Hello Sunshine

Happy Saturday! Are you ready for another fabulous sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday???

I love this sketch! And it's perfect to showcase a little sneaky peaky I have for you! Yep, I happen to be besties with the one and only Betty Boo (aka Betty Roberts), owner extraordinaire of Simply Betty Stamps! SBS will soon be releasing a new range of stamps to be known as the Teen Scene. I'm privileged to have the opportunity to play with one of the new images... London...with her loooong tailed kitty cat. (*wink*) Six new Teen Scene images will be released mid-May, so stay tuned to the Simply Betty Stamps blog for more information!

I paired London with patterned paper and sticker embellishments from the Summer Days collection by Echo Park. Love! I found that cool "ribbon" at my LSS.

I hope you'll play with our sketch this week! Be sure to drop by the Sketch Saturday blog to see the lovely creations from the rest of the design team AND to see the prize up for grabs from our sponsor The Craft Barn, offering two Tatty Button stamps as a prize!!! Check it out!


Have a great day!

Victoria Case for SCACD From the Vault Release Blog Hop!

Hello everyone! Happy Royal Wedding Day! Yes, I'm staying up all night. I can't miss it. In the midst of all the natural disasters of late, war, strife, economic woes, etc., it's nice to have a fairy tale to focus on for a bit. ;)

If you're looking for my Royal Tea Blog Hop post, please scroll down or Click Here. Thanks!

Today we're celebrating the release of two super sweet new stamps being released "from the vault" by Victoria Case for SCACD (Susana's Custom Art and Card Design): Spa Time Fairy and Forest Fairy.

The fun begins at SCACD blog where you'll find links to all the blogs on the hop in case there's a break along the way. You'll definitely want to start there and flitter and fly along with us! (*grin*)

My card, of course, features Spa Time Fairy. Isn't she sweet in the teacup spa? I love her! Now, of course, I want to head to the spa for a good day of pampering!

I followed the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #114, which I love! My sweet fairy is paired with patterned paper from the For The Record collection by Echo Park, plus a beautiful rose I happened to have in my stash. The pearls are by Kaisercraft.

The next stop on the hop is the wonderful Anki's blog. Enjoy!!!

Happiness is...

Note: if you're looking for the Royal Tea Blog Hop, please scroll down or CLICK HERE. Thanks!

Happiness is this new stamp set designed by Nina B Designs for The Craft's Meow, which is being released on May 1st! Come join the fun on The Craft's Meow Blog, where you'll find links to fabulous cards showcasing this amazing stamp set AND deets on lots of prize winning opportunities! See you over there!

A note about my card: I hand drew the lines by cutting a piece of sturdy cardstock to the size I wanted and laying it over the stamped images. CAS isn't usually my strong suit, but this stamp set is so fabby to design with, it's a snap to go CAS. I hope you likey!

So Long, Farewell... for now (*wink*)

This is my last post as April Guest Designer for The Greeting Farm. sniff sniff. But I had a heckuva good time, so I can't complain. In fact, I'm very grateful to Marie and Jess for giving me the chance to play with one of my all-time favorite stamp lines! I always have been and always will be a fan of The Greeting Farm!

I set sail with another look at Creeper Crew Syren, released April 1st. And now it's nearly time to see what new things are up for grabs at TGF in May! I paired Syren with patterned paper and chipboard embellies from the Salt Air collection by Cosmo Cricket.

I followed this week's sketch challenge at The Farm Fresh Challenge Blog. Have you stopped by the new challenge blog yet? You must! So much fun is going on over there all the time!

Thanks for stopping in today! I'll be back soon with more! Have a wonderful day!

So Sweet of You!

Note, this is my second post for today. Please scroll down or Click Here for the Royal Tea Blog Hop. Thanks!

Hey everyone! Pop on over to The Craft's Meow Blog and see what's happening! Okay, since you twisted my arm, I'll give you a hint! (*grin*) We've started previews of the four new stamp sets designed by Nina B Designs for The Craft's Meow which will be released on May 1st! Today we're showcasing Simply Delightful. It is... quite simply... delightful!

I paired images and greeting from Simply Delightful with patterned paper and embellies from the Hazel collection, part of the Stella & Rose collection by My Mind's Eye. I love this paper collection! I LOVE My Mind's Eye! MME 6 x 6 pads and embellies from the Hazel and Gertie lines will also be available at The Craft's Meow on Sunday!

