Anything But A Square!

Hi, gals!

It's Friday again & time for another challenge at QKR Stampede!  This week's challenge #77 is "Anything But A Square!"  So let your creativity go crazy & see what you can come up with for this fun challenge! Here is what I came up with using one of my favorite digi images #13408 "Just Hangin'" and I hope you like it too!

Isn't this the cutest face ever!  I cut him out with Spellbinder Grand Nestabilities Scalloped Circles. The sentiment is computer generated & cut with Spellbinder Ribbon Tag.  There are two great sentiments (#12009 and #13411) on QKR's site that would be perfect for this little guy too! Be sure you check them out!

I was going to do him as a baby card, but decided this would be a great card for a get well or just a general encouragement for someone having a bad day.  

Have a terrific weekend! 

Sherri 

It's the boy's turn!

Hi, all!

What a glorious day outside!  The sun is shining and it's already up to 9 degrees. ABOVE!!  ha ha I don't even care if it is cold outside.  We are seeing sunshine & that is all I care about. Sun makes you feel better, improves your whole outlook & reminds you that spring really IS coming!!  She's doing it in her own good time this year, however.

Yesterday it was girl birthday cards.  It's only fair that we give the boys a turn today.   I have been on a roll all week and have so many cards to share, I think I will double up on sharing to catch up.

This first card is done with a Molly Blooms stamp that came free with a magazine I got a couple of years ago at Michaels.  I cut him out with a Spellbinder oval & Spellbinder postage stamp die, then added some ric rac from a die I've had for years but didn't save the name.

The birthday sentiment is cut with a Spellhbinder tag die.  A little glitter & you are done.

Door #2 is another old stamp I've had a long time from Penny Black.  Love this little guy! He has his party hat on & he's ready to "git" down & party! I'm not sure what his birthday cake is made of, though.  Somehow I'm guessing dog treats, not chocolate would be the main ingredient!

This little guy was cut out with another Spellbinder die Majestic Labels 25.  He looks like the kind of card a little boy would like!

I'd better hustle.  I was gone all morning so that kind of blew my schedule!  Back tomorrow with QKR Stampede's weekly Friday challenge.  I LOVE the stamp I used.  Come back tomorrow to see what it is!

Sherri

Let the fun begin!

Happy Hump Day!

Can you believe it is already Wednesday?  Only a few days left until the weekend!  We are now up to a "balmy" 11 degrees!  Today is our "warm" day this week & tomorrow the temps slide back down & the snow starts up again on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.....  I'm depressing myself!  On to today's card!

I'm still working on children's birthday cards.  It's been awhile since I've done many & I find I am really enjoying myself.  It's fun to grab the bright, (sometimes gawdy) papers and try to imagine what would make a child smile when they receive it. Hopefully, I'm on the right track!

This card is from a Mo Manning digi and I thought it would be perfect for a little girl. Most of them are into pink and frills so that's the direction I went.

I used a favorite Marianne Designs die to cut her out & grabbed some pink paper from my stash. I stamped the inside sentiment on the same pink paper & cut it out with the same die.   Simple, but "girly"....

Better get busy! I need to run errands today, get gas and do a hundred things.  I'll be back tomorrow with more birthday cards.

Have a great day!!

Sherri

Make a Wish!

Hi, all!

I have a quick post today as I got a late start.  We DID get our snow last night, so I had to shovel this morning & that put me off my schedule.  How many more days until spring???  It certainly can't come fast enough for everyone this year!

Today's card is a kid's birthday card.  These cute Penny Black mice look like they are ready to dig in to that yummy cupcake don't they!  Oh, I wish I had a cupcake right now!  lol  Don't ever get snowed in with no "treats" or you will be surprised what you resort to.  (On the bright side, I'm getting rid of those leftover chocolate chips that have been in the cupboard since Xmas!) ha ha

I grabbed some more of that bright polka dot paper from Michaels for the background & used a Spellbinder Majestic Labels 25 die to cut it out.  The sentiment was cut with a Spellbinder tag label.

I'll be back tomorrow with more birthday cards!  I'm on a roll now so I'm not stopping until I'm done!

