Happy Haunting Card with Bats

Happy Halloween crafty friends! I have a quick post to share my latest card. This Happy Haunting Card with Bats was started last year and then set aside until I finally remembered it today and finished it. I've always liked repeated images in threes, the trickiest part is getting the spacing right. All stamps and paper for this card are retired by Stampin' Up!. Some clear Wink of Stella was added to the bats for sparkle and that's it.

Well, we have our front yard decorated and we're ready for trick-or-treating kiddos any minute. Wishing you a Hauntingly Fun Halloween night!

This Happy Haunting Card with Bats is entered into the following challenges:

• Use Your Stuff: Halloween
• Left of Center: Halloween
• QKR Stampede: Halloween

Happy National Cat Day!

In honor our National Cat Day I wanted to share a few pictures of my furry feline family. My hubby and I have no human children, but we love our kitties!!! They make life interesting. I'm starting this post with a photo found online of an irritated kitten with the perfect caption for the photo and my life. I will never profess to being a morning person.

This is a photo of our oldest and she is a big girl, long and pudgy. She was born at my parent's house, her mother was rescued as a kitten from the middle of a country road by my brother. When older the mother had a litter of kittens and she is the one who picked us. We weren't looking to get a kitty when we brought her home in May 2005. She was just too cute and feel asleep in my hubby's arms, that's all it took. If she sees food she eats it, no restraint. She does have a little attitude and has become pretty cranky in her senior years.

Our middle kitty was adopted from a shelter in March 2014. He is very mild mannered and just as sweet as can be. He loves playing with his glitter balls and having his belly rubbed. After a couple of months we felt he was lonely because sister didn't want to play, so we adopted another cat. 

Our youngest is full of personality!!! He is constantly into something or wants our attention. We found him at our veterinarian's office. A family adopted him and at 5 months returned him because of a family tragedy that left them unable to care for him. All the changes must have been traumatic for him because the first few months we had him we honestly didn't know if we could handle him. He has separation anxiety and was extremely active. Now that he has settled in and we have a routine he has calmed down. He is now the most affectionate cat we have ever had, he will groom his brother and loves to snuggle at my legs when I sleep. He definitely adds interest and entertainment to our lives.

This final photo is all three of them waiting on me to give them their food bowls. If you were to ask them what I could do to improve, they would probably prefer their meal quicker.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Cat Couple Love Card

Hello and Happy World Cat Day! There are only hours left to join the fun at the Cat Lovers Blog Hop organized by Janis at Her Peaceful Garden. I wanted to make one more card, but crafting on the weekends can be a challenge for me. The hubby is home and our time is usually spent doing other things, but luckily this afternoon he took a nap (smile).

Since I didn't have a lot of time I decided to case one of my old cards that I made my hubby for Valentine's Day 2013 (click here). I used the exact same layout and image. The image is by Meljen's Designs and it came colored. To mix it up, a different sentiment was used which I heat embossed with white embossing powder. The patterned papers are different but similar and three blue hearts were used for detail. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Cat Couple Love Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafting with Dragonflies: Spots and Stripes
• Moving Along With The Times: Cute Animals
• Alphabet Challenge: R for Recipe (Sentiment, Digi/Stamp and embossing)

Balloon Kitty Birthday Card

There are several wonderful blog hops going on right now! I decided to combine The Cat Lovers Hop with The Hop to Stop raising awareness for domestic violence. That meant I needed to use purple and a cat... no problem! A few other challenges helped to inspire this Balloon Kitty Birthday Card and here they are:

• Aud Sentiments: Cute + A Sentiment
• Little Red Wagon: Stencil It!

It's been awhile since I've used a stencil and I'm ashamed to admit the Quarterfoil one I used today sit new in a drawer for over a year. I need to break my patterned paper addiction and make more of my own backgrounds, but it's SO hard!!! The stencil is from Clear Scraps and Lavender dye ink by Hampton Art along with Purple Passion powder puff by Quick Quotes were used for color. This adorable kitty image is from Whimsy Stamps and the birthday sentiment is from Hero Arts. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Funny Cat Card

Anyone who has been around cats know they LOVE boxes! In our house you can't put out just one box or you'll have a battle for who gets to claim it. Most of the time it's the clever cat who wins. It doesn't even matter if the box is small. In the cat's mind there is no such thing as a box that is "too small," they will find a way to fit. One thing is for sure, cats can be very entertaining.

Today is day 3 of The Cat Lovers Blog Hop and I definitely wanted to play along. The stamp and sentiment on this card is called The Love of a Cat by Jessica Lynn Original. To create this card I used the colors from this weeks challenge at Color Throwdown. I had to search through lots of paper pads to find the right mix of colors and patterns but I finally found three that worked. The final touch was adding some twine and three sequins. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Pink You've Got This Card

October is breast cancer awareness month and here in the United States 1 in 8 women will experience invasive breast cancer in her lifetime. To support the awareness campaign I've made this Pink You've Got This Card using the You've Got This stamp set by Stampin' Up!. 

Last year I made a very similar card (click here) using purple for domestic violence awareness month, which is also in October. Each of these awareness campaigns are very important to the physical and mental health of countless women. Early detection and education can help in both accounts. Knowledge is power!

This Pink You've Got This Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Dragonfly Dreams: Think Pink
• Unicorn Challenge: Pretty Pinks or Halloween
• The Corrosive Challenge: Pink for Awareness
• Sunny Day Crafting: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Merriest Wishes Penguin Card

Happy Tuesday! Again two weeks have gone by super fast and today is Team B's turn to provide inspiration for the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge. The theme this week is to add a border and our sponsor is Conie Fong Art. My card features the darling Joy to the World image. I absolutely love this cute penguin! We would love for you to join us this week. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. You have until mid-day on Monday, October 31st to link your creation. I hope to see your card in the gallery.

To create this Merriest Wishes Penguin Card started by selecting the background patterned paper by Bo Bunny's Altitude Collection. Then I colored the image with Copic markers to coordinate with the paper. The image was then die cut with a scalloped frame die by Taylored Expressions. Cardstock colors used include: Pool Party, Blissful Blackberry and Rich Razzleberry all by Stampin' Up! The snowflakes were cut using a Cricut machine and Christmas Noel cartridge. Deciding on a sentiment took me a bit, but I finally settled on the Merriest Wishes from the new Christmas Magic stamp set by Stampin' Up!. The final touch was adding some sequins for sparkle and a little clear Wink of Stella to the penguin's hat. That's it!

This Merriest Wishes Penguin Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes
• Critters and Creatures: Anything Goes
• Christmas Card Challenge: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Happy Meow-oween Card

Hello and Happy Monday! There is only a week left until Halloween and I still need a couple of cards to put in the mail for my family. So, I combined a few challenges and made this Happy Meow-oween Card.

Challenges entered:

• Newton's Inky Paws: Cozy Plaids
• Her Peaceful Garden: Cat Lovers Hop
• Make My Monday: Halloween/Autumn
• Left of Center: Halloween

Today is the start of the Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden which made for a good reason to use Newton's Perfect Pumpkin stamp set for this card. The image was colored with Copic markers and then die cut with a stitched circle die by My Favorite Things. All patterned paper is from The Spooky Time Stack by DCWV. For detail I used a spider-web border punch by Fiskars  and bat die cut by Sugar Pea Designs. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Purple Watercolor Rose Card

This month is National Domestic Violence Awareness and purple is the color that signifies this cause. The color purple has been my favorite of mine for a very long time! Although I love the color purple, I don't love the statistics that come with Domestic Violence. I live in Oklahoma and our state ranks third in the nation for the number of women killed by men in domestic violence situations. A ten year study showed that 41% of all homicides in our state were linked to Domestic Violence. This not only affects women but children living in the home. In 70% of the cases where an abused child dies, there has been a pattern of abuse against the mother. The numbers tell a very sad story and I hope you will help spread the word this month by creating a card using purple and joining the Blog Hop at The Hop to Stop organized by Becca at The Damsel of Distressed.