We're giving away two MME paper pads PLUS the Simply Delightful stamp set as prizes today, so be sure to visit the team's blogs and leave comments for chances to win. There will be THREE prizes given away every day from now through Sunday, with a grand prize also offered on release day! Don't miss the fun!

Another way you can win a prize is to Like our Facebook Page by April 30th. Just a hint there. For you. Go on. You know you want to.

See you back here tomorrow, k?

Royal Tea Blog Hop!

Hello to all my fellow Royalty fans! I'm excited to take part in the Royal Tea Bridal Shower Blog Hop hosted by Ellen, the Cardmonkey herself!.  We are celebrating the historical romance and wedding of Prince William to his lovely Kate Middleton.

The theme of this Hop is anything tea, tea party, royal, bridal or wedding.  The fun starts at Ellen's blog, where you will find the complete list of blog stops in case there's a break along the way... like mine, for example. I thought we were supposed to go live at 12:00 am Pacific, but I guess it was 12:00 am Eastern. So sorry!

My card features an image from the Afternoon Tea stamp set by Waltzingmouse Stamps... a favorite of mine! And I do think Claire might be planning a die set to coordinate. We'll have to wait and see! (*wink*). Since I went with a WMS set, I thought I'd play in Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #44. The sketch is perfect for a fancy tea invitation... clean and simple. Okay, CAS isn't my strong style, so you'll have to bear with me. (*grin*).

I plan to be sitting up tomorrow night watching the wedding, how about you? I watched when Diana married Prince Charles, Andrew married Fergie and then, very sadly, Diana's funeral. I still can't believe she's gone, although she is alive in her sons... especially William. No doubt about it.

Yes, I admit it. I'm a geek.

The next stop on the hop is Jen's blog.  Enjoy! 

A Good Day

Happy Tuesday! Time for another fabulous challenge at the brand new SCACD Friends With Heart Challange!!! Our challenge this week is "April Showers Bring May Flowers... use the color blue and flowers in your card/project!


I'm so happy to finally have my own set of Little Peekers by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD to play with. Every single one is adorable, so get ready to see them all here soon! I'm longing to get them all colored up!

My card features Hey Birdie Peeker. I love birds. :) I followed the April Sketch For You to Try.

I hope you'll come along and play with us this week at SCACD Friends With Heart Challenges. There's a $50 gift certificate up for grabs as a prize for one lucky player this month!!! This is the last challenge in April and the last chance to enter for a chance to win, so come on over and join us!

Be sure to visit my fellow SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge design team members to see what loveliness they have created to inspire and delight you:

Danni

Lorraine

Mary Lou

Pattie

Renkata

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

You Are Purrrrrrfection!

Happy Saturday! Time for another fantastic sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday!!!

Our sponsor this week is one of my very favorite stamp companies Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps! I had the privilege of being part of Sparkle's inaugural Design Team. I was looking back over the cards I made while part of her team, and I'm telling you the truth... they are some of my favorite cards ever!

My card today features Kitty Cat Josh. Of course I'm drawn to this stamp because I have two cats and four boys. (*grin*) I paired Josh and his kitty with patterned paper and embellies from the Max & Whiskers collection by Basic Grey. Purrrrrrfect. 

I hope you'll play with our sketch this week! Be sure to drop by the Sketch Saturday blog to see the lovely creations from the rest of the design team AND to see the prize up for grabs from Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps!


Oh, and check this out!

MEOW!!!

Celebrate!

TGIF and time once again for the bi-monthly Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge!!! Now that Taylored Expressions is a Member Company at Splitcoaststampers (woo hoo!), the sketch challenges are taking place over at SCS in the Taylored Expressions Forum. In fact, all you need to do is pop over to the TESC Sketch Challenge #137 Forum Thread for all the deets on this week's challenge, to grab the sketch and find out how you can win a $10 Gift Certificate to spend at TE by playing along with us... or a $20 GC if you use TE stamps!

My card features images from the Make A Wish stamp set, which I paired with cardstock, patterned paper, embellies and Liquid Pearls from the Make A Wish Project Pantry Kit. With all the coordinating elements found in Taylor's fabulous kits, your cards will come together easily!

I cut the banner out of the patterned paper. The cake plate is covered with Glossy Accents to make it shine like a real dish. I added polka dots to the cake top with a Sharpie White Poster Paint pen. The cake is cut out and popped up on top of the plate. I hope you likey!

Please come along and play with us! Since the sketch challenge is now bi-monthly (2nd and 4th Fridays), you have until May 12th to play! I say enter more than once and show your TE stamp sets some love!

