A Snowman Merry Christmas Wish!

I'm still cranking out those Christmas cards, how about you? Truth be told, I got a very late start on them. It's been a busy year! When I saw Kim's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, this idea popped into my head. Take a look...

I stamped my cutie Stampendous snowman, Copic colored him, then cut him twice using two MFT stitched Circle dies. I popped him onto a snowy embossed background then trimmed off the left side. Everything went onto a red card base and I topped it off with a Memory Box gold and white sentiment tab. There are accents added with a gold glitter pen that are being camera shy on this cloudy rainy morning!

I noticed he fits in perfectly over at the Tic Tac Toe challenge too! I've used the diagonal line: Christmas Sentiment, Gold, Snow/Snowman.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great weekend!

FMS ~ Sending a Hug

We've a had a quite weekend. Catching up on a few things at home, Saturday evening Mass, a couple of long walks and just being together! While the hubs worked on some photos this evening, I put together this card for Freshly Made Sketches.

As you can see, I flipped the sketch, hope Jen doesn't mind! I also went with an A2 card instead of a square one. Call me a rebel! I used some patterned paper by Lasting Impressions for my banner and topped it with a retired fox from Poppystamps. A few pierced sprigs by Simply Graphic and tiny Poppystamps blooms gave her a place to sit. Just a sweet way to send a paper hug!

Off this goes to the gallery.
Thanks for taking a peek!

FMS ~ Hello

I was doing a little desk clean up and came across a few snippets that I put together for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Take a look...

I don't even know where the polka dot paper came from. It was something I had as a backing in a frame from years ago. The little bird is actually a sticker. I purchased a nifty little tin containing birds, nests and eggs at a specialty shop a long time ago. The pretty floral square is an old MME item from Archivers. I cut down the square and trimmed out around the flowers. They were colored with Copic markers. I saw a pair of chickadees much like this one on our bird feeder yesterday. They reminded me that we need to get more seed for the winter months ahead!

Off this flys to the gallery. I hope you're enjoying your weekend. We have some gorgeous weather happening right now. Our evening walks have been the perfect temps and so enjoyable! Take care, friends.

FMS #704 ~ Deck the Halls!

When I saw Michele's sketch for Freshly Made Sketches with all of those polka dots, I knew I had to play along! Of course my first instinct was to recreate the polka dots, but then I went in a different direction. 

I used a trio of fussy cut ornaments by Lasting Impressions. Some die cut winter berry sprigs from Simply Graphic were tucked under them. Next, I stamped a few tiny ornaments from the PTI Love Lives Here set and little dots from Stamps by Judith. The sentiment is also PTI. It's from the Bells and Boughs set.

Now that I look at it, I suppose my ornaments look like big and small dots. Then I did manage to get the little polka dot trios in there too. Those berries kinda look like polka dots too, don't they? Okay... I couldn't help myself! Off we go to the gallery!

Bugs & Hisses

Hey there, I hope you had a good weekend! Ours was pretty laid back. We got a new computer and my hubby is spending hours getting everything transferred and set up. This is where we both do our photos... I'm trying to be patient! I put together this card for Freshly Made Sketches and it became our trail run. Photoshop was being difficult and then there is the whole watermark thing!

I topped my embossed pumpkins with a ring, spider, word bubble and sentiment, all from Poppystamps, along with a leaf by Pretty Pink Posh. A trio of purple rhinestones finished it off. I'll send this one to Sweet P who happens to love Halloween!

Thanks so much for popping in!

FMS ~ Happy Birthday!

I couldn't let the big celebration at Freshly Made Sketches slip by without playing along. Sending a big congrats on 700 sketches to all of their design team members past and present! This is what I put together for them this week.

I die cut 4 stitched squares then snugged them all together in my Misti. I stamped this pretty PFS wreath using PTI's Simply Chartreuse ink. After adding them to my square card base, I put together a yummy little cupcake (PTI). A sweet striped wrapper and shimmery pink frosting were topped with a couple of bright pink blooms. After playing around with sentiment ideas, this tab from Memory Box seemed a good fit!

Here's my first time playing along at FMS back in Feb. 2012!

Thanks for stopping by to visit, it's greatly appreciated!

Wishing you all a blessed weekend!

FMS ~ Oh Happy Day!

Good morning and happy Friday! My sweet friend Michele is sharing her first sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches ~ oh happy day!!

I knew just the sentiment I would use, it's from The Stamp Market. My big bloom is too. I die cut it using some hoarded October Afternoon paper! A sweet new EF from Penny Black provides a little interest to my background and I popped on a trio of my favorite aqua rhinestones. It all went on a soft stone card base. 

