{sneaky} peek

I have exciting news to share, but it has to wait until tomorrow.  :)

In the meantime, I will leave you with this.

Will share both my news and the rest of  this photo tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

{alphabet soup}

It's about time to wrap up the ABC Summer Crop over at My Sketch World.   The deadline for getting the challenges done is midnight PST September 6th.  I have 10 more challenges to do and I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll have the time to finish all of them. 

Until then, I will leave you with my cards for the U & W Challenges!

Use the letter U on a card:

Use the word "wish" on a card:

I'm not sure what is going on with my camera, I tried for 2 days to get good photos of both of these cards, but it wasn't happening.  Maybe new batteries?  I give up for now. 

Happy Saturday, friends!!

{ready}

Another "2-fer" for you!  This layout took me a little longer than I had planned, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.  It's 12x12, which I hardly ever do anymore since finding the joys of 8.5x11!!  Lots of cardstock with a few bits of pattern paper for some visual interest and loads of sewing. 

I made this for Val's Challenge over at The Studio for their Cybercrop they have going through September 4th.  Val's challenge is to make a layout about something you only do in the summer. The last 3 summers we have rented this adorable cottage in Caseville, Michigan.  It is right on the lake and we love our time there! Our families come and visit, we swim, play and have a bonfire every night.

 This layout also fits nicely for the R Challenge over at My Sketch World, which was to use the word "ready" in your title.  The ABC Summer Crop runs through the end of August. 

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Thanks for stopping by!

{windy}

Windy and overcast here today.  A welcome relief to the heat and humidity that have taken up residence here in Michigan for most of the summer.  And it makes for a nice tie-in for the layout I did this morning.  :)

I started making my layout for Anna's challenge at The Studio, which was to make either a pinwheel or rolled flower for an embellishment.  I chose the pinwheel since I had these photos of wind turbines and thought they would go well with them.  They did, but the layout needed a little something more, so I added some hand and machine stitching and that's where the second challenge came into play.  The "P" Challenge (Pins & Needles) over at My Sketch World was to add some kind of stitching to your layout.  

Here it is:

I used a Becky Fleck sketch. 

Happy Sunday, friends!

{more} cards

Loves me a rainy Saturday to just sit inside at my desk and play!  We could really use the rain too so I'm thankful for that as well!  I've been working on a couple cards for some challenges.

The first, for the K Challenge at My Sketch World:

The challenge was to use a "kiss" on a card.  Aren't those little monkeys adorable?  Found them at JoAnn's in the clearance bin.  I'm thinking I should have bought a second pair. 

This card is for the The Studio's Summer Cybercrop going on over at The Studio.  My friend, Valerie is a new DT member there.  They have some awesome challenges up on their blog and the deadline for them isn't until September 4th!  Plenty of time to get them done!  I love it when places give you a week or two or even a month to get their challenges done.   There are some really great prizes up for grabs too!

The challenge was to use Cosmo Cricket on a card. 

Happy Saturday, friends!

{tutorial-my first}

Lest you think I am some creative genius, alas I am not!  I lifted this beautiful flower idea from the lovely Juliana.  While she used paper, I used ribbon and I've included a little tutorial for those of you who would like to know these things.  :)   I think it is pretty straight forward, but if you have questions, email me or leave one in the comments and I will get back to you. 

First off, I'm going to start with the card I made.  I wanted a fuller flower, so I used about 10-12" of ribbon for this one.  I managed a "two-fer", I'm using it for Really Reasonable Ribbon Ramblings Aloha Challenge and for the Q Challenge over at the ABC Summer Crop at My Sketch World. 

Here it is:

A close-up of the ribbon flower:

Here is a tutorial on how to make Juliana's beautiful fringed flower.

I used some lovely grosgrain ribbon, Ribbon Stiff and some Crafters Pick The Ultimate glue.

Apply Ribbon Stiff to one side of ribbon with a foam brush or your fingers and let dry.

Fringe the ribbon.

It will look like this as you go.

Apply glue to the non-fringed edge of the ribbon and roll.  The Ribbon Stiff makes a matte finish on the ribbon so in order for the shiny side to show as the flower I rolled it with the shiny side up.

It will look like this.

Let dry.  Set it upright and put your finger down through the center and flatten.

Add a button or brad for a center and you are all set!

I hope you have enjoyed the tutorial.  My thanks to my son, Brady for being a most excellent photographer!

Happy Friday, friends and thanks for stopping by!