Be sure to visit my Sketch Crew friends for lots of inspiration! And help us welcome two new Sketch Crew members, Tracy Clemente and Dawn Easton!!!

• Dawn Easton
  
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tracy Clemente

Have a great day!

Does Running Late Count as Exercise?

  If so, I should be in great shape! lol

Happy Wednesday! Today is the day for the monthly Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop!!!

The theme this month is Clean and Simple (CAS). I have to confess, I struggle with this look. I started out just stamping this fun image called Belated Birthday - Running Late on plain white cardstock, thinking that would do it. But I just couldn't leave it alone... so I added the paper (October Afternoon), brads and ribbon. I'm afraid my card isn't photographing well... it looks a lot better IRL. My hippo looks like he needs a shave! lol



Enjoy the hop!!! Have a great day!!!

Smile

Happy Tuesday! Time for another fabulous challenge at the brand new SCACD Friends With Heart Challange!!! Our challenge this week is to show us your ART... A=any stamp from SCACD, R=ribbon, T=two patterned papers! Fun!!!


I absolutely adore this sweet image called New Friends by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD. It was one of the very first stamps I ever purchased from SCACD and started a whole new passion for me!

I hope you'll come along and play with us this week at SCACD Friends With Heart Challenges. There's a $50 gift certificate up for grabs as a prize for one lucky player this month. Every time you enter one of our challenges in April, you have another chance to win!

Be sure to visit my fellow SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge design team members to see what loveliness they have created to inspire and delight you:

Danni

Lorraine

Mary Lou

Pattie

Renkata

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

Time to Follow Your Dreams

A blessed Palm Sunday to you! This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Our challenge hostess this week at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is Peggysue Turner. Peggysue chose as her inspiration scripture Matthew 16:23 "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Her challenge is to use Versamark or the same color ink on the same color of paper (e.g., purple ink on purple paper) for a tone on tone effect somewhere on your card.

Peggysue put just the first part of Matthew 16:23 (i.e., "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me Satan!'") in the database for her challenge and I had no idea where she was going with this until I prepared the SSIC post and read her devotional. And then, of course, I pulled out my Bible and read the entire scripture... actually the entirety of Matthew 16:21-28.

As I write this, it's midnight and I'm not feeling well... I've been a bit under the weather the past couple of days... so I don't feel capable of writing a devotional of my own. However, I don't need to... I agree with what Peggysue has said in her devotional, which you'll find on the SSIC blog. I encourage you to jump over there and read it and see the beautiful cards created by my design sisters. You will be blessed!

My card features sweet Anya, greeting and background stamp from the Spotlight Collection by The Greeting Farm. Did you know I'm lucky enough to be the April Guest Designer at TGF? Big smiles from me! I LOVE TGF!!! I used the background stamps from the Spotlight Collection to meet the challenge by stamping in Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink (which is green) on green cardstock and then I cut out the banners with Spellbinders Nested Pennants dies. The background paper and chipboard piece are from the Origins collection by Basic Grey.

TGF is sponsoring the current challenge at The Play Date Cafe, so I decided to combine challenges! A $25 Gift Certificate to spend at The Greeting Farm is up for grabs! There's still time to play, but you must hurry... the challenge ends on Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern!

Oh, and you'll definitely want to HOP over to the TGF blog and grab the adorable FREE digi images... Easter Ian and Easter Anya! Cute!!!

And I hope you'll come play with us at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges this week. We are delighted to welcome back Designed2Delight as our sponsor. There's a $10 gift certificate up for grabs! Have you visited their store lately? Lots and lots of wonderful digi images to be had!

Thanks for stopping by my friends! Have a blessed day!

One Rainy Day

Happy Saturday! Time for another fantastic sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday!!!

I ended up switching places for the embellies and sentiment because I just had to take advantage of this adorable patterned paper from the Emma's Shoppe collection by Crate Paper... perfect for this sweet image by our challenge sponsor Paper Makeup Stamps called Emma. I LOVE the rain, so I was immediately drawn to sweet Emma. :)

After coloring the umbrella, I added the polka dots with a Sharpie White Poster Paint pen to coordinate with the paper ruffle. I sponged around the image first with Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and then with Antique Linen to dull it down a bit to better coordinate with the blue tones in the paper.

