A Sweet Image from Sweet Pea

This little sweetie from Sweet Pea Stamps is from artist Lynne Stansbery. She is free this month at the Progressive challenge over at the Sweet Pea Fan Page on Facebook.  Their challenges are progressive, in which you can create a project using any Sweet Pea stamp or image; participants will receive a Sweet Pea image for free for the second part.
Here is my project. I used the sentiment that came with the image, and left the inside blank. I will probably make it a Thank You card as I seem to need them often enough. The face of the image really draws me back time and time again. I just love the expression on my image's face! It's a sort of shy delight she's showing. Lynne's images are very realistic-she's always been a favorite artist of mine, and I hope you think so too! You can find more of her images at the Sweet Pea Store.

Challenges I am Entering:

Stamping Sensations - Pretty in Pink

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Use a Die

Crafty Catz - It's a Girl Thing
Polkadoodles challenges - Pink & Pretty

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Thank you all for coming to my Birthday Blowout celebration.

I hope you all had fun-I know I did!!
Now that the party has ended, there are some guests who mustn't leave without their goody bags and prizes. I've listed winners for each day, as well as the "100 Follower" winner and the Grand Prize winner!!
Anyone listed in RED means I need your email address. Depending on the prize, I may have to email you for your mailing address, as not all my prizes are digital.
Please note: I will leave this list up through April 30. If your nae is in RED and  I don't hear from you by then, I will just have to choose another crafter to give my prizes to (sigh).
And here we go:

APRIL DATE WINNERS--
1. LISA D, KATHY B, HOLLEY B, VIRGINIA M, SUE, AMY, DIANE, TERRI, KAYE, SUE H, L CHIPPY76, DESIRE, NIKKI C, EDWINA, MONICA, TERESA, LINDSEY, JULIE O, LINDA W

3. Nikki C

4. Susan Slomski

5. Lisa D

6. Lindsey

7. Virginia

8. Edwina

9. L Chippy76

10. Holley B

11. Kathy, Ginny, Edwina, Julie O, L Chippy 76

12.  Ike

13.  Edwina

14.  Kathy B

15.  Lisa D

100 follower prize:  LINDA W.

Winner of the Grand Prize:      VIRGINIA M

Do you see anything missing? It's the April 2 winner' post, or should I say winners?! ALL my FOLLOWERS who have commented at some point on my blog during my celebration will receive the Decosse's Dynamite Doodles Birthday Balloon paper. (I need more time to compile that huge list, so check back tomorrow to see if I need your email to send you your prize)

Book Your Next Challenge with Your Scrapbook Place

Today I am going to let my Dreams Take Flight. After work, I will sit down and tally up all the winners of my Birthday Blowout celebration. I wished to increase my Blog Following, which I did, and Lisa from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles has made a badge for me to display in my sidebar. Thank you Lisa!
Everyone who joined me in my Birthday Blowout is getting something, so please send me your email, either in the comnents section or by emailing me at: patacake1956@yahoo.com
Now, on to my project. I design for Your Scrapbook Place with other talented crafters. The blog's challenges are always Anything Goes, so today, as a midway reminder of our April challenge, I made a bookmark. It features an image from our sponsor, Angie's Digital Stamps. I used Butterfly on a Toadstool, which can be found along with many others on her Etsy Shop.
After coloring it with my trusty Copics, I shimmered it a bit with Stickles and then fussy-cut the image out. I prepared a base of cardstock and patterned paper which I border punched. I embossed my sentiment. A piece of trim and some sequins and all I needed to finish it off was a ribbon. BUT, I promised myself that today I would look no further than the top of my craft table to create, and there was no ribbon to be had. There was, however, a strip of that black cardstock that happened to be red on the other side as well as the core, so I stapled it to look like a ribbon, added a punched circle to each end.
I still have so much on my craft table, including images. I could probably make another 10 projects without touching anything except what's on my table. And that is the promise I am making today. If it's not put away immediately, I MUST use what's leftover before rooting around for more. The madness has to stop somewhere, and I alone have the power!!
Meanwhile, back to reality. Please carve some time out this month to play, and then join Your Scrapbook Place for its April Anything Goes challenge.

BTW, I will post this week once I have made my birthday goodies lists. Keep checking back!! Everyone is a winner!

Other Challenges I am Entering:

City Crafter challenges - CASE the card

All Crafts - Anything Goes no Cards

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Sparkle n Sprinkle - Anything Goes w/loose glitter,emb powder,flocking

12 Months of Christmas Cards Link-up Colour Challenge

I'm ticking off another Christmas card made for my 2015 stash. How am I keeping on track so well, you may ask?! I've been invited to join the Merry Maidens Design team at the 12 Months of Christmas Cards Link Up!
This month's sponsor is Sami Stamps and I got to play with a cute image called Christmas Gift Poodle, as well as some fabulous patterned papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles called Bauble Bonanza.
This month, the optional twist to your Christmas card entries is a Colour Challenge:

Instead of your typical holiday colours, they want to see cards using non-traditional colours like the ones in the photo above.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your card showcases at least THREE of the colours from the palette below.  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month, and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies.  You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $12.00 gift card from Sami Stamps.
I used these colours as my background, coordinating my ribbons and extra large bauble to embellish. How's your stash of holiday cards coming along? Need a boost? Then make a couple cards for the Link Up for your free paper! That's enough inspiration for me! LOL!!
And as always, crafters, have fun!!

