Kindness

Hello girls! Are you having a terrific day?!  Since it's Wednesday, there are a handful of challenges I am highlighting today.

Cuttlebug Challenge - Popups
The Diedrich Dare - sketch by Jack below
Flutterby Wednesday - use blue,green, white - oops! I did use butterflies, but the wrong colors! If you play along, be sure to link your direct blog POST. Danni's trying a new link system this week too.

I love this sketch and took some liberty to simplify it a little by eliminating a layer and using the fruits at the bottom of my image for the row of buttons in the sketch.

Pretty simple construction. I used some Coredinations cardstock for the coral layer and just distressed the edges. And that ribbon. Oh it's sooooo luxorious. It's the nicest ribbon I've ever owned. My fellow Daredevil Rebecca ordered some months and months ago; I shared some of the yardage with her of some skinnier ribbon and just a little of this. It's so nice I've been hoarding it but finally convinced myself to just use it. There is always more to get should i need it, right?

And then the popup on the inside is using the spiral popup method. This is the first popup I've created using this method. I left it off to the side so there would be plenty of room to write a message.

Take a spin over to the Diedrich Dare blog to see the featured team member this week. And check out the rest of the team members too! We have a new Daredevil this week - please be sure to visit Krista Vantol and welcome her to the team!

Andrea Murdock ♥ Darla Wilson (on hiatus)  ♥ Heather Schlatter 

 ♥ Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich ♥ Kim Ross  

Kris Palakiko  ♥ Krista Vantol ♥ Randi Wall ♥

Rebecca Ednie ♥  Sara Henton ♥ Valerie Urtiaga

And be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog too to see all the inspiration over there as well.

I hope you'll play along with us this week!

He is Risen!

Good morning girls! I'm so glad you stopped by today. I am very excited about the card I have to share today and have a lot to say about it (for a change) so make sure you have your coffee and settle in for a chat!

This week the designers at Sugar Creek Hollow are creating Easter cards, using the sketch below.

I wanted to use the eggs image that was last week's free image and started doing some research on the symbolism of Easter eggs. I learned that originally, the eggs were dyed red to symbolize the blood of Jesus and I immediately thought it would be neat to make red eggs. I also saw a photo of the (Ukranian?) eggs that are decorated with wax before being dyed to reveal the pattern. This is an easy thing to recreate on paper using the wax resist technique.

My final color combo of red, black and white was inspired by a bag of jelly beans that my little man brought home from MDO earlier in the week. Each color symbolized something and I was thinking of the black symbolizing our sins and the white symbolizing how the blood Christ shed cleanses us. The greatest sacrifice of all. I hope that you experienced Jesus' love and His sacrifice for you.

Other than that, lots of layers and embellishments. This card is also larger than normal - about 5 x 6 1/2.

A couple of reminders for Sugar Creek Hollow - today is Friday so be sure to go grab this week's free image - it's just wonderful for spring! There is a bit of time left to enter this week's Sensational Saturday Sketch challenge. And a new sketch posted tomorrow that I hope you'll create with as well. Be sure to link your cards up so we can see them! New Releases coming up and a blog hop too! Lots of excitement - hope to see you there! There is a great tutorial on creating vintage style cards over at the store blog too if you've been wondering how to "vintage-ize" your card be sure to take a peek - Linda did a terrific job with it!
Be sure to see what the other designers have done with this sketch. I've been able to have a sneak peek and you will not be disappointed!

 Cheri ♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan
Joseline ♥ Kristina ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah 

Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥

March Guest Designer

Kelly
April Guest Designer
Martha

I am also entering this card in a few other challenges today!
Of course, it fits the Cuttlebug Challenge for this week
Sew Many Challenges - use punches
Stampin for the Weekend - Easter
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Easter
Cute Card Thursday - Dimension
I Love Digi - Easter
PaperPlay - Easter
ABC Challenge - Q is for Quote
Stamp with Fun - Easter
PaperCutz - Easter

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 76: Easter Dresses

Hello again girls. This week's theme for the Cuttlebug Challenge is all about Easter. I remember being a little girl and the easter dresses my mom would sew for me. Dresses that were pretty, pastel, and definitely designed for warm weather. Easter Sunday ends up being chilly here half the time! But that never deterred me from wearing that new dress.

I can just imagine this little girl in her new Easter dress, waiting for the egg hunt to begin. I mentioned in the post below that I wanted to use this week's DareDevil sketch in a new way --- and this is it. Completely different take on the layers and all and I love it! Be sure to scroll down to see that post as well, okay!?! And since I added a butterfly at the last moment, I can use this for Flutter By Wednesday as well!

My card uses some cardstock from the Coredinations White Wash line. Such a fun paper - I love how soft and muted the color is with the white wash finish over it. We have a new official glue sponsor for the Cuttlebug Challenge - Beacon Adhesives. One of their products is Zip Dry and I used that on my card today. One thing I've had issues with in the past is getting layers to adhere to my card when I emboss the base (or layer below it) like I did on today's card. My Tombow tape runner just doesn't seem to get a strong bond. But the Zip Dry did the trick today. It's a great glue for paper crafting as it dries without wrinkling - one of the biggest issues with using liquid glues with paper. I remember using it a few years ago in a Karen Russell class but then forgor about it until now.

Head over to the Cuttlebug Challenge blog to see the rest of the designers creations. Be sure to upload a link to your creation so we can see how you intepret the theme!

The Diedrich Dare: Polka Dots and Puppy Dogs

Hi girls! Could anything be cuter than polka dots and puppy dogs? This image is my favorite from The Character Cafe, our sponsor for this month. This week's sketch for Whimsical Wednesday: The Diedrich Dare is a great, simple layout by Jack.

I always seem to look at sketches one way -- and then after I've finished the sketch I see it another way. I can't wait to see how the other girls interpreted this one. And I hope to use this sketch again in a different way real soon too!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Take a moment to go see the rest of the team and see their creations today.

Take a spin over to the Diedrich Dare blog to see the featured team member this week. And check out the rest of the team members too!

Andrea Murdock ♥ Darla Wilson (on hiatus)  ♥ Heather Schlatter 

 ♥ Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich ♥ Kim Ross  

Kris Palakiko  ♥ Randi Wall ♥ Rebecca Ednie

 Sara Henton ♥ Valerie Urtiaga

Fabulous Friday: Stitching

Good morning girls! I hope this Friday finds you well and blessed. It should be a beautiful spring day here --- right before we get hit with cold and snow tomorrow. I hope that the forecast doesn't hold and our garage sale is a big hit.

This week the Sugar Creek Hollow team was asked to create something using stitching - either real or faux. I have still got some limited access to my stamp desk so I decided to create a digital card for this week's challenge. Our women's bible study at church is studying Revelation with Beth Moore and we were asked to memorize a verse for the study - going so far as to make a card that we could carry and use for that purpose. I'll have this printed off on photo paper and can use it to help commit this verse to memory.

I used the Truth digital kit from Summertime Designs for my base paper and little lace accent. It was a free kit and is just lovely! I think I'll use it several times. And there's nothing that says digi images are only for printing and using in a traditional method.

The verse is framed with an image from Sugar Creek Hollow that Tracy gave to the design team as a little gift. There are several frames similar to this available in the store and they are wonderful for framing a verse, sentiment or another image. I converted the image to white so that it would really stand out on the blue background. And I added faux stitching to the edges as a final touch.

Take a moment and see what the rest of the designers have created for this week's challenge. Starting next week, Sugar Creek Hollow will be bringing you a sketch challenge every Saturday.

 Cheri ♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan
Joseline ♥ Kristina ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah 

Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥ Kelly (who is joining the team full-time)

April Guest Designer
Martha

Update

Good morning girls! Hope you are having a beautiful Wednesday wherever you are!
I wanted to pop on real quick and let you know that there are a few challenges today you should check out!
The Diedrich Dare - a really cute sketch which will pair perfectly with the Cuttlebug Challenge. And of course, Wednesday wouldn't be complete without Flutter By Wednesday - this week's theme is green - and Paper Makeup Stamps has a terrific prize as the sponsor so be sure to check it out.

Also, Sugar Creek Hollow will be starting a sketch challenge this Saturday so keep that in mind and come back and play along with us then!

Perhaps I'll be back with some creations later today. We have been getting ready for a garage sale around here for this Saturday and it's taken up all my energy. Plus my stamp desk is a mess as things get found in one part of the house and dumped there to be put away later. My desk is NOT one of the perfectly neat ones by any stretch of the imagination, but there does come a point when there is too much and I can't even focus. And it's crossed that line.

Hubby pulled down some more stuff from the attic so I'm off to sort through that stuff. Have a beautiful day!

Fabulous Friday: Buttons

Hello girls! I'm sorry that this is going up so late in the day. I honestly can not seem to get my act together this week. It's so bad. On a good note though, we are almost ready for a big garage sale we are doing with my sis and I cleaned out the office which I know has made my husband happy.

This week the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge is all about buttons! I chose one of my favorite images, the victorian styled shoes for this card, printed on some kraft packing tape. I crumpled the image and the patterned paper as well as distressed the edges. I added some gold embossing powder to the edges of my image panel and also sprinkled some directly on the image. Love that look! What do you think of it? Do you like it or do you think it looks hokey? The buttons are from a stash I picked up years ago in an antique store.

Spend some time visiting the rest of the team and see how they incorporated buttons into today's creation! Also, there is a really cute Easter set up at the store - 3 really cute images for only $5 and today's Friday Freebie is 3 sentiments to coordinate with them. So stop by the store today!

 Cheri ♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan
Joseline ♥ Kristina ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah 

Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥

March Guest Designer

Kelly
April Guest Designer
Martha

Fabulous Friday: A Color Challenge

Happy Friday girls!

Besides Friday being the kickoff to the weekend, they are also the day that the Sugar Creek Hollow designers all post creations for you! I tell ya, these girls are A-Mazing! I want you to be sure to visit the store blog - there is a new design and it's oh, so Fabulous! Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see some honors that have been bestowed on two of the designers. Congrats ladies! While you are there - be sure to click on the Friday Freebie button (left column) and grab these week's free images - yes, there are two!!

Before you dash off, let me show you my card. This week Joseline (our Magnificent DT Coordinator - congrats to you, sweet girl, on your new ministry position!) gave us a color challenge. When there is more than 2 colors, I have to map these out on paper otherwise I forget to use all the colors! I'd love to see what you can create with these colors too!

And yes, two of the colors are In Colors from last year; they are some of Joseline's favorites. And I have to agree. Baja Breeze is one of my most favorite blues of all time. I'm wishin' and hopin' that Stampin Up will bring it back somehow.

Editing my photo I wasn't too sure about the layout of the colors....thinking I might be happier if the pink border and red base were switched. But I'm not going to worry about it. The focus is really the verse and I hope it will be a wonderful reminder of how close God is to us via His word to a dear friend of mine that is going through a rough patch.

You won't want to miss the other designers take on this color challenge - trust me!!! They did outstanding work as always!!

 Cheri ♥ Dani ♥ Donna ♥ Joan
Joseline ♥ Kristina ♥ Linda ♥ Loretta 

Marsha ♥ Nancy ♥ Sarah 

Stephanie ♥ Tracy ♥

March Guest Designer

Kelly

Cuttlebug Be Inspired 73: Embossing

Hello girls! I am so super excited to share this card with you today. This week our theme is embossing - use the cracked glass, faux metal, etc techniques in your project!

I love cracked glass - it's such a neat effect! And so that's what I used today! Check it out! Here's what I used on today's card:

I love those embossing powders - they are not a solid color and so the effect is really dimensional!

And here's some alternate shots:

 Be sure to stop by the Cuttlebug Challenge blog, your source for teaching and inspiration in addition to challenges, to see what the other designers came up with! Be sure to link up your creation incorporating wet embossing in Mr Linky over there!

A New Creation

I wanted to take a moment and share my Cuttlebug project from last week with you. The Cuttlebug Challenge blog is much more than just a challenge blog - it's a teaching and inspiration blog too!

We were challenged to create a wall hanging and as I was thinking about what to create, the verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17 came to mind: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" And I thought of butterflies, who undergo a complete transformation in their lifetime. And how God is transforming me every day. Our family is certainly facing some trials right now and it's easy to get discouraged. But then I remember that He is guiding my path and I should trust Him. So I made a simple wall plaque to remind me that though I face failures, they are not the end of the world. That I am a new creation in Christ.

What do you think of that lime green swirl? It's some packing tape I picked up in the dollar section at Michaels. Very cool stuff. I adhered it to some white cardstock since my base was embossed. I love that shade of green paired with that deep red!

Thanks for stopping by!