Chocolate Blog Hop with Scrapbook Place

Leap Day happens only once every FOUR years, and to celebrate this rare day, Your Scrapbook Place is having a BLOG HOP today!!  My project tempts your crafty sweet tooth with a Chipboard Album cover.  After covering the bare chipboard with red textured cardstock, I added coordinating patterned paper on the spine.  I chose to color an image from House Mouse & Friends, because the image matches my attitude, which is that "I never met a chocolate I didn't like..." 
I finished off the cover with flower and jewel embellies and a sentiment to set the tone of my album: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!"  The chipboard pages inside are bare and ready to be covered and embellished.

Now, what is a blog hop without some blog candy?  Leave a little love in the comments section of each blog on the hop for a random chance to win blog candy.  If you belong to the Yahoo Group, Your Scrapbook Place, make sure you mention that for a bonus giveaway!  Not a member?  Never fear, click on the button at the right to join us!

**Here's a BONUS just for those who are visiting me today.  I will send one lucky random commenter this chipboard album for you to finish off.  But in addition to leaving a comment, please FOLLOW ME if you aren't doing so already.  Make sure you let me know in your comment that you've added me so i know to add you to this special draw.

If you get lost along the way, here is the hop order to get you back on track:
Your Scrapbook Place (YOU ARE HERE) - http://yourscrapbookplace.blogspot.com/

Linda - http://scrappingheaven.blogspot.com/
Karissa - http://livelaughlovescrapbookstamp.blogspot.com/
Carolyn - http://luvmycards.blogspot.com/
Holley - http://holleybarnhartsblog.blogspot.com/ 
Allie ~ http://www.welltrainedpaper.blogspot.com  
Shannon - http://shannonleffew.blogspot.com/

Pammie - http://pammiescraftroom.blogspot.com/ -

Diane ~ www.scrappindianeh.blogspot.com

Judy - http://dragonhomer.blogspot.com/

Pat M ~ http://patacakespages.blogspot.com

The HOP goes until Friday night, so you'll have plenty of time to eat up all those inspirational projects and leave some love.  Thanks for hopping with us again, and remember, keep crafting!!

Brrring on the Next Squigglefly Challenge

This week's Squigglefly Challenge is to put some Spring into your project (I think we're all tired of cold weather and gray skies).  Well, this little fella may be a ways from home, but I think he misses the sunshine too!  That must be why he's in the middle of all those flowers and bright colors!  The Squigglefly digi image is a new release called Brrr My Valentine by artist Sandy Sommerfield. 

I loved the patterned paper so much I couldn't stand to cut it down in size, so instead of a card I made an altered Steno Pad for my teen daughter, who's always looking for more notebooks to fill with stories, lists and ideas.

I covered the front with solid colored paper to coordinate with the patterned paper I found in my stash.  Copics colored my penguin, and some black Stickled gives his outline a bit of a glimmer.  Some lace3 and lots of fibers finishes off the notebook.

Squigglefly has a bunch of new releases to tickle your creative fancy, and you can find them all HERE.
Want a chance to win free digi's?  Join us in the Squigglefly Challenge Blog for your chance!  You must use a Squiggleflyt image, but that's easy--try a FREEBIE before you buy!

Hurry to the Hoedown

The Hambo Hoedown, that is!  Just a couple more days to enter their Anything Goes challenge.  I used my Party Elephant digi-image to make this cute birthday card.  And I know a dear friend who would get the humor in the front sentiment.  Inside the card reads:  Happy Birthday, Anyway!
I changed up my usual ribbon/flower embellishing for some colored jute behind tyhe image and sentiment, and left the rest of the card clean and simple, as the patterned paper was very colorful and busy (but I love that color combo).
Put on your dancin' shoes and come play at the Hoedown this week!

Blog Candy Alert! Check out my blog on Leap Day for a Blog Hop and some blog candy (some from Scrapbook Place Challenge Blgo and some from me)...and, as always, keep crafting!

