Eek! A Zombie ATC

I'm back with my 2nd Simply Betty zombie ATC, as I had mentioned this morning. This time I'm using the Singing Betty Apocalypse zombie image that was given free for that particular challenge. Even though today is the last day to get entries in, I bet you still have time to request your image. all you actually have to do is color the image and get it uploaded to the proper album. not so hard to do in just a few hours. :)

As before, I still haven't tracked down the mfg. of the paper scraps I found on my desk. will do that soon and try to update the posts. 'eek!' journaling circle and ric rack are from the same Making Memories Vintage Findings kit I used before, pretty purple flower is from Michael's, washi tape is from my stash, and button is vintage.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

I will have the purple themed blog candy winner later, after the other winners from The Hop to Stop are posted over on The Damsel of Distressed. I want to try to spread the winnings out to as many people as possible. :)

 Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Crafty Catz - anything goes
Pattie's Creations - fall or Halloween image
Simply Create Too - Halloween colors
Stamping Boutique - purple, orange, and black
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Star Stampz - Halloween or Harvest
Crafty Gals Corner - witches, ghouls, and goblins
Get Creative - Halloween
Pile it On - funky or freaky
Robyn's Fetish - lots of orange

Beware the Zombie! ATC

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Happy Friday to each of you! I hope you have had a wonderful week and have great things planned for the weekend! :)

my week has been CRAZY! between car shopping, another son in a car accident, a sick dog, and life in general, things have sure seemed whacky around here.

we did get another vehicle, so thanks for all of the happy thoughts on that front. here is a photo of Dave and Tyler with our 04 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (taken at Camp) it's in pretty good shape. just needed new tires and a front end alignment, at least so far! a few other small things to do to it, and then we'll feel set for winter.

speaking of which, snow is in the forecast for this weekend. time to bundle up! :)

I have SO MANY craft projects percolating behind the scenes, some of which are holiday gifts. in the mean time, I played along in a quickie challenge over at the Simply Betty Facebook Fan Page. if you requested the free image, you just needed to color it and then add to the group album. I figured I could do that! I'll post another one later today once I get it finished.

I turned it into an ATC. sorry I don't know the paper right off hand. it was a scrap sitting on my desk and just too perfect to pass up! the bat, ric rack, and beware tag come from a Making Memories vintage findings kit. I really hate that they retired that line. they were always so much fun to  play with! :) little flower and button are real vintage and washi tapes are from my stash. the metal accents on the image were highlighted with a silver glitter gel pen.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

As I mentioned before, I'll be back later today with the other Simply Betty image. I'll also announce then the winner of the purple themed blog candy. :)  see you then!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Dragon's Lair - Halloween
Left of Center - old fashioned horror (can't beat Romero's zombies!)
Aud Sentiments - Halloween
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Quoth the Raven - color challenge
Crafting By Designs - Halloween
Dream Valley - Halloween
Our Crafty Corner - getting ready for Halloween
ATC Around the World - Halloween

Bee Skep

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

Sending beautiful Sunday morning blessings to all of you today!

I know I've been hit or miss with my postings and all but absent when it comes to visiting everyone. we still haven't been able to find that 'one' vehicle for us yet.... sigh.... thought we were buying one on Friday, but the buyer sold it out from under us. oh well. just wasn't meant to be. means the hunt continues into next week. good golly, this is getting tiring! on the positive side, I do love spending time with my honey bunny! grins!

but on the crafty front, I was able to get to my craft room yesterday and just PLAY! this is what I came up with...

every month Crafty Secrets has a linky party. all you have to do is use any of their products to be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate to their wonderful store. I needed a thank you for our pastor & his wife, who have let us borrow a car for the past 2 weeks. we are returning it today, so this seemed perfect to go with the linky party challenge theme of 'Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart.'

Images are from the Crafty Secrets 'Queen Bee' digital set, paper is from the My Mind's Eye Be Amazing collection, ribbons are by Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are from Michael's and Wild Orchid Crafts, heart banner die is by La La Land, tiny banner punch is SU!, and buttons are from my vintage stash. oh yes, cute chevron bag is from Michael's as well. wings on the little bee are painted in shimmerz.

Have a most glorious day! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Love to Scrap - ribbon or lace, oh my
Art by Miran - anything goes
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Wags 'n Whiskers - use a die cut (La La Land and Spellbinders)
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Simply Papercrafts - anything goes
Kraftn' Kimmie Wonderful Wed - anything goes
Emerald Faeries - buttons and bows
Polkadoodles - use a die cut (La La Land and Spellbinders)

Love Me, Love My Dog

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Nut Creme

Happy Monday! it is such a beautiful day here in northeast Ohio! the rain has finally cleared, not that I mind rain, and it is just a glorious day to behold! the kind that makes you ever so grateful you opened your eyes this morning! :) I hope it's just as wonderful in YOUR corner of the world!!!

