BLOG CANDY

OK, I admit it, I am not above self promotion. I have been doing this blogging thing for a couple of months now and am in AWE, yes AWE of all you talented and wonderful people out there in Blogland, and also APPRECIATE your sharing your talents and knowledge with others. In the two months since I have begun stalking many of you I have learned much and do see an improvement in my stamping and design, those sketches certainly do help.

OK, now what you have all been waiting for the Blog Candy thing, I have a guestbook and must say it is rather sad and lonely, so please sign my guestbook and leave a comment, if you have already signed my guestbook you are still eligible. I will be on vacation and internet challenged so I will not be drawing a name until Tuesday, July 10th. Please stop and sign, let me know about your blog, love finding new ones, my Google Reader is about to cancel me I have so many sites in it. Although I will not be doing my usual blog stalking for the next week, I will try and post some cards that I have previously made.

Included in this blog candy is some alphabet stickers, rub on sayings, two thumb punches, ribbon, pearlized buttons, two sets of clear stamps, some 6X6 paper, plastic card holders for altering one of those wonderful Michael's stamp and a pack of 8 notecards that are just waiting for you to put your imagination to them.

For those of you in the "States" have a Safe and Wonderful 4th of July. Those of you not, have a Safe and Happy week.

I will try to check in once in a while, when I can find an available connection.

LOVE CHALLENGE

Daring Cardmakers challenge this week was to "put some LOVE into your cards this week. Wedding, Anniversary, Engagement or simply to say "I love You""

So I dusted off my Michael's $ stamp and got to work. I love the simple cards that just have a stamp in the middle with some ribbon, but whenever I try it for some reason it does not come out simple and elegant. So I went with this one. I chalked the edges with a light gray to soften it then had to put two red heart brads on it so that is could then pop. I just noticed that it looks crooked in the picture, but really its not, hope you like it, now I have to find a wedding to get invited to, maybe I will just crash one, heck I have the card.

BELLA, BELLA, WHO HAS THE BELLA's

Can you believe this Kimberly from Crafty Me sent me all these wonderful Bella's. I now have a Bella for every occassion, and if that was not enough she sent me this wonderful Card. I have a friend from Memphis, who makes fun of my Yankee accent, but she always says "isn't she sweet" well must say that this saying could not be more appropriate. Kim this was so sweet of you. I am going on vacation on Friday and won't be able to play with these ladies and gentleman until I get back, as I told Kim I must spend time with Bella and become one with her before I commit to "card" her. And look at this wonderful card she sent with them. I can't believe it has "the bird" I have been chasing this stamp for months, what a wonderful surprise. I am meeting up with my friend Karen while on vacation and she has this bird stamp so I will be getting some birds of my own.

Kim did I say thank you? Thank you.

Tag Challenge

Daring Cardmakers challenge this week was to use a tag, label, sticker or anything else you can find, thats from packaging and would normally end up in the bin and to recycle onto cards.

I wanted to create a card that would look like a bulletin board. I used the plastic backing from the $ stamps from Michael's and the register receipt, and what better sentiment that "Born to Shop".

Pastels and Black

Kimmie at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner has challenged us to make a card using pastel colors and black. I made this small little card and used a sketch put out there by Christie at Stampin' Up and Down. The stamp is plum and has glitter around it and the flower, it so hard t get glitter to show in the photos, but trust me it is there.

Got to get busy and start packing leaving for vacation soon.

Beate's Challenge

Beate's Challenge this week was pretty simple, or so I though till I went blog surfing and saw a card that was looking pretty similar to the one I made so I figured I had better get back to the drawing board. I have seen a lots of cards make the the light blue and red color combination and wanted to make a card using this color combo and love the cross ribbon, have seen that used a lot also.

Embellishment Challenge

Melissa at Lilybeanpaperie has put out a challenge. It is not a sketch, nor a color challenge, guess you would call it an embellishment challenge. It was great fun. You had to use the following on the card.

• Buttons


• Polka dots


• Ribbon


• Chipboard


• A Heart

My buttons were my hearts so I combined those two embellsihemnts, my flower is the chipboard, the ribbon speaks for itself and as for the Polka dots, think I have that one coverd, they are on the paper, on the ribbon, on the flower, on the gift.

Tag Sketch Challenge

Jen from Pieces of Me has put out another Challenge, hers are such fun. I printed the sketch and thought I had memorized the necessary embellishments and layout. Well ladies I am not the newest card in the deck and realize now that I need to have the sketch in front of me when doing it. This is my attempt at it. I had fun with it so wanted to post it. You need to go to Jen's blog and check out all the wonderful submissions. Lots of talent out there in Blogland.

Did I hear BINGO

I am sure by now everyone knows that there is a BINGO game going on at Poetic Artistry and there is already a winner for the first round. Round 2 is getting ready and we need some bingo numbers, never let it be said that I did not do my part, so here is my card, hopefully this wil be lucky and some numbers on my card will be picked. . I finally got my Bees, I love them, they are so cute so I decided to use my new bee stamp.

