Fairy Tales

Coffee of the Day - Coconut

Hello everyone!
I'm here to share a card to hopefully inspire you to grab your beautiful Elisabeth Bell images and head to your craft room for some creative time. :)

My husband and I recently celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. quite the milestone in this day and age! I made him this card, using the precious 'February Flutter' digital image and the inspiring sentiment from Ginger's House you see here. the inside reads, "thank you for being my happily ever after." :) he really is!

while the card style might be a bit more frou frou-y than I would typically make for him, he did like it! especially when he saw that the fairy prince was wearing the same colors as his favorite super hero - The Incredible Hulk! ;)

Papers are from the Basic Grey Kioshi collection, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, little flourish die is by Cheery Lynn, and grosgrain ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon. doily was sprayed with several shades of glimmer mist and a pretty floral postage stamp was re-purposed in the corner. buttons, as always, are from my vintage collection. dies are by Spellbinders and sentiment punch is by SU! lots of shimmerz paint added to the main image, too.

may you have a 'happily ever after' in your life, too! :)
Jennifer

Challenges:
Come and Get It - lots of layers
Glitter 'n Sparkle - anything goes
One Stitch at a Time - anything goes with a special day (anniversary)
Ribbon Girls - use any image and ribbon
Crafter's Cafe - use buttons
Fantasy Crafters - anything fantasy goes
Let's Craft and Create - spots and/or stripes (both in papers)
Paradise of Stamps - fairy
Petal Lu - anything goes
Crafting with Dragonflies - fairies/fantasy
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Art by Miran - anything goes
DL Art - anything goes
Little Miss Muffet - anything goes
RRR- things with wings and ribbon or trim

Live Where the Sand Comes Up to My Door

Coffee of the Day - Dulce de Leche

Today marks another final DT posting, this time being my time with Sandra Caldwell's team. as you can see, changes are taking place here on my blog. seasons come and go, and it's all good. :)

My card today uses the new image, 'Flip Flops on the Beach #363'.

This was such a fun card to make since it overflows with great embellies! paper is from the gorgeous new Carta Bella Yacht Club collection. the texture to this paper is amazing!

sentiment is by Ginger's House, stitched sun & clouds die is from La La Land, flip flops die is by Taylored Expressions, and main image/matting die is from Spellbinders. sentiment is punched with a SU! punch. flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

peacock seam binding is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, twine is leftover from some tags I had used, and polka dot grosgrain is old from my stash. shimmerz paint was used on the little shell of the main image, as was a wink of stella clear glitter pen and white gel pen.

So glad you stopped by today! hope your week is off to a great start! :)

Challenges:
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - ribbon
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Simply Papercraft - anything goes
Outlawz Festive Fri - Make Up Your Own Holiday (I think 'Flip Flops Day' sounds pretty amazing, don't you?!)
Cr8tive Hands - anything goes
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - Come Rain or Shine
WAW - anything encouraging goes
City Crafter - on Cloud 9
Lemon Shortbread - anything goes

I'm Not a Normal Monster

Coffee of the Day - Coconut Macadamia

Since I played along in last month's Progressive Challenge at Sparkle and Glitter with Rick St. Dennis, I received this fun little monster in my emails. His name is "You're a Winner - Nyner the Little Monster."  The challenge theme will continue to be Steampunk. if you would like to play along and didn't join last month, I think all you have to do is buy the image and create you project. then link up along with everyone else! :)

I have to admit I was a bit stumped with how to begin with this fella. I originally thought I was going to make a tag, but once I got him colored up, decided to go ahead and make a card instead. the tag was sponged using the Crafter's Workshop Mini Gears stencil and was then sprayed with olive glimmer mist. gears were cut from an Add a Little Dazzle metal sheet using Tim Holtz dies. sentiment is by Ginger's House, and flower is Prima. actual watch gears were added all higgeldy piggeldy. lots of touches were added to the main image with shimmerz paint and glitter gel pens.

Challenges:
A Step in the Dark - anything goes
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Through the Purple Haze - show some attitude
Lacy Sunshine - goth or non-traditional hair color
OSAAT - use a digi
CCC Digi Creations - digi and a die cut
Ditzie Digi Design - anything goes
My Time to Craft - no designer papers
Left of Center - at the movies: 'Monsters, Inc.'

I Didn't Fall....but my son did....

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

So last weekend our son, Ryan, broke his big toe while playing Ultimate Frisbee for his college team. he is now on crutches for the next few weeks. he'll be out of commission for about 6 weeks. it's really tough being so far away while he's going through this. so of course I had to make him a card. :)

Digital Delights by Looby Lou just released this fun image that is absolutely PERFECT! I can't tell you how hard it was to find something suitable. not many digis are out there for these kind of cards. papers are Basic Grey Carte Postal, sentiment is from Ginger's House. the card base was inked with the inside of a bubble mailer. pretty simple card design, but I think it works for a guy card!

Here is my ribbon storage tip for Top Tip Tuesday: I wrap my ribbons around manilla tags and store the tags in baskets by color. they look so pretty this way! :)

Challenges:
Outlawz - sketch
Glitter 'n Sparkle - buttons
A Little Bit Crafty - man up
Animal Friends - dots
Bastel-Traum - get well
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Drunken Stampers - anything goes
Crafty Catz - anything goes
QKR - anything goes
Sister Act - anything goes cards
Stempelsonne - animals
DRS Designs - under the weather
Penny's Paper Crafty - spots and dots
Top Tip Tuesday - use a sketch

A Few Sites To Share With You...

Coffee of the Day - Gingerbread

Hello and Happy Friday!
I want to share a few sites with you today.  I know that after the holidays money tends to be on the tight side for many of us. at my house with sons in college and all of our HUGE medical bills, every single penny counts every day of the year. so I appreciate all of the wonderful people all over cyberspace who provide freebies to us crafty sorts...

thought I would pass along several great places I have come across lately:

first up is Far Far Hill, a wonderful site for digital papers and kits. there is also a store attached to the site. I will tell you that downloads do take a bit of time if you don't pay for the advanced service, but if you start the download at the beginning of your time online, you will hardly notice how long it takes. papers and vintage items are absolutely lovely!

next up is Ginger's House, a fun place for sentiments. she has some that are deep and thought provoking while others just crack me up.

The Graphics Fairy is just one of the many sites I visit for fantastic vintage clip art and images.

of course Create With TLC will always and forever be one of my ab fab fave places to go for sentiments and vintage images. Paulette is so very generous with her freebies every day.  I don't get by as often as I would like, but I am always in for a treat when I drop by. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Finally Got My Crafty On!

Coffee of the Day - Gingerbread

It is snowing like crazy here, which is great since most of it had melted off in the past few days. I just LOVE the Winter Winderland I call home! :)

while my family was away this past weekend working at Winter Camp, I was actually able to do a bit of crafting for the first time in over a month! gosh, did it ever feel GREAT! of course it took me almost an entire day to make one card, and my poor scanner is on it's very last leg, sad to say. but I hope to get back to my craftroom again in the next day or so. wooohoooo!

The image is by Simply Betty and is called 'Angel Elizabete'. she cracks me up! back when I was in Jr. High, we had to draw pictures of what our friends thought of us, what our parents thought of us, and then what we thought of ourselves. this image is pretty close to the one I drew of myself! yes, I've always had that sassy, rebellious side to me! tee hee!

The sentiment is from Ginger's House, papers are from the Echo Park Winter Park collection, ribbons from rose are May Arts, white trim is Prima, accents to main image are done with stickles, spica glitter gel pen, and shimmerz paint. washi tape, buttons, and rhinestones finish the card.

Challenges:
Simply Betty Facebook Ch - add snowflakes
Sketch Saturday - sketch
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Pile it On - 'P' is for.... pink, patterned paper, punches, Prima :)
Sentimental Sundays - pick one of the fave challenges (#160 for the girls)
That Craft Place - anything goes
Stampin' for the Weekend - anything goes
YNS - photo inspiration
4 Crafty Girls - anything goes
DRS Designs - frosted flakes
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - anything goes
Paper Shelter - anything goes

Room In Your Heart for the Unimaginable

Coffee of the Day - Chipotle

Today's Hope You Can Cling To challenge at Split Coast Stampers is a really fun one - Impossible Things Happen: a fairy tale theme. everyone loves a fairy tale! what is your favorite? I am a Sleeping Beauty fan from the word go..... I think that is probably my absolute favorite movie in the whole wide world!

I have many images I could have chosen from for this challenge, but the one that spoke loudest to me of hope was 'Dreams Do Come True' by A Day for Daisies. The great sentiment is once again from Ginger's House. paper is She Art by Pink Paislee, stitching is from an Inky Antics stamp set, pink shimmerz was added to both the sentiment tag and Cinderella's shoe, button is vintage as is the sheet music used to cut stars. a pretty flower, a heart doily, pink seam tape, and pink rhinestones complete the card.

Temps are definitely dropping here. it's frosty and rainy. our heater has been out of commission since last week, so we are hoping the part to fix it comes in SOON! it's a bit nippy in the house these days! ;)

don't forget to sign up for the Pinktober blog candy! :)

Challenges:
Creative Craft - anything goes
Ladybug Crafts - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Crafty Sentiments - bingo: die cut, doily, flowers
Perfectly Rustics - patterned paper
Bunny Zoe - ribbon
Craft Your Passion - pink
Crafty Cardmakers - shabby chic
Melonheadz - fairy tale
Paper Playtime - ribbon and buttons
My Craft Spot - color inspiration
Great Impressions - buttons and bows
That Craft Place - pink
Allsorts - ribbons and bows
A Creative Romance - pink
Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon

Salt Air in my Hair

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (almost out - eek!)

After our busy week with the guys here, I am finally getting back on track with crafting again. not to mention having the cancer burden lifted just flat out feels FANTASTIC!!!!!  I know I  still have a long way to go on the road to healing, but just to know that the cancer is gone makes such a difference. the radiation from Friday is already causing lots of problems, so that is a downer. it's a nasty bugger, that is for sure. did you know there is a limit to how much radiation you are allowed to have your body exposed to over a lifetime? I sure didn't until we started down this road.... I'm pretty close to mine.

on to the fun of crafting though. and this card will most certainly brighten a day! it is full of happy colors! The new Hope You Can Cling To challenge at Split Coast Stampers for today is 'Sending Flowers.' so I piled them on! :) you'll see flowers in my paper, the die, the image, and the gorgeous Prima.

the wonderful image is 'Aloha Blooms' by A Day for Daisies, papers are Basic Grey Lauderdale,  sentiment is from a new freebie site I found called Ginger's House, fabulous floral die is called 'Daisy Doily' by Whimsy, and that stunning flower is a Prima. the flowers in her hair were highlighted with pink stickles. the lace trim is vintage. I painted in the little birds below the sentiment.

don't forget about the Pinktober blog candy! there are going to be a LOT of winners, so be sure to enter! :)

Challenges:
Artistic Inspirations - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Creative Fingers - girls just want to have fun
Jo's Scrap Shack - anything goes
Sister Act - anything goes
Paper Pretties - lots of embellishments
Cards Galore - flowers
Catch the Bug - bingo: black, button, sentiment