For the ruffle, after punching a paper strip with a scallop punch I spritzed it with water, which made the paper more pliable, and then fan folded it, opened it back up, pressed down one edge with a ruler and let it dry before adhering and sewing. I learned this technique from my friend Julie Johnson.

The pearls are by Hero Arts and the roses are by Prima.

I hope you'll play with our sketch this week! Paper Makeup Stamps is offering a $20 Gift Certificate as a prize! Be sure to drop by the Sketch Saturday blog to see the lovely creations from the rest of the design team. They're gorgeous!

Have a great day!

Exciting News!!!

Oh, I'm so excited!!! To find out why, click on the picture above or HERE and read all about it!!!

I {heart} you!

Happy Tuesday! Time for our second challenge at the brand new SCACD Friends With Heart Challange!!! Our challenge this week is to include a heart somewhere in your card/project featuring any stamp(s) available for sale in the SCACD store.

Naturally I reached for this adorable image called Blowing Kisses by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD since she's blowing heart kisses. Cute!!!

I was in need of some mojo juice, so I followed Sketch 110 at Card Patterns designed by my friend Nina Brackett.  Plus, I went out on a limb and tried Kathy's Color Throwdown at Lily Pad Cards. I find color challenges to be... well... challenging! lol I think I got all the colors in there... you'll just have to trust me that my hearts are an orangish red. (*grin*)

I hope you'll come along and play with us this week at SCACD Friends With Heart Challenges. There happens to be a $50 gift certificate up for grabs as a prize for one lucky player this month. Every time you enter one of our challenges in April, you have another chance to win!

Be sure to visit my fellow SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge design team members to see what loveliness they have created to inspire and delight you:

Danni

Lorraine

Mary Lou

Pattie

Renkata

Have a wonderful day!

How God Showed His Love

A blessed Fifth Sunday in Lent to you! This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Our challenge hostess this week at Stampin' Sisters in Christ is my dear friend and co-founder of SSIC, Kris Breach! Kris chose as her inspiration scripture Mark 15:17 "They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him." Her challenge is to use shades of purple as your main color and/or use wood paper or elements on your card/project.

This description of Jesus being mocked and tortured before crucifixion found in Mark 15:17 is well-known to Christians...really to everyone since it has been the subject of many artists' portrayal of the life and death of Christ.  But what many of us may not truly grasp is the horror of what was done to him. "Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees they paid homage to him, and when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him." Mark 15:18-20

I've never seen Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ, mainly because I heard that the depiction of Jesus's scourging and crucifixion are extremely gory and graphic and I cannot bear to watch that sort of thing. But I believe it's important that we think about this... the brutality of what Jesus endured... so that we can better understand the sacrifice Christ made for you and me. Think on this my friends.

My card features image and scripture from the beautiful Easter Blessings stamp set by Taylored Expressions, paired with patterned paper by Websters Pages.

I hope you'll join us for our challenge this week. Simon Says Stamp is our sponsor and has offered an adorable stamp set as a prize to one lucky player. I encourage you to visit the SSIC blog to read Kris's devotional and see all the lovely cards made by the design team this week. You will be blessed!

Daisy Two

Happy Saturday!!! Time for another fabby sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday!!!

I flipped the sketch on its side to better showcase sweet Wild Sprout Daisy, one of the newest stamps released by The Greeting Farm this month! Okay, so I experimented with her hair. Believe it or not, I actually practiced this three times before making the final version, so, yes, it's on purpose! lol Don't tell me if you hate it 'cause I might cry. Just kidding. It's different, but I kinda like it with the paper.

Speaking of the paper, it's from the beautiful Portrait Collection by Crate Paper, along with the border strip and buttons. Love those buttons! And there's a bit of Tim Holtz tissue tape on there. ;)

Please be sure to pop over to the Sketch Saturday blog to see all the gorgeous cards created by this amazing design team. Seriously, these girls rock! Plus, Simon Says Stamp is sponsoring and there's a chance to win a $25 Gift Certificate to spend in their awesome store, so you'll definitely want to play!

Have a wonderful day!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #136

Happy Happy Friday! It's time once again for the bi-monthly Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge!!! In case you missed the news, Taylored Expressions is now a Member Company at Splitcoaststampers, which means the challenges are now taking place over at SCS in the Taylored Expressions Forum. In fact, all you need to do is pop over to the TESC Sketch Challenge #136 Forum Thread for all the deets on this week's challenge, to grab the sketch and find out how you can win a $10 Gift Certificate to spend at TE by playing along with us... or a $20 GC if you use TE stamps!

 My card features images and greeting from the adorable Cozy Cottages stamp set. The extra special thing about this stamp set is that through this month (April 2011) $7.00 from the sale of each Cozy Cottages stamp set will be donated to Habitat for Humanities. How awesome is that? 

My card features patterned paper from the Circa 1934 collection by Cosmo Cricket and some light blue Candy Dots.

I hope you'll come along and play with us! Since the sketch challenge is now bi-weekly (2nd and 4th Fridays), you have until April 21st to play!

Be sure to visit my Sketch Crew friends for lots of inspiration!

• Jami Sibley
• Lori Craig
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Taylor VanBruggen
  

Have a great day!

SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge!!!

Woo hoo!!! The day we've been waiting for is finally here! The brand new SCACD (Susana's Custom Art and Card Design) Friends With Heart Challenge has officially begun!!!

Oh me oh my, there's so much to say! First, for those who are followers of the SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge blog, today is the day that the winners of a set of Copic Sketch Markers (the new colors!) and a Sew Easy Tool plus SIX attachments (yowser!) will be revealed. Are you one of the winners? Are you a follower? If not, you'll definitely want to become one because the fun is just beginning and you won't want to miss a thing!

Second, April 8th... this coming Friday...is the big release of the new "Peekers" by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD!!! Oh my word, you need to jump on over to the SCACD blog to see the previews of this adorable set of images AND find out how you can win the new stamps!!!! They are ADORABLE!!! 

And last, but NOT least, we have our first challenge up and ready for you to play!!! This week it's easy peasy... ANYTHING GOES!!! As long as you use a stamp carried by SCACD, you are a-okay! You can find the list and links by clicking HERE. Note, the stamp(s) you use must actually be offered for sale at SCACD, not just the brand. But with all the wonderful stamps SCACD has to offer, including (of course) the fabulous Elisabeth Bell for SCACD, Carmen Medlin for SCACD and Victoria Case for SCACD stamps, I know you won't have a problem meeting that requirement! (*wink*)

My card features At The Horse Show by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD, part of the Sampler Edition #4. I've paired her with patterned paper from the Pyrus collection by Basic Grey.

Be sure to visit my fellow SCACD Friends With Heart Challenge design team members and see what loveliness they have to inspire and delight you:

Danni

Lorraine

Mary Lou

Pattie

Renkata

I can't wait to see what YOU create for our first challenge! See you there!

Edited to add: there's a prize up for grabs for those who enter our challenges in April... a $50 Gift Certificate to spend in the SCACD Store. Yowsers! What are you waiting for? Jump on in!!!

Cupcake and Kitten

A blessed Fourth Sunday in Lent to you! This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!


The wonderful Miesje Flach is our challenge hostess this week at Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenges. She chose as her inspiration scripture Luke 18:17 "Amen I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Her challenge is to make a card/project for a child. How fun!

My card features an adorable image called Cupcake and Kittens by Carmen Medlin for SCACD. I'm in LOVE with the entire Reflections #2 Collection! I paired this sweet image with patterned paper and chipboard from the DeLovely collection by Cosmo Cricket, and a scrap of ribbon I found in my "scrap of ribbon box." lol


The first thing I thought of when reading the inspiration scripture is pretty much along the same lines as Miesje's devotional (which you'll find on the SSIC blog). We know that faith in Jesus Christ is required to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."), but if we're honest, we all lose or question our faith at one time or another. We experience lingering doubt that maybe we're believing in something that doesn't really exist. After all, there are lots of people around us who think we're nuts, right? They believe this is all there is... life here on earth...or they believe in God but not Jesus, or they believe in Allah, or Buddah, or some higher but undefined being, or... well, you get the picture. Who's right? Who's wrong?

We as Christians look to the Bible for the answer to those questions...the eyewitness accounts of Jesus' time on earth, the miracles, the teachings... those who actually saw him die on the cross and then rise again. However, we are also human and have many influences around us, and it's not shameful to admit that occasionally we wonder.

Children don't have that problem, do they? They hear things and see things and they believe without one shred of doubt, especially if it comes from their parents. Mine were convinced there was a Santa Claus for years, without moment of doubt! And they experienced much joy as a result!

That is what I believe Jesus is trying to tell us... if we hold back our faith, if we allow doubt to enter our thoughts, if we allow our faith to falter, we won't truly enter the kingdom of God. We need to be as trusting as children. After all, we are God's children. And, yes, Virginia, there is a God.

Have a blessed day!