Happy!

Happy, happy, happy! What do I have to be happy about you ask? Well, nothing in particular, but everything in general. Spring makes me happy - I can always feel my mood improve as the weather gets warmer and the flowers start to bloom and the bunnies come out of hiding and run around my yard eating clover. So in keeping with the Happy theme, our challenge this week at The Outlawz Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to make a project using the word "Happy" somewhere in or on the project. I decided to FINISH getting happy with this cute little chicks digi from A Day for Daisies. I started on this card a few weeks ago, but finally finished it this week. No, they don't call me a procrastinator for nothing! But looking on the bright side, I'm one card ahead already for next year! I colored it with Copics and added some glitter, flowers, a button, and some twine. I always like to use the mini alphabets for my titles and things, so I used two different styles here.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you have lots of things to make you happy this week! Big hugs!

The Banner Queen!

Hi everybody! Those of you who know me know that I love making banners. I'm not sure just exactly what the attraction is, but I think it's because I can make several different designs in the same project, so I can try out various techniques and supplies.

My friends Rona and Roxann have dubbed me the Banner Queen. I take that as a wonderful compliment coming from two such talented ladies!

This week's Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz is to make a shaped project, something other than a square or rectangle. So I decided to show everybody this banner. I loved using all the different layers of shapes and the pretty bright colors!

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Big hugs!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Go Green!

St. Patrick's Day on a Saturday - what fun is that! I don't have any big plans today, but I do have a corned beef in the crock pot with some potatoes, and I will add some cabbage about an hour before it's done - I don't have a lot of Irish blood, but aren't we all Irish on St. Patrick's Day?

This week over at The Outlawz out Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is Go Green! The object of the challenge is to re-use something from around the house and use a bit of the color green on the project. It doesn't have to be St. Patty's Day themed though.

I decided to make a card because I have a lot of these little flat cardboard boxes that my cats' canned food comes in and I hate to throw them away when I can always envision that there's something I could make with them. So I used my Top Note die and Cuttlebug to cut out the background frame for my card. Then I took a green Seagram's ginger ale can, cut it open with some strong kitchen shears that I have, and then used two of my Martha Stewart punches to cut out some butterfly shapes.

I'm thinking if I had it to do over I would have used a different background paper for the card - something with brighter colors - but I still think it turned out okay. I love those punched butterflies with the little added pearls!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are enjoying some beautiful weather wherever you are! Big hugs!

Paper Pieces Galore!

So ... I am often lazy when it comes to my crafting, and I don't feel like stretching my creativity. Well, this week over at The Outlawz, our Saturday Paper a la Mode Challenge is to create a project using paper piecing, with no coloring. Paper piecing is one of those things that I have always shied away from - but, sometimes you just have to step up to the challenge. So after several days of pondering over what stamp or digi I could piece, I finally decided on this beautiful flower digi from A Day for Daisies. Of course, then I had to figure out how I should print onto which patterned papers, how to cut out and arrange all the little pieces, etc. But I like the way it turned out, and I hope to try this some more and get a little better at it.

Stop on by at the Outlawz and have some fun with us, and maybe stretch your creativity too!

Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

Flower Power

We had temperatures over 70 degrees for the last 3 days in a row - in February - and it was so wonderful! Even though it's back down into the 40s and 50s for the next week or so, I enjoyed it while it was here. The winter has been so mild here in southeastern Virginia where I live, that there are already some daffodils blooming in front of my house, and I've even seen a few of the flowering trees in bloom. So in honor of all this lovely out-of-season weather and the flowers that are trying so hard to show themselves, this week's theme is Flower Power. Over at The Outlawz, our Saturday Paper a la Mode challenge is to create a project that uses flowers, so this is my design for the challenge.

I made this card using a digi from A Day for Daisies and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and Copic markers. I colored and cut out a duplicate of the larger flower to make it have a 3D effect.

I hope wherever you are that you have beautiful weather soon too! Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

Dreaming of Spring

Old Man Winter hasn't been too unkind to me here in Virginia this year, but that still doesn't stop me from dreaming of Spring. I love when the birds start returning home and the flowers show their faces, and everything starts to warm up a bit. And of course, I love bunnies! So this week I made a card with a new bunny digi from A Day for Daisies and added in the quote myself before I printed it out. Isn't he the sweetest little thing?

Our challenge this week at The Outlawz for the Saturday Paper a la Mode is "Dreaming of Spring", so this is what I created. It's a simple little card, but sometimes simple is most effective. I colored the design with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils.

And speaking of Prismacolors, I am taking a class in May with Marti Wills so I can learn some real coloring skills. I am also taking two Copics classes with Suzanne Dean. Now where am I going to be getting all this crafty goodness at you ask??? At our first ever Outlawz Rodeo Retreat!

If you have never visited us over at The Outlawz, please stop on by and say hello. We are going to have a great time in May, and the more the merrier! We hope you can join us!

Thanks for stopping by, and big hugs to you!

I Heart You

Hi everybody! Well, here it is February, and of course I have been procrastinating as usual! My son is at the end of wrestling season - this is his senior year and I am the Team Mom, so that takes up almost all of my "free" time, but I love him and all of his teammates, and I don't know what I'll do with myself next year when he's off at Virginia Tech doing his college thing. But for now I just try to enjoy it. The newspaper had an article about Chris and two of his teammates last week - I am so proud of him - this is the photo they had in the paper - Chris is in the middle:

My love abounds for him and his entire team. And in honor of all that love, we are doing an I Heart You challenge over at The Outlawz this week. The challenge is to create a project that uses at least two hearts, so I made two cards, because I just love hearts and can't get enough of them (and I didn't have time to create something more elaborate).

Thanks for stopping by! I am off to the district wrestling tournament - Chris is wrestling in the finals today, along with 7 of his teammates - that's 8 of 14 guys in the finals - a huge accomplishment! Wish them luck!