Inspirational Cards Sketch #14

Dawn has another great sketch this week at Inspirational Card Sketches and a great RAK for a giveaway to some lucky participant. Be sure and check out her site. I have worked on my card of and on between working on sewing projects -- multi-tasking has been the name of the game this week.

Paper: K & Company Wild Rasberry Paper Pad, Solid cardstock

Embellishments: Primas, grosgrain ribbon, button, raffia, hot fix crystals

I distressed the edges of all the paper and inked with Tea Dye distress ink. The sentiment was printed out on the computer and I adhered it with foam dots to give it a little more definition. For a finishing touch, I randomly scattered hot fix crystals.

I left work early today to meet my hubby and sister-in-law at the nursing home so we could have birthday cake to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. I embroidered a light weight fleece throw for her to have to cover up with when she is chilled. But I failed to take a picture of it last night before I wrapped it.

I am waiting for hubby to bring home Chinese for dinner -- I have a real taste for Egg Drop soup and egg rolls tonight. I have a tote bag to finish and then I will be finished with my must do sewing projects. Will post pics when the bag is finished.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Just Christmas and Birthday Cards Sketch #29

Kristin has a great sketch this week at Just Christmas and Birthday Cards. I used the sketch this evening to make a birthday card which I plan to give to a co-worker who has a birthday Wednesday.

Paper: K & Company Wild Rasberry Paper Pad

Sentiment: $1 Stamp from my LSS

Embellishments: Primas, K & Company Sticker, self-stick gems

I've got several sewing projects to get finished this week so unfortunately card making in the evenings is going to have to take a back seat for a few days.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Blog Candy Alert

Oh wow, you need to stop by Carole's blog and see the wonderful blog candy she has up for grabs. All you have to do is leave a comment under the Frog Blog post. The drawing will be May 15th.

Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

Tamara's Blast from the Past Sketch #92

I tweaked Tamara's sketch just a tad and came up with this card using paper from K & Company Animal Crackers paper pad. This pad of paper has such fun designs and I have a hard time deciding which to use.

Paper: K & Company Animal Crackers paper pad, solid cardstock

Stamp: Autumn Leaves Mindy's Zoo stamp set

Embellishments: Rick Rack

Tools: Embossing folder, Copics, colored pencils

Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

Just Christmas and Birthday Cards

While blog hopping in the middle of the night last night (I had a bad case of insomnia), I happened across another neat card sketch challenge blog -- Just Christmas and Birthday Cards. A sketch is posted every Monday and you are encouraged to use it for a Christmas and/or Birthday card. There is a link to post your card(s) and a drawing is held once a month for goodies. Everyone who enters more than twice in the month is eligible to participate in the drawing. So in the wee hours of the morning, I worked on cards using the sketch.

Here is my Christmas Card.

Paper: Ellen Krans Specialty Cardstock, paper from scrap pile.

Stamps: The Paper Studio Christmas stamp set for tree and Hot Off the Press Christmas Art

stamp set for the sentiment.

Other: Copics, Threading Water Border Punch, mini brads and self-stick gems.

And this is my Birthday Card.

Paper: DCWV The Spring Matstack, paper from scrap pile.

Cupcake: Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge

Sentiment: Daisy Bucket Designs stamp

Other: Hot Fix Crystals

I hope I sleep tonight. My body needs it. I know part of the problem was allergies bothering me. The yukky yellowish green tree pollen dust is so bad right now. Today has been windy and you can see it blowing thru the air. My bright red truck is a mottled red and yellow.

The temp has made it into the upper 80's today. When I got home from work, hubby had turned the AC on...I believe this is about the latest we have gone without turning it on.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Inspirational Card Sketch #13

Dawn has come up with another beautiful sketch this week at Inspirational Card Sketches. For my card using the sketch I used a plain pre-folded textured card by DCWV. The paper for the circle and paper strips is from a DCWV The Luxury Stack. This paper has a pearlized and metallic finish and I used a monocromatic color scheme. This combined to make getting a good picture difficult. I added a flower stack and K & Company small flower stickers.

Be sure and check out the ICSketch blog. There is another great sponsor this week and a chance to win some great goodies.

Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

Card Sketch A Day Sketch #234

Here's a card that I made today using Card Sketch A Day's sketch #234. The paper is from DCWV's Animal Cracker paper pad, I also used paper by Creative Imaginations and plain cardstock for the block for the sentiment. The sentiment was stamped with a Stampabilities stamp and the curly-q's were stamped using stamps from my Sweet Blossoms and Swirls stamp set. A flower stack and brad finished it off.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Tamara's Sketch and More

I made this card using Tamara's Blast from the Past sketch #91 as my inspiration for the design layout.

The funky paper strips are cut from DCWV Animal Crackers paper and mounted on cardstock. I added a flower stack fastened with a brad and the sentiment is a stamp from That's Jazzy Stamp Dreams.

I believe this next card comes in as my all time favorite of cards that I have made. If you love chocolate chip cookies as much as I do, you will really appreciate this card.

The stamp is an American Art Stamp that I got at Hobby Lobby, I think. I colored with Copics nd miracle of miracles, I managed to stay within the lines. I used shades of beige and brown card stock and accented with polka dot paper from DCWV The Spring Matstack and buttons. To give credit where credit is due, I scraplifted (or should I say cardlifted) the basic layout for this design from the April 2009 issue of Cards.

These last two are cards that I made using my Humorous Birthday stamps.

