Is it just me or is it gettin' hot in here?

OH, I just crack myself up.

Thursday has come to us once again, which means it's my turn to take on of Pam's fabulous challenges and attempt to inspire you all to play along!  Today the challenge at 365 Cards is to use our gardens as inspiration.  "Do you have a garden?  If so, what sorts of things do you have in your garden?  If not, what would you want in your garden?  That is what should inspire your card."

That's not too crazy, right?  My family used to have a small garden in our backyard.  I don't remember everything we had in there, but I know for sure that we had chili peppers.  We can go through dried chiles like nobody's business.  I remember one time my brother convinced my little sister to take a bite out of one... It's funny now. Hahaha.   Here's my chili-inspired card:

So what's in your garden?  I'm looking forward to seeing your creations!

I'm Baa-aack!

Hey there peeps!! I'm finally back home and I'm ready to stay for a while :-)  For the last two weeks I've been away at two different camps. The first one was a five-day girls camp, here in Missouri, where my sisters and I were leading worship.  We had a great time and met a ton of super amazing people.

I was home for a Saturday, then crazy early on Sunday morning I left on a week-long mission trip to New Orleans, LA with a group of teenagers, most of whom are getting ready to go into their freshman year of highschool.  I learned a lot and had plenty of experiences that pushed me waaaay out of my comfort zone. Haha.  It was a long week and we definitely had our challenges, but I'm so glad I went!

This week I've been getting back into the regular swing of things, finishing up some projects and working on getting the classrooms ready for the kiddos at school.  That also means it's time to get back into my cards!!  The card I have to show you is for today's "Ad Inspired" challenge at 365 Cards.  All you have to do to play along is use this image as your inspiration:

Here's what I came up with:

My favorite dress form was the black one with polka dots.  I also used some of the colors from the ad, and used tulle to mimic the curtains.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll play along :-)

Summer... it's Hot.

Haaaaappy Thursday!  How's your summer going?  Mine's flying right by and I'm trying to hang on :-)  I did get to spend a couple hours in the pool on Tuesday.  It was SO hot, it felt like bath water. But then it rained for a bit and cooled everything off and it turned out to be a gorgeous night, which we spent at the Muny. This is pretty much my only "free" week this month.  For the next two weeks I'll be out of town for two different summer camps.  One is a girls camp here in Missouri, the other is a mission trip with 8th graders in New Orleans.  I'll have about half a day break in between the two, but I think it'll be fun.  Then maybe I'll sleep for a week when I get back ;-)

I have a card to share with you today! This week at 365 Cards, we've been making collage cards.  I've said before that I tend to stay away from putting lots of "stuff" on my cards.  But then it's always fun to step outside the box and stretch a little bit.  For today's challenge, your collage card should include sponging, scallops and stitching.

There's plenty of sponging around the torn edges of the paper.  I didn't feel like lugging out my ridiculously heavy sewing machine, so I had to do the stitching by hand.  It turned out pretty good, I think.  For the scallops I used crepe paper ribbon.  There are so many possibilities with a challenge like this, so I hope you'll stop by and play along too!!

Just Peachy

It just so happens that I was eating a peach when I got the details for today's challenge at 365 Cards.  The actual challenge is to make peach the dominant color, but I figured that nothing goes better with peach than peaches!

I used chalks to color the fruit, then used an eraser to add highlights back in.  The sentiment is computer generated.  This one is a really simple layout, but I like the details of the peach.

I hope you all are having a fantastic summer! Thanks for stopping by :-)

Baby Boom

I've got another baby card for today.  This one is just for fun... I don't know very many people having babies any time soon :-)

This week's challenge for Our Creative Corner is to make a baby card, including kraft paper, trim and at least one button.  I thought it worked rather nicely with the sketch for today's Mojo Monday.  I know I've said it already, but I'm so excited to have more time to play along with all of my favorite challenges now that school's out!

Thanks for stopping by! I love reading your comments :-)

Sing it, Alice!

SchooOoooOOool's out. For. Summer!


Haha.  I don't think today really counts as the first day off since it's Saturday and we wouldn't have school anyway, but I've been doing the happy dance since we put the last preschooler into their car yesterday afternoon :-) It's gonna be a great summer, I can already tell.  My brother got into St. Louis late last night (or this morning, rather) and he'll be here at least until Monday.  Dad bought a new barbecue grill.  It's red :-)

AND (drum roll please...)  I actually got a card done!  The Shabby Tea Room has a challenge this week to create a baby-themed card. This one is for a friend of mine who's having a little girl sometime around the end of June.  I know that they're decorating the nursery with pink, brown and green, so I used that color scheme on the card.

I pieced the patterned paper together for the turtles shell from 1" scraps, then added some faux stitching.  The letters are from the "Car Decal" Cricut cartridge.  I like it.  Whaddya think?

Thanks for stopping by!

In the Home Stretch

I can't believe we're already down to the last two days of the school year! It's been an interesting nine months, that's for sure. Haha. My little kiddles are moving on up to kindergarten next year, so I'll definitely miss them... I think. Juuuust kidding ;-)  But seriously...

With summer in sight, I'm looking forward to lots of fun stuff (y'know, like blogging regularly again). Some traveling, girls nights by the pool, that kind of thing.  Which brings me to the card that I want to show you today.  This is for today's challenge at 365 Cards, Day 87.  The "prompt word" for today is COOL. And what better way to stay cool than in a pool??

I had a lot of fun coloring this image. I enjoy using watercolors because you don't really have to be quite as "perfect" with it. This might be one of my favorite cards that I've made in a while.  I absolutely love this image from Sparkle Creations.  If you'd like to play along, make sure you link up your cards to 365 Cards by Monday night!

Nature Stuff

I keep sitting down to write this post and I just end up with an insane case of writer's block!  This past week was a little crazy.  We had tornadoes ripping through St. Louis like nobody's business.  You see this kind of stuff on the news, but it's a really weird feeling when it's quite literally in your backyard.  Our church (which is where we were when the storms came through) and our house missed the worst of the destruction by a matter of blocks in both cases.  It's amazing that there were no fatalities.  And the only minor injuries where at the airport.  My brother was supposed to fly in that night from San Diego, but ended up having to turn around in Phoenix.  I'm just thankful that his flight wasn't a few hours earlier! Maybe it sounds a little cliché, but it really does make you realize that your stuff isn't going with you and it's having your family and loved ones safe that truly matters the most.

And speaking of nature... Lol...

I have a card for you today.  This one is for yesterday's challenge at 365 Cards, Day 59-Feeling "Kraft"y.

The challenge is to create a nature-themed card with kraft paper.  The image I used for the branch and the background pattern is from our sponsor this week, Shannon's Sentiments.  There are some really great images, so be sure to check it out.

If you wanna get in on the fun, come on over to the 365 Cards blog! You have until Monday night to get your project uploaded :-)

Again with the late blogging. Gah! lol

Let's just cut to the chase here.  What I have to show you today is actually Thursday's card for 365 Cards.  The challenge is to pick something that is currently trending and use it on your card.  Now, I don't necessarily focus on what's trendy (at least not on purpose), but if I spend a little time thinking about it I do notice certain things.  It seems like I've been seeing a lot of lace everywhere lately, so that's what I decided to use on my project:

I kinda like how this turned out.  There's a lot of "stuff" there on the card, but it's not overwhelming. Well, it's past my bedtime PLUS I'm losing an hour of sleep with Daylight Savings starting tomorrow. Uggggh. Lol.  Well, good night all! And don't forget, you still have until Monday night to link up your cards for this challenge-- it's not too late!

Peace

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I'll be celebrating with a snow day.  It started falling last night, and this morning I woke up to this:

My sister, attempting to clean off the cars... I'm not sure why.  I don't plan on going ANYWHERE today.

The patio furniture in the backyard is a pretty good indicator of how much snow actually fell...

I will be spending the rest of my day nice and warm inside the house. Lol.

But anyway, back to business...

The card I have to share with you today is for "Inspiration Week" at 365 Cards.  The word I picked for today is "Peace." This word means a lot to me right now.  It seems these last couple of months have been a little crazy.  Lots of family stuff, ridiculous stuff at work, but I feel like I've been able to maintain at least some peace in the middle of it all.  It'd like to think I'm not a person who's not easily stressed out, but I guess we all have our moments. :-) I came across this quote sort of by accident, while I was googling something else.  But I think it's absolutely perfect for today's word.

This card is made from a hodgepodge of scraps: some lace, wallpaper, a wedding invitation and the last scrap of some shimmery cardstock I've been trying to use up.  I think it's fun to make cards that way... except that it's very unlikely that it will ever be duplicated!  I guess we'll have to go for variations on a theme ;-)

Now it's your turn!  Head on over to the 365 Cards blog to check out the other words of inspiration from this week and maybe pick a few (or all of them!) to play along with.

Since I began this post, I've been informed by my sisters that I will NOT be allowed to stay inside today.  I guess I should go find something warm to wear.... ughhhh... ;-)

Busy, busy!

Well, this week has been interesting.  Started off pretty good, got a little weird toward the middle, ended a little crummy on Friday, but then got a whole lot better with taco night and some fabulous friends ;-)

Somewhere in the middle of that, I did find time to put together my card for Thursday's challenge at 365 Cards, but I'm running a little late again with posting. Oops.

The challenge was to create a photo frame card.  It's not too complicated.  The trickiest part for me was figuring out what size to make the card.  Mine ended up being 6.5 x 5 in.  I made it so that the photo slides in on the side.

