A Fluttering Birthday

Hello again! Be sure to scroll down for my Diedrich Dare post! This week is an open challenge for Flutter By Wednesday - just be sure to include a butterfly, fairy or angel on your card/project.

I needed some birthday cards for a few girls in bible study today and since I've been feeling under the weather, I thought I'd see what I already had in my stash.

I did find this card that I started of, I can't even remember when! I knew that I could easily add a sentiment and a butterfly to the base. I also added some pearls to dress it up a bit. I really love the white embossing on the vellum that I did. It's nice to be reminded of that technique/look and I think I'll be using it again very soon!

Take a spin over to the Flutter By Blog and leave a link with your creation!

Flutter By Wednesday: Simple Butterfly Beauty

Good morning afternoon evening girls! I am sooo sorry my post is up so late today. I put off finishing up my little man's valentines for his MDO today until the last moment so that was my focus last night. And then time at bible study, with hubby and back for the party - well, here it is after dinner and I am finally having a moment to type this up.

Today I have a one layer card to share with you for today's challenge. It has just occurred to me that I maybe should've checked to see if we had a specific challenge for this week. Hold on - let me do that! Ohh - yep, this week it's a Love Theme --- using of course a butterfly, fairy or angel. Well, I love simple cards. And I love kraft paired with just about anything. And love is a beautiful gift. So perhaps I managed to slide in on this one.

The butterfly is a free digi stamp posted over at Sugar Creek Hollow (check the freebies tab every Friday). I changed the color in Photoshop and then transferred it to my kraft cardstock. Lots of detailing with my white gel pen. Speaking of Sugar Creek Hollow, if you haven't already, sign up as a follower - there is a $50 gift certificate that will be given away at Grand Opening. And this week there is a week long blog hop introducing a few of the designers each day. Start at the store blog each day and then visit their blogs to learn more about them. I also am entering this in the Curtain Call, Act 16 challenge to use Kraft, Red and Vanilla.

Won't you take a moment to visit the rest of the Flutter By team and see what beautiful creations they have for you this week!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni

Harriet ♥ Karen ♥ Kimberly

Kris ♥ Kristie ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle

Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Pam

and our Guest Designers

Debby ♥ Jeanette ♥ Shana ♥ Suzie

Banana Split Sunday: Tree Inspiration

Good morning girls! It's Sunday and time for another Banana Split Sunday challenge. This week it's an inspiration challenge.....What can you create with a tree?

I had so many ideas on what to create for this challenge. And as usually happens, what I ended up with is drastically different from what I first sat down to create. I was going to use ribbons ... and then I thought maybe eyelets or gems. Then I decided to use words since text fascinates me so much. I couldn't get quite the look I wanted so I thought and thought some more.

And then I had an idea. And asked my little man to come help me.

This is what we created together. It's so simple it's almost amateurish --- but it's personal and a little piece of him that is now frozen in time. LOVE THAT!!

I sketched out a simple triangle for my tree shape and then used Olive Pastel chalk ink and his thumb, pointer and pinky fingers to create the tree. The trunk is stamped in Memories Chestnut Roan. The sentiment is from the Winter Wishes set at 2RedBananas. I really wanted to keep the focus on my little guy's fingerprints so I matted it and used dimensionals to attach it to a white card base.

Join in the fun this week and show us what you can create with a tree! We've loved all the participation!! Spend some time visiting the rest of The Banana Bunch and see their take on this challenge!

Jeanette Fincher

Deb Felts

Teresa Grau

Wendy Kastner

Dawn Burnworth

Lynette Neus-Guest Designer

And I'll leave you with a picture of the proud artist - he's in front of our tree that we decorated this morning. You might see lots of open space at the top. I let him put up most of the ornaments and so they are all at the bottom. And I'm leaving them ---- it's not very many years that you get to have a lopsided-ly decorated tree and I intend to enjoy every one of them!

Have a blessed Sunday!
p.s. I'm pre-posting this and my little guy just came in and said "I have to tell you Good Night and about my life". And then he proceeded to jabber on about all sorts of things. I'm off to tuck this little guy in for the night.

The Diedrach Dare: Out of my Comfort Zone

Good Wednesday morning girls! I hope you are having a terrific day! We are in the middle of the third straight week of a cold snap. Very unusual for here; I'll be happy when we return to our normal winter temps in the 60s.

Since it's Wednesday, there is a lot going on here at the blog.... first up is my post for Whimsical Wednesday: The Diedrich Dare. Madelynn brought us an inspiration challenge this week. These are the hardest challenges for me and I'm really steppin' out with the BRIGHT color scheme.  Here's what she chose:

She loves the fun, funky style of the Alex, the main gal on Wizards of Waverly Place. I can see why she does. I love how cheerful bright colors are even though I don't wear them, decorate with them or create with them very often. I chose to use the colors and the white blossoms on the plate as my inspiration.

I am not even sure what colors these papers are. I got them in a color family stack from Stampin Up and I'm pretty sure that I have every sheet still! But I do love that blue color - it might be Taken with Teal? I stamped the snowflakes in Craft White and then embossed in white as well. The pink panel is popped up on dimensionals but you can't really see the dimension in this photo.

The layout is pretty simple. I was originally going to have a sentiment, but every one I tried just didn't look right. So I finally said: "okay - no sentiment. just ribbon and gems". And now the card and I are both happy!!

Please take a moment to check out The Diedrich Dare blog --- and upload your creation using the inspiration piece as well. Then see what the rest of the DareDevils have done. Debbie isn't participating this week; she's been swamped at work. (bummer.) BUT -- we do get to welcome 2 new DareDevils to the team: Jacquie and Valerie. I'm so excited to get to design with Val again and really can't wait to get to know Jacquie well too!

Darla Wilson  ♥ Debbie Lee ♥ Heather Schlatter

Jacquie Nordaune ♥ Jacquie Peifer ♥ Jessica Diedrich

Kim Ross ♥ Kris ♥ Randi Wall ♥ Rebecca Ednie

Sandra MacLean ♥ Valerie Urtiaga

Come back later* as I have a FlutterBy Wednesday post coming up too! The Cuttlebug Challenge team is on hiatus this week as we prepare for our next Big Event coming up in just a few days!

*MUCH later as I've just realized it's Wednesday and I forgot to create that card earlier today!

Flutter By Wednesday: Blessings

This is my 2nd post today - please scroll down for my Cuttlebug Challenge and Diedrich Dare post!

This week the challenge is an open one for FlutterBy Wednesday - you can do anything you want as long as you use a butterfly, fairy or angel (for the holiday season) on your creation. We also have a terrific guest designer this week - Mercy! Can't wait to see what she has for us!

I created an ATC this week using pink - I was wearing pink when I created it so it seemed fitting somehow. LOL!! I hope that you are having a wonderful day and that you feel the blessings of God around you! Be sure to link up your creation over at Danni's blog!

Be sure to visit the rest of the Flutter By team - Taylor has stepped down - she's getting closer to welcoming a new bundle into their home - I wish her all the best!!! Leave her a little love this week, K?

Please visit the rest of the Flutter By team to see what beautiful creations they have for you this week!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni

Harriet ♥ Heather ♥ Jodi ♥ Karen

Kris ♥ Kristie ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle

Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Pam ♥ Stef ♥ Taylor

Festival of Lights - Video Blog Hop

Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying the Festival of Lights? It has certainly been an event full of inspiration!

I am excited to be part of the first video blog hop by Cuttlebug Challenge! If you arrived here after seeing Betty's video at Cutting Above - you are on the right track! If not, start at Christmas with the Cricut.

Last year I mentioned to my mom that I wanted to change the color scheme on my Christmas tree to whites and clears. Maybe creams too but I haven't completely decided on that inclusion yet. As much as I would love to just go on an ornament free-for-all and buy to my heart's content, that's not really practical. There has been a lot of talk this year about handmade being the perfect gift --- well I think handmade is also the perfect decoration!

With just a few simple supplies, my faithful green Cuttlebug and embossing folders I can have a tree full of ornaments this year.

I am so excited to be participating in the video blog hop today! My neice helped me film and edit my video - any glitches are my fault - everything that looks great is all due to her!! Thanks J!

Those are some close-up shots of the ornaments I've created so far! I can't decide if I like the cardinal or the tapestry one the best so far! I'd love to know which one you like the best!
I did a snowflake one as well - looked really great. I added some stickles and some glitter to it because I figured glitter made everything better. But I did not care for the look at all ---- I prefer just the crisp white on the clear.

Before I send you on your way, we were asked to share our favorite tutorial at the Cuttlebug Challenge.  ACK!! If you know me well at all you know that picking just one favorite is so hard! Ten favorites - a little more doable. So I've been thinking about the ones that I really enjoyed and narrowed it down to two. Terrie's Purse Set is PHEnomenal! She's got serious talent!! And I also really loved Meda's Birthday Organizer. Her work is always so polished and very, very elegant looking. Be sure to scroll down to see it - you'll see how professional her projects always are!!

Now, there are TWO prizes being given away today!! Yea!!
Prize 1 is at Christmas with the Cricut - it said {dinosaur} in parantheses --- I bet that means something to you Cricut fans!!
Prize 2 is at Cuttlebug Challenge - this one is {winter wonderland} --- which sounds divine -- and I'm thinking I heard chatter that it's a very new release? yes? maybe?

Now I want to send you over to one of the newest designers at Cuttlebug Challenge - Tammy Skinner!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a beautiful day!!

Flutter By Wednesday: White on White

Good morning girls! I hope that you are having a terrific Wednesday. I have several posts for today so I hope you are settled in for a nice chat!

This is an open week at Flutter By Wednesday and I hope you'll take a moment to play along. You can do anything you want just make sure that your card includes either a Butterfly, a Fairy or an Angel on it somewhere!

My butterfly is just a sweet little sticker that I bought awhile back to use. I sketched this card out with a verse on the front and then embossed --- but I got ahead of myself and embossed first. So I stamped it on the inside instead.

Please visit the rest of the Flutter By team to see what beautiful creations they have for you this week!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni ♥ Harriet

Heather ♥ Jodi ♥ Kristie ♥ Lelia ♥ Michelle

Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef ♥ Taylor

Then be sure to leave a link to your card on Danni's blog!

Icy Snowflake Card

Hi everyone! I have a card up over at Cuttlebug Challenge today. It's Quick, Clean and Simple. Three things that are perfect as the holiday season is winding up! I'd love for you to swing by and have a look at it!!

Thanks so much!! Have a beautiful day!!

Flutter By Wednesday: Waste not by using Scraps

Hmmm - not sure why this is showing up now and showing Wed's date. Oh well! Enjoy!!

Good morning girls!! I am so happy that it is Wednesday!! It's the biggest day of the week here on my blog! First up I have my Flutter By post for you. I actually created this last week at the same time I was working on last week's card. I had this little bit of kraft cardstock sitting there and wanted to use it - I just love kraft! And figured I might as well make next week's card too!
My flutterby this week is just a plain kraft one. Butterflies are beautiful no matter what their color scheme. I'm pretty wacky and think that even moths are beautiful! A few weeks ago a pretty brown moth was resting on a brick near my front door - just a pretty piece of nature to greet me as I went into my house. So I kept this butterfly plain and brown --- but oh so pretty in his own way!

I hope you have a little bit of beauty in your life today!

Be sure to visit the rest of the Flutter By girls. Link up your creation using a butterfly, a fairy (or even an angel during the holidays) over at Danni's blog! We love it when you play along with us!

Ann ♥ Chris ♥ Christine ♥ Danni
Harriet ♥ Heather ♥ Jodi ♥ Kristie

Lelia ♥ Michelle- Team Leader

Nancy ♥ Nicola ♥ Stef ♥ Taylor

Provo Craft Winter Release - Cuttlebug Folder - Ornaments

Hi girls! I have a sneak peek for you today that showcases one of the NEW winter embossing folders being debuted on HSN on Monday, November 2nd. It also uses a sentiment from the latest 2RedBananas release!

I am giving away one of the new folders over on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog - you have to leave a comment there to win so I'll just send you that way now!! All the details are in my post there!!

Flutter By Wednesday: Simple Hi

Good morning everyone! Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week! It's a busy day here on my blog - I hope you've got a few moments!

The month of October is "open" for Flutter By challenges - create whatever you want using a butterfly or a fairy. Danni even said that through December - Angels are "fluttering" too! How exciting!

I dreamed up this card in my sleep --- inspired very much by Harriet's card from last week. The base is not quite normal size - it was just a scrap I had on my desk. The image panel was another scrap. I cut it down and then punched a butterfly from the middle. Popped it off some pretty patterned paper and added some letter stickers.

What do you think? I'm really happy with how it came out!

Be sure to link up your Flutter By creation over on Danni's blog! And then go see what the rest of the team came up with! The links didn't copy over - they are in my sidebar or on Danni's blog - I've got to get out the door so no time to make blogger work for me this morning!! Have a terrific day!

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!!

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!!

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

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!

2RedBananas: Rub a Dub Dub

Good Sunday morning!! I hope this finds you happy and well! It's time for another Banana Split Sunday challenge and this week it's all about Rub-ons! Upload your creation using rub-ons for a chance to win a package of rub-ons from 2RB!!

I went for a super simple card this week --- but I hope it has lots of WOW factor to it!!
I used an image from Stampavie that I bought at 2RedBananas - Jeanette carries tons of products and several other stamps in addition to her exclusive 2RedBananas line**! See all the Stampavie images she has HERE!

This sweet girl was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and I added color with my colored pencils and blended with baby oil.

Here is my finished card! I told you it was simple ---- it's just ONE LAYER! The "chillin" rubon was added at the bottom and is from Making Memories.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I love it when you do - each and every visit, every comment means the world!

I hope you have a beautiful day - full of sunshine, and laughter and love!!

**There are new stamps being released in September so keep an eye out for Sneak Peeks of those coming soon!

Thanks

ETA: I set the post time wrong for this one - I forgot to change it from PM to AM. Sorry!!

This card is for all of you --- thanks for stopping by, thanks for subscribing, thanks for the kind words you leave, thanks for it ALL!

It's a pretty simple card; I love all the white space on it!! Our challenge this week for FlutterBy Wednesday was an open challenge! But the most exciting part is that Sandra McLean is our Guest Designer!! She is one of my favorite stampers and is constantly amazing me with her gorgeous creations!!

Stop by the rest of the FlutterBy team and see what they have created today!

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

Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge 41: Anything But A Card

Good morning!! It's Wednesday and time for another terrific challenge by the Cuttlebug Challenge design team. It's been so much fun this month Counting Down to CHA and designing with the new embossing folders from Provo Craft. I'm incredibly thankful for the opportunity to create with them. I hope you've been enjoying all the inspiration too!

This week we were asked to use the new Victoria folder (which is one of my favorites!) and to create anything we wanted as long as it wasn't a card! Oh the possibilities!

I picked up these plant markers last year in the Target $pot, not sure why as I am not really a gardening kinda gal but I thought they were cool!

Here's how I altered them:

Here's a close-up shot:
I just wrapped some embossed paper around the metal plate, added some letter stickers and some buttons, gems and butterflies as decoration!

What's growing in my imaginary garden? All the things I think it would be lovely to have:

beans, peas, carrots, squash and rhubarb*.

*Don't knock it until you've tried it. I always thought rhubarb was icky (although I'm not sure what I based that on) until several summers ago when hubby and I traveled up north with his mom and visited family. His aunt had this Rhubarb Crisp that was DIVINE!! It's a tart taste and oh so yummy!

Be sure to visit the Cuttlebug Challenge blog and see what the rest of the team came up with. I've had some sneak peeks and they are stunning, as always!!

Also, be sure to scroll down for my Flutter By post today!