Two Cards, Two Challenges!

The card-making angel swooped in today and charged up my mojo! I made three cards this afternoon, two of them stretching my attention to detail and color. What fun I had!! So here are two of the cards, one for the WOJ Weekly Challenge and the other for Cute Card Thursday.

Whiff of Joy Challenge #21

sketch by Heather

(Wonderful sketch, Heather!)

Sweet Willow is colored with Copics and sits atop a triple-stack of beautiful DP called Chloe's Closet by Making Memories. Embellies are coordinates to this cheerful set. Other papers are Bazzill and I used my beloved Nesties to cut the frames for Willow.

Cute Card Thursday

Sketch by Katharina

(Very fun Sketch, Katharina!)

The new Spring WOJ images are so amazing and here is another beautiful Willow, colored with Copics, and perched atop coordinating flowers. The DP is from Me and My Big Ideas. Other papers are Bazzill and Starburst and the circles are cut with my Nesties.

The third card I made today? Well, it was my own sketch and ........... you'll have to wait till tomorrow to see it! ;-)

This is just the beginning of a great week! Share it with those you love!

And the WINNER is........

This has been such an incredible week! So many wonderful crafters from all over the world and so many beautiful favorite flowers! Before I announce the winner of my very first blog candy, I put together a mosaic of the favorite flowers; there were lots of roses, irises, tulips, orchids, and many others. I added Bird of Paradise and Bleeding Hearts, favorites of my grandmothers. Can you pick your favorite from the mosaic?

Drum roll please......................

From Random.org:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

39
Timestamp: 2009-03-15 15:23:57 UTC

kotenok77 !!!!

This was her comment:

Hi! I am from Russia! Very beautiful and bright sweetie! Just super! My favorite flower - this is a rose. I really love her and especially when the bud yet to be disclosed, and the last leaves still green. Thank you for the opportunity vygrat a bright Candy. I do not long uleklas card and only opens the beautiful world for himself.

Congratulations!!! Please send me your mailing address via email by Wednesday (March 18) so I can send you these pretty poppies. You'll find my email in my sidebar.

Many thanks to everyone who visited and entered the drawing and added to my followers. I have so many new blogs to follow, too.

Y'all come back now!!

Blog Candy for 5,000 Hits!!

This post will remain at the top of my blog until it closes at midnight (GMT -6.00) on March 14, 2009. Therefore, please scroll down for newer posts.

I am but a small blog in this wonderful world of art bloggers, but today I am celebrating 5,000 hits on Made For Keeps!

I started this blog eight months ago. In that time I have met so many wonderful artists, found stamps and techniques that are better than I have ever seen before, and learned so many things that have enhanced my art. So, I want to thank everyone who has ever visited, left comments, and led me to many brilliant bloggers!

I chose a few pieces from this bright new set called "Pretty Poppies" by Autumn Leaves that I found at Michaels. Aren't the colors fantastic? Since we are eagerly awaiting spring here, this was such a cheerful selection. Here are some closer looks:



This is my first ever blog candy and, because my inspirations come from so many countries, anyone from anywhere is invited to enter the drawing. The drawing will close at midnight (GMT -6.00) and I just ask that you do these three things:

1. Please leave a comment on this post.
2. In your comment tell me your favorite flower.
3. Add a link to this post on your blog to tell others about my blog candy.

Thank you, everyone, for visiting my blog and for making this a remarkable experience!

Lovin' Fashion!

More fashions? Yep! These fabulous fashion stamps from Rubbernecker are called "Sophisticated Ladies" and I love, love, love them! So here are a couple more cards with them, and there will be more in the future!! What do I do with all these? Well, I have given away a couple of them and the others will go in my shop where I hope customers will love them as much as I do.

The DP for this card is the fabulous new "Que Sera" by K & Co. The image is colored with water color pencils.

The card doesn't carry much in the way of embellishments, but I used Judi Kins Diamond Glaze on the butterfly, cut around the right wing and tucked the image plate under that wing.

I love this outfit! It billows with attitude! (Hee hee) So I water colored it to match one of my other favorite K & Company DP sets, cut some scrolls with Cuttlebug, rectangles with Nesties, and some square brads for bling. Sophistication and Sass!!

Recently the daily mail has brought me my first Anya stamps, my first Sarah Kay stamps, my first Papertrey Ink paper and stamps, my first Our Daily Bread Designs stamps, and, of course, the Whiff of Joy Spring kit. My mail carrier is a crafting buddy of mine and I know she is dying to see what I've been getting! I am having a blast!! There should be quite a variety of cards coming soon.

I am also still rebuilding my studio --- Whew! --- and will show my progress in there. I didn't know how much stuff I have!

The blog candy give-away is so much fun and I am meeting so many new crafters! If I could afford it I would do this more often!! Let's see, I do have a blogoversary coming, and a birthday, then maybe 10,000 hits..... hmmm. Stay tuned, everyone.

Thanks for stopping by!

Whiff of Joy Challenge #20: Lavender and Lace --- and Pearls

This week's Whiff of Joy Challenge is "Lavender and Lace", which is a beautiful combination itself. Well, I got a bit carried away with the pearls and the opalescent flowers, too.

The new WOJ spring stamps are so wonderful and I chose Kneeling Willow for this card. She is colored with Copics. The flowers are Fabric Fancies, something new at Michaels. Each jar has flowers of one color in four textures. The Pearls are from Hero Arts. The lavender CS is Bazzill and the DP is from a collection of papers I've had for years, as are the lace and ribbon. The shapes were cut on my Cuttlebug with Nesties.

I've been out of the loop a bit lately with traveling and a lazy mojo, but it is good to be back creating again. These beautiful stamps are very inspiring.

Thank you for stopping by! Be sure to check out the blog candy I am giving away to celebrate 5,000 hits on my blog.

More Fashion Ladies

When I found these wonderful stamps at Rubbernecker Stamp Company I knew I was going to have a ball coloring the beautiful outfits in so many fun colors! And I am! Sometimes I just color a bunch of images; other times I color them to match DP.

Both of these lovely ladies are attired in outfits made of watercolor. The bright orange and pink spring dress went beautifully with this fun 2-sided paper from Heidi Grace and embellished with plastic flowers that add a touch of neon to the card.

The lovely lady in blue is ready for a night on the town, surrounded by flowers from Fabric Fancies, against a background from S.E.I., and lots of sparkly rhinestones (shhh--- she thinks they are diamonds! ;-) ) Her dress and fur are highlighted with white Shimmerz. This is the first time I've used Shimmerz and I see more in my future!

I hope you enjoy these. Thanks for stopping by! Your comments are welcomed and appreciated!

Charlie In Sepia

Way back in December when I was coloring images for Christmas cards I experimented with monochromatic watercoloring. I liked how this one of Charlie (Whiff of Joy) turned out but didn't get it made into a card. So yesterday, while we had a significant amount of snow gently falling, I retrieved Charlie from the images-in-waiting and put together this little card. The papers are from my scrap drawer and the ovals and rectangles were cut with my precious Nesties. The pewter sentiments reflected what yesterday's gentle snowfall reminded me --- happiness is life's simple pleasures.

Hopefully, it was our last snowfall for this winter and, as much as I love the winter WOJ kids, I am ready to move on to SPRING!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope everyone has a great week!

Lighthouses of the Outer Banks of North Carolina

How about some more pictures from my trip? Click here to go to my other blog and enjoy a beautiful day on the Outer Banks of North Carolina!

I'll be getting back to cards very soon. I have a bunch of new stuff to play with!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. It is SNOWING here, but it's beautiful!

Would You Like to Win an "Original Made For Keeps"?

Wow! I need to get busy! Five lovely ladies are going to get a Made For Keeps original card ---- soon!

I saw this on Lauri's blog and was able to get in the first five! I thought it was so fun that I would do it too!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make --- but I hope you do!
2- What I create will be just for you --- one of a kind!
3- It'll be done sometime this year (most likely it will be in the next month.).
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. Well, a pretty good bet it will be made of paper!
5-The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog!

The first 5 people to leave a comment win a handmade card or gift (or both!) by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! So....who will be the first 5 people????? Please??? 5????

Ya know what? This is my little addition: Even if you aren't in my first five, why not start this on your blog, too? Spread more love FASTER!

Ready, set.....who will the first five be??

Photos From My Trip

I have spent the day unpacking and resting up. No new cards yet, but I've posted some photos we took on the trip on my other blog Picture This, At Last of the aftermath of ice storms that went through our area last month.

Tonight I am posting some photos of the reason for our trip to Virginia ... to bid safe voyage to my son and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower and her strike group as they set out for the Middle East. These photos were taken early Saturday morning, Feb 21, as she left the Norfolk Naval Base through the Chesapeake Bay. Mom and I perched ourselves on the beach and watched for any signs of movement to the west.....

