Melanie's Crafty Creations

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2012-01-21T09:27:00.001-05:00

My Homemade Laundry Detergent Project

Let me start out by saying a HUGE thank you to Jamie at Being Creative. Within hours of being introduced to http://www.pinterest.com/ I stumbled upon this recipe and felt a HUGE need to give it a try. I am very OCD with washing clothes. My boys and I both have dry skin and skin allergies so before I can even remember I have had an OCD with not wearing clothes more than 1 time. That includes pjs, jeans, etc!! So if I can find a way to save money in this area I'm all about it.

This recipe is CHEAP and very effective. I'll include the recipe I used but you can also reference Jamie's blog for her recipe. I only made two slight adjustments and I'll note them below. I am including a few more pictures for you. This project took me a total of 20 minutes to make.

All of my ingredients cost me $17.88. If this last as long as Jamie says this is a HUGE savings for me. I spend about $10 per month on detergent. Jamie says this will last 6-9 months with doing 5-6 loads of laundry a week. She states you only need 1 tablespoon, but I used 2. I have a front loading machine and I tend to jam pack it full. So it might last me only half the time but even if so its still a savings for me.

So lets get started!!!!!!!

First, the recipe:
1 4lb 12oz box of Borax
1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-Naptha Soap (I also used a bar of the lavendar bar soap)
1 container of 3 lb Oxi Clean, I purchased the stain fighting kind
Jamie's receipe suggest 3.5lb oxi clean and she also said it was optional. I felt this was a must for me due to having two boys and I'm a huge oxi clean fan.

Mixing it is easy, I would suggest having a very large bucket to mix it in. The powder does "kick up" so pour it slow and close to the bottom. I would also suggest doing it outside if possible.

These are some of my ingredients. I forgot to take a picture before I got started of all of them. The soap comes in a bar I just cut it for easy shredding.

As you can see I started to shred the soap with a hand pealer but thought that would take me forever So I pulled out my Ninja food processor. It grated it down really fine which I prefer. The Fels-Naptha actually has a very nice smell.

I wanted a little bit of a lavender scent in my mixture so I added this small bar from a local soap shop.

Bar soap all grated!

I realized real quick that I was going to need a large bucket to mix everything in.

My little helper, he liked using the Ninja to shred the soap.

Here is my finished project. A nice little scoop came in my container of oxiclean, bonus!!

My next project is going to be to cut vinyl letters with my Cricut to label my container. ;-) I will also be trying the dish washer soap she has on her blog. I already did 3 loads of laundry and am VERY happy with it. I do still use fabric softener which I would encourage if you like a little more softness to your clothes. I use Downy which is only $3.99 for the original at most stores and last 1-2 months.

NOTE: For front loading machines its suggested to put the detergent in the barrel however I used it both ways and it seems to be fine.

Photo Card

2011-11-15T21:27:00.001-05:00

World Of Joy Christmas

Turn your favorite pictures into personalized Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Critter Monochrome Challenge

2011-11-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

Hello and happy Monday!!!

It has been quiet some time since I have played along in a Critter Sketch Challenge Blog challenge. So this week I decided to step it up and play along.

The challenge this week at Critter Sketch is Monochrome. Basically create a card or project with colors in the same color family.

My sister's favorite color is green so I created this card as a pick me up for her. The image is a Mo Manning image; that can be purchased through the Stamping Bella website. The sentiment comes with the image.

Card Stock - Stampin UP!

Pattern Paper - Creative Memories

Ribbon - Ospray Outlet in Maryland

Image and Sentiment - Mo Manning (Stamping Bella)

Markers - Copics

Scallop Punch - Stampin UP!

Have a great week and thank you for visiting my blog.

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog - Monochrome

Run Turkey . . . . .

2011-10-27T14:52:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to do better with working ahead on projects that I have deadlines on. Since signing on with Stampin' Up I'm finding the opportunity more often.

This week I created a Thanksgiving day card with one of my favorite DRS images. This card will be given to my son's kindergarten teacher here in a couple weeks with an altered candle (that I still need to do.)

Inside:

***********************************************

Challenges Entered:

Pals Paper Arts - Element of Style-Ribbon

AUD Sentiments - Sentiment that makes you laugh

Charismz Cardz - Anything Goes

Digi Doodle Shop - Anything Goes

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog Challenge

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh I can not even begin to tell you how great it feels to be back and blogging.

My past few months have been INSANE!!! Not only did I get married but I moved and kept up with being a full time working mommy. Life is GOOD but it sure has been crazy!!!

This week I come back to blog-land with a card to share with you for the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog which I proudly own. Right now we are having a design team call so make sure you hope over to the blog by Wednesday if your interested in applying and joining our team.

This weeks challenge is a sketch challeng. My oldest son starts kindergarten tomorrow so I created a card to celebrate him starting such a big adventure in his life. I thought this would also be a great card to give to his teacher sometime this year.

Have a great week and HAPPY CREATING!!!!

Design Team Call

2011-08-07T23:23:00.000-04:00

The new term will run October 3, 2011 - January 30, 2012

Cowboy - Competing Princesses

2011-02-27T20:33:00.000-05:00

The blog group I'm in, Paper Princesses, is having a "competition" right now. We are creating cards with kits that are sent to us from different members in our group. Our kit this month was put together by Terria and is a Cowboy boys theme. Love the colors she chose and even love the images, out of my comfort zone but love it.

Make sure you check out the other girls creations. Their names and blogs are on my left side bar.

Feel Better

2011-02-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

As your reading this, I'm sailing the Western Carribean for our family vacation of the year. I hope all of you that are stuck in the dreaded cold of winter will soon thaw out.

These cards were created using a card kit I believe was put together by my blogging friend Colleen. My sister had sugery about 3 weeks ago so the bottom card will be headed to her before I depart for vacation. I loved coloring this sweet image. Just might have to snatch her up with my next order.

Enjoy and have a great week!!

Dino-mite

2011-01-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have been spending some of my weekends working on swap pages for SCS. This page was created for an all boys single page swap. I have this Greeting Farm image. My boys love dinosaurs so this will be a fun page for me to use.

This is my youngest out in the snow yesterday. He is not much of a snow bunny so I have to capture the pictures when I can of him.

Tag Cards

2011-01-20T21:00:00.001-05:00

Over the past two years I have joined several tag and ATC swaps. I love using tags for gifts and other various crafty projects. I thought I would enjoy collecting ATC (artist trading cards) but discovered it was not for me. So I decided to take a bunch of tags and ATC that were just consuming space in a bucket and use them.

