Belli Challenge Birthday #90

The Belli Challenge #90 this week is to make cards or projects with a Birthday Theme.

Creative Cuts & More was nice enough to sponsor us by sending a package of wonderful papers, die cuts, rub-ons, and stickers for us to play with! What fun!!

Here are two cards I made for the challenge. Please be sure to check out the website of CC&M, and link your birthday themed project, using whatever you already have in your stash to Mr. Linky here: http://www.bellichallengeblogspot.com/ to be entered for a prize!! Be sure to add CBC to your keyword in SCS. See you in two weeks!

Daisy for CC and MMTPT91

Rainy day here. YUCK! I feel really tired today, maybe it's the weather, maybe just plain tired. I was so glad that under these circumstances the challenges today could be combined.

This daisy works for both the CC and MMTPT91. Teapot Tuesday has to do with daisies and ladybugs. Check. The CC is to use banana, ballet blue and olive. Check.

I have had this wonderful dp from PSX for quite a while. Hoarding it. It has these beautiful big daisies with olive leaves and stems. I just cut one of them out, added a RED ladybug brad (dotted with a Sharpie) and a RED ribbon, and good to go. Have a great day!!

CAS and TLC with Mark's Finest Papers

It's been a busy day. At 2 PM I am just uploading my card. DH and I went to see our post-surgery son, so I could see he was all right with my own eyes. He's doing well, but still swollen and uncomfortable, but he's up and around.

When I came home, I realized I could combine the CAS and TLC, so here's what I did.

All the materials are from Mark's Finest Papers, and the stamp sets (Apples and Camellias, and Background Fun) will be available in May/June. Gorgeous new stuff!!!

Thanks for looking, and I hope y ou're all having a wonderful day!! See you tomorrow!

Casing in RED!

Today I did something I've never done before. I cased a CASE. The Featured stamper today made a card for a previous FS, and I just loved it. I felt it was only fair to show you both of them before I showed you my own. The card with brown and green is the original by Miss Boo. Gloria, our FS, cased this using the top note and embossing in white, but using predominantly brown. Now to my card.

As you can see, I went with my favorite colors!! I loved the top note as a panel, but made some changes. They are all pretty obvious, so I'll not insult you by reciting them. You can compare for yourself.

I hope you like the changes I made, and that you will take a peek at the FS challenge oon SCS today.

DH and I are off for the day to friends' for some fun. I'll be back tonight to comment on your blogs then. Have a great day!

Get Well for Paul

Our son Paul had labrum hip surgery on Thursday. He's having the other one done in the summer, when teachers can take more time off. He's doing fine, but uncomfortable, as you can imagine. (If you want to send him a card, let me know).

The IC this morning had this fabulous card that I cased, and I think it's really appropriate for him. I used three stamps, two colors, and one stamp pad. How's that for easy??!!

This is the original card, and of course I had to keep the fab colors (my favs), especially the RED.

Thanks for looking.

A Trip To Asia!

No, I'm not off to Asia. Although I would love to see the Far East, it's the good old USA for me! This card is for F4A9 at SCS today, a virtual trip.

Because I love anything Asian, this is the first thing that came to mind. I have this adorable little heron, so I drew in some water and cattails, used my new cb ef, and a gold pen. A little distressing, some hemp and a coin round it out.

I have 2 of my grandsons today. They are both nine, and two cuter and funnier little boys you will never see!! At the moment they are playing a DS (whatever that is!) on the couch, and giggling to beat the band!! Here they are, posing quickly for Grandma!

I'll be spending the day with these guys, and intermittently with DH, so there won't be time for comments today.......I'm sure you will understand.

I won't be in my craft room today, but will be at my station as 6PM hostess for the VSN tonight. I hope you will join me! There are lots of fun projects planned, and great hostesses to challenge you!! See you at 5 PM for the start. Don't forget!!!

Mixing REDS!!

Hoo-Boy!! I just love a challenge that's wide open, so I can use my RED! The WT today is to mix patterns, and I just bought a bunch of paper (12 x 12 for 20 cents a sheet!) at M's. Of course I bought a lot of RED, and other matching papers, so this was right on top of the new stuff!!

I had to add some black and white (there are a bunch of us who love this combination - you know who you are!), and when in doubt, I use Stipple Rose. I really LOVE this image.

That's it for today. I'm getting ready for tomorrow's VSN mini. I am the 6 PM hostess, so be sure to check in with SCS to play along!! See you there.

THT046 Inspiration Challenge

This week we have an inspiration Challenge at the Treehouse! We were to use this fabulous bedding set to inspire us to make a card or project. I happened to have a very similar dp by Chatterbox, so all I had to add was an image (from the new set Dinorific) and and embellishment. The leaves are a new (to me) sizzix die cut. I cut out little flowers from the bg, and added them to the branches.

I think this would make a fun birthday card for just about anyone. I hope you will join us this week. Be sure to put THT046 in your keyword, and check out the offerings of the DT here:
http://www.treehousestamps.blogspot.com/. See you next week!

Lavender Rose

And Yes! That is the right spelling! I don't want any comments on A's and E's!! LOL!

For the sketch challenge today, which was really easy, I just couldn't use RED, and I apologize for it right away. We had the most fabulous colored rose that bloomed all summer last year, up until late October. The lavender was so startling beautiful, we couldn't bear to even cut one!!

This is so close to the color .... it is a stunner, isn't it???

Have a wonderful day. We have sun again. I am so "pumped" as my DGS Tommy says!! Hugs to you all!

How About a Julep?

The teapotters are off to KY for the Derby. I'm bring my own Julep .... that's been his name for 42,000 years!! Since I am old, and afraid of horses, I thought riding a dinosaur would be perfect!! We don't care whether we win or not, we just want to be at the tea party and enjoy a few drinks and snacks.

The image of the dinosaur is from

http://www.treehousestamps.com/,
part of a set called Dino-rific. Check it out!!

I'm off to Mom's for the day, so my commenting will be brief. I'll catch up with some of you tomorrow. Have a great day!!

WILD!!

Today is going to be a WILD day!! It's Patriot's Day in Massachusetts, the day of the running of the Boston Marathon. DH is NOT involved this year as an official, so he has "bagged" #2 DS to help with removing the leaf cover off the pool.

DIL and I will be crafting today, and Jake, my DGS will be reading, coomputing, etc. and generally keeping himself busy.

This card is for both challenges today ... TLC and CAS. I just noticed a smudge on the sentiment of brown....guess my stamp wasn't so clean. Please overlook it .... just as you always overlook my mistakes!! Have a great day. The sun is shining here....... haven't seen it in a long time!!!

RED bloom for Dara

Today's Featured Stamper is Dara (my Swedish Sister ...LOL!). I am so pleased for her!!

I cased a card that was all in pink. I tell you that because you know there's NO WAY I could make a pink card. Naturally I had to make it in my favorite colors. I kept her wonderful layout, and the same images. I added layers, ribbon, embossing and the bee. I hope she likes what I did with her pink card.

If you would like to look here, you can see her whole gallery.

We are having ANOTHER rainy day. DH and I were all set to take our coffee in the hot tub this morning, and the sprinkles came down harder! We'll be watching the baseball game today, if they can get it in, and just kicking back. I love Sundays!

Out of the Box

This technique is such fun! I really love the out of the box look, and it's so easy to do with nesties and shapeabilities.

I used a brand new image that comes in color or b/w from http://www.treehousestamps.com/. This set is called Simply Heartfelt. Obviously I used the colorized version, and that made this card even easier to make. I really like the combination of purple and green. It isn't RED, but it's pretty together.

That's it for me today. Mom and I bought a TON of paper when she was here, and I MUST sort it and put it away. A big job, but fun too. Have a good one!

Third and LAST post for today!

Fun challenge today at SCS.......also the Stampin' B's. The theme is time, adding a sun, and an encouraging sentiment.

I love these words, and not just because of Casablanca, but for that too!! On the inside I could put any number of words to complete the saying, but for this one, I will put "I think of you more and more".

Thanks for looking, and I promise, this is the last upload! Hugs to you all!

THT045 Paper Tole

It's Thursday, and time for a TreeHouseThursday challenge. This week's spotlight is on Katie, who wanted us to use the Paper Tole or Decopage technique. I chose paper tole, using the lion from the digi set called Zoofari Friends at
http://www.treehousestamps.com/.

There are a lot of layers here ...... two for the lion's body, and four for his head. (That's the paper tole part).

I cb'd the bg using the Herringbone EF. The sentiment, which of course I wrote with a marker and placed on a Shapeabilities Fancy Tag, was added to the MS grass punch, and the corner punch from EKSuccess. The lion is placed and popped on two nesties, in brown and kraft.

Here is a close-up of the layers........ sorry about the white dimensionals showing too, but this was the best picture I could get. At least you can see a little better here! You can also see the white gel pen on his face. I added a couple of brads on the tag, and that does it. I hope you like it.

