House Mouse Challenge #55 -- Peek-A-Boo Card

The House Mouse Challenge #55 calls for "aperture". In other words a "peek-a-boo" hole. The design team has some amazing projects that are "must-see"!

I've had some holiday images colored for awhile but not yet made into cards. I was waiting for just the right sketch challenge. Then here comes an unexpected theme. Well, one image immediately came to mind and I knew I could make a simply elegant holiday card..............

........... with a chuckle inside!! I love this little guy roasting the marshmallow over the candle! How fun is this!!

The image is colored with Copics and PrismaColors for accent. The dp is K&Company Christmas Cheer selection and is just scrumptious! The reds and greens are so rich! The gold-trimmed poinsettias are stripped from stems I bought in Michael's floral department. The bloom on the front of the cards has a pearl brad center and the partial bloom inside is accented with small stick-on pearls.

This is one of my favorite Christmas cards so far this year. I guess I like the element of surprise inside.

Be sure to hop over to the House Mouse challenge blog, not only to see the cards, but also to see who their new designers are!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you've had a terrific weekend!

Barb

In God We Trust

House Mouse Challenge #53 --- Buttons!

I haven't done a House Mouse challenge for awhile. Actually, I've had the cards made, just didn't get them on the blog in time. Well, this time I am ready! Not only do I have a card for Challenge #53, but also a matching gift tag! The theme is buttons and I have them --- and they are BIG! This was a fun project!

If it seems I'm on a Christmas theme, well, I am, sort of. I need to have a lot of cards in my shop by next month since many people start their card sending right after Thanksgiving. So, this card features those adorable mice busily wrapping a pile of packages. (They must be in a whole different economical universe!)

Making a matching gift tag is a great use of scraps. This tag is a bit large. I'll be making them a tad smaller in the future. The template for the tag is cut with the Cricut. If I use paper scraps rather than card stock, I put a light weight card stock as a backing. The back of this tag is white with plenty of room for the "To" and "From" and a short note.

I'm still on this mission to color the HM & friends with Copics, but I really do have so much more success with the Prismacolors. This image is colored in Copics. In the near future I will be posting images that are a combination of both Copics and Prismacolors. What a great combo that is!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you hop over to the House Mouse & Friends blog to see what the Design Team has come up with. They are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Join in the fun, too!

Barb

In God We Trust

House Mouse Challenge #51 --- Song Lyrics

Last week when Carolyn and I were talking about our favorite country singers Trace Adkins came to mind first. So when I saw the House Mouse Challenge for this week I just laughed out loud knowing exactly whose song I would illustrate on a card, just not which one. I cranked up the ol' ipod to all things Trace and when "One Hot Mama" came on I immediately thought of this image. It's the same stamp I used for my Mother's Day card to Mom, who is a pretty hot Mama, by the way.

This hot Mama is colored with Prismacolors and glitzed with Stickles: Waterfall for the beads; Silver for the purse; Candy Cane for the shoes. Here's the rest of the materials"

Lettering: Cricut

Die cuts: Nestibilities on my Cuttlebug

Embossing: Cuttlebug Victorian folder on metallic paper

Flowers: Silk flower bunch from Walmart with black brads

Crystals: from my stash (meaning the label was missing)

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to pop over to the House Mouse Challenge blog to see the Design Team's gorgeous cards. Why not enter one yourself? Got a song in your head?

Barb

In God We Trust

House Mouse Challenge #47 -- White on White

It is just barely after midnight, which means this is one of those rare occasions that I have a card ready on the first day of a posted challenge! The challenge I am talking about is the House Mouse Monday Challenge and this week my very talented and dear friend Carolyn gave us quite a treat --- white on white. The image must be colored but the papers and embellies must be white. As long as I have my Cuttlebug for texture, my pop-ups for dimension, and ribbon for finish, I can do white on white all day long! The truth is, this is my first completely white on white and I love this style!! I have to do this again! Here is my card:

The image is the adorable angel mice heralding in the holidays. I colored them with Copics using the new ultra pastel B0000 (wings), V0000 (mouse on the left), and G0000 (mouse on the right). Then coated them with Angel Wings Shimmerz for sparkle. The paper is the luxuriously satiny Constellation Jade that I've had on hand for awhile. It is so gorgeous and perfect for a white on white theme. For that matter, I think I will have many Christmas cards made with this paper. Hmmm...