I basically just supplied the card base, a few embelishments, and some embossed backround to create these great cards. There are so many different styles that I normally would not create on my own. I already used the blue ornament card for Christmas.

Teacher Card

2011-01-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

I am so in love with Stamping Bellas. I don't own this image but received it in an image swap. I decided to use it to creat a card for Mitchell's teacher. I have not give it to her yet and am either saving it for the end of the year or for an appreciation throughout the year.

Hoppy Birthday

2011-01-11T21:00:00.002-05:00

I love this Pink Cat Studios image. I got the set on sale a few months ago and have not had the opportunity to play with the images. On the inside I stamped the sentiment to make it a boys b-day card.

Beep Beep

2011-01-09T20:55:00.000-05:00

This page was created for a SCS All Boys page swap. I joined two spots because I can never get enough boys pages. This is my first set, not sure what I'm doing for my second set yet. Possibly dinosaurs!!

IMAGES FOR SALE!!!!

2010-12-27T19:24:00.001-05:00

All prices below are negotiable. I will combine shipping. Questions please email me, interested in buying, email me. Most of the stamps are used but taken VERY well care of and cleaned with only SU! or Hanna Stamps stamp cleaner.
Thanks,
Melanie
newbymom@embarqmail.com

Riley and Sophie

Riley Turkey - unmounted $3.50
Baking Riley - unmounted $3.50
Bicycle Riley - Wood Mount $4.50
Coffee Riley - Wood Mount $4.50
BBQ Riley - NEVER USED - Unmounted $4.00
Tractor Riley - NEVER USED - Unmounted $4.00
Spa Riley - unmounted $3.50
Banjo Riley - easy mounted $4.00

Hannah Shopping Bags - easy mounted $3.50

Ladybug & Friends

Especially for You - cling mount $3.50

Wags n' Wiskers

Bedtime Story - NEVER USED unmounted $4.00

Bildmalarna

Tossa Window - NEVER USED unmounted $5.00

Sugar Nellies

Manga Kids - NEVER USED unmounted $5.50
Blossom - easy mounted $5.50
Frog Prince - easy mounted $5.50

WOJ - Snowman Winter Card

2010-12-17T18:20:00.000-05:00

I was home from work sick yesterday and today. As of this morning I still felt like I had been hit by a truck. Last night I decided to color in some pre-stamped images since I did not have the engery to move off of my recliner. This Whiff of Joy snowman is an image I received in an image swap and I love it!!! I'm not sure where the sentiment is from, it was also pre-stamped, however I thought it went cute with this image.

I'm entering this card in a few challenges (see below.)

Have a great weekend!!

(Christmas or Winter) Fun at Fairy Knoll

(Snow) Fussy and Fancy

(Winter) Sew Many Challenges

(Sparkle and Bling) Studio 313

(Snowflakes) Wags N Whiskers

Scrapbooking

2010-12-16T20:13:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I was able to spend some time working on scrapbook pages. This is a page I received in a swap that I fell in love with. So I decided to use it as the cover page as the start to our 2nd family album for the year. I ended up getting 7 pages done. It has been so cold that I see us spending more and more weekends snuggled in. Hopefully that means I'll be able to work on some crafty things after the holidays.

Here is a picture of our tree this year. I have been doing a pre-lit tree for the past 7 years but the lights started to slowly go out so we decided to take the boys to a real tree farm and cut down our own tree. My oldest son Mitch actually picked out the tree and I must say I think he did a wonderful job.

Here are my special little Christmas boys. They are such easy photo subjects!!!

Sisters

2010-12-02T22:15:00.000-05:00

My sister is my bestfriend. When I saw this image on Stamping Bella's website I fell in love with it. It's an image by Mo Manning. The sentiment came with the image which again in perfect for her and I. We are only 16 months apart in age but are different in so many ways but love each other not only as sisters but as bestfriends.

Her favorite color is green so I tried to incorporate as many greens as possible. This card will be sent off to her tomorrow as a thank you for taking my little guy to pre-school for me this week.

Have a great weekend!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

I absolutly loved making this card. I received all of the elements (minus the SU! card base) in a card kit swap. I created it with two challenges in mind.

First is the Unscripted Sketches Challenge

and then

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog

Christmas Gift

2010-11-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

A friend at work asked me to put together eight cards in a card box for her mom as a Christmas gift (I'm still working on the box.) I wanted to color coordinate them but at the same time make a versatile set that some of the cards could be used for men and some for women.

The majority of my products are SU! minus some of the embellishments.

Crazy Boy

2010-11-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

The elements I used to create this page were received in a page kit swap I participated in on SCS.

Rough & Tumble

2010-11-09T21:10:00.001-05:00

Over the past few weeks I have decided to focus my attention back to scrapbooking. As much as I love card making, I have found myself falling really behind on my books.
I went to a crop last Thursday and was able to complete 12 pages in my youngest son's baby book. The blog post you'll see over the next couple days/weeks hopefully will display a wide range of products I received in page and border swaps on SCS.

Robot Double Page Layout

2010-11-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I signed up for an all about kids double page swap on SCS. I love boy pages so I knew I was going to have fun with this page set. I create a robot theme because I think they are so cute.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

This scrapbook page was made for a swap I signed up for on SCS. I signed up for a Halloween category but wanted to create something that was not "scary." I know some people like to enjoy the Halloween season but don't always go all ghost and goblins. So here is my single page creation for the swap. I used the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cartridge to create the pumpkin. I also used a Halloween Cuttlebug folder to emboss the orange box.

Punch Art

2010-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

I co-own a blog group, Paper Princess Blog Sisters. For three months were are participating in a group wide "challenge." Each month one of the girls sends all the others a card kit to work with. On the 20th we are to upload our card creation for the month.

This month was hosted by Melina. She sent us a CAS (clean and simple) card kit and I LOVE IT!!!

The theme for this month is Punch Art so Melina made us all a pansy using the butterfly punch from SU!. She colored the veins with chocolate chip from SU! and used pretty in pink. The brad is from the neutrals pack from SU!

She also included pretty in pink card stock, designer paper (sweet pea), hemp twine, button from the brights collection, and the sentiment from World Play.

Is this not such a cute and fun kit. I LOVE playing with it. Thank you Melina!!

If you want to see everyone else's creations from their kits, click on their blogs on my left sidebar.

Hip to be Square

2010-10-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

Our challenge this week over at the Critter Sketch Challeng Blog is, Hip to be Square. This weeks sketch is overly fun and awesome. Make sure you hop over to check it out.

I received all of the elements (except the card stock) from a card kit swap. I love this precious bunny image!!

Enjoy your week and have fun playing along.