There's Fairies in the Air

I was taking a walk in the forest last week when the winter weather suddenly farted out a beautiful spring day.  Can you imagine 60 degrees at the end of January---in Chicago??? 

Neither could I, which is why I wasn't surprised when I glanced down on the forest path to spy this little fairy taking a break from her busy schedule.  (What surprises you more, that we had a spring day in February, or that Chicago has forests?)

When my little sprite saw my big clodhopper boots near her private sanctum, she rushed off in a cloud of fairy dust, but not before inspiring me to make this card with Queen Kat Design's Mushroom Fairy stamp by Miss Megs.

I tried to catch the shimmer that surrounded her, but we mere mortals can't quite see the fairy folk as they really are.  Still, I think I did a decent job of capturing my magical moment with her, don't you?

Speaking of fairy folk and magic, have you read Beauty by Sherri S. Tepper?  It's an old read, but a good one, with a twist to the old sleeping beauty theme set in modern days. 

I think I still have my copy, and I'm in the mood for a little fantasy reading tonight!  You can probably snag your own copy on Amazon or at your local library.  You can also be inspired by all the lovely stamps over at QKD.  Lots of nerw February releases, like Mushroom Fairy!  Tell them Pat sent you!
Challenges entered:
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/   - Bling It On!
http://outlawzchallenges.ning.com/group/copicchallenge - Anything Goes!

Let the Sun Shine

Is it my imagination or did winter take a holiday?  My mom has crocuses popping up their tiny green heads, little knowing the shock they'll get when they open their eyes to see that Winter is still in the forecast.  At least, that's what Phil the Groundhog said earier in the month.  Then again, how many people actually listen to a groundhog?
So, on this mild day in February, in the heart of a Chicago winter, we are enjoying 40 degrees and sunshine.  And my card echoes the sentiments of the geese overhead as they fly back north, a nice bright sunny card with the distinct flavor of Spring.

I made this card with one of my Squigglefly images.  In fact, it is a freebie that you can snag from their website HERE.  It's called Turtle Express.  I love the friendship these two animals share, and I especially love the joke they're sharing, too.  Inside, the card reads:  Happy Spring
Squigglefly has a new challenge this week:  Use one of their images and the color YELLOW somewhere to make your card bright and sunny.
Now run along and play, either outside in the sunshine, if you have it, or in your craft room, and share it at the Squigglefly Challenge Blog.

Brighten Your Day with a New Squigglefly Challenge

Make a card that is sunny and bright-use yellow on your card!  That is the new Squigglefly Challenge on their blog this week, and I have been enjoying some sunny and bright moments this weekend. I made my card while still at home, packing up for a road trip with my teen daughter to visit her first college.  I took a photo of the card and brought my camera along for the trip, so am able to schedule this post for Monday, although it is a Sunday night.

My card uses an image from Marlene S called Worry Warts.  The image actually comes with its own sentiment but I used my own.  I made an easel card due to my 2-part sentiment, as I feel the easel card gives the front and inside sentiment an impact otherwise lost on a regularly-folded card. 
On ther right is my card closed flat.  I paper-pieced the image, and attached it in two parts with dimensional tape for, well, dimension!  Free-cut and inked a lily pad, added some watery-looking patterned paper, inked the yellow background with white ink and popped a cloud there, and printed out the first part of my sentiment:  "Frog Parking Only", trying to make it look like a traffic sign.

When my card is opened and propped up on its "easel", you can read both parts of the sentiment, the second one reading: "All others will be Toad".
 I saw this sentiment on a bumper sticker this month and thought what a great card it would make, so went rooting around for an image to match it!
I love digi's for this very reason.  I rooted around for it in my Squigglefly digi collection on my computer, which was so easy to look for and find the image I wanted.  I can also print it the size and perspective I wanted for my card! 
By the way, did you see the worried little lady bug in the lower right corner?  I think he wants to beat a fast retreat before he gets "TOAD away"! LOL
Okay, your turn to play in the Squigglefly challenge this week.  You could be the lucky winner of a free digi--the only difficult part is choosing just one!!!