That cute frog image is from Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More, our sponsor for this week.  Make sure to link up all your cards for this week!  The winner gets 5 digi stamps OR 4 digi stamps and a paper set.

Hi there, friends!

The year 2010 has come to a close and we're kickin' off the new year with hopes for another 12 months of endless possibilities.  I can't wait to see what happens :-)

These last couple of weeks have flown by.  We've enjoyed having my brother home for the holidays.  He'll be leaving on Monday already, and I have to go back to work.  I have to start getting up early again. Ugh.

I do have a card to share with you.  This is a little late, but there's still time to play along!  We're doing a "flashback week" at 365 Cards, so we're revisiting a challenge from June called "Stunning Silhouettes- With a Twist."  Obviously, there should be a silhouette on your card, but the "twist" is that the whole card should have a black and white color scheme.  I'm a big fan of black and white.  Here's what I did:

The silhouette is from the "Sweethearts" Cricut cartridge.  I created the "charm" by punching out a heart from the patterned paper and then covering it with diamond glaze.

Thanks to all of you who've dropped by over this past year! It's been fun :-)

AaaaAAaaaaAH!

GUYS!! It's almost CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm so excited.  All of my shopping is done, but I haven't wrapped a darn thing. As long as I can remember, my family has always exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve.  That way we didn't have to rush through everything before heading of to grandparents' houses.  So really, tonight is our "Christmas Eve."  That means I've got to keep this post tight so I can get to wrapping!

Today's challenge at 365 Cards is to create a card using exactly three of three different items on your card.... make sense?  Here's mine:

This is "Snow Fight Kody" from Some Odd Girl, our sponsor this week.  The three items I used on my card are 3 ribbons, 3 brads and 3 pompom balls.  I like :-)

I know the rest of this week is gonna be crazy for a lot of  you, but be sure to hop on over and link up your cards!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Deck the Card

Hey friends!  It's SUPER icy on the roads this morning, so school is canceled... can I get a "Woot, woot!?"

It's Thursday, which means I've got a card for today's challenge at 365 Cards.  All you have to do is create a detachable ornament for your card.  It doesn't necessarily have to be a Christmas ornament.  This was such a great idea and a lot of fun to make!  Here's what I did...

The ornament was pretty easy to make.  I Googled images of "paper ornaments" and got a lot of great ideas.  I found this blog with some absolutely GORGEOUS examples.  My ornament came together mostly by trial and error, since I didn't follow instructions. Hehe.  But I like how it turned out.  I used super fine gold glitter on the edges for a little sparkle.  It looks so pretty, but unfortunately I will also be sparkling for weeks to come.  My sister stopped to talk to me for, like, two seconds and even she had glitter on her. Lol. And so continues my love-hate relationship with glitter.

I used my "Accent Essentials" CC for the frame, and the "Home Decor" cartridge for the center of the ornament.  Sparkly ribbon, silver button, sticky pearl and "Voila!"

The trickiest part of this card was deciding how to attach the ornament so that it could be removed later.  I ended up just using some gold thread and tacking the bow to the top of the card.  Seems to work just fine.  To gift this, I'd probably have to figure out a way to stick the actual ornament down.  I thought some kind of re-positionable glue dot would work... I just don't have any.

I really hope you give this a try!! Since I've got plenty of unscheduled time today, I'm thinking I might have to make some more of these ;-)  Thanks for stopping by!

We've got a bunch of fun stuff to talk about today, but first of all,

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.  Which means some of us will be doing our card-making while we watch the parade (or maybe the football game) on TV :-)  I know I have so much to be thankful for, but one HUGE thing this year is that my brother arrived safely back to the states from Afghanistan last week-- He's still in California for a couple more weeks, but we're looking forward to having him here at home for Christmas! Yayyy!!

And now, on to the main event...

365 Cards Vintage Week Blog Hop

If you're just now joining us, go ahead and click on the link above to go back to the beginning.  It will take you to the 365 Cards blog where you can get the details on how to navigate through this week-long blog hop and find out all the ways you can be entered to win some fabulous Graphic 45 prizes (brought to you by our very own DT member, Gloria!).

If you've already been hopping along with us, your last stop should have been Kim's blog.

Now finally, here's my card for today:

The challenge for today, and your ninth "ingredient" for the recipe challenge on Saturday, is: A dimensional sticker.  On my card, I used the clock sticker by Jolee's.  I've had it forever.  It was nice to finally have a reason to use it :-) I really love the look of vintage-style cards, but it's always so hard for me to do!! I tend to take a "less is more" approach to my cards.  Vintage is kinda like... "more is better." Ha ha. It's been so much fun looking at what you guys have come up with so far this week.  Can't wait to see what you do for today's challenge!

One more way to earn another chance for one of the awesome prizes is by commenting on this post.  But since it's Thanksgiving and all, I'm going to make it a little more specific... Leave a comment below answering this question:

What are you thankful for?

