Sew Sorry

Today kicks off the last challenge for Isabella's Sketchbook. It's being suspended indefinitely as the lovely Isabella deals with a cross-country move and some family health issues. I am so sorry to see this design team end. I have really enjoyed getting to know some fantastic women who are also skilled paper artisans. Even though the challenges are suspended, Isabella's Sketchbook Digital Boutique will remain open - yay!! We'll still have the opportunity to purchase her beautiful digis.

Our challenge this week is to make your own flowers - something that I totally love to do. For my last card, I chose express my regret with Isabella's cute sewing basket digi. I used the sketch from this week's Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge. The papers are a digital download from Raspberry Road and the image was colored with Copics. I made the flower following the Dimensional Flower tutorial on SplitcoastStampers. The sentiment was printed on my computer.

Products Used:
Stamps: Digital Image by Isabella's Sketchbook, sentiment computer generated
Paper: Flourishes CS for image, Bravo Burgundy, Raspberry Road DP
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders Circle and Scallop Dies, Tim Holtz Tattered Foral Die, Creative Memories Cutting System for large shape, Martha Stewart border punch, floral trim, ribbon, button

I want to thank Isabella for choosing me for her first design team. It's been awesome working with her fantastic images. I wish her many blessings as she goes through the next few months.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugs and blessings to you too!

Challenges Entered:

Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge

Sweet Little "Miss"

Welcome to Wednesday! It's Isabella Sketchbook time again and this week we are challenging you to make a card that hides something. I chose a pocket card since I have never made a design like this before. I used the Isabella's Sketchbook Waiting image which I think is among the sweetest in her digi boutique. I colored her with Copics and did some paper piecing to create wall paper and the window shade. I printed the sentiment and the digital designer paper on my printer and I finally found a perfect use for my SU crocheted flower.



Products Used:
Samps: Waiting by Isabella's Sketchbook
Paper: SU Cardstock - Wild Wasabi and Whisper White, DP is from the Oh So Shabby Paper Packs 1 & 2 from Raspberry Road Designs
Ink: Copics, Creamy Caramel and Vintage Photo, Printer Ink
Accessories: SU Border Punch, Spellbinders Fancy Tag Die, lace and ribbon from Jo-Ann's, crocheted flower from Stampin' Up! The pink cord came as a freebie with something I ordered. I wish I remember where because I would like to order more - LOL!!

Now it's time to hustle on over to Isabella's Sketchbook challenge to see what the other designers have been up to this week. I'm sure it's something special because we have a truly talented design team!

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Challenges Entered:

The Shabby Tea Room - Delicate Cottage Rose (see inspiration photo on blog)

Order of the Opus Gluei - You Gotta Move It (out of your stash)

Stamptacular Sunday - Buttons and Bows

Sentimental Sundays - Ribbon or Lace

Alphabet Challenge - P is for Punches

Frosted Designs - Recipe Challenge: Use 5 or more of: Punch, Felt, Ribbon, Colors pink, blue or purple, flowers, banner, bird, buttons, butterfly, glitter

Allsorts Challenge - Paper Piercing/Paper Piecing

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - What Are Little Girls Made Of?

Elegant Buttons & Bows

Top of the morning to you! I hope your day has started out fabulously! Thanks so much for stopping by for my second post of the morning. This one is for our weekly challenge at Isabella's Sketchbook challenge. Our challenge this week is "Buttons & Bows", always a fun challenge in my opinion! I decided to use the Festive Bird digital image from Isabella's Sketchbook boutique. I filled in the black with my photo editing program and printed it out on Flourishes card stock. So the only coloring I did was with Copics on the green ribbon. I used only black, white and green to qualify for the color challenge this week at the Play Date Cafe which I now see that I MISSED :(. I love doing black and white so this was no hardship at all. I was shooting for sort of a vintage elegance so I added a bit of Vintage Photo DI, but didn't scissor distress the edges this time. The flower was handmade using cardstock that I photocopied a newspaper onto the front and the back of.

Products Used:
Paper/CS: Card shell and border punch - Very Vanilla, die cut leaves - white Bazzill, dove and panel - Flourishes white, SU Basic Black, polka dot DP - digital from Pink Petticoat, white print - digital is from the Black Tie Affair paper packfrom Designer Digitals.
Ink: Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Copics
Accessories: Leaves cut with Branch with Leaves die from Szzix, Spellbinders Labels 5 die, Spellbinders Flower Creations 3 used for handmade flower, black sheer ribbon hit with heat tool to make it crinkle, SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter

That's the scoop. Now it's your turn to show us your buttons and bows! Just be sure you use an Isabella's Sketchbook image to be eligible for the prize of two digital images of your choice. If you don't have an IS image, stop by the boutique and pick up the freebie there.