You're Not the Em-Boss of Me

Daring Cardmakers has put out a challenge for a card with embossing, any type, well I was not quick enough and they added another wrinkle, you have to add "fablous" to is.

I love the look of embossed cards,they are so simple and elegant looking. That is if someone else has made them. The butterfly is a brass template and I chalked him/her and added "fab", not sure it I like the addition of fab, think the color is too strong for the card, this might hit the drawing board again.

Cards for Karen

Kat at Doodles and Dragonflies's sister Karen has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is requesting that we send her sister a card and fill her mailbox in the coming weeks with love, laughter, hope, and prayers? You can find Karen's address on Kat's site.

Beate's Sketch Challenge

What a great idea a round card, Beate has a round card as her sketch challenge, I used my Creative Memories cutting system, I certainly have gotten my money's worth with this purchase, I use it all the time. The flower on the card is from the $ store. It is a "wallie", they are used for wall decorations, isn't it great, love finding new uses for items and new places to shop for card ideas. I am somewhat new to the challenge thing and not sure how exact we are to be with following the layout, knew it had to be round, that was sure, but did not know if I was suppose to have scallops and brads on the card. Went with eyelets and a ribbon.

Fred, this card is coming your way, I know there is a flower on it, but you can handle it. Thanks again for all you help.

A TRIPLE PLAY

I have combined three challenges , Whew, just thinking of it makes me want to take a nap. I did Jen's Pieces of Me's sketch, I also noticed that Kraftin Kimmies Korner, was doing a Kimmie's Kandy challenge with this size card. I love this size card, it fits in a business envelope, the finizhed size is 3 3/4 x 9".

And then, I noticed yesterday during my blog surfing that Wednesday's Stamper had a Polka Dot Challenge, and think I see some polka dots on this card.

I used my alphabet stamps to stamp "party" in the circles and added some glitter to the 3 candles on the bottom, a flower in the lower bottom corner and some tags in the upper left corner, I hand printed "make a wish" on these and outlined in white.

Mr Chicken

OK, an update on Mr. Chicken, well he has finally been noticed and has found his home. Ron, someone I work with and have made some Thank You Cards for in the past noticed him and thinks he is great. And I get a free lunch out of it. He wants to thank me for the cards I have made in the past and Mr. Chicken. Don't tell Mr. Chicken but that is what we are having for lunch. We are going to a Peruvian restaurant for lunch and their special is chicken with rice and beans and we always get the special.

What Tarot Card Are You

These are such fun quizes at Blogthings, I found this one and thought it would be fun, they have one about "how addictive is your personality" but I figured we all knew that we were stamping junkies so finding out the answer to the test would be redundant.

You Are The High Priestess

You represent mystery - secrets that are yet to be revealed. You find yourself sitting between two worlds: one dark, one light. You tend to hold these two worlds in balance, reconciling the two. Open and welcoming, you invite others to learn your secrets. Your fortune: Something hidden, or latent, in your life is about to come forward. You need to pay more attention to your dreams, thoughts, intuition, and imagination. And if that involves tapping into your dark side, it will all balance out in the end. You have a lot of potential dying to be unleashed, so let those gates open!

What Tarot Card Are You?

Double Challenge

OMG, I can't believe it, I did two challenges in one. It usually is tough enough for me to do one challenge, but this time I combined two. Daring Cardmakers has a challenge to make a card using

Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed
Something Blue
SO

Somethig Old - Beige Paper
Something New - Copic Markers
Something Borrowed - Chicken Stamp
Something Blue - Paper

and I added

Something Shiny - Circular Paper Clip

The card sketch is a sketch that Kimberly at Crafty Me has posted from Splitcoast. The copic markers are new and I need to work with them more. I did not notice until I took a picture of the card and croped it that my chicken legs are out of sorts. I will send the card to someone with old eyes like mine and they will never notice.

I brought this card into work yesterday and placed in on my desk, I had planned on giving it to the first person that noticed it. Can you believe no one did. Well Mr. Chicken will be on my desk today and hopefully will find a home by 5:00pm.

Something Educational

There is a site called Blogthings and they have all sorts of cute surveys, I found this one and thought an educational test of geography would be fun. After taking this test it is back to the globe for me.
This is a cute test, only 10 questions, don't be afraid try it.

Could You Pass 8th Grade Geography?

Sympathy Cards

I find the hardest cards to make are Sympathy cards. I struggle with the color the layout and the stamp. I made these 3 cards to send to a good friend and her family. I stamped the CTMH Swirl on the left card, ribbon and emobssed a fern leaf in gold over both the green and burgandy paper. I used a Penny Black stamp on the right card and took pink ribon and folded it similar to ribbon candy and placed a two small flowers on top of the ribbon, with a brad. The card in front has pattern paper in the background, ribbon, and a punched swirl. The saying is from a CTMH foam set.

