Flutter By Wednesday: Sapphires

Post #3 of 3

Today wraps up the Birthday Celebration that Danni has been having along with FlutterBy Wednesday! Our challenge this week was to think Sapphires!! (Hey, I sell jewelry **- thinking of jewels was an easy thing!!) We were to use the color sapphire or sapphire colored gems!
I opted to use up a little scrap of kraft and make a scrapling - although I'm not positive this is the exact size of a scrapling. I need to get some magnetic tape so that this can become a bookmark for my Bible. I chose "soar" as my sentiment because I believe that is God's desire for us. He wants us to soar - soar in His love, soar in the joy that only He can give, soar in spite of the trials that may seek to beat us down.

Please visit the rest of the Flutter By team - and for certain spend time at Danni's blog - this is the last week of blog candy! Thanks so much for playing along and making her 40th birthday extra special!!!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni
Harriet ♥ Heather ♥ Jodi ♥ Lelia
Michelle ♥ Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your visit and your sweet comments. I'm still surprised every time that people choose to swing by here. And you always leave me with a smile on my face! I've got lots of ideas swirling in my head and hope to be able to bring them out to paper in the next little bit. BUT first.....
I've been so busy the last few weeks. Things have certainly suffered here at home and I plan to spend the next several days focusing on those things that have taken a back seat - like dusting!!! And not just basic dusting, but the vacuum along the baseboards and all. I saw a dead spider caught in a web in a corner the other night - nothing like an icky spider to bring the message home! Who knows how many days he'd been there. I'm just thankful that I hung some pants to dry in the doorway so that I would notice! LOL!!! Luckily I think my little man will take over the duster and dust the walls!

Have a beautiful week!!

Whimsical Wednesday: A Doozy of a Sketch

Post #2 of 3

It's already the FOURTH challenge of the Whimsical Wednesday: The Diedrich Dare challenges. It's so fun and I love the changes that have taken place as Twinkling Tuesday blossomed into something much more grand. In case you are a new reader, the Diedrich kids (who have a talented mom) come up with wonderful challenges each week for us. Sometimes they are sketches and then there are inspiration challenges, color challenges.....anything that the creative genius of children can come up with!

Jack came up with this week's challenge and it's a sketch - a doozy of a one was my first thought.

I think the "heart star heart star" bit is so precious! I started by just seeing if I even had any hearts to use. I knew I had star eyelets and when I found the heart brads I decided to just make it work! I kept digging in my red embellishment box until I found a fabric tag with a sentiment that would go with hearts and some little tabs that fit in too!

I am in love with Kraft again. I thought I was all out but found a little bit of a package still left.

This is my wish for you! That your day is full of
Life

Laughter &

Love!

Please see what the rest of the Daredevils came up with this week; here's a list of who is playing along!

Darla Wilson ♥ Heather Schlatter ♥ Jacquie Peifer
Jessica Diedrich ♥ Kim Ross ♥ Lisa Slusser
Rebecca Ednie ♥ Taylor Usry

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 51: Thank You

Post #1 of 3: I still haven't found my SD card but I swung by DH's office and used his work camera to snap a pic real quick!

We are wrapping up the month long celebration of the Cuttlebug Challenge blog's 1st birthday! Today it's about the thank you cards. I kept it simple - (anyone surprised???!?!) LOL!!!! - but the Coredinations Black Magic cardstock makes it look really W-O-W!!!

To make it even more cost friendly, production friendly and mail friendly the ribbon *could* be left off.

But who would want to do that??!?!?!?!?!?!?! Bwahahahaha!!!

Visit the Cuttlebug Challenge to see all the other wonderful creations by the team over there. It's always worth a visit!!
Stick around for a moment - I've got my Flutter By card and my Diedrich Dare cards to post too!

Where Oh Where

Is the SD card for my camera?

I have been intermittent with blogging over the last few weeks as I prepared for a women's retreat - as a guest and as a vendor. It was a wonderful experience and my soul is renewed!!

It's Wednesday --- and I have several projects to share with you today ---- but the SD card for my camera is missing so I can't take a picture at the moment. As soon as I find it, I'll post them - I am really excited about my Flutter By card and my Daredevil card actually turned out and I'm pleased with it too!

In the meantime, please visit the Flutter By girls and the DareDevils and the Cuttlebug Challenge blog!

Texture Card Kit!

