Sending Prayers

Sometimes it is hard to make cards for those experiencing life's struggles.  This was one of those cards.

My granddaughter called while I was rummaging through my box of stickers and add-ons.  She asked what I was doing and I replied, "Trying to catch a butterfly."  Then I explained that I was looking for a butterfly for on a card.  Just then, I came across this hummingbird sticker and a butterfly was no longer needed.  

It was on a sheet of framed stickers by Pebbles.  Once again, I fussy cut the image.  Instead of just sticking it down flat, I added a popper under the bird's head for some dimension.

The front sentiment is from CTMH, the inside sentiment is an old wood stamp by Stampendous, and the flourish is from SU.

Challenges:

Crafty Catz Challenge #508 - AG, option:at least 2 layers

Creative Fingers #187 - AG

Shopping Your Stash Challenge #421 - Stickers 

Try It On Tuesday Challenge - Cut It Out 

Dream Valley Challenge #226 - Add Some Sparkle

For Dad

Father's Day is late this year, June 21st.  

But there's no time like the present to make a card for Dad.

 

Here I go again, working backwards.

I wanted to use the embossing folder.  Isn't it great?

Then I searched through my digi files to find this cute guy who has just received a new tie for Father's Day.  The image is from DeeDee's Digis, colored with Promarkers.

The sentiment with frame is from CTMH. 

Challenges:

Stinkin Inkers Challenge - In the Bag  (I really enjoy fussy cutting, but the handles on that tiny bag were too tough for me.  I cut them off and replaced them with a bit of old waxy flax by CTMH. ) 

Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #129 - Make It Masculine 

CCC Digi Creations Challenge #114 - For the Men/Boys

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #391 - AG

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - AG 

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Favorite Technique (Dry embossing, but I love fussy cutting, too.) 

A Place to Start May Challenge - Create a custom background.  No designer paper.

Artsy Stamper Challenge #16 - It's a Guy Thing 

Di's Digi Designs Challenge - Include a Sentiment
DLArt Thankful Thursday Challenge #260 - Father's Day 

Sharing a Pint

This stamp didn't spend much time on the store shelf, 

once I spied it!

Actually, I spied it about the same time my friend did.  But before I could say anything, she scooped it up (no pun intended) and handed it right to me.  House Mouse stamps are one of my favorites.

 The image was colored with markers and pencils.  

The sentiment was a punch out that came with the free paper pack.

I added a few pearls and a triple baker's twine bow. 

Challenges:

House Mouse and Friends Challenge #317 - AG option: gingham or plaid 

Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge - Tickled Pink 

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #391 - AG 

The House That Stamps Built Challenge m2720 - AG

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - AG 

Through the Craft Room Door Challenge Week of May 26th - AG

Allsorts Challenge Week 573 - Ginghams, Sripes, Dots

Sweet Stamps Challenge #44 - Animals/Birds 

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - AG 

 

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #556

Welcome to my blog.  
It's Tuesday and I have a new card for

Tuesday Morning Sketches to share with you.

Patti designed this sketch for Challenge #556.

Won't you play along?


My fifteen year old grandson is anxiously awaiting baseball season.  He found out he made his High School team the day before all the schools were shut down due to the pandemic.  He's still hoping to play some summer ball.  And his Nana would love to watch him! 

The inside simply says  PLAY BALL.   

As soon as he gets the word, this card is headed his way.  

Really, this is a pretty versatile card.

It would be perfect for a Father's Day card.  It could just as easily say Congrats for someone who just made the team or hit a home run or played a really good game.  It would also make a fun birthday card for a baseball lover. 

I picked up the stamps for the hat and bats with matching dies at a small craft sale in Florida for a song.  The bats were colored with Promarkers.  The hat I just stamped on red cs.  The sentiment is a stamp from SU.  The baseballs, which wouldn't fit at the bottom, are brads from Eyelet Outlet.  

Hope to see a creation with your name on it among the entries for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge.

Challenges:
Digi Choosday Challenge Week 20 - AG
Arty Divas Challenge #22 - AG
Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #129 - Make it Masculine
Di's Digi Design Challenge - Include a sentiment
Crafty Friends Challenge #136 - Add Embellishments (baseball brads)
Penny Black and More May Challenge - Boys and Men

Catch the Bug Inspiration

This would have been a much quicker card to make if I hadn't decided to fussy cut the digi image.  

Sometimes I wonder why I do the things I do.

Yeah, I never should have fussy cut this.  The image isn't the same without all the fun swirly lines that are on Bugaboo images. 

The pitcher looks empty.

I wonder if I could add the lines back in???? 

BRB 

Now I'm happier.