Ok, back to this card... Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and Score-pal for texture, add some snowflakes punched with the Cuttlebug dies, pearl accents, and snowflake brocade ribbon and I have at least one Christmas card done.

Oh, this was fun! Hey, why not play along if you haven't already? At least stop by the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog and check out all the great cards by the design team. You will be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by! Your time and comments are appreciated. Oh, and help me celebrate my 1st blogiversary by entering to win my blog candy.

Barb

In God We Trust

House Mouse Monday Challenge #44 - Paper Tole

This week's House Mouse Monday Challenge is Paper Tole. I wasn't sure what that was but the gorgeous cards by the Design Team gave me some wonderful inspiration.

I just had to ink up this new stamp, but I probably could have chosen a simpler one for the paper tole technique. But I'm a bit of a jump-in-with-both-feet kind of gal, so here I go. The roof of the well, the middle and right-hand bunnies, and the pile of pennies are paper tole. I used Copics to color the whole image.

Other supplies:

Card base: Kraft paper

Patterned paper: Basic Grey

Effects: Cuttlebug bubble embossing folder with Kraft paper

Rhinestones

Sentiment: my own (yea! I actually wrote a sentiment!)

I just love this stamp. It is so animated and can be used for several types of cards.

Thanks for stopping by! Please be sure to pop over to the House Mouse Monday and look at the fabulous cards by the DT and the participants. Join in with your paper tole card, too!

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

God Bless America!

Barb

House Mouse Monday Challenge #43

Oh my gosh! Here it is Sunday evening and I haven't posted my card for the House Mouse Challenge #43, even though I have it finished! In fact, I was at Starbucks picking up some coffee beans when I realized that this is Sunday, not Saturday!

With no further ado, here is my card. I love this image of the happy mice in the coffee bag. I found the sketch to be a bit more challenging than it looks, but I am quite happy with the results.
The image is colored with PrismaColors blended with baby oil. The paper for the circle and the mesh are from my scrapbooking stash. When you've been scrapbooking as long as I have the stash will hold many surprises! The brown paper looks like crumpled burlap and the mesh comes pretty close to burlap. I have hundreds of buttons from my days of sewing. (True to the scrapbooker's oath, I never throw anything away!) So, a few buttons here and a few more there, a couple of tabs of houndstooth ribbon and it's done!

Hopefully I'll get a quicker start on the next challenge. I can't wait to see what it is!

Thanks for stopping by. Please drop by the House Mouse Monday blog to see the DT's fabulous cards as well as the participants.

House Mouse Monday #42 --- Neapolitan

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! What's your favorite? Vanilla? Strawberry? Chocolate? This week the fun designers at House Mouse Monday picked all three flavors and created a challenge to use the colors of Neapolitan ice cream.

Well, I like ice cream that has extra goodies in it like caramel, cookie dough, or cherries. But whether it already has chocolate in it or not I love to pour hot fudge over the top. Oh, who am I kidding? Forget the ice cream. Just give me the hot fudge! That's why this adorable image is near and dear to my heart!

I colored the image with PrismaColors blended with baby oil. The DP is two-sided scrapbook paper from Heidi Grace. One of the papers had circles of various designs so I cut those out for the embellishments. The corners are made from one circle cut into quarters. The wide twill ribbon is some I grabbed at Michael's at one time or another and it just happened to be a perfect match with this paper. A couple of shiny embellies and it's finished. And I am left with a craving for a very large hot fudge sundae!!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to pop over to House Mouse Monday Challenge and take a look at the Design Team's delicious creations. The participants are showing very fun cards, too.

Barb

House Mouse Challenge #41 "Red White and Blue"

The House Mouse Challenge this week is a color scheme: red, white, and blue! I just can't think of those colors without visualizing fireworks, summer picnics, days at the beach, and so many activities that come around this time of year.

These two Gruffies friends are enjoying a day at the beach, though one seems to have found the water a bit chilly. And aren't they smart bears, using sunscreen?

I colored the image with PrismaColors and baby oil. The DP with fireworks is from a collection from Oriental Trading Company, as are the metal embellies and the stick-on "America" ribbon. The ribbons around the edges are from my stash.

This was a pretty simple layout to put together, but it took me forever to get the embellies just right. I think it came out ok. Please, tell me what you think and be sure to pop over to the HM Challenge blog and see all the terrific cards by the design team and participants.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a fun weekend! Remember, Sunday June 14 is Flag Day here in the US. Fly her high and proud!!

