Happy Sunday and a Few Challenges

Hello everyone!! I hope everyone is doing well. I have been doing a lot of creating, as well as organizing lately in an attempt to calm my mind. Sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I appreciate everything I have, though and am grateful for all the healthcare workers and critical people that are working at their jobs throughout all this. Such strange times.

For my first card today, I created a birthday card for a co-workers daughter. Her little girl is turning 10 and she asked for people to send her cards. Of course I jumped on the bandwagon and created the card below using Simon Says Stamps "Party Like a Panda" stamp and die set.

I chose to use the stamps that make up my sentiment from the SSS set. The cupcake is a new die cut I bought from Honey Bee Stamps. It is called "The Cupcake Builder" and I had a lot of fun coloring the pieces in with Copic Markers.

I also colored in the balloons with Copic Markers, then used a Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen to give them some sparkle and topped it all off with some Glossy Accents.

The hearts on the front were left over from a previous project and I had to add them on for some accent. I used Ranger Shaded Lilac Distress ink and a stencil to create some soft polka dots on the background.

I even decorated the inside of the card as well. It is for a little girl so I had to make it festive!! I added a sentiment from PaperTrey Ink and some balloons from the SSS Panda stamp set.

I am entering this into the following Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-Happy Birthday

Seize the Birthday Challenge: With Topping-Cards for Kids

Another thing I am trying to do is to challenge myself to not only use stamps I have not touched but also to create more than one card from a stamp set. So for my second card, I again used the Simon Says Stamp "Party Like a Panda" set to create a belated birthday card.

The paper is from PaperTrey Ink, the dies are from My Favorite Things.

I am notoriously the WORST at sending birthday cards so all the cards I should make for birthdays are belated!!! I colored in the Panda with Copic Markers and used a stamp from Lawn Fawn for the speech bubble.

This card I am entering into a couple of challenges as well. 

The Paper Players Theme Challenge-A Day at the Zoo 

(because I used a Panda! I hope this counts!!)

The Watercooler Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

Well that is all from me today. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope these cards make you smile!!

Have a GREAT night!!

EDIT: I never edit posts but Darnell told me I should enter this into the NBUS Challenge Blog and by darn, I am going to. If you have NEVER heard of this, hop on over because it is AWESOME!!!

It is All About Valentine's Day.

Happy Sunday!! I hope you are all doing well.

It has been quiet here on the blog as of late. My mojo has run away again!! I sit down and try to create but then just can't. I have done all my usual things to inspire myself (which includes shopping-which I am trying NOT to do.)

I sat down yesterday and today and created some cards in an attempt to get it back. All are Valentine's that will be going out this week for some family members.

I am TERRIBLE at sending cards so I made a bit of an effort to do so this year. I bought a ton of stuff for a package for Charlotte too that I am getting ready to send that out tomorrow. Yeah, I know that Valentine's Day is more a commercial holiday but my birthday is on the 15th so I always try to make it special for those around me. Makes ME feel good!!! I always feel more comfortable giving than receiving.

My first card was base on this weeks Freshly Mades Sketches #421.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

I stenciled the background using an Echo Park stencil and some pink and red dye ink. The letter is from Waffle Flower Crafts "Mailbox Die" and was die cut from a red cardstock scrap.

The penguin is Simon Says Stamp's "Picture Book Hugging Penguin" and the sentiment is from their "Love and Valentine's Word Mix 2."

Who says penguins are just for Christmas cards? I love how this turned out!!

My second card was inspired by this weeks CASE this Sketch #348.

I kind of flipped the sketch twice to get my design. The original was this:

I flipped it to this:

The little envelopes and the mouse are both from Waffle Flower Crafts. Again, I used the "Mail Box Die" for the envelopes and the mouse is from the "Sending Love" stamp and die set.

I have never bought anything from them before but I had to have this set. I loved that mouse!!! The sentiment is from the Hero Arts February kit.

I used pattern paper from Reverse Confetti "Sweet as Sugar" Collection on the front as well. I am loving that I am using more pattern paper on my cards!!! I am trying so hard NOT to buy any more but I always get sucked in by the pretty patterns.

My last is for Time Out Challenges #154 "Affectionate Challenge" and this weeks Paper Player's Challenge #477 "Red, Pink, Black and White" Challenge.

