Spring! From the Heart April Digi of the Month Challenge, retrosketches#109, Papertake Weekly - Spring

Hello friends!  Got off work a little early, made chicken pot pie for dinner, watched an older episode of Glee on Netflix with my daughter tonight (I'm so hooked on that show now) and finished up this card. A wonderful Thursday evening and tomorrow is TGIF - whoo hoo!!

Here's the card I made - take a look: 

Digital image by From the Heart - "Spring Medley"

I'm so looking forward to seeing some pretty little flowers like this peeking out of the ground :o) Soon - oh so soon, I hope!  I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

From the Heart - April Digital Stamp of the Month Challenge

I got this beautiful digital image for free by using the digi from the March challenge.

retrosketches #109 (see sketch below)

Papertake Weekly - Spring has Sprung

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit me today. I'm sure glad that you did! 

Til next time...hugs and happy crafting friends! D

Retrosketches #102 & Creative Card Crew #55 - KISS

Hi friends! A special hello to my newest follower Aneta. So glad you have you along! 

I have a very quick post today to share a card I made for Retrosketches #102 using a couple new products I recent got.  I'm so in the mood for spring...sigh!  Take a look please:

Very simple really - I guess it's almost CAS but without the white space.  I was trying for an ombre effect with the sentiment and flowers (going from dark to light).  I lined up my saying using my trusty Stamp-a-Mjig tool.  I slightly blurred the edges of the small flowers with my watercolor pen after stamping and punching them out to go along with the watercolor paper. To my surprise when the flowers dried all the way the edges (petals) curled up slightly from that water. Really love how they turned out.  

I am also entering this cards at Creative Card Crew #55 - KISS (Keep it Simple and Sweet). 

As I said a quick post for now.  Fortunately I get the day off for the holiday so will hopefully be back later with another card or two to share (after I get  my DT cards for this week done).  

So "TaTa" for now.  Hugs and happy crafting dear friends! D

RetroSketches #84 and The Paper Players #166 - Halloween

Hello again - a double post for me tonight. I can't remember the last time I did that!  I was completely inspired by the sketch this week at RetroSketches #84 - I actually even dreamed about it before I got up and made it (crazy right?).  Take a look at what I made:

And here is the sketch I used:

 

I saw this sketch and just knew that it would be perfect for using some of my Halloween washi tape. It would also be great for stamp borders, or those little strips of patterned paper (that are so hard to throw away).  I used my grid paper to help me keep my strips straight.  I put the orange and black ones down first and then added the word strip last.  Pretty easy and quick! The hardest part was deciding what to put on for stamps, elements or sentiments (so many ideas).  Since most of my halloween stamps are more along the lines of "cute" not spooky, I had to hunt a bit for what would work well with the slightly dark and spooky tape (skulls) - somehow cute didn't totally cut it.   So I grabbed my retired bat punch and came up with a good mix (I think) between cute and spooky.  Of course I had to add a little glitter - couldn't help myself :o).

I am also entering my card in The Paper Players Challenge #166 - Nance's Theme: Halloween.  It's been a while since I've made one of their challenges so I was glad to be able to pay along for a change.  

So here it is the end of my weekend and time to get myself off to bed.  Have a very busy week coming up at work so I need my beauty rest and brain re-charge.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me - I'm sure glad that you did.  Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D

   

Retrosketches #65 {Praying for You} cQc #190 and Paper Players #147 {with Sympathy & Love}

Hello again dear friends and followers.  I stayed up a bit late last night making cards because I get the day off work due to the Memorial Day holiday.  Sadly two ladies that are dear to my heart have lost loved ones very recently, so I used that time to make a couple of Sympathy cards.  I used the sketch at Retrosketches as inspiration for this card (see below). I never seem to have a sympathy card on hand when I need it.  It's just not a theme that I look forward to making when I'm designing and entering challenges.  I hope these cards brings a bit of comfort and peace to my friends when they receive them though.

My inspiration for the second card I made is from the colors at ColourQ #190 and the sketch from the Paper Players Sketch Challenge #147 (although it's a loose interpretation of the sketch as I have flipped the components of the sketch quite a bit).

Gotta get going for now. I'll go visit my Grandpa's grave site and spend some time with my Grandma playing cribbage today. This is always a tough day for Grandma.  Maybe we can share some laughs to help make it easier. We bet a quarter per game.  Raided my piggy bank in case I lose a few games.   Thanks for letting me share these with you today. Wherever you are - make it a great day and celebrate your blessings and loved ones. Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D

Retrosketches #38 and Dynamic Duos #29

Hello dear blog friends.  Tonight I have another card to share with you.  Sympathy cards are hard for me to make. Somehow it just never seems as if I know the right thing to say or can adequately convey my feelings for those folks who have lost a loved one. One of my dear friends recently lost her Mom to a lengthly battle of illness.  She fought valiantly but finally gave in.  It was very hard for me to see the sadness that my friend felt while watching her dear Mom keep slipping away - the end was inevitable, but I don't think that it is ever easy when it comes, even knowing that there is no more pain or suffering.  This friend is very dear to my heart, as if she were my sister, and I'm so sad for her. The wonderful person that she is is a testiment to the wonderful person her mom was.  I hope that this card will help ease her sorrow somewhat.

How fortunate we are as crafters to have a way to express ourselves creatively and genuinely by sending someone a handmade card to express what we may not be able to say in words. I think it shows how very much we do care.  Thankfully having a sketch or color theme to focus on while making a sympathy card seems to help me in completing the task.  In this case I used the sketch at Retrosketches #38 (see below) and the color combo challenge at Dynamic Duos #29.   

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today - I'm very glad that you did.  Til next time - hugs and happy crafting!!

Crazy 4 Challenges #157 and Retrosketches #32 {Some Mummy Loves You}

Boooo!! Did I scare you? Probably not I'd guess since this mummy is a bit too cute to be spooky :o)
The theme at Crazy 4 Challenges #57 is Halloween - and more specifically to make a card /project that depicts your favorite halloween character.  I decided to create a mummy using the sketch over at Retrosketches #32 to make this fun card.    

I just can't wait to send this card to my son in college.  Hope he gets my sense of humor and isn't embarrassed by his mummy - lol!  Here's the inside:

So glad that you stopped by to visit me tonight  -  hope you enjoy this card. Til next time Hugs and Happy and Crafting!!