Krafting with a Sweet Pea Image

Got exactly 20 minutes in my craft room yesterday, in between granddaughter's dance class, a visit to GG, my 101 year old Gram, helping my Bella make cards for her "other" grampa and for my hospitalized sister, visiting my sister, and grocery shopping.  But that's 20 more minutes I thought I'd have, so I'm happy with it!


Star Hanger by Karen Middleton

 And what do I have to show for it?  A Sweet card using one of my new Sweet Pea images!
I'm entering it into their February challenge, "to use Kraft paper on your project", on their challenge blog, One Sweet Challenge.  I happened to have a couple 12x12 sheets of Kraft paper in my stash for the card base, which I stamped with white ink and Stickled with a new background stamp. 
I colored my image while waiting for Bella at dance class.  The acrylic frame encircling the image (you can't see it very well here) was in a swap on my Yahoo group, Your Scrapbook Place.  I added Stickles onto the frame, as well as a few glittered stars and some fiber.

I feel less stressed now that I've had some me time, and I also promised myself that I would look for something, anything, each day, that made me smile.  So here is my photo of what made me smile today, in between the running around.

A little blurry, but here's my February 18th photo of the day.  In my Mom's front yard, her crocuses are trying to pop up before their time!  Hope they come back when it's Spring!

Moonlighting

I'm so excited!  I finally got a chance to play with my new stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps!!  The first one to dry was Ching Chou Kuik's "In The Wind".  She looks like she was in need of a little down time, so flew up high into the night sky to be alone with her thoughts.


In the Air by Ching Chou Kuik

 I wish i could do the same.  The last week has been rough, taxing my patience and my energy.  Lots of family issues and health concerns.  But tonight I took that necessary ME time to relax and color in my craft room, and went so far as to make a card.  First one this week!
So I used a combination of Copics and Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to color my thoughtful fairy.  Some Stickles to give her a little shimmer and she was ready to be framed with my Epic Six die cutting machine and one of my newest dies from Spellbinders, Lacey Ovals.
I decided on a shaped card tonight, so picked out some leftover papers from my stash and added a bit of teal-colored webbing, a flower and some tiny jewels.  A bit of Tim Holtz distressed Ink in dusty rose and some stickles on the card edges and I was done!
The Sweet Pea February challenge asks for a card made with craft paper, so I won't enter this one if their challenge, but I have more new stamps to play with, so i'm sure I'll get to play for a smack at a $10 gift certificate from them.
Meanwhile, I have entered this card into the following challenges:

http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com/   

anything with wings

http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/   

anything with wings

http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.com/2012/02/flutter-by-wednesday-190.html

anything with wings

Mushroom Fairy

Queen Kat Designs has some awesome new releases this month!  This beautiful image is called Mushroom Fairy by the very talented Miss Megs.  She is surrounded by fairy dust, and is lounging on her tuffet.  I wanted to give her a more ethereal look, so I colored her a pale yellow.  I wanted the wings to POP, so besides the more vibrant colors, I stamped the image twice and cut out and attached the left wing on a "hinge" of paper, giving her a 3D effect.

Of course, I had to load the card with embellies!  There's a bit of paper doily, some flowers, a few jewels and that lovely pink fiber.  The border on the bottom of the card is actually the negative piece of cardstock cut from when I diecut a daisy border with my Epic Six!

To see all of Miss Megs stamps, and the rest of the QKD February new releases, click on the Shoppe!  Which one is your fave?  As for me, I love them all, and will have to play the lottery so I can buy them all (I'm greedy, I am!).

Sweet Valentines to Some Sweet Friends

Happy Love Day, all!  I am back at work and back to my crafting table after a fun weekend getaway and then some family health issues.  But almost everyone is taking a turn for the better now, and I wanted to celebrate by making some sweet treats for my co-workers.  I had wanted to give them my ATC Valentine's Day cards, but alas, I cannot find them.  i think I buried them under a huge load while I was packing then unpacking for our trip!!!  Never fear, They will pop up someday!

