Flower Dreams

Today is a special day - it's my son's 17th birthday and I just can't believe that the sweet, tiny baby I gave birth to is now a teenager! Why does time fly by like it does?  His special day started with sleeping in a bit since it's a late start at the high school today - lucky for him since he's usually out the door at 5:15 am for swim practice this time of year.  A hearty breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and sausage at his request, with the opening of a present and then he's out the door with a good start to his special day.

The birthday boy as he heads off to school!

And today is the start of a new challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday making this a fun day too!  I love this sketch and it's one of the team's favorites that Arlana did from week 89 brought back again.

Our sponsor this week is everyone's favorite - A Day For Daisies.  We all love the beautiful images that Tammy creates and inspires us to create with them.  Our Grand Prize winner of the challenge this week will receive a $12 gift certificate to spend at the A Day For Daisies store.  A terrific prize package - thanks Tammy for your generous sponsorship.

I chose this beautiful image called Flower Dreams for my card this week.  It was colored with Copics and I tried to do so with soft, light colors. The papers are KaiserCraft These Days collection and the diecut is Spellbinders floral oval which is a new addition to my crafting supplies.

Now another special announcement - we have a new design team member we're welcoming today at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  It's Holly Gwilliams from Yorkshire, UK and you'll find her creations very inspiring.  Stop on over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday and take a look at what she created today with A Day For Daisies and all the other gorgeous creations that will inspire you from the other design team Divas!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sick as a Dog

Happy Wednesday folks! It's back to work and school now that the holidays are over. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  It's also a new challenge at Sweet Sketch Wedneday and we're welcoming back a sponsor we haven't showcased in a while - Fresh Brewed Designs by Heather Dennis.

The sketch this week was designed by our own Sally Dube who's filling in for Arlana right now as she is still on the mend with computer restrictions from her doctor.  We miss you Arlana!  This is a terrific sketch and shows how talented our Sally is!  Great sketch Sally!

Fresh Brewed Designs is our sponsor and you'll love the fun images that Heather Dennis creates.  Her motto is: Fresh Brewed Designs - where creativity is fresh brewed daily!  The Grand Prize winner will receive three digi stamps of their choice from Fresh Brewed Designs.  Thanks for the generous sponsorship Heather!

I chose this fun image called "Sick as a Dog" to create with from Fresh Brewed Designs.  I figured I needed to stock up this time of year on get well cards and this was a perfect one.  Colored with Copics, this cute dog would brighten anyone's day.

Now stop on over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday and see the wonderful assortment of Fresh Brewed Designs that the design team created with to inspire you today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time For Some Bubbly

Happy New Year everyone!  I can't think of a better way to start a new year than a new bunch of fun digis  from Doodle Pantry!

Today we're kicking off 2013 with ten new collections featuring those whimsical characters we all love Doodle Pantry for - plus a few on the more serious side that will make elegant creations for men and women alike.

I'm featuring Vintage Tub and I just couldn't resist adding one of Doodle Pantry's famous birdies to enjoy that new tub too!  This Happy Bird is a freebie and I joined him with the new tub image in my photo editing software.  I think this makes for such a fun and perky birthday card.  I added crystal lacquer to the bubbles to make them shine and stand out after coloring the image with Copics.

You can see all the new releases at the Doodle Pantry Store - one of the new sets is free with any purchase in the shop through January 24.

Plus there's a terrific new collection that you'll receive for free just for playing in our new challenge that starts today over on the Doodle Pantry Blog.  Can't beat that!

Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by!

New Year's Cheer

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends yesterday.  We had a terrific day - it was nice to relax and enjoy every one's surprise and delight with their gifts and to reflect together on the true meaning of the day - the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Today starts a new challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday and my focus changes to the New Year with this fun digi from Bugaboo, our sponsor of the challenge this week.

Here's the sketch - it goes together quickly and has room for some fun embellishments and shows off your pretty papers.

Bugaboo Stamps is our sponsor of the challenge this week.  Our Grand Prize winner will receive 7 free digi stamps of their choice from Bugaboo - a very generous prize package.  Thanks to Jodi for sponsoring us with such a terrific prize.

I chose this fun digi from Bugaboo called JJ Christmas Cheers thinking it would make a perfect New Year's card.  She was colored with Copics and I used crystal lacquer on the glass to make it appear she was really in a martini glass.

You just have to see the fabulous cards the design team created this week and some of the fun embellishments they chose to dress up their cards.  Stop on over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday and take a peek and of course we'd love to have you join us in the challenge this week so give it a go!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year to all of you.

Merry Little Christmas

To all my friends, family, followers and fans I wish you a blessed and very Merry Christmas.

I thought you might get a chuckle out of this light-hearted, punny card I created for my wacky brother who loves a good play on words.

Enjoy your day!

Christmas Mac

Happy Wednesday friends! Only less than week until Christmas and it's getting exciting now. I'm almost done with my Christmas list and so happy to have found bargains out there that extend my budget a little further!  Of course so I can get more card making supplies - right?!  Today we have a terrific sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday and our monthly sponsor, Digi Stamp Boutique, with some fun images we're highlighting.

