Color Me Happy!!

"In the throes of winter, I found within me there was an invincible summer"...who wrote that? Not sure, I always thought it was a good saying, and poetic, but not really true of me. In the throes of winter I find that there is in most people...one long whine.

So no whining today, the sun is shining outside, and I am playing along with my best buddy, Cindy (aka: Mothermark) in her Teapot Tuesday challenge. It's hard to be grumpy when you are taking snowboard lessons with Abner, the Abominable Snowman, really it is!! But Abner gets grumpy because apparently, he is surrounded by white and needs some color in his world.

So I am introducing Abner to my field of tulips!!

This was a fun and cheerful card to put together using Papertrey Ink's Everyday Button Bits. Because I really wanted to use some of my new wide red and white gingham, I kept the blooms red with a simple green framed out with the white swiss dots!!

Thanks for taking a peek today. Hope the throes of winter don't have you in the doldrums...you can always reach for your stamps and bring in a bit of spring!!

Pot of Purple Petunias!!

This card was made for two purposes...the first to honor the featured stamper on SCS, Jovial Judy!! I Cased one of her card layouts for this spring card!
Also this week's Flourishes challenge is "All About Me." Now normally that would sound selfish to make something all about myself...but that was the call...use things you love!
So I love new stamps, and I love flowers, I love container gardening and usually have purple petunias, and I love these swirled diecuts and I love learning new things (as in coloring my bling with a copic) and I love purple or in this case, razzleberry, and I love....to STAMP!!
Hope that about covers what I love that I tried to portray in my card today!
Hope you had a good weekend! Thanks so much for stopping in!

Butterfly Tree

Hi, it's been awhile, hasn't it? I am feeling the pinch to get this card up on my blog and just a bit to say before I have to sign off as my husband will soon be taking the computer away for tax purposes!!
Today's card is a submission for two challenges. The SCS inspiration challenge and this week's Stamping Sisters in Christ verse from 1John 4:10.

The verse, "This is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."
The challenge was to make a card that shows God's love for us. I don't know any better way to show God's love than prayer...I am always so encouraged when someone says they are praying for a specific need or heartache and it is humbling for me if I can pray for someone else. Prayers are like these butterflies that light on the soul and ease a burden.

This is a 4 1/4 inch square card. If you want to see the original inspiration, it is from the site, Lark. What cute vintage stuff, and you might get a kick reading some of the notebook titles.
Here is the card: http://www.larkmade.com.au/products/paper-goods/foliage-and-birds-card.html
Have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping in!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Just wanted to wish you, my stamping and blogging friends, a Happy Valentine's Day. My husband and I are surrounded by snow laden pines in beautiful Steamboat Springs. Doesn't this look like fun? We probably won't be going on a toboggan ride, but maybe a walk with snowshoes up a nearby hill.
I love these old fashioned Valentine's..they make my heart sentimental and bring back a bit of nostalgia for me. Whatever you do today, be sure to tell the ones you love how special they are!!
Happy Valentine's Day...and will see you in a couple of days!!

Gift for Our Daughter

Not too long ago I received the most beautiful stamp set from Innovative Stamp Creations. After participating in the Crazy4Challenges (see sidebar) I was alerted by a friend that I had won!! This set, Silhouettes 1, is one I'd seen many times in galleries and always loved it!

So I was so excited to be able to choose this set which comes with a few other lovely silhouette images and sentiment sets. Thank you Innovative Stamp Creations , I love it!

This week our youngest daughter celebrated her birthday, and I decided to make a 3 part frame using this set and the sentiment from SU in the center as her gift from me. The outside matting is rolled with a new large SU wheel from the new mini catalogue. Then the images on the card and the frame were colored in with markers before stamping. The card's border punch is EK Success and the ribbon and hardware are from SU.

Remember you can click on the photograph for a larger image to pop up...the frame is a bit hard to see...but looks really pretty in real life.

I enjoyed making a frame and hope it gives you an idea to use some of your own stamps to frame up!

Thanks for stopping by today. I so appreciate you taking the time and comments are always fun to read!!

Have a great day!

Flourishes Anniversary Challenge FTTC52A

Today is the deadline for Flourishes Anniversary Challenges. I have 3 that I am posting today (see previous posts for viewing)...and this one is a combined challenge, (although I will only submit it for one)...Cindy Haffner's sketch challenge and Silke's challenge to keep it pink!!

I found that the tulip from the Flourishes set can fit in a small circle...I really was excited about this discovery! The pink squares are some designer paper, the tulip is colored in several shades of pink copics and cotton candy stickles added, along with a pink taffeta ribbon (not SU) and pink rhinestones. That's enough pink for any girl for one day...don't you think??

If you do come by and happen to actually read this, will you let me know which is your favorite of the 3 today? I am just curious...I have a fave...but would like to know what you think.

Thanks so much for stopping by...wish me luck on the contest!

Flourishes Anniversary Challenge FTTC52B

This is my second submission today for Flourishes Anniversary Challenges. This one is issued by Betty Wright, and is for cutting out an image and popping it up!!

What a great challenge...I fiddled with this card way too long and think I stumbled on the nestabilities that were too large for my card! Also tried stamping the image on a designer paper and then stamped another and cut it out and popped it on top. I tried this several different ways and this is what I ended up with. The green bow was added at the base of the tulip for a little stem...and the tulip was spritzed with pearl glimmer mist. Since the deadline is today, I am submitting it...but this is one I'd like a do-over! LOL!! Thanks so much for looking and stopping by today!

Flourishes Anniversary Challenge FTTC52C

Today I have 3 submissions for Flourishes Anniversaries Challenge.

This one is to make a Fruity Birthday card using a fruit or fruit inspired paper, etc.

So, I used this strawberry set which I LOVE!!

