Roses on Paper Challenge - Flowers and a Challenge!

I never remember a time in my life where I haven't read. Sometimes it was any romance novel I could get my hands on, other times it's been anything Stephen King. My last passion with reading has been Harry Potter. I love anything that can totally take me away from where I happen to be and to get lost in the written word is a slice of heaven to me! So when I saw Never Ever from The Greeting Farm over at Summer's Roses on Paper, I had to have it!

Over at our Roses on Paper Challenge Blog, we were challenged by the ever so talented Rosette to follow a Challenge and to include flowers. Make sure you stop by their blogs to see what gorgeous creations they've come up with. You can find their links on my right sidebar. I used Wendy from The Greeting Farms Never Ever set and followed the I heart to Stamp sketch and just had to pull out my Prima Flowers. I stamped her on watercolor paper with Staz-On ink and colored her with my distressed inks. I love using them and thought the BasicGrey Wisteria paper was perfect for her. I love the soft look of that paper. Of course, there's some stickles thrown in there, but I really love the Glossy Accents on her glasses!

I hope you enjoy her and give some thought into picking up a good book. In the world of technology, I fear reading from paper is becoming a lost pleasure. I want to spend more time reading this summer. After all, the new Harry Potter movie comes out in July. That gives me enough time to revisit an old, dear friend for the 2, well I won't tell you how many times!

Card Ingredients:

Never Ever from The Greeting Farm, Distressed Inks, Wisteria paper and brads from BasicGrey, Prima flowers, Stickles, SU word punch, Glossy Accents

Scrappy Frogs Challenge and Make a Splash with Old Friends

Every now and then you have moments in your life that bring you back and help you remember who you really are. And every now and then a stamp comes around that has you written all over it. When I opened this Paper Pretties "Make A Splash", and then opened up an e-mail from my old roommate and great friend when I was in the navy, a trip down memory lane was in store! And I'm so glad I took that trip! This is the card I wanted to get done for the Summer Time Challenge over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog but didn't get the chance to get it photographed and up in enough time. Go over and take a look at some absoloutely stunning summer cards! Join in the challenge and get the chance to win a great stack of paper. If you don't want it, I sure do!

Sonya and I were roommates while I was stationed in Florida and the stories we have! We laughed about all the times we went to the beach, hung out around the pool, laughed so hard with Larry that we couldn't stand up for an hour because our stomach muscles hurt so badly, and you wouldn't want to know the margaritas that were involved! Gosh, it felt good to reconnect with one of the most favorite parts of my life.

Little Sophia jumping into the swimming pool reminded me of us cooling off and having fun after processing like 200 recruits at one time. That water always felt so refreshing! I colored her with copics and added some Glossy Accents to her to make her suit look like nylon. The paper is from SandyLion and I used my cuttlebug divine swirls and used my new flourish punch from EK Success. I love it! And I added some pearls that I picked up from Michaels. I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday and loved it! I plan on using this one again!

What fun I had reconnecting with Sonya and remembering how good it feels to just laugh and talk about anything and everything. We're going to plan a visit after Nichole's wedding and not lose touch again! If you have anyone you're thinking of reconnecting with, just do it! Don't ever forget that visiting the past doesn't mean you're living in it. You're just honoring a wonderful time in your life. And that's a great thing! Now go make a splash!

Card Ingredients:

Make a Splash from Paper Pretties, Paper by SandyLion, copics, Flourish punch by EK Success, SU ticket punch, Pearls from Michaels, divine swirls cuttlebug folder, nestabilities.

Victoria, My Strawberry Queen

The day is finally here when everyone can take advantage of picking up these adorable Anki's Sweethearts 2 for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design (SCACD)! I just know you're going to love stamping and coloring these sweeties as much as our Design Team has these last couple of days. And don't forget this great collection of Susanaments! They're just perfect for every occasion and match these stamps so beautifully. They're available now so make sure you stop over at Susana's and pick them up! And Anki, thanks so much for all the fun I've had so far with these babies! I adore them!

I'd love to introduce you to Victoria, my Strawberry Queen! Isn't she just the cutest little thing? I think every little girl at one time or another dreams of being a queen of something. When I saw this sweet face, I just knew how I wanted to do her. I wanted her to stand out on her own and not be too fussy. I remembered this stack I had in my stash called Grandma's Garden (I think. The top came off so I got it at a discount a couple of months ago!), I knew it would be perfect for her. I colored her with distressed inks and added some Smooch and stickles to accent her dress and her staff and her crown. I used a couple of cuttlebug folders to give her some dimension and I had to use some Kaisercraft Pearls. You can't be a princess without jewels and pearls! And I love this Susanament. I think it's a perfect reminder to us all to chase our dreams. If you never go after them, you have no idea what you're missing!

I hope you stop by my fellow Design Team members and see their beautiful creations with these adorable stamps. But first, run over to Susana's store and pick up your set of Anki's Sweethearts 2 Collection! There's so much to chose from and what fun they are! So go pick yours up and show me what you come up with! I love to visit blogs and see how you're inspired. So dazzle me!

