Merry Christmas From The Whole Gang - Lawnscaping Challenge#144

This Lawnscaping Challenge is bittersweet as it is the last one in their amazing five year run.  I only discovered the Challenge this year but I have gleaned so much inspiration from everyone who participates and I have also received so much encouragement through the Challenge.  Thank you to Laurel Beard for creating, designing and hosting this awesome challenge.  Thank you to the Lawnscaping Design Team who has spent so many hours creating amazing cards and commenting on all of our blogs.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday filled with laughter, tasty treats and lots of memories.  I am sure the Lawn Fawn Critters have some pretty rowdy celebrations and with that in mind I created this card for the Challenge... Merry Christmas From The Whole Gang!

This card features lots of the adorable Lawn Fawn critters that I have colored throughout the past year. I gave them a few Christmas-y accessories to so they would all look their merriest for the group photo!

Listed below are all of the Lawn Fawn stamp sets I used...  

Baah Humbug, Critters Ever After, Critters In The Snow, Critters on the Farm, Critters on the Savanna, Dad + Me, Fairy Friends, Flamingo Together, Happy Everything, Holiday Party Animal, Jump for Joy, Lovable Legends, Mermaid for You, Thankful Mice, Turkey Day, Winter Alpaca, Yay Kites.

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2017!  Thank you for all of the crafty love and encouragement this past year! 

xoxo

Houston

Whale You Be Mine

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it so I was really excited to find the Whale You Be Mine stamps and dies at my LSS Scrap2It. I rushed home and made a card with them during naptime☺

This card features the following products:

Lawn Fawn Whale You Be Mine Stamps and Dies

Lawn Fawn Mermaid Ink

Lawn Fawn Deep Sea Ink

My Favorite Things BG Wave Background

My Favorite Things Blueprints 27 (longer banner)

Versamark

White Embossing Powder

Copic Markers

QuicKutz 4x4 Heart with Scalloped Border (no longer made, sorry)

Thanks for stopping by, so sorry for such a short post, but my Littlest didn't sleep last night and I need a naptime today!

Snow Much Fun

The current Lawnscaping Challenge is all about the fluffy white stuff!  We usually have lots of it here in Colorado but this year we have only had a couple inches and few flurries :(  My little one is impatiently waiting for enough snow to go sledding down our neighborhood hill.  In the meantime we have been keeping cozy inside getting crafty for the holidays.

I have to admit that when I was creating this card I had a little yearning for the white stuff too! I began by browsing my Lawn Fawn critter collection and I instantly thought that these cuties from Yay, kites! would definitely be out building snowmen during the winter!  Luckily, the snowmen from Ready Set Snow were the perfect size to pair with these critters.  To build my scene I used glitter mist for a snowy background and then built up my scene using the Stitched Tree Border, Stitched Hillside Borders, and framed it out with the Leafy Tree Backdrop.  To finish it off I added a sentiment from Making Frosty Friends.

You still have another day to upload your creations for this winter challenge and I can't wait to see what you create!  Stay cozy!

MFT Sketch 310

Oh how I love the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenges and they do them every week!  As an added bonus you can even download PDFs of ALL the past sketches on their blog!!!

Last week I received my new goodies from the MFT Thanksgiving Sale, including the awesome Blueprints 27 that I had been lusting after, and I couldn't wait to use it on Sketch 310 ~ the white frame, light green banner, large heart and watermelon scalloped edge are all cut from this one Die-Namics set!

The Birdie Brown piggies make an appearance on this card and of course I couldn't resist dolling a couple of them up with a little flower and bow tie! I made this with Mother's Day in mind, the little piggies are my kiddos & myself, and Grandma certainly does hog our hearts!

Thanks for stopping by today, I can't wait to see what you create for the MFT Sketch 310!

Inky Paws Challenge #38

I have fallen in love with my daughter's kitten MeowMeow (though I call him Mr. MeowMeow) and it has me seeking out adorable cat images to color and create cards with.  I found Newton's Nook and their stamp sets are filled with cute images of Newton the cat and his buddies.  Note to Hubby: I have added lots of their cute sets my Christmas List :)

While I was browsing their site I found that this month they are hosting a color challenge.  Their challenges are called 'Inky Paws'... could that name couldn't be any cuter?!  My card features one of their mini stamp sets 'Newton's Nap' which I colored to resemble 'tilda (my hubby's cat).

I stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black onto xpressIt blending stock and then used my Copics to color in the image.  Next I cut the image into an oval with the My Favorite Things Inside & Out Stitched Oval Stax.  The teal background was cut with the Essential by Ellen Stitches Cover Plate.  I added some red cardstock strips to help make that teal really pop and then topped it all off with a bright green banner for the sentiment which I embossed in white.  Finally, I added just a few little white stitches on the banner with a white Signo pen and the card was done!

Hope you get your paws inky and join in this fun challenge!  See you soon!

Fairy Friends

The latest prompt over at The Lawnscaping Challenge is Clean & Simple (CAS) which is the style I have really been gravitating towards lately!

For my design I used the adorable Fairy Friends stamp set.  I colored all of the images with Copic markers, then added a bit of clear Wink of Stella, white gel pen details and some washi tape to complete this sweet little thank you card!

Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create for the challenge!

Sometimes You're The Dog...

This week I have been feeling better so I wanted to get back in the swing of things with The Daily Marker Coloring Challenge and participating in some of the fun card challenges like the My Favorite Things Sketch #306.

I have really been embracing my love of clean and simple cards lately so I decided to stay true to my style and do the same with this card!  I used the You Make My Tail Wag and Hog Heaven stamp sets by Birdie Brown, you know I can't resist a cute critter!  

All the images are colored with Copic Markers and fussy cut.  The thin background strip is just Distress Inks blended onto the card with a stencil brush (I prefer these for a lighter touch).  

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope that you have a fantastic weekend, see you soon!

Love These Lights!

My awesome crafty friend Brandi Kincaid recently designed several stamps sets for Ellen Hutson LLC. I couldn't wait to get my hands on them!  What I love most about her designs is that somehow, in each simple black line, she convoys happiness and optimism... she truly has a gift.  If you don't know Brandi's work you can check it out at the links above, I promise you won't be disappointed!

I used just two stamps to make this card for the CASE(E) this Sketch! #197 Challenge.  I love card challenges (I am sure you know that) and I just stumbled onto this one today. I am certain it will become a favorite!

This card was made using the single light bulb image from the Light Parade stamp set.  I stamped it in a sort of circular pattern several times on Canson Fanboy paper with Ranger Archival Ink. Next I colored it in with my Zigs and a brush.  Once the bulbs were dry I used the American Crafts Metallic Markers to color in the bases of each bulb.  I added some white Gelly Roll pen inside the little sheen detail and then used a Copic Multiliner to draw in the wires!  The panel was then cut down and mounted on fairly thick fun foam for dimension.  I stamped my sentiment, from the same stamp set, gave it some color and cut it with a circle die.  I added a bit of white Gelly Roll pen to mimic the lights. The base of the card is this beautiful teal cardstock from my stash (I believe it is Prism, due to it's smooth nature) a small strip of light green Bazzill peeks out from behind my watercolored panel to tie the whole card together!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I always love to hear what you think of my creations, feel free to drop me a comment below!

Hi Cutie Pie

I am so excited to be a Guest Designer for the latest MarkerPop Challenge! If you haven't played along with them before I highly encourage you to join in the fun!  This time around the challenge involves a highly versatile sketch that you can customize in so many different ways!

This time of year I try to focus on all of the things that I am thankful for. With that goal in mind I created a card with a Thanksgiving motif. This year I want to make sure I let those all those amazing people in my life know how thankful I am for their love and friendship by sending them some handmade happy mail!

I started by using my Misti to repeatedly stamp the knife, fork, and mug images in Desert Sand on a kraft card base for a tone on tone background.  The Misti makes it really easy to stamp these little images repeatedly and create fun custom backgrounds for your cards!  Next I pulled out my masking paper to create a fun photo of these cute Lawn Fawn friends (Turkey & Mice) and their favorite Cutie Pie;  I used Copics to bring these cuties to life!  The sentiment is also from the Cutie Pie set and that Polaroid style frame from this fantastic Mama Elephant set was the perfect way to finish it off!  The photo is mounted on some foam for dimension and the card base was cut down just a smidge so it will fit perfectly in an A2 envelope!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to hop on over to the MarkerPop Blog to join in this fun challenge!

