Thinking of You

I managed to get a card made to link up to two challenges.  I combined the watercolor

stamping technique from the Just Us Girls challenge and the color combo over at

Color Throwdown.

I used a stamp from Inkadinkado's "Meadow" stamp set for the watercolor  image. 

The sentiment is also an Inkadinkado Expressions stamp. 

The oval frame is from Spellbinders Lacey Ovals die set 

and the embossing folder I  used is from mpress and called "Daisy Garden".

I punched the butterfly with a Fiskars punch and added some pearls.

Thanks for taking a look!

Lady Bug Birthday

Just Us Girls has a fun sketch challenge this week.

So I decided to make a fun card!
I think this card works well for Seize the Birthday
toppings challenge of "Summertime" also.

I used a stamp set from Taylored Expressions called "Bugabee" for the lady bug.

The flowers were cut with the "Mini Flowers" dies from The Stamps of Life.
I free handed the grass and flower stems, added some tiny pearls to the flowers
and finished with the bow, pearls and sticker sentiment.
Thanks for taking a look!

Introducing Alex

Today I have a card I created using a brand new stamp from C Thru the Woods Clear Stamps.

He is Alex from "The Boys in the Woods Series".

This handsome young man screams groom to me so I just had to create a wedding card.

And I just happened to have this Prima Doll stamp called Lorenna which makes a lovely
 bride. I first stamped Alex on white card stock, colored him with markers and pencil colors
and fussy cut him. Lorena was stamped on white card stock. Her hair and skin was colored
with pencil colors. Then I stamped her gown, embossed the skirt and paper pieced after
fussy cutting. I added the small purple flower for her bouquet and pearls to her headband,
 the bottom of her skirt . The frame placed behind the couple was die cut using a
 Paper Artist cutting die from  Hot Off the Press called 3 Lacey labels.  

The border on the edge of the card are border dazzles also from Hot Off the Press.

 The sentiment is from an Inkadinkado stamp set called "Expressions".

I added the pearl flourishes and there you have it!

If you like the Alex stamp you should visit

 C Thru the Woods Clear Stamps to see where you can get your own.

I am entering this card in The Crafting Cafe challenge where the theme this month is

Love and Marriage.

Holiday Cardinal

I thought I would make a Christmas card combining 2 challenges this week.
The challenge at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown is a sketch challenge
and
 Sparkles Christmas Challenge this month is to use your favorite color combo.

Here's the sketch…

and my take on it using my favorite colors for Christmas,
red, green and gold.

I stamped the cardinal image with black ink and colored with markers and pencil colors.

Glitter was added to the snow on the branches.

The image was added to die cut circles.

I embossed the white panel and added ribbon to the card stock strips.

The greeting is a foiled sticker.

Thanks for thanking a look!

Butterflies

Ok, so once again Just Us Girls has a technique challenge and this is another one I've never done before. It's a shaving cream technique and I may have to use it again sometime!

I love the bright colors I used but struggled to figure out what to do for the card design. I
knew I wanted to use the paper created with the technique as a background but tried 3
other ideas for the rest of the card before settling on this. First I stamped a floral flourish
and wasn't happy with it. Then I stamped balloons and didn't like that either and then I
stamped some butterflies and colored them but didn't like the way they turned out so I just
decided to go with these punched butterflies.  Then I couldn't figure out how to add a
sentiment that looked okay with the rest of the design so I went without thinking this
would make an okay all occasion card. So the you have it. Thanks for taking a look!

HOC Blog Hop

Hi, all!  It's time for an end of the term blog hop over at House of Cards and we have a super fun challenge AND tons of great prize opportunities for those of you who join in the fun!!! :)  You should have arrived here from Donna's blog.  If you haven't, please start all the way back at the House of Cards hop post and follow the list found in the body of the hop post!

This challenge will run from June 2nd - June 15th and you can use any card style.
Be sure and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win fabulous prizes

from our sponors.

Here's our photo inspiration~

I've made cards using materials from 3 of our sponsors.

My first card was made using a digital stamp from Stitchy Bear called

" Daisies and Butterfly". 

The second card I have uses a stamp from Stamplorations from the stamp set called

"Simple Flowers and Sentiments".

The third card I created was done using 

"Eclectic Vintage Printable Papers - Robins Egg"

from Eclectic Anthology.

Be sure and check out the other sponsors of the Blog Hop including 

Paper Sweeties 

and

Inspired by Stamping.

Now get to hoppin'!  Your next stop is Mrs. Duck's Blog.  If you get lost along the way, you can always head back to the original blog hop post--and don't forget to link up a project at the House of Cards blog after completing the hop for an extra chance to win a mystery prize from one of our fabulous sponsors, too!

Nautical Birthday

I needed to come up with a birthday card for my son and he just returned from a trip

to the Oregon Pacific coast where he took some great pictures of a lighthouse.

So, I thought I would use that as inspiration for his card.

I used the sketch from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

It's not very often I make masculine themed cards so I just recently ordered some
new items that I used for this card.
The printed paper is from the Carta Bella "Ahoy There" 6x6 paper pad.
The lighthouse was stamped from the Carta Bella stamp set called "Whale of a Tail".
The captains wheel is from the Carta Bella sea, ship and anchor die set.
The sentiment is from "Birthday Greetings" stamp set from Hot Off the Press.
Thanks for taking a look!