HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy year.  If you're out driving tonight please be careful.  On NYE I just assume every other driver on the roads is drunk and out to kill me!  LOL!

Jim and I are spending the evening at home, probably watching a movie.  We got a Blue Ray player for Christmas, as well as the movie The Help so maybe we'll watch that one.  I read the book and can only hope the movie is as good.  =D

Tomorrow I'm going to make thank you cards for the generous gifts I was blessed with this Christmas.  I'll post a picture when they're done.

As if the Christmas gifts weren't enough, my mother gave me my birthday present a couple of weeks early...  a FoodSaver!  I've been wanting one for years, but since I got my pressure cooker it's been something I've been REALLY WANTING.  Being able to freeze some of what I make, in proper portions, will be great for lunches at work.  It'll save money, too.  Do any of you have a FoodSaver?  What do you use it for?

Sunday the 8th I have my first quilting class.  I'm so very excited!  Today I picked out the fabrics.  It is a simple quilt, and very small.  It will be the perfect beginner project!

Did you have a fabulous holiday?

I hope so, I did!  Great food, family, AND presents!  It was wonderful.

Here are some of the cards I made:

What do you think?

A bigger post to come later this week. 

Blessings for the New Year!

http://www.partyblog.mygrafico.com/silhouette_giveaway/

They are giving away a Silhouette Cameo at this blog! What an amazing prize!!

I will be back later to fill in the blanks since my last post.  I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving.  :D

What I've been up to.

I've been busy, but not blogging.  Bad, I know, but hopefully this will catch you up!

I got a different vehicle and don't remember if I blogged about it before or not, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself.  There was a recall on my Isuzu Rodeo, which I loved, that they couldn't fix on my specific vechicle.  LONG story short, Isuzu bought it back from me for about $1000 less than I had paid for it 2 1/2 years previously.  I added more $$ to that and got THIS:

Yes, I'm driving a Prius these days!  I am very happy with it, and you can't beat the mileage!!  I might miss the 4WD this winter, and I do sometimes miss the cargo capacity of the Rodeo but you would be surprised how much you can cram into a Prius!  LOL!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, because I don't have enough hobbies (insert eye-rolling emoticon here), I decided to take sewing lessons!  When I went to the basic class I dug out my old Brother sewing machine and took it with me.  At the class I couldn't get the stupid thing to go into reverse.  BAH.  Got it home, got it to reverse stitch, then it wouldn't go forward!  I really wanted to throw it across the room, but with my luck it would have hit the TV and Jim would never forgive me if I hurt that thing.  He did a little research on the internet and discovered that the "getting stuck in reverse" problem is common with the machine I had, so I went to Costco and got THIS:

Ain't it PURTY?  LOL!  It was on sale and I'm thrilled.  I took my second class on Tuesday and made a pretty pillow.  On December 1 I'm taking a class to make a valance for the back entry area window, then later in December I have a couple of classes to make a fleece jacket.  This one:

 

The lower right hand corner view.  Cute, right?! 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

We had a craft sale at the local high school on the Saturday before Halloween.  I sold some jewlery, Star sold some cards, but it wasn't a big money maker.  This used to be a good show for us, but the last couple of years have been harsh.  Stupid economy.  When I barely make enough to cover the cost of the booth it's time to hang it up.  Made me sad to say goodbye to the show, and to know I don't have any on the horizon, but it will allow me to focus on other hobbies for a while.  I'm not forsaking jewelry forever, just taking a bit of a break!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And I'm getting my Christmas cards made.

 

 

That's about it for me.  What have YOU been up to?

I just finished a very good book...

I read Tess Gerritson's "The Surgeon (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles, #1)" Here's a copy of my review from GoodReads:

This book was the creative inspiration for the TV series Rizzoli and Isles, which I LOVE.  I had owned this book for 2 years without reading it, but when I found out that fact I had to dust it off (figuratively, since it's an e-book) and finally read it.

