First of Many...

Good morning!  Hopefully, you've all had a wonderful and restful weekend.

I'm so happy to be out from under the blanket, AND posting on here today! 

Don't anyone faint, but I've actually created a card this morning for a challenge.  It's also a challenge I've never tried before, using Flourishes' stamps, which I've never stamped with before, (thanks to a wonderful blogging friend!)   and I am hopelessly addicted already.

Today's card features the Flourishes "I Love Roses" Set #40.  I'm entering it in the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 147.  Silke Ledlow is the hostess and here is her sketch...

And here is my card...

Supplies: Kraft CS, My Mind's Eye 'Lost & Found Christmas' DP, Flourishes 'I Love Roses', Copic Markers, Tim Holtz 'Antique Linen' Distress Ink, Nestabilities 'Classic Circles', Offray Ribbon

Isn't it nice when an amazing image, and an amazing paper pad make following a sketch so easy?  Ha ha...I'm barely squeaking this card in to the challenge, as it's due by 6 p.m. tonight.  Whew.... naps have been the priority for the last 4.5 days! 

Have a great day, and a wonderful week - I'm planning to do a lot of catch-up blurfing tonight, so prepare to be stalked!

Hugs and blessings,
Patti J.

Food for thought:  

If you aren't making any mistakes, you probably aren't making anything!

I've Got Your Back....

Welcome back!
Today is the fourth and final day of the August sneak peeks at The Craft's Meow!
It has been so much fun joining all of the ladies at The Craft's Meow as their 'Friend" this week.
Thank you all for hanging out here this week and watching the new stamps being unveiled!

I have another fabulous set today, "In Tandem", designed for The Craft's Meow, by the beautiful and talented Nina Brackett of Nina B. Designs. This is yet one more totally fun set, with several sentiments - each one just perfect for someone needing a happy greeting.

Here is my card...

I did a teensy bit of coloring and outlining with my Copic markers, dotted the bottom half in greens and the top half in blues. The image and mat were die cut using oval Nesties. I dotted and tore the CS prior to stamping the sentiment, and tore the bottom of the mat as well. Also dotted with black Copic around the inside oval. Everything is popped up with dimensional squares. Added a bit of bling from Michael's and a flower from Hobby Lobby. The DP is Echo Park, and can be found at The Craft's Meow Store.


Be sure to check out The Craft's Meow Blog, to see all of the other beautiful creations, and don't forget to comment! One lucky person will win this set!!!


Hope you can plan to hop with us on August 1st. The Craft's Meow August release blog hop will feature all of the great stamp sets you have seen this week, and that's not all! You will be able to shop for the sets that day as well! You'll want to be sure to leave comments, as one lucky winner will receive all four new sets!


Smiles,
Patti J.

Something to Cheer About!

Happy Monday!

I hope that you are all surviving the day. Most of us don't care too much for Monday, and it's a dreary, gloomy, cold one here. I am not complaining though, as there is NO snow on the ground! That is definitely something to cheer about!

I have something else to cheer about today! Our great-niece, Taylor, found out that she made the Cheerleading Squad for her middle school for the 2011-2012 school year - Wahoo! I put together a card today to hopefully bring her a smile. Their teams are the Rebels, and their colors are red, white, and blue...


The card is a gatefold, and the image is actually a magnet. She can open the card, and put the magnet on her fridge, or in her school locker if she likes.

Supplies Used: Honey Cheer Digi from All That Scraps, Bazill CS, Ranger Denim Ink, Corner Rounder, Magnets, Oval Nestie, Nail Heads from Michael's, Copic Markers, Cuttlebug, Dotted Swiss Embossing Folder, Sentiment from The Angel Company, Confetti Stamp from StampCraft.

It's been a long while since I participated in a challenge! I'm going to enter at The Cuttlebug Spot where the challenge is to make a gate fold card.

Next, I have a question for the smartest readers in the world! And yes, I will be sending out an Itty-Bitty Blog Candy for one randomly drawn reader who comments on this blog post! My question to you is actually two parts:

Do you listen to music while you create your masterpieces? If so, what is your favorite music to craft by???

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful week!

Hugs and smiles,
Patti J.

Just Chillin...

Goodness, are we EVER chillin'!!!

I'm actually getting this blog post ready on Monday, as they are calling for nearly an inch of ice, topped with 'inches' of snow, and when that happens, we usually are without power for several days.

