They were fighting with the polka dots and with the focal image. So, here is my card with smaller brads!!


Betty

C is for Clean and Simple

Don't you just love these little birds???? I think they've been out at my feeders for a little too long -- they need to go on a diet!
I made this card for the ABC Christmas Challenge -- C is for Clean & Simple (with a sketch).
Their sketch is for a square card but I prefer this shape so it turned out looking a little different from their sketch shown here at the right. I've made a couple of cards for the February sketch challenge at Annabelle Stamps and my card today looks like it could fit right in!!
The decorated papers that I've used all come from a Papermania paper pack called Classic Christmas. I won this pack plus some other goodies from the blog hop at the end of the year at ABC Christmas Challenge. Thanks you ladies, for this gorgeous paper to work with. My card and circle base is Sahara Sand by Stampin' Up.

Betty

Chocolate and Blue

This card was made for the Fab N Funky Challenge #58, which is a color challenge. Colors are Chocolate and Blue. I've used shades of blue, Brocade Blue and Bordering Blue from SU. Browns are Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa.

The layout that I have used comes from Annabelle Stamps Bling Sketch Challenge, ABSC034; their February sketch.

The stamps are from Annabelle Stamps too; the set is called All Things Grow. The butterfly was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Brocade Blue card stock and cut out. Tools used are Circle Nesties, Ribbon Tags Trio and a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Forest Branches. Also used a scrap of dp, a bit of chocolate ribbon and six little clear rhinestones.

I was quite pleased with this card and want to send it to the Minister of Preschool at my church. The "All things grow with love" sentiment reminds me of her calling to help our preschoolers grow up in the knowledge that God loves them very much.

Stay warm all,

Betty

Ribbon Bookmarks

I made some bookmarks today from scrap pieces of ribbon. There was a tutorial at Tip Top Tuesday for making a banner out of acrylic and ribbon scraps. I took their idea and made bookmarks for my grandson's teacher. I think the camera makes the red and white one look the prettiest but IRL I think I prefer the one with the more subtle colors. A number of the ribbons are transparent and you can see through the acrylic. I placed two pieces of scor-tape on either side of the acrylic piece and another piece down the middle. Adhered the ribbon pieces to the acrylic and cut off the ragged edges. On the red bookmark I used ribbon to put on the sides, folded over to the back to keep ribbons from fraying. Then I stamped the flower with versamark on red cardstock, embossed with white, and cut out. Finished up by adding a couple of bows. On the other bookmark I used a light weight patterned paper for the edges.
DH found my sponges yesterday in the first box that he opened!!! Hooray! And I didn't even use them today -- maybe tomorrow. It's going to be too cold to get out!

Betty