Had I NOT known about the Rizzoli and Isles connection, or had I read it before I saw the show, I might have given it 5 stars.  I did enjoy the book very much, but the differences between the show and the book distracted me.  For example, Dr. Isles is not in the book at all, and I missed her!  I love the relationship between Rizzoli and Isles on the TV show and kept looking for it in the book.  Also, the character of Rizzoli in the book is similar to the one on TV but there are a few glaring differences.  First of all, in the book she is described as plain and no one can accuse Angie Harmon of being plain!  On TV the character comes across as a tom-boy with a sometimes difficult relationship with her mother.  In the book she is cranky and bitter.

The story is FABULOUS.  It's like the prequel to the TV show and I love getting that background.

All told, the book is very much worth reading and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre.  If you haven't seen the TV show, it's better yet!!

And the winner is...

Teresa Arsenault!  Congratulations, Teresa!! 

Enter a lower limit:
Enter an upper limit:
Random Number:

---

Contact me at SongbirdVB @ AOL.com (remove the spaces) and I will tell you how to claim your prize.  I know you will love the digis at the HappiScrappinStore!  It will be hard to choose just 5!

I hope everyone enjoyed our little hop, and good luck on winning the other prizes!!

Starla's Fairy Blog Hop!

Starla is doing a blog hop and my blog is stop number one. Why are we hopping?  She is celebrating her one year blogaversary, her recent birthday (the last one in her 20's!), and having achieved 100 followers.

If you want to do the hop and DIDN'T come from Starla's blog go there and read all about it, then come back here!! 
There are going to be prizes and drawings, including the one I'm giving away!  At the end of the hop a random comment from my blog will be chosen, that winner will receive FIVE digis from Leigh's store at HappiScrappin! 

Here's what Starla had to say about the prizes:

Now, before I get to the list for the blog hop, let’s talk about prizes, shall we? There are actually two parts to this celebration.  The first is the blog hop.  Every person that visits every stop in the hop and leaves a comment on each post gets entered into a drawing to win a $10 gift certificate to one of my favorite stamp companies.  One will receive a gift certificate to Tiddly Inks, and one will receive a gift certificate to Guylou’s Inimitability, and yet another one to Simply Betty Stamps.  Click on the links (on her site) to visit their stores and browse around!

The second part of the celebration is…..the challenge!  Since I just LOVE fairies, I’m hosting a fairy themed challenge!  All you need to do to enter is to create a fairy themed project and link it to Mr. Linky (on her site).  Only one entry per person, and please remember to link directly to your post and not to your blog.  You have until 11/12/11 at midnight CST to enter.  The candy pictured (on her site) is the grand prize for this challenge!  It has a little bit of everything, so I hope it looks yummy!

Each of us was asked to do a fairy themed project.  Since my crafting supplies are not accessible at the moment I am using one of my very favorite past projects.  I hope you like her!

The digi is from the store at AnitaBeStampin, isn't she pretty?  I colored her with Copic markers and layered a whole lot of papers to complete the card.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible to win some of the fabulous prizes!!

Thanks for joining me on the hop.  Your next stop is the lovely Cely! 
Good luck!!

I'm still alive!

Sorry I've been AWOL!  Life got in the way, as it sometimes will.  My crafting supplies are not accessible at the moment so I don't have anything new to show you.  After my craft room gets organized y'all are going to be INUNDATED with my craftiness!      =D

Tomorrow is a special day!  Starla is having a blog hop and there will be prizes and everything!!  It's fairy themed and will be fun and inspiring.  The crafters who will be stops on the hop are hugely talented and I'm honored to be included in the list.  I'm sure the fact that I'm her mom didn't factor into it at all.  =D

Check back and do the hop!!

And suddenly... Autumn.