I was so excited to be invited to serve as a guest designer for the month of February, for Deedee's Digi's!

I met Deedee Anderson while I was working on my very first design team!

She is as sweet as her images are!

For my first project with Deedee, I've made a simple card, using her "Just Chillin' image, and one of the sentiments from the set. This little bear is darling!

To me, she looks a lot like I feel, "is it ever going to stop snowing?" lol....

Supplies Used: Copic Markers, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Frosted Lace Stickles, ZVA Pearls, Cosmo Cricket Material Girl, Bazzill CS

To see more of Deedee's images, check out her store! You will not be disappointed!

To enter this week's challenge, check out the challenge blog, Crafting with Deedees Digi's.

The challenge this week is: Fellowship Week -

Make and donate a card to a charity or church ministry that collects cards for those in need.

We can't wait to see YOUR cards!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Hugs and smiles...Patti J.

Young Love.....

Today, I have another card for One Crazy Stamper Challenge Blog.

They have two guest designers each month, so sadly, this is my last card for them.

It's been fun using their stamps, and playing along!

Again, if you haven't been over to One Crazy Stamper to shop, you should check them out!

The theme that I was asked to use was "Love".

I chose this adorable image by Penny Johnson, called "Love Bubbles".

It was SO incredibly fun to color - I love it!

All coloring was done with Copic markers. Flowers-Hobby Lobby, Heart Punch-Martha Stewart, Nesties, Dotted DP-The Angel Company, Sakura Starburst Clear Glitter Pen

Hope you like it -

I have to smile everytime I catch a glimpse of these cuties

sharing their ginger ale!

Have a wonderful Friday, and be sure to stop over at the One Crazy Stamper Challenge blog to see what the other fabulous designers have created for you today!

Hugs,

Patti J.

Daddy's little girl...

The challenge this week Paper Pretties, is sponsoring the "Oh Alice challenge".

A little girl theme is to be used.

I went to the Paper Pretties store, and found this adorable image. Perfect for fall! (Summer I miss you already!) I then remembered a sentiment that Paulette had posted a while back at Create with TLC, and thought it would be so right for this little gal!

Hope she brings you a smile! Oh, nearly forgot...the flower at the top is to cover an oopsie! lol...

Image: Paper Pretties, Coloring: Prismacolor Pencils & LOMS, DP from a friend (in Tuesday's mail!), Ribbon from my stash, CS: Bazzill, Cuttlebug, Blossom Nestabilities, Flower (to cover an oopsie) from JoAnn's Crafts, Stampin Up Bashful Blue Ink for sponging.



I am also entering this card here:



A Crafty Little Place (Anything Goes)

Cuttlebug Challenge (Primary color pink, with sentiment on front of card)



Have a great Thursday - hard to believe it's already September!

Mr. Willy Melt and Ms. Betty Will...

Tee Hee.....

The card above was made using a set of free digi images from The Digi Kitty for the Digi Kitty Challenge. The images were individual images, but I decided to put them together.

The story is that Ms. Betty Will asked Mr. Willy Melt "does this suit make my butt look big"??? Well, you can only imagine why she is firing snowballs at him!!!

Lol...

That one was just for fun! Gotta smile, right???

Here is another one of Nina's fabulous images from There's Magic in The Air. This week our twist was that it had to be a monochromatic card! I used Crackle Accents on it to distress and age it, but it's hard to tell in the photo's....

Patti J.

Hmmmm.....Funny how opportunities always look bigger going than coming!

Don't forget to sign up HERE for blog candy! DH says it IS going home with SOMEONE on the 20th!!!

Outside the box...

This was a lot of fun to do!

The challenge at Saturday Spotlight was to make a Halloween card, but to not use any Halloween stamps!

Well, I happened to have this new set, Merriest Wishes, from TAC that kept jumping off of my shelf, wanting to be inked.

Who am I to put a set of stamps back on the shelf and tell them 'no'?

So, out came this adorable snowperson stamp, and the following card was born!

What's in it??? K & Co. DP, Computer generated sentiment, Large Nesties, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Tombow Markers, Sharpies, Ribbon and button from my stash, DCWV CS, Sakura Starburst Glitter Pen.

She is entirely colored with either Tombow or Sharpies, except for her paper pieced "coat".

Hope your Friday is wonderful. It is STILL raining here, dark and dreary, Cardinal's got slammed by the Dodger's again, but otherwise...life is good!

Blessings...Patti J.

Magic...

Above is my card for this week's challenge at There's Magic in the Air. This is another cute sketch by Nina. When I first saw the sketch, I said to myself, "Self, this is a tough one". I thought about every combination of colors, and no matter what I chose, it still seemed lovey-dovey to me, so pink won!

I printed the FREE digi image off (Nina puts a free image up for the challenge every single Monday) and colored it with my colored pencils and mineral spirits. Then I highlighted the pink areas with Sakura's pink glitter pen. I used a scalloped nestie circle, punched around the image, and sponged with pink chalk ink while it was still in the die. I also drew around the inner edge of each die with the glitter pen before popping the image out!

Hope you like it! Have a great Monday!

Patti J.

~Only in America do we buy hot dog buns in packages of 10, and hot dogs in packages of 8!

Boo! and Boo!

So...how is everyone? Ready for a new week? It's supposed to be cool and windy here this week, not sure I'm ready for that! DH has a doc appt. Monday in the city. I hate it when that happens, as it means I am forced to endure a trip to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and etc... Just kidding - I look forward to our scarce days together and our little shopping excursions.

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Both projects today feature a free digi image that I grabbed at Digital Delights Freebie Friday. Isn't this just the cutest little ghostie? The sketch is from the Delightful Sketches challenge.

The challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge was "Tag, You're It", we were to use a tag on our projects. I needed to box up a couple of cookies for a friend, so I made a 3 x 3 Pizza Box instead of a card. You can see my tag dangling from the spider!

This photo shows the bow at the top of the box, and shows how I stamped the ghost image a second time and cut out all of the ghost pieces and pieced them over the image with dimensional dots, making the ghostie a bit 3D.

Yummm...these are some of the cookies that DD baked for the fall festival. They are whole grain cookies and are very tasty, and as you can see, they are 3" in diameter!

Recipes: DCWV CS, K & Co. DP, Making Memories Brads & Spider, Marvy Punch, Nesties, Kooh-I-Noor Pencils, Ribbon from Michael's and Hobby Lobby

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I'm off to the city today for some fun with DH, so be safe, have some fun in your craft rooms, and I'll see you later!

***

Patti J.

And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. Luke 6:31 NIV

I wish I was a glow worm...

Good Morning!

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Yesterday, while reading a daily post at Kimberley's Kard Kreations, I noticed that she has a Thought for the Day. I couldn't help but 'borrow' it for today's card! (Kimberley has an adorable blog - be sure to drop in and say hi!) I'll tell you what it was in a minute or two!!!

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First.... every Monday morning, Nina posts a free digital image at There's Magic in the Air. What makes these extraordinarily special, is that Nina designs and illustrates these herself. Very talented lady!!!

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This week's free image was Eldon. Now Eldon is just absolutely the CA-utest worm that I think I've ever seen! When I saw Eldon, I knew that I had to find time to work something up using this adorable image. Then when I saw Cindy Hafner's fabulous sketch (above) at Crazy4Challenges, I knew exactly what I was going to create with Eldon!

Back now for a moment, to Kimberley's Thought for the Day... It was this:

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I wish I was a glow worm,

A glow worm's never glum.

'Cos how can you be grumpy

When the sun shines out your bum!

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See what I mean? How could a girl that is about to post the CA-utest worm she's ever seen NOT use that little poem? Lol...perfect for this lil' Eldon, isn't it?

I am entering this card at:

Crazy4Challenges: sketch

Threre's Magic in the Air: Eldon Image

Pile it On: Use Punches

Recipe: Image from There's Magic in the Air, DCWV CS and DP. Nestie, Kooh-I-Noor Colored Pencils and Low Odor Mineral Spirits, Ribbon brads by Karen Foster, Tombow Markers, Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi, Starburst Gel Pen.

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This next card also features some artwork by one of our own bloggers! Stef, aka, Glitterbabe, drew this gorgeous daffodil! She offered it up free yesterday, and I couldn't resist. I snagged it, and created this card with it. Stef - you go girl!!! Head over and check out Stef's blog - I guarantee you will laugh out loud today!!!

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I used this sketch, from Inky's Delight, and added some butterflies for Flutterby Wednesday. I think it turned out very soft and pretty, but as is the case sometimes, the photo doesn't do it the justice that real life does! You can't tell in the photo, but the DP (by Provo) is Glitter paper (in honor of Glitterbabe, of course!). Colored again with KIN/LOMS.

