Just a Bit of a Break This Week

I love blogging and I love all my blogging friends, but I find I need to love my sanity more this week.  So, I will be taking a bit of a break, especially with family coming for Easter in a few days.  I might get in a couple of posts, for sure one for the Sunday Sketch & Stamp challenge. 

May you all have a blessed and joyful Easter.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge #10 --- Vintage

Those jolly good ladies over at Bah! Humbug! went vintage for this week's challenge.  Well, this gave me the chance to use materials I don't get to use very often.

Where do I start with the materials?  How about from the bottom up:

5 x 7 Card base: Burgundy red card stock

Background:  DP from K&Company Christmas Cheer collection

Cloth Ribbon from my holiday stash (I love old books)

Antique lace

Angel charm from a bag of Christmas goodies

"O Christmas Tree" music score from Dover Publications

Die cut made with Classic Frame from Spellbinders using gold moire metallic paper

A scrap of DP called "Vintage Red" from Daisy D's

Vintage Christmas Tree from Dover Publications

Colored pearl from my stash

But when you put it all together, it is a nice old-fashioned card.  I think I know just who to save it for come December!

I'm glad you stopped by today!  I hope your day is a great one!

Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #23 --- Three Punches

AACCKKK!  I've had so much on my mind lately that I nearly forgot to post this!  I didn't get the photo in natural light, so there is a bit too much yellow.  Yuk.  But, here is a quick post to show my card for Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #23.  This week the challenge required the use of three punches.  What a cool concept for a challenge! 

I love this new illustration of Sydney on Easter.  Always a fan of frilly dresses and pantaloons (bloomers) this was very fun to color.  I've been trying really hard to make note of the Copics I used by writing them on the back of the image in the margins.  But then I used most of the margins and adhered it to the card........ so, suffice to say I used yellows and yellow reds.  The designer paper is from Making Memories Flower Patch collection and is so perfect for spring and Easter.  The flowers are a variety of silk flowers stems.

Now to the punches:  All are Martha Stewart.  The bottom edge is the popular lattice style. For the center piece I tried out the new corner/border punch-around-the-page coordinates.  This is the pansy pattern.  Technically it is two separate punches but one design.  I like it!  For good measure I used one of the Butterfly punches and added pearls to the body.

So, a quick thank you to you all for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what the next challenge will be over at Mo's!  If you aren't into Mo's illustrations yet --- watcha waitin' for?  They are digital and fun, fun fun! 

Mo Manning Dream Team Guest Designer Entry

Each month Mo Manning's Dream Team Selects a guest designer.  What a thrill that would be!  I love Mo's illustrations and can't get enough of them.  Coloring them, for me, is like painting a picture.  Thanks, Mo, for sharing your sensational art with us to interpret in our own style.  The sketch for this month is:

When I saw the three fairies (described as "slightly chubby") I literally laughed out loud! If I had wings and a wand I could be the fourth slightly chubby fairy!  When it came to choosing an illustration for the GDT this month I got carried away and did a card of each of the fairies.  Each are shown and described below.  The slide show is something new I am trying out.  Let me know what you think.

This fairy is pretty in pink, surrounded by lavender and paisley. She also comes with a custom envelope box.

She is colored with Copics: Dress: RV11, RV00, RV0000; Hair Y26, Y21, Y11; Skin E00, E000.  Gold Copic Spica pen highlights her hair.

 

The pink flowers are from a silk stem that I removed the centers and replaced with glitter brads.  The butterfly is simply a twig and feathers, but I didn't make it.  I think it came from Michaels floral department.

The yellow fairy dangles in an aperture on a tent card and a custom envelope box.  She is colored with Copics.  Dress: Y11, Y15, Y17; Hair: Black 100; Skin: E00, E000.  Gold Copic Spica pen highlights her dress and Clear sparkles her hair.

There is space on the back of the card for a personal note.

And for the last of the three fairies:

The blue fairy is on a traditional 6x6 square card with a custom envelope box.  But isn't she sassy?  She is colored in Copics, also.  Her dress: B12, B14, B16, B18; Hair:  YR24, YR21, YR12; Skin: E00, E000.  Silver Copic Spica highlights her dress.

This gorgeous butterfly is from the Bridal department at Michael's

These are materials that are common to all of the cards:  The DP is K&Company Sparkly Sweet collection. The sentiments are from The Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Word.  The envelope box can be found at Rica's Haven; Heather provides a fabulous tutorial here. 

Well, I got a bit carried away with this entry, but I had such a good time making the set.  Thank you for taking the time to look. I really appreciate it.

I hope your week is off to a great start.  Happy Spring, everybody!

A Tribute to My Uncle George

George Preston Browning

1925-2010

He lived a long, happy life. It sounds like a cliche, but he did. My Uncle George passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer.

