TLC Never Again!!

Today, the TLC challenge is to make a card using the Magical Marquee Technique. I had never seen this before, and I will probably never do this again!! I spent more than 2 hours trying to get the pieces to fit. The directions were for a 5X5 card, and I wanted to make an A2. I couldn't figure out how this was put together, then I watched Jan Tink's video again, and saw what I had overlooked.

I like the results. I hope you do too. This one and only card will go to my Mom who will really appreciate what I went through to make it!! Have a great day!!

For Pam, our FS!

Today the FS at SCS is Pam Hooten (Iris). She has a wonderful gallery. I was truthfully unaware of her creations, but really enjoyed looking at what she has done.

I cased a card of a bicycle, but obviously changed the theme. I kept her easy layout, but changed most everything else. I hope she likes what I have done.

Happy father's Day to all the Dads out there. We are low-key today. All three kids have to be somewhere else ... one delivering a child to the airport early this afternoon, one delivering a child to camp far away, and one celebrating with an in-law. Mom went home early this AM, so it's just DH and me. I think he's kinda glad to have no company for a change.

I made him a nice big breakfast, and will cook for him, instead of having him at the grill for a mob!!

Have a great day, wherever you are. See you again tomorrow. Hugs to all.

The Best Nest - Mark's Finest Papers

The two challenges in one today are the IC from a fun website called LoveArtWorks, and Speedy's Friends Challenge #8.

This is the piece I used for inspiration. The nest image and sentiment come from "Ferns and Chickadee" at Mark's Finest Papers.

Please feel free to join us, by linking. You just might win a set of stamps!!

....and a Bone

This card is for the F4A17 challenge at SCS.....Man's Best Friend. I thought the doberman from

Mark's Finest Papers was perfect for it. This image comes from a set called "More of Speedy the Cat's Friends". Go visit, and see what else is in the set ...it's fabulous!

Mom just arrived for the weekend, so that means we'll be making lots of cards. I will have VERY little time for the computer, so I will catch up with you all next week.

Happy Father's Day to all the guys out there.

THT054 Favorite Tools

The TreeHouse Thursday challenge this week is to use your favorite tool. I have a number of favorites, but first, I have to say is my Cuttlebug. I use it for all kinds of embossed bgs and for cutting Nestabilities. I also LOVE to cut with scissors, so this card employs both.

I used the new stamp set from Treehouse stamps called Tea Time.

I hope you will check out the blog to see what the DT has done, and will join us by adding your project to Mr. Linky. See you next week!

DDIC#30

Here is the image Lori, our fearless leader, chose for us as our inspiration this week. It comes to us from a place called Nostalgia Organics .

I thought the shape of the plate was really interesting, and I just loved the little rim of flowers and the bird. There were a lot of items to choose from, as well as the colors. I thought this one was very interesting!

Here is my card. I used Tapestry dowel stamps to make the ring of flowers. The bird is a punch by SU, and the tiny birds are tiny punches I got at M's.

I hope you will join us in making a card or project using the picture as inspirations, and that you will check out the DT on my sidebar to see theirs. If you post to SCS, please add DDIC to your keyword.

Hang in There!

This is my card for the Sketch Challenge today. I have had this digi image for a while, and have been just dying to paint it. Isn't it a hoot? Doncha love this fun tree frog?

I have an easy day today......DH is gone most of it. Today is the day before the Math finals at the High School, and as a volunteer tutor, he will be helping kids get ready. Since he retired, after teaching Math for 40 years, he is at the school almost every morning to give one on one to any kid who wants his services. They LOVE him (and well they should!)

Have a fun day yourself. Don't forget to take a look below, and wish Ashley Bowen a Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Blog Hop for Ashley!

Today is Ashley Bowen's birthday! She is the owner of Treehouse Stamps, and those of us on the DT wanted to send her BIG wishes by blog hopping our cards for her big day!



This card uses the set "Happy Dragon", one of the four sets that are being revealed tomorrow. I paper pieced her(she's PINK!), and added a big bow and flower to make this festive for Ashley.



Here is the list of Design Team members taking part in this special day. Be sure to check out what they have done, and be sure to send your best wishes along to Ashley!

Neva McMullen

Kelly Hampton

Maria Levine

Yaneri Rodriguez

Gloria Morizen

Katie Tate

Heather Prince

Kimberly Lowery

Stephanie Serrano

and ME! (you are already here!)

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Be sure to check in with us tomorrow for our regular Thursday Treehouse Challenge!

RED Roses and Hugs, and a Teapot Poem!

If you know me at all, you know today I am a happy camper. The CC is banana, moss and RED! That makes my whole day!

The roses are stamped on banana, colored with markers and painted, and framed. Wasn't I lucky to have this wonderful striped paper in my stash? Can you imagine the amount of dp I have with some RED in it?? The only pile bigger is white, of course.

Hope you like my card for today. I'll be back in my addict...erm....craft room in a minute to do the Teapot Tuesday challenge too. If you have time, come back later to see. Have a great day!

And now for the zany Teapot Tuesday story: The RED bus and 42,000 pencils.

Do not laugh and do not smirk,

We've been warned by Sgt. Burke.

No more pencils. That's not cool...

Break's the city's littering rule.

Breaking rules, we say, is fun.

On this bus we've just begun.

Burke, he tells us, without fail,

Any more and we're in jail!

In jail we know there is no tea,

Just BARS - hey wait! Sounds good to me!

(I'll have a wine spritzer please!)

(Sincere apologies to Dr. Seuss)

A Little Humor........

Are these cannibal images KILLER or what??????? I bought them from a company called BEEZink in Warner NH while I was on vacation. I had to have them, although there was no sentiment to go with them, and I had no idea how I would use them. BUT......I HAD to have them. Today as I was considering what I would do for the StampinB's challenge (Beach theme), I knew what I would use. As I have a number of friends who have need of get well cards, it says "Better Get..... " and on the inside, "......Better!". I think a little humor is fun for a get well card.

There. I have proved how really nutty I am. I'm not even sorry for the opening line of my comments here!! The pun was intended! Have a great day, and if YOU are not feeling so well, I hope this gives you a smile!

Combining Monday Challenges!

The challenges today on SCS were close enough that I could combine them. TLC - One layer wonder, CAS - something that flies.

Sponging around the image was the hardest part of this card. I used Chickadees and Ferns from

Mark's Finest Papers for the image, and the word "everyday", and Believe in You for the word "friend".

The only extra was to punch tiny holes for the ribbon to go through, and that took the most time!!! This will go to my friend who just had mastectomy surgery.

Have a lovely day!

Red for our FS!

This is my card for LeAnne, our FS175 today. I had lots of cards of hers I wanted to case, and really needed to do something in RED, so this is the result.

I changed her card by orientation, color, and used ribbon in place of brads.

I liked the simplicity of the layout, and will do this one again.

Have a great day.

Victorian Fern

This card is for the IC at SCS today, a beautiful site of Victorian lovely stuff. I chose to use my Stampabilities template because it looked so lacy, as did most of what I looked at.

It's also for Speedy's Friends Challenge #7: make your own DP. I crinkled up a piece of plastic wrap, and pounced it on my celery ink pad, then on white cs. Then I used olive ink for stamping ferns from Mark's Finest Papers set called Chickadees and Fern. I'm sure you can figure out the rest without my help. If you'd care to join us, you could win a stamp set by uploading to Mr. Linky at the blog.

Busy day today. I'm off shortly to see Jake (our almost 11 yr. old DGS) get his Blue belt. Then some cooking, as we are having our favorite Saturday friends, Tom and Cheryl, to come and eat, and play some cards. I will comment where I can, and do some more tomorrow. Have fun!

MFP Blog Hop Final Day!

Mark's Finest Papers' Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs on June 8, 9, 10, and 11th, 2010. On Saturday, (June 12. 2010), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! (4 different winners, one winner for each day.) (THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE OTHER CHANCES TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!)

The 4 winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month!




Here is my card. The images come from the set called Cupcake Birthday. This is a tent topper with the big cupcake paper pieced, and glued to a big scalloped circle that is punched. The leaf and stem are out of the box! How cool is that??? The dp is from Basic Grey, and the scallop edge and candle punch are by EK SUCCESS. I used RED and green markers, and gold glitter glue. For my last card of the Blog Hop I just had to use my favorite colors!!


Be sure to visit the blogs of the Design team here:

Samantha - June Guest Designer
Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Jeanne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn
Mark's Finest Papers

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you took part in the Blog Hop! Four winners will be so glad they did!!!

