Deck the Halls

It's finally happened!!!!!!!  I made a Christmas card!  Wow!  For the last couple of years, I've been taking part in the Splitcoast Stampers Christmas Card Challenge and I'd make about 5 or 6 cards a month and then have them all ready to go in November.  This year I started out okay and made about 4 or 5 in January and then nothing - nada - not any!  The other day I was chatting with a friend and she said this same thing!  I couldn't believe she hasn't been making Christmas cards either.  So we decided to encourage each other to get ours done.  I guess I'm going to need lots more encouragement to get more than one card done!  Anyway, it's a start and now I have all my Christmas stuff out - papers, embellishments, ribbons, flowers - ready to go.

Actually, I'm not real happy with it.  Not sure I like the die cut on top of that particular pattern paper, but it is what it is and will do for now.  I must also confess, that I did not use one Copic marker in the making of this card.  The image is from Lili of the Valley and they have pre-printed images you can buy (inexpensive) and they are colored perfectly!  The sentiment tags are also from LOTV.  I used Stampin Up Night of Navy card stock for the base and mat and also the ink for the sentiments.

The designer paper is from Echo Park - Times & Seasons.  The accessories are all from my stash and the die cut is from Cricut cartridge Winter Lace.

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.

I am submitting this card to the following challenges:
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
Creative Belli Blog - Christmas
Fab n Funky - Christmas in July
Cuttin and Stampin - Christmas in July
Loves Rubberstamps Challenge - Christmas in July
Eureka Stamps - Christmas in July
Pink by Design - Christmas
My Crafty Spot - Christmas in July
Stamp and Create - Christmas in July

By Sea As By Land

Hello friends.  First of all, I've added a new addition to the household!  Yep, Corey is now living inside!  Well, he's living in my bedroom.  I had to see how all the kitties were going to react to each other.  So far so good. In fact I even let Casper in for a visit this morning and they did just fine.  I know that he wants to come out, but can't do that just yet.  If he's going to be indoors, I'll have him declawed. I also need to wean him to the new indoor kitty food.

That's Casper checkout out the litter box and Corey trying to figure out what he's doing.  Casper is about twice the size of Corey.

I do have a card to share.  On Splitcoast Stampers, I belong to the Monthly Challenge group and each month one of us sends out a swap to the other members and we all make cards out of what was sent.  We're allowed to add our own supplies if we choose to do so.  This month our sender was VikkiJo.  And would you believe - not a Copic Marker was used or harmed in the making of this card.  LOL!

All the pieces except the sentiment were stamped and sent by Vikki Jo.  I used a piece of  Stampin Up Night of Navy cardstock for the base of my card.  The sentiment is one I found on the internet and printed it off using Dark Blue.  The little strip under the ship was cut off the short end of the pattern paper so it would fit and I hated to waste it so I just slapped it down there and liked the way it looked.  That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

I am submitting this for the following challenges:

Mark's Finest Papers Inspiration Challenge -Dresses
Heck of a Challenge - The Sea
The Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes

Be Merry

Hi my friends.  I've been a little low on the mojo the last week or so since Perfect Sentiment is on vacation for the month of July.  Decided just to check out my list of challenges that I like to go to.  First I came across this color combo challenge from Cupcake Inspirations.

Next I needed a sketch and so went to My Favorite Things - Wednesday Stamp Club and found their new sketch for this week.

Then I just had to find some designer paper to work out the colors and came up with this card.

Materials Used:

• Image - Lili of the Valley - Cute Fairy
• Sentiment - My Favorite Thiings - Candy Cane Kisses
• Cardstock - Stampin Up - Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight; Xpress It Blending Card
• Designer Paper - Dovecraft Tea Party; GCD Studios - Homespun
• Ink - Tuxedo Memento Black
• Accessories - Deckle scissors; gold bling from my stash; Butterflies - Memory Box dies; Stickles - Candy Cane; Frosted Lace; Yellow; 
• Copic Markers - B0000; E50, E51, E53; G00, G14, G17; R01, R20, R30, R81, R83, R85; Y11, Y13, Y21; Signo White Gel pen; Pentel Metallic Green Gel pen; Multiliner .03

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations - Color Combo
My Favorite Things - Sketch 131
ABC Challenges - Christmas in July
Card Mania - Christmas in July
Platypus Creek - Christmas in July

Summer Fairy - Simply Betty Stamps Fan Page Challenge

Wow!  It seems that I haven't posted anything in awhile.  Perfect Sentiments is on vacation the month of July and I really have been very busy with the house to take time to get something done.  I'm getting this one in just under the wire. It's due tomorrow.