And this time the card stayed shut when I took the picture, so you can see the yellow strip I added on the inside of the card showing through the scalloped edge.

What do you think?

Challenges:

Catch the Bug Photo Inspiration Challenge - 

  

 
Creative Knockout Challenge #351 - Embossing 

Alphabet Challenge - D is for dry embossing 

A Gem of a Challenge Week 11 - AG 

 

Anniversary Card

Today is my wedding anniversary.

In honor of the occasion, I am sharing an anniversary card.

  

I've used the inside flower petal scraps from yesterday's card to make these black and white blooms.  

Challenges:

Moving Along with the Times Challenge #118 - Flowers

As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Embellishment (I like glitter tape.  It doesn't add any bumps to the card that the postal machines love to punch through the envelopes, but it does add a bit of sparkly pizzazz.) 

Simply Create Too Challenge #160 - Flowers 

Crafty Catz Challenge #507 - Spots and/or stripes 

A Vintage Journey Challenge - Beautiful Blooms 

Wedding card

Isn't it frustrating when you find something you like on Pinterest, and you have every intention of going back and pinning it to one of your boards,  and then when you try to go back, you can't find it?

Luckily, the next day it was right there at the beginning of my feed.  I pinned it immediately and was inspired to make this card. 

 Here is the original card I saw, crafted by Mary Brown.

 

You can find it on her blog here,

 along with a lot of other beautiful projects.

I am submitting my version to the following challenges:

The Crafting Challenge - May Flowers 

Craft-Dee Bowz May Challenge - AG

A Place to Start May Challenge - Create your own background
 

Unicorn Challenge #54 - Use Dies

Through the Craft Room Door Week of May 19th - AG

Arty Divas Challenge #22 - AG

 Thanks for stopping by my blog.  

Hope you visit Mary's blog, too.

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #555

Welcome!  

The calendar says it is Tuesday, which means it is time for a new challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Thanks for a great sketch, Melissa.

When I made my card for this week's sketch, I sort of went at it backwards.  I saw all those strips on the sketch in various shades and wasn't sure how I was going to accomplish that.  Using a SU die, I cut 4 scalloped strips from white glitter paper.  That was the easy part.  

A note about the glitter paper: It is printable glitter paper from WalMart and is fantastic!  Doesn't get glitter in your printer.  Great for printing digital images or stamping them and it colors nicely. Look in the office supply aisle. It's available in some colors too.

 With a blue promarker and a ruler, I colored the first strip once, the second one twice, the third one three times, and the fourth one four times, making each strip a darker shade of blue.  Then I also cut 4 1/4" strips and colored those in much the same manner until I got the desired shades I wanted.  That was going to work, just fine.  But, now what?  

The first sheet of patterned paper I found in my box of partial sheets was this pretty baby boy paper.  And then a certain stamp popped into my mind and the card started to take shape. 

 

The Doodle Baby Carriage  by Sweet Stamps was a purchase I made at my very first stamp show over 10 years ago.  The fact that I could find it now, in my much larger stash, is a bit miraculous.

 I stamped it in a blue ink that matched, rounded the corners, then mounted it on a square of the white glitter paperafter giving it a blue edge with the same blue promarker I had used before and popped it onto the card front.  I made another blue frame around a piece of white cs just a bit smaller than the card front, in order to make the patterned paper stand out more and unify the whole design.  Adding a few stickers, here and there, completed the card.   Except, it had no sentiment.  

I found a set of small sentiment stamps by Taylored Expressions, held my breath, and added CONGRATS to the card.

Now if the new baby my granddaughter is expecting is a boy, I'll be ready.  Too soon to tell.

Hope you'll play along with us this week
at  Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Please visit again and stay safe!

Challenges:

Sparkles Forum Challenge #128 - Use a real stamp (no digi)

I Love Promarkers Challenge #410 -  AG using promarkers 

Everybody Art Challenge #469 - Baby

Shopping Our Stash Challenge 420 - Oh the Places You'll Go (Wouldn't a nice walk about the park pushing a perambulator be wonderful right now?)

Through the Craft Room Door Week of May 19th - Always Anything Goes 
 

 

Double Trouble Challenge #57 + Bugaboo winner

This afternoon I'm sharing a card I made for the Double Trouble Challenge. 

It will go in the pile for Send a Smile For Kids.

When I was in elementary school, there was always a mad dash at recess for the see saws because there were only a few.  In memory of that childhood activity, on which I broke my nose in kindergarten, I colored this cute digi stamp with pencils and framed it with kraft paper.  I also used kraft paper behind the sentiment.

Do they still have those nose busters on playgrounds?