Sponsor and Prize Info for this challenge:

• Guest Sponsor:  Sami Stamps
• Prize being offered:  $12.00 gift card from the store for one random winner chosen from those who participate in the optional theme.
• Additional Sponsor: Décosse's Dynamite Doodles
• Prize being offered: One free digital paper to everyone who links up a minimum of two cards to the challenge.  Cards can be anything goes for this prize, they only have to follow the theme if they want a chance at the sponsor's prize.  The mini set of six digital papers called Bauble Bonanza, will also be offered up as a prize to one random winner.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize(s)

I can't believe that it's my birthday already!! And that means (boohoo) my Birthday Blowout Celebration is almost over. This is your last chance to Follow and comment for prizes starting with the April 1 Party post.
Here are a few of the goodies I'll be sending out:
From Ike's Art, everyone who wishes me a Happy Birthday by leaving a comment on my April 1 post will receive the digital image Ike made for my celebration.

Ike's Art has also offered a $10 gift certificate to her store as a prize.

From Lisa of Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, everyone who is a Follower of my blog by April 15 will receive this special Birthday Balloons digital patterned paper.

Lisa has also offered several digital packages as prizes.

Creative Bug Digis has offered a prize of  5 digis of the winner's choice.

Also in the blog candy mix are:

Wood-mounted  Stampin Up rubber stamps

Rubber and acrylic stamps from QKD

1 Rubber stamp from Simply Betty

1 set of digital images from Bugaboo

1 digi from Ike's Art

1 set of Inkadinkadoo cling stamps

1 set of celebration stamps

plus product from Fiskars, Jolee's Boutique, Doodlebug Design, Chatterbox, Making Memories, Copics, Colorbok, and many more!

So check back tomorrow as I start listing out the winners and their prizes on my blog. Thank you to everyone who commented and wished me Happy Birthday several times over. Thank you to my loyal Followers who supported me. Thank you to my new Followers-I hope I don't disappoint you, only inspire you!

Thank you to my sponsors, especially:

Lisa of Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, for her blog post here and on her own blog, the Birthday Blowout badge she made for me, the Birthday Balloon paper she let me give everyone, and for all the prizes she has offered to winners.

Sue of Ike's Art for that special digi image made especially for my celebration which I am allowed to share with you, and for the gift certificate going to one lucky winner.

Holley of Holly's Blog for her blog post here and on her own blog, and her support and advice on how to host a great party!

I know there are many more of you, but I'm like the Oscar winners who become tongue-tied when they are at the end of their speeches and their minds go blank. Thank you all! I hope you all continue to have fun crafting!

Since all my Followers who have celebrated with me get a digital prize, please comment with your email addy so I may send that (at the very least) to you.

Better Late Than Never

I have been super busy at work and home. I had a lovely visit with my son and his family over the weekend, but housework and groceries and errands stacked up, so this post is a little late, and my project is a work in progress.
I started playing with my digital papers and images and embellishments while at my son's house. The mermaid is an image from Kenny K, the dolphins from Dee Dee's Designs, and the fish and shells from the Doll House. The paper is from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles, and I used the stamp tool in Adobe Photoshop to create the seaweed.
I still need to frame my project and add a quote, but I am pretty satisfied with it so far.
On this next to the last day of my Birthday Blowout celebration, I want to know how you feel about digital crafting. I like all my digital images and mostly print them out and color them with my Copics. I used to print out the digital papers and embellies and fussy-cut them when necessary, making the project with scissors and glue and real life elements. But I have started to add so much more digital items and have finally got a handle on Photoshop that I like to play with it all on the computer. And the more I play, the better I get, and the more I like it!
While I love the new world of digital crafting, I think I spend more than half my crafting time at my desk instead of on my computer. How about you? Digital or by hand? Print and add to non-digital, or completely virtual? Inquiring crafters want to know!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

April brings many things, like longer days, crocuses blooming, birdsong in the early morning, and rain showers. Along with showers come rainbows. I have been very lucky to witness many rainbows where I live. When I see them I turn into a kid again, standing with my mouth open in wonder and awe at the beauty imprinted on the sky.
I created my card using two digital papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. Lisa has a delicious assortment of papers, embellishments and sentiments, and I used a couple to create my card today for the Outlawz Greetings challenge. The theme this week is April Showers and/or Rainbows.
I chose a textured cardstock and a patterned paper for my project. After printing my sentiment (inspired by the movie Wizard of Oz, the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow) straight onto the papers in Photoshop, I colored up a couple cute birds from the Fred She Said set called Emma the Caroler. I fussy-cut them and popped them onto my scene. Then I had my way with the embellishments I had left on my desk from a previous project. Here are the papers I chose for this card:
DDD Colors of the Rainbow Collection,
From the Textured Paper Pack: Wine
From the Patterned Paper Pack: Sea
I hope you get a chance to visit Lisa's blog to see the wonderful papers and products she creates, as well as the Outlawz Greetings challenge this week. Follow the theme of April Showers or Rainbows and remember to put a sentiment on the frontt of your project, and you'll be in the running for some awesome prizes!

Other Challenges I am Entering:

Crafting When We Can - Based on a Song (Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
Ike's Art World Challenges - Something with Wings
Krafty Hands - Nature's Work
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
Shabby Tea Room challenges - Rainbow of Colors
Sisterhood of Crafters - April Showers
Scribble & Scrap - Anything Goes