High Hopes challenge 67 ~ things with wings

Hello & Happy Sunday to all!! It's been a busy weekend & I'm looking forward to relaxing today! If you call helping with homework, cleaning & doing laundry relaxing :)

Today's High Hopes challenge is Things with Wings....use anything with wings on your card....butterfly, bird, ANGEL....





I used one of the many fun High Hopes angels....Bethany Angel. She's colored with Copics (notice I've been using those more often??)....& I used my new Sparkly Fluff from Our Craft Lounge. The color I used is Sugar, & you can get it at 7 Kids College Fund. (See all the fun colors HERE. I also got the Appletini Green. The name alone was enough for me!!) The papers are SU's Sage Shadow & Basic Grey Nook & Pantry. I inked the edges with Sage Shadow ink, then Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. The "thank you" is from Hanna Stamps....the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch...& all the flowers are Primas.






Tried to get a close up to show all the details....but I don't think this photo shows *any* of the details, lol.





I sprayed all the flowers & the butterfly with my Pearl Glimmer Mist.....that & those adorable little flowers are my new favorite toys...I'm using them on everything!!






Also tried to get a good pic of the Sparkly Fluff.....don't know if you can see it but it is AWESOMELY pretty!! How can you not love this stuff....it's like Fun Flock & glitter in one!! Hey....at least you can see the shimmer from the Glimmer Mist in this picture!!

Be sure to check out the High Hopes blog....lots of fun creations!! Hope you can join in on this fun challenge!!

This card is a thank you card for my son's den leader. She's been his leader for 3 years & this week he crosses over into Boy Scouts. I'm very grateful to her for all she's done. And I'm so proud of my son for sticking with Scouts. He's learned so much, & he is joining a phenomenal Boy Scout troop. I'm excited for him & for all the experiences that lie ahead!

Hope you all have a great week!!

Riley in the garden

Good evening, & happy Friday!!! It was a beautiful day out today....my kids played outside alllllll day.....which was wonderful....& we have a busy weekend ahead of us. I did *finally* get a card done....I kept it pretty simple though.




I used an older Riley stamp.....but it's one of my favorites. I used my Copics, since there wasn't much to color, lol. But the green on his boots was way too green, so I covered them in Stickles. Every moose has glittery garden boots, right? I got to use my new Basic Grey Urban Prairie pad (I *still* have credit at my LSS....& there's another rummage in a few weeks...which means more credit.....yay!!).....the matting is Bazzill Bling. I also used my Martha butterfly punch, which is *kinda* new. I bought it about 6 months ago, & it sat here in its box until I finally used it today!! Butterflies just never seem to "go" with my cards, & I was ready to just pass it on to someone. But I used it on this card & I think I need to use it more. I added a few small pearls & I think it looks cute!! A big ole Prima bunch in the corner & it was done.....I love this paper so much, I didn't want to cover it with "stuff" (did I really just say that?)




Here's a close up of Riley....watering his flowers....er....FLOWER. I did a lot of watering myself today.....but I forgot to wear my sparkly green garden boots :(




Here's the inside....I kept it VERY plain, but I did punch 2 butterflies out of the paper I used on the front....& added Cotton Candy Stickles down the middle. Sorry about the streaky picture....I didn't realize the sun was streaming in our window when I took it....duh....


And I just had to share this picture of our goofy cat.....



We have 2 cats....Jake & Elwood. They are brothers, & they will be 14 in August. Jake is diabetic, so he gets cranky & doesn't really let the kids hold him. He will come to them for petting, but usually 10 seconds is all he needs & he's done. Then there's Elwood.....he used to weigh 26 pounds. Yes, you read that right....26 pounds. When I realized Jake would do better on an all canned food diet, Elwood had to switch too. Couldn't feed one dry & one canned. Well, Elwood proceeded to lose 7 pounds over the next 10 months, & now he's 19 pounds. Still big, but much healthier. And as you can see......a BIG BABY!!! He lets the boys do whatever with him....Michael lays his head on him.....he sleeps with them.....& he hangs out on their laps. What a big furry goofball!!

Well that's it for now. I don't know if I'll get a card done for the High Hopes challenge this week....I haven't even started & I will be gone all day tomorrow. Gosh, I sound like a broken record....I'm pretty sure I typed those same words *last* week, lol.

Oh, & my blogoversary is in just a few days!!! I can't believe I've been blogging a whole year already!! And did ya notice my followers......I just reached 100!!! What great timing!! I wanted to start my blog candy ON my blogoversary......but I'm waiting for some High Hopes stamps to add to it, so it will start when that goodie package arrives!! Stay tuned!!

Have a great weekend!!!

A new Riley!

Ok, well, he's not NEW new, but he's new to me. Ok, well, he's not NEW to me, I've had him sitting on my table, uninked, for quite a while now. I've been so lost in all the High Hopes goodness lately that I've neglected my other stamps. There have even been MORE Rileys released since *this* one was released~ how cute is the one with the pj's?? I must have him!! Anyway, on to the one I *DO* have!


Riley is of course colored with Prismas & gamsol, & I popped up the tree & his boots for a little dimension. There are Stickles on the tree, the ground, & on the snowflakes. The paper is Riding Hood Red & Basic Grey's Figgy. I did buy the Wassail pack the other day, but I'm making myself use some more of the Figgy first. Not hard to do, I *heart* this pack! The RHR piece was embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflake folder, & I finished it off with a photo corner & 4 red pearls. I'm not sure Riley would appreciate being surrounded by pearls, but those corners needed something & the red pearls were calling to me!



Here's a picture of the inside. I added a scrap strip of the BG paper & stamped an Imaginisce Xmas tree in the corner. I covered the garland in Stickles, so it's nice & sparkly!!



Today was Halloween party day at the school, & I helped out with Michael's class. They got to put on their costumes & parade around the whole school, going into just about every classroom. I must be a GEEK because I had just as much fun as the kids!! For the party, Michael chose to be a fireman. Here he is, standing all happy & proud :)


After the party I helped with the last day of the Scholastic Book Fair, so I'm pretty beat. I'm going to veg with my kids tonight ~~ play some games & watch something Halloween-y on TV. Have a great night!!

A sketch challenge card ~ on time!!!

Good morning!! It's Wednesday, & that means it's SCS sketch challenge day!! This has always been my favorite challenge, because layouts do not come easily for me. I swore once my kids started school that I would do each one ~~~ on the day they are posted!! Well, I think this is the first week that has actually happened, & I probably only got it done because I colored the image last night.


I got something fun in the mail yesterday ~ my new Peerless watercolors!! I first saw these last year on Gina K's blog & they've been on my wish list ever since. But ~~ I stink at watercoloring & I know it, so I did wait to purchase them. After my failed attempts at watercoloring with reinkers, I realized that no matter what I will never be Anna Wight. Not even when I grow up. For some reason I thought the Peerless would be easier & bought them anyway. Well, it's not the medium ~ it's what I'm using to apply the color. I just can't get the hang of that darn Niji waterbrush. I even bought a smaller one online, thinking the other one I had from Michael's was a lemon. Last night I got so frustrated at the amount of water coming out that I finally emptied it. Which defeats the purpose of having a waterbrush, right?? Well, I still like the brush a lot ~~ the bristles are just better than a regular paintbrush. So I used it that way, with a little jar of water. I guess for my first attempt, it didn't turn out too badly, but as with everything else I will need lots of practice!!

I stamped the image onto watercolor paper with Stazon, then went to work. I didn't like how my pumpkins turned out, so I stamped a second image, colored the pumpkins differently, cut them out & popped them up on dimensionals. The pattern paper is from Karen Foster, & the olive & orange layers are DCWV papers run through my Cuttlebug. Love that Swiss Dots folder ~~ the Swirls folder was my favorite until the dots folder came out!! I added some ribbon, Dew Drops & lots of Primas & punched leaves. I HAD a ribbon blob on there (my version of Pam Bassett's ribbon blossom) BUT I had an accident. Actually two. First, I cut myself with the Cutter Bee's that I almost threw away because I thought they were getting dull. I guess they still work well on skin. Secondly, I used some Fray Check on my ribbon ends. I love using organdy ribbon but it frays so easily. Well, I was wondering why it was so sticky ~~I accidentally grabbed the Fabri-Tac!!! That'll learn me to double check the bottle before applying!! At this point I was so disgusted that I took the whole blob off & started over, adding just a few pieces of ribbon. Not as pretty as a blossom, but a blossom/blob with blood all over it isn't very pretty either.

I leave you with a picture of my mums. I planted these the first fall we lived here ~~ 2002. My, how it's grown!!! It spreads every year & now the entire plant (which I couldn't even fit into the picture) is about 10 times as big as it was when I planted it.


Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!!!!!!

Riley Crocker & a sneak peak!

I'm back, armed with a card & a little snippet of what Crissy's been up to! I received my brand spankin' new release Rileys the other day & this is the first card I've made. I love to bake so I HAD to have this one ~ what could be cuter than a moose making muffins?


This was actually my second attempt, I trashed the first one & believe me I do NOT do that often! I'm very frugal, & throwing something away is usually not an option, I will do everything I can do try to fix it. But the first one was unfixable. This one turned out much better! I used my new Basic Grey Sugared 6X6 pad, which I bought at Eclectic Paperie, one of my favorite online stores. Joy & Daisy are the best! I used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on the olive paper ~ this has to be my favorite folder!! I used it way more than any of the others! I used my new Threading Water punch from Fiskars on the strip of BG. Apparently this little tool is hard to come by, but I found it at my Michael's. Some Primas, ribbon & Stickles finished this baby off.


I always decorate the inside of my card & the envelope as well. I never used to, but when I started selling my cards on Ebay this was a must. I always use a coordinating image, & I usually use the same on both the inside of the card & the envie so they match. For this one I used the muffin from SU's Oh So Sweet. I also like to line my envelopes. I don't spend a lot of money on envelopes, so this means they are usually thin & flimsy. I usually line them with either some matching pattern paper, or just a solid piece of cardstock that matches the card. It look so much nicer, & it's nice having a thicker envelope to mail your card in!

And here's the little peek I promised I would attempt! Only a couple of more days to wait!!!