You had me at HOWDY

Howdy friends,
Hope you had a lovely St. Patty's Day. We had a little get together at my crib with some friends for St. Patty's Day, but the awful weather kept some of our crew away :( It was raining like crazy & if it wasn't raining, the wind was blowing Dorothy to our neck of the woods! Ugh... but those who did brave the wild weather brought some most delicious grub! yuuuummy! So we ate, played a bit of Draw Something, watched some movies, & hung out.

I decided to ink up one of my new MFT goodies I just picked up & play along in a few challenges going on in the blogosphere:
Here's my card:

Ahhhhh!!! Isn't this little cowboy just adorable! I couldn't resist him & the little country charms from this month's MFT release.
Here's a closer peek:

 He's colored with Copics & paper pieced. I used leather-like paper from a Sizzix pad I picked up ages ago. It was *perfect* for my little dude's clothes. It's neat cuz it looks & feels like real leather! I also used the woodgrain fence die & cut it down the middle to create a gate opening that could open & close. I added a bit of twine for the rope. So fun to make :)

I used this week's MFT sketch:

and the colors from the color inspiration pic at the Play Date Cafe. The papers are from the Marrakech collection by BasicGrey.

My little dude will also be playing along with the following challenges: 
Totally Papercrafts: Male card
Anything Goes Challenge: #62 Boyz to Men

Thanks so much for peeking today. I'm off to catch the season finale of The Walking Dead :)
Gotta Go!

Tim Time

Hi ya friends!
I know... long time no blog :(  just been a busy little teacher. But this weekend, I got to spend some time at a Stamp in the Hand show & had so much fun! I luuuv going to this particular show cuz it's local,  low key, and not overly crowded either :) So Saturday I went with my Grammy. She likes to see all the beautiful card samples the different companies have to offer (she says my cards are prettier hee hee!) & to do some make & takes. She especially likes the make & take from Heartfelt Creations cuz it usually involves some ginormous flower. Lol!
Here's my Grammy (on our previous visit) using a stylus to shape & bend the petals.

Go Grammy, Go! Remember she's almost 85 years old and she can hold her own! HC was not there this time & Grammy was sad :( no ginormous flower for her this time...
But this guy was there both days:

That's T!m signing his new book for me :) Lookie!:

Ahhhhh! I will stay curious T!m! I'm sure he says that to all the girls ;)

Here's a pic of the 2 tags he's created for the 12 Tags of 2012 so far:

They are just as amazing in person as they look on the computer.

Which brings me to the topic of this lengthy post today!
Here's my tag using the Honey comb die cut technique:

I die cut the apples out of red honey comb paper & adhered them to a green apple cardstock base.
Here's a closer peek:

I am so smitten with these! Can you say Luuuuuv?!

To the bottom edge, I added some hanging mini paper clips from T!m's line. The alphabet & calendar are stickers from the Lost & Found Salvage sticker set. The tag was created with Graphic 45 papers called An ABC Primer.

I wanted to take both this tag & the mosaic tile tag I created

 to see if he would sign them, but I chickened out :( If I took them, that would mean he'd have to see them & that would be waaaay too embarrassing! Ah well.

Things are simmering down a bit, so hopefully I can come back & share some St. Patty's day goodies since that's around the corner.

Thanks so much for peeking!
Have a great week!

Tag- I'm it!

Hola Friends,
Every year, I look forward with anticipation for T!m Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas! And every year I buy all the supplies & do... nothing :( as in: nada, nichts, rien, nashi, niente, ingentin, ei mitään ;)
 It's mainly cuz I'm rushing to get my Christmas cards done, so when T!m announced his

I squealed with delight! Yes! Now I might actually be able to join in the fun :) Ok, so I missed February, but I'm good this month! This month's technique is to create a Mini Tiled Mosaic, so that's what I have to share today.
Here's March's Tag:

 When I was a little girl, I loved making mosaics. I would cut up little bits of construction paper, draw a picture outline, & glue all those bits in the picture. I specifically remember making one for my grammy of her cockatiel, Paco. He is the inspiration for my tag.

Here's a closer peek at the larger bird:

Here's the smaller bird:

I started out with a tag to which I stamped the background with the SU stamp En Francais in Memento London Fog. I inked the edges with my Inkssentials blending tool. I used the 2 birdies from the Spellbinder's Bird Sanctuary dies. I didn't have the embossing powder T!m used so I just used silver then added Glossy Accents to the paper pieces to create the look of tile. (Which it really does look like IRL!!! :) The Swirly element is a Cheery Lynn die called Fanciful Flourish. I colored the leaves with YG11 for subtleness. (I didn't want the leaves to stand out). I added some fabric trim to the bottom along with a ticket with "March '12". The ticket comes from the Playful Journey stamp set from T!m's collection. I plan on using that stamp in the same way for the rest of the tags. To finish, I wrapped some sheer ribbon & a bit of pearl strand colored in E42 Copic (since it was white) to the top.
I'll be playing along in the following challenges:
Die-ing for a Challenge: Anything goes
Stamping For The Weekend: BINGO Ribbon, Lace, Diecuts
Do You Stack Up: #61 Things with Wings

Hope you like my version of T!m's tag. I had lots of fun working on it :)
I am playing catch up on February's tag. That one is in production ;)
Hasta Luego!

Sweetness

Hi ya friends,
I'm back today with one more card to share. This will be another busy week for me so I thought I'd get all the play time I could before I start on my school stuff.
Here's my card:

 There's a color challenge this week at Magnolia Down Under of pink, orange, & white. I know that's my blog pal's, Kathy's, fav color combo, so I thought I'd use her sketch & her color combo to make a card & play along in a few challenges. :)
This is 60's Tilda enjoying a lolly (that I colored & glittered with Stickles).
Here's a closer peek at her:

She's colored with Copics. I think that she's the perfect Tilda for those that don't like the no mouth & nose thing cuz they would be hidden behind her lolly ;) The flowers are from WOC, the border punch is doily lace by MS, on top of the doily is the Picot Edge Circle Nestie. I punched out & layered the SU punch & wrote the sentiment on it. I like my stitching how I like my fur---> faux, of course ;) Oh, the papers are from the Tickled Pink collection from MME. That's pretty much it.

By the way, here's Kathy's sketch for Tuesday Morning Sketches:

 and my Tilda will be playing along in the following challenges:
Magnolia Down Under: Color Challenge
Just  Magnolia: Use a Doily
Totally Tilda: Die Cuts & punches
Magnolia Stamp Lovers: Punches

Thanks for peeking! Gotta Go!

She Will

Hi friends,
I have a card to share with ya today I made for a friend who just got engaged. :)
Here's my card:

I used MFT's Girls Day In stamp set for the main image. It's actually a stamp of a girl getting a manicure, but the way she's holding her hand, it looks like she's showing off the new rock :) I saw someone do that with this image a long time ago, but I don't remember who it was :( She's colored with Copics & her clothes were paper pieced.

I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch:

and the colors from CR84FN:

I thought the papers from DCWV Lemon Flower stack were perfect for this challenge :)

I'm also playing along with:
Delightful Challenges: Use Pattern Paper
Papertake Weekly: Use Kraft

Thanks so much for peeking today! Enjoy your Sunday :)

Less Frill, more Dude

Hi friends,
Does your mind wander while you're crafting? Mine... of course! Today's card is proof of that. I initially decided to make a masculine card, but that's not quite what I ended up with! Here was the end result:

 Masculine? Maybe not with that doily & lace- oh my! Did you see my feeble attempt to make it more masculine by adding twine. Ha! Nice try there ~  Ugh... :( Sometimes I get so lost in my paper crafting, I totally lose sight of the objective! I wanted to play with the Cuckoo Clock Spellbinders die I recently picked up. I guess it reminded me of the one Grammy has at her house which is why I got it.  So I guess I need to go back to the craft room & work on one a little less... frilly :)  IDK, what do you think? Masculine enough??? The pattern paper is Lost & Found Breeze by MME, the doily is a die from PTI.

I used the current sketch from my friends over at Cardabilities:

I'll also be playing along with the following challenges:
City Crafter Challenge: It's All Natural
Creative Card Crew: Masculine :) The intent was masculine, you decide though :)
Whimsy inspiration Challenge: Monochromatic

Thanks so much for peeking today!
Gotta go!

Glittered Buttons

Hi there friends,
This week's Make it Monday by PTI is to create a project with glittered buttons. It's sooooo easy & fun! Now, ALL of my buttons are going to be glittered :) It's so hard to get a good pic of the glittered buttons, but they are so sparkly!
Here's my card:

 I used the hot air balloons from the set Everyday Button Bits with Spring Rain buttons. The fence is the woodgrain fence by MFT & the grass is a MS punch. I also used a previous MIM technique: Using dies to deboss. I debossed the cloud dies onto the cardstock.
Here's a closer peek:

That was another neat technique! I stamped the sentiment "Just soaring by to say hi" right above the fence in Spring rain ink, but it's hard to tell. (Me thinks it's time for the reinker :(   I did a bit of stitching along the edges- make mine faux, of course.
This is a pretty CAS card for me right!???  It's going to a friend I haven't talked to in a bit cuz we're both super busy, just to let her know I'm thinking of her &  to say "Hi."

I'll also be playing along in the following challenges:
Celebrate the Occasion: Challenge #51 Thinking of You
The Stamping Boutique: Stitching (faux)
Make it Monday: Anything Goes
The Crazy Challenge: Use a die or punch
Hiding in my Craft Room: Glitter

That's all for now. Thanks for peeking today!