Meanwhile, my daughter sparked the baker in me as she made sweet treats for her boyfriend, so I made upo a batch of homemade muffins, specifically Oreo Cookie Muffins!!

This has been everyone's fave muffin since I started making them a few years ago, but I stopped when I was diagnosed with diabetes.  So I wanted to share the love, and everyone of these delightful morsels of sweetness are out of my house and given away.

Anyway, I wanted to give the two men I work with a chance at the muffins, so I decorated and embellished two clear round containers and placed a muffin in each, topping them with flowers and tying the sides with ribbon.  
One was for my pastor, to whom I delivered a
muffin this morning on my way into work.

The other was for my friend and the parish's Youth minister, who has a bit of a sweet tooth.  He came by the office while I was eating lunch and I handed it to him and he couldn't make up his mind if it were going to be his lunch or his treat after lunch!

The other two treats are for my co-workers, with whom I share my workload, my family issues, my successes and failures, my worries and my good news.  I had snagged some small white treat boxes for a mere pittance from the rummage sale that our youth group offers every summer.  One large and a small muffin fit into each box, which I then covered with patterned paper and embellished with an image from Queen Kat Designs called Elf Bride. 
The photo showcases both kinds of treat boxes that I made, and I do believe that they are now empty of their contents!!!  So I think I could call this Valentine treat a success this year, don't you?!  Hope your day is filled with love, good friends and chocolate!

With love From Me to You

Today I wanted to make a sweet Valentine's Day card for one of my bff's.  Of course, nothing says BFF like an image from Crafter's Companion Humphrey collection.  I wanted to give her a card with a handmade gift, so I decided to use my Crafter's Companion Ultimate Crafter's Tool to measure and score a card with a detachable bookmark.


The Ultimate Tool

 After choosing my patterned cardstock for the card base, I cut a 6x12" piece.  Using the scoreboard labeled BOXER, and the end labeled Box Lid, I scored at #9 from one end.  After folding the card in, I scored again at #9.  The short piece leftover is folded into the card, forming a three fold card, with the piece on the right as your bookmark.

Since the patterned cardstock, which was a leftover piece from another card, was so nicely embellished itself, I decided not to go with additional layers on the front.  I stamped and colored (with Copics, since I only have the Reds & Pinks from the Spectrum Noir Marker collection) my Humphrey image, then cut the scallop oval shape with my Nestabilities die and my Epic Six.  I framed it with coordinating purple paper.

I also stamped the sentiment from the same set, "With Love from Me to You", and hand cut it into a heart shape.  Emberllishing the card front with ribbon, I placed my image and sentiment on top, adding a touch of ink on the edges and a little bling.

On the inside, I layered some coordinating patterned paper on the inside, and a stamped sentiment about friendship.  The adjacent card inside has a shaped white layer for writing a message, with a tiny bit of ink and some embellishment.  You can see in the photo that to the far right is the back of my handmade bookmark.






The bookmark offers the sentiment "Earth Laughs with Flowers" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and features two more stamps from Crafter's Companion, from the set Popcorn Bear "Thanks".  More ribbon at the top of the bookmark finishes off the handmade gift.


My card is being entered into the February Something Sweet Challenge at Crafter's Companion Challenge blog.  They are offering a sweet pize to one random winner! 

Somebunny to Love...

When I saw this image that Squigglefly just released, I knew it had to be paired to the lyrics of a song.  But there were so many that fit.  I finally used one of my fave songs (it's on my blog's playlist) from Plain White T's called Rhythm of Love.