And in case you feel compelled to leave some love for the rest of the DT, here are the links to their blogs:

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks again for stopping by and for any comment you care to leave. Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

TuesdayTaggers - Lots of Lovely Black

ABC Challenge - N is for Nature

Rosie D's - All Creatures Great and Small

Craftalucious Challenge - Make your own flowers

Black-Eyed Susans

It's Wednesday again and you know what that means, don't you? That's right, it's time for another challenge at Isabella's Sketchbook. Did you see the graphic on the sidebar? Isabella's Sketchbook is having a one-day sale TODAY!! Images are just $2 so get over there and get shopping. You need to use an Isabella's image to enter the challenge.

It's a 3-D/paper tole challenge. This week we want to see your cut out and popped up images. I used this new image from Isabella's Sketchbook called Sunny Flowers. I think it was probably designed to be a daisy, but I was in a yellow and brown mood and mine became Black-Eyed Susans, a favorite wildflower of mine, and was colored with Copics.

I did use a couple of other stamps on this project because I wanted to do some embossing and I just don't have any luck embossing with digis on anything except vellum. So the flourishes around the perimenter of the card are a Verve stamp and the flower on the main panel is an ancient, long retired SU stamp called Summer Sunflowers. Both were stamped with Versamark and clear embossed. I also used the SU Linen BG stamp on the main panel, stamped in Baja Blue. I sponged the Baja Blue panel with Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip and then a bit of Vintage Photo, using the lightest colored ink first and building it up. The DP is from Cosmo Cricket, the More Mustard squares were embossed with the Cuttlebug Fancy Corners EF and the Chocolate Chip panel was embossed with the Diamonds in the Rough EF from Cuttlebug. A little hemp twine and buttons and this card was good to go. No stitching again, but the good news is my sewing machine is fixed and I picked it up yesterday afternoon. So I'll be back to stitching on my cards with my Friday post.

Please drop by the Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge blog and check out the rest of the DTs' samples. Wonderful work this week from the very talented team. And if you want to stop by their blog and leave some love, here are all the links you will need.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks for dropping by today and for your lovely comments!

Blessings & hugs,

Posies 'n Punches

Hello and happy Wednesday! I'm so glad to be back among my blogging buddies! I was away for another long weekend in Key West. This was family weekend with all my DH's sisters and their DHs. Too many people and too fast-paced to be relaxing, but it was still great to spend time with the family. But now I am back -no more long weekends until the fall football season rolls around. I'm just starting to get back into the card-making groove and have a lot to catch up on.

I managed to get this card finished for this week's Isabella's Sketchbook challenge before I left so it was already "in the can". Our challenge this week is another easy one - use punches. I have been fascinated lately by Becca Feeken's amazing use of punches amd wanted to try more of her right angle punching. So I made this two-layer element according to her video tutorial and a Martha Stewart corner punch. I thought it was too plain so I wrapped it with vintage crinkled seam binding and added buttons. The image, Flower Song, is relatively new in Isabella's boutique. I decided to give it a vintage flavor with the retired Parisian Summer SU papers and Creamy Caramel sponging. It was colored with Copics and the sentiment was made up on my computer, which was then cut with a Spellbinders tag die. Let me know if you need any more information on anything here.

Now that you've had a peek at my DT card, I hope you will stop by the rest of the teams' blogs and pick up a little inspiration.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks so much for stopping by today and for any comments you care to leave.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:
Mark's Finest Papers - Use Punches
Paper Sundaes - Lots of Layers
Papertake Weekly - In the Garden
Stampin' Bees - Polka Dots

Truly Scrumptious - How Does Your Garden Grow?

Your Next Stamp - Flower Power

For Fun - Use Your Fav Coloring Medium - no die cuts as main image

Celebrating Life!

