Sunday, May 30, 2010

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

Penelope has no where to go this fine Sunday....  She actually reminds me of a picture I recently saw on Facebook....some friends were re-living prom season.

This is Day two of the Relay over at Sassy Studio Designs; and I hope you have been following, maybe even participating in their Anniversary Relay!

As many of you know, I am on a mission to use up every single scrap I can and this card is helping me with that!  The only thing that is a recent purchase is the lacy ribbon which I needed for a swap at SCS. 

While this isn't my normal type of card (girly) I love the challenge of creating something spectacular in a relatively short period of time in ways that I might not normally think of or do.  This fits that bill...lol!

And, I have the perfect person to give this card too....she is only 7 years old and loooovvveeessss anything foo-foo and girly!!!

Thanks for stopping by on this holiday weekend.  Please take the time to say a special prayer for all troops past and present tomorrow~

Huggz,
April

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Sassy Cassie says:

Hats Off to the Troops!!

Sassy Studio Designs is having a progressive digi giveaway....thanks for the heads up Carol!  And, you all still have time to make a card with Cassie and help them celebrate their one year anniversary!!  WOOT WOOT!!

I am super busy tomorrow, so I played tonight - will follow their instructions on getting the next freebie and actually have time to plan out a nicer looking card than this one!

Cassie is colored with my Bic Mark-Its and Copics, all the DP and CS was in my scrap folder.  I hand wrote the sentiment and added some metal dots as an embelly.  IRL, her blouse is ctually much closer in color to the DP....

Thanks for stopping by!
Huggz,
April

Sensational Saturday

I do not (normally) post on the weekend, but I did get a card made Friday and wanted to share.

The image is the last May freebie from Designed2Delight.  It is a cute flower with a little butterfly....as you can see (my son would tell me that I just earned my "der patch").  I colored it with Copic and then cut it all out - three times.  I used dimensions to give it a bit of interest.  The petals are FlowerSoft and the center is one of the buttons I found a week ago at an estate sale!


Thanks so much for looking and I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day (well, those of you in the USA).  My son, the Boy Scout, will be marching Monday morning at 8am in our local parade; so you know where I'll be on Monday!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Then it was Thursday...

Wow - a heat wave has hit Western New York - and I'm not really liking it.  Usually, it doesn't get in the upper 80s until August; and by then I can "take the heat", so to speak.  But Mom Nature is reaking havoc with  the temps and in turn, my allergies.  Needless to say, my crafting mojo had taken a siesta for a couple of days.  It is back in full force and here is my latest creation:

I made it for one of Paola's swaps over at SCS.  Her swap is to use, among other stamps House Mouse or Penny Black.  Well, I don't have either, but my dear sweet friend, Carol (hi momcgw), gifted me some images and.... TADA!  The blue CSs are from Bazzill and the orange is from CTMH, as i the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by on this hot and humid Thursday!
Huggz,
April

Monday, May 24, 2010

Phew....baby, it's hot outside....

Well, it was a beautiful day....but sure was hot!!

I finally finished up my cards {The ones I posted previously) and have three swaps ready to go out tomorrow.  WOOHOO ~ go me!!

Then, I noticed that I had yet to use my freebie from Desiged2Delight.  It was a fun image to work with and it so reminds me of camping with our cousins a few years ago when the creek was filled with dragonflies (and damselflies).

So, here is my card!
The image is colored with my Bic Mark-Its and then cut out....lol, like you couldn't see that for yourself.  The paper is from a stack at BigLots and the sentiment is from Stampin Up!  It was stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black and the edge was lightly sponged with Petal from CTMH.

Thanks for stopping in!
Huggz,
April

Sunday, May 23, 2010

It was a SUNNY Sunday...

The sun was out and Western New York hit mid 80's.  I have one word for that - UGH!

I am a lover of the sun, but I want the temps to stay in the 70's....I know, you can't have it all!!

I am running late on a swap with a new group of special ladies over at SCS and am so glad that I finally decided on a card to make.  The only prerequisite was it needed a summer theme.  I will finish these up in the morning and get them out (hopefully) in the afternoon.  The pieces are all cut, my I am feeling too hot to put them all together.

Oh, deets....hmmmm....I don't have many...
All  of the paper came from a stack I bought at BigLots.
The image is from Designed 2 Delight, colored with Copics.
The metal dots are WalMart brand.
The butterfly was cut and embossed on my CuttleBug.