You're a Great Friend

2010-10-15T22:53:00.003-04:00

Hello and Happy Weekend!!! I was so ready for the weekend this week. You know how you have those weeks that go on and on and on and never seem to end?? Yea, I had one of those.

So anyway off that subject. I am still here, sorry I went missing for a few weeks. It has been a busy fall.

Thursday night I was so excited to go to a 5 hour crop with one of my friends. I got a lot of much needed projects completed.

After I got caught up on some swap projects I decided to work on some challenge cards.

This card was created using a card kit I received in a card kit swap.

This image is a precious Bildmalarna image that can be purchased from Paper Jewels.

The sketch is from the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog.

Paper Princess Sept Challenge Card

2010-09-21T20:57:00.001-04:00

I'm in a blog group with a group of girls that I just OVERLY love. We are having a fun challenge to create a card a month with a card kit that is sent to us from a different member in our group each month. I'm awful at coloring in House Mouse images mainly because I do not own a pencil set and I think markers take away from the precious images. So I worked with the image the best I could.

Here is my challenge card creation for September.

Easy Does It

2010-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Look at the super cute digi images you have the opportunity to win this week if you participate in the Paper Cupcakes challenge. How stinkin cute are these digis.

The challenge this week is so fun and easy. The challenge is to "Bling it Up." If you hop over to the Paper Cupcakes Challenge blog you'll find full details of how to play along. The card I created for the challenge and my design team post is using the image "Easy Does It." LOL, is he not too cute!!! My "bling" is my rhinestones on the flower and corners of image. I also used stickles on the cupcakes.

Paper Cupcakes Sketch Challenge

2010-09-13T07:55:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Monday!!!

I'm sorry I have been missing for the past week. I went through what I thought was a week of horrible allergies but came to find out that I had a double ear infection, sinus infection, and was borderline developing pneumonia. So it had me a tad out of commission and very tired for the past two weeks. After some antibiotics I'm finally feeling like myself again.

So here we are with my much needed Paper Cupcakes post. This week is a sketch challenge and I hope you'll take the time to play along. Click HERE to access the Paper Cupcakes Challenge Blog.

I have really been enjoying my time on this design team. The images are so overly cute and there is such a HUGE variety to suit everyone's liking.

Paper Cupcakes - No Pattern Paper!!

2010-08-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

This weeks Paper Cupcakes challenge was really neat. I loved the idea of NO designer paper. I especially LOVED working with this precious image. You know how sometimes you see an image and you think that you just can not live with out it. That is how I felt about Eldon With Flower.

This week I followed icSketches for my layout inspiration. Enjoy and have a great week!!

Joyful Ride

2010-08-23T21:06:00.002-04:00

Wow what a week already!!

I'm so sorry I'm a few hours late with getting my Paper Cupcakes post up and going. I had so much going on, online over the weekend that I thought I set this up and to my dismay I learned today at work that I did not.

So here we go with the fun!!! This image is called Joyful Ride from Paper Cupcakes.

The challenge on the challenge blog this week is to create a project using punches. I had a lot of fun with this and decided to make my card monocromatic. I also used fun flock on my snail. I know snails are normally slimy and not fuzzy but I thought he was still cute all "fuzzed" up.

Click HERE to play along with this weeks challenge and to have the chance to win a FREE flower punch.

Sizzling Summer

2010-08-20T19:54:00.004-04:00

My blog group Paper Princess Blog Sisters had a fun challenge. There are two teams and each team for 3 months takes turns sending each other card kits. Then we will all make a card with the same elements and post our creations on our blogs on the 20th of each month.
So this is the start of our creations. This month's theme is Sizzling Summer and I sent out the kit for this month. Another fun part is our blog group is split in to two teams so the other team had a completely different kit to work with.
My team is:
Nancy
Myself
Terria
Melina

On my left side bar you can see our Paper Princess Blog Sister's list. Have fun browsing around. The other team had a really fun, challenging image to play with.

Howdy Partner

2010-08-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

The challenge this week on the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog is to make a boy card with glitter. I used stickles on my cowboy and the brown brads are covered with glitter.

The stamp set I used is new to me that I purchased from limeLight Papercrafts called Billy by Pink Cat Studios. He is so stinkin' cute!! In the set I purchased there is also a superboy with is superdog, a pirate with his pirate dog, and a little boy with a frog on his head. It is such a fun, cute set.

My card is created using Sweet Sunday Sketch #81. This is a really great, fun sketch so make sure you hop over and check it out.

Have a Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by!!

Lovin' Summer!!

2010-08-18T17:59:00.002-04:00

I have been busy, busy, busy trying to work on swaps for Splitcoast Stampers. These are two single page layouts I created. The first one was to be waterpark related. I had a rough time thinking of an idea so I went with a wave pool theme. The second one was to be a general themed summer layout so I went with a nice relaxing theme.

I used the Life is a Beach Cricut cartridge for both of the layouts. I also used my Storybook Cartridge to cut the scalloped circle on the first layout. The ribbon is misc ribbon I purchased at the Ribbon Outlet in Hagerstown, MD. The other embellishments are misc items I had from my stash.

Paper Cupcakes Flower

2010-08-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Our challenge this week on the Paper Cupcakes challenge blog was quiet a challenge for me. The challenge is to create your own homemade flower. This is something that was totally out of my element so I decided to break out my Cricut and make a layered paper flower. My image is Girl with Flower that can be purchased in the Paper Cupcake's store. I really like her simplicity and sweet face.

If you have not already make sure you join in on our Tea Party Blog hop. There are so many new, fun images that are sure to put a smile on your face. The badge is on my right side bar so you can easily find your way around the hop. You until this Wednesday to participate.

Have a HAPPY MONDAY and thank you for stopping by.

Inspiration Card

2010-08-14T20:20:00.002-04:00

I joined a card swap on SCS and one of the groups as an Inspiration group. I rented this stamp set from Raisin Boat and thought it would be perfect for the swap. If you are not familiar with Raisin Boat hop over and check it out. You know how Netflix is a monthly movie club, well this is similar except you get stamp sets instead of movies. When you are finished using them you send them back to the company and they'll send you the next set in your cue. I just joined last month but it's actually a lot of fun!!

Tea Party Blog Hop

2010-08-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

It's my party, I'll drink tea if I want to, drink tea if I want to!!!

Ok so totally corney but I just could not get the jingle out of my head. Anywho, I'm so glad you stopped by today. If you came here from Marie's blog, your on the right track. If you did not then I would suggest heading back to the Paper Cupcakes blog so you are sure not to miss any of the fun. For this hop, everyone on the design team was to create our own sketch and use it on our card.

The release image I'm featuring for the hop is Tea Pot Knoll Home (is it not too precious!!)
Two random winners will be picked and each winner will get to pick 5 images of their choice from the Paper Cupcakes store.

So have a great time blog hopping!!!

So I guess you're ready to move on.
Your next stop will be PAT and boy does she ever have a cute image to share with you.

Just Ducky

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wowzers this has been one of those days. I have been having computer issues so I was afraid I would not be able to get my post up this week. But thankfully things ended up ironing out.

This week on Paper Cupcakes challenge blog the challenge is to create a card with sewing. We were also to use the image Just Ducky. Is she not so precious!! Hop on over and play along with us this week. This card was also created using the following challenges:
Critter Sketch Challenge Blog - Sketch
Crazy 4 Challenges - Use a cupcake
Basic Grey Challenges - Use pearls and a Basic Grey product (my designer paper is Basic Grey)

August 11-18th is our Paper Cupcakes blog hop. It's going to be a tea party blog hop. You will not want to miss this extra special fun event!!! Make sure you come back to join in on the fun!!

Sunday Afternoon

2010-08-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

Hello and Happy Monday!!!

This weeks Paper Cupcakes challenge is to create a card using 3 pattern papers. You can use more if you wish but the minimum is 3. Hop over to the CHALLENGE BLOG to play along. This week I used a sketch from Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. The twist with the sketch is to use a minimum of 2 ribbons on the card.
The image I used this week from Paper Cupcake is Sunday Afternoon. I think she is so cute and summery with her little pale and follow along friend.

Dog Days of Summer - Paper Cupcakes

2010-07-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to my very first Paper Cupcakes Design Team post. I'm so excited about this fabulous company and even more excited to now be a part of the DT.

This week this is the fun gift that will be given away on the challenge blog. Make sure you swing over and play along in this weeks challenge. The challenge is Dog Days of Summer. So use your creative juices and play along.

(Click on the prize image to play in this weeks challenge.)

Click on this badge to purchase your own Paper Cupcake images.

I used SU! Crystal Effects on the water on my Paper Cupcakes Gigi on Tube image.

I love popping up my image with pop dots when I cut an image out.

Here is my Dog Days of Summer finished product. Now I want to go join Gigi in the pool since our temps here in PA were in the low 100s this past weekend.

This is also the sketch on the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. So hop on over to play along.

Critter Sketch Challenge - Christmas Sketch

2010-07-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week on my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog the challenge is a sketch with a Christmas theme. This month we are being sponsored by Robyn's Fetish. Susan at Robyn's Fetish has been so awesome to work with. The image used on my card this week came directly from their store and is a digi image. It printed out so nice and I think it's so georgous.

Have a wonderful week and stay cool!!!

Baby Boy Border Set

2010-07-17T22:03:00.001-04:00

My goal for this weekend was to just chill. The boys and I hung out all day at home. I got some yard work done, very little inside work, took the boys to our local drive in diner, and worked on a few DT cards and swaps. Yea, great productive day!!!

I thought I would share this baby boy border set with you that I created for another SCSer. I wanted to do colors other than the normal baby blue, yellow, etc. I hope she loves it!!!

Mystery Invite

2010-07-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

The girls at work are planning a surprise Grandma shower for one of our legal secretaries. Her son and daughter in law are expecting their first baby in August.

We wanted to keep it 100% a surprise and go with a mystery theme so the girls gave me a real "challenge" with creating the invite card for her. We are all a little silly so the inside message provides a tad of a "threat."

I just pulled this Donald Duck image off of the internet. I used SU! DP and card stock, the question marks are made with Creative Memories ABC. I computer generated the sentiment and inside message. Donald has stickles for his fur and I used SU! Crystal Effects for the magnifying glass.

I must admit I'm very happy with the way this turned out.

Splash Monster

2010-07-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I used to be so good at staying on top of my scrapbooking. Once I had my boys I consistently stayed about a year behind. Now a days it's a lot further behind than that. So my goal over the summer is to at least get myself to a point where I'm caught up to only being a year behind. Hum, don't know if this will happen with all the summer pictures I take but I'm going to try.

This layout is of my little splash monster, Marshall, when he was about 11 months old.

It's a Dragon Fly Day

2010-07-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

This month over on my Critter Sketch Challenge blog, Robyn's Fetish is the sponsor for the month of July. I love her images and thought I would use one this week as a thank you card.

This image is It's a Dragon Fly Day. I used it to participate in the following challenge:

2S4Y: Sketch Challenge

Design Dollies: Color challenge; orange, green, yellow, white/ivory

OLLCB: Simply Summer

Paper Cupcakes DT/GD Call

2010-07-06T22:54:00.002-04:00

Hello crafting sisters,

Tonight I bring you a card for a design team challenge I'm entering. Paper Cupcakes is holding a design team and guest design team call. They have a few spots they need to quickly fill.

I try to keep my DT obligations to a minimum due to keeping up with my Critter Sketch Challenge blog. So since I'm on a DT that is coming to an end I thought I would throw my hat in to be considered for another.

Paper Cupcakes's images are so fun and fit my style so perfect. This image is Orson with Cupcake. My sister and I are always making monkey jokes towards each other so I knew this little guy would be a perfect fit for my DT creation.

Check out the DT call HERE on Having An Art-A-Tak's blog. All of my paper is SU! The image is of course from Paper Cupcake, the sentiment is SU!, the ribbon is misc ribbon from my stash, the buttons are s-e-i, and I used my Copics and Bic Mark Its to color my image. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss the sentiment paper and blue paper.

You Light up My Life

2010-07-05T20:01:00.004-04:00

You know it always feels so good when someone you make a card for loves it. My sister and brother in law loved the anniversary card that I made them. So much so that my sister asked me to create a similar card for her secret sister for July 4th. So here is my second take with this cute CC Designs image.

This card is created for the following challenges:

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog - Use a minimum of 4 stars

Sketch Saturday #110 - Sketch Challenge

Crazy 4 Challenges - Use 2 ribbons

Liberty

2010-07-02T23:32:00.004-04:00

Good Evening and Happy 4th of July weekend!!!

My sister and brother in law will be celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary on July 4th. They are so wonderful to my boys and I so I wanted to take the time to make them a special card to celebrate their anniversary.

This images is a CC Designs image that I purchased from Paper Jewels.

The images is called Liberty. The sentiment that comes with the image reads "You light up my life." I placed the sentiment inside the card.

I loved giving her a little "bling" with the Stickles glitter.

I created this card using sketch #45 from get Sketch Chard Challenges.

