Hog Wild Birthday Card - Hello Bluebird Feature

Hey friends, today I'm so happy to be featured over on the Hello Bluebird Blog with a fun birthday card inspired by our new color challenge, which starts today! This card stars one of the piggies from Pig Day mixed with several other sets. I'll have all the information over there, so I hope you'll check it out!

I also created a video tutorial, so if you'd like to see the card come together, just click below or  watch on YouTube, and don't forget to like the video and subscribe to my channel! It means so much. Thanks so much for stopping by!
 

Panda Paws - Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #4

Happy Monday, friends! It's time for Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #4: Black & White & Bright. With that theme in mind, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to alter the sweet bears from Dad + Me and turn them into pandas!

I sketched out the lines in pencil, then went over them with my Memento Dual-Tipped Marker, which is a perfect match for the Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad. Then I colored them with Copics and cut them out with the matching dies.

I die cut a focal panel using Large Cross-Stitched Square Stackables and sponged on some Distress ink in Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade, and Peacock Feathers, then added my pandas with foam tape, and a speech bubble from Chit Chat tucked between them. 

I used Stitched Party Banners to add a little detail to the end of one of my  Pebbles Spring Fling 6x6 patterned paper and adhered them both to my Black Licorice card base with Tombow Mono Multi Glue. Then I added a stamped panel to the inside where you can write your message. I hope you like it!

Click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right to watch the video there in HD and please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

Check out the other amazing Design Team samples at the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge blog and don't forget to link up your own Black & White & Bright projects to play along!

Personalized Kitty Cat Birthday Card

Hey friends, I'm back today with a new video showing you how to personalize your pet images to make a custom card for a friend or loved one. This Mama Elephant Perfect Pair makes it so easy to do!

I combined it with the Carnival Toppers and Lawn Fawn Baked With Love to create a cute little scene. And added some glitz with my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen.

Images were colored with Copic markers. All colors are clearly shown in the video. I hope you enjoy it!

Click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right to watch it there in HD and please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Also, if you haven't entered my 10K Subscriber Giveaway, you can do so HERE. That ends September 30th at 11:59 PM EST. Winners will be announced October 1st.

I will be submitting this in the SugarPea Designs Challenge 17: Mix It Up, the Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes Challenge and the Marker Pop: For the Girls Challenge. Have an awesome day!

Handmade with Love - Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge

Happy Friday! Today I'm here to share my last post as the April guest designer with Newton's Nook. It's been such a fun ride! Today is the kickoff of the Inky Paws Challenge #31: Sketch. This one is super easy to replicate and I can't wait to see what you all come up with for it!

For my card I used the Tag Sampler Stamp Set and the bee trail from Winston's Honeybees and die cut it with the Tags Times Two Dies. I added some gorgeous patterned paper from the Echo Park Homegrown 6x6 pad and a little May Arts natural button twine and that was it! This one is definitely easy peasy, so you have no excuse not to play along!

Head on over to the Newton's Nook blog to check out the design team's amazing samples and find out all the details on how to play along.

Enjoy your weekend!

Ella's Unforgettable Birthday

Hey friends! Today I wanted to share another card made with the adorably sweet Mama Elephant Ella & Friends stamp set. This is still one of my most favorite stamp sets that's released this year. I think I could make 100 cards with this set and never do the same one twice. Just so many options!

I'd like to enter this card in the Mama Elephant Stamp With ME Flickr Challenge and also in the Simon Says Stamp Friends or Superhero Wednesday Challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

You've Got A Friend In Me

Hi friends! Today I got to play with this adorable Mama Elephant Ella & Friends stamp set and I got to film a video too! As soon as I saw that cute little bunny, I thought he would look so fun chasing butterflies, so I combined this set with In My Heart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

To watch the video in HD, click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right. And don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Thanks for watching!

I would also like to enter this in Virginia's View Challenge #14 Layers and Dimension. This is a challenge I've been wanting to enter for some time, and it was right in line with what I wanted to make today. And also in the Mama Elephant Stamp With ME Challenge: Make Me Laugh. Even though this isn't a laugh out loud funny card, that bunny chasing butterflies definitely gives me a chuckle. ;)

Seasons Tweetings - Holiday Card Series #7

I *finally* got a chance to film a bit today, so I'm bringing you card #7 in my 2014 Holiday Card Series. I love this little Winter Sparrow set from Lawn Fawn and it was just calling to me to use it.

