Happy Halloween!

Wow, it's been a REALLY long time since my last post - July 2012.  I took a long much needed break after my 13 year old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes but I missed creating cards and now need some "me time" so I'm trying to get back into creating & posting more regularly now.   I made this card for my two nephews and mailed it to them for Halloween with some McDonald's Treat Gift Certificates this past week.  I used up lots of stuff from my stash (which by now is pretty much everything since it's been so long since I've made anything lol).  The stamp is an awesome PSX Halloween stamp K-422 (there's no name on it).

I coloured the main image with copics and then distressed it with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  I mounted the image on an Stampin Up embossed spiderweb panel which I had also previously distressed.  I used two Halloween sentiment stamps that I got in the $1.00 bin at Michaels a few years ago and added a Making Memories Halloween Brad to the front.  Of course more distressing on the inside to match the front of the card.  

I really had a ton of fun with the distress inks with this card - can't believe the paper was ever white!  I sure hope the nephews liked the card and it made them smile.  If the card doesn't then the gift certificates certainly will :)

I will be entering my card into the following challenges:

1.  Shopping Our Stash (SOS) - Challenge #124 Halloween or Orange & Black
2.  Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 292 Spooktacular

Critter Sketch #122 - Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle

Yes.....my post is late I totally scheduled it for the wrong day and just realized so I'm editing and posting it now :)

For our Critter Sketch Challenge #122 this week we have chosen Sparkle, Sparkle, Sparkle as our challenge theme.  How perfect to celebrate this past Canada Day and the upcoming 4th of July Celebrations!  Well my card isn't reflecting these wonderful holidays but it sure does sparkle:

I used some of my neglected outline stickers and my Martha Stewart glitter to match this fabulous glittery paper.  Boy does it sure sparkle in real life!  Can't wait to see what sparkly creations you show us this week over at Critter Sketch :)

SOS Challenge #57 - Stars & Stripes OR Red/White/Blue

You have a couple of choices if you wish to play along with our challenge this week over at Shopping our Stash (SOS) Challenge Blog!  For Challenge #57 we want to see Stars & Stripes or Red/White/Blue.  You could do both options like some of our DT girls.  Me....I kept it simple and just went with stars and stripes.  It's been a crazy few days and I needed to keep it nice & simple but I did use up lots of stash on my card:

I knew that I wanted to use my neglected star embossing folder with my Cuttlebug (best invention ever in my opinion) and I paired it with more paper from a My Minds Eye "Complete Boy" paper pad.  I used another neglected item (my fiskars border punch) and even found an ancient rub on which sentiment worked perfectly with all those stars.  I think my arm just about fell off trying to get this rub-on to transfer.  I have tons of rub-ons and rarely use them so I better start giving my arms a good workout as I swear they get harder to transfer as they age, LOL!  Other stash items used:  twine & some of my Tim Holtz distress inks.  Did I mention I have a whole drawer full of just the ink refills that rarely see the light of day?  I really need to work on using them more........

Hope you play along with us again this week over at SOS!

SOS #56 - Stuck on Stickers

Well, this was a hard challenge for me this week over at SOS (Shopping our Stash) Challenge Blog.  Our 56th challenge is called "Stuck on Stickers" and we'd like to see you incorporate stickers on your creation.  Now I'm not a huge fan of stickers and don't have many of them but after seeing some of the cards my DT members made this week I may have changed my mind!  I made this card using some stickers I found in my stash:

I've had these red metallic letter stickers for a while and the puffy, glittery hearts since last Valentines Day and they worked perfectly for my card.  A big THANKS to Leslie who inspired me with her "LOVE" stickers from last week's "Double the Ribbon" Challenge!  The paper I used was from my Bo Bunny Crush 6x6 paper pad.  I even used some satin black ribbon and was going to add a bow but thought it would cover up my letters :)

Hope you'll play along with us this week & change my mind about stickers!  Can't wait to see what you come up with.  

Critter Sketch Challenge #120 - Hi!

This week over at Critter Sketch it's Challenge 120 and we have a sketch for you:

I decided to rotate the sketch and came up with this using scraps from a card I made in a previous blog post:

I've had these chipboard letters forever and figured it would be perfect to use them.  In real life they are actually the same mustard colour (distressed with a bit of red) as the background DP but no matter how many photos I took would not come out that way.  Oh well :(  

This month over at Critter Sketch we are being sponsored by Robyn's Fetish:

SOS Challenge #55 - Double the Ribbon

This week over at Shopping our Stash (SOS) Challenge Blog our 55th challenge is called "Double the Ribbon".  We would like to see your creations featuring at least two different ribbons and/or twine.  Fairly easy right?  I figured since I missed our last week's challenge "masculine" I would combine them both and came up with the following card:

It was perfect since I was finally able to use this super cute image that I received in a card swap.  After colouring it with my copics and distressing with my Tim Holtz inks, I paired it with this great paper from my "Complete Boy" paper pad from My Mind's Eye.  I've had it for soooooo long and only used one time before.  I really think I need to make more masculine cards and use up some of my huge stash of paper :)  I layered my two ribbons, one rust one covered by a thinner brown one.

I made this card for my son who loves to fish whenever we head down to our cabin.  It totally looks like him with the backwards cap & everything.  I can't wait to take him fishing when we go down in a few weeks!

I will be entering my card into the following challenges:

Dream Valley Challenge #34 - For that Special Guy (who could be more special then my son?)

Challenge #118 - Recipe Challenge

It's been awhile since I've posted on my blog or had any time to craft (if anyone noticed)!!  My 12 year old son was recently hospitalized and diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes which kind of turned our world upside down.  We are slowly coming to terms with his diagnosis and learning all about insulin injections, blood sugar, meal planning and all the other "fun" stuff that goes along with it.  It was nice to get a few minutes to finish up a creation that I'd been working on for a while.  I was able to make it work for our new challenge #118 over at the Critter Sketch Challenge blog this week.  We have a recipe challenge for you:

Use 1 ribbon, 3 buttons & 5 brads or eyelets on your creation

How easy is that?  I used this sweet little Pure Innocence Stamp called "Happy Mail" and paired it with paper scraps from my Echo Park Victoria Gardens Paper Pan.  I even paper pieced the dress with some Bo Bunny paper scraps.  

Actually most of my card was made using scraps, don't you just love that?  I used a scrap pink ribbon, some cute little flower buttons (so wish I bought more of these) and 5 white brads which I coloured with my copics to match.  A nice, simple card & so cute to send in the mail.  

I hope you'll check out the Critter Sketch Blog & play along, we have just announced our 8th new DT and there is some great inspiration to be found.  

Since it's a new month, we also have a new monthly sponsor Robyn's Fetish:

Critter Sketch Challenge #116 - Sketch Challenge

It's time for another sketch challenge from Critter Sketch this week!  It's our 116th Challenge, can you believe it?  Here's the fabulous sketch we had to work with:

I had limited access to my supplies this week but was able to make it work with what I had on hand:

I used up some scrap paper I had and used one of my new embossing folders and then distressed with some white ink.  The black silk ribbon and metal charm I've had forever and the glittery black brads I forgot I even had.  I was looking for my chipboard letter "U" to make an adore U card, but couldn't find it.  I will add that later when I have better access to my stuff!

I hope you play along with us this week/month, we have our regular monthly sponsor Stamp & Create sponsoring us for the month of May.  If you haven't checked out your shop you definitely should as they alway have fantastic sales many new items coming in regularly.  Did you know they even have the latest Magnolia collection "Summer Memories" ready to ship?

We have a long weekend here in Canada this weekend & boy have I been looking forward to our weekend away at the cabin.  Hope you have a fabulous week this week too!

It's a Party - Happy 1st Birthday SOS (Blog Candy too)

I'm so excited that today finally arrived as we have been talking about our first birthday celebration over at Shopping our Stash Challenge Blog for weeks now!  We have a super fun celebration/challenge running for the next two weeks over at SOS so be sure to pop by and say hi!  There may even be some blog candy on some of the SOS crew blogs so be sure to visit everyone.  For our first birthday we decided we wanted to do something fun so we are having a BINGO Challenge!  That's right, you can select any horizontal, vertical or diagonal line to play along:

For my card I decided to use the diagonal line (Yellow, Pearls, Ribbon & Pink).  For my Free I chose to use glitter on the trim of Tilda's dress, the butterflies & the gorgeous yellow flower.

I had so much fun colouring this Magnolia image "Tilda with Hawaiian Flower" with my copics.  I really wanted to paper piece her dress and I love how it turned out.  I used scraps left over from my Echo Park "Victoria Gardens" paper pad.  I used this scrap of white ruffled ribbon & airbrushed it with my copic markers to match.  I'm sending this card off to my little sister in Edmonton who I don't see as often as I would like.  

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Bunny Zoes - Challenge 24 Anything Goes

The Squirrel & The Fox - Challenge 17 One for the Girls

In honour of our 2 week birthday celebration over at Shopping our Stash (SOS) I'm also giving away some BLOG CANDY:

My candy includes:

- CC Designs Part (3 stamp set -mounted)

- 3 unmounted bare rubber Sweet Pea Stamps

- Bo Bunny Happy Board Book 

- Heidi Swap "Forever" clear cling stamp

- 8 sample packages of flower soft

- Assortment of Wild Orchid Craft Flowers

- 1 pkg paper doily

- Fiskars clear stamp set

- package of ribbon

In order to be eligible for my blog candy you need to create something using our Bingo card in our 2 week challenge and link it up to the SOS Challenge Blog and then come back here and leave a comment letting me know your entry #.  You can enter as many times as you would like but don't forget to comment each time so I know how many times you've entered.  

Have fun & Good luck!

SOS Challenge #51 - Get out those scraps!

We have a great way to use up your old scraps for our challenge this week over at Shopping our Stash Challenge Blog!  Our 51st Challenge is for you to use 3 or more design papers on your creation!  This was a perfect way to use up some of my Echo Park "Yours Truly" paper scraps AND use an uninked Whipper Snapper stamp from my collection!  This cutie's name is "Bella":

Isn't she adorable?  I have no idea why it took me so long to ink her up!  I even have another little boy image called "Jayden" from Whipper Snapper I haven't used.  Hmmmm maybe that will make it on my next card?  The "Welcome Baby" sentiment is from the same line.  I even coloured my pearls with my copics to match.  Super CAS and cute card....now I just have to wait to find someone who is having a baby to give it to :)

Critter Sketch Challenge #114 - Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is the theme for us this week over at The Critter Sketch Challenge Blog and I kept my card CAS this week.  I'm not a big over embellisher so most of my cards are CAS anyways:

I used the Magnolia image "Tilda with Bunch of Roses" from the Chasing Butterflies collection and paired it with some paper from Echo Parks Victoria Gardens line which is available at our sponsor this month, Stamp & Create!  The image was coloured with copics and then I added some spica glitter pen just for fun :)
The little green scallops under the pink paper is some cute green ribbon that I had in my stash.  I hope you will play along with us this week over at Critter Sketch!

Did you know we are having a DT call?  Check out all the details here!

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog DT Call

Would you like to be a part of our team over at Critter Sketch Challenge Blog?  It's a fun DT with a great group of girls and bi-weekly challenges.  Check out this post or email Melanie at melaniebitting@gmail.com for application information!

SOS Challenge #50 - Mother's Day or Girly Card

I can't believe it's our 50th Challenge over at Shopping our Stash Challenge Blog. Time sure flies when you are having fun!  This week we want you to show us your Mother's Day or Girly themed cards!  Even though I'm a mom, I really dread this time of year and have ever since my mom passed away when I was 19.  You would think it would get easier over time but it doesn't.  I made this card for my mom even though she isn't here and I'll keep it along with all the other's I've made over the years just so that while she's watching over me she'll know how much I still love and miss her :)

I used one of Stamping Bella images "You're my Number one-abella".  I thought it would be perfect and I've had the image forever and hadn't coloured it.  I was able to use one of my new dies and a leftover flower I had in my flower drawer.  All paper came from my Echo Park "Yours Truly" paper pad.

Be sure to check out the SOS Challenge Blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the SOS girls!!

SOS Challenge #49 Butterflies, Blooms & Bling?

It's time for our 49th Challenge over at Shopping our Stash this week and we have a fun one for you!  That's right....we want you to show us items on your creation that start with the LETTER B!  Should be fairly easy right?  Some examples for you:   brads, boys, bugs, blue, banana, bicycle, bear, baskets.


I chose to use Butterflies, Blooms & Bling (stickles).  Here's my card:

Isn't this image just gorgeous?  Hard to believe I found this stamp by PSX in our local thrift store for $4.00 awhile back.  I was glad to finally use it.  The image was coloured with copics and since it's a large image I kept the card simple.  I used this sentiment that I got in a sentiment swap over at SCS finally and the ribbon came from a card kit swap I was in.  The paper is by Basic Grey Kioshi line and I'm finally getting around to using it :)

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps and you have to play along for a chance at winning some of their super fun images!

Critter Sketch Challenge #112

Welcome to Critter Sketch Challenge #112!  This week we have a sketch challenge for you:

Here's my take on it using an image by Whipper Snapper called Party Koala:

I coloured the image with copics and used the MFT banner die that I hadn't even opened yet.  I paired it with some paper scraps and some chipboard numbers from the same line.  I love it when I can use up my scraps!!  