Again, I used the Penguin from Simon Says Stamp, along with the "Rainbow Heart" die.

The rose is from the Hero Arts and the sentiment is from the Ink Blot Shop.

I wanted to keep the "rainbow" in pink and red colors for Valentine's Day so I used a TON of scraps...and have plenty left over to use on on other cards.

This one is not my favorite of the three but it will be sent out tomorrow with the others!!!

Well, that is all from me tonight. I thank you for taking the time to stop by.

Have a FABULOUS night!!

One Step at a Time

Happy Saturday everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

I have had fun playing in my craft room the last couple days after not having any mojo in ions to create anything. Instead I have been buying stuff I don't need (shhh-don't tell my husband!!) to try to jump start my creative juices. I should have been cleaning up my room instead but that doesn't do a thing for me but get me a clean room!!

Today I am posting cards I created for the Twofer Card Challenge #23.

The theme was hearts this month and I used the negative hearts from a card that I created with the Simon Says Stamp "Stacked Hearts" die.

The first card was inspired by a sketch from last weeks TGIF challenges. I never made it in time but decided to use the sketch anyway as I thought it was kind of fun.

I used the My Favorite Things "All Star High Top" dies with a scrap of Doodlebug Designs pattern paper from the "Sweetheart" collection.

I used Paper Trey Ink Kraft pattern paper for the background.

I used two hearts on this card, coloring both with Copic markers. The one by the sentiment is NOT how it was supposed to look. For some reason my glitter glue separated and poured out like a liquid!!! The

I have to say that I LOVE how this sneaker came out and wish I had a pair like this for me!!!

My second card was literally put together with scraps from my desk, with the exception of the sentiment. I used this weeks CASE this Sketch #355 as my starting off point.

Instead of a rectangle, I alluded to the rectangle with the way I layered my die cut rick rack.

I layered this over a piece of pattern paper from an old Pebbles paper pad.

I scattered the hearts willy nilly throughout the little block. I decided not to color them because I didn't want them to get lost in the design.

The sentiment is from the new Hero Arts kit that I got in the mail this week. I was so happy to use it!!

Well, that is all from me today. I am so happy that I actually wanted to create something let alone have an idea!!! I have a ton of new stuff to play with so I am hoping to have time tomorrow to have fun too.

I thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend!!

Happy Holidays and a Few Cards

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday.

Ours was jam packed with family and it was nice. I also have had time to go to the movies, walk with friends and today I am going axe throwing for the first time!! It is a family activity that we are doing along with our neighbors.

Today I wanted to share some cards I created for a friend for Christmas. I had started them before Thanksgiving but then things got to busy for me to finish. The sentiment is the tag line of her charity that she has in the name of her late brother. I created each sentiment in Photoshop, printed it out and then used foil over the top.

This one I showed last week for a challenge that I didn't post in time but it is part of the set so I thought I would post again.

I used a Simon Says Stamp die and shaded red Distress Ink in the background for this card. I wanted to make each kind of simple because I figured she could send them out as thank you's.

As per my usual, I had to change up the design on each just a bit because otherwise I would get bored. Hence the square sentiment in the middle of the card below.

This particular green card is my least favorite. I had to put the gold border at the top because I didn't put the background stamp high enough. I had limited time so I couldn't do over.

The card below is how I originally wanted it to look. Simple, simple simple.

On another note, I have been having a really hard time. In order to feel better, I have been planning ahead for things to look forward to. One of the things I did the weekend before Christmas was to go to RI and tour some of the mansions that were decorated for the holiday. I have never been and it was so much fun.

The above photo is from the back of The Breakers Mansion. This place is just so ostentatious. All the gorgeous ceilings were my favorite things about this house!!

This was just one of the Christmas trees at The Breakers.

These were the two friends I went on the tour with. They are the same girls I went to Ireland with. We had a lot of fun walking around Newport, RI.

A poinsettia tree at The Breakers.

This is a replica of The Breakers in Gingerbread!!! The kitchen was gorgeous in this house!!

Some of the gorgeous ceilings for our mansion tour!!

We left at sunset and it was so pretty!!

We had such a great day. We did go to other mansions but they were not as nicely decorated as The Breakers.

That is all from me today. I hope you all have a great night!!