This was made with Kraft paper, some designer paper, and the strawberry was colored with copics and popped up. I used a Martha Stewart fence punch on some yellow dotted designer paper and a wide red gingham ribbon! I hope you like it! Let me know which one is your favorite of the three please!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Birds and Blooms

Just a quick Sunday morning post...I had time to stamp a card early this morning for several challenges. Today's featured stamper on SCS is Barb Anders, and Casing one of her beauties is what got me started.
And today is also when the Stamping Sister's in Christ challenge for the week is announced. This week's challenge was taken from the verse:
Mark 10:7-9
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh..."
The challenge given was to use 2 of whatever you used on your card...so taking inspiration from Barb Ander's card, I used 4 (hey that's 2 of 2, right) of the scalloped squares and then 2 birds, and 2 flowers...I liked the image of love blooming...that was my thought. But then after I made this card, I had to laugh, because it looks like the mama bird is chirping away at the papa bird and isn't that the way it sometimes is...yak, yak, ...better than squawk squawk!!
Also, this week over on Crazy 4 Challenges blog the challenge is to make a Valentine themed card...so there is my heart chipboard covering my assorted ribbons!
So 3 challenges and I hope you're not too confused reading this.

For my stamping recipe:
Stamps: SU Cheep Talk, SU En Francais (chipboard heart)
Inks: SU Purely Pomegranate, SU Chocolate Chip
Paper: PTI white, SU pink pirouette, SU chocolate chip, Basic Grey Urban Prairie
Accessories: Chipboard Heart, White craft paint, Assorted ribbons, Scalloped Square Nestabilities, SU Stitched Felt Sweet Pea


Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you like my untraditional Valentine...I actually like this one pretty well!
Have a blessed Sunday!

My Favorite Flourishes

One more post today, please don't miss the last one, how often do I get two done in one day, anyways?

This week the Flourishes Design Team is issuing challenges in honor of their anniversary! This one I am participating in is using one of your favorite Flourishes stamps...

I have only a few Flourishes and I have to say I have more than one favorite...but this one I probably use most often, I love the feminine quality and the different looks you get if you use solid background, the black magic like my last one made with this set, or marker technique.

I also made a recipe of bath salts and used these little jars I use to hold buttons and primas from Hobby Lobby to hold these salts. Tied a lavendar polka dot ribbon around the rim and there it is!

I doubled this original recipe from Flourishes blog:

Bath Salts

1 cup coarse Sea Salt

1/2 Cup Epsom salts

1/2 tsp glycerine (found at pharmacies)

2-3 drops fragrance oil of your choice (I found at health food stores)

optional: 2-3 drops of food coloring

I doubled this and it made enough for 4 small jars and one larger one. I used the jasmine frangrance oil and added at least 6 drops then a bit more...it has a heavenly fragrance. I already used this for a bath, and it was truly wonderful...about 1/2 of this jar is what I would use for a large soaking tub...appx 1/4 cup.

Enjoy the recipe and my thanks to Teresa Momber and this link here to see hers:

http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot.com/2009/07/limelight-week-4-with-theresa-momber.html

PTI Day 5 Emboss Resist Challenge

Today's technique is one I have tried before, but not in these colors...I took my inspiration from the designer paper and used a couple of layered blues for the papers and the inks...none of which are exactly the same but it worked out alright!

So my goal lately is to always try at least two new things, today's was layering sponging for the emboss technique, and using my blade for trimming the white piece rather than trying to cut everything to fit. I learned that on today's video, such a simple thing, and yet is made this a bit easier.

Thanks for coming by and hope this card brings you a little dose of sunshine!

Here is the link with the information:

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/

Teapot Tuesday, Sketch Challenge , and SSIC Challenge

Today is Teapot Tuesday on Splitcoast Stampers, and I wanted so badly to participate. The story, however, is about a cow...I think da Muddermark has an affection for bovines, and alas I am not equipped with a plethora, no not even a single cow stamp. However, I have a dog named Copper, who is a Corgi, and Corgis are cow-herding dogs.

I have been enamored with this dog from Mo's Digital Pencils for so long, because he reminds me so much of my dog...the shape, the disposition, the coloring...and this image reminds me of my youngest daughter with our dog a few years back.

It has taken me much effort, I tell ya, much effort, to figure out how to upload a digital! It is not the digi designer's fault, but this has been a process to get this image and download it and color it. So your comments, encouragement, would be so very welcome right now. I want to do this again, I love these images!

Okay, so for the story, you have to visit the Teapot Challenge blog of Mothermark (just click on the polka dot tea cup in my sidebar) and you can read her exciting story of Curt the Squirt, sister of Alicia, who is in the cow prankster business but has found himself stuck somewhere jumping over the moon, and needs to get unstuck. This is where my little dog, also known as Mr. Copper-Fella is to the rescue...he is going to go round up Curtis by nipping at his heels, barking incessantly and jumping up and down like a wild animal that he is until Curtis budges...then he's going to whip Curtis into shape doing cow aerobics until...until...untill...well the cows come home, or Curtis loses a few inches, whichever comes first!!

I used the Sweet Sunday sketch found above to help get this card started. I used some pretty gingham glittered paper and paired with pink pirouette and white card stock. The bow underneath was made using some wide crochet scrap ribbon and layering a pink taffeta over it with score-tape, then cinching it together with some white thread. The hearts are from my sweet friend, Dawn, (flowergal36)who I so {heart}...thank you!!

And lastly, this card is for this week's Stamping Sisters in Christ challenge 24 based on the verse Matthew 18:4 "Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." You can visit this challenge forum by clicking on the Stamping Sisters in Christ button at the top right of my blog.

So head on over to the teaparty blog and check out today's story and play along, you have all week to get Curt into shape!!