Birthday Boy Cutie!

Here's one of those New Cutie Pie Kid images by DRS Designs!

This new line of stamps is absolutely adorable! Have you seen them all?

I have them all stamped & colored, but this is the first one I've had a chance to create into a card. I'll be busy the rest of the week making cards with the other ones.

I colored this Birthday Boy with Prismacolor Pencils and blended them with Gamsol. I inked the edges in yellow and matted it as shown. I added 4 red brads to bring out some color and stamped "Happy Birthday" in the empty space below him.

I heat embossed the star background image with gold embossing powder on the cardstock base. Then I added a panel of red cardstock decorated with a strip of shiny blue ribbon with a gold trim. I adhered the matted image to the cardstock base & added red and gold Stickles to add some glitz to his birthday hat! Viola! This Cutie Pie was done!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Cutie Pie Kids-Best Present Ever, Interlocking Star Background, Happy Birthday Sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Yellow Orchre, Versamark
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Brads by Making Memories, Ribbon by Michael's Holiday Ribbon Bow-tique, Creative Beginnings Gold Embossing Powder, Red and Golden Rod Stickles
Finished Card Size: 5 3/8" x 5 1/4"

Make sure to check back tomorrow for Card Sketch Wednesday. I'll have another Easter card to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,
Jennifer

(P.S. Sorry these images are a little dark today. It's a rainy, dark and gloomy day here in Michigan--not very ideal for indoor picture taking! )

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Stained Glass Window Challenge

Today starts a new challenge on the DRS Designs blog. The design team was challenged to work with stained glass images! Be sure to check them out and see the demo on how to use them here. These are some of the coolest stamps you will find! There are so many possibilities with these beauties! We would love it if you would play along with us. Just post a direct link to your creation in the comment section of this post. If you upload to a public gallery, please use the keyword DRSC16.

Here's the Sympathy card I made for this challenge.

First I stamped the Stained Glass Image, then I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the Triple Cross image in the center of it. I punched a 1" circle from the sticky part of a Post-It note and stuck it on the image where I wanted the sun to be. I also stuck Post It Notes to the bottom of the image, covering the lower 1.5" of it. I then used a Brayer and blue ink to shade in the sky.

My next step was to do just the opposite with the Post-It Notes at the bottom of the image. I reversed them so that the upper portion of the image was covered by the Post-It Notes exposing the bottom 1.5" of the image. I used my brayer again to apply green ink to the bottom of the image, creating grass.

I created the sun by punching a 1" circle from a piece of scrap paper and using the paper as a stencil. I placed the stencil over the white area in the sky and sponged it with light & dark yellow ink. Then I continued to sponge yellow ink over the crosses and into the grass area to create the look that the sun was shining down on them.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Large Rectangle stained Glass, Triple Cross, Brush Deepest Sympathy
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company & American Crafts
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Sponge Daubers, Brayer, Post-It notes, 1" Circle punch
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5 7/8"

What have I learned from creating this card?

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with how this card turned out, but it was a learning experience for me. Next time, I will probably heat emboss the main focal points of my image, rather then stamping them with black ink. For example, if I was to recreate this specific card, I would heat emboss the stain glass image and the Triple Crosses to prevent the black ink from fading like you see here. That way, as I brayered over the image, the nice and dark crisp lines of the image would still be present. You know what they say, "Practice Makes Perfect," and "you learn from your mistakes." I'm not trying to be perfect and this card is definitely not a mistake, but, I see it as improving my crafting skills for future use!

:-)

Did you get a chance to see the Stained Glass Designs from the other DT members? Don't forget to check out their projects too!

Cathy

Dawn

Heather

Jessica

Vicki

Debbie

Judy

Thanks for visiting today.

Hope you all have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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It's Sunday!

It's time to get your dog stamps out & get a stampin'!