The image is from Simply Betty Stamps.  It's a freebie that she gives to us with the understanding that we will use it for an entry into the Fan Page Challenge.  If you don't use it for the challenge, then you have to sit out the next month.  For this challenge, the idea was to make our own background for the image.  I used Stampin Up Groovy Guava, Kiwi Kiss, and Pool Party inks and sponges to create my background.  Just sponged around the image without any kind of pattern.

Here's my card.

Materials Used:

• Image - Simply Betty Stamps - Summer Fairy
• Sentiment -Lili of the Valley - Everyday Grungy Greetings
• Cardstock - Stampin Up Pool Party and Wild Wasabi; Xpress It Blending Card
• Designer Paper - Fancy Pants Designs - Summer's End
• Ink - Stampin Up - Groovy Guava, Kiwi Kiss, and Pool Party
• Accessories - Sponges; Nestabilities Labels Seventeen; Ribbon - Ribbon Boutique; Prima Flowers - Blue; Wild Orchid Crafts - Peach flowers; Martha Stewart Fir Branch punch; Bling from my stash; Stickles - Clear
• Copic markers:  BG000, BG02, BG11; E00, E01, E11; R46; YG03, YG61, YG63; YR00, YR02, YR12

That's it for today.  Gotta go get this uploaded to the challenge blog and check out some other challenges out there.  Thanks for stopping by.

Man Cake PSC85

Hello Friends and welcome to another Wednesday and Perfect Sentiment Challenge.  I had a whirlwind trip to California this past week to be with my daughter out there for a very special event in her life.  My daughter that lives here went with me.  We left on Thursday and came back on Saturday.  But even though it was short, we all had a great time.  If any of you live in California, have you ever been to Bruxie's??  Fabulous place to eat.  They make their sandwiches and desserts using waffles instead of bread.  Yummy!  We have to go there whenever we go to visit.

I'm also happy to announce that all the kitties were all feeling much better when I got home.  And some more good news - Corey (Casper's twin outside) has finally let me touch him, pet him, scratch his head, and I was even able to pick him up the other day!!!!  <insert big smilie face>  It's not all the time.  He still skitters away from me sometimes, but this is real progress!

Okay, so much for the news of the week.  I'm sure you'd like to see my card for this week's Perfect Sentiment challenge.

The challenge this week was to create a card for the occasion of your choice.  In honor of the upcoming Independence Day here in the U.S., use the colors red, white, and blue.
Materials Used :

• Image - Stitchy Bear/Delicious Doodles - Man Cake
• Sentiment - Clear Designs - Cupcake
• Cardstock - Xpress It Blending Card; Stamping Up, Night of Navy and Real Red
• Designer Paper - Authentique - Glory collection
• Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin Up Creamy Caramel
• Accessories - Nestabilities Labels Fourteen; Stamping Up Large Star Punch; Marvy square punch; Ribbon - Michael's Americana Collection,
• Copic Markers - B91, B95, B99; R37, R46, R59;  Signo White Gel Pen; White Opal Liquid Pearls
•  

Our wonderful sponsor this week is Stitchy Bear as if you couldn't guess!  ;)

and they will award 3 free digi images to the random winner!

So get your inks and stamps out, dig out some paper and have fun!  I hope you have a fun time and that you'll come back and play with us again.   Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has for you this week.  Bye for now!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Die Cuttin Divas - Must use a Die and make it birthday with 3 embellishments
Loves Rubbr Stamps - Red White & Blue
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes
Our Daily Bread Designs - Red, White & Blue
Through the Craftroom Door - Anyrhing Goes
Cupcake Craft - CAS with no flowers
Get Inky - Red, White and Blue
Paper Playtime - Red, White & Blue
Pike's Playground - Red, White & Blue
Stamps & Fun - Cake

Sun and Sand - PSC84

Welcome back to another Wednesday and a new challenge from Perfect Sentiment!

It's been quite a stressful week with 3 kitties - check em up up there on the blog header ^ - each suffering from a different ailment, but all requiring meds.  Ugh!  None of them like pill pockets so I had to resort to smashing the pills and putting them in a syringe with a little bit of chicken stock.  Then try to manage the cat and the syringe by myself to get the medicine down the throat!  Please don't tell me to wrap them in a towel or blanket.  Tried that, they went ballistic!  I was able to mostly keep each one isolated and get the meds in them, but it sure wasn't easy.  Very exhausting.  Hopefully they are on the mend and won't need any more meds. 

