Duckie For Spring

For Lori, our Featured stamper, I made a case of her Tea Party card, changing the theme to Spring. This is a sneak peek of a new set from Mark's Finest Papers that will be released on Tuesday, with three other sets. This one is called "Spring Has Sprung". There will be a Blog Hop to show samples of the four new sets starting Tuesday, so be sure to come here and check them out!

Today, in addition to the Super Bowl, we are celebrating three birthdays with cake and ice cream......... and presents for DGS John, who has just turned 10!! We will also be hugging DGS Tommy, who just received the Arrow of Light, the highest award for Cub Scouts. Last night he bridged to Boy Scouts, and hopes to join his two Uncles (Paul and Warren) who are Eagle Scouts!!

Have a great day........ the sun is shining here for a change, and even though the water is still coming in the house, the level of the snow is going down (before we get two more storms this week). I'm so TIRED of winter!!! Bye!

Uncommon Birds

Here is the card I made today for the Inspiration Challenge. The website is called Uncommon Goods, and has wonderful and fun gifts, some recycled. I chose a lamp which I pretty much reproduced. Here it is.

Mom is here for the weekend, SU Demo today, birthday party and Super Bowl tomorrow. To those of you who made comments, David did really well with his surgery yesterday, and is home. Thanks for your well wishes.

Have a great weekend. If I don't comment, just know that I've been looking at your blogs, and will get back to you soon.

Box Arm Valentine and Get Well humor for David

This is the Box Arm card. It's a tutorial by my friend Emma Fewkes, and you can see her blog here.

I hope this card is okay for the challenge......because I really wanted to show off this fabulous and interesting stand-up card!

This is the next one I made:

This morning my DS David is having his gallbladder removed. If I can get this in the mail shortly, he'll get it tomorrow. I think it will make him chuckle.

The challenge was to use white and a neutral, and add one other color. I'm sure you're not surprised I chose RED.

Mom arrives today. We are expecting our SU demo tomorrow AM, and on Sunday, we're having a combined birthday cake and ice cream for DGS John and DH. It's also David's birthday, if he's well enough to ride here. We will be hunkered down for the Super Bowl with snacks, and rooting for neither team, since our Patriots are not in it! Have a great day!

Imbedded Tiger with Hearts

Here's a sneak peek of Big Cats, which will be released next week by Mark's Finest Papers. I used this wonderful tiger face for two challenges: WT308 (hearts) and Stampin'B's (Imbedded Image).

I punched out hearts to make the flower, and cut a teeny-weeny one to dot the i in Wild. The imbedded technique was invented by Toy (Holly), and is really fun. If you go to my gallery on SCS (in my sidebar), you can get directions.

Thanks for looking. DH has gone to the office, and I'm manning the drip buckets alone this morning. I HATE winter!!

Wishful Thinking (Belli Challenge Below)

This is the card I made for the sketch challenge today. I called it wishful thinking, because we all are SICK of winter. We have ice dams on the roof that are leaking between windows and forming ice there that has to be chipped every few hours so it doesn't overflow into the house!!! YUCK!

The image I used for the card is a sneak peek of a new set to be released next week by Mark's Finest Papers. It's called "Spring Has Sprung", and do I ever wish it would!!!

Be sure to look below for the Belli Challenge..........it has bling and lots of RED!

Creative Belli Challenge - Jewelry in RED!

I just adore the Belli Challenge. Please join us in using what you already have in your stash......no need to run out and get something new!! Our theme this time is JEWELRY. It can be real, stamped, put together, just whatever happens to work for you.

I made jewelry for the image on my card today. Of course, it had to be RED. You would have been disappointed otherwise, wouldn't you???

Join us by adding your card or project to Mr. Linky here and we'll see you again in two weeks.

MMTPT and the CC - 2 today!

First, this is for the Teapot Tuesday challenge.......Cherries. This card was done with the following poem (written by me of course) in the back of my mind.


I have a dear granddaughter
And she's a lot like me.
We both like eating cherries.
(They're RED as they can be!)

We like all things with cherries,
Especially for desserts.......
Of course they're always yummy,
And RED - that never hurts!

Drinks that have some cherries
Are ever on our mind.
Shirley Temples work for us,
And easy for us to find.

We like to add some cherries,
And juice of course for flavor
To ginger ale and orange juice,
The taste we really savor!

