Precious Remembrance Shop Sweet Pea Inspiration

I'm back over on the Precious Remembrance Shop blog today sharing more inspiration for the newest stamp set, Sweet Pea!  Head on over and check it out!

Prickley Pear Bird Greetings

It's Monday and time for more Prickley Pear inspiration!  I think most of us are feeling the need for spring's arrival about now.  I, for one, am hoping for an early spring this year, but not letting my hopes get too high.  Mother Nature always seems to have a mind of her own!

I went with a spring looking image for today's card.  It's the cute new Singing Bluebirds image!

I used a sentiment from the Butterflies Clear set since it goes along with this image well.  The image was colored with Copic markers & a touch of sparkle was added to the blossoms using a Wink of Stella brush marker.

Be sure and check out the Prickley Pear blog for more Monday inspiration from the design team!

Have a marvelous Monday!

Don't Worry

It's Friday and the day is flying by with DH home working on the basement!  I'm tidying up the messes when I can to keep his work area fairly decluttered, holding boards, delivering food and caring for DS3 & DD.  Things are going pretty well, but boy, there are moments when every single person in the house needs me!  Yikes!  DS1 & DS2 arrive home from school in less than an hour and a busy weekend begins!  I took a little quiet time this morning while DD was napping to tinker in the craft room with DS2.  I chose to play along with the current photo inspiration challenge over at Mama Elephant!

I've been wanting to play with some of their adorable critters that have been hiding in my stash for a while now!

Stamps:  Mama Elephant (True Friend, Honey Bunny)

I was inspired by the soft colors and all the white in the photo.  Since the photo seemed to be a spa/relaxation theme, I decided to put a bunny (from the Honey Bunny set) in a bubble bath, soaking his worries away.  Who doesn't like a long, relaxing bath at the end of a day?!  I layered Landscape Trio Creative Cuts using Shimmery White cardstock & foam dots for the bubbles.  I nestled the bunny behind the layers after coloring him with Copic markers.  I popped up the entire main panel and added tiny clear sequins.  The sentiment (from the True Friend set) continues inside to say, "it's gonna be alright."  I'm thinking about sending this to a new mother.  How well I remember the shock of having my first child.  The sleepless nights.  The wondering if I was doing anything right.  Hoping my little one was doing okay.  By the time child #4 arrived, I wasn't such a worry wart, but what mother doesn't continue to worry a little about her children?!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!  I'm off and running!

Dandelion Mouse

There are just a few more days to play along with the Summer Swirls and Pearls challenge over at the Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog!  If you want to join in the fun, be sure to link up your creation by midnight, June 30th!  Our sponsor this month has been Meljen's Designs and what a selection of adorable images are in the store!

The little mouse I used on my card this week is called Dandelion Mouse.  Isn't he just the cutest?!  I paired him up with some paper from American Crafts (Amy Tangerine collection) as it reminded me of dandelions!  I used one of my favorite Memory Box dies for the swirl and four little pearls, one of which is in the center of the dandelion.  The sentiment if from Paper Trey.

Today is my last post for The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog.  I have enjoyed my time with the wonderful gals there, but need to clear some space on my calendar for a creative endeavor of mine that I have brewing for July!  Plus, our family vacation is coming right up as well as DS1's birthday.  Then, before we know it, school will be starting again!  This summer is just flying by!

Enjoy your Wednesday!  June is about done!

Summertime Treats

A new challenge has started over at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog!  This month, the theme is Summer with Pearls & Swirls and Meljen's Designs is our sponsor.

I had fun with this card.  Summer, in my mind, means a wide variety of cold treats become readily available and root beer floats are near the top of my favorites list!  However, only A&W root beer will do!  Do you have a favorite summertime treat?

The main image is colored with Copic Markers.  I embossed the white panel behind the main image with a swirly Cuttlebug embossing folder and added a red pearl as the cherry.  I couldn't resist adding a bit of clear Stickles to the top of the float and a little Crystal Effects to the glass dish!  The digital float image can be found here.

Inspiration

Inspiration for me usually comes out of the blue.  I can be driving down the road, shopping, reading a magazine or even just enjoying the great outdoors.  Usually something catches my eye, whether it be a color combination, a unique design or a fabulous pattern.  I don't usually intentionally go looking for it, but the gallery over at Splitcoast Stampers is a great place for creative eye candy!  For me, I love the thrill of noticing something totally unexpected!

This week over at The Stamping Boutique, we're having an inspiration challenge.  The photo is a flower garden with lots of spring flowers and a rustic wooden wagon.  For my card, I focused on the flowers, using the Boutique's Poppies digital image.  The sentiment is from SU.

This is my last official creation as a DT member for The Stamping Boutique.  I enjoyed my time with the team and will miss the gals over there!  They're a wonderful group!  :)

Hot Air Balloon

It's time for a new challenge over at The Stamping Boutique Challenge Blog and this time it's an Anything Goes theme!  Have fun with this and play along for the chance to win some free images from the store!

