Rain, Rain Go Away

I remember lovin' the rain as a kid!!  Splashing in huge puddles with my favorite rain boots and some Strawberry Shortcake-ish umbrella, sticking my tongue out for rain drops and waiting for the earthworms to come out and play!  Man, who needed the sunshine when you could have that much fun!

Today kicks off a new challenge over at Guylou's Inimitability and our challenge theme is "Umbrella".  Thats right - all you need to do is have at least one umbrella somewhere on your project.  If you win, you will be awarded two digistamps of your choice from Guylou's Inimitability Store and will also be invited to be a Guest Designer on an upcoming challenge.

I used Guylou's image, Ben, for my card today and had so much fun with this little guy paper piecing him all up - almost reminded me of being a kid enjoying the rain again!!!  The awesome sentiment is by Tracy S., one of my fellow DT members, and if you purchase Ben --you will get Tracy's sentiment, too! 

The challenge runs until April 21st, so I hope to see you play along with us and show off those cute Umbrella creations!! 

Recipe:

Image:  Ben from Guylou's Inimitability

Sentiment:  by Tracy S. (yours if you purchase Ben from Guylou's Inimitability)

Digi Papers:  Kristie by Shabby Princess

Embossed with Cuttlebug's Spots and Dots folder/distressed

American Crafts Elements Medium Jewel Brads - Earth Tones Collection

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday - Week #149

The Pixie Cottage - Sketch and/or Paper Piecing

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Spoonfull of Sugar - Challenge 146 Tons of texture

Creative Card Crew - April Showers

Crafty Creations Challenge Blog - Challenge #113 Rain Showers

Easter is Egg-Citing!

If you ask me what my favorite holiday is --hands down, it's Christmas.  I think Easter is a close second.  But thinking about it, I just really love holidays..any holiday..it really almost doesn't matter when all is said and done.  I'm one of those girls that has to have the holiday socks, the holiday movies, the holiday napkins..well you get the idea, lol.  Most of all, I love the constant traditions that I've celebrated as a child and the new ones that I've created with my family over the years.  Speaking about new, this year, Easter will be spent in our new home....so this Easter is definately going to be egg-citing...hehe (I just had to do that, lol).

And on that note, here is my card based on the sketch provided in the current challenge over at Meljen's Designs.

Recipe:

Image:  Easter Bunny by Meljen's Designs

Sentiment:  TLC

Medium:  Watercolor Pencils by Artist Loft

Papers:  DCWV The Shimmer Stack & Martha Stewart

Glossy Accents on Egg

Yellow (egg stripe) and Cotton Candy (tiny hearts) Stickles

Bo Bunny iCandy

Challenges:

Meljen's Designs Challenge Blog - Challenge #52 Sketch
The Pink Elephant - Easter
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Comedy Rocks
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Challenge #13 Bling and Sparkle
LOTV's Challenge Blog - Challenge #90 Spring
The Outlawz - Greeting Card Challenge 4/4 GCO40411



Moving Break!!!

What a crazy week it's been - all good and inspiring - which is a wonderful breeze of fresh air as far as I'm concerned.  If you don't know already, I'm in the process of moving and so happy that it's almost over!  Boxes and packing, moving and throwing out....sheesh!  As we speak, boxes are flying out the door a mile a minute - the finality of it all is this upcoming weekend and I was so happy that I was able to snag some time and get away from the "moving madness"!!!

This week's sketch challenge at the CDAC is being hosted by Wax Fruit Company and I really fell in love with the free image.  It works for so many different occassions be it birthday, get well, sympathy, etc - but I figured since I'm behind on Easter cards, thats what I'll go with.  Here is the sketch provided by Arielle of Wax Fruit:

Here is my card based on the sketch and using the Wax Fruit Company image, Crocus:

Recipe:

Medium:  Watercolor Pencils

Image:  Crocus by Wax Fruit Company

Digi Paper:  Birds Dotty Brights

Sentiment:  Studio G acrylic stamp

Inkadinkado Pigment Ink - Black

Ribbon:  Doodlebug Designs Boutique Trims - Easter Asst.

Challenges:

CDAC - Sketch Challenge cdacsc20

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Week 97 Blooming Blossoms

Spoonfull of Sugar - Challenge 145 Easter

Bugaboo - Anything Goes
Etsy Inspired Challenge -#133
Wax Fruit Company - Etsy Inspired Bonus

Huge News!

I have some huge and exciting news!!  As of today, I am officially one of Guylou's Inimitability DT Members!!  I am thrilled and jumping for joy that Guylou has blessed me with such an incredible opportunity to work along side of her and the most talented and wonderful group of ladies around. YAY!

If you have a minute, you should check out the blogs of my fellow DT Members.  Their creativity and talent is sure to inspire you!

Guylou
Brenda
Tracy
Gina
Kim
Trina
Carmen

As a heads up, Guylou's Inimitability's next challenge --you don't want to miss and is my first challenge as DT, starts on April 8th.  I hope to see you all play along with us!!