House Mouse Challenge #40 --- Wedding/Anniversary

The House Mouse Challenge for this week is for Wedding/Anniversary. I don't have any of the adorable wedding stamps for the Mousies, Bunnies, or Gruffies, but I think this image of the cuddlesome twosome in the sunflower fits the theme just perfectly. After all, not all weddings are white veils and tuxes. I think this could fit well for anniversaries, too.

I colored the image with Copics, a change from the PrismaColors that I usually use for House Mouse stamps. Then I found in my stash this beautiful printed vellum sheet from Paper Pizazz. I've probably had it for years! But I trimmed it to fit this 5" x 7" card, cut a slip around the lower butterfly, and slipped the HM image inside. Add a sentiment and a bunch of jewels for sparkle, and voila! --- a lovey dovey card for your favorite couple.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit the House Mouse Challenge to add your own and to take a look at all the great creations.

House Mouse Challenge #38 -- Sketch

Tonight I am participating in the House Mouse Monday Challenge #38. This week we have a great sketch and loads of fun.

Spring is well underway and even our temperatures are getting up there, reminding us that summer isn't far off. So I took this adorable image of the House Mice munching away on a rainbow sherbet bar. They look so happy! I colored the stamp with PrismaColors, blended with baby oil. The DP is from the DCWV Glitter Paper stack and the CS is also DCWV Glitter. The embellies on the outside as well as the inside are from K I Memories Juicy Summer collection.

And here is the sketch:
Thanks for stopping by and if you want to see some really fantastic cards for this sketch jump on over to House Mouse Monday and see what the Design Team came up with and, of course, other crafters.

A special note to Carolyn who got me hooked on these cute little critters: Hope you are feeling better --- and thanks for the inspiration.

House Mouse Challenge #35 -- Get Well Soon

I hope everyone is having a great week!  It has been rainy here but that brings out the new leaves and thick, cool grass! I love spring!

This week's House Mouse Challenge is "Get Well Soon" or to wish someone well.   I don't have any HM images yet that show bandages or thermometers, but I love this bubble bath bunny.  Besides, what makes one feel better than a long soak in the tub? I used DP from the S-E-I Black Orchid collection and my scrapbook stash to make a little bathtub scene.  The mirror is some holographic CS I keep on hand.  The vase has been in my sticker drawer for ages, and the leaves are from silk flowers.  Some pearls and paper flowers and voila!

Jump on over to the House Mouse Challenge blog and show off your House Mouse, Happy Hopper, or Gruffies on cards to make someone feel better.  Be sure to check out the design team's cards and all the participants', too!

Thanks for stopping by!

House Mouse Challenge #34 --- Springtime

Today is Tuesday and I have a confession to make: I am hooked on House Mouse and friends! Today I colored these cute little guys dressed as flowers, and before long I had a springtime bouquet. The House Mouse Challenge this week is Springtime so I am back already with this entry. Aren't they so cute?!

The DP is DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies. What better paper for springtime? The paper flowers are from a fun assortment called Fruit Salad Flowers from Oriental Trading Company. The little sunflowers in the centers were from Michael's bridal department --- really!

I haven't put a sentiment on this card yet because I haven't decided whether to use it for a birthday or Mother's Day.

Thank you for taking a look! Join us in the House Mouse Challenge and be sure to take a look at the other participants' springtime cards, too.

House Mouse Challenge #33 --- Multiple Images

Yay! I finally did it! I finished a card for the House Mouse Challenge! For months I have been admiring these adorable little critters and the cards by the DT are amazing. I have to give special credit to our friend Carolyn who inspired me with her beautiful creations. I recently bought some Happy Hoppers stamps and with Carolyn's generous collection of more images, I have plenty to work on.

I guess I've hesitated this long because I am more comfortable coloring with Copics, but these little guys deserve the softness of PrismaColors. But you know what they say, "Practice makes perfect". These are far from perfect, but I'll keep on practicing. I had a piece of scrapbook paper with a photographic image of the beach which somehow suited these cuties. Imagine one of those watermelon seeds finding their way into the lemonade glass!! Heehee, LOL! Uh, um, I hope you enjoy this brief trip to the beach.

Please feel free to leave your comments. I appreciate the feedback.