Today I am sharing a card I made to send to our son, Mick. it's been months since I last saw him, although we text each other constantly. thank goodness for unlimited texting! tee hee! popped the card into the mailbox already this morning, so it's on its way to him as I type....it will see him before I do.... sigh.....but it is chock full of love, that is for sure!

I used images from the fun Crafty Secrets set, 'Big Dog' and the freebie digital paper they are offering on their blog for participating in the current linky party. even though it is a Halloween themed paper, it just goes to show you that you don't have to use themed papers for their original purpose. take them out of their 'box'!

The tag was stenciled with a neat new Prima stencil and chalk ink by them as well. I love those chalk inks! they dry so fast and adhere to almost anything! such a neat look, too!

seam binding was hand dyed a while back. Tyler was making a frame from re-purposed wood and needed to do some inking to the edges. we mixed up a water based concoction for him to use, and there was a bit left over when he finished. not to let anything go to waste, I grabbed a few yards of white seam binding and soaked it in the greyish mixture. what you see is the end result. :) it is tied with SU! linen thread.

a bit of black grosgrain ribbon was stapled in the upper left corner. flower is by Petaloo, buttons are from my vintage stash, sentiment was cut with a Spellbinders banner die, and a little ticket from my stash was added. woodgrain card is another from the Webster's Pages packaging that I re-purposed.

many of you know that our beloved dog, Latte, died back in June. well now her sister, Mocha, isn't doing very well. we are doing our best to keep her as happy and comfy as we can. heavy sigh....having pets is wonderful, but sometimes it sure does break your heart...

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
613 Avenue Create - love me do
Dragonfly Journeys - button it us
Quirky Crafts - animal magic
A Gem of a Challenge - boys, boys, boys
The Kraft Journal - take your pick: ribbon, patterned paper, die cut, tag and kraft cs base
Ruby's Rainbow - it's a man's world
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Incy Wincy - digi images only
Get Creative Ch - add a tag
Craft Your Passion - anything goes

Retired and Going Golfing

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Caramel Nut

no, not to worry. I am not retired, and more importantly, I am not going golfing. ;)  it has been ages since I was last swinging clubs - since I was pregnant with Tyler actually. yes, it's been THAT long! I used to golf every week with hubster and some friends, but again, that was another lifetime.

David, on the other hand, went just last week. he is truly a wonder to behold on the golf course. there are days that I miss those years of him being a golf pro. he is not only an amazing golfer, but patient and fun to watch. he has such a smooth golf swing and can hit it so very far! yes, I am proud of my hubby! :)

anyhow, my card today is for a very dear friend of ours who retired a month ago. yep, I'm late with my card. I need to make several for him, so you'll be seeing more retirement cards in the coming month. (hopefully! eek!) He and Dave work together in the Church District office.

the golf image is from Crafty Secrets and is part of the 'Golf Time' digital set. I also printed out then fussy cut the individual golf bag from this same set. it is adhered to the inside of the card. sorry I didn't take a photo. retirement sentiment is from Create with TLC. papers are from the Basic Grey Boxer collection, washi tapes & buttons are from my stash, and linen thread is by SU!. golf tee may or may not have come from hubby's golf bag..... la la la la la! card base was sprayed with 2 shades of glimmer mist. hey, gotta do something to help frou frou up these masculine cards!

I will actually be back tomorrow with another card, believe it or not! thank you so much for the kind thoughts and prayers about my health. still having seizures, but so happy to be able to craft these past 2 days.

love ya! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Hiding in My Craft Room - use those scraps (both pieces of BG paper are scraps)
Sister Act - any card goes
The Stamping Boutique - die cut or punch (SU! punch for sentiment)
Penny's Paper Crafty - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Card and Scrap - male cards
Crafts Galore Encore - anything goes

God Will Lift You...and So Will I

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (you know it's my fave!)

one of the cards I have on my list to make is for a very dear friend who has just recently received some devastating news. I want her to know that I am here for her. This sentiment today at Create with TLC summed it all up so perfectly.

I'm also using some beautiful free digital items available over at the Crafty Secrets blog. both the bg paper and post card image can be be found there. I hope it creates the peaceful, but encouraging feel that my friend needs right now.

a frame was cut for the postcard image using Spellbinders dies, flowers are a combo of Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts, and my stash, buttons are vintage and stash, twine is from The Twinery, burlap ribbon snippet is from May Arts, vintage sheet music was cut with a Jenni Bowlin punch, and doily is from my stash. distressing and faux stitching complete the card.

I forgot to add that after I cut the frame, I stamped it with a SU! woodgrain bg stamp. there is also a little piece of a ticket hiding under the sentiment banner.

