Thought for the day -

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Helen Keller

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Good morning! I have a really quick post today and then I am off to work.  Todays card is a sympathy card and I really have a hard time with these cards- not so much fun to make.  This card was made for a former co-worker and his wife.  He retired a year and a half ago due to health issues- his and his wife's.  His wife was diagnosed several years a go with a rare eye condition and is now totally blind.  He has several health issues-diabetes and heart disease, just to name a few.  Their daughter moved in with them a few years ago and she was diagnosed with cancer the day after Christmas.  She passed away last Friday at the age of 36.   My heart just breaks for them.  She was there only child.

I've used the "black magic" technique that was featured this week at SCS- TLC274.  What an awesome technique!! This was so simple to do.  You can find a you tube video tutorial here.
For this card I used the sketch at this weeks Mojo Monday. Great sketch, as always.
Supplies: Bazzil cardstock in black & grey
DP: all dp were scraps and all are from Daisy D's
Sentiment Stamp: KLM Digistamps
Rose stamp- Creative Stamp Kit of the Month
Ribbon from American Crafts and brad from Making Memories
Nestabilities Label for the sentiment

I used white ink, heat dried and then colored with prismacolor pencils.  I then highlighted the rose with my white gel pen.  This is a really fun and quick technique.

Challenges:
Mojo Monday: sketch
Cupcake Craft Challenge: Use black and grey and one other color

Ok off to work- see you tomorrow:) 

Monday, May 24, 2010






Good Monday Morning! I hope the sun is shining where ever you may be.  This is a big week here- the last week of school! YEAH!!!  Wish I had a job with summers off.

Well for today I have gotten on the band wagon and made my 1st explosion box!! These are so much fun to create.  I now have 4 done and hope to  have 20-25 made in time for our craft show in November.  I made this one last week for a co-worker to give as a gift to her 4 year old niece.  The only guideline I had was that it had to be girly and if I had any Indian stamps that would be great.  She was just adopted this past winter from India.  So I used my new Aladdin 1001 Nights stamps from Whiff of Joy.  They came in just in time for this project.


 I made a little pocket card to hold a gift card and propped it up. I attached the flowers to a piece of wire that wraps all the way around the card holder.  The standing image is attached to a piece of acetate.  My images were colored using my prismacolor pencils.  I just love this set of stamps!! So pretty.
All the dp is from K& Co. and I accentuated each corner with pearls.  Hope she likes it! Her Aunt loved it.
Challenges: 
 Papertake Weekly: Say it with flowers
A Spoonful of Sugar: Cute & Girly
Stamp Something: 2 of something- designer paper

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your Monday.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Good morning all!  It is a beautiful day here but quickly on it's way to be scorching hot. Bring it on!! lol.  Hope your weekend is going well.  We spent the afternoon yesterday at a cub scout gathering.  Yesterday was the rain gutter regatta- lots of fun.  For those that aren't familiar with the Raingutter Regatta I am attaching a picture. Jordan is the one on the left and he won this race but lost the next 2.
The object is to be the 1st to reach the end of the trough and you can only propel your boat by blowing. Lots of fun!!  The boys even had a visit from the fire department with the tanker truck.  The had a ball running through the field as they were being sprayed by fire hoses.

Ok on to my card and it's for a very special challenge! Whiff of Joy is having a Guest Designer call and the challenge was to use the colors red & orange and, of course, a WOJ stamp.  I just received my latest order from Simon Says Stamps and I love them! This image is from the May collection of stamps called Aladdin 1001 Nights.
Isn't she pretty! I love this set! I took an indoor and outdoor shot because I was having a hard time with the gems- they kept throwing a glare, lol. This fab sketch was provided by this weeks Friday Sketchers.
Supplies used:  Red & Orange card stock from Bazzil
DP is Basic Grey from the Ambrosia Collection
MS punch, Stampin Up stamp in Geranium red ink by MS
Nestabilities Label
Red & Orange gemstones
Rose and leaf from Wild Orchid Crafts
My image is colored with Primacolor pencils- I am really loving these!

