Chicken Poop and flowers

Isn't that a catchy blog post title? I was the lucky random winner on Ivy's blog and Chicken Poop was the prize! No, it's not fertilizer.....it's lip balm! A very good lip balm!

Ivy sent me this adorable card, along with the Poop, and a box chock full of goodies! She could have easily slipped the Poop into an envelope, but she's such a generous friend. I love her bright, colorful cards and I ADORE her two little boys!

And remember this adorable little lunch box from Alice that I received for my birthday?

Lookie at what was inside the box--tons of floral goodness! I think I may never have to buy another flower for the rest of my crafting life!

See the crocheted ones in the bottom right corner? Handmade by the lovely Alice herself.

Ah, such wonderful friends!

Thanks so much for visiting today! I've been super busy working out at the gym (-13.5 pounds so far!) that I've neglected my blog and crafting, too!

I plan to catch up visiting blogs this weekend and stay tuned for a post with a "local" flavor--and a giveaway, too! Have an awesome weekend!

Strawberry Girl

Hello and Happy Friday! A quick post to share a card that I made using Mo's digital image called "Strawberry Girl".

I wanted the image as soon as I saw it in Mo's store. She reminds me so much of my younger daughter when she was that age. The little strawberry purse is something she would have loved because she's such a girly girl!

And may I add that this is the heaviest card I've ever made--look at all those buttons! I cased this card made and given to me by my dear friend Alice. Thanks for the inspiration, Alice!

Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks, always for visiting my blog...

Stamps: Mo's Digital Pencil "Strawberry Girl"
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Paper Place kraft
Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Other: Copics, Stampin Up scallop border punch, buttons, pop dots

Penny Black's Saturday Challenge

My talented Flickr friends, Ashley Marcu and Kathy Racoosin are on the Penny Black design team! Kathy is the guest designer for the newest Saturday challenge and you must visit the blog to check out her amazing card. 

Looking through my stamp collection, I spotted a few Penny Black stamps that have never been inked. Shame on me! I think everyone is familiar with Penny Black's cute little hedgehogs and the newer Mimis, too. But how many of you remember the cows?

I found this stamp called "Got love?" and decided to enter Penny Black's Saturday challenge and give the stamp some love.  Here's the sketch:

And here's my card and my simplified take on the sketch. Isn't this cow udder-ly cute? Sorry....I couldn't help myself!

If you have some uninked Penny Black stamps, give the challenge a go. The deadline is this Friday, and the prize for two random winners is a stamp of your choice from their Halloween catalog. 

And lastly, Barbara is having a giveaway of some yummy Penny Black candy! Click on the photo on my sidebar for all the details.....Good luck!

Stamps: Penny Black

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Paper: Bo Bunny, Digital scrap paper from Lucy

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Cosmo Cricket alpha stickers, buttons

CMC Challenge #4--Straight hair coloring

Challenge #4 at Color Me Copic is to color straight hair using Amy's "feathered" technique that she shared in her second video here. It's always fun watching other people color, and Amy makes straight hair coloring look so easy!

For my card, I decided to use Pinky, a digi stamp by Christy Croll of Tiddly Inks. I should have made her a "big head" like Amy did so the technique would show up better. But it was fun to try this, and I definitely need to practice a lot more.


Thanks, always for visiting! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks digital image
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill Basics
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Tim Holtz embossing folder (thanks, KB!), seam binding, pop dots

Sweet friends

Hello and happy Tuesday! A quick post to share a card that I made using Laundry Anya.

She's an older Greeting Farm image and she was a lot of fun to color. The "problem" was finding the perfect sentiment to go with her.

I finally paired her with a Kid's Quote sentiment stamp given to me by my pal Kelly. Isn't it a great match?

Thanks to all of you, my sweet friends, for visiting and for your sweet comments!

Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Inkadinkado
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Paper: Jenni Bowlin, Fancy Pants
Ink: Memento, Versafine
Other: Copics, EK Success punch, buttons, pop dots

Hero Arts' Virtual Cardmaking Party!

Operation Write Home is an organization that sends blank handmade greeting cards for all occasions to deployed service members to use to send home. So far, they've mailed over half a million cards, and are still going strong!

Hero Arts is hosting a Virtual Cardmaking Party in conjunction with Operation Write Home's 3rd Birthday Bash. How would you like to join a weekend of festivities and create cards for a great cause? Starting today through Sunday, September 12th in the Hero Arts Flickr discussion group, you can join several cardmaking challenges.

Our former Hero Hostess group is hosting a challenge to use a die or punch anywhere on your card. My card uses a label die from Stampin' Up! and the small butterfly punch from Martha Stewart.

You don't have to use Hero Arts stamps to participate. We just want our Flickr group to create and donate 500 handmade cards to Operation Write Home. You're invited to participate in any/all challenges by creating and uploading your cards to the Flickr group throughout the weekend.

ALL participants who submit or tag cards and send them into Operation Write Home will be entered to win some fabulous giveaways, too. There will be more details on that during the party so please join us at the Hero Arts Flickr group and be a part of this worthwhile cause!

And don't forget to visit my fellow Apronettes to see their awesome cards:

• Deborah
• Kelly
• Jenn -- she has two awesome cards!
• Lisa

Stamps: Hero Arts (hydrangea), Heartily Yours Additions (sentiment)
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts kraft
Paper: Papertrey Ink dots (butterflies)
Ink: Memento Brown, Versafine Onyx Black, Antique Linen distress ink
Other: Copics, Stampin Up Bigz die, Martha Stewart 3-in-1 butterfly punch, 
Tim Holtz embossing folder, self dyed seam binding, pop dots

Saturday Sketch #33

I couldn't pass up a chance to make a circle card for the Saturday Sketch #33 challenge at Club Anya & Friends. I love making shaped cards and my Nesties get a good workout almost daily.

Here's Pam's sketch:

Here's my card with an altered Surfer Ian. I had several Ethan heads colored because I was practicing curly hair coloring and decided on a head swap.

I just went with the circle Nesties and used a circle cutter to cut a bigger circle than the largest die. I also used a couple of buttons to help balance the card when it's "standing". It worked!

Thanks for visiting today! I really appreciate your timely visits and generous comments!

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Surfer Ian and WS Dylan

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Paper: Bo Bunny dot, Cosmo Cricket

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, circle cutter, buttons,

Glossy Accents on his eyes

TD 04 Challenge--Color

Wow, I can't believe that it's the 7th of September! And that means it's time for another challenge from Tiffany Doodles. This month it's a color challenge and here's the palette that Tiffany chose:

The colors made me think of flowers and I chose the Lenten Rose digi for my card. Tiffany has a wide assortment of floral digis, some of them have a Nestabilities die shape around them which makes for easy cutting of your image.

You can win up to 7 digis of your choice and you have until the end of the month to submit your card here. You don't have to use a Tiffany Doodles image--you can try and win some!--and Tiffany has a lot of great freebies for you to use.


Visit the rest of the team members to see their creations and I hope you'll be inspired to play along!

• Tiffany Richards
• Cammy Wall
• Deirdre Horgan
• Donna Mikasa -- you are here!
• Julie Masse
• Kim Schofield
• Lindsay Amrhein
• Peet Roeven
• Ruby McGuire
• Shannon Neparko
• Vanessa Menhorn
• Virginia Lu

Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Lenten Rose digital image

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Sizzix embossing folder, 

self dyed seam binding, pop dots

Meet...Donna!

 Check out the newest digis in the Tiddly Inks store and you'll see a digi named "Donna". Christy Croll named it so, since I once asked her for an image with an umbrella. Isn't she cute? She reminds me of our daughters when they were younger.

I have a thing for umbrellas, because the "kasa" in my last name means umbrella in Japanese. The number 3 is "mi", so the literal translation of Mikasa is "three umbrellas". Now you know why I chose that name for my blog and my affinity for umbrellas!

Did you notice the handle of the umbrella? It's a little frog! I colored the umbrella and added some spots to mimic a frog's body, and although you can't see it, I dotted the "rain" with my Aqua Lip pen for raindrops.

You can find "Donna" in the Tiddly Inks store and the digi is now on sale, so go grab her and some of the other cute digis, too! Thanks, Christy--I love her!

Hope you're all having a great weekend! Happy Labor Day to my US friends...

Stamps: Tiddly Inks digital, Heartily Yours Additions
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, digi paper scrap from Lucy
Ink: Versafine, Colorbox
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, seam binding, Sakura Aqua Lip pen, pop dots

CMC Challenge #3 -- Curly hair

Challenge #3 at Color Me Copic is to use Copics to color curly hair. The uber talented Amy Young produced her first video here on how she colors curly hair and it's truly mesmerizing to watch!

I stamped Dylan from The Greeting Farm's Roll Call kit and propped myself up next to my laptop and followed Amy's step-by-step tutorial. Here's my card with my first attempt at curly hair alá Amy!

I used Kelly's hair colors (E31, E25, E29, E49) and basically drew squiggles over his entire head, just as Amy explained. No blending at all!

I paired him with a Kid's Quote sentiment that my pal Kelly gave me but I think he looks a bit too sweet for it. Especially since I trimmed off his head and tilted it a bit.

And with the help of Random.org, the winner of Cheeky Glamour is Ruby! I've emailed you, Ruby! I'll also be sending you some rayon seam binding so you can make your own crinkled ribbon...Have fun!

Stamps; The Greeting Farm, Inkadinkado
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts kraft
Paper: Fancy Pants
Ink: Memento, Versafine
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, twine, pop dots