 For this Purple Watercolor Rose Card I combined my favorite color, favorite rose stamp by Inkadinkado and one of my favorite layouts. The rose was watercolored using Watercolor Paints by Close to my Heart and then die cut using cross stitched ovals by My Favorite Things. Two pieces of patterned paper were used and matted to Elegant Eggplant cardstock. If you look closely you can see butterflies in the lavender paper by Signify Pink. The dark purple has a floral swirl pattern and it's from The Paper Studio. To finish off the card some Elegant Eggplant twine from Stampin' Up! was added along with a stamped/punched Bitty Butterfly and the sentiment from Crafter's Companion. That's it!

This Purple Watercolor Rose Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Sweet Stampin': Favourite Colour Combo
• Card in Envy: Purple and Green
• Let's Color Linky Party: Hand Colored Image

Count Purrcula Halloween Card

Halloween is my favorite holiday to make handmade cards. I think it's the colors because I don't really like "scary" things. However, I do love to hand out candy and see all the fun Halloween costumes of the little trick-or-treating children.

This Count Purrcula Halloween Card is my latest creation. The image is by Jessica Lynn Original and it was colored with Copic markers. To make the spooky sky a brayer with ink pads was used, it was then die cut with a pierced oval by Avery Elle and then die cut spooky clouds from Taylored Expressions was adhered. Some silver texture paste was added to the patterned paper using the Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz and the finishing touch was three sequins for sparkle. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered include:

• The Paper Girls: Halloween
• Simply Create Too: Halloween
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
• Robyn's Fetish: Halloween Cards
• Show Us Your Pussies: Meowloween

You are Stronger Card

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Becca at The Damsel of Distressed has once again organized The Hop to Stop to bring attention to the cause. Domestic Violence can be closer than you think, with 1 of 3 women experiencing domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes, chances are you know someone who has or will be a victim. Click here to visit Becca's blog and for details about The Hop to Stop.

When deciding on a design for my card, I knew I wanted to use this sentiment by Stampin' Up! from the Heartfelt Sympathy stamp set. To me, it makes a great encouragement card for more than just sympathy. When you pair the sentiment with some pretty purple flowers... hopefully it's uplifting for someone who has experienced domestic violence.

You are Stronger Card Supply List*:

• Paper: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum and Perfect Plum cardstock, green cardstock by Bazzill Basics along with striped paper by My Mind's Eye.
• Stamps: Heartfelt Sympathy and Falling Flowers.
• Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum, Perfect Plum and Wild Wasabi.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, May Flowers framelit dies, Scalloped Frame by Taylored Expressions, Perfect Plum enamel dots and dimensionals. 

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

This card is linked to the following challenges:

1. Brown Sugar: Handmade Flowers
2. Creative Knockouts: Anything Goes
3. Crafting by Designs: Add a Sentiment

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Quick Patterned Paper Card

Need a quick and easy card for using your patterned paper scraps? This card is super simple and can be used for many different occasions. The supplies are minimal and you can arrange the different patterned squares however you want. I arranged the top and bottom rows opposite of each other and the middle row is completely different. The patterned papers are from the Floral Boutique Designer Series Paper by Stampin' Up! and the colors include: Night of Navy and Whisper White accented with Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Some Cherry Cobbler twine was added for detail and three silver sequins accent the You're Amazing sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes card kit. That's it! Don't forget the patterned paper sale going on now at Stampin' Up! until the end of the month.

This Quick Patterned Paper Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Alphabet Challenge: Quick and Simple
• Sunny Day Crafting: Anything Goes
• Jo's Scrap Shack: Recycled Scraps

Designer Series Paper Sale

Hello crafty friends! In case you're a pattern paper addict like myself, I wanted to share the Designer Series Paper Sale that Stampin' Up! is offering until the end of the month. Papers from the annual and holiday catalog are included but the specialty paper and paper stacks are not. Take advantage of the paper sale before the end of the month.

Halloween Challenge at Tuesday Throwdown

Hello and happy Tuesday! It's getting close to Halloween and hopefully our challenge this week at Tuesday Throwdown will inspire you to get creative. It's simple... use the photo above, make your creation and link to our challenge by mid-day on Monday, October 17th. Our sponsor this week is A Day for Daisies and they generously provided the design team images for our creations. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration.

The image selected for my card is called Little Witch On Fence and it was colored with Copic markers. All patterned papers are from my Halloween paper scrap bin. The twine is from the current holiday catalog by Stampin' Up! and the Goulish Greetings sentiment is retired by Stampin' Up!. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Boots: Halloween
• Let's Craft and Create: Halloween/Autumn/Fall
• Craftyhazelnut's: Patterned Paper

Learn, Live, Hope Card

From the first time I saw the sneak peeks of the new Live the Life You Dream About Spirit Animal stamp set by Jessica Lynn Original, I knew I would be making my oldest niece a card with the cattle skull. The last time I was in her room I saw one she plans on painting to hang on her wall. One of her favorite colors is turquoise/aqua and although the color I used is lighter, I think she will love it.

Creating this card started with the color choices and finding the right patterned papers. The plaid is from the new Fall Perfectly Plaid paper by Lawn Fawn and the wood is from the Bella Rosa Collection by Bo Bunny. Copic markers were used to color the image and then it was cut with a stitched circle die by My Favorite Things. Everything else is pretty basic. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Learn, Live, Hope Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends: Anything Goes
• Crafting with an Attitude: Anything Goes

Jessica Lynn Original Stamp Launch

Hello! Tonight is the launch of a new stamp set at Jessica Lynn Original called Live the Life You Dream About Spirit Animal. I've created a couple of cards that I'm sharing with you now and one I'll be sharing tomorrow. This set was a lot of fun to work with! The images are unique and I really like the included sentiments. Lots of possibilities for masculine or feminine designs.

The above birthday card features the cactus stamp colored with Copic markers. I did a quick search for cactus flower colors and was surprised how many different colors were represented. It was hard to choose but I wanted my card to have an Autumn/Fall feel, so I went with the orange flowers. When I started making the card to the right I went with a tall and skinny design. The finished size is 4" x 8.75" and fits perfectly into a No. 10 envelope. By piecing the papers together I was able to utilize some of my scraps from the DCWV Pumpkin Patch matstack. The arrow design has gold foil which looks really good with the gold embossed dream catcher.

I'm glad you stopped by my blog! Come back again tomorrow for more inspiration using the new stamp set. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Check out the design team inspiration:

1. Angeline: http://scrappyscrappy.blogspot.com/
2. Maria:  https://www.mariarusselldesigns.com/
3. Jeanette: http://creativeplayischeaperthantherapy.blogspot.com/
4. Lisa:  http://bzscrapper66.blogspot.com/…/label/JessicaLynnOriginal

Newton's Hey Pumpkin Card

This week my energy levels have really plummeted and it's affecting my creativity. After some afternoon coffee I used the energy from the "caffeine fix" to make this Newton's Hey Pumpkin Card. There are only a couple of days left to join the Halloween challenge at the Newton's Nook blog.  To make this card I used this weeks sketch at Mojo Monday  along with another Halloween challenge at The Paper Players.

The spooky sky was created by sponging on charcoal chalk ink and then adding some violet and a little pumpkin pie. Copic markers were used to color the image from the new Newton's Perfect Pumpkin stamp set. The sentiment doesn't show up well in the photo but it says "hey there, pumpkin." Well, it's getting late and I better turn in. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Guest Designer at CCC Digi Creations

Welcome October! Is it just me or did September just FLY by? The last couple of weeks have been crazy around my house but today I'm happy to be a guest designer at CCC Digi Creations. Their theme for the next two weeks is Anything Goes and the sponsor is Morgan's Art World. The fairy image named Fae 2 was provided for the challenge. I wanted to use a colour that would be good all year long, so I decided to use blue. The image was coloured with Copic markers and die cut using an Avery Elle die. In an effort to use my stash of patterned paper, I dug and decided to use the blue floral and polka dots both from the Ready Set Go paper pad by American Crafts. I love using twine and right now I seem to be putting sequins on everything. The last decision was the sentiment and I went with Just for You to keep the occasion options open. I sure hope you will join the anything goes challenge at CCC Digi Creations. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!