You Light My Fire

I had so much fun creating this card for the current Lawnscaping Challenge!  I started by blending Distress Inks onto cardstock.  Next, I sprinkled water over top and pulled it off with a cloth to create that mottled look, I love how it turned out!  I used Momento Luxe in Tuxedo Black to stamp the background stars and hearts, from Critters Ever After, then I embossed them with the amazing Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder!  I filled in a few with some white pen for contrast.  The hills and circles were all cut using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Circle Dies and Stitched Hillside Dies. Finally, I stamped the adorable dragon from Critters Ever After and colored him with Copic markers before fussy cutting so as to not have any white borders in my night time scene.

There are still a few hours left to join in the Lawnscaping Challenge fun, hope to see your creations there!

MarkerPop Challenge #106

MarkerPop has a fantastic challenge for this time of year... create a Halloween card with any brand of products they sell in the shop!  This is easy-peasy even if you don't have a ton of Halloween themed items, no seriously, I only have one Halloween stamp set and it's retired!  Luckily the set I have is from Lawn Fawn, a brand MarkerPop carries, so I did some clever masking to add the witch hat to the adorable retro cat from Avery Elle's latest release!

The background is stamped with the Wplus9 set 'Ink Splats' using Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron and Seedless Preserves.  I did spray the splats with a light mist of water to get them to blend a little betters since these inks are not really made for stamping with, but I like the sort of splotchy look you get with them on these stamps. This witchy kitty is colored with Copic markers and fussy cut before being mounted on the focal panel with a little foam tape.

The greeting is a combo of the Lawn Fawn Stinkin' Cute sentiment and Concord & 9th's amazing Sophisticated Script.  The focal panel is cut with the largest stitched rectangle in the My Favorite Things Blueprints 29 Die-Namics set.  Finally I added a few sequins from Craft Medley's Rhythm n' Blues to give this kitty a little sparkle!

Make sure you check out all the other amazing Halloween creations over at the MarkerPop Blog!

MarkerPop Color Challenge 105

Due to my recent Copic Marker addiction I discovered MarkerPop's online shop and guess what... they have a color challenge!  This color combo is so awesome that I had to join in!  

When I was looking at the colors I was reminded of our time living in Florida; one Christmas we made a sand 'snowman' on the beach and used it in photos for our holiday cards!  It was so cute and I thought it would be fun to use some of the new stamps and dies I had purchased from MarkerPop to create a 'sandman' shaker card!

I used the Lawn Fawn Ready, Set, Snow stamps, dies and add-on dies, 

plus their fabulous Mermaid for You stamps and dies!

Be sure to hop on over to the MarkerPop shop and check out all the awesome sales they currently have going on!  Thanks for stopping in, see you soon!

Lawnscaping Challenge 139

The fantastic Lawnscaping Challenge team had a beautiful Pinterest board for our inspiration this time! 

All those beautiful fall leaves inspired me to create some cute place cards for our Thanksgiving table, we are pretty casual so these pops of color will be a fun addition!

I used the Stitched Leaves Lawn Cuts to cut paper from the Fall Perfectly Plaid Petite Pack, Polka In The Meadow Petite Pack and Polka After Dark Petite Pack.  Each leaf was cut in two different papers to create a front and back since I knew they would be visible from the sides.  I then cut some stitched rectangles using these Lawn Cuts and folded them in half to create the base.  Of course I needed more stitching, can't get enough, so I cut smaller stitched rectangles from the Fall Plaid papers to create nameplates and message mats.  Next I wanted the scripty thanks die to pop so I went with some solid red cardstock from stash.  The stamps above and below the thanks are from Critters in the Forest and Cutie Pie, they were selectively inked to create the message I want each of my guests to see across the table!  To finish up, I wrote each name in with a Picket Fence Distress Marker for a cute chalkboard look!

Thanks for stopping in and don't forget to check out the next Lawnscaping Challenge!

Lawn Fawn Love

The weeks are just flying by!  Now that fall is here I want it to stay forever, it has been so gorgeous here in the Rockies, sunny days, cool mornings that are perfect for walking with Tiny Boss and warm afternoons that are great for soccer games and playground time!  This is hands down my favorite season of the year!

