You're so Sweet...Bashful Buttons Boo

Hello lovely followers - happy, happy weekend to you!  I have a sweet card to share with you today that I made using a digital image I got for free from Lacy Sunshine.  Heather gave her Facebook fans and members a special deal to get one of two very different images for free to use. She called them her "dark side"- Amelia and  "light side" - Bashful Buttons Boo, images.  I absolutely couldn't resist this darling Bashful Buttons Boo image as she reminded me of my own sweet daughter many years ago. So I choose the light side :o)

How perfect is this paper with the image?  I guess that there are some definite advantages to being a DSP paper hoarder from time to time (that is if you are willing to cut it up - lol).  From time to time I take all my little scraps that really would be useful on a card (but I just can't seem to throw away) and punch out (or die cut) a bunch of small shapes to keep for future use - such as flowers, hearts, stars, small circles, snowflakes, butterflies, and buttons. Yep...buttons. And I used several of those on this card today (yay me -  using up some bits and pieces!) :o).

I might have mentioned that I am learning to be better at coloring skin and hair on my digital images.  Still not an expert by any means but I think I'm getting better all the time.

I am entering this card in the following challenges (in addition to posting to the Lacy Sunshine gallery).

Lacy Sunshine's Challenge 28 - Use Spring Colors

Alphabet Challenge Blog - B for Buttons and Bows
House of Cards - Cute/Fun & Add a Button (I have several paper buttons)
and

Sweet Sunday Sketch #209 (oops - missed the deadline on this one, but it's a great sketch).

Looking forward to a weekend of catching up on all the things I didn't get done during the week.  I know that sounds really odd - but I like order and neatness and right now chaos is reigning in my home and life, so I need to take charge.  Not sure if I'll have much time to craft (big sad face) - but I'll feel much better when order is restored.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today.  Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D

House of Cards - Month One Clean and Simple

Hello friends! I'm so digging the inspiration photo and colors for this month's challenge at  House of  Cards . These colors are some of my all-time favorites to use.  Here's the inspiration photo - same one as last week but this time instead of Cute and Fun they want to see a Clean and Simple (CAS) style card using at least 3 of the colors see below:

 

The CAS style used to make me have heart tremors as it was really outside my comfort zone.  In fact even 3 months ago I would pretty much avoid entering a challenge if it required CAS.  But being part a design team for another challenge that requires this style once a month has given me lots of practice and really helped me get better and more comfortable with this style. I'd even say that I kind of like it  now.  So... here's what I made to enter this week's challenge:

Shut the front door.... how perfect is this to have a bowl of cherries sticker in my crafting stash for this challenge - LOL!  I'm feeling practically giddy that I had these great peel off stickers (Elizabeth Craft Designs) to use for this week's challenge at HOC.  I had purchased them probably a year or more ago after attending a class on how to use them with copic markers.  Funny how the simplest things can make a person happy. I'm seriously just so tickled that I found these to use!! 

Okay...enough silliness (thanks for indulging me a bit) let me tell you just a bit more about my card.  I didn't have a sentiment stamp that went with this so I created one in Word on my computer.  I really like how the words are shadowed in a lighter color.  Adds interest without taking away for the CAS design.  I used a very thin mat around the image to give it a bit  more "pop" and yet it still left plenty of white space on the card.   The copic markers I used are: BG01 & BG05 (bowl), R29, R39 & R89 (cherries), G28 (leaves) and E49 (stems). I'm kind of wishing that I had finished it off with Crystal Glaze to make the cherries shiny. Hmmmm... gonna have to try that with the other bowls I still have to use. 

This card is going to my 89 year old Grandma who recently fell and broke her leg (right at the hip joint).  She is feeling very much in the pits and we are trying to keep her spirits up so she can stay strong and heal faster. I think this card will make her laugh.  So far not finding anything in my stamp collection that really grabs me for the inside sentiment.  If you know of a really good saying to put on the inside (funny, inspirational or otherwise) before I give it to her next week I'd love to hear it.  

Guess that's about it for now.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today - I'm sure glad that you did! Til next time....hugs and happy crafting friends! D

House of Cards Challenge - 1st Ever Challenge, Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #192 - F is for...{friend, fresh} and Divas by Design - "Cute"

Hello and happy weekend!  Two of my dear DT members on 52{Christmas} Card Throwdown have joined together with some other fabulously talented ladies and formed a new challenge called House of Cards.  The thought behind this challenge is that each week the HOC team wants to see a different style of card making. This week the style is Cute & Fun and they want us to use at least 3 of the colors in the photo above.
Cute & Fun is becoming my preferred style I think.  It's certainly the one I feel most comfortable with and I find that my stamp and digital image library is getting pretty full of "cute" images.  So, since this is my favorite type of card to make, and to support my two pals, Mynnette and Ruth,  I've made a card to play along with their NEW challenge.  Here it is:

I hope this works - my shades of blue are just a bit more blue than the sample colors. I used three different shades of blue and two different shades of red (however, that's harder to see). Notice how I pulled in the cherries from the photo as well?  As soon as I saw this pic - I knew just exactly what image I wanted to use to make this card for a wonderful friend.  That little cherry is punched from the Two Step Cupcake punch from Stampin Up!    

I'm also entering this at Divas by Design where the challenge is to create a "CUTE" card, and Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #192 "F is for...".  I made this card for a friend - but if that's too much of a stretch, I'll say that it also incorporates fresh cherries, one of summer's best treats :o)

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today - I'm sure glad that you did. Til next time...hugs and happy crafting friends. D