I created a window card by die cutting one of the Lawn Fawndamentals Notecards with a Lawn Fawn Circle Stackables and using that as a panel. Then I inset the sparrows and added Pretty Pink Posh sequins and some Stickles glitter glue. I hope you enjoy the video!

Click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right to watch there in HD and don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe!

I also created this card with the Christmas Card Challenge #53: Anything Goes in mind. There's still a few days to enter if you haven't already! 

Merry Moosemas

Hi friends! Today I colored up an image I have been dying to use, Mulberry Wood "Giving" by Crafter's Companion. I think they are just so sweet and I love the string of lights wrapped around the dad's antlers.

I colored them with my Spectrum Noirs in shades GB8, GB10, EB1, EB2, PP2, DG3, DG4, DR3, DR6, TB5, TB7, JG1, JG3, BT1, BT2, BG1, and BG2. I also added some glossy accents to the bulbs to give them some shine, but it didn't pick up well on camera.

I will also be linking this up to the Christmas Card Challenges #53: Anything Goes, a new-to-me challenge!

So where do you stand with your Christmas card making? Are you all done? Or like me, do you still have a long ways to go?

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans! Today I am super honored to be participating in Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Today is Day 25! The big finale!

For my card I decided to break out Lawn Fawn's Winter Bunny. He is still one of my favorite holiday images and I think he is the perfect scale for this Tag You're It die. I think he looks fabulous with his scarf billowing out behind him!

If you've missed out on the first 24 days, you can start back at the

beginning HERE. There are a whole bunch of prizes and lots of ways to win, so do make sure to check out that Day 1 post. Click along through all the days to be knocked off your feet with inspiration. And don't forget to leave a comment right here as well for another opportunity to win! 

Huge thanks to Tracey for inviting all the girls at Lawnscaping Challenges to participate! We had a blast!

Joy To Creatures Great and Small

Hi friends! Hope you're having a peaceful Sunday. I'm about to head up to my craft room for a little afternoon play time, but before I go, I wanted to get this card posted. Remember in my 2014 Holiday Card Series #1, I stamped out all those extra WPlus9 Winter Woodland images using the rock and roll technique? Well this weekend, I decided to put them to good use on this card. I added papers from the Sleigh Bells Ring 6x6 by MME, which I am LOVING. Classic color palette with fun, graphic prints. I die cut them with the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 1 and Stitched Duos 1 dies.

I specifically created this with the current Festive Friday #44 Challenge in mind, which is this great inspiration photo. There's still a few days to play along if you haven't already!

Season's Greetings Mice

Happy Friday, friends! We made it through another week. Man, this one was a bit of a doozy for me. How about you? I've been fighting a case of the flu and even lost my voice for a few days. No voice = no videos. But I hope I'm on the mend. 

I did manage to squeeze in some crafty time yesterday though and I spent it coloring up this sweet Moonbeam Meadow "Christmas Kisses" image from Crafter's Companion. I used Spectrum Noir shades IG1, IG2, IG4, IG6, IG7, IG8, IG10, EB6, TN2, TN3, PP2, DG3, DG4, and DR3. Then I inked the background with Distress Inks in Olive Grove and Forest Moss. I flicked it with some water and gold shimmer spray to finish it off.

I chose the entire color scheme for the card based on the current Festive Friday Challenge #44. If you haven't played along yet, you definitely should! 

Have a wonderful weekend! We're buried in snow! We set a record with 12.6 inches so far in the last 24 hours. Are you buried too?

Be Jolly - Holiday Card Series #5

 Hey crafty friends! Today I'm here to share the next installment in my 2014 Holiday Card Series. Day #5 features this adorable Be Jollysnowman stamp and die set from Avery Elle. Isn't he a cutie?

To make him even more fun, I decided to pull out my Flower Soft, which I hadn't used in ages! It's funny how those things get set aside and forgotten about. I'm glad I remembered to pull it out today though. I think it makes him extra special. Watch the video and see if you agree. ;)

Click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right corner to watch there in HD and please don't forget to comment, like, and subscribe! It truly means a lot.

I also wanted to mention that I made this card because I was inspired by the current AEIheartU Challenge #18 - Holiday. It's been my goal this month especially to participate in more challenges and interact more with all the other amazing crafters out there!

Also, this card will be going to the Caring Hearts Card Drive benefitting the elderly in nursing homes. Won't you consider making a few extra cards and blessing others with them this holiday season?

Greetings Of The Season

Hi friends! Today I was doing a little blog hopping and ended up on the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge blog. It's been a little while since I've inked up any of my Paper Smooches stamps, so I decided to play along and give them a little love.

