Bunny Onsie

   My niece's baby, Clare, will be celebrating her first Easter tomorrow. I decided that called for a special Easter goodie. Being too young for chocolate, I decided to stamp a onsie. Seems like my project is perfect for this week's Cas-ual Friday challenge.

Tricky Bunny- With Easter and April Fools Day falling back to back, the Easter Bunny will no doubt be extra tricky. So...show us your CAS Easter projects BUT we're throwing in a tricky twist...it CAN'T be a card.

 I used Palette Ink : Toile Pink to stamp the image and word and Palette Noir for the other words. Heat set it with a dry iron.

 I debated about the tail. I considered a 10 mm pom pom or a white button. In the end, I thought it was safer to use nothing. I wouldn't want Clare to get either in her mouth by some strange chance. I really like how this turned out.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Merry Monday: Tic Tac Toe

        Finally found some time to create another Christmas card in order to  play along with the  Tic Tac Toe challenge at Merry Monday this week.

     One is to create a card using three in a row: across, down, or diagonally.  I chose the top row this week--animal, designer paper and ribbon.  Here's my card.

  Sorry for the poor photo. Had to take it at night. Dummy me also used the same color cardstock for the background that the card is made from. So it is hard to see where the card ends. The sentiment is from the Nativity Silhouettes Additions.

Here's a close up shot of the wise Men.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Yum!

     When Polka dot Parade was first released, I immediately fell in love with this card by Betsy Veldman. I knew I would eventually case it.  Here's my version.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts Cupcakes.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

"She Said Yes" Continued

       Last month, I made my niece this engagement card. She asked me to make her wedding invitations. Based upon some images she sent me, this is what I came up with.

Damask Design

 Inkadinkado Flourishes

Another Damask design using 2 different stamps

Giga Guide Lines

She is having a black & white wedding in December. Red is the accent color.  Do you have a favorite?

Play Ball!

  My brother-in-law is an avid Yankee fan. Every year I use the theme baseball/Yankees to make his birthday card. I decided to use this week's skectch from Retrosketches #56

Here's my version:

The banner is made from a printed sheet of vellum I picked up at our local scrapbooking store.

I also cut out the Yankee logo from paper left over from last year's card. The ball and bat are stickers I got at Michaels.

 As I was taking the photo of my card, I realized that I didn't use any stamps, thereby meeting the criteria for the challenge this week at Cas-ual Fridays

Create a Clean And Simple project that doesn't use stamps.

None. Nada. Zilch!

 That doesn't happen too often for me. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

      My son turns 31 tomorrow. We were planning on having a birthday dinner celebration this evening, but the threat of a BIG, spring snowstorm put the brakes on that one. There's a 15 lb turkey sitting in my fridge and  there's NO SNOW!!!!  You win some and you lose some.
      Here's the card I made for him.

  This is going to be my 2nd entry for this week's MIM: Inked Backgrounds. The pattern paper I used has  a variety of colors in it: Fine Linen, Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides. I inked up some paper with these 3 colors and cut the banner from it.

                                      

It really looks pretty. I wanted to stamp the presents from Background Basics: Birthday Fun using the same inked paper, but couldn't get it to work so I resorted to using Aqua Mist & Ocean Tides.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Some Bunny Loves You!

    Just  hopping in here with a quick post of the Easter cards I made for my granddaughters this year. I am so in love with the little bunny from PTI's Polka Dot Parade. Thought the sentiment was perfect for my granddaughters too! Decided to play along with the challenge from CASology.

The song that comes to mind whenever I use this stamp is a childhood ditty:
Here Comes Peter Cottontail

  An upclose shot of the bunny and flowers.

 Since Lilly has now decided her favorite color is purple like her sister, I changed up the pattern paper a bit so they can tell the difference. Each one likes to carry the card around the day they receive it.

Messed up with the grass on the purple card. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Merry Monday # 54

 I'm on a roll participating in the Merry Monday challenge for a 2nd week in a row. It's also nice to take a break from all the Easter cards/ projects I have made the past few weeks. Still not done, but getting there.
Now for the challenge. Create a card with a snowman on it.

 I chose to go a different route with my card. I used the PTI Tag Sale # 4 and rustic white card stock as my card base. Since so many of my recipients mention they hang on to my cards, I thought it would work as an ornament too. The tag sale is embossed with the Striped IP. (You can barely see it in my photo)

 The ribbon was added at the last minute to give it a more polished look.The snowglobe/snowman is from PTI's Winter Snowglobe stamp set and die.

Clear acetate stamped with glue and glittered was laid over the snowman die cut.