So here's to my sweet Erin
And cherries by the score.
When we have maraschinos
Who could ask for more!!!

I hope you like the card and poem, Erin. I have LOTS of cherries in the fridge, of course, just waiting for us!!

The Color Challenge today uses white, River Rock and Basic Gray. Here's what I did the first time:

I made the lamb by stamping with the gray on River Rock and used the out of the box technique. I really liked it, but thought it might be a little dark, and thought I might restamp the lamb in white. Here is the new result:

I think I like the white one better. It stands out more, and that was what I wanted all along.

Thanks for looking today. We are having another snowstorm, and joined the lightly falling snow with coffee in the hot tub this morning. It's snowing hard now, so I'll be doing a lot of R & R with puzzles, a book, and keeping my feet up. What a day!

A Waltz and a Birthday!

This card is for the double challenge at Split Coast today, CAS and TLC.

Today is the 46th birthday of our oldest child, David. In the hot tub this morning, DH and I were talking about the day he was born. I guess it's something you never forget. We were young, broke, and deliriously happy. Later we will call him and sing, loud and off-key, as is our family custom, and he will suffer through it. We are VERY proud of him. He majored in Mathematics, and is a bank vp. He is married to a fabulous girl, and has two kids, Nate and Samantha, who light up our lives. Happy Birthday, Dave!!

Get Well Bunny

My granddaughter Samantha is having outpatient surgery for a cyst under her eyelid on Tuesday. I'll pop this in the mail tomorrow, and she'll get it the afternoon she comes home from her ordeal. She's very brave about it, but I know a card will boost her spirits, especially one with a cute bunny.......she loves animals!

This is also for the FS challenge today, honoring Sue (Tillymint).

Today also happens to be John's birthday, our youngest grandson who is ten. WOW! Double figures!! I called him and sang Happy Birthday this morning. He's having a party with friends this week. We will see him next week for presents, ice cream and cake. Do they ever grow up fast!! Happy Birthday John! We LOVE you, sweetheart!

Have a wonderful day. We are awaiting another storm this week, and we are all really tired of winter! YUCK!

Valentine Bird

This CAS card is for the IC and for Speedy's Friends..........I sure hope this is the last Valentine I have to make. I love using the RED, but I'm tired of hearts all the time. Today I am using Mark's Finest Papers 100 # weight paper! It is gorgeous stuff!! Time to get rid of the old GP!!

The sun is shining, but the snow is still piled way up. More tonight, Tuesday, and I'm so sick of it!! To get myself out of a funk, I'll have to make some Spring cards soon!! Have a great day!!

Warm Forest

A quick upload today....I have an early appt with my oncologist for a checkup. The challenge today was to do something in a warm color with animals. This CAS card with the image from MFP's In The Forest fits the bill.

Have a great day. Off to see Mom tomorrow, then dinner with Julia (artystamper) and Kent at night. Snow, please stay away!!!

Bee Happy Rainbow

This card is for the two challenges today..... WT - Rainbow, and StampinB's - Inspired by a song. In case you can't figure it out, the song is "I Want To Be Happy". I'd really LIKE to be happy, but it's so hard with another 12 inches of snow. As I post, DH is snowblowing the driveway.......AGAIN! Guess how thrilled HE is!!!!!

I think this card is so cheerful and full of color that it makes me feel that Spring can't be so far away. Our garden is generally full of giant bees like these, enjoying the perennials. I wish it was May already! On those hot days, will I be thinking of snow????? NOT!!

Swan Greetings and a Picture of DH!!

I love this image! I used the swan from "Our Side of the Pond" from Mark's Finest Papers for the Sketch Challenge this morning. I made lots of layers, and lots of dimensionals to make the swan really stand out. At first I had part of a saying about there being no ugly ducklings, but then couldn't figure out who to send it to, so I went back and changed it. I also took pictures three different times, and finally got it in focus. I hope you like it.

We are awaiting ANOTHER snowstorm. The weather guys are proming a foot of snow, but I hope they are wrong. We have nowhere to put any more. I am hunkered down, plenty of food, but I have to say I really hate the stuff. So does DH, but we were talking about it last night, and decided we'd rather live here and put up with it, than live somewhere else!

