A Berrylicious Apron

Coffee of the Day - Maple Walnut (in honor of our local Maple Festival!)

Melissa over at MelJen Designs has not only a cute free image for the weekend, but a fun FB challenge for anyone who makes a project using it. I was feeling up to crafting, so off to my craft room I went! :)

Papers and the little tag are all from the Basic Grey Herbs and Honey collection. the apron was paper pieced. I added faux stitching to the main image and used a pink spica glitter pen to accent the cute little squiggles. main dies are Spellbinders while the mini leaf flourish is by Cheery Lynn. spot embossing was done with a Tim Holtz embossing folder. flower is Prima. some buttons and gingham ribbon complete the card.

TIP - try embossing only a portion of your card. it adds a great focal point, especially if you add a light inking over the top of the embossing. inking also highlights the embossing on the matted die piece under the main image. it is actually cut from kraft cs.

hope you are having a great weekend so far! it's a gorgeous sunny day here, following yesterday's day of cold rain. the dogs have spent today barking at everyone walking by the house on their way up to the Square for the Maple Festival. they most certainly protect our house! :)

a big shout out, thank you so much, to Arielle of A Day for Daisies! she featured an older card of mine on their challenge blog yesterday. y'all know how much I love ADFD! :)

Challenges:
Catch the Bug - sketch (I switched sides for the main image)
Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes
613 Avenue Create - anything goes w/optional sweet treats twist (I do so love chocolate covered strawberries!)
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Get Inky - die cuts (2 Spellbinders dies and Cheery Lynn)
Sister Act - anything goes
Stamping Boutique - food (strawberries)
4 Crafty Chicks - embossing
DRS Designs - tag, you're it
Divas by Design - Let's Go to the Movies: 'Julie and Julia' (I just love this movie!!)
Rhedd and Rosie's - Tag It
Fan-tastic Tues - anything square or rectangle goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - paper piecing
Squirrel and Fox - use a die cut or punch

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!

You've GOT to check this out! :)

yep, it's another post from me today.... but this will be sooooooooooo worth your while! :)


I had told you last week that I was accepted onto the fabby new DT over at Dilly Beans. and if you were reading between the lines and listened to all of my hints and didn't get knocked over by my nudges, you knew something was coming soon! ;) well TODAY IS THE DAY!

Megan has a fabby FREE snow family digi image she is giving away for a limited time to anyone who wants to play along in a great challenge to kick things off! man oh man, you oughta see the prizes! but don't listen to me, race over to the challenge blog! :) you have until Dec. 19 to get your project made and linked.


here is a card that I made using the cutey image. I tried several 'new-to-me' techniques that I discovered over in the Classroom at Ellen Huston's. it's always fun to try new things and I must say that I don't do it enough....

papers are Fancy Pants Tradition and Recollections (music). FaLaLa is a Sizzix die, as are the largest 2 snowflakes. the other 2 snowflakes are MS punches. all were lightly sponged with crumb cake ink and then sprayed with frost shimmer spray. the music paper was also inked and sprayed in the same manner. I added little baby stitches around the words to make them pop a bit & baby buttons to mark the center of the "A". stickles and shimmerz paint were used on several of the hats for sparkle.

Party Time Tuesday - Snow us what ya got! (Blinkie is on sidebar down a bit)
Ellen Hutson's Classroom - Back in Time (Oct. 12 & Nov. 6)
Cheerful Stamp Pad - who's wearing Santa's hat?
Crafty Boots - anything goes
Daisy Doodles - Christmas
Kraft Journal - kraft and Christmas
Paper Creations Ink - Christmas
2 Sisters - holiday
Challenge Up Your Life - music
Crazy 4 Challenges - snow
Hiding in my Craftroom - holiday (Christmas)
Totally Gorjuss - sparkle
Crafty Catz - snowmen
Phindy's - sprinkling of snow
Simply Create Too - Christmas

Jellypark Friends Friday Challenges begin today! ;)

Coffee of the Day - Chocolate Peppermint


Today is the big day over at Jellypark Friends Friday Challenges! We have our very first challenge kick off, as well as some cutey cute cute new digi releases by Claire! you MUST stop by the blog and then the store to see everything going on. Fun abounds, dear friends! :)


My first card features the new image, 'Rabbit and Balloon'. I love this precious little girl bunny! She was of course watercolored with my SU! inks and stickles were added to her happy balloon. Papers are Basic Grey Hello Luscious. flowers and turquoise trim are Prima. stickles was added to the flower centers as well. of course I had to add a few buttons to finish off the card! :)



My next card is for the challenge we have chosen to start things off, Christmas in July, and features the adorable freebie snowman Claire is giving away on the blog. be sure to pick yours up and play along with everyone! You aren't required to use a Jellypark image for any of the challenges, but gosh, who wouldn't want to make something with this little guy?! ;)

I tried the 'out of the box' cutting technique again with the snowman, which was printed onto kraft cs. I used white craft ink to color him and MARKERS! shock, I know! your jaw just dropped to the floor, didn't it? he was then covered in rock candy stickles for a little sparkle sparkle shine shine. Papers are Basic Grey Out of Print, one of my new faves from BG. so right up my alley! that tree gave me more fits than I can possibly tell about in one post, so let's just leave it at, yep, the snow is partially green no matter how much white stickles & glitter I put on it. it was die cut from cardboard and covered in button ornaments. oh, if only my guys would let me decorate our tree one day in button ornaments! a little snowflake decoration, crinkled seam tape, and faux stitching finish off the card.

I do hope you play along in our challenge. 3 winners will be randomly chosen with blog badges awarded and a free image for one player. Challenges will post every other week, so you have plenty of time to make something. and do stop by to see everything that the DT has created. They are some of the most talented ladies I have come across and have worked so hard to get ready for today. :)

Love ya! Jennifer

both cards challenges:
Digital Tuesday - Spellbound (use 1 or more dies - both cards use 2)
Little Darlings - buttons, brads, or eyelets

Snowman card challenges:
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Christmas in July
Crafty Sentiments - stitching
Rainbow Lady - stitching
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Crafty Pad - texture
Basic Grey - doilies & ribbons
Word Play Weekend - Christmas in July
Pollycraft - Great Outdoors
Stamp Something - Christmas in July
Do You Stack Up - stitching

Bunny & Balloon challenges:
Colour Create - pink, aqua, & cream
Pixie Dust - girly, girly
Crafting for All Seasons - furry friends
Paper Pretties - animals
Creative Craft - pretty blossoms
Use it Tuesday - animals (both prima flowers & trim are eons old, as is the stickles glue. grins!)
Totally Papercrafts - girly

A New Challenge begins at Baby Bud Designs! :)

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice!!!! woooo hooooo! I am drinking coffee again! :)

Welcome to a brand new challenge with Baby Bud Designs! I am going to try to be quick today, because I want you to do 3 things for me:

1. race to the Baby Bud Designs blog to pick up not one, but TWO adorable freebies today and

2. be sure to stop by the other Lady Bud's blogs to leave them some lovin' for their beautiful contributions! :)

3. get started making your card so you can have a chance at winning the fun digi and card making prize pack!

now here we go ~

the challenge for this upcoming month is "Scallops, Buttons, and Bling", so baby I went to town! first I used one of the free images available today, "Woof Doggie". His little leash is part of my bling although David tells me no self respecting dog would allow a bow on his leash. I beg to differ! grins! The scallops are obvious in the lace and canvas portions, as are the fun buttons, but it is some of the other 'bling' I want to tell you about.

As I was taking my dogs out for a walk the other day, I was once again marveling at the beautiful colors of fall and the leaves scattered around me. I picked up a handfull and thought I would see what I might create with them. About that time a very fun package arrived at my door from i {heart} papers containing some birthday bash goodies I had won. inside was the spritz shimmer sprays I have been telling you about. I already had the frost and loved it, but I now have the sparkle and copper in my collection. Today's card is pretty much covered in the copper spray! The Jenni Bowlin Afternoon Tea papers were sprayed with it, the SU! canvas scallop strips were sprayed with it, and then the leaves were also sprayed with it! yes, way! you can spray leaves!!! and oh my stars, it is so beautiful irl! the little flecks of copper mingle with the various shades in each leaf. They were sealed with cheapo hairspray on both front and back, which helped to add some shine all in itself.

so there you go - 'Scallops, Buttons, and Bling'! please join us and play along. and a big hearty congratulations go out to Nataliya for winning the first BBD challenge! way to go! :)

• City Crafter - Autumn Leaves Falling