{kristie's birthday}

This is Kristie's birthday week over at Party Time Tuesdays!  The challenge is to use her favorite colors which are pink, brown & white.  She is offering up some blog candy to those who play along this week!

I managed to tie this card in with the O Challenge over at My Sketch World's ABC Summer Crop!   The O Challenge was to use an owl on a card.  I  got the lovely pink ribbon and that adorable owl from Kimmie, I love them both, aren't they the sweetest?  I bought the doily while on vacation this summer.

Happy Birthday, Kristie-hope it's the best one yet!

Happy Wednesday, friends! 

{easy as ABC...}

The ABC Summer Crop is in full swing at My Sketch World!  We have over 60 new members who have joined in the last 2 weeks!  Awesome, eh?  Lucy is getting ready to announce a new Design Team as well-lots of fun stuff going on over there!  As of today we are up to "O" Challenge, which is to make a card with an owl on it.  I wish I could say I'm all caught up and working on the O Challenge, but sadly, I am not!  :)

I had a garage sale over the weekend.  This meant no crafting for 4 days, 2 to prepare, 2 for the sale.  I made out pretty well and am happy I did it, although the heat & humidity about did me in.  All this to say, I'm only up to the H Challenge.  Here are the 2 projects I did yesterday:

D for Dot Challenge

G for Girlie Green Card

I'm hoping to get 2 more challenges done tonight. 

Happy Monday, friends!

{party time}

This week I have the honor of participating in the challenge at Party Time Tuesdays as a Guest Designer!   The challenge is simple, create an "anything goes" birthday card with a birthday sentiment somewhere on the front of your card. 

Here mine:

  And a close-up of the "pom":

If you are wondering, those are balloon ends pulled through a piece of card stock.   :)

I will be offering up a randomly drawn RAK to those of you who participate in this challenge.  The only rule is you have to post your card at Party Time Tuesdays and link me up to your card in the comments section of my blog.  I would prefer a link to your blog so I can leave some love for you!  To be qualified for the Top 3 at PTT you have to link your card to them by 8:00 pm  EST on Sunday. I have some very creative people that read my blog and I can't wait to see your cards!

Happy Tuesday, friends and thanks for stopping by!

{hello}

Remember I told you about the ABC Summer Crop at My Sketch World?  I'm still plugging away at the challenges!  If I weren't such a slow scrapper I would be caught up, but when one agonizes over every little decision, it's hard to go fast.  *laugh*  To be eligible for the weekly prize, all you have to do is complete 3 of the challenges for that week.  Easy peasy!  We are up to letter H today.  I'm skipping around a little bit and just completed the C Challenge.  We had to make a card with clouds on it. 

Here is mine:

There still is plenty of time to join in on the fun!!

Happy Monday, friends!

{summer} card

Party Time Tuesday's challenge this week is to make a "summer" themed birthday card.  I've had this little felt watermelon slice kicking around for a while and thought it would be perfect for this challenge.

Here's my card, simple & sweet:

 I will be a Guest Designer at Party Time Tuesdays next week!!  The new challenge will be up on their blog on Tuesday, August 10th.  I will be offering a RAK by random draw to those who do next week's challenge. All you need to do is post a link to your card at Party Time Tuesdays and  in the comments section here on my blog by Sunday, August 15th.  Please remember it is for next week's challenge only.

Happy Thursday, friends and thanks for stopping by!

summer party

My Sketch World is having a party!  An ABC Summer Crop Party!  Come join us! 

There are games, challenges and prizes!  Are you a card maker?  Every other challenge will be a card challenge!  Are you a scrapper?  There are plenty of layout challenges too! 

Letter A's Challenge is Adornment!  Make a card with sparkle. 

Here is mine, I used Lucy's awesome August card sketch:

MSW is a terrific place to hang out, come check us out and join in the fun!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Creative Cuts & More: Project #5 (and a few vaca photos!)

Just got back from a week at the lake.  Ahhhhh, so relaxing.  :)

Dug our feet in the sand, played in the waves and made smores around a fire at night. Life is good.

I didn't have time to post this project before I left.  It is my last project for my time at a Guest Designer with Creative Cuts & More.  I sure have loved working with all the goodies I received!  For this project I used a Large Matchbox and a couple Round Coasters.  This little ladybug is a clever money holder!

I think she would be a little cuter with those googly eyes, but I didn't have any on hand and sometimes you just have to make do with what you have, right?  I hope you have enjoyed my projects, I sure enjoyed making them!  My thanks to Terri and the rockin' DT over at Creative Cuts and More for letting me hang out with them during the month of July!

Happy Monday, friends!