Four Legged & Color Challenge

This is my submission for the (Midweek throw-down) over at Operation Write Home combined with the color (coral,kiwi,banana) challenge over at Bugaboo stamps & another excuse to use my new nestie dies. It is the "four legged friend challenge." I used this Alligator that came in my new Sandy Lion stamps set I got yesterday at Michaels for 40% off! I'm trying to do more boyish cards but in the end I could not resist this time with adding the flower.

OWH SKetch #10 Challenge

Pictured here is Sketch challenge # 10 by Martha from Operation Write Home. This time I tried to do a card in a boy theme which is a stretch for me because I have a tendency to want to add flowers and girlie things -lol. The blue plaid is paper studio the red is walmart colors pack which I used my new cuttlebug diamond plate folder to emboss. The stamp, green ink and, green pearls were all from Dixie's blog candy I won from the blog hop! Thanks so much Dixie! I really loved this layout even though it took a little longer due to all of the cutting which is imperfect because I didn't have a tag punch and I rounded the corners instead - I did not see the tag tutorial Martha put up until after I created the card -doh but I will definitely be using that in the future along with this template. I finished it with the yellow paper studio ribbon and a little foamie car -I LOVE foamies! Thanks for looking and happy scrapp'n!!

OWH Sketch #9 Challenge

Heres the little bugaboo turtle again...and some papers I had left over from my previous cards. I'm practicing using colored pencils and blending techniques on these images. Thanks for stopping by! Cheryl

The pink elephant challenge

Here's this weeks Pink elephant sketch challenge. I wasn't totally happy with this card but it is what came together for me. To me this sketch begged for embellishments but these colors are not my favorites and I embossed the pink paper but it did not turn out well due to the area for embossing is larger than the cuttlebug folder so I had to piece it -this I have already found is a drawback to the cuttlebug. At least I got to use my nestie circles for the first time! Happy Scrapp'n!

Cuttlebug Frenzy

    Wow the blog-hop was really awesome. Just when I thought I had this card-makin' thing in the bag I realized I still have a LOT to learn... but what a fun craft to learn while at the same time supporting a great cause at Operation Write Home! That was my first time ever hopping and I got a few digital freebies and to my amazement I even won some blog candy from Dixie...my NC shipper! Woot Woot!

    So now on to my latest cards and  some tips for cuttlebug newbies like myself...
    On the hop I picked up this great image of a little turtle from Bugaboo Stamps (freebie)  I read somewhere the tell tale signs of a novice card maker is over-embellishing...so I added the buttons only after consulting with my daughter and her friend! lol.
     On Friday I got my cuttle bug, somehow I felt disadvantaged to "not" have one and I was so envious of everyone's textured papers and perfectly cut circles. It was definitely a case of design tool peer pressure! For the couple of card makers out there that still do not own one I have a few things to share with you. (in blue for those of you who'd like to skip this part.)

     The first time you try and emboss (which means "squish" a design onto your paper) you will be a little scared that the plate is going to crack because you will hear some creaking and squeaking of the plastic pieces. At first I was scared I might crack my B plate but I checked the internet and found out it is normal. I also had purchased one of the spellbinders nestabilities (other scrappers call them "nesties" ...basically they are those shapes that are cut perfectly with a little professional edge and sometimes you see that they are layered two or more high.) I was scared to use my nestie circles at first because on the spellbinder package it said you needed a "tan mat" to make them work with the cuttlebug. I later found out that you "can" use them anyways sandwiching them between the B and C plates but that your embossing may be "crisper" WITH the mat. The circles pictured in these cards , however were NOT done with the cuttlebug -these were traced using a fiskers template (pictured behind the cuttlebug) for the cost of about $3.20. The fisker template is WAY more economical than the cuttlebug system but I did not purchase the Fiskers "cutter" to go with the template so my ovals were hand-cut! I was a bit surprised at what the cuttlebug actually is... its basically just a squishing device; no motor or anything...in fact a very basic contraption for the price I paid of 67.99. Then considering the dies are a little pricey at around 14.99 (that was a sale of 40% off btw) for "each" die set which includes several different sizes of the same shape for layering - pricey! The folders are a bit more affordable at from $3-$5 depending if u catch a sale so this alone does add some dimension to your projects even if you're like me and it will be many months before you can collect up all the dies you'd like to have. I will say this about the cuttlebug -it IS a lot of fun to squish paper and see what it looks like on the other side as it turns out beautiful every time with this bug! Whether one really NEED'S it to make beautiful cards is in the eye of the beholder however because I have seen some beautiful cards with and without it!