Challenges:
WOF GD challenge:- red & orange
Friday Sketchers:  the Sketch

There you have it.  Be sure to check out the GD challenge here.  There are some pretty amazing entries.

Have a great day!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Hi all.  Hope your week has been going well.  I have been a day ahead of myself all week.  Got up thinking it was Friday and then realized it's only Thursday- jeans back in the closet, lol.

I've had a request from a co-worker for a baby shower card.  She saw a card I had made with this image in blue and asked if I would do it in pink. I hope she likes it.  I've used this weeks sketch from Friday Sketchers and it is definitely going into my save box.  Friday Sketchers is also celebrating their 2nd anniversary and are having a bloghop.  You really must join in, there are special treats at each stop.
Here is the sketch:









And here is my card:
















I seldom make anything in pink and had to go out in search of pink dp.  I just love the softness of these pink dp's.  This is probably my favorite image from KLM Digistamps.  I changed the image color to a pink and then sponged with pink chalk ink from Color Box.
Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
DP: GCD Studios Rose Colored Glasses line
Ribbon
MS scalloped lace punch
Flowers/leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts

Challenges:
Friday Sketchers: the sketch
Cute Card Thursday: for someone special- is there anyone more special then a new mom!

Well off to work...1 day to go!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Hey folks- this is going to be a real quick post- I'm running short on time.  I am back, as promised, with my 2nd of 2 cards made with my new favorite character- Stella from Bugaboo Stamps.  I am participating in a craft show in November at work and I am making several red hat cards as we have alot of members in our company.  So you will be seeing quite a few of them over the next several months.

Todays card was made using this weeks sketch from Sketch Saturday- another great sketch!
I didn't realize until after I took the pictures that she forgot to put on her earrings.  She now has on a beautiful pair of ruby gemstones.  She wore them on yesterdays card too, lol.  This was a really fun sketch and I kept it very simple. Red & purple cardstock is from Stampin Up. I used a MS border punch and accented with the floral dp- can't remember who it's by. Then just accented with purple and red buttons.  My image is colored with my prismacolor pencils.

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday:  the sketch

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Good morning everyone.  Well things are settling down a little on the home front.  Greg had a hip replacement last week and arrived home on Friday.  It was a very restless weekend for both of us.  The poor man is in so much pain but had a much better day & night yesterday.  He will be having physical therapy 3 days a week for the next 4-6 weeks.  Fortunately they come to the house for this.  The people from short-term disability are already hounding him about a return date for work...Hmm He's walking with a walker and needs help putting on a pair of socks- don't see him going back any time soon. LOL.

I have  a fun little card for you today.  I absolutely loved this sketch and am very pleased with the outcome.  My sketch today comes from Sweet Sketch Wednesday and is being sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps.  Man I would love to win this challenge!!! I can't get enough of these images.  My image today is a Bugaboo Stamp from the Stella Red Hat line.  I just love this gal!
Here is the sketch:

Here is my card:
Don't you just love Stella! lol 
Supplies Used: Stampin Up cardstock
Dp- the red paper is from gcd, and the patterned do is from Daisy D's
Ribbon: red & purple, Red gemstones- (earrings)
Stampin Up Build a brad- i repeated the dp in the brads
Prisma color pencils


I hope you have enjoyed my little card today and I will see you all tomorrow :)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Good Monday morning!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a dry weekend- the first in several weeks!  It's much cooler but dry.  I managed to get alot done this weekend but I barely stopped.  Greg had a very restless night Saturday- in a lot of pain but is feeling much better today.  He won't be able to drive for at least 6 weeks so that will definitely keep me busy.

My card today is for the Midnight Madness Sketch challenge.  There is alot going on over at Midnight Madness with the 1 year anniversary in full swing so make sure you check it out.  Priscilla has some awesome blog candy up for grabs- the link is on my sidebar.
Here is this weeks sketch:










And here is my card:


I just loved this dp when I saw it although you can't see much of with all that is going on but it goes perfectlywith my little bee-bear.  My image is from Bugaboo Stamps, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites!!  I will have 2 more cards later in the week with their images.  