Since I'm fully committed to creating as many holiday cards as I can for the Caring Hearts Card Drive, I decided that this little penguin and birdy from Chilly Chums would be the lucky contestants. I colored them with my Spectrum Noirs and used a sentiment from Joyful Greetings to complete my card.

I hope you enjoy it! The challenge this week is Anything Goes, so it couldn't be easier to play along. :)

Also, this is the perfect time of year to play along with the Festive Friday Challenge. Their beautiful inspiration photo is where I drew my color palette of red, white, and black. Don't you just love an artfully wrapped package? Or two? Or three? Or ten?

Have an awesome weekend, everybody! Get crafty if you can!

Oh Happy Day

Hi there! A friend of mine recently commissioned me to make a very special wedding card for someone who has been like a daughter to her. I thought this would be the perfect time to ink up my Mama Elephant Bountiful Blessings and Bloomsies stamp sets, since they play so nice together.

I inked all my sentiments and images up with Versamark and heat embossed them with Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder by Ranger. I also made sure to use some vellum for some of my elements to give it that ethereal, veil-like look, which I think always looks so nice on wedding cards.

I also made this card with the October Mama Elephant & Me Challenge : Anything Goes in mind. They made it so easy to play this month, you should definitely give it a try if you haven't already.

Have an awesome day!

Close In My Heart

Happy Friday, everyone! It's the weekend, yay! Do you have any special plans? Our plans pretty much just consist of hanging out around the house this weekend, which means hopefully I will manage to get some crafty time in.

The other morning, while the kids were watching tv, I managed to sneak upstairs and get a card made and a video filmed and this little cutie from Mama Elephant's "In My Heart" was calling to me. I colored her in with my Spectrum Noir markers and added a little lemon Lawn Trimmings from Lawn Fawn to finish up the card. Once again, I pulled my color palette from the current Mama Elephant Photo Inspiration Challenge, just in a more muted hue of those shades. 

There's still a few days left to play along if you haven't already! This is my fourth entry, but hey, what can I say? I love Mama Elephant like crazy much and they don't have a limit listed in their rules, so why not? ;)

Check out the video below with some real-time coloring. Click on the YouTube icon at the bottom right to watch in HD. And always remember to like, comment, and subscribe! That lets YouTube know that you think I'm doing a good job and it means so much to me. Have an awesome weekend!

To Our Treasured Friends

Hiya! Thanks for stopping by today! I've got another Christmas in July card to share, this time using the brand new Vintage Christmas Sentimentals from Crafter's Companion. These sentiments are seriously awesome. The only difficulty I had creating for this release was deciding which sentiments to use, because there are just so many great ones. Ultimately, I decided to showcase the Friends & Family set, which went perfectly with this adorable raccoon image (my favorite Crafter's Companion stamp EVER and the one that helped me discover them, and them me) Mulberry Wood "Christmas Wishes."

I colored this in with my Spectrum Noir markers, in shades EB6, EB7, BG1, BG4, BG6, BG7, PP1, DR3, DR6, GT2, GT3, BT1, BT2, and BT3 on Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock. I hope you like it!

I'm also linking this up to the Festive Friday Challenge. I used the birch tree paper and woodland critters to tie in with their theme in the inspiration photo, and also pulled my whites, grays, and browns from there as well. Check them out if you haven't already.

Have a great day!

You Are My Hero

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you're having a good one. I'm getting this post up late today because we spent the day with friends at our local amusement park. Beautiful day for it too! And call me crazy, but I invited the boys to spend the night with ours tonight, so we're having a big sleepover. But these are great friends of ours and my boys actually seem to behave BETTER when there's more of them. Am I the only one who notices this? Somehow the dynamic shifts and they're playing nice and sharing and taking turns when the five of them are together, in a way they never do when it's just my three. I guess that's boys for ya! Ha!

But speaking of boys, yesterday I filmed my second installment of using these sweet little kiddos from the Mama Elephant "In My Heart" stamp set. This time I had to use the little boy and give him reddish-blond hair and freckles. In fact, he almost looks a bit like my nephew! I used the current Mama Elephant & Me Photo Challenge as inspiration when choosing my Spectrum Noir colors.

One subscriber said he looks like Dennis the Menace! Ha! What do you think? The video showcases real-time coloring for those of you who are into that. Click the YouTube icon on the bottom right to watch in HD, and don't forget to like, leave me a comment, and subscribe if you don't already! I sure do appreciate all your support. Have an awesome day!

