Sun Fun Beach Kitty

Winner at Show Us Your Cats
Winner at Crafty Calendar

Coffee of the Day - Salted Caramel

I have a fun little shaped card to share with all of you today. I know it seems like it's been ages since I last shared anything with you. so very sorry about that. been so busy behind the scenes getting projects made for upcoming posts. :) horrid tease, aren't I?!

I am also joining the Doctor Digi DT over on their Facebook page, posting every other Thursday. the images are a hoot, some causing eyebrows to raise! not in an offensive way by any means, so don't worry.

edit - sadly some health issues have come up so I am now a 'one hit wonder' with this team. I'm not going to be able to be a part afterall, much to my dismay. but please do head to the store and Facebook group to see all of the fun things they have to inspire you.

Today is my first day posting, so pop over to the group. if you head to the store, you'll find sections of both free images as well as some called 'cheapies.' both of the images on my card today come from these 2 areas.

I placed the fun cat, Schrodinger (ha! the nerd in me loves this!!) under the beach umbrella and then fussy cut the scene. I then painted in a little sand and ocean for him. the great sun card shape is a template from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

papers are from the Basic Grey Shine On collection, buttons are from my vintage stash, red twine is from Michael's, and little flower is by Wild Orchid Crafts. sentiment was generated on the label maker.

p.s. I have a secret I have been hiding. Moon Pie, our rescue cat from 2 months ago, has an online girlfriend. yep. it's out now. meet Princess Anna. she is the model for my cat coloring these days. because it's not easy to paint a black cat and not have it look like a blob. so I seem to always paint Anna. grins! isn't she a beauty though? he comes up to the monitor every time my friend, Debra, posts a piccy of her. isn't that a hoot? he is smitten!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a most amazing day! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Creations - on the beach
Double D Challenges - I love polka dots (why, yes, I do!)
Creative Moments - anything goes with circles option
Show Us Your Cats - anything goes with a cat
Deep Ocean - seaside/beach
Classic DT Open Ch - anything goes
Critters and Creatures linky party - anything goes with a critter or creature
Cutie Pie - cute plus work, rest, or play
Animal Friends - summer
Country View - hot summer days
Creatalicious - sea/beach
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - anything goes w/patterned paper
Sisters of Craft - anything goes
Allsorts - spots and stripes
Crafty Calendar - summer fun
Dare 2B Artzy - animals

Let's Go to a Tropical Beach Somewhere....

Coffee of the Day -  Pecan Toffee

whew, it's Saturday! did you ever think we'd make it to the weekend? ;) well, my time as a Guest Designer at Bugaboo is winding down, so just a few posts left to share with all of you. I have had a grand time with the lovely peeps there and the oh, so fun images to be found in the Bugaboo store!

today there is a neat photo inspiration challenge on the Bugaboo blog. I remember many moments like this from our years of living in Florida. whenever we went to the beach, I refused to wear shoes the moment my toes hit the sand. my feet needed to feel the sand between my toes!

I chose to use the adorable little 'Kidz Beach' image for my card. papers and little card are from the Authentique Utopia collection. beautiful seam binding is some that I won from Crafty Ribbons. gorgeous color! I did distress it a bit, as I am wont to do. ;)

stitched sun die is by La La Land, palm tree die is a retired one from Whimsy Stamps, and main image die is from Spellbinders. chrysanthemum is from Wild Orchid Crafts and of course my vintage buttons are from my beloved stash. little accent dots and waves were made with a white gel pen.

I really do appreciate those of you who stop by to say hello and leave such kind comments! enjoy your weekend & stay cool on these hot summer days. :)
Jennifer

Challenges:
ABC - 'L' is for lots of layers
Crafts and Me - anything goes w/optional summer memories
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - anything goes w/patterned paper
Delicious Doodles - beside the sea
Dies 'R Us - water/beach
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - dies and/or punches
Paradise of Stamps - anything goes
SLS Lines - 3 or more layers
Sweet Stamps - anything goes
Paper Shelter - ribbons

Water Play and the Digi Bells Blog Hop!

Winner at Crafty Sentiments

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Bread Pudding

Welcome to my stop on this summery Digi Bells Blog Hop! :) if you have been following along, then you would have arrived here from LINDA's absolutely gorgeous blog. should you get lost at any point along the way, then just head over to the Digi Bells blog for the complete list. while you are there, be sure to submit your project application for the Guest Designer call out! I have had the absolute BEST TIME as a guest these past few months. :) everyone is just as nice as can be!

as y'all know, each of us are showcasing the adorable images, 'Beach Ball Baby' and 'Big Splash,' former rubber stamps at Sweet Pea. these 2 are so precious! but then, aren't all of Elisabeth's images?! :) You will be able to find them in the digital store here, along with lots of other cuties.

I used papers from the Basic Grey Picadilly collection, flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, a little ribbon snippet from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and red twine from Michael's. let me tell you, that twine was quite the deal! it was marked on sale for only 30 cents for 20 yards! yes, I grabbed several spools at that price! :) it's the same quality as what I have ordered from other stores for much more.

main image die is by Spellbinders, banner die is by SU!, and stitched sun die is from La La Land. cute wooden veneer 'play' is also from Michael's. I added a bit of orange stain and white Mr. Huey's to it for some summertime fun. a touch of wink of stella glitter pen was added to the water spray coming from the hose.  a bit of burlap doily and my ever fave vintage buttons complete the card.

now pop on over to ALETHEA's fun blog to see what wonderful project she has created to inspire you! thanks so much for stopping by! have a most amazing weekend! :)

Challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown - fave embellishments (vintage buttons!)
Crafty Sentiments - anything goes
Creative Moments - anything goes
Crafty Addicts - anything goes/friends
Kraftin' Kimmie's Wonderful Wed. - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
A Snowflake's Promise - summertime
Crazy Challenge - summer fun
Fab 'n Funky - tic, tac, toe (die cut, digi, flowers)
Di's Digi Designs - hot or bright colors

Socks and Sandals

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

So do you know anyone who wears socks with their sandals? we had a friend back in our college days who not only wore socks with his flip flops, but white ones. cracked us up to no end! so of course I thought of him as soon as I saw this great image from Bugaboo!

Aud Sentiments has a new challenge starting today with a theme of 'Funny Sentiments' so let's see what you've got! everyone needs a bit of laughter in their day. :) it's also Throwback Thursday over on the Bugaboo challenge and inspiration blog, so you know you'll want to stop by to see what some of the team members have created to inspire you!

to go with Stella and Gus on the beach, I found a fun castle card template to turn into a sand castle. papers are from the Basic Grey Adrift collection. a bit of sand paper across the bottom adds fun texture.

pennant punch is from SU!, little dew drop is from Double Click Skittles, buttons are from my vintage stash, and ribbons & twine are stash items as well. crystal effects were added to both sets of glasses.

thank you so much for stopping by! hope your summer is going well! :)

Challenges:
Crafty Creations - anything goes
Creative Moments - anything goes/summer
Fresh Brewed Designs - beach
Little Red Wagon - kraft-tastic
Bunny Zoe - summer
Crafty Boots - summer
Melonheadz - off to the beach
Ooh La La - sun, sand, sea
Whoopsi Daisy - bring on summer
Sweet Stampin' - show us your shapes
DL Art - summertime
DRS Designs - life's a beach

Let's Hit the Surf!

Coffee of the Day - Caribbean Hazelnut

All of us in the crafty world love free images, and today is Freebie Friday over at Bugaboo! head to the store to check out this fella, Johnny Surf. if he isn't in the store yet, he will be shortly. until then, you can see the entire Johnny collection here. he is quite the busy guy! stop by the challenge and inspiration blog to see all of the fun projects made by the team using the image.

**the watermark I've been given by Bugaboo is the little lady in the car. 

it is NOT part of the card.**

I kept my card on the simple side since I want to mail it off to Ryan while he's away for the summer doing his internship. this way it can fit into an envelope easily, as opposed to the big padded ones I normally use to send my cards.

papers are from the Basic Grey Lauderdale collection, wave die is a retired one from Whimsy Stamps, stitched sun die is by La La Land, and main die is by Spellbinders. yellow diagonal stripe ribbon and natural jute string snippets are from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Happy Friday! I'll see you tomorrow! :)

Challenges:
Love to Scrap - it's a boy thing
4 Crafty Chicks - vacation
CRAFT - inspired by a movie (Point Break, who can resist Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze on the beach?)
Star Stampz - for/with kids
Inky Impressions - summertime
Sisterhood of Crafters - summertime fun
Cards in Envy - no girls allowed
Craftin' Desert Divas - masculine
Ooh La La - one for the boys
Scrapping 4 Fun - travel/holiday
Melonheadz - masculine
Brown Sugar - photo inspiration
Cut It Up - sun & surf (dies by Spellbinders, La La Land, & Whimsy Stamps)

Paddling By...

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Southern Pecan

Today starts a new challenge over at Aud Sentiments and our theme is 'Animals plus a sentiment.' 
Imagine That Digis is our sponsor and provided the team with some cuties for all of us to use. :) I hope to see your fun project linked to our challenge! come play along!

I used the cutey penguin on a float from the 'Poolside Penguins' set. he just made me smile!  sentiment is from the same set.

papers are from the Basic Grey Lauderdale collection, flower is from Michael's and was painted a bit to make it match, wave dies are from Whimsy stamps, and main die is by Spellbinders.

