Little Red Riding Hood?

I am running late today! My computer has decided to be difficult this morning. It seems like it is working--finally! And I have another Little Red Riding Hood to show you today! The challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week is "Your Favorite Fairy Tale". Unfortunately I don't have any of the fairy tale stamps--yet! I love using my Rileys and their challenge is the one that I play most regularly so I didn't want to sit this one out. I went through all my Rileys and I couldn't come up with something that reminded me of a fairy tale.I went back through a couple of times and still couldn't come up with anything. Maybe it's because I have Little Red on my mind or what but while I was looking at Obi Moose , I decided I could make him look kind of like a fairy tale character. I colored him with a red cloak and took off the end of the light saber, keeping the handle. I drew a little basket and my Jedi Master became a fairy tale character. I decided to have Red walking through the forest on the way to Grandma's house. I used a Sizzix die, paper from my stash and some Bo Bunny star brads. 

Anyone have great weekend plans? I am going to a crop tonight at my LSS, I always have a lot of fun doing that. After that, the long weekend is going to be pretty laid back--I hope! 

Have a great weekend!

Card Cupids Box in the Mail

I thought I would take a minute and show you the box that I am going to be mailing to Card Cupids today. I have included some crayons, some coloring books, craft activities, bookmarks, a couple of journals and some coloring kits. I also added cards for all the children from the Current Card Requests page. I pick up things here and there as I find them and when the box is full, I send it in. Right now is a great time to pick up notebooks for journals and crayons since most stores are still having their big school supply sales. I have been hitting the sales when I can because I can get more things for my money, and hopefully bring smiles to even more children. 

I have learned though, that I don't have nearly enough boy stamps! I have mostly little girls and older boys in my life and it definitely shows in my stamp collection. If I didn't have Rileys, I don't know that I would have anything to use for boy cards. You can see Batman Riley peeking through the vellum envelope. I tend to make a lot of 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" cards and sometimes can only find the vellum ones in that size, but I kind of like that you can see the card.

Here are some of the book marks I made to include in the box:

(using some of my older sets--a couple of Hanna Stamps sets, a Basic Gray dinosaur set and the ladybugs from The Angel Company)

I have shown these journals before but since they are in the box, decided to show them again. This one uses an image from Michelle Perkett:

And this one uses an image from Clear Dollar Stamps. 

Thanks for visiting with me today. If you would like to learn more about Card Cupids, click here.

To see the current Card Requests, click here.

To learn about items Card Cupids sends in their Happy Mail packages, click here.

(I felt like a phone recording for a minute there!)

Sympathy Card

I almost never make sympathy cards, in fact this is probably only the second or third one that I have made in all the time that I have been making cards. I don't know why, but I am never quite happy with them and always end up sending store bought sympathy cards. I made this one for a friend of mine that recently lost his younger sister. Danny (my friend) was probably one of my oldest friends, literally! Our parents went to church together before either of of was born and so from the time we were in the nursery together in our Mother's arms we have known each other. In my family there are two girls then a boy; their family was the opposite, two boys then a girl. Danny and I grew up in the same Sunday School classes, the same youth group and even the same schools. Danny's Mom passed away when we were still in elementary school, she used to make me beautiful clothes for my Barbie Dolls and had the sweetest smile. So after a seven year battle with breast cancer, Danny has lost his baby sister. This is the card that I made for him. I didn't think about using this as an image for a sympathy card when I bought  it, but I do think it is perfect. The image is from Sweet Pea Stamps and was colored with Copics. I kept the card simple since it is going through the mail and is for a guy.

I do have lots of funny memories of Danny and his family too. I remember once when we were all pretty young Danny showing me how easy it was to pick up his sister--by basically putting a choke hold on her and lifting her off the ground. I still remember her legs kicking to get down. My brother wasn't so compliant when I tried that on him! Danny could probably tell lots of stories about mischief on me as well, like I said, we grew up together. I moved away from my hometown almost 20 years ago for an adventure and don't see my old friends as often as I would like, but wanted to make sure to let him know I was thinking about him during this difficult time.

Little Red Riding Hood

Good Morning! Here is another card I made for the Card Cupids "Anything Goes" Challenge. For this challenge Milk N Coffee is our sponsor. This image is called Tiffany as Red Riding Hood. I colored the image with Copics and a little Stickles on the bow on her basket. I used a Nestability to cut out the panel behind her. I decided that just the black panel was too much behind my image on that dark paper and cutting it out in red would wash out my image. I decided to glue the black piece onto red card stock and then hand trim, leaving a red border. I was pretty happy with the way that looked.

We would love to have you join us for our current Card Cupids challenge!

Here is a list of the current card requests.

Have a great day!

Samantha's Birthday Card

Good Morning! Samantha just celebrated her 10th birthday and I wanted to show you the card that I made for her. It was funny, a couple of weeks before her birthday she told me she couldn't wait to see what her birthday card was going to look like. She mentioned it again after seeing the card I made for her sister Jenna's birthday. No pressure, right? It does make me feel good though that they look forward to their cards and know that I try and find the perfect image for them. Samantha is like me in the fact that there isn't enough yellow and nothing can be too yellow! It is so hard too to find stuff for little girls in yellow. Pink and Purple? Yes. But yellow is a little harder to find. Other than crafting together, Samantha and I really enjoy cooking together. When she is here for dinner, we usually make something that she hasn't made before and I usually try and find a recipe for something that is new to both of us.  

I had my selection narrowed down to this image and another one that showed a girl painting. I wanted something that represented something that we do together and using an image from a company that she really admires. I kept going back to this one though because that confident look on that little girl's face reminded me of Samantha and she really likes Sassy Cheryl's images. Of course I colored her with a yellow chef's hat and jacket to personalize it even more. I added some yellow paper, yellow letters and yellow flowers that I had found a while back and decided to save for a "Samantha" card.

She really liked her card!

I am linking Samantha's birthday card to the Sassy Cheryl challenge since the challenge was to make a birthday card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Santa Card

See, more proof that I really did start my Christmas cards early enough that I might not have to buy them at the last minute! Because every year I say I am going to get them done and every year I find myself at the store buying cards. I am pretty proud of the fact that my box of handmade Christmas cards is filling up quite nicely. This is another stamp that I bought at Papertrix when I was there in June. They were having a sale on all their Christmas images so I picked up several. Of course, I liked all the ones that I bought, but I do think this one is my favorite. I love the vintagey look to this Santa. I really just like the way he looks, standing there with  his bag full of goodies. The image is from Great Impressions and was colored with Copics, the paper is Bo Bunny, there is some stickles on the magic dust coming out of Santa's hand and I added a little "Merry & Bright" sticker that I picked up at my LSS.

Have a great weekend!!

Waiting on a Letter

I have another card to show you using an image from Milk N Coffee, who so generously sponsored our  current Card Cupids challenge. The image is called Charlotte and Her Love Letter. I love the sweet little look on her face Milk N Coffee has several other images featuring this sweetie. 

We would love to have you join our "ANYTHING GOES" challenge! 

Have a great day!

Penny Black Christmas

Every year I say that I am going to start my Christmas cards early and every year after Thanksgiving, I am rushing to get some done. This year, I have actually started them and have quite a few of them completed. When I was in Indiana a couple of months ago, my favorite stamp store in the world, Papertrix,  was having a sale on Christmas stamps, so I grabbed a couple, who am I kidding, I grabbed a few, including this cutie from Penny Black. 

I attended a class this weekend and made an awesome hand bound book. I was surprised how nice my first attempt looks. Normally when I am learning something new, I never show the first one, but this book has already been shown off!

Have a great day!

Going Fishing

It is time for another Card Cupids Challenge! And this one is an easy one, it is "Anything Goes". We also have a new sponsor for this challenge, Milk N Coffee. I used the image Let's Go Fishing for my challenge card.  We were given several images to work with and they were all great, but this was one of my favorites. I love that sweet little face. I don't have a lot of images that are perfect for little boy cards, but this one is. The image is colored with Copics, papers are Cloud 9 Designs and the twine and buttons are from my stash. 

We would love for you to play along with the challenge and remember "ANYTHING GOES". A couple of people have asked about sending in cards for Card Cupids and here is the link to find out all the information on donating cards. And here is another link that lists the current card requests. I know these cards are very much appreciated by the recipients and thank you for taking the time to send in your cards.

Anyone have great weekend plans? I am excited because I am going to a class on making handmade books tomorrow. Making and altering books seems to be the theme of my summer. As soon as caning season winds up I will have something fun to look forward to.

Have a great weekend!

Back to School Riley Challenge

Back to school time! Even though I don't have kids to get ready for school, I love back to school time. I have always loved paper, pens, crayons and markers so I try and stock up at this time of year too. I remember how serious it was each year to find the perfect notebooks and folders, the coolest lunchbox and trying to find the all important, perfect outfit to wear on that first day. Schools here have already been in session for a couple of weeks, so I have already done my supply shopping. The challenge on the Riley and Company blog is "Riley Goes Back to School". I decided to use this Sophie image for my challenge card. The image was colored with Copics and the writing paper is some that I had bought at Target a while back. I loved that particular piece and bought several packs, just to get more of that one pattern! Card stock and brads are from my stash.

I have an unexpected day off of work today so I am organizing and cleaning. I keep finding my way to the craft table though.

Have a great day!

PholkartBlessings Color Challenge is Here!

Yippee!!! The first PholkartBlessings challenge is finally here! Our colors for this challenge are Pink and  Teal. I used Beach Girl on my card, I love her polka dot swim ring, you know me and polka dots.