I'm putting together my blog candy and will get that posted soon! hope many of you sign up! welcome to my new followers, too!!!!  :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - April linky party (ribbon: May Arts, twine: Twinery)
613 Ave Create - create your own challenge (square card, encouragement/thinking of you, burlap)
Crafty Calendar - add a sentiment
Pile it On - fancy frames and/or beautiful borders
Robyn's Fetish - use baker's twine
Inksprational - photo inspiration: eggs (nest on postcard) and colors
Brown Sugar - distress
Sister Act - any card goes
Red Rubber Inspirationals - spring flowers
Whimsy Inspiration - use a die cut
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Just Inspirational - stitching
Party Time Tues - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Tues Throwdown - friendship
Mema's - anything goes w/die or punch

Blessings - yes, I got crafty! :)

Coffee of the Day - Sweet Potato

Your eyes are not deceiving you - yes, I did actually make a card! :)

hopefully this will be the first of many!

I have to give LOTS of credit to the very amazing and encouraging people over at Kit and Clowder - a wonderful group of crafters I have come to know on Facebook. yes, nice people DO exist on Facebook. ;) my card is made for one of the challenges going on in the group there. this happens to be for the sketch challenge.

image and sentiment are from the Crafty Secrets Thanksgiving collection. papers are from the Authentique Thankful collection, flowers are Petaloo, burlap ribbon is May Arts, and buttons are vintage. I added some touches with my white gel pen and white craft ink.

sorry for the scan being a bit crooked. it's been so long since I've used my scanner that it was giving me some fits. took me way too many tries to get it to work, as it kept turning off on me. so once I was able to get it to actually scan, I just went with it.

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Kit and Clowder FB - sketch ch
Come and Get it - use a digi and an Autumn theme
613 Avenue Create - anything goes
Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes
Di's Digi Designs - stripes and/or checks
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - vintage
Sister Act - anything goes
Milk Coffee - colors of autumn
Creative Moments - anything goes/fall colors
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Crafty Sentiments - spots and/or stripes
Fan-Tastic Tues - anything square or rectangle with button twist

A Car for Dad's Day - wouldn't that be nice?! ;)

No, sadly, we can't really get Dave a car for Dad's day, but we are getting him something car RELATED..... so the guys and I decided that his Father's Day card needed to have a car on it.  this great image & sentiment from Crafty Secrets is almost like his dream car, so it was perfect!

it's taken me for-ev-er to get it scanned because it is so humid here. nothing is drying very fast... and that includes the crystal effects I used on the windshield and rear view mirror as well as just plain ol' glue.

the card is fairly simple because that is how Dave likes them. papers are from the long retired Basic Grey Boxer collection, silver mesh is retired SU!, pennant border die is MFT, main image & matting die is by Spellbinders. the key is from our Jeep that went to its resting place last fall..... a moment of silence..... sigh..... I loved that Jeep, which is why I kept the keys. since the card is going to Dave, I knew it was okay to use the key on here. ;)

Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Sketch 'n Dies - sketch #8
Love to Scrap - Mind Your Banners
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - Father's Day
Eclectic Ellapu - for a man
Sentimental Sundays - anything goes with a sentiment
That Craft Place - men
Crafts Galore Encore - anything goes
Country View - only men allowed
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - anything goes w/patterned paper
Ladybug Crafts - something for the boys and/or use your dies (both)
Mema's Crafts - only men allowed
Really Reasonable Ribbon - masculine w/ribbon (tied around key)
Catch the Bug - anything goes
QKR Stampede - Father's Day
Sister Act - any card goes
Aud Sentiments - any sentiment for a guy
CRAFT - Father's Day/male
Moving Along With the Times - Father's Day
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Father's Day
Cuttin' and Stampin' - Father's Day
TTCRD - anything goes

Poppy Remembrance

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Nut

I know Memorial Day isn't until the end of the month, but I did want to get my card entered into the Crafty Secrets monthly linky challenge. Too often Memorial Day is now associated with picnics, the end of school, and the start of summer. but I wanted to make a card that reminded all of us of it's true meaning. I am so thankful to live in a community that celebrates and recognizes those who have made sacrifices for our country.

both images come from the Crafty Secrets set, 'Poppies.' the wonderful die is by Spellbinders, but I did have to cut it down a bit so that it fit the images better. a bit of handy dandy finagling with the Big Shot!  papers are from the Basic Grey Lucille collection, rhinestone flourishes are from Michaels. distress stickles fill the flower centers, and my SU! ink squirty tool was used on the main image. lots of distressing with my sponge here, too.

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Stella Says Sketch - sketch #209 flipped on its side
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - floral linky party
QKR Stampede - anything goes w/twist: use gems or rhinestones (rhinestone flourishes)
3 Girl JAM - anything goes (badge on sidebar above former DTs)
Sister Act - any card goes
Stamping with the Dragon - flowers
Sweet Pea - use kraft (card base as well as ink and seam tape colors)
Wags 'n Whiskers - ribbon & bling
4 Crafty Chicks - flowers
It's All About the Vintage - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes (thank you for the win last week!)
Bunny Zoe - distress
Fitztown - shabby chic

Happy Easter Chicks with Egg Cart

Coffee of the Day - Hazelnut

I have to start out my post with a great big apology to everyone. I have been feeling absolutely horrid for so long, and have really been taking it out on everyone around me - both online and in person. I am so very sorry and ask your forgiveness. no matter how I am feeling, it is no excuse to be anything less than kind. all I can say is that I will try to do better.

I did manage to get to my craft room today for a little while. I really want to get a card made for everyone in Lauryn's family. if you aren't familiar with Lauryn's story, you can read more about her on the Facebook page that has been created by her family. she is the 2 year old grand-daughter of Linda Payne, who many people know for her talent and contributions in the crafting community.

I used images from the Crafty Secrets digital set, 'Spring Chicks.' papers are from the Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection (I've told you how much I love this one, haven't I?!?!), flower is Prima, twine is from Target, ticket punch is EK Success, kraft reinforcement sticker is from The Kraft Outlet, and everything else is from my stash. I added a cute little yellow envelope, a doily, some buttons & sequins, a bit of washi tape, and faux stitching. oh yes, I also used my SU! ink squirty tool. so love that thing! :)

I hope Lauryn's mom and dad like the card. make sure you stop by the Lots of Love for Lauryn blog to see what's up in preparation for the card drive blog hop on Monday. I had to pull out of helping out with it, but I still plan to take part in the hop. so many artists have provided artwork available for a donation and lots of prizes, too. :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets monthly linky party - anything goes with Crafty Secrets products
Clear it Out - anything goes with real or faux stitching and stash items
Creative Card Crew - spring
Fan-tastic Tues - anything goes
Papertake Weekly - spring has sprung
{pin}spirational - photo inspiration (chicks, flowers, colors)
Artistic Inspiration - Easter animals
Card Mania - Easter
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes/Easter
Crafty Boots - Easter
Created with Love - Easter
Digi Makeover - anything goes w/a digi
Incy Wincy - 3, 2, 1 recipe (3 designer papers, 2 digital images, 1 twine bow)
Lexi's Creations - Easter
Lunagirl Moonbeams - Victorian Spring
Melonheadz - time for spring
613 Avenue Create - anything goes with twist of sights/sounds/smells/tastes of spring
Dream Valley - Easter
Hobby Cutz - fauna and flora
Robyn's Fetish - Easter
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - animals
Simply Create Too - Easter or bunnies
The Stamping Boutique - Easter
Always Something Creative - Easter

A Toast to the Best and Finest Mo....

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Nut

I wanted to try to play along in this month's Crafty Secrets linky party, so made this card in celebration of 'No Shave November' and 'Mo-vember'. their 'Mustache Men' stamp set is by far one of my fave masculine sets. I think I've made quite a few cards with it. although I must say this advertising image sorta reminds me of the Wizard's floating head in 'The Wizard of Oz'..... tee hee! add a little green smoke and mirrors, and voila! :)

anyway, papers are Basic Grey Clippings (how appropriate!), ribbon is May Arts, linen thread is SU!, and the sentiment circle is edged in barn door distress stickles. also used my SU! ink squirty tool.

Going to try to get a bit further into Cath's blog hop today as well as begin the HUGE chore of getting all of my digital items onto an external hard drive. thank goodness for a computer that plays music while I sit here.... I'd go batty bonkers otherwise....

enjoy your day to its fullest! hugs to each and every one of ya! :)

Challenges:
Craftitude - anything goes with twine or string
Crafty Hands - vintage
Sister Act - anything goes
4 Krafty Girlz - anything goes
Divas by Design - use a digi (actually used 4 of them!)
WAW - anything goes with encouraging senti
Crafty Sentiments - for the guys
Charisma Cardz - anything goes
That Craft Place - sentiment

Hope and Courage Shabby Subway Art

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Happy Friday! boy does it ever feel good to type that....
did any of you watch the tribute episode of Glee last night? it was quite beautiful, but tough to see, I admit. We received sad news yesterday regarding a friend of our's from church and her sister. This lady's sister has the same type of breast cancer that I do and has just been admitted to a hospice facility. she received her diagnosis right before I did. our treatments took a similar path. this news was not only sad for our friend and her sister, but quite the reality check for us. puts so much into perspective.

anyway, on to my card. I tried something a bit different. let me tell you, my crafting sure is a saving grace for me. so I'll keep posting cards as long as I am feeling well enough to make them! :)