Without binoculars it was nearly impossible to see the ship cruising past the Hampton Roads Bridge, but with my 400mm zoom I was able to spot her. In this shot she is about six miles away.

Eventually she was easier to see as she cleared the local skyline, passed the Thimble Shoal Light, and entered the vast expanse of the Chesapeake Bay. This photo was also taken with the 400mm zoom and the ship was about 5 miles away from us.

Here one of the Coast Guard cutters is going out to escort "Ike" to the Atlantic waters. The ships are always escorted by the CG. The helicopter circling above is part of a 24-hour watch through the entire cruise. At this point the ship is about 4 miles away and the lens is still the 400mm.

I like this photo. The sea gull seems to be watching the ship set sail, also. We had been watching the ship for about 30 minutes at this point and were turned more to the east. The sun was beginning to cast a glare, blending ship and water into the haze.

For comparison, this photo was taken at 200mm zoom. At about 6 miles from where we were standing, the ship looked deceptively small. To the right the pier off South Thimble Island is beginning to appear. It is at this point that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge becomes a tunnel and comes back up at the point to the left of the ship.

The ship carrying my son and more than 5,000 other sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers passed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and headed for the open Atlantic Ocean. God speed! Go Navy!

Last August I had the very special privilege of seeing this beach from the flight deck of this very ship when I attended the Eisenhower's Friends and Family Day Cruise. That made this vantage point all the more amazing. (Photos of that trip are also on Picture This, At Last.)

It is always hard to watch my son leave, especially when I know I won't see him for several months. But he is doing a job I cannot begin to comprehend and serving our country with a dedication I do completely understand.

We had a great week before he left and there will be more photos on both blogs this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm home!!

I'm home after 10 days away!! I haven't even unpacked yet. Had to catch up on emails and blogs first! You know, the important stuff. The second night of the trip my Norton Security wasn't behaving so no foreign wireless for me!! I used my son's computer for browsing, but was pretty much out of touch. Aarrrggghhh!

Brief stats of the trip:

• 10 days
• 2500 miles driven
• 4 hotel rooms
• 5 nights at my son's beach house :-)
• Day trip to NC Outer Banks
• 2 lighthouses visited
• 1 aquarium visited
• shopping and restaurants
• watched the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower go out to sea
• hundreds of photos to process

So, over the next few days I'll be posting stories and photos. But first, I'll be reading all my favorite blogs and catching up. I sure missed everyone!

Time for a Quick Birthday Card Then Off to Virginia!

Even with preparing for a 10-day trip I was so sure I would get a bunch of cards done and line up a few days' worth of posts. Well, it just didn't happen. So, here I am, nearly ready to take off to Virginia tomorrow, leaving behind five cards in want of adhesives and embellies. They are going to be gorgeous, too! Hee hee! But now I have to wait a few days... I hope you will come back to see them!

I did get a birthday card made, though. It was one I'd forgotten to do, what with all the Valentine cards. I don't have much of a stash general cards. (It's like the story of the shoemaker whose own children had holes in their shoes.) Thanks to my Cuttlebug (the birthday embossing folder and flower die set), Xyron (for quick adhesives) and a rub-on sentiment I was able to make this card fairly quickly. I like it! What do you think?

I might not be making cards for the next week or so, but I stamped a bunch of images to color. I'll be checking in as usual to see all the great art going on out there. I'm really bummed, though that I'll miss the WOJ challenge this week. I have a really cool card laid out. But, hey, when I get home my new WOJ spring set will be waiting for me!! Goody!

Whiff of Joy Challenge #17

This week's challenge was a very fun and creative sketch by Donalda. I actually made two cards, one of them by turning the sketch sideways. Both cards are made from the same papers (odds and ends I had from other projects) and Willow and Charlie are both colored with Copics. I'm under the wire again this week, so let me get right to the cards:

Thank you, Donalda! This was great!

A Change of Pace

As much as I love making greeting cards, I'm finding I love rubber stamping, too. I started making cards many years ago, but didn't use rubber stamps until my niece introduced me to Stampin' Up about five years ago. But even then I strayed from the stamps until recently. Since meeting so many wonderful artists online, I have also found stamps and images that just don't show up in your typical Michael's or Hobby Lobby. There's a degree of exclusivity here. I never would have found Whiff of Joy and the adorable Willow, Charlie, Oakley, Lizzie, and the others if not for going online. And that is just one of many stamp companies I have found.