Happy Birthday!!

It's official - my "babies" aren't babies anymore!!  My twins turned 5 today!!  Holy moly - where did the time go??  Seems just like yesterday I delivered them both and brought them home, and today, they were registered for kindergarten....its amazing how fast time flies when you're not paying attention!   

Story is when we were scheduling my c-section for the girls, my father wanted us to schedule it on his birthday (which is tomorrow) but my OB only did C's on Thursdays - and so, my daughters were born the day before my father's birthday - which we all secretly love to say.

My card, today, is for my father.  I usually give him some sentimental card - you're the best
Dad....where would I be without you Dad card...so I wanted to change it up a bit and give him something funny, hilarious even.  I think Gus from Bugaboo Stamps works, don't you?  I based the card on The Sweet Stop's 100th Sketch, however, I had to slightly alter it to fit the card:

Recipe:

Image:  Gus BDay golden years by Bugaboo Stamps

Digi Papers:  Promise Collection by Shabby Princess

Sentiment:  Bugaboo Stamps

Medium:  Watercolor Pencils

Yellow Stickles for candle flames

Glossy Accents for frosting on both cakes

Souffle pen for polka dots on frosting

Darico self-adhesive gems

Challenge:

The Outlawz - Greeting Challenge 3/21 Lets Hear it for the Boys GC032111

The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog - 100th Sketch with a Sweet Spin

Guylou's Inimitability - I See Dots Challenge

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Lets Hear it for the Boys

With Sympathy

Our friend John lost his father this weekend.  His father was working OT, finished his job, and then on his way to his car to go home, he was struck by a van with three girls in it - one of them, I am told, only had her driving permit.  His father had suffered severe brain damage and slipped into a coma.  My husband came home and told me that I had to make John and his family a "thinking of you" or "praying for you" card, and I started to make it when I got the news that his father had actually slipped away and was gone.  I am so sad for John - he is young and so was his father -but most importantly, John was very close to his father.  My heart and prayers go to John and his family....and it really reminds us all that in a single moment the ones we love can instantly disappear..so its important to hug them a bit longer, and say I love you to them as much as possible.

I scoured the net for something appropriate - and nothing seemed right until I found this gorgeous flower at DZ Doodles.  They had this picture to use as inspiration for the challenge, so I went with it and I love the outcome.  

And here is my card based on this picture:

Recipe:
Image:  Freebie on DZ Doodles Challenge Blog
Sentiment:  Free Sympathy Set from Raindrop Echo Designs
Bazzill Brights Cardstock in Plum
Digi Papers:  Birds Gingham Brights
Medium:  Artist Loft Watercolor pencils
Cuttlebug Dots and Spots Embossing Folder
Martha Stewart 1/2 in. Craft Seam Binding Ribbon
Yellow Stickles for flower centers
Border punch and flower frame created with SVG files on SCAL and cut with Cricut Expression
EK Success 3D Dots (for the sentiment and framed image)

Challenges:
DZ Doodles - Challenge #6
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Challenge #11 To Die For
MyGrafico - Anything Goes
Crafty Purple Frog Challenge - Going Green
CR84FN Color Challenge - CR84FN20 - Plum, Lavender and Green
Delightful Challenges - Show Us Some Green
DYSU Challenge Blog - Challenge #11 Add a Bow
The Outlawz - POM Challenge 3/17  PM0317 Green
The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs - Challenge 113 Use a Digi
Paper Sundaes - Embossing

Guylou's I See Dots Challenge

Back when I first started using digi stamps, my friend Tracy introduced me to Guylou's Inimitability.  G, as we like to Guylou, is amazingly talented (super sweet, too, might I add) and has awesome images!!  I really am a huge fan and supporter of her work.  So when G asked me to guest design for the upcoming challenge, I jumped out of my chair squealing with delight since her stamps and her group at the CDAC are so dear to my heart.  This really was an honor and I had so much fun playing with her Cat and Fish image, which you can purchase in her store here.

Ok, so lets get to the challenge at hand:  I See Dots Challenge!  This challenge is all about polka dots (love them, love them, love them!) - and you must use them on your project!!!  You really want to play along with this challenge because the winner will be awarded a digistamp of her choice from Guylou's Inimitability and will also be invited to be a Guest Designer on an upcoming challenge and will get another GI digistamp to make a card or project along with the DT.  The challenge runs until March 31st, 10 p.m., so there is plenty of time to play along!!!  Hope you join us and most importantly, have fun with polka dots (I know I did, lol) !!

Recipe: 

Image:  Cat and Fish by Guylou's Inimitability

Medium:  Artist Loft Watercolor Pencils

Digi Papers:  Moody Blues by Shabby Princess

Sentiment:  TLC
Bo Bunny Candy Jewels in Black

Ribbon:  Sweet Petites in Grosgrain Swiss Dot

Glossy Accents on pebbles
Distressed image with Inkadinkado Pigment Ink in Black

Challenges:
The Outlawz - Greeting Card Challenge March 14 GC031411