Be sure to play along with us this for your chance to win a fabulous price from our monthly sponsor Inky Impressions:

CritterSketch Challenge #110 - Critters

This week's challenge (#110) over at Critter Sketch Challenge Blog is all about Critters!  You can use any animal, bug, a cute little bunny or even butterflies on your creation to play along with us this week!
I used this cute image called "Inky Fairy Sitting on a Clothespin" by our monthly sponsor:

Inky Impressions

I coloured the image with copics and added a bunch of butterflies that I punched out with my Martha Stewart Punch and covered with bling.  I paired it all with some Bo Bunny Paper scraps and some purple rhinestone brads and ribbon to complete.  Isn't she super adorable?  I hope you will play along with us in our Critter Challenge over at Critter Sketch.

Challenge 46 - Punch it Out

Over at Shopping Our Stash Challenge Blog we have a fun challenge for you this week.  Challenge 46 is called "Punch it Out".  We want to see you use at least two punched elements on your creation for us this week.  I found it a great way to use some of my most neglected items.  I have two drawers full of punches and I rarely use them.  Crazy right?  This week I managed to use two different punches on my card:

I used a border punch and a butterfly punch.  To top it all off I even used a Sugar Nellie stamp called "I give you my heart" that a friend brought me back from Scotland.  It hadn't seen ink yet so it was great to pull it out, colour it with copics and match up with this pretty Basic Grey paper from the Kissing Booth line.  The "I love you" sentiment is actually a piece of ribbon from a roll that I picked up from Michaels back in February but never used for the Valentine card it was intended :)

It's great to use up my stash items especially my Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy stamps.  My friend is going back to Scotland for two months in May and I'm sending them with a shopping list because they are going to a certain little stamp shop in Elgin while they are there :)

SOS Challenge #45 - Circles

Over at Shopping our Stash (SOS) Challenge Blog this week our challenge #45 has everything to do with CIRCLES!  Yes, show us your circle punches, dies, polka dots, basically anything that has a circle on it.  For my card I was able to use all stash items on my card:

I received this cute Stampendous Changito image & all the paper in a card kit swap I was in many, many months (maybe even a year) ago over at Splitcoast Stampers.  To be honest I haven't made anything with any of the card kits that I received.  How bad is that?  I coloured the image with copics and then then added some glossy accents to the water to make it look wet.  I think this paper and image was perfect for the challenge with all these polka dots!

You should have no excuse for not playing along with us this week...adding circles to your creation is super easy, even brads & eyelets count!!  We have a Bugaboo Stamps as a sponsor this week so play along for your chance to win a great prize!  Have you ever checked out their Deal of the Day?  They always have such cute, fun images and their prices are great!

Critter Sketch Challenge #108 - A Sketch

We have another fabulous sketch for you to follow this week over at The Critter Sketch Challenge Blog.  Here is the sketch for Challenge #108:

Here's my take on it:

I've had this super cute Magnolia image coloured for quite some time so it was about time I made her into a card.  She was coloured with copics and paired with some of my Kaisercraft Paper scraps.  I even managed to use some felt flowers from Stampin Up that I have had for so long and still have tons of.  I really wanted to add pearls to the centers of the flowers however didn't have any that matched.  Oh well!

Our sponsor this month over at Critter Sketch is Digital Delights:

I hope you'll play along with our sketch this week!

SOS Challenge #44 - Buttons and/or Bows

I love the challenge that we have for you this week over at Shopping our Stash Challenge Blog!  This week we want to see your projects using Buttons and/or Bows!  I managed to use both this week on my card:

I had so much fun colouring this cute Magnolia image "Hello Little Butterfly" which has been in my stash since January and I'm finally getting around to using her.  I coloured her with copics and then paired her with DP from my Echo Park Victoria Gardens paper pad.  I'm in love with this paper, it's so pretty!  The buttons have been in my stash for a while and I can't believe I haven't used them before because the flowers are just too cute!  The pink bow was one I had done up using my bow easy to use on another card I made awhile back and it just didn't work so it was great to finally use it.  The "hello" sentiment is from a hero arts clear stamp set that I don't use nearly enough of.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that I'm finally using these things up from my stash.  Only problem is I love this card so I just may never give it away, LOL!

I hope you'll join me and the rest of the girls over at Shopping our Stash (SOS) this week and play along.  Remember you can use buttons or bows (or both)!!  Have fun!

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Made Especially for You - Use 3 buttons
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Cute as a Button (I used 3 buttons)
The Paper Players #87 - CAS with buttons