Thanks for stopping in!
Huggz,
April

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Happy Memorial Day

Yes, I know I am a week early.  But, in my own defense, I wanted to make a new wall hanging.  Let me explain, a couple of years ago, my son brought home artwork from school.  I went to put it away (I do save them), and he was hurt that I wasn't going to show it off.  Being ingenious, I took a piece of driftwood that had been kicking around, added some ribbon and put up his two pictures.  Voila!  We change it out whenever we feel like it, or see something funky.... Right now, we have some glass globes we made at Corning Museum of Glass.  They will come down for a week or two as we celebrate Memorial Day.


This project highlights my mother.  As you can see, she was a MARINE during World War II.  Yep, my mother was a Marine....lol....not too many people can say their mom was a Marine, let alone one during WWII.  She passed away in 2008 (on, appropriately, July 4th) and this will be our tribute this year to her service to our fine country.

My son always enjoyed his time with my mother and her stories.  Just an FYI, she was stationed at Camp Lejeune as a swim instructor, as well as working at the base post office.  I used Picasa to put the collage of pictures and Owen, from Sew Many Cards, together.  Then I colored him with my Copics to look a bit like a younger version of my son. I printed out the title of Grandma etal and put that in front of a CTMH sentiment stamped in cocoa.  I tore the edges around the 'journaling box' and clipped it on, over a triple set of ribbons (red, blue and topper of glitzy beige).

This project will be hung in the middle of my 'limb' and some stars will go to the left and right to highlight the collage.  It makes for a big piece of artwork for a small amount of money on a wall where for the last few years we had our entertainment center.

I have entered this project at Sew Many Challenges #15.  Owen is the last of the military digis celebrating Memorial Day over there!  Please stop over and see them, pick up Owen and leave them some love!!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I am Challenged

Have you ever had an idea for a card in your head and can't get it out??  Or colored something and it just isn't right?  And then you color it again, and again, and....you get the picture here don't you?

I had a rough morning trying to get this card to work for me.  All in all, it should have been easy~  I had a sketch from the Crafty Ho's.  And a color theme from Melissa at Tuesday Morning Sketches.   My favorite color combination - my go to if I don't have a wonderful idea - is brown and blue.  I love this combo - I have some dp in my stash that may never see the light of day ~hehehe.

The image on this card is Leah with Flowers from Whimsie Doodles.  Isn't she adorable?  I colored her with Copics, but think I might try colored pencils with her...  The glitter is in the paper, so to speak and well, I surely hope to can see the sketch from the Ho's in my card.


I did restick the borders...had to get out my tacky tape, so they are not going anywhere now~

This card is a re-do of Tuesday's showing.  I wasn't happy with how it looked, so changed it up.  I hope y'all think this one is better!!

Thanks for stopping in today.  I hope everyone enjoys their day!!
Huggz,
April

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wednesday, already?

Where is my week going - already "Hump Day."

I was surfing the blogs and what did I find??
(I must be truthful here and say) I truly have no idea how I came upon Jenn's Blog.  But, the moral of the story is that I did find the very talented Jenn and the challenge she has thrown out.  She challenged us to use a sketch by Jennipher Lowery and use the theme of "Light".  You say light and I think of shades of orange....Just thinking of the orange makes me think of walking through an orange grove and feeling the breeze and smelling the sweet scents on oranges!  To top it off, she has some very sweet blog candy up for grabs and multiple chances to win it - you have until Friday, why not give it a try??

I also have to give a huge shout out to Deedee Anderson at Deedee's Digis.  She, just this past week, opened her own store (but I am sure you have previously seen her work)!  I won the image and sentiment that is featured on my card!!  Also, on her blog, she has officially opened up her search for a design team.

Card deets:
DP by Stamping Up!
CS (you guess it) from my scrap pile
Image by Deedee's Digis - colored with Copics
Punched flowers over some DMC floss.

Thanks for looking today!  I hope you enjoyed your time here and will check out Jenn, Jen and Deedee's sites!!

Huggz,
April

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Two for Tuesday

Gonna be a short one today....lol....like any of my posts are truly short....

Melina over at SCS twisted my arm...and now I am making a pocket card in one of her swaps.  I hope this qualifies as a pocket....lol.  Well, it is my take on a pocket card.  There is a little something special in this pocket, I hope that Melina is happy with them when she gets them!!


