Finished! Yes!

Well, I did it.  I finished crocheting the blanket and made a tag - all with a day to spare.
Here is a pic of the blanket (terrible lighting this morning):

Instead of a card, I made a tag to go on the gift bag:

Again, I apologize for the photo quality.  I took at least 20 shots but it is so dreary outside.  Not a good day for indoor photos.
As you can see, I made the tag twistable.  (BTW, spell check says that is not a word, but we know what it means, right?)
The onesie (also pops up on spell check!) is a digital stamp by Daydream Designs.  It is pre-colored but I used Copics to change the colors a bit.  The "welcome little one" is Stamp Craft.
All three cuts are made with Spellbinder ovals.

Challenges:
Scrapyland - bow
Stamping Boutique - ribbon
Simon Wednesday - anything
Little Scrap Pieces - anything
Daily Marker - coloring
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cre8tive Hands Friends - any digi

Procratinating Again

This may be the only post I put up this week.  I am crocheting a baby blanket for a baby shower which is this Saturday but I just started on it yesterday!   Soooo, all my spare time will be crocheting instead of making cards (but I do need to make a card to go with the gift).  Eeeeks! I need more time!
I will take a pic of the blanket and card and post them next week.  But for now, here is a valentine card I made for one of my granddaughters (the one who loves orange!) I never got around to posting it so here it is finally:

This little cutie is a Dearie Doll digital.  I love this fuzzy hair because my little chocolate granddaughter's hair is curly and fuzzy like this (only shorter) when it is not braided.
The sentiments are Doodle Pantry.
Most of the card is made with Elizabeth Craft Designs dies.  The large hearts are Cuttlebug and the little hearts are a punch.
Have a great week.  I'll see you whenever I finish my blanket project.

Challenges:
Stamping Boutique - love you
Die Cut Divas - love
Words2Craft By - my heart's devotion
Crop Stop - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Daily Marker - coloring

Bugaboo Balloons

This is a goofy looking giraffe (Bugaboo) so I think it will bring a smile to a child's face, especially if it is for his/her birthday.  Going into a box for SAS4Kids.

Three things prompted me to use him: (1)he was in my left over box,(2) I am making cards for kids, and (3) the card to CASE at Stamplorations.

I am also going to enter my card in the CAS challenge.

Other Challenges:
Daily Marker - coloring
Di's Digidesigns - birthday
Word Art Wednesday - anything 
All Sorts - birthdays

That Kind of Day

We have had such a mild winter - sorry to all of you who have been snowed in.  Some winters we dig ourselves out of our driveway with a front loader.  This winter we have had only a few snow flakes, not even enough to cover the ground.  Right now we are dealing with the possibility of some of our rivers cresting because of the crazy hard downpours we have had this week and the snow melting on the mountains.  So even though it is not cold, sometimes, as the sentiment says, its a hot cocoa kind of day.

Cute snowman and sentiment are by From the Heart as is the sketch:

Copics, Scraps of paper, hand stitching.

Challenges:
From the Heart Sketch
From the Heart Progressive Challenge 
Daily Marker - coloring
Creative Creations - something to eat or drink
Word Art Wednesday - anything 

Second Card - Same Sketch

Still using up pieces and thought I would use the same sketch as in my last post.

I get a kick out of this pig by From the Heart.  I hope it brings a smile to a child. (card is going to SAS4Kids)
The paper is some I have had for years.  In fact, so are the brads! I put a gem on the yellow ones.  The pig is colored with pencils.  Butterfly is cut with a Martha Stewart punch.
Here is the sketch:

Challenges:
Pile It On - make your own embellishes
Daily Marker - coloring
Words2CraftBy - a smile to chase away the tears of sorrow
V's Sweet Ideas - pink

Raindrops on Noses

The other day I was thinking of the lyrics in a song from Sound of Music - "raindrops on roses..."  How about raindrops on noses?
I can't tell you how long I have had this digital image in my extras box.