Stay warm & drive safely!
Sherri

A Dragon Tail!

Happy Monday, everyone!

I thought I'd start the week out with a Dragon tail......or for some of us maybe a "dragging" tail??  Monday doesn't seem to be the day a lot of us feel the most pep!  I know I  could really appreciate a little extra lift to get the week going.  I have a feeling tying a couple of bright balloons on only helps if you are a real dragon!  ha ha

This is another Whimsy digi & I'm hoping it will be perfect for the kid's birthday cards I need.  I colored it with my Prismacolor brush markers & ran the background through my polka dot embossing folder for some added texture.  A couple of Spellbinder dies to cut him out & he was done.  You can't see it in my photo, but I also added a generous layer of Wink of Stella to his scales, underside, hat & package. I LOVE that stuff! It makes everything just glisten!

I'd better get back to coloring!  I've got lots & lots of ideas running around in my head right now & want to keep my momentum going!  Our snow isn't supposed to start now until around 11 or so and snow until later into the night, but I'm still crossing my fingers it just doesn't start at all! They have been so wrong on forecasts this winter that you never know exactly WHAT you will get! And it is supposed to be below zero tonight so that means shoveling tomorrow will be a bit nippy!

Back tomorrow with something new!  Have a terrific Monday!
Sherri

I have a dial tone!!!

Hello, again!

I was beginning to panic & think I could never get back on the internet (or make a phone call) ever again!  I've been without phone service AND internet since yesterday morning & let me tell you that is ONE LONG time to be without them both!  While I don't spend a lot of time on the phone, I DO live pretty much on the computer.  I'm either blogging or reading my Kindle if I'm not actually making a card.  So when I picked up my phone yesterday to call my friend Gail to see where we were stamping at & didn't get a dial tone, I panicked!  It took a visit from the cable company, an hour chat with a sweet young man at the cable company (who had oodles of patience) and I was finally back in business......ALMOST!  While he had managed to cobble a temporary fix to my wifi, he couldn't re-set my Elvis back to it's original state.  I had to call my grandson Josh for that.  He had me unplugging & re-wiring things they had done & got me back in business in no time.  He is a genius (no partiality on my part either!) and when he tells me to pull plugs I do whatever he says because I know he knows exactly what he is doing! He is already smarter than any tech out there so I can't imagine what he will do with a few more years under his belt! And he's also way cuter! ha ha

Enough of my woes!  I've been working on cards like crazy & have a ton to post, but will start with a kid's birthday card for today.

This adorable little cow is a digi from Whimsy Stamps. I pulled some bright, cheerful paper from my stash and added the adorable picket fence from Die-namics to finish him off.

I'm entering him in the following challenges:

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge for February

Paper Take Weekly Challenge-layers

Since we are going to be snowed in tomorrow with 2-4 inches if the forecast is correct, I'll be back then with another birthday card!

Have a great week!
Sherri

Friends are Special

Hi, again!

Well, Friday has rolled around again & it's time for another challenge at QKR Stampede! The theme for this week is "Friends are Special" and I just HAD to pick this digi for my card!  One look at it & I was hooked! It's #14516 Cat Calling if you want to pick it up too.

Just look at those faces! It looks like they have been doing what tom cats do best...fighting! But one of them came to the rescue of his buddy, so now they are going to let loose with a little howling to make their night complete! The fence is from Die-namics Lattice Fence and the ribbon die around the sentiment is from Spellbinders. The paper & ribbon were from my stash.

Be sure to go on over to the blog and enter challenge # 76 for a chance to win a prize. We would love to see what you can come up with!

Enjoy your weekend coming up & pray for beautiful (and warm) weather!
Sherri

Can you say time consuming?

Happy Hump Day again!

I had thought I would be back sooner than this with a card, but I have been really busy the past few days.  My grandson will have his Eagle Scout award ceremony on March 16 & I've been working on his thank you cards.  I didn't take really good shots of them, but will show you the "working" shots I took while we were choosing which one to go with.

This is the one we ended up with.  Now, on to the time consuming part of my last couple of days!

I took this at an odd angle, but hopefully, you get an idea.  It's prettier in person.  This is one of the new Elizabeth Craft Design dies by Karen Burniston.  I used a Flourishes stamp for the front.