I used solid cardstock and paper from the DCWV The Spring Matstack. And look I actually made a bow that looks halfway decent. Usually my bows wind up in the trash can. I doesn't really show up in the picture but I played around blending chalk on the outer edges of the white circle.

I also cardlifted the layout for this design from the April 2009 issue of Cards. The paper came from my scrap paper stash. I added rick rack, a flower stack, grosgrain ribbon and self-stick gems.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Card Sketch a Day Friday Friends Challenge

For today's Card Sketch a Day sketch #229, I used coordinating paper and a chipboard sentiment from a paper pack that I picked up at some point at one of the dollar stores. Then I added some rick rack, flowers and a brad.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Happy Anniversary

Today is my daughter and son-in-law's wedding anniversary......so Happy Anniversary, Robin and Bill. This is the card that I made for them using this week's Inspirational Card Sketches sketch #12.

The paper is from a Provo Craft Celebrations pad of paper. The lovebirds are a freebie download at Pollycraft and I used colored pencils to do the coloring. I added Mulberry flowers fastened with a brad and accented with grosgrain ribbon. Self-stick gems finished it off giving a little bling.

I love the way Karen finishes off the inside of her cards so I worked on the inside of the card also. (My attempt in no way compares to her gorgeous cards).

You've heard of writer's block. Well, I think I am experiencing cardmaker's block. I just can't seem to really focus on making cards. I see all these wonderful sketches but then just draw a blank when it comes to selecting paper, embellishments, etc. I look at my supply of paper and go YUK! Maybe I need to find some new paper designs to get my creative juices flowing again.

Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

Inspirational Card Sketch #11

Dawn at Inspirational Card Sketches has another lovely sketch this week. Treasured Scrapbooking is the sponsor this week and will be giving the lucky winner of the weekly drawing the March Card Kit. Here is my card using this week's sketch.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Jewelry Swap

I love jewelry -- especially unique pieces that I won't see everytime I turn around. Recently I learned that Grace who works for the bank's investment group officed upstairs from my office makes jewelry. Her work is gorgeous and unique. So I made her a deal -- I'll swap one of my purse/totes for one of your pendant and earring sets.

Here's the jewelry that I got.

And here is the purse/tote that I made for her.

Well it's back to work this morning after taking vacation days on Friday and Monday.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

More Tea Bears

I finished the Tea Bears today that I had cut out yesterday and took Jonah's, Raegan's and Cassie's to my SIL and BIL so they could put them in their Easter baskets. Earl got a big kick out of Jonah's, said it was just perfect for him. I had found some Cars licensed material in my fabric stash and knew it would be perfect for Jonah. And I love the Arkansas Razorback bear that I made for Barrett. Whooo Pig Sooie!!!!!

Carole, thanks so much for sharing your pattern with me. I have had so much fun making the Tea Bears.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Our Little Baseball Players

Sarabeth and Addie played in their first baseball game this morning. They are on a T-Ball Instructional League team for 4 and 5 year olds. OMG, those little kids are so cute out there on the field. It's been a long time since Jesse played in this league (he is 12 now and playing tournament ball) and I forgot how much fun it is to watch the little ones. Addison ran to the pitcher's mound instead of first base her first time up to bat. But she got on base her second time up to bat. Sarabeth is a natural athlete. She has been to so many of her big brother's ballgames that she knows what to do. Two or three times when she was covering the pitcher's mound, she got the ball when it was hit, covered home plate and got runners out. She knew to do this instead of throwing the ball to first base.

Here's a pic that I took of our two little ball players after today's game.

Sarabeth Addie

I've been working on my sewing mojo today by having a cutting out marathon. I have one tote bag, three purses, and four Tea Bears cut out and ready to embroider and sew. Also, we stopped at Target on our way home from the ball game and I got tee shirts to embroider for Sarabeth and Addie. They have their nice Cherokee Ultimate Tees on sale for $4 so I got every color that they had in their size - 7 shirts in all.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Tea Bears

My very talented friend Carole recently sent me her pattern to make a Tea Bear. Today is the first opportunity that I have had to play with it and make one of the adorable little bears. I made one for each of my granddaughters and embroidered their names.

I hope these have inspired some sewing and embroidery mojo. I haven't done either in some time. I hope to work on purses and totes this weekend. But of course I have to take time out tomorrow to go to Sarabeth and Addie's first baseball game. Yes, the two little ones are playing baseball this Spring. They are the only girls on their team!

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Fun With My Cricut

I recently set a goal for myself to become more familiar with my Cricut and to get comfortable cutting and assembling shapes cut using the wonderful cartridges available. So what better way to spend part of a vacation day than having fun with my Cricut. I made Easter cards for my two granddaughters, Sarabeth and Addison.

Paper used for both cards came from my scrap paper stash.

On the first card I used the Easter basket and eggs on the Doodlecharms cartridge and hand decorated the eggs that I piled into the basket. I added a Mulberry flower and brad and printed out the sentiment on the computer.

For the second card, I used the bunny cut on the Doodlecharms cartridge. I had some small black hot fix crystals that I used for his eyes and I shaded the inside of the ears with chalk. I cut the circles using Nestabilities, added Mulberry flowers and a brad, and printed the sentiment on the computer.

I can definitely say that I am now finally getting more comfortable cutting shapes so plan to start using the Cricut more. And I have put the Cricut Jukebox on my wish list of things I would like to have.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy