CHOCOLATE, COFFEE & CARD CHALLENGES # 21

Time for another fun challenge over at CC&CC!  Our theme this time is "Down On The Farm".  Anything to do with farm life.  That's a  wide idea range with plenty of opportunities for your imagination!  Our digis were given to us by our sponsor, Robyn's Fetish.  I chose this adorable cow.

Be sure to drop by CC&CC and take a look at the great work done by our talented DT.  We look forward to seeing your amazing creations!

LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE

Hello all, another week is underway.  Today's card is for a teenage cousin of mine.  He is into kayaking and bike riding.  When I saw this bike at Micheal's I immediately thought of him and knew it was perfect.  I cut some "travel" inspired paper and mounted the bike to it, then hand wrote the sentiment because I didn't have a stamp that said what I wanted.

I hope you have a pleasant week.

CHOCOLATE, COFFEE & CARD CHALLENGES #20

Welcome to another challenge at CC&CC!  This time we have a challenge for a great cause, it's Ribbons For A Cause supporting the fight against cancer.  Choose the ribbon that has the cause you would like to support and use its color on your card and include the ribbon.  Here is a chart showing the ribbons and the color that they support.

I used the color peach in support against uterine cancer.  My adorable little bidie digi is from our sponsor for this challenge, Doodle Pantry and is called "Happy Birdie".  He is colored with my Copic's and mounted on circles cut with my Cuttlebug.  I added some paper flowers made from punches,

Be sure to "fly" on over to Chocolate, Coffee & Card Challenges and check out all the  super cards done by our great Design Team.  They are sure to give you lots of inspiration.  Have fun and support the cause!

BABY CARDS

Oh what fun!  I had the occasions to do baby cards!  I did the first one to give to my daughter to send, and the second one I will be sending.  You may remember I spoke of Julie who was serving in the military in Afghanistan.  My Limelight group did cards for her platoon to send home to family, friends and loved ones.  She returned home right before Christmas 2011 and now is happily expecting!  We are so happy for her and all of her lovely family!

KEEP CALM!

Happy weekend everyone!  It's another hot one here, so I'm keeping inside with the air conditioning!  The card I am posting today is for my daughter.  She lived in England for four years in Southampton.  She loved it.  She so enjoyed the people, the scenery, the history, architecture and their tea!  I saw a poster of this and had to make a card out of it for her.  She is still having health issues and life in general has been a real challenge lately.  I thought this was perfect for her, and I know it will make her smile.

I printed out a picture of the Union Jack, then traced the pieces onto the red and blue paper.  I cut them out by hand then glued them onto the white paper.  The lettering and the teapot were cut on my Cricut.  MAN!  It was like putting together a jig saw puzzle!  I apologize if it is not perfect and mean no insult to anyone.  I did my best!

Have a super weekend! And to English pals, I wish I could share a cuppa with you!

Sympathy Cards

It is so hard for me to do sympathy cards, especially when they are for such close friends.  But it gives me a chance to create something I hope that they get a bit of comfort from.  The first card was for my dear friend Betsy on the loss of her dear husband Dan.  The second one is for Betsy's sister Kathy and her husband Fred.  Fred's father passed away about a week before Dan.  Their family is dealing with a lot of loss.  I hope that the memories of their loved ones help to ease their grief.

Both cards were based on designs done by the fabulous Kitty. 

 Her work is incredible.

Loss of a dear friend . . .

The last card I posted here today for my friend Dan will not be sent to him.  He passed away peacefully this evening and is now out of pain and is in God's tender care.  I will miss you my friend.  And my dear SbC, Betsy I am so shattered for your loss.  He will be missed by so many, but never forgotten.  I love you dear friend and I am here for you whenever you need me.  My arms are hugging and comforting you.

GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

The weekend is here again, and I know a lot of you are ready for it!  I hope it's not too hot where you are and that you have a good one!

Today's card is for my dear friend Dan.  His health is getting worse and I have been sending more cards to help cheer him up.  I think I mentioned before that he LOVES flamingos!  His family room is full of lots of different kinds that he has collected over the years.  He really enjoys when I do a card for him with them on it, so today I did just that!  The word "flamingos" is a laser cut that I bought on e-bay.  The stamp is colored with my Copic's, then I added the computer generated sentiment and a couple buttons.  All the paper is from my scrap bin!  Love to get in there and scrounge, I never know what I will find!

