Monthly Challenge Cards

Well, here I am back again today.  This time I have 2 cards to showcase. These are cards I made using kits from Monthly Challenge - Baker's Dozen Girls. Seems I'm always behind in making my cards. The Owl card was from a kit sent by Soni B way back in October. The Christmas card kit was sent by Paige. I always love seeing what each of the ladies send to us and then what everyone creates out of the same kit.

 The image, leaves, ribbon, and dp were sent by Soni. I only added the cardstock base (SU Chocolate Chip) and a computer generated sentiment.  Thanks Soni for the fun stuff to play with.

For Paige's card, I added the sentiment (SU stamped in Ruby Red) and colored the tree using Stampin Up markers Glorious Green, Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip, and Ruby Red. I used Handsome Hunter cardstock for the card base, mats, and border trip which I made using an SU border punch.  The ribbon and tree bling are from my stash. The wooden star was provided by Paige.  Thanks Paige for a really fun kit.

Little Christmas Girl in Gold

Good morning my friends. I hope that you are not having to deal with all that SNOW!  So happy to be in sunny H Town - well, at least for today. Rain and cold are on their way again. I'll be so glad when Spring is here again.

Today I have a card that I made for The Outlawz Progressive Freebie Challenge. If you're not a member of The Outlawz and haven't played in their challenges - you really need to check them out here.  They have a different challenge every day. If you sign up for the Progressive Freebie Challenge, each month they will send you a free digital image to use. All you have to do is make a card and post it on the challenge and you'll be able to get the next digi for the next month. So much fun. You can also link up any card that you make for any challenge every month and be eligible for one of their monthly site wide prizes.

Here is my card for the January Progressive Freebie challenge:

Materials Used:

• Image - All Dressed Up - Little Christmas Girl
• Sentiment - Lili of the Valley - Holiday Tags
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stampin Up - Crushed Curry
• Designer Paper - Bo Bunny - Gold & Silver Collection
• Ink- Tuxedo Memento Black
• Accessories - Nestabilities - Classic Oval and Lacy Oval; Martha Stewart While Flock and Leaf Branch Punch; Studio 8 - Bling; Lace, ribbon & brad from my stash; Wild Orchid Crafts - Flowers
• Copic Markers - Skin: E000, E01, E11; Boots: E23, E25, E27; Clothing: G14, G17, G28; Y11, Y13, Y15; Highlight G0000

Hope to see you over at The Outlawz.

I am submitting this for the following challenges:
The Outlawz - Progressive Freebie
Digitally Sweet - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Winter Wonderland - Lots of Layers
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
Scrap & Craft - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - Something Old; Something New (Old - Designer Paper; New - Bling)
The Paper Shelter - Lots of Layers
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

OSAAT #229 - Purple Jack

Hi friends.  I hope you're having a wonderful Sunday. As I am writing this on Saturday evening, I just want you to know that this is the first day in 3 weeks that I have NOT had a sore throat.  I do hope that it's finally gone for good. I guess I'll see in the morning. Thanks for all your well wishes through these trying weeks. I was finally able to get my house cleaned up and the floors scrubbed. Good thing since my kids came over for dinner.  It turned out pretty good too.

Our theme for One Stitch at a Time this week is Anything Goes with the Color Purple. I thought this would be an easy one since purple is my favorite color, but I ran into a few snags. As I was trying to figure out a layout and what dp to use with it, I realized that I had NO pattern paper in all my stash that would really go with this image. For those that know me, you would not believe that is possible because my paper stash is pretty large. I finally had to go to the Internet and search for some digital papers to use.  Finally found a collection by Jessica Stewart, but I only ended up using one of the papers. I think it was perfect.

When you go over to the OSAAT challenge blog you may notice a slight difference in the card that is posted there in the Design Team.  That's because I had completely forgotten to put the sentiment on it, but I wanted it on there, so I fixed that tonight.

Materials Used:

• Image - Floppy Latte Designs -  Jack In the Box
• Sentiment - Stampin Up - Eat Cake
• Cardstock - Xpress it Blending Card; Stampin Up - Lovely Lilac
• Designer Paper - Digital Collection by Jessica Stewart
• Ink - Stampin Up - Lovely Lilac
• Accessories - MFT - Flourish Die; Lavender Stickles; Ribbon from my stash
• Copic Markers - E93, E95, E99; G05, G16, G28; R22, R27, R37, R43; N1, N3, N5, N7; V17, V22, V25; Y18, Y19, Y35

Our sponsor for this challenge is our own Stitchy Bear who will give this prize package away to one lucky winner.