The image, called Rabbit Symphony, is from artist Linda Birkinshaw.  Isn't it cute?  It reminds me of vintage children's book illustrations.
I colored him up with my trusty Copics, and cut him out with one of my newest dies and my Epic Six.  I typed up the lyrics of the song on my computer, and mixed together some leftover pieces of patterned papers.
The inside sentiment reads: Valentine, Your love fills my heart with the music of love"
Linda has several digi images released through Squigglefly this month, and you can find them all HERE.
Meanwhile, Squigglefly Challenge Blog has started a new challenge this week: 
Give us a heart, a heart-shaped card, a card with a heart embellishment, a card with a "heart" saying or heart in the image....doesn't have to be Valentine's day theme, as long as it has some real heart to it!!!
So hop on over to Squigglefly for some inspiration and a chance to win free digi's!!

Somebody to Love...

Today I made a CAS card, which is a Clean And Simple card, using Queen Kat Design's Fae of Hearts stamp by Joanna Bromley.  This fairy is so dainty, so sweet, that I wanted the "pinkness" to shine.  I colored her with Copics, put a whsiper of Stickles on her wings and cut her out with my Labels Four Nestabilities die from Spellbinders.  I framed her in black with the next size die up, and placed her on this gorgeous patterned paper I had in my stash.  A few jewels for some shine, and a silk embossed butterfly to embellish and my CAS card is ready to hand to one of my friends this Valentine's Day.
To see all of Joanna Bromley's lovely stamps, click HERE.  The QKD February new releases are ready for purchase, so get your fingers ready for some online shopping!

Gettin' Sketchy with Dustin Pike

I haven't colored a digi image from Dustin Pike in a while, and the images are so-o-o-o cute, just too cute to ignore!  So here is my newest Vaelntine's Day card.  The inside sentiment reads:  "Happy Valentine's Day to my Knight in Shinging Armor"
So far that makes four V-Day cards specifically targeted toward my hubby of 35 years.  Think he'll get the message???

The last challenge on their blog was to follow this sketch; otherwise, anything goes!




I colored my image with my trusty Copics, pictured below:

And as I am writing this, I discovered that the challenge here is closed now.  I missed my chance to win goodies, but I still had fun coloring this cutie up andf making a new card!!

Birthday Calories Don't Count

At least in the crafting world!!  I made a card for Squigglefly's new weekly challenge, which was to create a birthday card.  SO easy, and if Gram lasts until another Christmas (she is, after all, 101 years old), my gift to her has been a set of birthday cards, in calendar order and identified on the envies, for each member of the family.

So I used Squigglefly's Birthday Cake Kaboodle by artist Diane Carubia digi image and whipped up a card on one of my busiest days at work. 
Not only is it second shift, with classes in session from 5-7 pm, but I have to give an internet and real world safety presentation tonight and tomorrow night.  I've got the Grade 4-6 presentation under my belt, but have yet to write out my lesson plan and choose my media for the 7th and 8th grade presentation.
A bit of Basic Grey paper for the base, some pink cardstock to frame my image and sentiment, and a pretty butterfly to embellish finishes off the card.
If you have a few moments to relax in your crafting area, grab a Squigglefly image and make a birthday card.  You could win a free digi this week!
Do you Facebook or are you a member of PaperCraftPlanet?  Check out Squigglefly there for a Great Valentine's Giveaway!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Well, the committee liked those auction banners I made last week so much that they've asked for more.  Since this is for our church's Youth Group, whose activities have grown increasingly each year for the Hearts Fundraiser Dinner.  So I chalk this up as my own donation to the fundrasier (besides the items I already donated for a few baskets).
Anyway, here's my second take on a woman's gift basket banner.  I just have to add some lace from which to hang it on the basket and it's finished!  I cut the bottom part of this 12x12 piece of patterned paper.  From the leftover piece, I cut  a few matching flowers, curled them and adhered them to the woman's hat and at the top of the piece.  I also gave it dimension by adhering some pearls on the paper pearls of her necklace.  Than I titled the banned with alpha stickers and a flower to spell out MOM, placing some lace on the right for a border.
I know I have to make a banner for a teen girl's basket, and have that one already planned in my head.  I'll show it to you when I've finished it!

I Love Artist's Trading Cards!