Please join us. Connect with Mr. Linky, and be sure to look at what the DT has done. Add THT045 to your keyword, and look for another fun challenge here next week!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #26

The DDIC this week takes its inspiration from

a site called Lovely Package.These four bottles of Herbal Waters are surely beautiful, but when I saw the RED and the hibiscus, I knew just where I'd be going with my papers and inks!!

I kept the background vanilla color of the label, and watercolored an image of the flower I received in a grab bag and never inked. Can you imagine?

The tan punched piece represents the lettering below the flower, and the RED ribbon finishes it off.

Please join us in the challenge, and upload your card or project to:
http://www.divastamper.blogspot.com/
so we can see what you've done. If you upload to SCS, please add DDIC to your keyword. Play with us again the first Thursday in May.

Sketch and Belli Challenge

Here's my card for the sketch challenge today. The details are on the write-up of my gallery. I just wanted to show a close-up of the RED berries I added, that didn't sho in the bigger picture.

Thanks for looking, and be sure to check out the Belli Challenge below.

Belli Challenge - Die Cuts #89

We have a sponsor this week, Sweet N Sassy stamps. They sent us some wonderful digis to play with, and I chose this beautiful bouquet of daisies.

The challenge this time is to use die cuts. They can be anything ....... chipboard, nesties, anything at all. The fun part of this Belli (and ALL of the Belli's) is that we are to use what we already have in our stash!!

I used nesties and a template behind my jellyroll gel pen painted daisies, and watercolored a little so they would show more.

I hope you will link your card or project to Mr. Linky here:

http://www.bellichallengeblogspot.com/ so we can see it, and maybe YOU will win a prize from our sponsor! While you are there, also check out what the Belli Girls have done! Don't forget to upload to SCS with CBC in your keyword.

See you again in two weeks.

Double Trouble!

Mom went home yesterday afternoon after Triple A came and started her car. Dead battery. She got home okay, and called me to let me know. We had great fun as usual, and now we can both rest up!!

Speedy the Cat is trouble!! He causes Faith all kinds of problems, makes messes all over the house playing with her craft supplies, and generally casing mayhem! She needs a break, and needs to send him to Kitties for a few days.

Speedy loves to prowl around Faith's garden (Did you notice not one single weed??? Mark and Markie spend hours taking care of it for her). Speedy chases butterflies, watches the ants, and catches small bugs of all kinds. However: he is afraid of SNAILS!

Markie knew just how to get Speedy to go to Kittie's........he found a giant snail, and there goes Speedy! Enjoy your vacation from everything he does, Faith!! Watch out Kittie! You don't know what you're in for!!

This is also for the CC today. Thanks so much Betty for these wonderful colors.....especially the RUBY RED! I can't believe these colors will be retiring! *sob*. Thanks for looking today!

Hunk for FS, Pat Smethers!

Pat Smethers is the FS today on SCS. She happens to be (like me!) enamored of cowboys and just plain hunky guys! Normally I case one of the FS's cards, but not today.

The card here is purely for Pat's looking pleasure. He is as hunky and gorgeous as the WWW man, and I know she will appreciate how handsome he is, even when she can't see his whole face!!

Have a great day, and make a cowboy card for Pat!! Hugs, my friend!!!

QFTD04 Linda (snail)

Anne Ryan's choicce for queen today is Linda, aka snail on SCS. I cased a wonderful card she made of a winter tree at sunset, with a wonderful thin winter fence. I made a few adjustments to make this summer or spring, and punched the fence.

I really liked the simplicity of this card. It has the kind of layout that you could use anytime, and any image in it would work, as long as it would fit.

I hope you like this case of her card....... if you go to my gallery, you can see hers as well. You can also join in, and be sure to congratulate her on this fun honor.

Massachusetts Chickadee

The challenge today is to make something that comes from your home state. At first I thought of "Boston, Boston, home of the bean and the cod, where Cabot's speak only to Lowell's, and Lowell's speak only to God", which really is true!! Then I thought about the Boston Common, and the Swan Boats, and even the walking tour of Old North Church, freedom trail, and historical stuff like that. Nah!!

Mom and I ended up making a card using the SU punch of our state bird, the chickadee. We have a whole bunch of bird feeders (for DH's pets!!), and those little guys flit in and out so fast!! I love their little voices calling "chickadee...dee...dee" all day. I never get tired of it.

So here is our bird. We have never tried this out before, and next time we will make a few adjustments, but it turned out okay. Enjoy the birds wherever you are, and have a fun day!