This week I was fortunate enough to have some crafty time to play with some of my favorite Lawn Fawn products... critters of course :)

This first card features the new Jump for Joy Stamp Set and coordinating Lawn Cuts.  I was lucky enough to be able to score these and the Perfectly Plaid Fall Petite Pack at my local scrapbook store Scrap2it!  One of my favorite things about fall is the crunchy leaves and beautiful autumnal wreaths hanging all over town.  The small stamps in this set were perfect to use for creating a wreath!  I colored them very simply with Copic markers, die cut them, adhered them to a circle frame (I made this with two of the stitched circle dies) and then added some details with gel pens and Wink of Stella in gold once they were all in place!  I loved the idea of tiny red heart berries, but after coloring them I realized there isn't a matching die :(  oh well, fussy cutting worked and then I added some glossy accents on top to make them pop a bit.  I had planned to adhere my critters over the wreath but they just didn't look quite right, they looked better off to the sides but needed something to bring them together... da, da, da... big scripty words!!! seriously the best sentiment set EVER!  The thanks sentiment made the card come together perfectly!  Yay!  The rest of the card features the adorable plaid papers and a little bit of white gel pen detail!  

My second card was completely and totally inspired by the amazing Jennifer McGuire and this recent video.  I used the Lawn Fawn Baaah Humbug stamp set, their dye ink in Freshly Cut Grass, some Copics, masking paper and my MISTI.  I was able to complete 12 cards with Tiny Boss napped!  That is a record!  Definitely going to be making more of these for sure!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  See you soon!

Dear Son

Lately, I have been posting lots of crafty things but nothing from the heart... so it's time for a little heart sharing post.

Most of my readers know that I am the Mama Bear to both a teenager and a toddler (yes, I know that big age gap may seem crazy but I LOVE it!).  Currently my teenager is going through all the normal things that a 15 year old goes through.  When he exasperates me the most I try to remember what it was like to be that young.  How every feeling seemed larger than life, how I seemed invincible, how I rarely looked beyond the problems of the present moment.  I think about the adult that I am now and what I want my teenager to know as he goes through the next few year.  These are my thoughts in absolutely no order other than how it pours out of my heart...

Dear Son,

First off, I love you more than you can ever imagine.  I am so proud of the young man that you are.  You are truly an amazing, smart, funny and awesome human being.  I admire the confidence you have and that you are willing to try new things.  I admire that you aren't afraid of life.  I want you to know that I am behind you 100%, supporting you and encouraging you.  I may not always agree with you. I know there are times that you will really not like me, but I am okay with that.  I will keep loving you no matter what.

I want you to know the following things about this time in your life:

Those HUGE feeling that you are having right now are not all encompassing.  You are more than those feelings. You get the choice of how you want to let them affect your life.  You can choose not to give these feeling power over your life.  For example, you can choose not to be afraid of things in life that seem daunting and you can choose not to let anger pull you down into drowning.    You are in control. Listen to your gut, trust those little whispers that say 'You can do this!'.

Know that you are not defined by who you are with.  You are a completely separate person!  How cool is that... no really think about it for a minute...  You get to make your own choices, do your own things, have your own interests!  Don't change who you are, what you do or the things you like just to keep friends or a girlfriend around.  Guess what... if they don't like you for who you are, they aren't for you.  I know, it sounds so simple... but IT IS SIMPLE!  You are amazing just the way you are and if someone can't see that they aren't worth your time and effort.

Understand that life changes.  I know that you have already been through so many changes, and you are pretty awesome about rolling with them, but I mean this more in a personal sense...Who you are changes.  What you do for work and fun will change.  This is exactly how it is supposed to be.  Change isn't bad.  Plus, remember, YOU ARE IN CONTROL, you get to decide what changes to make.  Embracing the ebb and flow of life will make your days so much easier.  That makes me think of the age old saying 'Take one thing at a time.' You know what?... the people that say that aren't lazy or stupid, they actually have it figured out; if you tackle each thing as it comes at you life is easier.  You don't end up with a pile of crap that you need to deal with.  Take a little chunk out of each project every day and soon you don't have hours of work and worry, you have things under control and can rest with ease knowing that.