It was also created for:

No time to Stamp - Use Stars

Frosted Designs - Red, White, Blue, Stars, an Stripes

Daring Cardmakers - Rubys for July

Clearly i Stamp -

Gratitude Sentiment (it is on the inside, I promise) The sentiment wording is stated above.

Have a VERY HAPPY JULY 4th!!!

Paper Jewels Monday and VSD #1

2010-06-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

So the hardest part of this challenge was taking the picture. LOL!!!! So below you will find 3 pictures I took trying to capture this fun challenge card.

My girl April challenged us during our VSD to create a card using acetate. I inked this cute image from Paper Jewels (C.C. Designs) a few weeks ago just waiting to use her.

This was a really fun, easy challenge. I loved it and will be using acetate again for a card. Thank you April!!

Make sure you check out Paper Jewels to grab up this fun, precious image.

VSD #4 Challenge #2

2010-06-26T23:38:00.004-04:00

This weekend the blog group I'm in is having a VSD (virtual stamping day.) Instead of just one day, we are having it Saturday and Sunday.

I had a VERY LONG day today so it felt good to come home and have some card making therapy.

Our #2 challenge for the VSD was hosted by our girl Melina. Her challenge is to :

1. Make a card/project using as many of the colors listed (Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Old Olive, Basic gray, Very Vanilla) as possible. Get as close as you can. It doesn't have to be the exact SU! color. (which is a good thing because I did not have all of the SU! colors!!)
2. Make your project masculine
3. Use pewter or silver embellishments.

Here is my creation:

Dragon Luck

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to another Paper Jewels Monday. I am so in love with these dragon images from Sweet Pea stamps. They can be found at Paper Jewels. My 4 year old was very insistent on having his own images to color so this little guy has been inked up a lot already and I have only had him for about a week.

As you can see this card was created as a Father's Day card. I created it using

SCS Sketch SC284.

I also created it for Alphabet Challenge Blog - G is for Green

and

CCEE Stampers - One for the Males

Have a wonderful Monday!!!

Blog Group and Critter Sketch Challenge

2010-06-14T21:04:00.004-04:00

The blog group I'm in host bi-weekly challenges and this weeks was hosted by Jennifer. Jennifer is a super awesome crafter and gave us a great challenge this week. We were to create a Christmas card using the colors real red, bermuda bay & kraft; which is also SCS CC272. I'm still building my SU! inventory so I did not have the exact colors so I matched them the best I could.

Secondly I created this card using a sketch from the Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. This is a weekly challenge blog. This weeks challenge was the sketch below and also to add ribbon to your creation.

The image I used is from D.R.S.

This was also created for:

Lexi's Creations - Something old (my image is an older image I have had in stock for quiet some time and so is my ribbon)

Thank You!!

2010-06-08T22:08:00.002-04:00

My nights lately have been so short that I have hardly had the time to fit anything extra in. That includes crafting!!! So, I was very excited to craft up a card lastnight. I did not craft it for any challenges, I was happy just to get it created. I will give a plug to my girl Jenny at Paper Jewels which is where you can find this cute Bildmalarna image. The link to her store is on my left sidebar.

Have a great week!!!

Mimosa Birdhouse

2010-06-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello there and Happy Monday!! I'm excited to be posting a Paper Jewels design team creation. This is a bi-monthly design team and I always anticipate my creation month. This image is Mimosa Birdhouse and can be found on the Paper Jewels website.

I also created this card for a few challenges:

StampInsanity: Sketch and Kickin' Corners

One Stitch At A Time: Something New (new flowers and ribbon)

Charisma Cardz Challenge: Flowers

Sketch Layout

2010-06-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

In August I received a really neat sketch layout page kit from a secret sister on SCS. She pre-cut all the pieces and provided me with a really easy layout to follow. So I decided to finally put them to use for my boys pictures.

Farm Show

2010-06-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

Hello, I really enjoyed my holiday weekend. Not only did I get an extra day to spend with my boys but I got a lot done around my house, spent some wonderful quality time with family and crafted!!!!

On Sunday night I got 4 scrapbook pages. These two pages being 2 of the 4. These pictures are from the Farm Show that is held every year in Harrisburg, PA. We don't make an adventure of it every year but in 2009 we did.

Super Ryan

2010-05-31T20:56:00.002-04:00

Hello, I know this is my second post for the day, don't be too shocked!!! I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

This image, Super Ryan, and is a Wags N' Whiskers image. You can find him at Stamp and Create.

This card was created for several challenges. The first one I want to point out is for Friends Having Fun. Their challenge for Monday was to create a card that showed what is important to you on Memorial Day. Of course I am so proud of my brother in law that serves in the military and I love to take this day to celebrate him and all of our soldiers. However what is super special to me about holidays is having an extra off day with my two awesome boys. So this image inspired me because it reminds me of my fun boys.

The Pink Elephant - - Bright Fun Colors

Techno Stamper - - Sketch (TSSC124)

Kaboodle Doodles - - 3-2-1 (3 papers, 2 embelishments, 1 image)

Incy Wincy Designs - For the little ones

Bestfriend - Anyone for Anya?

2010-05-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

Hello and Happy Memorial Day!!!

I'm so excited to have an extra day off to spend with my boys.

This week I created a card to participate in my Critter Challenge Blog. The challenge this week is to show a touch of spring my using flowers and the color purple. I know its hard to see but my one sheet of DP has flowers on it along with the prima.

This wonderful sketch is from Anyone for Anya? and the layering is for Sundays With Crissy.

To give one last plug, this adorable image can be purchased from Paper Jewels. Jenny is so amazing and just started caring C.C. Designs.

I'm keeping this post short and sweet so we can all enjoy our wonderful holiday.

Have a great Monday!!

Hey Dude - Happy Birthday!!!

2010-05-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

Tell me, is this not the cutest dragon images you have ever seen. He just cracks me up!!!! So today's card is participating in two challenges. The first is my challenge blog, Critters Sketch Challenge blog. This weeks challenge is a sketch. You'll have to pop over to check it out. The link is on my right sidebar.

The second challenge is for Doodle Dragons which is where this fun little images came from. The challenge for this week is to create a b-day card. The only vendor requirement is to use a Doodle Dragon image. This little guy is actually a freebie but I can not tell you how many amazing images I have purchased from their store. When you flip this card open it reads, "Happy Birthday."

Have fun and have a great week!!

Brothers

2010-05-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

I just adore my sweet boys. I have really been into doing brother layouts lately.

These pictures were taken in 2009 when my youngest was about 11 months and my oldest was 3 1/2.

Winter Wonderland

2010-05-22T21:23:00.002-04:00

Showing off more of my last weekend scrapbooking pages. These pages were actually created using a border set I received in swap on SCS. I really like the DP and stamped image the creator used. These pictures were taken of my oldest son last winter (2009.)