I added dots of Mr. Huey's shine spray to create water dots and then added polka dots to his swimming trunks with a white gel pen. my SU! ink squirty tool adds multi colored sprays of ink across the lower portion of the card base.

navy seam binding wraps across the bottom of the card while bits of parrot green netting peek out from the corners. a few buttons complete the fun! :)

I'll be sending this card off to one of our sons this summer, just to say 'hi' - as the sentiment says. :)

enjoy your day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Challenges:
TTCRD - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Crafting By Designs - let's hear it for the boys and men (sending to my son)
Outlawz Festive Friday - Penguin Day
Crafty Gals Corner - anything goes
Fresh Brewed Designs - anything goes
Inky Impressions - all about the boys (sending to my son)
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
Dream Valley - creatures

Summer Fun at the Beach

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Creme

Today begins the new challenge for the month over at Whimsy Stamps Inspiration Challenges and our theme is 'Summer'! we want to see what summer means to you! :)  You don't have to use a Whimsy stamp or digi to play along, so get busy creating! you could win one of several cool prizes. please stop by the challenge blog to see all of the great projects made by the team to inspire your creativity!

I am using the newly released 'Beachie' image by Marika Collins on my card, along with a sentiment from the Summer Memories Sentiment set. The Daisy Doily Die was used for the pink piece behind the main image, and it just happens to be on sale at the moment. in fact, you can get quite a few great deals in the sale area right now. hint, hint, hint!

papers are from the Authentique Favorite collection. waves were cut with a MFT die, sentiment punch is Jenni Bowlin, sun is made from star and circle punches, and Martha Stewart leaf punch was used to mimic seaweed. little seahorse flair & flower are Prima, linen thread is SU!, and buttons are vintage.

Challenges:
Mojo Mon. - sketch (turned on side)
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - outdoor fun
Digi Choosday - punches and/or dies (both)
Scrap Creations - water
Fan-tastic Tues. - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Craft and Smash - seashells, sand, and sea
Crafting Musketeers - summertime
Die Cut Divas - buttons and bows
Natalie and Amy - summertime
Craftin' Desert Divas - 'summer' linky party
Eureka - vacation
Incy Wincy - summertime activities
Kraft Journal - sea and sand (kraft card base)
Crazy Challenge - summer vacation
Come and Get It - cool things for summer
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Crafty Calendar - summertime fun
Di's Digis - summer fun
Hiding in My Craft Room - think summer
Open Minded Crafting - water, water, everywhere
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - summer days
Creative Corners - outdoors
Digitally Sweet - day at the beach
Fussy and Fancy - summertime
Wags 'n Whiskers - summer fun
Time Out Ch - fun in the sun
Moving Along With the Times - girls just wanna have fun
Inky Impression - summer fun

Life is Good if You're a Cat on the Beach

Coffee of the Day - Coconut Macadamia

Today starts a new challenge at Add a Little Dazzle, based on this inspiration photo. someone will win a $15 gift certificate to the store, and it could very well be YOU if you play along!  :)

for my card I decided to make some waves - well, not the kind I usually make (tee hee!), but this time by using a bit of perfect peacock metal run through my Big Shot using the Basic Grey Curly 2 die. you can actually punch out the inner portions, but I chose to leave them in to help mimic the look of waves. I then sponged 2 shades of alcohol inks over the top to help create a bit more color as well as age. in certain parts, I was able to distress the metal, which is just sooooo cool for me! you know how I love to distress things! :)

the cutey image is 'One Cool Cat' by Crissy Armstrong for Whimsy Stamps. papers are Spice Market by Basic Grey, sentiment sticker is by SRM, buttons are all vintage, large rose colored flower is Prima while tiny orange flowers are WOC. crystal effects was added to the glass of lemonade and sunglasses. some sequins and cord finish the card.

Challenges:
SRM - summer
Craft-room Ch - sun, sand, & surf
Fan-tastic Tues - summer at the beach
Paper Pretties - summer fun
Penny's Paper Crafty - fave embellies (vintage buttons, flowers)
WAW - anything encouraging goes
PDE Linky Party - beach/ocean
TTCRD - anything goes
Artistic Inspirations - anything goes/summer
Craft Your Passion - 3 or more embellies ( metal waves, buttons, flowers, sequins, cord)
Incy Wincy - bright funky colors
Ditzie Digi Design - anything goes
Squirrel and Fox - use metal
Just For Fun - here comes summer
Natalie and Amy - 4 legged friends
Sparkles - at the beach/summer fun
Catch the Bug - summertime
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - use metal
Brown Sugar - summer
Craft for the Craic - something summery or with flowers
Crafty Catz - use 2 different dies (Spellbinders and Basic Grey)
Get Inky - summer
Lia Stampz - summer fun

Fun in the Sun ATC and a bit of news....

