happy new year!

My Flickr friend Deirdre made a cute card using some free digis from Torico's Digital Gallery. Torico generously shares her fun, whimsical images and I snagged a bunch of them. Thank you, Torico!

Here's an image called Gosuloli (Does it not sound like "Go Slowly"?) Girl. She's a little goth cutie and she was a lot of fun to color. I think she's stashing that little snowman and welcoming in the New Year.

The card base is a scrap piece stamped with Hero Arts' Classic Fabric Design. I colored her with Copics, and used Cosmo Cricket alpha stickers to form the sentiment. The seam binding was dyed with Black Soot distress ink, and I dyed the paper rose with some Copic (R83 & R85) ink refills. Although the photo doesn't show it, I applied some Aqua Lip clear glaze to the little skull, snowman, and her eyes for a bit of shine.

Thanks to all of you who visited my blog this year, and left such wonderful comments, too. Here's wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!


Stamps: Torico digital image, Hero Arts
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Hero Arts shadow ink, Black Soot distress ink
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Cosmo Cricket alpha stickers, hand dyed seam binding, 
Sakura Aqua Lip clear pen, paper rose, pearls

My Top 10 2010 Cards Blog Hop

While visiting Tiddly Inks, Christy Croll mentioned a blog hop sponsored by Mrs. Weyremaster (Suzi) to choose and share 10 of your favorite cards that you created in 2010. It sounded like fun, to go through your past blog posts and revisit some older cards again. 

Here are my top 9: (Click to view larger size)

Top row (L to R): Hero Arts, Tiddly Inks, Simply Betty

Second row: Digistampcharacters, Greeting Farm, Stampin Up

Bottom row: Greeting Farm, Mo's Digital, Greeting Farm

My 10th wasn't made by me, but by the fabulous Amy Young--she won Farm Fresh Friday! I received this card for Christmas, and got to see it in person. It's truly awesome...Thank you, Amy!

You have until Wednesday, December 29th (7pm GMT) to link your blog post thru Inlinkz. Suzi is generously offering some prizes, too. Get all the details here, and hope to see your Top 10 faves, too!

Post Christmas 2010

Hello, and Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa brought you all that you wished for.

I'd like to share a couple of gifts that I received--one cute, and one awesome! First the cute from my daughter from Urban Outfitters:

We had bunnies for 11 years and I miss them terribly, so naturally I squealed when I first saw these slippers. They're cozy and warm and give me a little height, too. ♥

My next share is "most awesome gift" from my sweet hubby! He presented me with a nicely wrapped box and I knew it wasn't jewelry because I'm not a glitz and bling kind of gal. When I opened it, here's what was inside:

Yep, my hubby bought me more workout sessions with my personal trainer, Allie!! I'm halfway to my weight loss goal (-26 pounds so far!!) and the 32 sessions should stretch out through March.

And thanks for your condolences to Frosty. He is definitely gone. The good news is, I'm probably going to resurrect him by changing the music button, or make a whole new Frosty. He'll make an appearance next Christmas....

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share...Hope you're having a great week!

Poor Frosty...

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. A few nights ago, it became apparent that Frosty's days were numbered. After 22 years of being perched on our tree and having his tummy pressed, he'll soon be just a hanging ornament.

I (sniff!) videotaped his last day of glory to share with you.

You might be able to hear me "shush" my hubby after he suggests that I perform surgery on Frosty and remove the music button or change his battery.

R.I.P. Frosty! You served us well and we won't be pressing on your belly anymore.  From now on we hope you'll enjoy just hangin' around at Christmas...

And on that note, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas! Thanks so much for always stopping by and for your sweet comments, too. 

MELE KALIKIMAKA!

Cheeky Cool Christmas

Just a quick share of a card that I made for Farm Fresh Friday at The Greeting Farm. I had several Cheeky gals colored--she's my favorite!--so this card came together rather quickly. On the Nestabilities Labels One shape, I stamped Hero Arts' Music Background and ink distressed with Broken China distress ink.

I used lots of Diamond Stickles on her outfit and some pearly snowflakes for the "Let It Snow" challenge theme. The "cool" sentiment is from another set from the Greeting Farm.

Note: This card was picked as a "Wednesday Wow" at Club Anya and Friends and I won a free digi of my choice! I'll share who won Farm Fresh Friday in an upcoming post.

Thanks for visiting today! Hope you're having a great week...

Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Hero Arts
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Tim Holtz distress ink
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Diamond Stickles, ribbon, snowflake buttons

A card of Hope

Deborah Nolan coordinated a secret card drive for a Hero Arts Flickr friend who was battling a terrible illness. I wrote up this post over a year ago. It was published, and some of you commented, but I "unpublished" it because it was still a secret. And now, a year later, Deborah said it was time for the reveal.  So here it is, again...

Just wanted to share a card that I made for a Flickr friend who is going through a difficult time right now. Deborah is hosting a secret card drive that drew an amazing turnout, which just goes to show that stampers have the biggest hearts.

I am loving Hero Arts' new Friend Definition cling stamp. It's huge and covers a lot of card in one stamping, and it also stamps so crisp and clear.