Yin or Yang

Aren't these little quizzes fun!

You Are More Yin

Feminine Devoted Forgiving Fall Winter Afternoon Moon Time Passive Metal Honey

Are You More Yin or Yang?

Beate's Sketch Challenge

This is the Gate Fold Card I made for Beate's Sketch Challenge. These challenges are such fun, they provide you with a foundation for creation. As soon as I picked the paper I knew what I wanted to do. I pulled out some old stamps, CTMH and got busy. I wanted to add some pizzaz to the butterfly so grabed my Twinlking H2O's and got busy, haven't used them in awhile so must be honest, this was my third attempt at coloring in the butterfly with them. I think this one came out pretty good. Added a star, greeting and whalah finished. Only took two hours, did I say the sketches made this easy, on no I said fun and that they do.

Jen's Sketch

Jen at Pieces of Me is doing a Sketch Challenge. After doing my card I realized that it was to have been a square, somehow I missed that point, but I like the card so here it is. I used one of the Cuttlebug embossing templates on the background paper, the saying if from one of Michael's $ stamp sets and the boot and flowers are from the Green Thumb stamping set.

Like the boots? Look long and hard as this is the last time you will see them. I somehow misplaced the toe part of the stamp, not sure but I think my cat ate it. I notice this morning that one of them was doing the 2 Step, and had a little yehaw to his meow.

Dog or Cat??

Allison from Stamping When I Can had this on her Blog today and I could not resist. Take the test and see where you come out. Good thing I am 70% Cat as I have two that have decided to make my house their home.

You Are: 30% Dog, 70% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Put Your Big Girl Panties On And Deal With It!

I had never heard the saying "Put Your Big Girl Panties On", but apparently it is something that is said in the Southeast. My SIL had mentioned this saying to me awhile ago and I thought it was cute, then I saw this Stamp at Michael's the other day and knew I had to have it. Her Birthday is in July so I had to make this card for her. She does not read my blog so I don't have to worry about her seeing it. So here is the "Put Your Big Girl Panties on and Deal With It!" Stamp

I am not that crazy about her dress being in black, don't think the black is true enough so my next time out think I will go with a red dress. I used The Rhonda Farrer Flourish Stamps on the background and the Square Scallop Punch, used 3 squares, it is a tall stamp, had to put some glitter on her necklace, and she definitely needed a flower to finish her off.

OK Karen, do you wish you had this stamp or what??

TAGGED AGAIN

I have been Tagged Again by Ila, she has a great blog and is terribly talented. This is the one word answer tag, I am tagging new blogs that I have just found. All these blogs are great go check them out.


Yourself: Happy
Your Partner: Looking
Your Hair: Dyed
Your Mother: Missed
Your Father: Missed
Your Favorite Item: Fabric
Your Dream Last Night: Rain
Your Favorite Drink: IceTea
Your Dream Car: Audi
Your Dream Home: Waterfront
The Room You Are In: Family
Your Fear: Fire
Where You Want to be in Ten Years: Europe
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Friends
You’re Not: Stuck-Up
One of Your Wish List Items: Safari
The Last Thing You Did: Stamp
You Are Wearing: Pajamas
Your Favorite Weather: Sunny
Your Favorite Book: History's
Last Thing You Ate: Pretzles
Your Life: Fun
Your Mood: Happy
Your Best Friend: Several
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Bed
Your Car: Volkswagen
What Are You Doing At The Moment: Typing
Relationship Status: Single
What Is On Your TV: Producers
What Is The Weather Like: Hot
When Is The Last Time You Laughed: Today


The five ladies below are extremely talented, and now they have been tagged.

Janas
Markie's Mom
Joy In A Jar
Well Said Cards
Yvette

Beate's Challenge

OK, remember all those items I bought last week, well would you believe most of it is still in a pile, I did use the Sizzix folder die cut for Beate's Challenge. And some of the metallic paper, but can't show that card yet. I created the saying using my Xyron Design Runner, the pear is from an old Close to My Heart Stamp Set. Don't hate me Stampin Up ladies, I use both, in fact I am in need of a local Stampin Up Rep, boy is this a cheap plug. I live in Ft. Lauderdale Florida and have a couple of items I would like to purchase. Honestly in July I will be entering Shoppers Anonymous.

Tawdry Treats

WOW – what a great card, the picture does not do it justice. I received this card from Sherry Cheever . She had a contest for a new name for her blog candy and my entry “Tawdry Treats” won, so she sent me this wonderful card and soome Tawdry Treats, ribbon. Thank you Sherry.

A LITTLE SOMETHING

Well last night I played with some of my new stash, and played, but did I make a card with it NOT. Can you believe that I will have to get busy this weekend for sure. The card above I made with one of my $ stamps from Michaels.