Happy Birthday America--and A Pink Elephant Challenge

Woohoo...don't you just love a birthday party.... I do... Our DD is having a party at her house today...I think we are going to stay home tonight and not do fireworks. I did however buy some for our little one, but she's staying over at her sisters house. So maybe we will do those next weekend and I'll let her have some friends over and do some swimming and roast marshmellows. Sounds like a plan---Stan...lol...that has been in my head for weeks now...I don't know what the song is, but it kind of goes like, take a little plan Stan don't need to rush no, hell, I don't remember the words... drop off the key Lee and set yourself Free...lol...I think I had heard that on the radio one morning and can't seem to get it out of my head....anyone know the title/words?

On a lighter note, The Pink Elephant is having another challenge. I soo love their challenges. Even though I have only done one and now this is my second, I really enjoy their blog and challenges. This weeks challenge is to use your Favorite Color Combo ...how awesom is that. No sketch, so anything goes, just using your favorite colors. Here's what I came up with. I thought with the 4th coming up this week that I would make a July 4th BBQ invite card. I got out and dusted off my Sizzix red and yellow dies and even used 2 $1.00 stamps that I picked up at AC Moore for this card.

Just a super dupper easy card. I also used my Cuttle Bug and embossed the background of the card and the stars. I have always loved these color combos together. As red is my fav. color and the earth tones reminds me of the beach with black making everything pop off of the page. I even made a layout with the same colors. I had these on my bench so I thought I would take these photos that I just took earlier this week and use them.

The pictures in the photos below I took in our backyard. I did a make shift photo studio with white sheets, our wooden picnic table and our little ones sheer canopy that hangs from the ceiling over top of the bed , strung up from the tree...lol...nothing better than natual lighting...then I did a 4th of July set with our little one and the baby.

(I used 2 clear stamps from KI Memories to make the borders)

these are of our eldest daughter and her little man.. Our first of MANY to come photo shoots. ...heehee...he is so going to hate to come to MeMe's house..

I have to laugh when I look at this photo of him above. If looks could kill...

I tell ya, in the one below, he has such a great set of lungs. He just loves to take a bath, but when we put him in the pool, he didn't want anything to do with it.

Well that's all I have for today. Remember to be safe, have a great time and use tons of sun screen. It's going to be a scorcher today here in Charm City....Hugs....

OCC card sketch

Happy Sunday everyone. I just found this card challenge site--- OCC this morning--- I was in the middle of making a thank you card from our little one to her Grandmom and thought it was perfect for the sketch. I hope she like's it.

I used Tim Holtz' rubber stamps, Distress Crackle paint and inks to create the background. I also stamped on top of the crackle with the little girl to give her that really aged look and colored her in with nibs. Stamped onto the paper with the mesh stamp and then added the white crackle paint over top of that to mute it some. Then took worn lipstick ink and did the direct to paper method and wiped it off. Flowers are from Prima, ribbon from Rebecca Sower and the rhinestones and twine are unknown.

Here are the other two cards I made using the sketch from the Pink Elephant. I really had alot of fun with this sketch..

Well we are off today to my MIL's house for her BBQ/picnic. It'll be such a blast I can't wait. Have a great sunny Sunday....hugs from Charm City

Endless Possibilities CPS121 sketch

Okay--I promise--this is my last post for the day. See what happens when I don't get a chance to post for awhile...I forgot that I had this sitting on my bench and wanted to upload it for the sketch over at CPS for this weeks challenge. I tell ya, I am lovin these challenges. I am getting so many cards made using them.

I used the DCWV paper pack and I think this was a tag from one of our pieces of clothing, but maybe I'm wrong. I could have purchased it from the scrapbook store. Anywhoo, I loved the little quote at the bottom and thought it went perfectly with this paper.

Now I need to get my butt up from here and go take care of business...lol...need to feed the family and take care of some other things. Have a great night...hugs

Woohoo

I am now part of the 2 blog poster club..heehee...Here's a couple more challenges that I just made this morning. They are for 2K4Y and Mojo Monday . This first one is 2K4Y...Here's my take on the challenge...I turned it sideways and played alittle... I know I'm sad. Father's Day was last weekend and I didn't make 2 Father's Day cards yet. I knew I didn't need them until tomorrow when we go over to my MIL's for our cookout. I'm really glad that I waited though. I really loved this sketch and knew I wanted to use it for one of the cards. I just hope my FIL likes it. I actually have 2 FIL's. My DH's parents got "D", and they both remarried. So I'm such a lucky girl. They both are just wonderful men. The stamped images are from Starving Artists. I just picked up my first set of their stamps at the convention in Ocean City MD a couple months ago and have loved them ever since. The next challenge is from Mojo Monday. Here's a birthday card I made for my FIL. Yep, one of them is getting 2 cards tomorrow.... wooho...lucky guy...lol... The stamps I used on this are from Inkadinkado--turtle and quote Hampton Art--tree Stampendous--birthday 2u Autumn Leaves--journaling stamp I also used a file downloaded from Scrapped Lives that she created from the Cricut Design Studio. I can't find her link to her blog, but I'll post it as soon as I do. She is an awesom artist if you haven't been to her blog. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with all of us! This is my last card for now. It's another Father's Day card. My FIL is a Harley man, and I just wanted to make a simple card for him. Thanks for stopping in. I do have some other cards I'm going to try and post in the morning. Have a Happy Saturday everyone...Hugs from Charm City

Caardvarks and The Pink Elephant Challenges

I thought I would do a couple more sketches from these places. I am finding that I like to do card sketches. It really helps when you have lost your mojo. My first card is for the Caardvarks challenge. We were to make a card using some sort of a window. Do you ever wonder what your kitty does while you are away? I have often wondered that. So I thought I'd make a card of what I thought ours does. ..lol...I made the card itself using the George Cricut cart, the design studio and cut the window out of the center. Added some transparency and sewed it in. My Mother in law just love cats and thought this would be a great card to send her in the mail. What do you think? This is what the neighbor kitties would be doing...I love how they are sitting on top of the fence looking in at the other kitty getting ready to play with the fishbowl and wanting to play along...lol... Here's the inside...I left a little area so I could add a note. I used the Cricut George Paper doll dress up Animal Kingdom and Doodlecharms carts to make this card. Pattern paper is from Prima's stack. On the window I used wooden skewers. The Pink Elephant #20 I just found this challenge site and have fallen in love with the past challenges. Not to mention the sketch for this week. I have already made 3 cards using this sketch. But the one I'm going to link up is the one posted below. I thought I would make a card for DH. A just because card. I used Tim Holtz' grungeboard and distress crackle paint for the butterfly wings. Added some Diamond Dust and feathers to the top of them. Bingo card is from Karen Foster and the little door opener is from EK Success sticko line. this is the inside view when the door is opened. I'm still looking for a photo to add to the one side of it of the two of us. just a little closer view of the Diamond Dust and crackle paint. Well that's it for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Hugs from a very muggy Charm City

A Belated Thanks to Pat (clever Crafting)

I am so sorry that I didn't post this sooner. I was just going back through my blog and reading the comments and came across this post from you for the award. I want to say a great big thank you for thinking of me. If you have never visited Pat's blog, clever crafting, you need to. There's so much eye candy and inspiration it's oozing through the seams of her blog. Thank you again Pat. The rules are to comment on this blog upload the logo to your blog nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel sahow great attitude and grattitude link to your nonimees within your blog post comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation So here's who I would like to award this lemonade stand award to: DeeDee Sharon Michelle Donna Carole Kris Well I hope everyone has a wonderful day...hugs from Charm City

Caardvarks Depth Perception 3D Challenge

Here's the little 3d shelf sitter project I made for the challenge over at Carrdvarks. Anyone that knows me, knows that I just love to make 3d projects. And I couldn't resist this challenge. They are offering some wonderful eye candy with this challenge from Club Scrap. Hop on over and check out what the DT has made and the rest of the entries. And make something to play along with it.... This is what I came up with..You can click the photos to get a better view of them. (side note..I have noticed that blogger doesn't load everything on my page on every click. I have to refresh the page a few times before I can see everything.) This little fella I made with a paper mache box for the body, polymer clay for his head and tea dyed muslin for his arms and legs. I added floral wire inside so I could make them posable. I also made the hat from grungeboard, which it gave me abit of a fit to try and keep it all together. It wanted to spring open to. I found out grungeboard isn't all that flexable when you want to make a cylinder...but I have to say, I still love that stuff...

here's the back view. The ruffle was made out of the tea dyed muslin to. I heated up some hot water and added about 5 tea bags and some muslin and let it soak for a few hours. I love the vintage feel from this technique. If you ever get a chance, try this. It's awesom looking...*smile*

just a little closer view. He's suspose to be singing America the Beautiful. Hence, his open mouth. The grungeboard stars have silver glitter glue and the top one has a sparkle starburst brad but it doesn't show up to well in the photos...sorry about that.

I made the hymn book from the Paper dolls Cricut cart (spells book pg 54)

here's what my little guy looks like when the top is taken off. I was thinking this could be used to store something inside. Here I've added a bag of little stones to give it some weight for now.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day!!!! Hugs from a very muggy Charm City...

Hit the Road CPS118

I had so much fun the other day with my first card sketch that I went looking for another one to play with. I came across the CPS118 sketch and thought it would make for a fun beach scene one. I found this tutorial from Michelle on her blog and wanted to try it out. Thanks Michelle for such wonderful instructions on how to use ink. Although I can't seem to figure out the brayering yet, I used a sponge instead to color in the background. I still am unsure about sketches and I hope that I made this card right. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great day....hugs from a very soggy Charm City

Our Little Secret

I finally took the plunge. My first ever card sketch card. I don't know why, but I have always stayed away from sketches due to thinking I will make something that doesn't go with the sketch. So this morning I decided to make this card for the 2 sketches 4 you-- 1st annual anniversary ultimate card show down Laura's sketch 27. Congrats Laura and Kazan. They are offering some awesom and I mean awesom blog candy to go along with this showdown. So pop on over and check it out and see what everyone else has posted. They are all just awesom...

Here's what I came up with....you can click on each photo to see a better view...

I turned the sketch on it's side and used some really fun but old goodies. The stamp I've had like forever and really wanted to use her.

Here's what I used to color Betty in. I used Prisma pencils, liquid applique for her hair and then used black chalk to color it in. I love how it looks like black velvet. I also used red glitter to color in the dots on her scarf to give it alittle more sparkle. I also used my Big E storybook cartridge for the circle and marque, felt flower ribbon, pearl bead ribbon and DCWV La Creme stack for the pattern papers.

here's a little close up of the liquid applique. I just noticed the black chalk that rubbed off onto her face...

(Tip) color your image first before using the applique and heat emboss. My first image, the face had gotten alot of black chalk on it around the edges...I also put a few layers of chalk to get her hair really black to cover up the white.

Well that's it. I hope I used the sketch right. Good luck to everyone that enters...

Hugs from a very warm Charm City

Happy Saturday Everyone

How's it going? Been real crazy here once again with the new baby, my birthday, our anniversary and the holiday all thrown in there these past couple of weeks. I have been alittle busy though making some new cards that I wanted to share today with all of you. There's alot of them. I've taken so many photos but just couldn't get any decent photos...sorry to bombard you with so many on this post....and the photos still aren't very good. You can click on them and see a bigger version if you would like.

First I would love for you to take a gander over to Motivet Inspiration blog . They have just the cutest stamps that I found bloggin this past week. They are offering some blog candy right now to. I just received my order from them yesterday and couldn't wait to ink up the cute little stamps. Here's how I used them. I did case the colors from their blog though....

The 3 cards posted below are from Scrappin Doodles line art collections. If you'd like wonder over there and check out what they have. If I'm not mistaken, they are all on sale right now too. Just the cutest little digi stamps...

The next 6 cards I made using rubber stamps I picked up from the Stampin By the Sea convention by Starving Artists a few weeks back. I just thought these were so fun to play with. I got alot of inspiration from their gallery so pop in there and check them out. You won't be disappointed.

I would like to say a great big thank you to everyone that stops in. I really enjoy reading your comments. Thank You and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend...Hugs from a very sunny Charm City...

Welcome Little One

I know, it's been almost a month since my last post. But things have been on the fast track lately. On May 3, 2009 we welcomed baby Landen into our family. He is such a little cutie. Our daughter had a hard time with delivery so they ended up doing an emergency c-section. Baby and Mommy are doing great and are adjusting to a routine. Here's a photo of him just hours after he was born....isn't he just darling....

here's the proud Daddy...look at the little hat that he put on him. It's a Ravens beenie hat. Although he knows the Steelers are the best, he's already getting a leg up on me with this little Ravens one...haahaa...that's ok, I"ve got some Steelers attire coming for our little one here...I soo can't wait...

I took this photo on Mother's Day...He slept through our whole visit that day with the exception of getting fed and changed....

I just had to post these photos. It's the soon to be Daddy (at the time) and his little niece. It's the new craze on waiting for baby....lol...not to mention the Nintendo Ds' and the ipods that everyone brought up to the hospital. I was so glad that we were the only one's in the waiting room. It's like the waiting room was our newest home for the day. We went in at around 6 am and she had the baby at 9 pm that night. So it was such a long day. But I have to say, the girls did really great for being so young. They were just as excited as all of us adults were.

Well that's it for now. I have some cards I"ll post soon...but I hope to get back into the swing of things here shortly. Oh, I almost forgot. Saturday was our rubber stamp convention down at the beach. We spent the day down there. But you will never believe who I ran into at our favorite hangout party club. Cindy Williams. From Laverne and Shirly. She is just soo dang cute. I have a photo and I'll post it the next time. She looks marvelous...simply marvelous...

Hugs from a chilly Charm City

Did you feel the ground shake

yesterday? LOL!!! The card below was the cause of that. I was doing the happy dance...lol...I really don't know how to make simple cute cards (let alone, stamped) and that's how this one turned out... simple and cute..well at least I think so. I soo resisted the urge of inking the edges so much as to, I had to walk away everytime I went to grab my ink pad to ink the edges. I soo love vintage, but I am trying to venture out abit from my norm. Not to mention using these very cute and adorable stamps that I have been collecting over the years and not using. So what do you all think. It's a card for my sister in law's birthday this coming weekend. I added some pop dots under the owl and the circle saying and some glitter to give it jsut a little touch of added depth. The box set below is for (I think) my Mother in Law for Mother's Day. I used a template for this from Split Coast Stampers. And once again stamped..I am starting to get the hang of this stamping stuff. And now I"m seeing why all you stampers love them sooooooo much....I cut the flowers from Storybook Cricut cartridge (hibiscus--pg 46--- 4 1/2" ). I inked them up using Distress inks, stamped Tim Holtz' letter stamp onto it. Stamped the center flowers using See Dee's stamps and added some flower soft to the top layer. I think these turned out to be just a simple set of note cards. I think she will like them. She's always sending notes in the mail...

inks I used were old paper, worn lipstick and broken china.

Well that's it for today. Off to make another set of something. I have 3 Mom's that I need to have something ready for.

Oh, if you get a chance, over at Bitten By the Bug, the DT is having a blog hop today. So hop on over and check out all of their designs they are sharing. I think it starts at Regina's blog, Hand to Paper .

Have a Happy Monday everyone.....hugs from a very sunny and pretty Charm City