Card Ingredients:
Victoria by Anki's Sweetheart 2 Collection for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Susanaments by Susana for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Kaisercraft Pearls, Smooch, Stickles, Grandma's Garden paper, ribbon, cuttlebug textured and dotted swiss folders, nestabilities.

Anki's Sweethearts 2 - Sneak Peek and Blog Candy!

I'm playing catch up with my Design Team projects for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and having so much fun in presenting our very own Anki's Sweethears 2! I'd love to introduce you to Emilia who is inviting you on a yummy, fun filled picnic and Fluffy, who is here to welcome a new little one into our world! These new stamps are just too adorable and versatile and I just taken with them all! These sweeties, along with the rest of the collection and for a real treat, another set of Susanaments! These are such great sayings that go along with just about any occasios.

Emilia is colored with copics and has Flower Soft all over her! I love the yellow daisies she's carrying and the gorgeous lush purple flowers in her hair. And don't you love her basket? I added a bit of Glossy Accents to the bottle to make it shine and some Smooch on her dress and her shoes. Isn't this Susanament perfect for any party invite? Love it! I used this weeks Splitcoaststampers sketch and I think she's perfect of it! And I love my Retro paper from Dovecraft, also an exclusive for Susana's store!



Don't you just want to scoop up Fluffy and take this sweetie home? I colored this baby with distressed inks and this sweet paper is from the Baby pack from Dovecroft. I put some Velvet Flock from Doodlebug in the center for a bit of dimension and a bit of glossy accents on the pad of this sweetie's feet. Add a couple of Bella Baubles and some beautiful ribbon and it's done! And another great sentiment from Susana makes it perfect! Simple and just so sweet!

Don't forget to check out the great blog candy today over at Follow Your Heart, our Design Team blog for the store. I hope you love these gorgeous stamps as much as I do. They're just precious and so much fun to color and present! Make sure you take a look at my fellow Design Team member's blogs to get a look at the entire collection. What a treat they are! Just yummy!

Card Ingredients:

Emilia by Anki's Sweethearts 2 for SCACD, Susasnaments, Retro Paper from Dovecraft, Kaisercraft Pearls, copics, Flower Soft, Smooch, nestabilities, ribbon, cuttlebug folder.

Fluffy by Anki's Sweethearts 2 for SCACD, Susanaments, Baby Paper from Dovecraft, Bella Baubles, cuttlebug, distressed inks, ribbon

New Anki's Sweetheart Release this week and Way Outside My Box!

So I hate trying to make things go more smoothly in my life and trying to get on track because for me, it just doesn't happen. I've had a week of some very highs and some sickly woes. I'm deathly allergic to shell fish and had some soup that was made with shrimp stock and it sent me into a horrible reaction that took me a couple of days to get over. Have you ever tried to color or put a card together when your head is all fuzzy and swimming around? It just wasn't working for me with all the antihistamines in my system and then I was dehydrated. I just want to quit itching and be ale to breath again. But I'm feeling much, much better and I even got something colored this morning!

Speaking of coloring and on the upswing of things for me, Susana at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design is presenting the second release of Anki's Sweethearts! Oh, Anki, you have so outdone yourself with these! I had the greatest time coloring my b..., oh, I almost let it out, but you'll not find out from me what she's created this time, buy let me tell you, I haven't had this much fun matching papers and embellishments for a while! If you loved her first release, and you know you did, you'll just want to eat up these sweeties that you'll be seeing starting tomorrow. Yes, all of us on the Design Team are going to start showing these sweeties off starting tomorrow so get your credit cards and checkbooks ready because they really are something very sweet and special! So make sure to stop by tomorrow for my sweet little b.... Oh, I almost did it again!

So about my photos in my entry today. A couple of weeks ago I got to stamp with my stamping friends and let me tell you, did I ever step outside my box! Karen, one of our dear stamping friends, does all kinds of stamping and crafts. I've never seen anyone do things with paper that she can! Well, we stamped on glass! Yes, I did it and cut out a vintage picture of this sweet little girl and get ready for this. I almost cried but I tore a page out of an old book! I've always had a passion for reading and books and the older the better. Well, when I go outside my box, I go all the way and I ripped a page out of a book but I couldn't bring myself to crinkle it. I opened it up to the perfect page. It had the saying "Yes, there's always a next time", and since I used this great Tim Holtz background stamp (I love this one because the woman looks like the first Barbie in a stewardess outfit which I had and always want to be!) and the little girl looks like she's ready to just run from the photo into something new and different. And we even got to sauder, not sure of the exact spelling, the metal. Believe me, it looks better in real life and you can hardly see any copper at all! But Molly B, Karen, Pamela, Catherine and my dear friend Lynn were all so proud of me for stepping outside myself and having a blast creating my beautiful house. Kelley couldn't be there and we missed her terribly! Thanks, you guys, for all your encouragement and the fun! I love getting together and creating with you all! Here's a better look of what it looks like up close.



And as for Nichole and her wedding plans, we found out she gets to be married on the grounds of the school I work at and it's going to be a beautiful, gorgeous outdoor wedding! So everyone please pray for a beautiful, sunny cool summer day in Maine for August 11th, please. We're just thrilled with that so she can now go on and make lots of plans for that.