Challenges:

Double Trouble Challenge #57 - Kraft, Childhood Toy, Enter Crafting Happiness Challenge 

Crafting Happiness Challenge # 49 - AG optional/ for a child 

This Bugaboo digi was on my craft table and I found it a home on this very simple card.

The image was colored with markers and then the die cuts were added.

Challenges:

Catch the Bug May Bingo Challenge -  using the middle row (dies, bugaboo image, player's choice:green)

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Garden Fairy

Sometimes I purchase stamps for a specific reason and other times it is just because a stamp catches my eye.  This digital stamp from Sweet n Sassy Stamps just caught my eye.

Challenges:

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #457  - Tic Tac Toe (using the first column- bow,green,image)

Aud Sentiments Challenge #251 - AG with a sentiment

Pearly Sparkles Challenge #51 - Add a ribbon or bow 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge #132 - AG

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge #242 - Feminine

 

Bird Brain Birthday

My apologies for not posting this card yesterday.  

It's getting hard to tell one day from the next.

This little guy, colored with pencils, is Bird Brain, a digital stamp by From the Heart.

The card design is this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch.

 

 The sentiment is a CTMH stamp.

Challenges:

Scribbles Design Challenge #88 - Birds or Bunnies 

AAA Birthday Game #13 -  Things with Wings
 

Through the Craft Room Door Week of May 12th - AG 

Digi Choosday Challenge Week #19 - AG

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Animal Fun 

Fab n Funky Challenge #481 - Hand colored image

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #554

Welcome!  

Are you ready to join the fun at Tuesday Morning Sketches? 

Debbie has created the sketch for this week's challenge. 

I have always loved House Mouse Stamps, even more so now that I can purchase them as clear stamps rather than the older ones on wood blocks. 

And I really love cookies!

Here is Debbie's wonderful sketch.
 

Hope you'll play along with us this week
at  Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Challenges:

Krafty Chicks Challenge #506 - Stamping

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #633 - AG

Die Cut Divas Challenge - Make It a Beverage (the 2 circles are die cuts)

Crafty Animals Challenge #38 - AG 

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge #316 - AG option: pastel colors 

Birthday Bow Wows

Here's a birthday card using another one of the small stamp sets by Stampendous and more of the purple paper I'm trying to use up.  

Sometimes it's just easier to use up a sheet of paper than to find a place for it in my stash.

 Sentiment stamp is CTMH and the balloons (blue and purple cs covered with glitter foil) are cut with an Our Daily Bread Die. 

Challenges:

Aud Sentiments Challenge #250 - masculine + a sentiment

QKR Stampede Challenge #397 - AG 

Simon Says Monday Challenge - It's a Dog's Life

Get Creative Challenge #91 - Make It Sparkly 

Under the circumstances...

I've had a pretty nice Mother's Day 

and hope you did, too!

I've been so busy enjoying my day, 

I almost forgot to share a card with you. 

This is where the piece of purple polka dot paper I used on yesterday's card originated.

The cute feline is a small cling stamp from Stampendous.

The sentiment is a CTMH stamp.

Challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge Week 10 - AG

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #38 - AG with a critter 

Crafty Hazelnut's May Patterned Paper Challenge - AG with patterned paper

Allsorts Challenge #571/2 - AG

Challenge Up Your Life Challenge #123 - Animals

Fab n Funky Challenge # 480- Cute Critters

Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge #54 - Furrything Goes

Scrap Happy

There was a small, homeless piece of purple polka dot paper and snippets of matching cs on my craft table.

Now they have a home.

All from scraps. 

Challenges:

Unicorn Challenge #54 - Use Dies

Paperminutes Challenge #639 - Butterfly 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Dies and/or Punches

As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Color to Pair with Purple (yellow looks so bright next to purple)

Simply Create Too Challenge #160 - Use Flowers 

Allsorts Challenge Weeks 571/2 - Anything Goes 

Love to Scrap Challenge #133 - Anything Goes

Love to Craft Challenge #46 - Anything Goes 

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #75 - Anything Goes

A Perfect Time to Craft May Challenge - Anything Goes 

 

CASEing a Birthday Card

A group of us made this card at a crop this past winter.

All the layers make this card really interesting.  And that pop of yellow is so great against the black and white.

This afternoon I thought I'd CASE this card for one of my 

Red Hat friends.

(This is the inside of the card.)

 

Challenges:

The Paper Shelter Challenge #426 - Happy Birthday
Southern Girls April Challenge - AG
Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #121 - Birthday
As You Like It Challenge - Favorite color to go with purple (I'm a Red Hat Queen so its Purple and Red for me.)
Creative Fingers Challenge #185 - AG

Just itching to show you....

the card I made for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.  