Oh! And speaking of DH, he took a spill over a pair of his shoes in the hall and landed on his forearm. This is what it looks like five days later:

When he went to volunteer at the school (as he does almost every day, now that he's retired), the school nurse told him she had seen some real bruises in her day, but this was IMPRESSIVE!! Luckily, nothing is broken, and he says it doesn't even hurt! What a guy!! He's really doing fine.

This is the longest blog for me ever. And I'm done. Have a good one, and cross your fingers that the snow will pass us by!

Two cards for Today!

This one is for the CC at SCS today........it was really hard for me. The RED of course was wonderful, but adding the brown and purple had me perplexed. I'm sure others found it easy. Not me.

This next one is for the Teapot Tuesday challenge, a baby card for twins, including a monkey.

This was a lot easier! I even wrote a little poem to go inside. The happy family belongs to our SCS friend, Patricia Rose, who is the Grandma. This card is off to Canada in celebration. (If you go to my gallery, you can read the words I am adding). Thanks for looking.

Tile Heart

Hope you like this card for the two SCS challenges today. I was checking to see, and it's been a long time since I used RED...... will I EVER be done with Valentines????? Have a great day, and thanks for your comments! Hugs!

Sympathy in Brown

Today I combined the FS challenge with one for Speedy's Friends (sympathy). Emily, the featured stamper has a crisp CAS style, and I kept a number of her cards on file to case.

Today is Football day.......I'll be plunked in front of the TV watching all day! Have a good one!

Inspired by Barbie!

This card was inspired by Krystal Barbie, dressed all in white with her beautiful blush complexion. This is one of the seven cards I will send to Mom the week of Valentine's Day. She will love it!!

Wonderful You!

This card combines two challenges this morning......F4A48 (word bg) and StampinB's (banner). I guess I am on a BLUE kick this week! I love this set from Mark's Finest Papers called "Ferns & Chickadee"!

Snowing to beat the band out there today. I just rescheduled my Dr. appt, and DH and I will spend a cozy day inside. I love looking out at the white, which is covering up all the dirty snow from the other day. DH doesn't love it........means he will be snowblowing our LOOOOOOONG driveway later in the day. It's a good day to put something in the crockpot, huh? Have a good one!

Caribbean colors

Aren't these the most beautiful colors?? The challenge today at SCS was to use gradient inks. I chose to make a CAS card with Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Caribbean Sea ink pad. I think I have warm something or other on the brain...enough snow for me, yet we are having more tomorrow! Yuck! Thanks for looking, and have a great day.

Beautiful Scissors - (Belli Challenge below)

Here is the card I made for the SC today. I really love this layout, especially with the images from Mark's Finest Papers. This set is called Sew What? and is available now. I hope you like it, and that you will take a look at my Belli Challenge card below.

Belli Challenge - Letter "P"

The Creative Belli Challenge this week is to make a card or project using the Letter "P". My winter card uses both Patterned Paper and the word Peace. These are all items from my stash - that's the whole point of the Belli.....to use what you already have!

Please join us by linking your project or card HERE with Mr. Linky on the Belli blog. You can see the rest of the DT's entries there as well. Join us again in two weeks!

Flying Butterflies

This card goes out to Alex, an injured policeman in FL. It's for the MMTPT129 and also for the Color Challenge today. I remembered to add my teapot pin, made for me by MariLynn.

Snowing, snowing here today. I'm sick of winter, and it has barely begun. Luckily I can stay in and keep warm. How fortunate we are to have shelter.....I guess this is just a reminder to be thankful for what we have!!

Have a great day. Hugs to you all.

Tulip Silhouette

Today I am feeling better....no migraine. YAY! Thankfully the challenges could be combined, the TLC - Silhouette, and CAS - sketch. I fell back on my favorite colors. Hope you don't mind.

Birthday Card for Tom

In the upper corner is the card I cased for the FS (whoistraci) today. This is for our best friend Tom, who is having a BIG birthday on the 22nd. We are all going out to dinner to celebrate, and I think this will make him laugh!

Today we'll be camped out in the den watching the Pats WIN!! Snacks, yelling, and family are on the agenda! Have a great day too!

Cat Valentine

This Valentine is for two challenges today: Inspiration 267, and Speedy the Cat's Friends. I have moved a lot of my STUFF around, and now it's much easier to get to my Embossing Powder and Versamark. I love seeing the powder melt! Anyway, I am still making Valentines, and have BFF's who LOVE cats, so this will go to them. In fact, they will be here for dinner tonight, as usual.