Hello and welcome to my Wednesday post for Isabella's Sketchbook. This week's challenge is "Anything Goes" combined with an Isabella's Sketchbook image. We thought it would be a great week to relax, kick back and enjoy the summer. So check your inventory of Isabella's Sketchbook images, pick one out and have a go. You could win two of Isabella's delightful images. The one I used is called Cup Stack and I don't believe it's available yet. I digitally paper pieced it, including the background of the image panel using the Sweet Violets digital paper pack from Designer Digitals. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and also lined the colors up with this week's Just For Fun Color Challenge which is to use purple, green and blue.

The die cuts were cut with a Cuttlebug die, the embossing folder used was from Stampin' Up! I used two different Spellbinders dies, the sentiment was a lovely freebie from Ann Vento at Raindrop Echo Designs/Sentimental Sundays Challenge. You can buy her digital sentiments from Whimsey Stamps. The mini library clip is from SU and the button is from Jo-Ann's.

Let me know if you have any questions or need more information.

Now it's time to stop by Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge Blog and the blogs of my teamies. I do so hope you will be able to play along with us this week!

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Blessings & hugs,

Isabella's Sketchbook Blog Hop

Welcome to our first blog hop for Isabella's Sketchbook. Isabella gave this lucious lemon digital image to the design team to use for this blog hop. Isn't it fabulous? I can't wait to see how the rest of the team used it in their creations this week.

This week our challenge to YOU is to do a card with an Isabella image with the theme "Anything Goes". You can do whatever you like! This is a circular blog hop. That means you can start anywhere and continue until you come back to your starting point. Isabella will be giving away one image each to NINE winners. To be in the random drawing for the images, you must leave a comment on the DTs' blogs. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have in the drawing.

Have fun and enjoy the hop! Your next hop is over to Oh So Cute, by Lisa. Be sure to keep hopping and leaving comments along the way (the more comments, the more chance of winning) until you've come back to where you started. After leaving a comment here, hop on over to Lisa's blog to see her fabulous creation. The hop will be open until Friday, July 2nd at 8:00 p.m.

Card Details: Image by Isabella's Sketchbook (hasn't been released for sale at this time - check back soon!), digital designer paper by Pink Petticoat and Designer Digitals (changed the color to B&W in PSE), the yellow polka dot background on the image was digitally paper pieced using Pretty Petticoat digital papers, coloring done with Copics, a little Crystal Effects on the handle to make it look like glass, ribbon from Jo-Ann's, jewelry spacers with a tiny silver "pearl" on top and saving the best til last, the punch work was done with a Martha Stewart punch following the tutorial from the amazing Becka Feeken. She has a series of tutorials on her blog to show how to do this. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you will play along with us this week on our blog hop and good luck in the drawing!

UPDATE - HOP WINNERS: Please stop by Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge Blog to see if you were a winner. Congrats to all the lucky ladies who won a fabulous digital image from Isabella's Boutique. Isabella and her entire Design Team thank you playing with us in our first blog hop. We had a blast and hope that you did too!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Quirky Crafts Challenge - Ribbons

ABC Challenge - X is for Xtra Dimension

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Let's Go Digital

Sew Many Cards - Anything Goes

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Fruit Inspired

Happy Travels

Hello and welcome to my Wednesday post for Isabella's Sketchbook. This week our challenge theme is Summer Fun. And what could be more fun in the summer than the annual summer vacation. So I am celebrating my week in Key West with this Happy Travels card.
I used the Suitcase Stack digital image from Isabella's Sketchbook. I just love the retro flair it has to it. I stamped the Creamy Caramel panel with the large palm tree from the SU Balmy Breezes set (retired) in Chocolate Chip and Versamark and then clear embossed it. The DP is a very light print with many travel icons on it, a digital paper from Designer Digitals called Journey Home. I created my little luggage tag with the SU tag punch, a buckle from the Hodge Podge Hardware set and a bit of narrow grosgrain black ribbon. The Bon Voyage sentiment is computer generated and the globe stamped on it is from Crafty Secrets. The ribbon and black brads are from SU and the bottom mat on the image panel is the picket fence border punch from Martha Stewart.

I hope you will stop by the challenge blog and maybe even enter this week. All you need to do is use an Isabella's image and follow the challenge theme. You have a great chance of winning 2 of her wonderful digital images plus the gorgeous "I Won" badge for your blog! And while you are at it, stop by the DT blogs and leave them some love.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

As always, I am deeply appreciative of your stopping by and of any comments you care to leave. Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Blessings & hugs,

Golf Umbrella

Good Wednesday morning to you! It's Isabella's Sketchbook challenge day and this week we are challenged to make a Father's Day card. My DH is a golfer so I decided on this image from Isabella's Sketchbook. I love the retro look of the image, which I digitally paper pieced. The digital DP is from Designs by Krista, a pack called Candy Apples. The card stock is SU's Really Rust and Always Avecado. The brads are from Michael's and again, I don't remember where I purchased the wired "ribbon". I printed the golf ball a bit smaller the second time, printed the Happy Father's Day on it and attached it to a Tin Holtz Fragment.