It doesn't have to be a sappy answer :-)  I'll take cute, funny and clever, too! Haha. Tomorrow, whenever you come out of your food coma, come back and check out your next stop on the hop:

Sophie's Blog

Wonderful Watercolors

The the challenge at 365 Cards for Day 242 is to color an image (or two) using only watercolors!  Now, I don't know about you, but the only watercolors I have around are the ones with 8 colors in that little yellow tray.  I had and idea of what I wanted it to look like, so I had to mix some of the colors to get the shade I was looking for, but this is what I ended up with:

My card base is Bazzill Swiss Dots.  I burned the edges of the brown paper for just a little extra "something."  The digi image is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, our sponsor for this week.

This has to be a quickie post as I'm on my way back out to work again, but I hope you go play along with us HERE.  I'd love to stop by your blog :-)

Thanks for looking!!

Makeover!

Hey there, friends.  I tried to spruce this blog up for fall with a new background and some fall-ish colors.  Whaddya think?

I've got a new card for you today for 365 Cards' challenge.  Day 235 is a Pick 3: Three patterns, three colors and three embellishments.  Our sponsor for this week is Catherine Pooler.  <-- Click to check out her website full of fun ideas and awesome Stampin' Up products :-)  Here's what I came up with for the challenge:

Your turn!  Go take a peek at the other fabulous creations from this week and then jump in a try a challenge or two... or seven :-)

Hi everyone! I've got some serious writer's block. So while I would normally attempt at least one funny thought, I find myself at a loss for anything clever to say.  And we all know that "if you don't have anything clever to say, don't say anything at all."  Or at least, I think that's how it goes... uhh... Let's move on.

Today's challenge at 365 Cards is to create a card using two techniques:  Sponging and sanding.

For the background, I crinkled up the kraft paper, flattened it back out, then lightly "sanded" it with an emery board.  It gives it a cool suede-like texture.  I did the sponging around the edges with a wedge cut out of a kitchen sponge.  Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have, y'know?

Alright, now it's your turn!  Prickley Pear is sponsoring this week of challenges, so play along and rock those challenges ;-)

\m/_ (-_-) _\m/

Yay for Fall!

Omygosh, you guys! I love fall!!  It has been absolutely gorgeous this week.  I love jacket and sweater weather :-)  Plus, the colors of the season are awesome...

The challenge for today at 365 Cards is a DIY challenge to create your own patterned paper.  This a challenge that's been done before, but this time it's got a twist-- it has to be harvest-themed.

Here's my card:

Since I was using a digi-stamp, it was pretty easy to create the background paper.  And since I wasn't about to hand-color a bazillion little pumpkins, I went ahead and colored the image in Photoshop before duplicating it.  I rotated the image several times and then just sort of placed them where they fit.  I didn't want the pumpkins in the background to "pop" quite as much as the front image, so I adjusted the transparency just a smidge.  To finish it off, lots of distressing ink!

It's been a very, very long day, so I'm off to bed!  If you haven't already, go check out the challenges for this week, sponsored by The Character Cafe :-)

Well, all of my plans for this weekend have completely changed. Sometimes that's not such a bad thing.  I was supposed to be going on another retreat with my church's student ministry, but I've had this scratchy throat thing creeping up on me all week.  Then yesterday, when I woke up, I had almost no voice at all. Then, by the time I was greeting the kids at school, I was starting to sound a bit like Macy Gray.  By the afternoon, my Macy impression was dead-on. Lol.  It was a rough day at school, so I was just completely worn out and feeling not-so-wonderful.  I decided that if I went on the retreat, I was just going to be miserable and not much fun anyway.  And having no voice when you're in charge of a bunch of 8th grade girls is no bueno!

So instead, I got to see the family for a few minutes before going to work for a couple of hours.  I made it home early enough for a game of Apples to Apples with my cousin, aunt and momma.  It was quite fun :-)  Then I went to bed and totally crashed.  I woke up with Macy syndrome again :-( But at least I can just chill.


Okay, enough whining...  The real reason that I'm posting is to show you my card for Thursday's challenge-- we're already past the 200th day at 365 Cards!!  How crazy is that?  The challenge is to use 4 different stamps on your card, making sure that at least 2 of them are images.  Here's what I came up with:

Four stamps sounded like a lot to me at first, but once I started working on it, that really didn't seem  like too big of a deal.  The hardest part for me was to find stamps that actually looked good together. I ended up using the bird (which is from our sponsor this week, DRS Designs), the flower, the Italian background stamp, and the little, tiny "miss you."  I have a lot of stamps, but I also have a feeling that my stash looks like a handful compared to the selection that I know some of you out there have. I mean, mine fit in one box. Haha.  But thankfully these worked out pretty well :-)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll hop on over and join us at 365 Cards!