The weather here is crazy.  We went from 80 degree days to 50 degree days in a week!  This morning when I woke up it was 37.  LOL!  Gotta love Minnesota.  I'm not complaining at all.  I love the crisp weather, it makes me want to get outside and walk.  A friend mentioned that she and her mother are going to a Fall Festival today, I'm thinking about heading over to the Farmer's Market.  Then maybe grab the camera and go to the park.  See if I can find some leaves wearing their Autumn colors.

I'm a bit sad... Leigh at HappiLeighScrappin has decided to stop doing challenges.  Life got in the way, as it so often does, and something had to give.  Unfortunately it was the challenges.  I have been honored to be part of her Design Team and will continue to be a customer.  Her store will still be open, and I'm sure new designs will become available as time permits.  She put some new ones in there this week, so go check them out!

Off to the Farmer's Market!  Have a fun day.

Scrapfest 2011

Last weekend was Scrapfest at the Mall of America, hosted by Archiver's.  It's a huge deal and crafters come from all over to join the fun.  They have all the big names (Tim Holtz!)  and there are make-and-takes, classes, and late night crops.  Starla and I didn't go to the mall, but we did attend a couple of crop-around-the-town events and had a blast. 

Friday night we were at Archiver's in Maple Grove for the crop sponsored by Basic Grey.  There were gift bags from Archiver's with papers and all kinds of embellishments.  Basic Grey did a card make-and-take and gave us a pad of 6x6 paper, some sheets of 12x12, and a bunch of embellishments to make more cards.  They're supposed to be emailing us with ideas and instructions for the rest of the pack.  There were drawings for prizes which we didn't win, but a good time was had by all.  Grand prize was a Slice with the Slice tote.  Nice prize!  They took a group picture of us, and everyone got a copy.  I'll have to hook up my scanner and post that picture at some point...

Saturday night we went to Archiver's in Coon Rapids for the crop sponsored by We R Memory Keepers.  I've got to say, as much as I love Basic Grey's papers, I am a tool FIEND and WRMK is all about the tools. Their treat bag make-and-take demo was focused on some new ribbon punches that will come out next month.  They are pretty cool and I'll probably have to get one.  Or two.  =D  Here's a picture of the treat bag I made:

See the black ribbon threaded under the "very spooky"?  See how perfectly it's aligned and spaced?  It's wonderful!!  Sorry... I do geek out over tools. 

We had a good time at Coon Rapids (although we did miss our "home," the staff at Maple Grove is the best).  Since this crop wasn't sold out we ended up having a table to ourselves, so we could spread out a bit more.  The grand prize was a Cinch, including the bag and a bunch of bindings, and we did not win.  That's okay, we got the gift bag when we got there and each of us got a stamp or stamp set, a WRMK Brad Setter, and a ton of embellishments.  They did a game playing one group of us against the other and our group won so we got another gift bag full of embellishments.  Later I won a drawing and got a THIRD bag of stuff!  Toward the end of the night Starla won a drawing and got  the runner-up-to-the-grand-prize, a HUGE bag of stuff!  Seriously, go to her blog and look at the picture of all the stuff she got!!  I got a good head start on my Christmas cards:

we had fun:

And Sunday I pretty much slept.  =D

Next year:  We SCRAPFEST at the mall!  Want to join us?

Think Autumn

That's the challenge at HappiLeighScrappin this week.  What does Autumn mean to you?  Leaves?  Wind?  Food?  Make it into a card or other project!  Here is mine:

I used a couple of Leigh's new designs, the pumpkin and the hat, and merged them with Paint.net.  They were colored with Copic markers and I used my Stardust pen for the buckle on the hat.  The fences is a Tim Holtz "On The Edge" die, and the leaves were something I picked up at a garage sale.  They came in plain plastic bags with no manufacturer info.  I love them!

Although you don't have to use one of Leigh's images to join in the challenge we would love it if you did!  Leigh will appreciate it so much she'll add your project to an additional drawing, one that is only for projects that used her images.  Go to Leigh's store and look at her images, I know you'll find something you love!

PleasejJoin us in the challenge, I'm looking forward to seeing your project!

Happy Labor Day! Let's celebrate with

a new challenge!  This is a long weekend for many of us in the US, that's reason enough to celebrate, isn't it?  It's also time for the new challenge at HappiLeighScrappin, so let's get to it! 

HappiSister Chris has this to say:  The first Monday of September!!  Can you believe it's September already??  Pools are closing, kids are back to school, leaves will be changing color, and time to pull out the long sleeves and sweaters.  I thought it was only fitting we do a fall color challenge.  Browns, oranges and yellows.

Here is the card I made:

I merged two of the digis in Leigh's store, Garden Gate and Jenny Bunches.  My first attempt at merging, what do you think?!  =D  The digis are colored with Copic markers.  I did some cutting and taping,  added flowers and gems and a nice sentiment.
Now it's your turn!  Head on over to Leigh's store and grab some digis, let's see what you can do.  At Leigh's it's always buy-3-get-1-free, what a great deal!

Although you don't have to use one of Leigh's images to enter the challenge we would love it if you did!  Leigh would love it so much she'll enter in a special drawing just for the projects that DO use her images!  Two entries from one project!

I'm looking forward to seeing YOUR project. 

I LOVE THE FAIR!

Those of you who are not lucky enough to have visited the Minnesota State Fair have no idea what you're missing.  It is the BEST!  I've been to state fairs in other states, but nothing compares to Minnesota's.  It's the best 12 days of summer!  Every year I anticipate the Fair, getting emails telling me who is going to be at the Grandstand, and who is going to appear on the numerous free stages on which days.  Then the planning begins.  The Fair cannot be experienced in just one day, I went three days this year and still didn't get to see all the places I wanted!  Last year I went five times so I'm feeling like a slacker today... I could go back...  I've got today and tomorrow. 
I wanted to share some of the Fair with you, so I took a few pictures:

Here is a picture of me with my darling daughter, the cheese on a stick!  This is an appropriate picture as that is her favorite Fair Food.  Doesn't it look good on her? 

 This one shows a couple of the rides you can take.  The Sky Ride with it's enclosed cars.  Fun, but hellacious on a hot day!  I don't know the name of the ride that is shown at the top of the photo.  There are two seats at each end of the long pole and it spins.  The frame just right of center is for the ejection seat.  At the time I took the photo, fairly early in the day, no one was crazy enough yet to be on it.

 The garden next to the Grandstand.

 This is the other Sky Ride with the open cars.  I'd never been on this one until this year and I loved it! The ride doesn't stop to let people on and off, that couple is waiting for the seat to hit them in the back of the legs, then an employee hurries alongside and secures the front bar.  At the end of the ride an employee opens the bar and you jump off.  I was lucky not to land on my face! 

 A shot from the Sky Ride, that's the Kiddy Midway in the foreground.

 Starla, on the ride with me.

See the little yellow stand just right of center?  That is one of the Pronto Pup stands.  My favorite Fair Food!  I have to have one every time I go to the Fair. See the people on the street?  A perfect crowd.  This will be fun to remember later...

One of the wood carvings that dot the fairgrounds.  Peace Bear!

 A shot of Machinery Hill... although I don't think they call it that anymore.  That's what it was when I was growing up and that's what we still call it.

 Every year they do something different with topiary at the Fair Entrance.  This year it is these gorgeous horses.  Check out those manes!

Another fun thing to do at the Fair!  This made me laugh.  It's set up next to the Health Fair building, where you can have your blood sugar tested, get flu shots, learn about all kinds of health related things.  This is the first year I've seen the "get your prostate examined at the Fair" bus!

 Last but not least, the crowd as we were leaving the Fair.  See all the heads?  The streets are packed!  Remember the earlier picture with the perfect crowd?  This is much more typical. 