More Than Just A Little

Hey everyone! How was your Monday? Are you glad it's past? I always feel a little better about Tuesday. Like, okay, we made it through the start of the week and are already one day closer to the weekend again! Haha! Does anyone else feel the same?

So today, I'm finally getting a chance to blog this sweet little card I made a couple of days ago. I actually released the video on my YouTube channel as soon as it was uploaded, but due to scheduling conflicts, I just wasn't able to get this post up until now.

It's another card I made for Operation Write Home, inspired by the current Mama Elephant & Me Challenge. I used the banner paper to tie in the celebration theme, and pulled the colors with my Spectrum Noir markers and patterned paper. Why, even her outstretched arms and pigtails seemed to mimic the favor tops to me. Once again, I used the In My Heart stamp set (obsessed!) and as you'll see in the video, I also stamped out two extra little scenes with this set that I will feature in upcoming videos.

I really hope you enjoy it! As always, you can watch in HD by clicking the YouTube icon in the bottom right corner, and please don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe! Every single one helps me out and I appreciate it more thank you know. I'm steadily getting closer to my next big milestone giveaway when I reach 5,000 subscribers! If you're not already one, I hope you'll consider helping me reach that number. So excited!

Have an awesome day!

Miles Apart, But Close In My Heart

Happy Sunday evening, everyone! I hope your week is off to a good start. My family and I are in great spirits because our team won the 2014 Fifa World Cup today. Yay, Germany!

Being that my husband is German and our three boys were born in Germany and are half-German (we were also married there and lived there for five years) there was, as you might expect, quite a bit of hooting and hollering going on in our house this afternoon.

So since I was in a celebratory mood, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play along with the new Mama Elephant & Me Challenge.

This month's inspiration photo is all about celebrations, so I used everyone's favorite party favor -- balloons! I used one of my favorite go-to stamp sets, Up & Away and colored it in with Spectrum Noirs, pulling my colors from the inspiration photo as well, though I did swap red for the hot pink, to keep it gender-neutral. I paired it with a sentiment from my other favorite new set, In My Heart.

This will be another card going in my box for Operation Write Home.

I hope you like it!

Create A Smile Stamps First Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the Create A Smile First Release Blog Hop!

You should have come here by way of the amazing Anika Lerche,

the first German paper crafter I ever came across.

Her work is so beautiful and brilliant, you will instantly want to add her blog

to your visitation rotation so you can be continually inspired by her as I am.

If you are just popping in now, be sure to head back to 

the Create A Smile blog so you can begin the hop from the start

and not miss out on any of the fantastic projects linked up today.

Here's my card:

I used the awesome Surfing Penguin, which is a FREE

digital stamp that Christine has available on the blog,

along with that great sentiment from Comfy.

And now, a little bit more about Create A Smile.

Create a Smile is a new stamp company in town, located in Germany! This is super exciting for me, because I was married in Germany and it is also the country where my husband and my three sons were born. We made our home there for five happy years and I love to go back and visit my husband's family any time we get a chance.

But back to Create A Smile stamps. :)

When Christine Drogt started illustrating and sharing images with friends, it soon became crystal-clear that those images would make awesome clear stamps.  Because Christine has always loved to make people smile (it can be as easy as smiling at strangers!) the name was found quickly (thanks to her friend Alison!) and the vision became reality.

Create A Smile stamps are made of high quality photo-polymer and produced in Germany. They will for sure make you smile!

We’re thrilled you are joining us as we begin this great adventure! We truly love the fantastic paper-crafting community (YOU!) and are so excited to be bringing something new to you all!

These are the facts:

Create A Smile are releasing our first two stamp sets TODAY!! You can find our store at www.createasmilestamps.com  We have TWO fun sets filled with super cute images, available for purchase.

You can win a $15 gift-certificate for the store-- all you need to do is hop along and leave comments on all the fantastic and inspiring stops (one comment per person, per blog please!). We’ll pick random winner from all the comments - so the more blogs you visit (and leave a comment on) - the more chances you have to be a winner!

You have until Saturday (July 12th) 8am CET - that's 2am EST. The winner will be announced on theCreate A Smile Blog on Sunday (July 13th)

Here is a look at the two stamp sets that are releasing today.

Comfy

 Friends In The Woods

And that's it! I'm the last stop on the hop!

I hope you had a wonderful time and got inspired.

Make sure to visit the Create A Smile blog often,

as there are many more exciting things in store as this 

wonderful new company develops and stretches its wings.

Again, I would like to link this card up to the Penguin Papers Critter Challenge,

as she is generously donating $1 per submission to Operation Write Home.

Have an awesome day! :)