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie (I found just enough for one little cup! oh joy!!!)

some pretty cool things have been happening around my house, well, other than the fact that my guys have all headed off to Camp for the summer and left me by my lonesome.....that is most certainly a bittersweet thing. I miss them like goodness knows what, but boy howdy, is it ever nice to not have dishes pile up in the sink! ;)

anyhow, the other day I saw that Whimsy Stamps was having a challenge in their Facebook group with a theme of 'Just Beachy.' I knew I wanted to play along if I could. well an opportunity presented itself that I just could NOT pass up..... more on that in a moment.

I decided to make an ATC using the cutey Babe at the Beach image by Crissy Armstrong. papers are from the Basic Grey Picadilly collection. I would say this is one of my all time fave collections, but you probably get tired of me saying that. ;) but really, I do love it!

her swimsuit was paper pieced, she is popped up on foam tape, polka dots were added to her sun hat with my white gel pen, & sentiment was created with my label maker (yes, I'm hooked on that thing right now!). sun was created by punching a circle from patterned paper and then die cutting 2 stars using the Lawn Fawn puffy stars die. these were sprayed with yellow daisy glimmer mist before assembling. waves are a die by MFT. flower & button are from my stash.

now for the news, I took a giant leap of faith last week and sent in my application for the Whimsy Stamps Digital DT call-out. boy oh boy, was I ever nervous because there are some AMAZINGLY talented people on that team! I was shocked outta my shoes when I got the news that they accepted me!!! I am now on the Digital team! wooo hooooo! call me tickled PINK! I start in July. happy happy happy dance!

stick with me, I think I'm going to have some blog candy to celebrate all of this great news as well as my upcoming birthday!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - add a die cut (Lawn Fawn and MFT)
Glitter 'n Sparkle - use a digi
Red Carpet Studio - Vacation
A Little Bit Crafty - Child's Play
Art by Miran - anything goes
Craft for the Craic - something summery or with flowers
Wags 'n Whiskers - color ch: yellow, orange, kraft, and white
Time Out - summer with a twist of flowers
Hambo Hoedown - Here Comes Summer
Just Inspirational - Summer

Hello Summer!

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie

Just a quick post today, as I'm still not feeling too whippy. But I have a few cards I've been making with some images I received for free to participate in challenges in blogland. I'll show one today and another tomorrow.

This cutey little girl with her inner tube was sent to anyone who requested her to play in the challenge over at Crafty Sentiments. papers are Basic Grey Serendipity, sentiment is Create with TLC, flower is Prima, twine is Maya Road, buttons are from my stash, and I'm sorry I don't remember the mfg. of the sun clip. the sentiment piece was sprayed with glimmer mist and accents were made with my white gel pen. chevron die is MFT.

hope you are having a great day!

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - summer holiday
Papertake Weekly - current sketch
Crafting by Design - anything goes
House That Stamps Built - water element
Pollycraft - fun in the sun
Sisterhood of Crafters - bring on the heat
City Crafter - summertime
TTCRD - anything goes
Dream Valley - summer days
Allsorts - kraft it

Lazy Days of Summer

Coffee of the Day - Coconut Macadamia Nut

Good Morning, everyone! What a most glorious day it is here. still hot of course, but beautiful nonetheless. I had the best time yesterday while sitting at my compy watching a baby squirrel that was playing on our front porch rafters. my computer sits on a desk at a window that overlooks our front porch. This little squirrel spent what seemed like hours playing some game of his own making running along the rafters and into the tree that is on the corner. oh how much joy there is to behold if we only take but a moment to look up from whatever we are doing to see it. ;)


Now onto this week's challenge over at Paper Cupcakes - layers. I love to play around with lots of layers, so this was a fun one to do! I grabbed my Basic Grey Lauderdale papers to go with lovely Miss Gigi cooling herself on an innertube. doesn't she look so stylish?! :) The umbrella & sunglasses were both popped up on foam dimensionals for extra layers. The ticket sentiment was layered over a real ticket I saved from a band banquet raffle. my guys have just learned to ignore me when I save things like this, 'cause they know I really will use them in my papercrafting! tee hee! The felt flower ribbon came from a blog candy win, so I do apologize that I don't know the mfg,. but the little accent on the ticket was cut from the strip. a rhinestone flourish adds the necessary bling for our piggy babe, 'cause I think this stylish cutie just deserves it! ;)

Please do play along with all of us in the layers challenge. One winner will receive 2 free images of their choice from Nina's store. Plus as always, there is a free image provided on the blog for you to use if you would like. Paper Cupcakes images are not required to play along though.

Crafty Purple Frog - take a dip
Paper Sundaes - beach or summer
Fairytale - summer, sun, or sunshine
Creative Craft - 3D
Ai Factory - layers
Die Cut Dreams - animal antics
Pink Elephant - fun in the sun
Stamping Scrapping - bling (Basic Grey Lauderdale paper)