I hope you enjoyed a quick look at a very small part of our Fair. I'm going to look through some photos from earlier years and see if I can find some good ones to post later.

In closing I would like to introduce you to my cat, Buster.  When he sleeps this way it totally cracks me up.  I'm easily amused!

Faceplant, anyone?

Now I want a Pronto Pup... 

Happy Birthday Challenge!

That's the challenge this week, to do a birthday card!  This was a CRAAAAAZY week for me and I barely had time to tie my shoes much less make a card, but I got a clean-and-simple one done and this is it:

Now I've always said how much I love Leigh's designs, but I have neglected to mention one cool fact:  When you purchase a digi from Leigh's store it includes both and uncolored and a colored version!  Isn't that great?  As I was in such a rush this week I used the colored version for my card, did some cutting, added some flowers, and got a cute card!  At Leigh's it's ALWAYS buy 3 get another design FREE!  Go do some shopping!

Please consider joining us in the HappiLeighScrappin Challenge this week!  It's fun and you have an opportunity to win gorgeous digis!

Remember, you don't have to use one of Leigh's digis to win, but if you DO use an HLSC design you also get entered into a special drawing for more digis!  YAY!

Happy birthday to my honey!

Today is my husband's birthday!  Happy Birthday Jim!!  He's not much of a "card guy" but I made one for him anyway, and here it is:

Sorry for the slightly blurry picture.  Best I could do with my phone cam!  =D



The sentiment inside says "I love you more than all the fishes in the sea."  I hope he likes it!!  It was colored with Copics, and there is Stickles on the candle flame.  I don't remember the stamp company, I'll post it tonight when I get home. Got it!  It's the Craft Lounge clear stamp set called Bubbles.  The tickets are Tim Holtz, attached with his Tiny Attacher,  and the cupcake brad is... I don't remember that either.  Sheesh!  I'll add that when I get home too.  The cupcake brads are by K&Company.  I feel so much better now!

Cards for guys are HARD.  I had to rein in my make-it-sparkle attitude and keep it fairly simple.  I hope it's not TOO simple! 

Halloween candy!

Linda at Linda B's Crafty Creations is giving away some blog candy!  Look at what's up for grabs:

Isn't that awesome?!  I know I'm giving it my best shot, those stamps are cool and the stickers are fab! 

You have until September 5 to go to her site and follow her directions.  Good luck!

Girly girls!

The challenge this week at HappiLeighScrappin is to have a girl on your card.  Leigh has some fab girl digis at her store, so it was FUN!  And remember, at Leigh's it's ALWAYS buy 3 get 1 of your own choice FREE!  What a super deal!

I picked a cute little girl with a basket of flowers... and here she is:

isn't she cute?  She is Girl with Basket and I think she's adorable.  I colored her with Copic markers. To make it even more challenging I did the coloring at the lake during a mini family reunion, on a table with inadequate lighting.  Not something I want to try again any time real soon, but I do like the way she turned out!

Head on over to the HappiScrappinChallenge blog, you're going to have fun with this one!

Don't forget, you don't have to use one of Leigh's designs to play, but if you DO your entry will also go into a separate drawing for only the cards that use her designs.  TWO chances to win!  All winners are chosen by random drawings.

ATC theme... Steampunk!

Last Sunday was not only my lovely mother's birthday, it was also ATC swap day.  The theme this month was steampunk and the group came up with some AWESOME cards!!  I wish I could show them all to you, but at least I can share mine:

The title of the card is Tempus Fugit (time flies).  The paper I used has pocket watches.  I stamped a butterfly in the upper left corner, cut some gears on my Silhouette, and printed a butterfly with gears in the wings digi I got from a French blog I don't remember (sorry!). The digi was antiqued using Tea Dye Distress ink, I added a stamp of a clock in the lower right wing, then added gold and copper Stickles and silver with my Stardust pen.  The gears were cut from siver metallic paper and kraft paper.  The kraft paper gears were colored by gold metallic Ranger paint daubers and Smooch in Molasses color.  I edged the card with Chestnut Roan Cat's Eye Chalk.  The butterfly is pop dotted over the gears.