Actually, I'm just itchy, period. 

I was out earlier doing some yard work and that always leaves me feeling itchy.  Who knows if any creepy crawlies fell out of the trees onto my head, or are crawling up the inside of my pant legs?  And writing about it makes it worse because now my back itches! 

I have decided to distract myself by posting a card 

and entering some challenges.

Here is the card:

The image stamp is by Sarah Kay and was colored with pencils.  The sentiment is CTMH.

And here are the challenges:

Mojo Monday Challenge #536: sketch (I took a little liberty with the sketch, changing the circles to ovals.)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Use dies and/or punches (I used dies for the scalloped ovals and the green scalloped borders.) 

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday May Challenge - Feminine

Krafty Chicks Challenge #506 - Stamp Act

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #555 - Birthday

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #121 - Birthday

Sew Special Thank You Card

While most everyone is staying at home, there are a lot of sewing machines buzzing away.  I know that I pulled mine out to make a couple masks for my DH and me.  

I was looking at a card on a blog, or Pinterest, or Facebook and it had a sewing theme.  That sent me digging in my bottom box of stamps and, sure enough, I found a set of sewing stamps that was a magazine freebie.  

Here's the card I made:

Front

Inside

Would you believe I stamped and fussy cut those scissors 3 times in different colors before I decided on one?  

 

Challenges:

Get Creative Challenge #91 - Make It Sparkly  (The DP has sparkle in it and I ran a row of sparkle tape up the card center to hide the seam and a piece of glitter ribbon down the right side.)

Always Fun Challenge #161 - Female or Mom

Through the Craft Room Door Week of May 5th - AG

Arty Divas Challenge #21 - AG 

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #270 - AG 

Frilly and Funky Challenge - Sew Sweet

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday May 6 Challenge - Feminine

 

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #553

Welcome!  

Are you ready to join the fun at Tuesday Morning Sketches? 

Melissa has created another great sketch for this week's challenge.  I started out making one card, but liked the sketch so much that I ended up making two.  Then I had to decide which to use as my DT card on the TMS blog.  So, I'm very glad you stopped by, because you get to see both of the cards I made.  

I'd love to know which you like best.

First, I made this card using a new digi stamp, Virtual Bear Hug, available from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.

 I printed the bear twice, once on kraft paper and once on white cs.  Then I colored the white heart and bow, fussy cut them and glued them onto the kraft bear before I fussy cut him.  The sentiment was also a digital stamp.

And then the sketch kept whispering shaker card in my ear, and I hadn't made one in a while, so that's exactly what I did for my second card.

 The digi image I used is called Shabby Chic Birdhouse, from Beccy's Place.  A few weeks ago I made another card using this image in the uncolored version.  At the time I printed a small precolored version of the digital birdhouse as a guide.  It was still sitting on my the work table and I thought it would work well on this card.

I almost forgot to show you Melissa's wonderful sketch.
 
Hope you'll play along with us this week
at  Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Now I'm off to enter a few challenges, too.

Challenges:

Card#1:
Make My Monday Challenge #121 - Use a Digital Stamp

Crafty Catz Challenge #504 - Hugs 
Digi Coosday Challenge Week 18 - AG
 

Card#2:

Through the Craft Room Door Challenge Week of May 5th - AG

Crafty Sentiments Challenge - AG

Arty Divas Challenge #21 - AG

Beccy's Place May Challenge - AG with a Beccy's Place image (optional sketch)

Have an awesome day!

Double Trouble Challenge #56

Today's Double Trouble Challenge got me into double trouble. 

After making a birthday card with balloons that fly and sponging around the edges, I decided to make a second.

I tried to make the second card a bit more feminine than the first.

The digi image is from Bugaboo Stamps.  Both are fussy cut and colored with markers.

Challenges:

Double Trouble Challenge #56 - Birthday, Something that flies, Sponging, and an entry at The Joy of Sets Challenge

The Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe Challenge -  birthday, things that fly, sponging

 

 Make My Monday Challenge #121 - Use a Digital Stamp

Catch the Bug May Challenge - AG 

Challenge Up Your Life Challenge #123 - Animals 

Alphabet Challenge - "B" Card for a Boy

Octopus Hugs

Sent this card off to a friend a few days ago.  

I hope she has received it by now.

The octopus is a stamp from IO that I just couldn't resist! 

It was colored with markers and fussy cut.

The green glitter frame is from a CTMH cricut cartridge.

The inside sentiment is a digital from Creative Smiles.

Challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge Week 9 - AG

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #38 - AG with a critter

Crafty Catz Challenge #504 - AG/sending hugs