Good afternoon everyone! I'm late getting this posted today. We hit the ground running here this morning and I just got home a little bit ago.

Today I have another card to share with you as part of a Card Kit challenge from Jeanette, the owner of 2RedBananas. She sent everyone some papers from October Afternoon, some metallic dew drops along with the ric rac and velvet ribbon. I paired them with this sweet Stampavie girl I've had for ages --- but just now got it inked up! She's been watercolored and popped off the card front with dimensionals. I loved both designs of this paper so wanted to try to use them equally...thus the simple layout. I layered the ribbon on the ric rac. I couldn't quite figure out where to put the Dew Drops --- I always see lots of embellishments on other cards and think they look great -- but I don't ever think it looks "right" on my cards.







Today's Flutter By Challenge was to use flowers in addition to our butterflies or fairies. I kept it Clean & Simple again. The rose is stamped in the same color ink as my paper (it's an old PSX stamp) and then I used a little of the leftover striped paper from my card kit to punch out a butterfly and gussied her up with one of the metallic Dew Drops.


I hope you'll take some time to visit the rest of the Banana Bunch to see how they used the Card Kit -- and then see the Flutter By girls too and see how they used flowers this week! You'll find links below!!

The Bananas
Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts ♥ Teresa Grau
Wendy Kastner ♥ Dawn Burnworth
Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

Flutter By Wednesdays
Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine
Danni ♥ Harriet ♥ Heather
Jodi ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle
Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef

I don't have my Cuttlebug Challenge project today - it's centerpieces this week and my tutorial will be up on Sunday for that. But you can see what the rest of the team has come up with over at the blog!

And The Diedrich Dare today is a color challenge. I've been swamped this week with work and trying to get ready for a women's retreat this weekend so I didn't get to play this week. But definitely go see what the Daredevils have come up with! And we have a new DareDevil this week - Lisa!! Welcome girl!! You can visit the challenge blog here and find a link to who all played along!

Have a beautiful day!!

Sweet Treat & Tutorial

My sweet friend Heather is celebrating her blogaversary with a really great blog candy prize. You should check it out -- you'll also see her great tutorial on a double pocket card!! Go check it out!

Heather's Heavenly Stamptations!

ETA: I've fixed the link. I either messed it up or got so wrapped up in making it multi-color (which Heather does all the time in her posts - and it was a nod to her and her style) that I forgot to link it!

Banana Split Sunday: Easy as 1-2-3!

Hello everyone! I have a quick and simple card for today's Banana Split Sunday challenge! This week it's as Easy as 1-2-3!! Use 1 ribbon, 2 stamps and 3 Dew Drops/Gems to create a card! Be sure to load up a link to your creation at the 2RedBananas blog!

I used this month's August/September Journaling set to create a card with a masculine feel. The fern stamp was used to create my own patterned paper and the journaling lines stamp was used to create my take on a journaling circle like those you can get from several places. I love that I can custom create these for whatever project I need! I think this is a trick I'll be using over and over again! Card layout is from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch this week - it was just perfect for the "recipe" we are working with!

Please take a look and see how the other Bananas used these elements!

Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts ♥ Teresa Grau
Wendy Kastner ♥ Dawn Burnworth
Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

Happy Birthday!

Modern Sugar Blvd is releasing a few new images tomorrow! Here is a card I created using the new Candle Mama.

She is colored with Prismas/baby oil and I'll scent her with some Caramel Apple card scents before I send her off!

Several of the other sugars have sneak peeks to share as well - swing by and see what they've created!

Georgia ♥ Jodi ♥ Lindsay
Mary ♥ Sharon

A DareDevil Flutterby?

Please be sure to scroll down and see my Cuttlebug Challenge post below!

This Wednesday I have combined my challenges for Flutterby Wednesday and Whimsical Wednesday: The Diedrich Dare! I don't plan to do this often, but just needed it to happen this week!


Great sketch huh?!? It's fun to think outside the box and make cards that aren't *square* or *rectangles*.

I kept the basics of the sketch but did eliminate the square layer because I didn't want to cover up this pretty paper and simplified it quite a bit as well in regards to the sentiment placement and the little circles that I left off completely. I do want to revisit this sketch and play exactly as it's sketched because those little circles completely intrigue me! I can't wait to see what the rest of the Daredevils do with that little tidbit!

The party continues for Danni's birthday and we have special guest designers (they are all special, but this week - they are Extra-Special!) -- her kiddos are designing along with us! Isn't that great? I love it when my little man gets all art-y with me and so I know how great this is for Danni too! Can't wait to see what they have just for us! The challenge - use SPARKLE!! I love sparkle --- but kept it low key on this card! I wanted the focus to be the pretty paper and the sentiment!

I used some Shimmer-It paint to highlight the embossing on my base as well as the pattern on my middle layer. I think you can see it better in the next photo:

My *faith* is Making Memories letter stickers in white that I just DTP'd with some Antique Linen distress ink.

Take a moment to visit the rest of the Daredevils and see their use of the sketch! You can also find out the winner of our first prize on The Diedrich Dare blog!

Darla Wilson ♥ Debbie Lee ♥ Heather Schlatter
Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich ♥ Kim Ross
Lisa Slusser ♥ ebecca Ednie
Sandra McLean ♥ Taylor Usry

And of course, you have to see how the Flutterby girls incorporated SPARKLE in with their butterflies and/or fairies as well!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine
Danni ♥ Harriet ♥ Heather
Jodi ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle
Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef

That's it for me today! Have fun visiting everyone!!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 49: Mini Album

The Cuttlebug Challenge blog is continuing on with our Birthday Palooza! This week are making mini albums to record the moments of the party! Since my theme is a '50s Sock Hop/Grease I went with my color scheme of pink and black and white. One of the major icons of this era is the poodle skirt and that inspired my mini album!

I was doing some searching many weeks ago looking for poodle patterns and came across some "history" of the poodle skirt. NOT that I can find that link today! One said that it was invented by a lady who didn't sew but needed something special for a holiday party. She grabbed felt since it wouldn't require hemming and such and just cut out a wide circle and then decorated it. And then sold it to someone at the party!!! A business was born!

In searching for that link I found this really neat explanation - no reference to who invented it but lots of talk about how teens loved it because of the SWING when dancing to Rock-N-Roll! And something about the leash meaning you had a steady guy and no leash meaning you were playing the field!?! Oooh la la!!

I created an album that was SO SIMPLE to put together. I just sketched out a rough triangle in the shape of my skirt, cutting several pages. I used some Black Magic Coredinations -- so my album alternates between pink and black as the paper is double sided. Very cool even thought I didn't sand it. I hemmed and hawed for about an hour trying to decide if I wanted to emboss my skirt or not. Finally opted to just emboss the little petticoat/crinoline that is peeking out from below.

I found the poodle pattern by searching for poodle skirts in Google Images. You can find it here (along with several other free applique patterns!) After trimming her out, I covered her in Fun Flock and added a bling collar and drew in a leash - because I am after all wholly committed to the 2 guys in my life!!! *wink*

Please visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see what the rest of the designers came up with for this challenge! We'd love to have you play along as well!

Banana Split Sunday: A Fall Sketch

Good Sunday morning everyone! I hope your Saturday was terrific (it's Sat. evening as I write this and the little man and I had a terrific day of just chilling out at home, playing and dancing and watching Horton Hears a Who!

Since it's Sunday, it's time for another Banana Split Sunday challenge - this week it's a sketch challenge and there is a prize to go along with it as well! One lucky participant will win their choice of one of the *new* sets being released on Monday! We love that ya'll play along and share your creations with us!! So keep 'em coming!!

As I took my photo this evening, I realized that I have used a TON of brown this week. My dear friend Heather must be feeling awful! I know she said she had a headache yesterday - it's probably all my fault as she is terribly allergic to brown!! Sorry girl! I'll try to not use brown on my next creation!

I used one of the new sets on my card and paired it with some really *BriGhT* paper from a DCWV stack. I also flipped the sketch just a little. And here is a close-up of my image. I covered the sweet bear in Fun Flock and then went back with my marker to add in some of the lines. The leaves were stickled as well to mimic the glitter on the patterned paper.

Go on over and see the rest of the creations from the Banana Bunch. With all the talent on this team, it's definitely worth the trip!

Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts ♥ Teresa Grau

Wendy Kastner ♥ Dawn Burnworth

Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

One Cool Dude

Hi everyone! I hope you've had a great day! I wanted to share a card with you that I *meant* to share yesterday, just never got it photographed.

Mindy Baxter has been designing some really cute Penny stamps for 2RedBananas the last few months and this month we have a "boy" version to add to the line - Meet Jack. Skater Jack in fact! All the new images will be available on Monday, September 14th!

I found this fun road sign paper earlier in the week and figured it would be neat to pair with this image. Too bad there isn't a skating sign on the paper somewhere! I colored him with my Prismacolor pencils - NO blending medium -- just left it raw and used a few colors to get some shading. What do you think? I kinda like it. Needs some refining I think but I know I'll be using it some more. I accented his t-shirt with a road sign cut from the paper and then another road sign as part of my sentiment. The inside will read something like "until you've mastered the move" or goal or technique or something - I'm still working on getting it just right.

Take a moment to visit the rest of The Banana Bunch and see their creations!

Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts ♥ Teresa Grau
Wendy Kastner ♥ Dawn Burnworth
Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

And I also wanted to share a new blog I started with you Top Ten Creations. I'd love for you to check it out --- one of my favorite cards this week features Skater Jack as well - it's totally rad!! (do kids even still say that these days?)

Hi girls!! Hope you've had a terrific day, we are just relaxing after dinner, watching Horton Hears a Who. I have another sneak peek from 2RedBananas for you today.

This is Pumpkin Penny - I paired her with a Halloween sentiment but it's easily a generic fall image too! I FINALLY found an Apron Lace punch in this town -- even better since I had a Joann's coupon for it. I stamped and colored the pumpkins an additional 2 times so I could pop them up.

Take a moment to visit the rest of the Banana Bunch to see what they have created with the new images!

Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts ♥ Teresa Grau
Wendy Kastner ♥ Dawn Burnworth
Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

Introducing: The Diedrich Dare!

Post #3 (last one for today!)
Oh wow! If you've been a reader of my blog for a long time, you know that Tuesday's used to be all about Madelynn and her fabulous sketches she would bring us. We took a little summer hiatus but now we are back together again. HOWEVER --- a few things have changed. From now on, we'll be enjoying Whimsical Wednesday and all the Diedrich kids are involved in bringing you The Diedrich Dare. Be sure to visit the NEW BLOG -- if you DARE!! Join us this week and upload your project for a chance to win one of Jessica's (that's the Diedrich mom) Butterfly Wishes set from The Greeting Farm.

And you really should!! Madelynn took it super easy on us this week and gave us a terrific sketch to use!

It's the Week of Peeks at 2RedBananas and Mindy has drawn the cutest images this month! I decided to use Birthday Penny today along with this really fun Basic Grey paper!

I colored Penny with my Prisma colored pencils and baby oil and cut her out.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the DareDevils to see their take on the sketch!

Darla Wilson ♥ Debbie Lee ♥ Heather Schlatter
Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich (a.k.a.Mom ;)
Kim Ross ♥ Lisa Slusser
Rebecca Ednie ♥ Sandra MacLean

And of course, don't forget the Banana Bunch --- you've got to see what they've created with the new images being released this month! Dawn is joining the team full time and we have a new guest designer!

Jeanette Fincher ♥ Deb Felts
Teresa Grau ♥ Wendy Kastner
Dawn Burnworth

Lynette Neus - Guest Designer

Flutter By Wednesday: Velvet Flocked Butterflies

Post #2
Wednesday means it's time for Flutter By Wednesday! Danni is celebrating a milestone birthday this month and so we're celebrating all month long too! Jacque is our guest designer this week; be sure to swing by her blog and take a look at what she has created for this week's challenge!

Dannie asked that we use the color pink - her favorite - along with our butterflies or fairies this week. Several weeks ago I found the most scrumptious BROWN flocked butterfly paper. It was in my basket sooo quick - I knew there would be a challenge to use it on sometime.

And a close-up of the most beautiful paper!!

I based my card on the Fall-to-Layout #58 at Clean & Simple. I only used a bit of it so *you know* you'll be seeing this fabulous paper again!

Please take a moment to visit the rest of the Flutter By team!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni
Harriet ♥ Heather ♥ Jodi
Lelia ♥ Michelle- Team Leader
Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 48: Gift Bag & Card

Post #1

We are continuing our 1 Year Birthday Celebration at the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog! This week it's all about the GIFTS!! What's a birthday without gifts? (You can see my invite here).

In keeping with my '50s Sock Hop/Grease theme, I used some very classic 1950's Grease colors: pink, white and black and of course, kept it really simple!

The bag is actually a bag that has a company logo along the bottom! I just covered it up with paper!!

Here's a close-up shot of the bag decoration! "It's Your Party" is a little play on words; maybe you remember that song from the '50s "It's My Party" --- well, just a little twist and it's perfect!

And then here is the close-up of the card - same paper, same embossing, same border punch. I kinda makes me think of those crinoline (?) underskirts they would wear under the poodle skirts so they would stick out. Again, my sentiment is another well known '50s song!

Thanks for checking in this morning!! Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and see all the other wonderful creations by the team!

Sweet Sketch and Love

Hi everyone! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend! We had a total blast at the football game! I wore a black top with a touch of red to honor Texas Tech since hubby is an alumni -- and then for the game threw on an extra University of North Dakota hat my FIL had since he's an alumni there. My BIL had on a TT jersey and UND hat at the UND pep rally and got interviewed for North Dakota TV! I love cheering for an underdog so my MIL and I cheered on the Fighting Sioux loudly!! For their first Division I game in a crowd of 47,000 they made some great plays and while they might not have won, they did beat the spread!! It was incredibly exciting (or read the Tech article)--- I can see why my sis and her hubby have season tickets!

Today is a special Monday as it starts the Week of Peeks at 2RedBananas! There is a great lineup of stamps this month and I can't wait to share them with you! Today I am using a the Quotes 3 set, which has another 3 terrific quotes!
The layout is based on the Sweet Sunday Sketch 34 at the sweetest thing. I've looked at her sketchs so many times but this is my first time actually creating a card with one! I love it because it really keeps the quote front and center but allows plenty of space for pretty paper and embellishments!

Stop by the rest of the Bunch and see what they have to share!!

Jeanette Fincher
Deb Felts
Teresa Grau
Wendy Kastner
Dawn Burnworth

Lynette Neus - Guest Designer

Look Who's Turning One!

Be sure to add the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to your favorites or follow the blog so you won't miss a day of the party!!

A Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Hi everyone!! I have a card to share today that I created using the new card sketch over at Paper Popsicles. Amy creates great sketches every week! Take a moment to head over and check it out!! We'd love for you to join in!!
I used one of the Elizabeth images from Cheeky Radish Designs that are exclusive digital stamps at Paper Popsicles. I paired her with some Imaginisce paper (here) that reminded me of waves and you can find it in the store as well!

I don't know if I'll post again before Sunday or not --- there's a thousand cards I want to make --- but chores and laundry need to be done!! I'm going to my very first COLLEGE FOOTBALL game on Saturday! Hubby and his siblings are all Texas Tech grads and my FIL is a grad of University of North Dakota --- who just happens to be playing Tech this Saturday. So it's a Family Affair! I'm pretty excited about it! I hope I get to see my SIL and her hubby at the game too - he's a big Tech fan too and they go to all the games!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 47: Birthday Invitations

It's all about birthdays this month at the Cuttlebug Challenge blog as we celebrate our FIRST birthday!! By the end of the month, you'll have everything you need to throw a Celebration that will be Remembered Forever!!

I hope you'll join us ALL month long for all the excitement!!

This week we are focusing on Invitations --- makes sense since they are the first thing that has to be done for a party! Last week I worked on something and it made me think of Grease 2 -- my favorite of the Grease duo....and that led to me picking a 1950's Sock Hop/Grease theme for my party this month! (Even though Grease 2 is pretty late '50s-early '60s maybe) (Hey: It's My Party and I'll Cry If {nope, DO WHAT} I Want To!! -- anybody know that song? I used to spend hours growing up at my grandma's listening to old LPs - I still love oldies music and Lesley Gore rocks!!!}

It's a VERY SIMPLE invite!! I'm of the personal opinion that if (A) I have to make a ton of something and (B) people are going to throw it away then (C) I'm not going to create something elaborate that takes tons of time and product! But that's just me!! Hey - those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile now are probably not surprised!! I can be a lazy stamper - not ashamed to admit it!! I used the circle nestabilities to cut out the record, then used them as a guide to trace the "grooves" on in silver pen. The inside was embossed with the invite folder and the details added in silver pen as well. Hubby created the "Happy Birthday" record label for the center!! He's such a genius - it took him about a minute and that's only because I didn't explain very well were I wanted the Happy Birthday!

Hopefully though, my little record is spiking the curiosity of the invitees and has them thinking of jukeboxes, poodle skirts and leather jackets.

