It's a Christmas Yard Sign

Well this week I've been working on a Christmas yard sign.  Many years ago my brother made this awesome Christmas yard sign for my Mom & stepdad's yard.  My brother is a talented illustrator and can draw anything with a computer or freehand.  I however, stamp because I can't draw.  Due to the many years in the Ohio winters, the sign was rotting and falling apart.  On Thanksgiving when my parents came for dinner they brought with them a newly painted white 4 ft by 5 ft board for me to make a new sign since my brother is the smart one and spends his life on the sunny west coast.

What a dilema, I can't draw and now I can't depend on stamping because the image has to be large enough for people driving by to actually read the sign.  After fretting about it all through Thanksgiving, I figured what's the worst that can happen, if it turned out terrible then my Mom won't ask me to do this again.  I'd be off the hook. So with that attitude I began laying out an idea I had.  With the help of the cricut I cut out their name and the christmas bulbs and the rest of the greetings I did freehand.  Freehand me, without the help of a rubber stamp!!

It turned our waayyy better than I ever expected.  I'm really happy with it and think my Mom will be too.  Actually, I even think my brother might be surprised, as he knows my lack of drawing talent.  Check it out.

Debbie

Let's Quill

It's time I get back to posting on my blog.  I love to stamp and paper craft but I've been very lax in sharing what I've been doing. My husband bought me a quilling kit out of a bargain basement bin at an outlet mall.  He figured since it involved paper, I would like it.  He was sooo right, he usually is. I'd heard of quilling but didn't know much about it.  

   Quilling  is an art form that involves the use of paper strips that are rolled, shaped and glued together to create a decorative design.  The paper is wound around a quill to create the basic paper shape, hence the name quilling.  

Needless to say, I fell in love with it.  I started with 1 dimensional flowers and bugs, but soon found a 3 dimensional bride and groom kit which I made for my niece who recently got married.  From there I made acorns and pumpkins and mice and anything I could think of.  I tried to make a reindeer for Christmas but its head reminded me more of a turkey which gave me the idea to make a turkey.  The turkey was lonely so I made a pair of Pilgrims.  I just kept rolling and shaping until I came up with a design I liked. 

The coke can gives it  a size perspective

 I haven't given up on the reindeer, I'm still trying to figure something out.  I'm also working on a soccer player for my granddaughter.  If it turns out then I will post and share that.  I would also like to take the time to wish you all a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving.

Debbie

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge

Wow, what happened to the last few months?? Back in March I was traveling out of town so I thought I'd take a few weeks break from entering challenges.  It's now July, my few weeks turned into a few months.   I was on the Kraftin' Kimmie site taking advantage of the Summer Sale going on now (check it out) and I saw the challenge so I thought I'd give it a try.  This week's challenge #135  is White on White.  I don't think I would have made a card white on white by myself, but I really like the clean look. 

There are so many great Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps that it's hard to choose. I decided on Lillith and paired her with the "Sorry I Froggot" sentiment from Kraftin' Kimmie's Fun Sentiments set.  This will make a cute Belated Birthday card.  Thanks for checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Stripes

Where does time go?  I can't believe I missed last week's Hambo Hoedown challenge which means I also missed this week's digi.  That's okay because I have alot of Hambo Stamps and digis to choose from.  I fell in love with their desgins years ago when I accidentally purchased a stamp off eBay.  When I received it I saw the Hambo insignia on it and checked out their website and I was hooked.  If you haven't seen the site, check it out here http://www.hambostamps.com/.  This week's challenge was to include stripes on our project and I chose to use their cute "possum" stamp. 

I was traveling this week and brought along a few stamps and papers so I could still enter the challenge, but what I can't believe that I did not bring with me was an Alphabet stamp set.  How can anyone be away from home and expect to stamp without an alphabet set?? (rhetorical questiont)  I had to do the "HANG" the old-fashioned way, no die cuts or stamp alphabets, I had to hand draw and cut with scissors!!  Yikes!!  It's amazing how quickly we get spoiled with all the great tools that are on the market.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.



Hambo Hoedown - Sketch Challenge

It's Hoedown time again and this week I received the digi "Monster weights" and some great sentiments from Hambo Stamps for playing in last week's challenge.  The challenge this week was to follow a sketch.

I turned the card horizontally; colored the "monster weights" digi with my copics markers and used one of the great sentiments that came with the digi.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my bog.

Hambo Hoedown - Anything goes

This week's Hambo Hoedown challenge is "anything goes".  It means just what is says, anything goes.  I received the "fortune cookie" digi from Hambo Stamps and some great sentiments to use for the fortune just for playing in last week's challenge. I thought I'd try something different since anything goes.  I've recently been messing around with Zentangle, I'm not very good with it yet but I do enjoy just letting my mind wander and just doodling.  I decided to use my recent Zentangle as my background. 

I colored and cut out the fortune cookie digi and used one of the great sentiments for the message.  I applied everything to a red background to give it a little color.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Dragon

Hoedown Time...This week I received the "Dragon" digi and some great sentiments just for playing along last week.  If you haven't played in the Hoedown, you gotta give it a try.  Each week, just for playing you get a free digi for the next week's challenge.  I've received some great digis over the past year.  The challenge this week was to use gold and silver.  I've never really liked to use chalks on my projects because I can't stay within the lines when I'm coloring with them (and that's a big deal to me). The other day I was at the store and I found chalk pencils.  They're great, they are chalk but they're a pencil so when I color with them I have more control and can stay within the lines.  I used dark blue cardstock so I thought I'd give them a try.