This is the inside, although you can't see the sentiment well.  These are a lot of fun to make, but boy, do they ever take a lot of time!!  These will definitely be for those special cards I want to do!

Better get busy!  I went to Rock Valley to A Walk Down Memory Lane yesterday & came home with 11 new dies!  Yup!  Went a little wild with my birthday gift cards.  ha ha

Have a great day!
Sherri

Friendships

Hi, all!

Well, we made it to another Friday!  Yeaaa!!!  That's always the best part of the week, and also time for another QKR Stampede challenge! This week's  Challenge #75 is to use a sentiment only & I love this one, "Friendships, like gardens, need to be tended."  You can find this under #16813 at the QKR store here.

The tree was a Memory Box Grand Oak Tree die, the fence was Die-namics Lattice Fence, Impression Obsession Cat set for the cats, and Memory Box Fairytale Flower Border for the flowers. Spellbinder Timeless Rectangle for the sentiment and grass cut with a Fiskars grass border punch completed the card.
It was fun building an entire card around just the sentiment.

Be sure to check the QKR blog to see what all the other designers came up with! And better yet, see what YOU can come up with!

Enjoy your weekend! One of these days it will actually BE spring and we won't have to get our fill of flowers & grass by looking at pictures of it!

Sherri

Oops!

Oops!  Yup, sometimes accidents just happen!  I got this darling Magenta stamp from my friend Gail for my birthday & couldn't wait to make a card with it.  As I was putting it together, I thought it might make a perfect get well card for my brother-in-law.   With "Oops!" on the front and "Accidents Happen"....."Happy Healing" on the inside, it might just help him smile through some broken ribs he got in a skiing accident.

I carried on with the cat theme, using a couple of cats from Impression Obsession with the bench from Marianne Design. The ivy is from Cheery Lynn. The paper & sentiment were from Simple Stories.

Well, I'm going to go put my feet up & read my Kindle awhile!  It was a busy day.  Got the walk shoveled this morning & managed to get another week's posting ready & scheduled.  I have to remember to watch the lottery drawing tonight since I actually bought a ticket!  If you hear that I've placed an order for every die in every company & am on my way to the mall for more paper, you will know I won!  ha ha  Since the few times I have gotten a ticket, I've never had a single number I think it's unlikely I will win tonight!

Have a great Thursday!
Sherri

Time to give thanks!

Happy Monday!

Wherever you are reading this from, I hope the sun is shining there too!  Although it has gotten to 11 degrees outside, I can take the cold as long as that old sun is shining down!  Somehow, that always makes the day go just a little smoother and happier.

Saturday was a birthday for me and thanks to some wonderful & amazing friends and family I was blessed enough that I now need to send some heartfelt thank you notes! Although I had been working on a few, I needed several more so today I'm sharing those.

These first two were made with a new set of dies I got for my birthday. These are Memory Box Cherise Label and Tiffany Frame. The sentiment is an old one from Studio G.

For this one, I used the same dies, but chose a stamp from Flourishes that I especially love and added an embossed edge.

For the last two, I stamped 2 more pots of flowers from that same set of Flourishes flowers and did a couple different versions of the embossed edge again.  I'm loving embossed edges right now! ha ha  Am I the only one who gets enthralled with a stamp, a die, an embossing folder or technique & just wants to try it every way I can imagine until I finally get tired of it?  Okay, so I may be a bit odd.....lol

One thing you can't see well in the photos, but that looks amazing on the flowers is the Wink of Stella Brush in clear that I brushed over each flower.  It makes everything all sparkly & glittery! This was something I had never tried before but was in the box of goodies from my daughter.  I can tell you, I will not be without one from now forward! Amazing tool!

Have a wonderful week!  I'll be back with something fun tomorrow.

Sherri

Hearts & Kisses

Hi, everyone!

Well, that long awaited day is finally here!  My first challenge as a new design team member for QKR Stampede!  Today's challenge is Challenge #74- Hearts & Kisses!  If you are new to QKR Stampede, you will LOVE their digi's! They have some of the cutest images out there, so be sure you check out their store here! And to join in the challenge & take a chance on winning, go to the blog here. They have some amazing designers & I think you will love what they come up with!

This is the card I will be posting today. She is #14511 "In Love" under elephants!  How cute IS she! I love the bow on her tail & from the look on her face, she is obviously in love!

I actually made this as an easel card.  I thought it would be so cute to have it displayed over Valentine's Day to give the one it's going to an extra smile all day.   I used several dies on this one. Cheery Lynn Lattice Heart & Vines for the black lacy heart, Spellbinder Classic Hearts & Classic Hearts Scalloped for the large hearts and Joy Craft 6003/0005 Heart for the smaller red heart & Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles for the sentiment.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Sherri

What a day!

Hi, gals!

Have you ever had one of those days where you should probably just have stayed in bed under the covers? It's been awhile since I have, but today was one of them.  Since my birthday is Saturday, my driver's license had to be renewed this year so I got up & washed my hair in anticipation of the "mug" shot I knew they would take.  I had thought about doing it on line, but my last photo was SO horrible all I could think of was this was my chance to get a better one.  As I dried my hair,  thinking about the day ahead, I thought I would go check my blog while the curling iron heated to be sure that my first post for QKR Stampede had posted as I had scheduled it to.  I pulled it up and NOTHING!  My heart was in my throat & I couldn't believe it! I had done everything I thought I was supposed to so that it would publish at 5 am on FRIDAY the 7th. (You are getting ahead of me aren't you? ha ha)   I pulled my blog up, checked it again & it all appeared ok.  I tried getting it to publish to no avail & was by then just frantic!  I emailed friends to see if they had any idea what had gone wrong & how I could fix it.  Thank God, Karal replied with "are you talking about tomorrow's blog?"........DUH!  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  In all the days since I have been retired, although they all "feel" like a Saturday to me, I've never gotten the actual day of the week (or the date) screwed up. Until today!  I won't make THAT mistake again!

Oh, and the mug shot I got later in the morning?   Yup!  Worse even than the last one I was so desperate to replace!  And it took her 3 tries to get one where my eyes weren't closed or my head tilted!  I could have done it on line & kept the old picture.....

Enough about my day.  If you are still with me, I do have a couple of cards today.  I got this beautiful embossing folder around Christmas that has a beautiful embossed heart for the main folder & came with 2 narrow additional folders, this being one of them.  I fell in love with it & played with it last night to see what I could come up with.

 This was the first version. I used the oval center from Spellbinders Radiant Rectangles and an EK Success corner punch I've had since I first began making cards. It has a flower motif similar to the one on the Sizzix embossing folder.

This was my second version.  I embossed the background this time for a little texture. I've got a dozen other versions going round in my head to try this afternoon.

Have a wonderful FRIDAY tomorrow!  I'm hoping if you visit tomorrow you will see my first submission for QKR posted as scheduled.  ha ha

Sherri

I'm so excited!

Hi, everyone!
How does that old song the Pointer Sisters used to sing (way back in the day) go? "I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!"  Well, that's me today!  I was asked to join the QKR Stampede Design Team several weeks ago and my first posting to their weekly Friday challenges will be Friday, February 7th!  And as the song goes, "I'm so excited!"  They have some fantastic design team members who do incredible work so they have set the bar high! Don't forget to join us on the 7th!!

I've been so excited over this news, that it helped take the sting out of that furry rodent in Pennsylvania seeing his shadow & predicting another 6 more weeks of this dreadful winter!

I do have a card to share today.  I have a favorite embossing folder that I have been having fun with and can't decide if I want this card as an old fashioned valentine or will use it for something else.

If you look closely you can see the beautiful embossing detail on the heart.  I fussy cut it out after embossing it on some of Michael's polka dot cardstock. The rest of the paper is from a 6 X 6 pad from Simple Stories. I loved all the paper in it as it all looked old fashioned. The paper bow is from Lil' Inkers.
I'm going to enter this in the following challenge:  Just Us Girls #226 -Sketch challenge

Have a great Sunday. I'm sure everyone will be watching the Superbowl tonite! I hope your teams wins!! lol

Sherri