Before I send you off to see the Cuttlebug Challenge blog -- I'll leave a link for another of my favorite song/dance numbers from Grease 2!

Flutter By Wednesday: Happy Birthday Danni!

Hello everyone! This is the first Flutter By Wednesday challenge in September - the first of a BIG month of Flutter By goodness! Danni, the creator of Flutter By Wednesdays is having a Birthday Celebration all month long! To kick it off this week she has a BIG blog candy prize - I've seen a sneak of it and it's truly wonderful!! Be sure to play along for your chance to win!!

This week we were asked to create a Happy Birthday card using either a butterfly or a fairy. I went super elegant this week and used some paper from a Prima stack. I picked the purple because for some reason I'm thinking purple is a favorite color of Danni's.....hope I'm right!

The layout is loosely based on last week's Mojo Monday challenge --- although MUCH simplified!!

Be sure to visit the rest of the Flutter By team and leave Danni some birthday wishes! We also have a guest designer every week this month - this week it is Christy Croll! Visit her as well and check out her stuff - she's a talented artist with really sweet and adorable images!!

Ann ♥ Ashley ♥ Chris ♥ Christine
Danni ♥ Harriet ♥ Heather ♥ Jodi
Kim ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle ♥ Nancy
Nicola ♥ Stef

September Kit at Paper Popsicle

Hi everyone! Today is the first of September! Hard to believe --- the summer just seemed to fly by! The new September kits are now available at Paper Popsicles!! There is a great digital stamp kit designed by Cheeky Radish available; I wanted to share the projects I created with them.

There are 3 terrific sentiment sets in the kit. With digital stamps, you can size them however you want. On my first card, I wanted to create a "scrappy" card and have the sentiment be the main focus.
This is an odd sized card - 4 1/2 x 6. I paired the sentiment with some Basic Grey paper which you can also find in the store. (You can just browse all the collections or you can sort by manufacturer which is really nice - I know *I* appreciate being able to do that!)

You also get a collection of household items - including these lamps! I lined them all up before printing them out. I wanted to pair them with the "You Light Up My Life" sentiment and really wanted to convey that the person was super special to me. So I left all the lamps black and white except for one. What do you think? I personally love how it looks and can't wait to use this method again in the future!! The polka dot paper is Cherry Arte Vanilla Vintage Count - isn't that a fun name? I love polka dots!! And I am seriously in love with the Cherry Arte line. If you aren't familiar with it - go check it out!! (Here's a direct link so it's easy for you!)

I added the sentiment to the inside and tried to create a similar layout with the polka dot paper and the punched border. It's all signed and ready to mail even!

Another sentiment in the kit is Shine On --- pairs great with the lamps. I chose to pair it with some Scenic Route paper that features lots of candles! There is a card and a matching gift tag!

I trimmed out one candle and popped it up for some added interest on the tag!There is a terrific image of sunflowers in the kit. I was born in Kansas so sunflowers have a special meaning to me. They are so cheerful looking - especially the kinds you see growing in the fields with their massive heads! When hubby and I were dating, his parents lived in Kansas and we took some pictures on the edge of a sunflower field. He still has that pic on his desk at work.

I wanted to show how you can manipulate digital images and create rows and patterns, just like you can with a "real" stamp. HERE you can see the original image --- I resized them then copied and pasted a row of them across the bottom edge of my document. I printed them out and then copied them onto a transparency. You can get transparencies to run through your printer which would save a step but I didn't have any of those handy.

This card will fit in a business sized envelope. I paired it with some BOLD and GRAPHIC paper from Little Yellow Bicycle. Some of you may be thinking "Gee, that's something I've never seen her use before!" And it's true - I love the way these papers look and how others use them but it's not something that I gravitate to and buy. However, it was in the stack that Melissa sent me and I thought the sunflowers looked awesome laid over the yellow print. So I went bold and just used the reverse for the base of the card.

I don't know if you can really see, but I used the brads to attach the transparency to the yellow paper. I wanted the clear layer to stand up a bit so I put some pop dots under the brad to help keep it elevated some.

You can check out all of the Monthly Kits HERE at Paper Popsicles. There is a great one with some fun Basic Grey paper but my favorite is the one that features Jenni Bowlin papers and stuff. SO FUN!!!

Here is the link to the Paper Popsicles Gallery - you can see all the projects that the design team created with the various kits. I hope you'll check them out and join the forum too! It's a fun, happy place to be!!