Well, thanks for listening.  Now on to my card.

The image is from Simply Betty Stamps - Sand Castle Betty.  If you don't know SBS, then you really need to check out her blogs and her store with all her fabulous images.  The image is printed on Xpress It Blending Card and the cardstock is Stampin Up Baja Breeze.  When I was looking for paper for this, I found a Summer set from Oriental Trading.  It had some bold pieces of paper and the pretty light blue background paper.  I cut the big paper wave out of one of the sheets of paper and trimmed it with some bling from Dovecraft to spice up the layout. The sticker embellishments as well as the sentiment is also from Oriental Trading.

The Copics I used:  BG0000, BG000, BG01, BG02, BG10; E000, E01, E11, E30, E31, E33; R83; Y06, Y18, Y28; YR01, YR02; W0, W2, W3; 0; Signo White Gel pen.

I invite you to check out the rest of the Design Team's creations.  You can find the links on the left side of my blog or just click on the PSC link up above.  I hope they will inspire you and that you'll want to join in.  We'd love to see what you create.

Our sponsor this week is the Perfect Sentiment Blog

and there is a $5 Amazon gift certificate for one lucky random winner.  You could also be one of the Perfect 3.

I am submitting this card for the following challenges:

Craft-room Challenge - Here Comes Summer
Crafty Sentiments - Fun in the Sun
Deep Ocean Challenge - Welcome Summer
Papertake Weekly - Hot, Hot, Hot
Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes
Lady Anne's - Vickie's Challenge - Anything Goes
Eureka Stamps - Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles - Summer
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes
Stamp and Create - Summer Fun
The Paper Nest Dolls - Summer
There She Goes - Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Celebrate Summer Sunshine
Glitter n Sparkle - 3 of Something (Stickers)
Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Summer Vacation
Craft Lovin Challenge - Anything Goes
My Sheri Crafts - Summer Solstice
Word Play Saturday - Summertime
The Outlawz Monday Greeting - Celebrate Summer

Watermelon Wally - PSC83

Happy Wednesday friends!  It's good to be back this week.  I had to take off last week because of the window installation which went very well by the way!  It only took them 4 hours which was amazing.  But more about that later.  It's been a bit stressful since then.  The house is still not put back in order.  Some male friends are coming by Thursday night to get the window coverings back up.  Then I'll be able to start unpacking everything and getting it all put away so I can get back to business.

Getting on to the business at hand.  This week our theme is For the Boys!  You are to create a card with a masculine theme. Your card can be for a Big Boy or a Little one.  Don't forget to include a sentiment on the front.

Here's my card:

Materials Used:

• Image - Mayzy Art.  This was a freebie given out last year in Through The Craftroom Door magazine.
• Sentiment - Computer generated, printed in Dark Bllue
• Cardstock - Stampin Up - Night of Navy and Real Red; Xpress It Blending Card
• Designer Paper - Authenthique - Glory Collection
• Accessories - Stampin Up Large Star punch and Small Star Punch; white star brad and white star glitter sticker from my stash; Red hemp twine from my stash; Dimensionals
• Copic Markers - B0000, B41, B45, B97; BV11; E01, E11, E13; E71, E74, E77, E79; G12, G20; R01, R22, R24, R37, R59; W00, W0, W1, W3; YG0000, YR000; Multiliners 0.1 and 0.03; Signo White Gel pen

I can't forget out fabulous sponsor this week - Beccy's Place who is awarding 3 free digis to one lucky random winner this week.

Now, I invite you to check out what the rest of the Design Team has in store for you.  You can follow the links on the left side bar or just hop on over to Perfect Sentiment.  Then haul out  your inks, cardstock and stamps and put something together for the challenge this week.  Good luck!
I am submitting this card for the following challenges:

Clear It Out - Male and Use Metal
Craft Room Challenge - Summer
Crafty Sentiments - Male
Creative Card Crew - Metal
LEJ Designs - Male
Our Daily Bread Designs - Masculine
Papertake Weekly - For the Boys
Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Masculine
Tuesday Throwdown - You're the Man
Twisted Tuesday - Masculine with Clothes
Use it Tuesday - Masculine with  hoarded Red Twine
Ladybug Crafts - For the Men in Your Life
Crafter's Cafe -  For a Male
Cards for Men - Boys Will be Boys
Craft Your Passion - Father's Day/Masculine
Get Inky - Boys/Men
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Glitter n Sparkle- Father's Day/Masculine
Hobby Cutz - Masculine/Father's Day