My 'two-fer' is my Squigglefly Challenge Card.  Rather than using an actual image, I decide to use their free "Friend" paper as a wrap around my crisscross card.  {This is probalby closer to the pocket card that Melina was looking for, but...}  The dp's are from a kit I found at Ollies the other day.  The brown cs is from Stampin Up (I'm sure they don't call it brown, though.

I hope you have enjoyed your Tuesday with me...Thanks for stopping by!
Huggz,
April

Monday, May 17, 2010

It's a Marvelous Monday~

Good Morning!  Hopefully, I can get this written and posted before noon, so that I don't have to change that greeting!

Had a great weekend with family!  What more can a person truly ask for (except cable that works....lol)?

This morning, I finished up my card for Sew Many Challenges.  I love SMC Digis!!  A shout out to my SCS friend, Forest Ranger, for pointing me in their direction!  And, SMC loves to offer up great challenges; this one being to make an easel card.


This is Morty Camping!!  We are a big camping family....love it! So, that being said, I HAD to have this digi set!!  Check it, and others, out in their STORE.

Morty is colored with Copics and cut out so I could put him on dimensionals!  So is his fire - hope he gets his marshmallow just right!  {What you can't tell is that the fire pops up and isn't part of the front of the card.}  That yummy marshmallow is topped with Crystal Effects to give it a nice glazed look.  {Not sure that really shows up in the picture though}.  The paper is from Stampin Up- Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango....  The ink is Close to My Heart (CTMH) Olive and Momento Rich Cocoa.  The trees for the background and the two sentiments are also from CTMH (their Hello Friend and Back to Nature sets).  The top sentiment reads "To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature. ~ American Indian Proverb".  The ribbon was in my bag o' ribbon leftovers and the little gold metal dots are generics from WalMart (maybe).

I'm on a mission to get some images colored today....have a swap to get out by the end of the week and don't want to miss the dead line....cutting it way close for me....lol!

Have a great day!
Huggz,
April

ps. I made it by 15 minutes....so, it is still morning here on the East Coast!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

"I have no title"

Just a quick post.
Earlier this week I mentioned that I was making a scrap page for my friend to give her co-worker.  Thought I'd share it with you.


The paper is from Close to My Heart, the journal tag is from The Greeting Farm, the bling is from Stampin' Up. 

Thanks for checking in...and I hope to have something new for you later today!!

Huggz,
April

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Saturday...in the Park....

That is where I am going to be today....the Genesee Country Village and Museum to be exact.  It is opening day and they are having a War of 1812 Muster, or some such thing....

Since the boys let me craft most of the day yesterday, it won't kill me to spend time outside today (in fact, it's probably a good thing...lol).

Okay, back to showing you a card....

This is my take on Tuesday Morning challenge #45.  It also uses my freebie from Designed to Delight this week.  If you have never stopped over to D2D, you should try out her progressive freebies!!

Thanks for stopping by~
Hope y'all have agreat day,
Huggz,
April

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Food for Friday

Okay, not real food, but I needed an "F" word for the day and even though this post is about Marlene, I couldn't type any other "f" word....lol

My fellow Digi Diva, Marlene, is quite talented!  She not only paper crafts, but she draws as well.  {{She also tells THE best stories!}}  This past week, Marlene drew the freebie at The Digi Shack.  How KOOL is that??

So, without further ado, here is my card, made with her Fat Boy- rdee!!

Isn't he ADORABLE?

He's colored with Copics and his buttons are done with a gel pen (don't ask which one, cuz I don't know)  And, once again, the papers are all scraps (Bet you are getting sick of hearing that!).

Hope everyone has a great Friday!  DH has promised I can stay home all day tomorrow to craft, so you never know what I might come up with~

Huggz,
April

Thursday the 13th

It's been one of those days -

I started making a card this morning and just finished it up....

So, to keep this short and sweet (since I need to go fix supper and then help my friend make a present for her co-worker).

Here is my card for Sew Many Challenges.  It fits their Christmas in May theme; and I am getting in just under the wire.

The image is their current freebie, colored with Copics.  The paper is from Close to My Heart and so it the Brown Bag ink around the image.

Thanks for stopping by!
Huggz,
April

Monday, May 10, 2010

Monday??

Ugh, where did the weekend go?  It sped past at my house!  I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day.  Whether you are a mom or not, you have all had great influence on someone and that is what Moms do!

Here is my card for the Challenge presented by Bugaboo Stamps on their Catch the Bug Blog (say that a couple times fast ).  It is also appropriate for the Crafty Ho's Challenge!  Who doesn't like combining a Bugaboo image with flowers and shades of blue??

The paper is all from my scrap folder, the image (as I mentioned above) is from Bugaboo Stamps {{a freebie hug}} and is colored with Copics.  The sentiment is from SU!, the buttons were leftovers from some project in the past, and those adorable crocheted flowers are from my uber-creative friend Michelle (pattem on SCS). 

A BIG hug goes out to Michelle for gifting me with those adorable flowers!

Thanks to all for stopping by today!
Huggz,
April

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

This isn't an easy post today.  My own mother has been gone for two years now; and this is one of the "harder" holidays to make a card for. 

But, I do have a few friends that have taken her place.  And for them, I have created this card.  I hope that all mother's have a great day tomorrow!  Cherish the moments that you have with your loved ones!


This card is apropos for the Crafty Ho's Challenge, Tuesday Morning Sketches #44, and Designed2Delights first May challenge.

The image was colored with Copics, the die cut flowers were a gift from my SCS friend Sheena, and the background paper is from CTMH, embossed with my first folder (woo hoo).  The sentiment is a plain mother (and it doesn't follow Melissa's sketch exactly, but I think you get the idea).

Thanks for looking and hope to see you Monday ~ hopefully, my darling son will have a great Mother's Day planned for me!!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Thirsty Thursday

No, my card of the day has nothing to do with water...

Well, I guess she could be looking for an ice cold bottle of water!  Just what she needs after all that shopping!


The image is from AmberInks!  She is colored with Copics and put on top of DP from Cloud 9 Designs' Sunrise Smoothie Collection.  The ribbon is by Sweet Petities Patio Print..  The bling is from Target - the packaging has been long lost, so I can't even tell you who made it...lol

I made this card as my prototype for Viv's Hanna Swap over on SCS.  Hope they like it!!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Whimsie Doodles is having a BLOG HOP

Hiya to all my friends, family and readers...lol...
That makes me sound oh so much more popular than I truly am!

This morning I woke up to a great day in Western New York....the sun is shining and it is supposed to get into the high 70's today....yep, tomorrow it is gonna rain....typical....

I surfed the threads at SCS, read my emails, looked at a few scrapping "discount" sites and popped over here to check out Blog-land!

Lo and behold!
Guess who is having a Blog Hop....Yeppers, Whimsie Doodles is!

They are giving away yummy prizes too...you can read all about it HERE!  Besides hopping and having chances to win, you can make a card and be entered into a drawing for a GIGANTIC prize!  You know that I couldn't pass up the chance to make a card ~ so, without further ado....here is Geisha Girl!


She is printed out on white CS and then colored with Copics {E00, BG10, BG11, BG72, BG75,, B21, R22, R24 and V99}.  Around her, I used CTMH ink in Bamboo to blend her into my card a bit.  The sentiment and the flower are both made with CTMH products from their Aspiration set (LOVE, love, love this set) and I also used some Hollyhock ink from CTMH.  The vivid strip of paper is Bermuda Bay from SU!

Thanks for stopping by today to see what is up in my little bit of the world!
Chat with you soon.
Huggz,
April

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Terrible Tues-day

I do have two things to show you, but don't think they are truly terrible.  I was refering to the little boy I watch  - he isn't yet two, but is hitting his 'terrible twos' stride already!  Nothing like a needy little boy!


Yesterday was my husband's birthday.  We tried to celebrate with dinner out - BUT....the restaurant was closed - oops, I forgot it was Monday.... NO problema though, we are celebrating tonight!  He did get his card from me yesterday though ;-) and our son gave him a new pair of grill tongs...woot, woot!!  The stamp is from CTMH - can't tell you where the cute paper is from though. :-(

This other card is a real simple one for my secret pal from church who is turning 90.  While I wanted to use my favorite Bugaboo Stamp and Sentiment (what's one more friggen candle?)  I refrained and looked for a dignified vintage image.  This one came from Two for Tuesday.

I hope you can join me tomorrow for my Wednesday post....
Huggz,
April