Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Spring Colors'



Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  This week's challenge is 'Spring Colors'.  Simply make a card or project with Spring Colors and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is QKR Stampede and they are giving away five digis to one lucky randomly chosen winner.


To make my card I used the QKR Stampede image 'New Family'.    My sketch is from SplitcoastStampers   (SC427). 
If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, March 21, 2013

March Christmas Cards

Hello!  Today I have my March Christmas Cards to show you.  As most of you already know, I play the Christmas Card Challenge on Splitcoaststampers where we make Christmas Cards all year long so that were not stressed during the busy Christmas Cards making lots of cards.  I make four Christmas Cards a month so that I will have fifty Christmas Cards at the end of the year.

I must admit, it's usually hard for me to stay committed to this challenge, especially during the summer months or in January when everyone is 'sick of Christmas' and still has a house full of decorations that need to be taken down.  But this month, it wasn't that difficult since you'd never know it wasn't the month of December except for the calendar!  We just had another blizzard on Monday.  We've had 19 inches of snow this month and the temperatures are bitter cold.  And the irony is, it's officially Spring!  UGH!  I'm trying to stay positive, but I'm about to break!  Oh well, at least making Christmas Cards was easy this month....the weather certainly puts one in the mood!

This month I used the same stamp set for all four of my cards, and I still didn't use every image in the set.  The set is called 'Snow Globes' by Crafty Secrets.  It comes with five different snow globe scenes, and some little extras like snowflakes, a dove, etc., plus lots of sentiments.  My only complaint about this set is that the images are small and hard to color.  I had to put reading glasses on just to color in all the detail.  

For my first card, I really wanted the image to be the focus of the card so I kept the layout clean and simple. The paper is by Cosmo Cricket and I popped the snow globes and base up on dimensionals in all four cards.  I put a gold adhesive crystal inside the star. I used a glitter pen for the snow globe base.

 For my second card, I used more paper from Cosmo Cricket and a layout by The Sweet Stop (SSS162).  Dew drops were placed in the corners for embellishment.
 This card uses a sketch by Mojo Monday (week 190).  Every image and sentiment is embossed with Black Sparkle Embossing Powder.  I used Glitter Ribbon and a Cuttlebug Snowflake Die for embellishment.  The ornament in the center of the bow is a button from JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts.  The paper is My Mind's Eye.
 My final card uses an MFT sketch (MFTWSC84).  Button, Martha Stewart Gold Twine, Ribbon, and Brads are the embellishments.  I put Crystal Effects on the ornaments and Gold Stickles on the garland.
Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Easter'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  The challenge this week is 'Easter'.  Simply make a card or project with an Easter Theme and be sure to include at least one digital element.  Our sponsor this week is Yours or  Mine Paper Crafts, and they are giving away one $10.00 voucher to one lucky randomly chosen winner.

To make my card, I used a digital sentiment by DayDream Designs (they are no longer open for business).  I thought this verse was appropriate for Easter since they are Jesus' last words before he ascends into heaven. The little butterfly comes with the sentiment, but the second butterfly I printed separately, cut it out, and glued just the body of the butterfly to the card so that it's wings are popped up. My layout is from TCPTUES225. The paper is Stella Rose 'Hattie' by My Mind's Eye.  Trim and dew drops were added for embellishment.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar for further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Friday, March 15, 2013

ExtraTerrestrial Fun

Hello!  As I wait for this horrible month of March to come an end and the snow to melt and go away, I have some extra time on my hands before the Spring Gardening Chores begin.  Although at the rate were going here in Wisconsin, I'm starting to have my doubts that Spring will ever come, and I feel that Winter will never end.  I'm trying so hard not to get discouraged about this; but would you believe IT"S STILL SNOWING!  There is snow in the forecast EVERYDAY for the next two weeks. My drives to work have been so terrifying...I feel like I'm taking my life in my hands every time I get behind the wheel.  I've had so many scary  driving experiences this winter.  And I'm so tired of being cold, and wearing winter clothes. To help cheer me up,   I've bought a lot of new Spring/Summer Clothes in all the bright, happy sherbet colors that are so 'in' right now.  I just want to wear them! So God, please, please, please, make the snow and cold go away and bring me warmth, sunshine, pretty flowers and singing birds!  

Oh enough of my whining, onto my card.  I just said all that to explain why I was playing the CASology challenge two weeks in a row.  What else is there to do on snowy, cold days but to Paper Craft?  The challenge this week is 'ExtraTerrestrial'.  I bought the 'Robotz' Cricut Cartridge a couple of years ago and never even opened it.  I thought this was a good time to blow the dust off both my cartridge and my Cricut Machine.  About an hour later, I remembered why I hardly use my Cricut Expression.  Too Much Work!  This was supposed to be a Clean and SIMPLE challenge, but you would not believe how long it took me to make that little robot!  You have to insert the paper 5 different times (if you want all the different layers and colors) and figure out which button to push for what pieces you want cut, what size you want, and then you have to glue them all together.  GEEZ!  Just give me a 'Jolee' Sticker and let me slap it on the card! LOL! 

The rest of the card came together a lot easier.  I created the sentiment on my computer and printed it on white Card Stock.  Then I found a cool piece of designer paper from the  DCWV 'All About Boys' Stack and I just cut out the elements from the paper I wanted to use and glued them to the white sentiment panel.  I popped the alien in the spaceship up on dimensionals, then glued on my 1 hour Robot, and wa-la!  I was done.  

Although I'd hardly call the card 'Clean and Simple' because of how much it took me to create, I do like the way it turned out.  But next time....I'll just use a sticker. LOL!