I hope you will stop by Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge and see the rest of the team's beautiful work. And maybe you could take time to pay them a visit at their personal blog too.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks so much for stopping by this morning. Hope to see you this week over at Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge!

Blessings & hugs,

Cherish Today

Good morning to you! I'm so glad your here today to see what I have made for Isabella's Sketchbook challenge. This week we have a sketch for you to follow. You can use any colors or theme, as long as you use an Isabella's Sketchbook image and follow the sketch. If you don't have an Isabella's image, check out the store. There is a free digi offered for you to use in the challenge. Or better yet, invest $3 and buy one of the many beautiful images she has for sale.


I chose to use a digital image called Girlie Apron and digitally paper pieced it using the Flour Sack digital paper pack from Raspberry Road Designs. Digital paper piecing is just the coolest thing ever. No more cutting and gluing teensy tiny pieces of DP. Just a few copy and pastes in my PhotoShop Elements and then print it out. The border punch used is from SU and the Spellbinders die is Labels 5. The ribbon color is Old Olive so I sponged the die cut panel softly with Old Olive to break up the whiteness. Oh, and the faux milk cap is from Jennie Bowlin.


I'm so glad you stopped by today. Now why don't you head on over to Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge or to my fellow DT members' blogs.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥


Any questions? Please leave them in the comments section and then stop back by to learn my response. Thanks again for coming by.


Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:
Aly's Sunday Challenge - Sewing
Creative Imaginations - Sewing
If the Shoe Fits - Down on the Farm
Stamp Something - Use a Digital Image
Incy Wincy - Paper Piecing

Ice Cream Parlor

Welcome to Wednesday - it's Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge day! It's a black and white challenge (yeah, two in one week - LOL!). So glad you came by today to see my design team sample. For this challenge, it's okay to use color on your image, but everything else must be black and white. As always, you must use one of Isabella's images to enter.

While I was noodling various ideas for a black and white card, the image of the black and white checkerboard tiles of an old style ice cream parlor came to mind and I remembered this charming ice cream image (Hot Fudge Sundae) from Isabella's Sketchbook. That was enough to shift my mojo into high gear for this creation. I took it and ran. I created the checkerboard and stripes on my MS Publisher program by inserting a table. I added lines and columns and then filled every other one with black. For the strips, I started with columns and only one line - but I made that line several inches deep. Then I filled every other column with black. Easy peasy - took about 10 mintues to create and print my custom "DP". I used three different Martha Stewart border punches plus a Cuttlebug embossing folder plus the checkerboard panel was cut with a Spellbinders die. The image was colored with Copics.

I seem to be into making scenes these past two weeks. Last week it was a tea shop, yesterday a tropical beach scene and today an ice cream parlor. Don't know what's gotten into me - sometimes my crafting just takes on a life of it's own and I just follow along behind.

I hope you will stop by Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge and check out what the rest of the team has created in black and white. There are some wonderful pieces of art there. And while you are at it, stop by the other DT's blogs too and check out all their wonderful masterpieces!

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

Thanks for stopping and for your kind and encouraging comments. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments and stop by later to read my response.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

One Stitch at a Time - Something New

Bee Crafty - Something New

Doodle Palace - Retro Theme

MelJen's - Dry Embossing

It's a Patriotic Holiday Weekend!

Good morning and welcome to my Wednesday DT posting for Isabella's Sketchbook. This week we are challenging you to make a Memorial Day weekend card. In the US, Memorial Day weekend kicks off our summer season. So your card can be for the USA's Memorial Day or just inspired by something that you would do on a summer weekend. I combined both inspirations with this charming summer picnic image from Isabella's Sketchbook along with enough red, white and blue to make it a patriotic card. And just for good measure, I threw in a couple of stars and the chipboard USA letters. The VFW post in my neighborhood still sells crepe paper poppies every Memorial Day as a fundraiser and to remind us of the sacrifices made by brave men and women on our behalf. So to tie it all together, I added a red crepe paper flower.

The details: Image by Isabella's Sketchbook, base is Real Red, followed by Whisper White that had been run through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The red bandana print DP is from Designer Digitals as is the blue bandana print that I used to paper piece the tablecloth (done digitally). The image was colored with Copics and colored pencils. The DP I used to cover the chipboard is ancient Creative Memories paper. The frence punch is from Marth Stewart and the red gingham ribbon is from SU. Daisies embossed on the fence was also a Cuttlebug EF.

I hope you will take the time to stop by Isabella's Sketchbook challenge this week. And while you're at it, stop by the blogs of the rest of the team members. There is talent oozing out of every pore on this team so it is well worth your time.

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

I hope you will grab an Isabella's Sketchbook image and join in the fun with us this week!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

Fresh Brewed - Red, White & Blue

Stamp Something - Use 2 of something (stars)

My Time to Craft - Vivid greetings

Oh la la Creations - Bright and Cheerful

Order of the Opus Gluei - Seasonal Icons

Morning Flower

Good morning and welcome to my post for Isabella's Sketchbook. Our challenge to you this week is to make a birthday card using one of Isabella's delightful digital images. This prize, going out to a random winner, will be two of Isabella's digital images plus a Cuttlebug Lace Tree Embossing Folder and the "I Won" badge. I hope you will stop by Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge Blog to see the birthday greetings the other talented designers have for your inspiration. And while you're at it, stop by the designer's personal blogs and check out their awesome work. We have some very talented designers on this team!

♥Annika♥Cec♥Diana♥Jackie♥Jennifer♥Linda♥Lisa♥Peggy♥Peri♥Randi♥Sharon♥Sue♥Viv♥

When I sat down to make this card, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but really wasn't sure. I fiddled with it quite a bit and really love the final outcome. Sometimes things just come together so nicely and this was one of those happy occasions. Built on a shell of Old Olive and River Rock, I layered embossed vellum and Tempting Turquoise of them. I ripped around the edges of a rectangular piece of K&Co. DP and sponged the eges with Vintage Photo. The edges of the vellum are also sponged with Vintage Photo. The digital image was colored with Copics nd the flower was printed a second time, colored and trimmed out to be popped up for dimension. I also repeated teh process with the other flower in the corner. Both flowers have a Kaiser yellow pearl in the center. The lace is by Prima and the vintage corner is a piece of cardboard cut with a Cuttlebug die and embossed with Judi-Kins Egyptian Gold EP. The sentiment was printed on my printer and cut with a Spellbinders tag die. I think that about covers it for this card.

Hope to see you playing along this week in the Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge. Wishing you many blessings on your day.

Hugs,

Challenges entered:

Crafty Catz - Petals & Pearls

Papertake Weekly - Say it with Flowers

MelJen's Challenge - Flowers & Blooms

Pixie Dust Studio Pixie Challenge - Cut it Out

Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Summer Blooms

Shelly's Images - Anything Goes!

Stamp Something - Celebrate

Die Cut Dreams - Lace it Up

Your Next Stamp - Cut it out and pop it up

Digital Tuesday - Use vellum

Crafty Angels - Ripping & tearing

All That Scraps - Dry Embossing

Pixie Cottage - 3-D

Isabella's Color Challenge

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday with Isabella's Sketchbook challenge. You know, one of the very first things that attracted me to Isabella's website was her website header and graphics. I loved the colors and the whimsical feel of it. I couldn't wait to dive inside and see what kind of images she was offering. I love this week's challenge too, which is to create a card or project using the colors from her website header. You can use one or all of them. I went for all - the whole enchilada! I think the image I selected to use on this card is sort of whimsical too - and sooooo fitting for me and I bet many other crafters too. I would rather create than clean and spend way too much time in my stamping room to the detriment of the rest of the house.

If you haven't seen Isabella's images yet, you definitely need to browse through her store. There you will find contemporary, vintage, whimsical and many other types of digital images. And be sure to stop over the the blog to see what the rest of the design team have come up with. I'm sure you will be inspired. You will need to use one of Isabella's images to enter the challenge. There will be a randomly-drawn prize of two digtal images for the winner of this week's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope I see you over at Isabella's and good luck wining those twodigital images from Isabella's store.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

ABC Challenge - U is for unused stash (mine is the paper from SU's Flowers for You DP)

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge - Metal Mania

Little Red Wagon - Brads

Dare You to Digi - Anything Goes

My Mother, My Mentor

Good morning and thanks for stopping by. Today I only have my Isabella's DT post. I am getting ready to go on vacation and wasn't able to complete the sample for the Creative Inspirations challenge but I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the team has to inspire you.

This week at Isabella's Sketchbook, the challenge is to make a Mother's Day card. Isabella has so many beautiful images in her store that would make wonderful Mother's Day cards, but I have had my eye on this one since I first saw it. Isn't it precious? And while I was surfing the daily challenges, I found that Stamp it Crazy blog has a Mother's Day challenge this week that requires you to include a sentiment about what you love most about your mother. I knew immediately the angle I was going to take. I have always admired and looked up to my mother for the leadership she showed when I was growing up. She was a pilar of our church, always involved in so many ministries and with the youth. She taught me to care about others and to be a champion for them. I have always wanted to emulate her and be a role model for my children, hence the sentiment that I made up on my computer.

The Details: Little Mother image from Isabella's Sketchbook, colored with Copics, DP from Digtal Delights and printed on my home printer, Blush Blossom and Whisper White CS, Flourishes white CS for the main image for coloring with Copics, the chipboard letters were cut with a Spellbinders alphabet, chuhky glitter from Jo-Ann, Cuttlebug lattice and vine dies, Cuttlebug heart die, Spellbinders die for the main image, Creamy Caramel ink for sponge distressing. I made the little pink roses out of crepe paper.

Please take a few minutes stop by Isabella's Challenge blog to see the rest of the teams' samples. I can promise you it will be worth your time. I had a peek at the samples before they were published and I was just blown away by the talent on this team. I hope to see your entry into our challenge this week!

Thanks a million for stopping by this morning. I love to hear from my readers so please leave me a comment.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

The Shabby Tea Room - Get Your Bling On

Sentimental Sundays - For that special someone (must include sentiment)

Crafty Cardmaker - Distressed

For Fun Challenges - Make a mom card

Little Red Wagon - Pink& Green

Stamptacular Sunday - Mother's Day

The Pink Elephant - Mommy, I Love You

Stampin' B's - Mother's Day

Two Challenges and Big News!

Welcome to my Wednesday post. It's the day I always share what I have made for the Creative Inspirations Wednesday Challenge. This week's challenge is to make an easel card. The team has done a great job and has some lovely samples to show you. Be sure to stop by and check them out. Our sponsor this week is Digital Delights and the random drawing winner will receive a $10 gift certificate for digital images from Wendy's store.

For the past two days I have had some exciting news that I have been dying to share! I was invited to join a brand new digi stamp company's first design team. It's none other than Isabella's Sketchbook! I discovered her store and challenge blog about a month ago and fell in love with her images. She has such a wonderful vintage/retro style to her drawings. I've used several of them in recent weeks so if you are a regular reader, you have already seen some of her work.

Today is the big announcement about the design team over on Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge blog. I hope you will stop by and see who else made the team. There is some major talent on this team and there will be some wonderful samples to inspire you. This week it's an open challenge. All you have to do to enter is use one of Isabella's images. The winner of this week's challenge will receive six of Isabella's digital images. So what are you waiting for. See ya over there!

If you're interested in the details, here they are in brief: Both images are from Isabella's Sketchbook, the DP is Cosmo Cricket (which I hated to use, but just felt it went perfectly with these images!), sentiment typed in Metalic Avacodo font on my computer. Other: Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distressing inks, Martha Stewart punch, Spellbinders dies, Cuttlebug Oliva alphabet dies to cut the X and O, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, colored with Copics and yes, I did make the cute tiny yellow ribbon flower. Oh, and yes there is an 's' on 'always'; it's just behind the hug. Obviously I forgot to test for alignment before I glued the stopper down. And one last detail, totally irrelevant, I had a BLAST coloring that image of the little girl. I was grinning the entire time!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I always love to hear from you!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges for this card:

Your Next Stamp - Going Dotty

Stamptacular Sunday - Sew Special

City Crafter - Easel Card

My Time to Craft - Ruby, Ruby, Ruby

Die Cut Dreams - Make Your Own Flowers

Pollycraft - May Your Own Flowers

One Stitch at a Time - Flowers

Craft Your Passion - Recipe - 1 ribbon, 2 DPs, 1 flower

Sentimental Sundays - Blooming Gorgeous (flower(s) and sentiment)

ABC Challenge - T is for Thank You