Dinosaur Scrapbook Layout

2010-05-20T22:18:00.005-04:00

Last weekend I was able to complete 12 scrapbook pages. I loved staying home and hanging out with my boys and getting some craft time in. Our spring has been so busy it's nice to find the time to relax here and there.

This double page set was created using a dinosaur theme by My Minds Eye, Abbey Road Stomp collection. I purchased it from Two Peas in a Bucket. I love this collection and had a ton of left over chipboard pieces, paper, ribbon, etc, to create another 3-4 double page layouts.

Have a great Friday and I'll be back later this weekend to share more pages with you.Right page - - Dinosaur chipboard, brads, paper and tag. All of this is from the same collection.

Right Side - - Dinosaur ribbon, brads, tags, die cut, and paper. All from the same dinosaur collection.

Riley B-day Card - Critter Sketch Challenge

2010-05-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

It has been quiet some time since I have worked with a Riley image. Man I sure do miss this little guy. This weeks card was created for my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. I have really been enjoying having this blog and my design team is out of this world. Make sure you hope over and join in on our sketch challenge this week. This card was also created for:

Stampin' for the Weekend - a card for a male

JustRite Friday Challenge - kids card

Just For Fun - Color Challenge (yellow, lime and turquoise)

Little C's - Two layers

Paper Jewels Saturday Post

2010-05-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

I purchased my very first C.C. Designs image about 7 months ago for my b-day. Ever since I have been totally in love. I had a hard time finding a store that sold them so I was really excited when Jenny at Paper Jewels announced that she would be carrying them.

This little sweetie is Swiss Pixie Birgitta. I like the Swiss Pixie line because I think their little wings are precious. This card was created for several challenges (see below.) S2G Challenges - Use Ribbon

Cute Card Thursday - Make a card for "Someone Special"

Delightful Sketches - Sketch Challenge

PaperPlay Challenges - Use the brown and an alternate color

Paper Makeup Stamps - Use 3 flowers

Play Ball

2010-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend my nephew is having his 7th birthday party at our local minors baseball game. Unfortunately we are unable to attend so I wanted to get his card made up to give in advance. I adore this Greeting Farm image and have a feeling I'll be using it a good bit.

Critter Sketch Challenge #13

2010-05-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

This card is created for my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. The challenge this week is to create a Critter Birthday card. Easy enough with the sponsor, Doodle Dragon Studios.

Dance Time

2010-05-09T22:15:00.005-04:00

On SCS I joined a Cricut layout page swap. The first two I hosted and then I handed the reins over to another hostess to take care of temporarly for me. I can not stay away from the swap. It's so much fun to play with your Cricut when doing page layouts.

For this layout I used the new Robot cartridge. I used my design studio to weld the title.

I created these pages with this title because my boys love to dance. I have taken some really cute pictures of them "gettin' down." They also both love robots so I thought it would be a fun combination with these cute little robots.

Lil' Critter

2010-05-07T22:09:00.003-04:00

This week on my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog there is a fun sketch to play with. Hop on over to check it out. The sponsor for this month is the fabulous Dustin Pike. Play along with each challenge and increase your chances to win some wonderful Doodle Dragon images. This is my entry for the week. I also played in Dustin's challenge which was to use the colors pink, green and white. Other challenges I played in are listed below.
Doodle Dragon Studios - Use the colors pink, green, and white
Critter Sketch Challenge Blog - Sketch and use the color green
Clearly iStamp - Flowers (I used flowers in my brads and embossing folder)
Dare U 2 Digi - Anything Goes, use a digital image

Happy Moose Day

2010-05-02T18:00:00.000-04:00

This is the second set of cards from the Riley sketch swap that I talked about on my Thursday posting.

I just love this little guy!!

Crafty Critters #26

2010-05-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

My blog group Crafty Critters host different challenges and this one was posted by my girl Moira. I love that Moira always gives us scrapbook page challenges. Now that I have a love for card making I find myself not making scrapbook pages as often. However it is my first paper crafting love so I find myself creating these pages with such ease.
The sketches that she gave us are awesome. The first page you see is SBSC114 (page 2) and the second one is SCSC114 . They are both really awesome, fun layouts. The last picture is of the two pages side by side.
I know you can't read the journalizing so just a brief recap. The pictures are of my oldest son during out first 2009 big snow.

Moosing You!!

2010-04-29T22:09:00.002-04:00

I'm hoping to be able to get back on the blog wagon and be updating my blog more often. The past couple weeks have been crazy busy for me.

I created these cards for a Riley Sketch Swap that I'm hosting. Instead of coloring him in I decided to flock his overalls and keep this as the only color on the image. The brad I created with my new Itop brad maker. Thanks to my girl April for the awesome gift. I'm loving it!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Monday

2010-04-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday!! Say hello to Miss Rosalie. She is part of the Swiss Pixies line from CC Designs. What is really exciting is that you can now find these adorable images at Paper Jewels website. They are becoming a really fun one stop shop for some of my favorite images. Check out the Paper Jewels blog for daily inspiration from their amazing design team.

This card was also created for Sunday Sketch and Stamp. The challenge this week was to choose one of their 25 sketches to create your card. I used #5, Kruemels Bastel's sketch.

Last by not least I created this card for my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. This week is the 10th week for the blog's postings. So the challenge this week was to create a card featuring 10 elements. My 10 items are:
4 buttons
1 flower
1 image
1 sentiment
1 ribbon
1 designer paper
Cardstock

Have a great Monday!!

Week 3 TGF Royal Battle

2010-04-12T22:36:00.003-04:00

Well...thanks to all that voted for us last week we have moved on to the 3rd week of The Greeting Farms Royal Battle! We are so excited and as with the past 2 weeks the competition is stiff again this week and we NEED YOU VOTE!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!
So please take a minute to go over to TGF Gallery and vote for our scrapbook page. All you have to do is leave a comment to vote. We are The Stampin Farmettes Sisters!
This layout was created by yours truly!! (winks)
You have till Tuesday night, midnight to vote so hurry on over!

Paper Jewels Monday Post

2010-04-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Monday!! What a fun, bright way to start off the week. This is my design team post for Paper Jewels. Paper Jewels carries these precious Bildmalarna images. They also carry Sweet Pea and CC Design images. Jenny, the owner, is also working on getting a fun assortment of embellishments. Make sure you check out the store to take advantage of this wonderful one stop shop.

My post this week is also participating in my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog's weekly challenge. This week is a color challenge. Lastly the sketch is from Friday Sketchers #97.