Now hop on over to the OSAAT Challenge and see what the rest of the Design Team has to inspire you and I hope that you'll come along and play with us this week.  After all - it's PURPLE!

Challenges I'm entering:

Come and Get It - Ribbons and Bows
Dragonfly Dreams - Your Favorite Color (Purple)
The Outlawz - Sunday CAS
Di's Digi Designs - Add Sparkle
Kit & Clowder - Anything Goes
Paper Creator's Crafts - Anything Goes
Send A Smile 4 Kids -Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes
Dream It Up - Birthday Wishes

Scrap & Craft - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - Something Old; Something New (Old Die); (New designer paper)
Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Tip Top Tuesday - Something New (designer paper)
Craft-Dee BowZ - Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow

Loves to Scrap - Anything Goes
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge- Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy - Anything Goes

Crazy Dress - CK #73

Hi friends.  Happy Thursday.  Oh wait, it's cold and rainy out again.  Guess it's not so happy after all.  You remember a few weeks ago when I was sick and had that sore throat that I thought went away.  Well, it didn't. It came back the next day and I've been fighting it ever since. Finally went to an ENT last Thursday and they did another Strep test which was negative, but he went ahead and put me on another stronger antibiotic which seems to be helping little by little each day. I'm really hoping that in the next 4 days it will finally be completely gone.  I must say, it's been a doozer.  I've never had anything like this before - a sore throat that just hung on for so long.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Now, we have a new challenge from Creative Knockouts, and our theme is Lots of Embellishments!  What fun.  I love adding different things to my cards. I thought I'd do something a little different this time with the shape. I made it so it would fit into a regular business-size envelope.

 Materials Used:

• Image - Stamping Boutique - Crazy Dress
• Sentiment - Lili of the Valley
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stampin Up Pixie Pink
• Ink - Stampin Up Pixie Pink
• Designer Paper - LOTV - NitWit Collection - Bonnets and Bowties
• Accessories - Nestabilities Radiant Rectangles Die; Pearl Smooch; Large Pink Flower and blue flowers - Petaloo; Sweetheart Blossoms - Wild Orchid Crafts; Ribbon - stash; Stampin Up - pink dots; Spica Silver Gel Pen; Recollections - Bling
• Copic Markers: B0000; B21, B32, B34; RV02, RV13, RV14, RV55; V01, V12, V15; YG21, YG11

I hope you'll come play along this week. Hop on over to Creative Knockouts and see what the rest of the design team has for your inspiration using images from our Sponsor - The Stamping Boutique.

Challenges I'm entering:
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes
Dream It Up - Birthday Wishes
In the Pink - Pink and Pearly
Scrap & Craft - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - Something Old; Something New (Old Die); (New Flowers)
Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Tip Top Tuesday - Something New (Flowers)
Craft-Dee BowZ - Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow
Crafting From the Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Loves to Scrap - Anything Goes
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge- Anything Goes
Whoopsi Daisy - Anything Goes

Tropical Ice Cream - OSAAT #228

Welcome back and Happy Sunday to all my friends.  Wish I could say it was warm and sunny here, but again we are having some cold, rainy weather.  Boo! Hiss!  I wasn't made for Winter. My skin gets all dry and flaky and the skin on my fingers split from being so dry even though I lather them up all day with hand lotion. I'm ready for Spring!

In the meantime I have a new card to show you from One Stitch At A Time challenge.  Our theme this time is Anything Goes with Something New. I bet you all got some new crafty item for Christmas that you can use.

Materials Used:

• Image - CraftyGirl Creations - Tropical Ice Cream
• Sentiment - Stampin Up
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stampin Up - Tempting Turquoise
• Designer Paper - Stampin Up Island Oasis
• Ink - Stampin Up Tempting Turquoise
• Accessories - Oval Nestabilities Die; Flowers, brad, and ribbon from my stash; Martha Stewart Edge Punch
• Copic Markers - BG0000, BG1, BG13, BG53; E18, E31, E33, E40, E44, E47, E49; R24, R27, R81, R83; Y13, Y15, Y18

Our sponsor is our fabulous Stitchy Bear Digital Outlet and the prize is the new January Prize Package.

