Hello Bear - Meljen's Designs Challenge and new Release

Hi everyone!!
  Well blogger has been down for like ever and I'm just getting to post my Meljen's card for the week.  I wanted to make a quick hello card for a boy and came up with this using this adorable little Meljen's Bear that can be found right HERE.
The new release and challenge for this week however is create something for Graduation and  here is the release:

All of these adorable new images can be found HERE.
For my card I used some Basic Grey paper - Oh Baby - boy stack.  I also used a bit of craft paper too.  I colored my bear in Copics and fussy cut him.

I simply layered a number of papers and added a bow!  Please join our challenge at Meljen's Designs this week!

Tiddly Inks Two-Part Puzzler Blog Hop!

YAY!  It's finally here the Tiddly Inks second blog hop to celebrate the 1yr opening of Tiddly Inks!!!  Today is going to be so much fun as there is a puzzle to put together.  On each blog you will collect pieces and once you have them all you can figure out what delightful images they are!!!  Solve the puzzle, email the answer, and you are entered to win!!!  Fun right?  If you just stopped by though - you need to go to the beginning starting right HERE.  If you came from Lou's Blog though you are on the right track!  Now, on to my projects!

I made a little gift card set with these three adorable images - Lillie Claire (Bloom Little Lillie, Did You Hear and Make A Wish).  I'll start with my Bloom Little Lillie card - a birthday card!

Next is using Make a Wish - a Thank You.

Last but not least, Did you Hear? A thinking of you card!

I colored each image with my Copics.  All cards are done with Echo Park Paper - Springtime stack.

OH, and what about the PUZZLE PIECE - you might be asking yourself!

Well here you go!!!  Good luck and have fun!

Now, you are off to Lysa's Blog!!!

CREATE and LINK!!!

C'mon crafty friends color up a Tiddly and enter our hop - the link is live right HERE!!!  We want to see your creations!  There are PRIZES!!!  You have until 9PM CST!!!  Then we can hop the new creations and you can see what the DT has come up with!!! 

The Adventure Starts Today - Tiddly Inks Blog Hop

 Don't forget that today is the Tiddly Inks Blog Hop - MAKE SURE to have your creation ready between 12pm - 9pm CST using your favorite Tiddly to link up at Christy's blog so you are part of the hop.  There is also a puzzler that you won't want to miss for a chance to win free images that happens during the hop that starts at 9pm tonight!!!  

WOOT!!!  I can't wait to see all the gorgeous creations!!

You will link up HERE at 12pm CST!

There are also some new IMAGES - check out this cutie

Check out the store right HERE for the adorable new images!

Just Because... - Some Odd Girl Challenge

Hi everyone!
  This week I really wanted to enter the Some Odd Girl challenge - Shaped Cards - my ever so sweet hubby bought me a bunch of digitals from Kristy's store because he knows how much I love the adorable images and I turned a glorious 35 last week!  My favorite character is probably Mae (I say probably because I adore all the characters) - this image is called A Mae Day and can be found HERE at Some Odd Girl.  I colored her in Copics and fussy cut her.  I also used my white gel pen to accent the flowers and portions of Mae herself.

I then turned to my Gypsy Lady and used Walk In My Garden cart for the large sunflower cut.  I stamped my Just Because sentiment from a clear set that I purchased recently (sorry, I have no idea what stamp co. this if from) on a white piece of paper and trimmed it out using my corner round on one end. 

 I backed it with Green to match the flower stems in the picture.  I also added a bit of Baker's Twine to the tag and a brown button to match.  I popped a number of layers for the sunflower portion of the card to make it look a bit more fancy.

 Love how this card turned out and I LOVE using my Cricut to accent my digital stamps.  It adds a special touch to the ever so adorable stamps!  Don't forget to stop by Some Odd Girl for the fun challenge!

More Tiddly Ink Fun Coming Your Way!

Ok, check out this FUN new hop that Tiddly Inks is having to celebrate Christy's ONE year Birthday of Tiddly Inks!!  All the details can be found on the Tiddly Inks Blog (Christy's Blog)!  Please join us in the hop with YOUR OWN CREATION!!!  PRIZES will be won too - so make sure to JOIN in the FUN!!!

Sewn In Love - Meljen's Challenge

Hi ya everyone!
  This week at Meljen's Designs challenge blog the challenge is to make a LOoooooNG card!  This is a 4x9 and perfect for a business sized envelope!  I used the sweet Garden Fairy from the New Release that can be found right HERE at Whimsy stamps!

Adorable right?  Here's a close-up of my fairy that I colored with my Copics.

I also colored this week's FREEBIE that can be found HERE with Copics.  The image was printed right on my Basic Grey paper from the Lily Kate stack.

I sewed around the edges, added a sheer ribbon that I colored with Copics and this little flower that fell off of one of my daughter's stuffed animals!!! LOL  I'm always on the look out for embellishments - be they tags, flowers or beads!

Head over to Whimsy's and pick up your images and join us for the Long Challenge at Meljen's Challenge Blog.

UTEE (ULTRA thick embossing enamal CLEAR) Magnets

 Hi ya everyone!
  Today I'm going to share a tutorial with you today as it's my day for one at the Bug Bytes.  I love Pam and I want to thank her for letting me share with you today on her blog - please stop by and check out all the wonderful tutorials she has!
I have to be honest I will need to find a better method for creating these adorable magnets.  I used a tea cup lid that my hubby got me a long time ago as I didn't have any silicone cups or ice cube trays.  I didn't want to invest a ton of money because I didn't know if I would like making these.  It was fun - but it a bit more work without the trays for sure.
First, I found an adorable image from Tiddly Inks called Flowery Wishes.  I printed the images on my laser jet printer.

Next, I cut out each flower using micro-tipped scissors.  I didn't cut them perfectly out as I wanted all the words to remain intact.

 I used Tim Holtz inks to add color to my flowers - Brick Red, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain and Scattered Straw.

 I used my Cuttlebug and a round spellbinder die cut to cut a circle out of cardboard such as a cereal box or a backing from a stack of paper (this gives the magnet some strength and thickness).  Layer the plates as shown.

Next, I cut a pretty matching paper in the same manner.  I then layered the cardboard and the pretty paper using an adhesive.  Finally, I added the inked flower to the center with adhesive.

As this was happening my melting pot was heating with UTEE.

 I also grabbed my embossing ink pad - clear.  I pressed the flowers into the embossing pad - covering the whole thing.

Next I added a bit of melted UTEE to my tea cup lid and then dropped the flower into the UTEE and covered the back.

 At this point I also added the magnet to the back.  The magnet will not permanently stick but I wanted the UTEE to form around the magnet in order to have a flat section for the magnet.  The UTEE looks sort of yucky in these pics but it dries with a bit of a yellowish tint but all that swirly appearance disappears.  Also any bubbles can be melted out using a heat gun.

I let this cool and had to pry it out with a knife.  This is the part that I had no fun with.  It took some patience and once I had it pulled out the back was sort of jagged.  I dropped it back into the lid and used my heat gun to smooth the edges.  This worked fairly well but then again I had to repry it out creating a few more edges.  At this point I dropped it into this old frying pan and reheated the edges smoothing them out. Once it was cool I added some craft glue and replaced the magnet into the dent.

Thanks for checking out my tutorial - I would suggest getting some silicone cupcake holders to make this process easier.  I like pouring the UTEE - on a side-note I tried dipping the flowers and it didn't work so well.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask away in the comments section!  Please be sure to stop by the Bug Bytes!

A Mother's Day Card - Tiddly Inks Challenge

 Hi ya everyone!!!
  It's Tuesday and that means a brand new Tiddly challenge at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog!  This week we would love to see you create a VINTAGE Mother's Day card.  How fun?  I hope I pulled it off!  I used these adorable pixie image that Christy created called Party Time.  I colored them in Copics and fussy cut them.  I also inked the edges with Old Paper ink from Tim Holtz.

 I grabbed the adorable paper from Echo Park called For The Record and layered a number of elements that come in the stack.  I also added some twine and a large pearl medallion from my stash.  On the Echo Park paper I used a stamp of flowers and sentiment.  The mom on the banner is from a little alphabet set I got a few years ago.  I inked each piece of paper in the Old Paper ink.

 I LOVE how this card turned out and I hope my mom likes it!  I also hope I pulled off the Vintage look!  Join us for the new challenge at the Tiddly Inks challenge blog.  Also, you have to use a Tiddly image to play - all images can be found right HERE in the shop!!!

Happy Mom Day! - The Greeting Farm and iCopic Challenge

 Hi ya everyone!
  So I took the plunge and bought some RUBBER!! LOL - yup and the set I bought is The Greeting Farm stamp set called My Favorite Things which I got at iCopic.  Not only did they get here in two days but they are a great size to work with.  My biggest concern with rubber is the size - some are just so small and that's why I typically work with digi's.  But The Greeting Farm stamps are the perfect size.  I colored her with my Copics.  I wanted to enter the iCopic Lover challenge which is add some grass.  So after adding a bit of grass I fussy cut her.

  I used my gel pen to add some white little dots on her dress and also used my clear spica pen to add glitter to the stars and bow!  I love the Spica pens - the glitter is just ever so soft and delicate.  It's very hard to photograph.

Next, I grabbed my Echo Park paper called For the Record (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this paper!).  Added a few layers using my nestables and added Happy Mom Day with a dollar set of sentiments. 

 Lastly, I added some Baker's Twine!  I want to enter this card into The Farm Fresh challenge for The Greeting Farm too!

500 Follower Giveaway!!!

This post will remain at the top!  Please scroll down for NEW posts!!

 Hi ya everyone!  I apologize for the long absence.  I have been feeling pretty yucky for the past two weeks.  I usually work ahead so luckily it looks like I've been down and out for a week, but really it's been longer.  I'm very sorry!  I have a celebration here on my blog to celebrate 500 followers starting TODAY!!!  You are going to LOVE my prizes!  I have two to give away.  The first is a $50 gift certificate to my favorite place to shop online - iCopic!  They have a fabulous array of Copics, papers, stamps and anything else you might need.  The fabulous store owner Ashly kindly donated $30 for the certificate and I added a nice $20 for a big fat certificate for my winner.

The second fabulous prize is a $10 gift certificate to one of my favorite digital stamp stores - Tiddly Inks!  You all know I love me some Tiddly's and let's just say, I just saw the new release and they are GRAND!!!! The wonderful Christy Croll, owner and designer of Tiddly Inks donated this fabulous prize!

I love the companies that I design for and am so thankful for their product and their generosity.  I can honestly say that I've found the blogging community to be filled with GENEROUS people and I love each of those people I've met and feel truly blessed to know and work with a number of them.

I also feel blessed in my followers and those that leave me comments on my projects.  It's enjoyable to craft and I love it with all my heart...but the joy that others receive because of my cards and projects really touches my soul.  Thank you fabulous people for being followers and commentors.  I truly am grateful for each of you!!

So there you have it - a $50 gift certificate to iCopic and a $10 gift certificate to Tiddly Inks!  All you have to do is be a follower and leave me a comment and I would love for you to share my blog with others if you do enjoy my creations and think my blog worthy of sharing! 

*edited to add*  You'll have TWO weeks to comment!!!  On May 7th I'll pick a Winner!!!