I sponged Shabby Shutters on cream cardstock and stamped the definition in brown. Tore the edges with a metal edge ruler and finished up with some flowers that were colored and cut out, along with some leaves from my new favorite Sizzlits leaf die.

Here's hoping that our secret friend knows that she has our love and support and that there will be brighter days ahead.                                    --November 2009

* * *

Ruth, we're all so happy for your progress and the battle you've won so far. I hope that all the cards you received brought a little sunshine in your life and that you continue to be strong and always have hope. 

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Merry Christmas--Part 2

Happy Aloha Friday! Just wanted to share a few more Christmas cards using some "oldies but goodies" stamps that I brought out of hibernation.

After I bought Hero Arts' Classic Fabric Design stamp, I thought it looked so familiar.

There's a slight resemblance to Purple Onion Design's Vintage Damask background stamp--you think? I love them both.

I also dug up Hero Arts' Antique Flower Background and inked it up with the same colors, changed the ribbon and rose, and added some leaves.

And I did it again. Yep, sometimes it's good to give your old stamps some love...

Thanks, always, for visiting! Whatever you're doing, have a great weekend!

Stamps: Purple Onion Designs, Hero Arts
Cardstock: Gina K ivory
Ink: Hero Arts shadow ink, Tim Holtz Distress ink
Other: Nestabilities, paper roses, leaf punch, pearls, hand dyed seam binding

Naughty or nice?

Challenge #31 at Tiddly Inks is to create a card inspired by a Christmas song. This image reminded me of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" where Santa is "making a list, checking it twice; gonna find out who's naughty or nice".  

After coloring the image, I cut it out using the oval Nestabilities and tried to do the "out of the frame" method, to make her list appear as if it's coming out of the Nestie shape.





Alice made it look so simple here, and Rach's tutorial is so clear and concise. I just need a LOT more practice! I ended up printing out another list and pasting one over the other. The background was in my scraps bag--something that I stamped up last year!

* * *

And this note is for Tabitha, who won Tiffany Doodles' "Singing Birds" digi from my recent giveaway. Can you please email me so I can send you the digi? I couldn't find a link to your email address on your blog. Thanks! Hope to hear from you soon!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks, Greeting Farm sentiment, My Sentiments Exactly
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Gina K
Ink: Versafine, Papertrey Ink
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Stickles, ribbon

Our Christmas tree--and a winner!

A few days ago, we decorated our Christmas tree!  Just sharing some of our favorite ornaments from Christmas past. Our most favorite? The snowman in the second row. 

Top row, L to R: sleeping mouse in a walnut shell, temari ball, teeny angel

Middle row, L to R: Hello Kitty, our tree, musical snowman

Bottom row, L to R: Christmas lamb, golf tee snowman, stuffed Hawaiian angel

He's a handmade snowman with a musical button inside him that plays "Frosty the Snowman". He's over 20 years old and still works! Everyone who passes by the tree squeezes his tummy just to hear the song.

* * *

And, according to Random.org, the winner of Tiffany Doodles' "Sunshine Birds" digital stamp is Tabitha! Congratulations, Tabitha! I will email you to confirm your email address. Hope you have fun with this digi!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Don't forget to stop by the Hero Arts blog today, for a blog hop and preview of their 2011 stamps....See you there!

Christmas tags

Today is the last day of Tiffany Doodles' blog hop! Have you hopped your way through all the design team's blogs? So many wonderful ideas and so many chances to win some of Tiffany's awesome digis!

I've made some Christmas tags using two of the new Christmas digi sets found here and here. And several team members are having a giveaway of these digis, too!

The great thing about digis is the ability to resize them to fit your project, whether it's a card or some tags. I printed these out on kraft cardstock and colored them in with Copics. The sentiments are by Hero Arts, but you could easily print everything out on your computer, or handwrite them.

Thanks, again, for joining our blog hop. Visit here if you want to leave a comment to win my digi giveaway--Singing Birds. I'll announce the random winner tomorrow, December 10th. Hope it's YOU!

A Hero Arts Blog Hop!

Are you ready for another blog hop? Join Hero Arts this Friday, December 10th for a fun-filled blog hop featuring ALL NEW stamps from the upcoming 2011 Hero Arts catalog!

More than 20 Hero Arts designers and friends will be previewing the new stamps and sharing tons of ideas with loads of inspiration! You'll be able to leave comments along the way for a chance to win some new catalog stamps--how exciting is that?

Join the fun on the Hero Arts blog on the morning of December 10th. See you there!

TD 07--Christmas Challenge & Blog Hop!

This month's challenge at Tiffany Doodles is all about Christmas! And Tiffany decided to celebrate the debut of our new design team with a blog hop.
A three day blog hop! That means in addition to entering the challenge,
you have three days to visit all the team blogs, leave a comment, and be eligible for lots of digi giveaways!

I hope you arrived here by way of Collette's blog. If not, start at the beginning at Tiffany Doodles. You won't want to miss a single blog because the top prize for three random commenters who complete the hop, will be
three digis of their choice!