Crafty Secrets has such beautiful vintage stamps, and their cancer support images are quite lovely. I used several images from the set, Support the Girls. I hadn't tried a subway art type piece before, so thought I would give it a go, adding my own shabby spin. Both the ribbon and word piece were printed onto pieces of Basic Grey Serendipity paper. I then added some little doodles and coloring to the sentiment/subway piece with my white gel pen, orange glitter pen, and paintbrush. this was matted onto another piece of the BG paper and white dots added with the gel pen. SU! linen thread, buttons, and paper flower finish off the card.

have a great weekend! remember that you are truly, deeply loved! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - October linky party
LUFP - breast cancer support linky party
DL Art - breast cancer support linky party
WAW - anything goes with encouraging senti
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Digitally Sweet - fave colors (pink with kraft)
Stamping for the Weekend - anything goes
Wags 'n Whiskers - pink/breast cancer awareness
Loves Rubberstamps - polka dots
Tuesday Throwdown - awareness
Love to Create - breast cancer awareness
Kraft Journal - button, bow, or bangle ( buttons & bow with kraft cs)
Dream Valley - buttons
Great Impressions - buttons and bows
Robyn's Fetish - use a digi

Best and Finest

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie

I was able to get a bit crafty yesterday, and it was truly delightful! this is what this hobby/passion is all about folks....the joy that comes from making something from the heart that will hopefully make someone's day just a little bit brighter. Sharing a bit of God's love with someone else. it's not about the blogs or the teams or the notoriety. it's about joy in creating, plain and simple.

I realized that I was getting under the wire to play along in the new Crafty Secrets monthly linky party. it's such a great party to join because everyone who plays gets a $6 credit to the store. I love their vintage images and papers! :)

Now this little fella is quite dapper.... his outfit might not quite match, but he thinks he looks fabulous, and that is what counts! I paired him with Basic Grey's Hipster paper collection, of course!, and a little tag remnant from American Eagle. because you bet your sweet bippy that is where this hip cat would be shopping if he could! tee hee! ribbon is May Arts and little metal clip is Basic Grey. buttons are from my stash.

on a side note, if you haven't watched the biographical movie of Charlie Chaplin starring Robert Downey, Jr., I thought it was quite good.
Have a most wonderful day!

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - monthly linky party
Deconstructed Sketch - sketch #117
Basic Grey - anything goes Basic Grey (oh how I love my BG.....)
Bugaboo - anything goes
Digi Haven - vintage or old with a digi
Digitally Sweet - anything goes digi (image & senti)
Simply Create Too - vintage or old
4 Krafty Girlz - anything goes
Aud Sentiment - any sentiment
Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon
Penny's Paper Crafty - spooled item
Crafting Musketeers - vintage
Perfect Sentiment - ribbon, seam binding, or baker's twine (I used ribbon)
Ruby's Rainbow - a male thing
Whimsy Inspiration - masculine
WAW - anything goes
Can You Digi It - very vintage
Just Inspirational - ribbons
Country View - layers
Creatalicious - for the boys
Cupboard Trilogy - male
613 Avenue Create - anything goes with optional Grandparent's Day
Creative Knockouts - masculine
Squirrel and the Fox - it's raining men

Today's Special...

Coffee of the Day - Texas Turtle (caramel, chocolate, and pecan)

I try to play along in the Crafty Secrets linky party every month. it's a great deal really, because everyone who enters receives a $6 gift certificate to their store. one winner will receive a $50 gift certificate! not only that, but there is almost always a free digi product of some sort each month at the store. you just can't beat that with a stick!

My card for this month uses images from 2 different sets: 'Little Chef' and 'Keys to Life.' one of the beauty things about png files is that they layer so nicely with one another. voila! my card! I could take the various sentiments from the 'Keys to Life' set and add them to the placard the Little Chef is holding. no pulling out what little hair I have going into an editing system to fix those white overlaps you get with a jpg file. hooray for that! ;)

papers are from the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry collection, itty bitty flower is Prima, enamel dots are Teresa Collins, linen thread is SU!, and buttons are from my stash. sorry I don't have any info about the stick pin. I took all of my pins out of their packages, if they were in any, and put them into a very pretty vintage pincushion I found in my antique shopping journeys. they look so nice in there, but I have no clue who made any of them. sorry.

hope your weekend is off to a grand start! Please be sure to stop back tomorrow for my next installment in the Inky Antics Guestie posts. :)

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - linky party
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Creative Corner - eat, drink, and be merry
Sister Act - anything goes
Sparkles - autumn colors
Tok Bobok - vintage
As You Like It - fave twine or ribbon (I use this SU! linen thread a LOT! it's natural shade goes with anything - masculine, vintage, whimsical - just whatever I want to use. and it's ideal for all button sizes. it's not really thread, but twine, just not as heavy as what you usually find.)
Paper Crafting Journey - distressed/vintage
Shelly's - oh scrap (all 3 banners are made with scrap pieces)
Ruby's Rainbow - vintage
Creative Craft - tic tac toe: twine, ivory, distress
Cheerful Stamp Pad - vintage children
Sugar Creek Hollow - a child's life
Word Play Saturday - childhood (I so remember these Campbell's soup kids from when I was growing up!)

Time is a Companion (yeah, there's some Dr. Who humor in there!)

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Pumpkin Pie

Happy Saturday! the weekend is here! hope you have something spectacular spectacular planned! and if not, then make it that way. :)

some of you might not know that I am a Dr. Who fan. starting watching way back when as a high schooler, continued through college, then picked it back up again when the series began. so if you watch, too, you'll appreciate the correlations between this sentiment and the show.
as a side, yesterday I was taking a fun UK tv poll. imagine my horror when I had to choose between Big Bang Theory and The Walking Dead for best international tv show. then the next question had me picking between David Tennant and Matt Smith for best actor. I froze.... who comes up with these questions? you don't ask a nerdy geek like me to pick between ANY of these! sheesh, people. that's so not cricket!

okay, on to my card. you probably want to see the sentiment stamp I'm talking about.... I'm sharing another project made with items from Stamp Cow and Craftpon.

I used the Stamp Cow Antique watch stamp on both the main sentiment image as a bg and also as an extra element. the 4 hole leaf ring wood button from Craftpon was tied through some seam binding I had hand dyed.

the remainder of items are my own from my personal stash. digital papers are from Crafty Secrets, sentiment stamp is Tim Holtz as is the clock face die. this was used to cut a piece of clear packaging which was then painted with brass distress pain and sprayed with black mist. several small buttons from my stash were added, along with some linen thread, a ticket, and washi tape. I really went to town distressing with my inks on this card, but boy, it felt great! oh yes, border punch is SU!

I do hope you will take a few minutes to head over to Etsy to check out both Stamp Cow and Craftpon. as I said last time, I have GOT to get more of their wood buttons! you'll see what I mean if you stop by. cute charms, too. shipping is really fast. I appreciate that they supplied these items for me to use on my blog for all of you!

Challenges:
Feeling Sketchy - sketch #64
Crafty Friends - inspired by a song: 'Time is on My Side' by the Rolling Stones (you know you're singing it in your head right now, aren't you?!)
Creative Corner - anything goes
Hobby House - vintage
Sister Act - anything goes
Sweet Pea - men or boys
Crafty Ribbons - anything goes
Craft Room Challenge - vintage stamping
Creative Craft - numbers (on the clock face as well as the letterpress paper. obviously the watch, too)
Flourishes - see clearly: use acetate (mine is the clock face that has been painted. hope that is acceptable)
Crafty Bloggers - metal magic (brass distress paint on clock face die cut)
Simon Says Stamp and Show - a little stamping (there's just a little stamping on this BIG card!)
A Little Bit Crafty - use your dies
Alota Rubber Stamps - vintage
Natalie and Amy - trash to treasure (clock face is a piece of clear packaging that has been cut & painted)
Sweet Stampin' - shabby chic

Happy July 4th!

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie (it's about as all American as I can get!)

Happy July 4th to my friends here in the USA! I hope you have wonderful things planned with your family and friends! my day will be a quiet one with my dogs, but that is okay. we have fun together! they are my buddies! I made a pitcher of homemade sangria yesterday that is quite tasty, so will enjoy that later in the day, perhaps with a hot dog or something else fun on the grill. I'll see my family Saturday afternoon, so I'm really looking forward to that! :)

Before I get to my card for today, I want to share with all of you a little something I found over on the Inky Antics blog. There is a call to help get the bells of freedom ringing today to help celebrate our wonderful July 4th. you can read more about it over on the blog.

“As grateful Americans, we hope to resurrect the tradition of the ringing of the bells. Let us be in tune with each other and our history by ringing bells at 2 p.m. on this July 4th in honor of the 237th Anniversary of our independence, thanking God for his blessings on our land.” 

I know I'll be shaking my keys or whatever else I can find!

I realize I haven't posted a great deal here on my blog in the past few days, but I have been busy crafting in the background. lots of fun stuff coming up, just not able to share with you yet. don't you hate it when someone says that to ya?! sorry, but it is true.... not a lot of time for 'me' crafting right now.

I did manage to get a card made to help celebrate our wonderful 4th of July holiday though. this image and the fabulous 'America the Beautiful' sheet music were both freebies from Crafty Secrets. papers are from the Authentique Pride collection, one of my very favorite for patriotic goodies. the rose is Prima, buttons & lace trim from my stash, and stamps are some I saved from envelopes. I love to use them on projects like this. :)  a piece was cut from an air mail envelope and a little red ticket added. faux stitching with my white gel pen completes the card.