MFP Blog Hop Day 3

Mark's Finest papers' Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs on June 8, 9, 10, and 11th. On Saturday, (June 12, 2010), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! (4 different winners, one winner for each day.) (THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE OTHER CHANCES TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!)

The 4 winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 stamp Set that will be released NEXT month!

Here is my card for the third day of the Blog Hop. The image comes from the set called More of Speedy the Cat's Friends. I used pink and white paper, with some pink rose dp for the bg. Black ink, with some highlights of pink and blue added to the cat. The accessories are: markers, punch, nesties, cb, scalloped scissors, gold cord, dimensionals and a gold cat charm.

Here are the Design Team Members to visit:
Samantha - June Guest designer
Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Jeanne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Claudine
Liz
Mark's Finest Papers

Come back tomorrow for the last day of the Blog Hop!

THT053 My Colors!

What fun! I got to pick the theme for this week's TreeHouse Thursday challenge ......... so of course I chose my favorite color combination, RED, white, and black.

The set I used is called Embrace Life, and is one of the new sets from Treehouse Stamps that was just released. I copied the rose four times, cut parts out and popped them for dimension. The bg is Dotted Swiss, with a layer of punched holes. I painted the stem in celery, backed it with a black nestie, and added a ribbon, a sentiment froom the set, and some brads.

I hope you like what I did, and that you will join us in making something and adding it to Mr. Linky. Please look for us again next Thursday.

MFP BLOG HOP Day 2

Mark's Finest Papers' Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs on June 8, 9, 10, and 11th, 2010. On Saturday (June 12, 2010), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! (4 different winners, one winner for each day.)(THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE OTHER CHANCES TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!)

The 4 winners will be announced on Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month!

Here is my card for today, from the set Pears and Hollyhock. I used Basic Grey and black paper. The inks are black, summer sun, mustard, moss, and caramel. The accessories are: cb, D'Vine Swirls, punch, piercer, brads, ribbon, and dimensionals.

Here are the links to visit today:

Samantha - Guest Designer

Nancyruth

Lois

Vicky

Jeanne

Debbie

Peggysue

Faith

Vicki

Joanne

Julia

Cathleen

Claudine

Mark's Finest Papers

See you tomorrow for Blog Hop #3.

Creative Belli Challenge #93

The Belli Challenge for this week is to use rub-ons. We all have them. Why is it that we don't use them very often??? My Mom gave me these a while ago, and I put them in the box with my butterfly images, and have looked at them a few times, but they have sat there until today. I have done a shameful case of Cathleen (ctorina) and her fabulous layout! The lattice punch is so feminine, and I thought the roses and butterfly would be perfect with it. I hope you like it.

Please join us in using your rub-ons that have been just sitting around like mine. Be sure to add your card to the Creative Belli Blog via Mr. Linky, and check out the cards and projects of the rest of the Design Team. See you for the next challenge in two weeks.

MFP Blog Hop!

Mark's Finest Papers' Design Teams are celebrating our NEWEST STAMP RELEASE with a Blog Hop! All 4 sets are available TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs on June 8, 9, 10, and 11th, 2010. On Saturday, (June 12th, 2010), a winner will be chosen FOR EACH DAY from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for that day! (4 different winners, one winner for each day.) (THAT MEANS IF YOU MISSED A DAY, YOU STILL HAVE OTHER CHANCES TO WIN! And, you can go back and comment, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!)

The 4 Winners will be announced on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on June 12, 2010. Each winner will receive 1 Stamp Set that will be released NEXT month!




Here is my card, using the set, Believe In You. I used Basic Grey Paper and white to showcase the wonderful image of flowers and a hummingbird. The accessories are an EK Success punch, ribbon, gold cord, dimensionals, and a charm from MFP.

Here are the links to the rest of the Design Team:
Samantha - June Guest Designer
Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Jeanne
Debbie
Peggysue
Faith
Vicki
Mark's Finest Papers

Please join me here tomorrow for the second day of our Blog Hop!

Erin's Rose

I really had no intention of uploading anything else today, but when I saw what had happened in our perennial garden, I changed my mind.

This rosebush was bought a few years ago when my DGD Erin's favorite color was PINK. Every year it has lots of buds, but this year it has exceeded our expectations!!! There are so many, and it smells so delicious!, that I just had to share it with all of you.