This is a card I made using two of the cuttlebug embossing folders. The yellow was a circles design and the blue on top was swiss dots. This image was a freebie from Bugaboo Stamps (freebie) designs...so cute! I colored it in with a combo of colored pencils and sparkly gel pens in some areas. A lot of the card makers use copic markers but at this point I can't afford them at six dollars and change per marker so I opted for a box of 36 colored pencils at 6.99 instead! This was my daughters favorite card of the three I made this weekend.

This last card I made utilized Velda's sketch #6 from the OWH challenge I just liked this layout and wanted to try it along with the little clown image I got fromBugaboo Stamps (freebie) Here I used the swiss dots on the plaid pattern and the circles design with the circles paper.Thanks for stopping by!

OWH Springbreak Bloghop

     Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home spring break blog-hop! If you got here from Sarah's simply scrapping page -Great! If not and if you'd like to see all the ideas and blog candy this hop has to offer please hop in order by starting at http://www.owhstarsandstamps.org
     Below you will find my "spring card" which is based on Shirley's #8 sketch from this week's challenge at OWH-thanks so much Shirley I will definitely be using this template a lot! This card along with others pictured will eventually make its way into the hands of one of our deployed American Hero's for the purpose of writing home to a family member! I first began by adopting a soldier through www.adoptaussoldier.org, in November of 09 and quickly made it one of my favorite causes. Soon after I came to know of OWH through facebook connections. Though I had never made a card before I immediately loved the idea and decided to try it. I've dabbled in crafts from sculpey to acrylic painting and most everything in between but was never into the scrap-booking thing. So I've been making cards now for about 3 1/2 months and Hobby Lobby has replaced Wal-Mart as my favorite place to shop!
     One interesting thing I find is that when I create a card I have to give it the overnight test. If I like it then I sleep on it...if I still like it in the morning I don't tear it apart and start over! LOL. Today I got my Cuttlebug albeit against my husbands wishes...lol. If you are new like me it won't take you but a few months and perhaps X amount of dollars wasted on other stuff to realize you NEED this contraption!
     I hope you like my card and please leave a comment because I LOVE comments. I'm also new to blogging with just having gotten this blog up this week in time for the hop so I hope you will follow me or stop by again soon!

Now hop on over to Caro's blog... Scraps of time
http://caroscreativecorner.blogspot.com/2010/03/happy-spring-happy-bloghop.html

Citrus color challenge

A few days ago I was surfing the blogs trying to learn how to do this and that concerning blogs since I am new to blogging and styling a blog...and I came across a challenge to do a card in the color "citrus". To me citrus is yellow-ish but I've since learned that it is actually lime green-ish. I guess what confused me was that citrus always makes me think of  those drinks with little umbrellas and the beach which makes me think of sunshine which happens to be yellow!! 
No- I'm not blonde... but I do tend to have those moments. Anyways the moral of this story is if you go to the trouble to make a card for a challenge it is good to get clarification on the color & also jot down or otherwise remember where you saw the challenge since I can no longer remember where it was posted in the first place!

Sketch 08 challenge

This is my first attempt at a "challenge" and at "blogging" about it. This challenge comes from Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps blog. As you can see I got the diagonal backwards - I realized this after I uploaded the pic...but nevertheless its the same idea. The papers are from my "scrapbook factory" software program...I printed them onto white card stock. The stamp was from the dollar store. The circle cut outs were done by hand then I used my Martha Stewart heart cutter to punch out the edges. I'm a newbie so I don't have a cuttle-bug or cricut...yet! lol.  I colored it in with some gel pens for a little sparkle then I stamped my sentiment "girly girl" over the top of that using acrylic stamped letters, then I added a ribbon and some gem embellishments for a very "girlie" card. What do ya' think? Thanks for looking!