The DT used the fun Birthday Hot Air Balloon to create some great cards and gifts!  You need to go check them out!

I used my favorite color combination on my card, SU's Tempting Turquoise and Real Red.  I colored the balloon with Copic markers and then fussy cut it, popping it up with some foam dots & adding some little red gemstones to the image.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background and added a button with baker's twine.

I am also entering this card into the April challenge over at Sundays with Crissy:  Use your favorite color combo.  Real Red & Tempting Turquoise has got to be my favorite!

Spring Rain

Spring is really beginning to show itself even though the temperatures have dropped back down toward freezing.  I'm crossing my fingers that the beauty that is emerging around us won't get bitten by Jack Frost before steady warmth arrives!

This month over at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog, we're to make spring cards using pastel colors.  Our sponsor this month is Meljen's Designs, an online shop with a ton of adorable, heart warming images!  The prize this month is four (non-colored) digital images from the store!

For my card this week, I chose to use this little umbrella, called Heart Strings Parasol.

I used some decorative paper from my retired Stampin Up! stash and some coordinating cardstock.  The cloud is actually the top of the cupcake from the Stampin Up! cupcake punch!  (I love it when things can be used for more than what they were originally intended!)  The little pink dots are tiny pink gemstones, but the photo doesn't show them very clearly, unfortunately.

**I am also entering this card in the I {Heart} 2 Stamp April Sketch challenge.

Calorie Count

Hi, my name is Melissa and I'm a chocoholic.  Sometimes I hide a bag of milk chocolate candy in my craft room just so I don't have to share with the rest of the family.  I know this isn't very nice of me, but sometimes a girl just has to have her chocolate...all to herself.

Since it's been a while since I've created something featuring one of my daily vitamins (chocolate), I had to make a card featuring something sweet and chocolaty.  This week's Stamping Boutique challenge to "distress something on a card" was perfect!  After all, without chocolate (and coffee), this girl feels a little "distressed!"  :)

The cute cupcake image is a digital stamp from The Stamping Boutique called Cynthia Sliding off her Cupcake.  I distressed the DP (decorative paper) and main image circle with ink and a sponge.  I also distressed the brown matte with a distressing tool.  For embellishments, I added a button, baker's twine bow and pink gemstones.  The image was colored with Copic Markers.

This Little Pig

Pigs have become more a part of my life than I ever thought they'd be.  DH grew up on a farm with pigs, cattle and wheat and whenever we go visit his parents' farm, our boys want to go out and see the animals!  DS3 is in that stage of childhood now that includes practicing his animal noises and pigs are one of his favorite to mimic!

2 Cute Ink released an adorable baby pig image today and I tried it out on a card!  I am stepping down from the design team in preparation for the busy, warmer months.  I know there are many exciting things yet to come at 2 Cute Ink, so be sure to stop by and visit now and then!  Heidi is one talented artist and I can't wait to see more of her adorable creations in the future!

Cow Party

I played along with the Ways to Use It Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers today.  The challenge is to color something!  I do love to color, but always feel like I'm winging it a bit since I haven't really had any official Copic coloring classes.  I'd love to take one someday, but so far the closest ones have been over three hours from where I live.  Someday...

The inside of this card says, "Let's party 'til the cows come home!"  I had to go and Google Holstein cows to make sure I got the spots right.  (I make things more complicated than they need to be...)  LOL!  I'm sure there are cows roaming the countryside with other colors for spots, but I was wanting a black and white color combo!

Supplies:
Stamps - C.C. Designs (Moovalous - digital), Elzybells (sentiment - company no longer in business)
Paper - Paper Trey Kraft CS, SU cardstocks (Basic Black, Real Red), Copic blending card, My Mind's Eye DP (On the Bright Side)
Ink - SU (Basic Black)
Accessories - red button, baker's twine, corner punch (to create banner tip), Nestabilities (circle, scalloped circle), gemstones (red, black), Stickles (red, on hat)
Coloring - Copic markers

Pastels

Spring brings with it a softness (a.k.a. pretty flowers...oh...and mud) and gentleness (a.k.a. rain) that is so appealing after harsh winter weather.  Although, this particular winter was not what I'd call harsh, by any means!

In the spirit of spring, I made a card using soft pastel colors to go along with this week's Stamping Boutique Challenge.  I also used this week's sketch over at Card Patterns.  Remember, there are freebies to be won over at The Stamping Boutique, so be sure to stop over and enter the challenge to qualify!

Supplies:
Stamps - The Stamping Boutique (Daisy Fairy - digi), Paper Trey (sentiment)
Paper - SU cardstock (So Saffron, ), DP
Ink - SU (Basic Black)
Accessories - pink pearls, corner rounder, SU scalloped border punch, Stickles (clear), paper flowers, Nestabilities (oval, scalloped oval), foam dots (popped up oval panels), SU grosgrain ribbon (So Saffron)
Coloring - Copic marker

Here is the sketch from Card Patterns: