Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Welcome to the Waltzing Mouse Blog Party!

Nobody knows how to celebrate St. Patrick's Day like Claire at "the Mouse"!

I know we all get excited at the prospect of green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and kissing strangers in the pub, (ok, I may be telling on myself here) but there are some of us who have Irish ancestors and we take this time to remember and appreiciate where we came from.

My Paternal Grandmother was half Irish.

She passed away when I was only a teenager, and I never knew her very well.

My father knows little about his family's history.

So, I wanted to take a more serious approach to my celebration.

I printed this beautiful image from the Waltzing Mouse blog, colored it, and decided to use it for more than just a card front.

I had found a recipe for Irish Shortbread and thought it would be nice to copy it onto a recipe card to keep with my shamrocks.

Then, wanting to share the image after spending hours coloring it, I made this card. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Claire!

I hope everyone has a great time today hopping around.

Remember, today we are ALL Irish!

Be safe, be happy, and be green!

(Consider yourself PINCHED!)

This card is also entered in the sketch challenge this week at Waltzing Mouse!
(Flip the sketch on it's side, of course!)

The cutest video ever!

If you don't do anything else in the next 24 hours,

click on the link below to see Webster's Pages' newest video!  Absolutely adorable! And all that wonderful goodness at Webster's! 

http://vimeo.com/mynoveltree/websterspagesnowshipping

DYSU Challenge #63

This week we have three sponsors:

Winner's Choice of 3 Digis

$10 gift certificate

Petal Point Options Pad

Not only did I use my favorite colors, but I used my favorite materials...

DCWV papers (Le Creme) and a $1 stamp from Michael's! 

It always thrills me when I see an image and then challegne myself to make a card from something so small and simple!

I decided to go through my cards I've made over the last 3 years and count how many I used RED on as a primary color...

well, I made it up to 37 and then recalled that some I hadn't posted and had sent out without photos.  So, there you have it.  My favorite color is most definately

RED!
Here are some of my other past projects that show my passion for RED!

Now, go over to the Do You Stack Up blog, and show us YOUR favorite colors!

Wearin' o' the green!

My CAS card for St. Patrick's Day!

The real luck was in finding this adorable stamp in the Dollar bin at Michael's! 

Same with the pretty glittered ribbon!  SCORE!

I have to admit that I'm still not sure about the whole "stache" movement, but seems appropriate in this case!

Entered in the challenges at:
Simon Says Stamp (Green)
Sassy Cheryl (Green)

Birthdays are like purses...

This week, the challenge at Skipping Stones offered the perfect sketch opportunity!

I think you'll agree that this graphic layout is perfect for this stamp and sentiment!

So very classic!

I had so much fun making this card!

And, as always, my purse and belt are my favorite colors!  Black and RED!

I added the silver accents to put it over the top!

I own a gorgeous bright red purse, but rarely have the nerve to use it.

I guess I have a RED girl on the inside, struggling to get out!

Speaking of the inside:

Enjoy your day!

This card is also entered into the challenge at:

Totally PaperCrafts ( Show a favorite, Favorite Colors- Red & Black!))

Runway Inspired Challenge (reds and black!)

Little Frieda

I absolutely love this little Craft's Meow gal!  

She is so easy to paper-piece and has so much personality!

(I used DCWV's "Tradewinds" matstack)

To enter this week's sketch challenge, I have her vacationing on yet another beach...

My favorite part of this card?

Her little toes in the "sandy beach" with those adorable tiny shells!

I had to dig into my vacation goodies to find these shells from Rocky Point, Mexico!
I had them in a little jar under my bathroom sink! (Go figure!)

Thanks for joining me today!

Can you tell I'm ready for those Summer trips to the West coast?

Check out the challenge at Craft's Meow !

Also, this card has been entered the challenge at Clear It Out (the seashells)

DYSU Challenge #62- Go Green!

This week we have three sponsors:

Winner's Choice of 4 Images

Winner's Choice of 10 Digis

Winner's Choice of 5 Digis

Here's my card:

To say it's not my favorite is an under-statement! I colored the image twice, and still felt like the brights were too "in your face".  I know, it's for Easter, but I should have stuck to light pastels. But, I felt those wouldn't show up in a picture very well.

I even washed over the entire image with my Copics W3 to tone it down a bit.