Critter VSD Challenge #5

2010-04-11T20:39:00.002-04:00

This is my last creation for my Critter group VSD. I unfortunately was not able to get to all of the challenges but the ones I did were great; loved them.

This card was created using a recipe challenge. We had to use 1 image, 2 ribbons, and 3 layers. Jennifer also wanted to see blue somewhere on the card.

I also created this using CPS162. What a great, fun sketch!! Lastly I used Aly's Sunday Challenge for inspiration. The inspiration for this week was to use buttons. I love finding challenges that really "challenge" me.

Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration. Have a great weekend, or whats left of it!!

VSD #3 Challenge #3

2010-04-11T00:13:00.002-04:00

This was our 3rd challenge for our Critter Blog Group VSD. This one was hosted by Leslie, Our Scrappy Life.

Our challenge was to create a card using a picture. I loved doing this so much that I'm going to do one tomorrow of my other son. I thought these would be perfect for on my desk at work. I started to use rub ons on the picture and off to the side but I did not like how it was looking. So in turn I used chipboard stickers to express exactly some cute things about My Little Man!!! Sorry Leslie, I know this misses out on one of the elements of the challenge.

It sure was super fun though, thank you!!

VSD Challenge #2

2010-04-10T23:48:00.004-04:00

What a great Saturday!! I got to spend the day with my boys AND I got to come home from a fun day out and participate in our Critter Blog Group VSD.

Our 2nd challenge was hosted by Moira, One Smart Bug. Our challenge was to create a scrapbook page using a sketch from Scrap and Stamp. This is one of the best scrapbook page sketches I have used in a long time. LOVE IT!!!!! The second part of the challenge was to use the colors yellow and green. Lastly we had to use a stamped image on the page. I did not have a robot stamp so I hopped over to My Grafico and purchased a set of robot images.

Quiet some time ago I used this same paper and elements to create a scrapbook page for another challenge. This is the two pages together.

Thanks Moira for a really great challenge!!!

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-04-06T14:48:00.003-04:00

What a wonderful little surprise from my friend Audrey, Hippieaud's Blog. Thank you girl, how super sweet of you!!!
As part of this award, I need to tell 10 things about me/that I love and then pass this along to 10 friends. So, here goes...
1. I adore my two sons
2. I love to make cards and scrapbook
3. My favorite color is blue
4. I'm a "planner' and love to plan and organize just about anything
5. I love to travel!!
6. I love all 4 seasons, that is why I love living in PA.
7. I love my job, seriously, I really do.
8. My favorite food is sushi and Italian, what a combo!!
9. I adore animals, I have a Weim, a tabby cat and 2 hermit crabs.
10. I love God and thank him for all the many blessings in my life.

This is who I would like to pass the award on to (man it's hard to pick only 10):

1. Lisa Sommerville
2. April Lower
3. Kelly Haberstroh
4. Moria Coward
5. Melina
6. AnnMarie
7. Marsha
8. Darsie
9. Tracey
10. Tanya

Mimo Skate

2010-04-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had such an amazing Easter weekend with my boys. So for my first Paper Jewels post for the month of April I thought I would post a card that represents them. Fun, adventurous, and so super sweet and loving.

This image is Mimo Skate from Paper Jewels. I must admit, I missed these adorable images last month during my DT off month. I'm excited to craft them again this month.

Paper Jewels carries a wonderful line of images that you will definitely want to check out.

Happy Monday and have a great week!!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T21:27:00.003-04:00

In celebration of a wonderful Easter day, I thought I would share a border set I created about 2-3 weeks ago for a swap I was in.
Happy Easter and I'll be back tomorrow with a DT card. post.

Critter Easel Challenge

2010-03-30T22:23:00.002-04:00

I'm so awful at anything other than a normal size card or scrapbook page. But I decided to take a challenge with my Critter gals. Our challenge was to create a easel card that had layers, something that glitters (my blue paper), ribbon, layers, and 4 different colors. We were also to color in our image. My frustration started because for some odd reason (never happened before) my Copics were smearing my ink. I use the same ink and paper all the time and this was a first. I'm not sure if it was because the image has more black lines than I'm used to or what.

Along with this I also followed the Critter Sketch Challenge blog's sketch (link to the right sidebar.) The blog is having it's first blog hop right now with tons of great give a ways. You have until Wednesday at 10am EST on Wednesday to play along.

Fabulous Friend

2010-03-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is another fun card we created at the SU! class I went to on Thursday night. I love how simple this card is. I always try to think of how I can spruce up a card with embelishments but I think this is cute just sprucing it up with stamps.

Critter Sketch Blog Hop - - "Egg"stra special event!!!

2010-03-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

With Sympathy

2010-03-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

On Thursday night I went to a SU! class. It was the first in a long time and I loved it. I missed going to these classes. This is one of the cards we created. I love this tree stamp set. I was sad to find out that it is discontinued. My Aunt and I decided we are going to try to make one class every other month, I sure hope we can stick to that. ;-)

Sugar Nellie

2010-03-25T22:52:00.003-04:00

This is another Easter card I created to send out to a family member with my boys pictures. I know it's a little different than a normal Easter card but I just love this fun, sweet image. I followed CCEE Stampers challenge for this week.

Happy Easter

2010-03-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

I took my boys on Saturday to have their pictures taken. Not really Easter pictures but more like 2 year old and 4 year old pics. So of course I bought way more than I intended but this is really the first that they have both been in such great moods for picture taking.

So on Sunday I decided to start putting together some Easter cards to send to family members with their pictures in. Here is a picture of them together that was taken. I did not get any of these printed but it is a cute one. So for this Easter card I played in three challenges:

Ann's Creative Nook - Spring or Easter Creation

Magical Crafts - Spring or Easter Theme

Quirky Crafts Challenges - Flowers

Then of course this is the inside of my card because of course God's love for us and Jesus dying on the cross for our sins is the reason we even get an Easter holiday.

Happy Day

2010-03-21T22:27:00.002-04:00

I love the challenges I found for this card. The first one is a SplitCoast challenge to use the color orange. This was fun for me, I normally only use the color orange in the fall so this was a fun "out of the box" color to use this time of year. The challenge is WT258.

The next two challenges were Friday Sketchers #94 and Stamp Something, distress challenge.

Of course I had to use my new Greeting Farm image. I bought this great little set from Stamp and Create. It's called Happy Day and comes with 2 images and 3-4 sentiments. I just adore GF images and I love buying them from Stamp and Create because Lacy has such amazing customer service.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, have a great day!!

Ready for Spring - Critter Sketch Challenge

2010-03-18T17:00:00.002-04:00

I just love this Critter Sketch so I decided to create another card using it.