Have a great weekend with your family and friends.  Be thankful for your health and God's many blessing.


Entered in the following challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps ~ No People Allowed!
Sweet Stampin ~ Things With Wings 
 Basic Grey Challenges ~ Bright and Bold
Allsorts Challenge Blog ~ Going Around in Circles
Challenge Your Life ~ Everything Goes
Hiding In My Craft Room ~ Use Your Scraps
Clearly I Stamp ~ Things With Wings
Crafty Katz Weekly Challenge ~ Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter ~ Going Round and Round
Papertake Weekly ~ Anything Goes
Craft You Passion ~ Anything Goes 
4 Crafty Chicks ~ Up, Up and Away 
One Stitch At a Time ~ Anything Goes

CHOCOLATE, COFFEE & CARD CHALLENGES #19

Another great challenge for us at Chocolate, Coffee & Card Challenges!  This time our theme is "Emboss It - Either Dry or Wet".  And our great sponsor this week is A Day For Daisies!  Such beautiful images they have.  I chose this lovely one called "Birds For Bree".  I used a monochromatic theme and did my emboss dry.  I used a folder on my Cuttlebug that is by Sizzix.

Be sure to stop by and join us for this fun challenge, and be sure to see all the wonderful inspiration from our Design Team!  Also you will have a chance to win some super goodies from A Day For Daisies!  See you there!

CHILLAX!

I really love the combo of words for this sentiment!  Chill out and relax all in one.  I think this should be a new word for the dictionary!  When I bought the stamp of the drink, the stamp I had for the sentiment really came to mind.  They made a perfect combo!

I colored it with my Copic's, added a punch border with ribbon, a few rhinestones and the flower to set it off.

CHILLAX!  You are nearly to the weekend!

SUNNY DAY

Ahh, a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon.  Hope you are having a good one too.  As usual I am spending mine inside where it is cool and doing some paper crafting.  I made this card for my SBC (Sister By Choice!) and BFF Betsy.  She needs some cheerfulness these days.  I know we all enjoy a bit of cheer from friends.

The image is a stamp I purchased some time ago and I actually forgot about it!  Going through some goodies and cleaning out I found it.  Amazing how that happens, lol!  Anyhow, I colored it with my Copics and mounted it on a die cut done with my Cuttlebug.  I added the ric-rac and flower, very simple.

Enjoy the rest of your day and have a good week, aloha!

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations Paint ~ Beach 
 Dream Valley Challenges ~ #37 Summer
 Fashionable Stamping ~ #27 Anything Goes
Order of the Opus Gluei ~ #136 Seasons
Robyn's Fetish ~ #118 Summer Fun
Crazy For Challenges ~ Hot Summer Night 
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps ~ Bright Colors for Summer
The Secret Crafter ~ Bright and Cheerful 
Just Some Lines ~ Beach, Sand Surf  

 DYSU ~ For A Friend

The Play Date Cafe ~ Colors

Polka Doodle ~ Summer

CHOCOLATE, COFFEE & CARD CHALLENGES #18

Aloha and welcome to another challenge at Chocolate, Coffee & Card Challenges!  Our theme this time is Rainbows and Butterflies.  By rainbow we mean that you should use at least four colors, and don't forget the butterflies!

This great image is from our sponsor My Heart Pieces and is called "Waiting For You".  Such a pretty angel!  I colored her with my Copic's, added some glitter to her wings and the band in her hair and mounted her on a lovely die cut oval.  I made some paper flowers in a "rainbow" of colors then added a stick pin I made and the butterflies.

Please come join us for a fun challenge and a chance to win some great digis.  And be sure to check out all the great inspiration by our fab

 Design Team!

BEACH BUDDY

Aloha.  Another card to post.  Today is my sweeties birthday.  This is the card I did for him, I sure hope he likes it! It is colored with my Copic's and I used actual Hawaiian sand on the beach and also covered the frame with it around the sentiment.  The image is cut out and raised with pop dots.

LAVENDER BUTTERFLIES

Aloha.  Time for another post.  Today's card is for the girlfriend of my nephew.  She is a very creative lady and a super artist.  She works in all sorts of mediums and loves to experiment ~ my kind of gal!  She is currently doing these cute mushrooms made from old vases and glassware.  Have a look:

She said she was having trouble finding embellishments for on them.  Well, yesterday I was in our local 99 cent store and saw these ~ I HAD to buy them for her.  They are glass and about 2 inches high.

I will be mailing them to her today, and of course there is a card to go with them!  I cut the lacy butterfly part on my Cricut, did a reverse emboss on the dandelions, added the small butterfly embossed with color, the ribbon and then the tag on the bottom.

Hope you have a super day!

COYOTE

Hello and Happy Monday.  My week is off to a good start.  I made this card for my Uncle who is terminally ill, the one I visited in April.  I speak to him every week, and in our chat on Saturday he asked me to find something for him.  He wears a silver and turquoise ring he bought years ago when visiting here in AZ.  He said he always wanted to find a turquoise cross.  Could I get one for him.  Of course I was MORE than happy to.  So yesterday I went to Scottsdale to the shops and found a very nice one for him.  Of course this meant a nice card in the southwest theme to go with it!

This card was a real adventure to make!  I used this stamp of the coyote which I've had and never used and colored him with my Copic's.  Then I wanted a paper background that was a southwest design.  I couldn't find any anywhere, not even on line printable.  So, I put on my thnking cap and found a web site that sells rugs of southwestern design.  I saved one of the pics that I liked and printed it out, perfect!  When adding the finishing touches I colored a white feather with my Copic's and then added the black one.  But I needed something to put at the end of the feathers.  I scrounged through tons of goodies in my stash and finally decided on the arrow, which was a piece that is a clock hand!  I covered the center with the little wooden button and voila!  It all came together!  It really just goes to prove that "nceccessity is the Mother of Invention!"

CHERRIES

TGIF everyone!  I haven't posted anything yet this week.  I was busy with life.  SO many card ideas and not enough time!  In any case, this was a quickie I did this morning.  I made a lot of changes on the original art because I wanted to use the cherry background paper.  The original cup had holly berries on it so I changed it to cherries to fit my idea.  I had colored the whole cup and was mounting it when I saw I had smudged bright red ink all over it, aggghhhhhh!  I had to do it all over again, such a waste of Copic ink and my time.  But hey, I sometimes do dumb things, I'm human!  (At least that sounds like a good excuse to me, lol!)

I hope you have a nice weekend, and to those who are suffering in the heat, drink lots of water and keep cool!

JUST MY TYPE

Happy Sunday, I hope you have been having a good weekend.  Mine has been pretty good.  We finally got some rain and the temp dropped for a bit, it feels so good!  I always go out and dance in the rain, one of life's little gifts!

This is another card for my sweetie.  I am trying to help keep his spirits up while he is not feeling well.  I didn't have any letters like typewriter keys so I found some on the net and printed them out, then cut them out and put them on raised with pop dots.  Added a bit of lace, a button and bow.

The inside:

Have a great week!

STEAMPUNK AMELIA

 WOWZAAAA!  What a FAB turnout we had this past challenge!  440 of you ~ AWESOME!!!  We thank you so much for your support!  It means so much to us and we are glad you play along week after week.

Ok Ladies, hold on to your seats!  Have we got a FUN challenge for you this week at Coffee, Chocolate & Cards Challenges!!!  STEAMPUNK!  You must use some metal on your card.  Now I have to tell you, I did a lot looking around on the web for info and examples of steampunk.  I have seen it, and knew about it, but have never attempted doing it!  It was GREAT fun!

This weeks sponsor is the amazing Sassy Studio Designs.  WOW, what fun images they have!  This one is called Stempunk Amelia, and I LOVE her.  I really dig her outfit and those goggles, way cool! 

The background paper is one I found that is a free printable download.  I computer printed free artwork and also stamped images onto it.  Then I got several pieces of metal that are by Tim Holtz, the gears, watch, etc.  The very tiny pieces are from old watches that I took apart, lol, and old washers from my Pop's bits and pieces.  But the piece I like the most was a great find from out in Pop's back yard.  A piece of old, rusty screen that I cut for the background of "Amelia" and put the metal photo corners on.  I love it!  That's the fun of steampunk, you can use darn near anything metal!  So scrounge around and see what you can come up with!  

So now it's your turn to get those creative juices going.  Give it a try, you may surprise yourself at how much fun steampunk can be!

FOR MY FRIEND

WOW!!!  We finally got cooled off for a bit last night ~ HUGE lightning and thunderstorm with lots of cool RAIN!  It was heavenly!  I was out running around in it and it felt soooooo good!  Now the humidity is up and we are in for another scorcher, yuck.

This card is for a good friend whose health is not well and without prospects of recovery.  I try to send him a card about every week and a half to try and cheer him up.  Last night I was over visiting with him and his wife who is my SBC (sister by choice!) and I took a picture of the card because I had forgotten to do so before I sent it.  The image is mounted on one of the "spring" plastic pieces that make it jiggle.  He got such a kick out of that.  I colored it with my Copic's, added a bit of ribbon, the tag and some buttons.

The inside of the card says:

Cats are really short people in fur coats.

Have a nice day and come back again soon.

"SEW" SWEET

Happy Sunday!  I've been spending mine inside where it's cool, 108 degrees out there right now, BLECH!  And what better way to occupy my time than to craft a few cards!  This one is for a special Aunt of mine.  She used to be a professional seamstress.  At 92 she still sews and does crafts!  Hope I manage to be that chipper if I am lucky enough to reach that age!

I used a lot of distress ink and distressed the edges to give it an aged look.  I stamped the image onto come patterned paper and cut out the bonnet, apron and lacy bottom under her skirt.  I sewed the pieces together, added a bit of ribbon on the bonnet and some hand made flowers of the same paper pattern.  The papers are from a stack called "Crafty" by DCWV.  The stamp is from my FAVE company, Bugaboo and is called "Sewing".

The inside:

Enjoy the rest of your day and have a great week ahead!  Aloha!

 

NASTY BUG!!!

Aloha all.  TGIF again and I'm sure you are all ready for it!

This card is for my sweetie.  He has had some rotten health issues for over 3 years and they have finally figured out what is causing it.  He has a rare bacterial infection called "nocardia", nasty stuff.  He is so sick from the strong anitbiotics he's on and is feeling pretty low.  I decided he needed a fun card to help cheer him up.  He so looks forward to receiving them with us being so far apart.  I drew the "bug" in my paint program and printed him out.  He is colored with my Copic's.  I cut the back circle with my Cuttlebug and used up some paper scraps for the background ~ they are really piling up!  I also embossed the very base of the card.  

He's a NASTY BUG!

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you 

have nice sunny weather!

CHOCOLATE, COFFE & CARD CHALLENGES JULY 4th BLOG HOP!

Aloha and welcome to our Chocolate, Coffee & Cards Challenges July 4th Blog Hop!  We are so pleased that our followers from Facebook have joined us for this fun event!  As you know, the theme is RED!  I chose an adorable "Stella" image from our generous sponsor Bugaboo Stamps.  I love her!  This one is called "Stella July USA".  There are so many great images to choose from of her, and one for any occasion you could think of!

And THANX Bugaboo for featuring this card today!!!

Stella is colored with my Copic's.  I used papers that show her off in a 4th of July kind of way, lol.  Then I added some rhinestones in red, white and blue.  She looks so patriotic!

Join in the fun and visit all our Design Team's blogs to see their lovely creations.

Have a FUN and SAFE 4th of July!

Entered in the following challenges:

Celebrate The Occasion ~ 4th of July
Party Time Tuesdays ~ Be Patriotic, Show Your Countries Colors!
The Ribbon Carousel ~ Independence Day
Made Especially For You ~ 4th of July Bling!
Incy Wincy ~ Patriotism
Color Q ~ Color Challenge #144
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge ~ Red, White & Blue
Paper Pretties ~ Celebrate Any Occasion
The Pink Elephant TPE155
Inky Impressions ~ Fireworks, Bling
Crafting For All Seasons ~ Patriotic, Military, Fireworks
Divas By Design ~ Red, White & Blue
Fab n' Funky ~ Stars and Stripes
Stamp n' Doodle ~ Stars and Stripes
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner ~ Celebrations, 4th of July

Frosted Designs Sketch Along Tuesday #22

Happy Tuesday!  Frosted Designs is back with another fun sketch and challenge!  The sketch was designed by Heather Adams and is a fun one.  I "flipped" mine so that the image fit properly.  The digi is called "Boat At Sea" by Hope Jacare Doodles who donated some adorable images for us to use.    Here is the sketch:

And here is my card!

Come on by and see the great creations the DT have done for you and be  inspired!  Then join in and show us what you can do!