WRITE THINGS DOWN.  Seriously, I read back over my blog posts and it teaches me something new each time.  Why?  Because as much as I would like to believe that my mind is a steel trap, it just isn't.  Thoughts, ideas, appointments, they slip out while I am doing other things.  It is totally okay to not remember stuff, but if you write it down you have a much better chance of hanging onto the lessons you are learning and the things that you should be doing.

Listen to adults you respect, hear what they are saying.  It's simple... we have more life experience than you do.  No, we don't have it all figured out, we never will, no one ever will.  It is okay to not have it figured out.  What you should do is at least listen to what we have to say and then weigh those thoughts with your own when you are making a decision.

Don't stress to much about the future because...the future is unpredictable.  It's alright not to know what you want to do, where you want to go to college, if you want to go to college.  Don't make your choices based on what pleases us, your parents, we don't have to live your life.  Life changes, remember?  So take the time to think about where you might want to end up and then talk with someone you trust about it, lots of someone's if you need to, just don't bottle up fear and worry.    Weighing the pros and cons and hearing what others have to say is really helpful, then... you make your own choice.

Be responsible for your actions.  You take the action, you make the choice, you are accountable for it... own that good or bad.  Don't blame others or hide behind some screen.  Stand up, take the responsibility, again... good or bad, and then grow from it either way.

Say what you mean... Damn this is a big one... but so simple.  Don't talk around stuff.  Say how you feel.  Own how you feel.  Remember, you make the choice for you, so you get to choose what comes out of your mouth.  Say what you think.  It may piss some people off but at least they know where you stand.

Be kind to others.  Treat others with respect.  EVERYONE IS DEALING WITH SOMETHING.  Remember this... kindness costs you nothing.  What if they aren't kind or don't treat you with respect?  Well that is their own ignorant choice.The truth of the matter is this... you are not, nor will ever be, better than anyone else.  Why?  because we are all humans, we are all living this life good, bad or ugly.  If you can go to bed every night knowing that you have put kindness into this world and shown respect to others, even to those who may not deserve it, you can rest easy.

Last but not least... Love your family, spend time with them!  (Yes, this is a shameless plug from your Mom to get you to hang out with us, but I have my reasons.) Your friends will come and go, and let me tell you this is how it will always be.  Your family is stuck with you and if you are good the them they will always stick with you.  You never know how much time you have with your older relatives, if you are close to them be sure to cherish that time, they can teach you so much if you take the time to listen.  Hug your younger siblings, even if they are annoying, someday they may be all that you have left.  Don't roll your eyes at me or Mike, we may also be annoying as hell right now but they love you and are doing their very best to deal with your smart-assed self, trust me someday you will WANT to apologize for being craptastic.

You can do this.  I believe in you.

Love,
Mom

Lawnscaping Challenge 138

Lawnscaping?  It's just a fun way to say creating with Lawn Fawn!  I am a Lawn Fawn addict and I was so excited that I had time this week to join in on the current challenge 'Geometric'!

I knew I wanted to create some fun windows or insets in my card front so I grabbed some Lawn Cuts and started playing around with a layout, it took three tries but in the end I was really happy with how it turned out!  I backed each opening with papers from the new 6x6 Perfectly Plaid Fall collection and then added some Copic colored images on top of each one!

Hope you get a chance to get crafty today!

Spotted!!!

Wow, I feel so honored to have my card "Spotted" over at the My Favorite Things Card Challenge Blog!  I have fallen hard for the all the amazing My Favorite Things products.  I especially love the Birdie Brown stamp collections (can you get any cuter?!) and the Die-namics Blueprints sets, together these stamps and dies make completing a card during naptime a snap!

This card features the Harvest Mouse stamp set and the 
Die-namics Tags Blueprint 5.  Those little hearts are part 

of the tag Die-namics and they are awesome for filling shakers too!

Thank you so much for stopping by, see you soon with some more crafty goodness!

My Favorite Things Superstar Card Contest

Woah, nothing like squeaking in at the last minute!  The contest closes today and I finally was able to complete the card that has been floating around my desk for a week!  This is my first shaker card and I am really happy with how it turned out; I can't wait to make more in the future.

This card uses the following products, which I love and adore, from My Favorite Things:

Die-namics Blueprints 29 - Window the dog is looking through and flower boxes!
Die-namics Tag Builder Blueprints 5 - The heart confetti in the shaker window!
BB You Make My Tail Wag Stamp Set - Dog and dog/cat bed.
BB I Knead You Stamp Set - Sleeping kitty.
BB Cool Cat Stamp Set - Vase and fish bowl.
BB Lucky Dog Stamp Set - Sentiments, inside and out.
BB Hog Heaven - Flowers in the window boxes.

All of the images were colored with Copic markers and fussy cut... it took a bit but I think it was so worth it in the end!  Thanks for stopping by to check out my Superstar Card entry!

My Favorite Things Challenge Card

Wow, I feel like it has been such a whirlwind start to the school year! My son is playing soccer it takes up most of my evenings driving through construction to pick him up or to go and watch his games, but we have had awesome weather to enjoy so I really can't complain!

Anyway... I am back with another card to share with you.  I created this for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #298.  I love the MFT Stamps card challenge blog it is full of awesome inspiration, great color ideas, fun challenges and there are links to download ALL of the previous sketch challenges too!

My take on Sketch #298 used the awesome Strike Up The Band stamp set by Birdie Brown, I am just so in love with all of her fantastic stamp designs and this one might be edging out the Harvest Mouse set as my current favorite!  I was really feeling sparkly when I created this card so there is glitter galore, but I think it works perfectly with that sweet sentiment! The sentiment and background stamps all come from this same set, they are stamped in Versamark and embossed with either Ranger Princess Gold or Wow Opaque Black embossing powders!  The bunny is colored in with Copics and his gold accents are embossed with the beautiful gold powder again.

Thanks for stopping in!  I hope you are having a fantastic end to your summer!

Fabulous Florals & Flamingos

Now that The Daily Marker Coloring Challenge is over I wanted to join in on a few other challenges.  This week over at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge they are using awesome Hero Arts products to make fabulous floral cards!  As a lover of Hero Arts designs I have quite a few in my collection which made it easy to create this fabulous floral & flamingo card!

I began by stamping the background stamp (Hero Arts & Studio Calico design) with three different shades of Ranger pigment ink, the lightest shade ended up being just too light to see so I restamped using just the two darker shades... good thing I was using my Misti!  After I heat set the pigment ink I spritzed both orange and pink Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist lightly over the whole thing and heat set that as well.

For my florals I used the Color Layering Hibiscus set from Hero Arts and stamped the larger images on vellum using the same pigment inks as before and then heat setting them before cutting them out.  I also stamped some of the smaller flowers and leaves onto the background using Altenew Crisp Inks and some Versamark with gold embossing powder for the stamen.

I really felt this card was calling for a flamingo...or maybe I have just been dying to use my new Color Layering Flamingo set, but either way I love the addition of this gorgeous lady!  The flamingo is stamped using Altenew Crisp Inks for the pinks and Lawn Fawn Hippo for the eye, beak and legs.  Then I used the coordinating die cut to cut her out.  Tip I got from the awesome Nichol Spohr is to die cut the flamingo first then use your Misti and line up the legs to get them just right!  It works perfectly!  The sentiment is also from the flamingo stamp set and looks amazing embossed in gold!

Thanks for visiting, I hope to be back soon with some more crafty creations!

Cards, Cards, and More Cards

Hi there, I wanted to drop in and share a few more of the cards I created with images colored during The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge!

'Happy Birthday to My Hero!'

This is the super cute card I made for my awesome husband's birthday this week!  It features owls from several different Lawn Fawn sets, one of my favorite things about the Lawn Fawn designs is their ability to mix and match seamlessly!  I found this adorable card on Handmade by Yuki (she is so darn talented that you should definitely grab some more coffee and browse her fantastic blog).  I loved the dimension that she created by placing some of the scene elements behind vellum!  Hubby really like the card which made my whole day!

'Magical Day'

My inner five year old LOVES this unicorn set from Avery Elle.  I was able to create a super shimmery glitter effect by blending out my Zig Clean Color Markers with a clear Wink of Stella pen!  This is true unicorn perfection!  The fantastic circle framing the unicorn is from Mama Elephant, I have been debating about getting this die and I am so, so, so glad I did... it is pure awesomeness in an unassuming metal die!

'Hooray For This Day'

How darn adorable are these raccoons?!  I saw this Rowdy Raccoon stamp set from Mama Elephant and I couldn't resist.  These little rubbish robbers are just too cute; there is even one wearing a cowboy hat and riding a stick horse!  But I digress... the card is made with just one image stamped over and and over again to create this cheering crowd!  Each critter is cut with the coordinating die and then they are progressively popped up on different levels of foam tape to create the dimension similar to spectator stands.  The banner stamp is from Avery Elle and the sentiment is from an Ali Edwards Story Stamp Set.  The yellow stars are from this fantastic Simon Says Stamp set and they were stamped in this yellow ink from Lawn Fawn onto some scraps of yellow paper and then I gave each one a shimmery shine with my clear Wink of Stella pen... oh how I love that pen!  I think this would be a great card to give to someone graduating.

'Jelly Good'

This card was just a quick one to check out the newest My Monthly Hero kit from Hero Arts.  Sadly the kit is now sold out but you will can purchase this beautiful ombre mermaid ink pad and the super awesome Color Layering Octopus stamp set that were released with it.  I am definitely going to have to try out the vellum layering for dimension, as seen above, with this stamp set.

Happy Friday!  Thanks for visiting and I hope you all have an awesome weekend!  

Coloring Challenge

Hi there, are you participating in The 30 Day Coloring Challenge over at The Daily Marker?  This is my first time participating but I am LOVING every single minute of it!  Did you know coloring can relieve stress?  Sign me up for anything that relieves stress!  Grab something to color with and check out the details of the challenge over at The Daily Marker!

I thought I would share a few of the cards that I have made with all my freshly colored images...

'Believe in yourself!'

This card features lots of fantastic stamps from Lawn Fawn, including Critters In The Sea, Mermaid For You, and Life is Good.  The sand hills were made with the Stitched Hillside Borders from Lawn Fawn and the white outer frame is from My Favorite Things.  All images were colored with Copic markers.  The background features Distress Inks blended and spritzed with Tattered Angels mist (I find that this process creates a really nice blend with a bit of sparkle).

'More Than Naps'

This sleepy little kitty is from Newton's Nook, if you are looking for adorable cat images this is the company to check out!  The image was colored with Copic markers and after die cutting it I mounted it on an felt background to make it feel even cozier!  The inner white rectangle and striped rectangle mat were both cut with these dies from Lawn Fawn.  The outer frame is from My Favorite Things and the heart tag is an older die from QuicKutz.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you get in some coloring today!

Mama Bear Cleaning Hack No. 23 - Removing Sharpie

Looong story short:  Kitten had a litter box accident... Mama Bear was cleaning it up... Toddler found a Sharpie on Papa Bear's Desk... Toddler colored Mama Bear's favorite WHITE chair to resemble a zebra! Note to self: perhaps I should limit the amount of Zou episodes she watches...and stop referring to myself in the third person.

I was not on my game enough to snap a picture of the zebrafied chair but I did remember to snap an after photo so I could share with you my favorite Sharpie cleaning tips!

For marks on walls and wooden surfaces - Grab a tube of regular toothpaste, not the gel kind, and gently rub into the marks until they are no longer visible and the paste has turned grey.  Next grab a damp white rag and remove the paste.  Your stains should be gone and the air will be minty fresh! *Note: I would not do this on painted furniture, it doesn't seem to bother the stained pieces but I think it may leave a dull/ matte spot on painted furniture... all of my painted pieces are black so you can't see the Sharpie!

Today this Sharpie masterpiece was on my super comfy, beautifully modern desk chair which is white plastic!  First I did the toothpaste trick and it removed only some of the Sharpie leaving the marks a dull purple color... not good enough.  Next, I gabbed my trusty Clorox Bleach Pen, baking soda and an old toothbrush and carefully made a paste which I then scrubbed into the marks and after 20 minutes of careful scrubbing they were gone and my chair is whiter than a polar bear!

Luckily, I haven't had to remove Sharpie from any colored plastic surfaces but I have read that rubbing alcohol will work... if you've tried it let me know in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by today and please share your Cleaning Hacks with me in the comments below!