I am entering my card into quite a few challenges, since so many are tailored to the holiday right now. one challenge, As You Like It, wants to know why some of these embellishments are my favorites. I happen to know the 2 lovely ladies that own the blog, so I think Samantha is probably thanking her lucky stars that there is no pink on this card! tee hee! but really, there is something about vintage buttons that makes me weak in the knees. and if they are a bit dirty and the threads are still tied in them, oh my gosh, I am in love! as the title of my blog says, ribbons and trims rank right up there at the top as well! I am not one of those who use lots of paper flowers, but I do like to add one or two on my projects. I guess the main reason I don't go all out with them is that I don't have a lot, so I tend to hoard the ones I have. ;)  another embellie I love to use is 'found' items such as the stamps. it gives me quite a thrill to be able to give a new life to something that would otherwise end up in the trash. it's almost a challenge to try to find new ways to use little goodies!

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - linky party
Crafting By Designs - show us your country's colors
Crafting with Dragonflies - vintage with layers and lace
Inky Impressions - red, white, and blue
Paper Pretties - red, white, and blue
Stamping Chef - red, white, and blue
Crafty Sentiments - red, white, and blue
Creative Craft - a stitch in time
LEJ Designs - recycle, upcycle, or use household items (stamps, envelope, ticket)
Our Daily Bread - red, white, and blue or patriotic
Party Time Tuesday - patriotic (badge is about half way down sidebar)
Tuesday Throwdown  - stars and stripes (bg paper is also little stars)
Craft Your Passion - red, white, and blue
Digi Darla - stars and stripes, red & white or red, white, & blue
Eureka - stars and stripes (bg paper is also little stars)
Get Inky - red, white, and blue
Kaboodle Doodles - national day or flag colors
Mema's Crafts - paint your patriotism
Paper Playtime - red, white, and blue
Simon Says Stamp and Show - anything goes
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - July 4th
Clearly iStamp - red, white, and blue
Simply Create Too - flag colors
As You Like it - fave 3 embellies (vintage buttons, paper flowers, and trims. I do love the little tidbits I save to use on my crafts like the stamps, too. it's fun to repurpose things!)
Natalie and Amy - trash to treasure (stamps, envelope, ticket)
Sparkles - steampunk or vintage
Simon Says Stamp - patriotic
Sassy Studios - red, white, and blue
DLArt - patriotic
Scrap It Girl - red, white, and blue

A Card for a Courageous Young Woman

Coffee of the Day - Spicy Chipotle with Bacon Syrup (yes, this IS my coffee, and yes, it IS very tasty for something different)

A few weeks ago I saw a post on the Simon Says Stamps blog that they were asking for cards for Maddy once again. I don't know if you remember her or not, but they had a card drive for her last year, too. she is a young woman who was fighting leukemia. Unfortunately she has relapsed, so they are once again trying to get as many cards for Maddy as possible. I knew without a doubt I would be making one to send. it's the very least I can do for a fellow fighter in the cancer wars.  :)

I have these gorgeous new images from Crafty Secrets Flower Garden collection that I wanted to use. (I also made an almost identical card for Mick's girlfriend, Jocelyn, who had her wisdom teeth removed last week). Once I finished coloring the image, I used my SU! ink squirty tool over the top to help age. papers are from Prima's Sweet Fairy paper collection cut with a Tim Holtz border die, butterfly is Petaloo, trim is vintage, and chipboard sentiment is Pink Paislee She Art. I am sorry that I don't know who the lovely little rose & leaf are from. they came in a blog candy win, and I couldn't wait to use them! the card is fairly simple, but I knew it was going to be passed through a lot of hands on its way to Maddy.

my house is getting quiet again. Today Tyler and Mick moved out to Camp for the summer. Ryan will go next week when he finishes his rotation at Home Depot. back to just me and my dogs.....we do have fun together though! ;)

-----> also, in addition to the yahoo gremlins acting up lately, it seems that the ones at Twitter and Blogger have been having their fun as well. some of the blogs and people I had been following just disappeared from my lists. if you happen to notice that I've not been by in a while or I'm not listed as a follower, PLEASE let me know. I haven't done anything on purpose. I'm trying to add everyone back in as I discover you, but it's tough with so many. sorry if I inadvertently hurt any feelings. it sure wasn't on purpose.

take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - card drive
Crafty Secrets - linky party
4 Crafty Chicks - flowers
Aud Sentiments - anything goes
Crafting with Dragonflies - for the girls
Crafts and Me - something old (paper is VERY old as well as image have vintage look)
Paper Shelter - flower power
Whimsical Designs - vintage
WAW - anything goes with encouraging senti
Bearly Mine - dies and/or punches
Creative Card Crew - punches/dies
Little Red Wagon - heavy metal (butterfly antennae and tendrils on leaf & rose. staples, too)
TTCRD - anything goes
Card Mania - shabby chic
Creative Stamp Friends - pastels
Incy Wincy - spring is in the air
Ooh La La - inspired by nature
Whoopsi Daisy - shabby chic/vintage
A Creative Romance - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - haberdashery items (crochet trim & buttons)

Floral Thinking of You

Coffee of the Day - Butter Rum

Ryan & I were able to get quite a bit of gardening done yesterday. hope to do more today. As we were planting some of the herbs, Ryan looked up to discover that we had a visitor. Our neighbor's dog, Ruby, had escaped from her pen and stopped by to see us. We tried several times to put her back in, but she kept getting back out again. She had broken the bungee cord on the gate, and even though we put a new one on, she somehow managed to escape!