Okay, my friends... It's Thursday, and I have a ton of chores to do. I sort of put them off yesterday. I did, however go back to Curves, so Kudo's to me for that! I had approximately 400 excuses and reasons to NOT go back, and DD overruled them all! She's right...I know I'll feel better if I take off about 80 lbs... It's just SO tough! It surely goes on easier than it comes off - one of life's NOT FAIR moments! lol...

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Hope your day is fantastic!

Blessings...Patti J.

~Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway, and park all of our useless junk in the garage!!!

Happy Birthday Dear Friend!!!

Don't you just love a new challenge? Hannah told of an ABC challenge starting up for the third time, and it just happened to be at 'A' this week! So... I'm going to give it a try and see if I can keep up!

The challenge site is here, and the theme for this week is: A = Anything Goes (with the thought of keeping animals in mind)...

I had this adorable little retired/revived TAC stamp that has never been inked. I thought with holidays fast approaching, this would be a good one to bring out and ink up! I am so pleased with how much fun it was to color!

Supplies: Stamps are TAC, Stampin' Up, and Katie & Co., Versafine Black Ink, Kooh-I-Noor Pencils, Watercolor Paper, Provo CS, DCWV CS.

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Friday's challenge at 365 Cards, was to make your card look like a "gift"! Well, as I was on my way out the door for a trip to Michael's and Hobby Lobby, actually MAKING a card took a back seat to shopping for more fun stuff to make cards with! Lol... So this one is "falling off a log easy"! DP and some ribbon and a touch of glitter! Period. 5 Minutes tops! Not totally happy with it, but my priorities were definitely gathering wool in a shopping cart in another city an hour from my work table!!!

Whew....sure wish I'd known today's theme prior to shopping yesterday! Oh well, perhaps there is a scrap of toille DP in my bin!

Supplies: DP (unknown), Ribbon (unknown), Inkadinkado, Color Box Chalk Ink, Burgandy.

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I'm back! Rather than make an additional post, I'm posting today's 365 Cards challenge, which is to use toille on our cards! I did have a piece in my bin, so with a bit of ribbon, adhesive, and a Hero Arts sentiment, this card is finished! I thought I'd combine the Mojo Monday sketch with it, as I hadn't managed to make anything yet for it! So....here's a last minute two-fer! Cheers!!!

I wish you all a good day! I'm going to go immediately to Wal-Mart, and hopefully avoid at least some of the trauma involved in going there on a Saturday morning on the first week of school! Tee Hee!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Think positive, happy thoughts! If you get time, please drop by Shirley's blog and wish her a happy birthday! I'm sure she will shoot me when she finds out that I divulged this top secret info, but she is 19 today! Looks pretty darned good for her age, too!!!

Patti J.

Humility. A quiet conquest of selflessness over selfishness. ~Peter Reese

Take Three!

I was actually able to make today's card for three different challenges.


I started out by following the sketch at Mojo Monday. I'm pretty proud of myself - I didn't flip it on it's side OR upside down! I simply followed the sketch (new concept for this rebel!!!).

Loretta Lock, the August Host over at Our Creative Corner, has created a fun color challenge for us. The theme is: "When I am old, I shall wear purple". I think this card definitely qualifies as a shade of purple!!!

Last, but certainly not least, Day 158 at 365 Cards was "What's your sign?" day. We were to create a sign on our cards.


No pixies were injured in the making of this card as I paper pieced only the clothing!

Stamp: CC Designs Swiss Pixies "Heidi" (from All That Scraps), Ink: Versafine, Black, Tombow Markers, Sharpie Marker, EK Success Buckle Punch, Nestabilities Circle Dies.



Well, dear friends, I am off to paint a wall, and hopefully stimulate some very weary brain cells! Today's 365 challenge is to create an Indoors scene. As I have absolutely zero inside stamps, I am going to have to really think about this one!!! Lol....I have a few ideas floating around... can you say 'freehand'???



Have a great Thursday!



Patti J.
~Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. Denis Waitley

Last Minute Challenge!

I just realized that tomorrow is Thursday! This card is for the Nesties challenge at http://www.kgiron.blogspot.com/

It uses Nestabilities, TAC Beautiful Place, Stampabilities Sentiment, Tombow Markers, a maroon sharpie, and a white paint pen. It also features a piece of Gina K. Designs' downloadable Floral Fantasy DP.

I don't like this as much as the one I posted earlier today, but it was quick, quick, quick!

Patti J.

~Mama said there'd be days like this.....