For this weeks Fun Filled Friday Challenge I've challenged Kimmy to create a card using a Dog image. I know I only have a few dog images, but to see which one I pick you'll have to wait til this Friday March 13th(!) to see it.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been card making like crazy with all of the new images by DRS Designs that were just released this past Friday. Have you see all of them yet? If you haven't, make sure to run over here and check them out. There are new Easter images and some new kids on the block--they are absolutely adorable! I'll be featuring these images for majority of the next 10 days or so!!!!

Sunday's are usually just a quick blog day for me to explain the next Fun Filled Friday Challenge. This way I can focus my time on some other things like having a nice, quiet morning reading the Sunday paper, grocery shopping, meal planning and prepping for the upcoming week and spending time with family. However, because I have such a plethora of cards to share, I wanted to make sure I posted one today.

With the latest release of stamps, the DRS Designs DT received word that more sympathy card samples were needed to give to stores that sell their stamps. I must admit, that Sympathy cards are not my favorite to make--I like the fun & cute stuff, but I am getting better. I've made 3 sympathy cards this week and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Here's the first one...

This focal image on this card is the Calla Lilly Sympathy Frame stamp. I chose to color the flowers light pink because more often then not you always see them white. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. Even with the bit of color on this sympathy card I still think it gives that serene, calming feel.

I created the background by stamping the branch background image repeatedly with Versamark, sprinkled it with clear embossing powder, and then heat set it.

I also painted the flowers with Opal Shimmerz.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Calla Lily Sympathy Frame, Silhoutte Branch Background
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Pink Pastel, Versamark
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, & American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Opal Shimmerz
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

Well, the Daylight Savings time change has officially wore me out. To make matters worse I had to be at work today at 6am, which my body felt the pain of 5am! I plan on taking it easy the rest of the day, perhaps on the couch with a good movie, and maybe a little shut-eye too, to make up for my lost hour of sleep. For those of you in Arizona and else where, where Daylight Savings time doesn't exist, I think you guys are really lucky sometimes!

Hope you guys don't feel as pooped as me!

Ta-Ta for now...

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Easter Peeps

So, are you all loving the new images released yesterday by DRS Designs? Are they not just the cutest ever? I'll be featuring many of these images over the course of next week. If you love to color (like Me!) then you'll love these images too!

Here's another card I made the other night using 2 of the latest stamps to fit the latest Splitcoast Stampers Sketch challenge, SC218.

First I stamped and colored the Duck's Decoration image with Pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. Then I created the background by stamping the tiny chick image repeatedly on smooth white cardstock. I used a brayer to apply SU! So Saffron ink over the entire piece of cardstock to give it that pale yellow color. I colored the tiny chic bodies with pencil and then assembled the card as shown.

Pretty straight forward, pretty easy & pretty cute, cute, cute!



Stay tuned, I have tons more to show you! So much that I may have to post more than 1 card every day! If you're a regular reader of mine, you know that's so not like me. Enjoy it while it lasts! I guess I'm on a roll and in love with all these new images!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Duck's Decoration, Tiny chick
Ink: Staz On Jet Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Yellow Orchre, SU! So Saffron
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Prima Flowers, Brads my Making Memories, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch, Brayer
Finished Card Size: 4" x 5.5"

Thanks for all of your sweet comments over the last few weeks. I appreciate every one!

Have a great weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Easter Suspension Card

TGIF and Happy Fun Filled Friday!

DRS Designs is releasing many, many new stamps today and if you've seen the sneak peeks from the DT then I bet you are just as excited as we are! As soon as they become available you will be able to see them all here. There's a collection of adorable "Cutie Pie Kids" and several new Easter images to choose from.

For Fun Filled Friday today, Kimmy has challenged us to create Suspension cards. I created this card featuring the new Double Cattail Easter Egg stamps that are part of the release today from DRS Designs. You get 2 stamps for the price of one! They are negative images of each other.

(I apologize for the shadows in these pictures--it was already dark out when I finished making this card and had to rely on my OTT light to get decent pictures.)

(Card is closed in this picture.)

I used the technique found on Splitcoast Stampers to create this card. The first step was to heat emboss the images. I stamped the silhouette egg on dark purple cardstock and heat embossed it in light yellow. Then I did just the opposite using the other egg image--stamped it on yellow cardstock and heat embossed it in dark purple. Then I cut both images out.

I adhered a 4" piece of dental floss to the backside of one of my cut-out Easter Eggs, so that the egg was centered on the floss. Then, I adhered the other Easter Egg to the back of it so that the floss was sandwiched between them. I used Nesties to create the oval opening rather than punches described in the tutorial to each layer on my card front. Next, I added a yellow brad to each corner of the purple mat. Then, I assembled the card so that when I attached the sandwiched egg to the oval window, the floss was hidden between the card base and the purple mat seen on the card front.

As a final touch, I stamped the sentiment in purple ink and added a delicate yellow satin bow to the top of the oval.


When the card is displayed, standing on it's own (unlike the picture above), the egg will rotate and spin on it's dental floss axis. I've taken a few pictures to show you each side. Notice that unlike the picture I showed above, you can't see the card base through the oval since the card is open in these pictures. This first picture is of the side that I embossed in light yellow on purple cardstock. The egg is slightly blurry cause it was spinning in motion when I snapped the picture!

Here's the in-between phase...

...and here's the other side that was embossed in purple on yellow cardstock.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Double Cattail Egg, Easter Sentiment
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant, Versamark
Paper: Smooth Cardstock by The Paper Company, textured cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Creative Beginnings purple Embossing Powder, Yellow Stamp N Stuff Embossing Powder, Brads by Making Memories, Nesties, Butler Dental Floss, Ribbon by Offray
Finished Card Size: 4.5" x 5 5/8"

Pretty cool technique huh? I enjoyed making this card--you don't see suspension cards very often!

Now, don't forget to run over to DRS Designs and see all of their new images!


Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate your visit.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Hoppy Birthday!

Today, I'm sharing this Fun Loving Frog "Hoppy" Birthday card! You can never have enough birthday cards on hand and this one is perfect for a man or a woman!

This singing Frog is just the cutest, isn't he? Both images are by DRS Designs and the sentiment is one of their new releases. I stamped the sentiment in green to match how I colored the frog. It was just the right touch!

I used the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder to dress up the smooth white cardstock a bit. I was going on the fact that it resembled the lumpy, bumpy skin frogs have rather then bubbles, but hey, maybe he's singing in a bubble filled room! This gives quite the mental picture, doesn't it!?!?

Overall, this card is pretty simple, yet, it has just the right texture complete with ribbon, brads, and from use of the Cuttlebug.

Stamps: DRS Designs-Hoppy Birthday Sentiment, Singing Frog
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lime Pastel and SU! Glorious Green
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill and American Crafts
Accessories: Ribbon-Paper Trends by The Paper Studio, Cuttlebug and Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder, Bic Markers, Brads by O'Scrap, SU! Slot Punch
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

I've yet to get a chance to work on my Suspension Card for tomorrow's Fun Filled Friday Challenge. It's on my agenda to complete today. I have a plan laid out in my sketchbook, and I'm hoping to use new stamps that will be available from DRS Designs on Friday...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have it ready to share with you tomorrow!

Wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting today, have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Anyone for Green Beer?

Here's today's Card Sketch for all of you to play with.
Anyone in the mood for some green beer?

Of course, I am only able to color the beer green because this is a St. Patrick's Day card. Any other use and I would have had to color the beer yellow. Makes for a fun card though, doesn't it?

I colored the mug with my Prismacolor Pencils and blended different shades of greens and yellow with Gamsol. Then I used Liquid Applique to create the foam at the top of the mug. I also applied Diamond Glaze to the beer mug to make it really look like glass.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Giga Shamrock Blessings Oval, Small Beer Mug, Shamrock Background, Happy St. Pat's Day Sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Pigment Ink in Green and Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink in Lime Pastel
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill and American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Diamond Glaze, Liquid Applique, Nesties, Brads by All My Memories, Martha Stewart Zig Zag Border Punch, Ribbon-Michael's Go With The Grain
Finished Card Size: 6" x 4 5/8"

I just received a package of happy mail from DRS Designs! Gotta love new Rubber! Woo Hoo! Make sure to visit here daily, I'll have some sneak peeks of the new images to shown you very soon! They are just too cute, you're not gonna want to miss the sneak peeks, trust me!