I have never been much of a fan of tags.  I love seeing them on others cards but I just never liked making them.  This one is actually a chipboard tag the I covered with my dp, sanded and distressed with Tim Holtz Faded Denim.  My little butterfly is also chipboard and is from K& Co. All cardstock is from Stampin Up, DP is from MOD and is called Daisy Burst.  I colored my little image with prismacolor pencils, which I am loving!!  I still have alot to learn-like shading but I love the look.

Challenges:
Midnight Madness: the sketch
Catch the bug challenge:  Flower Power
Creative Card Crew: April Showers bring May flowers
A Spoon Full of Sugar:  Furry friends, use an animal image

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Janice

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day to you all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. 
I am so glad to be back in my craft room.  This past week has been so hectic.  My husband, Greg, had a hip replacement on Tuesday and was released on Friday.  He's getting around pretty well but had a very restless night last night- lot of pain.
Friday Jordan & I went to the zoo with his class field trip.  I will have to share the pictures when I get them developed.  I used my film camera instead of the digital. We had a lot of fun.  Kids in this age group (1st grade) are so funny.

Ok on to my card.  I am playing several challenges but I will start with the sketch.  This weeks sketch comes from Mojo Monday
The Sketch

 
I just love this stamp set.  I recently signed up for Creative Stamping kit of the month club after seeing them profiled on SCS.  Each kits comes with a stamp set and 2-3 projects.  Great for the beginner as well as the advanced stamper. This was this months stamp set- great for father's day.   I just realized after looking at the skecth and my card that we have a few variations-oops. Oh well I think you can still tell it's the same sketch.

Suuplies: Cardstock is Stampin Up, DP is Basic Grey(dotted paper) and Scrapworks (striped), Creative Stamping stamp set and ink, Making Memories brads.  I used my cricut for the ovals.

Challenges:
Mojo Monday:  the sketch
Cute Card Thursday:  Boyz to Men- any card for the men in your life
Dare U 2Digital- anything goes
Stampin for the Weekend- A card for a male

Ok that's it for me.  Ok the rest of your weekend!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Good afternoon everyone.  Well we are having another wild weekend of weather here in Middle TN.  I have never seen so much water! We had record rainfall yesterday with flooding everywhere.  And it's not over.  Jordan & Greg left Friday afternoon for a weekend camping trip with Cub Scouts and were home by noon on Saturday.  I'm glad they are home safe and sound but it really blew my quiet weekend home alone, lol.
So since today we under house arrest (no unnecessary travel today) I am having a blast. I'm spending the day in my room.

Today I have 2 cards for ya.  For my 1st card I have colored my little image with my prismacolors.  I purchased a set of 72 a few weeks back when Michaels had them on sale at 50% off.  Copics for the time being just aren't in my budget.  They are definitely going to take some time getting used to so be kind- this is my 1st attempt, lol.  This card is for this weeks Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge.





























My image is from Whiff of Joy and has been cut out and my sentiment is from Creative Stamping kit of the month.  All my dp is from Basic Grey and is from the line Boxer.  Cardstock is from Stampin Up and my scalloped punch is also from Stampin Up.

My 2nd card is a very simple little creation but I am very happy with the outcome.  This is a 1st for me on 2 fronts- 1 no dp, and 2 is using ink on my cuttlebug folder.

Cardstock is Stampin Up in Night of Navy and my image is a rubber stamp from Hero Arts.  I used an inked cuttlebug folder inked in Night of Navy, ribbon and pearls.
Challenges covered with this card are:
Papertake Weekly- do something different- no dp, inked folder.
Well time for a little break- Greg has had the news on all day- things are getting pretty grim here, although we are safe and sound in our home. There are many that are not so fortunate- evacuations are occurring everywhere in Nashville. Pretty scary stuff.  Keep the people in TN in your prayers.