Lately I've been showcasing Whiff of Joy, and there will be many more of those darlings to come. But tonight I'm showing Greta, one of the beautiful Sophisticated Ladies stamps from Rubbernecker. This is a birthday card for my future sis-in-law (I just hope she isn't checking my blog for the next couple of days). I colored this image with water color pencils. These are beautiful images and so much fun to color. I'll be posting more in the days and weeks to come, so I hope you come back to take a peek.

Paper: K & Company coordinated doubled-sided DP

Corner flourishes: Cuttlebug corner die

Flower and buttons: from my stash

Thank you for stopping by! Let me know you were here with a comment so I can go visit you!

Studio Re-do --- Finally!

Just a couple of days before Christmas I found a smokin' deal on cabinets (see Ho-Ho-Hooome Depot ......). Well, I finally got them installed and now have ten feet of work space for my gadgets and lots of storage!

Our walkout basement was beautifully finished off by previous owners. But one rather large room was left unfinished for storage. This room is adjacent to my studio, which had previously been an office. The studio has a wonderful walk-in closet with lots of built-in shelves, and a nice cubby for some of my supplies, as well as room for my drafting table and computer desk. But it just doesn't have a large enough spot to put Cricut, Cuttlebug, papercutters, etc. and be able to leave them out. So I've expanded into the storeroom and it is going to be a fantastic place to work! Here it is.....

On the left side I start out with the X-acto paper cutter and the Score-pal. Hanging on the pegboard is a magnetic layout board, which I haven't used yet. Then I move on to my beloved Cuttlebug with all the folders and dies hanging above it. I don't have my Nesties put away yet, but I have a really neat idea for storing and easy accessibility.

Under the X-acto paper cutter are other paper cutters I've acquired over the years. I bought a simple rack for storing cookie sheets at Target, and it works very well here.

Moving on, I have my Xyron adhesive center. The various sizes are handy on top.....

... and the extra cartridges below.

Then I have my Cricut with the cartridges stored above it. I like having everything in sight, otherwise I forget I have it!! My Cricut is one of the very first on the market but it still does the job.

Now, I boldly and unabashedly show how I left my studio for the day..... Aaaaarrrrrgghhhh!! I moved some things around and will be completely rearranging things.

This little cubby holds all my papers, ribbons, glitters, brads, embellies. etc.

The greatest invention for paper storage is my Ikea unit. It sits in the cubby. Tomorrow's project will be to resort tons of paper and embellies. I've been paper crafting for about 12 years so I've accumulated a lot of stuff!

From the cubby is the rest of the studio. OMG what a mess!! All this will be put away --- somewhere!

From the door to my studio the walk-in closet is seen on the right. Since all my business is conducted in this room also, I will use much of this space for non-creative items. My photography business shares this space as well. Other than a cabinet full of frames and paper, the rest is in the computer. Thank goodness for digital!!

Well, there you have it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I'll show more of the good as it develops.

Whiff of Joy Challenge #16 --- Valentine Card

The Whiff of Joy Challenge for this week is Valentine Card. Since I had already posted some Valentine cards earlier I made a new one for this challenge. It gave me a chance to try a different style of coloring, too. Instead of using Copics (which I love) I used water color pencils, which are terrific, too. Just one rule for me, though: except for the hair and skin I could use only one color. So I selected carmine and my Koi Waterbrush. I also went even more vintage on the card design using some ephemera and more embellies.

Here it is! I'm liking it the more I look at it, but I did edge out of my comfort zone. What do you think?

I do want to thank two amazing cardmakers who were my inspiration for stepping out of my comfort zone to try something different. Tina at Tina's Kreativblog creates beautiful cards and papercrafts using interesting embellies, always accenting her main image, never drowning it out. And Aija at Kerttulin Paja whose coloring technique is nothing short of superb, uses just one or two simple colors with amazing depth. Thank you, ladies! Be sure to look at their wonderful blogs --- you'll be glad you did.

Now, for some details of the materials I used in this card. The paper and scroll are from Basic Grey collection pack; the rose picture is from a collection of ephemera; and the flowers, pearls and clip are from my stash of odds and ends. I used my Cuttlebug and Nesties to cut and emboss the hearts and long scalloped rectangle.

Thanks for stopping by! Please let me know you were here with a comment. I always return the favor.