Tonight I also decided to incorporate a few other challenges which had me changing up the sketch just a tad.
Crafty Pad - Oval and Two Ribbons
The Pink Elephant - Spring Theme
Stampin' B's - Spring or Easter

Critter Sketch Challenge

2010-03-17T20:00:00.004-04:00

This card was created with the same card kit that I used in my previous post. However for this card I used this weeks Critter Sketch Challenge Blog sketch. I think this image is just too cute. This sketch was so fun for me this week to create and then put to use. Hop over to the Critter Challenge Blog to play along..

JOIN US IN TWO WEEKS FOR OUR VERY FIRST BLOG HOP!!! We'll be teaming with Paper Jewels to offer an out of this world blog hop..

Spring Card Kit

2010-03-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is a fun, cute, spring card that I created from a card kit that I received in a swap that was hosted by April Lower. I love this fun, cute image. Susan (stampingooddeeds) put together the perfect dp and embelishments for this card.
Happy Monday!!

Are you feeling lucky???

2010-03-13T20:39:00.004-05:00

Are you feeling lucky? Well this weeks Doodle Dragon Studio Challenge is exactly that. To create a card showing luck using a Dustin Pike image. The great thing about this image is that it's a freebie digi image.

Of course I just had to play along in a few other challenges as well.

Stamp Something - Green and Cream

Stampin' for the Weekend - Monochromatic
Paper Garden Birthday - Sketch

CCC22 and MTSC64

2010-03-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

Our Crafty Critter Blog Group is working on its 22nd challenge. It's so awesome to think that we have been together as an awesome group for this long. ;-) I love these girls!! Thank you Melina for giving us such a wonderful inspiration challenge.

Were were to use this arrangement as our inspiration. The twist was that we could not use flowers anywhere on our creation.

I drew my inspiration for the sketch from Lord Have Mercy, MTSC64.

Happy Birthday - Critter Challenge #4

2010-03-08T22:01:00.003-05:00

So when it comes to crafting and making cards there is nothing I can resist more than some great challenges. So tonight I decided to play in four different challenge which I always find so much fun.

First is my very own Critter Challenge Blog. This is a weekly challenge that post every Monday. This months sponsor is Paper Jewels which is the same company that you can find this cute Bildmalarna image, Mimosas Sommer Flower. This month play along in the Critter challenges and have the chance to win at $15 gift certificate to Paper Jewels.

The next challenge is a sketch challenge from SCS, SC270. Kaboodle Doodle Blog is a Birthday theme. Lastly I did a Crafty Cardmakers challenge. This week their theme is a feminine theme.

Puppy Love

2010-03-07T19:28:00.002-05:00

I have been MIA from my blog this week. I have been busy trying to wrap up a border swap I'm in so my card making has been put on the back burner for a few days. This is a border set I created for another girl in our SCS swap.

Our instructions for the swap were to come up with a theme of borders we would like to receive. Then everyone in your group would create that theme of borders for you. One of the girls in one of the groups I'm in wanted puppy borders so I made this Puppy Love set for her.

Hopefully I'll be back later in the week with some card creations.

Hey Dude

2010-03-01T21:23:00.002-05:00

This fun image is a Greeting Farm image. Today I played in two challenges. The first challenge is a color challenge by Easy Breezy "Kew" Colour. This challenge was exactly that, a challenge. I would have never pictured these colors together but it really made me think outside of the box. I already knew (before knowing the color combo) that I wanted to use this image. As it turned out, this was a perfect color combo for a boy card. Click HERE to play along in the challenge.
The second challenge was a sketch challenge with my Crafty Critter girls. ;-) Love ya girls!! Colleen gave us this sketch. The twist was to use dots and the color brown. My dots are my brads and the brown is in the shoes. Thanks Colleen for a fun challenge.

Wags' n Whiskers - Just For You

2010-02-27T21:08:00.004-05:00

This week on my Critter Challenge Blog Stamp and Create is sponsoring our challenge. I am so impressed with this company and all the wonderful products it has to offer. If you enter the Critter Challenge by the close of the evening tonight, Saturday, you will be entered to win a $15 gift certificate from Stamp and Create.

This card was created using a Spring Time Fun release image, Just for You by Wags' n Whiskers on Stamp and Create. I just love him!!! I used Our Creative Corners's sketch for this week. Great, fun sketch!!!

I stumbled upon a new favorite blog, Basic Grey Challenges. I LOVE Basic Grey products so this site has already been added to my favorites. The challenge for this week was to use the colors lemon, pink, and maroon. To be entered to win the give a way on the blog you must use some Basic Grey products. My back round paper and the yellow and pink squares are both by Basic Grey. My brads are also Basic Grey. The button is by Doodlebug and the ribbon and flowers are from misc companies.

Tree Card Kit

2010-02-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in my post yesterday; last weekend I facilitated a two day crop. This is another one of the cards I assembled from a card kit.

Double Day Crop

2010-02-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I held a two day crop with our mom's group. Since I facilitate and organize the entire crop I normally don't get much of my own personal work done. This time I decided to take only card kits with me to work on. I ended up getting 9 cards completed. Not nearly as many as I would like for a two day crop but hey I was a busy girl with other things. ;-)

Here are some of my creations!!

Mimosa Watering Can

2010-02-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

This week Paper Jewels is sponsoring Paper Sundaes weekly challenge. The challenge is to distress your cards or altered paper project. You can go wild and tear your paper or tone it down with some inking on your edges. As you can tell I decided to ink my edges. The challenge closes on Saturday so you still have a few days to play along.

You can visit Paper Jewels site to purchase this adorable Mimosa image. There is an entire line of wonderful images. She is now taking pre-orders for Ching-Chou and Kiuks Fantasy Art collection. Jenny has a wonderful store and her customer service is TOP NOTCH!!!

I also used OWH Stars and Stamps sketch. I loved using this sketch because it gave the dimensions for the pieces to cut. So easy!! Lastly I created it for Quirky Crafts Challenge. Their challenge this week was to create a "Cute" item. That is not hard to do with a precious Mimosa image.

Go Green

2010-02-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our Crafty Critters Blog Group had an "Are You Green" challenge. You could spruce it up for St Pats Day or celebrate any way that you Go Green. So I decided to use this precious digi image from Stretch and Bubbles; his name is Steve Go Green.

My layout I used the sketch from my Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. Hop over to enter to win a Surprise Give A Way!!

The DP is DCWV and the card stock is SU!. I used my Copics and Prismas to color Steve. The Go Green logo is computer generated. The brads are misc brads I used from my stash.