And Tiffany is generously allowing all of her design team members to have a giveaway of one of her digis! During the hop, leave a comment on each blog and you'll be eligible to win that team member's digi through a random drawing. 

I chose Singing Birds as my giveaway. If you want a chance to win this adorable digi, simply leave me a comment and I'll choose a winner after the hop.

Here's my card using Singing Birds. I printed the image onto kraft cardstock, colored it
 with Copics and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. I used the deckle edge oval Nestabilities
to die cut the image, and sponged white ink around the edges. The background is Magical 
Background by Hero Arts, and the seam binding was dyed with distress inks.

Here's the blog hop order to help you along the way:

• Official Site     Tiffany Doodles
• Tiffany Richards     Tiffany's Garden
• Cammy Wall     Pink Room Therapy
• Collette Landwer     Heaven Sent For You
• Donna Mikasa   three umbrellas -- you are here!
• Jeannie DeGruccio     The Polka Cabana
• Jillian Foster     Inspired By
• Jodi Ann Lee     Inked Inspirations
• Karen Baker     The Bald Dragonfly
• Kim Schofield     Paperie Petals
• Lindsay Amrhein     Note to Self
• Lisa Summerhays     Lisa's Handmade Cards
• Pattie Goldman     The Pampered Paper Patch
• Peet Roeven     Scrap Album
• Shannon Neparko     Desert Design Studios
• Simone Naoum     Designs by Simone
• Sue McRae     Inky Fingers
• Willemien Katerberg     Styles in Paper
• Official Site    Tiffany Doodles

Tiffany has lots of freebies for you to try before you buy. And she's hoping to have her new store opened by Christmas! Also, if you need sponsorship for any challenges you may host, feel free to contact Tiffany.

Remember that you don't have to use a Tiffany Doodles image for any of her challenges--hopefully you'll win some! And here's a winter special for you: Buy 3 digis and get the 4th for free!

The Christmas challenge starts today, the 7th, and runs through December 31st. We hope you get tons of inspiration from our design team and play along with us!
Now hop on over to Jeannie's blog to see her inspiring work...

Stamps: Tiffany Doodles digital stamp, Hero Arts background
Cardstock: Paper Accent kraft
Ink: Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow, Distress inks
Other: Copics, Prismacolor pencils, Nestabilities, seam binding, pearls, corner rounder, pop dots

O Christmas tree!

Hi there! Did you get your Christmas tree yet? We did! Last year was our first Christmas without one and we resorted to an artificial tabletop model that my daughter's boyfriend gave her. Not the same...

Several containers of trees were rejected because of pest infestation, and sent back to the mainland so a lot of island folks were without trees. We had to put our presents around the tree and it just wasn't the same. No pine scent, too.

So this year, my hubby made sure to get a tree after the second shipment hit the stores. We'll probably decorate it tomorrow and start putting our gifts under it.

Here's a card made with a Pure Innocence digi from Heather Ellis' Digistampcharacters. She's such a cutie and got herself a little tree, too. 

I noticed that the girl is getting older and appears to be losing her baby fat. Doesn't she look a little slimmer?

Hope you're having a great weekend. I'm off to hunt for our box of ornaments! Thanks for stopping by...

Stamps: Digistampcharacters, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink: Versafine, Colorbox
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Liquid Pearls, pop dots, pearls

A New Month, A New Team!

Hello, and Happy Friday! With a heavy heart, I'd like to announce that many of Tiffany Doodles' original design team left to pursue new opportunities and I wish them well.

Cindy, Deirdre, Julie, Kathy, Ruby,Vanessa, and Virginia--it's been an honor being on the same team with you these past 6 months. Good luck with whatever comes your way and I'll still be following all of you!

Tiffany has since gathered 11 creative ladies who will officially begin their terms starting with this month's challenge. And they are: 

• Collette Landwer
• Jeannie DeGruccoio
• Jillian Foster
• Jodi Ann Lee
• Joy Taylor
• Karen Baker
• Lisa Summerhayes
• Pattie Goldman
• Simone Naoum
• Sue McRae
• Willemien Katerberg

Woo hoo! Recognize any names? Believe me, I was so excited each time Tiffany announced another name that was joining the team! I've stalked followed many of them and know a few from Hero Arts' Flickr group! How exciting is that? Click on their names to get a peek at their fabulous blogs!

To welcome our new team members, Tiffany decided to have our usual monthly challenge, combined with a 3-day blog hop! Stay tuned on December 7th for all the details and see the inspiring work of our new team!

And did you grab Tiffany's newest Thursday freebie here? I couldn't wait to color up this little tree! I printed the digi on kraft and colored it with Copics and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. 

I added some Stickles to the star and used my white paint pen to add some dots on the edges. 

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Have an awesome weekend...

Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Thursday freebie, Hero Arts background, Stampin Up alpha
Cardstock: Stampin Up, Memory Box
Ink: Stampin Up, Hero Arts chalk ink
Other: Copics, Prismacolor pencils, Nestabilities, Sharpie poster paint pen,
gemstones, Stickles, ribbon, twine
Finished size is 3"x4"