I DO love the Stamping Boutique image!

I split the image in Photoshop so that I could layer the fairy OVER the basket, therefore giving the illusion of her dropping the egg into it!

I think I may have over-thunk this one! LOL!

This image was terrific practice coloring the basket!

Inside reads:

Well, get onto the rest of the Design Team!  I know they have some fantastic projects to show you!  And enter to win with your own card creation!

Go Green!

Another Flashback Friday!

    This flashback takes us all back to our first PAPER-PIECED project!

I don't know for sure if it's my very first, but it's the first I posted on my blog!

I made this card for a high school friend who I hadn't seen in ages!

Need I say more?

2009

I think we really wore those pants back in the day (circa 1973)

My Copic skills have improved somewhat since then...

Entered in:

Flashback Friday Challenge



Flourish Timeless Tuesday

I made this card today for the challenge at Flourishes. 

I love their photo inspirations!

I was so thrilled that this image came out as well as it did! You see,  #1- I'm just a beginner with the Copics markers. #2- I broke every rule in the book by coloring on basic cardstock paper!  While experimenting, I noticed that the ink actually blends rather well on this highly porous tan paper! Agreed, you have to work pretty fast, but I like the way the greens and yellows meld together.

I used a heat embossed chicken wire stamp for the background and added bits of doily here and there.  The twine holds a "key" from Tim Holtz' collection.

I know you hear it all the time, but the background cardstock is EXACTLY the same shade of GREEN as the leaves on the pears!

What DOES my camera do with the colors?  I even photographed it in natural light.

Thanks for looking at  my project today!



Bo Bunny - It's not just pretty papers!

This challenge from Bo Bunny asks that we use Bo Bunny stamps on our project! 

I love their stamps!
 

They are high-quality and make a clear, crisp stamped image every time.

I stamped the pocket watch onto my Bo Bunny paper and then heat embossed with Stampendous Vintage Mahogany Embossing glitter and fussy cut. 

I followed by embossing the scroll from the same stamp set, applying it to the upper right hand corner of the sentiment die cut.
These papers and stamps have such a rich, vintage look to them.

I am thinking this will make a wonderful, and unique, Father's Day card!

Close-up of the pocket watch stamp!

I colored the leaves surrounding the watch with just a touch of Copics to allow it to stand out, and positioned a tiny Bo Bunny Brad in the center.

 Bo Bunny products used:

Timepiece Clear Stamps
Timepiece Brads
Bella Journee Eire Collection Papers and Die Cuts

This card was designed for the Bo Bunny Tuesday Card Challenge

Cards for Boys!

Card Cupid

is having a challenge on their blog this month to make and send in birthday cards for boys!

I had been putting together some CAS card to send in to Stephanie at Card Cupids,

so I merely left off any specific sentiment and, in that way, making possible for a parentor guardian to fill in the greeting whether it be

 "Happy Birthday", "Good Going", "Hang in there" or maybe just "Thinking of you"!

I packed up 9 of these such cards with envelopes and they'll go in the mail tomorrow.

I made it simple by using pre-printed images from K & Co, "A to Z" collection, along with matching papers which I had just won online!  I also used paper-punched buttons rather than real ones to make shipping cheaper and easier!

For those of you who are not familiar with this cause, the Card Cupid blog is dedicated to helping homeless kids in the Washington DC area.  So many of us have cards we make for other challenges or we simply love to make cards.  With these, you can give a child have a little brighter day!

Please check out their blog, and possibly even win a prize by entering your own creations! Make sure you send in at least one card for the cause! That's what makes it all possible!  They also take donations of all sorts; sporting goods, coloring books and crayons, etc.   Take a look! 

 Thanks, I know all of you have huge, giving hearts and would love to do something good for someone everyday!

((hugs))

DYSU Challenge #61 - Wings

For this week we have two great sponsors:

Winner's Choice of 6 Digital Images



6 copic ciao marker (North/South America)

Martha Stewart punch (rest of the world)

I couldn't resist using one of my favorite stamps
for this challenge! 

"Butterfly Kisses" from Craft's Meow

and of course, more of the gorgeous Fran*tage flakes and glitter from Stampendous!

Inside:

IRL, the stamped butterflies match the blue bird's egg flakes...
go figure....