 I had to stick some snowflakes on the inside because when I stamped the sentiment some ink got on the card. I'll probably add a 3rd snowflake for balance once the card is signed.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM # 108 Inked Backgrounds

  Found some time today to play along with PTI's MIM: Inked Backgrounds. Heather demonstrated how to create beautiful backgrounds using a variety of colors. I have always admired cards that had these backgrounds. Whenever I tried, mine looked horrible. Using a variety of hues with a main color and adding an accent seems to be the trick.

   I basically used 3 shades of green for my background: Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse and  Peeled Paint. I was too chicken to add some pink for fear that I would mess up what I already had.

  I love the way the roses turned out. The picture doesn't do them justice. I used Sweet Blush as a base, with Hibiscus Burst. The top layer was Orange Zest which I stamped off first to just give a touch of the orange.

Since it has been ages since I used my dress form die, I decided to add it to the card.

 The inside sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Have a great day. 

Retrosketch #55 Easter

    I'm back for a 2nd week in a row playing along with this week's Retrosketch Challenge.

   Here's my card. Stayed with the original sketch except for my ribbon placement. 

  A close up shot of the bunny & ribbon. I used the Half & Half die along with the scallop punch from Making Memories.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM # 107 Clear Card and Copic Coloring

     I just love this week's MIM. Rarely do I make a card using clear card stock. So I decided to play along. Besides I wanted to practice my coloring skills using my Copics.

The chick is an old, red, rubber stamp by Penny Black:  Spring Joy.  Lacking a set of yellow Copics, I used my trio of Summer Sunrise colors. Therefore, a slightly orange chick.

At first I thought I had cut the top layer of the card  a tad too small.  Once my panic subsided, I scoured through my stash of pattern papers  for the background which I used on the inside. Realizing that the adhesive would show through the back, I trimmed thepattern paper and adhered the Aqua Mist layer to the back.

A shot of the inside. No sentiment yet.

Now I am totally happy with how this card turned out. Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Monday # 53

  I 've taken another break from Easter since I found another option for motivation and inspirationm to make Christmas cards throughout the year. It's called Merry Monday.

The challenge this week is to create a Christmas card based upon this sketch.

My idea for this card came very quickly once I decided on my focal point. I knew I wanted to use a negative die cut too. The mittens are from the Shape Up Snowman stamp set.

Here's a close up shot.

 I thought this sentiment from Happiest of Holidays was perfect

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Retrosketches # 54

     It's been awhile since I played along with one of the Retrosketches' challenges. Since I need to make close to a dozen Easter cards (all different, mind you) I need all the inspiration I can get. When I saw this week's sketch, I knew I could come up with something.

  My version.

 
 I have been trying really hard to use older sets and pattern paper (whenever possible).  I love the color combination of Harvest Gold and Aqua Mist. The DT featured this color combo last year when the Scrambled Egg Stamp set was introduced.

 After playing around with the mini eggs from this set, I preferred the outline image to one that is filled in with coloring. Besides it's faster. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. I love all your comments. They are appreciated.

Easter Wishes

 Back with another card for this week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge. I'm back to my Easter mode.

 Use blocks of color in your Clean And Simple creations.

 I used the mini eggs from Scrambled Eggs as my blocks of color. The bunny is stamped with soft stone ink. The sentiment is from Sweet Spring.

 My layout was inspired by an Easter Decoration I had seen in one of the stores where I was shopping.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.

Festive Friday

    I decided to take a little break from all the Easter cards I have been making. I've switched to Christmas.
 Last year, I was frantic making my 70 Christmas cards. I am usually one who has them mailed the day after Thanksgiving. That didn't happen. In fact I think my cards went out about 10 days before the holiday. Being so anxious, my mojo was also lacking. This year I am determined to have the majority of my cards done by October. ( I am going to be in Europe the entire month of October so I'll be losing a lot of crafting time)   Perusing Melissa Philips' blog I came across a challenge called Festive Friday.
   Every two weeks a new Christmas challenge is posted. The current one is to create a project incorporating a snowflake into the design.  Here is my card.  (Sorry for the poor lighting. Too much rain today)

   Here's a close up of the tree  using the Layered Postmarks die in the Fabulous Frame with a felt snowflake from Snowflake Medley.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Happy Easter

   The Cue card for this week's Casology Challenge is perfect for me. This is my 2nd submission.

  

I have been trying to use an many older sets as I can when I create my cards. I just have so much stuff. I am sure you can identify with this. I was successful in combining the bunny from Polka Dot Parade with some stamps from Sweet Spring and Christmas Labels.

 Here's a close up shot of the bunny and picket fence.

The Happy Easter is an old red rubber mounted stamp from an unknown source. I actually stamped it last year, but never used it. I guess it does pay off to hold on to some die cuts.

Thanks for stopping by.