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, March 14, 2013

K & Co. Butterflies

Hello!  I bought some new K & Co. Butterfly Stickers at JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts and decided to make a couple of quick and easy cards with them.  The stickers are three dimensionals and have vellum and glitter on them, so they are really pretty in real life.  They are designed by Susan Winget and are called 'Blossomwood Butterfly'.

For my first card, I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder 'Script' for the top panel and designer paper for the bottom panel.  The circular shape was cut with a Spellbinder's Nestability and the Scalloped border was cut using an MFT die.  Hemp was wrapped around the card base.

 For my second card, I used a simple sketch by Julie Epersole.  I used the same Cuttlebug Embossing Folder for the background, and just a scrap of designer paper for the narrow panel.  A simple button and hemp were the only embellishment.  The sentiment is unknown and was cut with a MFT die as
well as the scalloped border on the side.

Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Digital Tuesday Challenge 'Frame It'

Hello and welcome to another Digital Tuesday Challenge.  If your looking for the winners of last week's Digital Tuesday Challenge Blog Hop, I'm still waiting to hear from our blog owner as I write and schedule this post, and as soon as I find out, I'll let you all know. EDITED TO ADD:  The winners of last week's blog hop have been announced on the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog, so be sure to see if your a winner.  The winner of my the Cricut Cartridge for my blog is Sunshine Honeybee!  Congratulations Sunshine!  Email me your mailing address so I can get the cartridge out to you!

For this week, our challenge is 'Frame It', simply make a card or project that incorporates a frame and be sure to include at least one digital element. Our sponsor this week is MyGrafico and they are giving away one set from their store to one lucky randomly chosen winner.  

To make my card, I used a digital frame from the set 'Delicate Frames' by Lil Ellaboudy Designs sold at MyGrafico. I wish you all could see this card in person.  It's so hard to photograph black and white cards,  it's so much prettier in real life.  The main paper behind the frame is silver glitter paper and is so sparkly.  The frame is printed, fussy cut, and popped up on dimensionals.  The bride and groom and sentiment are from stamp images from Flourishes 'Wedded Bliss'.  I embossed the bride and groom with black detail embossing powder, fussy cut them, and popped them up dimensionals.  The sentiment is embossed with  a black sparkle embossing powder.  The sentiment tag is from Spellbinders, and the ribbon and flower are black velvet.  There is so much texture and interest to this card in real life.  

 I also added some 'frames' to the inside of the card.  The corners are stamped with a corner stamp from the same Flourishes' set.  The frame around the sentiment is from Spellbinders.
If you'd like to play along with us this week, simply click on the Digital Tuesday Challenge Blinkie in my sidebar and it will take you directly to the Challenge Site with further instructions.

Have a great day! Amy

Thursday, March 7, 2013

CAS Bunny

Hello.  Today I have a clean and simple bunny card to show you.  I've been lurking around the CASology Blog for awhile now, but have never participated in a challenge.  I really love Clean and Simple cards because of my active/busy lifestyle, and they are also more friendly to mail than one covered in embellishments.  BUT, I still like to keep them interesting and make them look like a lot of thought and effort went into it....and that's a challenge for me!  So I discovered the CASology Blog through a on-line friend, and have been quietly studying and learning how to improve my CAS style from afar.  I had some extra time yesterday (very unusual for me) and I liked the challenge this week, so I finally decided to play along.

The challenge is 'Bunny' whatever that means to you.  I didn't want an Easter Card, I still have Easter Cards from last year I never used, so I decided to make just an all occasion card using a pre-made bunny sticker found in the Dollar Bins at JoAnn's.  I used pink polka dotted digi paper, and a MFT die for a cloud and a Fiskars Punch for some grass.  I rounded the corners of all the the papers.  That's about it. 

Have a great day! Amy

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Digital Tuesday 200th Challenge Blog Hop


Welcome to the Digital Tuesday 200th challenge blog hop!!
We are having a blog hop to celebrate alongside our normal challenge, which is "Buttons or Bling"with the added option of making an anniversary card/gift, and we have prizes on the dt blogs as well as a prize for the challenge from our sponsor this week which is Robyn's Fetish who are giving away 7 digital images to one lucky winner.

For a chance to win a prize on the dt blogs all you have to do is comment on each dt blog, then leave a comment on the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog to let us know you have completed the hop. Your name will then be put into the draw and winners will be announced on the challenge blog next Tuesday along with the new challenge.
You can also enter this weeks challenge for a chance to win the Bugaboo prize and if you combine the buttons or bling theme along with something for an anniversary, you will be given an extra entry into the challenge prize draw.

The hop starts at Amy's (which is me, so if your already here you started in the right place!) blog, so you will want to start there.

Here is the card I made for the challenge.  I used the Robyn's Fetish  image "Choo Choo Charlie" to make a boy's birthday card.  I used a single button to meet the 'buttons or bling' challenge.  The paper is from Echo Park 'Scoot'.
 And in honor of our anniversary, I made an Anniversary card using a Heather Ellis Pure Innocence Digi (PI 022(1).  The sketch is from MFT (MFTGUESTDTC313).  The paper is Bo Bunny. I used a Cuttlebug Folder to emboss one of the panels, and I put some adhesive crystals above the sentiment to meet the 'bling' challenge.
 And finally, here is my prize....a Cricut Cartridge.  It has been opened (so it's not sealed in it's original plastic), but it's never been used.  I'm giving it away because I have an older Cricut  machine that has to be 'updated' on the computer to use this cartridge, and I'm too lazy and technically challenged to do that.



Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win my prize.

The next stop is Anneke's blog!

Here's a list of the hop order in case you loose your way