An award from Lynn

An award passed on from Lynn McAuley. Now I have to tell 10 things that make me happy, and 5 bits of trivia before passing it along to 5 friends.

Family, candy, SCS, new stamps, lunch out with DH, visiting Mom, grands, retirement, hot tub, stamping.

I don't like TV except for sports, I love breakfast ALL DAY, I love HOT foods, don't talk to me before coffee, I don't like to talk on the phone.

Now I send this award to: Stef, Julia, Emily, Joanne, and Mary. Pick up the picture, and tell all!

RED Friday!

After a lot of messages pleading, and some threatening to call 911, here, finally, is a card done all in RED!!!

I know you expect this from me, and darn it! it's a burden, but here's a quilt made from all RED scraps. I'd love to tell you what dp I used, but who can even guess when the pieces are so small. I save every bit of RED, and I love all these different patterns put together!

Now. Mom is coming for the weekend. She's getting a perm this morning, and then will drive here. Stay off the highway ...... she's 88 and that's the speed she goes in her Caddy!! We are having our SU! demo here on Sunday for some fun and crafting, so she'll be here with bells on. We always have a list, and this time it involves some more punches. (Are there ever enough??)

Have a great day. My comments will depend on how busy Mom makes me!!!

THT044 Color Challenge Featuring ME!!

Happy Thursday! This week, I am featured after choosing the challenge for TreehouseThursday. I chose a Color Challenge......Yellow and Lavender. I love these colors for Spring, for babies, for kids, for flowers, for cute little anythings.

This image is from the set called Zoofari Friends. I happen to LOVE giraffes, so this was a no-brainer for me.

There are lots of parts and layers for this card, but they really aren't necessary if you want to join us in this challenge. Be sure to upload to http://www.treehousestamps.blogspot.com/ and connect to Mr. Linky. In your gallery, please put THT044 in your keyword. See you next week with another fun challenge!

Little tweety Bird

The sketch today at SCS is wonderful ........ color blocking, and great for using up odds and ends of paper, of which I have mountains!!

The image is a new digi by

www.treehousestamps.com,

called Little Tweety. There are a number of really cute designs and words. Be sure to check it out.

Have a great day today. It's supposed to be in the mid 80's, so I'll be outside most of the day, soaking up the rays and cooling off in the hot tub. See you tomorrow!

Two on Tuesday!!

The color challenge today is to use Soft Suede, Teal, and Celery. Great combo, isn't it??

I just got a new cb folder, one of four in a set by Provocraft. The big one is a checkerboard pattern, and this one of bricks (?) has a real Asian feel to it.

I used my markers on Art Of Life, still one of my favorite sets, and crimped a piece of celery, which was the "dessert" of the challenge. I had a great piece of ribbon to match. How cool is that?

This is my entry for MMTPT88. The story is pretty involved, but my response to the story is this:

Frazzle, the rooster at McCoy's Farm is panic-struck to think he may lose his job. Frizzle is out behind the barn teaching the hens to "rap", and their nests are empty. Normally they lay 42,00 eggs, but today there are only 17! Maybe Frazzle needs to learn "rap" to get those girls back where they belong, but everyone knows they lay more eggs when the music is soothing. Here's the RAP for the card (with apologies to your sensibilities).

Behind the barn

Learnin' how to rap

Layin' those eggs

Is really no snap.

Frazzle can't do it.

He needs them girls.

Losin' his job's

The end a his world!

Send Frizzle back.

Fill those nests.

Heck with that rap,

Muzak's the best!!

Two for the CAS

The CAS today was to use a sentiment as our only stamp. Good chance to use some fabulous dp, or to make a nice bg by yourself.

I think some of you will be pleased to see a little RED from yours truly. You know I sneak it in whenever I can!!

I hope you all had a nice Easter. We spent it with DD and her family, and this year all our kids and grandkids were together. Nice. DH, Mom and I stayed until we were tired (which gets earlier every year!), and left the younger generation to chat and laugh among themselves. To tell you the truth, I'm always glad when the holidays are over. Now Mom and I can concentrate on going on vacation to NH to stamp ourselves silly! Have a great day!!!

RED for the IC today

Mom is here for Easter weekend, and we have had the giggles this morning. The card is for the IC, and what inspired me is shown here..... a fabulous hat with a RED rose. How could I resist???!!

When I was a kid, Mom, Gram and I would go to the BIG dept. store and try on hats. We would get laughing so hard we would have to go to the Ladies' room. Just thinking about it made us laugh again.

I hope you like my hand-made rose. Have a wonderful safe and peaceful Easter, unless you'll be like us, having dinner with the six (out of 7) grands, in addition to all my kids. Bedlam for sure! Hugs to all!

Accordian Book for Spring

This is the front of the accordian book I made while I was up all night, instead of sleeping. It only took about an hour to do, and most of that time was figuring out what my theme and images would be. The actual putting together was easy after the brainwork, which was a little impeded with lack of sleep!

I'm going to tuck this into the bag of goodies I have for my Mom when she arrives later this morning for the Easter weekend.

Here is the inside of the book. I hope you can read each of the little pages. They are only 3 by 2 1/4, so they're not all that big. They say: Welcome rain; Welcome sun; Welcome flowers; Welcome trees; Welcome friends; Spring has sprung. If you click on the picture it will enlarge. Have a great day!

THT043 Spotlighted Lion

Happy Thursday! The Treehouse Thursday Challenge today is to use the Spotlighting Technique.

I used an image from http://www.treehousestamps.com/ called Zoofari Friends which will be available next week. I love the look on the lion's face, so that was the part I popped to spotlight it. Get it???

If you would like to join us this week, be sure to put THT043 in your keyword. See you next Thursday!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge #25 and a PRIZE!

Happy April! Today's Inspiration Challenge comes from Pier I. I really loved the colors of the advertisement, and wanted to keep both the colors and the flower of Spring theme.

The image I used is from SU!, called Bloomin' Beautiful. The Dp is from the Dollar Tree, and the colors I used to paint are yellow, pumpkin, celery, olive, and black. The blossom is popped up. The little bird is a punch from MS, and the white ribbon takes the place of the words all in white.

If your join us, please link your card to us here: http://www.divastamper.blogspot.com/. There will be a PRIZE offered this time, as we have completed our first year as a team!! You could win!! We'll see you again in two weeks!

Creative Belli Challenge #88

The Creative Belli Challenge this time is to make
a card or project using COLOR SPRAY (glimmer mist, walnut ink, make your own, etc.).


Our sponsor for this challenge is The Stamping Boutique. They kindly sent us some digi images to use, and here is the one I chose called "Spring Cleaning".


The colors suggest spring cleaning to me..... dirty water, yucky walls. Hmmmmm.... I don't think I've done Spring Cleaning since ..... 1978??? And NEVER will again!! No point to it. It only has to be done the next time, right???


Please feel free to join us. Be sure to connect your project to Mr. Linky on our blog here at http://www.creativebelliblogspot.com/ for a chance at some fun stuff, check out the DT's pictures, and upload to SCS with CBC in your keyword. Don't forget to take a look at http://www.thestampingboutique.com/ as soon as you can!!

Bunny Chick

I'm making this my absolute last Easter themed card. If it wasn't for Teapot Tuesday, I wouldn't have done this one. Then again, I would have, because I like to send my Mom a bunch of cards for whatever holiday.

She loves to get mail (don't we all!), and she decorates her mantel and organ with them, so whoever comes in the house can't possibly miss 'em!

She is actually one of my favorite peeps, along with DH, kids and grands, not to mention the actual marchmallow ones. Diet be darned when those cute guys are around.

Have a great day, enjoy the sun if you see it......we are still having rain, flooded basements (not us, thankfully), closed roads, and rivers at their highest ever!!

Inside, Outside

With thanks to Amy S. for this fab layout!!

I never do anything with the inside of my cards except use them for a sentiment. For some strange reason, when the outside is done, I'm thinking about the next project. Lately, I've been eliminating sentiments on the outside, telling myself I'll use it for "whatever". Possibly that's not so. I seem to be in a hurry these days, and I have no reason to be. I'm retired. What could be that pressing?

I need to get out of my rut. Holly may just have nudged me to alter my behavior by her challenge today. I hope so. I love the results, and will try to slow down and do more of this sort of thing. Input, please!! Hugs to you all!!

Moonflower Inspiration

The website chosen for the Inspiration Challenge today is called http://www.thymes.com/, and has the most beautiful packaging for their products. The one I chose is pictured here, along with my card. I had no intention of doing this today...... I have lots to do, and company coming for dinner and cards.

I used gold embossing and liquid pearls to add a little punch to the image, which is a bit smaller that the one on the box, and I think it looks great!! I hope you like it too. I left off a sentiment, and will just use it for whatever comes along. Have a wonderful weekend!!