I was blessed to be able to spend a few days with him earlier this month. He was thin and gaunt, but alert and "holding court". He always loved to talk and tell stories, especially funny ones. George was a World War II Navy veteran, seeing both Europe and the Pacific. Very few things rattled him and he was the source of strength and the voice of reason during hard times. When my mom, his sister, was widowed at the age of 22 with three tiny kids, George encouraged her to reach into her source of strength to go on. They have been very close and Mom was with him went he passed.

As kids we loved being around George for his sense of humor and contagious laugh. Not to mention getting to ride in his Buick convertible! He was so cool!

After serving in the Navy he settled down, married and raised a daughter and a son. George was a career Maytag product engineer. He modestly grinned when I told him I was finally able to buy the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer a few years ago. That was one of the last projects he worked on before retiring. For him retirement meant more time for wordworking, going dancing with his wife, and driving to Branson, MO for the shows and good restaurants.

When visiting with George a few weeks ago I was recounting how many of us in the family, other than his children, carry some of his traits. I call them "traces of George". My brother Rick has so many of the same facial features he could be George's son. I have long fingers and stone hard nails, just like his. My brother Bob has his love of wood and exquisite woodworking skills. Even my son has the tall lanky build of George's. And we see more traits as the generations expand. George was outgoing but humble and I could see he was touched by those comparisons.

We all live on, even after God takes us home to Heaven. George lives on and even though we will miss him, he had a great ride.

Copic Colour Challenge #56 --- Shades of Lavender, Green, and Blue on a Whiff of Joy Sketch

The Copic Colour Challenge last week was a doozy!  I had fun with it though.  This week's color combo is so lovely and I got to use a new stamp, new paper, a new sketch and ribbon I've been dying to use.  Here is the color combo:

Such pretty colors!  I actually had to substitute BV01 Viola for the BV02 and G00 Jade Green for the G02.  Then I used this fun sketch from the Whiff of Joy Inspirations and Tutorial blog.

And here is my card:

 

The image is from Whiff of Joy's new Blooming Spring stamp kit.  It is only available at stores so check with your favorite store and if they don't have it whimper, cry, stomp your feet --- anything to get them to stock it! :)  Along with the colors in the combo I used other shades for depth.  Here are the deets:  Blouse:  BV01, BV04, BV0000; Skirt: B32, B34, B21; Apron G00, G12; Hair: E07, E08, E09, E000; Skin: E000, E21

The beautiful designer paper is from the new Penny Lane collection by My Mind's Eye.  The flowered strip looks like DP, but is actually sheer ribbon attached to a piece of aqua card stock to show off the flowers.  I love this ribbon and this was a perfect place to use it! I also made a matching envelope with the template that comes with the Martha Stewart scoring board.

How about some detail pics?

 This card will be going to a friend for Easter, but I'm not telling who!

I'm so glad you stopped by today.  I hope your weekend has been restful and your Sunday joyful! 

Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #24 --- My Sketch!

Happy Sunday, everyone! Does it feel like spring where you are?  With all the snow we've had here in the Midwest section of the U.S. one would never believe that it is officially spring!

It's time for another sketch at Sunday Sketch and Stamp.  For this fortnight it is MY sketch!  Woo hoo! We always get such fantastic projects from participants and I can't wait to see what you all come up with for my sketch.  So, here it is:

It's pretty easy and a lot of fun.  I've already used it a few times!  For this challenge I am celebrating the beginning of baseball spring training here in the U.S. and here is my card:

There is no better sign of spring than baseball!  I love this image (and I love baseball) from Mo Manning and I colored it with Copics. The papers are a variety of scrapbook papers I had on hand.  The ribbon and baseball buttons are from Walmart.  The inside sentiment reads "When life throws you a curve ball, swing! (Alyssa Knight, age 12)"  This is a stamp from a set of Inkadinkado "kid quotes". 

I hope you all join us for the next two weeks over at Sunday Sketch and Stamp. Be sure to jump over there for all the deets of this challenge.  I'll be hoppin' to all your blogs for a peek at your projects, as will the rest of the DT. 

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see y'all later!

Whiff of Joy Challenge #71 - Easel Card

Wow, it has been a few days since I posted a card!  Not long ago I was ahead of things, this week I've been quite distracted.  But, I did finally finish my card for the Whiff of Joy challenge.  This week the theme is easel card.  I so love to make easel cards!  And I have a very special one for this challenge. 

One of the highlights of my week was getting the new WOJ Blooming Spring stamp kit.  This kit is available at stores only and I was able to get mine from Stamp and Create.  Talk about getting in the mood for spring!  I also incorporated the WOJ Tutorial for making a 3D aperture easel card.  This is such a sensational card and really quite easy to make.  Oh, but that's not all!  The fabulously talented Heather at Rica's Haven generously shared her tutorial for making an "envelop/box" for these especially thick cards.  Without further ado, here is the whole project:

This gorgeous is the new Penny Lane collection from My Mind's Eye.  All the die cuts and the aperture are cut with Nestibilities.  The images are colored with Copics:  Hair: E41, E35, E31; Skin: E00, E000; Dress: R22, R27, R29; Apron E41.  Bouquet and tulips BV11, BV13, BV04 for flowers and YG23, YG25, YG00 for the leaves.  The sentiment is part of the WOJ stamp kit and I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black on PaperTrey white cardstock, which is the combination I use for all of my stamping.  It works great with the Copics!  The red gingham ribbon just seemed perfect as a finishing touch.

