My card for the day ....

Here is yet another card i made using the new in colors
from Stampin' Up!©

I used soft suede cardstock as the background, then added bermuda bay, dusty durango and crushed curry. The stamp set is Peace Within. I love cats and orchids so this stamp set is right up my alley. It also has a beautiful basket of flowers and another sentiment stamp. The sentiment on this card reads, "Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle. ~ Elizabeth David." This is a great any occassion card!

Nice cards to put with a birthday or thank you gift ...

These cards were made from the "Simply Sent" card kit from
Stampin' Up!© Everything you need to make 10 cards (5 each of two different designs) are in the kit. You get paper, stamps, inks, a watercolor pen, glue dots, ribbon, etc. These cards are so cute! They even come with envelopes! Each card measures 4" x 4". Contact me if you are interested or order online 24/7!!!! Thanks for looking!

In Colors - just can't get enough of them!!!!!

Oh how I love these new In Colors from Stampin' Up!© I really cannot get enough of them! Here is a great friend card using the Designer Series Paper - Kaleidoscope and Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay cardstock. The stamp is from the Full of Life set. I used watercolor pencils to colorize this stamp and then picked up the Melon Mambo ink with my aqua pen and used it like chalking around the edges of the white paper.

The card below was made using paper from the Designer Series Papers - Razzleberry Lemonade and the cardstock is from the new In Colors line. Can't remember the stamp set name for the Thanks a Bunch, but i love it! The butterfly is from the Dream du Jour set. They are both Stampin' Up!©.

Another card using Stampin' Up!© "in colors" ...

Here is another card i made using the new in colors from Stampin' Up!©

... I just love these colors! I also used the Kaleidoscope designer series papers, watercolor pencils and a stamp that i have that i loved and never had the right sentiment to put with it. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!© called Full of Life. It has 7 stamps and they are all great! Thanks for looking and remember, you can order from me online 24/7!

The new "In Colors "

The new "in colors" from Stampin' Up!© are great! I paired them with the Razzleberry Lemonade designer series papers and made this card. I found one on Splitcoast Stampers made by Janet Marks and loved it so much that I had to scraplift it. Here it is (my version):

For a friend going through a hard time ...

This card is for a friend who is going through some medical difficulties right now. I hope he enjoys it! TFL!
Front of card:


Inside of card:

Love these digital stamps!

Celebrate Freedom!

I made this card to give to my Mother-in-Law for inviting us to celebrate July 4th with her at her timeshare on the beach. Every year a group of people go to see her and everyone brings food and drinks and we all enjoy ourselves immensely, but it seems that no one ever gives her a card. Last year I started a scrapbook which I will continue this year, but I wanted to give her a card also (and, of course, it can go into the scrapbook too). I made the card using the Stand & Salute cartridge, cutting the star and bursts and the liberty bell. The bell is popped off of the card using the cut out section. I cut the card and liberty bell at once using the card feature, then added the red paper with the star and bursts cutouts and then popped the bell on top, chalked and put Stickles everything and then put red, white and blue paper on the inside with Thank You. I like how it turned out. It is much prettier in person ... the scanner just cannot capture the sparkle or colors well for some reason. Thanks for looking!

A New Award!

Lynn at Beautiful Delights gave my blog an award. Please click on the link in her name to visit her beautiful blog. Thank you!

Here are the rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I searched the blogging world and found these 15 (mostly new to me) and I am pasing on the award to:

Rose
Carolyn
Lillie
Melissa
Jeannie
Sue
Valerie
Raquel
Jennifer
Nanne
Monique
Wanda
Sheryl
Sherri
Deborah

Enjoy! If you happen to receive it more than once it just shows how much we enjoy your blog!

New Cards!

I've learned a new technique, thanks to Cricut Messageboard and Splitcoast Stampers website! I just love making these cards. I've made five so far and as fast as I make them someone says ... "Hey, that's great! Can I have it?" Of course, I keep saying yes ... so I don't have any for myself! These are called tri-shutter cards. What great fun! Thanks for looking!

I love the sentiment stamp ... I picked it up at Michael's using a 40% off coupon so it wasn't too bad ... originally $8.99, I think ... If you are looking for a sentiment for a friendship card, this is a good one!

Your Blog Makes Us Smile Award!

I am so honored to have received this award! With the past few weeks being as hard as they have been, this just really made them all seem not so bad after all. Thank you so much Mary for the wonderful award! Please check out Mary's wonderful blog by clicking on her name.