Have a great day. Thanks to those of you who looked at my blog for the MFP Blog Hop. I hope you enjoyed seeing my cards for the new sets.

MFP Blog Hop - Final day!

Welcome to the final day of the MFP January Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!


And…LOOK for the WINNERS of the Blog Hop TOMORROW!!!

Our New Sets are: In the Forest, Happy Pansies, Sew What, Floral Tea. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, January 15, 2011, a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

FRIDAY, January 14, 2011-Floral Tea

Here is my sample using this set:


Here is the rest of the Design Team - check out what they have done!

Emily-

Karen-

Patty-

Roxie-

Vicki-

Liz:

Claudine-

Dawn-

Joanne T-

Nicole -

Marilynn-

Peggysue-

Susan –

Connie –

Emily N.-

Neva

Mark’s Finest Papers

Thanks for joining us. The four sets are available and FABulous!!

Blog Hop Day 3

Welcome to the MFP January Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!


And…LOOK for the WINNERS of the Blog Hop Saturday!

Our New Sets are: In the Forest, Happy Pansies, Sew What, Floral Tea. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, January 15, 2011, a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

Thursday, January 13, 2011-Sew What?

Here is my card made with the new set:



Here's the rest of the Design Team. Check out what they have done!
Nancyruth

Lois

Vicky

Dawn L.

Anne

Emily

Karen

Patty

Roxie

Vicki

Liz

Claudine

Dawn M

Joanne T

Nicole

Marilynn

Geri

Lynn

Neva

Mark’s Finest Papers

Be sure to join me again tomorrow for the final day of the MFP Blog Hop!

Blog Hop Day 2

Welcome to the MFP January Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!


And…LOOK for the WINNERS of the Blog Hop on Saturday!

Our New Sets are: In the Forest, Happy Pansies, Sew What, Floral Tea. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, January 15, 2011, a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

WEDNESDAY, January 12, 2011- Happy Pansies

Here is my sample of the new set:


Here is the Design Team. You can click on their names to see more samples:

Nancyruth

Lois

Vicky

Dawn L.

Anne - That's me!

Peggysue

Susan

Connie

Claudine

Dawn

Joanne T

Nicole

Marilynn

Geri

Lynn

Emily N.

Mark’s Finest Papers
Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of the MFP Blog Hop!

Blog Hop Day 1

Welcome to the MFP January Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!


And…LOOK for the WINNERS of the Blog Hop Saturday!

Our New Sets are: In the Forest, Happy Pansies, Sew What, Floral Tea. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, January 15, 2011, a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

Here is my card for today using the first new set:
TUESDAY January 11, 2011- In the Forest

Below are the members of the Design Team, where you can see more samples:


Nancyruth

Lois

Vicky

Dawn L.

Anne

Peggysue

Susan

Connie

Emily

Karen

Patty

Roxie

Vicki

Liz

Geri

Lynn

Emily N.

Neva

Mark’s Finest Papers

Please join us tomorrow for Day 2!

TLC Mojo Challenge & CAS Too!

Tomorrow, there will be a Blog Hop here for four new sets from Mark's Finest Papers. This is a sneak peek of a set called "Floral Tea". I made this card for today's challenge at SCS. I'm back from PT, and off to make a card for the CAS.

Here's the card for the CAS, Snow, which I sincerely HATE to see! This card will go off to Mom this morning. We're battening down the hatches for a storm starting tomorrow night, and she will get this card before it starts. She doesn't like snow either!!

Valentine CASE

The FS today is UKGem (julie) who makes beautifully textured cards. I took one of her all-white cards and jazzed it up a bit with my favorite color.

This is a quickie today........off to lunch with DH and then a day of FOOTBALL! YAY!

Penguin Dude

This split negative card in my favorite colors is for the IC266 today. My inspiration was a penguin pencil topper. I think I was also inspired by the snow we are having today as I wait for grandson Jake to arrive. He's having a sleepover, including some crafting, a movie, and popcorn. Isn't life WONDERFUL!!

Tea Time Hearts

This is not what I visualized. Sometimes a card takes on a life of its own. Now that it's done and posted, I don't even like it. everything matches, but maybe it's too much.......PLMK what you think would make it better......or should I scrap it all together??

I woke up with a migraine about 3 AM, and my stomach is still upside down, even though I am good enough to stamp. I will be in the fiorinal with codeine fog all day. We are expecting snow later today, and I am VERY tuned into the weather. I should have been a meteorologist!! I'm going to spend the rest of the day resting. Hope your day is better than mine, but as my Grandma used to say, "This too shall pass!".

Dakota Verse

Here's a simple masculine card I made today for two challenges. For WT: twine. For StampinB's: something old (punch), and something BRAND NEW (stencil). I love the verse I found to go with this dream Weaver stencil. I got out my dusty light box, my stylus, and some sponging......done! Hope you like it. Off to PT in my new car. Seeya!

Creative Belli Challenge - SNOW!

Welcome to the first Belli Challenge of the New Year!! Our first theme is SNOW. The one requirement of the Belli Challenge is to use what is already in your stash. Mine was some snowflakes I cb'd and saved.

Be sure to join us by adding your card or project to Mr. Linky here, and be sure to check in with us in two weeks for another fun challenge!

Button, Button (and new car below!)

The color challenge today was right up my alley, and gave me another Valentine for my stash. I used a set that will be released next Tuesday from Mark's Finest Papers, called "Sew What?". The images are wonderful, and the sayings are fun!!

Thanks for looking. Have a great day, and take a look below at my new car!!

New Car

Here is my nice shiny brand spankin' new car. Just got it home, and so now I can spend the rest of the day figuring out where everything is, and how it works.

Valentine for Elaine, and a Sneak Peek!

Here's a Valentine for my friend Elaine, who has two cats, Josh and Bill. She loves cat cards, so I think she will really like this. It's for the CAS100 challenge at SCS today, and the technique is "kissing". It took more time to decide which images to use than it took to make!!

I am off shortly to pick up my new car. It's a Ford Escape SUV, 2011. It's metallic blue. I'll take a picture of it later, and post it here too, so you can see it. Have a great day.

Here's a second card......painting with Stickles.......using a sneak peek of a set that will be released next week by MFP, called Sew What? Isn't it fun???

Tea Time

Here's a sneak peek of a soon-to-be-released set from Mark's Finest Papers.

This set is called Floral Tea, and will be available next week on January 11th. It has beautiful cups, teapots, and wonderful sayings. Be sure to watch for it, and three more sets as well! I used it today for the FS challenge at SCS. Have a lovely day, and thanks for looking.

RED for next year!

I thought I should start off the New Year with some RED. The Inspiration Challenge for today had a RED and white pitcher that I thought was fun, and thus this card. Before I put away my Christmas themed images, this nutcracker from Mark's Finest Papers set "Christmas Postage Due" just called to me - the beginning of Christmas 2011's stash. Happy New Year to you all.

Clean = White!

Our challenge today at SCS is to make a card showing our New Year's Resolution. Here is mine, with a bit of explanation:

DH does all the laundry. He folds it, and puts my underwear away, and leaves the things to be hung up on my side of the bed. I only go upstairs to go to bed, so at night, I put the stack on the floor. In the morning when I take my shower, I choose from what's on the floor to wear for the day. IF I were to resolve, it would be to hang up my clothes and see a clean floor.

This card represents a clean floor. I figure clean equals white.

Remember, I'm retired. IFs don't go far any more!! Happy 2011 all!!

Valentine for Mom

The challenge this morning on SCS is to use silver. I love the elegance of white with it, and am starting to make valentines. I think my Mom will really like this. I used the butterfly from MFP's new set, Hearts Hearts Hearts. It didn't hurt that I had soome really cute butterfly beads and a heart charm in silver to add to the cord! Hope you like it.

I'm off for the day with DH......sort of a DATE day! LOL! Catch up with you later.

RED Hat for Joyce

This card will go out to a lady who is fighting a real battle. She is a member of the RED Hat Society, so of course those were my color choices. The cb embossing on the side is from the folder YOU, and has some wonderful words.

I posted this in two galleries at SCS today, the Teapot Tuesday and Sketch Challenges, as it fulfilled both.

We are missing our beautiful and sweet granddaughter, Erin. She went home last night, after spending a few days crafting, reading with her new Nook, baking, and bubbling in the hot tub. We love to have her, and hope she will join us again soon. She had to go home for practices for competitive Cheerleading. You should see her do a SPLIT! AMAZING!! To those of you who commented on her cards, may I thank you? She was delighted with your remarks.

Have a great day!