Off this goes to the gallery. This one's for you, Michele!

With Gratitude

It's a rainy day today, a perfect day to snuggle in and get a little card making time. I have one for you today that will be heading to a few challenges. I love it when it works out that way! I've used Stef's colors from The Paper Players, Cécile's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, the top horizontal line from Tic Tac Toe and finally, I've used a frame to fit in over at Diane and Darlene's Double D Challenge! Here we go...

My frame, butterfly and leafy sprigs are all from The Stamp Market. I added some stenciled clouds to the inside of the frame and fussy cut the Altenew sentiment. Off she flutters to the galleries! Thanks so much for stopping by, have a blessed day!

FMS ~ Thinking of You

The hubs and I have been crazy busy lately with Sweet P's softball (did I mention he's an official coach alongside our son!), transporting my dad to Cardio Rehab, taking care of my parent's other needs and well, just life in general. Today is a free day for us, so I got crafty! I was intrigued by Verena's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. Here's what I came up with.

Using a couple of circle dies, I cut a crescent moon from some PP in my stash. This pretty leafy vine by Pinkfresh had just the curve I needed to decorate that moon! I popped on a pretty little bloom by The Stamp Market then stamped and die cut the sentiment. My sweet friend Greta always includeds an embossed panel when she sends me a card. This one seemed to mimic the bloom I used.  A sprinkling of dew drops and she's good to go!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. 

Celebrate!

Happy weekend one and all! Truth be told, it would be a bit happier if it wasn't so dreary out. But as they say, April showers bring May flowers! Speaking of flowers, I have some to add to the Freshly Made Sketches gallery. 

My sweet friend Michele is now a member of the FMS design team! I missed her first week and couldn't let another go by without celebrating with her! This little mouse is bringing on the happy by sprinkling about some of those May flowers. As you can see I flipped the sketch to create a vertical card. My two toned panel wasn't wide enough for the horizontal layout. It was made using a small 2 1/2" x 4" stamp by Simply Graphic. Hope the gals at FMS don't mind!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Love You a Bunch!

I had a free moment this afternoon and took advantage of it with some time in my wee art studio! I put together this little number for the Freshly Made Sketches and Color Hues challenges.

I went pretty literal with the sketch using s favorite PTI tag die and a cute Stamping Bella/Mo Manning image. This little lady colored up quite well with the given colors of orange and teal, along with just a touch of neutral coloring for her hair. Who wouldn't want to receive a bunch of love and orange tulips from this sweet girl? I embossed some big ol' polka dots on the card base, popped her on and she's ready for her debut in both galleries!

Have a great day, friends and thanks so much for your visit!

Happy Freezin' Season!

Brrr... it's cold! Snuggling in and making a card seemed like a good idea for the morning. This one is headed over to the Freshly Made Sketches gallery. 

*Edit* Thanks to my friend, Julia for reminding me this will work for the Inkspirational 'snow' challenge. Off it goes to their gallery as well!

A simple card stamped with MFT's Warm & Feathered Hugs set. An oldie but a goodie! What's not to love about this little fella all bundled up in his scarf? He's just so cute! A wonky rectangle to frame him with a bit of PTI's Soft Stone PP peeking out behind it.

That's it from me today. 

We're headed for a deep freeze. 

Hope it's warm where you are!

An old favorite for FMS!

I'm still cranking out those Christmas cards, how about you? I'm also using up bits and pieces left over from last year and reaching for some older stamps. You know like those favorite Christmas decorations we bring out each year!

This little snowman by PSX was one of the first Christmas stamps I bought over twenty years ago! I popped him onto some PTI snowflakes, cut last year, that I layered over some MB patterned paper. I used Jen's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches changing her squares to my oval and snowflakes. I don't think she'll mind! The pretty embossed background is one Michele made me on our last visit to Michigan. Which, by the way, was too long ago!

Okay, off this goes to the FMS gallery and off I go to my wee studio for more creating on this rainy gloomy day!

Fall for FMS

It seems like forever since I've had time to enter a card challenge. Life does get busy sometimes! But I took a minute yesterday to get crafty and this is the card I came up with using Karren's fun sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.

I already had a piece of PTI Soft Stone card stock all dolled up with this cute Concord & 9th cover plate. The MB paper was cut then added to the bottom for the diagonal portion of the sketch. The fall leaves are new over at Poppystamps. It's a Nordic set, but I opted to use just one layer here. The sentiment set, in it's first outing, is one I picked up on sale at PTI... last year I think! I love the way it looks on this pretty little PPP tag cut from vellum.