Since I was overwhelmed this Christmas with family drama and no time off from work, I didn't get a chance to make my co-workers their annual ATC Christmas cards, so I promised myself I would make some for Valentine's Day.  They love these little pieces of art, so I was happy to create for them.  There are about 12 people that I cherish enough to create my cards, and here ar the first few I made.

If you're not familiar with ATC's, or Artist's Trading Cards, thery are the size of baseball cards, and are miniature pieces of art, kind of like a card front measuring 2.5x3.5"
So I have five done, with ten days left before the big day.  No worries, ATC cards are so easy to make!
I'm entering these ATC cards in the February challenge over at Your Scrapbook Place blog.  You can play, too!

It's That Old Devil Moon...

Here's a card I made for Valentine's Day, using Queen Kat Designs "Fae of Hearts" stamp by Joanna Bromley.  As I colored her, I realized that I had been humming the song "Old Devil Moon" from Finian's Rainbow, so I borrowed a verse from the song for my inside sentiment:

    Just when I think, I'm
    Free as a dove.
    Old devil moon,
    Deep in your eyes,
    Blinds me with love.
My first major purchase when I started working as a teen was to buy two tickets to the Arie Crown Theater in downtown Chicago for my parents to go see the live musical, Finian's Rainbow.  I was so proud of myself for getting such a great present, and knew my parents would enjoy their evening.

It wasn't until years and years later that I found out their seats were so high up and so far away from the stage that the music and voices reached them about two seconds after the actors could be seen mouthing the words!  So much for getting the cheap seats!!! I have it on DVD now, and still like the story line and the music.  Who wouldn't like to go to "Glocca Morra" or find a pot of gold to make a wish upon?

Birthday Cupcakes Go to the Dogs!

Well, to one dog, that is, and a cutie pie if I ever saw one.  This little guy's name is Bailey, and he is the second in a whole new line from Hambo Stamps.  Called "Bailey Cupcake", I colored him with my trusty Copics and popped him on a card front with one of the sentiments that come with the image.  The inside sentiment, also from this Hambo image, says "Hope your birthday is tail-waggin' good!"
The new challenge at the Hoedown this week is to help them celebrate their first birthday by making a birthday card.  You can use any Hambo image, but if you use Bailey Cupcake, you get your choice of one free digi from their store!  As a player, you also get their next digi image for free, so it's a two-fer for me and everyone who has Bailey Cupcake to play with!!
So hop on over to Hambo Challenge Blog and wish them a Happy Birthday!!

It's All ABout the Birthday!

I bet you all know at least one person who has a birthday for each month on the calendar.  Well, I've named February as my personal Birthday card crafting month.  I'll be making a birthday card a day until the 29th, which is a special birthday as it only comes around once every four years!

So for my first birthday card, I used Squigglefly's digi image Bit of a Witch by Cheryl Alger.  I love so many of Cheryl's images, and you will probably see a lot of them here this month.  I also like to use images that may be more geared toward a different theme or holiday than the way I use them.  This witch would be perfectly content to enjoy a frightfully good halloween, but witches have birthdays too, you know.  So I colored my little witch in non-Halloween colors and am sending her off to one of my high school girlfriends, whose birthday is later this month.
I colored the patterned paper in the same blue as her dress and the stamped stars that surround her with one of my trusty Copic markers.  I handwrote the sentiment and framed it with a slide mount, stamping it too with stars.  A couple of swirly paper clips and a bit of fiber finish off my card (well, I  couldn't resist using some stickles for shimmer, but the camera didn't catch it very well).

Now, some of you know that my granddaughter visits almost every month, and she loves to craft with her grandma.  When she saw me coloring, she asked for an image and to "use grandma's special markers so it would look just like Grandma's card, pleeeease").  So here is her creation as well.   I made her the card base and gave her one of my paper clips. She colored the image herself (yes, I let her use my coveted Copics) and used one of my Fiskars scissors to cut out her image and put it all together.  Not bad for a 4 year old!

So go and create a birthday card for someone you know.  If my preschool-aged granddaughter can make one, so can you!!!   Happy Crafting!