The first day of Spring...

Officially it is the first day of spring today. Someone sure did forget to mention that to Mother Nature 'cos it definitely doesn't feel spring-like outside. Thankfully, it is sunny today but brrr....is it cold or what? Anyway, in celebration of the coming of spring ( or to convince Mother Nature) I made this Spring card with kind of a vintage feel to it. Frankly ever since I put it together, I am having a hard time describing it. So here it is...

The stamp is, of course, Magnolia Tilda and the green background DP is an old DCWV paper stack. The papers are heavily distressed with Tim Holtz Distressing Pads, as you can tell. The butterfly border ia also Tim Holtz - one of my newest acquisitions :)
I used three spellbinder  dies on this card - as a backing for the image and the for the big pink/peach flower. I used a glossy accent on the petals after coloring / shading it in. My handy punches are responsible for the leaves and the single red flower on the right :) The other spellbinder was used on the inside

The inside was kept simple. I love working on the inside too but I had to mail this international and the post office always makes me fill up a custom form if the envelope is too thick :(
So...sweet and simple on the inside ... And that's all for now

Submitting for the following challenges

Addicted to stamps challenge

Use it Tuesday Challenge

The Shabby Tea Room

ABC Challenges

Sentimental Sundays blog  

2 sisters challenge blog

Tilda's town

Oh Poor Men......

Or rather "us poor women" who have to shop for or make cards for men / boys. Toughest thing ever. Making cards for girls is so much easier - a nice cute stamp and all the embellishments in the world - and you have a card. But boys / men - embellishments usually don't work, really nice, elegant shapes/ die cuts don't work. So what a poor crafter got to do?????
But this week the challenge at Sweet Stampin' was to make a card for "males" and I decided, heck, why not? And here is the card..

 

 It is a simple card for a boy who is always dreaming of exploring places, traveling the world....Apt image, don't you think? The stamped image is Mo Manning and the lighthouse is a digital image from  Cedar Chest Designs - I won this image and it is so adorable :) 

The papers are from my ever growing collection of DCWV and K& Company paper stacks...

I left the inside very simple and serene. After all, even an adventurer needs some calmness in his life :)

Submitting for the following challenges

 Sweet Stampin Challenge

Critter Sketch challenge blog

Cut it up challenge -  Spellbinder nestabilities oval die cut was used

Thank you for stopping by....

Mirror, mirror on the wall....

As a young child, I loved all the fairy tales that I could hear / read. A typical girl, I guess - loving the beautiful, charming princess, hating the evil stepmother / witch etc. etc. and waiting for the Prince Charming to come and save the day :) Snow White was my all-time favorite especially because of the seven dwarfs. I mean, aren't they adorable or what?
My next card is a take on themost famous line of the story " Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" And of course, it is the wrong answer by the mirror which sends our evil character in to a fit...But what if the question was different? Hmmm.....

 This is a double-gate fold card with a lovely LOTV stamp. The thing about these stamps is that one really doesn't need to have wonderful coloring skills ( case in point, ME ) to make them look amazing. Just a few strokes of color here and there and they are good to go....The flowers are a combination of die cut and punched out. The bright orange one is made from a quilling strip I had. The sentiment is printed. And to complete the question, "Mirror , mirror on the wall...", one needs to open the ribbon and take away the image....

 And isn't that more important than being the fairest? I think so....

The papers are K&Company. The sentiment, again, is printed - I love the font - so appropriate in a royal fairy tale kind of way :)

 The inside sentiment is handwritten..Unfortunately, I forgot to take the pictures before writing my message. On the right inside panel is another place to write / sign etc.

Submitting for the following:

2 Sisters Challenge

Addicted to Stamps

Twisted Tuesday Challenge

Cutting and Stamping Challenge

Creative Card Crew

In the Pink Challenge

Dutch dare card challenges

Thank you for stopping by......

 

A DT call....and my favorite cards

Does a parent have a favorite child ????
No, right? So when asked to choose 3 of my favorite cards - I think I spent a good deal of time trying to figure just that out.

The reason for this dilemma is that there is a DT call out from a brand new blog - Sister Act Card Challenge.  This would be a "Anything goes" challenge - all the time. What fun, right? Let our inner artist roam free....LOL

So anyway, three of my favorite cards ( over the objections of all the other cards) are as follows:

Getting Closer - Dec 6 2012

A Special Kind of Gal - Mar 1, 2013

Love is in the air - Jan 29, 2013

The fact is - it was really hard. I actually uploaded and then deleted a number of cards before I settled for these three. Just to make it easier on myself,  I stuck with the cards over the last 3 months which is probably a truer representation of where I am currently :)

So if you are interested in applying for the DT spot , click on the link ....

Sister Act Card Challenge Blog

And all the very best to everyone who applies for the DT spot and of course, to the blog itself - Looking forward to the first challenge.

A special kind of gal

And that's who I made this card for....
My sister is a wonderful, charming, one of kind type of person and her birthday is coming soon. So when I saw the theme at the Sweet Stampin Challenge blog, "Bingo" - it had to be fate, right ???

For this card, I started with the color combination specified at the Magnolia down under challenge blog - Pink and lime. And since I hadn't made this kind of card for a long time, it was fun.

 The image is Magnolia Tilda - colored with alcohol markers. The bouquet of flowers in her hand has dots of silver liquid pearls interspersed.  The flowers on the right are a combination of punched, die cuts and store bought. The flowers are topped with pearls.  The pink swirly branches are  made with a Memory Box corner die cut. The sentiment is hand written.

The inside card  is simple and topped with a Spellbinder die cut and a rose flower.

Submitting for the following challenges

Sweet stampin challenge

Magnolia down under challenges

Addicted to stamps Challenge

Simon says Stamps Challenge

Artistic Inspirations Challenge

7 kids college fund challenge

 Thank you for stopping by.....