Okay, I'm off and running again. It's a pretty sunny day, a good one for washing  and vacuuming my car! Thank for stopping by, I appreciate it so very much!

Cute Critters for STB#289 & FMS #648

Good Friday evening all. After a morning of shoveling stone into our landscaping, we took the rest of the day off! Well, I did make dinner (salmon and fresh corn on the cob) and we went for a walk. But I did have a bit of relaxing crafty time. I put together this little number for both the Seize the Birthday and Freshly Made Sketches challenges.

These cutie little bears by Mama Elephant always make me smile. I think they fit the cute critters bill that JoAnn has challenged us to at STB. They were stamped then cut with an old Spellbinders postage die. The tiny tag and bow are by PPP and my large postage borders were cut from a PTI frame. I love red and aqua together, how about you?

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

I hope you have a blessed weekend!

Sending Happy Thoughts

It's been a windy rainy day. A rainy, do not much of anything day, for us. I put a roast in the oven this morning, so we had a yummy dinner. The hubs decided to tinker in his garage for a bit so I got busy on a card. This one is headed over to Freshly Made Sketches.

I was inspired not only by Kim's fun sketch, but also her determination to use some of her patterned paper. I have a vast supply myself! I pulled a few from a Simple Stories collection then popped a pretty butterfly from The Stamp Market on top. This set includes a die for one of the sentiments, so that was a no brainer!

There you go my friends. 

I'll leave you with this...

 

 

The Wolf pack is out of the softball tournament race but not without one heck of a fight. Our Sweet P pitched an incredible game garnering several compliments from the opposing team's parents along with their three coaches. She was awarded the MVP medal for the game! She'll close out her season on Friday with the All Stars game. I'm so proud of our baby girl and our son... coach Joe!

FMS ~ Hello Sweet Friend

Hello to you my sweet blogging friends! Life sure does get busy this time of year and I haven't had much extra time to join in with many card challenges. I took a minute this afternoon to make a quick and simple card while hubby ran his truck to the car wash... yes we were both too lazy to wash it ourselves! I'll be entering this little number over at Freshly Made Sketches.

A pretty snippet of patterned paper cute with a PPP border went onto the white card base. I topped it with a simple sentiment by Pinkfresh along with a sprig of greenery and bloom by The Stamp Market. The hardest part was deciding what to add to that sweet paper with out covering up too much of it. So there you have it, quick and simple!

I hope you enjoy your weekend. 

Sweet P has a softball game tomorrow morning if we don't get rained out!

Happy Birthday

These rainy days sure do make good crafting days. A quick run to the mailbox, dodging raindrops, made the day even better. I had a package from Simon Says Stamp! I was the lucky recipient of a gift certificate a couple of weeks ago and put it to good use. The pretty Magnolia die by Honey Bee Stamps was one of my new toys. It seemed a good fit for a few challenges. This will be heading to the Freshly Made Sketches, Seize the Birthday and  Tic, Tac Toe galleries. 

Using the sketch, I made a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" square card. The birthday topping option this week is green plus one color. Mine is pale pink ink blended lightly onto some of the magnolia petals. The Tic, Tac Toe options of square card, die cut and embossing gave me what I needed to finish the card. The embossed panel was gifted to me by sweet Michele! A simple foiled sentiment tab from Memory Box was the finishing touch.

 

 

And there you have it, friends. 

Thanks for taking a minute to stop by today!

Sundae Funday!

Hi friends! I hope you're enjoying your weekend. I'm popping in today with a card for Freshly Made Sketches. Squeezing this one in at the last minute!

I was looking at paper to use for another card challenge when I came across these strips. October Afternoon for the reds and Basic Grey (I think) for the blue. Hmmm, the perfect size for FMS.  I had one of those light bulb moments and this card was the result! They went onto a vanilla base with a little ric rac. I stamped, Copic colored and die cut this cutie little CC bunny and I was good to go!

Speaking of good to go, this better go to their gallery before I run out of time! Thanks for visiting!

Sprinkling Some Happy!

I'm sprinkling some happy your way today! I put together a cute little St. Patrick's Day card for my Sweet P. Freshly Made Sketches had the perfect layout for me!

  

I cut a fun scalloped frame by Pink and Main, then stenciled the inner panel. It was just the right size for the sketch and a shaker. The fillings are teeny gold hearts, clear and purple sequins by PPP. I haven't used this PTI heart border die in a long time. It never goes out of style!

 

I'll add this to the gallery over at FMS then continue to hope the sun comes back out! Have a great weekend!