I hope you will come and join in the fun for this challenge. You could be the winner of this awesome prize pack or picked as one of the Top 3.  Hope to see you there!

I am submitting this for the following challenges:
Fairytale Stampers - Flowers, Flowers
Scribble and Scrap - Anything Goes
Gem of a Challenge - Something New  - Flowers and Lace
Allsorts - New and Cute 
Kit & Clowder - Anything Goes
Paper Creators Crafts - Anything Goes

Starry Girl - Creative Knockouts #71

Hello my friends.  Hope you are staying warm.  What happened to the sunny South????  Got down into the 20's last night. I tried to cover all my plants and shrubs, so I hope that helped save them.

Today I have a card for Creative Knockouts.  Our theme is All About the Girls, so get as girly as you want! Our sponsor is Lemon Shortbread. Check out all her fabulous images.

Materials Used:

• Image - Lemon Shortbread - Starry Girl
• Sentiment - Stampin Up
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stampin Up - 
• Designer Paper - My Mind's Eye - On the Bright Side
• Accessories - Stampin Up small and medium oval punches; Memory Box Die; Petaloo flowers; Martha Stewart Leaf Branch punch; doily; Lace from my stash.
• Copic Markers - B0000; BG18, BG72, BG75; C0, C3, C5; E21, E23, E27; E47, E50, E51, E53; Y13, Y15, YR12, YR18, YR65

 Just thought I'd let you all know that Creative Knockouts is having a Design Team call. This is a great bunch of ladies to work
with so if you might be interested check out the requirements on the challenge blog when you go over there to link up your Girly card.

I am submitting this card for the following challenges:
The ABC Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Pattern Paper - Anything Goes
Die Cut Divas - Anything Goes with Die Cut
Die R Us Challenge - Anything Goes with Something New - Flowers
Ladybug Crafts - Say It With Flowers
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Clear it Out - Anything Goes With Stash (Doily)
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes + Orange
Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown - Favorite Embellishment - Flowers

Merry and Bright

Hi Friends and Happy New Year! I hope yours has been good so far.  Mine not so much. I've been sick since last Tuesday. Started out with a scratchy throat which got worse and then fever, cough, lots of blowing of the nose, sinus pain, and a still sore throat! That is up until today. I have to tell you this in the hopes that it might help one of you one day. A dear friend who moved 6 years ago to Arkansas has been in town helping her daughter and was able to come by to see me today. As we were chatting and catching up on things I mentioned about the sore spot on my throat and the throbbing sinus pain. So she reached into her purse and pulled out a box of Silver Lozenges. That's what they are called. They are made with Colloidal Silver. I've read online that there is no scientific proof that CS can ward off disease or fight infection, but I am proof that it does do that job. As I was sucking on that lozenge, I could actually feel the soreness going away in my throat and later the pain in my sinus lessened and stopped throbbing. I was sure I was going to have to make another trip to the doctor, but I seem to be on the mend finally. Terrible part about all this was that this was supposed to be my 4-day weekend vacation. Boo!  Didn't get to go anywhere, but I did spend some time getting my stamp room cleaned up and organized. It's almost done and you would NOT recognize it from before. I did pull some things out of there and boxed them up either for storage, to sell, or to toss. I will figure that out later.

Anyway, in December, The Outlawz started a new challenge called the Progressive Freebie monthly challenge. All we had to do was sign up and we were sent a free image to use. Then we had to use the image to make a card to enter the challenge which I did. I just haven't had the change to actually to do the blog post for it until now.  The image is from Simply Betty Stamps.

Materials Used:

• Image - Simply Betty Stamps - Tangled Wednesday
• Sentiment - Hero Arts
• Ink - Cherry Cobbler
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stampin Up Ruby Red
• Designer Paper - My Minds' Eye - Mistletoe Magic
• Sketch - Tuesday Morning Sketches #12
• Accessories - Stampin Up - Scallop Oval punch; Wild Orchid Crafts - snowflake charm; Prima - Flower; Martha Stewart Border Punch - Snowflake Trim; Recollections - White Glitter Tape; Holiday Ornament Die
• Copic Markers - B0000; BG01; BV13; C4, C8; E00, E21, E34; G48; N3, N4; R24, R27, R39, R43, R46, R89; Y11, Y21, Y32, Y35; YG03, YG63, YR23, YR24, YR68

There is a new January challenge up on The Outlawz website using a free image from All Dressed Up. Hope on over there and sign up so you can join in the fun.