He is colored with Copics.  The stamped paws are cut out with a MFT Die-namic Circle Stax die. 
Here is the sketch I used:

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday 
Little Scrap Pieces - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Daily Marker - coloring

Word Art Wednesay Verse

A big thanks to Karen at Word Art Wednesday for asking me to be the guest designer this month.  WAW hosts a challenge every other Wednesday and offers free verses to download.  Here is the verse for this week:

The hands are a digital stamp by a company that is no longer in business.  The thought of God up holding me gave me the idea for the hands. They are colored with Copics then fussy cut. The scenic background is a piece of Scrapbook paper.  The verse is cut out and backed using Our Daily Bread dies.
FYI: You may enter up to five projects this next two weeks at WAW and using the verse is optional.

Time to CASE

My card:

 I used mostly Stampin'Up inks and stamps.  I think the sentiment is Unity.  Distress ink is Tim Holtz.

Anita's card:

Challenges:
Stamploration CASE
Time Out - love is the flower
Stamploration CAS

On To Spring

It is so miserable today - RAIN - pouring.  I get so anxious for Spring every February.  I think it is because we have some beautiful warm days (59 Tuesday) which teases us.  Then back to yuck weather.
When going through my left over box, this Bugaboo image jumped out - ahh, a bit of Spring!

The image is colored with Copics and pencils.  BG is a Cuttlebug folder.  I don't ever remember using this flower die by Cuttlebug before.  The funky flowers look just like the ones on the image.
The sketch is found at Tuesday Morning Sketches.  I went quite literal this time, copying the row of flowers.

Challenges:
Time Out - love is a flower
Words 2 Craft By - a smile to chase away the sorrow/ a love that's true ever growing
Scrapyland - anything

No Bunny Like You

Here is a sweet image, sentiment, and paper by Doodle Pantry.  A card for Send A Smile 4 Kids.

Last week I added to my collection of Darice embossing folders.  I have wanted this wood EF for awhile now so was pretty excited to use it when I found this cute image in my leftover box.  The image is pre-colored.  After running Ivory cardstock through the Cuttlebug, I added some Tim Holtz distress ink onto the top of the wood grain.   Sentiment and wood are cut with  Spellbinder dies. Circles are MFT Die-namic Circle Stax.
Tuesday Throwdown had the perfect sketch for this card:

Challenges:
Die Cuttin Divas - say it with love
Simon Says Work It Wednesday - something new
Crop Stop - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything

Fun With Extras

The basket is getting too full so time to use up some of those extra pieces, extra printed images, extra stamped images.
When I made a card in July, I stamped four of the same image but only used one.  I love this little camera buff.  Three different colors with Copics.  I'm not sure which one I like best.

See that flower on her dress.  Somehow I got a black smudge on the light yellow dress so I cut out a flower with a Cuttlebug die and popped it on.  I liked the touch so much, I put flowers on the other two.
The word "smile" is an old stamp of unknown (unremembered!) company.  The film strips are pieces from an old scrapbook kit (SU)  Do you think any child will know what a film strip is?  I hope so because these are going into the SAS4Kids box.   The stitching is just hand drawn.
Sketch:

Thanks for looking (and commenting).

Challenges:
Tuesday Morning Sketches
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Time Out - love is a flower
Daily Marker - coloring
V's Sweet Ideas - pink
Crop Stop - anything
Paper Sweeties - color
Words to Craft By - A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow

Nuts About You

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest.  Here is my take on it.

I have a love/hate relationship with my Silhouette.  I must say that I am pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to create and cut this nut without a file.  It took a looooong time, so long that I decided to make six of them for the sons and SILs; I didn't want to waste all that time on one card!  (Usually I make every Valentine unique and different for each recipient but this year all the guys are getting the same.)
The card from which I took this idea was wrapped and stamped in duct tape.  For mine I just cut out some hearts with a Cuttlebug die and glued them on the front.  To keep the "shop" idea going, I added a piece of wire and corkscrewed the ends.

Challenges:
Time Out - love is the flower
Die Cut Divas  - love
Simon Work It Wednesday - something new (using Silhouette without a file, and using duct tape! on a card)
Simon Wednesday - hearts
Pile It On - make your own embellishment
Paper Creators - love
Word Art Wednesday- anything
Little Scrap Pieces - anything
Die Cuttin Divas - say it with love

Eyeballs

I found this cute idea on Pinterest.  Here is my version.

And the inside:

It was a little tricky cutting out the circle so that it was placed just right.  I printed these out on the Kraft but also again on printer paper so I could cut the paper and use that as a template to cut the Kraft.  Love the tiny circle in the Die-namics Circle Stax.
The puffy hearts were sent to me by a dear friend (thank you Karen).  "You" is cut out with a Simon Says die.  The monster, which I paper pieced, and the sentiment are Doodle Pantry.   The inside seemed a little too boring so I added a heart border cut with my Silhouette.
Won't these be cute for a couple of my grandsons?

Challenges:
Classy Cards and Such - love, red, pink
 Doodle Pantry - anything
Crafty Calendar - love
Stamplorations - CAS and red

Paper Creators - love
Cuttlebug Mania - cards for kids
Crop Stop - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Dies R Us - love
Simon Wednesday - hearts

Puppy Love

There are so many adorable puppy stamps.  I am really drawn to them right now.
This cutie is by Stamping Dragon Designs.

For the first card above, I used the pre-colored digi.  The card is for our grandson's first birthday.  Sometimes it is fun to use colors that are not "baby colors" or even typical "boy colors".
The cardstock base is SU River Rock.  I backed the dotted circle with Kraft that I distressed with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink.
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and Darice Paws embossing folders.  Circle Stax and Spellbinder dies.
Sentiment is Scrappy Moms. 

This is another card I made using the same image and same layout. (I definitely like the first card better).  This puppy I colored with copics.  The fishtail banner is embossed with a Darice hearts embossing folder.
This one will go into a box for Send A Smile 4 Kids
Here is the sketch I used for both cards:

Challenges: 

Cuttlebug Mania - cards for kids 

Tuesday Morning Sketch
Little Scrap Pieces - anything
Simon Wednesday - hearts
Dies R Us - love
Daily Marker - coloring 

Valentine - First Year

As you know, I make Valentines for each family member.  We have a grandson turning 1 two days before Valentine's Day.  Not that he is going to care, but I made him one too, keeping it simple with no embellies that he can pull off and put in his mouth.

This cute bear is by Crafty Sentimens.  I cut it out and mounted it onto a circle cut with one of the Circle Stax dies, allowing his arms to hang over the cut.  The EF is Darice.  He is colored with Copics.  Hearts are punched from an embellishment strip - part of that strip is behind the image.

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday

Classy Cards and Such - love with pink hearts
Simon Wednesday - hearts
Cute Card Thursday - pink
Daily Marker - coloring challenge
Sweet Stampin - valentines
Paper Sweeties - color challenge
Dies R Us - love and hearts
Crop Stop - anything
Cuttlebug Mania - cards for kids
Double D - pink hearts 
MFT - color challenge

WAW Guest

It is my honor to be the guest designer this week at Word Art Wednesday.  I can't begin to tell you how many of their verses, that are offered each week, I have downloaded and used.  Some on cards.  Some on 6 X 6 displays.
This is the verse for these next two weeks:

There are so many misconceptions about how we get to heaven but the truth is that only by believing in Jesus, the Son of God, and only because of His death and resurrection, will we receive eternal life.
Jesus is the only way.  He is the Truth.  He is the Giver of eternal life.
When making this card, I used a map and a compass to depict the WAY.  The  compass is a digital image by Handmade By Paula.  I put an antique gold brad in the middle.
There is a bi-weekly challenge at  Word Art Wednesday.  Check out all the eye candy and then play along.

Framed Shaker Card

Something fun and different.  That is what I wanted the Valentine cards to be this year.  I have been fascinated by shaker cards.  I made a couple but wanted to try to make one with a frame after I received this beautiful heart frame file by Bird for my Silhouette.

After working on this, I now know what not to do and what to do differently next time but it still turned out cute.  The window box is within the rectangle of the frame.  The box is then attached to the white folded cardstock. This way there is a gap between the hearts part of the border and the base.  I like that but next time I will size the cardstock and make the fold so that there is nothing behind the hearts.

The image is a pre-colored Dearie Dolls digital stamp.  I used some Gelly Roll Clear Star on the printed hearts and to outline the word Valentine.  Besides sequins, I threw in some of the hearts that were cut from the frame, adding some sparkle to those also. 

Challenges: 

Di's Digi Designs - lots of red 

Die Cut Divas - love 

DLArt - valentine 

Word Art Wednesday - anything 

Paper Creators - love 

Simon Says Work It Wednesday - something new 

Classy Cards and Such - love/hearts