So Ryan put her on one of our leashes and tied her to our basketball goal. Then we tag-teamed doing the gardening. One of us would hang out with Ruby while the other would do some planting. Ruby's owner came home a little bit later to let us know that she is scared of storms. The thunder we had going on during the afternoon was enough to cause Ruby to break through the gate to come find comfort with us. She is such a sweetheart! :)

My card today uses several products from Basic Grey and a fun image from Crafty Secrets called 'Bouquets of Joy.' after I watercolored the image, it was covered with 2 shades of distress crackle paint - rock candy all over the main image and old paper on its edges. Papers are from Basic Grey Knee Highs and Paper Cottage.

Lots of fun embellies were used - crochet trim, SU! linen thread, button, wooden veneer butterfly, washi tapes, Prima rose, a doily, and finishing with Basic Grey pins, flair button, & tag. 

I have several fun guest designer positions coming up soon, so stay tuned for those! I'm very excited! :)

Enjoy your day!

Challenges:

Crafty Secrets - blog linky party

Basic Grey - mix & match (papers - Knee Highs & Paper Cottage, pins & tag - Lucille, flair button - Fact & Fiction)
Crafting by Design - remembering your childhood (I loved to pick flowers when I was little!)
Fresh Brewed Designs - flowers
Penny's - die cuts and/or punches
As You Like It - die cuts and/or punches (Spellbinders Nesties - these are used on 9 out of 10 of my projects. I LOVE them!)
Whimsy - anything goes
Clear it Out - anything goes w/stash and 2 or more papers
Inky Chicks - shabby chic
Card Mania - flowers
Cutie Pie - lots of layers
Fashionista - shabby or vintage
Get Inky - fabulous florals
Ooh La La - vintage or nostalgic
Three Scrappy Gals - flowers
One Stop Craft - flower power
Sugar Creek Hollow - spring flowers
Card Makin' Mamas - washi tape
A Little Bit Crafty - kraft cs
Card and Scrap - use a doily and/or cake napkin
Country View - how does your garden grow?
One Crazy Stamper - flowers
Cupboard Trilogy - spring flowers

I Mustache You a Question.......

Coffee of the Day - Gingerbread (it's now all gone until the holidays roll back around.....sigh....)

I've been trying to get some crafting done behind the scenes so to speak, as I am feeling up to it. I've finished one project for the May Arts challenge, but would like to do a few more if I have time. I really really feel the need to make some cards for my family to stash away for 'later'......have a feeling they are going to be needed sometime down the road. So you'll probably be seeing a lot of masculine cards here on my blog in upcoming days and weeks. not sure how much DT work I am going to get done. I really feel a pressing need to get these cards made for my family first, as they truly are my priority.

a week or so ago I was blessed to win a gift certificate from Crafty Secrets. I was able to get some great digital sets, one of them being this fun 'Mustache Men.' Every November my guys all participate in 'Movember', which is a big promotion to raise awareness for prostate cancer. the idea behind it is for men to start the month off clean shaven and see how large they can grow their  mustache, or 'mo' as they are called in Australia where this all began, by the month's end. I knew it would be fun to use this set to make a card for one of the guys.

Papers are My Mind's Eye Union Square, crochet trim is Pink Paislee, buttons are from my stasth. hi ho sliver shimmerz was painted on the barber pole, the shaving cup and light at top of barber pole were covered in crystal effects.

I've added some buttons to my sidebar to make following and getting in touch with me a bit easier. for email, hover your mouse over the email button to see my email address in your lower taskbar. you can always click on 'my profile information' to see my email address as well. for all others, just click the buttons to be taken directly to each site.

Challenges:
Crafty Secrets - linky party
Crafty Catz - anything goes
2 Sisters - anything goes
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Moving Along with the Times - kraft
Digistamps 4 Joy - anything goes
LEJ Designs - fave style (vintage)
Loves Rubberstamps - anything goes
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Cards Galore - vintage
Sparkle and Sprinkle - use a digi
Love to Create - tag you're it
Simon Says Stamp and Show - anything goes
There She Goes - masculine
Kraft Journal - anything goes with kraft
Kaboodle Doodles - 2 different patterned papers
Crafty Bloggers - anything goes