Cuddlebug Cuties link party!

One of my new favorite sites is having a link party today:

This is the first time I have participated in a link party but it sounds like fun.  The last cards I made were Valentine's Day cards so no new one today.  I am trying a new craft adventure however.
Around Christmas time I decided I wanted to learn how to use Copic markers.  I have been searching the Internet for "how to" videos and reading as much as I can find on the subject.  So far I have made a few mistakes, one being getting advice on "starter sets" from several different sources.  Because of this I have about 40 markers but most aren't what I really seem to need for any given project.  I would love to take a class but can't find any local.  I have found several online classes but I just feel like I would learn better in front of a real person showing me what I am doing wrong.  I'm not giving up however, I will keep looking and then maybe in the future take an online class if I can' t find anything local. Here are what I have so far (except for a few that have been ordered and haven't arrived yet):

I will be adding to this collection as time goes by.
My first two attempts came out "okay".  I'm not real pleased with them but I know I need a lot more practice.  I thought I would show them and then in the future I can see how much I have improved.  The images came from Cuddlebug Cuties and I really appreciate Anna letting us print them out and practice on them.  I really love her drawings!

As you can see I need a lot more work on skin and hair.  I have ordered a few more brown shades so I can have some with brunette hair.
Happy Sunday everyone, have a great rest of the weekend!

Hello Kitty Valentine

Our daughter Nikki really likes Hello Kitty.  I would love to have the Cricut cartridge, unfortunately, the cheapest ones I can find start at $200 and to me that is just crazy for a cartridge.  I was able to get a few Hello Kitty die cuts in Sizzix from Amazon for a reasonable price so this is the card I came up with for her this year: 

Nikki is usually my paper coordinator but I didn't ask her opinion on this one so it could be a surprise.  She would have probably told me to add more layers.  She wants to transfer to Georgia Tech after a few more quarters so I thought the bee was appropriate. 

Thank you and Happy Birthday

I needed a card to say Thank You to the folks who have been working with my husband for his physical therapy.  So naturally I first looked at my favorite place for inspiration CARDZTV.  I loved this card so much that I had to try it.  I didn't have the Walk in my Garden cartridge, but I ordered it and when it came I was able to almost recreate Mary's card.
This is what I came up with:

I loved the way it looked so much I decided to make one similar for my friend Marcia's birthday.

These cards are 5 x 7 size which is different than what I usually make, but I happened to have some envelopes that fit them perfectly.  I love the pop dots giving the pot a 3D look.

Happy 80th birthday!

Last August my Dad had his 80th birthday and I made him this card:

He seemed to really like it and I was really pleased with the way this turned out.  Today is my husband's uncle's 80th birthday so I made him one very similar:

 On this one I used my Gypsy to make the cupcake in the middle a card so that I could open it and write on it.

We will be driving down to Savannah to wish Uncle Don a happy 80th birthday today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Since this card is going over seas to a deployed soldier, it has to be sent really early.  That is why I am making a St. Patrick's Day card in February.   The colors look much more vibrant in person.

This is just to let the soldier that we sponsor know we are thinking of him and praying for his safe return home!
You know who you are, stay safe friend!

Happy Anniversary Kacy and Lauren

Today is one of our sons and daughter-in-law's  third anniversary.  I started working on their card and found one that I liked  here.  This is my first attempt:

My daughter who is my paper coordinator, looked at it and said it needed something else behind the tree and she also suggested putting small hearts on the tree like they were growing.  So the next attempt was:

My daughter looked at it again (she is my consultant on all cards) and said it was better but still needed something else in the upper corner so I added some butterflies to come up with this for the finishing touch:

We were both happy with the way it turned out.

And then this for the inside:

Happy Anniversary to Kacy and Lauren!

Thank a Vietnam Veteran

I was asked by a wonderful group that I belong to Until Every Troop Comes Home to make a card to say Thank You to a Vietnam Veteran.  Here is the one that I came up with:

This is the inside:

I was too young to know about thanking these vets when they came home, but it is never too late.  If you would like to send a card, they will be accepting them through February 11th.  Just click on the link above.

Happy Birthday MawMa

Does it seem like I have a lot of family birthdays lately?  Well I do!  Today is my step-grandmother's birthday.  I didn't want to use the Teddy Bear cartridge for both her's and my step-mother's cards so this is what  I came up with:

This owl is from Create a Critter one of my very favorite cartridges.  I have used it more than any of the others that I own.
Not sure why, but I have been forgetting to take a picture of the inside of the cards lately , but they are decorated too.

Happy birthday MawMa!

Happy Birthday Wanda!

Today is my step-mother's birthday.  Since she gave me the Cricut Teddy Bear Parade cartridge for Christmas, I decided to use it for her birthday card:

This is only the second card that I have made using this new cartridge, but I love it and am so excited to start using it.  I took a friend's advice and have made quite a few of the bears to have ready so all I need to do is make their outfit when I need one.
I still haven't bought the coordinating stamp set yet, so I printed the sentiment out on the computer.

Happy Birthday Wanda!

Valentines Day card #4

I may have mentioned a time or two about getting lots of great ideas from Mary at CARDZ TV.  Seriously, I read her site everyday.   Another of her super cute cards made me want to make one:


I didn't have a ribbon punch so I went looking for one.  The Martha Stewart ribbon punch didn't get really great reviews, so I thought I would try the We R Memory Keepers one.  Well it was so much bigger than most of my ribbon I didn't like the way it looked at all.  Fortunately Hobby Lobby has a great return policy so I returned it and bought the Martha Stewart punch and it works great.  I had read that if the holes were too small you could turn it over and re-punch them so I gave it a try.  Then I found that you don't actually have to turn it over, just pull it down a little bit and punch again following the guides.  Here is my version of the card:

I like the Peachy Keen face that Mary used better, but I don't have that set so this is one from their Wide eyed kids set.

This is the inside of the card:

Valentine's Day card #3

While looking for inspiration for Valentine's Day cards, I found this super cute card:


at, of  course, CARDZ TV.  Mary has given me so many great ideas!
Anyway, I didn't have the exact paper that Mary used, but this is my version of it:

And the inside:

This is an A2 size card and the paper is from Hobby Lobby.  After seeing this Martha Stewart heart punch, I had to order it! I inked around the edges of the hearts to make them pop a little and on the outside the bear and hearts are on pop dots.
This card turned out so well that several family members will be receiving it.

Valentine's Day card #2

The second Valentine's Day card that I made was for our 4 year old grandson Ryan.  He loves super heroes and his Granna loves her new Teddy Bear Parade cartridge, so of course he is getting a super hero bear!

This is also an A2 size card and I cut the heart from the Sweet heart cartridge.
I didn't have a "Beary" sentiment in mind for this so just "you are my hero" seemed to work.  He likes cards a little more than his 8 months old sister, but he will defiantly be more interested in the candy that comes with it I'm sure.

Our super hero grandson Ryan and his dad (our son ) Brett.

Happy mail for Grayson Card Drive

While looking at some craft sites, I came across the story of a little 2 year old boy who has a brain tumor and a card drive for him because he loves to receive mail.  The info is here if you would like to send he and his brother a card.  This card drive is being sponsored by Danielle at Neat and Tangled.   Here is his address, it includes his 4 year old brother's name since he loves mail also:


Grayson Savery and/or Aydan Savery

 
c/o Danielle Walls


P.O. Box 5808


Wilmington, DE 19808

This is the card that I am sending Grayson:

The card drive runs through the end of February so let's send these sweet kids some Happy Mail!

A Sympathy card idea

Coming up with ideas for a sympathy card is very hard for me so as I looked through online images I saw one that looked very nice here.  I really wanted to use brown instead of black so I took my color coordinator (AKA my daughter Nikki) with me to Hobby Lobby and we came  up with this:

This is an A2 size card so I worried the flower might be too large but it looks really nice.  It does fit in the envelope but I will probably have to add extra postage. 
I also put some coordinating paper on the inside:

This morning I saw an announcement on CARDZ TV, which is one of my favorite craft sites, about a challenge on Paper Playtime called Use Some Brown, I wanted to enter this card.  

I still am having trouble taking pictures of my cards and getting the lighting right.  I currently try several rooms in our house to see which comes out the best and several backdrops also.  This shot came out the closest to the way it really looks.
Have a happy Tuesday everyone!

Valentines card #1

Starting to work on my Valentine's cards for the family.
This one is for our baby granddaughter who is 8 months old.  She probably won't even care that she has a card but her Granna is making everyone else one and won't leave precious little Riley out.

Once again I used my current favorite cartridge the Teddy Bear Parade.  This is an A2 size card so the teddy bear is cut at 3 1/2.
Happy Valentine's Day Riley Ann!
                                       Sweet Riley Ann:

And with her big brother Ryan:

Thanks DCWV

Just a quick post to show the beautiful paper packs I won from DCWV.  This was from a contest they held on Facebook.

I can't wait to start using these.
Thanks DCWV!

Happy 2013

Happy New Year everyone!  Sorry I have been gone for a while but my husband had knee replacement surgery and I have been taking care of him and taking him to his PT a lot.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  After turning my calendar to January this morning I realized one of my friends had a birthday in 3 days so I made her this card using my new  Cricut Teddy Bear Parade cartridge that I got for Christmas. I made the card 8.5 x 5.5 and the bear is at 4".
Since I don't have the bear stamp set yet that I plan to order, I typed out the words on my computer. 

Happy Birthday Cindy!