Whew!

Cards for Ryan

Okay group, time to pony up!  There is a young man named Ryan who was involved in an accident and suffered a brain injury.  He needs a lot of hope right now, and his family says the cards he has enjoyed opening and looking at the  cards he has received.  They have asked for a card shower to facilitate his healing.  Read more about the card call, and Ryan, here and here, and here.  Let's get some cards to this young man and make him smile!  Here's the one I'm sending:

The interior says "Hurry and get well, Ryan!  We're all pulling for you."

C'mon, a RAK (random act of kindness) will make you feel amazing.  If you're not a card maker you can BUY one, but let's show Ryan some love!

Cool, baby. Cool.

That's the challenge this week!  COOOOOL colors only.  This was pretty hard for me, I love my pinks!  If you're curious about which colors are warm and which are cool here's a color wheel:

You should give the challenge a try!  Stretch your creative muscles and do a project for us.

You can find the challenge at Leigh's challenge blog.

Here's the card I made:

All different shades of green.  I hope you like it!

Go look at Leigh's images, find one you like and make a project with cool colors!  You don't have to use one of Leigh's images, but if you do you'll get entered in an ADDITIONAL drawing only for the projects that do use HappiLeighScrappin images.  YAY!  When you add in the fact that if you buy 3 images you get one of your own choosing, FREE, how can you not go look?  Also, with any purchase in August Leigh will give you this cute image:

Free!

Go shop now!  I'm looking forward to seeing your project!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

A couple of weeks ago it was my father's birthday, today it's Mom's turn!  She's a special woman and deserved a special card.  Sparkly, just like her!  Here's what I made for her:

I used a file designed by the fabulous Ileana from IScrapDesigns.  Isn't it beautiful?  My Silhouette cut it with no trouble at all.  Ileana's designs come in GSD, AI, KNK, MTC and SVG.  Something for everyone!  You can check out her gorgeous designs at Paperthreads Design store. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Folding, folding, folding...

Nope, I'm not doing laundry, I'm making my card for this week's HappiLeighScrappin challenge!

The challenge is to create a card with more than one fold.  The HappiSisters DT really stepped up, you have to go check out their cards.  AWESOME.  Here's my card:

I used Leigh's beautiful birthday cake digi and the included sentiment, colored with Copics.  The digi can be found, along with all of Leigh's other designs, at the HappiLeighScrappin store.  Go check out the great designs!

With any purchase in August Leigh is giving away the following digi:

And remember, at Leigh's it's ALWAYS buy 3 get 1 of your own choice FREE!  What a super deal!

So, are you ready for the challenge?  Don't forget, you don't have to use one of Leigh's designs to play, but if you DO your entry will also go into a separate drawing for only the cards that use her designs.  TWO chances to win!  All winners are chosen by random drawings.

Time to see what fold YOU can come up with! 

Happy Weekend

Hey all!  What's up?

Those of you that have known me for a long time may remember the motorcycle I owned about 15 years ago.  After I lost that bike in my divorce I never rode another bike.  Until last Wednesday.  Long story short, guess who got a bike?  LOL!  Yes!  It would be ME!  Here's a picture of my new baby:

Pretty, right?  All I need to do is add a windshield and saddlebags and it will be perfect.  Now let's all hope it doesn't rain tomorrow so I can go riding!

Anything goes...

That's the challenge at the HappiScrappin Challenge blog this week.  What more can you ask for?!  No rules, just do what you want!

Here's what I did:

The sentiment on the inside says "Please bee well soon!"  It's for my friend (and soon to be SIL) who had surgery last Monday.  Hurry and get well, Mary!!  (I hope she doesn't see this until AFTER the card arrives...)

The digi stamp is one of my very favorites.  I adore the chubby little bee!  You can find him and many other beautiful digis at Leigh's store, here.  I used colored pencils and Gamsol this week, an extra little challenge to myself NOT to use Copics.  =D  And of course there had to be some sparkle, so I added gems and Stickles.  There we have it!

Get busy making your project and join the ANYTHING GOES challenge!  You don't have to use one of Leigh's stamps, but if you DO there is a second drawing just for the projects that include her images. How cool is that?!  WTG, Leigh! You can win some fabulous digis, so let's see what you can do.

My Dad is turning 80!

Dad will be 80 years old on the 30th so I HAD to make him a card!  I wasn't going to post it, on the off chance he would read this, but I'm really looking for some opinions here... so let me say this first:


DAD!  Quit reading this RIGHT NOW, YOUNG MAN!  No peeking!



Okay, now, there's a back story to this card.  When talking to my dad on the phone he always used to say "Hey, it's my favorite middle child!"  I told him that wasn't good enough and made him change it to "favorite child."  Then, when he was saying that regularly I had him change it to "favorite PERSON."  Now we're up to "favorite person in the universe, and beyond!"  See how well I can train him?  LOL!  I love my dad! 

Anyway I created this card just for him (and, Dad, if you're still reading... you're GROUNDED!):

Do you like it?  I hope he does!  =D

Shaped cards!

At the HappiScrappin Challenge Blog it's time to challenge ourselves to break out of that square/rectangle RUT and make a shaped project!  Any shape other than the square and rectangle mentioned, go crazy!  The HappiSisters have made some gorgeous cards, you have to go look at them.  I feel honored to be on a design team with such talented individuals.

Here's my card:

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Outlaws anything but square challenge
and Whoopsi Daisy let's get in shape challenge


Isn't that teddy bear a cutie?  You can find him, along with a bunch of other beautiful digis at the Happileigh Scrappin store.  It's always buy-3-get-1-free at Leigh's store, what a great deal!  Plus she's giving away this gorgeous digi with every sale during July!

How sweet is that?!

My card shape was made on my Silhouette in three layers; the card base (which you can't see), the blue scalloped flower, and the pink polka dotted layer with the cutout triangles.  The cutiepie bear I've already mentioned, don't you just want to hug him?  He was colored with Copic markers, then I added Stickles to the flower and to the bears blue eyes.  I used a small StampinUp! punch for the little blue flowers, then added a gem and Stickles. Two of the little flowers are popped up, as is the bear and the sentiment.  There is a tiny layer of Stickles on the sentiment too.  Can't have enough sparkle!

Head on over to the challenge, let's see what shapes you can make!

Create your own embellishment!

The HappiChallenge this week is to create your own embellishment.  Starla wants to see those handmade flowers and buttons, etc.  Use a ribbon to make a flower, or use punches or whatever toys you have.  Diecutting machines count so break out your Silhouette, Cricut, or Big Shot!  Here's what I came up with:

The digi is Leighs Happy Everything Vase, and it can be found here, as can all of her other beautiful designs.  I colored it with Copic markers.  The card base is embossed and I added gems to brighten everything up.  The yellow "ribbon" was made with the Stampin Up! ribbon punch and the butterflies are from their Beautiful Wings embosslet.  I used some green glitter glue on the wings because butterflies should shine!  The image is on a shape cut from a Spellbinders Nestability and is popped up above the card.

The HappiChallenge is here.  Enter!  As always, you don't have to use one of Leigh's designs to win, but your entry will count twice if you do.  What a great deal!

Speaking of deals, when you shop at Leigh's store it's always Buy-3-get-1-FREE!  AND she's giving away a beautiful clock design with every purchase in July.  This is the clock:

It comes with the sentiment as well.  Isn't it lovely?  So, go buy stuff!  What are you waiting for?  =D