I used the "Tree" stamp from Hambo stamps.  I stamped the trees and campfire using a Silver stamp pad.  I masked and stamped the tree to create a grove of trees.  I then used my new chalk pencils to add color or highlight the stamps. The green in the trees isn't very visible in the picture, but it looks really nice on the card. I colored the dragon digi with my copics markers, his belly and wings are colored with gold, but the picture makes it look more like yellow.  I speckled the blue background with a white gel pen to make it look more like night and added a shooting star in the right top corner.  I added the "You light my fire" sentiment! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just a few days away and I received this great Candy Heart digi to use for this week's Hambo Hoedown. The challenge for this week's project is to add a Brad, Button or Bow.  I printed the Candy Heart digi and sentiment then grabbed my copics markers and started coloring.   I'm not a big bow person and very seldom use them on my cards, so I went with brads and buttons.

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Sassy Cheryl's - 100th Challenge

I actually got some stamping done today as I kind of watched the Super Bowl.  I stamped during the game and took breaks to check out the commercials. Sassy Cheryl has a challenge this week to celebrate her 100th challenge.  As part of the challenge you have to use a punch and something shimmery.   I decided to use Sassy Sally and her Oversized Birthday cake digi.

 I cut out the background circles with the Spellbinders Inverted scallop circle dies and added some pink dimensional diamond glitter for something shimmery.  The H B (short for Happy Birthday) is from the Katie alphabet by Quickutz.  I colored Sally with my Copics markers.   Thanks for stopping by.

Hambo Hoedown - Bailey Cupcake

Time for the Hambo Hoedown. This week the digi is Bailey cupcake.  I supersized the cupcake to make it bigger than Bailey and decided to make the card in the shape of a bone.

I stamped the background with a diamond stamp from Hero Arts and  used my Copics markers to color Bailey and the Cupcake.  I used the"Bone Appetit" sentiment on the outside and the "Hope your Birthday is tail wagging good" on the inside that was part of the digi.  The Hambo digi's are great, if you don't have any then you have to join their weekly Hoedown.  Each week you play in the hoedown you get a free digi to use in the next week's challenge.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Kid's Card Challenge

This week Hambo Stamps is sponsoring the challenge for Send a Smile 4 Kids.  This is a great organization that collects donated handmade cards to be distributed to children while they are inpatient at Children's Hospitals. What a great reason to make a card.  I received the cute puppy digi called  "Bailey". 

I colored the digi with my Copics markers and used the Nestabilities scalloped square dies. The background paper is called DOG from Reminisce.  Thanks for stopping by.

Pike Playground - Birthday Challenge

In honor of Dustin Pike's birthday he has posted a challenge.  Make a card with a birthday theme using one of his Doodledragon images.  He has soooo many great images that you can easily use for a birthday theme.  I chose the Flying Dragon.  I shrunk him and then flipped the image to create a duplicate. 

I sponged some clouds in the background and colored the dragons with my Copics markers.  The grass and flower stamp I used for the edge has no markings.  The cake and candle stamp is from Stampin' Up.  The sentiment is computer generated.  For the inside of the card I stamped a simple "Happy Birthday".  If you get a chance check out Dustin's Blog to see some of his work, http://dustinpike.blogspot.com/.   It's worth the trip.  Happy Birthday Dustin!!

My Knight in Shining Armor

I just wanted to post this card I made for my husband for our Anniversary.  I had an idea in my head on what I wanted to do and usually that means the finished product never stacks up to my expectations and I'm disappointed.  But this time, it came out just like I had envisioned. 



And the inside reads..

The castle is a digi from The Octopode Factory and my knight "Sir Galahad" and the sentiment are from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.  I sponged the background with a cloud template and colored the castle and knight with my Copics markers.    Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment if you like my card.

Hambo Hoedown-Two different circles challenge

Each week I say that I am going to post more items to my blog and not just challenges.  Then I'm finishing a card in the last minute to get in the mail and forget to take a picture of it so I can't post it on my blog.  Now that I've admitted this out loud I 'm hoping this will help and I'll get better about posting additional projects.  For this week's challenge for the Hambo Hoedown I received the balloon-cost digi.  The challenge is to use 2 or more different size circles in our project. I took the digi and split the words up and punched out various size circles.

Here is the inside of the card...



Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!   I know the calendar says January 7th, so 2012 has just started and I'm already a week behind. That's okay I'll catch up by Valentine's Day!  I'm not too far behind because I still have time to post a "Happy Newt Year" project for the HamboHoedown Challenge.  I received this cute "Reptile" digi and some Happy Newt year sentiments.  The challenge is to create a project using something new.  For Christmas I got some new Sizzix Tim Holtz Alteration dies.  I used the die called "Ornamental" to create the design.

You can't see it very well but the background paper looks like the skin of a reptile.  As I mentioned I used my new Sizzix Tim Holtz Ornamental die to cut out the design in green and then my digi in white.  I trimmed the white diecut and attached it to the green diecut then added ribbon where the 2 designs layered. The "reptile" digi is another great design from Tim at HamboStamps.  If you haven't seen some of his digi's you have to take the time to check them out at http://hambostamps.com/digishop/.  I colored the "reptile" digi with my Copics Markers and I paper pieced his shirt using the Stampin' Up stamp "Solid Stripes".  I wish you a Happy and Healthy 2012 and hope you find time to stop by my blog throughout the year.