Here are more views of the card and box:

So many inventive cards are popping up everywhere and I just love them all!  One other thing about this envelope box is that it also fits inside the Clear Bags box for extra protection.

I'm so glad you stopped by today and I hope you like the projects.  If you like these then you will LOVE the projects over at WOJ and the other links above. 

Have a great weekend and come back soon!

Bah! Humbug! Challenge #9 --- Cool Combo

The lovely ladies at Bah! Humbug! are very clever!  Our challenge this week is to use three (or more) of the elements we've had so far.  Those elements are:

recycling

new stash

glitter

baubles

holly

snowmen

trees

stitching

Well, since I am running very late with this challenge this week, I chose recycling, baubles, trees, and glitter.  The card face is a recycled card that features a Christmas tree branch with ornaments (baubles) and is mounted on a piece of green glitter paper.  It does seem like a bit of a stretch, but you have to admit that the cute cat makes up for it in the humor and "aaahhhhh" factor!

I hope you hop on over to Bah! Humbug! to see the fun creations.  Better yet, join in!  It's a great way to get a head start of the holiday cards. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are having a great week and the luck of the Irish!

Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #22 --- Any Shape Card Except Square or Rectangle

Mo's hostess for March, Cathy Edgar, threw us quite a curve - literally - for this week's Digital Pencil challenge.  No squares or rectangles!  Hmmm.  I've had this lovely "Abby Celebrating" illustration colored for a couple of weeks and thought the action in the swirl of her dress would be great on a round card.  Well, round just wasn't good enough, to I created a pinwheel design that I hope reflects the motion of her skirt.

The card base is a circle and the pinwheel wings are embellished with tiny rhinestones.  Wouldn't this be pretty if it actually spun?  Abby is colored with Copics B21, B24, B27, YG67, G12, Y15, Y17, and E00, E000 for her skin.  The inspiration for the color scheme came from a quilt bedspread I saw in the Penney's

catalog.  I love using these when I am stuck for inspiration. 

And here is a close-up of Abby:

This is such a happy card and I hope it goes to someone and makes their day very happy!  I will put a sentiment on it when I know the occasion.  It could be birthday, Easter, graduation!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to hop over to Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge to see so many magical creations.  You won't find any squares there!

Fresh Brewed Blog Hop --- March Releases

Welcome to the March Fresh Brewed Designs blog hop.  Our lovely and talented Heather has all new releases that are sure to whet your appetite, in more ways than one!  The word game we did last month was very popular so we are doing it again.  As you go through the hop, beginning with Mary, you will pick up one word from each of us.  When the words are strung together you will have a tasty request. 

So if you came here from Kelly's fun and fab blog you are on the right track.  To start at the beginning lovely Mary will welcome you to her blog.  I'll tell you in a minute what my word is, which blog to hop to next and what to do at Heather's blog.

I don't want you to get away without seeing my tasty treats from FBD's new images.  We are all holding out hope that warm weather will be here soon, so this hot fudge sundae is first on my list of summer treats:

Back in Arizona we had an ice cream parlor called Swenson's.  I don't think they are around anymore, but they served up delicious ice cream smothered in hot fudge, whipped cream, and a waffle cookie wedge, just like this image.  I think they put cherries on top, but I really like the strawberries!  Yum.  With the cuttlebug embossing folders and Nesties die cuts I kept the card somewhat simple.  Believe it or not the image is colored with Bic fine point permanent markers (What!? No Copics?) The colors are limiting but fun to use.  The vanilla ice cream looks more like lemon, but we'll just call it a rich French vanilla! I also made an envelope to match.  With the new Martha Stewart scoring board and envelope template I really have no excuse for not going that little extra step. 

-----------------------

Now, what could be better in the summertime than refreshing lemonade?  Gotta start with lemons and here is a beauty.  She will make you pucker up, so don't forget the sugar!

Again the Cuttlebug and Nesties were valuable tools, as well as the MS scoring board and envelope template.  The lemon was also colored with the Bic markers.  The rub-on words here and on the hot fudge sundae are from the KI Memories Juicy Summer collection of embellies.  So, are you ready for summer yet?

Thank you for looking at my cards.  Now I will reveal my word to you:

w i t h

and from here you will want to hop over to our guest designer Carol.  (We are happy to have you with us, Carol!) Carol is the last designer before reaching Heather where she will let you know where to send your tasty phrase from the list of words as well as other deets about the blog hop.

I am so glad you stopped by and hope you are enjoying the FBD Blog Hop.