Here is the inspiration photo for the challenge:

I don't know about you, but that makes me want to run to the beach. The challenge is simple, create any type of project--ATC, card, scrap layout, etc using the colors pink and teal and the inspiration photo above and then link it to the PholkartBlessings blog. The winner will receive 2 digi images of their choice from the PholkArt Blessings shop. The winner will be announced on AUGUST 29th.

(Here is a little secret--if you are the winner and you have used a PholkArt Blessings image in your creation, you will receive a coupon code for an extra image from the P*B Etsy Shop.)

I hope to see your design!

Something to Crow About

Good Monday morning! I have a card to show you today and it was one of those cards where I found that awesome Jillybean Soup paper and had to  have it. One side is the brown with the flowers and the other has the words to "Old MacDonald" printed on it. I decided that this cute little rooster from Deidre Mosher Designs would be perfect. 

I have been on a campaign to have chickens at home for the past few months. I live inside Davidson County and this spring Nashville passed an ordinance allowing backyard chicken coops. I can have four based on the size of our lot. I haven't quite convinced Kip that chickens in the backyard is a good thing yet. No roosters though, and I know I could never sell him on the idea of getting a rooster since he  really isn't an early morning person.

Have a great day!

Samantha has a new post on her blog today too.

Birthday Flower Cupcake

When I posted this card, I told you that this was an image I could see myself using over and over! I have already colored it with several different colors. Since yellow is my favorite color, this is one of my favorites that I have made with it so far. The image is from Michelle Perkett and is called Happy Birthday Flower Cupcake. The sentiment comes with it and for this card I used it as is and on the pink version, I cut out the cupcake and used the sentiment a little differently. I think is makes for a happy cheery card. The image was colored with Copics and the papers are Making Memories. 

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I am still playing around in my kitchen, canning everything that I can get my hands on! This past week has been filled with pickles. I think I will be serving pickles with every meal throughout the fall and winter. I have canned 54 pints of pickles (dill slices, kosher dill spears and whole pickles), dilly beans, pickled asparagus, 14 half-pints of corn salsa and got 10 pints of cream corn in the freezer. I was going to can the corn, but my pressure cooker will not work. It was used and I have had it for a long time and the lid seems to be a little warped so it isn't sealing tight enough so that the pressure can build up. The corn had to go in the freezer. I LOVE pickled asparagus but almost never buy it because it is so expensive. Kroger had asparagus on sale and I had a recipe and decided to give it a try. I can't wait to taste it. 

My spare bedroom now has canned goods on almost every surface! My parents are about the only people that use that room, and my dad is a gardener and canner too so he won't think it's too weird that he has to set his duffle bag on the floor instead of on the dresser. I think he will find the room pretty relaxing. Although, I will probably have to remove the cherry stuff and the peach stuff or check his bag as he leaves. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Another Card Cupids Card

I have another card to share for the current Card Cupids challenge. The Card Cupids are being sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs and the challenge is to use any shade of blue or make a birthday card for a child. The image I used is called Grace Summertime. I remember my nieces wearing little outfits like that when they were little and this image reminded me of my niece Zoie. She has always loved being in the water. 

I hope you will join our challenge!



And a big "THANKS" to Lorraine and Becky for the suggestions to help with the problem commenting on blogs. I updated my browser and no more problems! It was weird since it was only certain blogs that I couldn't comment on, the others has no issues at all.

Jenna's Birthday Card

Yesterday was Jenna's birthday--she is thirteen and a teenager now. I first met Jenna and her mom right before she turned four. She was this cute little shy girl and now she is growing into a beautiful, confident young lady. Time really does fly by quickly. One thing about Jenna that has not changed though, is that she is a girly girl and loves pink, glitter and sparkles. I knew this Michelle Perkett image wold be perfect for her birthday card. The image is called "Put on Your Party Dress". I colored the dress with Copics and then went over the flowers with a Sakura gel pen. I had to use the glitter pen, because every time Jenna comes over here to make cards, she uses the glitter pen. Her motto? "You can never have too much sparkle". So, while the dress looked great with just the glitter, I decided to add some tiny rhinestones to the center of the flowers. I used papers from Making Memories, rhinestones from Hobby Lobby and some ribbon from my stash.

Jenna liked her card and even commented that she wouldn't mind having a real dress like that. I think that is pretty high praise indeed. 

Thanks for dropping by today!

Card Cupids August Challenge

Wow, can you believer it is August already?? Since it has been so warm here, it seems like summer has been going on forever, but here, schools start today. I know some of my friends are pretty happy about this and others dread the coming school year. My youngest nephew will start kindergarden this year, I guess he really is a "big kid" now.

Since it is the first of the month, Card Cupids has a brand new challenge! This challenge is sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs and I am working with the image called "Fairy Sweet".  The challenge is to use any shade of blue, or make a kid's birthday card. I think this image is just so cute and would be great for any girl birthday card. I coloed the image with Copics, the paper is from DCWV and I  added some little red sequins that I had in my stash.

I hope you will join us for our Card Cupids Challenge!