This week's sketch is another blast from the past sketch - one we've used before and a favorite of ours. This one is a quicky to put together and looks so fun for Christmas cards - kind of like packages down the side there.

Just for fun, here's my card from Challenge 141 where we originally used this sketch.  How ironic that the sponsor then was also Digi Stamp Boutique and the image I used also one of Mac the Dog!

And here's why I love Mac the Dog - because it reminds me of our own Matilda (Tillie) Mae!

Each month Digi Stamp Boutique sponsors our challenge and we're so grateful for the generous support of Sally Ann the owner.  This week the Grand Prize winner of the challenge will receive six free images from Digi Stamp Boutique!  Such an awesome prize!

Here's Mac again in his Christmas suit - he knows which Christmas stocking is his!  It's called Christmas Mac and he's adorable with the touches of sparkle. The papers used are Winter Wonderland from My Mind's Eye.

Now stop on by Sweet Sketch Wednesday and check out all the fun Digi Stamp Boutique images the design team used to create cards for your inspiration this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Boa

Happy Wednesday friends! I'm officially on the vacation countdown - only three more days and I'm off until the new year begins. My Christmas shopping will go into high gear and hopefully a little more of that holiday spirit will fall upon me.  I'm a bit overwhelmed today after having college night at the high school yesterday - learning the timelines and processes of prepping my son for those college applications and decisions - yikes. Never thought it would start this early in his junior year!  But for now, I'm glad to have Sweet Sketch Wednesday divert my attention to what I love - a new challenge there today with one of our favorite sponsors - A Day For Daisies.

Here's our fabulous sketch for this week's Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge.  It's a dandy and goes together easily.  I love the layers and the circle panel for the image. I hope you'll give it a try - it's a good one for those still finishing up their Christmas cards like myself!

Our sponsor of the challenge this week is A Day For Daisies and I know that you love Tammy's beautiful images as much as the SSW design team and I do.  You'll find more than 1000 fun and whimsical images at A Day For Daisies, including fairy tales and magical mermaids, cutie kids, vintage illustrations, sentiments and lovely designs for all occasions!  The Grand Prize winner of our challenge will receive a $12 gift certificate to the A Day For Daisies Shop - a wonderful and generous prize!

This stunning A Day For Daisies image is called Vintage Boa and I've been longing to create with this beauty for some time - waiting for the perfect sketch to show her off.  She was colored with Copics and the gorgeous boa was brought to life with Frosted Lace Stickles.  I think it looks so fluffy and elegant with the Stickles treatment here. Some sparkly organza ribbon woven through the Nestie scallop circle and a simple glittered snowflake from an MS punch to embellish the card finish it off well.  These gorgeous snowflake papers are from Bo Bunny.

The cards created this week for your inspiration by the SSW design team really show off the breadth of image styles at A Day For Daisies. Pop on over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday and take a look!

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Snowboy

Happy Wednesday folks! The days are just flying by right now and I'm starting to get that anxiety when my holiday shopping list isn't getting any shorter but the number of days left til Christmas is! Sigh! I know there are plenty others out there like me!  Maybe it's the lack of snow or feeling of winter.  Ironically, this snowman here on my card is the most snow I've seen yet!  This is one of those adorable images from Meljen's Designs who is the sponsor of the new challenge starting today at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

Here's the sketch we're working with this week.  This one goes together quickly and has a nicely layered look when complete.  It's also a good one for those wider images.

Meljen's Designs is our sponsor of the challenge this week. We all love the sweet, dear images Melissa Jenkins creates. The Grand Prize winner will receive four non-colored digi stamps from Meljen's Designs.  You have to be in-it-to-win-it so I hope you'll join us and play along.

This Bundled Little Snowboy from Meljen's was colored with Copics and glittered up with Frosted Lace Stickles. I used Icicles Stickles (say that three times fast) for the sparkle on his hat and mitten fur along with the snow on the ground. I like non-traditional holiday colors so I used Bo Bunny Snow Day collection papers here. The snowflake strreamer across the top and the embellishment are both MS punches.

Now hop on over to Sweet Sketch Wednesday for more inspiration from my design team friends and their cards created with Meljen's Design images. And please join us in the challenge fun this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Trumpet Vine

Isn't this Trumpet Vine a gorgeous image?  It's a new digi collection released today at Doodle Pantry along with several other sets.  Laurie Wilson always does a beautiful job illustrating flowers and they make such stunning cards.  This set comes with four digi papers, two pre-colored versions of the image and several sentiments.

For my card, I colored the Trumpet Vine image with Copic markers and cut out with a circle diecut with a few of the flowers and leaves overlapping. The colors match the gorgeous sparkly papers I selected from Best Creations' Fairy collection.  I added some glitter to the colored flowers to continue the sparkle onto the image.  The organza bow continues that as well.

Today's release at Doodle Pantry includes four other new digi collections plus three colorized versions of previously released digis and you can find them all at the Doodle Pantry Shop.  And for you holiday shoppers, everything in the Doodle Pantry Shop is 35% off through January 1 along with a freebie with purchase offer so don't miss this chance to stock up on your favorites and save!

Thanks for stopping by!