:-)

Have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Gone Fishing!

Here's another cute and fabulous image from Sunflowers and Dragonflies Creative Designs! I just love this lil guy, and I'm sure you can plan on seeing more of him (and his friends too!)

Got any fishermen in your life? This would make a great masculine birthday or Father's day card. If the man in your life isn't into fishing, be sure to check out his friends, like the Hockey Beaver and the Basketball Beaver. They'd make great masculine cards too! I like that these images are versatile--cute enough for us girls to color and create cards with, yet masculine enough for men and boys to receive them too!

This Fishing Beaver image was fun and easy to color! I colored him with Prismacolor Pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. I also used a stipple brush and creamy brown ink to shade in the background around the image. The little bit of red you see peeking out of the corners are actually photo corners tucked under the mat.

I added Diamond Glaze to his tackle box to give it that metal look. I love making things on my cards look realistic!

Hope you've enjoyed this one as much as I have!

Stamps: Sunflowers and Dragonflies Creative Designs- Fishing Beaver
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red and Creamy Brown
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and Bazzill, Plaid pattern paper by Rocky Mountain Scrapbook Company
Accessories: Brads by Making Memories, SU! Photo Corner Punch, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Diamond Glaze
Finished Card Size: 5 3/8" x 5 3/4"

Thanks for visiting today and everyday. I appreciate it!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Card Sketch Wednesday. I plan on sharing some green beer with you! (wink!) I'm sure I have you curious now, but you'll just have to wait till tomorrow to see it!

Have a wonderful day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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What Cancer Cannot Do

First things first...

Now that it's March I wanted to introduce the 2 new Guest Designers for DRS Designs. They will be with us through the end of April. Please help me welcome Debbie and Judy by stopping at their blog and leaving them some welcoming wishes! I'm very excited to be working with them--their work is awesome!

Next up, What Cancer Cannot Do. This card is right up there with Sympathy cards. I don't like making either one! However, we can't ignore the situation either. My Aunt was just diagnosed with breast cancer 3 weeks ago. She's only 36! I created this card with her in mind.

I just love the little Cuttlebug Ribbon die cuts on this card--they couldn't be more perfect! During my shopping spree at Michael's on Saturday, I found it on the clearance wall for $1.99! Gotta love that!

How do you intrepret this prayer? I see it as a message of hope and a "keep your head up" type of message. I was planing on adding another DRS Designs sentiment "Sending you a smile" to the bottom right of the card. However, My sister frowned upon it. She was over while I was creating this card and said it didn't really go with the prayer. It kind of got me thinking that keeping things on the simple side was better with this kind of card. What do you think?

Stamps: DRS Designs- Cancer Prayer
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Paper: Cardstock by Archiver's and American Crafts
Accessories: Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug ribbon die, Fiskars Treading Water Border Punch, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Rectangle Nesties, EK SUccess Corner Punch.
Finished Card Size: 6" x 5 1/8"

Well, after an enjoyable weekend off, it's back to work today for me.

I'll be back tomorrow!

Happy Monday everyone!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Suspension Cards it is!

Happy March! Can you believe it's March already? Seems like just yesterday it was Christmas!

Well, I hope you all are having a relaxing Sunday today. I'm going to stamp, stamp, stamp! I have a notebook filling with all kinds of card ideas that I'd like to get created, so I'm sure I'll be busy.

One of the things I'll be working on is this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge. Kimmy has challenged us to create a suspension card. Have you ever made one of these? I haven't, so it should be fun! If you need a tutorial, you can check this one out from SCS.

BTW, Remember the card I made last week with the Canadian Goose image from Sunflowers and Dragonflies? Well, I've finally updated that post with the picture of the card where I added Diamond Glaze to the water. Sorry it took me so long to get it uploaded, I completely forgot about it (and I even wrote myself a note to remind myself!) Anyways you can see it now by clicking here.

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

See you soon!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Happy Anniversary!

Finally, Here's my Fun Filled Friday card! I challenged Kimmy to create Anniversary cards for this week's theme.

I've made wedding cards before, but I've never made an Anniversary card. When I actually sat down to make it, I realized I don't have any images that are truly wedding or anniversary related, other than this "Happy" set from Clearly Wordsworth. It comes with a bunch of words to go with the "Happy," like Birthday, New Home, New Year, Everything, Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Job, Graduation, Day etc. Luckily for this challenge, Anniversary was one of them as well!

I colored "Happy" with a pink Prismacolor Pencil and blended the color with Gamsol. Then I stamped Anniversary in the little space under the H and A where it fits perfectly. I inked the edges and matted it in pink and gray cardstock.


Both, the Silhouette Love Heart from DRS Designs and the word Happy are painted with Shimmerz!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Silhouette Love Heart, and sentiment from Clearly Wordsworth
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Rose Coral, SU! Regal Rose
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts,
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Cuttlebug and Heart Blocks Embossing Folder, Opal Shimmerz, Heart Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Nesties, Ribbon by S.E.I.
Finished Card Size: 4.5" x 5.75"

Make sure to run over to Kimmy's Blog and take a look at her Anniversary card.

Sorry for the quick post, but I'm off to see my cousin & her newborn baby girl, Brielle!

Stay tuned, Kimmy's picked the next Fun Filled Friday Challenge and we'll announce it tomorrow!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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2 Cards in One!

I've been working (what feels like) day & night creating cards with the new stamps from DRS Designs. Unfortunately for those of you following Fun Filled Friday, I'm not quite ready. Stay tuned to see my Anniversary card tomorrow.

And to prove to you how busy I've been lately, I'm sharing two cards in one day! Rarely do I ever do this, but today is the exception!

This latest batch of new releases from DRS Designs are my favorite, and I'm having tons of fun with them! As many of you know, I love sketch challenges. I found time to complete both of this week's sketch challenges from CPS and SCS.

First up, is this weeks Card Position Systems Sketch. I love the bright and cheery colors on this Birthday card. Plus, it was rather quick and easy to make!


I colored this image with marker, and then I cut the sentiment away from the image to follow the sketch. (FYI: on the actual stamp, the image is centered just below the image.) I used my Prima flowers again! Glad I've been able to put them to use lately. I haven't used them in so long they've begun to pile up!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Birthday Candle Burst
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company
Accessories: Bic Markers, Cuttlebug and Happy Birthday Embossing folder, Brads by Recollections and All My Memories, Prima Flowers, EK Success Corner Rounder
Finished Card Size: 4 3/8" x 5 5/8"

Here's the other card I made using the Splitcoast Stamper's Sketch challenge, SC217. Perfect for St. Patty's Day in every way!

This card uses one of DRS Designs Stick N Stamp Sets. These are sets of four images and they have many themes available. You can see them all here.

The background was created by stamping the Four Leaf Clover image and the clover from the Stick N Stamp set repeatedly with Versamark ink. The sentiment was heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder and I applied Gold Stickles to the coins in the pot of gold and on the hat's buckle.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Four Leaf Clover, Irish Stick N Stamp, Happy St. Pat's Day Sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Handsome Hunter ink, Versamark Ink, Rubber Stampede Embossing Ink
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, Gold Paper by The Paper Studio
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Gold Stickles, Cuttlebug and Charm Dies, Creative Beginnings Gold Embossing Powder
Finished Card Size: 5" x 5 5/8"

Hope you've enjoyed both of these cards today! Thanks for visiting!

Wishing you all a fun filled weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Ketchup Day!

Well, I guess it should be catch up day! LOL!

This week has gotten away from me...time is flyin' like never before!

Many of you probably remember the post regarding my Great aunt who turned 93 years young on February 5th. To all of you who sent her birthday cards, Thank you all so much!

I took this picture of her on her actual birthday after we went out to dinner. We went back to her house for dessert and coffee. My sister found these cute, individual slices of cake and we all shared them. So, don't think this little lady tried to eat all of this!

You're probably wondering where your card is? Well, by her actual birth-date, she only received these cards thus far, not to mention the ones she received from her own family and friends. However, let it be known that she has received about 25 cards total. The last one trickling in earlier this week! I wanted to take her picture again with all 25 of her cards, but when I was there earlier this week she wasn't feeling up to it and asked that I didn't. I respected her wishes.

I am very happy with the progress! You all have made both of our day's! She's still questioning how I know all these people and very much wants to send each of you a personal Thank you card! I told her that it wasn't necessary because I would Thank you all on the computer. Try explaining the computer, email and blogging to a 93 year old! LOL! So, please accept this post as her personal Thank you!

Here's a picture of my sister and I with her.

While I was on vacation, I also received this Lovely Blog award from my friend Heather at The Best in Life. Make sure to run over and check her out. She does awesome work! Thanks so much, Heather! Oh, and for all you blog candy lovers out there...Heather will have some blog candy soon, and you can also check out Jessica's blog for another awesome blog candy opportunity! I just have to help spread the word! :-)

Stay tuned for tomorrow. I'll have a new card to share with you. Have a wonderful day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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A Sweet Birthday!

Happy Card Sketch Wednesday!

Here's today's sketch:

To complete this challenge I played with the New cupcake image from DRS Designs again & Liquid Applique. That stuff is so much fun! It's like magic!

The background was created using the Chocolate Chip background stamp by DRS Designs. It's perfect for this sentiment! I used Diamond Glaze again on the cherry. Can you tell is has a wet shiny look to it?

Stamps: DRS Designs- Cherry Top Cupcake, Sweet Birthday Sentiment, Chocolate Chip Background
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan and Lipstick Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Nesties, SU! Word Window Punch, Copper Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Liquid Applique by Marvy Uchida, Diamond Glaze,
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.75"

Make sure to leave me a link if you get a chance to create with this sketch. I'd love to see your version!

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: For those of you who are waiting for the update picture regarding my Great Aunt's 93rd birthday, stay tuned. Tomorrow is housekeeping and catch up day. This week has gotten away from me!

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What's good for the Goose

is good for the Gander!

Have you ever heard that saying before?

Gander actually refers to a male, while Goose refers to a female.

Well, I'm not sure if this image is a Goose or Gander, but it's a fun, new image from Sunflowers and Dragonflies Creative Designs!

There's really not much to this card, but I'm happy with it's simplicity. I colored this image with Prismacolor Pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. I inked the edges, added some brads, and matted it as shown. The bow was added last.

"DING!" The light bulb just went off. Did you hear it? LOL! It just occurred to me that this goose is walking in water--DUH! I should have added some Diamond Glaze to it to make it really appear that way! I'm going to do it and edit this post to show it to you later. Make sure to come back and check it out, OK?

ETA: Ok, Here it is! I've applied Diamond Glaze to the water. The shine from the Diamond Glaze almost make it look like the water is moving, doesn't it? It kind of gives it that ripple effect!

Stamps: Sunflowers and Dragonflies Creative Designs- Canada Goose Standing
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in French Blue
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch, Fabric Ribbon by Peebles Inc., Brads by Making Memories and Joann's Scrap Essentials
Finished Card Size: 5" x 5 3/4"

I'll be back later to update this post & I'll have a Card Sketch challenge for you tomorrow.

Happy Stamping & Card Making!

I'm off to play!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Tag, You're It!

There's a new challenge today on the DRS Designs blog. It's all about tags! This challenge requires you to use tag on your creation.

Here's what I came up with:

I started by stamping the large shamrock in black ink and then stamping it again on a post-it note to create a reverse mask--I cut the shamrock out of the post-it note, to create a stencil. Then, I used sponge daubers and 2 shades of green ink to color the shamrock.

I used my Heidi Swapp Edge Distresser to rough up all the edges on this card. The tag was created using a Cuttlebug Charm Die for the base and the white circle was cut with my Nesties. I tied the ribbon in a knot through the hole in the charm die cut and then put a white brad in the hole.

As a final touch, I added some sparkle by shading the large shamrock with Shimmerz.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Large Brush Shamrock, Happy St. Patrick's Day Sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lime Pastel and Colorbox Pigment ink in Green
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Cuttlebug and Divine Swirls Embossing Folder, Charm Die, Sponge Daubers, Ribbon Trends by The Paper Studio, Eyelets by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Sagebrush Shimmerz, Brads by All My Memories and American Crafts, Heidi Swapp Edge Distresser, Nesties, 3D-Dots
Finished Card Size: 5.25" x 5.5"

Tag, You're it!

It's your turn to participate in the tag challenge!
And when you do, please share your tag creations with us as well. If you have DRS images, please use them...if not, you're still welcome to play and inspire us. The challenges run for two weeks but you can play along with any at any time. If you play, please post a link in the comments section of that challenge with a direct link on the DRS Designs Tag Challenge post so we can take a look at your creation. Also, if you upload to a public gallery, please use the keyword DRSC15.

Make sure to check out the out the challenge projects from the other DT members:

Cathy
Dawn
Heather
Jessica
Vicki

Thanks for visiting my blog and for sharing your comments with me. I appreciate each one!

Have a Wonderful Monday!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Anniversary Card Challenge

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is having a relaxing day!

It's time to announce this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge--I challenged Kimmy to create an Anniversary card!

How often do you make Anniversary cards? To be honest, I don't think I've ever made one! This will be my first, and I've got my thinking cap on. This challenge shouldn't be too difficult, especially with Valentine's Day just passing. I still have all my love and heart themed stamps still on my desk!

I've realized I have several new readers (Thanks & Welcome!) and for those of you who may be new to my blog, I wanted to explain just what Fun Filled Fridays is.

Kimmy, one of my best friends, and I host card making challenges on our blogs every week called Fun Filled Fridays (FFF). We take turns every other week giving a challenge. These challenges are announced every Sunday, and we display our finished cards for that challenge the following Friday. Kimmy and I keep the details to ourselves regarding these challenge cards, so until her challenge post Friday, I have no idea what she is planning on making until I see it, just like you, and vice versa. I think it is so much fun to see how different or similar our cards turn out.

Our Anniversary challenge cards will be posted on our blogs this Friday, February 27th. We'd love for you to participate in our challenges as well. Just post a link on either of our blogs and we'll be sure to check it out. We'd love to see how different or similar your card compares to ours as well.

Happy Card Making!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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First Color Challenge-Failed!

I colored this Rachelle Anne Miller image from Sunflowers and Dragonflies for this week's color challenge on the Magnolia VS Stampavie blog. The challenge was to use Chocolate chip, Old Olive, Not quite Navy and Bashful Blue.

I think this is my first time attempting to participate in a color challenge, and unfortunately, it didn't go so well! I colored the grass, her dress, her hair and basket, and then I got S-T-U-C-K! Based on how I colored it up to that point, I ran out of options when the time came to color the flowers, and I didn't know what to do! So, I ended up "failing" the challenge and colored them light purple instead. I'm happy with how the colors turned out, even if it no longer qualifies for the challenge. Oh Well!

I was however, able to shape this card into fitting this weeks sketch challenge on Splitcoast (SC216). At least I was successful in completing one challenge with it!

I colored this image with pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. Then I layered and layered (and layered!) to fit the sketch. Do you think it's a little busy?!?!?

It was fun to make and that's the important part, right?

Stamps: Sunflowers and Dragonflies- Rachelle Anne Miller-Picking Flowers
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Nesties, Fiskars Treading water punch, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Ribbon by Michael's Dashes, Dots & Checks & American Crafts
Finished Card Size: 5.5" x 4.5"

I also wanted to Thanks all of you who sent my Great Aunt a 93rd Birthday card. Thank you so, so much! She received about 25 and she still has them trickling in. She's enjoyed every single one! I'll have her picture to show you tomorrow.

Well, we're under a Winter storm today--expecting 4-8 inches of snow over the next several hours or so. I'm spending it in my craft room, sipping on a nice cup of hot cocoa. Yum!

Stay tuned for more fun stuff over the next few days!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Take Ten

Minutes that is!

Are you familiar with Take Ten magazine? All of the cards featured in this magazine can be created in 10 minutes or less! How's that for speedy crafting?!?!?!

Well, speedy crafting isn't my style. If you're a regular reader, you've heard me mention before that creating just one card takes me quite a while because I'm a perfectionist. (This trait was given to me by mother & her family--there are several of us women that share this quality!) Luckily, this trait is neither good nor bad, but it makes crafting a little slow for me, however I do enjoy it!

Anyways, getting to my point...Today is Fun Filled Friday! Kimmy challenged us to make a card in 10 minutes, just like those seen in the Take Ten magazine. I did it! Another challenge completed, and yes, this was definitely a huge challenge for me. I had to work very quickly!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Overflowing Birthday Greeting
Ink: SU! Rose Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Nesties, Cuttlebug and Textile Texture Embossing Folder, Prima Flowers, brads by American Crafts
Finished Card Size: 4" x 4.25"

Knowing that the time limit was only 10 minutes, I knew a sentiment was in order for this card--No time for coloring! This sentiment is a new one for me that I just received from DRS Designs, but it's not one of their current releases. When I saw this in my package the other day I immediately knew that I wanted to use it for this challenge. I love the wording and the font! It's a beautiful stamp, don't you agree?

Luckily, both circles were already cut out with Nesties for me. I pulled them from my scraps and built the rest of the card around them. (I hope this isn't cheating!) I used the Textile Texture Embossing folder for a little texture and then decorated the card front with some Prima flowers. I have tons of them and definitely don't use them enough. I needed a quick and easy embellishment and what could be quicker & easier then Primas?!

Make to to run over to Kimmy's blog to see her 10 minute Challenge Card!

Did you make a 10 minute card this week? Please share the link with me if you did. I want to see your version too!

Thanks for visiting today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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CPS 103-Happy Birthday, with a Cherry On Top!

I received my newest package of stamps yesterday from DRS Designs. This is my favorite package yet! There are tons of new Birthday images and sentiments & lots of St. Patty's Day stuff too! You can see all of their new releases here.

I used one of my new stamps to play with this week's CPS sketch challenge.

I colored this image with Prismacolor Pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. I applied Diamond Glaze to the cherry, to give it a shiny look, and Liquid Applique to the frosting, to make it look lumpy-bumpy like frosting really is. Then, I matted it using my Nesties. I stamped the sentiment on smooth cardstock and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder for some added texture. Then, I did a little matting and added the red brads. Finally, I adhered the layers according to the sketch. The matted cupcake was adhered using foam tape to add dimension. This sketch was pretty simple to work with and fun too!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Cherry Top Cupcake, Happy Moments Happy Days sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill, American Crafts and The Paper Company
Accessories: Diamond Glaze, Liquid Applique, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Brads by Making Memories, Nesties, 3-D Dots
Finished Card Size: 5 1/8" x 5 3/4"

I've recently been inspired to use Liquid Applique from blog hopping & seeing so many others use it. I asked around a little bit and added it to my shopping list when I was out and about yesterday. What you see here on this card is my first time using it. How fun and so cool! My friend Vicki gave me a little tip--She said she only buys the white Liquid Applique and then uses ink refills to create any color she needs to match her project. Great idea huh? For my cupcake frosting, I used a sponge dauber to apply brown ink to the Liquid Applique. I'm happy with the final look.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see my Fun Filled Friday Challenge card. This week's theme is to create a card in 10 minutes or less. Why don't you give it a try?

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Happy Gray's Anatomy Thursday! Any other GA fans out there? I can't wait to see what happens tonight!

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