I would like to pass this award along to:

Linda
Jeannie
Jennie
Diane

Okies Challenge - 060209

This week's challenge was two cards and a color challenge. Talk about making you think!!!

Here is what the challenge looked like:

Here are my versions of the sketches:

Sketch #1

I purchased a deep blade housing and blade for my Cricut Expression and wanted to give it a whirl so I used Accent Essentials and cut out the scalloped frame and the square inside from chipboard and then covered them in paper, chalked and stickled and viola!

Here is the close up detail ...

Sketch #2

I used all Creative Memories for this one (except for chalking and the skittle on the tag and the stamp on the tag - CTMH). The paper is fromt he Hanna Montana power palette addition, the tag was punched using a Creative Memories punch and the flowers are the delights paper flowers.

Sketch #3 (color challenge) ... the colors were blue, green and orange

I used the three colors of cardstock, cut the cart from Walk in My Garden and the sun from Accent Essentials (the center of one of the cuts), the "believe" and dragonfly are buttons from Michael's that I cut the shanks off of and glued down (using CTMH's Liquid Glass ... makes a great clear glue), the flowers are from a small bunch of flowers in Michael's wedding section that I cut apart from the bunch and then put on the paper and the butterflies are EZ See Through Rub On Transfers that I got at Michael's. I of course chalked and stickled (do I ever not chalk and stickle?).

Here is a close up detail of the flowers ...

It's Tuesday and our next challenge will come out tonight or early tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see how they challenge us this week. You really should check out the challenge thread on the Cricut message board ... there are so many talented people there and their work is so inspiring! It makes me try harder and harder all the time.

Last Card for the 5-27 Challenge (Okie's)

Ok, I know, I'm late, but better late than never! Here is my card for Sketch #2 on Okie's challenge for last week:

I used Creative Memories papers, a Bella stamped image and some Creative Memories embellishments and some handmade embellishments (the photo corners) and drew on my stitching since I made this card on my lunch hour at work. Thanks for looking!

Another Award!!! Wow!

I received a new award and I am so honored and excited! Thanks to Jennie (http://jennieslilpieceoflife.blogspot.com/) for the award. I hope to do it justice! The award was designed to award bloggers for showing great attitude and gratitude. I am passing this award on to these ladies who all have a great attitude and gratitude:

Rose - http://www.roseshappyplace.blogspot.com/

Shelly - http://www.cardsbyshelly.blogspot.com/

Jeannie - http://www.aplaceformycards.blogspot.com/

LilGreenBugville - http://www.lilgreenbugville.blogspot.com/

As I find more, I will pass it along more, but these ladies really stand out to me!

One more ...

Lisa - Scrappin in NJ

Happy June 1st!!!!

Summer is quickly approaching which means graduations, honor rolls, birthdays, barbeques, etc. Here are a few cards I've been working on for various occassions and things. This first card is for my grand niece, Samantha, who made honor roll, perfect attendance and perfect conduct! Way to go Samantha!

This card is called a joy fold card and I made it to send to the Father-in-Law of one of my Cricut messageboard friends. Here is the front of the card ...

and this is the inside ...

This is a birthday card that I might use for my grand niece, Samantha, for her birthday later this month ...

Thanks for looking and allowing me to share my creative endeavors with you!

5-27 Okie's Challenge Cards

This is our challenge for this week on Okie's challenge over on the Cricut message board:

Here is my take on sketch 1 and the challenge card

I used 2+ colors of paper (pink and multi), 1-2 Cricut elements (the cupcake and cherry and tag), created the Birthday Wishes sentiment paper in Word and printed and cut for the card, used a Bradletz metal flower at the bottom of the tag and then stamped Happy Birthday on the inside and also on the front stamped "It's your day ... ... spoil yourself silly!". I then stickled and chalked and this is the finished card.
TFL!

Let's Go Digital!

Here are two recent digital layouts that I made with my Creative Memories Storybook Plus software:

This one I call vacation memories ...

This one I call football fun ...

I love digital scrapbooking! I can also set these as my desktop wallpaper so I can enjoy the memories everytime I look at my computer! TFL!

Celebrate ...

This card is so much prettier in person ... the photograph doesn't do it justice. I left the inside blank as it could be used for a multitude of occasions. I hope you like it!

Thanks for looking!

More challenge cards!

We had three sketches this week for the challenge. Here are the three sketches ...



And, here is my take on each one ...

Sketch 1:

Sketch 2:

... you can never have too many!

Sketch 3:

Thanks for looking!

My Granddaughter's 2nd Birthday Card

I used New Arrival to make this card for my granddaughter's second birthday. Her Mom and Dad are taking her to the Zoo to celebrate so I made the card to go along with that theme.
Front of card ...
Inside of card.
The sentiment on front and inside is computer generated and the lion and monkey on the inside are from Life's a Jungle - CTMH stamp set. Thanks for looking!

Another challenge from the Cricut board

This Wednesday started another challenge on the Cricut.com message board. We have three sketches this week. Here is my take on sketch #1:

I've been wanting to try using rick rack on cards for a while since I see others using it often and really like the way it looks so I thought this was the perfect time to do so.

I want to thank everyone for the kinds thoughts and sympathy shown to us over the loss of our beloved Harley. We really appreciate all the love we received.

We've lost a good friend and companion

Monday was a very sad day here in the Forrest home. We lost our longtime friend and companion, Harley. Harley was 1/2 Chow-Chow and 1/2 German Shepherd. He was a true, loyal friend and companion for nearly 15 years. His health declined so rapidly over the past two weeks that we took him to the vet and it was determined that he was in a lot of pain (even though he never showed signs of that to us) and we made the very hard decision to end all the pain for him. He was too good of a friend to let him continue to suffer. We miss him terribly. Time will heal the wound and we will meet up with him again at The Rainbow Bridge. He is survived by his two buddies, Quiksilver and Stormy Jeanne (the cats).

In loving memory of Harley Forrest ... July 6, 1994 - May 18, 2009

Forever in our hearts

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award

My friend Lynn (Beautiful Delights) gave me this award. I have decided to pass it along to Dyanna at A Single Season! Please check out her beautiful blog!

Here is your award!

Congratulations!

Some new things I've been working on ...

Here are my two challenge cards for this week on Okie's 5-13 challenge from the cricut board:

This one is for Father's Day ...

This one is "Just Because"

I also altered my ATG this weekend! What fun! In case you don't know what an ATG is, it is a tape gun (runner) that holds A LOT of tape! They are big, but not bulky and very easy to use. I get tired of refilling my tape runners all the time so ... if you want more information on where to get an ATG or how to alter it, send me a message and I'll get the info to you. Here is my ATG pre and post altering ~ Here is what it looks like prior to altering:

This is one side of the ATG after altering with paint and embellishing:

This is the other side of the ATG after a little paint and embellishing. I kept this side pretty much clear so I can see how much tape is left in the gun without opening it.

A lot of people also embellish the handle but I didn't because my skin is very acidic and it would just eat right through anything I put there so I left it just painted. I used Krylon Fusion paint for plastic which means no primer needed! Considering this was a bright red when I started ... i only used one good coat of white on it and it covered perfectly! TFL!

Oh My Gosh! I was given a blog award!

My dear friend Lynn at Beautiful Delights gave me the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award! Wow! My first one! Coming from Lynn this means a lot because her site is loaded with awards, and I might add, very well deserved awards! Now my mission is to find someone to pass the award along to also. My search is on!

Yet another challenge card

This is Sketch #1 from the 5/06 Okies Challenge for this week. The cards that have been posted so far are simply amazing! I am so impressed by the abilities of the board members! Here is my take:
The inside reads: "When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you, and I will be there.

What a great sentiment for a Best Friend card! TFL!

Father's Day

Ok, so I know it is a bit early for this, but the challenge on the Cricut board this week gave me an idea for a Father's Day card. I found these really cute "soft spoken" chipboard embellishments at Michael's on sale so I couldn't resist. I always have a tough time with guy cards, but i really like this one. I've been wanting to try using brackets for a while and this was the perfect opportunity! Here is my card:

Thanks for looking and reading my blog. I'm not great at this blogging stuff, but if I keep trying maybe one day it can be as interesting as Beautiful Delights ... which, by the way, if you have not already checked out, please do so. You are really missing out if you don't!

Mother's Day Cards ...

Here are a couple of Mother's Day cards that I made for a friend. I saw on the message board that the QuickKutz A2 folders fit in the cuttlebug so I decided to get some and give it a whirl. Below are two different folders. I really love these folders! I wish I had known about them sooner. I do have to add just two extra pieces of paper in my cuttlebug sandwich to get them to emboss a bit deeper, but that is ok. Just being able to use these folders is great! I wish the colors had come out better in the photos, but they didn't. Since the photos I've also added stickles to "perk" them up a bit and now they are wonderful (at least I think they are!). TFL!
The inside of the card has a personalized message from Cora's sister, Glenda.
Same on this one.